[kreuzberger]

And I am the poster who gets heat for saying that they are all cunts. Every last one of them.

[Andy McDandy]

IIRC during the Major years, there were cases of British people held prisoner in Iraq. According to Norman Lamont, time was spent in cabinet trying to find ways to claim they were not British, so they could be disavowed.

Yup, Kreuzberger nails it.

[Tubby Isaacs]

The Major era ones were very hardnosed, and ultimately got booted out as a result of it, with everything falling to bits (albeit not to the degree now) and visible homelessness (even more than now). But they were serious people in terms of reforms- the Citizens Charter is regarded as being one up from the Cones Hotline, but it was a good idea that highlighted lots of very uneven performance in local services. Things doubtless went too far the other way, but the idea that councils were accountable to voters who'd kick them out if they were bad (on the basis of what data?) was hopelessly naive. The economy performed reasonably well on growth, and the Kipper boneheads were faced down.

Someone bought me (from a charity shop) Norman Lamont's autobiography. He isn't at all well regarded now, with some reason, but the chapter on the 1993 Budget was interesting and way beyond the sort of trap setting rubbish that eg George Osborne came out with.

[mattomac]

Yeah Ellwood was quite two faced, a bit like Tugendhat, pretended he was above it all but he was effectively like the rest.

Tugendhat was the biggest gobshite over the China prosecution. He ought to have a lot more egg on his face than he does.

They never do, they are Tories