pap

The under-privileged kids of today are the f**ked up nutters of tomorrow.

Ironically, it'll probably be their own back benchers that put the brakes on some of the crazier legislation, but as we know, people will lap up the attendant propaganda, those in prosperity will probably see more, and those without will probably see less. There is no hiding for the Tories this time. It is their government and their shout. I'm not sure anyone would ever join up with them again after seeing the bedraggled remnants of the Liberal Coalition Expedition sidle sullenly through the doors of the Commons, with a party bloc that couldn't even put out a first eleven. Labour did bloody terribly. Huge error to go against the Nationalists up in Scotland during the referendum, especially in a time when Labour's own political compass was so temperamental. What were they, exactly? With Ed's ascension to the leadership, the right-wingers immediately cast Labour as firebrand socialists. In England, they absolutely never got the memo that UKIP were a threat to them, and would eat into their vote. The pronouncement that Labour definitely wouldn't be offering an in/out referendum cost them dearly, I reckon. Was looking at the result for Basildon South and Thurrock. This used to be one of the key marginals between Lab/Con. It's now a three horse race, with Labour behind UKIP for the bronze. Hopefully, they'll realise just how much they dropped the ball and will remember what they need to do to have a chance of getting elected next time. They have got to make coherent, decent policy which has wide social benefits. They've got to stop trading blows on Tory ground, like trying to be just as tough on benefits. It's a false economy; they never will be, because they're not as ruthless as the Tories, and neither are their voters. They lose core support, and the floaters don't believe them when they say it anyway. Most of all, they need to choose their new leader wisely. I don't think another Miliband is the answer, however much of an upgrade he may be.

Don't 'fract me, St. Chalet. Covered under "topical" and "for effect"

Don't think Cameron can avoid it. Remember that this is a government that is going to require the goodwill of his backbenchers. 84 of them supported the last call for a referendum.

I wonder if we'll get that EU referendum before 2018 now.

There are a few silver linings. First, the hated McVey lost her seat. A lot of LDs too. Looking like no coalition partners, which means that Cameron is probably going to have a hard time with his own backbenchers, who I suspect will be somewhat less bothered about bad publicity than the LDs. I do wonder where they would have gotten their extra seats from had they needed them. The big lessons here are "don't get into bed with the Tories", "don't elect someone as variable as Ed Miliband as your leader" and "be very careful with your political capital". Labour and LDs lost a shítload of that last night. The pendulum will swing the other way, but we'll see it go right for another few more years. Hopefully, Labour are going to have a credible alternative next time around.

Heh, I only decided yesterday, finally. It's the daughter I worry about. She's just come to the realisation that people still vote Tory, even if you show them the "domestic abuse".

Amazed that Labour played about with Southampton Itchen with Rowenna Davis.

Bring on the ultra-capable UKIP second stringers!

Didn't know about either. Sorry Nick!

Nick Robinson sounds like he's on forty B&H a day. Or Sean Dyche's voice double.

Kinnock survived an election loss in the 1980s. Went on to fight, and lose the sequel. Rocky it was not. He didn't survive the 1992 loss.

He won't be around if Labour "lose", especially if they lose to the extent suggested by the exit polls.

Said it would happen, and that they'd get some of Labour's vote too. I wonder how much they'll grab from other parties.

Think I might stay up quite a bit, at least until first marginal is declared. Beers are in.

It has felt longer, tbf. And they borrowed more money.

Spend less time listening to grasses, less time telling people off for bad language, and you might have more of a scooby. Priorities, St. Chalet.

I preferred The Who before Pete Townsend decided to become a researcher.

VFTT, for reasons enumerated elsewhere, is a decent poster. However, I was just a bit sick in my mouth.

Good luck, hypo.

I love watching the snake hypo (dune's words, not mine) slither up to a new potential pal. Weren't you and Wes going mad when I was using the c-word? VFTT; take him on board and leave him in a layby somewhere. It's not a permanent solution, but it will help.

Democratic duty has been done. The Polling Station was pretty busy. Big turnout tonight?

I am off to vote myself as soon as ms pap gets in. Democracy! (of a sort)

Here are my candidates. Liverpool West Derby. Rebecca Lawson, Green. Would. Not sure whether she'd get my vote though. Prediction: 3rd. Ed McRandal, Conservative. You can't really vote for any Tory up here. They know they are never going to win. West Derby has got a nice little village, which has its own Conservative Club, yet the Labour incumbent still commanded a majority of 18K during a time when his government was not popular. How much do they think of you, Ed? (arf!) Prediction: 5th. Neil Miney, UKIP. I'm not one of these lefties with my head in the sand. I've heard the confessions of former Labour voters putting a tick in the box for Nige. I think they'll do well here. Prediction: 2nd. Steve Radford, Liberal. Not to be confused with the Lib Dems. The Liberal party still exists in this country; we've had a couple of Liberal councillors on the council for decades now. Steve doesn't belong to a big party, but does have a half decent rep. Prediction: 4th. Stephen Twigg, Labour. Portillo-killer of 1997 fame, now rewarded with one of the safest Labour seats in the country. Expect UKIP to erode his majority a little, but still the clear winner for me. Prediction: 1st, with around a 13k majority. Paul Twigger, Liberal Democrats. Three hopes. 1/ Bob Hope. 2/ No Hope. 3/ Name recognition problems amongst less sparklingly intelligent voters, especially those that might have nicknamed Stephen Twigg "Twigger" at some point. The LDs used to command good numbers in Liverpool, if never quite being able to unseat the Labour incumbent. I'm going to be bold and predict 6th for these bell-ends.

"Create" being the operative word. Why should they be the only ones that profit, and are protected from risk while doing so? If we're going to have a fictional financial system, we should at least have one where the benefits are more widely applied. Let's not forget that the banking system, as constituted, is merely the legalisation of practices like fractional reserve lending. Looks that way. If you haven't been paying attention, there is a culture of targets at the DWP, specifically getting the claimant number down. This is why some wags have dubbed Job Centres as sanction centres. It creates huge short-term problems for the claimant, often puts them into debt or in the hands of the local loan sharks. The knock-on effects are incalculable, really.