Bolitics The New Condem Government

[drat01]

He is more old school pete i agree but a couple of unfortunate bits from the past with that quote and the jimmy saville poster that quickly came out. Considering the marketing background and the tax avoidance millions ashcroft has pumped in for image etc, they do seem to waste it. Maybe they are using it to pay train fares

[peterms]

He is more old school pete i agree but a couple of unfortunate bits from the past with that quote and the jimmy saville poster that quickly came out. Considering the marketing background and the tax avoidance millions ashcroft has pumped in for image etc, they do seem to waste it. Maybe they are using it to pay train fares

No, I don't mean old school (though he's certainly that). There are plenty of old school tories who are absolute tossers. He seemed to have some inkling that being able to live somewhere other than the street was a human right, not an act of charity, and that social policy should be arranged to facilitate this. And he tried to do his bit to make that happen, though he was swimming against the sewer. That's worthy of acknowledgement, and respect.

[drat01]

According to quoted articles it seems that gideon warned civil servants in 2010 that if they travelled 1 st cass on the trains they would get their budgets cut. Ooops

[Dr_Pangloss]

Gideon is completely out of his depth, he was only ever cut out to be a lobbyist or some right wing think tank 'researcher', not the bloody chancellor.

[tonyh29]

I guess we've moved on from lying policeman v lying MP's to lying ITV journalists v lying Virgin train spokesmen

A spokesman for Virgin Trains said that Mr Osborne paid £189.50 to upgrade the tickets for himself and one of his aides.He said: "The situation was dealt with amicably between the Train Manager and George Osborne’s aide.

"At no time was there a disagreement or a refusal to pay for the upgrade. Nor was there any discussion between the Train Manager and Mr Osborne."

[markavfc40]

Considering the marketing background and the tax avoidance millions ashcroft has pumped in for image etc, they do seem to waste it. Maybe they are using it to pay train fares

Nice one

[peterms]

I guess we've moved on from lying policeman v lying MP's to lying ITV journalists v lying Virgin train spokesmen

A spokesman for Virgin Trains said that Mr Osborne paid £189.50 to upgrade the tickets for himself and one of his aides.He said: "The situation was dealt with amicably between the Train Manager and George Osborne’s aide.

"At no time was there a disagreement or a refusal to pay for the upgrade. Nor was there any discussion between the Train Manager and Mr Osborne."

You seem to have missed the point, and most of the coverage, Tony.

Osborne got a second class "standard class" ticket and sat in the dearer compartment. He has done this before - see my previous quote.

When challenged, his aide came the "Don't you know who I am?" line beloved of self-obsessed oafs everywhere. (I do believe that Tory council leaders in tiny district councils in the midlands may also suffer from this syndrome). And asked that they be allowed to stay where they were.

Having been refused, they stumped up the extra fare (pending FOI request - will he claim for one ticket, or two?)

It was "amicable" in that they paid, having no choice in the matter.

Osborne at no point spoke to the ticket collector (he has people to do that for him).

Virgin have issued a statement explaining that the Chancellor had nothing to do with any misunderstanding.

Virgin are currently bidding for a rail contract which will make them millions, at our expense.

[peterms]

Gideon is completely out of his depth, he was only ever cut out to be a lobbyist or some right wing think tank 'researcher', not the bloody chancellor.

Do you seriously think he'd cut it as a researcher? Or a real lobbyist, rather than someone schmoozing people he already knows from school?

[tonyh29]

You seem to have missed the point, and most of the coverage, Tony.

Osborne got a second class "standard class" ticket and sat in the dearer compartment. He has done this before - see my previous quote.

When challenged, his aide came the "Don't you know who I am?" line beloved of self-obsessed oafs everywhere. (I do believe that Tory council leaders in tiny district councils in the midlands may also suffer from this syndrome). And asked that they be allowed to stay where they were.

Having been refused, they stumped up the extra fare (pending FOI request - will he claim for one ticket, or two?)

It was "amicable" in that they paid, having no choice in the matter.

Osborne at no point spoke to the ticket collector (he has people to do that for him).

Virgin have issued a statement explaining that the Chancellor had nothing to do with any misunderstanding.

Virgin are currently bidding for a rail contract which will make them millions, at our expense.

No I understand your point , he's a Tory I wouldnt expect anything other than condemnation and for it to be Eds main point for the next 6 months due to lack of policy

When I used to commute the train was always full , so I'd go sit in first class ... 99% of the time the guards didnt even care ....Virgin don't operate a penalty system so he Is perfectly entitled to sit there and buy a ticket from the guard ... Which he did ....

