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A failure of memory

Posted on March 05, 2015 by

Last Friday:

feespromise

What the promise was, when Miliband ran for Labour leadership in 2010:

feespromise2

Ed’s idea of keeping a promise to abolish tuition fees:

feespromise3

Oh.

When Ed Miliband was elected Labour leader in September 2010, tuition fees were still a maximum of £3375 a year. (The vote to increase them to a maximum of £9000 wasn’t passed until December of that year.) So Miliband is keeping his promise to “abolish” fees of £3375 by, um, making them £6000.

It’s a bit like when Labour came to power in 1997, when tuition fees in Scotland were £0, and just three years later had “abolished” them to £2000. We’re starting to see where Kezia Dugdale gets it from.

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  1. 05 03 15 13:56

    A failure of memory | Politics Scotland | Scoo...
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  2. 05 03 15 14:41

    A failure of memory | Speymouth
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63 to “A failure of memory”

  1. Chitterinlicht
    Ignored
    says:

    shake head

  2. Fiona
    Ignored
    says:

    Even if he delivered *snorts* a graduate tax is a lousy idea.

  3. Dan Lee Padgett
    Ignored
    says:

    Must say that red text on pink/purple/mauve/cerise background was brave.

    I remember during the Indyref and Kez had to debate with Nicola Sturgeon. She got absolutely smashed. I don’t think she should be allowed to talk unless the leadership says so. Saying that, when your leader is just as inept as you…

  4. Chris Downie
    Ignored
    says:

    The dream team of Odd Milipede and Keechier Dugdirt are a gift that keeps on giving…

  5. Effijy
    Ignored
    says:

    Good Old Labour!

    You know exactly when they are lying to you-
    their lips are moving.

    I really fear that some sort of party rule prevents them from being honest or delivering anything that helps support ordinary people.

    Roll on Judgement day -7th May

  6. Jim McLean
    Ignored
    says:

    Labour says it will fund this cut to English tuition fees by taxing better off pensioners. Did he mean ONLY English pensioners, as education is devolved, or does that mean that Scottish, Welsh and Northern Ireland pensioners will be subsidising English education?

  7. Murray McCallum
    Ignored
    says:

    I wonder if he still aims to proceed with a graduate tax? We need answers.

  8. Lollysmum
    Ignored
    says:

    So true Rev
    If you look at each one of those statements made in the 2010 announcement, Labour has instead voted to support all the things he said he would do something about.

    And they wonder why no one will believe them as they spout promises now?

    Been there, done that, not gonna get caught again say the hordes of ex-Labour voters now supporting other parties. (By Labour I mean all those both north & south of the border)

  9. Leslie Wilson
    Ignored
    says:

    Ed might as well just say with a wink and a grin, “If we don’t get you one way, we will, with another!” Suckers!

  10. Bob Mack
    Ignored
    says:

    I notice he didn’t do too well with The Royal Mail either.
    Can anyone seriously imagine this clot or Dippity Dugdale, sitting round a negotiating table with some foreign leaders discussing delicate sensitive issues.For the life of me I cant picture it at all.

  11. Johnny
    Ignored
    says:

    Face and Palm brought into contact at high velocity!

  12. call me dave
    Ignored
    says:

    Comedy gold coming this week end to Edinburgh.

    http://www.scottishlabour.org.uk/pages/one-day-conference-saturday-7th-of-march

    Will any of the two Eds make an appearance to rally the troops or will Murphy and Keiza have the place to themselves OR will Gordon barge onto the stage to… ach!

    Who is really running the labour party and what do they stand for?

  13. sydthesnake
    Ignored
    says:

    Labour’s
    Edward Miliband, not surprising you can use some of the letters of his name to say ME LIAR, his new name should be “ED ME LIAR band”

    1’ll get my coat

  14. Cybermidgie
    Ignored
    says:

    Graduates earn more on average over their working lives, because their qualifications grant them access to higher paid jobs. That means they pay more tax than non-graduates.

