August 3rd, 2009

+++ Hencke is New Tribune Lobby Correspondent +++

Having only just left the Guardian with a nice pay-off, David Hencke has been snapped up by Tribune to become their Westminster correspondent. Guido always thought that though Hencke is clearly of the left, he always puts the story ahead of the slant. He is one of the few hacks in the Lobby who is willing to spend time digging into a story.

Tribune went into administration and has been reborn with a new owner who hopes the left-wing rag will prosper again under a Tory government. Given the dire editorial direction the floundering rival New Statesman has taken of late there is clearly a market opportunity for a broadly Labour supporting weekly that follows Westminster seriously, with a critical eye. Increasingly the New Statesman’s political line reads like it is being written by interns recycling Labour spin.


348 Comments

  1. 1
    • 6

      The Tories still lack the sort of business vision I’m looking for, and their members and wider constituents haven’t accepted that they share a responsibility and may need to give back to the broader business community and society. By that, I mean valuing the contribution of those lower down the chain in a meaningful way.

      Be still, grasshopper.

      • 22

        Charles,

        Zanu-LAbour only know 2 businesses
        1) Giving government contracts to party donors.
        2) Selling Lordships to party donors.

        They are a vision of corruption.

        • 38
          Anonymous says:

          So true ACO. Of course the Tories also only know two businesses – daddys and insider dealing – but what the hell, thats politics.

        • 92
          The Slave Labour Party says:

          You LABOUR.
          We PARTY.

        • 106

          a “vision of corruption”. Hmmm

        • 168
          Budgie says:

          ZaNu are also pretty good at creating a boom (and boasting about it) followed closely by the bust to go with it.

        • 249

          OT
          http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8182518.stm

          UNBEFECKINGLEIVABLE

          The House of Commons has awarded significant pay rises to its senior officials, including some of those who oversaw the MPs’ expenses scandal.

          Annual accounts just released show that the Clerk to the House, Malcolm Jack, received a rise of about 11%, meaning he now earns more than Gordon Brown.

          Andrew Walker, who ran the Fees Office which administered expenses, received a rise of about 8%.

          His salary rose from a band of £115,000 – £120,000 to £125,000 – £130,000.

          The BBC’s political correspondent Carole Walker said Mr Jack was the most senior official overseeing the running of the House of Commons.

          His salary rose from a pay band of £170,000 – £175,000 to £190,000 – £195,000. He also received an increase in benefits in kind from £20,000 to £25,000.

          The increases were reportedly approved by a senior pay panel, but they come at a time when others in the public sector are seeing their annual salary rises restricted to about 2%.

    • 289

      OT

      http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/8182654.stm

      Religion of peace? You’ll have to guess it doesn’t mention a motive.

  2. 2
    Truth Seeker says:

    Impeach Gordon Brown now. Arrest President Elect Blair now.

  3. 3
    Monkey Chops says:

    Seconded.

  4. 4
    muller poo corner says:

    Hencke rhymes with ……….

    • 343
      Grex. says:

      Hencke wrote a story in which I was included in the late 80s. Although not named, I was clearly the subject of it and it was grossly factually inaccurate. He had my telephone number (I worked in Parliament) and when I challenged him to his face he said ‘We don’t have time to check everything we write about’.

      When I rang The Guardian to complain the first question was ‘are you going to sue us?’ (yeah an MPs researcher earning £8k can really afford that.

  5. 5

    I agree with the Prime Minister that mere tax cuts for creating new jobs isn’t enough. The real key remains business vision and employment liquidity. People need to let go of being so rigid and picky, and entertain new ideas and lower thresholds to giving people a chance, take a hard, hard look at quality of products and services, and invest in employee and customer loyalty. Skill is useful but a better attitude is fundamental to embracing necessary change.

    Be still, grasshopper.

    • 7
      R.McGeddon says:

      The fact that you and the sub-prime minister are in agreement confirms that you are both certifiable.

    • 8
      Charles Flaccidwidger says:

      Unless I’m very much mistaken, someone is cutting and pasting random CEH comments from the Nick Robinson Blog. Oh and adding the words “Be still, grasshopper” at the end.

    • 36
      shelling-out says:

      As I’ve said before, tell that to the people who are STILL waiting for loans to help their businesses.

      That’s Labour’s version of vision and liquidity for you.

    • 203
      Bri says:

      CEH,the Prime Minister is the one person that comes to mind when you say people need to be less “picky”

    • 339
      Churchill's Cattleprod says:

      I totally, absolutely agree with you Mr Charles Whateveryournameis. These working-class scum must be taught a damn good lesson on why Labour is good for them and why they must understand that they need a man of great integrity, sincerity, strength and incisive charisma like Gordon Brown. If anything the misbeggoten public should have all their money taken away from them for all their pitiful whining about “oh, my bank has gone bust” or “oh, I’ve lost my job” or “oh, I can’t afford to pay my mortgage because my bank has gone bust and I’ve lost my job”.

      People should learn to appreciate how great Labour is and how Gordon Brown has turned Britain from the poverty-stricken 3rd world country that it once was under Margaret Thatcher, John Major and Tony Blair into the dynamic debt-free, inflation-free, democracy-free paradise that this great man of vision has created for the British.

      In my opinion the only thing that stands in Gordon Brown’s way is having to kowtow to this weird Germano-Scottish family at the other end of The Mall. Gordon should have them evicted from Buckingham Palace, install Ed and Yvette (two more paragons of everything this modern Great Britain stands for) as ‘grace and favour’ tenants there and proclaim himself Protector of The People!

      P.S. Sorry I had to write this is felttip, they don’t allow pens or pencils here in the Hariold Wilson Clinic for Distressed Party Workers.

  6. 9
    streamfisher says:

    We need another and another enquiry, and this time no bias.

  7. 10

    Labour’s key achievements:

    * Introduced the National Minimum Wage – two thirds of the beneficiaries are women and it has played a part in narrowing the pay gap.

    * Established the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) to act as a strong, independent champion to tackle discrimination and promote equality for all.

    * Significantly extended legislation to improve protection against disability discrimination in employment, and to improve access for disabled people to goods, services, facilities and premises.

    * Widened and strengthened the Race Relations Act to include a positive duty on public bodies to promote good race relations and legislated for aggravated sentences for racially motivated crimes.

    * Through the introduction of civil partnerships, Labour has for the first time given legal recognition to same-sex partners. Gay couples now have the same inheritance, pension and next-of-kin rights as married couples.

    The Tories’ key achievements:

    Um, nothing!

    Be still, grasshopper.

    • 12
      tat says:

      labour’s main achievements – War Occupation and Torture.
      oh, and teaching monkeys like you to cut and paste.

      • 14
        Gormless Brown says:

        Labour’s key achievements:

        -Illegal war in Iraq.

        -Record levels of debt

        -Rising unemployment

        -Boom and HUGE bust

        -Breakdown in society

        -Destruction of the UK Pensions system

        -Massive growth in the Welfare State

        -Exponential growth in illegals

        -Shambolic support in war in Afghanistan

        -Disintegration of education system

        Have to stop there as the list is making me feel nauseous

        • 19
          Fifth Columnist Trot says:

          so what? that was the fucking plan.

          ‘Britain’ has gone. get over it. emigrate or get with the new order.

        • 31
          utterly bored of charles says:

          * Introduced the National Minimum Wage – two thirds of the beneficiaries are women and it has played a part in narrowing the pay gap.( which quickly became the maximum wage)

          * Established the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) to act as a strong, independent champion to tackle discrimination and promote equality for all.(meaning if your white and speak English you can fuckoff)

          * Significantly extended legislation to improve protection against disability discrimination in employment, and to improve access for disabled people to goods, services, facilities and premises.(meaning if your able bodied and white English you can fuckoff)

          * Widened and strengthened the Race Relations Act to include a positive duty on public bodies to promote good race relations and legislated for aggravated sentences for racially motivated crimes.(see above)

          * Through the introduction of civil partnerships, Labour has for the first time given legal recognition to same-sex partners. Gay couples now have the same inheritance, pension and next-of-kin rights as married couples.(well i’m sure the tiny minority of married gay couples are chuffed to bits)

          The Tories’ key achievements:No1 will be to free us from this rotten corrupt incompetent Liebour government.

          Um, nothing!

          Be still, grasshopper.

        • 43
          Gormless Brown says:

          I HAVE emigrated ! I ( and most of my Labour chums ) reside in Scotland and only visit England to plunder more and more from the Sassenachs.

        • 207
          Steve Expat says:

          Expat by name, Expat by nature.