You seem to believe an "aide" tried the do you know who I am line ( which is unclear at this stage) but jump the conclusion that Osborne and his type always do this ..In a way it's amusing to see you act in a manner you've spent weeks chastising Mitchell for ... Still maybe you just let slip and the real character came out , but don't worry I won't force you to resign or even leak this post to the Sun :-)

But no doubt we have 4 more weeks of hysteria to look forward to unless Ed suddenly finds a policy

[Dr_Pangloss]

Do you seriously think he'd cut it as a researcher? Or a real lobbyist, rather than someone schmoozing people he already knows from school?

I don't know whether you've worked at a think tank before or know people who have, but a hell of a lot of them produce nothing more than BS. There are some good tanks around but not many, Gideon would work for one like the Adam Smith Institute. He could definitely cut it as a researcher, I know a lot of them whether it's at think tanks or in government and a surprising amount are dribbling retards lol.

As a lobbyist, well isn't a lot of that schmoozing anyway, he'd be the front man not the one doing the 'hard' work.

[thetrees]

Do you seriously think he'd cut it as a researcher? Or a real lobbyist, rather than someone schmoozing people he already knows from school?

Shouldn't the debate about fitness to be chancellor been started ca 1997 and carried through the following decade?

Perhaps then we could have averted the desperate situation that is the future for this and more generations to come.

[villaajax]

No I understand your point , he's a Tory I wouldnt expect anything other than condemnation and for it to be Eds main point for the next 6 months due to lack of policy

When I used to commute the train was always full , so I'd go sit in first class ... 99% of the time the guards didnt even care ....Virgin don't operate a penalty system so he Is perfectly entitled to sit there and buy a ticket from the guard ... Which he did ....

You seem to believe an "aide" tried the do you know who I am line ( which is unclear at this stage) but jump the conclusion that Osborne and his type always do this ..In a way it's amusing to see you act in a manner you've spent weeks chastising Mitchell for ... Still maybe you just let slip and the real character came out , but don't worry I won't force you to resign or even leak this post to the Sun :-)

But no doubt we have 4 more weeks of hysteria to look forward to unless Ed suddenly finds a policy

Labour's policies may not be set in stone but you can be assured they would not include:

Tearing apart the NHS

Tax breaks for the rich

Loss of benefits for the blind and disabled

Reverting the school system back to an outdated one

Creating plenty of new taxes

It's the same old Tories, looking after the wants of the few rather than the needs of the many.

[CarewsEyebrowDesigner]

Ed doesn't need to discuss policy - doing so would give the Tories something to work with. Right now they are making a mess of the country, pissing off millions of people and it won't take much more to make them unelectable for another generation. All Ed needs to do is sit back and watch, giving them an opportunity to gain some momentum would be a bad idea.

[tonyh29]

Labour's policies may not be set in stone but you can be assured they would not include:

Tearing apart the NHS -

Tax breaks for the rich

Loss of benefits for the blind and disabled

Reverting the school system back to an outdated one

Creating plenty of new taxes

It's the same old Tories, looking after the wants of the few rather than the needs of the many.

Tearing apart the NHS - PFI anyone .. 25 year contracts that Labour signed , at a cost of billions to the NHS .. crippling / bankrupting some hospitals

Tax breaks for the rich - you are aware the Rich / Poor divide grew under 13 years of labour , you are aware who Brown and Blair wooed as part of new Labour and how their light touch of the FSA played more than it's fair share in our current woes ..Oh sorry i forgot , that was the global recession wasn't it , nothing to do with labour

Loss of benefits for the blind and disabled - I'm aware of a woman dying of cancer that was shamefully deemed "fit for work" but unless you give some examples then I'm unaware of any blind people having their benefits removed , the PIP changes don't even come into force until April don't they ?

Reverting the school system back to an outdated one - everyone (at least outside of Labour party HQ) knows schools were strong-armed into raising achievement and passing Ofsted inspections at any cost .. that doesn't actually mean that standards have improved more that teachers were just being teaching tips on how to maximise pass rates .... Early to tell if Gove has it right of course but to hold up the old system as a beacon is quite wrong

Creating plenty of new taxes - could you name some of these new Taxes , they did of course raise VAT but that isn't a new tax

I

t's the same old Tories, looking after the wants of the few rather than the needs of the many.

this isn't Star Trek , what exactly are the needs of the many in your opinion ?

[tonyh29]

Ed doesn't need to discuss policy - doing so would give the Tories something to work with. Right now they are making a mess of the country, pissing off millions of people and it won't take much more to make them unelectable for another generation. All Ed needs to do is sit back and watch, giving them an opportunity to gain some momentum would be a bad idea.

