[Archived] Ordinary Dave

[philipl]

The Telegraph run an apologia to show just how ordinary Dave is...

I used to live near Oxford at that time and well remember the noxious twits from Oxford would noisily take over the local pubs from time to time with their cretinous drinking games in fancy dress.

Must be slow but hadn't put 2 and 2 together and recognised the arseholes were our future Tory Cabinet.

[jim mk2]

Call Me Dave is an Old Etonian, a southerner and a Tory: in other words, a triple dose of poison.

The Nasty Party is coming and the North is going to suffer again.

[Paul]

While I won't be voting for Dave I'm starting to wonder about his retirement age policy. If the little snippets I picked up on Radio 5 this morning are correct we are currently £175 billion in debt and the one year increase in the pensionable age would effectively save £13 billion per annum? If true this would resolve the borrowing problem over a period of 15 or so years. Seems like a good plan to me except it has one major drawback; the people who will feel the effects most are the lower paid / working classes and this will not even begin to touch your average Tory voter who retires primarily on a private pension. Nothing wrong with private pensions but Dave seems to have ignored just who will be working that extra year!

Perhaps philip can comment on the figures but if it's as straightforward as I suggest perhaps Gordon pick this one up and find a way to make it work for everyone?

[1864roverite]

The sooner we rid this country of the mess that has been Labour the better.

They are to blame for everything bad about this country's plight.

IMO David Cameron and his crew cannot do any worse. People voted in Labour to have a change and now the wheel has gone full circle.

Labour out, Tories in.

Its the future.

[jim mk2]

The sooner we rid this country of the mess that has been Labour the better.

They are to blame for everything bad about this country's plight.

IMO David Cameron and his crew cannot do any worse. People voted in Labour to have a change and now the wheel has gone full circle.

Labour out, Tories in.

Its the future.

You either have a short memory or are too young to know what it was like to live in the Tory hell of the 1980s and early 1990s.

[BuckyRover]

Amen to that 1864.

The experiment has failed, we are broke.

[philipl]

Back to the toffs and their drinking. About the time call me Dave was indulging in these things, a bunch from Oxford descended in their waistcoats and dickie bow ties on the Crooked Billet at Stoke Row (which had a very good pub restaurant) and put- wait for it-

£600 per head behind the bar for a night's drinking and bar snacks.

This was about 1987. The ring leader was an absolutely obnoxious loud mouthed youth about 5' 8" tall with a blonde quiff whom always comes back to my mind whenever I see Arshavin play- same blubbery lips, pasty complexion but much spottier. He didn't so much speak as honked at the top of his voice.

[BuckyRover]

Student gets drunk SHOCKER.

The fact he is richer means he spends more money. Isn't that how the world works?

Blair went to to a expensive private school as did Harmann. Aren't their policies more important than their upbringing? Labour supporters are incredibly class driven, I think most people can look past the UPPER vs WORKING class debate. It's trite and not going to get us out of this mess that light touch Labour regulation has created. Many people will have been swayed by the "blame it on the rich people" soundbite put out by Labour, but any sensible, economically aware individual knows that without rich, upper class wealth creators this country will be the sick man of Europe (again, after the last Labour government) for a very long time.

[Bazzanotsogreat]

Call Me Dave is an Old Etonian, a southerner and a Tory: in other words, a triple dose of poison.

The Nasty Party is coming and the North is going to suffer again.

What Northern towns such as Blackburn & Burnley were worse in the 80 & 90's than they are now? I don't think so

[Tris]

You either have a short memory or are too young to know what it was like to live in the Tory hell of the 1980s and early 1990s.

So says Murdoch's little pygmy, comfortably shacked up in Tory run Ribble Valley.

All paid for thanks to Thatcher's policies.

What a ####### hypocrite.

[broadsword]

What the UK is really crying out for is another 5 years of Gordon ****ing Broon. We mustn't ever return to the boom and bust years of the Tories! Vote Broon for economic stability and a City of London brought to heel. As John Major used to say: "oh yes".