    In addition to fee-free tuition, we could probably bring back student grants for living costs and still cover the cost in full from the extra taxes graduates already pay.

    The government would still make a profit on the deal, because those graduates tend to be working for companies in higher value industries that contribute more to the economy. A larger economy means more VAT income and a larger corporate tax take.

  15. Macart
    Ignored
    says:

    That’s the second time today I’ve blown coffee through my nose.

    Car crash.

    Seriously, I think Labour should simply avoid tweeting, its getting silly now.

  16. alexicon
    Ignored
    says:

    I’m confused.
    I suppose that’s what they wanted all along.

  17. caz-m
    Ignored
    says:

    This is why it is vital that the SNP return as many MP’s to Westminster as possible.

    Because whatever bullshit Labour come away with before the election, a strong SNP can hold them to account. Which will benefit not only Scotland, but also England.

    This is one of the main reasons why the Labour Party don’t want a strong SNP victory, they know the SNP will make them deliver.

  18. jackie g
    Ignored
    says:

    Comedy Gold indeed:

    We are a democratic socialist and a patriotic party

    • We will represent Scotland first, while not giving up solidarity with people across the UK

    • Policy will be made in Scotland for Scotland, putting the needs of Scotland first
    • We are committed to a permanent, powerful Scottish Parliament
    • We will renew our historic mission for a more equal and fairer society where power, wealth and opportunity are shared.

  19. X_Sticks
    Ignored
    says:

    caz-m says:

    “they know the SNP will make them deliver.”

    And</I) show them up for the red tories that they now are.

  20. call me dave
    Ignored
    says:

    FMQs real comedy gold.

    Earlier today.

    Keiza tries hard but ‘no cigar’ on woman’s opportunities at colleges and at work.

    Pity the figures don’t support her views. She is light weight and will be gone soon, roll on the Scottish elections in 2016.
    ———————————–

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/democracylive/scotland-31747639

  21. George S Gordon
    Ignored
    says:

    “Piling debt on the public purse” – do they think we are so dumb that we belive he’ll magic away the extra £3000. It will still go on public debt, only more so.

  22. Marie clark
    Ignored
    says:

    That’s the thing aboot tellin porkies. Ye hiv tae hiv a guid memory.

    Serious fail there Ed.

  23. Jim Thomson
    Ignored
    says:

    @call me dave 2:24pm

    Not convinced the useless ones (sorry that should read “the really, terribly, useless ones”) will go. They will aim for troughers’ paradise by sitting on the list rather than having the courage to be nominated for a specific seat.

    They’re are not even worthy of the title “bawbags” – at least they have a purpose.

  24. Clarinda
    Ignored
    says:

    FMQs very rowdy today – who’s even more worried now?

    I know it’s stretching credulity – but when oor Willie appears to ask ‘reasonable’ questions in comparison with the other unionist ‘opposition’ – it’s only a surprise that yesterdays polls were not even more striking.

    Mr E Miliband is apparently due to speak in Glasgow on Saturday – that should go well as he differs from his accounting unit led by Mr 1% in so many aspects (see above, before and, no doubt, after, as our media unlikely to highlight conflicting policies)- his taxi driver has been requested to keep the engine running.

    Miss Sturgeon, at FMQs, composed, polished, informed and batted away silly questions with withering alacrity – again.

  25. cynicalHighlander
    Ignored
    says:

    From the advertising on Tay2 by , I presume UK Gov, we are about to receive a Scotland’s Changing booklet through our letter boxes this month saying that Smith has delivered everything promised.

    They are all in it together in spreading falsehoods.

  26. Jim Thomson
    Ignored
    says:

    O/T has anyone here heard the radio ad for the latest Westminster propaganda about how wonderful the Smith Commission outcome will be?

    I was listening to Classic FM about 8am this morning and heard a Scottish male voice telling me how much I will benefit from the positive changes to my Scottish Government’s new powers (which we still haven’t got, nor will we ever receive unless we get a large cohort of SNP MPs down there).

