'We not only saved the world'
Is it a bird, is it a plane...
No, it's Supergord. Or so, he implied in this memorable moment in today's prime minister's questions.
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PS. My analysis of the government's welfare reform proposals appears below.

I'm 
~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~55~RS~)
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The real tragedy is that most people will think this was a slip of the tongue.
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Freudian slip?
Very revealing.
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Tomorrow he will walk on water the next turn water into wine then save the solar system and the Universe and still find time to screw up the ecomomy even more.
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Hilarious! That made my day.
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Oh God!
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The Second Coming of Gordon Brown?
THE STEVE has competition.
Cool.
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NONE OF THE ABOVE.
NO ITS AN IDIOT.
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Of course....photographs can tell many stories...
With the world in global crisis...no doubt Mandy and AC - will quickly come up with a poster showing just how funny the Tories think serious politics is!.....
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Crash Grodon saved the world? That really made me laugh.
I cant think of a single one of his moronic economic polices that has even slightly helped to stave off the inevitable depression.
Someone tell Gordon, that simply put, debt junkies need to kick the habit.
Stop borrowing, slash public spending, cancel ID cards, simplify taxation and stop pouring money into the black hole that is our banking sector.
If only the "do nothing" party were in power, if this government had taken an 11 year holiday then this country wouldn't be the financially and morally bankrupt multi-cultural cess pit that it has become.
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Actually, the idea that they saved the banking system is about as ludicrous as the idea that they saved the world. Who exactly do they think was in charge while banks failed and had to be nationalised?
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My friends, who normally don'y give a fig about politics, were rolling about laughing their heads off at the idea that Supergord "saved the world"... the general response was he could organise a knee's up in a brewery!
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Priceless!
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Dear Nick,
oH ! WHAT A MOMENT JUST IMAGINE IT GOD, ER SORRY GORD, SAVES THE WORLS, ---FROM THEMSELFS? WAS THIS A BILDERBERG MONET ?
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This was no Freudian slip.
The man truly believes he is the special one sent to save the world.
Perhaps it's time to resign as this country's PM so he can take up his calling then.
Just send him off on a space ship and hope he disappears into oblivion or a big black hole preferably.
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We saved the World by showing people how not to do it
Have a look at Reuters:
"Altogether, these readings made a strong case for the United Kingdom ultimately suffering the worst recession in the developed world," Commerzbank analysts said in a research note.
Nick - there is a lot of good material out there with which to test our leader (sorry - the World's leader).
You have to admire the spin machine at NuLab - but for how long can they keep the facts from the people?
For as long as they have the media in their pockets I guess.
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We saved the World
Have a look at Reuters:
"Altogether, these readings made a strong case for the United Kingdom ultimately suffering the worst recession in the developed world," Commerzbank analysts said in a research note.
Nick - there is a lot of good material out there with which to test our leader (sorry - the World's leader).
You have to admire the spin machine at NuLab - but for how long can they keep the facts from the people?
For as long as they have the media in their pockets I guess.
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A slip of the tongue and amusing - but hardly relevant to the depth of the troubles facing us.
Yes, I am going to keep referring to this until such time as the Beeb pick up on the mess we are in and start to ask the hard questions.
Reuters:
"Altogether, these readings made a strong case for the United Kingdom ultimately suffering the worst recession in the developed world," Commerzbank analysts said in a research note.
Nick - there is a lot of good material out there with which to test our leader (sorry - the World's leader).
You have to admire the spin machine at NuLab - but for how long can they keep the facts from the people?
For as long as they have the media in their pockets I guess.
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My PC has developed an echo
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The sad thing is , he really does believe it!
From the start of the crisis he was telling everyone that the rest of the world was following his lead. Yet check out the foreign press and the world was strangely silent on our Economic Saviour.
Wonder why...
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hehe, let's watch him spin his way out of this one
He actually does think of himself as this grand statesman respected the world over....the man has serious issues
or we're just ungrateful?
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@19 lmao
If only the last 11 years hadn't happened!!
You might want to remember there is no "Camerons Britain". It's Crash Gordon's (and I have no doubt he really believes that too).
I think you'll find that our "snout in the trough" ministers would trample the royals and the opposition in their charge to the bunker. As it's underground I'm sure the trolls would be there too so you'd be ok too...
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Just confirms what most of us have thought for a long time - Brown is seriously delusional (fixed false belief that is resistant to reason or confrontation with actual fact). Just like his policies.
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He hasn't saved the world. He won't even be able to save himself if he persists with this kind of deluded nonsense!
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Even Mick the fat controller had difficulty supressing the laughter. It's not really that funny though, the man actually believes he saved the world. I suspect if he was offered for sectioning, there would be no objections. He ought to wear a tricorn hat and stick his hand inside his jacket . Vive la rebublique!
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Thats must be very good news for you Nick
If he has saved the world, then that must mean that he have saved his favourite cheerleader - we did wonder where you had got to.
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The freudian SLIP??
GORDY ??
Are you so deluded??
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Who is the "we" referred to ? Surely SuperGord is not ready to admit that he is not 100% solely behind saving the planet.
The only problem with having declared yourself as the saviour of the world, it leaves you with no where else to go.
Well done Gordon, you've reached the pinnacle of your aspirations ......... now go.
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I though the phoney laughter and the gibbon impressions from the opposition were funnier.
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Super-Gord?
The man couldnt run a tap correctly.
TO Nick & the BBC, your biased views for the Labour Party will not be forgotten, and you will be seen as truthful and un-biased as FOX-NEWS in America!
Try watching it!
Roll on that abolishment of the TV License fee, so we can actually make you EARN your Right to Report the facts correctly and not being biased for ANY political Party!
Your supposed to work for us, not the politicians!
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The trouble is you haven't saved the world Gordon - it's in just as big a mess as it was, and while you were not saving the world, the UK fell apart too. So well done, good job.
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He didn't get his words wrong, he actually used the precise words that he meant to use. He only changed them when people started laughing.
He does honestly believe that he has personally saved the world, because he is a delusional idiot.
The tragic thing is that the labour backbenchers who know that he's a delusional idiot who's running a scorched-earth policy on the economy, refuse to get rid of him because it'd mean that they'd personally lose their gravy train money.
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Just goes to show what an enormous opinion the man has of himself.
Now kindly stand down having stuffed up the country's balance sheet and move over for someone or some party that is prepared to cut public spending, cut waste, cut public sector pensions, cut taxes and put us back on the road to living within our means like any sane person would do.
An end to political correctness, fairness agendas, progressive politics (whatever they think they are), excessive taxation, manufactured racial agendas, non stop imigration and the general dumbing down of the entire British culture. An end to the entitlement culture the something for nothing culture the benefits plague that is ruining the fabric of our society.
Call an election.
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Gordon wouldn't be able to lie on the grand scale that he does if he weren't able to convince himself that ridiculous things are true.
You can be 99% sure that Gordon really believes his own press on these things:
1. I am the economic saviour of the world
2. I never said I'd end boom and bust
3. I have ensured the UK is best placed to weather the recession
4. I did not make any mistakes in the gold sell off.
5. We did mend the roof when the sun was shining
6. The Tories are the do nothing party
Gordon hates reality messing with the world that he has created in his head.
That is why Merkel is not welcome at the Monopoly money leaders summit over tea and cakes - her attachment to reality would ruin the fantasy play world Brown inhabits.
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I think he has gone along way to saving the world, with the hindsight of history his actions may well be seen to be decisive and copied by most other countries. I imagine Churchill, in this age of pseudo democratic internet response, wouldn't have lasted 5 minutes.
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This made my week. How incompetent Gordon Brown is. He now can't read that what the civil service have written for him.
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So,Brown is now Flash Gordon,and Charles applauds his second coming..eh?
Of course,being of the same "rare personality type"...I believe you consider yourself an INTJ,Charles..perhaps you would like to comment on the following extract..
"The potential ways in which an INTJ can irritate others include:
-being single-minded or stubborn
-not taking sufficient account of current realities
-not expressing appreciation for the contributions of others, particularly where it hasn't been fully competent
-not delegating
-making errors of fact, and appearing to make decisions irrespective of the facts "
This seems to expose Browns personality traits and possibly yours...but it hardly follows your Zen philosophy,does it?
The reality with Brown is that he cannot see that despite his claims to have "led the World"..very few seem to agree with him.e.g. Germany .
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30. U11714077
You make a good point -
Maybe 'we' is gordon and the voices in his head ?
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What an absolute prat!
That is literally what he thinks if himself - a huge disparity between this and what the country at large think of him (and his caped ideas [sic})
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Clearly, it was a slip of the tounge but what gives real concern is how the opposition brings disrepute to the house of commons. Their laughter adds to cynicism and as their leader is using punch and judy tactics which adds to the opposition being seen as unfit for government.
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He's not even proven he has saved the banking system here yet. We are still in massive decline as an economy. All indicators are this recession is going to be longer and deeper than anything we have seen before. The US is rapidly heading towards a depression as are we.
Internationally Brown is seen as a buffoon we all know he is. I cannot forget the body language from Bush towards him during the conference in the US a few weeks ago when Bush escorted Merkel off the stage and Brown was eagerly looking for some sort of acknowledgment from Bush. That is where the real power is today - Germany and France. Blair had the President's ear, Brown is viewed as over selling his position on the global plan in Europe and the US.
I am convinced that Paulson came up with the plan for bank recapitilisation though, and it was too much of a tough sell in the US with their free market so Brown and Darling said they would claim it as their own and launch first. That would make more sense really - a banker telling the politicians how to get out of the mess the bankers have created!
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I just wonder if he would have bothered to try and correct his statement if he hadn't been looking at the opposition's incredulous expressions at the time.
I guess we'll never know for sure.
Personally, I don't think he would.
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Ah yes, Gordon's faith in the 'ingenuity of The City.' Now that's been exposed as a busted casino I wonder where the wealth creation is going to spring from? 'Theme Park UK' perhaps?
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Jonathan Cook -
How right you are to say that Gordon really believes his own press on these things:
1. I am the economic saviour of the world
2. I never said I'd end boom and bust
3. I have ensured the UK is best placed to weather the recession
4. I did not make any mistakes in the gold sell off.
5. We did mend the roof when the sun was shining
6. The Tories are the do nothing party
If only journalists like Nick Robinson asked hard questions instead of pandering to the needs of these jokers
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Looks like a slip of the tongue regrettably. Just muffed his pre-planned speech. Again.
Humourless sod could at least have laughed at himself though.
That's one of his many weaknesses. No sense of modesty or self-deprecation. Cameron should just engineer piss-takes every PMQs. Have a good laugh at him.
You know, cock his head, cup his hand to his ear and say 'I think I can hear a small child falling from a window ledge - do you need to get to a telephone booth Gordon? Or shall I continue.'
Followed by 'spontaneous' humming of the Flash Gordon theme by 200 Tory Back-benchers.
'Flash, Aaaaaaaa,
'He saved every one of us'
He'd hate it. And lose it eventually. Quite quickly probably.
What d'ya mean 'do nothing party?' We're doing acapella.
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Woops!
Oh well, the fact that the Tories will now try to talk about this rather than the actual economic issues shows how seriously they're taking the situation.
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Re: 38
You are right. This man's got an ego the size of Everest and can only believe those things that confirm his own self-image. As part of that he feels he has to destroy anyone who says anything making the slighest dent in that self-image - hence the repetitious venom of his attacks on Cameron and even Clegg.
The problem is that it is the rest of us who are suffering because that self-image is so divorced from reality.
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@53
that is the economic issue Chris
He thinks he has saved the world. when people laugh at that he changes it to "we saved the banks"
Neither is true his delusion created the mess his delusion is making the mess worse
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#53
Oh well, the fact that the Tories will now try to talk about this rather than the actual economic issues shows how seriously they're taking the situation.
The Tories have been telling Gordon that he's off his head and he shouldn't be looking to add another 500bn quid debt to the 350bn quid he's already run up.
But 'Flash' (He saved every one of us) just goes the old kid-in-the-playground route of
'I'm not listening, ner ner ner ner, ner, you caaaaaaan't make me, ner ner ner ner ner'
'You're the 'do nothing party', ner ner ner ner ner.'
Probably been his tactic throughout his life. Maybe somebody took exception on the rugby field. Somebody from one of the posh private Edinburgh academies.
It would explain much.
Hardly surprising if the Tories have a good laugh when the odious lunatic has a good prat-fall.
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Nick
You've previously remarked here (and indeed face to face with me) how little air time and space you have to report on the day's events.
Are you seriously intending to allow the PM's hilarious but clearly unintended remark to consume you're entire day's exposure?
I laughed as much as anyone but the next time a BBC executive denies that the corporation's new output has been dumbed down those of us who can see it do no more than point to this post.
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#19
So that's it then Andy? No insight into Tory policy- just a lame link into a TV program that you compare to Cameron's Britain. Is that all you can offer after 11 years in power?
We really are in trouble....
