IntenseDebate - georgewpotter1066

9 years ago @ Conservative Home - Christopher Howarth's ... · 0 replies · +1 points

Isn't it funny how half the time Brexiteers say the EU is undemocratic and the other half they say (like now) that the EU is dysfunctional because even regional governments get to veto trade agreements (aka the EU is too democratic).

Could you all please make up your minds as to whether the EU is a ruthlessly efficient autocracy or a hopelessly dysfunctional hyper-democracy and let the rest us know which it is?

9 years ago @ Conservative Home - Council by-election re... · 1 reply · +1 points

And if Eastleigh had taken much longer then UKIP might well have won - as things were UKIP won in terms of votes cast on the day itself.

In by-elections the challenger needs time to build up momentum in order to win and the shorter the campaign the less chance of the challenger winning. In Witney the Lib Dems were building up momentum (as evidenced by the sudden deployment of Theresa May and Conservative MPs in the second half the campaign) but polling day came too soon for them.

I still think it's not exactly likely they would have won but they would undoubtedly have done better had the campaign lasted longer - they were on the front foot and plenty of Conservative voters had already been demotivated enough not to vote Conservative by the Lib Dem campaign but weren't yet won over to voting Lib Dem as an alternative.

9 years ago @ Conservative Home - Council by-election re... · 4 replies · +1 points

Something to bear in mind with Witney is that the by-election was called very quickly - there was only a month of campaigning.

Had it been two months of campaigning (as has generally been the case in previous by-elections) then the Lib Dems might well have won given the momentum they had.

9 years ago @ Conservative Home - Council by-election re... · 0 replies · +1 points

Actually the ex-BNP BPP dissolved itself in 2014. This BPP is a new party using the same name which seems to be a one man operation led by a man who's founded at least three short-lived political parties previously.

9 years ago @ Conservative Home - George Freeman: Devolu... · 0 replies · +1 points

Devolution means devolution of real power and responsibility. What we are actually seeing is the government putting groups of councils under the charge of a one-man elected dictator with the power to spend the same money that Whitehall used to spend (provided it's used in 99% the same ways) but without the power to raise the taxes to fund spending meaning that the amount spent cannot be significantly altered.

That's not devolution - that's just subcontracting a tiny sliver of Whitehall's responsibilities to local councils and claiming it's a radical change in direction.

Pathetic.

9 years ago @ Conservative Home - Jonathan Carr-West: It... · 0 replies · +1 points

Um, councils aren't receiving 100% of business rates. If they were places like my own county, Surrey, wouldn't need to have council tax at all.

What the government is actually doing is sleight of hand where it cuts funding, binds the hands of local government and then presents it all as being devolution.

When a council can choose freely what levels to set business rates and council tax at, when it is able to borrow, when it is able to entirely self fund from taxes under its own control then it will have fiscal devolution. But that quite patently is not on the table.

10 years ago @ Conservative Home - Don't let's be beastly... · 0 replies · +1 points

Except he doesn't agree with discrimination. He believes (and has voted for) everyone to have the equal right to live their lives the way they choose.

10 years ago @ Conservative Home - Guy Olliff-Cooper: Why... · 3 replies · +1 points

So presumably you think the entire public should be able to vote on your relations with your employer then?

10 years ago @ Conservative Home - How Cameron went for H... · 0 replies · +1 points

A Richmond by-election win against 5 independents? No chance. Try a Lib Dem gain from the Tories with an anti-third runway candidate.

10 years ago @ Conservative Home - Chris White: How the n... · 1 reply · +1 points

They largely don't but if public transport is devolved in London, for instance, then why should London MPs get to vote on public transport in the rest of England?

Though if we want to be picky, the much greater public transport subsidy per head in London means that there's less subsidy to go to public transport in places like Wiltshire.

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