Vince Cable finds that the recession is cobblers in Hampshire
One of those crazy co-incidences happened when we were out with Lib Dem Deputy Leader Vince Cable campaigning in the village of Alresford in Hampshire.
Dropping into local businesses, as you do, we were talking to the local cobbler Bob Barrowman whose splendid portrait is on the right.
And that shiny pair of shoes is the strange co-incidence.
This well-to-do part of Hampshire has been the scene of bitter scraps between Conservatives and Liberal Democrats. Vince's visit shows it'll be just as hot this time.
After the great man left the shop it was Bob the Cobbler's chance to comment, and the camera rolled. "It's a very well-heeled area" he says. "Take these four pairs of beautiful shoes I've just finished."
"They belong to that Conservative chap, George Hollingbery!"
Turns out that George, the Tory candidate, and Lib Dems bitter rival in Winchester and Meon Valley, is a regular customer.
The Lib Dems faces were a picture when they realised that the brogues they'd been admiring would shortly be turned against them, but they said at least it showed Mr Hollingbery expects to use up some shoe-leather in the contest ahead.
~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~53~RS~)
Welcome to the hustings! I'm Peter Henley, the BBC's political reporter in the south of England. From parish councils in Sussex, to European politics in Oxford, this is the blog for you.
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I can't make up my mind whether this election is the LibDems latest greatest opportunity to break through or not. At the moment the country seems to be in a "phoney election" mood... we know its coming but theres no real political warfare going on, just a lot of negative campaigning, mud slinging, he-says she-says, and half-baked strategising going on.
I for one wish the parties would stick to informing the public about the detail (and implications for us) in their own proposals. The stench of corruption, expenses fraud, and parliamentary incompetence still wafts heavily around the two big parties (less so the LD's). Which Political "big brains" think that negative campaigning is going to do anything but further damage Parliament in the eyes of the public?
Mind you this is the same political deep thinkers that couldn't see past the end of their expenses claim forms to the critical damage that would be dealt when the truth came out. I was told by one senior LibDem on the Standards & Privs Committee) that he couldn't see why people were interested in what kind of toilet paper he was buying... no concepot that it wasn't the toilet paper per se that the FoI requests and onrushing Exes scandal was about.
My expectation is that the main result of this Election campaign will be to further undermine Parliament and its claim to represent the country.
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Before George relaxes, it's probably best that he knows that I also got my shoes repaired with Bob Barrowman as well! :-)
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"I for one wish the parties would stick to informing the public about the detail (and implications for us) in their own proposals. The stench of corruption, expenses fraud, and parliamentary incompetence still wafts heavily around the two big parties (less so the LD's)."
I think the one guarentee we have for this election is that we are not going to get alot of detail on spending or cuts. None of the parties want to tell us this information because they all know of the nescessity of cuts, a policy which is still unpopular with the electorate.
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The point about fooling the electorate, Bob and Hannah, is directly related to the amount of shoe-leather needed during this election campaign.
A lot of questions are going to be asked, on the doorstep and over the airwaves. Politicians are preparing to meet their makers. You can call me a hopeless optimist if you like, but I think we will get answers in the end.
But Martin, this tit-for-tat has to stop! I have to point out that within fifteen minutes of the original blog post George Hollingberry was on the phone pointing out that he had already worn out the four pairs pounding the streets.
We'll all need some stamina, but we'll get there in the end...
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You're a Hopeless Optimist Peter!
I was making a general comment about the conduct of any General Election Campaign that might be in the offing! The Torys and Labour have already shown a massive preference for talking about the policies of the other side as an attempt to scare people... just wish they would drop the negative campaigning - it only ever hurts the way the electorate regard politicians.
With politicians being loved slightly less than Norwalk Virus at the moment it just seems like a very bad moment to be throwing any kind of scare or excrement at fellow Politicans!
But I fully expect negative campaigns - and then the Politicos will wonder why they fail to engage the electorate - 'cause the party campaign strategists are too lazy to think beyond whats easy!
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I find that I'm steadily disengaging from the campaign, and losing hope.
Nothing really seems to be changing for the better, despite the window of opportunity and the momentum that we had last year.
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Hello Peter - I watched your piece from Westminster on BBC South Today this evening with interest. I have often heard it claimed that the BBC, as a licence fee funded organisation, is robustly impartial when it comes to Political reporting and comment. So, I was suprised when you interviewed the Labour, Lib Dem and Conservative MPs re the Budget this evening, in that you invited comments from the Labour MP, Lib Dem MP and Conservative MP respectively and then allowed follow-on comments from only the Lib Dem MP and Labour MP. Therefore, while the Labour and Lib Dem MPs had two chances to make points, the Conservative MP only had one chance to speak. To myself, as an undecided voter, this not did seem a level playing field!
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Slightly connected to Vince Cable:
This will become known as the Snakebite budget.
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Oh yes Trevor, I remember Snakebite - never again!- they're justifying the cider tax by saying it had been over-favoured in the past and manufacturers now have to choose whether they continue to produce the super-strength stuff.
And Dave, you're right, I owe Mark Hoban and Conservative supporters a pint of something, he was short-changed. All I can say is that it is a live slot with a fixed duration - I do try to give equal time but I've looked back at it now and I should have hurried them through the earlier questions a bit more quickly.
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