sun_tzu
The Art of Bore

They have a point...
Ha! Look at the direction the BBC version has gone...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-34312744
No PMQs for a while due to conferences, it'll have probably died down by then.@sun_tzu drew a parallel with Thatcher's being tagged with the Milk Snatcher title, a circumstance which offers both good and bad news for Cameron:
The Good - Even should Ashcroft's claims be entirely accurate, this remains a personal story from his youth and lacks any links to policy in the present.
The Bad - The accusation needn't be truthful for the mud to stick. Abolishing free milk for all school children was neither a policy nor something she was in favour of.
How does he respond at PMQs or the like? Call gammon on the pig story, albeit in a self-depricating style. Admit that he did enjoy to party and that things could indeed get pretty wild at times, emphasise "wild" for the laughs.
"But pinko, you're just my type."
Interestingly, Corbyn won't be able to refer to it in pmqs, it'd undermine his attempts to tone down proceedings. Indeed it makes me wonder where he would draw that line.
No PMQs for a while due to conferences, it'll have probably died down by then.
release the beastInterestingly, Corbyn won't be able to refer to it in pmqs, it'd undermine his attempts to tone down proceedings. Indeed it makes me wonder where he would draw that line.
Ironically I think he may have even referred to the plague of "animal noises" from the chamber recentlyInterestingly, Corbyn won't be able to refer to it in pmqs, it'd undermine his attempts to tone down proceedings. Indeed it makes me wonder where he would draw that line.
Thankfully, I've not forgotten about conference season, and as the tories seem to want to continue to rub our noses in their shit up here in Manchester by hosting their conference in town again this year, I've booked a holiday so I don't have to look at their 'hard working' faces on the way to one of my four jobs.
Labour's saviour
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...dow-environment-secretary-kerry-10515299.htmlMeat-eaters should be treated like smokers, says the vegan shadow environment secretary Kerry McCarthy
Labour's spokeswoman for the farming industry wants meat eaters to be targeted with public ad campaigns encouraging them to go vegetarian
Matt Dathan
Thursday 24 September 2015
Meat eaters should be treated in the same way as smokers and targeted with ad campaigns urging them to become vegetarians, according to Labour's new spokeswoman for the farming industry.
Kerry McCarthy, who has admitted she is a "militant" vegan, was appointed shadow environment secretary in Jeremy Corbyn's front-bench team, alarming countryside campaigners who warned that her veganism and strong opposition to hunting and the badger cull would harm Britain's farming industry.
She said that although progress had been made to improve animal welfare, ultimately people needed to give up meat or dairy if they really wanted to protect animals.
Public campaigns, such as those warning of the dangers of smoking, should be used to encourage people to give up meat, Ms McCarthy said.
But her views were dismissed as "verging on the cranky" by the Countryside Alliance, who have warned Mr Corbyn that Ms McCarthy's appointment has made distanced farmers even further from the Labour party.
Ms McCarthy has been a vegan for the last 20 years and was a vegetarian for 10 years before that. She has also campaigned against the Government's badger cull and fox hunting in her role as vice-president of the League Against Cruel Sports.
In an interview with vegan magazine Viva!life, she said: "I really believe that meat should be treated in exactly the same way as tobacco, with public campaigns to stop people eating it.
"Progress on animal welfare is being made at EU level … but in the end it comes down to not eating meat or dairy."
In another move that is likely to anger farmers, she said the low price of milk in the UK was "a supply and demand thing", adding: "Too much milk is being produced and if you live by the market you have to risk dying by the market."
Ms McCarthy said the use of EU farming subsidies to fund shooting and forestry had turned her into an even more radical vegan.
"The constant challenging of the environmental impact of livestock farming is making me more and more militant, not least that CAP payments are available for grouse shooting, controlling buzzards and forestry," she said.
She defended Mr Corbyn's decision to appoint someone with such strong opinions to the role, saying it was "important to have someone in the role who doesn’t see it as a stepping stone to a different post, but is really keen to get engaged in the issues."
She added: "There will be different viewpoints, there will be violent disagreements, but it’s about trying to listen to the evidence, approach things with an open mind – and I am very much prepared to do that."
Tim Bonner, from the Countryside Alliance, said: "Kerry McCarthy’s views on meat eating and livestock farming are completely out of step with the vast majority of people.
"Her ideas are verging on the cranky. This appointment is only going to make it more difficult for Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party to reconnect with rural Britain."
Ms McCarthy later sought to reassure the farming industry by clarifying her comments. She told Radio 4's Farming Today: The world is not going to turn vegan because I am in post.
"I have my own personal views on what I choose to eat, but I accept that we have a livestock industry in this country. What I want is for the industry to have the best welfare standards possible, to be sustainable as well as economically viable."
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...dow-environment-secretary-kerry-10515299.html
Check out that huge jump on people who think the party is extreme.
Here's the data.
https://www.ipsos-mori.com/research...but-Cameron-leads-on-other-PM-attributes.aspx
Check out that huge jump on people who think the party is extreme.
