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Tease o' the day

Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Recently I was at a fund raiser for a Tory constituency party somewhere in London, and this constituency has a sitting Labour MP who is so unpopular with his own party that the dinner saw a table booked by half a dozen Labour party activists.

Given the careful love bombing of Labour councillors, activists et al by the local Tories, wild horses will not drag the name of the MP from me, although this chap does indeed have a broad rep for being useless.

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posted by Croydonian

Great typos of our time

Saturday, April 18, 2009
A leaflet delivered in a London constituency (NOT Croydon....), picked up earlier today:


Identifying details obscured to protect the guilty...

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posted by Croydonian

Number crunching Cameron's speech

Thursday, October 02, 2008
First, head to head with Broon:

GB - 'you know' - 9 DC - 4
GB - 'Fair / fairness / unfair etc' - 41 DC - 0
GB - 'Britain /British' - 36 DC - 12
GB - 'United Kingdom' - 1 DC - 0
GB - 'England' - 2 (inc Bank of England), Scotland, Wales, NI - 1 apiece DC - England - 7 (but six as Bank of England), Wales, Scotland, NI - 1 apiece
GB - 'Change/d' - 24 DC - 30
GB - 'Labour '- 21, of which 'new Labour' - 3 DC - 16
GB - 'I / me' - 82 / 12 I/ Me - 92 /66
GB - 'You / we' - 26 /106 DC 54/128
GB - 'People' - 55 DC - 30
GB - 'Conservative/s' - 13 DC - 18
GB - Liberal / SNP etc - aero DC - Liberal - 1.
GB - 'Europe' - 4 DC - 5
GB - 'World' - 19 DC - 7
GB - 'Global' - 10
GB - United States - zero DC - America - 2
GB - International - zero DC - 2

And DC's stand outs:

Economy / economics etc - - 25
Broken Society - 8
Crisis - 14
Taxes - 10 Tax - 5
Freedom - 5
Family/ies - 22
Trust - 7
Responsibility - 32
Government - 34

And the verdict of the Bullfighter:

DC scores 8.7 by Brown's 7.8

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posted by Croydonian

The fine art of waterfowl alignment...

Monday, November 26, 2007
Or getting one's ducks in a row /before/ announcing that one is jumping ship.

Sajjad Karim has resigned the Lib Dem whip in Brussels and is now taking the Conservative whip over yonder, which the BBC rates as a less important story on the politics page than Branson's latest publicity stunt.

Now the details as to why he has done this are available elsewhere, and I do not really approve of jumping ship without standing for election, so instead I will focus on Karim's less than pruned website:

He's anti renewing Trident.

Thinks the Tories are homophobes: ""Their apathy in the face of rising homophobia should come as no surprise. The Conservative camp is today rife with contradiction. Cameron attempts to paint a glossy image of a gay-friendly party in the UK while desperately trying to get into bed at European level with Poland's homophobic 'Law and Justice' party."

Climate change; "Toughen up the EU emissions trading scheme by auctioning permits. The Conservatives cannot admit the EU is key to tackling climate change, while Labour is in the back pocket of the CBI".

More greenery: "The biggest threat to mankind deserves the biggest campaign that the Liberal Democrats have ever mounted, which I why I jumped at the chance to help Ming Campbell and Chris Huhne launch the "Green Tax Switch" at conference last month. The environment has long been the major area of policy where the Liberal Democrats have had a sustained lead in the polls over both Labour and the Conservatives. Despite the "greening" of David Cameron, that position has not changed. The public have seen through his stunts and the trust of the Liberal Democrats on green issues has only increased. The latest ICM issues poll in April put the Liberal Democrats higher than ever at 29%; with the Tories and Labour merely trading places in the green hierarchy".

And when you click on 'join the party', it takes you to one symbolised by a bird, not a tree...

However, hugely to his credit, he has put pressure on the commission over Gilad Shalit and others: "Over a year has passed since the abductions of three Israeli soldiers. Cpl. Gilad Shalit, now 22 years of age and Eldad Regev, 28 years of age, were allegedly captured in June 2006, and Ehud Goldwasser, 32 years of age, was captured in July 2006. Has the Commission made any attempts or assisted in any capacity in securing the release of these soldiers? How is the Commission using the European Union position as part of the Quartet to exert influence on Hamas and Hezbollah, as the groups who allegedly abducted the soldiers, to immediately and unconditionally release and ensure the safety of the Israeli soldiers above?"