          I’ll be back when Neu Liebour have fucked off to the political wilderness. Good luck to Dave in sorting out the mess, I think he’ll be needing it!

      • 32
        wee jock says:

        Fahk orf dahn the Dog and Duck you fahking cockney cahnt.

    • 15
      Bottle-fed Triplet says:

      Err, Charlie, pay attention, the Conservatives have not been in power for the last twelve years so what could they have done?

      Have you any coments on the MRSA and C Diff. outbreaks in New Labour’s NHS hospitals? These diseases have killed more than the dreaded Swine Flu

    • 257
      Budgie says:

      All these supposed “key achievements” listed by CEH are trivial, as well as being pointless or counterproductive.

      The minimum wage is pointless whilst the ZaNu Liebore government impose such draconian income taxes on the low paid.

      The discrimination industry sponsored by ZaNu should be scrapped entirely because it is counterproductive to social justice. Existing laws to defend the majority native population are perfectly adequate for every one of the minorities listed by CEH.

    • 274
      Doctor Mick says:

      People are bored with “spin”. Ordinary hard working familes do not identify with Labour anymore, not least because it is no longer the party of the “working class”.

      In 10 months time Labour will get creamed in the General Election notwithstanding Mr Harwidge’s “valiant” efforts to persuade otherwise; too haughty, too smug and too fucking tedious.

  8. 16
    backwoodsman says:

    Labour’s key achievements:

    erm, that would be convincing gullible mongs like charles that they have achieved something tangible. Those of us dealing with the real world results of more than a decade of superficial , ill thought out and frequently pointless legislation, would beg to differ !

  9. 17
    john in cheshire says:

    I hope all socialist publications fail. If it was in my power, I would ensure that they were totally destroyed. I hate the guardian, and the observer and the tribune and the new statesman. They are all bigotted, racist shit that should be used as toilet paper. Oh, correction, they’re not soft enough for that. They should be rammed down the throats of those who are stupid enough to buy them.

    • 118
      davidg says:

      It’s no use as toilet paper – the ink comes off and you end up looking like you’ve got advanced necrosis of the bum-hole.

      • 178
        Steve Expat says:

        Bloody moderator!

        Let’s just say that socialist publications are not a problem per se, publications that contain endless government propaganda and no real journalism or critical thought are the problem, cf. Grauniad, NS, old Tribune etc..

        Hopefully with people like Hencke around we might get some real debate on the issues and give people a fair choice between the parties at the election.

        Now the Liebour-spinning dead-tree press are starting to mend themselves, where do we start with the BBC??

    • 250
      Budgie says:

      Without support by the taxpayer most socialist publications would fail; including the BBC.

  10. 18
    Gordon Brown's Legacy says:

    :

    • 174
      Steve Expat says:

      He has that much legacy?

      • 259
        Budgie says:

        Unfortunately, he does. He has left a legacy of incompetence that could not (I fervently hope) be worse if anyone else tried to actively ruin Britain. In 30 years I have never known a worse political leader. I suspect even Kinnochio could not surpass Gordoom’s monumental blunders.

  11. 20
    breaking news says:

    is it important ?

  12. 21

    A very interesting scandal is brewing for a certain Lib Dem MP and his local party.

    Keep a very close eye on neoconservativehants.blogspot.com in the next few days as the developments start to unfold.

  13. 23
    Mary says:

    I love you Charles! Keep posting!

  14. 24
    breaking news says:

    silly season has started

  15. 25
    Trolley boy says:

    Cameron wants to run the country like a huge tesco

    http://tinyurl.com/lbmvrt

    • 28
      Napoleon says:

      I thought Great Britain was a huge Tesco.

    • 41
      shelling-out says:

      Well, it’s better than John Lewis, isn’t it?

      • 110
        Augeas says:

        What’s your problem with John Lewis? Is it just the standard media shorthand for bourgeois? Actually it is one of the few functioning worker-owned companies in the country, and whatever your politics (unless you are Stalinist or extremely right wing) it is a model for other businesses.
        And no, I do not work there. I was sacked in 1973 for refusing to get a haircut.

      • 182
        Steve Expat says:

        JL are just about the only retailer in the country making a profit at the moment – so well done to them and their fat cat shareholders hard working Partners in the business – who actually understand the meaning of customer service!!

    • 94
      nell says:

      It’s a successful business model that works. More than we can say for gordon’s government isn’t it?!

    • 230
      caesars wife says:

      I hope not, political bounuses ?? club card spend over £50 and get a penny off income tax .

      on the other hand 99p lasagne I could sack the cook

      • 252
        Steve Expat says:

        So that’s what these ID card thingies they keep going on about are for..?

        They’ll be locking me up before they get be to sign away my life to them – general election please to get rid of these Hoons

  16. 26
    Fagged@Eton says:

    The Observer is doomed! (and the Grauniad) : )
    Losing £20M a year!

    http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/media/article6737372.ece

    • 46
      Scragged@Comp says:

      Wot !? Even with all that income from government advertising non-jobs ???

      So typical of Labour; all that money spent and STILL nothing to show for it.

      • 51
        Sir William Waad says:

        Why does HMG advertise in the Garudian instead of on a proper website like everybody else? It should only take about 3 years and half a billion quid for them to set up a site and sinecures.gov.uk is still available.

    • 55
      Trevor Brooking says:

      The Grauniad will go the same way when the flow of non-job adverts dries up post election :)

    • 63
      Truth Seeker says:

      Only 350,000 read the Graun.

      If Cameron is smart he will divert government advertising into a wider range of publications and websites.

      That’ll see the end of the smug Tree Killers.

      • 256
        Steve Expat says:

        If Cameron is smart he will see government advertising as being high up the list for “efficiency savings”

        If they have any jobs going, then advertise them on departmental websites and at the Job Centres – instant cost cuts, with the added incentive of seeing the Grauniad’s state subsidy disappear overnight :-)

    • 79
      Trough Mixture says:

      They could double circulation by running a competition where the lucky winner gets to give Mickey Shite his P45.

    • 99
      nell says:

      Telegraph’s not far behind. Hopefully we shall lose some of the old newspaper giants (Telegraph, Guardian, Observor) that have lost their way , at the same time we lose Labour at the next GE , not just as a government but as an opposition.

      I’m hoping the LibDems are going to become the opposition. I reckon Dave and Nick Clegg at PMQ’s on Wednesdays would be good to watch!

      And then, of course, we need for the BEEB to be made completely commercial, License Fee cancelled. Go off and survive in the real world BEEB- see then if you can afford to pay your Jonathon Wotsit £6million pa for a rubbish performance.

      Yes I like that idea – All Change!!

      • 185
        Steve Expat says:

        nell, the Barclays will keep the DT going at almost all costs – their circulation is the only one of the dailies that has actually risen this year (something about a big scoop I think!)

        LDs could well be the Opposition after the election, expect a lot of tactical voting to lead to a Liebour wipeout worse than the Tories got in ’97

      • 189
        Hot Metal Man says:

        Lose the old giants and you’re left with Murdoch.
        Is that really a winning ticket?

        • 221
          nell says:

          No maybe not but lots of us have gone over to blogs instead.

          Slow death of the dead tree press??

  17. 27
    rimmer says:

    Henke hoo?

  18. 29
    Ricky says:

    You sound like the type who would like my knob in their mouth.

  19. 30
    Piranha says:

    Listen Fawkes, you’re meant to be on bloody holiday. Go on, bugger off.

    • 80
      barefootcontessa says:

      Yes, we were getting on quite nicely with one subject every three days. Now you’re just confusing us. We’re working, you’re on holiday, remember?

  20. 33
    minnie rider says:

    It’s either an election of armed conflict. You just don’t get it do you Twatwidge?

  21. 34
    Vote vote vote for Jacqui says:

    Bloody hell Charles,a soon as a new thread is created woosh and you are off.

    I forgot to suggest household Paracetamol,in quantity,about 50 should be enough
    and wash them down with some nice Jack Daniels.

  22. 39
    dignitas says:

    I hope you have the fucking decency to kill yerself when the Tories get in.

  23. 40
    shelling-out says:

    I think you might be disappointed, Charles.

    They have served little purpose over the last 12 years and as for unity – there’s lot of in-fighting within the Labour Cabinet, particularly since Peter Mandleson came back.

    He denies it when on camera but he wants to be PM, and you can bet that he’s scheming behind the scenes to get rid of Gordon and make that happen.

    I wonder how the people of Britain would feel if we had another unelected PM. Doesn’t bear thinking about.

