Gordon Brown now 5/2 to jump or get the push in 2009.

From William Hill:

PUNTERS have backed Gordon Brown down from 6/1 to 5/2 with William Hill to CEASE to be Prime Minister during 2009. 'Since the financial crisis took hold the odds about Mr Brown ceasing to be Prime Minister during 2009 have steadily shortened' said Hill's spokesman Graham Sharpe.

At the same time, Labour's odds of winning the next General Election have lengthened dramatically from 5/4 to 11/4 with Hills, while the Conservatives have shortened from 4/7 to 1/4 favourites, making them hotter favourites to win the next General Election than at any time since Gordon Brown became Labour Leader.

And Hills say political punters are plunging cash on a Tory landslide - 'We now offer just 5/4 that the Tories will get 375 or more seats, and that will constitute a landslide victory'

'We can't give Labour away at any price at the moment, punters want to be on the Tories at whatever price we offer' added Hill's Sharpe.

Labour are out to 7/1 to have an overall majority at the next Election, with the Tories 4/9. Hills offer 9/4 about a Hung Parliament.

THE NEXT GENERAL ELECTION is now odds-on to take place in 2010, say bookmakers William Hill who make that a 1/3 chance from 4/9. Hills offer 9/2 that it will be between July and December of this year and the same price that it will be before the end of June. 'As the polls turn against Labour, punters become more convinced that Mr Brown will have to wait until 2010 to call an Election in the hope that things will have swung in his favour by then.' said Hill's spokesman.

Hills have lengthened their odds about Brown to 1/4 to lead Labour into the next Election and shortened the odds for him not to to 11/4.

Brown is now odds on at 4/5 with Hills to be the next of the three Party Leaders to leave his job, with Nick Clegg at 7/4 and David Cameron 4/1.

LATEST WILLIAM HILL POLITICAL ODDS:

Date of next General Election
Jan-Jun 2009 - 9/2
Jul-Dec 2009 - 9/2
2010 or later - 1/3

Will there be a General Election in 2009
9/4

Will there be a Hung Parliament after next General election?
1/3 No
9/4 Yes

Next General Election result
Conservative Majority - 4/9
No Overall Majority - 9/4
Labour Majority - 7/1

Most Seats at the next General Election
1/4 Conservative
11/4 Labour
100 Liberal Democrats

Which Leader will be the first to leave their post?
4/5 Gordon Brown
7/4 Nick Clegg
4/1 David Cameron

Date of Gordon Brown's departure?
2009 - 5/2
2010 - 4/5
2011 - 25
2012 - 20
2013 - 16
2014 - 10
2015 - 10
2016 - 25
2017 or later - 25

Who will succeed Gordon Brown as Labour Leader?
7/2 H.Harman
5/1 D.Miliband
7/1 A.Johnson
8/1 J.Purnell
10/1 A.Burnham
10/1 J.Straw
12/1 E.Balls
12/1 J.Denham
20/1 H.Benn

Who Will Succeed A.Darling as next Chancellor?
5/6 G.Osborne
4/1 K.Clarke
5/1 E.Balls
10/1 V Cable
16/1 D.Miliband

Gordon Brown to lead Labour into the next General Election?
1/4 Yes
11/4 No

Conservative Landslide at the next General Election (to win 375 seats or more)
4/7 No
5/4 Yes

Live webcast - Greg Clark and Theresa Villiers answer your questions

Live webcast - Greg Clark and Theresa Villiers answer your questions @ 11:30 today.

The event will focus on the environment, climate change and the planned third runway at Heathrow – and it will be hosted by Dr Keith Allott, Head of Climate Change at the WWF, who will put your questions to Greg and Theresa.

Watch it here:

Has John Prescott gone mad?

I've read some crap in my time, but John Prescott takes the biscuit tonight. He wants his readers (he must think they are stupid) to believe that David Cameron has committed some kind of dirty by asking his MPs to turn out to vote against the Heathrow expansion.

John says:

But we've been denied that chance to listen and debate* because we were called back to London to vote on Heathrow expansion.

Normally we would cancel each other out as members would be paired. But David Cameron insisted that all his MPs were in the Commons tonight so he could try and highlight divisions in Labour over Heathrow.

