Exactly and people have to learn that there is no government money , it belongs to the people who work and they need to keep more of their income not less. Benefits gravy train cannot continue and the public sector needs cutting back to what can be afforded.

Or they get beat by a better team, they are no world beaters.

I am a supporter of ‘selection’, in a more modern form. The fact of the matter is that those that were good at academia were prepared for that route and those that were better at more practical matters were prepared for that route as well. Every child is different and this would help solve the skills shortage in our country where too many are now pushed towards the one-size-fits-all straitjacket of a university education.

Sure, some slipped through the net, and that is the big danger. I don’t know at what age this selection should take place, but I believe there should be a form of assessment of a child’s ability on a lot of subjects – not just academic but also practical. Having developed that round picture of a child you can then sort them into different schools/’streams’. Unlike the 11+, I would allow borderline kids the choice of which path to take.

This is probably a completely unrealistic objective, but I think that rather than forcing kids into a one-size-fits-all system where their talents are not able to be firmly explored, it would give the education system more freedom to make children the very best at what they have a talent for – be that going to university or into skilled work.

I say again: every child is different. And some at the moment are being left behind for the relentless educational mantra of “everyone needs a degree now.”

To be honest none of the leaders seem to represent their parties anymore*. Neither party support nor leadership ratings will be the indicators they once were by the next GE.

*which to some degree explains the ‘best of a bad bunch option’ mood of the electorate.

Walking down the street met local Labour Party chap , Mike W. – harangues me about why the Labour Party should come out in favour of recognising Palestine. Before I can comment says that “Obama, he is a cowardly nigger ” he says that he can say that. Mike is a black chap in his 60s.

No joke to go from Burma to Normandy…

There is no doubt that junior officers suffered heavy casualties, because their job was dangerous and men took their inspiration form them.

Its curious to note that numerous men from the ranks were promoted to be junior officers (indeed Field Marshal Robinson – the CIGS originally started his life in the army in the ranks) – but the men themselves preferred to be commanded by ‘proper officers’.
Its a strange reflection of the attitudes at the time that the men preferred to be commanded by ‘public school’ type officers. Far from shooting their officers you would find that the men would perform miracles if led by a ‘proper officer’, but be reluctant to be led by men from the ranks.

Is the battery running down in one of them?

F1: on the softs, Alonso right now very close to Vettel’s time. Slightly surprising.

Schumacher out on the supersofts.

Which leaves us between a rock and a hard place. the US and Eurozone crisis does not help general sentiment or the prospects for world growth and despite what people speculate the current low growth is not down to lack of spending – the cuts have not come in yet.

A cloud of debt hangs over the world and all that previous borrowing has not created a wonderful world of high growth and excellent services – quite the opposite.
Yet the people who dropped us into this mess want more of the same.

Not until he wins a World Cup, he isn’t. Not even reached a final yet.

I think Labour policy should always be devised by Guardian readers. I wonder which one will get the most support?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/sep/24/labour-conference-suggestions-your-verdict

With party conference season upon us, Michael White recently asked for your policy suggestions to put to MPs in our annual debates, this year on the theme of what the parties’ midterm manifestos should be.

The edited comments below were the ones chosen for the Labour conference. The reader whose idea receives the most interest during the conference debate will be invited to write an article for Comment is free, explaining it in more depth.

- UK media should be owned by UK citizens, who live in the UK and pay full UK tax. No more than 15% of the UK media should be owned by a single person, group or company.

- Ending the right to buy and promising to build far more social housing.

- I’d like to see [Labour] commit to an “inequality target”. I’ve had enough of listening to politicians bull**** about fairer society only to increase levels of inequality when they get into power. If they are going into power to make a more (or less) unequal society, they should say so up front so people know what they are voting for. If they say they are going to reduce inequality and they fail, they can be held to account for that failure. In practical terms, something as simple as a declared aim of increasing or lowering the Gini coefficient would do me.

- The end of the pro-privatisation dogma. A national bank? A national railways? State run elderly care? They would be better than the status quo, which is massive taxpayer subsidy of private companies to ensure the multi-million profits keep flowing regardless of performance. Maybe a Labour politician can have the guts to suggest this.

