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greatandydudley

Listed below are comments made by greatandydudley between Tuesday, 13th January 2009 and Tuesday, 3rd March 2009.

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The 'special partnership' 1:00pm on 03 Mar 2009 97 - Of course the fact that Brown becomes only the 5th British Prime Minister to address both houses of their legislature - equally if not more important than meeting Obhama - seems to have been airbrushed from this blog??

Blair and Thatcher were given that opportunity for years of strict and loyal adherence to the sitting President...

Churchill earnt the right...

I wonder why Brown is asked....

after all ...he could'nt possibly have something meaningful and coherent to say could he?
The 'special partnership' 12:57pm on 03 Mar 2009 94

Cameron cannot even ignite his own Party let alone the Country.

The Tory Party is currently split three ways in respect of their views on Cameron.

1- Genuine Cameroons as they call themselves,mostly from the left of the Tory Party who dabbled with the Blair Project and Lib/Dems in the past who see Cameron as the "generational " change the Tory Party needed pragmatically to become remotely electable.

2. Right Wing Tories - those of the Davis/Redwood camp who despise the direction Cameron is taking them but who realise that once elected PM he can either be coerced into more right wing policies but who are ruthless enough to plot to remove him two years in - if they feel the need

3- The middle core - the Letwin/Howard/Hague clique - happy to get elected whatever the compromises but who hope for the inevitable left/right carnage two years in as the Cameroon dream fails- ready to pick up the pieces as old fashioned Conservatives and reliable and able to be an adequate compromise within the Party!

The key missing ingredient in all this is - where is the coherent logical plausible policy...

THERE IS'NT ANY!
The 'special partnership' 12:37pm on 03 Mar 2009 67

An excellent post.

As much as Brown is unpopular we cannot and must not walkheadlong into a potentially far greater calamity by electing someone who would be far worse.

A Cameron/Osborne led Tory Government would be a calamity. They would have been in just as big a mess as Labour given the global nature of the downturn.Their policy pronouncements over the past decade are only marginally different fiscally and economically to what Brown has espoused and the shortfall in difference between the two would be irrelevant compared to where we now stand.

Cameron is a laissez faire economist 0- the likliehood is the Northern/rbs/hbos would have gone to the wall -millions would have lost everything and anarchy would prevail.

The Tories have no more coherent a plan than Labour to get us out of recession,globally or here in the UK - indeed they would simply do what Tories always do - CUT!

A Tory Government would cut the minimum wage,take back winter fuel allowances,remove free bus passes,scrap emergency winter cold payments to pay for the ridiculous notion of increasing Inheritance Tax thresholds to £1m.

The state theft of the services and utilities under Thatcher and Major has caused many ongoing problems - would they reverse these = no!

What the UK needs for 5 years at least is a sensible centrist moderate coalition party combining the skills of the likes of Cable,Ken Clarke,Alan Johnson and their ilk...

Not a dogmatic Tory Party or a pale right wing imitation e.g New Labour
What the reshuffle tells us 3:00pm on 20 Jan 2009 215 - for your information I have only ever belonged to one UK Political Party - membership now lapsed - and has been since 1980...

That was the Conservative Party.....
What the reshuffle tells us 2:59pm on 20 Jan 2009 Back to original blog....

Lets be brutally hoonest...Cameron had the chance to put a decent shadow cabinet in place - he failed miserably...

The return of Ken Clarke was a panic move to cover the glaring lack of (a) new talent and (b) talent where it is that actually wants to work full-time!...

After 12 years in opposition and no tidal wave of positivism to get them back - a generation of Tory wannabees - have decided to devote their time and energies to raking up what cash they can in the private sector...

The fact that he has retained Spelman,Grieve,May,Lansley,Villiers,Osborne,Ainsworth,Duncan is proff positive that he either is blindingly loyal or simply recognises the paucity of political talent at his disposal....

DAMMINGLY - I also conject that on the Government Benches and Oppsoition Benches (other than the Tories) there are a mere handful of decent full time capable politicians ready willing and able to step up to the plate....

That is something that we - all of us - should be very worried about....

Clones of the left Nu Labour / Clones of the Right / Cameroons and Bullingdon Boys abound.....

I never thought I would say this but there is only one shining light that I can see....

Talking the Talk - positive talk - and walking the walk.....Boris Johnson...you may not agree with all he does,but he is positive,energise,constructive and doing very very nicely thank you!...

in fact - he's putting Boy David to shame!
What the reshuffle tells us 2:33pm on 20 Jan 2009 204 - the problem is no-one can follow Cameron as he has'nt actually said ANYTHING constructive...

He has 3 main threads to his argument...

1. Attack everything Brown says

2. Vote for everything Brown advocates and then attack it

3. Copy or plagirise everything Brown says - dress it up - change a few words - then claim it as his own....

I cannot find one constructive policy submission from Cameron that has'nt been tried by Brown previously,or that has'nt been tried and failed disateroulsy - globally - previously....

hence he is called "do-nothing Dave"....

It is to be hoped that now he has a politician of some gravitas and repute on his front Bench - Ken Clarke - he amy actually submit something constructive - and send the useless and irrelevant little bag carrier that is the current Shadow Chancellor back to the backbenches....
What the reshuffle tells us 12:58pm on 20 Jan 2009 160

The truth as they say "hurts"....

