FRANKLY MY DEAR I DONT GIVE A DAMN PARKER-BOWLES

IT’S A LONG TITLE BUT IT'S THE ONE YOU, THE PEOPLE, CHOSE

Mungin's Republic's poll on the future title and status of Mrs Parker-Bowles has now closed.

I’d like to thank everyone who took part. It wasn’t open for long, but I hate these polls that go on and on, and by the time they close everyone has forgotten what they were about, or indeed how they voted...well particularly when it's on such a daft and trivial subject as this.

It goes without saying the results are hardly representative of anything.. other than the views of the 45 people who voted on royal matters on a blog with the word “Republic” in its title! But it was all a bit of fun and Mr Yougov need not worry that Munguin’s Republic will be taking over from him anytime soon.

The outcome, given the parameters, was predictable, although I was surprised that 11% of voters (all of 5!) favoured Mrs P-B being called Queen. (Did you vote 5 times Dean?)

The full result was:

Queen: 5 votes, 11%
Princess Consort: 5 votes, 11%
Duchess of Rothsay: 1 vote, 2%
Duchess of Kernow: 2 votes, 4%
FMDIDGAD: 32 votes, 71%

There you go Charlie. According to the readers of Munguin’s Republic, you can call her what the hell you want.

So he should be happy. Just one small drawback. I remember reading that Charlie’s dad once said that the moment that people lose interest in the royals is the moment that they might as well pack up and go.

If they cease to provide entertainment for the people, the people may start wondering why they cost almost as much as a banker to keep!

So, maybe we should have a poll on where they should set up home?

If you do have any ideas for polls that you fancy would work on the blog, let me know. (Sensible ones please, Niko!)

Pic: Joking aside, what in the name of all that's right is Chic wearing. I mean was he on a fancy dress party the night before, got blootered and stayed over at a mate's place and had to put his fancy dress back on. I mean not a thing matches. I'm no snappy dresser, but I wouldn't change a tyre looking like that. And as for that pheasant, I know they are stupid birds, but that's about the last place it would be sensible to build a nest.

SNP SURGE 8 POINTS IN A MONTH IN NEW ANGUS REID POLL

The SNP is more than happy with today’s Angus Reid Public Opinion Poll which shows that its support has increased by 8 points since the same organisation's poll which was sampled on February 16-17. The rise from 20% to 28% is heartening, even for a person like me who doesn’t put a lot of store by these polls.

The full figures [change from 2005 General Election in brackets] are:

SNP: 28% [+10]
Labour: 36% [-4]
Con: 17% [+1]
Lib Dem: 15% [-8%]
Others: 4%


This latest poll was sampled March 9 and 10, from 2,003 adults, with a Scottish sample of 178. This is of course a very small Scottish sample, but importantly the result is in line with the full Ipsos MORI Scottish poll published on 1 March which had Labour 34%, SNP 32%, Tories 17%, Lib Dems 12%.


SNP Westminster leader Angus Robertson commented that SNP support had surged by 8 points in the past month, confirming that the Westminster Election in Scotland is a two-horse race between SNP local champions and London Labour. He called the poll hugely encouraging and suggested that the election in Scotland was absolutely wide open. I'm wondering where Spud Murphy got the notion that the team to beat in Scotland was the Tories...


With the real possibility of a hung or balanced parliament at Westminster opportunity for Scotland is enormous. Let’s hope we can keep this up, and make a serious dent in Labour’s support in Scotland. It is essential that we Scots have as strong a voice as possible in Westminster for the moment until we can free ourselves. We certainly won’t get that from the London based parties which work so hard to suit the needs and desires of the South East of England!

Let's play a good and fair game. Let's tell people what life in an Independent Scotland would be like and how we can push better for that goal with more of our voices in Westminster. But let's not forget to stress just how bad the Labour government has been for Scotland, for our jobs, our economy and for all the things that matter to us.... and we could remind them of Labour MPs who think that they are above the law, and Labour Peers who clearly are.

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Let’s get people voting SNP and get a voice for Scotland with Scotland’s Champions.


The full Angus Reid Public Opinion poll report is here:


http://www.visioncritical.com/2010/03/conservatives-remain-ahead-of-labour-as-uk-election-approaches/

HUNG PARLIAMENT ON THE CARDS, BUT WITH BROWN AS PM?

It is beginning to look like Gordon Brown may be prime minister after the Westminster election. A poll for the Sunday Times poll puts Labour only two points behind the Tories. The YouGov poll puts the Conservatives on 37%, to Labour’s 35% for Labour.

That is estimated to give Labour 317 seats to the Tories’ 263, nine short of an overall majority that would mean Brown could be prime minister in June.

