Well, I guess he's more believable than most politicians, and I liked his point about loving our country. Although I despise the pettymindedness of so many Brits, I'd not want to live anywhere else 🙂

As far as I'm concerned, the only thing Labour have going for them now is that they're not the Tories, though they'd like to be from their actions, and all the wasted opportunities over the last decade…

nice job Eddie!

i was more interested in the bird on the one show cleavage that is now covered up 🙁

Just saw him on C4.
Bit of a coup for labour there.

He's even more of a twonk than I first thought then 😆

I like how the first thing Izzard mentioned, was that the Tories will hit us with posters and advertising because they've got "shed loads" of money.

The Labour Party has in the past, had massive poster and advertising campaigns. Izzard omits to give the reasons why Labour won't be able to have a simular campaign this time round. The Labour Party is skint, and it's total membership now stands at 40% what it was when New Labour first came to power in 1997.

Labour Party membership is now lower than at any other time since it was founded 110 years ago. That is the legacy of the New Labour/Tony Blair Project. And of the hundreds of thousands who have left the Labour Party, the majority have been activists who put in money and time – not your "after dinner/armchair socialists".

During the 1992 general election campaign a substantial portion of all the 'Vote Labour' stakes in people's front gardens in London, were made by me. I cut thousands of the feckers out of 8 by 4 sheets of hardboard and cut all the stakes. That was then. Today, New Labour can go and **** themselves. Peter Mandelson and his mates at News International or the Russian Oligarch or whatever, can spend their weekends doing publicity for the election, if New Labour need it. I would not push one leaflet through a letterbox for those shower of ****. And I am not alone in that attitude…… very far from it.

Is Eddie Izzard standing for parliament then?

No druidh…….you don't need to be standing for parliament to be in a general election broadcast.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jp1aKJgpjcs

He was certainly talking about moving into politics on his recent standup tour.

Some salient points there ernie.

I was very disappointed. He came across just like all the major politicians. Why can't somebody stand up and start talking straight about "what we do…" rather than throwing shit at everyone else by moaning "look what they did"?

It's all petty games that most of us grow out of when we stop telling tales on our brothers, sisters or schoolfriends.

Tories, £10 Xmas bonus to all pensioners. Labour, £250 heating payment to everyone over 65 and double that to those over 80 (including my mam) Sorry, what was the question again?

Exactly lazlo, a non-means tested allowance that sees millionaires receive £250 for "heating allowance", shouldn't this money be channelled at those who actually need it ?

Good point!

Let's not get carried away pieman, for every millionaire who gets a bit of unneeded cash there's probably a million oaps (like my mam) who would otherwise be struggling to get the winter bills paid

I thought he came across pretty well tbh…good points, well made!

Well I suppose it is fair that everyone be treated exactly the same regardless of income. I look forward to New Labour rolling out this policy across the board 🙂

Excellent post pieman, that sounds like another vote for Labour. My work here is done.

no probs 🙂 But another vote for NuLab – lol!

Sorry, what was the question again?

The question was why does New Labour have to manipulate everything ?

There was more than just the £10 Xmas bonus to pensioners under the Tories. In fact iirc, cold weather payment to pensioners, was first introduced by a Tory government. And it's quite frankly a crap idea. Although I can see that it's necessary if you keep British pensioners on starvation money. A half decent Labour Government would have provided pensioners with a reasonable income so that they could easily afford to eat and stay warm in winter.

And as far as how much the heating payment has gone up under New Labour, I think we need to see how much gas and electricity prices have gone up under New Labour first. It is substantially above the rate of inflation – about three times more than IR at the last count I believe.

And btw, it is a truly sad state of affairs, when New Labour's only defence is, "we're better than Thatcher was". Shower of ****.

I agree with you on one point EL, even a shower of sh!t would be better than returning to that woman or her politics

So lazlo, you don't agree with Ernie on how much gas and electricity have gone up under NuLab vs inflation ?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7533389.stm

woz he dressed as a bird?

well he did come across as a bit of a t i t.

…even a shower of sh!t would be better than returning to that woman or her politics

WTF you on about ? ………."that woman and her politics" are still there.

What ffs, do you think was the idea of Gordon inviting her round for tea as soon as he moved into Number 10 ?

