Which is a shame – if a small republic was bought by a homophobic bus oligarch, it would be a terrible shame.

Funnily enough, I agree. If Scotland was independent, I’d never be voting SNP – the parliament would be a much more healthy mix of parties, and better for it.

But we can’t get that at Westminster – best we can do is try to throw a spanner in the austerity works.

Too early for predictions?

Willie Rennie says there’s no reason why the Lib Dems won’t hold all their Scottish seats 😀

I like Willie Rennie. He’s just so nice. Like a softly-spoken geography teacher.

I see Cameron is trying to rewrite the rules. Good luck with that, those civil service types are sticklers for following procedure. Is he really going to debase himself with a tawdry attempt to cling on to power even though it’s against all established procedure and precedent?

Interestingly also, the Palace has indicated that the Queen isn’t going to read any Queen’s Speech that’s not going to be passed by Parliament.

So someone’s going to have to do a deal somewhere.

(Not even going to get into the discussion about WTF an unelected monarch is doing interfering in such things.)

Interestingly also, the Palace has indicated that the Queen isn’t going to read any Queen’s Speech that’s not going to be passed by Parliament.

So someone’s going to have to do a deal somewhere.

(Not even going to get into the discussion about WTF an unelected monarch is doing interfering in such things.)

It’s at points like this that the bizarre interweave of monarchy and parliament starts to get in the way a bit. I can understand that the monarch would not want what is effectively her proposed government voted down in front of her.

If it was just parliamentary business without the presence of the Queen, you could take a ‘suck it and see’ approach to this kind of confidence vote.

@squirel – HS2 is about trying to give Birmingham and the Northern cities a boost. It’s not going to be a commmuter on the line and ticket pricing will be set to discourage it as it is on many high speed lines.

Well if it’s not to be used for commuting what IS it to be used for? And yeah, those quicker journey times between London and Birmingham are going to make such a difference to the north.

I think it’s a spectacular waste of money and they should just upgrade the airports in Birmingham and Manchester.

Wow, that’s gonna help. How about travelling between places in the north? Oh, wait, why would you want to do that? London…

You comment on property prices is just a bit daft, London is a huge draw for foreign investment/bolt-hole and employment prospects are much better than the rest of the country

That is exactly my point! The employment and commercial opportunities suffer elsewhere in order to feed the monster that is London. If you changed that then house prices in London would crash due to a massive drop in demand.

@Binners has spoken in past posts about economic reality, its just much cheaper to build ships in Asia our industry was sustained primarily on Defense contracts in recent times and that work has gone now. You can say management had a hand in poor Labour relations and it wasn’t just the unions but the fact is large parts of our manufacturing industry where poor in comparison to international competitors so our businesses closed down.

Thanks for the history lesson I already knew. What relevance does that have to what happened AFTER the industries shut down? My post-Thatcher quip was just a reference to the era, nothing else.

Good article on likely scenarios after tomorrow here:

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/99cdc6da-f318-11e4-a979-00144feab7de.html#axzz3ZMHRTB9B

Not this one then

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f3b674d8-f3d8-11e4-99de-00144feab7de.html?siteedition=uk#axzz3ZFQkouGr

😉

@squirrel I was differentiating between commuting every day for work and business travel/tourism etc which is what I assuming they think will happen with HS2. In the South we drive between places as the train is inconvenient and far too expensive. Post Thatcher millions of people have arrived in the UK from all over the world looking for work, if you where a shipbuilder on the Tyne for example you too could have moved for work. Populations have always moved, the wealthiest parts of the UK where around Midlands/Norfolk when it was farming, then the North when it was manufacturing and now its the South as we are a more service based economy

best we can do is try to throw a spanner in the austerity works.

Yes @ben that really suits Scotland and indeed much of the North as the spending is paid for by someone else, via borrowing and/or taxes raised in the South

Yes @ben that really suits Scotland and indeed much of the North as the spending is paid for by someone else, via borrowing and/or taxes raised in the South

And to think it’s us northerners who are accused of being chippy. Don’t worry worry Jam, we’ll try and spend your hard earned taxes wisely 🙂

So when does Boris Johnson get his P45 for referring to the hopeful election result as Ajockalypse Now?

Could you imagine the outcry if a Scottish politician made a similar comment against the English?

I think its just classed as ‘banter’ when said by borris or clarkson

I think its just classed as ‘banter’ when said by borris or clarkson

“Boris is Boris and he has a colourful way of expressing himself … Boris like me is a passionate believer in the United Kingdom … That’s not my language, that is Boris’s language.” – David Cameron.

So that’s alright because Boris Johnson is the official Tory Party clown.

I think its just classed as ‘banter’ when said by borris or clarkson

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7CnMQ4L9Pc[/video]

wanmankylung – Member

So when does Boris Johnson get his P45 for referring to the hopeful election result as Ajockalypse Now?

Well I smiled anyway, certainly not any dafter than some of the serious comments coming from the Tories.

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z19W8uunIsw[/video]

Stage managed UK election. Haven’t watched this yet but the one on “Who would the Calais asylum seekers vote for” was interesting

Forget the polls, are the bookies ever wrong on General Elections? Currently; Conservatives 1/5, Labour 7/2.

If labour and SNP do reach an agreement, I think that there will be huge English support for another referendum on independence which is probably Sturgeons goal.

Apparently the bookies historically over estimate conservative numbers

Apparently the bookies historically over estimate conservative numbers

Apparently the bookies historically over estimate conservative numbers

Really?

If labour and SNP do reach an agreement, I think that there will be huge English support for another referendum on independence which is probably Sturgeons goal.

