Dis-United Kingdom General Election campaign officially kicks off

bb1 wrote:PS - Sorry to hear about your new OS, LL, I have NO idea why Microsoft thinks 'new' always means 'better'.

No sweat, I have a neat line in expletives in about 12 languages, so I shout at it every so often. I am hoping to get XP off my old PC, also Corel WordPerfact as and when I have the time. LL

I went from XP to 7, LL, and didn't struggle - I missed Vista, thankfully. From everything I've heard, 8 is a disaster, because it tries to be suitable for both tablets and laptops. I personally have NO interest in tablets - I even turned down a free ipad not long ago.

OMG, Bonny.  What is that horrible sight I see...........................JOHN MAJOR?  

At least you didn't hear him, Lily, it was just awful. Arrogant, imperialist, hate-filled - I see, reading around various media outlets, a lot of the Tories are none too happy, either. If I was a wavering Scots voter, and was addressed as if I was a peasant with no right to make up my own mind, by one of our worst ever Prime Ministers - the one that couldn't even keep his pants on in Downing Street - I suspect my reaction would be, B*gger this, the sooner we're away from them the better, I'm voting SNP.

I remember him as dreadful back then.  What is the point of bringing out these awful past their sell date arrogant people?

The campaign managers must be really out of touch with the people.

You're more right there than you may know, Lily.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/general-election-2015/11341072/Ed-Milibands-election-guru-publishes-book-but-doesnt-mention-the-Labour-leader.html

Ed Miliband’s election guru is publishing a book, raising questions about how much time he is spending on the Labour campaign.
David Axelrod, one of Barack Obama’s most influential advisers, is bringing out a book called Believer, which analyses his four decades in politics.
Believe comes out in February, with the pre-publicity saying it would take readers “behind the closed door of politics”. Although the book’s publicity emphasises the American Mr Axelrod’s “twenty-year friendship with Barack Obama”, its summary does not mention the Labour leader once.
Mr Axelrod was announced as Labour’s senior strategic adviser last April, after leaving his role at the White House in 2011.
He has maintained a low profile in British politics since then, with Labour struggling in recent polls. Labour is understood to be paying hundreds of thousands of pounds for Mr Axelrod’s services......etc


http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/454aa29e-c8b2-11e4-b43b-00144feab7de.html#axzz3Xxu5aBkJ


Australian election guru keeps UK Tories on a tight leash
Elizabeth Rigby, Deputy Political Editor

High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article. See our Ts&Cs and Copyright Policy for more detail. Email ftsales.support@ft.com to buy additional rights. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/454aa29e-c8b2-11e4-b43b-00144feab7de.html#ixzz3XxuHnmDj

There is a two-word text message ambitious Conservative MPs dread receiving on their mobile phones as they campaign for May’s general election.
“Not helpful” is the trademark reprimand sent by Lynton Crosby, the party’s pugnacious Australian election strategist, to political unfortunates who stray from his carefully crafted script.


On the other hand....

http://news.stv.tv/scotland-decides/309048-lord-ashcroft-predicts-snp-set-for-success-in-2015-general-election/

SNP general election campaign director MP Angus Robertson said: "These polls include some of Labour's safest seats in the whole of the UK as well as Scotland, and they are clearly excellent for the SNP. But we are taking absolutely nothing for granted, and will work hard for every vote and seat in May."

You can't beat people who know the electorate.  

However, these high priced glitzy guys must be better than home grown.  Right? 

Just such an utter waste of money all around.

Speaking of wastes of money, I've just remembered something else Major did (apart from the whole ERM business, losing billions of OUR money to Soros on Black Wednesday, etc).

He brought us the Cones Hotline.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cones_Hotline

Cones Hotline
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Cones Hotline was a telephone hotline introduced by the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom John Major in June 1992 to allow members of the public to enquire about roadworks on the country's roads and report areas where traffic cones had been deployed on a road for no apparent reason. The telephone number for the hotline (originally 0345 504030, later 08457 504030) was usually displayed on signs after sections of roadworks.

The hotline was widely seen as being a waste of government resources, costing several thousand pounds per year to run. It was quietly disbanded in September 1995, having fielded a total of fewer than twenty thousand calls.

The service did inspire the term cone syndrome, to describe a piece of legislation made by a government that seems to serve no real purpose.

It was mentioned in the television series Grumpy Old Men by Rick Wakeman, who said that nobody really knew what it was for:

"I've spotted some cones."
"How many?"
"About four and a half million on the M6, doing absolutely nothing."
"Thank you for telling us."

