Ming has gone

[ChavWivaLawDegree]

What is really wierd is that Simon Hughes has been all over the telly since Mr Cambell resigned, and if he becomes leader of the Lib Dems, I'm going to be standing against a leader of a major-ish party in the next election!!

I'm all excited!

I hope Simon Hughes wins the forthcoming leadership contest.

[JesusCappuccino]

.

[SimonM]

I remember that 1983 campaign. Hughes was a beneficiary rather than an instigator or active supporter of the repugnant homophobic smear campaign against the Labour candidate, one Peter Tatchell (what became of him? :)). The canpaign was "masterminded" by assorted "old" Labour diehards like Bob Melchett. Hughes did not exactly cover himself with glory at the time but politics is a dirty business innit?

[ChavWivaLawDegree]

Yes it was against Peter Tatchell, and was really dirty. He has since joined the Green Party and is standing in Oxford. He stands a chance of getting in too.

I doubt Mr Hughes will become leader, but it would be wierd for me if he did because I might get more opportunity to soap-box purely by standing against him as a lowly Green candidate in his elevated position.

I'm feeling a bit starstruck!!

[reggie]

Ming is now.... on the wing

Who wanted a minging leader anyway

[downsouth]

As I was growing up in the Bermondsey Simon Hughes first became an MP for the area. His opportunistic and scaremongering (BNP-lite) may have endearded himself to some in the area but definitley not me - I can't stand the man. Only since he achieved a national reputation - a momemnt I deplored - did he suddenly become an MP for all. He is all about power, worse so than other politicians especially seeing the Lib Dems are hardly going to get into power.

[Marmora Man]

I first became involved in politics when a girlfriend asked me to help her campaign for Simon Hughes in '83. Simon Hughes wasn't merely a beneficiary of the homophobic politicking - almost the entire Liberal party of the area were involved. The campaign was perhaops one of the first to be run on personality rather than political argument. The experience helped me learn to dislike the Liberals / Lib Dems as opportunistic hypocrites and see other organised political parties as much the same. It pushed me toward my libertarian / individual knows best view of politics.

Didn't stick with the girlfriend either.

The Lib Dems have been for some while an irrelevance in politics - despite their current numbers in parliament. There was a time when their less extreme ideas swayed political thinking - but that's not been the case for some while. They'll never die out but they may return to being a genuine "third party" with < 10 MPs as they were through most of the 70's & 80's.

[SeanMacGabhann]

MM - there us much truth in what you say there. The one defence I would put up for the Liberals/Lib-Dems is that, by necessity they are required to be opportunistic given the current voting system.

If you led a third party with equivalent support levels and with whatever policies you choose, you would be negligent if you didn't engage in a degree of Machiavellian politics

Actually I've thought of another defence of them - they aren't either of the two main parties

(yes, yes overly simplistic I know - but no less true for that)

[Michael Palaeologus]

I dont this that Simon Hughes is even a contender. Too much water under the bridge. They will look for newer face free of baggage.

[*Bob*]

Hughes has already declared himself out, has he not?

He could have made it - had he not accidentally tripped and fallen open-mouthed onto a penis. Surely Mark Oaten, Ron Davies and Portillo could have warned him to watch his step around that tricky bit of pavement?

[citizenED]

As a general point i think it a pity that Campbell's age has been a factor in all this. Ageism in extremis.

[Ant]

Ming who?

Surely there was a lot more lacking in Ming than youth.

[Keef]

Exactly right!

[Maurice]

I read today the Green Party Headquarters is the least energy efficient of all.

Well done!

[SeanMacGabhann]

come on Maurice, provide a link to the source....

edit - hang on thought I'd do the lookup myself. I had a fair idea where to find it after all

http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=70740&in_page_id=34

Renting a place isn't really the same thing a trying to forge an agenda which encapsulates a wider strategy, but it probably does come under "faux pas"

[Brendan]

Well if it is an issue for the Metro it surely has to be of the utmost importance.

[Maurice]

Ah attack the source if you've no defence. I think it says quite a lot actually.

[*Bob*]

The Metro.. "yesterday's news - today"

[SeanMacGabhann]

Come on then we are all ears

What is says to me sounds very like "hahahahaahahahahahahaahah we don't have to listen to a WORD you say, weirdos, because you rent a building which isn't properly insulated hahahahahahahahaahahahaha!!!"

Whis is neither:

a lot, or

helpful

If they are renting premises, then they may not be allowed to do anything to the building.

If you say they should rent a "better" building then how many are there available?

Does the Green Party have policies to tackle the shortage of properties with better insulation? One would have thought so, but that article isn't going to inform anyone about anything

[Maurice]

I can assure you if the Conservatives were the worst offenders you'd all sing a different tune.

[Alan Dale]

Yeah let them off. They might be hypocrites but their hearts are in the right place.

Let's let Simon Hughes off too. Can't have be easy going home to your boyfriend after a hard day's gay bashing.

[SeanMacGabhann]

Maurice - you can ASSUME we would do so, but only we can ASSURE you what we would say

[pedant mode off]

[david_carnell]

Alan Dale Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Yeah let them off. They might be hypocrites but

> their hearts are in the right place.

>

> Let's let Simon Hughes off too. Can't have be easy

> going home to your boyfriend after a hard day's

> gay bashing.

Meow. ;-)

[Maurice]

Ah thanks Sean for taking my side on this. Anyone else agree with us the Conservatives would've been treated differently on this board?

[Alan Dale]

Definitely. Pillocks are chastised on a case by case basis.