Here's the data.
https://www.ipsos-mori.com/research...but-Cameron-leads-on-other-PM-attributes.aspx
Check out that huge jump on people who think the party is extreme.
Here's the data.
https://www.ipsos-mori.com/research...but-Cameron-leads-on-other-PM-attributes.aspx
The numbers on that chart are all over the place and just down right odd. Looking at those numbers people seem think that Cameron is a more capable leader than Corbyn while at the same time agree that he(Cameron) is more out of touch, less trust worthy and more style over substance. Just bizarre.
Looking at those numbers people seem think that Cameron is a more capable leader than Corbyn while at the same time agreeing that he(Cameron) is more out of touch, less trust worthy and more style over substance. So why do these people think Cameron is a more capable leader ?
And they also seem to agree that the Conservative keeps their promises more than Labour while at the same time admitting that they think Conservative will promise anything to win votes.
Very odd.
I think this is wishful thinking. Table including Ed's ratings pre-election:I'd say perception of leadership has a lot to do with what those being led are doing.
In the first week it didn't even look like Corbyn can lead his own party what with all the anonymous and unanonymous quotes being given to the press undermining him. This early on I would lay that blame on the party itself rather than Corbyn. One could argue that a stronger leader would have been able to force this themselves but he never really had a chance.
If they had got behind him and closed ranks - and shown that they support the opinion of the Labour party as a whole - then I would imagine Corbyn's perception as an effective leader would be better (not saying it would be better than Cameron's rating, but it would be far better than what it is).
I expect they are doing it so that once they force him out they can legitimately distance themselves from the man and his views.
They will also be distancing themselves from any future vote of mine. I don't want to vote for a party with no backbone. I wonder if others feel the same way.
I think this is wishful thinking. Table including Ed's ratings pre-election:
![]()
Looks likelier they think Corbyn's just more of the same stuff they didn't like about Ed. Also worth bearing in mind that Labour as a party always ran well ahead of Miliband in terms of popularity - if the party as a whole is now being damaged due to the direction Corbyn is taking (and such huge leaps in perceptions of being extreme, divided and out of date certainly point that way), it seems evidence that the polls are likelier to go down rather than up.
I think this is wishful thinking. Table including Ed's ratings pre-election:
![]()
Looks likelier they think Corbyn's just more of the same stuff they didn't like about Ed. Also worth bearing in mind that Labour as a party always ran well ahead of Miliband in terms of popularity - if the party as a whole is now being damaged due to the direction Corbyn is taking (and such huge leaps in perceptions of being extreme, divided and out of date certainly point that way), it seems evidence that the polls are likelier to go down rather than up.
Fieldwork was 19-23rd by the looks of it, so two days without it and two days with. No-one really seems to care.Is that pre or post bae of pigs?
(Presumably pre)
I'd say perception of leadership has a lot to do with what those being led are doing.
In the first week it didn't even look like Corbyn can lead his own party what with all the anonymous and unanonymous quotes being given to the press undermining him. This early on I would lay that blame on the party itself rather than Corbyn. One could argue that a stronger leader would have been able to force this themselves but he never really had a chance.
If they had got behind him and closed ranks - and shown that they support the opinion of the Labour party as a whole - then I would imagine Corbyn's perception as an effective leader would be better (not saying it would be better than Cameron's rating, but it would be far better than what it is).
I expect they are doing it so that once they force him out they can legitimately distance themselves from the man and his views.
They will also be distancing themselves from any future vote of mine. I don't want to vote for a party with no backbone. I wonder if others feel the same way.
His net favourability among the public has been the same since long before he won the election. (7th Sept, 16th Aug) I don't think that the results should be pinned on anyone but him (they will be of course, the PLP will take the blame)
re the bit in bold - this is the thing that terrifies me about Corbyn. He's promised people the moon, and if they don't get it they're not going to blame him - they're going to blame Labour.
In fairness I also saw that Cameron was pretty woeful on these sorts of questions even in 07, it was mainly the crash that started turning his numbers around. Then again, he was at least moderating the Tory positions to be more in line with public opinion which then enabled him to benefit from the slump. And the satisfaction numbers you also posted are pretty inarguably bad.
They're also nonsense. I mean shock horror that after the media telling everyone he's a loony extremist who'll divide the party they happen to believe he's a loony extremist who'll divide the party.
It's almost as if in the absence of knowing anything tat the media have influence, who'd of thought.
It'll take him a long time to press upon the public his own image before he can begin to replace the media's representation of him.
Given that he's spent the entire summer riding on the crest of a social media driven wave of positivity & popularity, what's going to happen over the coming years that hasn't happened already would you say?
Exactly what was said about Ed. For five years. It's fantasy.They're also nonsense. I mean shock horror that after the media telling everyone he's a loony extremist who'll divide the party they happen to believe he's a loony extremist who'll divide the party.
It's almost as if in the absence of knowing anything tat the media have influence, who'd of thought.
It'll take him a long time to press upon the public his own image before he can begin to replace the media's representation of him.
To early for comparisons. Kerry McCarthy needs to keep those kind of opinions to herself . Don't want the Tory media to start labelling them the looney left.