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Well there you have it. Brown is actually auditioning for the role of key villain in the next Bond movie. Following in the great tradition of Auric Goldfinger, Hugo Drax and Ernst Stavro Blofield we now have Gordon Brown. I'm sure Daniel Craig is quaking in his boots. Get ready for 'The World is Mine' out shortly!
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Woops!
Oh well, the fact that the Tories will now try to talk about this rather than the actual economic issues shows how seriously they're taking the situation.
good point #53
But isnt that what we all know, what these politicans are all about?
Yes ill never vote conservative because they are a mirror image of this incompitent government we have in power now, i want some honesty in politics.
Super-gord has no principles,hes no understanding of the people hes supposed to be "helping" no its all nothing, its lies or soundbites "prince of darkness"
Yes he said exactly what his brain tells him to say when he speaks, & it is arrogance and ignorance of the population of our populace, are we fools? are we that dumb?
Labour have lied and manipulated our way of life and our way of freedom under this terror threat, under disguise of more terror and more legislation.
The mans a "yes"man and a totally corrupt individual to say the least.
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...and now I'm starting to believe Robert is the real Dr Who.
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I must admit when I first saw this item and before watching the clip I thought he had actually meant to say it. Just goes to show how low the man has slipped in my estimation. What he clumsily tried to change it to was 'We saved the World's banks' which isn't a great deal less boastful when you really think about it.
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@45 rofl
The opposition brings disrepute to the house of commons?!!!!
Think you'll find that it's the labour government that have done that with their incompetent management of this country, perpetual lies and contempt for the wishes of the electorate.
Manifesto promises ring a bell? Or maybe not if your a labour voter (public servant or non-working class)
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This is the first time I've willingly listened to Gordon Brown speak.
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A Freudian Slip indeed from:
A DECEPTIVE (10p tax rate abolition), PROFLIGATE (projected over £100 billion pa borrowings), COWARDLY (got his henchmen to knife Mr Blair while he hid), PSYCHOLOGICALLY FLAWED (that was Alastair Campbell’s opinion), STUBBORN (took over a year and a Labour rebellion to admit 10p tax rate abolition was wrong), ARROGANT (just could not say sorry, I was wrong about the 10p fiasco and spent ten years undermining the Prime Minister so he could get the top job), BAD TEMPERED (plenty of stories of that including shouting matches with Mr Blair), MANIPULATIVE (Lord Mendalson rejoins the cabinet), LIAR (Mr Cameron is not proposing “do nothing” but do different / less) and BULLY (treatment of Mr Frank Fields ten years ago; arrest of an opposition MP on his watch for doing no more than he himself did).
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You now have to feel sorry for Gordon, he has obvioulsy cracked under the strain 'of saving the world' and now is the time for the men in white coats to take him away.
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You couldn't make it up.
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"Saved the world...."
I cannot be the only person in the world who recognises this freudian slip for what it is - the voice of a delusional man with a growing mental illness.
The PM must recognise that he is on Tony Blairs mandate & that before he takes the wealth of the yet unborn British taxpayers he really does need to face the electorate with his plan of action.
Even Mugabe faced the occasional election.
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Hilarious . . .
Nick - good for you! Got to have laugh sometimes, haven't we?!!
Choice remains:
Do Nothing Tories
or
Spend and Tax Labour.
Take your pick!!
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@60
so who to vote for then?
Tories are probably the onlyones who will be able to drag Crash Gordon form No 10.
I do have a wonderful vision of him being pulled out by men in white coats, while screaming "but I've saved the world"!
I too would love honest, competent intelligent politicians who act in the best interest of the country (without snouts in teh trough), but can it ever happen?
In this day and age we should be able to have an on-line referendum on every fundamental issue and no need for government to continue in its current form.
However, I doubt things will ever improve, so I just dream of removal of Crash and crew, personally I would vote for Satan if he removed these numpty's from power.
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45 mbizi99
"Clearly, it was a slip of the tounge but what gives real concern is how the opposition brings disrepute to the house of commons. Their laughter adds to cynicism and as their leader is using punch and judy tactics which adds to the opposition being seen as unfit for government."
Perhaps you should have listened to what happened when Brown's "rescue plan" was being debated in the house. All the labour whips charged into the house like hooligans, shouting as loudly as they could to disrupt the debate, because they knew that cameron/osborne were debating the total lack of logic in Brown's "plan" so the labour whips were told to try and stop the debate from being heard whenever the tories spoke.
And that was when there was a trillion pounds of debt being debated.
In this instance Brown proclaimed himself a supreme being, and for that I think he deserves a few derisory laughs/comments from the opposition.
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Harriet didn't even flinch. She must be used to it by now.
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Nick
Me I though he claimed to be Not Flash - Just Gordon.
Whats in a name anyway, Flash Gordon, Crash Gordon, Duff Gordon or SuperGordon. Actions speak louder than words.
Not long ago you once said, when the Tories were ridding high in the polls, how can they sustain this momentum up to the 2010 GE? Now the question is how long can NuLabour sustain this second honeymoon?
If people do not spend over the Xmas and New Year period, or if Crash drops another cock-up, maybe the wheels of his Tractor will fall off!
Looks like the New Year will be interesting.
May I also take this opportunity to wish everybody a very merry Xmas and a prosperous New Year. I use the word prosperous with tongue in cheek.
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Read up on Ieyasu Tokugawa, and Ikyyu. Tokugawa created the conditions for Japan's renaiisance, and Ikyyu created the tea ceremony. They pretty much established and founded Zen as we know it.
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Did anyone else noticed how ineffectual the speaker was in trying to restore calm?
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This is not the first time just lately. When the Mumbai attack took place Gordon Brown said something along the lines of " I think I speak on behalf of the world.......".
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It think Gordon was probably a victim of himself.
I can imagine him all morning rehearsing this. thinking all the while "I mustnt say I saved the world, I mustnt say I saved the world" then because of this he blurts is out.
Fantastic bit of scripting by the mole, set the trap let freud slip into it.
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That's two false statements he made. The second was that no depositor in Britain lost money - what about the UK resident and/or citizen depositors with Kaupthing IOM then wee Gordy? Your bull-in-a-china-shop actions, described as "thuggish" by former MPC member Willem Buiter, led directly to the collapse of the whole Icelandic banking system.
I read recently that 40 percent of British voters approve Gawd's handling of the economic crisis, versus 31 percent approving the Tories' proposals. For Gawd's sake wake up old England.
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Oh, well. I bet he and everyone else in parliament wished it were actually possible.
Sometimes a persons mouth seems to go into automatic "wishful thinking" mode
However, I am having a nice day. So I thought I would avoid listening to Brown being out of his depth, or that spoil brat, "The Boy David" sneering at him across the aisle.
Happiness is realising that PMQs is a waste of a very pretty building.
Thank goodness.
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I bet he genuinely believes he has saved the world. I still find it fascinating that as Chancellor he failed to see the problems of the economy coming and, having decided then that there was no need to regulate the City, now it suits him, sees a need to do exactly that.
That this man continues to govern our country (without a mandate from the electorate) is appalling.
As for the Speaker, the man is clearly not a fit person for the duties of his high station.
Gordon, go and take your mate Gorbals Mick with you.
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Re 42
You are right in linking Brown's [and CEH's!] "rare personality type" to Jung & Myers Briggs and your comments tie in with mine at 54. I personally would query the N, which stands for Intuition. My view - and I’m writing this quickly without checking my notes on Jung and Myers Briggs - is that the Introverted Thinking parts of his personality are all prevailing.
So let me give you some more quotes about the Introverted Thinker -
* He will follow his ideas …… inwards and not outwards. Intensity is his aim, not extensity.
* In the pursuit of his ideas he is generally stubborn, headstrong, and quite unamenable to influence.
* However clear to him the inner structure of his thoughts, he is not the least clear how they link up to the world of reality.
* In his personal relations he is taciturn or else throws himself on people who cannot understand him, and for him this is one more proof of the abysmal stupidity of man.
* The counterbalancing functions of feeling, intuition and sensation are comparatively unconscious and inferior.
In most people, as they move towards maturity, those counterbalancing influences are supposed to develop. Unfortunately, that seems not to have happened with Brown. My guess is that some other influences that came from a Daddy who preached compassion in the pulpit but was probably something of an autocrat at home are still too strong.
Thus we have someone who can only believe what is in his own head and who also believes anyone who challenges that is just stupid.
Unfortunately, as I have said, it is the rest of us who are suffering.
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#45
Whereas the Labour benches reaction to Nick Clegg's first question was perfectly reasonable I suppose?
Parliament's a bear pit, and there are considerably more and noisier bears on the Labour benches than anywhere else.
Clearly that makes them more suitable for government, then?
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Superb made my day.
If the man had just an ounce of charm he would have smiled and cracked a joke at that slip.
Hes a supercillious sniffy saphead.
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Teach me oh great Zen master, tell me more, I am eager to soak up more interminable, non-sensical ramblings!!
Show me the wisdom of your Zen overlord..
No seriously, tell me.
Direct question for Charles_E_Gibber:
Can you give any definitive evidence of Crash's towering intellect?
I hear alot about it, but as far as I can tell he is as intelligent as your average chav with a standard sub-prime education
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@78
Dont forget that every single depositor will lose money as a direct result of 0% interest rates, hyper inflation and a worthless pound
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New moon, is it?
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I TOLD you it was only a matter of time before he slipped his knickers on over his tights...
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I've just listened to The Daily Politics online and, to be honest, I reckon Gordon Brown will just keep polishing his act and tune out what "the internet" thinks. The Tories have a line but it's just a play on trying to box Labour in and setting the mood, talking up manufactured figures, and talking everyone down. No substance: just spin.
Caroline Flint had a good focus and sidestepped all the Tory landmines by focusing on delivery. Some of her comment on personality differences and reality are on the ball. So, yeah. I'd like to see Labour continue focusing on "continuous self improvement" rather than letting the Tory tail wag the Labour dog.
Labour "get it", and behind the facade of bluster and confidence the Tories know something has changed. They can't "manage" and "mediate" Labour because Labour has slipped off the ego hook the Tories tried to peg them on. This is fascinating stuff because Labour is seizing ground the Tories believed they owned.
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I see the moderators are treating certain
posters with the same contempt as Brown
treats the electorate.
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Was it a slip of the tongue before?
He really meant "More Boom and Bust"
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This guy even makes Cameron look competent.
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@88
All Labour are siezing are peoples homes via nationalised banks!!
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Zen as YOU know it, perhaps, CEH, but that's got precious little to do with any real-world version, where he certainly doesn't rank in the list of any recognised Zen masters. Zen actually became discredited during the Tokugawa shogunate, because the destabilised economy meant there was insufficient time to achieve anything with a known master.
You've been watching too much Water Margin again.
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84. I_Despise_Labour
Dont feed his ego please.
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The man is clearly delusional. What is even more frightening is that he has the power to order a nuclear strike...
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88. CEH
Labour "get it", and behind the facade of bluster and confidence the Tories know something has changed. They can't "manage" and "mediate" Labour because Labour has slipped off the ego hook the Tories tried to peg them on. This is fascinating stuff because Labour is seizing ground the Tories believed they owned.
--
I usually ignore you, but that is a contender
absolutely superb
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Gordon Brown has not saved the World or its Banks. He and his completely delusiional party have actually managed to put our major banks into hock and then have nationalised them to enable Labour as a government to now take, quite legally, 58% of all the dividends. Thi8s means that while saying that he is saving the banks he is actually putting in place a stealth tax of mamoth proportiions at the expense of the small saver and share holder.
Saved the World? he couldn't even save tuppence.
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Its A pity that so many at the BBC stand
in awe of the MORONS ruining the country.
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Gordon Brown is developing quite well and strongly in some areas, and Labour seem to have developed more confidence and picked up a few tricks. Meanwhile, I note, you don't drag up Cameron and Clegg's personality types or analyse their outcomes. Why? It's a disaster in waiting. No, just bash Gordon Brown because it takes pressure off admitting your own problems which are much, much more massive.
Taking a cheap hit to get attention points is a good short-termwin but throwing all the focus on Gordon Brown without developing your own side has a downside: you're just lulling yourself into be jerked around like a dope on a rope, and by taking the focus of self-improvement you're going nowhere. When the light gets shined on the outcome at the next general election it will bite the opposition in the ass.
Where's the policies and sociable attitudes from the opposition? You know, these parties and personalities who wish to be king? If you've got the insight and wisdom you'd be focusing on eating your own dogfood because the current approach is the best own-goal all the money and sweet talk from Labour couldn't buy, and if (big if) the opposition parties get into power they'll rule as badly as they practice.
Zen is about self-enlightenment.
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Brown is not a full shilling.
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alexandercurzon
It's not awe, they just wont bite the hand that feeds, if tht Tories get in they will merely lean right instead of left.
I've complained about the removal of my posts...
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@94 sorry Carrots I cant help it, the deranged musings amuse me when I can be bothered to read them
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#99
So that's a 'No' then to enlightening us about Gordon Brown's towering intellect.
