is david cameron as much of a wanker as i think he is

I'm going to take a look at Webcameron and see what it's all about. I might find it amusing.

He's terribly good-looking, though. That's the problem with Tories. They're very sexy. Why can't the Labour party get in some better looking blokes?

k8 the only sexy person in politics right now is a LABOUR PERSON! i speak of course of ALASTAIR.

However, I agree with K8 about Tory sexiness - I was once hit on by a total Mrs Robinson who happens to be Conservative to the core.

P.S. This does NOT mean I will voting Conservative, in the next election or ever.

xpost - that's pretty funny, I usually dislike Rowson.

webcam[eron]

web[cameron]

I do kind of fear this. He's the kind of bloke my brother would say was "not Tory *enough*." The only thing worse than a full-on wanker Tory is an insubstantial blur of a Tory, makes me far more suspicious. I want my Tories out in the open. Or in the bushes, rowr.

I do think "webcameron" is bloody clever, though. But I would, it's such a dadjoke pun.

neither has an agenda, priorities, policies to take Britain forward

So OTM about tories being hott. I always go for "My daddy's got a porsche" types.

"Our priorities are promoting social justice, making sure that everyone has access to good schools, good healthcare and decent housing, taking a lead in ending global poverty, helping our country to be competitive in the global economy, protecting our citizens from crime and terrorism, and doing all we can to meet the great environmental threats of our age."

fortunately not all posh people are Tories (or indeed hott) and vice versa.

Dunno what GB will be like, and I guess we won't know till next year's party conference.

David Cameron - marketing driven new tory boy wants to reclaim the centre right

Gordon Brown - as next labour leader? - dour boring New Labour renewal agenda

Ming Campbell AKA Grandad Ming - OAP in waiting, lacks charisma and urgency. Lib dems have chosen the wrong leadership candidate.

Should marketing to children be banned?
are cheap flights a false economy?

well, that's the biggest disappointment of year 2006 out of the way.

In fact, why not make it compulsory for all poiticians to do this in the run up to an election?

if Ianucci and his cronies can cut up Cameron's speech so it's reassembled as the chorus to 'Brand New' i can die a delighted man.

It's all very well saying you've got a policy of "putting more people in prison and scrapping early release" but where's the details? Every time they come up (very) short on that. Even if they start building (more)prisons(than Labour are committed to) from day one if they scrap early release prisons will be (even more) full (than they are now) in about a month.

I mean, of course they're got policies - fucking hell Screaming Lord Sutch had policies - anyone can say they're going to do something.

Incidentally - it's very easy to offer mums and dads 12 months parental leave but with no money to back it up who could afford it?

So..er..yeah, you're right - we really should talk about bad policies rather no policies.

the idea that they haven't got any policies is a routine lazy jibe against all opposition parties and it's never true

This after 2 years of watching Michael Portillo on This Week with a smug grin on his face saying, "The Tories don't actually have to announce any policies yet"

but really, i don't know what you all think an "actual policy" or "substance" is if it's not something like scrapping early release of prisoners, or committing themselves to reducing public spending in a recession or any number of things that they've mentioned

I took care not to say they didn't have policies, I said the policies were being crowded out by posturing over the economy (which is true).

oh yeah, sorry.

Yeah, it was me who said they didn't have any policies.But then I am lazy.

http://newsforums.bbc.co.uk/nol/thread.jspa?forumID=7296&edition=1&ttl=20091201174112

HYSers appear to be split on this one, loonies obv. siding with "Dave"

Like this fellow who seems to think there's one particular law that can just be got rid of...

One of (just one of) the worst pieces of legislation ever enacted.
Just get rid of it - use common sense! (if there is any left)!

do not click HYS links

Actually I think he's talking about the 1974 Health and Safety at Work Act. So what Tom said, basically.

You know, a woman sued McDonald's cause she said her coffee was too hot!

Fuck this cunt using a wee boy dying to further his fucking bollocks attempt at looking like he has policies.

― nearly 50 in vagina years (onimo), Tuesday, 1 December 2009 15:15 (1 month ago) Bookmark

And he's at it again to-day. He's on a roll.

god, it would be a terrible if a labour politician exploited a terrible crime to score points of the opposition.

oh no wait

http://www.newstatesman.com/200212160011

You bring this up every fucking time. If you want to start a Blair is a wanker thread be my guest.

Oh no wait
http://www.ilxor.com/ILX/index.jsp

don't think i've ever brought it up, actually.

Where is Cameron being mawkish about kiddie death? Link would be nice.

Not death but it's along the same lines. Broken britain = two kids half beaten to death.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8473888.stm

well someone did - and I'm lashing out.
xp

society is broek :(

i would not know this were it not for cameron and his touchy feely tories.

"While stressing that the case is not typical, Mr Cameron is expected to cite it as a shocking example"

fucking knobcheese

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/47162000/jpg/_47162016_008565558-1.jpg

It's a really good job Cameron didn't join the Labour Party because this is not a good look on him.

Red on red is not nice.

nor is cunt on red.

"While stressing that the case is not typical, Mr Cameron is expected to cite it as a shocking example"

fucking knobcheese

― take me to your lemur (ledge), Friday, 22 January 2010 10:09 (38 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

blair as shadow home secretary did the same over james bulger iirc

hmm, that rings a bell.

