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

And yeah, while Thatcher didn't shrink state spending, she still sold a lot of state-owned assets off and underspent on others (health, education etc). It's just that spending on other areas (defence, welfare, police maybe) ballooned in that time.

She also pretty much invented the Quango

But yeah, I'm aware that in practise the Tories haven't been that anti-big government when actually in power, but then again Labour aren't too hot on social democracy when in power either.

They were pretty good on early years stuff. It's almost like there was a religious thing with Labour - kids are innocent, so it's OK to help them out, but adults deserve everything that's coming to them.

Kids play better with voters, "child poverty" is really adult poverty most of the time. Poor single people don't resonate as much.

Could be interesting having a "single person" as leader of the Labour Party. Single people generally don't exist in political debate. Oh hold on, he has a (hard working, no doubt) family.

Think we had a "single person" as PM for a few years back in the 70s.

He took up two seats though (boom boom)

Terribly musical and fond of hanging out with sailors I believe

there's a lot of innuendo but if he rly was a 'confirmed bacheler' it would have been revealed by now

he seems to have been a very difficult character (scrupulously unpleasant) and kinda ascetic, different generation and all that

Oh yeah, Ted was just a weirdo

i like how he left his entire will to preserve his house as a museum/archive in perpetuity, but there's not enough money (clearly wasn't whoring it enough on the after-dinner circuit)

there's a lot of innuendo but if he rly was a 'confirmed bacheler' it would have been revealed by now

I'm sure this was pretty much confirmed.

Apparently he was 'seen' hanging around HamHeath back before his political career took off, and was told if he wanted to pursue his ambitions, he'd have to give up "all that". and so he did.

Stuck to playing with his organ thereafter

if it begins w/ 'apparently' and connects edward w/ his hampstead namesake then it's probably innuendo

you may be right tho

No wonder he was grumpy

I don't blame him.

The 'apparently' is mine: I saw this on a BBC doc, but I can't remember who it was who said it, but he was very definite that it was him who said it to EdHeath.

Something was definitely in someone's endo /dadjoek

xp - this was certainly the claim on the delightful Brian Coleman, but then he would say just about anything for a couple of (column) inches.
http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/brian-coleman/2007/04/gay-member-london-heath

"of" the delightful, etc...

Andrew Witty, chief executive of the pharmaceuticals company GlaxoSmithKline, and Paul Walsh, chief executive of Diageo, will become members of the Prime Minister's new business advisory group.

Walsh and Witty were both members of Brown's Business Council for Britain

Sounds quangoid to me

from blair babes to glaxo babies

nice!

"Quangoloid, he was a quangoloid
One cronyism too many"

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/sep/29/lady-warsi-british-press-anti-islam

they might have used an actual elected politician to make this point? no?

Think if they wanted an actual elected politician they've have a choice of two iirc.

So she's worried about the anti-Islam press but comes out with unsubstantiated claims in which she blames asian communties?

From her numerous appearances on TV over the years this woman appears to be an idiot - albeit a useful for one for the Tories

i still fail to see why the milis couldn't have formed an RFK-JFK style dynamic duo

tho i guess RFK and JFK's brilliant move in that regard was to not uh run for president at the same time as each other

i think you're underestimating the older/younger dynamic too. and kennedy sr. basically told them what to do careerwise iirc. the miliband's don't really have that (via dead father). the situations aren't that comparable.

In the old days the press made all this sound like great fun—all those beautiful rich people playing touch football on the lawn—but in retrospect, one suspects it was hard duty being one of Joseph P. Kennedy’s four sons. The competition, according to Teddy’s memoir, was not part of a paternal plan to develop a son into a president, but only a way of preparing them all to excel in “public service.”

^^^ pretty important part of making what is an unusual situation work. kennedys are total outliers in this regard.

taking into account their privileged starting position, it's not hugely onerous either imo.like four sons of a well respected farmer jockeying to become a local councillor or w/e

nah, kennedy bros took turns by age and had a boss.

sounds like a man utd night out

BOOM

Looks like the tactic of pulling Warsi out of Question Time and shunting Grant Shapps on in her place backfired, then.

w'happen

Just dreadful bollocks the whole way through, nothing stand out.

that's probably an improvement on lady w and the likelihood of her saying something blogworthily dreadful

nominations accepted for a morbish nickname for her ......

actually i don't think any uk pol has a morbsname yet? get to work ppl

Hospitals - Encouraged to move outside the NHS to become "vibrant" industry of social enterprises

FUCK OFF FUCK OFF FUCK OFF.

Nice one, Liberals

The BMA also took issue with the "obsession" with competition, saying GPs would be set against hospitals - one of the objectives of the changes is to get more care done more cheaply outside hospitals.

No shit. I've no idea how "competition" is supposed to work in the NHS, or "choice" for that matter. I want my local hospital in Lewisham to be as good as possible if I need an operation, I don't want to "choose" to go to Enfield for it.

I blame Blair and Patricia Hewitt in particular for totally buying into all this bullshit, it seemed screamingly obvious it would enable the Tories to sell the NHS off piece by piece as soon as they got back in.

one of the objectives of the changes is to get more care done more cheaply outside hospitals.

.. bus drivers to supervise baby deliveries

Operations to be carried out in the car park

Hey Mark - it's the story near the end - http://hackneypodcast.co.uk/2010/02/edition-17-buses/

Don't give a fuck about this, never heard of it before but this quote:

"Nothing is more symbolic of Labour's war on the motorist than the M4 bus lane."

Cunts.