Politics at Westminster | BREAKING: UKIP

Because not one single person in the cabinet has a science degree, shocking really.
Its all parties - there is a heavy bias to PPE (politics, philosophy, economics) or at least one of them with a smattering of law... and again a heavy bias to oxbridge with a smattering of edinburgh, durham, LSE etc

I think the only people who hold a science degree over both the cabinet and the shadow cabinet is Lucy Powell who studdied chemistry

I suppose it is logical that people who have an interest in PPE and law pursue a career in running the country - I also suppose its logical that people who get the grades to get into oxbridge go on to do well in their careers but you cant help but think that a slightly more rounded skill set (over politics in general) would be a good thing.

I attended Uni with Heidi Alexander though and I will admit she was pretty switched on and had broad interests so again you shouldn't pigeon hole people by their degree but personally I still think its fairly accepted in most fields that if you draw from a more divergent pool of talent you get a broader skill set.
 
Kinell, looks like the Lib Dems will support air strikes.
 
Its all parties - there is a heavy bias to PPE (politics, philosophy, economics) or at least one of them with a smattering of law... and again a heavy bias to oxbridge with a smattering of edinburgh, durham, LSE etc

I think the only people who hold a science degree over both the cabinet and the shadow cabinet is Lucy Powell who studdied chemistry

I suppose it is logical that people who have an interest in PPE and law pursue a career in running the country - I also suppose its logical that people who get the grades to get into oxbridge go on to do well in their careers but you cant help but think that a slightly more rounded skill set (over politics in general) would be a good thing.

I attended Uni with Heidi Alexander though and I will admit she was pretty switched on and had broad interests so again you shouldn't pigeon hole people by their degree but personally I still think its fairly accepted in most fields that if you draw from a more divergent pool of talent you get a broader skill set.
Did any of your mates bang her?
 
How is he still health secretary?

Being prone to both PR gaffes as well as errors of judgement we must consider what else about his presence is beneficial for Cameron: might Hunt be a welcome ally as regard the EU Ref for instance, there is also the controversial Heathrow expansion looming.

He ought to be an obvious target at the next cabinet reshuffle.


Because not one single person in the cabinet has a science degree, shocking really.

What has a science degree to do with people skills or common sense, most of his difficulties have been caused by poor communication and generally ineffectual leadership of his department.
 
Being prone to both PR gaffes as well as errors of judgement we must consider what else about his presence is beneficial for Cameron: might Hunt be a welcome ally as regard the EU Ref for instance, there is also the controversial Heathrow expansion looming.

He ought to be an obvious target at the next cabinet reshuffle.




What has a science degree to do with people skills or common sense, most of his difficulties have been caused by poor communication and generally ineffectual leadership of his department.

Well I'd expect the health secretary to ideally be of some medical background, or at the very least something tenuously related.
 
Well I'd expect the health secretary to ideally be of some medical background, or at the very least something tenuously related.

Maybe, but the lack of such a qualification is entirely unrelated to the recent difficulties, and if anything what health department needs is a good strategist. It was just a lazy dig at the government IMO.
 
Liam Fox is a Doctor I think... any other MP's who are?
Sarah Wollaston's one, also of the Tories.

Don't think a medical background is necessary at all to be honest, just that you have a strong mind, are able and willing to listen to the advice of experts in the area and be willing in cases like this to negotiate in good faith.
 
Sarah Wollaston's one, also of the Tories.

Don't think a medical background is necessary at all to be honest, just that you have a strong mind, are able and willing to listen to the advice of experts in the area and be willing in cases like this to negotiate in good faith.

I think it should be tbh, especially considering how cabinet ministers evidently don't have a clue as to how they work since they're so adamant on introducing unrealistic goals such as 7 day open GP surgeries.
 
Maybe, but the lack of such a qualification is entirely unrelated to the recent difficulties, and if anything what health department needs is a good strategist. It was just a lazy dig at the government IMO.

I quite agree with you, but wasn't the Tories brilliant idea to remove 'waste' and 'revolutionise' the NHS to get more doctors in to management positions instead of people with, you know, management ability?

