David Cameron's speech - did anyone think he could just have turned the polls round?

[TheDullWitch]

That striding about without notes business was quite impressive. I did get bored though.

And let's not forget the 1997 (immediate) abolition of Assisted Places, quite one of the most breathtakingly mean and dogmatic pieces of legislature that I've seen in years.

Look - A political discussion going on that is an exchange of views, not gratuitous insults!

and how can you possibly have a Scottish parliament before answering the west lothian question? The labour party using their overwhelming majority in Scotland to push through legislation which will only effect England?
I read in the times today that public spending as a percentage of GDP is more than 50% in scotland, wales, northern ireland and north east/ north west of Enlgand. Funnily enough all Labour strongholds. We in London and the south east get less than 1/3!! How can that be fair!

suey2, the figures according to Cebr are NI - 70.5, Wales - 64.3, the North East - 63, Scotland - 55.6 and North West - 54. I too find that very shocking.

And I live in Wales, getting free prescriptions etc that parts of England are paying for, even though THEY don't get the same benefits. It is most unfair.

my parents live in Scotland. I was lucky enough to go to a good local comprehensive school. (not that they encouraged oxbridge applications- the only prospectus they had for an English university was the University of Essex) My dad after suffering a severe stroke 18 months ago was immediately admitted to a stroke unit.
In London, state school education is appalling- unless you are religious or a hypocrite. If my dad had a stroke down here, he would have been left to rot on a geriatric ward. The stats are there if you don't believe me.
this kind of postcode lottery is maddening

state school eduction in london is very mixed, but to say its appalling is unfair I think. 10 out of the top 15 secondary comprehensive state schools in the UK - yes, including Scotland - are in London.

To say that you despise all Tories is unfair, also.

PSCMUM, I'm curious to understand why you claim to despise faith schools (yet I think you said you went to the Oratory), love bog standard comps and yet seem to hold Tony Blair up on a pedestal for avoiding his local bog standard comp and sending his kids halfway across London to attend a faith school, which just so happened to be one of the best state ones available? Oh, and I don't think you addressed the question of his bringing in private tutors. The Blair kids have also done pretty damn well in terms of work placements due to the influence of their parents. To hold this family up as a shining example of an MP's unprecedented moralistic educational stance is just fucking laughable.

Laughable, indeed, but fairly typical.

There's a list as long as your arm on the double-standards of left-wing MPs.

Some Ken Livingstone comments for PSCMUM to ponder, with regards to his absolutely not being an anti-Semite. No, no, not at all.

"Every year, the international financial system kills more people than World War Two. But at least Hitler was mad, you know?"

Describing Britain's record in Ireland: "Worse than what Hitler did to the Jews."

You're damn right there is. There's a pervasive attitude amongst privately-educated left-wingers that an elite education was okay for them, but a bog-standard one's good enough for everyone else. I remember reading an article recently, though sadly I can't remember by whom, by a guy from a working-class background who went through grammar school and into Oxbridge. He joined some left-leaning group, only to be appalled to hear them denouncing said grammar schools & saying they should be abolished forthwith. And guess what? They'd all gone to private school. I don't think the attitudes and double-standards have changed too much in the intervening years. Tony was often all about appearing to be something without actually thinking he needed some substance to back it up. So he gave the appearance of sending his kids to state school whilst actually giving them all the advantages of private. To have that presented as a shining example makes me spit feathers.

Oh and PSCMUM, have you actually read the full transcript of what Ken said to the ES reporter? 'Cause it seems you only have half the picture. It was very well-documented though.

Here it is, if you're interested. Though I fear you may not be.

I agree with you, aeilita, line for line.

And this idea that only middle/upper class people vote Tory is utter nonsense. It always was, and it always will be. During the Thatcher years, hundreds of thousands of working class people voted for her.

I'm a cleaner at the moment, by dint of the arrival of ds! I'm happy to do it. Work is work. Do it well and be happy. I'm as poor as a church mouse.

But, if I wanted to be a neuro-surgeon, an entrepeneur, a lawyer or a fashion designer, I could do those things. Because Britain is a meritocracy. Any colour, any race, any upbringing, is no barrier at all. Ask Sir Allan Sugar.

Anybody who thinks a bunch of politicians of any persuasion can prevent you your destiny (in the UK) is operating under a misconception.

Great post, Cat.

seconded, Cat! And I have few illusions about Cameron, believe me.

When I hear screaming lefties it does remind me of my student days in the 80's and I wonder if they've got stuck in a timewarp.

I am amazed that mockney Blair (he of the school straw boater) managed to fool so many of them.

Woops! Rogue apostrophe there.

Blame it on my comprehensive education.

Well, most people I know are working class, because I'm working class, and as far as I know, they're all voting Tory.

They always did!!