TOPIC: Jeremy on his way!

Apparently the other photo opportunity, Marxist, terrorist loving, non porcine shagging clown is on his way! Thank the lord! We're saved!
Btw, has the billionaire been on the phone with an offer of any help?

Bruntonpasty wrote:
Have you seen Diane Abbot?

Jeremy on his way!

I'm overwhelmed

Moorlad will be beside himself..........Jezza and Santa all in the same month

I hear his first port of call is Greystone Community Centre , he`s heard they have a massive amount of second hand clothes up for grabs

As much as I dislike the bloke and pretty much all the other ministers, they have to be seen to show their sympathy or the papers and the likes of Paxman will be all over them.

It really is a sad world to live in.

thesilentone wrote:
I think he should have stayed in London.

And, I FUCKING HATE Christmas.

To be honest, it doesn't matter who comes or who doesn't, whichever flag they fly, they're damned if they do and they're damned if they don't!

Moorlad wrote:
Well, I met him outside the butchers' this morning, shook him by the hand, thanked him for coming and asked him to ensure that this business doesn't get forgotten. He asked if I had been flooded and I assured him that I hadn't but I indicated the acquaintance that I'd just been talking to who'd had six feet of water through his house so they had a chat. Then Corbyn went into the butcher for a chat with Tony, the proprietor, which I thought was nice of him given that Corbyn's vegetarian.

Whatever you think of his politics he came, it is on the news programmes and Cumbria's problems are in the public's minds for at least another day. That'll be another few thousand quid in the appeal fund, and Corbyn will know what he's talking about when he's facing the PM across the despatch box and holding him to account. Hopefully.

Respect.

griff wrote:
Can I ask how dodgy Dave is to be "held to account"? Flood defences for carlisle were first highlighted after the 2005 floods? The Blair govt was in charge then was it not? So are you saying Dodgy dave somehow derailed or degraded the flood defence plans back then? When were the defences completed?

Bruntonpasty wrote:
Dont know the ins and outs but the budget has been cut hasnt it?

Dodgy Dave was headline on all news channels, Jezza and Santa never got a mention.............

Bruntonpasty wrote:
Draw your horns in. Pasty, I said no such thing. Certain promises have been made this time around and they're easy to break. For instance the £51m might turn out not to be new money, but could be a reworking of other budgets which could mean that other services could suffer. Or costs could go up and more might be needed, or his promises made in Carlisle may turn out to be 'elastic'. The opposition have a duty to hold the Government to account, to test, review and oppose where it's right to do so. So. Of course I expect Corbyn to hold Dave to account. It's what he's paid to do.

Dancingbear wrote:
Some say it has, some say it hasn't. I'm thinking specifically about Carlisle, Cockermouth and keswick, All of which have had defences built in recent years. The crux of what I'm saying is, whatever was done and by whoever, the exceptional and unprecedented rainfall breached the defences and the poor folks in theses areas are in the shite again. Politicians and their followers tend to use these occurences as opportunities for political gain and points scoring rather than focusing on what went wrong and providing a solution or assistance to the people affected.

griff wrote:
Sorry Griff! I just hate the lot of them! They're pretty much all liars and rarely provide practical solutions, more they look for stuff they can spin for political gain. I believe Jeremy was going to see the fire brigade leaders locally to talk about their role in the flood emergency, the same leaders who have twisted statistics about the fire stations in danger of closure, you couldn't make it up!

thesilentone wrote:
Which just goes to show whose pocket the media are in. The press only report on Corbyn when they can put a negative spin on things.

Corbyn has received a very favourable reception from what I can see. Everybody who met him today has been full of praise for his conduct. He ventured a wee bit further than the PM, stayed a little longer, saw a little more, and cheered a couple of folk up in the process.

In contrast, Dodgy Dave made a vote grabbing visit to an electoral swing seat. He made the token house call and posed for the camera before getting the hell out of here.

I was more interested in the benefit it had for the Region, not the Politicians. They did'nt come because they were concerned about Cumbria. However, Dodgy Dave got our plight on the headlines of all the news. Jezza did nowt.....

Kangshung wrote:

thesilentone wrote:
Well I saw him on the telly, as many thousands of others must have done. You only see what you want to see, you're Carlisles Arsene Wenger.

Bruntonpasty wrote:
Erm, Corbyn visited a seat where his party has a 5,000 majority, and has held the seat pretty much constantly since 1918 bar a three-year period.

MerseysideBlue wrote:

Erm , Allerdale yes, Carlisle NO. Spin it how you like, no difference between Cameron visiting and Corbyn visiting.

Bruntonpasty wrote:
That's my point - Corbyn already controls the seat he visited, he went to Cockermouth not Carlisle!

MerseysideBlue wrote:
Also visiting Carlisle at some time apparently? Tomorrow maybe? or was it late today? Anyhoo, I still tar them ALL with the same brush, LABOUR OR TORY!

