A phonecall to Kelly looks better than not mentioning expenses

Watt Tyler

Why doesn't the media concentrate on posing questions to the incumbent government - the gang of criminals that deliberately ruined the country? Colectively, the media displays itself to be suffering from a kind of mental illness. Leftism.

General Zod

It was amusing to see that the BBC arm of Labour had been lined up this morning with this gun-spiking (or so they deluded themselves) attack on the Tories for contacting Kelly.

strapworld

Cameron did appear quite sneaky over this rather strange question. I would have thought an answer along the lines of "I didn't, but I do wish I had, I do not know if any of my team did, but if they did all credit to them" end of question.

Collusion? Where, for goodness sake is the collusion?

Luke

You must be the only person who thinks Cameron didnt take a bit of a beating on the today prog this morning

stabledoor

Who put Humphries up to the "collusion attack on Cameron this morning. Looks like he has been colluding with Lord Fondlebum - this needs to be investigated

Austin Barry

The caption picture is amusing: a ventriloquist urging a rather shabby, recalcitrant PM doll to say, "I'm Mandy's dummy, let me go, you Gastard".

Charles Flaccidwidger

I was more concerned with the comparison between todays's Today interview and yesterday's between Evan Davies and Lord Mandelson. Mandelson was given an easy ride and spouted the usual mix of tractor statistics and lies and wasn't pulled up on any of them. Cameron was given a thorough going over by John Humphreys and wasn't allowed to get away with anything - rightly so.

The question is, when was the last time a government minister was interviewed by John Humphreys? Do they choose the interviewer or is it the BBC? Or do ministers cry off when they find out it is to be John Humphreys?

greenslime3

Jeremy Clarkson hit the spot in his article for the Sunday Times recently:

"Yes, Britain now is worse than it's been for decades, but the lunatics who've made it so ghastly are on their way out. Soon, they will be back in Hackney with their South African nuclear-free peace polenta. And instead the show will be run by a bloke whose dad has a wallpaper shop and possibly, terrifyingly, a twerp in Belgium whose fruitless game of hunt-the-WMD has netted him £15m on the lecture circuit.

So actually I do see a reason to be miserable. Which is why I think it's a good idea to tie Peter Mandelson to a van. Such an act would be cruel and barbaric and inhuman. But it would at least cheer everyone up a bit in the meantime."

That pretty much says what people are thinking right now. The Times pulled the article, I understand, because it was felt that it might offend too many people - as Clarkson ran through why you might want to leave the UK but don't want to go to here or there because in reality they are worse.

Dirty Euro

It is very dodgy why did cameron not get asked to pay back his mortgage payments, where he did amazingly dodgy facts over hos house. IO do not trust kelly.

DangerDave

I don't often listen to the today program as usually it is the usual socialist propaganda but I happened to be listening this morning as Humphries gave DC both barrels.

I thought it was outrageous and the open contempt with which DC was questioned was obvious.

I suppose this is an encouraging sign as perhaps this is a death rattle sign of the BBC arm of the labour party.

Tiberius

Dave may have take the odd cut lip or blooded nose from these Leftie Luddites, but his overall capability at least to win on points, even when he's playing the ref, is one reason he is the right man to lead the Tories.

General Zod

Perhaps the reason, Dirty Euro, is that they were perfectly legitimate, unlike the fat, sweaty incompetent's payments to his brother.

Fergus Pickering

Nope Luke. I thought Cameron walked on water. But then he does, he does. Humphreys didn't lay a glove on him.

mac

Words to a notable celluloid Luke:

"That's good. You have taken your first step into a larger world."

Take the step, Luke, take the step.

oldtimer

My theory why expenses legislation was not put in the Queen`s speech is that Brown did not think he could get it past his backbenchers. Hence the hurried consultations with HHarman and his failure to respond, twice, to Cameron`s offer of help.

One further thought. As others have mentioned, this QS was all about dividing lines and Brown`s guarantees. The way he has put it suggests to me that he may intend to stick around as Labour party leader and fight the election after next on Cameron`s "failures" vs the "guarantees" he offered the electorate.

JONNY

Luke
You must be the only person who thinks Cameron took a bit of a beating on the today prog this morning

Watt Tyler

Is DirtyEuro Spanish? It's just that I can hear the accent when I read his posts. Don't know why.