    The voice also advised me that I should look out for an explanatory booklet coming through my door in the next couple of weeks.

    Regrettably, it’s outside the 6 week election moratorium period (just) but it will need a robust, and pretty much immediate, response from SNP if it isn’t to sway a few of the more gullible in our communities. I hope that SNP HQ are gearing up to start dismantling the shoogly scaffold of half-truths that is about to be rapidly assembled before the election.

  27. manandboy
    Ignored
    says:

    I would hazard a guess
    that a failure of memory in a politician
    is in inverse proportion
    to the number of lies he has uttered.

    The more lies – the less memory.

    But there is another dimension
    which is, the very culture of lying,
    whereby lying is a policy decision.

    At this level, there is no requirement for memory,
    because new lies will be uttered in any case.

    It is at this point, as is the case at present in the UK,
    that any distinction between truth and lies
    becomes completely blurred.

    I would suggest that this ‘blurring’ –
    making it impossible for the population
    to work out who is being truthful
    and who is lying –
    is a deliberate objective
    of the propaganda arm of this UK Government.

    It is this ‘no difference’ aspect
    between one politician and the next,
    that causes the biggest problem for the electorate.

    This confusion is the result of deliberate
    political engineering, which has only one purpose –
    to so confuse the electorate
    they become just like sheep.

    This is valuable to a Government
    which has access to sheepdogs.

    Enter John McTernan and Co.

  28. Jim Thomson
    Ignored
    says:

    @cynicalHighlander … snap

  29. Dr Jim
    Ignored
    says:

    I didn’t pay anything to see our First Minister in the Hydro or anywhere else, i even spoke to Nicola Sturgeon in the street along with her husband Peter Murrell and not a penny changed hands
    Scotlands National Party will talk to people without charge
    Do think our team has nothing to hide by being open to any question from anybody
    Supporters of Unionist Party’s think on, you guys have to pay for misdirection and lies
    The SNP tell the truth for nothing

  30. Paul
    Ignored
    says:

    All the more reason to keep Labour out of Government at UK and Scottish levels, if you support free higher education. No doubts at all that fees are part of Labour’s higher education strategy.

  31. One_Scot
    Ignored
    says:

    That’s the problem, they can say, promise and ‘Vow’ whatever crap they like, they know most people will forget it within half a minute.

    Seriously, we will be failing in our duties if we don’t give these people their jotters in May.

  32. galamcennalath
    Ignored
    says:

    Lord Ashcroft better be right about our voting intentions!

    Miliband might still be PM, though. What that might mean for English students, who knows. Labour don’t seem to.

  33. Big Jock
    Ignored
    says:

    Smoke and mirrors! This is an art form with Labour. You deliver a seemingly positive message to the public. But the truth is that you are actually offering nothing, and in some cases taking more away.

    To the untrained eye it appears a generous offer for English & Welsh students. I feel sorry for the people down there a they are being treated like daft children.

  34. Ken500
    Ignored
    says:

    Aye right. Unionists Parties can never be trusted. Illegal wars, banking fraud, tax evasion. Elected to protect NHS/Education they cut funding of both. Sanctioning the most vulnerable, leaving people to starve. Despicable. Destroying the Oil sector. Illegal Westminster VOW’s. Westminster secrecy and lies. Every word they utter is a lie. SNP, SNP, SNP.

  35. Papadox
    Ignored
    says:

    Heedless chickens comes to mind. Aw they need now is a big new bomb costing £100 billion and a big shiny red button To press. (A that fills me with confidence)

    You couldn’t make it up. They really are coo coo. All we need to see now is how many other coo coos think it’s a good idea, voting for SLAB.

  36. Ken500
    Ignored
    says:

    Labour/Unionists mean-tested Student loans. It meant many of the most able, talented students of households of average earnings, could not go to University without parental support.

  37. Les Wilson
    Ignored
    says:

    Sorry to go O/T
    But did you all hear today that the Bank of England is being investigated for fraud?
    It was on early morning BBC Scotland, don’t know if widely reported. Riddled eh!

