361 Responses to “Cannock Chase”

1. Tim Jones

   ‘One of our big problems was the LDs continued strong during Labour’s years in office, completely at odds with the period after 1974 through to 1981.’

   That’s because unlike his predecessors Blair governed from the centre, rather than the left and those who dislike Tony Blair most generally come from the Left – because of things like the Iraq War etc

   So to them, the Lib Dems seemed like a suitable alternative – which is why the third party did so well in terms of the popular vote in 2001, 2005 and 2010

   January 4th, 2012 at 1:24 pm
2. LBernard

   That makes a lot of sense Tim

   January 4th, 2012 at 3:24 pm
3. Joe James B

   It was difficult for the Tories to get much hearing
   until about 2005,
   and the first stage was just to get a hearing
   before any signficant increases in votes.

   After 18 years there’s some justice in that in the democratic sense,
   but the key factor is the economy appeared to be well managed to many – it wasn’t.

   January 4th, 2012 at 4:07 pm
4. richard

   “but the key factor is the economy appeared to be well managed to many”

   Including Cameron and Osborne.

   The great recession, which should have led to Labour’s destruction, also exposed the ignorance and privileged out-of-touchness of the Cameroons.

   Their whole strategy was based on assumption that the economy was sound.

   You can after all only ‘share the proceeds of growth’ if there are ‘proceeds of growth’ to share.

   There wasn’t and indeed there haven’t been for a decade.

   January 4th, 2012 at 7:36 pm
5. Barnaby Marder

   Working class is a rather over-simplistic way to describe Romford & Castle Point. They’re both owner-occupied & white and have some WWC areas but I think you’ll find a lot of C1s as well as C2s, Ds & Es in those seats. In fact Castle Point though it was a Conservative (re)gain in 2001 didn’t see a particularly big swing in that election – that came later – though Romford certainly did. It is however true to say that the South Essex sub-region – both within & outside Greater London – saw the least anaemic Conservative recovery in 2001.

   January 4th, 2012 at 10:40 pm
6. Joe James B

   I was going to add that Richard, but thought I’d leave it to you!
   Although you’re a bit harsh – I think we were slow to develop our economic critique in opposition though.
   Some people were spot on with how disastrous the split in the Bank of England would turn out to be from day 1, but not many listened. John Redwood was one of them.

   January 4th, 2012 at 10:53 pm
7. richard

   Joe

   Its often said in investment matters that when the last bear turns bull its time to sell up.

   Similarly when the opposition buys into the government’s economic policies and there’s talk of ‘economic miracles’ and ‘new paradigms’ warning signals should flash.

   While the media lazily refer to the period before 2008 as a ‘boom’ the reality is that the FTSE peaked in 1999 and UK industrial production in 2000.

   These BoE numbers for personal debt give a clue as to where the money came from which drove the wealth consumption of the last decade:

   1999 £561bn
   2000 £614bn
   2001 £666bn
   2002 £738bn
   2003 £836bn
   2004 £945bn
   2005 £1065bn
   2006 £1168bn
   2007 £1300bn
   2008 £1412bn
   2009 £1457bn
   2010 £1463bn
   2011 £1452bn

   Those are the January debt numbers, the latest is the November 2011 of £1451bn.

   Incredibly the government’s economic forecasts are assuming that personal borrowing will increase by another £500bn over the next 5 years.

   Not going to happen.

   The western world has reached peak consumption.

   Its downhill from here for the rest of our lives.

   January 4th, 2012 at 11:45 pm
8. Joe James B

   Thanks for this Richard.

   I favour the cuts in the PSBR being accelerated,
   so that businesses can have tax cuts, and the accumulated debt can peak and fall quicker.
   I do of course want great care taken with any cuts, as always – as we are under a lot of pressure to do more for much less. It means constantly reviewing delivery of services, and thinking “out the box.”

   January 5th, 2012 at 11:44 pm
9. Joe James B

   I don’t think either Aidan Burley, Diane Abbot, or Jeremy Clarkson etc. should resign either btw,
   even though I don’t agree with what they said/did.
   Too much PC.
   It’s quite easy to make a mistake on Twitter, or indeed here.

   January 5th, 2012 at 11:47 pm
10. Barnaby Marder

    Preposterous Joe – surely no-one would ever make a mistake here?

    January 6th, 2012 at 12:06 am
11. Joe James B

    We do seem to be getting into a slightly ridiculous situation where people get hounded for saying things which stifle debate.

    Although there are certain people where you wonder whether it really needed to be said.

    Apparently, in 1979, Jim Callaghan thought that David Ennals was mishandling the NUPE strikes, and was making ineffective statements to the media.
    Ennals was in hospital for part of this period, but was working from there.

    The PM apparently asked someone to find out which hospital he was in, and tell them to take the plaster off his leg and put it over his mouth.

    January 6th, 2012 at 12:13 am

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