O/T Geraldine Smith

[marky]

I see Ms. Smith has been mouthing off about David Milliband.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7534729.stm

I think the most hilarious quote is...

If David Miliband was placed back on the backbenches, then I think he'd become the non-entity that he was before his accelerated promotion

That's rich, coming from a complete non-entity who will probably lose her job sometime in the next 2 years!

[Christies Child]

The only way to treat that lot.......

[marky No.1]

Yeah and at least Mr. Miliband will be allowed a drink in the York.. Won't he

[marky No.1]

..........and here she is

http://www.thelancasterandmorecambeciti ... r_work___/

Was this not your idea Sgnt. Major

[sgt major]

..........and here she is

http://www.thelancasterandmorecambeciti ... r_work___/

Was this not your idea Sgnt. Major

We at Morecambe pubwatch have been trying to get our MP to come to one of our monthly meetings for two years - maybe when the MPs get their LONG break she will turn up to speak to us. (I will unbar her from the York )

[Keith]

I see Ms. Smith has been mouthing off about David Milliband.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7534729.stm

I think the most hilarious quote is...

If David Miliband was placed back on the backbenches, then I think he'd become the non-entity that he was before his accelerated promotion

That's rich, coming from a complete non-entity who will probably lose her job sometime in the next 2 years!

When I heard it on World at One I did indeed think 'pot, kettle, black'. She's a little love isn't she?

That said, fair play to her for nailing her colours firmly to the mast. The direction Labour are going, the only slim hope she's got of retaining her seat is surely with a new leader so you would have thought self preservation would have led to her supporting Miliband... or at least keeping her head down!

Good to see 30% gas price hike the day before all the oil companies announce massive profits. Perhaps a tough government stand, like a huge windfall tax could be used to make the oil companies pay for the illegal war that is boosting those huge profits in the first place? I wonder if it's coincidence that they've been announced while Mr Brown is on holiday? It's going to be a tough winter for the elderly and the low paid. A friend of mine's father has worked out that him and his wife can go to a resort in Spain for the winter for less than the cost of heating & lighting their house.

[Curly]

And take their cold weather fuel payments to spend on Sangria

[Posh]

As someone who has worked with David Milliband and knows Geraldine Smith I know which one I would back in a tight corner. And it ain't Geraldine.

Milliband said the right things in The Guardian but 12 months too late and should have stood against Brown. As for Geraldine she was happy to put the boot into Blair but doesn't like it when someone makes a few worthy points.

She's a pisspoor MP. She cares nothing for the Labour Party locally and has done nothing to encourage her local party (very few people turn up to meetings) and more to help local independents. The only thing she gets excited about is based on her hardline Catholicism - voted against all gay rights legislation, abortion, etc. etc.

As a Labour Party member I wish it wasn't so but her time is coming to an end and she's only herself to blame.

[slackAlice]

And take their cold weather fuel payments to spend on Sangria

Good luck to em as well I say Curly - given the choice of freezing your n*ts off and /or four months of rain OR slowly getting sloshed on your sun lounger / playing Bingo in Benidorm ?
What would you take ? Mind you you'd miss the Footy season !

Something for us all to look forward too !

[Curly]

And take their cold weather fuel payments to spend on Sangria

Good luck to em as well I say Curly - given the choice of freezing your n*ts off and /or four months of rain OR slowly getting sloshed on your sun lounger / playing Bingo in Benidorm ?
What would you take ? Mind you you'd miss the Footy season !

Something for us all to look forward too !

Don't get me wrong brian, I'd do exactly that, I've never had any tax back from government, have no kids using schools and rarely get ill needing NHS support (excepting occasional bouts of narcolepsy at Lancaster games!)
I'd take every legal penny I could get in my retirement and best of luck to Keiths friends parents.
It's just the irony I find amusing, as a british national should you come to the decision that you'd be better off outside the country in a warm sunny climate, the government will pay you money to spend on sangria/bingo avoiding the british winter, rather than having to stay here to qualify for payments. Rarely, in these days of means testing are people allowed to legally use their "benefits" to truly benefit themselves.

[slackAlice]

Yep I suppose its that 'cost of living' calculation you'd have to weigh up ! I think I'm right in saying that most benefits necessitate 'residency' in this country, things like Pension Credit. I'm not sure about disbility benefits to be honest , but you can claim your State Pension in Espana and of course your occupational pension is yours to spend where you want and anything else you've managed to tuck away throughout your working life.
I bet it'll become an increasing trend for your 'fairly fit , active OAP' in the years to come , another factor I would think sways them is the 'fear' of crime - social conditions etc.

But there'll be back as quick as a flash if their health detiorates - but if they've worked all their life -their entitled to the good old NHS - but I agree it is bizzare I also know a few OAP's who spend quite a lot of time abroad during the winter months.

[marky]

I have to admit, Posh, that GS plummetted in my estimations with her votes on various social issues. Indeed, other than her hardline Brownism, I struggle to see any connections between her and the wider Labour party. The thing that makes me smile the most is the fact she rode the crest of the Blair wave when she was elected in 1997. She stuck the boot into him and aligned herself with the man who will probably lose her her job. I'm waiting for the moment in 12 months time when she suddenly claims to be a Millibandite (that sounds painful!). It's all too late though. She was on borrowed time before the 2005 elections. She's merely keeping the seat warm now.