I cannot seriously believe Prescott expects anyone with half a brain to fall for this drivel. Talk about spin! He is trying to make out that Cameron is some kind of eco-criminal for trying to stop the expansion of heathrow. Can you believe it? Maybe Cameron wouldn't have had to call in all of his MPs to vote if Gordon Brown hadn't resorted to turning on the waterworks with his rebel MPs.

You can't see it, but John Prescott has got more neck than a whole jar full of giraffes.

*Council of Europe delegation debate on Russia's invasion of Georgia

Labour MP Andrew Slaughter quits government over Third Runway.

Labour MP Andrew Slaughter has quit his job as parliamentary private secretary to Foreign Office minister Lord Malloch-Brown to campaign against the third runway at Heathrow. In a letter to constituents Andrew said:

"Ministers are insisting that stringent noise and pollution limits are met before the new runway can be used and that use of existing runways will not grow. "But Heathrow will seek a way to break these promises once again. Opposition from residents and green groups means that we can stop a third runway being built. I assure you that my fight against it will go on."

Good on you Andrew. Full story HERE.

Cameron promises sanctions on fraud Lord's.

David Cameron has announced that the Conservatives would change the law to enable tougher sanctions on any Lord found guilty of wrongdoing. David said:

"What is completely wrong is that members of the House of Lords can behave badly, can break every code of ethics in the book and yet they cannot be suspended or expelled from that House of Parliament. So we would change the law."

This policy mirrors a post I wrote on the subject on Monday and it is good to see that Cameron still seems to be in touch with the public mood.

Full story from the BBC HERE.

Tory Councillor criticised for topless pictures in his office (vote).

Tory councillor David Taylor has put up The Sun's 2009 page 3 calender in his office to have a go at political correctness. Sure enough, David's fellow Labour and LibDem councillors have kicked up a fuss. Council leader Councillor David Kirkham, said:

"It certainly would not be acceptable in the Labour group. "Wherever I have worked that sort of thing has always been deemed as not the sort of thing to do. "Officers go in and out of the councillor offices all the time. Mail has got to be delivered."

LibDem Councillor Jason Zadrozny said the pictures were "out of touch.

"Political correctness has gone mad and I agree with that. But when you are subjecting other members of staff to it, or you have a constituent come to see you in that office, it is clearly not fair. It is out of order."

Conservative leader Councillor Kay Cutts said she did not have a problem with the pictures.

Full story HERE.

Should topless pictures be allowed in the workplace?
	Yes
	No
	Only if it is an all male environment.
pollcode.com free polls

US rap song describes our economic woes perfectly.

I found this over on the great Final Redoubt blog. This is obviously a US rap, but it could easily have been made about the situation we in the UK find ourselves in.

Iraq Cabinet minutes to be released - Shredders are go!

From Ananova:

The Government has been ordered to release the minutes of crucial 2003 Cabinet meetings where the invasion of Iraq was discussed.

The Information Tribunal upheld a decision by the Information Commissioner that details of the sessions on March 13 and 17 should be disclosed.

The meetings considered the highly controversial issue of whether the invasion was allowed under international law.

Oh dear, is that the sound of shredders firing up that I hear?

Basketball coach sacked for winning by 100 to 0

You think we are going mad over here for stupid school policies such as "no winners and losers" in case it upsets the little darlings? Well, in Dallas Texas you could find yourself sacked if the team you are coaching wins by too much.

Last week, a Dallas school posted a message on its website apologising for beating local basketball rivals by 100 to 0. "It is shameful and an embarrassment that this happened. This clearly does not reflect a Christlike and honourable approach to competition."

The coach, Micah Grimes wrote an email to the Dallas Morning News stating that the team had no reason to be ashamed for winning. He was sacked the same day.

Nuttier than squirrel sh*t.

Full story HERE.

You can also read how a crazy German managed to park his car in a church roof. I had to laugh when police said that speed was a possible cause for the accident. click HERE.

Iain Dale Exclusive - Daniel Kawczynski MP and the Speaker.

Daniel Kawczynski MP has written an exclusive post for Iain Dale's Diary:

In this heartfelt article he declares that the Speaker of the House of Commons has let him down and that the Speaker has banned the Serjeant at Arms from discussing last week's issues with him.

Full Story HERE.

Guardian ICM Poll strengthens Conservative lead.

The Guardian's ICM poll brings more bad news for Gordon Brown.





