Sunday 23 August 2009

A GOOD START TO SUNDAY

There isn't a lot of news out there at the moment and what there is has been well covered. This little beauty, however,  has brightened up my weekend considerably. So, with John Rentoul already having done such a good job, I am going to leave you in his capable hands and have an early night and will be back tomorrow refreshed and ready to rock 'n' roll again.

 Cameron untouched by NHS row

Posted by John Rentoul 

Saturday, 22 August 2009 at 07:46 pm
    A ComRes poll for The Independent on Sunday tomorrow puts the Conservative lead at 17 percentage points, virtually unchanged since the most recent ComRes for The Independent on 28 July.
    Con      41% (-1)
    Lab      24% (-)
    LD        18% (-)
    Other   16% (-)    UKIP 5, Green 4, Nationalists 3, BNP 3.
    And when voters were asked whether they agreed or disagreed that "The NHS would be safer under Labour than the Conservatives", only 39% agreed and 47% disagreed.
    So it looks as if Daniel Hannan's attack on the NHS as a 60-year mistake has not done Cameron any harm - despite lots of excited commentary about how Gordon Brown had had an unusual good news week.
    Thus Mike Smithson wins the 134th slot in my series of Questions to Which the Answer is No. Earlier this month he asked:
    Is Brown set for an invisibility boost?
    The other questions are not so good for the Conservatives. George Osborne is making no progress on the economy:
    The Conservatives have the right ideas about how to get Britain out of recession:
    Agree               37% (Feb 35%, April 38%)
    Disagree           48% (Feb 45%, April 49%)

    And there is support for the left-wing Compass proposal for a High Pay Commission. It is as if Margaret Thatcher never existed:

    A High Pay Commission should be set up to curb excessive pay and bonuses:
    Agree              65%
    Disagree          31%

    Finally, no change in attitudes to Afghanistan:
    All British forces should be withdrawn from Afghanistan as quickly as possible:
    Agree              60% (64% in July)    
    Disagree         33%  (33% in July)

    ComRes telephoned 1,013 GB adults on 19 and 20 August 2009. (Numbers do not add to 100 because of rounding.) Full tables at ComRes.

    11 comments:

    Opus #6 said...

    Hey, that's great that conservatives lead by 17 points. Sorry not everybody agrees about the other issues. It is hard to get a consensus. But if you can get more conservatives in government, that has to be a good thing.

    Anonymous said...

    It's all over!!....Even the morons on Labour List realise it....

    Tom Miller is already wittering on about how they must be ready to seize the day, if the Tories mess up AFTER their election victory.

    And if he thinks that the games up....

    GoodnightVienna said...

    The game was up a long time ago - it's the damage Labour are doing, and will continue to do, before the GE that's really worrying now. Still, at least they've finally got the msg that even with a different leader, they're on to a loser.

    Anonymous said...

    Dan has opened up the long-overdue debate on the NHS. Perhaps Dave will have the courage to take his views on board now - even if he doesn't admit to doing so publicly.

    I fear another landslide victory, will be bad for democracy. For that reason, I will be voting UKIP, to inject more euroscepticism into the parliamentary make-up.

    The End (Bye Bye!) said...

    The only way Brown is going to gain popularity is with permanent invisibility. Preferably by way of cremation.

    Anonymous said...

    Six of one. Half dozen of the other. I wish I had more faith in the Tories, but I haven't heard much to inspire me.

    The dance continues.

    Barking Spider said...

    Hi, Opie:

    This has been the case for a while, now, but everyone was waiting to see what would happen because of the stupid Tory wafflings of the past week, (Dan Hannan excluded). The good news is that, in light of this poll, Labour are well and truly finished!

    Barking Spider said...

    It was pretty obvious that Miller was getting desperate a few weeks ago, DAC, so it would now seem that the last nail has been driven into their coffin. I think Labour has found that their actions over Megrahi, our troops and every other lying piece of filth they utter have sealed their fate - forever, I hope.

    BTW, now following you on Twitter.

    Barking Spider said...

    I agree, Fausty, and I do hope Cameron is more of a Conservative than he's pretending to be at the moment. If UKIP had more influence, I would vote for them too but at the present the biggest objective is to get rid of Labour and the Tories present the best chance for that. Needless to say, I believe and support everything that Dan Hannan has said and I, too, hope that he has opened up the NHS debate. Binning the "arse doesn't know what the elbow's doing" bureaucracy would be a good start!

    Barking Spider said...

    Hey, Gigits - who's got the matches? Can I light the blue touchpaper - PLEASE?

    Barking Spider said...

    I do know what you're saying, Nickie, but the Tories give us our best chance to obliterate Labour at the moment. After that, who knows? I, for one, agree with Fausty and would like to see UKIP gain a bigger foothold and end up as HM Official Opposition for starters, pushing Labour out into the cold along with the Lib Dems, never to be seen or heard again! I'd also like to see the Libertarians gaining more ground. THEN we might some proper debate back into the House of Commons.