Politics at Westminster | BREAKING: UKIP

They left out 'pig', 'communist' and 'porn star' from that.
 
There is a certain element of UKIP being a victim of its own success i think, certainly the demand for candidates seems to be outstripping the party's ability to vet them properly. And Farage could feasibly run as an independent one day if he despair of his rank and file sufficiently.
 
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Good choices, chief. :D
 
UKIP are the wet dream party of Daily Mail readers. Funny enough when you take a quick glance at Farage's background/personal life he sort of person UKIP voters would hate.

I think this actually makes Farage worse than if he believed in the shite he's spouting out.

It's interesting that the Daily Mail are pulling no punches when it comes to UKIP, given that the party has such support from their readership. You can actually pinpoint the moment when the paper abruptly went from cautiously rooting for UKIP to undermining them daily. It was around the time when it became clear that UKIP had gone from being a mere cheerleader for the conservatives of little-England on the sidleines of mainstream politics to being a serious electoral threat to the Tory Party.
 
Labour lead cut to one point as Telegraph opinion poll exposes UK's North-South divide

Ed Miliband and David Cameron are almost neck-and-neck with one year to go until the general election as a clear regional divide opens up between Labour and the Tories

By Tim Ross, Political Correspondent
03 May 2014


A clear political divide between the North and the South has emerged with one year to go until the next general election, an exclusive poll for The Telegraph has found.

The Conservatives have edged in front of Labour in the South, while Ed Miliband’s Labour Party has extended its advantage in the North of England, according to the latest ICM survey of 2,000 people.

With just 12 months left until polling day, Labour’s overall lead has fallen to just one point, with the party now on 32 per cent to the Conservatives’ 31 per cent.

It is the narrowest lead ever recorded for Ed Miliband in ICM's Wisdom Index survey since he became Labour leader in 2010.

The poll also showed a fall in support for the Liberal Democrats, on 15 per cent, and another boost for Nigel Farage’s UK Independence Party, who gained a point to 13 per cent, since the last Wisdom Index was published in February.



In the research, conducted on Wednesday and Thursday, pollsters asked more than 2,000 respondents to predict the share of the vote each party will receive, rather than the conventional question of who they would vote for.

The method is designed to provide a more accurate picture of public opinion, as it avoids the “emotional baggage” associated with individuals confessing to not intending to vote or supporting an unpopular party.

Recent attention has concentrated on the European Parliament elections on May 22, in which Ukip is expected to beat the Conservatives into third place.

But with 12 months to go until the general election on May 7, 2015, all the parties will be focused on the battle to form the next government in Westminster.

David Cameron is given a boost today by taking a one-point lead across the south of England over Labour. In February’s Wisdom Index, Labour had a one point lead over the Tories in the south-east and a three point lead across the south-west and Wales.

Voters in the North predicted that the Tories would win just 29 per cent of the vote, with Labour on 35 per cent. Their counterparts in southern England, however, forecast a 32 per cent share of the vote for the Conservatives, one point ahead of Labour.

The result will be a further cause for concern in the shadow cabinet. John Denham, a former cabinet minister and one of Mr Miliband’s closest allies, admitted last week that Labour had made “a complete hash” of its response to Ukip and was failing to win over the South.

One shadow cabinet minister admitted that Labour could not win next year’s election without “doing better” in southern areas, while the Tories did not need to convert the North of England for victory.

Today’s poll suggests that the Conservatives have retained their advantage over Labour among the over-65 age group, who are among the most likely to turn out to vote.

Martin Boon, head of ICM Research, said the result represented the joint narrowest lead for Labour ever recorded in the Wisdom Index.

“Both the main parties are polling much lower than they would hope for,” he said.

“This different polling approach provides further evidence that, at last, the Tories are making in-roads into the Labour vote.”

However, the shift is due to a loss of support for Labour as the Conservatives remain stuck on 31 per cent, he said.

Mr Miliband and Mr Farage will set out their rival offers on the BBC’s Andrew Marr today.

Some Conservative MPs fear that Labour has been keeping quiet recently to allow Ukip to dominate the political agenda, to the cost of the Tories.

“I think Labour are just holding back,” one Conservative MP said. “Labour’s silence is partly because they are thinking, ‘as long as Ukip are in the headlines, that damages the Tories.’”

Polling in the marginal seats suggests that strong backing for Mr Farage would split the right-wing vote, taking enough support away from the Tories to allow Labour into power in next year’s election.