From the Guardian:

Voters think that Gordon Brown's high-profile battle to turn around the economy is doomed, according to a new Guardian/ICM poll. Only 31% think the prime minister's strategy will make things better. Most, 64%, think it will either achieve nothing or even make the situation worse.

Even Labour's supporters are doubtful: only 48% of people who voted for the party in 2005 believe that the government's measures will work.

The deepening crisis has left the party facing heavy defeat. Overall Conservative support is up six points since last month's Guardian/ICM survey. At 44% it is only one point below its 25-year ICM high. Labour is on 32% and the Liberal Democrats are on 16%.

Full story HERE.

Labour Lords cash for amendments - suitable punishment.

When I think of the House of Lords, I think about trust, honour, nobility, honesty and integrity.

The formal title of the House of Lords is:

The Right Honourable the Lords Spiritual and Temporal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Parliament assembled.

If a Peer's honour is found to be in question after an investigation carried out by Lords Interests sub committee, then that Peer should face a vote in upper house to ascertain whether they have acted dishonourably. If a peer is found to have acted dishonourably, they should lose their right to membership of the House of Lords, and face criminal investigation if that is recommended by the Interests sub committee.

Conservatives back to a 15 point lead in ComRes poll.

The latest ComRes poll puts the Conservative party back in a 15 point lead over Labour. Labour are once again polling sub 30 per cent (oh dear, how sad, never mind).

Conservatives 43 +2
Labour 28 -4
LibDem 16 -1

The 132nd Magical Mystery Blog Tour Bus Leaves in 5 Minutes!

Got some time to kill but don't know where to go?

Why don't you climb aboard the Magical Mystery Blog Tour Bus? There are still a few places left.

Click on STOP 1 and the Bus will take you to your first Mystery Blog location.

To get back on the Bus just click the Back Button and click STOP 2 to continue the Tour. I think you can work the rest out.

The Bus rolls out on Sundays and Wednesdays - enjoy the ride. If you have any suggestions for the next tour drop me an email by hitting the Contact button at the top of the page.

HMS Intrepid - It should never happen to a Lady.

Some of you may know that I served in the Royal Navy for sixteen years (1986-2002). So it was with great sadness that I found out that HMS Intrepid was being scrapped in Liverpool. Intrepid was my first ship. I went to sea on her as a stoker at the tender age of seventeen and I have many fond memories of my four years on her. She was an old steam ship - work hard - play hard. It's a shame to see her being torn apart. Pictures HERE.

Oh dear - Labour lords change laws for cash.

This is just a little embarrassing for Labour:

LABOUR peers are prepared to accept fees of up to £120,000 a year to amend laws in the House of Lords on behalf of business clients, a Sunday Times investigation has found.

Four peers – including two former ministers – offered to help undercover reporters posing as lobbyists obtain an amendment in return for cash.

Two of the peers were secretly recorded telling the reporters they had previously secured changes to bills going through parliament to help their clients.

Full story in The Sunday Times HERE.

Chris Grayling - Conservatives will fix broken windows.

Chris Grayling has outlined a "fixing broken windows" policy in The Sun today.

This is a post I wrote on the subject in June 2007:

Between 1990 and 2005 the total number of crimes reported in New York fell from 1,144,874 to 491,829, despite an increase in population of over a million. Violent crime has more than halved and the number of reported murders is almost a quarter of the 1990 figure. Why? The answer is not simple, but it seems that a major contributing factor was the City and the Police Department adopting a “Broken Windows” Policy.

The theory behind the Broken Window Policy is as follows:

(Taken from BROKEN WINDOWS by JAMES Q. WILSON AND GEORGE L. KELLING)

Disorder and crime are usually inextricably linked, in a kind of developmental sequence. Social psychologists and police officers tend to agree that if a window in a building is broken and is left unrepaired, all the rest of the windows will soon be broken. This is as true in nice neighbourhoods as in run-down ones. Window-breaking does not necessarily occur on a large scale because some areas are inhabited by determined window-breakers whereas others are populated by window-lovers; rather, one unrepaired broken window is a signal that no one cares, and so breaking more windows costs nothing. (It has always been fun).

