ian duncan smith = out

[5lab]

just heard it on teh telly - anyone got any views? im not 100% sure (i dont always follow these things) as to what he did wrong in the first place..

[Skii]

Well its the last time I vote blue

[Anders]

He didn’t do anything wrong as far as I know. They decided they wanted a new leader. This has been coming for ages really. Skii, why is it the last time you’ll vote blue out of interest? You liked IDS?

[Skii]

Originally posted by Anders
He didn’t do anything wrong as far as I know. They decided they wanted a new leader. This has been coming for ages really. Skii, why is it the last time you’ll vote blue out of interest? You liked IDS?

No - Its not that I liked him, its purely down to the fact that yet again the Tories reveal themselves as a bunch of backstabbers.

At a time when the country needs a strong opposition to the cock-up clan in power at the moment, the conservatives had the best opportunity they have had in a very long time to provide a realistic alternative, but no - instead of rallying behind their leader (whom they voted into said position in the first place) they screw it up again.

The fact is they can't decide on a leader - they can't even decide on a European policy. Major , Haig , IDS, it will go on and on.

Who's next for the chop eh ?

[Raz316]

I dont know the full story, but it takes the weewee when the people "representing" us don't even know who they want in power :/ GAH its annoying..

[Erotic Bootlace]

Well you could argue that they ousted him because he wasn't doing enough to combat those evil reds we call 'Labour'. Think about it; during the War on Iraq and after, and after finding no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, why the hell wasn't he there grilling Tony Blair? Instead, the Tory Leader SUPPORTED the war, with or without a UN mandate thing. Although i didn't dislike IDS, i think he could have doen so much more to smear Tony Blair.

[Erotic Bootlace]

BTW, i was pro-war, but i think we should have forced George Bush to get the UN mandate. He couldn't have done it without our support, and after all, the Oil he is after isn't going to run out in the time it took to get France, Germany and Russia on our side.

(I'm pro-war coz Saddam was evil, not coz i want more oil, btw).

[Anders]

IDS didn’t grill TB because the Tory party policy was pro war. It would have been a tad hypocritical to criticise after.

I do not think France would have ever been on side since they said they would veto any further resolutions about Iraq regardless of what they said. Typical French government logic.

[luke313]

IMO the Tories need a total reshuffle. The only reason IDS has been voted out (again IMO) is because he was part of the group of Tories that made Major leave. Thus the people who were behind Major have backstabbed him, and so on. All that is going to happen is that the Tories are gonna decline until they are behind the Lib Dems and Labour. Although, I believe he should have gone anyways because he wasn't getting the Conservative's anywhere.

[Erotic Bootlace]

Yes the Tories where Pro war, but changing their stance and sayign that the govornment misinformed the public and them would have worked.

[Anders]

Yeah I suppose so, although I think the media criticised TB too early on. Iraq is a big country and the weapons are likely to have been hidden so it will take time to find them. Have they found any weapons yet? I remember hearing a rumour that they found some biological agents or something, anyone know if it is true? If it is true then it shows how one sided and sensationalist our media is. IDS may have felt that the freeing of a repressed population was justification enough on its own for war, regardless of weapons of mass destruction. I know I do.

[Peanut]

Socialism is dead, (real) conservatism is dead, what we have now is three liberal parties fighting over which one can avoid expressing opinions on anything the longest. IDS was a competent administrator and might have made a decent PM fourty years ago, but today the Tories need someone who can compete with Blair in personality stakes and make the party seem in any way interesting. That means Ken Clarke or Michael Portillo, neither of whom they seem in a rush to elect.

First post since the crash

[Anders]

Indeed “Peanut”, although I’m not sure we have three liberal parties. I would say we have two centre conservative parties and one liberal party. IMO that’s been one of the chief problems for the Conservative party. Many of (New) Labour’s policies are the same as the Conservatives. The Conservative cannot criticise Labour policies that are the same as their own. This gives the Tories only a few things to attack the government for. The only other option is move either to the left or the right of Labour. It is unlikely to be to the left of Labour.

It is a shame that image and having hair seems to be more important to the ‘general public’ than policies or issues.

[Theo]

Hair is an important factor in choosing a Prime Minister candidate! At least - the development of said hair during the PM reign, in a sense. Aside from natural causes, I'm pretty sure stress can be a major factor linked to hair-loss. It's been pointed out that Blair has seemingly gotten thinner on top in the last two years, and I wouldn't be suprised if that has anything to do with the war, etc.

[Anders]

Lol, TB looks to have been malting seriously recently. Still it is not a good enough reason to vote for/against him IMO. Yeah I believe stress can make your hair fall out, at least it shows TB cares.

[ReDOcToBeR]

Originally posted by Skii
No - Its not that I liked him, its purely down to the fact that yet again the Tories reveal themselves as a bunch of backstabbers.

Have to agree with you on that one.
I have never voted Tory but IDS seemed like a decent man to me, although I still wouldn't vote Tory as I can remember the legacy left over from when they were last in power.
Mind you not that I would vote Labour ever again either which doesn't really leave me with much choice apart from the Libs and I'm defo not sure about them either.

Bah bloody politicians can't trust any of the beggers really