Bye Bye Labour

[The cooler king]

By-Election proves that this government is finished.

Time to call a vote of no-confidene on the incumbents in power.

:agree:

[alex plode]

Proves nothing.
Kinnoch won tons of dramatic by-elections,

[The cooler king]

Proves nothing.
Kinnoch won tons of dramatic by-elections,

Not withthe same turnout for a by-election nor the same swing......

Clowns are finished.

[Phil D. Rolls]

Their only chance is to bring back Bliar.

Salmond, must be peeing his pants.

[steakbake]

Their only chance is to bring back Bliar.

Salmond, must be peeing his pants.

You've heard that rumour, too?

[--------]

Alec Salmond will be hoping that Brown decides to do what every other politician does in these circumstances - hold on hoping for something to happen to rescue him.

With Brown self-destructung at Westminster, Wendy the Wide-Mouthed Frog making herself into her very own "Spitting Image" caricature at Holyrood, the Lib Dems totally ineffective and the Tories on the up, Eck's got it made.

Our time will come - sooner than we expected, I'd say.

Up the Republic. Alba gu bragh. :devil:

[LiverpoolHibs]

If you think they'd lose a vote of no confidence, you're off your head.

[steakbake]

If you think they'd lose a vote of no confidence, you're off your head.

No, of course not because they have such a huge majority in parliament. it would be like turkeys voting for christmas.

[LiverpoolHibs]

No, of course not because they have such a huge majority in parliament. it would be like turkeys voting for christmas.
:agree:

[The cooler king]

If you think they'd lose a vote of no confidence, you're off your head.

mmmnnn over 30yrs since tories won a by-election from Labour......:dunno:

Cretins are destroying this country.

[steakbake]

If you think they'd lose a vote of no confidence, you're off your head.

I wouldn't rule out a leadership challenge though.

A fellow I know who stalks the corridors of power for a living tells me that the knives are well and truly out - and have been for some time. I havent heard from him for a couple of days, but I am sure he might be telling me that there may be the sound of knives being sharpened. They just need to find a suitable person who might take a nomination big enough to undermine Brown.

Parliament is in recess for a week or so. Plenty of time to hatch a plot.

I do like watching a political party collapsing in on itself a la the Tories in the late 90s.

Election night is always far more interesting when you see big names being taken out by outsiders.

I'm not fooled by the Tories, but i dont see any sense in simply voting for labour just to keep them out. Brown has been absolutely pish as a prime minister and many of the upper echelons of the labour party are so distant from reality that i wouldn't give them my vote even if they tried to bribe me.

Labour are a very cynical and arrogant party at the moment. They are due a humbling.

[Phil D. Rolls]

You've heard that rumour, too?

Apparently he sits next to Fatty Foulkes at the PBS.

[LiverpoolHibs]

mmmnnn over 30yrs since tories won a by-election from Labour......:dunno:

Cretins are destroying this country.
So what? Do you know how no-confidence votes work? As 'blacksaltire' said, it would be like turkeys voting for Christmas.

[LiverpoolHibs]

I wouldn't rule out a leadership challenge though.

A fellow I know who stalks the corridors of power for a living tells me that the knives are well and truly out - and have been for some time. I havent heard from him for a couple of days, but I am sure he might be telling me that there may be the sound of knives being sharpened. They just need to find a suitable person who might take a nomination big enough to undermine Brown.

Parliament is in recess for a week or so. Plenty of time to hatch a plot.

I do like watching a political party collapsing in on itself a la the Tories in the late 90s.

Election night is always far more interesting when you see big names being taken out by outsiders.

I'm not fooled by the Tories, but i dont see any sense in simply voting for labour just to keep them out. Brown has been absolutely pish as a prime minister and many of the upper echelons of the labour party are so distant from reality that i wouldn't give them my vote even if they tried to bribe me.

Labour are a very cynical and arrogant party at the moment. They are due a humbling.
Yeah, I reckon there probably will be.


Too much to ask for Jon Cruddas? :greengrin

[JimBHibees]

mmmnnn over 30yrs since tories won a by-election from Labour......:dunno:

Cretins are destroying this country.

