Discussion
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-236...
Hmm, not so sure myself. CMD did enough yesterday to make me believe he is passionate about kicking socialist butt.
Hmm, not so sure myself. CMD did enough yesterday to make me believe he is passionate about kicking socialist butt.
Legend83 said:
Davel said:
Surely he couldn't do a worse job....
An older and now more mature Haigh would be good too!
Hague would get my vote over CMD. Unfortunate he was spooned into leadership too early in his career.An older and now more mature Haigh would be good too!
Boris, for all his manerisms, is actually a very clued up Politician as well. At least thats the impression I've got from listening to interviews.
I personally have a lot of respect for him ever since he walked out of that inquiry into the snow earlier this year!
What a ridiculous personnal atack that was! As if anyone could have prepared for the amount of snow that fell that week!
Not so sure he'd be right for PM though. Hague, on the other hand would get my vote.
Edited by Spiritual_Beggar on Thursday 23 April 16:18
Spiritual_Beggar said:
Legend83 said:
Davel said:
Surely he couldn't do a worse job....
An older and now more mature Haigh would be good too!
Hague would get my vote over CMD. Unfortunate he was spooned into leadership too early in his career.An older and now more mature Haigh would be good too!
Boris, for all his manerisms, is actually a very clued up Politician as well. At least thats the impression I've got from listening to interviews.
I personally have a lot of respect for him ever since he walked out of that inquiry into the snow earlier this year!
What a ridiculous personnal atack that was! As if anyone could have prepared for the amount of snow that fell that week!
Not so sure he'd be right for PM though. Hague, on the other hand would get my vote.
Edited by Spiritual_Beggar on Thursday 23 April 16:18
I like Boris in many ways, but I don't always agree with his ideology.
I do not think he would be suitable for Prime Minister - he is too prone to making gaffs and speaking before he thinks. While this kind of mock-humble buffoonery can be quite endearing here in the UK, it would be absolutely mortifying to see him do it on a world stage.
However, he could change my mind.
I do not think he would be suitable for Prime Minister - he is too prone to making gaffs and speaking before he thinks. While this kind of mock-humble buffoonery can be quite endearing here in the UK, it would be absolutely mortifying to see him do it on a world stage.
However, he could change my mind.
V8mate said:
Dave is no better than Blair - almost the Devil reincarnated in fact.
I see it differently; Dave is acting like Blair because his (TB) methodology was a proven success in a contemporary age.As a consequence of this comes my issue with Dave; that whilst it's all great acting like TB to win an election, I still am not 100% sure what his real message is.
Tories these days comprise a nice spectrum of politics these days all the way from centre left (in my opinion) to extreme right so I would really like to know exactly where on that line Dave stands.
Won't stop me voting for him, mind. That's probably what he's banking on.
I would love to see Boris as PM, but not in 2010. My projected future of the UK goes something like this:
2010 - Tories win the next election with Cameroon, steady the worst excesses of public spending, produce some sort of sensible monetary policy to keep inflation under control and just about balance the books over a 5 year term, but in doing all this they will make themselves very unpopular with the massive public sector and the huge chunk of the population whose main source of income is either benefits, government contracts or some other form of public sector spending.
2015 - It pains me to say it, but I really wouldn't be surprised if the next election but one (in 2014-15) sees another Labour government, as the dumb mass of the British public vote themselves a well earned rise in benefits.
2019 - By the time of the following election, around 10 years from now, when we've had another decade of utter failure, when we are well and truly the sick man of Europe and when nearly every worthwhile wealth creator is living overseas already, a new generation just might have learned what people learned in the late 1970s - that you can't tax yourself rich.
I would love to be wrong and for Cameron to be another Thatcher, make the big drastic cuts that are needed and set the country on the right course starting the day after he is elected. The trouble is, we have at most 14 months until the next election and he hasn't even made a start. A start would be a clear, credible policy to balance the books next year, a cast iron guarantee of tax cuts the following year, and a serious programme of deregulation.
Of course this will mean big cuts, closing whole departments and withdrawing benefits from whole groups of people who are currently deemed worthy recipients. Child benefit for instance could be stopped. It would mean abandoning on principle the idea of sending money to Scotland, Wales and the English regions for local spending - local spending would require local taxes.