The poll comes as a hammer blow to Cameron he prepares for a keynote speech to his party’s spring conference.

In an interview to the Sunday Times he defends himself against right-wing criticism that he has modernized too much, moved too far into the centre. He says: “Some people say to me, ‘Play things safe; try to win by default. The government is in a mess.’ I say, ‘No. This is the Conservative party that is offering radical change. I’m doubling up on change’.”

Although Cameron says he is unconcerned about the collapse in Tory support, the narrowing of the lead has been dramatic. Until recently the Tories were solidly 10-points ahead, but last Sunday’s YouGov poll had the gap at 6 points, suggesting a hung parliament with the Tories the largest party.

Frighteningly, today’s poll may suggest that claims about Brown’s tantrums and bullying may have helped him. Just 28% of people believe the prime minister is a bully and 50% agree he has a strong sense of right and wrong. (Scary. How clever is Mr Mandleson?) It also show concerns about Cameron’s Eton and Oxford background and lack of empathy with ‘ordinary’ people. Only 25% think that Cameron understands problems faced by “people like me”, compared with 35% for Brown. This may suggest that the right wingers, trying to push Cameron away from reforms, are wrong. He may need to push the Tories nearer to the ‘ordinary’ man. It also suggests that team Labour’s charm offensive on the prime minister’s being an ‘ordinary Joe’ may be working.

If the election result leaves Labour just short of an overall majority, Brown could battle on, with Labour as a minority government doing deals with smaller parties to get its legislation through parliament. That, however, is unlikely to last for long because it takes real political skill and incredible patience, and compromise to cope with a hung parliament and a minority government.

As has been shown with our own government much of the government’s legislation is lost or watered down because the opposition parties gang up to defeat you, regardless of their own views or the good of the country. The object becomes defeating the government, embarrassing the government, not running the country. It takes very mature opposition and a sense of duty to the country rather than party to make it work.

I seriously doubt if that exists at the Westminster assembly where self comes first, party second and somewhere way down the list, the voter. I favour a hung parliament because I can't bear the thought of Labour in government; I find the thought sickening...... and the Tories scare me. But Brown must not be their first minister. He's far too mad to be in charge for another 5 years.

A DISMAL CHOICE.... BUT AN OPPORTUNITY FOR SCOTS TO SHOW THEM HOW LITTLE WE TRUST THEM

The latest Yougov poll, the last of 2009, shows the Tories with a 10% lead over Labour, and the Conhome Poll of Polls suggest a possible Conservative majority of 48 in the new parliament according to Conservative Home.

But this is not a good result. With the last years of disastrous government; the catastrophic wars; the complete collapse of the UK economy (despite all the rubbish that Brown has spouted about leading the world out of recession and saving all the banks, not to mention climate change), why on Earth aren’t the Tories 20 or 30 points in the lead? Why is there even the slightest chance that either there will be a hung parliament (heard all the lamp-post jokes thanks) or worse still a Labour majority after May?

Is it because despite the fact that almost no one has a single good word for Brown and his hapless bunch of second raters, no one has that much confidence in Dave either?

If you look at what Labour has done, how much different would it have been if the Tories had been in government? Would they have reigned in the greedy speculating banks? Would they have stopped the bonus by results? Would they have seen the danger of the Housing Bubble? Would they have warned us that it would burst sooner one day?

Did they not vote wholeheartedly for both the wars, despite being allowed access to secret information on a Privy Council ‘need to know’ basis? Would they have succeeded where Brown failed miserably at Copenhagen? What would they have done differently about terrorism? Were they not equally culpable in the expenses scandals? Would the really have tackled tax evasion and non-doms?What, in fact, is different about them?

Oh yes, when they get in they will slash public spending. That’s not a lot different from what Labour will do in reality, but the Tories have been honest about their intent. The truth is of course that, just like Thatcher, Cameron will not be able to slash public spending by nearly enough to make a difference, because if he does he will bring public services to a standstill, everyone will be out on strike and the UK will continue its downward spiral. Everyone knows that a Tory government will bring hard times for all (except the super rich) because they told us they would. Labour will bring pretty much the same thing, it was just that Brown was smart enough to lie and tell us he wouldn’t.

It is possible that even if the Tories do get in with a small majority, they will wreak such havoc that after 5 years Labour will be back. Remember Thatcher only got back after her first assault on us because “she” won a war. The only wars that we shall have in the future we shall almost certainly lose because they will be against terrorists, and they never surrender.

There is a solution for Scots though.... Let's show them without any doubt that we have no trust in either of their parties. Let's make sure we have at least 20 members in Westminster come June this year and get another foot on the ladder of independence.