No fan of Brown and Labour however how would the Eton old boy do much better when many of the policies in place pretty much mirror what the tories would do? Suppose the fact he is English will get him in.

[steakbake]

No fan of Brown and Labour however how would the Eton old boy do much better when many of the policies in place pretty much mirror what the tories would do? Suppose the fact he is English will get him in.

The fact Brown is Scottish... (I mean, British) is enough to see him out in many people's eyes south of the border.

[JimBHibees]

The fact Brown is Scottish... (I mean, British) is enough to see him out in many people's eyes south of the border.

I agree bit of an anti scottish tide against him IMO. Smooth talking public schoolboy Cameron will get in then watch out.

[steakbake]

I agree bit of an anti scottish tide against him IMO. Smooth talking public schoolboy Cameron will get in then watch out.

He will get in no doubt about it, really.

But I dont think the fact that he went to Eton a quarter of a century ago is either here or there. I mean, its not like he probably got any say in the matter - he was a kid FFS!

The "Toff" label touted cheaply by Labour clearly didn't put people off in Crewe, if anything, it backfired royally as well it should.

Blair went to Fettes - was he a Toff?

[JimBHibees]

He will get in no doubt about it, really.

But I dont think the fact that he went to Eton a quarter of a century ago is either here or there. I mean, its not like he probably got any say in the matter - he was a kid FFS!

The "Toff" label touted cheaply by Labour clearly didn't put people off in Crewe, if anything, it backfired royally as well it should.

Blair went to Fettes - was he a Toff?

So you think the fact that Cameron went to Eton and Oxford had no bearing on him becoming the Tory leader.

The labour campaign would have had little impact on the result even if it had been the best campaign ever run. Brown and New Labour are unpopular at the moment.

No idea if Blair was a toff but certainly a shallow chancer.

[alex plode]

It's said opposition parties don't win elections - governments lose them.

This government lost the next election when they knowingly lied to the electorate (and parliament) and took the decision to join the US in the Iraq invasion.

[MSK]

Tory rule ..god *** forbid ....wheres that hang myself smiley !!!

[LiverpoolHibs]

Tory rule ..god *** forbid ....wheres that hang myself smiley !!!
I'm English so it's a considerably worse prospect for me than you Scots! This thread has meant that I've spent the night listening to nothing but Billy Bragg, The Redskins, Dick Gaughan and The Dubliners. :boo hoo:

[GreenandGlaikit]

I'm English so it's a considerably worse prospect for me than you Scots! This thread has meant that I've spent the night listening to nothing but Billy Bragg, The Redskins, Dick Gaughan and The Dubliners. :boo hoo:


:singing: "Aah, Down the Glen Came McAlpine's Men, Their Shovels ......" :greengrin

:singing: "Roch The Wind, In the Clear Day's Dawing...." :boo hoo:


Cameron : a Tory git. :grr:

[cabbageandribs1875]

seeing as the topic is about labour, here's the evening hobo's "fact of the day" for today.





On this day in 1852 Robert Cunningham-Graham was born. Cunningham-Graham, the son of a Scottitsh laird, founded the Labour Party alongside fellow Scot Keir Hardie but was later elected as the first president of the Scottish National Party. Cunningham-Graham was also a prodigious writer who authored over 30 travel books. For the latest in Scottish politics visit

:cool2:

[hibsdaft]

i mind a couple of years ago Shroeder in Germany was in a similar position to Brown is in now, extrememely unpopular with 2/3 years til an election and in the low 20#s in the polls. instead of letting the situation deepen for two years he called a shock early election and got them a strong bounce preventing an inevitable landslide for the opposition, and forcing the opposition into coalition politics and instability, albeit at the price of his own career

no danger Brown will sacrifice himself in this way though!

[Dashing Bob S]

It's said opposition parties don't win elections - governments lose them.

This government lost the next election when they knowingly lied to the electorate (and parliament) and took the decision to join the US in the Iraq invasion.

I think that's exactly the case. They lost all credibility from that point on. Blair would be suffering every bit as much as Brown (who doesn't cut it as PM) had he stayed on. Jumping ship in time before he had to face the electorate again was the best he ever made.

