Questions Of The Day (Politics)

[Wile E. Coyote]

The issues are the economy and NHS, if you want to win.

Red wall or not, banging on about immigration, the enviroment, housing, levelling up, poverty, education, ASB, potholes etc will just not do it.

The NHS has suffered a catastrophic loss of public confidence in its performance.

You will have to promise to fix it as people support the principles, but well over half think it's a failing service.

[Mick Harper]

A bogus list

immigration red wall
the environment non-red wall
housing red wall
levelling up red wall
poverty non-red wall
education non-red wall
ASB not understood
potholes red wall

The NHS is tricky because it's a Labour thing so Tories can't afford to do anything about it other than throw (more) money at it. I support the principle--free at the point of delivery--but I do not support the NHS.

[Wile E. Coyote]

It's pretty obvious to Wiley that Paula Vennalls had numerous chances to take an off-ramp somewhere along the Highway to Hell, but for some reason did not. She did not see the signs, as it were.

Her defence is she claims not to have realised (was too trusting of) some staff were engaged in fibbing, bending facts, spinning, wilfully obstructing and so on, whilst believing that other Post Office staff (Sub Postmasters) were committing serious financial offences.

Did she really make it to the top of the organisation whilst not realising that some (not her of course), senior staff engage in fibbing and spinning, whilst comparatively few (for obvious reasons) engage in criminal offences?

Maybe she was a tad naive ?

[Mick Harper]

If you've read Hannah Arendt's Banality of Evil you will know that dear old Paula is exactly what she seems, a decent, middling sort of person. Just like Adolf Eichmann. Once you are inside an organisation you are part of the organism.

[Wile E. Coyote]

[Mick Harper]

I'm totally disgusted by the whole thing. Newsnight devoted the whole of itself to reporting the guilty verdict. Since that was the only news to report the other thirty-nine minutes was people saying, "It's the first time an ex-president has been convicted of a crime." True but only because the others didn't have their lives back-inspected in minute detail. Ooh look, Calvin Coolidge didn't take a library book back. Bang him up and throw away the key. Or, if Oliver Cromwell is anything to go by, dig him up and hang him in chains.

Cor lummee, I'm looking forward to Joe Biden going to Sing-Sing now it's open season. Only complete twats like Jimmy Carter and Barak Obama would survive the Big Clean.

[Wile E. Coyote]

Agreed it's wrong, but.........

If you call your opponent "crooked" and encourage the gallery "Lock her up", "Lock her up", then they will, when it's their turn, almost inevitably try to come for you.

Shoolground rule.

People in glass houses etc.

[Mick Harper]

[Wile E. Coyote]

We really need to check up on who is bidding to plant the most trees.

Last time, the Conservative Party manifesto pledged 30 million new trees planted at 30,000 hectares a year, whilst the Liberal Democrats went for 60 million to boost tree cover by 1million hectares by 2045.This was not good enough for the Green Party who went for 700m trees and half of farms adopting agroforestry (trees as part of farming) by 2030. Pride of place went to the Labour Party with 2 billion trees by 2040 and 20,000 green jobs in tree care, woodland management, and forestry and related skills.

What happened.

The Tories last year managed a mere 12,960 hectares (2022/3). This was touted by them as a success, because it was still more than the last Labour government managed. Still, parties love to show their green credentials, and how better than pledging tree planting at elections?

[Mick Harper]

This will produce even more rain in the temperate zone of the northern hemisphere. Just what's needed.

[Mick Harper]

The Copernicus Climate Change Service is an official EU-funded body. Its latest report popped up on Newsnight

[Mick Harper]

I like the look of this new party, the Lib Dems. Yellow's not really my colour and their leader seems a bit accident prone but anyone-but-Nigel for a wasted vote is what I say.

Newsnight is running a talent contest. This latest one, Kemi Badenoch's political adviser (advise her to quit!) had nice teeth.

[Wile E. Coyote]

Wiley has noted that the Lib Dems are at least learning from their previous mistakes.

[Mick Harper]

Yes, but she rocketed to a successful career as a TV pundit on the strength of it so it was not good news for Lady Ed.

This blonde rocket mouth the Lib Dems have got ready for when 'Dave' Davey is eased aside after getting fewer votes than the Monster Raving Reform party is up against Nigel (ooh-er, missus) in the seven-way minnows debate on Friday night. But I'm keeping my powder dry for June 26th when the final Battle of the Titans reveals who bores for Britain until 2029.

I'm not saying I miss Boris but I shall miss the entire Conservative Party when they too get fewer votes than Reform PLC (it's a wholly-owned subsidiary of Farage Holdings, by the way, which surprised even hardened psephologists). Tories are warp and woof of this country. Do we really want to return to the days before the Cavalier Parliament of 1660?

[Mick Harper]

Rishi Sunak could do with a bit of National Service after his performance in Normandy. Why oh why won't someone propose bringing it back? I watched the news channels this morning to see how the furore was going. BBC and Sky were gavel to gavel but Al-Jazeera didn't even mention it.

PS I thought Macron was a bit previous addressing David Cameron as 'Monsieur Prime Minister'. Biden was later found wandering around in the hedgerows of the bocage. This is Ed Murrow signing off.