DEM not gonna CON dis NATION: Rolling UK politics in the short-lived post-Murdoch era

Dunno about this, what you lot think:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2014/12/07/the-archbishop-of-canterburys-bizarre-idea-to-nationalise-the-food-banks/

Bear in mind Tim Worstall is a failed UKIP MP when he says things like this:

There is most certainly a debate about hunger and food banks in the UK at present. The number of food banks has mushroomed in recent years, as has the number of people using them. This is not quite the same as stating that the number of hungry people has risen in recent years however. That more people use something that there’s more of isn’t really a surprise. So it might well be that there’s no increased demand, just an increase in supply

Seems pretty clear the voluntary sector is propping up the welfare state in a way it should never have to. Welby is correct in saying those costs should be brought within goverment spending, though they'd be better off cutting out the middle man and just stop mucking about with people's benefits in the first place.

"It has emerged that a proposal to save taxpayers some money by making peers and MPs share a catering department has been rejected 'because the Lords feared that the quality of champagne would not be as good if they chose a joint service.'"

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/dec/07/champagne-house-of-lords-reform-taxpayer?CMP=share_btn_fb

It's a good job all the upper classes got expelled in 1999 and replaced by part nominees, isn't it?

*party*

http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0157/4472/products/champagne-party-gold-foil-print-black-1-462x392_large.jpg?v=1391463350

http://www.theargus.co.uk/resources/images/3441652.jpg

since when did the mp for brighton kemptown turn into an own brand lvg?

i mean, he used to look like this for god's sake...

http://thelatest.co.uk/7/files/2011/07/Simon-Kirby-credit-Diana-Frangi.jpg

both strong looks tbf

y'know, being the MP for Brighton Kemptown is a lot like making love to a beautiful woman

http://metrouk2.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/article-1326196131528-001ea88e00000258-110081_436x650.jpg

xp dammit

haha! second look is more alan b'stard meets lord summerisle

so michael heseltine basically

1st look has *Bickerstaffian elements

(Assuming here we all remember Rodney).

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/douglas-carswell-tells-ukip-to-stop-blaming-foreigners-as-youth-poll-shows-nigel-farage-is-even-less-popular-than-nick-clegg-9947202.html

Would love to have been a fly on the wall for the moment when it finally dawned on Carswell which party he'd actually joined.

lol @ Carswell. Altho possibly making an early play to lead a somewhat 'de-toxified' Ukip post election, if their performance underwhelms (and their success this year perversely makes that more, not less likely). De-toxified ukip perhaps impossible but maybe having more emphasis on yay free minds and free markets libertarianism

As to that poll, if the youth vote had any clout, political outlook would be completely different anyhow.

Farage has said similar in the past iirc. UKIP's toxicity has less to do with him than the fact that 95% of the grass roots members, including the majority of people standing for office, are nuts.

Bored with the General Election campaign already.

It's not the campaigning that bores/enrages me, it's John Humprhys shouting across any Labour politician's answer to whatever questions he asks them, followed by Nick Robinson 'explaining' situations like an ex-Young Conservative prez.

john humphrys this morning commenting on the revelation that the tories' road advert image was of a road in weimar said "a road in - of all places - weimar"

?

GERMANY??? *monocle pops out*

humphrys is a poisonous fuck http://www.theguardian.com/media/2013/jul/30/bbc-welfare-reforms-impartiality-john-humphrys

looking forward to my doorstep visit from the local Labour candidate, gonna have a chat about socialism

interesting poll:

http://cdn.yougov.com/cumulus_uploads/inlineimage/10519/GreenAgg2014.png

https://yougov.co.uk/news/2015/01/13/greens-tied-conservatives-among-young-people/

Youth vote don't mean much tho.

Al Murray to stand against UKIP's Nigel Farage

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/80267000/jpg/_80267624_80267619.jpg

Comedian Al Murray will stand in his guise as The Pub Landlord against UKIP leader Nigel Farage at the general election.

Mr Murray, whose character is based around a love for all things British, has formed the Free United Kingdom Party.

He confirmed he would stand forward for election in Thanet South, in Kent.

He said: "It seems to me that the UK is ready for a bloke waving a pint around, offering common sense solutions."

I'm not really sure what to make of that.

the acronym is probably the only slightly good thing about that

If he deliberately plays up every ridiculous UKIP contradiction he could do quite a lot of damage to Farage's chances of winning a seat.

Yeah, is it the usual "comic" thing, or is it a "hey let's split the Farage vote"/.//..

xposts.

his fanbase appears to be largely UKIP sympathizers who don't realise there's a "joke" so fuck knows what odds this makes

is this al murray the man jettisoning al murray the pub landlord's fan base for precisely that reason? recasting himself so a new audience see the joke, and what it means?

I assume he's basically a Tory anyway and I haven't bothered to watch any of his output in maybe 15 years but if he is literally lurking behind Farage and making him look a fool in every photo opp throughout the campaign then the inevitable toys-out-of-the-pram moment could still be quite funny.

i was gonna say, of course it's a mockery of Farage, but yeah he's the new Alf Garnett in that idiot right-wingers don't get it.

“Let it be known that like many of the Parliamentary hopefuls in the forthcoming election, I have no idea where South Thanet is - but did that stop Margaret Thatcher from saving the Falkland Islands? No”

i've always assumed his politics are softish liberal but don't ask me why, the character was clearly supposed to be a satire on bullish English nationalism but then how are bullish English nationalists gonna recognise satire? he's certainly made a good living from not worrying about the difference.

agreed that Farage losing his shit publicly just once will make it all tolerable

nah, he'll probably link arms over shoulders and sing "lambeth walk" or sumat.

The first of his pledges is to make pints of beer cost 1p and to brick up the channel tunnel.

well he's certainly split my sides never mind the ukip vote

his fanbase appears to be largely UKIP sympathizers who don't realise there's a "joke" so fuck knows what odds this makes

As Kelvin McKenzie said in his column in the Sun the other day, ".... Scotland, or Jockestan as the excellent Al Murray calls it."

In a Twitter message, Mr Farage told his rival: "The more, the merrier! @almurray".

And a spokesman for UKIP added: "At last, serious competition in the constituency."

Also, BBC news have added a pic on the left of the Al Murray one, NFarage with a pint. I guess they must have had difficulty finding one yesterday.

George Osborne finger-weenie LOL:

https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/10671404_10153067671742433_4845460849621350421_n.jpg?oh=1e43fc12150c7a74dabe18a0bafd2c5c&oe=5553198D&__gda__=1432373147_512c54b4826aaae77cec59cdbb6698b9

Would recommend checking out Douglas Carswell's Twitter right now before his most recent post gets deleted.

for posterity:

http://i1247.photobucket.com/albums/gg622/bizarrogazzara/Carswell_zpsb4403ec6.jpg

retweeted

Running on a non-feline repatriation ticket.

if that's what a post ukip-victory britain will look like i'm all for it tbh

retweeted

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B9JyefGIcAAZXLF.jpg:large