- Increase Inheritance Tax. Introduce Wealth Tax like 1% annual tax on estates above £1m in property, cash, etc that is not invested in British companies. This would raise revenue and also act as a stimulus to encourage investment

Most of that stuff doesn’t sound a million miles away from the sort of stuff the BNP claim are their policies. Has Nick Griffin been astro-turfing the Guardian website

223-Would the Leader of the Labour party be exempt from paying IHT?

Or would IHT be only for the plebs?

226 – Wilkinson in 2002/2003 was a huge part of the gameplan that got England to be the best team in the world. England dominated the front five and played to win penalties for Wilkinson to kick from all over the field. Carter has been an integral part of a team that regularly wins all the matches that don’t count. He’s a more skilful player, granted, but unless New Zealand win a World Cup, Wilkinson’s two finals and one win are worth more than any number of weeks as World No1.

Precisely. Any cuts are those that were budgeted for, for some time. Some areas of expenditure have seen reductions, but they are dwarfed by the rest who have seen nothing more than decreases in absurd increases.

The figures are quite clear, 6% and then 3.8% increases in expenditure through to the next parliament. These maintain public spending at the record high levels they were pushed up to by Brown.

I can understand the machismo positioning the Coalition wanted to project, but the reality is very different.

(of course, the six hundred pound gorilla in the living room, is that the debt racked up from deficit spending from 2002 to 2015, has to be serviced. Servicing costs of debt are estimated to be about £80 billion pa in 2015, which is about double that of 2009, money is been diverted from delivering services to servicing debt)

The irony is of course, is that poster would probably consider someone saying that benefits should be refused to foreigners who live here to be racist.

@JohnRentoul: Seldon & Lodge: “In our view, Gordon Brown is the most damaged personality to have become Chancellor or PM since WW2″ http://t.co/2MaZiS9A

“So, instead, he sought solace by talking to Charlie Whelan, one of his former attack dogs who’d once specialised in poisonous briefings against government ministers.

And soon, to the horror of his staff, Whelan was once again employing his dark arts and bullishly defending his former master’s record to chosen journalists.”

Lovely.

“On all other decisions during his premiership, Brown believes he was in the right: if errors were made, they were the fault of others. And so he simmers on, feeling betrayed and badly treated. In his worst moments, he suffers from paranoia, feeling that the Parliamentary Labour Party, the Cabinet, the service chiefs, the media and the Civil Service all conspired to thwart his ambitions to build a better Britain and a better world.”

Absolutely Bonkers. Imagine if he was still in charge now.

F1: Decided against tipping for qualifying, I’m afraid.

Vettel’s rightly favourite, but 1.45 is ridiculously short. Webber or (less likely) Button could pose a threat, and Hamilton was weirdly off the pace. There was a small amount at 3.4 for Button to be top 3, but that’s gone.

It may look tempting to go for Webber, as Vettel was 0.2s behind him in P3, but he lost 0.8s in one sector alone, due to either traffic or a mistake, and had almost all his other laps wrecked by traffic as well.

I think the McCain supporter claimed that Obama was a Muslim and McCain replied that Obama wasn’t a Muslim and was in fact a good man. I was appalled.

I agree with Nick (!). I thought it was downright disturbing. that no-one condemned that. If the GOP is not careful, it is going to fall into the inescapable hole of being the party that cares more about what someone does in the bedroom than respect for the military.

“Nick Palmer’s analysis is correct.”

Endorsed by “Ash” above was there ever any other five words that crushed a PBers post so completely !!

With the extreme unhappiness of the right as regards their candidates after the latest Republican debate, a certain person, must surely enter stage right, wearing stockings and high heels to declare their intention to seek the Presidency of the United States…

On the other hand, Chris Christie’s change of heart might change every calculation. Not so much running as walking as quickly as his asthma will allow, he’s a heavyweight in every sense. He could channel the anger that many Reps have towards Washington and brings a key state into play. I just can’t see him getting it though, it’s still Romney’s to lose. I just wonder if any of his opponents will ever get round to criticising his healthcare plan, maybe it wasn’t so bad after all?

“I think the McCain supporter claimed that Obama was a Muslim and McCain replied that Obama wasn’t a Muslim and was in fact a good man. I was appalled.

That was a brilliant moment in the 2008 election – McCain said it because he meant it.

What little people are running currently. Pathetic.

My guess would be that that Clegg would say it’s a conspiracy.

The public’s complete rejection of the failing Tory economic strategy is far more significant than Miliband’s personal ratings.