Thought so.
Election please.
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@89
I notice that too, think we're 2 all at the moment, I was hoping that I'd end the day with a post that was still viewable, but I obvioulsy understand that all criticism of the glorious leader has to be quashed....
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A bad craftsman blames their tools.
Never watched Water Margin.
That's your hole not mine.
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Zen is about self-abnegation, Charles. The mirror mind only reflects what you want it to see, big grasshopper.
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@99
Ah, now I see he personality similarities you harp on about.
Wednesday is always avoid direct question day isn't it!!
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Is it a Bird...?? , is it a Plane ...??, no !!!! its "Super-Brown " here to save the World Yet again ...!!! He will be telling Everybody He can turn Water into Wine next !! Who is He kidding...???.
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post 101 i despise labour
I went to see my MP last week he is complaining,i have also used my solicitors to complain.
Somehow i doubt the BBC will reply. .
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Hey there GORDY
WE WILL TOT UP OUR WOOLWORTHS
LOSS
TOMORROW.
WHERES MY HANDOUT GORDY??
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It's Rahere heaven day, another fool as big as Gordy! Two in a day's a bit too much to believe.
To spell things out to you, Charles, the original Water Margin is about Chinese independance under domination. The TV series was made in Japan and had about as much to do with Zen or the original as your first comment did, for all that it was spouting the same kind of platitudes on the subject. So it's YOU who are blaming things on bad tools, commenting as usual on something you know absolutely nothing about.
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Listen you lot need to calm down with this Election now, GB does this, GB is doing this wrong stuff.
You are all going to develope ulcer's. You are going to have to come on here x amount of times a day the WHOLE of next year and part of the next.
I think for the health of the bloggists Nick should have the odd 3 week break.
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#108 neiljamesh
...I can turn wine into water..
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Did he really say that or did some mischievous speech writer sneak it in?
Knowing he would read it because he thought it was true.
You don't have to leak documents to embarass Brown you just have to write his notes.
Who could be looking for a new job in Downing Street tonight I wonder?
Just another conspiracy theory.
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In this day and age we should be able to have an on-line referendum on every fundamental issue and no need for government to continue in its current form.
However, I doubt things will ever improve, so I just dream of removal of Crash and crew, personally I would vote for Satan if he removed these numpty's from power.
I totally agree, but we better find that lamp and keep rubbing it, one day the people will wake up, look at Greece.
Im glad that we agree.. but ill not vote for a shadow form of government just to rid us of these fools, we need to correct our democracy, until we sort out these politicans in true fashion, it will never change.
And charles, this ZEN stuff you keep barking on about, this Japanese mantra..
Exactly after WW2 and the bombings of Japan, who exactly took it into their own principles to change Japan?
Kiazen, 5s principles and so forth.
Sometimes when I read your utter drivel I actually believe its the cyclops himself. Life isnt a wonderland, and the people have rights to their own objections, and their own way of dealing with situations. keep your own clap-trap.
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Go Flash Go
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The shame is that many voters will continue to believe Brown. Well he has been telling everyone he saved the Worlds Banks and lots of punters need to believe him. If borrowing more than you can afford is wrong millions of voters are wrong. If debts have to be repaid millions are facing a terrible future. The economy will contract and not by the odd 0.5% its going to be more like 5%.
The current government overspend disguised by the term "fiscal stimulus" is a hundred billion a year and in addition the public has been racking up personal debt at a similar rate. So when we all stop building this debt mountain the economy will shrink by about a hundred billion.
Brown's on a roll of voter support. Rather like a pied piper people follow Brown because the alternative, reality, is going to hurt like hell. Unfortunately for all reality is coming to get us and Brown is the fool that negligently supported much of the UK debt bubble.
That debt would haunt a lesser ego but Brown has learned from Blair he will claim that what he did he did in good faith.
When we get to the future and we find little or no recovery in the UK it will eventually, many years later, and by others, be admitted that some of the intelegence must have been faulty.
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Broon went on to say that "not one depositor actually lost any money in Britain" on the BBC clip.
So even when the right words come out in the right order, Gordon is still the master of truth avoidance (rather than truth evasion, if you insist...).
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Flash Gordon saved the world not Trash Gordon. Would somebody tell him.
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PM downplays 'saving world' gaffe
Number 10 attempts to play down a slip of the tongue in which the PM said the government had "saved the world".
--
What on earth is this doing occupying position 3 on the BBC news front page at the time of writing? Is this really "news"?
Good grief.
Come on BBC. It doesn't matter whether it was Brown or Cameron that said it (I'm no great fan of either), it's utterly ridiculous of you to position something like this in such a prominent position.
The fact that so many posters are eager to jump on a word mix-up says more about their determined anti-Brown/anti-Labour agenda than it does about whether this really warrants such prominence.
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they are coming to take him away ha ha!
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I laughed out loud seeing the clip. I can imagine that Blair would have defused the situation immediately by laughing along at himself. Brown just takes a petulant swipe at the opposition. He was always "the straight man" to Blair's marketing dream orator, but you'd think Gordon would have picked up even a few social skills along the way.
I only wish Gordon's other untruths were as funny as that. They're not. They're just painful for the rest of us:
"Everyone agress that a fiscal stimulus is the right course of action"
"The tories are a do-nothing party"
and of course
"no return to boom and bust"
Has anyone ever noticed that Gordon always makes a point of saying whatever he thinks is the "right" decision, the "right" course of action, the "right" thing to do, as though to even argue the point is just a waste of time?
Perhaps he's been repeating that mantra so long he actually believes it himself.
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Brown used to cheat at school and copy other children's work. He was not very popular and nobody would socialise with him down the pub. He was beaten up for robbing pensioners. He became treasurer of the Senior School Council but was too nervous in meetings to speak.
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#100:
Not only that but he is one shelf short of a bookcase!
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Hmph. That old trick. You guys might to back up a bit and read my last few comments again cuz that sort of stuff isn't going anywhere. Well, it is but that's your road not mine.
When folks get too locked into stuff they tend to give themselves a hard time. Taking a step back is usually a good cure for that, and if they lack the self-management skills to do it Nick would be doing them a favour.
Folks like us have an effective Reality Distortion Field that can sucker people like a good one but like any tool the secret is in its application, and Gordon's doing fine.
I was just listening to Happy XMas, by John Lennon, and it did something to me I hadn't felt in years. It reminds me of what is right and safe about the world.
Just thinking about Gordon's "saving the world" line, Lennon said that The Beatles were bigger than Jesus. Running with that PR has something going for it.
Gordon is bigger than Lennon. Wow.
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What about all the county and district councils that lost out when the Icelandic banks went down. That will have a direct effect on council tax bills next year. Ear challenge is being economical with the truth
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Blimey, I thought Bliar had a Messiah complex.
Ah well, ... it's nice to have a firm experienced hand at the tiller - steering straight towards the iceberg!
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Shades of Margaret Thatcher - The royal "We" meaning "I". Its a few years too early to make any judgement on the PMs actions to borrow his way out of the Credit Crunch, having borrowed his way into it. Not unlike Gordons comments many years ago on the need for Home Office leaks to keep grips on the then government of the day. Still, keeps us all amused.
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Priceless Gordon - the men in white coats will be along shortly.
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120 wrote:
'The fact that so many posters are eager to jump on a word mix-up says more about their determined anti-Brown/anti-Labour agenda than it does about whether this really warrants such prominence.'
You bet we're determined. And yes we can't tolerate The Brown/Labour agenda because we think it's ruining our country!
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#125 CEH
Gordon is bigger than Lennon. Wow.
........................
Sorry, Charles - he's not even close.
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"I was just listening to Happy XMas, by John Lennon, and it did something to me I hadn't felt in years. It reminds me of what is right and safe about the world."
Gordon is bigger than Lennon. Wow.
Your a proper nutcase!
Get a life charles..lol
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As others have said, the big error is to think this was a total accident. He didn't mean to say it but it was a revelation from his subconscious.
When people think something deeply enough it finds a way through into their words or actions. He actually does think he's leading the way for the World and so he said it.
This is how far gone he is, and how much danger we are in.
Remember that people with this sort of delusion are capable of doing anything; to disagree with him is to try to undermine the man saving the World. Any reaction is therefore reasonable.
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Our economy is in a shambles
No telling how bad it will get
So praise to the Lord
For we have SUPERGORD
Bent on getting us deeper in debt
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@123 kikidread
Thank you!! I've always been curious to know how Crash was qualified to be chancellor (aside from the towering intellect of course).
Treasurer of the senior school council, having held such great responsibility in the past its now obvious to me why he was chancellor!!
Why oh why, is this even a political job? Crash is a case in point, studied history and couldn't fill a thimble with his economic knowledge.
I've got no problem with our elected representatives appointing someone to run our finances, but they should be independent (not BOE independent, I mean free form political influence). The chancellor should have a proven track record managing an international company, and if he/she doesn't have a degree in a numerate discipline us taxpayers shouldn't be hiring....
As for beaten up for robbing pensioners, he obviously didn't get a good enough hiding, if so he'd have learned his lesson and wouldn't still be robbing them
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Ah bless poor Charles. He hopes that by wrapping the mess up in as much smart-sounding "deep" stuff he can give the appearance of rising above common dissent and point to a "wiser way", known only to super-cool clever folk.
Fact is the spectre of economic collapse is close to materialisation, where the excuses will be virtually exhausted. Then it'll get so seriously bad for real people that such high-handed levity will become simply offensive, if it isn't already.
£1 = 1.135 Euro as I type. And falling.
It would help our manufacturers export of course, except we don't have any left.
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@125 chuckles_gibber
"Reality distortion field" - love it, and the folks like us bit, just all too perfect.
I've finally seen the Zen labour light and understand!
Crash generates a reality distortion field (aka spin and lies) and labour supporters live inside this field.... Diabolical indeed.
In the past I always thought that labour supporters were intellectually challenged and couldn't see the damage being done.
Now I know that Crash has access to such advanced technology I will give you all the benefit of doubt.
Someone had better invent a reality actualisation device before it's too late, if we install it at the BBC maybe the people will see the truth at last
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@130 Sicilian
Damn right!!
Although I wouldn't be surprised if disagreeing with Labour agenda will soon be the definition of a terrorist, after all they never got round to defining terrorism in the last round of polic state legislation.
Finally, a reason to be glad the numptys still haven't managed to build a prison, there's no where to lock us all up in for 42 days!!
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Charles in my opinion YOU might as well be wearing a brown shirt and boots.
The man is obviously quite detatched from reality. In his defense, which i might add is some form of cultural based doctorine which he believe's will save us all..haha Lennon
Charles If you REALLY believe that this Government can save us and our future generations, why do you continue to spout ZEN idioligy, which is nothing of what Labour stand for?
Are you totally insane or are you just plain stupid?
Ill let the rest of this discussion continue, and i totally accept that our current PM is as corrupt as Nero himself, he has nothing but a HISTORY degree and has nothing, and i mean nothing to make him qualified to manage the state our states finaces are in, nevermind the worlds..
And to trout your dribble on here makes many people angry, so you carry on quoting your absence in ZEN reality, and keep listening to christmas songs, because MANY familys wont be able to afford a Christmas that Gormless has given them!
Look that up Charles.
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#139 Brownhas2eyes
...and has nothing, and i mean nothing to make him qualified to manage the state our states finances are in, nevermind the worlds..
......................
..well - he managed his own household budget before he was Chancellor and that was the only qualification he needed to secure the post pf Chancellor of the Exchequer. It truly beggars belief doesn't it?!!
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Gordon saved the world ... George Osborne couldn't save his own reputation ... and Damian Green could save us all a lot of trouble by just owning up ... Lord save us from these politicians !
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#141 patthecat
...owning up to what, exactly? He hasn't done anything wrong. If he had he would have been arrested.
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This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
@140 shellingout
Are you sure? I heard that his wife managed their househoid budget because Crash had to keep borrowing money to go food shopping with....!
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Yeah, Brown's an international hero isn't he? lol
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7776462.stm
First of many I suspect, and just saying what the rest are thinking.
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#142 he was, but you are correct that he's committed no crime*
* apart from the crime of exposing lies and failure by the Man Who Saved The World.
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#142 ... I think someone beat me to it ... but that's not really what I meant .. why doesn't he own up to wasting everyones time by creating a boring saga out of a minor event .... my point was, why, with all the really serious business thats going on ... not just posturing about moral positions ... with real people ... I know 2 of them ... losing their jobs and repossessions increasing alarmingly, dont politicians of every hue, cut out the posturing and jockeying for position and start really working to solve this crisis ... I'm not kidding, by next Summer, we could be indistinguishable from North Korea ... I dont really care whether the sanctity of Parliament has been abused .. neither do millions of others in this country.
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I just wonder if megolomania is the "character defect" apportioned to Gordon Brown.
Just when does he wear the Superman suit I wonder?
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When he's not saving the world, perhaps Brown or his glove-puppet Darling can respond to the German Finance Minister who heaped ridicule on Nu Labour economic policies and said that the UK's switch from financial prudence to heavy borrowing was both "crass" and "breathtaking".
