UK General Election 2015

[AndrewT]

Hague and Iain Duncan Smith both kept at it after being leader and went back to the cabinet.

If someone like Andy Burnham became Labour leader then Ed Miliband could find a way back if he wanted it as he's still young enough.

[arbboy]

I've always wondered- what's parliament like for Miliband and Clegg following their resignation? 5 years at least of leading a party. Working day to day, must be very boring. I know they say greatest honour is to lead their constituency but both likely to stand down in 2020?

They can probably max their earning potential if they choose to now, there is a ton of things they could go like going on the speaker circuit etc if they fancy it. I guess if they can't realise their political ambitions then securing the future for their family is high on their list of priorities.

Pretty sure neither would have to work again if they choose to.  Their other halves probably both earn more than they did anyway.

[George2Loose]

Just seen Liz Kendall has announced her run for Labour leadership. Don't know much about her

[The Camel]

I've always wondered- what's parliament like for Miliband and Clegg following their resignation? 5 years at least of leading a party. Working day to day, must be very boring. I know they say greatest honour is to lead their constituency but both likely to stand down in 2020?

Depends on their personality.

Ted Heath stayed in parliament on the back benches until 2001, nearly 20 years after he lost the Tory leadership to Thatcher.

More recently most leaders have dropped out of parliament, after keeping a low profile during the 5 years following defeat.

Miliband and Clegg are younger than many of the leaders who've lost elections recently and may choose down the route of William Hague who stayed on the Tory front benches after losing an election.

Clegg in particulart can't really disappear, as the Lib Dems have so few MPs, I'm sure he'll be their spokesman on some subject.

[MintTrav]

Just seen Liz Kendall has announced her run for Labour leadership. Don't know much about her

Looks like Rachel Reeves, apparently (but less boring):



Very impressive.

Lives with that Greg Davies comedian guy.

[George2Loose]

Just found out she's MP for Leicester West!

[Woodsey]

Just a short word of apology.

My behaviour on this thread over the last couple of days has been pretty inexcusable.

You'd think I could take losing better than that as I've had plenty of practice as a QPR supporter.

Come to my senses now, I've decided life might just go on after all.

Congratulations to the winners.

The bottom line with this thread and politics in general is nobody is ever actually right or wrong, it's just opinions and we should never ever forget that, no point getting wound up over it but we all have our moments probably. If anyone believes their opinion is the only way to do things then lol, I include my opinions in that too.

For the most part I just try to see it as jousting that occasionally gets a bit heated with some banter thrown in too. I simply wouldn't post on this thread if I didn't enjoy a bit of heated debate about different political beliefs.

[david3103]

Just a short word of apology.

My behaviour on this thread over the last couple of days has been pretty inexcusable.

You'd think I could take losing better than that as I've had plenty of practice as a QPR supporter.

Come to my senses now, I've decided life might just go on after all.

Congratulations to the winners.

The bottom line with this thread and politics in general is nobody is ever actually right or wrong, it's just opinions and we should never ever forget that, no point getting wound up over it but we all have our moments probably. If anyone believes their opinion is the only way to do things then lol, I include my opinions in that too.

For the most part I just try to see it as jousting that occasionally gets a bit heated with some banter thrown in too. I simply wouldn't post on this thread if I didn't enjoy a bit of heated debate about different political beliefs.

Agreed.

[david3103]

Just a short word of apology.

My behaviour on this thread over the last couple of days has been pretty inexcusable.

You'd think I could take losing better than that as I've had plenty of practice as a QPR supporter.

Come to my senses now, I've decided life might just go on after all.

Congratulations to the winners.

The bottom line with this thread and politics in general is nobody is ever actually right or wrong, it's just opinions and we should never ever forget that, no point getting wound up over it but we all have our moments probably. If anyone believes their opinion is the only way to do things then lol, I include my opinions in that too.

For the most part I just try to see it as jousting that occasionally gets a bit heated with some banter thrown in too. I simply wouldn't post on this thread if I didn't enjoy a bit of heated debate about different political beliefs.

Agreed.

[BigAdz]

There's a debate on Breakfast Show, and one guy countered anothers praise for Cameroon by saying, he hasn't done a great job because of the number of people using foodbanks.

Could be fair comment, but when did foodbanks actually come in? Yes, I know we have kitchens etc, but to me "foodbanks" is a fairly recent phenomenon on a national scale, and five years ago I don't recall them being anything other than a stigmatised resource, only for the homeless.

I have a neighbour who used admitted to using a foodabnk, a couple of years ago, and she lives in a four bed, detached house with her son!

I'm not belittleing the significance of them, but Isn't it just that the stigma has lessened massively, and hence the growth in very recent years?!

[DungBeetle]

Just a short word of apology.

My behaviour on this thread over the last couple of days has been pretty inexcusable.

You'd think I could take losing better than that as I've had plenty of practice as a QPR supporter.

Come to my senses now, I've decided life might just go on after all.