    • 102
      nell says:

      Another unelected Labour PM and especially if it was mandy! OMG!!!

      Even I’d be prepared to bring my walking stick and march on London then! In fact if we ever got mandy as an elected PM I’d be prepared to march on London!!!!

    • 270
      Budgie says:

      I don’t think we have a PM as such. Mendaciouscum seems to operate without consulting Gorddoom; and I think he was brought in as Gordoom’s minder anyway.

      On top of that it is only 10 months max to a new government. The civil servants aren’t interested in anything ZaNu says. Gordoom is so incompetent that what he announces usually can’t be carried out.

      This is a rump government where nothing major will happen because Gordoom has boxed himself in. Only excitement could be a sterling crisis in the autumn if McDebt slips his leash and starts wittering about spending our way out of recession again.

  24. 42
    nell says:

    Yes so do I.

  25. 44
    shelling-out says:

    ……. he’d never get out of the post room? He was a government advisor for god’s sake.

    That WAS the real world, Charles.

  26. 47
    Postman Alan Johnson Pat says:

    There’s nothing wrong with being a postie, tat for brains.

  27. 48
    Trevor Brooking says:

    Hardminge Minor, in 46 you appear to have mixed David Cameron up with Bob Ainsworth and Jacqui Smith.

  28. 49
    McGroom says:

    Just goes to show that in whatever form it takes, Labour is not economic and needs restructuring

    • 103
      nell says:

      Labour is no longer fit for purpose, Labour needs demolishing.

      • 279
        Doctor Mick says:

        It will not be the first party to be consigned to the dustbin of history. The Liberal Party gave Britain all the great liberties we now enjoy (like free schooling) – far more than Labour ever did – and where are they now?

        It would be good to see a resurgence of Liberals to become the the Opposition.

        It could well happen.

  29. 50
    gOrDOn says:

    Don’t forget to tell them I abolished boom and bust Charles.

    You can have a suck of my lollipop later.

  30. 52
    Trevor Brooking says:

    Do you notice that CEH never responds to what anyone else says? Never indulges in debate, just starts another set of tractor stats, more dishonest propaganda. The equivalent of a loudspeaker in Tianamen Square.

    • 53
      Sir William Waad says:

      I don’t know what you call it back East, stranger, but out here we call it Spam, and we say to hell with it!

      • 62
        Trevor Brooking says:

        I quite like Spam (fritters). As regards CEH, I’d take his head off with something appropriately hypocritical, like Prescott’s croquet mallet.

    • 54
      shelling-out says:

      Yep. I’ve noticed that. Never replies. He’s got no argument, only rhetoric.

      • 57
        Frank says:

        There is a whole army of them working around the clock posting the same repetitive nonsense.

      • 340
        stilyagi_air_corps says:

        ‘CEH’ is most likely written in Perl!

        The results could be interesting if a concerted effort was made to track-down the perpetrator – if this pony agitprop is paid for out of taxpayers money, we have a legal right to know. Considering that in most cases of computer misuse the ‘usual suspect’ is first assumed to be the legendary ‘disgruntled ex-employee’ with too much time on their hands, I’d have a look at what some ex-ex-Mayoral media attack dogs are up to!

    • 58
      redneck conspiracy theorist says:

      So why doesn’t Guido blow him off, in a manner of speaking?

      shumthing shushpicious methinks.

    • 107
      nell says:

      I did a bit of digging and charlie seems to have been on the web posting these comments at least since 2003, and there are traces of him in 2001.

      He has been posting the same statements, over and over again, just repeating them ad nauseum.

      Although in the early days he used to conclude with ‘ Hail to the Leader ‘ now he finishes off with that poor little grasshopper – talking of which I am just experimenting with a chilli (home grown scotch bonnet’s) batter for deep fat frying…………………

    • 187
      Steve Expat says:

      The equivalent of a loudspeaker in Tianamen Square.

      Or, the equivalent of Gordoom Broon ‘answering’ questions at midday on Wednesdays…

  31. 61
    Gooey Blob says:

    It used to be said that Labour knew how to look after the less well-off, but not any more. In its present incarnation, all Labour knows and understands is spin. Not necessarily good spin, because most of it is misdirected, but Mandelson and co are determined to make up for the lack of quality with quantity. The sheer amount of spin spewed out by this deeply discredited government is overwhelming. Voters, however, see through it rather quickly.

    Mandelson’s time at the top has been a disaster to date, he is as out-of-touch as the rest of the leadership. The party’s message is all wrong, with negative, hate-filled election campaigns. Mandelson needs to shape up, or be replaced by someone with a little vision.

    • 64
      Trevor Brooking says:

      He’s there for the same reason as McMental: there just isn’t anyone else. Necessity makes strange bedfellows……..!

    • 67
      shelling-out says:

      A little vision. Now that’s difficult. I can’t think of one person with one percent of vision, who could succeed Gordon.

      • 68
        Trevor Brooking says:

        Someone with more vision than Gordon. In that respect, I hereby nominate my cat. She’s got two eyes as well.

    • 72
      Trevor Brooking says:

      This is not a government:it is an advertising agency.

      • 108
        nell says:

        Well said sir!!

      • 109
        nell says:

        In fact so well said that Guido should have put you to the bottom of the blog.

        Unfortunately, of course, this is evening and he’s sitting under that grapevine covered pergola again, with his glass of wine watching the sun go down, now that the little’uns have gone to bed.

    • 85
      RavingMad says:

      New Stassi would rather ‘the less well off’ would die – which they probably will if they don’t get the help and money they need – so they can have the money for expenses and second/third/fourth homes

  32. 65
    Trevor Brooking says:

    You’ve tuned everything out. Stick your fingers in your ears and go lalalala I can’t hear you. Just like Labour.

    Fuck off grasshopper.

  33. 66
    shelling-out says:

    Yes, Charles. It’s called spin.

  34. 70
    Vote vote vote for Jacqui says:

    I don’t know about Grasshopper Charles,more like ThreadHopper.
    Are the Paracetamol working. Liebour’s not. Hahahahahaaa

  35. 71
    Vote vote vote for Jacqui says:

    Fuck me Charles,got a blinding inspiration.

    Just watched an old Video of Cleopatra,so maybe you should
    try an asp up yur arspe.

  36. 73
    Ian says:

    Nice report Guido. Respect for someone from the other side of the political track goes down well with this avid reader

    • 78
      Trevor Brooking says:

      I’m happy to give that respect but unfortunately, there are far too few people worthy of it on the Left these days. In the Labour world, genuinely good people like Frank Field get appalling treatment; honest journalists usually get starved of stories.

    • 90
      PT Barnum (Ex-Labour Party Member) says:

      Likewise. And it makes clear the difference between NewLabour and anything you would label left-wing.

      NewLabour is proto-Thatcherism with Stalinist tendencies filtered through fetishisation of city spivs and the trappings of aristocracy.

      • 194
        barefootcontessa says:

        Good comment. I agree.

      • 199
        Atlas shrugged says:

        NewLabour is proto-Thatcherism with Stalinist tendencies filtered through fetishisation of city spivs and the trappings of aristocracy.

        Why bother with the long version? There already is a word for this type of politics.

        and the word is….

        FASCISM.

    • 192
      Steve Expat says:

      Indeed, there’s nothing wrong with good journalism, critical thinking and debate, even if you disagree with it – as opposed to the spin and lies endlessly repeated by the so-called left-wing press at the moment, epitomised by McPoison, Dolly and Charley-boy whatshisname on here (when Guido doesn’t delete him)

  37. 75
    shelling-out says:

    How can you blame the people for an inadequate government?

    House prices rise because of the economy. Gordon was very happy to take the stamp duty revenue from properties during that time. So much so, in fact that he forgot to regulate the FSA.

    Over a year ago, our economy was falling. It doesn’t take an expert to see what happened. Gordon took his eye off the ball because he wanted to be PM. That’s where it all went wrong. He was Chancellor. A man supposedly at the pinnacle of his career, but it wasn’t enough for him. Rather than just do the job he was given in a proper and diligent way, he let things slide. His fault, not ours!

    You really do take the piss sometimes.

    • 77
      Vote vote vote for Jacqui says:

      That’s the drawback of only having one mince pie.

      • 82
        Esther says:

        No, no, no – vote for ME, ME, ME! Join the rest of my adoring public.

      • 87
        PT Barnum (Ex-Labour Party Member) says:

        Your late husband’s first wife didn’t think much to you, Esther.

        And her daughter is really unimpressed.

        As am I.