  38. Karmanaut
    Ignored
    says:

    Labour’s strategy seems clear now. Do something, then lie and say they didn’t do it. With this strategy they can only hope to hang on to Labour voters who simply don’t care about the reality and just want to be told that their vote is somehow for a socialist cause. It won’t win any former Labour voters back.

    Meanwhile, as the Guardian showed recently, as many English Conservatives are now moving over to Labour as there are Scottish voters deserting Labour for the SNP.

    So Labour vote with the Tories for £30bn more austerity cuts, then lie and say they are against austerity.

    They introduce tuition fees, then lie and say that they abolished them.

    Imagine the did this over something like a war?

    Oh, wait. They did that, didn’t they? Weapons of mass destruction that could rain down on us in 45 minutes.

    How many people are now dead because of that lie?

  39. Ian Brotherhood
    Ignored
    says:

    Can we crowdfund one of those big balloons for George Foulkes?

    Up Calton Hill, a bottle of decent malt and a packet of Hobnobs to tempt him in, then cut the cords – cheerio!

    Fifth Dimension, ‘Up, Up and Away’ –

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-UQ0-8ktAM

  40. Casper1066
    Ignored
    says:

    He also states on that he would protect the Royal Mail and stop the break up of the NHS, oh how times have changed

  41. Mealer
    Ignored
    says:

    There was a Redcoat on radio Tay this morning telling me how lucky I am to be British and have a passport and shit.Weird.I’m not British.I’m Scottish.

  42. Papadox
    Ignored
    says:

    Would very much like to thank EBC news for the party political advert on behalf of MAGRIT CURRENT at Toll Cross this afternoon. No mention or pictures of any other candidates contesting GLASGOW EAST.

    EBC TOTALLY DISGUSTING BIASED TOTALLY UNFIT FOR PURPOSE. unless of course it’s just a anti scottish propaganda unit for the ESTABLISHMENT then it is superb.

    SCOTTISH BROADCASTING SERVICE required controlled in SCOTLAND by SCOTS for SCOTS.

    After all we pay for it, why is LONDON allowed to pocket our money and dish up the anti SCOTTISH propaganda it does.

  43. Big Jock
    Ignored
    says:

    Aye Les it’s in the news:

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-31739051

  44. manandboy
    Ignored
    says:

    http://lordashcroftpolls.com/2015/03/campaign-state-play-plus-latest-marginals/

    By Lord Ashcroft

    Below is the text of the polling presentation I gave in London this evening, including my latest national poll findings and new results from marginal seats in England and Scotland. Scroll down to find the presentation slides, marginals report, and full data tables.”

    Well worth a read.

  45. Big Jock
    Ignored
    says:

    Redcoats…I like your style Mealer! Think that will be my new nickname for Britscots!

  46. MochaChoca
    Ignored
    says:

    “…a bottle of decent malt…”

    Bit of a waste, don’t think he’d appreciate it.

    Maybe drink it first and replace with cold weak tea (or something) 😉

  47. Helena Brown
    Ignored
    says:

    Heard in the Aye Pod yesterday that Labour inherited a surplus in Fife when they took over in 2012, they are now in debt. So when you read the twitterings of Labour remember they are utterly incompetent. Seem to be full of ex students who have never done a day’s work in their lives.

  48. Croompenstein
    Ignored
    says:

    @Ian –

    a bottle of decent malt and a packet of Hobnobs

    Nah Ian, a gin soaked cloot and a packet of scampi fries 🙂

  49. john king
    Ignored
    says:

    O/t
    A small victory
    Dear Mr King

    Thank you for your correspondence about unsolicited direct marketing emails from The Scottish Labour Party.

    What we do
    The ICO is a UK independent regulatory authority reporting directly to the UK Parliament. The Commissioner enforces and oversees the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 (PECR). Our aim is to educate organisations to help them understand what the PECR require. We also gather intelligence from the concerns that are reported to us.

