chrisp65

I just listened to that. Absolute space cadet.

Just been wandering through all the voting returns for all the local wards in my council. There was only a single UKIP candidate across all areas and he lost by a mile, getting just 78 votes. Annoyingly, he was 3 votes ahead of the candidate for the Pirate Party.

FYI

If you can stand still, you've been going to the wrong gigs. I'm fortunate, I'm 6'2" and I'm not skinny, so I pretty much stand wherever I like and get a decent view. I also tend to go to £10 and £15 gigs so standing at the back means being relatively close to the front! If anything I'm a bit overly conscious of blocking out other people's view. Had a free ticket to one of these 'stadium' gigs once (NEC). What the merry **** is that all about? £60 and you're stood a kilometer away with a seat at ninety degrees to the stage - watching it on a big screen! Oh yeah, what dancing? Dad dancing. Seriously not giving a toss.

Vale of Glamorgan is traditionally a bit of a swing seat. We've alternated tory / labour a few times in my lifetime. Vale of Glam is south and voted remain. I'm interested in politics and I'm sort of a leftie. I have struggled to find out who the Labour GE candidate is. I have since found out it's somebody called Camilla Beaven. To illustrate the lack of labour presence: I've just checked a few labour twitter feeds I follow, a couple of local councillors and the local assembly member. Accounts that are traditionally busy and usually have multiple posts per day. From their combined tweets since 23rd April I have learnt the following: 27th April - changes to bin collections on bank holiday monday 27th April - some kid collected two bags of rubbish from a local park 28th April - Jane Hutt gave a talk at 'Uganda Day' I'm not seeing a big push to a big event.

I think it's a little bit more nuanced than an angry voice following populists. A little bit. If you look at where the votes and the seats have gone, in round numbers right now Labour have lost 100, the majority to the tories, but a significant number to Plaid and Independents. If you look at those independents many of them are ex Labour, some have been on tv and radio this morning saying it's a place holder until Labour sorts out its shit. The Plaid ones also aren't 'populist' in many cases. Locally I know five Plaid councillors that have all just been elected, only one of them speaks Welsh, for of the five are decidedly mute on independence. They just want a broadly left party that is actually active in the community. They don't want freedom for Ponty, they want action on street lighting and the local incinerator and 3G sports pitches. The island is as non welsh speaking independence as you could see anywhere, they've just voted Plaid. Less angry, more bemused by Labour's current state. See my earlier comments about no placards, no leaflets and no representation at a 1,000 person family orientated event in the centre of town a week before a local election.

Labour lose control of councils in Merthyr, Bridgend and Blaenau Gwent. Let that sink in for a minute. Labour lose Merthyr, the birth place of the red flag. In my own ward of my own town, we had 9 candidates standing for 3 councillor seats. One of the Labour candidates is also the Labour candidate for the General Election so I thought that would be interesting. Of the 9 standing, she came 6th. She actually managed to get the lowest number of votes of the three labour candidates standing to be councillors. We didn't receive so much as a leaflet. At the trophy presentation at the football on the weekend there were over a thousand people present, families from town with kids in our academy. The tory MP turned up, the Plaid candidate turned up, the Liberals turned up. No show from Labour. South Wales town with a dock, terraced streets and factory based employment and a rare area that voted remain. So weird, I'm trying to think of why it might even be deliberate. My only guess is that locally, they've decided to 'back seat' until Corbyn has gone? Don't know, that's just me clutching at why this is happening.

So, as someone that has missed a chunk of the news today, am I right to think that in 24 hours she's changed her mind and it's no longer gossip she doesn't recognise, but now a malicious leak by someone high level that was there? Which does she want us to believe? Liar yesterday? Or liar today?

nice thing about a moat, tory Lord Hogg 3rd Viscount Hailsham of Marlborough can stick cleaning it on his expenses...again

I guess I've had variations on the following conversation on approximately 500 different Saturdays: Mrs chris: was your dad at the football? Mr chris: ermm, yeah. Mrs chris: how is he? what they doing about Monday? does your mum want those spare tins? will they be picking the kids up for me on Thursday? Mr chris: dunno

My local tory MP was just on the news. I was going to say to my missus, 'I bet he mentions coalition of chaos or strong and stable'. I only got as far as 'I bet...', he was just too fast for me.

Yep, do your straight best for your business, the people you employ, your suppliers,and the family back home. If your honest best sucks up all the trade and closes someone else, you can't really do much about that. What's the alternative? Soft pedal and give your kids less of a start in life?

they stole the artwork from our programme editor too

I've still not watched Marr, but I watched Peston last night. She really is very lucky there's nobody out there at the moment that will go in for the kill. He became a caricature of himself in the end, but I can't help feeling Paxman on his game could have ended her career.

I've definitely still got it, it's just **** sore.

work in Cardiff, Bristol, Swindon, Barnstaple and London through the week gig Thursday night gig Friday night with me mixing it with the best of them for a good spot in a lively crowd strangely full of hells angels celebrating a 6:0 win local footy on Saturday, proper drinking session ibuprofen gel on my knees today, Sunday

I'm still confused by the title of the thread? Is this equality versus equality we're all here to take a stance on? If it is, I'm pitching for equality, the ones pitching for the other equality are just bastards.

If you know of boys being given medication because they are boisterous you need to report that to the police, now. Man up.

I get the feeling that May won't take much stressing if there's a hint of a tightening in the polling. She reverts very very quickly to rudeness, poor none jokes and the simple little sound bites she's been coached in. Not a fast thinker, not a deep thinker. Thing is, if the polling does turn, then perhaps the media will grow a backbone and call her out on her voting record on human rights and equality. Perhaps they'll finally question her standing in Saudi Arabia, selling bombs, making pronouncements about the National Trust's moral compass. They might ask her if it's a sin to let the rich skip their inconvenient tax bill whilst there are people relying on food banks. They might ask if it is a sin to restrict access to maternity services and mental health services whilst giving the royal family a nice benefits rise to do up a few palaces.

self assessment is a wonderful thing