Interesting how its one rule for that and one rule for MPs.
 
It's going to get nasty tomorrow by the sounds of things
Cameron calling Corbyn a terrorist sympathiser to the 1922 committee...
I think pmq's is cancelled as well for a full days Syria debate
 
It's going to get nasty tomorrow by the sounds of things
Cameron calling Corbyn a terrorist sympathiser to the 1922 committee...
I think pmq's is cancelled as well for a full days Syria debate
Don't worry. David Cameron is a grade A cnut, so it won't get any nastier than he's already made it countless of times before.
 
It's going to get nasty tomorrow by the sounds of things
Cameron calling Corbyn a terrorist sympathiser to the 1922 committee...
I think pmq's is cancelled as well for a full days Syria debate
If anything Cameron is the bigger terrorist sympathiser considering his bromance with Erdogan and the Saudis who are probably the only people on ISIS' Christmas card list.
 
I think this poll is worth putting in here as well as the Corbyn thread

You gov poll relating to strikes in Syria (and corbyns ratings + voting intentions)

48% in favour of air strikes
but 31% against air strikes
with 21% undecided

https://yougov.co.uk/news/2015/12/02/analysis-sharp-fall-support-air-strikes-syria/

Other interesting highlights are a -41% rating for Comrade Corbyn

In essence, Mr Corbyn is polarising the electorate – gaining ground among a large, worried minority of voters, but alienating the much larger majority. This is why, even as the number of people supporting his stance on Syria has grown, so has the number of people who say is failing as party leader.

Just after he won his leadership election, he became the first opposition leader in sixty years of polling to start out with a negative rating, with more people saying he was doing badly than well. His net score then of minus eight soon got worse. Two weeks ago it was minus 22.

Now it is minus 41, with just 24% saying he is doing well and 65% saying badly. It is even negative among people who voted Labour in May; his net score with them is minus six.

Conservatives 41% (up from 37% in September and 36.9% in the last election)
Labour 30% (down from 31% and 30.4% in the last election)
UKIP 16% (down from 17% and 12.6% in the last election)
Libs 6% (down from 7% and 7.9% in the last election)
SNP / Welsh party 4% (down from 5% and 4.7% in the last election)
Greens 3% (up from 2% and 3.8% in the last election)

Essentially the conservatives have gone from a 5.5% lead over Labour in the last election to an 11% lead - what would a swing like that do in an election? along with the increased UKIP vote - my guess is decimate Labour
wasnt Corbyn supposed to energise new voters, win the Scottish vote back and take votes away from UKIP and the Greens - Its not working out that way by the looks of things!
 
Basically just said "what she said" to avoid being quoted as apologising :lol:
 
So the Prime Minister has taken it upon himself to use this debate to declare that we all must now partake in a piece of religious-apologist propaganda by referring to ISIS/ISIL as Daesh. Well feck you Cameron, it's the ISLAMIC STATE (or ISIS/ISIL) whether the apologists like it or not. That is their self-declared name and the usual protocol is to adopt this....not pluck a new name out of thin air because we consider the old to be politically insensitive.

Unlike the other media outlets, it's good to hear that the BBC still has enough of an understanding of journalistic integrity to be able to see the problem with 'Daesh' and will be continuing to refer to them by the name IS/ISIS/ISIL.
 
So the Prime Minister has taken it upon himself to use this debate to declare that we all must now partake in a piece of religious-apologist propaganda by referring to ISIS/ISIL as Daesh. Well feck you Cameron, it's the ISLAMIC STATE (or ISIS/ISIL) whether the apologists like it or not. That is their self-declared name and the usual protocol is to adopt this....not pluck a new name out of thin air because we consider the old to be politically insensitive.

Unlike the other media outlets, it's good to hear that the BBC still has enough of an understanding of journalistic integrity to be able to see the problem with 'Daesh' and will be continuing to refer to them by the name IS/ISIS/ISIL.

daesh is just the arabic equivalent of IS. Not about being politically insensitive or being an apologist. There's debates about whether it delegitimizes them, dissociating the term Islamic from their name with regards to whether its useful. I think the angle is overplayed. But you calling it "religious-apologist propaganda" I find pretty bizarre and hyperbolic.