    The PECR are concerned with the way organisations send marketing material by fax, text, email and telephone. Marketing can include the promotion of goods, services, aims or ideals.

    Next steps
    I have now written to the organisation to inform them of their obligations under the PECR and to ask them to suppress your email address from their databases. We have asked they take this action immediately. This should take no longer than 28 days and should ensure that they do not email you again.

    Reporting your concerns enables us to take action in the future. Information about the enforcement action we have taken can be found on our website at http://www.ico.org.uk or via this link Enforcement.

    Subject Access Request
    From the correspondence you have provided, you have concerns regarding the source of your personal information. If this is the case, it may be beneficial to issue the organisation with a subject access request for copies of your personal information (including the source of your personal information).

    For further information on the right of subject access, please click on the following link:

    http://ico.org.uk/for_the_public/personal_information

    sorry Rev I put this on the wrong thread by mistake.

  50. robertknight
    Ignored
    says:

    NEWSFLASH!

    Decapitated chicken’s head found – chicken appears unaffected.

  51. Clootie
    Ignored
    says:

    Ian Brotherhood says:
    5 March, 2015 at 4:04 pm

    Not the first time I have seen “Big Balloon” & “George Foulkes” in the same post…but yours is different.

  52. X_Sticks
    Ignored
    says:

    @John King

    Looks like you have uncovered a good route to inflict pain on the labour party.

    I shall follow up myself, and would urge other Wingers to follow suite. The more time they are tied up having to deal with these requests the less time they have to campaign.

    Nice one.

  53. Lollysmum
    Ignored
    says:

    There you go folks-I said that Information Commissioner was pretty good.

    It has carried out raids on premises in Manchester against spammers.

    Also the company operating the construction industry blacklist on behalf of construction companies & supported by unions feeding info to the blacklist. All denied the blacklist existed till that raid. After it they couldn’t as the raid gathered documentary evidence.

  54. Chic McGregor
    Ignored
    says:

    The ultimate irony would be if Jim Murphy has the brass neck to claim Labour would abolish tuition fees, given his particular historical contribution to that policy.

  55. ronnie anderson
    Ignored
    says:

    @ JOhn King 4.37. John I read your post with intrest, did you happen to ask if any information was pasted on by the Better Together site.

  56. Fiona
    Ignored
    says:

    @ John King.

    Wish I had thought of that when I got e-mails’ from Labour. I have no idea how they got my e-mail address and if I had thought of it I would have done the same thing

  57. fionan
    Ignored
    says:

    these constant labour lies, supported by msm especialy DR, are the reason the crowdfunder is now approaching £93,000. Just made a small donation, wish it could be more but hopefully those of you who are earning will be able to finish the job and get the total over the Ton. Maybe that will still the malicious pens at the record for a while.

  58. john king
    Ignored
    says:

    o/t
    Now here’s a thing
    https://ico.org.uk/action-weve-taken/enforcement/better-together/

    no surprises there then,
    bird of a feather eh?

  59. Legerwood
    Ignored
    says:

    Chic McGregor @ 5.48 pm

    Prepare to get your tin of Brasso out.

    Jim Murphy has in the past week said he would not introduce tuition fees in Scotland. This seems to fly in the face of everything that he has said on the subject in the past and all the criticism of the Scottish Government’s policy in recent weeks eg no tuition fees benefit the better off etc etc.

  60. Gary45%
    Ignored
    says:

    Here is another idea for Foulkes,
    Everyone shouting FOULK OFF.
    Simples!
    Gary

  61. Robert Peffers
    Ignored
    says:

    @call me dave says: 5 March, 2015 at 1:34 pm:

    ” … Who is really running the labour party and what do they stand for?”

    Well, call me dave, you might have guessed there was something a bit wrong when they said they would stand as a candidates for a seat in a constituency and then proceed to sit in the House of Commons. Right from the start they are confused.

  62. Chic McGregor
    Ignored
    says:

    @Legerwood
    Staggering. He was instrumental in eventually forcing through acceptance of tuition fees and dropping the grant by the NUS when he was president.



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