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Oh no now we have two people in the UK thinking that they are both Superman - Gordon Brown and Robert Peston!
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#147
Problem is Pat, that without a Parliament able to hold the Government to account you WILL end up in a North Korean type state, so it DOES matter. How else do you think we get the information to chuck these clowns (or any set of clowns) out?
It mattered, and the snow job going on matters as much.
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Robert Peston finally shows his true colours by batting off The German criticism of our rscue strategy and saying that Europe should be working together. Total tosh! The German Finance Minister is only repeating what we've all been saying for months!
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his wife is alright bless..
this country will be ok
unless she divorces him
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153. At 10:18pm on 10 Dec 2008, kikidread
This comment is awaiting moderation. Explain.
Re above I thought I lost a comment but I found it abive but I acn not remember what it was
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Would you drive a British Leyland or a BMW?
The wheel is falling of Nulabour's motor and the Germans are spelling it out.
He won't be able to say like he did at PMQ's today that everyone thinks he's the Master of the Universe and saviour of the world.
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I save the world every day
before I go to bed
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Ah, found it. This should be Zen enough:
"Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
-- William Morris.
p0wned.
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I howled with laughter when I saw this at PMQs and on the news later.
And it seems there is some dissent towards Brown's fiscal strategy from the German Foreign Secretary, unprecedented says Peston.
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Ok, Brown only has a history degree.
Consider this: In February 1851 Derby offered Disraeli the chancellorship of the Exchequer. Disraeli declined, stating that the Exchequer was a "branch of which I have no knowledge"; Derby replied, "They give you the figures." Disraeli then accepted.
What I want to know is who, if anyone, did give GB the figures? Did he accept them, or like Churchill in 1924 did he ignore the advice and go his own disastrous way anyway? To be fair, at least Churchill later did admit his mistake.
Now of course GB is accepting advice from Sir James Crosby, recently of HBOS. This is rather like asking Gazza to advise on defeating alcoholism.
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Maybe Brown should've answered Cameron's question better to avoid the slip-up.
He should take the lead from our wonderful mayor of London - a fantastic man and a shining example to these woeful Labour politicians we have.
Reporter: ‘What are you going to do about David Ross?’
BJ: ‘Nothing nothing nothing nothing la la la la bye bye bye
Yes, serious politicians for serious times
London is becoming a joke. I have never heard a politician answer any question in this manner, let alone one concerning a serious issue like this.
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how pathetic the conservatives are. especially Cameron. It was clearly a slip of the tongue and the reaction from Cameron and friends was surely schoolboy and juvenile. If he wants to be taken seriously then he needs to grow up. As for the BBC and Nick Robinson, they also need to think about the kind of reporting they are giving so much air time to. There are many important issues to debate, but this level of reporting is pathetic.
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From Stalin to Mr Bean to Harry Secombe - a great Goon.
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#160
and that connects to our economic collapse..... exactly how?
Hey, hear about the german Minister who think gordy is a clot?
"leading the World" lol
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157, No statues of Buddha then.
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Balhamu;
I knew it couldnt last.
You seem to forget Ken Livingstone and Lee Jasper.
And, whilst I'm not absolving David Ross of anything, at least his scandal didnt involve public money.
If I recall correctly, Livingstone/Jasper did.
You're in a pretty big glass house mate. Watch out for those stones you're throwing!
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@160 Balhamu
Think you'll find the wonderful mayor of London is taken his lead from our beloved leader's stock answer to any question:
"blah, blah, blah, getting on with the job, blah blah, random statistic, blah blah, started in america, blah blah blah, I've saved the world."
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Dear Nick,
When you are feeding next time at your source's home and having a giggle or two at this, oh so funny, slip, please could you ask about how the POUND is now nearly on par with the EURO and is this (Za)Nu(Improved)Labour happy with this?
If you look behind you, you can see this news being slowly buried by the BBC!
Xxxx
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Evening Labour apologists everywhere,
A double whammy today wasn't it?!
First - Gordon's freudian slip, indicating he truly thinks he is leading the worlds economic rescue!
Second - The Germans pointing out Gordon is living in his own 'financial universe' which makes no sense. His plans are daft.
I hear Labour are offering scholarships for:
- Political Apology and Business Studies BA Hons
- One Trick Pony Politics. Tax and Spend as the Solution to all Problems MA (3 year sandwich course)
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Given the 'vacuum cleaner black hole' now definitely confirmed at the centre of our Milky Way do light weights like David Cameron get sucked into the vortex more readily than a heavy weight Gordon Brown who is able to hold his own against all Conservative suckers?
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#161 "how pathetic the conservatives are. especially Cameron. It was clearly a slip of the tongue and the reaction from Cameron and friends was surely schoolboy and juvenile. If he wants to be taken seriously then he needs to grow up"
Come off it - this is standard behavior of both sides in the Commons - maybe it shouldn't be, but it is. As for being "just a slip", it was entirely consistent with Browns general tone over the last couple of months. Somewhere between delusions of adequacy and megalomania.
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I read in my Newnight email the following:
"Today the Prime Minister said the law against assisting suicide should remain in place".
It occurs to me that if anyone should not remain in place, it is the Prime Minister.
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The gaffe, per se, does not bother me. We are all human and we all sometimes mess up our wording. The context was clear - and as someone who has since birth relied on context via lipreading, let me assure those who do not that this particular instance is minor.
What really do annoy me are:
1. the response, which is typical school playground stuff and deeply unedifying. Sure, it might be fun but I'd put a lot of money on Cameron knowing what was intended in the context ... and the best he could do was cheap point-scoring. He is being paid out of the public purse to waste valuable questioning time making cheap remarks. Nothing new, I know, but I do wish these people, on all sides, would get on with the business of running the country and stop their childish posturing. The talk in all the pubs, sports clubs etc which I attend seems to prove that this sort of thing is one of the biggest turn-offs regarding voting etc. They're all as bad as each other.
2. the subsequent Labour official comment that GB wants to concentrate on - yet again, ad nauseum - "hard working families". What about the rest of us in this country, who work hard but are not in a family unit? It stinks, even though I do understand the demographic reasons for emphasising it. I know that if someone repeats something often enough then it will be believed, in theory, but this stupid rolling out of stock phrases - "difficult times" is another - merely demonstrates a lack of imagination and/or a pandering to the lowst common denominator.
3. well, I can't think of anything to say about the Lib Dems, in order to make this a totally non-partisan post. Aside from Vince Cable and the media-sump that is Opik, I'm afraid that they fall below even my limited horizon. They have a lot of work to do, I guess.
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#160
You clearly haven't been paying attention at PMQs then. Boris' response makes a great deal more sense than any of the garbage Brown spouts on a weekly basis.
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Poor Gordon should start wearing his underpants outside his trousers!
It's worrying when the German Finance Minister says the government is now "tossing around billions".
So what does this make Gordon? I am not sure whether it was an unfortunate choice of words or an astute observation.
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I'm impressed that "Flash" Gordon Brown managed to save the world...
I didnt even realise that Ming Campbell had dispatched war rocket ajax;)
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Batman, Superman, Flash Gordon and James Bond hang your heads in shame you ain't seen nothing yet, here we have a PM just saved the world in 20 minutes..... what a cracker that was - obviously the guy is tense and must be feeling the pressure.
What is worrying if he makes gaffs at the dispatch box what does that say about his leadership, Gordon you are demoted below the rank of novice!
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That so-called gaff or Freudian slip of Gordon's was beautiful; eminently trenchant in its utterance. It innocently exposed the Prime Minister as a fellow steeped to his soul with the difficult wherewithal of our times. He revealed his vulnerability during the to-and-fro of parliamentary debate which braying, paper-flapping oppositionists had no sense of the import of a passionate, heart felt message the Prime Minister delivered; albeit; over the heads of donkeys which, thankfully, reached less raucous thoroughbreds stabled in wiser constituencies beyond the menagerie of Westminster. If truth were told - We wholly accept our Prime Minister’s wish in partnership with other world leaders to “Save The World” during unprecedented, challenging times.
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160 balhamu
"I have never heard a politician answer any question in this manner, let alone one concerning a serious issue like this."
Maybe because they aren't honourable? If you've heard that one of your staff has committed an offence do you
a) Tell the press what you're going to do with him before you've spoken to him?
or
b) Talk to the guy and give him the opportunity to resign, before talking to the press?
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178 OiYouBoy
"the import of a passionate, heart felt message the Prime Minister delivered"
Which was - I saved the world, no I mean I saved the world's banks
I agree, passionate and heartfelt indeed but sadly totally delusional.
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Flash Gordon saves the world in the Nick of time? Hardly, but that is the dog whistle he is blowing hard on.
All the extra tax money should have gone on guaranteeing medium/small business loans. The £1bn he has put by for this is not enough and the other measures were a waste of money.
I'd have rather had Menzies the Merciless in charge.
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Money makes the vorld go around,
the vorld go around,
the vorld go around.
Money makes the vorld go around,
that clinking, clanking sound...
Money, Money, Money, Money,
Money, Money, Money, Money...!
"I saved the banks" or
"I saved the Vorld"
both are indivisible.
Gordon in parnership with other
world leaders is saving us all indivisibly!
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The Gang of desparadoes continues the
CHARADE with the bunch of SYCOPHANTIC
FAILURES liars & cheats in tow.
When will New Labour go??
Do we have to riot to get rid?
BROWN THE PEOPLE WANT AN ELECTION!!
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Well Said...
THE PEOPLE WANT A BROWN ELECTION!
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re 184
You are up early. just starting your shift?
perhaps you and your ilk (the labour trolls) need to not put a spin on statements that other posters put.
if we go belly up (UK), Labour will sink into obsolesence. And it would take generations to clear the toxic debt that GB has pump primed us with.
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My God - I think the press are starting to get it:
Gordon Brown must blame himself, not the USA
The Prime Minister's finger-pointing is an attempt to disguise his own culpability.
Bravo the Germans for slapping the media out of their Brown-saved-the-world-trance.
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I always thought there was something 'special' about our PM. Now I know, he is the saviour of the World. He has come amongst us, as the next Messiah, teaching the rules of financial prudence.
There is no need for an election, Britain can count itself lucky at having him to inspire such reverence.
However, there must be a hidden meaning behind why he ruined our pensions, ruined our savings and ruined our economy. I am still searching for the answers.
Unfortunately, I will never find them. Even the German Finance Minister has said Brown's ideas on the economy are 'crass & breathtaking'.
He reminds me of the misguided driver who removes a wheel from the wagon and expects it to perform faster as there is no longer any boom and bust. When it crashes, the explainations from the accident investigators are not accepted. The driver would rather blame someone else rather than accept responsibility for removing the wheel in the first place.
His borrowing has done for our country and his pre-budget report will become his epitaph.
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Never thought I'd say it but hurrah for The Germans. At last the claim that 'every other country is doing what we started and The Conservatives are ploughing a lone furrow' is shot to pieces!
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There are days when I think that framing the Prime Minister as a legend and superhero might not have been a good idea. It's caught on a bit but, as a well known personality in the games industry who shall remain unnamed said: "You have to stay level". Gordon counts Mariella Frostrup and J K Rowling among his friends. I'm sure they've held him to that one.
What bothers me isn't the Prime Minister's hyperbole but the continuing lack of policy developing business innovation and the swinging crack down on welfare. It's fine pimping yourself a bit and milking the crowd but the lack of stimulation for business and unfairness for the hoi poloi doesn't look like a similar deal in kind.
The Prime Minister lives in a rarefied world where he gets to pursue his favourite hobby and people kiss ass on demand. This is a narrow perspective and assuming the rest of the world fits this model is a mistake, so I'd him to focus a bit more on enabling and supporting people in succeeding rather than the current lack of vision and arbitrary stick being waved around.
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See today's Telegraph Comment 'Brown must stop blaming America' for an encapsulation of what I have been trying to say for months!
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152. At 10:13pm on 10 Dec 2008, sicilian29 wrote:
Robert Peston finally shows his true colours by batting off The German criticism of our rscue strategy and saying that Europe should be working together. Total tosh! The German Finance Minister is only repeating what we've all been saying for months!
Typical, you clearly think that you speak for everyone, well, everyone on your planet anyway.
The Germans complain about the British "throwing" money around, they say it is crass Keynesian economics, then hand out 380 billion euros. so thats good efficient German economics then is it. or is it just that they didn't think of it first. (Keynes was British, wonder if that matters)
sorry to have to point this out seeing as "we all" agree with a German socialist. (I'm surprised that you head didn't explode with the "hatred of socialism/need to agree with socialist" conflict)
funny though, I for one don't remember the poll you took that allows you to speak for "all of us", while I am interested in your opinion, kindly restrict your proclamations solely to what you think and leave what I should think to me, I feel that I am better qualified to decide what my opinions are than you.
