2015 Election season ..........stuff it in here.

[johnny the fox]

Hold on...the SNP want totally out of this country... they don't give a shight for the rest of us.. the welsh bird needs her arse austeering..

[orangecity23]

Milliband's one on one challenge to Cameron way too late here, Wrestlemania was a few weeks ago.

[Voll Blau]

FARAGE GOT A CLAP, TURNS OUT THEY'RE NOT ALL MASSIVE COMMIES IN THE AUDIENCE AFTER ALL!!!!!!!

[bovril]

Corporations being all corporationy in their corporation buildings.

[SMX11]

FARAGE GOT A CLAP, TURNS OUT THEY'RE NOT ALL MASSIVE COMMIES IN THE AUDIENCE AFTER ALL!!!!!!!

Hahaha. Maybe they told them to clap to make it not look rigged

[Voll Blau]

This 'Spin Room' shite can fvck off too. Westminster bubble.

[Danno]

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[johnny the fox]

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That's only because he's got a huge cock...

[C-man]

FARAGE GOT A CLAP, TURNS OUT THEY'RE NOT ALL MASSIVE COMMIES IN THE AUDIENCE AFTER ALL!!!!!!!

Farage's got the clap?! Which foreigner brought that in to the country?!

[Rincewind]

That's only because he ist a huge cock...

fixed

[MooseBreath]

Unemployment down again and employment continues to break record highs month after month, but the way this election has gone, I can't see cold, hard evidence of success having as much impact as it perhaps should.

Labour/snp coalition looking almost guaranteed now. A guy as plainly average as ed miliband is actually going to become prime minister. Incredible. Public sector contractors prepare to fill your boots!

[Guest MattP]

Just watched it, probably the most absurd thing I've seen thing in politics. It was weird.

 

Austerity, austerity, austerity, if we are living through that much austerity then anyone care to explain how the national debt has virtually doubled in the last 5 years, if we are cutting that much why do we still need to borrow 90billion a year to keep the country afloat and public services working?

 

I think it's finally hit Miliband at some point this week that he could be the first Labour PM in recent times to be taking over whilst the country is in financial shit and severe cuts are going to have to be made, he's going to be judged against Cameron on that basis and it's probably not going to go very well for him when the money people want to be lavished with quite simply isn't there.

 

No wonder he's saying No thanks Nicola.

 

Farage was totally correct to attack the audience, him and Miliband were both being totally honest about how cuts simply are going to be needed and we actually have to tackle this debt and deficit we have, when they did a stoney silence emerged - then we went over to one of the three stooges who started promising to throw around some more borrowed money and they all started whooping and cheering, what was the point of even having these 3 on? They are effectively the same politician with the same opinion, just gets a bit more fantastist and extreme as you move from one to the other.

 

Roll on June when all the idiots piss off and everyone can start talking about serious politics without these once every five years buy my votes types invainge the political scene, it's almost becoming like the women from the office who start giving an opinion on Wayne Rooney during the World Cup.

 

Did the BBC fix the audience? Who knows, they have serious form on this though, remember the QT episode on the night of the by-election? You couldn't find a Kipper or Tory in the audience and they came 1st and 2nd in the poll that day with 60% and 25%

[Guest MattP]

Unemployment down again and employment continues to break record highs month after month, but the way this election has gone, I can't see cold, hard evidence of success having as much impact as it perhaps should.

Labour/snp coalition looking almost guaranteed now. A guy as plainly average as ed miliband is actually going to become prime minister. Incredible. Public sector contractors prepare to fill your boots!

 

They won't, they simply won't be able to afford it. The next five years are going to be the toughest for any government in history.

 

I'm actually looking forward to it in a weird way.

[Alf Bentley]

Here's an article (from the right-wing Spectator), explaining the nature of the Tory distortions being propagated by The Invincible: http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/2015/01/how-osbornes-claim-of-having-halved-the-deficit-backfired/

- The deficit as a cash figure (the figure normally used) was £148.6bn in 2010 and is forecast to be £91.3bn in 2015, so the deficit has fallen by 38.5%

- Instead, the Tories and The Invincible are choosing to quote the "GDP ratio" figure - the deficit as a proportion of GDP. This has halved because GDP has risen as (1) there has eventually been a feeble recovery from the recession; (2) Massive net migration & population growth means there are more people working, even if they're not producing all that much.

 

Here's a brilliant article from the independent National Institute of Economic & Social Research: http://niesr.ac.uk/blog/halving-deficit#.VTDKm_nF8bM

It points out that:

- The Tories choose to quote the deficit as a % of GDP, but  choose to quote employment figures in absolute terms, not as a % of the population....doubtless because they don't want to draw attention to the reason why record numbers are in employment: because the Tories have presided over record levels of immigration. A high % of the extra jobs have been taken by immigrants....people will have various views of that, but the Tories certainly don't want to get into a debate with UKIP about it!

Record numbers are in employment largely because record numbers of people are in the country. Employment as a % of population is NOT at record levels.

- In 2010, it was Labour's plan (supported by The Guardian) to halve the deficit by 2015. This plan was ridiculed by Osborne, who insisted that we needed to eliminate it completely. Now he is crowing because he has cut the deficit by 38.5% (or halved it pro rata to GDP).

