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Election 07

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United Ireland

  • Martina Purdy
  • 5 Apr 07, 06:43 PM

Just finished a piece on the prospects for a United Ireland. Brian Feeney, the Irish News columnist, insists that Sinn Fein has been swallowing concessions for the DUP to achieve power-sharing. The party, he says, needs some time to show unionism that there is nothing to fear from republicans or integration. Mr Feeney says the point is for unionists to no longer see the point of unionism. One wonders if that will take a political lifetime? And how long is that? And what will the message be from Sinn Fein this weekend, as the party prepares its Easter speeches?

Bacon butties and baiting

  • Betsan Powys
  • 5 Apr 07, 11:04 AM

Hot cross buns from the Electoral Commission yesterday, bacon butties from the Lib Dems today.

They still got a bit of a drubbing at their manifesto launch.

1. If the Lib Dem future is 'fair and green', why not play fair and tell people which pledges they'd stand by in coalition talks? Mike German leafs through the manifesto an awful lot, as if hoping to find the answer there ... He won't.

2. Don't their election leaflets deliberately con the public? Quoting in one 'an election expert' who bigs up their chances, failing to mention he's the party's own Chief Executive. Naughty naughty.

3. Where is Lemibt? Photos in the manifesto of Jenny Willott MP, Mark Williams MP ... but Lembit Opik MP? No sign of the Welsh leader anywhere. "He's busy, all his time goes on canvassing in Montgomeryshire. He was in Chepstow yesterday". Buy the man a map.

Two members of the Wales 60 group sit in front of me, watching proceedings. What did they make of it? "It's a very small world" said Anthony Berrow, who'd learned nothing about what the party was actually proposing on the issues in which he's interested.




What do you want?

  • Brian Taylor
  • 5 Apr 07, 10:47 AM

An aside on the 麻豆官网首页入口 Scotland poll on priorities.

There鈥檚 an old Liberal Democrat joke. (No, not PR for Westminster - they鈥檙e serious about that.) It tells the tale of LibDems on a protest march - beards fluttering and sandals in synch, tramping proudly.

鈥淲hat do we want?鈥, their leader yells. 鈥淭he single transferable vote in multi member constituencies鈥, they chorus back.

鈥淲hen do we want it?, bellows the boss. 鈥淚n due course!鈥, they trill.

You get the point. Ineffably polite. Well, it seems it may be more than just a caricature. In our poll, identified LibDem supporters tended to be less demanding. They favoured change - but preferred not to shout about it. They weren鈥檛 so inclined to give every issue top billing and top priority.

Those who were pressing most for action were those in the DE income band. Not surprising, I guess. If you have little, you want more - and you want it quickly.

Men had the strongest opinions on motoring levies. They really hated the ideas of congestion charges and motorway tolls. (To be clear, every sector of society disliked these notions.)

Elsewhere, it was women who tended to have the most sharply defined opinions, notably pressing for action on law and order.

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