I'm not sure I really see the connection between public school drunken antics and being unfit to govern. Not that I'm a massive fan of the Tories but Labour's partisans braying away after ruining the public finances really is the ultimate mickey-take.

[thenodrog]

While I won't be voting for Dave I'm starting to wonder about his retirement age policy. If the little snippets I picked up on Radio 5 this morning are correct we are currently £175 billion in debt and the one year increase in the pensionable age would effectively save £13 billion per annum? If true this would resolve the borrowing problem over a period of 15 or so years. Seems like a good plan to me except it has one major drawback; the people who will feel the effects most are the lower paid / working classes and this will not even begin to touch your average Tory voter who retires primarily on a private pension. Nothing wrong with private pensions but Dave seems to have ignored just who will be working that extra year!

Perhaps philip can comment on the figures but if it's as straightforward as I suggest perhaps Gordon pick this one up and find a way to make it work for everyone?

Eh? How will he do that? Bloody hell Paul how naive are you? Brown is already dead in the water. My mate was in the company of a Lab MP a couple of weeks ago and he's already written Brown off big time.... 'damage limitation' is the main goal of most of em.

[thenodrog]

I'll say one thing........ there's certainly some entrenched views displayed on here. Obviously correographed too.

You all know who you are so just STOP voting the way your father told you when you were being bounced on his knee ffs! Have you no individuality or independent thought? I must confess that I find such blind allegiance, obedience even to some historical ideal from otherwise intelligent people really mystefying. I guess it's just the old tribal instinct surfacing again.

Look at yourselves in the mirror guys.

[Sandiway Blue]

Call Me Dave is an Old Etonian, a southerner and a Tory: in other words, a triple dose of poison.

The Nasty Party is coming and the North is going to suffer again.

As opposed to the fantastic lifestyle we have now you mean,where people don`t know if they will still have a job by christmas? For the doledossers of the world maybe,but for every working man,we have suffered under this commie party.

Dave and his crew might not be everybody`s cup of tea but at least they will back our troops out in Afghanistan with proper equipment and resources.You will be able to empty your bins in peace without worrying about some jobsworth tosspot co-ordinator rooting through your rubbish.Also there is a very good chance you will be able to think for yourself again without government interference.

[colin]

I'm very unlikely to vote Labour again after being turned off by them following a good number of old Conservative policies over the past few years.

I really don't think that the Conservative Party's policy of cutting incapacity benefit & abolishing inheritance tax has any other signal than screw the poor and direct the money to the rich.

[Paul]

Eh? How will he do that? Bloody hell Paul how naive are you? Brown is already dead in the water. My mate was in the company of a Lab MP a couple of weeks ago and he's already written Brown off big time.... 'damage limitation' is the main goal of most of em.

Well I was trying to start a debate about the Tory pension policy which I feel has positive aspects, sadly the main response is the one I would expect. If we are debating Brown, which I wasn't, then yes he may well be finished though with 7-8 months to go till the election there are few signs he will be ousted (i.e replaced as leader) and probably won't be. Sadly the election will be decided by the sort of hectoring already apparent in this thread rather than any reasoned thought.

For my money we have Cameron who I do not believe can be trusted, Brown who I know can't be trusted (I have always thought this) and Clegg, who may be a wasted vote. I know which way I'm leaning at the moment but there's a long way to go.

[Mike Graham]

God help us...can anyone on here remember that nutter Thatcher that brought the country to its knees...I dread her sort getting back. I am no supporter of Broon, and the Lib Dems have an energy policy which will lead us to lights out time. We need a dose of common sense politics with crime, health and edukayshun at the top of the agenda along with good social policies that support those in need....sound like good ole fashioned Labour to me!!

