On notice?

Colourful debates

As children many of us were told that 'you can't hide deceits and your actions will find you out' - it's not always the case but the internet and free flow of information does change things.


Tory discomfit is now on much show - from the MP Iain Duncan Smith being required to be 'impartial' while he sits in for the vacationing Jeremy Vine on his popular radio programme to Tory cabinet ministers who are required to support their Prime minister while she performs a U turn on public spending for Northern Ireland to 'buy' the votes of the DUP.


While some MPs on the Tory benches speak out with honesty and conviction (I'm thinking here  of Ken Clarke and the straight talking Anna Soubry MP)  so many turn blind eye to those who lead the party.


What will happen? - The economy and stability of UK Plc are effectively under the control of a small caucus who it seems to many value their party far beyond the health of the country's electorate at large.

And now

Okay let's take it to the next level

Pressing on to £280

Playing it for laughs?

A possible use for the Red Hot Poker?

After what even some Tory MPs are calling the worst election manifesto I'm beginning to wonder if Theresa May our Prime minister has a very dry sense of humour with a surrealist streak   running through it.


Yesterday there was the announcement that Michael 'Back-Stabber' Gove was coming back into the cabinet as Secretary of State for the Environment - Theresa's line that   she was working with Talent from across the Tory Party can not have been anything but a sly joke (can it?)    - here's what happened 11 months ago admittedly the deeply religious Leadsom   hasn't been sacked merely, demoted    but it does seem rather quirky.


And today we've had the Queen's speech delayed as it's dependent on making a yet to be agreed deal with the DUP - oh and then there's Ascot too this is surely beyond satire.


Meanwhile  Boris is pledging his support and loyalty to the beleaguered PM

 No doubt there are some Tories who would say that the manoeuvres are being done in the 'National Interest' but would they be able to keep a straight face as they said it?


Fox hunters may need to be patient - the programme of bills for the new session might not include the free vote the PM wanted to hold and  new Grammar Schools could be delayed too.

Calling £248

And £248 answers I'm here

Dust not settling?

A flavour of the mood in No 10 Downing St.

I'm hardly the PM's biggest fan but it's not a pretty sight to see Theresa May under such intense pressure with so few friends .


Deckchairs on the deck of the Titanic spring to mind in the reshuffle headlines the newspapers will run- The limits of what can be done are to put it mildly limited - be nice to see the plan she had compared with what she's now able to do.

 There's talk about a deputy PM being appointed and perhaps what is happening is the ground is being prepared for a smooth transition to the next Tory PM

A place to view changes from

High-water mark

I keep my consistency

What £246 50 looks like

The nation has spoken

What is so great about the political process here in the UK  is that there is an element  in the voting which sends a raspberry to those who seek to direct things - and so it was yesterday.

Shame the Greens didn't do better 

How can you characterise what's happened?  For sure Mrs May has made a poor decision and revealed that you do need friends and colleagues - in truth Jeremy Corbyn has not won but he has done a lot better than most of us expected.


Tim Farron (LibDems) miscalculated and Nicola Sturgeon (SNP)has been revealed as being fallible.

[Art least we've lost the 70's comedian clone and UKIP leader Paul Nuttall]


Where we do go from year - well the Tories will be more (I predict) open to spending, let's face it Labour scored some of their success by making the promise to spend more of rich folks money.



Brexit negotiations which were already stretching for the ability challenged trio of Boris, Davies and Fox now look likely to be a series of defeats punctuated by tactical withdrawals - next election probably not too far off either.

Business as usual

Still building £243

 

  

Pumpkins, Peas and Polling

Busy with planting out this afternoon - Pumpkins and Peas will hopefully be on the menu eventually   - I'm not sure how I'll squeeze remaining seedlings in but where there's a will..

A row of Peas protected by plastic

5 pumpkins in total

Polling

Today we've had the chance to vote as Winston Churchill (a big and important Prime-Mminister) is reported to have said.. 

democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried.

I've voted and hope you  have too.

A chance to express a preference 

More money

£241 50

Decision time beckons

It's a tough world

Decision time for UK voters will be tomorrow and the last few weeks have been tough for the two main party leaders - well done to them both.


What I'd say is that  we've had is a campaign that's been about everything but Brexit - Theresa May has done worse than many expected and Jeremy Corbyn better but there can be little doubt that Labour will have 'lost' the question is the scale and how it looks nationally.



[Labour are doomed to opposition having forfeited Scotland to the SNP]

The LibDems and UKIP both chose to fight their campaign around Brexit and that particular ship has set sail and is now a dot on the horizon.

No time for weeds

As well as Scotland Labour are unable to capture the centre ground that could take them back to power - further tinkering will be required of the current leadership process  for them to have a good chance of getting an electable leader.


The only party (for me) that has come out of the battle with their integrity in place is The Greens and they will be luck to keep their single  seat - so let's see if any of the thouyghts hold up in 24 hourrs let alone a week (a long time in Politics).


Whatever happens Corbyn will need to go back to his allotment and a younger centrist  person will emerge as Labour Leader, they'll need to engage with other parties and recognise 21st Century Britain (and NI)  - I'd like see it being Sadiq Khan and not just to irritate Donald Trump.


For the Tories if May does not produce a convincing win, with a healthy majority  - she'll need to recognise that Boris remains ambitious in the extreme.

Wow - I like it 

At  the lovely sum of £240

Leading from the front ..