        If you represent the calibre of independent candidates, we really are screwed.

  38. 81

    No Caption competition.
    No mark and lard, or whatever its called, cartoon.

    Just the Hardthick machine set on random spout.
    Guido, The Observer’s going down the pan, along with the forces minister, who appears to setting landmines for himself to tread on.

    Get a PA Guido! Plenty of Gummit schemes will get you a Master-Baiter style drone to post a few stories., for just a few quid a week from you. Cooper would strip on your desk if you agreed to take a couple of hoodies of the yoof unemployment stats.
    They could at least delete the dullest of the troll chat.
    Labour.Org seems a very, very boring place to work.

  39. 83
    Hugh Bristic says:

    It would be dangerous to assume that New Labour has not pursued a strategy during their years in power. It seems clear to me that they have attempted to curtail the freedom of the individual and make a larger proportion of the population dependant on the State.
    The destruction of the private pensions industry and allowing the revenue from income tax and inheritance tax to rise reduces the number of households who do not require state services.
    The debasement of educational standards seeks to reduce the distinctiveness of private education.
    The advent of ID cards and ubiquitous cctv means we are becoming the most monitored population in the world.
    The massive increase in state employed personnel moves us closer to a society which will be increasingly supplicant to the political classes.
    By maintaining a loose monetary policy throughout their period in office they hoped that the people would console themselves with the illusion of property values and ignore the decline in their personal freedom.
    Unfortunately there is scant evidence that the Conservatives will seek to reverse this social decline into dependency.

    • 198
      Ben Dover & T.Utchertoze says:

      HB: I am sure you are correct – this cesspit , into which our Country has sunk since 1997, is surely part of the NooLabour plot. In fact it did n’t sink, Blair/Brown/MandyPandy purposely steered it there and scuttled it there.
      By increasing the number of their ‘clients’, the Socialist State ( v.1997-2009 ) has an ever-growing, ‘membership’ who are financially dependent on Labour.
      How did Stalin create the failure called the USSR ??

    • 278
      Budgie says:

      That is profound. Well said.

  40. 84
    RavingMad says:

    Maybe Hencke could look into this:

    http://www.dailyexpress.co.uk/posts/view/115736/Sin-bins-for-worst-families

    Balls CCTVing people in their homes 24/7 – contrary to Article 8 of the Human Rights Laws

    hey, this is Britain and we are all sheep, right?????

    • 93
      PT Barnum (Ex-Labour Party Member) says:

      That has got to be a made-up story! Please say it is.

      Orwell’s 1984 gets closer and closer every single day.

    • 97
      Trough Mixture says:

      Balls has made an unforgivable mistake. His mad wife is no better. They may consider themselves ‘on the list’.

    • 104
      shelling-out says:

      Balls! Trying desperately to make a name for himself.

      What’s next? CCTV camera’s everywhere?

      • 154
        Hugh Bristic says:

        Why not? We have accepted them so far. We are told it is good for us and meekly accept it. We even have TV programmes dedicated to voyeurism in pretence for entertainment. As our addiction to cctv is fed, so we will comply.
        Our freedom is steadily draining away.

    • 282
      Budgie says:

      I still hope this is a fabrication. But, on the other hand, it is Balls ….

  41. 86
    Sir William Waad says:

    We can’t parse it because it is bad grammar. You could take part in debates or a debate but ‘do debate’ doesn’t make sense.

    • 197
      Steve Expat says:

      Gordon Brown doesn’t ‘do’ debate, he just spouts his endless tractor stats”

      - a valid sentence?

      • 267
        albacore says:

        I wish Pedant would return to the blog and offer his/her two penn’orth on whether that comma should be a full stop.

  42. 88
    Salvatore 'The Shark' Mills says:

    Dat’s why youse is a dead hoon walkin’ Carlo.

  43. 89
    Hortense P Nurdwanger says:

    Be still, grasshopper, and hang around for for the lawnmower.

    • 101
      Old Nick Heavenly says:

      On the line to Bejing soon where my buddy will no doubt have a good recipe for grasshopper!

  44. 91
    shelling-out says:

    Funny, Gordon isn’t good at debate either. Could it be that you, and he, think you know it all?

    • 286
      Budgie says:

      Gordoom splays his fingers on both hands, and then taps the finger tips of one hand with the finger tips of his other hand. This is a classic signal that the perpetrator thinks he is superior to those he is talking to.

  45. 96
    shelling-out says:

    What about asking the MP’s to pay back what they took?

    Labour spout all this crap about redistribution of wealth, but you don’t see any of them sharing their good fortunes, do you?

  46. 100
    nell says:

    Labour = Liars and Thieves.

  47. 105
    utterly bored of charles says:

    you twat,i’m a lorry driver(working class) and your heroes have laid waste to my trade(and many others) so i’m no longer in the middle class wage bracket,so am i no longer middle class?
    Come dipshit you claim to know it all!

  48. 111
    Odds Bodkins says:

    We need more people like Hencke, from the Left and Right. Pouring piss over our elected representatives serves a vital democratic function, sadly not administered by the majority of our stale tired old MSM hacks.

  49. 112
    Completely Off Topic But says:

    How nice it is to see that “Ye Olde Englishe Haggis” takes it’s place in the culinary delights of the world.
    Recognized at last for it’s true origins
    Stuff that in your shorts you know who.

    • 115
      nell says:

      I have absolutely no doubt that the first haggis was made from the liver, lungs and heart of a fine english sheep – add good fen oatbran and the hottest chillies you can find…………………..

      Speaking of shorts – it seems spido has gone on holiday – charlie has been deleted – yet again – pity spido didn’t take charlie with him. Presumably that handout from Unite for a poor person’s vacation wasn’t enough for two.

  50. 113
    Charles E. Hard-on says:

    TODAY it seems to me providential that Fate should have chosen Braunau on the Inn as my birthplace. For this little town lies on the boundary between two German states which we of the younger generation at least have made it our life work to reunite by every means at our disposal.
    German-Austria must return to the great German mother country, and not because of any economic considerations. No, and again no: even if such a union were unimportant from an economic point of view; yes, even if it were harmful, it must nevertheless take place. One blood demands one Reich

  51. 114
    RavingMad says:

    Can’t stay, gotta go, Channel 4 Dispatches – cherie Booth and street crime – comes with a warning ‘graphic images of Cherie Booth’!!!

    If anyone’s been close to crime it’s this woman.

    • 117
      nell says:

      Why on earth would you want to spoil your evening by watching and listening to her.

      It’ll do nothing for your blood pressure!!!

    • 121
      shelling-out says:

      I wouldn’t watch it if hers was the only programme on TV.

      Can’t stand the woman.

      • 208
        T.Bliar says:

        Me neither.

      • 213
        barefootcontessa says:

        Caught sight of her strange mouth suddenly, on the tele, and everybody in the room started shouting, ‘get her off, get her off!’

        • 217
          barefootcontessa says:

          Human rights lawyer? She was right behind him and the war. Backed him to the hilt.

        • 227
          nell says:

          217 contessa – And look how much money she is making as a specialist in Human Rights from that Human Rights Legislation that her husband introduced.!!!!

  52. 116
    Old Nick Heavenly says:

    TheTokugawa regime is an excellent metaphor for the Labour Government

    Ieyasu united Japan and declared himself Shogun!

    Rather similair to Gourd declaring himself PM!

    Victor Harris wrote:
    The bureaucracy of the Togugawas was all pervaiding. not only were education, law, government and class controlled, but even the costume and behaviour of each class.

    The secret police were everywhere and they shut down the country to almost all foreign visitors.

  53. 119
    shelling-out says:

    Your vision is very clouded, Charles.

    Anyone who bets on Labour winning the nexct election will lose their stake. It’s guaranteed. As I’ve said many times before (you obviously didn’t listen) you only have to look at some of the Labour blog sites to see how very disillusioned their core voters are. Some of these people have been staunch Labour supporters since they became eligible to vote, and yet they are deserting Labour in droves.

    You think your party is the best thing since sliced bread, and I respect your comment, but don’t for one minute think they are capable of winning the next election. This government have already sealed their fate.

    • 134
      Ratsniffer says:

      No point in trying to reason with the twat. That would be like trying to reason with Hilter in his bunker…as he nipped out between shelling to give medals to 14 year old soldiers.

  54. 122
    RavingMad says:

    Well, that’s enough of that.

    Isn’t Cherie Bliar one ugly bitch?

    How can she sleep at night next to that infamous war criminal husband of hers???? How can he sleep next to that?

    maybe, they deserve each other!!