Like how we refer to the Democratic People's Republic of North Korea as simply "North Korea". I daresay you don't get this bent out of shape insisting on the DEMOCRATIC bit.
 
So the PM was asked the question of why Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Iran are not dong enough militarily to combat 'Daesh', and he responded with a passionate defense of our Sunni allies Turkey and Saudi Arabia but just could not bring himself to praise Iranian involvement...or even acknowledge it, even though they have done more to help the fight against ISIS than Turkey, SA and the Gulf states put together.
 
daesh is just the arabic equivalent of IS. Not about being politically insensitive or being an apologist. There's debates about whether it delegitimizes them, dissociating the term Islamic from their name with regards to whether its useful. I think the angle is overplayed. But you calling it "religious-apologist propaganda" I find pretty bizarre and hyperbolic.

Like how we refer to the Democratic People's Republic of North Korea as simply "North Korea". I daresay you don't get this bent out of shape insisting on the DEMOCRATIC bit.

Nobody was using the term Daesh until somebody decided that using IS was making Islam look bad. It was a conscious decision to alter language in order to affect public perception..i.e. pure, calculated propaganda.

Your example of North Korea is not a very good one because it is standard practice to refer to countries with long-winded names by shorter versions, e.g. nobody refers to Germany as the Federal Republic of Germany or the UK as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. A better example would be somebody deciding that Hitler's Nazi/National Socialist movement was not 'true socialism' and therefore we should come up with a new name that doesn't include the world socialist.
 
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Benn and Watson look miserable don't they
On a presentation point as well Corbyn would be much more effective at communicating his point (to the wider public) if he looked up more as it looks like he has his head down reading most of the time.
 
Benn and Watson look miserable don't they
On a presentation point as well Corbyn would be much more effective at communicating his point (to the wider public) if he looked up more as it looks like he has his head down reading most of the time.

To be honest I think both Cameron and Corbyn have presented there sides well here so far.

Apart from David Cameron not apologising that is.
 
I do find it concerning that seemingly half the members of the House of Commons seem to think this is a big laugh when they're about to come to such a serious decision.
 
To be honest I think both Cameron and Corbyn have presented there sides well here so far.

Apart from David Cameron not apologising that is.
yes cameron should have just started his speech with something like some comments may have been mis-interpreted and i apologise for any offence and that would have made for a mich better atmosphere
I have it open in the background whilst im working and I think corbyn sounds good - but when I look at it I cant help think a communications consultant would be a good investment as he could get his point over better to camera with some small tweaks (imo)
 
If theTory backbenchers have so much to say you'd have thought their leader would have provided more than 1 day. Petulant children
 
Nobody was using the term Daesh until somebody decided that using IS was making Islam look bad. It was a conscious decision to alter language in order to effect public perception..i.e. pure, calculated propaganda.

Your example of North Korea is not a very good one because it is standard practice to refer to countries with long-winded names by shorter versions, e.g. nobody refers to Germany as the Federal Republic of Germany or the UK as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. A better example would be somebody deciding that Hitler's Nazi/National Socialist movement was not 'true socialism' and therefore we should come up with a new name that doesn't include the world socialist.

Nobody??? It is and was used by literally every single Arab person I know and caught on, they themselves referred to themselves as "dawalah al-islam etc...", daesh/daish the acronym includes "islam" in it incidentally, it just so happens that it kinda sounds like das - to trample on so that as a narrative talking point, to refer to them as that, to delegitimise them caught on because it was mentioned in a few op-eds in western media.

I really don't think it's about ensuring islam doesn't "look bad". They've done a good job of that themselves but of course most sane non-bigots who know Muslims as their neighbours know that they don't represent vast majority etc. I think its a bit of a meh tactic, i don't think they care too much to be honest. But nor will I say that is "calculated propangda"

The example of North Korea is appropriate because incidentally daesh is just a shorter version of their full name in arabic. Like I said, its not that big of a deal either way in my opinion.