Dizzy had some similar fun with Quentin Davies....

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posted by Croydonian

Time to put back together what Sunningdale put asunder

Monday, October 29, 2007
Unnoticed by the press in these parts, the Ulster Unionists have been having a conference, and there is a part of Sir Reg Empey's speech of particular note for friends of the Union in the part of the Kingdom on this side of the water:

"The Ulster Unionist Party has committed itself to a political and policy process which allows Northern Ireland to complete the transition to "normal" politics... As Party Leader I want the Ulster Unionist Party to engage with like-minded allies in Great Britain to promote a pan-UK vision which endorses the over-arching benefits of a United Kingdom as the best framework in which to nurture the benefits available from devolution".

He can only mean the Conservatives, and unless the Ulster Unionists are prepared to do a Trimble and join the Conservatives, it is for the party to make every effort to undo the damage wrought by the still birth of the Sunningdale Agreement and welcome the UUP back into the bosom of the wider Conservative movement. While the UUP is undoubtedly on something of a back foot at present, UUP MPs taking the whip after the next election would aid the electoral arithmetic, and would also be the right thing for all concerned.

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posted by Croydonian

Some hints for Cameron from the Canadian Tories

Saturday, September 22, 2007
Well, they were not directed to DC, but I'm going to fillet the Ten Commandments of Conservative Campaigning published in The Globe & Mail:

1. Unity
2. Moderation
3. Inclusion
4. Incrementalism
5. Policy
6. Self-discipline
7. Toughness
8. Grassroots politics
9. Technology
10. Persistence

The article gives the detail, but the list is pretty well self-explanatory.

Anyway, discuss.

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posted by Croydonian

Scope for more Euro trouble for the Tories

Wednesday, January 10, 2007
The newly elected head of the European People's Party in the EU, is Joseph Daul, a French Gaullist. There is not a whole lot of info readily available on M Daul, but he has deigned to give an interview to Le Monde, and, shall we say, by their words ye shall know them:

"My principal rival, the Swede Gunnar Hökmark, defended [economic] liberalism and the small countries, while I represented the social market economy and the Franco-German axis. He was supported by the British Conservatives, the Scandinavians, and a number of representatives from the new countries who are aggravated by [the dominance] of the Franco-German axis. The votes of those countries that founded the Union mobilized for me in the third ballot".

So, that's us put back in our boxes. How dare the Johnny / Jan / Jens etc come latelies presume to think that their votes were equal to those of the Jean / Johann come earlies, eh?

And there's more:

Q - What are you going to do about the Conservatives?

"I will respect the commitments made by Hans-Gert Pöttering, the outgoing president of the group of the EPP, since they stand until 2009. There will be no new concessions, unlike what they are asking for. After 2009, I hope that we will be able to keep them. But it is up to them to decide. However, if they leave, where do they go? Join Le Pen?"

[Q on the constitution]

"For my part, I think that one should not be unaware of the no votes in France and the Netherlands, but it is [also] necessary to respect the decisions of the countries that have already ratified the constitution. It is necessary that France becomes European in its identity again, that it concedes that it is no longer the centre of the universe, otherwise it will be forgotten".

So, just the man we can do business with: more of the same, and France can keep on voting on the constitution until it gets it 'right'.

Q - How do you explain the support for someone so little known to the general public?

"I do not have a very high profile....but everyone could see that I listen before making decisions".

And very much his own man and not a stop the 'New Europe' candidate no doubt.


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posted by Croydonian

Sale bargains on political websites

Wednesday, January 03, 2007
While researching Labour leadership election rules, I stumbled upon seasonal markdowns by the Labour Party (alas they did not include 'principles', 'integrity' or 'competence'), with two bargains to be had - an umbrella (perhaps they really think that global warming has kicked in?), and the amusingly titled election victory DVD called, get this, 'A Chance to Serve'. Presumably they mean the electorate, rather than the People's Party itself.

