pslewis

Good try TORIES ..... use the old I'm a war victim bollox!! ha ha ha ha!!

I blubbered myself .................. laughing at the pathetic state of them!! ha ha ha

Book your seat Tony - the Tories aren't good enough to wipe your backside!!

May Scoobynet, those who realise (and those who don't yet) that you are the greatest leader this world has ever seen, wish you all the very best for the next 6 years!

Pete

ajm

He'll be gone in two years, win or no win.

p.s. still voting conservative!

pslewis

And have your vote count for NOTHING!!????

Have you ALWAYS backed losers??

Make your vote actually MEAN something, vote for the WINNER, vote for Tony!

Pete

unclebuck

"If Tony Blair is still prime minister, I can't see any way in which Labour can win the General Election"

"According to our own figures, we already will win enough of our target seats for Labour to lose power."

"That's why I say I can't see how they can win because the position they have got themselves into in terms of disillusionment - he in particular - is irrecoverable."

There we are. The *truth*. To which of course PSL and TB are *both* strangers.

Brit_in_Japan

Many are better off in terms of state pensions they receive. Others are worse off depending on whether their incomes from private pensions mean they still pay council tax etc. Not the simple picture you paint.
Much more money is being spent. They have recruited many more nurses. Doctors take a long time to train, you need more than a 6 week City & Guilds course to be a surgeon. The Conservatives cut training places for medics, it takes time to get more student medics through the system.
...and the Conservative party's position at the time was...?
the total tax burden in the UK ebbs and flows. The current total tax burden is less less than all bar one of the Thatcher years believe it or not http://www.adamsmith.org/tax/short-history.php. There should be a simplification of the tax system, one which is most efficient at collecting taxes. PAYE is very efficient, but no political party has the ***** to increase the headline tax rate because of fear of getting slaughtered in the tabloids. We all focus on income tax and not total tax so it's partly our fault.
prices have risen because of supply and demand, and no government can find new oilfields at will or stop China from importing 40% more fuel this year. From importing NO oil ten years ago they now import more oil than every other country in the world except the US. Are there any places in the world where fuel has not gone up?
If your point is that speed cameras are not the most efficient way of reducing deaths on the roads then I might agree. It also creates resentment of the police which is not fair because they are there to enforce the law, it's governments which make the law.
but how do you stop it? Violent crime increased all the way through the years when the Conservatives were in power. They couldn't check the rise then and I don't think they could now?

So could they Tories do better than Labour? I can't see it myself.

I don't think it's the end of the line for the tories, but they could be in for a long slow decline if they continue as they are. Michael Howard has no chance of being PM, too much of a lawyer. Three little words.... Jeremy Paxman interview !

pslewis

Brit in Japan - hooray, hooray for a sensible post and a clear view!!

I take my hat off to you, you have single-handedly flattened the daft Tory supporters on SN!

Pete

Jerome

Something people conveniently forget when they mention the Tories supported the war at the start, was that the Tories were relying on the what Labour were telling the general public about WMD's. They didn't have access to the bogus "intelligience" reports that Blair et al did. They also didn't have a direct line to the poodlemeister - Bush - who was no doubt influencing Blair with some tasty morsels.

dsmith

Monkey See, Monkey Do.....

Jza

Good old Pete Lewis... never did let any FACTS get in the way of your decision did you eh ???

LOL

pslewis

There is only ONE fact that concerns me ...... and

Thats the FACT that Labour WILL form the next government

Only the most half-witted tory supporter would take issue with that FACT!

Pete

Chrisgr31

No!!! At least he said we should go in and change the regime. Unlike Tony Blair who said we had to go in due to weapons of mass destruction, and now we can't find any says at least we have changed the regime.

Tony Blair lied, he should have said we are going in to chane the regime, but thought he wouldn;t get the support so said something else.

pslewis

Yes, and?????????????????????

Pete

Chrisgr31

And how does a drop in house prices help the economy? Especially for all those that end up in negative equity.

pslewis

It helps me buy reposessions!!

If they couldn't have afforded it they shouldn't have bought - it just drove the prices up

I lose no sleep at all benefiting from the stupid Thats what god put them on the earth for!

So, many people (smart, clever people) will enhance their property portfolios ...... a great benefit I would say???

Pete

tiggers

Sorry, but only weeks ago Howard said whilst criticising Blair's stance on the war that going into Iraq solely for the purpose of regime change was unacceptable. Couple that to his 1998 utterings and he's either stupidly forgetful or a hypocrite - you take your pick I don't mind which it is to be honest.

tiggers.

Jap2Scrap

pslewis - you talk like a fascist and vote like a commie. New Labour is a joke. Unfortunately the alternatives are not better enough to make the voting population rise up en masse. Tony is relying on no votes being as good as votes for labour which is sadly the case. Everyone talks a good democracy but this country is too apathetic to do **** all about it.