Wow!  They must surely know how to keep everyone happy?  

Oh sorry, just spotted...


Grumpy Old Men.

I had forgotten all about that until today, Lily. It was so stupid, it's hard to tell satire from serious....

Onlookers would think that some people are deeply worried.   

I've never seen anything like this in all my life, Lily, they've gone mad. And it seems the Tories have also been each other:



Wikipedia has blocked a user account on suspicions that it is being used by the Conservative party chairman, Grant Shapps, “or someone acting on his behalf” to edit his own page along with the entries of Tory rivals and political opponents.

The online encyclopedia, where pages are edited and created by readers, has tracked the changes made by a user called “Contribsx” who has systematically removed embarrassing references on Shapps’ Wikipedia page about the Tory chairman’s business activities as Michael Green, the self-styled millionaire web marketer.

A Guardian investigation found about a third of the contributions made by this user were to Shapps’ own Wikipedia entry while the rest are made up largely of unflattering changes to the online pages to senior political figures – including prominent figures in the Tory party such as Philip Hammond, the foreign secretary, Justine Greening, the international development secretary, and Lynton Crosby, Conservative election campaign strategist.

Wikipedia says that “sock-puppetry” – creating a fake online identity “for an improper purpose, such as to mislead other editors, disrupt discussions, distort consensus or avoid sanctions” – is not permitted.

Full story here:

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/apr/21/grant-shapps-accused-of-editing-wikipedia-pages-of-tory-rivals

And these are the people running the country.....

Oh look, the Mail's just found out that trade unions sponsor Labour MPs....

It makes you wonder how old these people are.

The whole damned lot of them need kicked out of office.

They are exactly like a bunch of nursery children arguing in the play ground.

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/leaked-sony-email-speaks-of-political-importance-of-outlander-to-indyref.123650961

Leaked Sony emails show TV chiefs discussing political "importance" of Outlander to indyref

Phil Miller
Arts Correspondent
Monday 20 April 2015
The "importance" of the US television drama Outlander to the political atmosphere of last year's Independence Referendum was highlighted by key TV executives before a meeting with Prime Minister David Cameron.

In cache of leaked memos from the Sony organisation obtained by Wikileaks, an email written by Keith E. Weaver, executive vice president at Sony Pictures Entertainment, which produces Outlander, discusses a meeting with the Prime Minister last summer.

An Outlander insider last night said the meeting may have been why Sony "took the foot of the pedal" with finding a UK broadcaster.

The Sony email mentions the "importance" of the TV series to the political situation last year, and how it would likely be a "focus" of the meeting with Cameron.

Publication of the leaked email has further fuelled social media speculation that the UK Government did not want the show broadcast before the independence vote in September.

The speculation ran that the show's depiction of heroic, Gaelic-speaking Highlanders fighting red-jacketed British soldiers would lead to a boost of the Yes vote at the referendum.

Although a spokeswoman of the Prime Minister declined to comment last night, an Outlander insider, said that if Cameron had made an intervention on the transmission date of the show at the meeting, it would make sense.

The insider, with intimate knowledge of the show, said: "It makes complete sense as to why Sony took their foot off the pedal with UK sales.

"It was all systems go and they had the BBC up to see the set, etc, then there was a definite sense of trying to back pedal."

Outlander, based on the best selling books by Diana Gabaldon and shot in Scotland, was finally broadcast in the UK this year, well after other countries, some who saw the show last August.

It is now viewable on the Amazon Prime streaming system.

In the background briefing document for a "PM Cameron event" last summer, Mr Weaver writes to other Sony executives: "Your meeting with Prime Minister Cameron on Monday will likely focus on our overall investment in the U.K. - with special emphasis on the jobs created by Tommy Cooper [the ITV show], the importance of Outlander (i.e., particularly vis-a-vis the political issues in the U.K. as Scotland contemplates detachment this Fall), and the growth of our channels business..."

A spokeswoman for Sony declined to comment on the email.

A spokeswoman for the Prime Minister said last night said: "We do not comment on leaks."

She declined to comment on the meeting between Sony and the Prime Minister or whether he had asked for the transmission of the show to be delayed.

At last year's Edinburgh International Book Festival, Gabaldon speculated on why the UK broadcast of the series was apparently delayed and she mentioned the rumours linked to the independence referendum.

Gabaldon said: "There are in fact negotiating with one or more UK TV suppliers.

"Why that deal has not come to a conclusion, I don't know, they have been at it for three months at least.

