tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2546602206734889307.post6120632535546813903..comments2024-03-18T11:12:51.114+00:00Comments on mainly macro: The accidental tax credit cuts?Mainly Macrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09984575852247982901noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2546602206734889307.post-90819174433876914202015-10-28T13:27:55.279+00:002015-10-28T13:27:55.279+00:00The last membership figure I could find was for a ...The last membership figure I could find was for a year ago at just under 150,000:<br /><br />http://www.conservativehome.com/thetorydiary/2014/09/conference-survey-and-membership-figures.html<br /><br />Mainly Macrohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09984575852247982901noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2546602206734889307.post-1589136158128317712015-10-28T12:35:39.708+00:002015-10-28T12:35:39.708+00:00I have it on good authority that a significant per...I have it on good authority that a significant percentage of party members who reside the centre-right of the Conservative have not renewed their membership fee. Is David Cameron still refusing to release membership totals for the last few years?<br />It does appear that the Chancellor has got himself shackled to the wrong policy. Boris must be overjoyed.<br />shaunt Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2546602206734889307.post-19494049488496504832015-10-28T06:36:25.078+00:002015-10-28T06:36:25.078+00:00The Spectator pours very cold water over Osborne t...The Spectator pours very cold water over Osborne too:<br /><br />http://new.spectator.co.uk/2015/10/george-osborne-has-forgotten-the-human-factor-he-should-think-again/Tony Maherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04684372328862363343noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2546602206734889307.post-15478011913759283972015-10-28T00:19:21.154+00:002015-10-28T00:19:21.154+00:00Perhaps Neofeudalism is even better than neolibera...Perhaps Neofeudalism is even better than neoliberalism?<br />For the very few.prpjusticehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10320614572726185472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2546602206734889307.post-52057281866516889732015-10-27T23:49:04.577+00:002015-10-27T23:49:04.577+00:00I don't think the Tea Party/Corbyn parallels w...I don't think the Tea Party/Corbyn parallels will stretch very far; the "talk of deselecting MPs" seems to exist mainly in the form of "talk of deselecting MPs is unhelpful, say Labour sources". On the other hand, while I wouldn't deny that there is a bottom-up element to the Tea Party, big Republican donors - who would previously have backed more conventional right-wingers - have played a large and opportunistic part in organising it.Philhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07009879034507926661noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2546602206734889307.post-52937635072407064852015-10-27T20:43:04.401+00:002015-10-27T20:43:04.401+00:00More astonishing is that the conservatives' pr...More astonishing is that the conservatives' pre-election welfare savings proposals - the well publicised £12bn of cuts and the associated extremely likely huge cuts to tax credits - did not put off millions of people who would in fact be negatively impacted from voting the conservatives into power with a majority. Like turkeys voting for Christmas. Simonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01453060744510427275noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2546602206734889307.post-75372612506028089072015-10-27T15:36:43.628+00:002015-10-27T15:36:43.628+00:00One big difference between Conservatives and the U...One big difference between Conservatives and the US Republican Party is that the direction of policy in the former is "top down" (Cameron/Osborne have a lot of political capital after their election win) while in the latter it is bottom up (the Republican base has clearly dragged their party further away from the centre than most Republican lawmakers would have liked). <br /><br />By this measure, it's the UK Labour Party which is most similar to the Republicans, with talk of deselecting MPs who are too far away from the party base. <br /><br />If this is right, it's hard to imagine that centrist Tories have much to worry about. I'd much rather be in the position of Heidi Allen than John Woodcock, for example.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2546602206734889307.post-16370390694950640152015-10-27T14:01:25.537+00:002015-10-27T14:01:25.537+00:00Tim Montgomerie is not a Tory MP I think, although...Tim Montgomerie is not a Tory MP I think, although his role in the Commons has been taken by David Davis - who was still going on about appeasing the markets by reducing the deficit by 2020 by the way. <br /><br />Davis too said that the Troy manifesto was an initial bargaining position and they did not expect to win the election.<br /><br />I did though enjoy the constitutional crisis predicted by Fleece-Smog and his reference to 1678, in which no crowds assembled outside Parliament this morning despite Nigel Lawson joining the Bishops in their worship of craven images, the Sun roundly attacking Osborne on its front page while the Daily Mail went in for the rhetoric of silence. Just like 1830-2 or 1909-11 really. <br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2546602206734889307.post-72589816065064677672015-10-27T13:02:52.524+00:002015-10-27T13:02:52.524+00:00Montgomerie's comment re the unexpectedness of...Montgomerie's comment re the unexpectedness of the Tory election victory, and the ensuing baggage of over-egged austerity manifesto pledges, was a real eye-opener. mekonistahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08161825071812685269noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2546602206734889307.post-22978242289882545682015-10-27T12:11:28.804+00:002015-10-27T12:11:28.804+00:00http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-34637068
Peston...http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-34637068<br />Peston on tax credit cuts. Media macro.Randomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04445772572707818311noreply@blogger.com