Tories are also concerned that their party is less prepared for the “ground war” over the next 12 months than Labour.

Ed Miliband’s officials now say their activists have knocked on 1.5 million doors in the party’s 106 target seat areas since January this year.

Labour has installed candidates in 104 of its 106 target seats, while full-time, paid community organisers are also now at work in 102.

All that’s required for Labour to be the largest party next year – a platform for a potential coalition with Nick Clegg - is a national swing of just 1.75 per cent.

For the Tories, the picture appears less clear. Analysis by this newspaper suggests that the Conservatives have so far failed to choose candidates in almost one third of their top target seats with just 12 months left before polling day.

While Mr Miliband has 98 per cent of his new parliamentary candidates already in place, the Conservatives have vacancies in up to 30 per cent of their most winnable marginal seats.

Mr Cameron has authorised what is known as the “40/40 strategy” for winning next year’s election.

Under the plan, Tory resources will be concentrated on the 40 constituencies with sitting MPs on small majorities – the so-called “defensive” seats – and the 40 “attack” seats, which are held by Labour and Lib Dem MPs and which the party regards as the most winnable next year.

No official list has been publicly released by the Conservatives of their top 40 target seats.

However, analysis by The Telegraph of the 40 constituencies where the Tories need the smallest swing in support to win showed candidates have been chosen in only 28 out of these 40 seats so far.

Of the 75 most marginal seats with the smallest Labour or Lib Dem majorities, almost half – 34 - still have not chosen a Conservative contender.

Andrew Bridgen, the Conservative MP for North West Leicestershire, said: “How can you attack if you haven’t even got a candidate in place? There is no focal point. You can’t put leaflets out. This needs to be done otherwise how can you make an impact on the ground in less than 12 months?

“Unless you are a very well known local, you risk being seen as a Johnny-come-lately and the public do not like that.”

:: ICM Research interviewed an online sample of 2,001 adults aged 18+ on 30th April-1st May 2014. Interviews have been weighted to the profile of all adults. ICM is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/pol...nion-poll-exposes-UKs-North-South-divide.html
 
With just 12 months left until polling day, Labour’s overall lead has fallen to just one point, with the party now on 32 per cent to the Conservatives’ 31 per cent.

It is the narrowest lead ever recorded for Ed Miliband in ICM's Wisdom Index survey since he became Labour leader in 2010.

The poll also showed a fall in support for the Liberal Democrats, on 15 per cent, and another boost for Nigel Farage’s UK Independence Party, who gained a point to 13 per cent, since the last Wisdom Index was published in February.

Eyes glazed over the rest of it.

That 32 to 31 is going to translate to a big lead for Labour because of our stupid voting system.
 
QT a bit more interesting than usual. Chukka trips up Farage and Lucas elegantly stomps on him with her high heels
I'm not watching. Is that Caroline Lucas? I usually try and catch it, if she's on (my MP). Will iPlayer the thing, later, if so.
 
I'm not watching. Is that Caroline Lucas? I usually try and catch it, if she's on (my MP). Will iPlayer the thing, later, if so.
You're in Brighton? I'm just outside unfortunately so can't vote for her, and the Greens don't even bother wasting their deposit here. Really hope she keeps her seat next year.

I'm not sure I've ever heard Grant Shapps say anything that he thought of himself, he's always straight into whatever talking point the party have been pushing of late. You get them in every party of course, but I'm not sure I've seen anyone else so dedicated to the craft.
 
You're in Brighton? I'm just outside unfortunately so can't vote for her, and the Greens don't even bother wasting their deposit here. Really hope she keeps her seat next year.
Yeah, been here a year. Makes a change from living in the West Midlands where I got more BNP candidates than Lib Dems, let alone Greens.
 
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/may/08/jeremy-hunt-homeopathy-studies-chief-medical-officer


Jeremy Hunt sent homeopathy studies to chief medical officer
Letter to Tory MP reveals health secretary asked Sally Davies to initiate reviews of already dismissed studies by French firm
Chief-medical-officer-Sal-011.jpg

Chief medical officer Sally Davies has said publicly she believes homeopathy is 'rubbish'. Photograph: Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty Images


The health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, asked the chief medical officer to commission expert reviews of three homeopathic remedy studies carried out by a commercial French company – in spite of the CMO's publicly expressed belief that homeopathy is "rubbish".