Looking forward to the day when Britain owns its own fishing waters again.

Nicholas

Collusion? Don't be daft. Collusion is what the Labour party got up to with the KGB, the secret service of a hostile foreign power, for going on 40 years.

Collusion is like Operation Brace, where 370,000 immigration checks weren't made in order to fast track terrorists, drug dealers, fraudsters and assorted Third World gangsters into the country.

Collusion is like Neathergate, where a political party decided, secretly and without a mandate, to force multi-culturalism on England to "discomfort the right" by cobbling up a bogus benefits case for mass immigration, ignoring the risks (q.v. Operation Brace).

Collusion is like the Damien Green affair where politicised civil servants and the Home Secretary colluded with Common Purpose police thugs to stitch up a member of the opposition - it backfired.

Collusion is like the Damien McBride scandal where the governing party colluded to smear the opposition, using a network of paid informants, shit stirrers and journalists.

Collusion is like re-naming the European Constitutional Treaty the Lisbon Treaty and then refusing to hold the referendum on it promised in their manifesto, then signing away our sovereignty to an unaccountable regime of foreign bureaucrats whose finances have not been audited.

Collusion is like the unholy trinity of New Labour party, Baroness Scotland and the CPS where conflict of interest and vested interest gang up to ensure the police are neither independent nor impartial in their maintainance of the law.

Collusion is what happens every single time this government passes law or takes any action. Collusion, connivance, deceit, corruption, fraud. It is what they do because in their high and mighty arrogance they believe their saintly ends justify any means.

Pip

Well said Nicholas - you have covered most things. Only addition I would make was that some members of the labour party and some union members reportedly not only colluded with Russia - they colluded with them and conspired against the current Prime Minister of Great Britain (then Margaret Thatcher). I would have thought this to be treason and am astonished that this matter was not more broadly taken up by the press in general. It seems the destruction of the fabric, reputation and financial standing of this country is almost their mission accomplished.

emil

Nicholas.

Splendid post Sir, nail hit squarely on head. If only we had a media that would even try to take them to task for these crimes, rather than constantly laying into the opposition (with the exception of Sir Vince, Patron Saint of the BBC)

Chuck Unsworth

@ Nicholas

Nicely done. Should be printed out and nailed up in every Conservative office throughout the UK.

Trouble is that the population has such incrfedibly short memories. Lists such as this highlight the spectacular failures of the past decade.

Athesius the Facilitator

Er!! Nicholas, I think we think your right old chap. Harrumph harrumph!! Yes you are spot on. Harrumph! That Humphreys chappie needs his nipples clamped.

logdon

Nicholas
November 19th, 2009 4:43pm

I absolutely agree about collusion. All the points are as damning as it gets.

Collision, however is what happened last night when I got a call from a Labour Party Call Centre in Newcastle.

Labour Party Call Centre, note. I hope it's not like the ads they suddenly pile out come election time and paid for out of taxation?

The poor hapless lad opened that little chink in the door to my psyche and it was let loose the dogs of war.

He remained relatively calm, so much so I asked if he was used to this reaction.

His, yes gave me great cheer, even more so as I told him that his yes, did indeed give me great cheer.

In the end he was almost agreeing with me about Neather, immigration, multiculturalism and the abandonment of the white residents of this country.

They know. We know. Seemingly only Brown lives in the limbo of nothingness.

B y the way I heard the last few snatches of Frost/Nixon, sorry Davis/Mandelson and noticed a kind of camp cameraderie with Mandy as the man, as it were, mentoring his young protege. A kind of a wink and a nod to it?

I guess in BBC land the old Yorkshire adage, there's now't so queer as folk, still holds.

Gaps in the Dialogue

Certainly if the Conservatives colluded with Kelly to time his announcement after the Queens Speeach then this is a neat piece of media manouvering.

Yet, the lack of a mention for ANY KIND of electoral/parliamentary reform, even the token suggestion of primaries, is yet another failure for the Labour government. The public impetus immediately after the MPs expenses scandal broke out provided the perfect opportunity to introduce changes which would make our electoral sytem more proportional and make those who are elected more accountable to those who elected them.

The Queens Speech yesterday was as always dull, and of no real significance. I think its a job well done to the Conservative media team who managed to turn the Queens Speech into such a massive issue.