Vince Cable

[trousers]

I like him a lot - very clever man. My favourite quote from his speech this afternoon:

 

Vince Cable: "I make no apology for attacking spivs and gamblers who did more harm to the British economy than Bob Crow could achieve in his wildest Trotskyite fantasies, while paying themselves outrageous bonuses underwritten by the taxpayer."

.....attacking the banks and the unions with one stone....quite clever and refreshingly bi-polar.

[trousers]

....And can you imagine the control freaks and spinmasters at Labour ever being happy to give their blessing to such a speech in the way No.10 has reportedly given to Cable?

[bridge too far]

....And can you imagine the control freaks and spinmasters at Labour ever being happy to give their blessing to such a speech in the way No.10 has reportedly given to Cable?

 

He did say on the BBC News just now that he has had to compromise due to being in the Demolition - sorry, Coalition.

 

I wonder what he would have said had this not been the case?

[View From The Top]

....And can you imagine the control freaks and spinmasters at Labour ever being happy to give their blessing to such a speech in the way No.10 has reportedly given to Cable?

 

Do you really believe Cable would really rein in his speech on the orders of No10? Tone some of the language down prehaps, but no more.

 

Cable has always been his own man which is why even lefties like me like him. He's a refreshing change in mainstream politics.

[trousers]

Do you really believe Cable would really rein in his speech on the orders of No10?

 

No, agree. Bit of an unecessary fishing rod statement from me in my second post. Not really in keeping with the spirit of the first.

 

Sorry!

[trousers]

He did say on the BBC News just now that he has had to compromise due to being in the Demolition - sorry, Coalition.

 

That amusing play on words makes me chuckle every time. I'll never tire of such ingenuity.... ;-)

 

That 'ConDem' one that Ed Balls trots out ad-nauseum is really clever too.

[Joensuu]

Vince makes a lot of sense. The extremes of both left and right never produce sound policy.

 

However, his party will have to work a lot harder to win this liberal, ex-Lib Dem voter back. The concessions gained from the Tories have so far been insubstantial and temporary; they certainly don't jusify selling your party's soul.

[saint1977]

Agree with VFTT and Trousers, Cable is a refreshing departure and if Gordon Brown had listened to him we might not be in quite the same level of mess now. I don't agree with everything Vince says and I wish his grasp of science and R&D was better but I suppose that's what David Willetts is there for. I really do agree with what Cable is saying though in this speech - capitalism can function perfectly well without some of the idiotic and unquantified risks that were taken in the last 10 years and people in the City can still make a packet without bringing the entire global markets down. The likes of the CBI need to pull their head in and support the Government's push towards regulation as we the taxpayer have had to clean up THEIR members' mess big time and they need to remember that Labour would probably have hit them far harder after having their fingers burned in office by being allegedly a bit too close to Fred the Shred and others.

 

Not a fan of the RMT - I do think Trade Unions have a role in making employers follow their own procedures and behave professionally - but not the old-style activism that Crowe represents.

[trousers]

Footnote: I see the unbiased BBC are going into selective quote overload in their news bulletins.... ;-)

[SuperMikey]

Lib Dems have lost my vote, sorry. Completely sold out their policies and demands for a slice of the action at the top. Cleggy even came out in the Independent and said there's no future for his party as a left alternative for Labour and the Tories, which is the whole reason they got so many f*cking votes in the first place. What a f*cking moron. I think i'm going to vote Communist at the next election.

[trousers]

Lib Dems have lost my vote, sorry. Completely sold out their policies and demands for a slice of the action at the top. Cleggy even came out in the Independent and said there's no future for his party as a left alternative for Labour and the Tories, which is the whole reason they got so many f*cking votes in the first place. What a f*cking moron. I think i'm going to vote Communist at the next election.

 

But that's exactly how the LibDem advocated 'proportional' politics works, isn't it? i.e. you compromise your staunch beliefs for the better good. The Lib Dems got, what 15-20% of the vote at the general election? It therefore follows that they would have to compromise on c.80% of their policies in joint power.

 

Isn't this how the Lib Dems actually want polictics to work....?

[OldNick]

A nation that allowed its citizens that were unable to pay a bean,to borrow 125% of a loan. The useless government we had oversaw it and sat on their hands.

Many were shouting in the wind well before Cable about the obvious nonsense of the lending.

We had a credit card chancellor and a nation of people who just carried on as if there was no tomorrow.

The bankers knew it was going to end in tears but their greed of getting multi million pound bonuses every year was too much to resist. The top people have made their famillies future safe for generations whilst the rest are left to pick up the pieces.