My opinion, and I only claim to speak for myself, is that to blame GB for the global crisis, when countries like the US, Germany, France, Italy, Russia, China and Japan (and lets not forget that economic powerhouse Iceland) are all suffering the same problems or worse, is plain stupid and clearly ignores the facts. I mean, it's amazing how much influence Britain has in the world if the British PM can destroy all of these economies with his awful policies ???
(I bet he's to blame for that Global warming too. well, let's be honest, you didn't have climate change under Maggie did you and Britains global warming is worse than the rest of the world, isn't it ???)
It is possible that your undisguised glee at Gordon Brown's detractors merely reveals your prior political views, while attacking Robert Peston for the same. however, to adopt Tory policies of "Do nothing, and do it soon" would surely result in lower taxes for millions, but only because you don't pay tax when you are on the dole. we no longer have the family silver to sell off to pay the benefits bill (we could sell the banks I suppose, but they ain't worth a bank anymore) so taxes would have to rise for everyone else or hospitals would have to close to pay for the unemployment.
sounds like a plan, eh ???
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See also Alan Sugar's sycophantic interview with Brown in Today's Sun where The P.M. admits that the Credit Crisis has saved his bacon because people have forgotten everything else he has done.
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190. At 07:37am on 11 Dec 2008, sicilian29 wrote:
See today's Telegraph Comment 'Brown must stop blaming America' for an encapsulation of what I have been trying to say for months!
see the rest of today's Telegraph :-
The Asylum Seekers are coming to get you,
Health and safety gone mad,
Survivors of Asylum Seeker attack to die of Global Warming or home grown terrorists,
If only Diana were here
8)=)
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So the German Finance Minister has opened Pandora's Box by ling everyone the truth about Brown's plan and the VAT foolishness.
My clients say that the VAT scheme is having no effect as sales continue to decline. And the important thing to realise is that if consumers do not buy the government is not reflating the the economy. The less spent the more VAT money is left in the bank. This is a con.
Had they reduced VAT on heating and lighting to zero it would have had a real effect, and would have been universally popular.
I believe that the government has timed this wrongly. You can reflate a stagnant/ slowy growing economy as it comes out of recession, but pooring debt into a failing economy is like trying to catch a falling knife - lots of blood.
Right idea in part, but timing is completely off and very political.
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Does anyone else find it strange that there are people here who find it hard to believe that Gordon Brown has enough influence to save the world, while simultaneously finding it entirely natural to believe that he has enough influence to destroy the global economy, all on his own.
must be a left brain/right brain thing.
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I thought I was a bit right wing but the tanker driver who delivered my heating oil yesterday must be to the Right of Atilla The Hun.
He was totally scathing about Brown and Labour, expects the economy to get far worse, and a complete collapse in confidence with protests in the streets.
How old is he - about 28.
Who did he vote for last time round - Labour.
Who will he vote for next time round - anyone but Labour - preferably someone with common sense and an understanding of the ordinary voting man and woman.
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Ah, found it. This should be Zen enough:
"Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
-- William Morris.
p0wned.
Hahahaha
William Morris?
"William Edward Morris, the Scottish writer, designer, artist and socialist"
What the hell is that supposed to mean Charles?
Fine then..
By the Time Gordons Finished ill have nothing left worth of any value in my house, and the ONLY thing left will be my vote to rid me of this repugnant NULabour "national socialism"
You need to step off the cloud and fall back to earth before your wings get clipped!
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Re My moderated #174
Dear Mr Moderator
I was making a point which validly required me to use the Japanese version of a Haiku by the revered Zen master Basho, which not only put CEH in his place, but also brought out other themes raised recently relating to the Black Hole in the centre of the Milky Way. There was nothing else in the post which even vaguely could be construed as contravening the House Rules, and my choice of Japanese was entirely conditioned by the semantic content of the original, which is impossible to translate adequately because of the overloading in each language.
To take a comparison, have you ever seen the translations of Shakespeare into French? They're ludicrous, often because French has no suitable construction to express what he was saying - indeed, English humour (invented by his comic player Robert Armin, see his Nest of Ninnies and Folle upon Follie for the sources of the pun and situation comedy) was beyond their comprehension until very recently, and now we've explained irony, satire and the pun to them, in a framework of extended rhetoric, they've taken to it like ducks to water.
Your Language criterion is not an absolute one, you have options. The Wikipedia translation for the haiku, in passing, to assist you, states:
"the rough sea
stretching out towards Sado
the Milky Way"
which in no way translates the image of the contrast between the earthly trouble and the spiritual calm. As Wikipedia rightly suggests, this is one of the finest haiku of the finest haiku author of all, and you would handicap it like this? Shame on you when you had discretion not to.
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"Saved the World".
Wasn't that roughly what Sherrif T (for Tony) W. Earp said/implied, when he agreed to be part of Wild W's possee, rounding up the bad guys in Afghanistan and in Iraq etc... ?
And sorry SuperGord, but the economic crisis continues, with large US motor manufacturers on the verge of going bust, retail stores that have otherwise survived a century having closing down sales, even Tesco's announces a 50% sale, many more businesses are predicted to go bust after Xmas and the UK Government thinks it is sensible to incur (at least) a couple of hundred hundreds of billions of pounds worth of debt that we're going to struggle to pay back over decades, if we don't go bankrupt first...
On top of that, we've had Icelandic weather systems for the last two summers, because the Jet stream has shifted. It has also been pretty cold for the last week or three because the weather continues to prevail from the Arctic direction, so one wonders about the Gulf-stream too !
All those events show that the world is a long way from being saved yet.
You two alleged "Supermen" must be wearing your underpants on your heads... !
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Nick,
for some time now I have been saying that apart from anything else we actually cannot afford the continuing occupation of Iraq and the war in Afghanistan.
Today apparently we are to be told that we can no longer to start work on two aircraft carriers, because the money is needed in the defence budget to pay the soldiers. Now I hope that others have noticed how Geoff Hoon has been transferred from the Ministry of Defence to Transport. Of course he would have fought very hard to have these carriers started, because they are also good for employment. In that case we would also have something to show for all this expenditure. What will we have, a final ignominious retreat from Iraq, and further involvement in a totally failed adventure in Afghanistan.
The Germans are absolutely right to criticise Gordon Brown, the man who picks his nose and saved the world. I actually am beginning to feel sorry for him, how can he sleep at night. Should we now call him Ulysses Brown, the man with the weight of the world on his shoulders.
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#191
You are factually wrong to equate the German £370 bn support for their banks with the fiscal stimulus provided by our government by borrowing. (Although the appalling quality of the reportage here allows for this confusion: I have already complained on Peston's blog that this is unacceptably poor.)
To be clear the UK government has similarly provided over £600 bn in support to our banking sector. In addition, however, our government is borrowing another £20+ billion to provde a fiscal stimulus, in addition to the usual automatic stabilisers. This is from a position of high debt already, so debt will increase to over £1 trillion, based on the Treasury's optimistic growth forecasts. Reality will be even worse than this.
Moving on: sterling has plummeted, back to levels last seen in the '70s. This will increase inflationary pressures early next year and may force the BoE to raise interest rates punitively in the depths of recession.
Osborn was right to warn us. Because of the policies of this government, we are running towards financial armageddon.
The possibility that the government will be unable to sell gilts/raise the debt necessary to finance its plans, is also close to becoming a reality. Prepare for the IMF bailout, everyone.
And, before you say it, no: I'm not some diehard evil Tory. But I try to stay financially literate and what I'm seeing now scares me to death. It's going to get a lot worse.
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Rhubidium #195
As usual completely misrepresenting the point.
Gordon will not save the global economy.
Gordon did not destroy the global economy.
What Gordon DID do is leave us SPECTACULARLY vulnerable to the effects of the global problem.
This why we are predicted to have the worst recession of any major nation.
Hope that helps.
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Sir Alan Sugar's interview of Gordon Brown in The Sun is hilarious.
Technically speaking, the top of the page should have the warning 'THIS IS AN ADVERTISEMENT'
Together Gordon and Alan have made a real effort to pin the blame on banks and America in a style that the man on the street can be spun to
The final lines of the 'article' are great:
AS: I hope we haven’t been too tough on you. (Don't worry 'Siralan' that was less probing than even most BBC interviews)
PM: I think your career as an interviewer is just beginning. (Oh yes - Gordy would love more 'propaganda' opportunities like this)
This is laughable!!
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#163 bogbrush
Isn't this article about embarassing slips of the tongue? Or does Gordon's slip have a grave economic implication (maybe - there seem to be no end to his evil powers, believing the view on here that the world recession is all Brown's fault).
Boris has a great way of avoiding it (he's been mocked in the past for his "slips" insulting Liverpudlians, Papua New Guineans and many others).
#165 Fubar
So what have investigations concluded that Ken and Jasper do wrong then? I thought the politically motivated "forensic audit" didn't find anything and used the weak "we'll wait for the police"- like a committee stuffed with Tory grandees would not be reporting this if they found wrong-doing (indeed, this was the point of the committee I though).
I thought it was smart campaigning by Boris's old mucker Gilligan, and smart politics by the Standard's Editor (Ken was making worrying noises about actually charging a market price for the rights to hand out free papers on the Tube, or even opening it up to competition). Nothing more - just smears that will amount to nothing more than when actual evidence is looked at.
#166 despiser
That may be what you hear as you do not want to listen or think the answers to be waffle - but there are actual words used by Brown where you say "blah blah blah", and some attempt to engage with the question if not answer it to your satisfaction (which I guess would be "Yes, I'm a rubbish prime minister. Cameron is great. The world recession is all my fault. I'm going to call an election and not put up any Labour candidates at all").
Boris literally answered the question "Nothing, nothing, nothing, la la la, I'm not listening" and then proceeded to pretend to have a phonecall.
Bit of a difference.
#179 pammy
Why couldn't he say that then? Surely as a serious politician (and mayor of a city of 8 million) he can appreciate why "la la la la" isn't an answer.
This (the Ross affair and the politician's response) would be a massive issue if it happened last year to Ken (I can see Gilligan's campaign against the corruption in City Hall already), or Ross was a Labour donater and Tessa Jowell's appointment to the Olympic Delivery Authority quango.
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191 Rubidium
however, to adopt Tory policies of "Do nothing, and do it soon"
I see that you have swallowed the ZaNulabour line on that one then.
The same old trick of suggesting that the opposition don't have any ideas then quickly snatching them and claiming them as their own. Come on if actually listened to what was said you would see that the Tories do have ideas, they are just different from the daft proposals that were part of the PBR which is rapidly unraveling before our eyes. Any idea of the recession being over by the 3rd quarter of 2009 is plain nonsense and with it goes the forecasts for the next 6 years.
And yes the whole world is suffering a recession brought on by the actions of the USA and to a lesser extent the actions of the City of London and UK Government in the "capable" hands of Buster Brown.
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191:
I never said that I blamed Gordon Brown for The Global Crisis although that is the wild claim thrown at us by the likes of you to deflect partial blame for our lack of preparedness. No I don't speak for you thankfully. Everything that is said on here is from a personal perspective. What else could it be! There is only one Sicilian29 and I proffer my own views which happen to be shared by a goodly number. You don't have to agree with me. That is your prerogative. Kindly come down off your high horse.
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So apparently not everyone agrees that either Gordon has saved the world or that the fiscal stimulus will go on to save the world:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/3704461/Browns-economic-rescue-plan-inefective-says-German-minister.html
What a surprise.
We have a flake for a prime minister and the whole world is laughing at us.
Call an election
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This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
Gordon's story. All the UK benefits of the global boom were due to the Labour Government. None of the UK problems of the global bust were caused, or in any way contributed to, by the Labour Government.
We lead the world. We are best placed.
World's verdict ?
Comments:
IMF, EU Commission, German Finance Minister et al. - Checked your clothing recently, Emperor Brown?
Actions :
Pound against dollar - big drop
Pound against Euro - big drop
Gordon's story. It all begins in USA. Disneyland, perhaps ?
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Listen live
http://listen.lbc.co.uk/1/0/1
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Balhamu:
An enquiry into a Labour politician that ends in.... nothing? Once its been found in the long grass into which it was firmly kicked?
Funny that. Now where has that happened before... Cash For Honours? Dr David Kelly?
See any parallels at all??
Yet you get leaked, unclassified Home Office documents and suddenly Plod is kicking the door in, arrests are made and the whole world goes mad.
You cannot have it both ways mate. Do as I say not do as I do doesnt wash anymore.
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#207 robinjd
Let's do what Germany say.
Why are you hostile to the Euro again?
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Re my moderated #174 and #198
Not having received any explanation about the moderation, and the moderation not being withdrawn, I repeat what I had to say.
CEH's ide
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it is not always the moderator who is doing the moofing Rahere - it is often a very unpopular blogger on here - we all know the name/s.
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and it appears that Gordon Brown's wonderful tripartite regulatory structure wasn't copied anywhere in the world just like no one is following his banking rescue package with preference divideds of 12%:
IMF conclusions on Spain: "Countercyclical provisioning and rigorous treatment of off-balance sheet vehicles placed the local banking sector on a sounder footing than in many other countries".
oh dear.