The problem is even most Tories don't agree with this. They believe in global warming, wheelie bins and licencing laws. Even if they do want to cut back dramatically, they think it would be electoral suicide. They might be right too, because away from PH, most people don't agree with this. You can't fix a country that doesn't want to be fixed, and it seems like we have to hit rock bottom before we start to fix the problem.
2010 - Tories win the next election with Cameroon, steady the worst excesses of public spending, produce some sort of sensible monetary policy to keep inflation under control and just about balance the books over a 5 year term, but in doing all this they will make themselves very unpopular with the massive public sector and the huge chunk of the population whose main source of income is either benefits, government contracts or some other form of public sector spending.
2015 - It pains me to say it, but I really wouldn't be surprised if the next election but one (in 2014-15) sees another Labour government, as the dumb mass of the British public vote themselves a well earned rise in benefits.
2019 - By the time of the following election, around 10 years from now, when we've had another decade of utter failure, when we are well and truly the sick man of Europe and when nearly every worthwhile wealth creator is living overseas already, a new generation just might have learned what people learned in the late 1970s - that you can't tax yourself rich.
I would love to be wrong and for Cameron to be another Thatcher, make the big drastic cuts that are needed and set the country on the right course starting the day after he is elected. The trouble is, we have at most 14 months until the next election and he hasn't even made a start. A start would be a clear, credible policy to balance the books next year, a cast iron guarantee of tax cuts the following year, and a serious programme of deregulation.
Of course this will mean big cuts, closing whole departments and withdrawing benefits from whole groups of people who are currently deemed worthy recipients. Child benefit for instance could be stopped. It would mean abandoning on principle the idea of sending money to Scotland, Wales and the English regions for local spending - local spending would require local taxes.
The problem is even most Tories don't agree with this. They believe in global warming, wheelie bins and licencing laws. Even if they do want to cut back dramatically, they think it would be electoral suicide. They might be right too, because away from PH, most people don't agree with this. You can't fix a country that doesn't want to be fixed, and it seems like we have to hit rock bottom before we start to fix the problem.
Edited by AJS- on Thursday 23 April 18:48
AJS- said:
I would love to see Boris as PM, but not in 2010. My projected future of the UK goes something like this:
2010 - Tories win the next election with Cameroon, steady the worst excesses of public spending, produce some sort of sensible monetary policy to keep inflation under control and just about balance the books over a 5 year term, but in doing all this they will make themselves very unpopular with the massive public sector and the huge chunk of the population whose main source of income is either benefits, government contracts or some other form of public sector spending.
2015 - It pains me to say it, but I really wouldn't be surprised if the next election but one (in 2014-15) sees another Labour government, as the dumb mass of the British public vote themselves a well earned rise in benefits.
2019 - By the time of the following election, around 10 years from now, when we've had another decade of utter failure, when we are well and truly the sick man of Europe and when nearly every worthwhile wealth creator is living overseas already, a new generation just might have learned what people learned in the late 1970s - that you can't tax yourself rich.
I would love to be wrong and for Cameron to be another Thatcher, make the big drastic cuts that are needed and set the country on the right course starting the day after he is elected. The trouble is, we have at most 14 months until the next election and he hasn't even made a start. A start would be a clear, credible policy to balance the books next year, a cast iron guarantee of tax cuts the following year, and a serious programme of deregulation.
Of course this will mean big cuts, closing whole departments and withdrawing benefits from whole groups of people. Child benefit for instance could be stopped. It would mean abandoning on principle the idea of sending money to Scotland, Wales and the English regions for local spending - local spending would require local taxes.
The problem is even most Tories don't agree with this. They believe in global warming, wheelie bins and licencing laws. Even if they do want to cut back dramatically, they think it would be electoral suicide. They might be right too, because away from PH, most people don't agree with this. You can't fix a country that doesn't want to be fixed, and it seems like we have to hit rock bottom before we start to fix the problem.