The bankers and former government should hang their heads. Many decent people are going to be out of work and bankrupt due to negligence. Yes a lot of those people were not bright enough to see the folly of the debt, but those at the top did and have pulled off a massive sting IMO

[View From The Top]

The problem the Liberals have, and one I feel will see them decimated at a later date, is that many people who voted for them at the last general election were disillusioned Labour supporters who couldn't bring themselves to vote for Brown (which I can fully understand) and saw the Liberals as a progressive left(ish) party.

 

Now they've sold their souls for power those votes will disappear for good and those who defected to them from Labour will never do so again and plenty of Liberals have already defected themselves to the Labour Party.

 

However they want to spin it they will be held responsible for the ideological cuts that the tories will ensure happens.

[thefunkygibbons]

Vince Cable plays to the Gallery

 

Let's see him introduce some policy that works

 

At the moment he believes his own spin, and is all mouth and no trousers

[SuperMikey]

But that's exactly how the LibDem advocated 'proportional' politics works, isn't it? i.e. you compromise your staunch beliefs for the better good. The Lib Dems got, what 15-20% of the vote at the general election? It therefore follows that they would have to compromise on c.80% of their policies in joint power.

 

Isn't this how the Lib Dems actually want polictics to work....?

 

I suppose so, yes. Most of the policies being implemented by the Conservatives now were staunchly opposed by the Lib Dems in the elections, particularly the savage cuts to the public sector. The Lib Dems are now going to sit by and watch tens of thousands of people lose their jobs at the hands of Boy George et al, and hopefully that will trigger some kind of rift in the coalition. I just object to how Clegg suddenly changes the party's stance as soon as he gets into (some) power. He's going to lose a lot of voters now.

[stevegrant]

I just object to how Clegg suddenly changes the party's stance as soon as he gets into (some) power.

Politician in "saying things to win votes and adopting a different policy when he/she gets into power" shocker.

[Hatch]

I like his name, very Hollywoodish.

 

Should have been in films in the 40s and 50s

[Armitage Shanks]

I like him a lot - very clever man. My favourite quote from his speech this afternoon:

 

Vince Cable: "I make no apology for attacking spivs and gamblers who did more harm to the British economy than Bob Crow could achieve in his wildest Trotskyite fantasies, while paying themselves outrageous bonuses underwritten by the taxpayer."

.....attacking the banks and the unions with one stone....quite clever and refreshingly bi-polar.

 

 

Is he really clever? You sure? A poor mans Tony Blair with half the brain.

 

He also conveniently tries to forget the many many years when those "spivs and gamblers" brought billions of pounds into the economy and through their personal taxes helped pay his wages and his colleague's expense accounts.

[trousers]

Is he really clever? You sure? A poor mans Tony Blair with half the brain.

 

He also conveniently tries to forget the many many years when those "spivs and gamblers" brought billions of pounds into the economy and through their personal taxes helped pay his wages and his colleague's expense accounts.

 

Bugger - being a Tory voter I think I might have just painted myself into a corner....! :-)

[bridge too far]

Bugger - being a Tory voter I think I might have just painted myself into a corner....! :-)

 

The blue corner of course - never the red one

[OldNick]

I watched with dismay the report on South Today last night about the new QE hospital in Portsmouth , they are already in massive debt and lo and behold it is a PFI and interest payments of 42m a year.Another of the past governments follies, and another way to hide the real debt this country is in.

[bridge too far]

I watched with dismay the report on South Today last night about the new QE hospital in Portsmouth , they are already in massive debt and lo and behold it is a PFI and interest payments of 42m a year.Another of the past governments follies, and another way to hide the real debt this country is in.

 

That PFI scheme was one of the second wave and it began under the Conservative government. A moratorium was declared on all PFI schemes pending the outcome of the 1997 General Election.

 

HTH

[View From The Top]

Is he really clever? You sure? A poor mans Tony Blair with half the brain.

 

He also conveniently tries to forget the many many years when those "spivs and gamblers" brought billions of pounds into the economy and through their personal taxes helped pay his wages and his colleague's expense accounts.

 

Real thicky, what with him having been Chief Economist at Shell 'n all.

[OldNick]

That PFI scheme was one of the second wave and it began under the Conservative government. A moratorium was declared on all PFI schemes pending the outcome of the 1997 General Election.

 

HTH

 

Before you put the sarky HTH you should remember that you were certain we joined the EU at a different time BTF. The hospital only was finished a year ago and is part of a PFI so are you saying it was given the go ahead under the Tories but took 12 years under Labour to get done?

[bridge too far]

Before you put the sarky HTH you should remember that you were certain we joined the EU at a different time BTF. The hospital only was finished a year ago and is part of a PFI so are you saying it was given the go ahead under the Tories but took 12 years under Labour to get done?

 

No - the construction work didn't start until around 2002 I think - but the original Business Case commenced in around 1996.