Programme 1

Keeping an eye on activities 

Oddly I've seen on TV this evening programmes about leadership - If I need to see how businesses work and what teams are about there are few better than  Restaurant Stakeout with the no nonsense Willy Degel in the driving seat -I can't help but get the impression that  a week with him would be better than any MBA.

Do as you say, listen but lead and respect your customers (who pay your wages).

Programme 2

Busy Bees -creating a buzz?

The BBC election debate was on earlier - I've underestimated Corbyn and his team he made the right decision to appear - the central issue , the undoubted elephant in the room in this debating session  was a Conservative leader who called the election but was not wanting to debate the issues in front of an audience.

Theresa May instead chose to throw an uncomfortable looking Amber Rudd (the current Home Secretary who has just lost her 93 year old father) into the battle.

How does Sir Linton Crosby think this will play?

Is May so uncomfortable under  questioning by the electorate that she can't be trusted?

Is it a better  move to keep her in 'controlled' scenarios?

For me the two top performers were the SNP's Angus Robertson who was solid and unruffled and the clearly impassioned Greens's co leader Caroline Lucas - always human, reasonable  and likeable (a rare mixture for a politician)

Expect a Jeremy bounce (time will tell if it is that of a dead cat though) - and there was an impression at least of leadership from him here.

And now

I have £227 .90

Uncomfortable and unanticipated

The launched Labour Party manifesto is meeting far more positive coverage than was anticipated when leaked 'headlines' from the document first surfaced last week.

A bus but not a battle one

Politicians have long known that it's your colleagues you need to worry about - note how criticism from long term cabinet colleague George Osborne needs a daily paper to contain his critique of Mrs May.

Undoubtedly some of this is because of changes that have been incorporated since the 'draft' but there is also a feeling amongst some that the margin between the two main parties is slimming.

Manifesto's of course assume that the only things which will change are those they wish to change so the idea that a change in Tax burden will not change behaviour is positively as naive as the claims made around the immediate Brexit dividends (on both sides of the argument) - rest assured capital flight is not something that would help investment and unanticipated consequences will abound for all the manifesto promises from the major parties.

Watch out for moles of all types

[Also I'm getting increasingly irritated by the language used around taxing the better off - 'will be asked to pay' - don't recall that option being available as a PAYE  'contributor'.]



The internal elements within the Labour Party are in an uncomfortable position, they do not wish to appear disloyal or heaven forbid lose 'moderate' MPs who will look to regain control from Momentum and fellow travellers of the so called Hard Left.

If you think this is exaggerating splits take a look at Tom Watson at yesterday's launch - there's a question about how big a Labour defeat needs to be before the 'leadership' recognises that it has failed - already  Union boss Len  Mcluskey (he who is challenged by keeping upright and by not meddling) is managing down expectations - seems that anything over 200 seats for the party under its present control could be considered a triumph by some.

[Not sure if anyone is saying that Len was pushed by the same forces who made sure that BBC cameraman was run over!]

The Pound is sinking

Was the story but  now US dollar is having problems ..

An increasing asset - £202 50

Ealing North Constituency

Not shy Labour

Oh yes there's an election campaign on - Tim Farron leader of the Liberal Democrats s was on TV last night and came over very well  (even though he scarily had a picture of Mrs T on his wall at one stage).

 Not too sure why he's so strongly against pacts and deals - whatever happens his party is going to win next month.

Where I live we've got a popular and hard working Labour MP - Stephen Pound, he was a friend of Tony Blair and is generally considered  a moderate (whatever that means as many would Labour's Shadow chancellor is  making, so far  'moderate demands' of the rich but is considered 'Hard Left').

The constituency  (Ealing North) perhaps surprisingly has since 1997 been pretty solid Labour .

In the area I have noticed quite a number of Labour posters and boards up supporting Pound but nothing so far for the other parties - this of course could be shy Tories.

Only a few weeks more.

Waiting patiently 

The Fund

Two nice new £1 coins mean ..

I've got £182

Truth and perception?

Well I've still got Carvoeiroboxes I've not shared and Politics needs some light and shade (and colour too)....

On a day that Diane Abbott 'misspoke' (who started with that phrase?) it was good to see that the Tories too were challenged (sadly not on all the bulletins though) .

Sadness Blue and Conservative?

Yellow is the LibDems colour

I tend to find James O'Brien a  more combative front-person on BBC 2's Newsnight  but it was  nice to see Evan Davies last night landing some good points about recent Tory Government  history regarding following an  Ed Miliband (Labour) trajectory rather than there own stated aims - Chris Philp MP of course stuck with avoiding direct answers to questions posed.

What also  is interesting is the battle that's reported to be ongoing within the Tory high command over the manifesto - as it looks at the time of writing (sadly) very  likely a large Conservative  majority (in England) will define the UK for several years and apart from the all consuming Brexit struggles over the next few years the type of Britain we live in could be defined by what finds itself into what's a 'virtual' contact between the government and the electorate.

A Green vote perhaps?

For me if Labour lose a significant number of seats in England at this election  then without reversing the entry-ism of Momentum (how ironic is that as a name?) - this I think would require a further change to the  membership rules

A Leader is important 

If there's not a move to a 21st century party of aspiration the 2017 election will really will have sounded its death knell - expect lots of analysis from Council and Mayoral  elections this week.


If the LibDems had a more convincing leader than the enthusiastic but untried Mr Farron  they could capitalise on the vacuum at the centre of Politics in England (note England not UK - can't help feeling that boat has sailed - thanks Mr Cameron).

The Fund

Leaps and strides £165