    • 125
      Randy Scarse Git says:

      Can’t watch that shit. Too depressing. She’s way too rich. A QC? She should be stacking shelves in the liverpool branch of Morrisons.

      • 223
        barefootcontessa says:

        Poor Morrisons, what have you got against them?!

      • 280
        albacore says:

        Shelves ain’t what she should be stacking.
        Was it “The Good Ship Venus” in which those immortal lines following “The captain of the lugger” suggested a more appropriate load for her particular talents?

  55. 123
    Nursey says:

    Fuck off to bed, it’s lights out on the ward soon.

  56. 124
    reg says:

    Guido, it’s time to pull the plug on this cυnt, he’s gone too far this time.

  57. 126
    Nutter Ward Inmate says:

    Someone give him his injections, for fuck’s sake.

  58. 127
    Engineer says:

    I’m a bit stumped by this topic. I’ve never heard of Hencke, don’t read Tribune and rarely have much to do with the Grauniad. Lefty politics bores me to tears, and reading about it would be worse than being shut in a lift with pissed, flatulent Scotsman wearing tight shorts.

    Can’t think of any sensible comment.

    • 128
      Ratsniffer says:

      Other than the fact that The Guardian is merely expensive bog paper that leaves badly spelt headlines imprinted on your arse.

    • 225
      barefootcontessa says:

      I’m in a fog about it too.

    • 316
      Sungei Patani says:

      Engineer, Contessa

      Thanks for your comment; I thought I was just ignorant having never heard of Hencke but now I find I am in good company.

  59. 131
    WiseMan says:

    old proverb say

    too many grasshoppers on blog means bad weather from the west

    or

    new stassi are fucked and the burial can’t come soon enough

  60. 133
    shelling-out says:

    Funny how we’re now like a bunch of armchair footballers arguing over whether the goal was open or not.

    There have been several replies to your comments which have given a fair argument.

    You talk a lot, but you don’t listen, and when someone seems to make a fair point, you just revert to meaningless twaddle.

    • 293
      Budgie says:

      Sounds like Gordoom to me. Though at least we don’t have to watch that rictus smirk.

  61. 135
    • 139
      Mind How You Go Sonny says:

      PCSO’s – plastic coppers who love a bit of authority. That’s right…scare a little kid climbing a tree instead of tackling real thugs….who they’d be shit-scared to confront.

    • 243
      shelling-out says:

      One of the PCSO’s in our town is so huge she couldn’t chase anyone.

      Just what do these people do?

    • 296
      Budgie says:

      This is what stops children playing out and having ‘adventures’. They end up sitting in front of tvs or computer games all day instead of having fun outdoors.

    • 298
      Anonymous says:

      They should stick to their real job of counting the dog shit on the pavements. fucking arseholes.

  62. 136
    shelling-out says:

    You’d better go to Labour Home, then. You won’t get much sympathy on here.

    See ya.

  63. 137
    Poo-cleaner says:

    You’re as irritating as a floater which refuses to be flushed away….can’t you fuck off back to your Labour sewer?

  64. 138
    nell says:

    I like to way the Tribine attacks the way our ‘poor blood infantry’(pbi) has been treated down the ages by the ruling classes of the day.

    And then when it talks about the present Afghanistan conflict it suggests that our pbi should shoot their officers and come home.

    Given that the Officers are also dying and losing limbs in Afghanistan it seems to me that the Tribune’s target is more than a little off. So even the Tribune is using spin and smear.

    I suggest it moves its sights towards gordon and bob aintbustinagut. Though not literally – lets use the ballot box rather than the bullet.

  65. 140
    Poor inmate in next bed having to listen to this shit all night. says:

    Have another wank. It’ll calm you down a bit.

  66. 142
    Raving Loon says:

    Has it occured to you that one can be anti-Labour and not support the Tories either? They’re both social democrats, and there’s no meaningful difference between them.

  67. 143
    nell says:

    You need to talk to Charlie(W) TWatson,and Damian to ask them to let you take over that redrag site they registered but have been stopped from using. You will do great things with it.

    You can bore the labour crew to death then and leave us in peace.

  68. 144
    Ricky Ponting says:

    what did you think of the Poms choking today mate?

  69. 145
    PT Barnum (Ex-Labour Party Member) says:

    No one would expect the Tories assembled here to buy into the world view of the NewLabour trolls.

    But the notion that these delusional and irritating tactics would find favour with those who have long been on the inside of the Labour movement is even more insulting.

    These trolls speak only for themselves and that tiny, corrupt cabal which swept aside a century of history, claimed they represented the many, and then proceeded to wreck havoc in every institution and every home in this country.

    They are cowards flinching in the face of reality and sneering at the genuine rage of the population who have watched their freedoms ground down to dust and their economic stability sacrificed on the altar of flashy, spiv, secret-handshake clubs.

  70. 146
    shelling-out says:

    What? You mean the rest of us can fuck off and take our views with us, leaving you to brainwash the newbies?

    No chance!

  71. 147
    James. says:

    My understanding is that a PLEDGE is far more than a promise – so Charlie boy muse on these six election pledges.

    By any measure the results are pathetic and equate to a complete waste of Billions of tax payer’s money.

    Labour reveals election pledges
    The six pledges:
    1. Your family better off
    2. Your family treated better and faster
    3. Your child achieving more
    4. Your country’s borders protected
    5. Your community safer
    6. Your children with the best start

    Britain’s ‘hard working families’ have been lied to and then let down.

    You are a fool.

    • 150
      D. Cameron Product Manager, Slough branch says:

      Britain has no families, hardworking or otherwise, just customers of TESCO.

    • 179
      nell says:

      Ah I see we have imposters back again!!! This was not me. Spido obviously is not too far away.

      Thank you for modding that Guido.

  72. 149
    shelling-out says:

    I still think you need to see a therapist.

  73. 151
    Nell says:

    I love you Charles

    • 183
      nell says:

      Another imposter – and you can’t even spell my name properly. Well done spido aka TWatson and pals.

      • 190
        nell says:

        Interesting that someone should start faking posts from me just after I spoke of damian and his girlfriend in relation to charlie and mary.

        Well done B’Izzie. Keep going on your road to self destruction.

  74. 152
    Mary says:

    Hands off you slut he’s mine

  75. 153
    GET RID OF SAD BASTARDS NOW says:

    The People Who Reply To Smallwidge Are Just As Sad As He Is He Is Like A Bad smell Ignore It And It Will Go Away ! Most People Are already Ignoring The Twat So Why Dont The Rest Of You Sad Git’s Leave Him To Himself ?

    • 155
      Mary says:

      Maybe because we agree with him you thick twat? Now fuck off

      • 158
        shelling-out says:

        Are you Charles’ wife?

        • 161
          nell says:

          I suspect she’s damian’s girlfriend- that Civil Servant paid by us the taxpayer who’s supposed to be neutral but obviously isn’t. What was her name???

        • 176
          GET RID OF SAD BASTARDS NOW says:

          Is His GirlFriend Peter Mangledbum ?

      • 170
        GET RID OF SAD BASTARDS NOW says:

        Thick Twat ! Thats Rich Coming From Some Sad SLUT . That Voted Lie-Bore In , InThe First Place Why Dont You And Your Sad Fucking Mate Smallwidge Fuck Off Back To The Lie-Bore List ? Oh It’s Because Theres No Fucker On It !

  76. 156
    nell says:

    Debate is a sterile game = gordon not tolerating anyone questioning his rubbish views

    machiavellian perspectives = mandy and his devious dealings

    Fighting until they got their fingers burned = bob aintbustingagut – not looking after our lads and aljohnson our self-confessed hack Home Office Minister who doesn’t understand that it is his job to protect Gary McKinnon from extradition.

    Bullishness = mandy ….and paranoia – oh dear!!! = gordon ad nauseum

    • 162
      Mary says:

      Charles is enlightened; he sees and knows all. Not even Guido can banish Charles.

      Charles is the greatest commenter this pathetic website has ever seen.

      I LOVE YOU CHARLES!!!!!!!!

    • 172
      GET RID OF SAD BASTARDS NOW says:

      What Were You Going To Tell Him This Time ? You Want To Have HIs Children ? You Spend Most Of Your Time Moaning About Him Yet” You Love Him” If You Reply To His Shite He Will Stay Here . SIMPLE Ignore The Dick Head !

  77. 157
    shelling-out says:

    But what about the PLEDGES, Charles? These were fundamental to Labour’s victory in 1997.

    As Labour haven’t kept their part of the bargain, we’re entitled to react in whichever way we see fit.