 

The process is very complex and can take years. A Strategic Outline Case then Outline Business case has to be worked up for submission for approval by, firstly, 'stakeholders' (I hate that term) i.e. the local and regional health authorities and the Department of Health before it is then submitted to the Treasury for approval by the Secretary of State as a Full Business Case.

 

After that, detailed planning has to be undertaken (i.e. every ward, utiility room, theatre, macerator, all the engineering) and has to be agreed by the Clinical Director of each department for whom accommodation is being provided. At the same time, the bidders have to do their design and costing work, ensuring that they incorporate the wishes of the Clinical Directors. Operational procedures (how the hospital works) have to be produced.

 

The (usually 3) shortlisted bids are then examined and tested and, at the same time, the bidders have to negotiate their own finance for the scheme with their banks and other lenders. Incredibly detailed contracts have to be worked up, agreed and signed. These cover all sorts of stuff including, for example, deciding how much the successful bidder is fined if, for any reason, any areas are not cleaned properly or not available for other reasons. This is called the Payment Mechanism.

 

Once all this is signed off the construction work begins.

 

I joined the PFI team at the Oxford Hospitals in 2000. Work on that PFI scheme originally began in 1996. The hospitals were finally handed over about 2 years ago. Although we delivered two new hospitals, we didn't have to work around an existing hospital in quite the same way as QA did.

 

At the time I left QA (2000) I had only just started preliminary work on the equipment schedules for that PFI scheme.

 

HTH (as in HOPE that helps) - not sarky but speaking from hands on experience.

Edited 22 September, 2010 by bridge too far

[bridge too far]

Nick - it's as dry as dust but the attached gives a good idea of the background / history of PFI as well as the pros and cons of it.

 

http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons/lib/research/rp2003/rp03-079.pdf

 

Useful reading if you want to know the facts about PFI.

[moonraker]

The problem the Liberals have, and one I feel will see them decimated at a later date, is that many people who voted for them at the last general election were disillusioned Labour supporters who couldn't bring themselves to vote for Brown (which I can fully understand) and saw the Liberals as a progressive left(ish) party.

 

Now they've sold their souls for power those votes will disappear for good and those who defected to them from Labour will never do so again and plenty of Liberals have already defected themselves to the Labour Party.

 

However they want to spin it they will be held responsible for the ideological cuts that the tories will ensure happens.

 

The LD vote was on a par with the previous general election, when no Brown effect was in play so I am not sure your assumption is that sound. Additionally you make the same mistake as the media, that all of the population is either Labour or Tory and only votes for A N Other party as some sort of protest. I do agree that Clegg in taking the (right) decision for the country has jeopardised the electoral appeal of the LDs.

[scotty]

That amusing play on words makes me chuckle every time. I'll never tire of such ingenuity.... ;-)

 

That 'ConDem' one that Ed Balls trots out ad-nauseum is really clever too.

 

not particularly clever tbh, and in any case I think he snicked that one from private eye?

 

 

oh, the satire........

[View From The Top]

The LD vote was on a par with the previous general election, when no Brown effect was in play so I am not sure your assumption is that sound. Additionally you make the same mistake as the media, that all of the population is either Labour or Tory and only votes for A N Other party as some sort of protest. I do agree that Clegg in taking the (right) decision for the country has jeopardised the electoral appeal of the LDs.

 

I accept that and I'm basing my assumption from those I know who shifted from Labour to Liberal last time and are no fuming.

 

Good friend of mine is a Liberal councillor in Staffordshire and he was waiting to hear Clegg speak before making his final decision whether to cross the floor as a number already have.

 

My wife switched from Labour to Liberal (the Brown effect) and is fuming at what's happened, she feels conned, and she's not alone in that I would suggest.

 

They've bet the house on blue.

[solentstars]

I like him a lot - very clever man. My favourite quote from his speech this afternoon:

 

Vince Cable: "I make no apology for attacking spivs and gamblers who did more harm to the British economy than Bob Crow could achieve in his wildest Trotskyite fantasies, while paying themselves outrageous bonuses underwritten by the taxpayer."

.....attacking the banks and the unions with one stone....quite clever and refreshingly bi-polar.

i agree and its nice to see a coalition government for the national interest.

[solentstars]

Is he really clever? You sure? A poor mans Tony Blair with half the brain.

 

He also conveniently tries to forget the many many years when those "spivs and gamblers" brought billions of pounds into the economy and through their personal taxes helped pay his wages and his colleague's expense accounts.

 

he is clever and he warned of the dangers of the collapse of the banking system,2 years ago.

