[Tubby Isaacs]

They still hold 30 seats in South East England. Some had a Con-Kip majority last time, but might not be straightforward to add the two elements together. On the other hand, adding Labour and Green votes to the Lib Dems might not be too difficult.

[Yug]

What is it with John Major talking sense?

John Major has told the Conservatives that forming an alliance with Reform UK would “for ever destroy” the party, which he said had already left traditional supporters “politically homeless” by lurching too far to the right.

The former prime minister dismissed a pact with Nigel Farage’s party as “beyond stupid”, saying that any Tories tempted to defect to Reform should go now because his own party would be better off without them...

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... ond-stupid

“Frustration with democracy should not blind us to the toxic nature of nationalism, or any and every form of populist or authoritarian government,” he said.

Addressing a Conservative party lunch on Tuesday, he urged the party not to reject the centre ground of British politics, saying they were “seriously alienating” voters by coming down on the wrong side of public opinion on Europe, climate change and overseas aid.

In a wide-ranging criticism of the current direction, Major accused the Tories of a loss of pragmatism, tolerance and nuance, and of ignoring the 43% of the nation’s voters in the political centre. The party must “change or cease to be relevant”, he said.

“To embrace such a narrow philosophy shrinks the party from being a broad-based national movement to resembling a petty and mean-minded cult.

It's not often that I agree with a Tory, but once again I find myself applauding Major.

[Tubby Isaacs]

His autobiography is good. He was pretty grim in terms of public spending, but was much more able than he was given credit for. His greyness looks more attractive in hindsight with some of the "characters" we've had since.

[Abernathy]

In the early 1990s, I used to get people saying things to me, fairly often, like "Say what you like about John Major, but he is a thoroughly decent man."

I used to point out to them that the terms "thoroughly decent man" and "Leader of the Conservative Party" are mutually exclusive .

These days, I tend to think that those people may have had a point. Major is one of those (few) Tory politicians, like Heseltine, whose stature has grown while out of office.

[Bones McCoy]

In the early 1990s, I used to get people saying things to me, fairly often, like "Say what you like about John Major, but he is a thoroughly decent man."

I used to point out to them that the terms "thoroughly decent man" and "Leader of the Conservative Party" are mutually exclusive .

These days, I tend to think that those people may have had a point. Major is one of those (few) Tory politicians, like Heseltine, whose stature has grown while out of office.

This is one of the few credible arguments for a chamber like the house of Lords.

We ought to tap into the experience of these elder statesmen

It would carry a lot more weight if the Lords wasn't jam packed with political brown-nosers and donors.
They drown out the voices of the worthy, experienced and expert (are we still supposed to be tired of them).

[mattomac]

Sadly it’s a hard thing to arrange.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Fash.

[Dalem Lake]

A right old motley crew turned up to that thing, even the Home Secretary who won an award for "One to watch"
https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/spe ... -pictures/

[Tubby Isaacs]

Why do Labour politicians turn up to this?

[Bones McCoy]

The Spectator reminds me of the Bielefeld conspiracy:

Synopsis: Bielefeld does not exist.

1. Do you know anybody from "Bielefeld"?
2. Have you ever been to "Bielefeld"?
3. Do you know anybody who has ever been to "Bielefeld"?

A majority are expected to answer no to all three queries.
Anybody who can answer yes to any of the queries, or claim any other knowledge about "Bielefeld", is promptly disregarded as being in on the conspiracy, or having been themselves deceived.

1. Do you know anybody who reads the spectator?
2. Have you ever read the Spectator?
3. Do you know anybody who works for the Spectator?

Have you noticed that the people on thm media who advocate the Spectator all seem a bit odd?

Nudge nudge.

[The Weeping Angel]

Prick,

[Tubby Isaacs]

The worst chancellor of all time, beating Kwasi Kwarteng who was at least sacked quickly. All those investment cuts were almost criminal, and were called out at the time by experts. The fact that Crossrail went ahead while loads of stuff round the country (like improving the Heads of the Valley Road, Cameron thought the problem with Wales was too much public sector money) didn't help the drift towards UKIP. They got away with it because the media couldn't be bothered to ask experts, and real terms incomes picked up just before the election. Oh, and calling the Brexit referendum. What a legacy.

All these "Rachel from Accounts" people didn't mind Osborne having no experience outside being a Spad and a politician.

[satnav]

Former London mayoral candidate Susan Hall lost her shit yesterday on social media when she saw a post claiming that Tesco's had renamed 'Christmas Trees' as 'Evergreen' so as not to offend Muslims. The reality of the story is that Tesco's sells 59 different types of artificial Christmas trees one of which is just labelled 'Evergreen'.

If Susan Hall really thinks that Tesco's are toning down it's Christmas offering to appease Muslim's she really should go and visit a Tesco's store because when I was in my local Tesco's the entire store had been taken over by Christmas stuff so much so that it took me ages to find all the usual stuff I buy from there.