Seriously? You think your fellow countrymen are so small minded that they would get so butthurt we voted for who we wanted rather than who you wanted they would want to throw us out?

If that was the case then I don’t think many would shed a tear. Luckily I know you are slevering utter pish.

Seems the Scottish police are worried about radical pro-nationalist violence outside polling stations following a social media campaign to ensure the ballot isn’t rigged “like the referendum was” 😯

Guardian

Getting exciting now, very exciting.

Well IMO the huge number of opinion polls are close to worthless, too much of an incentive for them to try and be the story as its all good for business. Bookies do tend to be more reliable as its people staking their own money not trying to generate headlines and thus earn some.

No one has a clue – everyone is guessing – some will guess right.

That is the one for today.

Gamblers and those profiting for them are better at prediction election results than those who make a living from making accurate predictions based on solid research methods
I particularly like the way you argue gamblers are not trying to profit from gambling
THANKS
Its one of your best efforts
BRILLIANT
😆

I do so look forward to your satirical/daftest post of the day.

FWIW bookies calculate odds based on how they can make money from how people are betting not on how likely an outcome is you can change the odds [ shorten] with a lot of bets going for a certain outcome.

Forget the polls, are the bookies ever wrong on General Elections? Currently; Conservatives 1/5, Labour 7/2.

That’s for winning most seats, which as any fool now know isn’t going to have anything to do with who’s going to be in charge after the dust settles. Both leaders seem to be pretty much at the same odds for ending up as PM.

Well I just got my UKIP flyer through the door. It’s all about voting for a local candidate who really cares about local issues. Which is a shame, as the village is not in the same constituency as the candidate.

It just got a bit more interesting, the last guardian/ICM poll, after previously having the tories 2-6% ahead of labour in previous polls, has them tied.

Think I’ll kick off the predictions:

Tories largest party, but only by half a dozen or so.
Libdems to do slightly better than expected – 35 seats or so.
Clegg to lose his seat
SNP to gain all but a handful of seats in Scotland
UKIP to collapse
Labour/Libdem minority coalition + support from greens/PC/SDLP (based mostly on Clegg losing his seat)
Cameron/tories to whinge and whine like spoilt school children and an unedifying attempt to cling on to power.

Seriously? You think your fellow countrymen are so small minded that they would get so butthurt we voted for who we wanted rather than who you wanted they would want to throw us out?

If that was the case then I don’t think many would shed a tear.
Getting a govt (or in this case an influence) that the recipients haven’t voted for? Undue influence from over the border?
Ring any bells? 😆
It wasn’t the point I was getting at by the way, but it was probably a bit subtle for you.

Luckily I know you are slevering utter pish.

It seems I’n not the only one squirrel. You seem to know it when you see it. I wonder why?

I think it is interesting that with the mainly very-pro-tory press flinging absolutely everything, including the kitchen sink, at Miliband the polls don’t seem to be moving much. I await tomorrow’s Sun saying he eats royal babies while dancing naked wrapped in the Saltire invoking demons to come out of his bum.

On the whole I think that’s a good thing, regardless of party as it shows the papers don’t really have the power we think they do. Perhaps they are just echo chambers.

Unless of course Miliband would be way ahead if it wasn’t for them.

Getting pretty excited/nervous now!

I’ve been working late to try and get my stuff done so I can go home tomorrow night and vote.

Seems the Scottish police are worried about radical pro-nationalist violence outside polling stations following a social media campaign to ensure the ballot isn’t rigged “like the referendum was”

Jesus wept, did invoking Godwins Law not get enough attention so now you’re resorting to outright lies?

FFS people really need to grow the **** up…

I think it is interesting that with the mainly very-pro-tory press flinging absolutely everything, including the kitchen sink, at Miliband the polls don’t seem to be moving much. I await tomorrow’s Sun saying he eats royal babies while dancing naked wrapped in the Saltire invoking demons to come out of his bum.

I found this rather appalling…

Getting a govt (or in this case an influence) that the recipients haven’t voted for? Undue influence from over the border?

Never been an argument I subscribed to I’m afraid, better luck next time.

What was your point then?

What was your point then?

My point was that the party leaders are a shark tank. I don’t trust that ANY have the interests of the Uk as a whole at heart. They all want to leave a legacy (possible exception of Leanne Wood).

Now, Ms Sturgeon is a very canny, shrewd operator (moreso than Salmond I think). Her endgame is an independent scotland, mission success if she gets it.
So, how does she go about it? She will have a lot of influence, a prominent platform to be heard. She will have no problems with getting another referendum (trident?). She knows it, Milliband knows it.
The SNP wasn’t afraid to stir the english up last time (a cursory look at a tabloid would show what people were being fed), why not this time?
Got to be honest, I wouldn’t blame her if she did. There has been a lot worse done.

Seems the Scottish police are worried about radical pro-nationalist violence outside polling stations following a social media campaign to ensure the ballot isn’t rigged “like the referendum was”

Bloody hell. This shite was spouted by the media at the referendum and the police had to come out and say they weren’t worried and that the media should stop trying to create trouble. Seem they’re at it again.

I’d be very surprised if there were more than a handful of nuts try and track their papers to the counting stations and I doubt there’ll be trouble.

That article up there by Littlejohn – disgusting

The SNP wasn’t afraid to stir the english up last time (a cursory look at a tabloid would show what people were being fed)

Aye tabloids the impartial place to get fact based articles free of polemics 😕

Still dont get why you get so much anti SNP rhetoric[ to the extent they have to be ruled out from being in govt] whilst insisting its really them that are anti english