    The only ones who’ve won are the Government. They got in by promising us the earth which they didn’t even come close to delivering. The rest of us have to put up with it as long as they are in power. We have the right to vote them all out aat the next election.

    I don’t need to look up obversation and positive consencus. The plain facts speak for themselves.

  78. 160
    shelling-out says:

    Repeat………ad nauseum.

  79. 164
    nell says:

    Deployment of harriett = to the outer hebrides where she should apply her talents to developing uses for sheep dung.

    Ministry of Happy Thoughts = well don’t give it to gordon or his government – I’ve never seen a more miserable bunch than this labour crew.

    Please Eng can I fry that grasshopper now.??!!

    • 165
      shelling-out says:

      You can’t polish poo, can you.

    • 169
      GLF (Grasshopper Liberation Front) says:

      Madam, this is your last warning. Take one more step towards that grasshopper and prepare to take the consequences.

      • 200
        nell says:

        My copper bottomed frying pan is ready – and I have some ‘scotch bonnet’ chillies which I have grown, which I think will complement that grasshopper perfectly.

        Just move away there sir so that I can kill it humanely with this flysmacker before I fry it.

        • 224
          GLF (Grasshopper Liberation Front) says:

          This is a RAID. LAY DOWN YOUR FRYING PAN. STEP BACK FROM THE CHILLIES. FAILURE TO COMPLY WILL RESULT IN IMMEDIATE ACTION WITH EXTREME PREJUDICE.

        • 232
          nell says:

          ++++Laugh++++

          I am so sorry that you won’t let let me kill it -it would be a great culinary experience

          Just think!! I could feed it to charlie(damian) and his girlfriend that b’izzie person that keeps trying to impersonate me!!!!

  80. 171
    James. says:

    Charles is a fool – there is no doubt about that – but he is a clever fool – the Forum’s Jester if you will.

    Apart from massaging his own ego his (self-appointed???) role is to distract and draw fire away from the real issues.

    The very simple truth is that Charles is a Labour Party JESTER – My only fear is that this clown’s antics are being paid for by the british taxpayer.

    • 173
      Mary says:

      Charles does not wear motley. He is a sage, a guru, the greatest spiritual leader of the modern world. The Dalai Lama himself comes to Charles for advice. Show him some respect you fucking c.unts.

      • 180
        shelling-out says:

        The Dalai Lama? Oh, please – don’t make me laugh.

        Respect has to be earned.

      • 206
        nell says:

        Sweetie – he’s an overweight failed bully reduced to working for a pittance in that catholic school.

    • 175
      E=MC2=Charles says:

      How do you work all that out,Einstein?

  81. 177
    Trough Mixture says:

    What Charles doesn’t say is that he too wnt to Oxford. Unfortunately the experiments proved unsuccessful and only the perverse interests of an abomination deviant in Headington saved him from the lab’s incinerator.

  82. 181
    Sang Tzu says:

    Well – I, for one, cannot tell it from Buddha

  83. 186
    James. says:

    Methinks he looks like Jubba the Hutt – and is gay too

  84. 188
    Anonymous says:

    Harold Wilson said – Whichever party is in office, the Treasury is in power.

    See! Brown has f*cked it up!

    12 long years

    Roll on the General Election

  85. 193
    Nell says:

    40 quid for half an hour of sticking your cheese stick up me bumhole.

    • 201
      Steve Expat says:

      fake nell – the real one’s too polite to say that!

      • 209
        nell says:

        Thank you Steve

        Ever since I mentioned, further up this blog about damian’s girlfriend B’Izzie being Mary – there have been loads of posts in my name which are not me.

        Guess it says something .!!!!!

        • 219
          Steve Expat says:

          A lot of the regulars here seem to have been targets for impersonation recently, it’s not just you! Myself, NewGirl, Engineer and others have all been got by them.

          At least I seem to have avoided the TwAT for a few days, let’s hope Guido can get rid of the trolls and give back the debating chamber to those who wish to debate.

        • 334
          tat says:

          nell, could you please tell steve the tramp to stop being such a rude bastard.
          I will not talk to him directly until he stops using crackcocaine but it is a bit rich for a tramp to snipe at a hero like me especially when I am trying to help him withdraw from his narcotic addiction.I am not having a tramp like steve back chatting the great thick as thieves.
          it is just not fucking on.

    • 202
      BUTT BUSTER says:

      I’ll Have 30 Min’s Worth £35.00 for cash nell ?

      • 212
        Nell says:

        Oh goe on then i hope you got some of that KY JELLY or Vaseline on ya but if not just spit down there.

        • 222
          GET RID OF SAD BASTARDS NOW says:

          Go Fuck Yourself Charles SMALL widge ! You Really Are A Little Mary You Faggot !

        • 236
          nell says:

          There you go again MsBizzat – pity you can’t spell properly – but then that is what I would expect from a girlfriend of damian’s.

          However you are a civil servant earning £30k- £60k which is a lot more than our lads in Afghanhstan who are getting £16K as a Private, £20k for a Lance Corporal and £24k for a 2nd Lt —–

          You are not worth it and they are worth far more !!!!!!!!!!!!!

        • 237
          Augeas says:

          Can you sad impersonators go off and wank somewhere else please?

  86. 196
    Norfolk & Goode says:

    Quote of the Day – TOP RIGHT

    Ed Balls says the Labour Party is..

    “clearer and more attuned to the realities of the modern world than we’ve been been at any time since I joined politics. Gordon is that sort of leader.”

    Now we know who Charles E H is !!!

    It’s all BALLS

  87. 204
    Steve Expat says:

    Well done Guido on getting a moderator – looks like the trolls have gone away (fingers crossed)
    :-)

    • 215
      Nell says:

      Aye Steve it’s a good job them trolls have gone they didn’t alf aggrovate my piles.

      • 239
        nell says:

        Hello Balshan – you are really showing your colours and damian’s of course.

        Well Done!!!!

  88. 214
    Steve Expat says:

    Oh shit – obviously spoke too soon. Time for IP blocking now Guido!

    • 216
      Touching Cloth says:

      Ooooh arr no sudden movements lad i need to crawl back in before you speak again.

  89. 218
    R.McGeddon says:

    Mr. Halfwit: you ARE those gases.

  90. 226
    Steve Expat says:

    Jeez, just let it go.

    Indeed Charles, please do…

  91. 228
    Steve Expat says:

    O/T (if there is a topic left down here) yet another Times scoop, title speaks for itself unfortunately.

    http://timesonline.typepad.com/politics/2009/08/staff-who-oversaw-expenses-system-get-salary-hike.html
    :-(

  92. 229
    PT Barnum (Ex-Labour Party Member) says:

    If all of the success of Brown and failures of Cameron are so blindingly obvious and Labour will win the next election by a landslide, why ffs are you bothering to keep on telling us over and over again?

    Put us down as unsavable losers, ok, and move on to where they really need you. Wherever that may be.

  93. 231
    barefootcontessa says:

    Mcfall has just been on the tele pontificating about the economy. Looks like the cross eyed constipated ex teacher that he was.

    • 234
      caesars wife says:

      “Oh yes Ime going to hold the soles of there feet to the fire ” remeber that one , adovacting torture !! , non doms donations legislation dropped quietly , wonder if labour need the cash ??

  94. 233
    caesars wife says:

    guido isnt Hencke supposed to be in Austrailia , or am i confusing him with willets look e likey , who spun for the Lib dems ??

    quite like camerons stance on telling lobbiests to back off , I mean half of UK banking in state ownership is hardly , a lobbiest success story is it.

    lib dems have a spokesperson called Chris Hoon ,now where i have heard that name before ??

  95. 240

    The Tories have hijacked the British character of independence and community. They sell their own ambitions to the electorate but this is a con as you’re never really in the club: they’re too scared to truly open their hearts and minds.

    The Tao is very relevant to economic issues and has stood the test of time. But, the controlling and greedy mind cannot grasp this, so it is correct for Gordon Brown to criticise “Tory boom and bust”. The Tories don’t get success and society, and unless they really change they never will.

    Ditch the Machiavelli. It’s useless. Read the Tao.

    Be still, grasshopper.

  96. 241
    Ratsniffer says:

    Great to see the infestation has been cleared….

  97. 245

    I have some understanding of regulation and markets, and people and cultures. Also, I’ve taken a leading position on this for over the past year which folks can check if they want to waste some time. So, policy and popular understanding is really just shifting behind where I was from the get-go. Help yourself to the biscuit barrel.