The message was very clear. There would be no change in Number 10 under him. Like Blair before him, Thatcherism would be at the core of his government's policy.

The message was aimed not so much at the general public, but more at those in the Labour Movement who thought/had hoped there might be a slight possibility of change after Blair had left.

And since you want to talk about how well pensioners have done under New Labour lazlo, have a look at the situation of British pensioners after 10 years of New Labour :

The UK has the worst state pensions in Europe, a report reveals today.

A study by consultancy firm Aon shows the state pays pensioners an income equivalent to just 17% of average earnings.

This is the lowest level in Europe and well below the average for all European Union countries of 57%. Even the Netherlands, which has the second-lowest level, provides a state pension nearly double the UK figure, the study shows.

The UK also has one of the highest retirement ages in Europe at an average of 62.2 years, with 57% of people aged between 55 and 65 still working.

At the heart of the problem is the Government's failure to undo the damage caused by the Tories under Margaret Thatcher, who cut the link between average earnings and pensions in 1980. Since then annual pension increases have been tied to retail price inflation.

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/pensions/article.html?in_article_id=426261&in_page_id=6

BTW…..sh!t was not the word I had in my mind.

Whichever way you cut it, my mam's warmer in winter now than she ever was. I judge a party by how they look after those who are vunerable, and it's very difficult to believe that the Tories ever gave a sh!t about them. And no, I'm not looking to argue with el's statistics, but they do rather muddy the waters. Anyway, I've got an early start tomorrow so nighty night

I judge a party by how they look after those who are vunerable…..

Yep, me too. And New Labour have shafted pensioners.

my mam's warmer in winter now than she ever was

Global warming perhaps ?

Yup – I disagree with Ernie & AllthePies's statements about electricity and gas prices FWIW

They tend to go up and down like many a market, but I've worked in this one for the last 22-yrs and the statements are not correct.

Have NuLab been in power for 22 years ? 😯 Seems like only yesterday….

😉

I've worked in this one for the last 22-yrs

Excellent. Someone who knows.

So what is it then ? How much have gas & electricity prices and inflation gone up since 1997 ?

Just look around ernie, the prices are down again. You should be paying about 7p/kWh for Power and <2.5p/kWh for Gas. Which will not be a million miles away from what you were paying many, many years ago when the Tories privatised us.

At the end of the day though Downing Street tends to have very limited influence on Electricity and Gas prices, check out Opec, Russian Gas, reliability of French Nuclear to detect the trends in peak prices. Right now we are benefitting from a slump in global demand, prices will go up again (by a lot!) but that will happen come what may, the Tories will not keep the prices low.

Just look around ernie……….

I don't need to, you've worked in this one for the last 22-yrs. And you know that gas & electricity prices haven't gone above inflation. So what is it then ? Don't be shy – tell us. How much have gas & electricity prices (for the consumer of course) gone up since 1997 ?

BTW : "At the end of the day though Downing Street tends to have very limited influence on Electricity and Gas prices"

Who said Downing Street had any great influence ? Surely it's all down to the free-market it now ? 😕

Yeah, amazingly don't have the stats in my lounge on a Friday night.

…the general point being though, that at the moment the statement is incorrect. Labour being in power is coincidental to what energy prices have done, if the Tories had managed to find a credible candidate and taken over the reigns years ago … guess what, energy prices would have followed an incredibly similar path.

Yeah, amazingly don't have the stats in my lounge on a Friday night.

But I thought you worked on this one for the last 22yrs ? 😕

OK, since no one can provide any evidence to suggest otherwise, I'll reassert my claim that it is substantially above the rate of inflation. And I therefore think we need to see how much gas and electricity prices have gone up under New Labour, before we get carried away praising them for their attitude towards the worst paid pensioners in Europe.

since when did the government set gas and elec prices ?
its a capitalist free market ever since the wicked witch of grantham de-nationalized them

Yup

since when did the government set gas and elec prices ?

Since when did anyone state that the government set gas and elec prices ?

Sorry just back from the pub, so the whole thread is a bit fuzzy now, but am I right in thinking that among the many obvious failings of the current government, we're now holding them responsible for the amount of fossilized trees and plankton remaining?

…..for the amount of fossilized trees and plankton remaining?

😕 You might have been down the pub mate, but that's no way to talk about our pensioners.

🙂