UK General Discussion

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All this means that there will be no British say in the Conclave.

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Just seen a random tweet saying that UKIP are in the same position Labour was in 100 years ago. They're a hilarious bunch.

100 years ago, Labour had over 40 MPs.

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At the moment, PR for this country is about as likely as me dating Jenna-Louise Coleman, so UKIP can't rely on that.

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The Labour vote did decline in Eastleigh, so after 3 years of "brutal cuts" as Labour say, they failed to increse their number of supporters, that is pathetic.

Eastleigh Labour vote
2010 - 5,153
2013 - 4,088

Labour is in for a 1992 style shock, not a 1983 style win.

I mean you guys are suggesting that Lib Dem voters will naturally swing to Labour, where did that happen in Eastleigh, lol it didn't.

It's a by-election in a seat Labour hasn't gotten more than 30% of the vote since 1974, so I think you're in danger of drawing too big a conclusion.

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Vicky Pryce convicted after retrial - facing prison time

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Budget day's gonna be fun this year.

Especially with the PCS strike.

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This whole idea of pulling out of the ECHR disturbs me. How many dictatorships would cite our example in response?

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Huhne and Pryce both get 8 months, which means they'll probably be out in 3 or 4.

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What I don't understand though is this "if Yvette had ran in 2010, she would've won" train of thought that's developed over the past year. I think people forget how she was simply "Mrs. Balls" for the first 13 years of her parliamentary career. Since opposition on the other hand...

With a recession that bad, no Labour leader would have won.

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It's the Commons?
It looks empty, small and has no tables.

As I recall, the Commons is far too small to sit all of its members at once. Also, it's presumably usually almost empty, like the US Congress (and probably most legislatures?).

Deliberately so in fact - when it was blown up in a German air raid (it was empty at the time), they decided to rebuild it as it was to make it appear less empty.

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David Miliband is heading the International Rescue Committee. Yes, there are Twitter jokes about that.

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Eric Joyce will not be prosecuted.

Although that clip of him almost falling over outside the police station will probably feature on Have I Got News For You.

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http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/04/05/blair-i-would-have-given-cameron-a-
run-for-his-money/

Blair says he would have done better in the general election than Brown.

I think the effect may have been marginal, Labour should have called a snap poll in 2007, they probably could have won with a majority of 25 or so.

And they still would have ended up losing in 2012... all that decision does is buy Labour two more years.

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£7.45 (up to £8.55 in London), rather than the minimum wage of £6.19.

I'm not to happy with a promise of tax breaks across the board; the notion that the living wage needs to be 'encouraged' just seems more customary spinelessness from our politicians - it should become the mandated minimum wage Labour promises in 2015, with any talk of tax breaks limited to a minority of businesses that can prove they couldn't financially withstand it.

Carrots are better than sticks generally - best to try persuasion first.

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Sun YouGov poll: Lab 39%, Tory 33%, UKIP 13%, LD 10%.

Labour lead at 6 points in the age of 'evil Tory cuts'. Brilliant.

And you need to be like 8 points clear to win a majority. Good luck.

Electoral Calculus with those figures gives a Labour majority of 74 and UK Polling Report a majority of 78; neither of these have an explicit option for UKIP, but the Tories will lose more to UKIP than Labour.

Remember Labour got a majority of 66 on a 3 point victory in 2005.

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Sun YouGov poll: Lab 39%, Tory 33%, UKIP 13%, LD 10%.

Labour lead at 6 points in the age of 'evil Tory cuts'. Brilliant.

Of course, we'll still be destroyed today, but hey-ho. Blair lost 17 councils and 550+ councillors at the 2000 locals then won big in the 2001 GE.

2000 locals were different batch of seats.

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2013/may/09/tory-mp-stewart-jackson-expenses

Horrifically bad publicity there. What is it with Peterborough? I suppose it being in the middle of a giant swamp might mean the water table is poisoned or something.

Can't say - the only time I've ever been there was going through it by train.

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2015 looks set to give us such an odd realignment when you consider what'll happen in cities like Sheffield, Leeds, Manchester and Liverpool with Labour and the LibDems and what'll happen down south in the Bostons and the Thanets of the country with the Tories and UKIP (or even Labour, if they can run through the middle and get some unexpected gains).

2015 will be like every other election. I still don't think UKIP will pick up a more than about 1 seat (if Farage is still knocking around). It'll be a Tory v Labour fight yet again. The fact that Labour can't muster runaway Blairesque leads three years into a Tory government is good news. Indeed they haven't been able to reach the dizzy midterm highs of Foot and Kinnock either.

It's not a Tory government, it's a Tory-Lib Dem government... we're in uncharted territory here.

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Various media outlets now reporting that Police are treating this as a TERROR ATTACK.

The two suspects of course dead, but something may well turn up in their residences.

My thoughts and prayers are with the victims.

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Sorry, my mistake - attackers are alive and in custody in hospital after being shot by police. No other injuries.

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Kate's not having twins.

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The Tories cannot be happy about 30% - that's lower than they got in 1997!

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Moving away from political onanism for a moment

You learn something new everyday... although I wasn't planning on another euphemism for that.

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This is one cut I support.

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So Ed Balls announces that Labour will stick to Tory spending targets if they win the next election. Always a joy to hear.

No need for me to remember to vote at the next general election then..

That's not quite what he said (from Labourlist):

"But we cannot rely on George Osborne to see sense. So Labour must start planning now for what will be a very difficult inheritance in 2015.

The plans in this year’s spending review will be our starting point, but we will have to find efficiency savings and switch resources to Labour’s priorities. And we will also need to set out plans to invest in the homes, schools and infrastructure we need to build for the future".