    You can have all the rules on the planet but unless people are motivated to do the right thing they’ll pull stunts. This can be condensed down to goals, processes, and outcomes. Processes are just action and relations, and that has its root in the self, or mind. But, continuous self-improvement can help drive that shift in perspective.

    Let go, dear. It’s easier if you don’t struggle.

    Be still, grasshopper.

  98. 246

    I have some understanding of regulation and markets, and people and cultures. Also, I’ve taken a leading position on this for over the past year which folks can check if they want to waste some time. So, policy and popular understanding is really just shifting behind where I was from the get-go. Help yourself to the biscuit barrel.

    Let go, dear. It’s easier if you don’t struggle.

    Be still, grasshopper.

    • 254
      Shitefinder General says:

      Admit it. You talk shit and you live in a fantasy world, at home with your mum, where you wank yourself senseless over NuLab press releases. You’re a boring little sack of soft smelly shite, aren’t you?

    • 304
      Budgie says:

      This is another CEH repeat

  99. 247
    PR Executive says:

    Charlie,

    You might get a few cheap laughs from trolling but your message is electorally meaningless with the type who tend to read this blog. You are imprisoned by your own fantasy world.

  100. 248
    nell says:

    The most important question tonight is where are dami*n and his girlfriend balsh*n izz@t.

    charlie and mary.

    cheers !!!!

  101. 251

    My general view is that the Anglo-Saxon model has failed and procrastinating over this just continues to drive Britain’s broken economic fundamentals even harder into the ground.

    The Tories would give you even more of the same failed ways so they remain unfit for government.

    Be still, grasshopper.

  102. 253

    Am I supporting Labour or painting them into a corner? Am I opposing the Conservatives or giving them hitshot tips to raise the bar? When you take a step back like that things don’t seem so certain. Consider, say, my pitching of the “Brown Doctrine” versus your own support for Cameron busting his own stock.

    Who is conning who? What am I really saying? Whose side am I really on? Does saying nothing mean saying everything? Does saying everything mean nothing? Am I who you think I am? Are you who you think you are? Is right, wrong? Is death, life? Really, dear. You must stop clinging to these illusions. They don’t mean a thing.

    Be still, grasshopper.

    • 255
      Nursey says:

      You’re eating into your valuable wanking time, Charles.

    • 262
      nell says:

      charlie(damian) and balshan ..

      burton and taylor

      duke of windsor and whatsername

      the parsimonious henryVII and mad bella of spain

  103. 258

    Cameron reminds me of an old friend. He was a bit cocky, ran to fat, and started losing his hair. He blamed a phat photo on a poor camera angle but he looked like a bag of custard at the Tory conference. I’m just waiting for the cameras to catch a pair of squinty eyes and fat schoolboy creases at the wrist, and it wouldn’t suprise me if the leader of the con-con-conservative party is hiding a stut-stut-stutter.

    Cameron’s stock price is so overvalued it’s beyond stupid, and like a lot of shady companies that are feeling the heat now the Tory party is positively opaque. What are their policies and real sentiments? Why does Osborne lie like a carpet and the right wing media hide the fact the Tories are beginning to tear themselves apart at the seams? When the market clocks this it’s going to hurt. Said so months ago.

    Be still, grasshopper.

    • 264
      Mary says:

      You’re absolutely right! I don’t trust those squinty eyes of his.

      Love you x

    • 265
      nell says:

      Cocky, ran to fat and started losing his hair = damian

      camera catching a pair of squinty eyes = balshan’izzie

      Overvalued – beyond stupid = gordon

      shady – positively opaque = mandy

  104. 266
    Anonymous says:

    Cameron reminds me of an old friend.

    Liar. You have no friends. Old or otherwise.

  105. 269

    Labour have been playing a very subtle and long-term game that I called for earlier in the year. Now it’s clear that Gordon Brown had an economic plan the financiers, CBI, and Tories opposed, and that plan is exactly the sort of solution we need and Gordon is the uber-geek to deliver that, I’m pretty sure folks will come around without much pushing. Heck, you will probably have to hold them back.

    Pfff. Forget the man with the million dollar banknote, Gordon’s the man with the million candle smile. It’s not really money that will get us through this crisis but calm, happiness, and folks getting a clue. The Tories can’t deliver that because they’re riddled with the desire to control and acquire wealth for themselves. Only Labour can deliver recovery because it gets “letting go”, and encouraging the innovation and social liquidity that flows from that.

    Be still, grasshopper.

    • 277
      nell says:

      Dear trolling damian and Balshan.

      Good night. sleep tight.

      My prayer is to keep our lads in Afhanistan and Iraq safe given that bob and gordon won’t lift a finger to help them.

      Labour is dying thank god. And not before time.

  106. 275

    You’re not really doing your party a favour by saying things like that, and I hate to think how it’s warping your own character. Unless, you don’t believe a word you’re saying. In which case, why say it?

    Quality matters. Everything is connected. The IMF sez so. It’s kinda funny seeing the global economic system have a nervous breakdown and see folks slowly coming around to some very Zen like conclusions.

    Karma, karma, karma, karma Chameleon
    He flips and flops
    He flips and flo-ho-ho-hops.

    Oh, man. This is so funny. The more the right wing thump their tub the deeper we slide into a hole. So, the more Cameron is having to let go and accept everything he hates. Now, I’m not saying the Tory party will become the party of luuuurve, but it’s as good a step as any.

    Be still, grasshopper.

    • 302
      Hugh Bristic says:

      How can it be that the reformist and well meaning party of Clem Atlee could have morphed into a cynical repressive organisation like New Labour?
      When truth is secondary to getting elected and power is used to dispense deceit and to smear opponents, the time for reckoning is at hand.
      The generation which was sacrificed to defend us from authoritarianism and slavery would squirm with disgust at the spectacle of British Government in the 21st century.

  107. 285
    chronic says:

    Mary unbuttoned her blouse to reveal her empty breasts which fell to the side of each Knee. “charles, I want you now” she demanded. Charles ripped off his speedo shorts in much the same way bucks fizz did, with his withered right hand. ” I am going to give it to you good and proper bitch” snarled Charles. In the background the tune of “Keep the red flag flying” played, this made Marys pussy wet, which in turn made charles hard. Charles thrust his erect little acorn into Marys vast chasm, at which point his love juice erupted from his pathetic little member.” Was it good for you” enquired Charles, ” as always Charles, as always ” replied Mary, great full for being fucked by such a great man.

    • 292
      Steve Expat says:

      NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

    • 295
      Mary says:

      I’ll bet Charlie could quadruple anything you’ve got “chronic”. Charles is a real man, a man of culture and intellect, not some swollen gas-breathed lager lout like yourself whose penis is probably no larger than a baked bean. Love you Charlie xxx

  108. 290
    Anonymous says:

    Charlie the tosser sounds just like Father Purcell from Father Ted.

  109. 299

    When people have nothing to say conversation starts wandering off or they start winding each other up. We’re deeply into that ragged end now and that’s not a space I want to invest in. Let’s face it – you guys add nothing to the conversation.

    This blog is operating in a similar way to game forums. There’s the folks knocking chunks out of each others favourite console, then there’s the lower level where they’re all struggling for dominance. The end result of extreme competitive behaviour is a capital flight, riots, and total economic collapse. And that’s why I bang on about positive consensus and patience.

    You guys just never learn.

    Be still, grasshopper.

  110. 300
    Boris Carloffe says:

    All he talk from Charles E No Brain is a smokescreen. They have already given up on the next election apart from Mcmental.

    Mandy is positioning himself to stand and become leader. (He’s already known in the North East (Hartlepool) and the monkeys in Bishop Auckland will love him to be their MP) Keeping the mental one in place to the next election is part of the plan. Brown easily can be discredited and cast apart.

    After the election Mandy as leader of the opposition can show a new face of labour and be popular when Cameron will be unpopular trying to clean up the mess. Then Mandy can beat Cameron and become PM, in about four years.

    Mandy is dangerous because he is clever, devious, and totaly devoid of all moral compass (Like Blair & Brown). He’ll lie like the best.

    Given power Mandy can be like Damian and finnish off the destruction that Brown worked so hard (getting on with the job) to acheive

  111. 303
    Nell says:

    I used to vote labour and i’ve got a vagina like a wizards sleeve

  112. 305
    GET RID OF SAD BASTARDS NOW says:

    Charles You Are A Tranny Called Mary/ Nell And I Claim My £5
    I Will Spend It On A Baseball Bat To Cave Your Skull In With !

