A little bit of politics

A little bit of politics

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How surprising to see David Cameron’s ICAEW cameo appareance on tonight’s episode of Have I Got News For You.

It’s hard to work out which was more cringe-worthy: the prime ministers unconvincing attempts to prove how “pumped up” he is, or the professional body that invited him along to let them be his pin-striped claque for the performance.

If you watched  the show, what went through your mind during the sequence? And what are your impressions of the overall campaign so far?

Enjoy it while you can - there are only six more days to go.

Replies (8)

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paddle steamer
By DJKL
02nd May 2015 15:50

The price of their presence (quasi endorsement) ought to have been a manifesto pledge that a subsequent Conservative administration would half the number of extant pages of primary tax legislation (and not by making the print smaller)

They should have also insisted on legislation that ensured the pledge would be honoured (woops, that increases legislation, but okay, it would not be tax legislation just a promise re tax legislation)

On the positive side at least there will be less competition in the profession in 10-15 years, hardly a recruitment video re becoming an accountant.

 

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Locutus of Borg
By Locutus
02nd May 2015 16:17

That made me laugh on Have I Got News for You

His PR team obviously told him to try and show a bit of passion ... so he tries it on a crowd of people known for their passion ... accountants.  Not his most convincing moment.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IA2wzyj_V9E

I thought he did well on the Question Time debate on Thursday, though.

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paddle steamer
By DJKL
02nd May 2015 16:26

Who has watched Ballot Monkeys?

The above got a name check on This Week. Have watched episode 2 (1 was not on catch up)

Maybe not side splitting but I smiled a few times during the 20 minutes.

I believe more to be broadcast this week.

Mind you, an election special "Thick of It" would have livened things up as the build up has been very tedious. Hopefully on the night lots of surprises and the post match Friday- Monday should be interesting. Am taking Friday as a holiday so I can stay up  to watch results as they come through.

Wonder if they will set up a shuttle bus to the palace!!

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John Stokdyk, AccountingWEB head of insight
By John Stokdyk
02nd May 2015 22:38

Just a little preview for DJKL and other election junkies...

We're planning to run a live election night blog on Thrusday evening, starting from 10pm and running into Friday morning.

My main interest will be tracking the fortunes of what we are terming "The Accountancy Party" - the 30 known accountants who are in the running for parliamentary seats. So we'll be tracking how they all fare and speculating about the potential for those elected getting positions of influence in the next government.

If there is enough interest as the focus switches to actually forming the government, we'll leave the chat thread running for you to share your views with other interested AccountingWEB members.

It should be an exciting few days at the end of the week, but I'll be glad when this one's over. You can tell how boring it's become when David Cameron has to put on staged events to convince viewers how "pumped up" he is.

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RLI
By lionofludesch
03rd May 2015 11:36

Thursday's my birthday, so I'll be voting for the Birthday Party.

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paddle steamer
By DJKL
03rd May 2015 21:17

More of the absurd, has The Thick of It supplanted reality?

Well, I thought the Conservative idea to legislate against themselves re certain taxes was as far as things could go, I just did not appreciate that Labour could follow them down the road to absurdity that quickly, but they can.

An inscribed tablet (Alright, only 6 points, not 10) for Labour to lead us all to the promised land.

I presume in the event of a coalition the first order of business will be a call to the stonemason to see if he can edit the copy.

Both actions clearly show that the parties agree on one fact, voters do not trust them. Now I do not know  who does the advising within the parties but I must say I always thought that if one had a flaw of character it was better not to point in out to everyone, the policy/campaign advisers appear to ignore this in their preposterous attempts to persuade us that we can trust them, honest guv.

So, do the SNP launch a Declaration of Abroath Mark 2? (No, they do not need to, they are winning)

What can the Liberals do in the pledge stakes, weave a rafia pledge to the people.Possibly, post the tuition fees debacle they don't see the point, attempting to persuade the electorate is obviously a waste of time.

The Greens could certainly plant a number of trees which when viewed from the air spelled out their promises, but then flying over them to view would maybe somewhat defeat the purpose.

And UKIP, oh UKIP, what can they do as a gesture? Well given their predilictions I don't think I would want to encourage them to do anything, could they just crawl back away somewhere, please.

Okay, he never stood up here in Edinburgh as far as I am aware, but if the late Screaming Lord Such was to stand he might have done pretty well this time round.

This election strikes me as a perfect example why individuals who have done little else with their life, where most of their world has been the world of politics, should not stand for election. How long until the parental mantra of , "you are not joining a rock band, get a real job" is extended to the parents of aspiring politicians.?

 

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John Stokdyk, AccountingWEB head of insight
By John Stokdyk
07th May 2015 11:52

More gossip and comment for the politically inclined

If you've got a taste for punditry, join us in an online chat at 1pm to discuss them with other AccountingWEB members. We'll be coming back to the same spot after the polls close - so if you're a bit of a political satirist and you've got a few quips of your own, come and try them out with us.

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By JCresswellTax
07th May 2015 12:57

Sorry no online chat for me

I watched your IR35 webinar John and you may just have had a bad day at the office but I couldn't stop laughing :)  IR25 was my favourite.

So I think I will give the online chat a miss thanks.

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