The flaw in Nick’s analysis is that policies can be changed and policy outcomes can vary or even reverse. It is much more difficult to change personal character and ability.

It is relatively easy for Boy George to change his spending plans and deficit reduction targets but Labour are plum stuck with Ed’s weirdness.

It’s unfair, but the Gods are often cruel.

I reckon Palin and Christie are both just taking the opportunity to raise some money, but in the event that Palin did run, it might not hurt her to have Christie in there too, taking some votes away from Perry and Romney.

He needs to row back on that policy. When times are hard, people look at the price of essentials. I notice that the Mail has gone silent on doing away with free plastic bags in supermarkets as well.

If Palin doesn’t run now, when her country is in the depths of a crisis of leadership, when there is no obvious leader of her own party and when faced with a President of whom only 40% of the population approve, then when will she run?

If the answer is never, then surely her star will wane in any event & the lucrative fox/book deals will dry up.

On topic

It’s interesting that the Libdem figures are falling and Clegg’s are rising. Thinking beyond the previously recognised synergy between Labour and Libdem vote share figures, is it possible parts of the electorate like Nick Clegg much more than they like the Libdems as a whole? Are we now seeing a split in the voting public’s view of the Libdems in that given the circumstances they back Clegg’s relative loyalty to the Government but oppose the rhetoric of Cable, Farron, Huhne and the rest of the Yellow Bastards.

Are we seeing the creation of an extreme Libdem faction (those Yellow Bastards) in the eyes of the political mainstream equivalent to a version of the ‘swivel-eyed nutters’?

You may well be right, JSFL. I note that a big chunk of the field work for the poll was conducted during the Liberal Party Conference and before Clegg’s speech. I wonder, therefore, if the drop in support as far as voting intention is concerned is because of the performance of Farron, Huhne and others whilst Clegg got a lift as the acceptable face of Lib Demery.

I haven’t watched television for years so I don’t know what sort of coverage Farron et al actually got in the most influential of media outlets.

“He needs to row back on that policy [adding to the cost of energy in the name of being 'Green'].”

It certainly wouldn’t hurt him to have something sensible to say on energy policy. It would mean admitting the administration of which he was a part got it totally wrong, but that would be a minor handicap. Of course, even if he did offer something sensible, he couldn’t hope to implement it before the damage was done.

For the good of the nation, the person who really needs to think about energy now is Cameron. I doubt he will though because a) I think he believes in the current policy (no matter how much growth and how many jobs it destroys) and b) to change direction would mean sacking Huhne and he doesn’t have the political power (or the courage) to do that.

I think we have to consider the “drop” in light of the previous result being a high one compared to other recent polling by both ICM and other companies. At least some of it is likely to be a correction from that point.

You seem remarkably well informed.

I think you’re overstating the swing within the party tbh (and the certainty with which you can comment on the majority of activists’ and younger members’ views unless you’ve seen some very interesting polling).

Interesting observations. We shall just have to see how that turns out?

I do note that you do not mention the ‘Blessed Vince’. Is he part of the Libdem Militant Faction? His (political) background and his favoured policies would seemingly lend themselves to such a categorisation?

Returning to my earlier thoughts, it should be stated in Ed Miliband’s defence that he currently embodies his party’s thinking and is delivering on his mandate. It is very doubtful whether the Labour party is in a mood to be led to acknowledge fundamental problems with the last Government. It specifically rejected the candidate for the leadership who was proposing to do this.

Self-criticism is always difficult and it’s particularly difficult when a superficial excuse (the personality of Gordon Brown) can be blamed instead. Labour may yet need to test that idea out before concluding that deeper problems need to be addressed.

He won’t. The problem is that Cameron truly believes in the green lunacy as much as Miliband, Clegg, Huhne, even Caroline Lucas. He’s deluded himself into thinking that these policies will attract rich metropolitan lefties.

Lots of people (including myself) think recycling/conservation is a good idea, but the eco-fascism of destroying our economy to make ourselves feel good while developing countries ramp up their CO2 output doesn’t have much support out there.

Labour in 2009

“Forget about this Government, global events are causing the economy to crash.”

Labour in 2011

“Forget about global events, this Government is causing the economy to crash.”

News reaches me that the Labour party are again looking to Russia for political ideas !!

Wait for it …. coming through now ….

Ed is now only going to serve one term as leader and then hand back to his predecessor !!