 

Here are the net migration stats (using official ONS figures, which are very complex on the ONS site): http://www.migrationwatchuk.org/latest-immigration-statistics

- So net migration is now 298,000 per annum - higher even than 10 years ago, when the Labour govt failed to appreciate how many Eastern Europeans would come to the country. The Tories can't even claim that it's just down to the EU as net migration from OUTSIDE the EU was 190,000....compare that to Cameron's promise to cut ALL net migration (EU & non-EU) to less than 100,000. I'm not getting into the immigration debate here (there are arguments that we need more immigrants of working age to support our aging population, though it can obviously cause social problems, if it is not managed very well). I'm just pointing out what Tory "economic success" has been based on: mass immigration, low productivity & the distortion of statistics! 

 

Here's an article from the FT about our appalling levels of productivity since the financial crisis: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/17be9940-a49d-11e4-8959-00144feab7de.html#axzz3XYYtEPPX

- The clear implication is that the rise in GDP is mainly down to immigration/population growth & investment that has increased total output but has failed to boost output per capita (productivity)

[Guest MattP]

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Is this Ed Miliband's version of 'We're all in it together'?

[Guest MattP]

I read the top one of those articles the other day Alf, there was a very similar one in the Sunday Times with the Fink as well regarding the manipulation of the deficit.

 

All I'll say is - Good Luck Ed, you're going to need it. I think he's got the hardest job in living memory from any Prime Minister with what he's taking over.

[Guest MattP]

RE: Farage and the audience, I think Michael Portillo absolutely nailed it last night, here's what he said word for word.

 

"The other thing that struck me about the debate was the unreality of it all. The first question was from a young person who said, “you’re passing this enormous burden of debt to the next generation”, and Nigel Farage, in his own way, addressed that question. The others just kind of ignored it and started promising how much more money they were going to spend.

And this idea that we’re living under austerity — it was Nigel Farage, actually, who made the point — that the national debt has doubled during this government. Each year the government spends on us £90 billion more than it raises from us and the rest is passed to the next generations to pay back.

And I think the reason Nigel Farage reacted in the way that he did to the audience, whether he was wise to do so or not, was that every time somebody talked about spending more money there were great cheers, and every time someone tried to talk about reality there was stony silence.

[Darkon84]

RE: Farage and the audience, I think Michael Portillo absolutely nailed it last night, here's what he said word for word.

 

"The other thing that struck me about the debate was the unreality of it all. The first question was from a young person who said, “you’re passing this enormous burden of debt to the next generation”, and Nigel Farage, in his own way, addressed that question. The others just kind of ignored it and started promising how much more money they were going to spend.

And this idea that we’re living under austerity — it was Nigel Farage, actually, who made the point — that the national debt has doubled during this government. Each year the government spends on us £90 billion more than it raises from us and the rest is passed to the next generations to pay back.

And I think the reason Nigel Farage reacted in the way that he did to the audience, whether he was wise to do so or not, was that every time somebody talked about spending more money there were great cheers, and every time someone tried to talk about reality there was stony silence.

 

Yep, he's got that completely spot on there. I've got plenty of time for Portillo.

[Guest MattP]

Yep, he's got that completely spot on there. I've got plenty of time for Portillo.

 

He's terrific, he really is.

 

So right here as well, the same people applauding when politicians are being pulled up for stacking debt on future generations are often the same people applauding when Bennett is on about raising borrowing, it's so bizarre to watch.

[Guest MattP]

This was the photo that summed up the night for me, it's clearly about far more than austerity and politics.

 

[Darkon84]

He's terrific, he really is.

 

So right here as well, the same people applauding when politicians are being pulled up for stacking debt on future generations are often the same people applauding when Bennett is on about raising borrowing, it's so bizarre to watch.

 

His analysis and views on most things tend to be dead on, and he tends to have a way of putting it across that is educated and eloquent, but still in a way where people who aren't massively in to politics can still understand. People seem to keep missing the points and just applaud for what they think SOUNDS right, without actually being sure, and that's the problem that needs to be tackled. Education on politics so that people can actually make the right decisions, rather than just going for who they think they should, or who can sling the most mud.

[Guest MattP]

Think we've got the bottom of why Farage had the arse so muc.

 

According to the Daily Politics someone nicked his bottle of gin he had ordered for him that he has before he goes on stage, can see why he wasn't happy. Confiscated because it was in a methodist church.

[Harry - LCFC]

Austerity is a myth. We haven't really had any. What we've had is a curbing of excessive spending.

 

Carrying on as Sturgeon, Wood and Bennett want to (I agree with Matt, they're just copies of each other) will eventually result in unmanageable debt. Cuts would have to be very severe at that point. I'd rather have austerity now when we can maintain our public services reasonably well rather than later when we're struggling to keep a lid on what will be a ballooning NHS budget.

[Babylon]

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Did Farage decline the black lectern and insist upon a white one?

[Footballwipe]

Quite enjoyed the debate last night, till I got bored. Though Miliband did quite well (heinous crime to support Ed on here I know  ) though what Farage was thinking losing his rag with audience I'll not know. Interesting theories above and perfectly plausible, but don't lose your rag, it's a huge no-no.

 

I watched Question Time last night. The show lost all integrity by at no point challenging Grant "Michael Green" Shapps on that whole scenario. How that man is still able to stand as an MP is beyond me. How is he able to keep public seat and even retain face like nothing happened after that fiasco? Shameful.

 

Needless to say something he said stuck with me. Why are both Labour and the Conservatives not being honest (no smart answers here please) and addressing the fact that there will be a hung parliament. When asked Grant Shapps shrugged it off and said "well we're still going out for an all-out majority." You're not going to get one, and there will be no late 1992 swing.

 

Start to address this, or daren't they upset core/swing voters by suggesting who they might look to team up with. We know Labout have the advantage with SNP/LD/Green etc. Stop treating people like imbeciles and address the hung parliament question.