State of the parties as 2015 General Election looms.

[visualnickmos]

Agreed. Nick Clegg was just too eager to be "in on the act", selling the party's soul to achieve a brief moment of shallow glory.

.....which was in reality, pressing the self-destruct button.

[teamsaint]

.....which was in reality, pressing the self-destruct button.

that has proved to be the case, probably.

Question is, after spending for ever in the wilderness, and the last 30 years campaigning in the hope of a hung parliament, what would else could Clegg have done?
walk away from power?

[Beef Oven!]

Agreed. Nick Clegg was just too eager to be "in on the act", selling the party's soul to achieve a brief moment of shallow glory.

But still managed to put his party first, above the nation, by swapping out a referendum on AV, for university fees.

[amateur51]

Not much.

Unlike LibDems last time, Greens not keen to revel in the whiff of government?

Or has the Brighton local government experience put them off?

[jean]

Or has the Brighton local government experience put them off?

You deduce correctly. That's been a depressing experience.

This attack is from outside the Party, but I have heard similar things said from within it. I have even heard calls for Brighton to set an illegal budget, when all that would achieve is to have central government step in and take over.

[Flosshilde]

now lavishing fulsome tributes in the wake of his impending (but carefully and perhaps cynically leaked) announcement that he'll step down

Does something impending have a wake before it's arrived ?

[ahinton]

Does something impending have a wake before it's arrived ?

That probably depends at least in part upon the extent of and interest in the leak concerned. Brown study, anyone? - or perhaps Shallow Brown?...

[P. G. Tipps]

That probably depends at least in part upon the extent of and interest in the leak concerned. Brown study, anyone? - or perhaps Shallow Brown?...

Alistair Campbell gave a pretty fair summary of Brown's political career on the radio the other day. For all his personal 'flaws' much-highlighted in the English media (the main one seeming to be that he is Scottish!), he did have some major successes to his name, most notably BofE independence and the swift recapitalising of the banks to avoid an even worse financial catastrophe. History may judge the man much less harshly, maybe.

Anyway, has anyone received their Xmas card from Tony 'n' Cherie, yet ... ?

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B3yLmZGCQAA00gO.jpg:large

[jean]

Funny, the one I got is slightly different:

http://pinkmelon.proboards.com/attachment/download/41

[amateur51]

Funny, the one I got is slightly different:

http://pinkmelon.proboards.com/attachment/download/41

This link appears not to work, jean.

But you're right - it's certainly different!

[jean]

I pinched it from another MB so it's got that boartd's ID. I will investigate. What do you get when you try to open it?

Meanwhile, here is the one I got from [the] UKIP:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B3Eg9W0CEAAp534.jpg

[amateur51]

Did the PM have a glass of malmsey before PMQs today?

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/dec/03/david-cameron-ed-balls-masosadism

[Serial_Apologist]

Did the PM have a glass of malmsey before PMQs today?

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/...lls-masosadism

Masochist: "Hurt me!"
Sadist: "No - hehehe"

[ahinton]

Did the PM have a glass of malmsey before PMQs today?

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/...lls-masosadism

Surely "masosadism" is something to be "misunderestimated" at one's peril, n'est-ce pas.

Anyway, I always thought that one had a "butt" of malmsey - and Dave's certainly fallen on his butt all right! And not for the first time; remember when he was asked "who is the composer of Rule! Britannia" and he answered "er - Elgar, was it?", proving "at a stroke" that he doesn't know his Arne from his Elgar?...

[P. G. Tipps]

Oh come on ... I'm certainly no Dave fan but I thought he was in fine form today as was Boy George.

The two Eds were simply no match for them.

Thought it was the best PMQs for ages and, despite the mutual ribbing, one of the most good-humoured.

Our parliament may have its critics but, at its best, it surely has to be the most entertaining in the world!