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goldvaldan

Listed below are comments made by goldvaldan between Wednesday, 29th October 2008 and Sunday, 30th November 2008.

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The sanctity of the Commons 3:32pm on 30 Nov 2008 750

My son was serving as a radar operator on HMS Hermes during the Falklands War. He was just 19. He also served during the first Iraq war under Major. And this lot talk about war crimes under Blair. They don't know the half of what happened in those 2 military exercises. They were still repairing Hermes when she sailed out of Portsmouth, I know, I was there. We were so ill-prepared and the defence budget had been cut to the bone. By coincidence, Keith Speed, MP for Ashford (Damian Green's constituency) resigned because of the Navy cuts. Thatcher had withdrawn HMS Endurance from the South Atlantic and that sent quite the wrong message to Argentina. Hence the invasion. There was no FOI then, and there wouldn't be now if it hadn't been for Tony Blair.
The sanctity of the Commons 2:19pm on 30 Nov 2008 #greatandydudley

Snap! The only difference is that I was on the A28 at about 12 midnight, driving to my home in Tenterden. We were stopped at a police roadblock and questioned about our destination. Phone calls were made to confirm that we lived in the area. When we complained we were told the checks were to prevent flying pickets travelling into Kent to support the miners in Dover. We voiced our displeasure and our vehicle was then examined for defects, and we were informed of what the Police could do if they found any. My husband was told to lay across the bonnet whilst he was searched. We were then told to 'move it'. Now that's what I call a police state; the Thatcher government using strong arm tactics to prevent freedom of movement . It must have been like that in Soweto. Some democracy. And people want more of the same? The trouble is most of the people who post on here aren't old enough to remember those days, or what went on.
Continuing crisis 2:33pm on 20 Nov 2008 #skynine

It wasn't actually Gordon Brown who said it, it was Robert Shapiro admitting that the problem arose in the US. Deal with it. It's only people of your ilk, and Tory Central Office who are in denial. THE CREDIT CRUNCH STARTED IN USA, OK? The UK wasn't mentioned by name in the G20 press release; it said 'some advanced countries'. Your assumptions are not necessarily correct. Just because you wish it doesn't make it so. Why do you all get out of your prams when someone says something you don't want to hear, even when it's true.
PMQs row over Baby P 11:52am on 13 Nov 2008 #187

It was David Cameron who came to PMQs with an ill-informed brief. He referred to 'a 17 year old single mother', the mother in question was aged 27 and married. He referred to her boyfriend as being unable to read but able to beat a child. Are we to assume he believes anyone with literacy problems is a child-beating monster? He is a posturing fraud and yet again found a bandwagon to jump on. The fact that his chosen ride was in appalling taste seems not to have occurred to him. He should take care. His fondness for histrionics could be his downfall.

It wasn't only the Guardian writers who found his posturing distasteful. Some columnists in the Telegraph did too.
PMQs row over Baby P 7:29pm on 12 Nov 2008 I could believe in David Cameron's sincerity if he had gone to PMQs with all the right information in preparation for his verbal assault on the Prime Minster about Baby P. But when he referred to "a 17 year old mother, and an illiterate boyfriend", one realised that, unless he was talking about a totally different case he had, yet again, got the facts all wrong. One wonders who briefs him at CCO. Gordon Brown has the excuse that, as PM, he doesn't have dogs and bark himself. David Cameron has no such excuse. He was quick enough to get the ES on side prior to PMQs, but then he blew it, not only because of his hysterical outburst, but because he was so woefully ill-informed. If he did, as he said, watch the reporting of the case on the television last night, and had read today's press reporting, he would have known that the mother is 27 years old and what on earth has a person's literacy got to do with their parenting skills. Does he think all parents with mild learning difficulties are monsters? He has absolutely no idea.
Extraordinary 4:17pm on 07 Nov 2008 When are you Tory bloggers going to address the fact that the ToryHome page reported George Osborne's satisfaction rate was 2, and that was just the Conservative opinion. This after Rupert Murdoch's disciple on earth said in the Spectator that George and Dave had lost the plot where the economy was concerned. He also had fulsome praise for Gordon Brown and his handling of the economy. He said all the Tories could do was whinge but they offered no coherent policies at all. I wonder if he is speaking on behalf of Mr Murdoch. I don't think he would make these comments without first running them past his boss. David Cameron has already said he has no intention of sacking useless, out of his depth, George and, furthermore, he has no intention of sacking Caroline Spelman either, whatever the outcome of the investigation currently taking place on the funding of her nanny. It seems as if anything goes in the Tory party. The Tories have blown it, and they know it. When are you going to wake up and smell the coffee.
Obama - what they said/mean 3:21pm on 05 Nov 2008 Derek #57

You are obviously not au fait with the 'classes'in the US. Middle class Americans are the equivalent of working class Brits. Yes, Obama is a new socialist as you will soon find out. He is America's equivalent of Robin Hood, increasing taxes on the wealthy to give to the poor. That was McCain's warning to voters throughout the campaign, that Obama would take their money through taxes and give it to the low paid. He will also introduce free health care for all. Do you think that sounds like Conservatism? No, I thought not.
Obama - what they said/mean 11:28am on 05 Nov 2008 In his acceptance speech, President Elect Obama said the time of a person's place in America because of great wealth was over. Republicanism/Conservatism is dead in the water. It is the Conservatives who need to change. They still believe in looking after the few and not the many, as their policy on Inheritance Tax shows. William Hague's attempt to identify with the Democratic party and Obama was risible, particularly as the Tories were so anxious to show solidarity with the Republicans when John McCain addressed the Tory faithful at their conference.
David Cameron, you are no Barack Obama, and the Conservative doctrine will never be able to ally with that of the Democrats. There is more that separates you than unites.
Waiting with interest 11:42am on 04 Nov 2008 In fact Obama and McCain are both novices, as neither have held a government post. McCain's army record doesn't really equip him for government, as it was all so long ago. The fact that 62% of Americans say they are happy with Obama says a great deal about his personality and charisma. He has star quality, like JFK, Bill Clinton and Tony Blair; they draw people in because the electorate want to believe in the change they offer. Obama has everything he needs to become a great president, even though, if he wins, he comes in at a turgid time for America. Not all Americans are convinced about 'big government' but, for the time being, that is what they will get. I wish whoever wins well. As for David Cameron, he doesn't have any of Obama's gifts. He flip-flops betweeen policies and hitches a ride on every passing bandwagon. I think he blew it when he came out strongly for McCain and the Republicans at the Tory conference. True to form, he has flip-flopped again. Now he identifies with the Democrats. Perhaps he thinks some of Obama's stardust will fall on him - no chance.
The final cost of recession 4:48pm on 29 Oct 2008 Having just read George Osborne's latest comments, I wonder if the Tories are hell bent on talking down the economy with the sole intention of discrediting the government, regardless of the damage they might do to the country in the process. One minute they are drawing our attention to the drop in the footsie, and blaming it on the government; when it starts to climb again, they search around for another stick to beat Gordon Brown with. Since when has borrowing to bring forward pre-planned work on Crossrail, hospitals, schools, affordable housing and the 2012 Olympics been 'splurging on white elephant public works'. His comments merely show his contempt for those less fortunate than himself. You can take the boy out of the Bullingdon Club but you can't take the Bullingdon Club out of the boy. Pump priming was ever the way to kick-start a failing economy. Why doesn't he just go back into the cupboard where he's been hiding for the last 3 weeks. He really doesn't have anything to say that's of any relevance.

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