[broadsword]

While I won't be voting for Dave I'm starting to wonder about his retirement age policy. If the little snippets I picked up on Radio 5 this morning are correct we are currently £175 billion in debt and the one year increase in the pensionable age would effectively save £13 billion per annum? If true this would resolve the borrowing problem over a period of 15 or so years. Seems like a good plan to me except it has one major drawback; the people who will feel the effects most are the lower paid / working classes and this will not even begin to touch your average Tory voter who retires primarily on a private pension. Nothing wrong with private pensions but Dave seems to have ignored just who will be working that extra year!

Perhaps philip can comment on the figures but if it's as straightforward as I suggest perhaps Gordon pick this one up and find a way to make it work for everyone?

Haven't private pension holders suffered enough under Labour?

You don't seem to like the Tories, but are happy for Labour to take their policy lead from David Cameron. I'm sure in the future *everyone* will be working longer.

Gordon brown wouldn't take this idea anyway, his whole philosophy is to increase taxes anyway he can, only now he can't spend so much.

[JC4LAB]

The Labour celebraties of the 70s. Tony Benn and the like were hardly working class heroes..Many of the Household names you associate with Labour went to public school and more appropriate sent their kids there too

[jim mk2]

So says Murdoch's little pygmy, comfortably shacked up in Tory run Ribble Valley.

All paid for thanks to Thatcher's policies.

What a ####### hypocrite.

Typically abusive, factually incorrect and contributing nothing. But then I would not expect anything less.

And for your information, anything I may or may not have is down to my own efforts, not any politician and certainly not Thatcher.

Moving on, the Tories' proposed higher retirement age outlined by Osborne yesterday should serve as a dire warning as to who they expect to pay for the profligacy of the bankers who brought Britain's economy to the edge of collapse.

It certainly won't be the civil servants, politicians and bankers with their gold-plated final salary pensions but the ordinary folk working in poorly-paid jobs in the factories (those still remaining after the previous Tory government) and shops and supermarkets with no savings who will have to slog on for another year in order to pick up the measly state pension.

In addition, Osborne is proposing a public sector pay freeze that again will affect those who can least afford it but of course failed to provide proposals for curbing bankers' pay and taxing their excessive bonuses.

He also failed to state that he was dropping his daft scheme to scrap IHT, another tax break for the rich.

[stuwilky]

They will all rip us all off. And shaft us all. And line their own pockets. Regardless of the political party.

[speeeeeeedie]

Politics is cyclical, if there was no change we'd be far worse off. It's time for Labour to have a rest, they've had 13 years, have done some good and some bad - just like Thatcher. They are now at the end of their present shelf life so booting them out will make them think a little and give the public a short break before the inevitable cock up's from the new bunch.

Regarding the retirement age; something needs to be done. 65 was put in place when life expectancy was much lower. I heard someone the other day saying that kids born today should easily be able to live to 100, it's already around 80. The baby boomers are getting ready to retire, there isn't the workforce left to replace them (ignoring all other factors), and they are living much longer meaning the working populace has to cover them for longer.

[Flopsy]

£701,964,779,959 is our current national debt, meaning everyone in the UK owes £28,105

Mainly thanks to New Labour and their policies and failures over the last 10 years.

We are economically ######, talk of the Tories causing 5million unemployed might well be right, however if harsh action is not taken to reign in the deficit, we could quite likely be looking at 15million, and unfortunately for those of you wedded to New Labour, that is what is most likely to happen if Brown and his Government of Incompetants are re-elected.

Still you can blame Maggie, who left power in 1991, instead of focusing on who is really at fault, and they wear the red rosette

[Manc Rover]

I don't think there's any alternative to voting the incumbent government out at the next election. The country needs a new direction, simple as that! Yes, labour has improved the north unquestionably over the past 10-12 years with new infrastructure and better public services but our country, industry and economy is on it's backside because of overspending (as every Labour government in history has done)! I voted Labour at the last 2 elections but they won't be getting my vote this time!

[broadsword]

£701,964,779,959 is our current national debt, meaning everyone in the UK owes £28,105

Can i transfer my share onto my Visa at 0% for 6 months?