Gordon Brown can shout and bluster about what a wonderful economy he has created by the evidence is crumbling all around him.
Call an election.
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Re my moderated #174 and #198
Not having received any explanation about the moderation, and the moderation not being withdrawn, I repeat what I had to say.
CEH's quotation from William Morris as a Zen Master is ridiculous. Morris was marginally influenced by Zen, indeed, but it was far from his spirit in practice, unlike his follower Bernard Leach who took some of Morris' influence and combined it with his Japanese education at the hands of a traditional Master to become recognised as a Living Treasure, the Japanese State's recognition of a craft master in the Zen mould. Morris was pre-raphaelite, and they had little beyond the ephemeral easthetic in common with zen.
I then added a haiku from Basho, possibly the greatest of Zen masters, which I provided a translation of above. To understand it, you must understand that a haiku must combine a sense of place, time and scene as the foundation for a spiritual experience, and the English just doesn't do it any real justice. By understanding it, I was suggesting that at the heart of every quiescence - the reference to the Milky Way - lies the risk of decay.
This in turn relates to the thread as
the galaxy really does have a black hole at the centre of it, and that emulates the current implosion in the economy, and that in turn is caused by the laisser-faire complacency, self-satisfaction and general incompetence of the political elite.
Now, for a self-confessed Zen expert to miss this is indicative that the man's either ill-educated or delusional. Given his roots, it's understandable, but not perhaps to be encouraged other than as a source of amusement along the dumb versus dumber line.
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Ed Balls has defended his Lord and Master concerning the criticisms by the German Finance Minister.
'But Ed Balls defended the policy as the "right thing to do" '
Well that is OK then - if it is the 'right thing to do' that is sufficient justification for me.
It is reassuring to know that we have Ministers who are able to give a detailed counter criticism and explain exactly why the German is wrong and Gordon is right.
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balhamu
your yet another fool.
Dont think of "hey its another conservative political commentor on this website", I speak for us as a nation, my family and my friends.
This NULabour has ruined our nation, and it gives better prospects to them from abroad rather then them who was born here and have paid their own taxes, and are BRITISH.
The next thing you will be labelling me is that im some kind of BNP spokesman, THEY are just as corrupt as this government, globalisation will not work as we are!.
So wrong you are, you carry on in you defense of Labour values, but you offer nothing, just about as much as a rabid dog on heat.
Do not push the blame on the Tories, do not push the blame on others, this is the total failure of this government.
And before you even type it, im NOT going to vote for the conservatives, and ILL never vote for Labour again.
I think its time politicians actually stood their ground, and are acountable to the LAW of this land like the rest of us have to.
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Gordon Brown is a disgrace and embarassement to this country
He wasn't even elected
And Nick, you are a disgrace as well. Is that all you can write about GB. Don't Campbell and Mandy allow you free speech!!
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219.
The German finance minister is right to be worried about UK policy.
It's no good for a country which depends for its own massive welfare state and public sector budget (Germany) on its exports to have a competitor country (us) on its EU doorstep, undercutting it with a cheap currency.
This is, as always, depressingly, all about self interest.
The German government would prefer 4 million Brits unemployed to 5 million Germans.
As would Eton Dave and 'Collapse', not only for ideological reasons, but because it would help them win any election.
But, if you've got the Germans on your side, boys, that's not good.
I expect Mandy pulled a few strings to get this German chap to support Cameron's line.
Typical Labour spin, blah, blah.
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Why is it 'the right thing to do' ??? .. to spend all this money that we don't possess? Why? Give me a single reason why there isno alternative to spending money?
Per Steinbruck appears to disagree:
All this will do is raise Britain's debt to a level that will take a whole generation to work off," he added.
Mr Steinbruck questioned why Britain was "tossing around billions" and closely following the high public spending model put forward by 20th Century economist John Maynard Keynes.
"The switch from decades of supply-side politics all the way to a crass Keynesianism is breathtaking," he said.
While balhamu and the newlabour apolgists may be relaxed about it taking a whole generation to wrok off this debt accrued by Gordomn Brown, I am not.
balhamu and the newlabour apologists may fell they can shamelessly shower the economy with even more misdirected tax payers' money but I don't.
Stop spending. This has got completely out of control. Our children will be paying for Gordon Brown's prfoligacy. Cautionary nursery rhymes will be written about the foolish Scotsman who tried to spend his way out of trouble and sent us all to debtors' prison.
Stop spending money we don't have
Call an election.
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216. Totally agree. I studied at a famous art school for three years in my teens. Know something of the pre-Raphaelites etc. and Morris would not be enamoured of CEH or his strange statements and misinterpretation, even though he was a Socialist!
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@217 JC
I'm completely with you on this.
Its amazing how they can acsuse the Conservatives of "do nothing" but can never come up with a counter arguement to explain why there opinion is "right".
Labour MP "we're right"
Joe Public " why are you right can you clarify?"
Labour MP " We just are, get it?"
Joe Public " Well no actually We don't get it you haven't explained the small print yet"
Labour MP " small print scmall print, we're just right, everyone agrees with us"
Joe Public " The germans don't"
Labour MP "Well thats internal politicss and they don't understand "
Joe public " They seem to have managed their economy better than ours, they put money aside in the boom to pay for their fiscal stimulus"
Labour MP " we're better placed"
Joe Public " How are we better placed? we start from a position of high government debt"
labour MP "no we don't"
Joe Public " Are you sure about that? the run on the pound would suggest otherwise"
Labour MP " thats the Americans fault"
Joe " how is that the Americaans fault"
Labour MP " Look, I'm right"
Joe " I am looking but what is see is somewhat different to you"
Labour MP " you're a Tory activist"
Joe " actually I voted for you last time"
Labour MP " you're stupid"
Joe " Yes it would appear I was, don't count on my vote next time"
Labour MP "Gordon saved the world surely you'll vote for him"
Joe "yes, I'll vote for him to leave parliament"
Labour MP "Look, we're right"
Joe " so you keep saying, do you have anything else to offer?"
Labour MP " We're doing the right thing"
Joe "Oh good, you're calling an election then"
Labour MP" we're helping the hard working families"
Joe " really, How? you've taken most of my disposable income in tax"
LAbour MP " you get tax credits"
Joe "not me I earn 22K and dont qualify"
Labour MP " you need to spend"
Joe " I cant you took it all in tax"
Labour MP " We saved the world"
Joe " we're not getting anywhere here"
Labour MP "we're the listening party"
Joe " Like the Midland bank were the listening bank, they were taken over you know"
Labour MP " we're doing the right think
Joe "AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH, I'm off to talk to Charles he makes more sense"
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We have a German washing machine and German tumble drier.
Wish we had a German Chancellor.
Forecasters are suggesting sterling euro parity sometime in January. The markets don't seem to be buying into the Brown rescue package. They see it as politically rather than economically driven.
They also know that the PBR borrowing forecasts are hogwash.
As for parity with the Euro - a good time to join - locks in an advantage for us.
This from a staunch (hitherto) anti Euro exponent.
We may as well win something from Brown's disastrous handling of the economy.
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Bit rich of Herr German Finance Minister to attack GB....
Not unexpected the Germanic loving Daily Mail is suddenly trumpeting Herr German Finance Minister as the new savious of the World...
ONE BIG PROBLEM FOR HERR GERMAN FINANCE MINISTER = CREDIBILITY...
Germany having just pumped the equivalent of £250m / $350m into recapitalising German Banks.....
- would love to see yesterdays e-mail traffic prior to the Herr German comment between Herr German and David "Nein" Cameron...
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Don't know if anyone heard GB on LBC just now but he was absolute rubbish. The calls seemed carefully chosen and he said the same old things, platitudes as he always does. Monotone droning.
Most listeners distinctly underwhelmed. Waste of air space.
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"Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe has said his government has stopped a cholera outbreak that has killed nearly 800 people in the crisis-hit country. "
HAHAHA he's been to the GOrdon Brown school of reality
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7777178.stm
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This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
Charles at one of his rambling posts...
"Zen is about self-enlightenment."
Well,others here have proved that Charles' mastery of the origins of Zen and its meaning are somewhat 'wanting',but he still bangs on as if these people don't exist.
Charles..be graceful and bow to those who clearly worry for your health..enlighten yourself,and the Way will be clear.
First step..admit that Brown is deluded with his own self importance and ability...despite all the evidence against him.
This will also help you.
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Saviour of the world!
"... many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many."
Matthew 24:4-6
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Oh dear. Crash Gordon to the rescue eh? I think he really is under the impression that he's leading the world to recovery. Or the promised land - Mandelson is in the Guardian likened him to Moses:
"Internationally people say to me your prime minister has been transformed. His standing has soared. People really do look to him like some Moses figure who is going to lead them away from this economic mess to the promised land," he said.
At least the Germans aren't behaving like lemmings: Peer Steinbrück attacked Gordan's “crass Keynesianism” plan for recovery. Downing Street retorted Germany is "out of step", as if they expect Germany to follow their lead. They are "out of step" because they aren't shackled as we are in the UK
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7776046.stm
What book do you reckon Gordon lied about
I would suggest he would claim to have read "Maths for Economics Geoff Renshaw" and denied reading "Megalomaniac Shamshad Khan" and "100 Ways to Save the World Book Johan Tell"
All available on ebay
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#204
So the BBC definition of PMQs is wrong then:
"Each week on Wednesday afternoon the prime minister must come to the House of Commons to answer oral questions for half an hour."
Actually, it should say:
"Each week on Wednesday afternoon the prime minister must come to the House of Commons and use actual words to attempt to engage with oral questions for half an hour."
To achieve what precisely? Obfuscation perhaps? Misdirection? Surely not to mislead, cover up, avoid or distract from the true answer?
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226 - oh so predictable Patricia...
The thought that the Boris loving Cameron doting LBC.....complete with Nick Ferrari - mouthpience of Gideons Army would give GB an easy time actuually beggars belief...
Monotone - what do you want for GB.....
"Oh Happy Day"....
Whilst Gordon tries to save the world....David Dithers!!!!!!!!!
LOL!
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@231 Leisure
Mandy needs to read his bible. All Moses acheived was to leave egypt. He failed to lead the people to the promised land. under moses they wandered the wilderness for 40 years.
Joshua was the leader who lead the isrealites into the promised lands
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#225
Whereas Brown has only pumped GBP600bn (USD900bn) into UK banks.
If you read your own propaganda you'd know the difference between support for the banks and a "fiscal stimulus", but to help you out I'll tell you:
Support for the banks is a process whereby hundreds of billions of taxpayers' money is used to prop up failing financial institutions safeguarding tens of thousands of jobs and the lifestyles of a small number of banking executives.
A "fiscal stimulus" is the process of blowing GBP20bn in the vain and forlorn hope of rescuing an entire economy, tens of millions of jobs, and the lifestyles of a small number of politians.
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225 Greatandydudley
You might find it helpful to read the interview with Peer Steinbrück in context :
Here is the interview
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Whilst Gordon tries to save the world....David Dithers!!!!!!!!!
LOL!
What the hell are you on about? are you for real?
Gordon couldnt save a bath from overflowing, without slipping on the floor and blaming condensation.
And as you speak of Cameron, well ill give him some credit, atleast hes asking some questions and doing what hes supposed to do in opposition, just like Brown did with his leaky bathtub!
Honesty is what politicans should be about, and i agree neither are, but Brown is the biggest liar and cheat of them all.
Get a grip
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PMQs is a lot of fun but if we step back and look at it, the PM does not answer any Qs anymore. The fact that he does not seem to understand that people can see right through his childlike behaviour is naive in the extreme. So much so he is starting to look scary and delusional and is showing the sort of traits that we see in Mugabe.
I agree with the German finance minister. I think we are facing years of depression.
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#211 fubar
Cash for Honours was investigated - the PM was interviewed by police under caution, for example. Computers were taken from 10 Downing Street.
Hardly long grass!
David Kelly was investigated - though there were a lot of disputes about the terms of reference with the enquiries. I'm sure Cameron will want to include it in his "Labour Crimes Against Britain" committee he is looking to set up (following Boris's lead in London).
Not long grass - but maybe unsatisfactory for some. And the official enquiry got the wrong answer for right-wingers and left-wingers alike. The right answer was all Labour's fault, they lied and Blair should resign and be charged with war crimes.
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#218 Brownhas2eyes
Yes - I am a fool.
I'm waiting for Cameron to embark on his re-education programme on election in 2010. Stupid people like me who don't believe in right-wing ideas or like to look at the evidence rather than just go with an ideological response need to be taught a lesson.
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#235 Pot_Kettle
You are quite right.
So as we will be in the wilderness for 40 years, the government suggestion that things will improve by the end of 2009 (or maybe in 2010 as "Things can Only Get Better") is a bit optimistic .
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#233 obang
It's always been the way PMQs has worked (see Major/Thatcher et al).