In fairness, Blair was asked to do that by James Bulger's mother, but it felt exploitative nonetheless.

the thing is, most labour voters actually agree with the "broken society" rhetoric, but blame it on the lasting legacy of thatcher, who after all said society didn't exist and made lots of people unemployed.

using this kind of exceptional crime (or the bulger case) is dumm, but both sides play the game. possibly the tories invented it in the 1970s, when mugging became a big hot-button issue, but i don't know much about the history of law-n-order posturing before then.

All part of the Dutch Auction rightward drift of the Home Office over the last 30 years, uninterrupted by the change of government from Tory to New Labour.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41ZW5K6SCXL._SL500_AA240_.jpg

^^ what i had in mind. stuart hall right?

It has got a cover image straight out of It's A Knockout.

All part of the Dutch Auction rightward drift of the Home Office over the last 30 years, uninterrupted by the change of government from Tory to New Labour.

― Neil S, Friday, 22 January 2010 11:25 (13 minutes ago) Bookmark

think "dutch auction" is right and "uninterrupted" is not quite right: blair as shadow home sec was a turning point because there was no opposition to lawn order posturing, and it made the tories more hard line. there's a good story about michael howard axing a speech by a junior minister which said criminals needed to be driven out like "vermin" and replaced it with something boring about locks on windows. the papers got hold of the draft and tried to get blair to denounce it, but he refused because daily mail readers would agree with it.

blair's phrase was the bulger case was like "hammer blows to the sleeping conscience of the country". but smashing it with a hammer is going to make it less likely for a sleeping conscience to get up, isn't it?

More like a gentle tickle from the feather of horrific child abuse.

but i don't know much about the history of law-n-order posturing before then.

iirc law and order didn't even feature in manifestos until the 60s (maybe the late 50s). It was them mods and rockers that started everyone off on the decline of modern civilisation as we know it. That and the Jazz Riots.

Everyone here is right that both sides do it and it does not augur well for future policy. Although I suppose it also depends what you do with that rhetoric once in power. Also, hollow laugh, this all comes the day after the BCS which showed overall crime down, less chance of being a victim, blahblahblah, and I suppose Cammy gotta say something, although up until last year even i thought he might not be quite so, erm, scumbag=ish. It's like he's being told what to say by some old editor of The Sun or something.

We shd have a thread about inappropriately violent similes decrying violent crime.

xpost

It's almost like he's some old Etonian leader of the Tory Party, even.

possibly the tories invented it in the 1970s

this can't be right? surely opposition jumped on jack the ripper etc long before modern political lines were drawn and fixed?

Hey Cameron, thanks for yr Secret Meeting palling up w/even the nuttiest loons of Northern Ireland unionism, sweet move after a decade of fragile peace partly enabled by having a British govt who could finally be believed not to side unthinkingly with the marching, tyre-burning, flag-waving blue-kerbstoned goons imo

(PS obv I have no idea what your meeting was actually about so maybe you called them all tits and pulled their noses, but in that case you could've invited the other lot too)

dunno -- doubt it. interesting qn. i think ned is right though about when it became a really big thing. gladstone is famous for going out and talking to prostitutes, but i can't imagine him campaigning agin the tories based on the number of them in the streets. they didn't have much in the way of social workers, community policing, etc., in late victorian london.

xpost

Yeah, I imagine most Victorian politicians - probably most politicians pre WWI, operating on the assumption that more or less the entire working class was filthy criminal monkeys, but it was okay as long as they were only murdering their own.

gladstone is famous for going out and talking to prostitutes

well, yeah, but.......

Apologies for the following anally retentive detail but it's sort of my thing.

The word 'crime' get's a mention in the 1959 Conservative manifesto, but as with Labour, they were more concerned with illegal gambling at this point. The 1964 manifesto mentions 'hooliganism' and 'juvenile delinquency', which, they note "originates in broken or unhappy homes". In 1966 they really get down to it with a section on 'To Beat The Crime Wave' (followed by 'To Deal with the Problem of Immigration'). Perhaps surprisingly, it's not until 1970 that they blame the other lot, if rather halfheartedly, - The Labour Government cannot entirely shrug off responsibility for the present situation since they restricted police recruitment at a critical time. 1979 is the real watershed, big section on Law and Order - lays blame fair and sqaure on the previous Labour gov (and again follows it with a section Immigration and Race Relations (no connection, obviously). First mention of a "short, sharp shock". And after that it's a major part of each manifesto.

First Labour manifesto to have a separate section on "Law Enforcement" is 1966 which starts...
For years Britain has been confronted by a rising crime rate, overcrowded prisons and many seriously undermanned police forces.
In 1970 they too realise this is a party political issue and there's a whole section on Law and Justice.
Nothing could be more cynical than the current attempts by our opponents to exploit for Party political ends the issue of crime and law enforcement.
The 1979 manifesto is a bit weak on crime but by Kinnock's first manifesto in 1983 there's a long section. And so on.

Fascinating reading they all are, incidentally, I recommend it.

http://i.imgur.com/W9LUWl.jpg

Elvis circa Vegas comeback there.

i thought it was grandpa munster

Is crime really rising? No.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/markeaston/2010/01/conservative_estimates_on_viol.html

Utterly vile.