Oops II...

Hehehe...I'm a bit late to this poster fun and there are some really funny versions...all of which do as my own poster says (click to enlarge): no matter what they say each and every one reminds us just how appalling, corrupt and disgraceful New Labour have been. Bring it on!...

H/T Iain Dale and a Stratford Conservative: "a recent member of the UK Conservative party". Poster courtesy of Andy Barefoot.

Once original...

The one hundred and eighty six years of chocolate history at Cadbury [off on a tangent: Gildy, Cadbury's was founded by those prohibited at the time from attending university...and Kraft Food Company was once the proud sponsor of The Great Gildersleeve!] today takes another turn as they recommended a £12bn takeover from the US giant and rival Kraft Foods. The public information related to the offer and approaches since Sept 2009 for acquiring the business is avialable on a microsite (disclaimer). Less then 2 years ago (May 2008) they separated the confectionery from the 'America Beverage' business (Schweppes) and Cadbury plc claimed a vision to be "the world's BIGGEST and BEST confectionery company". Oh well...it's not the end of the world: I have about 10 Kraft brands at home as it is I just hope they don't play with any of the recipes! Does this make Kraft the biggest - in the confectionery sector - above Mars? I think it does, just.

Obviously optimistic...

I was sent this yesterday by one of my US cousins in Minnesota: I'm not sure whether it's a wind-up but it certainly seems genuine! "This is an actual billboard in Minnesota on Interstate 35" (heading south just north of the Wyoming exit on the east side).

Maybe GWB is missed...all eyes on the looming landslide for Brown (don't panic: this Brown is in Massachusetts!)

Update 8am. Wednesday: well, he did it! And a great upset it is too for the Democrats in their safest seat bar one or two (e.g. Rhode Island is safer)

"Scott Brown, a truck-driving National Guardsman who was virtually unknown even in Massachusetts a few weeks ago, beat Martha Coakley [by 52% to 47%] the state attorney general who had expected to inherit the seat"

....Happy inauguration ceremony Obama! NOT.

Outside overspending...

Another sensible idea: David Cameron has outlined how some of the money intended for international aid would be used by a future Conservatives administration for a new military stabilisation force [Times]. One presumes it would be loosely based on the US approach: USAID provides "Foreign Aid in the National Interest".

Naturally some charities aren't keen: CivilSociety reports that Kirsty Hughes of Oxfam has said that the plans undermine Cameron's 'headline' commitment, a commitment to spending 0.7 per cent of gross national income on aid that all the UK main parties have 'signed up to'...interestingly Crash Gordon wants to make that commitment a law (what is it with this tosser...laws for everything: law to reduce deficit, law to reduce CO2 emissions...) However, as Caroline Boin of International Policy Network [IPN] says "Gordon Brown’s publicity stunt won’t help the poor".

"Measuring the success of foreign aid by how much we spend is ridiculous. Spending more on poorly managed programmes, or even the salaries of DfID’s civil servants, would satisfy Brown’s law—but achieve nothing for international development."

Another interesting report from IPN: "A Closer Union. The Political Abuse of Foreign Aid" [Link: PDF ] The political abuse being the channelling of Foreign Aid to the TUC; I'm sure it's all correctly accounted for...perhaps it's this portion that most interests Brown and his wish for a law.

Observing opposition of opposition...

I've been away again and unable to post but a couple of things last weekend I wanted to post: a few examples of the BBC appearing to become more blatant in their political bias. The "least" obvious first: the image left was the first thing that caught my eye, it appeared on several online pages (maybe it still does). Now, they are just images aren't they? One of each party leader...but do I need to point out the subliminal message? Then last weekend I nearly spat out my coffee when I read such world-moving news that Dr. Who backs Gordon Brown. Great, that's his opinion but reading the article you find no news, no entertainment..."I think David Cameron is a terrifying prospect," and other snippets of pure political propaganda; does anyone think for a nanosecond a Conservative supporting actor would be allowed to get his opinions published in such a manner? I noted it and also saw it picked up by Labourlist and from Biased BBC, many more examples on that BBBC blog.

Also last weekend there was widespread coverage in print, online and TV of the soon-to-be-released memoirs of Peter Watt, ex-general secretary of the Labour party: "Inside Out: My Story of Betrayal and Cowardice at the Heart of New Labour." Coverage on the BBC website?...it's HERE but it may take you a while to find it.