[alex plode]

I think that's exactly the case. They lost all credibility from that point on. Blair would be suffering every bit as much as Brown (who doesn't cut it as PM) had he stayed on. Jumping ship in time before he had to face the electorate again was the best he ever made.

Indeed - Blair knew exactly what he was doing.
He timed his entry into leadership at a time Labour couldn't lose and planned his departure at a time when Labour can't win.

[JimBHibees]

I think that's exactly the case. They lost all credibility from that point on. Blair would be suffering every bit as much as Brown (who doesn't cut it as PM) had he stayed on. Jumping ship in time before he had to face the electorate again was the best he ever made.

Blair won an election after Iraq though. I agree he left at the right time. Personally think the economy is the major issue with the electorate and at the moment people are struggling.

[Dashing Bob S]

Blair won an election after Iraq though. I agree he left at the right time. Personally think the economy is the major issue with the electorate and at the moment people are struggling.

Good point Jim, but I think people always get blindly behind their leader when they start a war, before we wise up and start to ask questions.

Had Blair not told porkies over Iraq he might have been able to tough out the economic downturn. I think voters are quite sophisticated now and they know difficult times lie ahead for the global economy and they would be prepared to give reluctant backing to a moderate party who had established a reputation for fiscal competence. I think that Labour's political classes showed they were just determined to hang on to power at all costs. Blair was intoxicated by it, thus his brown-nosing of Bush over Iraq to gain supposed 'influence'. But once it was established that he lied, he was finished.

[alex plode]

Blair won an election after Iraq though. I agree he left at the right time. Personally think the economy is the major issue with the electorate and at the moment people are struggling.

Labour limped home unchallenged in 2005 - struggled to recall it was Michael Howard who was the main opposition leader and can't recall any of his policies. :greengrin

You're right, the economy will always be a major issue for voters but as the full effects of the ongoing Iraq War continue to unravel, the rising death tolls and knock-on economic effects of rising oil prices and increased terrorism will only turn voters away from Labour, moreso now than in 2005.

[JimBHibees]

Good point Jim, but I think people always get blindly behind their leader when they start a war, before we wise up and start to ask questions.

Had Blair not told porkies over Iraq he might have been able to tough out the economic downturn. I think voters are quite sophisticated now and they know difficult times lie ahead for the global economy and they would be prepared to give reluctant backing to a moderate party who had established a reputation for fiscal competence. I think that Labour's political classes showed they were just determined to hang on to power at all costs. Blair was intoxicated by it, thus his brown-nosing of Bush over Iraq to gain supposed 'influence'. But once it was established that he lied, he was finished.

I think Blair also benefitted from a) being a very good operator in the commons, b) a complete lack of backbone in his party and large sections of the media when it was clear he was lying his ass off (Cook and a few others apart) and c) having a poor Tory party to beat.

It is much more difficult now in that Brown isnt as smooth as slimy Tony and the Tories now have a Blair clone as a leader who comes over much better than the dour Scotsman. Brown's Scottishness isnt a winner either hence his ludicrous statements about Englishness and Britishess e.g Gazza's goal, fly the St George's flag etc.

Totally agree about Blair and his cohorts wife included totally obsessed with power, money and celebrity. They really are/were morally repugnant.

[JimBHibees]

Labour limped home unchallenged in 2005 - struggled to recall it was Michael Howard who was the main opposition leader and can't recall any of his policies. :greengrin

You're right, the economy will always be a major issue for voters but as the full effects of the ongoing Iraq War continue to unravel, the rising death tolls and knock-on economic effects of rising oil prices and increased terrorism will only turn voters away from Labour, moreso now than in 2005.

Totally agree, Blair v Cameron would have been a different story.

The economy and Brown's Scottishness will ensure he doesnt win an election if he ever fights one that is.

[Dashing Bob S]

Totally agree, Blair v Cameron would have been a different story.

The economy and Brown's Scottishness will ensure he doesnt win an election if he ever fights one that is.

Ironically good news for the SNP that English voters will seemingly only tolerate North Brit public school educated and highly Anglicised 'Scots' in positions of power.