'Bruntonpasty wrote:
There is no spin needed. Dave chose to bother only with a seat which swings by small numbers, one where his presence at a time of strife can be influential in people's minds the next time polling day comes around. The rest of the county didn't matter to him, and I am yet to hear a positive take on his visit.

Corbyn (whom I have my differences with) visited a relatively safe seat for his party, one they are likely to hold regardless of whether he turned up, before travelling through half the county to Carlisle. You could put the spin on the Carlisle call, but not the Cockermouth one.

If you have no interest in politics, why get involved in political discussion? And why label people as 'blind followers' when they favour the stance of one politician above one other on a single issue?

Interesting to see the takes on this and on Cameron.

Personally I thought it was right that Cameron was seen in Cumbria and it didn't really matter where he went, but it made sense that he was shown around by a local Tory MP, in the same way that Corbyn will have been shown round (I assume) by Sue Hayman. Plus, he's the Prime Minister - him coming for a few hours/overnight is probably about all he could manage. I'm not defending the fella, just noting he has a few more draws on his time than JC.

As for Jeremy seeking to make political capital, I doubt that. He's my MP in London and is universally well liked in the area, even people who identify as Tory vote for him as they understand the excellent work he does for the community. Despite there being middle class bores like me (and Liam Gallagher and Damian Lewis) in the seat, it's one of the poorest in the UK and he has a reputation as a great champion both of local causes and of the idea of community itself. I've never met him but my girlfriend (full disclosure - a Labour Party member) has several times and she'd assure you that his concern, empathy and interest was 100% genuine. Whether you have his politics or not he is, at heart, a decent and thoughtful man.

Bruntonpasty wrote:
The flood defence budgets were definitely cut in 2011 and again in 2014. There were specific cuts to plans in both Cockermouth and Keswick. The former mayor of Keswick told me yesterday that even if the full amount had been spent though it would have made no difference to the outcome last weekend. I've no idea what difference a full spend would have made to Cockermouth, but I've been told by clients that they had much more time to get organised and out, so the defences certainly had some effect.

Kangshung wrote:
Calm down calm down. Kanshung, not sure if you noticed but I started this thread, it was tongue in cheek! This will be my last post on this thread. As I stated further up, I hate all politicians equally, there are very few good ones and it often appears that the good ones don't get into ministerial office. How I see it is, Corbyn would have been well received in a stronghold constituency but he would have been a fool politically to ignore a seat where it is more marginal, people have long memories, he'll have been advised to visit Carlisle too! I view it as naive to see it otherwise. Dodgy dave appears and the left wingers see it as a photo opportuniuty/ headline grab, Maybe they're right but maybe he is also concerned at the plight of those flooded out just like Jeremy, but then he's a tory, that couldn't be right could it? This is my point about blind followers and both of them being damned if they do or damned if they don't.

Moorlad, Thanks for your insight into the cuts during the coalition govt's time in office, Im pleased to read that your opinion is even handed enough to agree that whatever was done had helped in some way but that when we receive such an exceptional amount of rain in such a short time, there's little that will stop such a force of nature.

Thanks to all for making it an interesting thread.

How sad that it comes down to a political blame game.
Some of you should have a think.

So you think the Prime Minister of the UK should not visit a disaster area in the UK?

Neither of them are going to be Prime Minister after the next election anyway.

Both of them have done what they should do under the circumstances. The most important thing is what happens next ie who's going to look after those people who through no fault of their own couldn't afford to insure their properties etc.

"I hate all politicians equally"

Sign of a serious lack of thinking there eh. Why would you hate all 650 MPs? Every last one? People who say stuff like "they're all the same" haven't been paying attention. Skinner the same as IDS? Really?

Fair?

High Street wrote:
Exactly my point. The entire region has been devastated, not just the swing seat. Why not go to Cockernouth, Keswick, Appleby, Kendal, or some of the rural communities that lie in tatters? Could it be that there was little political gain to be made elsewhere? Surely the politically savvy PM wouldn't be following the advice of a bunch of cold and calculating political strategists in choosing his port of call. I mean, what a ridiculous notion, right?

Carlisle is not the only place to be hit hard, the whole of Cumbria has been decimated. At least Corbyn had a look at a wee bit more of the carnage. His motivation for a stop in Carlisle may also have been political, granted, or perhaps, having seen the damage done in small towns and more rural areas, he wanted a look at the city too?

I'm not JC's biggest fan by a long stretch, but I don't doubt his sincerity or his integrity. Neither of those words strike me as being applicable to the PM.

I'll bow out of this now. It's been interesting to get a flavour of the various interpretations of the reasons for the schedules followed by the two leaders, but this thread is a potential tinder box. I'm off to be bemused by the blizzard falling outside, while the road remains closed and the valley is quiet...