Then we have "Is David Cameron too much of a toff to be Prime Minister?", programme and complaint picked up by Iain Dale.

Then we have the staged response on Question Time last Thursday - I know I shouldn't watch but it's like a scab: you keep picking at it, or a hole where a tooth was, the tongue keeps digging into the gap despite the pain - anyway, it had the usual effect of getting me shouting at the hotel room TV; someone who was clearly not born in 1990 saying that whatever Brown is like Cameron would be worse to a very loud cheer from several "audience" at the back, there was no such cheer for any other statement of answer, clearly contrived...as was the poor microphone placement for at least two non-leftie replies from the audience (they clearly forged their Labour membership to be able to get into the audience). OK, so I should be grateful that Hain was slaughtered (and rightly so...but he was allowed to go on and on!) but only because he was defending Blair and the decision to invade Iraq.

And finally from yesterday: the BBC invited Damian McBride ("the disgraced spin-doctor who resigned from Downing Street") to address staff in a private briefing alongside Charles Clarke (Labour MP) and Nick Robinson "to discuss whether Labour could beat the Conservatives in the general election". The article in The Times also states that "Mr McBride, who is still in regular contact with Downing Street officials...". So, clearly he hasn't been as ostracized as we were led to believe; why am I not surprised by this or the fact that the BBC are having such a briefing.

Obscurantism over...

They have seen the light! The blatant lying and disingenuousness has come to an end (we hope): "Darling and Mandelson win election policy battle with weakened PM". Alistair Darling has warned that Britain faces its toughest spending cuts for 20 years if Labour continues in office. [Times Online] Despite what I said yesterday - 'was the coup to dethrone Brown a storm in a teacup on a good day to bury bad news' - perhaps this was the reason for the oh-so-botched leadership challenge, a way to force Brown's hand.

Outstanding opposition onslaught...

'Today finally saw a day's debate in the Commons on the Pre-Budget Report.'

"There is a fact here that we must all face: whoever is in government after the next general election will have to cut public spending... The fact is that this Government are being driven not by the needs of the economy and the medium and long-term best interests of the British people, but by the needs of the Labour party and the insistence of the Prime Minister and the Schools Secretary that the scale of the fiscal problem, the challenge of dealing with it and the true price of not dealing with it are to be concealed at all costs from the British public until after polling day. No price is too high to pay, provided the bill does not arrive until 7 May. No burden is too heavy to bear if it is the Prime Minister’s successor who will bear it.

"That is the most systematically reckless, cynical and dishonest strategy for dealing with a fiscal crisis that anyone in the House will be able to recall."

From Conservative Home quoting Shadow Chief Secretary Philip Hammond's speech today.

And was the "coup" to dethrone Brown a storm in a teacup on a good day to bury bad news? Who knows; seems a risky thing to do judging by the public's verdict of split political parties but I wouldn't put it past the corrupt, lying, pathetic toads.

And THIS needs shouting from the roof tops! "Gordon Brown looks like a Presbyterian but spends like a desperate gambler. He must be stopped before it’s too late"

So does an excellent blogpost from Burning our Money (need shouting from the rooftops):

For the last year, HMG has funded its humongous borrowing requirement by having its wholly owned subsidiary, the Bank of England, buy up a corresponding quantity of gilts in the open market. The subsidiary has funded these purchases by the simple expedient of printing money. The process has ensured that HMG's borrowing has not undermined the market price of gilts. Which in turn means that HMG has been able to borrow at historically low interest rates.

Unfortunately, this terrific scam is now coming to an end...

And those UK government bonds (gilts) are about to lose their biggest buyer...[Link].

Interestingly the gilts and the prebudget debate articles are connected not only by Brownstuff but by two brothers: Balls.

Happy New Year!

I'm now back in NOT sunny Spain but was pleased to arrive only 2 hours late on el día de los Reyes after driving over 200 miles (update: in all I drove 320 miles) through blizzards (I kid you not) to get oldest spanlet back to UEA. Much of Europe is suffering a cold snap; the image of Britain as seen from above (Photo: NASA/GSFC, MODIS Rapid Response via BBC) is quite spectacular - click on image for better definition image and associated news. There are very few places without snow, some tiny areas on the south coast by the looks of it...near Poole? and the freezing conditions are set to remain at least another week. Some are fairly happy about that...see HERE (hattip Dizzy Thinks for that image!)