Dame Sally Davies, the CMO, has categorically dismissed homeopathy as a waste of time and money. "I am perpetually surprised that homeopathy is available on the NHS," she told the Commons science and technology committee in January 2013.

Yet Hunt, who expressed support for homeopathy in 2007 before he joined the Department of Health, asked Davies to initiate reviews of three studies carried out by the French company Boiron, which have already been dismissed by scientific critics.

Boiron has run into legal difficulties in the US in recent years. In 2012, it set aside $5m to refund consumers who bought certain homeopathic products. Expert witnesses argued that the "active ingredients" were neither active nor ingredients.

Homeopathic remedies are dilutions of substances to such a high degree that the original ingredient is undetectable.

Hunt's action followed lobbying from the strongly pro-homeopathy Tory MP David Tredinnick. The health secretary's intervention was revealed through a Freedom of Information request by the website BuzzFeed.

In a letter to Tredinnick, Hunt thanked the MP for drawing his attention to the studies and said: "It is important we do not discount different methods of treatment if they prove to be effective and I asked the CMO to have them reviewed. The studies have now been assessed by two senior researchers with expertise in research design and experience of research in complementary therapies."

The letter, drafted for Hunt, showed that the researchers found the studies did not offer evidence of the efficacy of homeopathy. Two of the studies were "well-designed, with robust results" but were essentially descriptive studies, that is, that they did not test one remedy against another or against a placebo, as would happen in a clinical trial.

The third study compared two group of patients with musculoskeletal disorders, such as back strains and sprains. One group was treated by GPs using homeopathy and the other by GPs using conventional means. "Drawing any firm conclusions is difficult because of the relatively low response rate at 12 months and in particular the lack of randomisation, which means that the results may have been produced by differences between patient groups that have not been taken into account," the reviewers had found.

Hunt, however, said he was willing to carry on the discussion. "I am of course happy to put any counterpoints or further studies you may have to the reviewers for further consideration," he told Tredinnick in his letter.

Hunt signed an early day motion welcoming the availability of homeopathy on the NHS in 2007, but a source close to the health secretary said on Thursday: "Jeremy is not a supporter of homeopathy and is not persuaded that there is any scientific evidence that it works."

Jamie Reed, a shadow health minister, said patients and medics would be dismayed but not surprised to learn that Hunt had "wasted time and money" on investigating studies into homeopathy.

He added: "The government's own NHS Choices website states that the evidence for homeopathy is 'scientifically implausible' but this doesn't appear to be enough for the error-prone health secretary. As his policies continue to damage the NHS, I hope he hasn't ordered an investigation into the use of leeches."

Edzard Ernst, emeritus professor at Exeter University and a critic of homeopathy, said there was already evidence in the public domain relating to Boiron's studies. "I have repeatedly commented on the dismal quality and misleading conclusions of Boiron-sponsored research on my blog," he said. "We have to ask why someone in a position like Hunt ignores all these facts and takes such extraordinary action."

The study comparing patients treated by GPs with different methodsfound less medication in the homeopathy group. It was, Ernst said, "a self-fulfilling prophecy, like finding that a lot of people in Macdonalds eat meat".

He said he was amazed that Hunt had offered to refer any further evidence from Tredinnick back to the reviewers. "He is actually offering further assistance; he therefore is much more than a 'conduit'. [That's] quite unbelievable – officially, he had renounced his enthusiasm for homeopathy."

The campaign group Sense About Science said Tredinnick had already raised the studies with them, at a hearing of the science and technology committee in May last year. "He already knows about the limitations of these studies," said the campaigns director, Sile Lane. "It is a disingenuous request. This is single-study campaigning – if the pharmaceutical industry did this, people's reaction would be, rightly, indignant."



Our secretary of state for health everyone. Excellent.
 


Nigel Farage getting absolutely owned, quite a bit of a car crashed really

When the interviewer who does a fantastic job asks him why he is in effect a bit of a racist, Farage's reaction to it was "why don't you come and meet the black and ethnic members of UKIP". Completely shows him up
 
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Nigel Farage getting absolutely owned, quite a bit of a car crashed really

When the interviewer who does a fantastic job asks him why he is in effect a bit of a racist, Farage's reaction to it was "why don't you come and meet the black and ethnic members of UKIP". Completely shows him up

"I'm just an ordinary person, I don't understand how these financial institutions work" :lol: Great quote there!
 