No !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jack W

What do you mean – No. It would be the best thing Labour could ever hope for. Just think about it? Endless decades of lectures from Chairman Brown on the ‘Post Neo-classical Endogenous Growth Theory’ and about how he was right all along and everyone else was wrong. Bound to be a vote winner!

As we wait for the Indian summer, it’s time to get Drought Watch up and running again. Here in Warwickshire water levels are lower than I have ever seen them at this time of year. If we do not get substantial rainfall this autumn/winter the situaiton is going to get very serious. I think things are pretty similar to the east of here. It’s looking bad.

255. Palin asked this week for donations to her PAC to “help her decide” whether she would run. She’s surely already decided if she’s running or not, so if its the latter, she’s horribly taking advantage of the poor rural whites that tend to support her.

I still don’t think Christie will run. This really should be Perry’s for the taking, and I suspect he’ll still get it, but he’s making a horrible hash of it.

Your honesty does you great credit, you sound like how I felt in circa 2001/2002/2003 when we had IDS as leader.

Rural poverty is a huge issue in many parts of the country. Sure it is going to be different problems, but the principle of an MP intervening on behalf of their constituents remains the same.

Similarly, in those urban areas that Tories represent there are areas of significant poverty – if you think about parts of the Two Cities (north of westminster) or North Kensington there are real issues that have to be address.

So you agree with my characterisation of the Tories’ position?

If so what does this tell you?

Probably that both the Tories and Labour are over-simplifying the situation and shifting blame.

Criticising the Tories doesn’t mean I endorse Labour, after all, but heck, what difference does it make what Labour believe right now?

We’re not that far changed from the National Equivalent Vote calculated by Professors Rallings and Thrasher for the May locals.

http://www7.politicalbetting.com/index.php/archives/2011/05/08/the-rallings-thrasher-national-equivalent-vote-shares/

I think the whole country is waiting to see if the coalition’s economic policies truly work/make us better prepared than our competitors.

For as Labour and Ed Balls especially are tainted for causing the mess we’re in, I can see Labour still struggling.

The only thing that can help Labour is if a major of voters start believing the coalition has made the problem worse.

I’m not sure what her motivation for the delay is (unless it’s simply to minimise the damage caused if she declares she’s not running, as by that point she’d hope everyone was bored by her anyway. But her courting of the media seems to run contrary to this).

I have always maintained, and still do, that Palin could have been a credible candidate in 2012. Sure, her 2008 Veep candidacy was riddled with gaffes and cringeworthy moments, but she had political star dust in droves. And that, sometimes, is just as crucial to being a successful politician as a sound policy knowledge grounding. Especially in the US.

I was bemused by her actions following 2008, as I thought she’d take a couple of steps back, get some savvy advisors on board and then make a comeback as ‘the campaign-hardened, wiser Palin.’ Instead she decided to resign the governorship and take on the role of celebrity, brazenly carrying on in attitude as she did in the 2008 campaign. It’s been an interesting tactic (and gives her that insurgent, outsider role that has been enthralling to monitor) but as a base to launch a successful bid for the highest office in the land? Not sure about that.

Whatever she decides on 2012, she has hogged the limelight and made a pretty penny out of all this, so one can’t say she hasn’t been incredibly successful in one way.

Sky reporting that Greek expected to default and discussing how to manage the fall-out – up to 50% write-down of debts – reports coming from IMF meetings held today.

EDIT all efforts by G20 now going into bank recapitalisation/preparing economies > plan to bailout Greece during Oct and until after G20 Cannes meeting in Nov.

This is where my higher physics fails me.

If 2 space ships are moving at 0.75c in opposite directions they would surely be moving at 1.5c relative to each other. The consequence would be that they could not see each other because c is the event horizon in terms of observation. Since the reflection (for want of a better word) of each ship could only travel at c the ships would be invisible to each other.

Neither ship would be moving in excess of c in absolute terms and both could therefore be observed by a stationary observer but they are surely moving apart at 1.5c?

I have read that objects accelerated towards c appear to gain mass as a way of absorbing the energy that cannot be converted into additional speed, as a consequence of the E=mc2 equation. Would that mean that the object appeared to gather mass from certain points of observation but not others? Strange.

Labour in 2009
“Forget about this Government, global events are causing the economy to crash.”
Labour in 2011
“Forget about global events, this Government is causing the economy to crash.”

Plus ca change, plus ca meme chose…….