Lord Ashcroft Predicts Labour General Election Win.

[Gromit]

// A comprehensive survey of 26,000 voters by the former Tory vice chairman found a 6.5 per cent swing away from the Tories in key battleground seats.

Labour is currently on course to win next year’s general election because the UK Independence Party is hitting the Tory vote in key marginal constituencies, a poll has found.

A comprehensive survey by Lord Ashcroft, the former vice chairman of the Conservative Party, found a 6.5 per cent swing away from the Tories in 26 constituencies.

If the result is repeated nationally at next year’s general election, it would mean Labour toppling 83 Conservative MPs, Lord Ashcroft said.

It would leave Labour with a healthy majority in Parliament, potentially as large as 70 or 80 MPs.

David Cameron also saw his party’s share of the vote eroded thanks to Nigel Farage’s Eurosceptic party. //

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/conservative/10854513/Lord-Ashcroft-poll-Labour-on-course-to-win-general-election.html

Sounds like the country is fed up with Dave. Anyone with a good word for the Coalition?

[Sqad]

\\\\Anyone with a good word for the Coalition? \\\
Had breakfast on Friday morning with a mate, an exPat, who had been to the UK to attend his son's wedding in Derbyshire.
He is say, middle class, not wealthy, but "nicely off" and hand't been to the UK for 5 years.
He was astounded how AFFLUENT the UK appeared to be since his last visit, one had to queue for restaurants, many expensive £70 a head he mentioned, stores were packed with shoppers (except M&S) and building construction was being erected more profusely than he had noted in his previous visit.
The area was Derbyshire, Yorkshire and Manchester.

Yes! yes! purely anecdotal, and not a statistic or survey in sight............BUT.............just a comment from "on the ground."

[Gromit]

5 years ago was the height of the financial crisis. Building had stopped. People were worried about heir job security. Confidence was low.

That has changed but it could be argued that is despite the Government rather than because of it.

[naomi24]

God(?) help us!

[Sqad]

Gromit.....of course! ;-)

[Svejk]

had an epiphany, have you Naomi? ;-)

[naomi24]

//Building had stopped. People were worried about heir job security. Confidence was low. //

Conversely, building has begun, people are no longer worried about job security, and confidence is high.

Can't have that!! Time for change!!

[naomi24]

Svejk, See the question mark? :o)

[Sqad]

naomi...that was the point of my post...........are(is?) the electorate going to risk voting Labour and upset the status quo............if my mates experience is accurate.

[weecalf]

Taxi drivers should be running this country there's a fare chance they would do better .rink ill vote for them .taxi for weecalf

[mikey4444]

At this rate, we will be able to close down all those Food Banks then Sqad !

The Telegraph story should be treated like any other, with caution. But it was commissioned by an ex-Tory Chairman, and printed in the Telegraph...quite a combination I would have thought, and not to be ignored.

I have just heard from friends that went to the Hay Festival yesterday. They were full of praise that they were able to mix with so many "intelligent middle-class people, which makes such a change".....Their words, not mine. I guess that people see what they want to see, and ignore everything that doesn't quite meet with their views in life.

[royfromaus]

Anyone with a good word for the Coalition?



Omnishambles?

[Sqad]

mikey.......good morning!

\\\At this rate, we will be able to close down all those Food Banks then Sqad !\\

Do you really think that the average or floating voter cares a "toss" about foodbanks if it jeopardises their "affluence.?"

Naaah!

[Sqad]

mikey....

\\\\ I guess that people see what they want to see, and ignore everything that doesn't quite meet with their views in life.\\\

Good point.

[naomi24]

Sqad, I think your friend's experience is accurate.

[mikey4444]

Sqad...I was merely pointing out that your friend saw what he wanted to see, and it is only anecdotal, as you admit. I am not suggesting for one minute that Britain is awash with extreme poverty, nor is it a earthly paradise.

[Gromit]

Until the financial crisis there was a building boom for a decade under the last Government. I cannot pretend 2009-2010 the country was in good shape, it wasn't. But that was not typical of the previous 11 years. There was no building because the banks would not loan people money because they were nearly babkrupt.

The current boom is built on debt. The Government has borrowed more these last 4 years than Labour did in the previous 13. The intetest we pay on our debt now exceeds £1billion a week!

[mikey4444]

Thanks Sqad !

[naomi24]

Oh the irony!

[New Judge]

I've never had a good word for the coalition. I said in May 2010 that Mr Cameron should have had the courage to form a minority government, get defeated a couple of times in the Commons and then go back to the country. However he didn't. He handed a spare set of keys to No 10 to the likes of Mr Clegg and Great Uncle Bulgaria (Cable) which they could never have imagined getting in their wildest dreams. The rest is a very unfortunate episode in UK political history. We're stuck with the preposterous Fixed Term Parliament Act which, but for the LibDems, would never have even been considered. We're also stuck with unsatisfactory constituency boundaries again courtesy of the LibDems who refused to agree to the necessary changes. But there you go.

All three main parties treated the electorate with contempt on many issues that concern them and then they argue amongst themselves over who did the worst in the recent elections. They would do better to find out what the electorate wants and set about providing it for them.

Strange what sqad has said about affluence in the UK. I've been continually suggesting that the so-called "recession" had little effect on most people in the UK. When it was announced that the country would be regressing into the dark ages I had visions of being able to turn up at decent restaurants and have a choice where to sit, to shops being empty, to having the pick of decent holidays at short notice. Nothing was further from the truth and apart from the few people who lost their jobs most people had never had it so good. Now, having spent the last five years spending money like it was going out of fashion, they are bleating on that they will be wiped out if the mortgage rate goes up by a quarter of a percent. It's a hard life.

[New Judge]

I think you and I have done the food bank bit to death over the last couple of weeks. I'll just say this: in 1997 there were few (if any) food banks. The Trussell Trust for whom you work set up in 2004. No food banks were deemed necessary until then - even in the "darkest days" of the evil and vicious Thatcher regime was the distribution of free food found to me necessary. No "benefit sanctions" (the main reason it is said that food banks are needed) were planned for the next six years, but still the use of food banks expanded.

Food banks are used and will continue to be used because they are there.