I know the electorate by and large have goldfish memories but the fact that 73% of them don't think Ed has the qualities to be prime Minister suggests he needs to do a bit more than just sit back and watch ...I think he needs a bit more than "We messed up the economy, we got you into debt, let us back into power and we will think about it "

[tonyh29]

Good to see Ed being booed today by his paymasters for his ideological cuts

[bickster]

I know the electorate by and large have goldfish memories but the fact that 73% of them don't think Ed has the qualities to be prime Minister suggests he needs to do a bit more than just sit back and watch ...I think he needs a bit more than "We messed up the economy, we got you into debt, let us back into power and we will think about it "

As usual I won't be voting for any of the big three next time around, though I do think "We messed up the economy, we got you into debt, let us back into power and we'll think about it is" is still preferable to "We inherited a **** up economy. made it much worse than it needed to be but still managed to line the pockets of many of our friends, whilst showing contempt to the proles" or "We'll sell you down the river for a small seat at a very big table"

[CarewsEyebrowDesigner]

So the young tories help push Mitchell out the door?

I think even VT's tories would shiver at the thought of some of the next bunch. A truly horrible breed of human being and one wonders what exactly they get taught in those expensive schools.

link

[villaajax]

Tearing apart the NHS - PFI anyone .. 25 year contracts that Labour signed , at a cost of billions to the NHS .. crippling / bankrupting some hospitals

Tax breaks for the rich - you are aware the Rich / Poor divide grew under 13 years of labour , you are aware who Brown and Blair wooed as part of new Labour and how their light touch of the FSA played more than it's fair share in our current woes ..Oh sorry i forgot , that was the global recession wasn't it , nothing to do with labour

Loss of benefits for the blind and disabled - I'm aware of a woman dying of cancer that was shamefully deemed "fit for work" but unless you give some examples then I'm unaware of any blind people having their benefits removed , the PIP changes don't even come into force until April don't they ?

Reverting the school system back to an outdated one - everyone (at least outside of Labour party HQ) knows schools were strong-armed into raising achievement and passing Ofsted inspections at any cost .. that doesn't actually mean that standards have improved more that teachers were just being teaching tips on how to maximise pass rates .... Early to tell if Gove has it right of course but to hold up the old system as a beacon is quite wrong

Creating plenty of new taxes - could you name some of these new Taxes , they did of course raise VAT but that isn't a new tax

1. Cameron pledged he'd "cut the deficit, not the NHS" instead he's done quite the opposite. The NHS reforms were heavily opposed by virtually all medical institutions as well as colleges and universities. When Cameron did hold discussions about the NHS, he decided not to invite representatives of any group that opposed him and ploughed straight through will the reforms regardless.

2. No argument about the tax breaks for the rich under the current government then? Fair enough, I guess there isn’t really any argument to make. The rich / poor divide has grown under 2 years of a Tory government.

And if you want to go down the “Labour caused the global recession” road then may I remind you that there was a Tory government in power at the time of The Great Depression of the 1930s, maybe they should take the blame for that?

3. Last year thousands of disabled people marched through London to protest against the cuts to their disability living allowance and also to their services, this included the blind and deaf. These people struggle enough without having their care cut.

4. Gove just seems to want to bring back the Grammar school model which appeals far more to the well-off. Scrapping GCSEs and bringing in this new system without course work? Surely that would make grades easier to achieve? The kids would just being spending 1-2 years revising for an exam rather than putting what they’ve learnt into practice with coursework, it’s a terrible idea!

5. Okay, perhaps they’re not a ‘new tax’ but placing VAT on warm food, sports drinks, and hairdresser’s chairs and more is new. What are percentage of VAT are we paying on everything else now already, 23%? I seem to recall a promise that when the price of fuel would rise, they would reduce the fuel duty to help out motorists, instead fuel duty was increased.

Good to see Ed being booed today by his paymasters for his ideological cuts

When Labour return to power in 2015 they probably will have to make cuts because the incompetent mess that are in at the moment are seemingly doing nothing to fix things. Perhaps they need to find a full-time chancellor of the exchequer who knows what he is doing rather than coming up with these hare-brained schemes which they’ll only later revert.

[drat01]

Good to see Ed being booed today by his paymasters for his ideological cuts

you fail to see the irony in your post tony? Like it has been explained on many times donations from unions are a democratic process unlike the far bigger and often hidden donations that we see to the tory party. And evn taking that into account the fact that milliband has the balls to state that as policy (i thought you claimed there was none) knowing it would get that reaction shws that unlike cameron he is happy to go against some of the wishes of his party supporters. Also since when has union membership and attendance at the protests been a labour only thing. I know for a fact that some lib dems were there, these are lib dems with a conscience unlike cuckold clegg. Lastly it sort of pisses on any tory bonfire about labour not wanting to make any cuts doesnt it?