Ken Clarke

chewmylegoff

i'm not sure where the idea that ken clarke is not a ideological politican (see his views on the euro, for instance) and/or that he is any better than the rest (see his views on the euro, for instance) came from. it seems to be complete nonsense to me, personally.

michaels

chewmylegoff wrote: »

i'm not sure where the idea that ken clarke is not a ideological politican (see his views on the euro, for instance) and/or that he is any better than the rest (see his views on the euro, for instance) is complete nonsense personally.

All the more reason to keep him at the MOJ and away from any sort of economics brief!

Conrad

michaels wrote: »

In the Moj they wanted to follow policies that reduce reoffending and tackle addiction rather than concentrating on how many people they could bang up for how long. Persuing policies that work is anathema to a dominant section of the Tory party who prefer to be dogmatic and wrong.

This is an old line and very misleading.

A key reason prison doesn't reduce re - offending is because a young offender is let off time and time again before actually going there and by then, criminality is too deeply ingrained.

The left have yet to recognise this blindingly obvious point.

A._Badger

Though I loathe Clark and could never understand what he was doing in the Conservative party in the first place, in his defence it should be pointed out that he has been a successful businessman and that it would be a fine idea if the UK's economic policy was steered by people with practical business experience instead of the usual parade of imbeciles, whose heads have been stuffed with unworkable theory during three years at university.

Conrad

Hopefuly KC will bring proper commerical centric policy to the table, unlike Vince Cable who wallows in worker centric non wealth creating 6th form economics. The Lib Dems still haven't got this idea that if we want lots of jobs, we'd better make it a lot more easy for entrepenurs to take risks and employ people.

The LD's have done massive damage to hold back the economy.

michaels

Conrad wrote: »

This is an old line and very misleading.

A key reason prison doesn't reduce re - offending is because a young offender is let off time and time again before actually going there and by then, criminality is too deeply ingrained.

The left have yet to recognise this blindingly obvious point.

I'm glad you no doubt have the statistics to back this up.

How easy do you think it is to gain honest employment after being imprisoned, especially as part of the reason you turned to crime in the first place was because your prospects for honest employment were already pretty poor?

chewmylegoff

A._Badger wrote: »

Though I loathe Clark and could never understand what he was doing in the Conservative party in the first place, in his defence it should be pointed out that he has been a successful businessman and that it would be a fine idea if the UK's economic policy was steered by people with practical business experience instead of the usual parade of imbeciles, whose heads have been stuffed with unworkable theory during three years at university.

has he been a successful businessman? i was under the impression that he was a barrister for a few years before becoming an MP (and continued this part time afterwards) and he has had a few non executive directorships. not aware of any notable business career, unless you count being a barrister as running a business. i suppose it technically is.

penrhyn

Been MP for Rushcliffe since the 1970's, supports the football team that everyone hates and is often to be found at Trent Bridge where I guess he will be visiting more often.

A._Badger

chewmylegoff wrote: »

has he been a successful businessman? i was under the impression that he was a barrister for a few years before becoming an MP (and continued this part time afterwards) and he has had a few non executive directorships. not aware of any notable business career, unless you count being a barrister as running a business. i suppose it technically is.

I'd have thought being deputy chairman of British American Tobacco from 1998 to 2008 counted as a successful business career...

chewmylegoff

A._Badger wrote: »

I'd have thought being deputy chairman of British American Tobacco from 1998 to 2008 counted as a successful business career...

is a non-executive director of a business who is appointed by virtue of his political position a successful businessman? hmmm. not sure i agree with that assessment. he has certainly ridden the gravy train well though.