  113. 307
    Anonymous says:

    Charlie sounds just like Father Purcell from Father Ted.

    • 310
      GET RID OF SAD BASTARDS NOW says:

      I Picture Him More Like “Spoilt Bastard” From The Magazine VIZ !

  114. 312
    Anonymous says:

    Charley is a boron.

  115. 314

    Accountability and crowd behaviour changes things. If this blog is how people want it then explain the mass exodus of the people who made more serious comment and didn’t get into rolling arguments. Whatever people believe or say the world works in a certain way, and that can’t be ducked.

    People who don’t know this stuff tend to scream and high-five the loudest, until the place empties, and no new DNA comes into or is allowed into the mix. It can carry on for a long, long time. Then, a few cheerleaders leave and the thing finally empties. Like the economic crisis, it’s happened before and will probably happen again. Raise the bar, people.

    Be still, grasshopper.

  116. 315
    Nell says:

    I’m a sad old bat who thought Tony Blair was my saviour and now i deny at all costs being a labour supporter.

    I am a hypocrite.

    • 330
      nell says:

      imposter

      tony was never anybody’s savious except his own – look how rich he became from our taxes.

  117. 317

    Here’s an extract on economic collapse from Alan Watts’ essay From Time to Eternity:

    Do you remember the Great Depression? One day everything was going on all right. Everybody was pretty wealthy and had plenty to eat. The next day everybody was in poverty. What had happened? Had the fields disappeared, had the dairy vanished into thin air, had the fish of the sea ceased to exist, had human beings lost their energy, their skills and their brains? No. But on the morning after the Depression a man came to work building a house, and the foreman said to him “Sorry chum you can’t work today,. there ain’t no inches.” He said “What do you mean there ain’t no inches?” “Yeah” he said, “Yeah, we got lumber, we got metal, we even got tape measures.” The foreman said “The trouble with you is you don’t understand business. There are no inches. We have been using too many of them and not enough to go around.” Because what happened in the Great Depression was that money, there was a slump in money. And human beings are so unbelievably stupid, that they confused money with wealth. And they don’t realize that money is a measure of wealth, in exactly the same way that meters are a measure of length. They think it is something that is valuable in and of itself.

    Are you awake yet?

  118. 318
    Anonymous says:

    Charles_E_Hardwiðge says:
    August 4, 2009 at 12:03 am

    When people like me have nothing to say, Conversation starts wandering off or they start shagging each other up the arse, We’re deeply into that shitty end now and that’s not a space I want to invest in not without a condom.Let’s face it – Brown and mandy the fag have nothing left to say

    This blog is operating in a similar way to game forums. There’s the folks knocking chunks out of each others favourite arsehole. then there’s the lower level where they’re all struggling to be the first to suck mandys cock. The end result of extreme competitive behaviour is a capital flight, riots, and total economic collapse. And that’s why I bang on about fucking up the country just to keep my snout in the pig swill

    I am a total arsehole

  119. 320
    Anonymous says:

    Copy, paste, alter, have fun.

  120. 321
    Nell says:

    I say fellas i would let you’s go down on me but i’ve got cobwebs down there.

  121. 322
    Anonymous says:

    Charles_E_Hardwiðge says:
    August 4, 2009 at 12:03 am

    When people like me have nothing to say, Conversation starts wandering off or they start shagging each other up the arse, We’re deeply into that shitty end now and that’s not a space I want to invest in not without a condom.Let’s face it – Brown and mandy the fag have nothing left to say

    This blog is operating in a similar way to game forums. There’s the folks knocking chunks out of each others favourite arsehole. then there’s the lower level where they’re all struggling to be the first to suck mandys cock. The end result of extreme competitive behaviour is a capital flight, riots, and total economic collapse. And that’s why I bang on about fucking up the country just to keep my snout in the pig swill

    I am a total arsehole

  122. 323

    The typical Tory line is to set up the scariest scenario they can and present themselves as the touchy-feely solution. Of course, folks with rigid minds and grudges would be attracted to this but it only leads to the same old failed Thatcherism.

    Zen Buddhism says that if you want to get off the wheel of misery you have to let go. The calm Gordon Brown is helping create is part of that solution, and why the Tories keep trying to keep trying to talk us into a recession and getting people upset: they don’t want calm or settled markets.

    Be still, grasshopper.

  123. 324
    Anonymous says:

    Charles_E_Hardwiðge says:
    August 4, 2009 at 1:12 am

    The typical labour line is to set up the scariest scenario they can and present themselves as the touchy-feely solution. Of course, folks with rigid minds and grudges would be attracted to this but it only leads to the same old failed socialist bollocks.

    mickey mouse says that if you want to get off the wheel of misery you have to let go. The chaos Gordon Brown is helping create is part of that mess, and why the stalinists keep trying to talk us into a recession and getting people upset: they don’t want calm or settled markets.

  124. 325

    A generation of fear and greed has touched everyone and left them with ambitions and personality defects that are probably best dropped. By seizing the opportunity in the disaster Gordon Brown has helped refocus and reenergise Britain so business, finance, and the people can begin developing along better and more successful lines. If folks were open, fair, and less impatient they might appreciate the benefits and not be such losers about things.

    Calm down. Relax. Be happy.

    Be still, grasshopper.

  125. 344
    Anonymous says:

    Guido,

    It seems you’ve swallowed the MSM’s depiction of Hencke as some sort of sleuth of standing. You’re not alone – I’ve also gulped down the MSM’s portayals of its heroes and villains several times.

    Hencke’s only real claim to fame is, of course, “cash for questions,” which is something I know quite a bit about. Here’s some undiputed facts about the affair to mull over:

    1. Hencke’s original CFQ story of 20 October 1994 accused the lobbyist Ian Greer of paying Tory MPs Tim Smith and Neil Hamilton, not Mohamed Fayed. Hencke charaqcterised Fayed as an honourable informant who was disgusted by the supposed corrupt activities of his lobbyist Greer.

    2. Like Hamilton Tim Smith also denied receiving any money from Greer. Tim Smith admitted receiving money from Fayed, which Hencke had not alleged.

    3. Fayed first claimed to have given Hamilton money on 5 December 1994 – i.e. six weeks after Hencke’s article – in a private letter to the then chairman of the Members’ interests Committee, Geoffrey Johnson Smith.

    4. Sir Gordon Downey’s official parliamentary inquiry into the affair rejected all the cash for questions allegations in Hencke’s original story.

    5. Sir Gordon Downey instead found Hamilton guilty of taking cash from Fayed as Smith had.

    6. According to the book “The Justice Game” by the Guardian’s own barrister Geoffrey Robertson QC, the Guardian has never had any evidence to show that Tim Smith had taken cash from either a) Fayed as admitted, or b) Greer as Hencke alleged.

    6. According to Robertson’s “The Justice Game,” the Guardian had no evidence to show that Hamilton had taken cash either until the timely emergence of three of Fayed’s closest employees testified in support of the charge a from either a) Fayed as admitted, or b) Greer as Hencke alleged.

    . aits charges against Smith.prior to the emergence of three of Fayed’s employees Alison Bozek, Iris Bond, and Philip Bromfield, all of whom claimed to have packed cash in envelopes for Hamilton and ythe lobbyist Greer, the Guardian had no eveidence whatsoever against either Hamilton or .

    though

  126. 345
    Anonymous says:

    Scrub the last paragraph above – for some reason it posted as I was writing

    Jonathan Boyd Hunt

  127. 346

    For some reason my post above was uploaded as I was writing it.
    Scrub the last paragraph.

  128. 347

    Guido,

    If Hencke, or his then editor Peter Preston, or Alan Rusbridger, agrees to a two-hour debate with me on the Guardian’s “cash for questions” campaign I’ll be happy to donate £1,000 to the charity of your choice.

    Don’t worry – none of them will take up the offer.



What’s the Point of Our Anti-Business Secretary? | Ruth Porter
Krugman is Seductive, Simplistic and Unrealistic | Jeremy Warner
Lower Taxes, Higher Growth, the Statistical Evidence | CPS
Bash the Unions, Gatecrash the Quangos | ConservativeHome
I Told You So: Euro is Doomed | Douglas Carswell
PM Speaks for the Nation When Bashing Balls | Quentin Letts
Time for an Alliance | Dan Hannan
Farage’s Plan | ConservativeHome
Guardian Open News is a Failure | Heather Brooke
Balls Calls for Deeper Cuts | Speccie
Lessons from the Thirties | CPS
PMQs Idiots | Harry Cole
Jon Cruddas is Not the Messiah | Dan Hodges

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