[Whitey Grandad]

Vince Cable plays to the Gallery

 

Let's see him introduce some policy that works

 

At the moment he believes his own spin, and is all mouth and no trousers

For some reason some people like him, but he does talk an awful load of ********. His proposals for taxing pension contributions are the most idiotic I have ever heard.

[Lord Duckhunter]

What part of Nick Clegg's commitment to work with either side did they not understand? When they went into the ballot box, they knew that Clegg had made it clear what would happen if the Tories had most votes in a hung Parliament. Did they think he lied, how can they feel "let down" when it was made perfectly clear what Clegg's position was?

 

As for Cable, this speech is just a sop to the sandal wearers in their party. A bone thrown to them to make the great flip flopper look tough at conference time. He'll go along with the Coalition agenda, because he wants the trappings of Govt. He is the latest in a long line of leftie hypocrites that have inhabited British politics the past 30 years.

[solentstars]

The problem the Liberals have, and one I feel will see them decimated at a later date, is that many people who voted for them at the last general election were disillusioned Labour supporters who couldn't bring themselves to vote for Brown (which I can fully understand) and saw the Liberals as a progressive left(ish) party.

 

Now they've sold their souls for power those votes will disappear for good and those who defected to them from Labour will never do so again and plenty of Liberals have already defected themselves to the Labour Party.

 

However they want to spin it they will be held responsible for the ideological cuts that the tories will ensure happens.

 

what utter rubbish,the liberals have plenty of ex tory voters and independent minded voters the present labour party is more right wing then the present tory party,but has usual they want to rule as a one party government.

why would anyone want to join the present day labourparty because i,m wondering why we never had a elected 2nd chamber or fair voting system when they had massive majority s to change the system and modernise.

[View From The Top]

what utter rubbish,the liberals have plenty of ex tory voters and independent minded voters the present labour party is more right wing then the present tory party,but has usual they want to rule as a one party government.

why would anyone want to join the present day labourparty because i,m wondering why we never had a elected 2nd chamber or fair voting system when they had massive majority s to change the system and modernise.

 

Don't get uppity just because your party sold its soul.

 

The truth is that Labour has avoided an implosion and come the next election it will be a straight two horse race between the Tories and Labour.

[View From The Top]

What part of Nick Clegg's commitment to work with either side did they not understand? When they went into the ballot box, they knew that Clegg had made it clear what would happen if the Tories had most votes in a hung Parliament. Did they think he lied, how can they feel "let down" when it was made perfectly clear what Clegg's position was?

 

The heard, they just didn't believe.

 

The Saturday before the election I had a long chat with the Liberal candidate and he was convinced, even then, that there was no way "his" party would get in bed with the tories.

 

Strange world is politics.

[Sheaf Saint]

he is clever and he warned of the dangers of the collapse of the banking system,2 years ago.

 

It was actually as far back as 2003 that he raised his concerns about the future of an economy based solely on debt in the house of commons. Gordon Brown, who was Chancellor at the time, responded by stating that his position was alarmist and completely unjustified. He then went on to claim that he had ended 'boom and bust' and that the UK was 'uniquely positioned' to ride out the economic storm.

 

It still alarms me that this clown was in charge of our economy for 13 years.

[solentstars]

Don't get uppity just because your party sold its soul.

 

The truth is that Labour has avoided an implosion and come the next election it will be a straight two horse race between the Tories and Labour.

 

ha ha sold its soul that sounds like the same claptrap that scargill used to come out with,by the way what happened to him when labour was on its way to becoming a new tory party under blair:rolleyes:

[aintforever]

Vince Cable needs to stop talking about attacking the bankers and actually attack them.

 

It's all hot air, nothing will be done because the bankers will just play the "we will move country" card and continue ****ing everyone up the ass.

[Viking Warrior]

Vince Cable =Toss Pot

 

Messed my Military Pension up. Wrote to me apologising for opening his big gob back in 2008.

 

he had to apologise for the alarm he caused me due to the fact he didnt check his facts. Labour were in government then

 

I still have his emails. So Im not suprised at his latest out burst. Typical politicain , spouts off before establishing the facts

[Barry the Badger]

I don't really get the whole "sold their souls for power" thing.

 

We had a hung parliment, somebody had to compromise or we would have had another election. They were always going to have to take a backseat largely but it needed to be done, they had to form a government somehow.

[Sheaf Saint]

Vince Cable =Toss Pot

 

Messed my Military Pension up. Wrote to me apologising for opening his big gob back in 2008.

 

he had to apologise for the alarm he caused me due to the fact he didnt check his facts. Labour were in government then

 

I still have his emails. So Im not suprised at his latest out burst. Typical politicain , spouts off before establishing the facts

 

Not doubting what you say Viking, but I'm curious how he could have had any effect on military pensions when his party wasn't even in power. What did he do exactly?