Nigel Farage getting absolutely owned, quite a bit of a car crashed really

When the interviewer who does a fantastic job asks him why he is in effect a bit of a racist, Farage's reaction to it was "why don't you come and meet the black and ethnic members of UKIP". Completely shows him up

And they've still got a pretty great chance of being the top party at next week's election. Amazing.
 


Nigel Farage getting absolutely owned, quite a bit of a car crash really

When the interviewer who does a fantastic job asks him why he is in effect a bit of a racist, Farage's reaction to it was "why don't you come and meet the black and ethnic members of UKIP". Completely shows him up
O'Brien gave him a good kicking, even better then the more middle-class one he got on QT.
 
The liberal agenda is in full flow against Farage now, the main parties gunning for him as well.
 
Farage got carved up, but as much as he did - I still found the host just as irritating. Not as if he's trying to run the country though in fairness.
 
Farage got owned.

Will still perform well in Euro Elections
 
Farage really did get owned, he tried as best to cover up his clear xenophobia

I haven't been keeping up with politics lately, 'cuz well none of the party leaders particularly appeal to me.
Can someone give me a run down on what UKIP is proposing?
 
Been watching HIGNFY, on iPlayer. I think I might actually like Jacob Rees-Mogg.

I wouldn't dream of ever voting for the guy but he has an unashamed "this is what I believe and if you want to know why I'll tell you" feel about him. On a personal level, I find that quite appealing. I guess as it's such a change from Ed Milliband, who is meant to vaguely represent my views but is happy to immigrant bash if it suits. Or Boris Johnson who largely sees the world similarly to Rees-Mogg but hides behind the floppy haired 'lovable' rascal act.

It's quite an uncomfortable feeling, liking him. If anyone has some evidence to cure me of it, that isn't based purely on ideological differences (as that doesn't seem to be working), that would be helpful.
 
Been watching HIGNFY, on iPlayer. I think I might actually like Jacob Rees-Mogg.

I wouldn't dream of ever voting for the guy but he has an unashamed "this is what I believe and if you want to know why I'll tell you" feel about him. On a personal level, I find that quite appealing. I guess as it's such a change from Ed Milliband, who is meant to vaguely represent my views but is happy to immigrant bash if it suits. Or Boris Johnson who largely sees the world similarly to Rees-Mogg but hides behind the floppy haired 'lovable' rascal act.

It's quite an uncomfortable feeling, liking him. If anyone has some evidence to cure me of it, that isn't based purely on ideological differences (as that doesn't seem to be working), that would be helpful.
Even Stephen Fry likes him, and he's no Tory either. I don't like him that much, myself though.
 
Yes, and i can report that the European election ballot paper is about three pages of A4 long. If such is any indication of the required deposit we could probably put forward the RedCafe party next time.

Of my four votes the majority went to the Greens.
 
Yes, and i can report that the European election ballot paper is about three pages of A4 long. If such is any indication of the required deposit we could probably put forward the RedCafe party next time.

Of my four votes the majority went to the Greens.

:drool: Love the Green party. It's such a shame(but no surprise) that UKIP got all sudden attention and the fact some people claimed to have used them as a form of protest vote(I find hard to believe).

If your getting to have a protest vote then the very least you should do is not give your vote to a absolute cnut of a man.
 
Yes, and i can report that the European election ballot paper is about three pages of A4 long. If such is any indication of the required deposit we could probably put forward the RedCafe party next time.

Of my four votes the majority went to the Greens.

I hope you put your cross next to the animal welfare party.
 
I hope you put your cross next to the animal welfare party.

The list was memorable for the number of parties one wouldn't choose to vote for, from the mainstream types to the "what the hell are they doing there?" variety. Indeed i couldn't say that there are any for whom i would feel entirely comfortable in backing.
 
Me too. Now fire away with calling me a racist or whatever.


UKIP are a rubbish party, they're run by a bunch of morons and idiots and what they promise is offered by virtually every other party on a far more constructive and broad platform.

I'm not going to call people that vote for them racist, but I struggle to think how anyone thats bothered to inform themself could come to the conclusion that they're actually a sensible choice in this election. They're an odious party, and it strikes of ignorance or apathy that people vote for them.
 
I want the UK out of the European Union, I'm not sure where else I get that.

Certainly not voting for a bunch of jobsworth knobheads to go and sit and do nothing in Brussels.

For all their rhetoric, UKIP MEPs no matter how many they get, can't do that for you.

Ironically, the one party that can the Tories after the next election, are the one party that UKIP are taking the most votes from.