The method used to implement the policy was simple, a visible police presence and zero tolerance of antisocial behaviour. This took the form of the Police department getting officers out of their cars and back on the beat. City officials did their part by fixing those broken windows and removing graffiti. Figures show that these easily implemented measures had a massive effect on reducing crime, and when surveyed the population felt safer both at home and on the streets. The leaders of New York realised that order-maintenance had a much greater effect on reducing crime than crime-solving did.

So what is going wrong in the UK? While the government issue figures telling us that the occurrence crime is falling, why do we the people believe that it is increasing and feel less safe? It could be said that our perception of crime is skewed by increased media coverage. We are more aware of crime even if we live in a relatively crime free area. A more likely cause is our loss of faith in the law (windows are being broken but they aren’t being fixed).

The government have tried to implement the Broken Windows Policy but have failed due to one important factor: new laws have been introduced and the police have used them, however the government have failed to provide enough prison places to ensure they are enforced correctly. The police’s major weapon against anti-social behaviour is the ASBO (Antisocial behaviour order). The ASBO could be an excellent law enforcement tool if used correctly, unfortunately it isn’t.

The idea was that if you were issued with an ASBO and you broke the conditions of that order, you would go to prison. Of the 3,500 ASBOs handed out in England and Wales in 2004-05 (a 60 per cent rise on the figures for 2003-2004) 55% were broken. The NAO (National Audit Office) figures show that the average offender breaks the conditions of their ASBO four times, with one offender breaking the conditions of his order 25 times. This deterrent is obviously not working, if it was working the average offender would never break the conditions of their ASBO, or they would break them only once before going to prison.

The lack of prison places has turned the ASBO into a guard dog with no teeth. It must be incredibly frustrating for the police to be continually picking up the same people for crimes over and over again. If the ASBO worked, fewer would need to be issued as it would be seen as a genuine deterrent, but at the moment it is regarded by many tearaways as a badge of honour. Unfortunately this is a catch 22 situation. Without sufficient prison places the ASBO cannot fulfil its potential as a deterrent, and until people are locked up for breaking the conditions of their orders, more and more orders are going to be issued and broken.

We need more prison places now, or we will never have enough.

Labourlist - Derek Draper's new blog is all at sea.

Obnoxio the Clown gave me an idea with his post: labour lists to port.

Pictures paint a thousand words, and all that:

William Hill - Tories red hot Election favourites.

From William Hill:

THE CONSERVATIVES are now hotter favourites to win the next General Election than at any time since Gordon Brown became Labour Leader, say bookmakers William Hill who have slashed the Tory odds from 4/9 at the start of this year to 1/3 favourites to be the largest Party after the next Election.

'Labour enjoyed a short-lived a short lived revival in the polls during the earlier stages of the economic crisis, but we haven't taken a three figure or bigger bet for them to win the next Election during this year' said Hill's spokesman Graham Sharpe.' All the serious money is for a Tory victory.'

Hills now make Labour 9/4 outsiders to be the largest Party with the Lib Dems 100/1. And Labour are out to 6/1 to have an overall majority at the next Election, with the Tories 1/2. Hills offer 9/4 about a Hung Parliament.

THE NEXT GENERAL ELECTION is now odds-on to take place in 2010, say bookmakers William Hill who make that a 4/9 chance. Hills offer 7/2 that it will be between July and December of this year and 4/1 before the end of June. 'As the polls turn against Labour, punters become more convinced that Mr Brown will have to wait until 2010 to call an Election in the hope that things will have swung in his favour by then.' said Hill's spokesman Graham Sharpe.

Hills make Brown 1/6 to lead Labour into the next Election and 7/2 not to.

David Cameron - Ken Clarke will kill the party!

I cannot believe that David Cameron has brought back Ken Clarke. The man is a raving Europhile and is probably the least loyal Conservative MP when it comes to voting in the house. This term Clarke has voted against the party at a rate of almost one vote in ten. This is a very bad day for the party and will do nothing but cause splits and alienate members.

David Cameron - you have let down a great number of members tonight.

The 131st Magical Mystery Blog Tour Bus Leaves in 5 minutes!

Got some time to kill but don't know where to go?

Why don't you climb aboard the Magical Mystery Blog Tour Bus? There are still a few places left.

Click on STOP 1 and the Bus will take you to your first Mystery Blog location.

To get back on the Bus just click the Back Button and click STOP 2 to continue the Tour. I think you can work the rest out.