Opposition try and ask embarassing questions they know that the PM cannot answer, or can be accused of not answering directly (e.g. answer is subtle and not black and white, they would be pre-empting an enquiry, it is plain embarassing etc).
PM answers questions for the most part, avoids answering (or does not give a direct answer) to the most political questions from the leader of the opposition.
And Cameron is quick to cry wolf - Brown answers most questions Cameron puts to him, but not with a "yes" or "no" answer. Life isn't that simplistic.
Maybe Cameron should change the format of PMQs when he is PM.
The PM will be asked a series of questions, to which he is only allowed to say "yes" or "no" - no buts or explanation.
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Only time will tell how we'll weather the downturn in reality.
Of the measures announced in the PBR, only the temporary VAT drop has happened so far, so there's still time before the main budget for them to open their ears and start implementing fiscal stimuli that are more likely to have an effect (although I have noticed in several retailers that the "VAT rebate" at the end of the receipt seems higher than 2.13% (price/117.5*115))
Cutting public spending almost certainly isn't the answer - since the majority of councils are already making year-on-year budget cuts and implementing "lean", they'll cut back on services offered (leisure facilities and parks will undoubtedly be some of the first to face pruning) and cut staff, further increasing JSA claimants.
If public spending was cut drastically, what would go? Despite all the money pumped into education and the health service, a lot of that has been swallowed up in increased costs and pay increases, which while often higher than CPI have also often been lower than RPI; and over the past 5 or so years have been at CPI or lower.
The PFI deals can't be reneged upon, and have been a double-edged sword - I expect the new buildings appeared much quicker than if financed up-front, but of course ar emuch more expensive over the long term...
Perhaps a real hard look at seeing if it is possible to close at least some of the various tax loopholes exploited by the top few percent of earners might help - with most of the world heading for recession they're probably not as likely to up sticks and move out of the UK as during more prosperous times.
The extra NI for people earning over 20,000 pounds seems a bit harsh, especially as it covers a large proportion of the public sector (e.g. teachers, nurses). Increasing the NI UEL or the 1% on earnings over that would be more popular and still rake in money.
I'm not sure of the Blue Party's plans - after all, didn't they once claim they could save several billion pounds through "efficiency savings"? I also seem to recall that just over a year ago, their leader was calling for less regulation of the financial sector to boost our economy. Whoops...
As for their frequent attack of "repairing the roof while the sun shines", if Gordon had been decreasing the national debt instead of increasing it, would they have congratulated him on his financial astuteness, or would they have campaigned relentlessly for aggressive tax cuts and accused the government of "hoarding" money?
The problem is that although both the Red and Blue parties have different approaches to taxation and spending, the policies of both would have probably landed us in a similar mess to now, and deciding which has the best (or, more likely, least worst) approach to getting us out of it is difficult.
The Red Party did introduce the "New Deal", which was intended to push the long-term unemployed back to work, but in reality it was poorly implemented, with staff accepting token gestures towards job seeking (I once spent a few months on JSA and was frequently told by staff that I was doing far more than necessary to find a job - that's hardly the kind of advice they should be giving!)
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Maybe Cameron should change the format of PMQs when he is PM.
The PM will be asked a series of questions, to which he is only allowed to say "yes" or "no" - no buts or explanation.
balhamu
Does that mean that our current PM can continue to defect questions put to him from both sides of the house?
Do you actually believe Gordon has explained ANYTHING since he became PM?
No he does not, look at our current government, does it look honest, does it care, its all more control and more taxes for us.
Does it show and prove its own transparency? no it does not, it shows his utter contempt for the population.
What we are getting as citizens is nothing but false truths, lies and manipulated facts, which you seem to subscribe to.
The days are over when Labour can think that the middle class will defend them "because we are better than the Thatcher administaration"
This hole just keeps getting bigger and bigger as the year goes on.
Even camels need to walk you know!
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#243
Here's the link to yesterday's PMQs on Hansard.
Give me one question from any non Labour politician that got a straight answer?
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200809/cmhansrd/cm081210/debtext/81210-0002.htm#column_526
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There is an episode of Stargate SG1 where someone thanks Col O'Neill for saving the world from the alien invasion.
"Yes, again" says O'Neill.
Brown hasn't saved the world. Besides, he's more interested in saving his unelected skin.
The man is a disgrace and should walk the plank now.
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#245 2-eyed Brown
Let's take the recent Baby P questions.
Cameron asked Brown a series of questions that he knew that Brown could only reply that the Government were awaiting the enquiry on (following processes).
This was somehow evading the question. It clearly wasn't.
Did Cameron want Brown to take a dictatorial decision - "Yes, it's dreadful. I'm sacking the head of the service in Haringey and removing the council leader" (I'm not sure that central Government even has this power in law)?
Isn't this:
a) A lot of centralism (surely local democracy should be rejected and Government shouldn't micro-managed)
b) Illegal
It made a nice political point though.
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#130 (Sicilian):
----
(me:)
(you:)
----
The point is, the BBC shouldn't be pandering to your hatreds by presenting this as a major news story when it clearly isn't. If a similarly unfortunate slip-up had been made by Cameron and the BBC stuck it in position 3 on their news homepage, you'd all be frothing with rage and howling on about how it proves the BBC's Labour bias.
I'm no fan of Labour: I think Brown and Darling are making a grave mistake and endangering our economy. But I also think the BBC is being too weak these days in feeling like it has to placate the kind of screeching right-wing mob that permeates the BBC comment areas and make up the majority of Nick's blog commenters here.
A simple word mix-up. The country has gone mad. Sure, milk it for everything you can in the comments, but don't fool yourselves: don't pretend it's anything other than - as Andrew Neill pointed out - "showbiz".
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Balhamu
Yes baby P was a failure in our system, so who is exactly accountable?
The Doctor who said the child was cranky and not perfoming his personal OATH to his own duty as a doctor?
Whats the punishment? it isnt the system is it?
Or was it this Governments procedure in handing its own citizens walfare?
This is beside the point im trying to make, do not think that this will be the last case of such a tradgedy like this, our society is in complete turmoil. It is in many peoples minds and worries why this country has fallen so badly to this mis-administration, cost cutting, spin and as they say.. cash cow policies!
Thanks to this out of touch government, our british way of life is finshed.
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248 balhamu
Actually, Cameron asked a generic question, not a specific one about the Baby P case. His question was whether or not Brown thought that it was a good idea for the subject of an investigation to carry out that investigation.
Brown refused to answer.
That tells you everything you need to know about how labour likes to sweep anything damaging under the carpet instead of trying to fix it.
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Freudian slip or not, Gordon has let out a comment so pompous in its nature that even our great leader David was aghast! Supergord…..a closet Conservative…? If true, given time he’ll let Freud do the talking no doubt!
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#248
And like your boss, you decide to answer the question you want to be asked, not the one that was asked.
I don't really want to go over old ground here, but again, if you look at Hansard, you will see that Cameron's first question related solely to the idea that an inquiry into the Haringey Social Services Department shouldn't be led by the head of that department, and didn't Brown agree with his own Children's Minister that could not be right.
He didn't ask for instant judgements, didn't ask for heads to roll, just, does he think it is acceptable that Haringey should investigate itself.
Answer: "It is now for the Government to take action, and we will make a decision about what procedures and processes we will adopt in relation to Haringey."
The proper response is, of course, that it is not acceptable in these circumstances for a body to investigate itself, but Brown simply cannot bring himself to agree with anything that a political opponent says. This is the basis of the many allusions made on this blog and elsewhere about serious doubts as to the Prime Minister's mental state. Even his colleagues have accused him of having psychological flaws and personality defects.
Much as I was glad to see the back of Blair, I actually think he was trying to do the country a favour by keeping Brown out of No.10 and I now more fully understand what he was trying to avoid. The problems faced by this country would not be lessened if Blair, or Cameron for that matter, were PM, but Blair clearly knew from many years experience working with Brown that he is simply not a suitable candidate for the job of Prime Minister.
I have said before there is no question that he is an utterly ruthless politician and probably without peer in the Commons, although now bested in the Lords by the Dark Lord himself. Even the decision to bring back Mandelson is the starkest proof you could ask for that this man will stop at nothing to achieve his personal political beliefs. He is not interested in what others have to say, ignores criticism and constructive advice in equal measure and he certainly isn't going to waste his time acknowledging that an Opposition question might have some merit by offering anything remotely resembling a straight answer.
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#243 balhamu
"PM answers questions for the most part, "
Oh dear oh dear.
The little grey cells have finally departed. Lights are on, but nobody is home.
Ambulance for balhamu!!!
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#250 2-eyed brown
I ask again - should Brown have pre-empted any action by saying "It's unacceptable - I'm going to pre-judge the evidence and make an executive, dictatorial system that the head of children's services in Haringey should get the sack".
That would have answered the question.
Would Cameron be as happy if Brown also took this approach in other areas, and responded in heavy-handed, centralist, dictatorial and illegal ways to issues that concern the public.
What about if Baby P was in a Conservative local authority?
What about "local democracy" and other things that Cameron talks about when he is in "Brown is heavy-handed and Stalinist" mode?
I hope Cameron introduces PMQ reforms in 2010:
* PM only allowed to say two words "Yes" or "No". Nothing else. Not even "Nothing Nothing Nothing La La La La".
* The Speaker explicitly states when a question has not been answered, to shame non-answers.
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That has made my year...next week apparently he's going to part the channel and walk to BRUSSELS waiving the white flag and asking for EURO's...
IDIOT...just glad I didn't vote for him...come to think of it NOBODY DID!
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Politicians rule, isn't it.
I notice Cameron does the same e.g. when questioned about his mock outrage that the Government think that it is right to investigate political moles who infiltrate the civil service, and whether he would tolerate this as PM or would welcome "the accountability" he says he is so keen to see.
And on a lot of other things.
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I've just scanned this blog for the first time since making my last post, and the comments about Zen miss the point, and the accusations about moderation aren't true. Apart from that I have nothing more to say about it.
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#249:
Showbiz indeed but brilliant showbiz nevertheless. You couldn't have scripted it!
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Nick
Can we please have an update on the GREEN AFFAIR...
The statement by Gus O'Donnell this morning has moved this forward a seismic leap!
He has confirmed that the Tories had received much more information from Galley than had been admitted - and David Davis no less had confirmed more than half of it was too sensitive to publish...
This raises 3 key questions..
1. Who else was Galley passing information to - surely they have to be dealt with just the same as Green
2. Who decided in the Tory Party that this information was too sensitive - a fact that too sensitive implies it is a threat to national security - and therefore this should have been referred immediately to the Police by the Conservative Party
3. Who has this too sensitive information right now - surely anyone in posession of it should be forced to hand it back and charged with conduct detrimental to state security..
This story is about to explode right back in the faces of those who sought to gain polital capital from it...
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He's been watching too much Dünyayi Kurtaran Adam (The Man Who Saves The World). Brown's performance is about as good as the film.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7069307816427160377
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#253 obang
What does my boss have to do with this? I don't understand.
Interesting you think that Brown is ruthless - a previous thread made him out to be a bit of a clueless muppet not knowing his own interests.
* The only people who vote Labour are "benefit scroungers" and "public sector workers in non-jobs"
* The Government are reforming welfare benefits, in direct opposition to their core vote
* The Government are trying to constrain spending over the medium-term (see Pre-Budget Report) with a very tight spending settlement, which will lead to many "public sector non-jobs" disappearing.
Hardly ruthless if you accept the premise.
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#254 Dial Square Domination
Let's take Cameron's questions yesterday
1. Will the PM accept that bank recapitalisation has failed? When is he going to change it?
A/ The first point of recapitalisation was to save banks from collapse. We saved the banks.
The second point was to get lending going - interest rates in banks have come down.
The third point is to remove other barriers - we are trying to do.
verdict Question answered (no it has worked not failed)
2. Should we lend taxpayers money in the recapitalisation programme to the banks at a cheaper interest rate (6% rather than 12%) to encourage the banks to lend?
A/ Not directly answering the question, but a clear no as the Government are doing a range of other things
verdict Answered - no, we should continue doing these other things we are doing which are more effective
3. Why does the Council of Mortgage Lenders consider Government policy as 'conflicting and incoherent'?
A/ Changing the subject - the CML agree with some of what we are doing
verdict Not answered, but maybe a question that doesn't have an answer (unless the blunt "they are a lobby group for estate agents and will not be completely happy unless we provide a subsidy to get the market moving again")
4. Will the Government support Conservative plans to guarantee loans to businesses?
A/ Dealt with earlier criticism but not the question
verdict Not answered
4 (again) Will the Government support Conservative plans to guarantee loans to businesses?
A/ We've already got several loan guarantee schemes - so no!
verdictAnswered quite clearly
5. Isn't the PM responsible for the 'deepest recession in the G7' and 'bringing the country to the verge of bankruptcy'?
A/ Didn't deny this. Said Conservatives would do nothing in response to the recession like the 1980s
verdict Didn't answer perhaps the easiest question of the lot.
SO:
Cameron asked 5 questions.