Cameron cannot excuse his upbringing and his privileges...

What he can do is to prove by his deeds not his words that he would be a man of the people - not just the elite...

On that score the jury is VERY MUCH OUT!
What the reshuffle tells us 12:56pm on 20 Jan 2009 154

simply because someone does not subscribe to the views of the Daily Mail does not mean they are living in a parallel universe...

Just because someone does not agree with you does not mean they are not correct or do not have some valid point to make..

simply because someone does not meekly subscribe to the view that this recession is not going to be as bad as some political commentators want to make it out to be - for their own political aims - does not make them wrong...

there are some very salient points that Cameroons and their ilk simply refuse to accept...

1. This is a GLOBAL crisis - its roots are in the USA - its tenticles reach around the world.....name me one major economy NOT affected by it?

2. The October bail out was indeed a success....it did not fail - put simply - making sure that NO Bank in the UK went under was a success...not ONE UK depositor in a UK bank has actually lost any money....capital money that is....that was the first and foremeost pre-requisite of the October bail out...

3. The fiscal stimulus of late November has to a degree worked....some parts of the retail sector have not only survived intact but FLOURISH....increased investment increased jobs increased profits...from the likes of Tesco,Morrisons....

Indeed only yesterday Matalan announced record sales,record profits,more jobs with crucially "no specific change to their marketing strategy" eg they did not discount massively...

4. Jobs - I agree retail jobs cannot support wholly a thriving economy....pragmatically though a job is a job....a lost job is a tragedy for that person be it in JCB or a shop....lets not kid ourselves...many of the manufacturing jobs such as JCB are lost due to problems in America and China not the UK!...i.e they are export jobs so could return...

5. Housing/Mortgages....my brother is an Estate Agent...enquiries month to date he tells me are 40% up on period in January 2007 and 60% up on period in January 2006.....only enquiries I agree but early signs that the purchasers are seeing the bottom of the market approaching,are seeing signs good credit risk is beginning to be granted loans so movement is beginning...

6. No other country in the world is following Cameron....his approach is wholly negative and not constructive in any way - he simply re-hases already ammounced Govt ideas - claims them as his own and changes minuae in the detail...

7. Technically - though in reality we know it is so dont lambast me over atechnicality - but technically up until figures are anounced this week - UK is not in recession...its gone in LATER than most....and if Browns fiscal and monetary policies work - could rasonably therefore be expected to come out sooner - albeit growth will be shallower...

8. It suits the "doomsday" brigade to "big-up" the recession....interetsingly one Tory alone stands and says "lets not make it worse than it is...lets be positive and not talk the country in to a recession worse than it needs to be" = Boris Johnson....that viewpoint will begin to resonate as voters get sick and tired of Camerons doom and gloom....it may wash in January...it may not come the spring...

9. Despite all of the unpopularity of this Governemt - some of it deserved - there is NO C-CHANGE in peoples poliitcal mindset as there was in 1978/9 and 1996/7....Cameron is flatlined at best between 40-43%......thats NOT a C-Change...

10 Where is the Big Tory idea - negative campaigning with no credible or costed solution simply wont stand the scrutiny of a General Election campaign....

The opportunity for Labour is this...

Obama follows GB fiscal and economic lead...

Obam factor energises USA out of their recession sooner than may have been the case.

US fiscal package actually impacts as much on world economies as their own plans and efforts....

UK shows clear greenshoots in June/July....interest rates are steady around 2%,inflation is around 2.5%,unemployment peaks around 2.7m...sterling stabilises....

The sun shines (thats not a joke its a political given that the sun can impact on mood and perception....

The G20 hail their efforts their plans....they are seen to have worked....

Cameron has either voted against all of it - or does what he normally does and votes for it and then disparages it...

Thats the masterplan for GB....

whether thats good for the other GB is open to conjecture but I know out there talking to people that for everyone wanting to see the back og Brown - there are just as many people terrified sick of what Cameron might do - i.e a return to failed and despised Thatcherism!
What the reshuffle tells us 10:10am on 20 Jan 2009 It shows that absolute paucity of talent within the Tory Front and Back Benches...

Whereas Mandelson is a great political analyst our Ken,nice bloke that he is,is a veteran of failed Thatcherite Policies and a beacon of Tory division - paticularly on Europe.

His promotion proves Osborne is totally out of his depth,yet also illustrates the lack of a viable alternative under retirement age!!!!!!

The fact that the equally useless Theresa May,Caroline Spellman,Theresa Villiers,Dominic Grieve,Alan Duncan,Andrew Lawnsley have remained in Shadow Cabinet illustrates a lack of talent and Camerons inability to wield the stick to underperforming Shadow Ministers.

The fact remains the only decent Cabinet material left are strictly part-timers!

Mark my words...Come the Autumn and Conference season as the recession ends,the green-shoot appear...Clarke will divide and destroy Tory Unity and any hope of electoral success...
Economy, economy, economy 12:36pm on 13 Jan 2009 382 - thank you...

so if he is spending £5bn LESS than the Govt - which he has admitted as his plans he is presumably happy that

EVERY NEW BORN IS SADDLED WITH £16,830 of DEBT!!!!....

So he plans to save £170 per child - slash spending on fiscal stimulus and give the £5bn he has saved and what he cuts from help to the majority on giving high income savers and the rich TAX CUTS...

THATCHERITE DAVE...

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