The Bus rolls out on Sundays and Wednesdays - enjoy the ride. If you have any suggestions for the next tour drop me an email by hitting the Contact button at the top of the page.

David Cameron- Conservative online policy launch - Low carbon plans.

The Conservative Party will be doing their first-ever online policy launch today at 1.30pm. David Cameron will be discussing the party's new low carbon plans with an Indy journalist and taking questions afterwards from the live chat, e-mail and also Twitter.

You can watch the policy launch live at 1.30pm today on this video player:

Derek Draper launches LabourList.org - South Park Him.

So Derek Draper has started a new Labour blog: LabourList.org

To commemorate this auspicious event I've given Derek and his boss Gordo the Great, the south park treatment.


You can South Park yourself by clicking HERE. To see a load of well known Bloggers South Parked click HERE.

Petition - Send Gordon Brown a message - it's time to go.

An update to the No10 Petition for Gordon Brown to resign over his financial incompetence.

So far 740 people have signed. This Petition closes on the 15th of this month so you need to sign soon. If you run a blog or website please post a link to the petition or email your mates. I'm sick of hearing Brown claim it all came from America.

Click HERE to sign the petition.

Ken Clarke - NO NO NO

I cannot believe that they are considering bringing back Ken Clarke. According to Andrew Porter from the Telegraph, George Osborne is said to welcome the move. I will tell you now that bringing back Clarke will destroy any chance the Conservative party has of winning the next General Election. There is no place on the front bench for a Europhile.

Bring back Clarke and watch the poll ratings plummet.

Video - Gordon Brown is a Moron!

Had enough of Gordon Brown yet? Have you been looking for a No10 petition asking for him to resign over his financial incompetence? Then look no further:

Sign away!

426 @ 14:27 and counting.

545 @ 22:00 - Don't forget to tell your friends.

632 @ 19:44

Hat tip to the Final Redoubt for the video.

Petition - Gordon Brown to resign for financial incompetence.

Had enough of Gordon Brown yet? Have you been looking for a No10 petition asking for him to resign over his financial incompetence? Then look no further:

Sign away!

426 @ 14:27 and counting.

545 @ 22:00 - Don't forget to tell your friends.

Hamas care about the citizens of Gaza?

Many wrongs have been perpetrated by both sides in the build up to the current conflict in Gaza. However, Hamas are to blame for the climbing body count reported over the last 24 hours.

I have young children. If I take them for a walk in our local park and we happen to come across a large dog, I do not poke that dog with a sharp stick. For one thing, that dog will almost certainly attack me, another is there's a good chance my children will get bitten in the process.

Hamas are firing rockets into Israel, knowing full well that the retaliation will be costly for the people they are supposed to represent. When Israel started its air offensive to stop the rocket attacks, Hamas continued to fire rockets. When Israel massed its army on the border, Hamas continued to fire rockets. Now that Israeli troops have entered Gaza, Hamas continue to fire rockets. It's like me continuing to poke that dog with my sharp stick after it has already savaged two of my kids. Worse still, by placing their rocket sites near civilians, Hamas are poking the dog whilst holding their children in front of them.

It may seem like I'm taking sides with Israel on this, but I'm not. Both sides have committed wrongs in the past, but it is a fact that if Hamas had stopped firing its rockets last week, a lot of people would be alive today.

You cannot poke a angry dog with a sharp stick and expect to get away with it.

The Devil hits the economic nail on its head.

You have to wonder how useless Gordon Brown and his Darling are. Not content with wasting £12bn on a pointless VAT cut, they are now considering throwing more of our money at the banks.

The Devil gets to the point.

The 130th Magical Mystery Blog Tour Bus Leaves in 5 Minutes!

Got some time to kill but don't know where to go?

Why don't you climb aboard the Magical Mystery Blog Tour Bus? There are still a few places left.

Click on STOP 1 and the Bus will take you to your first Mystery Blog location.

To get back on the Bus just click the Back Button and click STOP 2 to continue the Tour. I think you can work the rest out.

The Bus rolls out on Sundays and Wednesdays - enjoy the ride. If you have any suggestions for the next tour drop me an email by hitting the Contact button at the top of the page.

God, I really don't like Lib Dems.

My stats for 2008 - don't laugh!

My stats for 2008 according to Google:

100,442 Visits

63,375 Absolute Unique Visitors

161,289 Page views

Thank you to all my visitors.