"There has been talk and rumour and speculation, even though there is no evidence on which to speculate, but the most common rumour is they are waiting until after the Scottish referendum - but there is no evidence to suggest that is true. "You can take that for what it's worth."

Pete Wishart, the SNP's candidate for Perth and North Perthshire, commented on the speculation that the Prime Minister intervened in discussions over the transmission of the programme.

He said: "If correct, this is a new low for David Cameron - who has been cutting the choice of television programmes people can watch for political reasons.


"A strong team of SNP MPs elected to Westminster on May 7 will make Scotland's voice heard like never before, end austerity and demand that no UK Prime Minister is able to censor like this."

===========

Utterly pathetic. We're banned from watching a TV series THAT WAS FILMED ON OUR OWN DOORSTEPS.

I never want to hear any Tory, LibDem or Labour stooge criticising North Korea again.

I hate to say this, but I did say on this Forum at the start of The Series that this was being deliberately blocked. And I have never spoken to Diana Gabaldon in my entire life. Perhaps I should have done. She is worth every accolade that I can think of.

I started reading her books about ten years ago, some of which I already knew, but much that I didn't.
Such glorious books. And the research is phenomenal. Often really heart breaking.
Of course I now know that they survive, but I still teeter on the edge of the horror of it all when watching it on Pirate TV.

It isn't YouTube, Bonny, and quite easy to navigate. But I leave it to you to wait. If it ever happens.

I am about to buy her latest book in the series. Just waiting for The Amazon price to drop. But that isn't happening at the moment. Like me, everyone is keeping them. Now that is a good book.

I'll watch it whenever either I get high-speed broadband, or it comes out on DVD, whichever's first, Sabot. I would just get annoyed at watching an excellent, high-quality production via my unreliable internet.

It's a piece of damned nonsense, and this clumsy censorship is doing Cameron more harm than good. Mind you, I am not surprised that it was the BBC that dropped it. The BBC has turned into little more than the Whitehall version of Lord HawHaw.

This censorship is only one of a series of incidents of censorship by our Imperial Masters. There was a great carry-on from them about the Scots team singing Flower of Scotland at the Commonwealth Games; the audience had to singalong a dirgy version of 500 Miles because they wouldn't let the Proclaimers appear in person because they're SNP supporters....it's as insulting as it is endless.

http://news.sky.com/story/1470175/boris-wants-to-be-in-running-for-tory-leader

Boris Wants To Be In Running For Tory Leader
The London mayor goes further than he has before, admitting it would be a "wonderful thing" to be in the running for leadership.

Boris Johnson has admitted on Sky News he would like to be considered to lead the Conservative party after David Cameron.

After being repeatedly questioned over his leadership ambitions by Kay Burley, the London Mayor finally coughed: "It would be a wonderful thing to be thought to be in a position to be considered for such an honour."

Mr Johnson, who is running to become MP in Uxbridge, has long been tipped as a future leader of the party - including more recently by David Cameron.

But he has always been reluctant to discuss his future and this is the furthest he has gone on the subject.

Mr Cameron effectively sparked a leadership race last month when he said he would only serve two terms as prime minister naming Mr Johnson, Theresa May and George Osborne as possible successors.

However, with the prospect of the Conservatives failing to win a majority despite the likelihood of Labour being all but wiped out in Scotland by the SNP, a leadership contest could arise sooner, rather than later.

There have reportedly been rumours in Westminster that Mr Johnson's team is preparing to contest a leadership race.

During an interview with Burley on Sky News Mr Johnson at first refused to properly answer questions about the leadership saying that it was "not at the top of my agenda" and that he thought Mr Cameron would lead the Conservatives to victory on 8 May.

He said there would be a "kaleidoscope of political changes" by 2020.

But finally he conceded: "In the dim, distant future, obviously it would be a wonderful thing to be thought to be in a position to be considered for such an honour."

He went on to add that he would have more chance of being "reincarnated as an olive" or "being blinded by a champagne cork" than being successful.

The London Mayor was equally as reticent to discuss his run as MP before formally declaring he would contest the Uxbridge seat.

Not like Boris to be so shy......

Latest UK polls-

http://may2015.com/




Seats:



Make of that what you will...no-one seems able to figure it out sensibly.

Ah well, perhaps I am lucky with my Broadband, although you couldn't get much more rural than Melrand.

I have also been watching "Turn" which is about American Independence. Riveting. Thank God for Project Free. I watch it while following Forums. It half keeps me sane.

Poor child, she'll be traumatised for life. The nearer it gets to polling day, the more politicians pose for photo-ops with children. Despite the fact that the nearest they normally come to children is the nanny's day off....