Wnakers the lot of them. Bunch of lying pikeys in charge and a bunch of soft gits waiting in the wings.

I reckon it's time for a revolution myself... when I can be bothered.

Sith

Why do people respond to PSLewis troll posts??? He's a sad old git that has nothing else to do in the evenings than bait and wind up people on this site, which he seems to do with a great degree of success.

unclebuck

I reserve my sympathies not for those who respond to psl's mad ramblings, but to the others that shamelessly hang on to his coat tails in the hope that some of his 'pro Tony' glory may be reflected on them too.

Brit_in_Japan

Just trying to inject a bit of balance. Speaking of which I won't be voting for Labour either.

TelBoy

Labour certainly doing a great job.

Manufacturing data just released; here's one observer's appraisal...

August's UK manufacturing output figures are dreadful. Against expectations of a
monthly 0.3% rise, output FELL by 0.8%, suggesting that not only is the
industrial recovery faltering but that it is in dangering of petering out
altogether. This is the third monthly fall in a row and leaves the level of
output back where is was in January. The weakness was widespread with output
falling in 5 of the 7 sub-sectors, with the largest being a 3.8% m/m fall in
transport. With an increase in energy supply offsetting a rise in output of the
mining sectors, overall industrial production also fell by 0.8%. Accordingly,
even if production rose by a monthly 0.5% in September, it would fall by 1% in Q3
(compared to Q2's 1.2% rise), which is enough to take 0.5% off GDP growth other
things being equal.

Super. Or are we trotting out the usual excuse that the UK's manufacturing sector no longer matters? Thought so.

Leslie

Just like the other NL supporter, PSL is showing his real colours. Greed is king and nothing is better for you than than making more cash out of other's misfortunes.

Surprised you are not standing in the election PSL, ideal NL creep sucking up to your hero-thats the one with feet of clay!

Les

the moose

Listening to R4 in the bath this morning, I heard an interview with Mori. The spokesman - absolutely not a New Labour stooge - said that the Tories were going for the law and order vote, as usual, because although by any objective measure overall crime has fallen in the last five years, the feeling that it was getting worse was believed to be accurate by most voters.

So even though it's not true (and both parties - I'll ignore the others, they don't count - clearly know this), they're banging on about law and order like there's no tomorrow.

Just one thing. The Tories want to reduce tax; fair enough. They want to increase spending on education and policing. The only way they can pay for this, apparently, is by "reducing government waste". OK, but you need civil servants to run this increased education/police/health service ...... so any reduction will be minimal, at best.

As I said on a different thread, it's easy to make promises when you know you'll never have to make good on them. I don't deny that Blair has disappointed many, myself included, but if the Tories can't do better than they are doing at the moment, they've got no chance at all. If there was an election announced today and held in a few weeks time, per normal timetables, they'd gain no seats in the Commons. If anything, they may lose a few more to the LibDems and UKIP, who would stand a chance of winning a couple.

Labout isn't working? Maybe not brilliantly, but a lot better than the Tories. Despite my huge reservations over Iraq and the most right-wing Home Secretary in living memory, I know where my vote will go .... and it's not to the Man Who Casts No Shadow.

TelBoy

The Tories are going to become increasingly anti-Europe i reckon, expecially in light of UKIP's recent financial undermining. There are a lot of votes to be won with that. On yesterday's performance, Howard has the calibre to do the job, but something's still missing, i agree. At the moment at any rate.

the moose

The reason the Tories will go more to the Right, and certainly more anti-Europe, is not to win more votes. They have a habit of doing this as a defensive measure, more to retain their core voters than to garner any more. This is in one sense a good short-term strategy - without retaining these voters, they'll end up like Labour in the 1970s/80s, with no coherent strategy, and leaking votes from every wing. Better to keep the ones you have than lose them to UKIP, so the thinking goes.

However, as a long-term strategy, it's not a good one; by making a shift to the Right, they're effectively ceding the centre ground to Labour, and by definition cutting themselves off from a huge section of the voting population.
When they make the move, they'll be admitting defeat months before the election is called.

Labour found out the hard way that playing to your established constituency will not get you back into power - mass appeal is needed, coupled with a charismatic leader. The Tories, unfortunately, have neither.

Jerome

I find Blair about as charismatic as drinking puke through a sweaty sock.

Geezer

I hope you are not spekaing from experience?

Geezer

Jerome

LOL, no! Just the least charismatic thing I could imagine.

Leslie

Even worse without the sock, no filter effect. And more realistic too!

Les

pslewis

Labour will win FACT!

Tories lie through their teeth FACT

You canot have low taxes AND spending FACT!

Pete

Dracoro

Pete, I think you need a dictionary. Look up the word 'fact'.