Congratulations to the winners.

You've nothing to apologise for Camel imo. 

[BigAdz]

Just a short word of apology.

My behaviour on this thread over the last couple of days has been pretty inexcusable.

You'd think I could take losing better than that as I've had plenty of practice as a QPR supporter.

Come to my senses now, I've decided life might just go on after all.

Congratulations to the winners.

You've nothing to apologise for Camel imo. 

Moot. But then he didn't sling personal insults at you. All I was doing was expressing opinions, same as everyone else Dung.

Anyway. Enough already.

[mulhuzz]

There's a debate on Breakfast Show, and one guy countered anothers praise for Cameroon by saying, he hasn't done a great job because of the number of people using foodbanks.

Could be fair comment, but when did foodbanks actually come in? Yes, I know we have kitchens etc, but to me "foodbanks" is a fairly recent phenomenon on a national scale, and five years ago I don't recall them being anything other than a stigmatised resource, only for the homeless.

I have a neighbour who used admitted to using a foodabnk, a couple of years ago, and she lives in a four bed, detached house with her son!

I'm not belittleing the significance of them, but Isn't it just that the stigma has lessened massively, and hence the growth in very recent years?!

I think when you're hungry and have no food, you don't care about stigma so much.

It's definitely the case we've seen the a massive decrease in real terms for wages, and I think that's very much the cause of increased use of foodbanks. Of course I think in times of recession/crisis, availability of resources like foodbanks increase, although you might say that's also just a market response to demand. But certainly availability and access have increased, I'd think.

[BigAdz]

There's a debate on Breakfast Show, and one guy countered anothers praise for Cameroon by saying, he hasn't done a great job because of the number of people using foodbanks.

Could be fair comment, but when did foodbanks actually come in? Yes, I know we have kitchens etc, but to me "foodbanks" is a fairly recent phenomenon on a national scale, and five years ago I don't recall them being anything other than a stigmatised resource, only for the homeless.

I have a neighbour who used admitted to using a foodabnk, a couple of years ago, and she lives in a four bed, detached house with her son!

I'm not belittleing the significance of them, but Isn't it just that the stigma has lessened massively, and hence the growth in very recent years?!

I think when you're hungry and have no food, you don't care about stigma so much.

It's definitely the case we've seen the a massive decrease in real terms for wages, and I think that's very much the cause of increased use of foodbanks. Of course I think in times of recession/crisis, availability of resources like foodbanks increase, although you might say that's also just a market response to demand. But certainly availability and access have increased, I'd think.

Exactly. In some ways the fact more people have access to foodbanks and less are less stigmatised, is actually a good thing.

Yes, we would all like it that no one has to use them, but the reality of trying to resolve a recession means they are somewhat inevitable, so the fact their use has increased, is hardly Cameron's fault, is my point. The fact that they now provide a backstop to families, is positive, given the circumstances.

[mulhuzz]

There's a debate on Breakfast Show, and one guy countered anothers praise for Cameroon by saying, he hasn't done a great job because of the number of people using foodbanks.

Could be fair comment, but when did foodbanks actually come in? Yes, I know we have kitchens etc, but to me "foodbanks" is a fairly recent phenomenon on a national scale, and five years ago I don't recall them being anything other than a stigmatised resource, only for the homeless.

I have a neighbour who used admitted to using a foodabnk, a couple of years ago, and she lives in a four bed, detached house with her son!

I'm not belittleing the significance of them, but Isn't it just that the stigma has lessened massively, and hence the growth in very recent years?!

I think when you're hungry and have no food, you don't care about stigma so much.

It's definitely the case we've seen the a massive decrease in real terms for wages, and I think that's very much the cause of increased use of foodbanks. Of course I think in times of recession/crisis, availability of resources like foodbanks increase, although you might say that's also just a market response to demand. But certainly availability and access have increased, I'd think.

Exactly. In some ways the fact more people have access to foodbanks and less are less stigmatised, is actually a good thing.

Yes, we would all like it that no one has to use them, but the reality of trying to resolve a recession means they are somewhat inevitable, so the fact their use has increased, is hardly Cameron's fault, is my point. The fact that they now provide a backstop to families, is positive, given the circumstances.

That's a bit like saying 'I'm glad we have better access to paracetemol, because now we can treat broken legs better'. Yes, it's a good thing that their availibilty has increased, but the state of the economy and the imo poor attempts to fix it with 'austerity' (which hurts the poor way more than it does squeeze the middle and doesn't actually cause economic growth - rather hinders it, which is why I guess so many people here don't seem to understand that...) are where we should have been having x-ray, setting the cast, handing out crutches, etc.

There is no doubt that Osbourne (and by association, Cameron) is responsible for a massive real terms fall in wages which was absolutely and positively avoidable (certainly at least in magnitude) had we dealt with the crisis like almost any other country. This 2013 article has a nice overview, if you're interested.

edit: here is an excellent appraisal of Osbourne's time as Chancellor from as recently as February.