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So Britain has reported Ireland to the EU competition authorities for guaranteeing
deposits? Can this be the same British
Government that suspended banking
competition rules in the back of that
plane back from Israel where Victor
Blank of LloydsTSB lobbied Mr Brown?

He's a man
With a plan
Got a counterfeit dollar in his hand
He's Misstra Know-It-All
Any place
He will play
His only concern is how much you'll pay
He's Misstra Know-It-All

lyrics from Stevie Wonder

Does Cameron's plan still involve 'free markets' as his preferred method of organising society?

What ideas do politicians really have left? Isn't that why he concentrated people on his 'character' as if that were more meaningful than 'ideas'?

If so I'd like to elect Jonathan Meades as PM. I'm sure he has more 'character' than our boy from Eton.

In one sense, as someone who doesn't support the tories and doesn't want them to get in, the fact that their conference has been pretty much totally overshadowed by this week's economic problems is a good thing. However it also means that their policies, what they have of them, have still not been put under the scrutiny that they need to be. And for that matter, neither have the characters at the top of their party.

David Cameron is the man who went to work in the treasury in the same year that the tory government, that he still so staunchly defends, introduced the building society bill to allow de-mutualisation, since when, all building societies who took up the policy have been taken over by other banks, many by necessity.

George Osborne might like to blame Gordon Brown for this mess, but it shouldn't stop people looking further back to the bonfire of regulations that happened under Cameron's favourite tory govt.

Or perhaps he will say that this is part of his 'private past' which shouldn't matter to informing the public of the man who wants to be our PM.

Brilliant interview by Jeremy with the Ryan Crocker - however the best of the night was my favourite trio of Dan Finklestein/Olly Grender/Peter Hyman. Hillarious! Certainly worthy of a clip on here.

Having watched tonight's programme I am forced to conclude the following:-

If a politician tells you that you are on fire,
Find in a mirror.

If a banker tells you that you are on fire,
Ask them to turn the gas down..

Mr Cameroon has certainly not convinced me that his, is the party of Change. Using Thatcher as a positive, then purporting to be in love with the NHS is plainly bonkers. He also used the phrase "there is no such thing as society". Has he forgotten that is a Thatcher quote?
When I was a child I loved Superman comics. Superman had a twin from a planet called Bizzaro world where everything was the opposite of Earth. Has Mr Cameroon been there for his holidays?

Peace and good will to all.
Sean. Definitely not thinking of giving up Socialism.

Mistress76uk (#5) Yes.

$700 billion for Iraq war and a $700 claim on taxpayer's to bail out the Wall Street weapons of mass deception.

Was 'it' worth it indeed?

So what's the message? "We're about to leave office, so come on you guys on Wall Street, find a way to scare 96% of the general public into giving $700 billion of their money to support the 4% who were behind the 'liberation'/occupation of Iraq?".

Hegemony and NYC.

It was nice to hear a politician - Camaron no less - who in his speech told his audience that he wants to get-rid the cancer that is Political correctness. If he has a treatment for this illness that has infected us all, i think he may well have struck a popular chord with the electorate. I do believe that Dave only has to say, when interviewed or giving a speech, " i will abolish Political Correctness"...the Tories will win the next election by a landslide, its in the bag. He needs to make it his daily mantra and tell Joe public that this is at the top of his list, a list of priorities when elected to govern. Dave can be vague on the economy ( in a yrs time), vague on the NHS, vague on education but if he's clear on political correctness and its abolishment under a Tory Govt...and maybe tough on crime...am telling yer....landslide.

P:S Who needs an expensive election strategist when am available.

Key: its all about keeping it simple and winning over Joe/Jolene..er, non gender specific persons....er, people.

I've done a nice drawing of Paxman. Check it out.

It’s déja-vue all over again! Yesterday we went back to the 1980s.

I suppose that David Cameron had, like the rest of us, decided that Gordon Brown had already destroyed Labour as a viable electoral opponent. Even so, I was surprised when he came out of the closet before the election. We have long worried who was really there behind the PR mask. Now we know. All that stuff about compassionate Conservatism – from hugging hoodies to feeling our pain – really was a superbly well managed PR stunt.

Baring his soul, he revealed that – behind the mask - he really believes that Thatcherism is alive and kicking; and that he is her bloody-toothed natural heir. Despite his promise that the speech would focus on bi-partisanship, it was as full of right-wing fury as any from the 1980s. Goodbye Mr Nice Guy, now we know what fate awaits us.

Gordon Brown has returned to the 1980s in a different way. He is giving a very good imitation of the bumbling Michael Foot; now renamed as Mr Bean. Expected to be a control freak he has instead chosen to duck decision-making by sub-contracting it to whoever will take responsibility; from the Bank of England to George Bush. Instead he travels the world looking to be photographed with its leaders; much like a real-life version of Woody Allen’s ‘Zelig’!

Prior to this seismic shift in positioning everyone had been fighting for the centre. The net effect of the recent changes has been that both main parties have moved in the direction of their more extreme members; Tories to the right and Labour to the left. As a result, something approaching a vacuum has appeared in the centre; an idea which would have seemed ludicrous just a few weeks ago.

This gap would seem natural territory for the Liberals, but they too have returned to earlier times. Fortunately for them they have gone back even further, to the 1960s – to revive progressive taxation. Even more fortunate, this probably is very much in tune with current public opinion which would be very happy to penalise the fat cats.

The Liberals are currently a 100/1 bet to win the next election, so it might be worth putting a fiver down!

Looked forward to seeing an analysis of DC's speech that was intelligent and had insight. What we got was trivia (stupid faces on a board and a pathetic tit for tat battle of the spin doctors) and speculation on the vote in the US.

I know Newsight has a liberal soft left bias but I can normally see past it. If all Newsnight can do is to sneer at any conservative arguments rather than subject them to proper analysis it is a shame. Believe me the world looks a lot different from outside the M25.

I have stopped listening to Michael Crick and Nick Robinson as they now appear to be mouth pieces of the Labour party. I am looking for an independent view so that I can make my own mind up. Goodness knows what you will say when Campbell starts to exert his influence again.