It is the fear of this scenario being played out that is paralysing Conservative HQ, in my opinion.2010 - Tories win the next election with Cameroon, steady the worst excesses of public spending, produce some sort of sensible monetary policy to keep inflation under control and just about balance the books over a 5 year term, but in doing all this they will make themselves very unpopular with the massive public sector and the huge chunk of the population whose main source of income is either benefits, government contracts or some other form of public sector spending.
2015 - It pains me to say it, but I really wouldn't be surprised if the next election but one (in 2014-15) sees another Labour government, as the dumb mass of the British public vote themselves a well earned rise in benefits.
2019 - By the time of the following election, around 10 years from now, when we've had another decade of utter failure, when we are well and truly the sick man of Europe and when nearly every worthwhile wealth creator is living overseas already, a new generation just might have learned what people learned in the late 1970s - that you can't tax yourself rich.
I would love to be wrong and for Cameron to be another Thatcher, make the big drastic cuts that are needed and set the country on the right course starting the day after he is elected. The trouble is, we have at most 14 months until the next election and he hasn't even made a start. A start would be a clear, credible policy to balance the books next year, a cast iron guarantee of tax cuts the following year, and a serious programme of deregulation.
Of course this will mean big cuts, closing whole departments and withdrawing benefits from whole groups of people. Child benefit for instance could be stopped. It would mean abandoning on principle the idea of sending money to Scotland, Wales and the English regions for local spending - local spending would require local taxes.
The problem is even most Tories don't agree with this. They believe in global warming, wheelie bins and licencing laws. Even if they do want to cut back dramatically, they think it would be electoral suicide. They might be right too, because away from PH, most people don't agree with this. You can't fix a country that doesn't want to be fixed, and it seems like we have to hit rock bottom before we start to fix the problem.
And why we won't get the fix we need in a high enough dosage during the next parliamentary term.
AJS- said:
I would love to be wrong and for Cameron to be another Thatcher, make the big drastic cuts that are needed and set the country on the right course starting the day after he is elected.
He's not even close. Off-the-record chats I've had with Tory MPs put him in the same mould as Blair.They won't get my vote simply BECAUSE of him.
V8mate said:
AJS- said:
I would love to be wrong and for Cameron to be another Thatcher, make the big drastic cuts that are needed and set the country on the right course starting the day after he is elected.
He's not even close. Off-the-record chats I've had with Tory MPs put him in the same mould as Blair.They won't get my vote simply BECAUSE of him.
gopher said:
V8mate said:
AJS- said:
I would love to be wrong and for Cameron to be another Thatcher, make the big drastic cuts that are needed and set the country on the right course starting the day after he is elected.
He's not even close. Off-the-record chats I've had with Tory MPs put him in the same mould as Blair.They won't get my vote simply BECAUSE of him.
I understand your point about not wanting to risk 'more' Labour government but, for me, and in spite of the rights and wrongs of tactical voting, I want to vote for something I support.
The way things stand today, the Tories are leaning towards trying to win the next election on the back of voters deserting Labour rather than risk having any policies of their own. As far as I'm concerned that doesn't give them a mandate to govern, so they won't get my vote.
I agree with you V8Mate, and in a way tactical voting will sort of make sure that we get this soppy none entity Tory government. Again I'm fighting my own fingers to make them actually type this, but winky winning a second term might actually see the right thing happen quicker.
It would mean total, catastrophic national failure. It would mean public sector workers not getting paid, Sterling falling below $1, probably an IMF bailout and possibly a debt default. On the other hand, it might, just might, lead to someone coming forward with sensible answers (which are staring us in the face anyway!) winning the election in 2014/15 and doing what is needed.
Basically it means a rerun of the 1970s where we skip Edward Heath and get Thatcher in 1974. Sounds good to me!
It would mean total, catastrophic national failure. It would mean public sector workers not getting paid, Sterling falling below $1, probably an IMF bailout and possibly a debt default. On the other hand, it might, just might, lead to someone coming forward with sensible answers (which are staring us in the face anyway!) winning the election in 2014/15 and doing what is needed.
Basically it means a rerun of the 1970s where we skip Edward Heath and get Thatcher in 1974. Sounds good to me!
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