Directly answered 3 (including one that was answered eventually).
Didn't answer the CML question.
Didn't answer the blame for recession question.
3/5=60%
A majority no?
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I hope Cameron raises this next Wednesday and writes an outraged article in the press about it
Cameron believes that Brown should sack the head of Children's Services in Surrey, no?
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#262
Well at least you are consistent in not addressing the point, I suppose.
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#260 andy
Sssh.
You're not allowed to talk about it.
It's not important.
And anyway Cameron said it was ok and no rules were broken, and it was a disgrace that the police were investigating.
You should trust him.
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Is this Brown's ego already writing his epitaph or more likely being a case of the brain charging ahead before the mouth could keep up. Either way it is very funny!
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I posted a comment yesterday suggesting that with historical hindsight, Gordon Brown may be seen to have at least pointed the world in the right direction and is certainly praised and copied by most other nations. So why wasn't my comment posted, especially when compared to the low level of comments that have been posted?
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Re: 99
Oh dear CEH you simply don't get it do you? If, as you keep telling us, your "type" is the same as Brown's, your response to my post at 81 simply proves that one of the key points I made applies to you too. Let me repeat:
"Thus we have someone who can only believe what is in his own head and anyone who challenges that is just stupid".
On a whim this afternoon I Googled Derek Draper and came across an entry suggesting he wanted a rebuffal unit for blogs. Now is that just a coincidence or are you DD in disguise? There are a number of clues in your posts that would point in that direction.
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I've got no problem with reasonable discussion, so trying to paint that one on me isn't going anywhere. Things get problematic if folks just want to make stuff up or be negative for the sake of it, just like what you're pulling at the moment.
(And don't think I haven't noticed folks mouthing off and referring my brief corrections so their junk stands as "the truth". That's dishonest and quite a low trick. Grow up.)
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Obviously DD's plan isn't a success. No obvious Labour trolls here (I'm assuming laughatthetories has to be a strawman sockpuppet).
What % of posters on here are hardcore Conservative/anti-Brown and parrot the Conservative line all the time (including interpreting similar behaviours differently depending on whether it is a Labour or Conservative politician)?
How does this compare to e.g. opinion polls?
Is the William Hague-launched Conservative astroturfing unit or Draper's rebuttal unit (which I interpreted not as an astroturfing unit faking blog comments, more a rapid comms response - but maybe I am naive) the better of the two?
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Does anyone remember Captain Queeg of the 'Caine mutiny'. I think our Prime Minister has the same mental problem. Would somebody please diagnose this and remove him from office before he does anymore damage. Yours. RightHon
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270
I wasn't being "dishonest". All I did was play you at your own game and quote from Jungian Typology. And you didn't like it.
Then you employed an old Labour tactic - if you don't like the message shoot the messenger.
As for growing up, have you really looked at the impression you give? Probably not because we are back to the point about only believing what is in your own head again.
Instead of Zen you should try Rabbie Burns sometime - his point about seeing yourself as others see you.
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re 184
re, re, 185...
"I'm up all hours for Labour"
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dwwonthew, I'm not even going to quote what you've said or reply. It's just trolling and flamebait in my book, and we'll just end up going around in circles so I'm not going to bother. Just so you know.
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What a relief now we know Gordon Brown is going to save the world however I think the new years honours list will make interesting reading.
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Crash - a-ah - saviour of the universe
Crash - a-ah - he'll save everyone of us
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
Crash - a-ah - he's a miracle
Crash - a-ah - king of the impossible
He's for everyone of us
Stand for everyone of us
He'll save with a mighty hand
Every man every woman
Every child - with a mighty Crash
Crash - a-ah
Crash - a-ah - he'll save everyone of us
Just a man
With a man's courage
He knows nothing but a man
But he can never fail
No one but the pure in heart
May find the golden grail
Oh oh - oh oh
Crash
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Isn't it wonderful that OUR PRIME MINISTER is now a cartoon character - SUPERGORD!!
How much lower can this once GREAT nation fall before this idiot quits!!
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Finally our "World Saviour, Home Wrecker" (beloved-Sic) Leader of our "Did nothing then, desperately try anything now" government, steps out of the shadows and reveals his true identity.
The Tories should not engage at this childish level but denounce the "do nothing" lies as the new spin, the "hide the devil in the detail" as the ever present (or never went away) spin, and observe that the classic spin (double talk that seems to say one thing but mean another) is enjoying a resurgence in recent weeks, despite our Leader's promise on becoming PM to spin less and listen more.
If the Tories can denounce rather than return spin and remove Labour's childish toys then maybe a sensible debate about how we get out of this mess can begin. Democracy like so many things in life needs at least one grown-up.
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Have you noticed detractors of Labour tend to write essays?
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as if they need to explain and cajole us into the wherewithal of their insubstantial argument against Labour…
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#280:
Just to disprove your point I think Gordon Brown is useless. Is that any better?
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Here's another one. From Mr. Bean to Superman. I don't think so somehow!
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CEH
Oh what a relief! Go sulk in the corner. I'm going to do something important like cleaning the house.
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It was sooo funny ........it was just like a Les Dawson sketch.
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I've looked (almost) everywhere, but I still haven't found that clip of El Gordo walking on water. Does anyone know where it is? I'd like to show my grandchildren how it's done -----
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#271
"What % of posters on here are hardcore Conservative/anti-Brown and parrot the Conservative line all the time ("
I'm a Liberal Democrat voter actually, and I think you'll find anyone who isn't a Labour apparatchik is in agreement.
Nice try, though.
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Save the world. He couldn't save tuppence, but he's a master at spending like a man possessed - with taxpayers money. He's shown up his view of himself, and as the deluded megalomaniac he must be. Can we now please somehow get rid of him and his bankrupt party? They'll cripple the country for decades at this rate.
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It was a slip of the tongue but reveals what the Messiah Brown thinks of himself. Simple.
The FTSE and the Sterling exchange rates tell the truth. While he has been busy "saving the world" he has been destroying UK Plc. Some messiah
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and when the ashes fell from the sky and the people ran as the herd in the field danced the Brown Knight smiled upon the earth and all was well.
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This was a mistake picked up by a media watching the prime ministers every move. Big Brother isn't the government. Its the media. As for the Conservative hypocrisy about Ego. Do you not think Ego and self confidence are essential to political leader or a prime minister? Can anyone who doesn't have these qualities become leader of their party especially Prime Minister?.
Yes Dave C. is so humble isn't he. ;-). If only Brown would do what he is told by his "Humble" masters in Internet Land.
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It maybe a moment already past, but has anyone notice the lack of a Nick Robinson comment about Obama stating Cameron is a lightweight. No - I didn't think Nick, I'm a tory supporter, would include this in his blog.
Let me repeat my position here - I'm not a Labour, Lib Dem, or Tory supporter, - All I expect is unbiased and balanced coverage of the current political stories from the BBC's political reporter.
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291 dhwilkinson
There's a big difference between having a bit of an ego, and proclaiming yourself the messiah.
The former is a necessary trait in a leader, the latter is the character trait of a madman who should be let nowhere near any position of power.
It clearly wasn't just a slip of the tongue; he clearly meant that he'd personally saved the world and that he was the only person capable of doing so.
Deluded doesn't even begin to describe it.
I don't care if Brown's not humble, but I don't expect our (unelected) leader to believe that he's in charge of the planet and that he's the only person on the planet who understands economics (neither of which are true, in fact he doesn't even understand basic maths, logic, or reason, let alone complex economic issues).
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Getrid..@293
It was a mistake which made boring political coverage entertaining for a while. Nothing more. Only desperate Conservative supporters attach any meaning to it. Really desperate ones say he has a messiah complex because of it.
Wanting to save the world IS a necessary trait to becoming Prime minister as it involves believing in an almost impossible dream. Only people with extremely high level of confidence and motivation will make it to be a political leader. Labour was elected even though everyone knew Gordon Brown was going to take over. What Tony Blair said about staying a full term was rubbish and everyone probably including you knew it.
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Many a true word spoken in jest!? Which world was he referring to? I hope not the one I am about to try to jump on! ANYthing to leave here.
Actually I loved his comment. It really confirmed my opinion of him. And everybody cottoned on he had not the faintest idea of what he was saying... at any point in the debate.
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Sounds about right. God knows, there's enough Messiah complexes posting online. Not that anyone would admit it.
Another thing: the whole pitch of Cameron and Clegg is, actually, to project "Messiah" to people. Anyone with a basic knowledge of marketing knows this.
People often see themselves in someone else: that's the "mirror mind" of Zen. It's best ignored as we only wind ourselves up.
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With Brown becoming the "saviour of the World" and Blair hoping to become the first permanent overall EU President, Britain should be most grateful to New Labour for giving us such a pair of 'leaders'.
Labour's champagne socialist supporters are somewhat embarrassed by these remarks, which betrays a desperation to mask and play things down.
They are the unfortunate, misguided ones. The rest of us can see through the dysfunctionality of this Government desperately clinging to power at any cost.
Freudian slip or not, it sadly revealed the psychosis developing from reading his own publicity material.
His so called economic 'bail out package' will prove to be his epitaph.
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I don't think I've ever come across a more arrogant, pretentious, condescending leader of the people. He doesn't accept criticism but is quick to dish it out and never apologises. A rather smug and dislikeable individual in my opinion who grabs at every opportunity to blow his own trumpet.
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I think it was an unfortunate side effect of having cameras in the house of commons and of the News media trying to make their content more entertaining. Unfortunately a few fanatics keep coming on here to try and get the last word on this trivial topic like it makes any difference. Perhaps they should just stick to watching subversive comedy programs with their notepads at the ready. Ready to be outraged by the bias against "Dave". Jerry springer was great on "Have I got news for you" I think he should take the format to the U.S.
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Has anyone noticed that Flash Gordon is unable to tie his own tie?
And would someone please tell him to control his hands. What with the 'Blair Wave'(hands extended, thumbs uppermost, chopping and scooping) and the caressing of the microphone stand, when saving Afghanistan, he makes himself even more ridiculous
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300 boltcourt
No as I am not obsessive compulsive, a Desperate Conservative supporter or a PR person from Conservative HQ. Your disturbingly obsessive note taking of Gordon Browns every move worries me. Perhaps you need help? or perhaps you have as an Astroturfer been given this information by PR experts at Tory HQ?.
Anyone can be a critic. I could say Dave talks to us peasants like Geofrey from rainbow and his face looks like he puts Acme brand Alum on his breakfast cereal but I'm better than that.
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#dhw wrote:
'Unfortunately a few fanatics keep coming on here to try and get the last word on this trivial topic like it makes any difference.'
This is the importance that supporters of Gordon Brown would like to assign to his Freudian slip. For those who have little respect for the man or his policies it is further evidence of his superior know it all attitude in his dealings with both his equals and his betters.
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Politics has become more about Image than issues. As the faux outrage of the comments here have proved. Instead of the parties convincing us they have the policies to help this country they have image advisors. Its a great shame that democracy has become a media obsessed extension of shallow celebrity culture. Who has the best PR,media and Internet tricks to convince the peasants to vote for them? We will have to wait and see.
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You have a very low opinion of the voting Electorate. I think you'll find that they have far more nous than you give them credit for. They certainly aren't peasants, a little ignorant and naive at times perhaps but not peasants.
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304 sicilian29
Probably should have put "peasants" in quotes as that obviously isn't what I would call the voting public. Being a member!
It is my interpretation of how some politicians and mogul led media treat us the public. Its powerful stuff and wouldn't want to judge people for believing in what they read or see on television. Only the manipulators.
Some of it is rubbish. Who watches WebCameron for instance. Thats just preaching to the Converted.
I hope you are right and that people realise that through no fault of their own they are being played by people trying to shape politics to their own advantage.
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For Heaven’s Sake!...Get it into your winter bobble-top woolly hatted heads that…
this present recession/depression opens up a free-for-all for the precarious 'finance capital site', which, like the Olympics is up for grabs bigtime! No wonder finance minister of Deutchland ‘Herr Gobb’ is talking-down Prime Minister Brown's extraordinary daring fiscal versatility. If the banks haven’t already duffed it up for Britain already help from ‘Herr Cameron’ could swing it ‘Herr Gobb’s’ and Germany's way. That is; so long as ‘Bonaparte’ doesn’t get his oar in as well…
Answer: Britain should muck in with the Euro straightaway and make it work for us from the inside.
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#dhw wrote:
'Some of it is rubbish. Who watches WebCameron for instance. Thats just preaching to the Converted.'
Probably very true but you could say the same for Party Conferences. If you don't appreciate the message don't log on.
'I hope you are right and that people realise that through no fault of their own they are being played by people trying to shape politics to their own advantage.'
I hope so too but probably for very different reasons and from a widely different standpoint.
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"Altogether, these readings made a strong case for the United Kingdom ultimately suffering the worst recession in the developed world," Commerzbank analysts said in a research note."
Not more "analysts".
Q: How many analysts does it take to change a light bulb?
A: I'll tell you after the event.
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