The Tory site is amusing in a left field manner in that it takes you off to the now Dale-less Politicos, and with sufficient jabbing at the F5 button it leads with books on De Valera and Bill Clinton. I'm not making this up, and have a screen capture to prove it.

The Yellow Peril do not seem to have wised up to e-commerce, but I guess that is no surprise. The SNP is big on umbrellas, although it is not marking them down, but the more copies of 'Talking Independence' you fork out for, the cheaper they get. Plaidcymru.org does not work, and cyber squatters hold Plaidcymru.com. Very impressive boyos.

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posted by Croydonian

Monday, August 21, 2006


Someone e-mailed me this, so here, for your delectation is a video short making light mockery of David Cameron. Quite slick, but it does seem a little overdone for its core message of DC having aristocratic connections.

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posted by Croydonian

BBC Tebbit bashing

Friday, July 21, 2006
Just seen this on the BBC site: "What has been dubbed his "hug a hoodie" speech did receive the surprise backing from a bastion of the party's right wing Lord Tebbit, however".

Why was it necessary to insert 'surprise', I wonder? I suppose in the BBC's universe anyone they dub 'right wing' is automatically in favour of the hanging and flogging of offenders and never shows any interest in prevention or rehabilitation.

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posted by Croydonian

Sunday, July 02, 2006
'Too Nice to be a Tory'

I've just finished Jo-Anne Nadler's . 'Too Nice to be a Tory - it's my Party and I'll cry if I want to', and quite entertaining it was too. Being of the same vintage, and a Londoner/ outer 'burbs type to boot, there was quite a lot of resonance in some of her anecdotes about being a social leper for being blue, which I've certainly suffered over the years.

I imagine it is my own fault for moving in the wrong circles, but of my current set I can count one card carrying Lib Dem, a couple of French folk with /theoretically/ far left tendencies (although it is amazing how middle age and having mortgages dampens any interest in going to the barricades), an admirer of Ted Kennedy (well, she does hail from his ancestral fiefdom), and a couple of unreconstructed old Labour class warriors. Of those nearest right wing 'civilian' friends, one seems a little confused, as he admires Michael Moore, and is prone to making rather brutish comments about ethnic minorities, despite being Jewish. Hey and indeed ho....

Her tales of youthful male ideologues far more occupied with Renamo and Unita than the minutiae of domestic politics skewered me to good effect too. Yup, I had a 'Victory to the Contras' poster up on the wall for a while.


Overall, not a bad light read, if a tad disjointed and lacking in flow. Not as funny as O'Farrell's 'Things Can Only Get Better', but then the absurdities of the 80's Left were always going to have more comic potential.

And with that I really ought to get back to 'Religion & The Decline of Magic'. Still, I'm half way there.

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posted by Croydonian

Friday, June 16, 2006

Hurrah for Hague

The now, thankfully no longer under appreciated William Hague has come up with a corker:

”The Conservatives will "do whatever is necessary" to realise their goal of a transatlantic free trade zone, says shadow foreign secretary William Hague.

He says he is not ruling out rewriting the Treaty of Rome - the deal creating the EU's forerunners. The UK should be championing efforts to break down trade barriers between the US and Europe, he argued”.

Perhaps the single most encouraging thing I've heard from the Tories in a while, so yes please. And can we go about pulling in the rest of the world sooner rather than later, please?

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posted by Croydonian

Thursday, June 08, 2006
The B3ta 'Vote Conservative' photoshop challenge

Some winners there already, but many will not be safe for work.

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posted by Croydonian

Friday, May 05, 2006
The Red Terror ends in Croydon

Hurrah, some good news for once. And the first time in living memory I've had a non-socialist council.

Fortunately the BNP failed to get seats in either Fieldway or New Addington, where there had been some rumbles to the effect of that being possible. The tireless John Cartwright of the Loonies again failed to get elected. Given that much of what he says is eminently sensible, quite why he persists in the MRLP approach is a bit of a mystery.

Peering more closely at the results, the old having a name early in the alphabet seems to have paid off for some. Other oddities include the Tory Asian candidate in Fairfield outpolling the 'anglo' Tories, but the reverse happening in South Norwood. Would this be due to Asian folk being more willing to vote for Asian candidates and likewise with anglos? Curious.

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posted by Croydonian