Lord Duckhunter

The one thing I have never been able to get my head round is why they didn't take the children out with them. I have 4 children and have been abroad with them every year. There is nothing unusual about taking children out in the evening on holiday. We used to give them a sleep in the afternoon so they would be awake later. Either that or we had them asleep in their pushchair. There is 13 months between my youngest 2 and many time's they've slept in pushchairs by the table or in a bar, the Europeans are quite used to youngsters out and about late and we never ever had any comments or people looking at them.My take on it has always been the same, we go on holiday as a family and that incldes drinking and eating in the evening. I am not saying that they deserved what happened, of course they didn't. And I've no doubt that they spend every waking hour regretting their actions.However, a part of me is uneasy about the fact they left 3 young children on their own.

It's not perfect by any means, but I'm yet to be convinced of a better way. Certainly telling me that MP's would work harder or not fiddle their expenses is not the way and is quite frankly insulting.The adantages of a constituency system is that each MP gets 1 vote and therefore the people of Cornwall's MP's vote is the same as the people of Chelsea and Fulham. Without this link I would be worried about the long term implications of parties having to tailor policies to win the South East of England and forgetting about some of the other regions. The first thing that needs to happen is other Countries MP's stop voting on English matters that are devolved to their own Parliaments.

I hope they gave him a plastic glass to drink from, because he can't keep hold of anything.

Spot on. We have a system based on constituency. It means that every region of the UK has representation and that an MP's vote from the furthest part of Scotland carries the same weight as one from London. If we followed a pure PR system then a party would only need to appeal to certain areas of the Country to win, because that's where a large majority of the Country live.Even the US president is voted in by a system that ensures he has substantial support distributed throughout the U.S.How do the Highlands of Scotland or remote parts of Cornwall get decent representation, when under PR their votes would be completely irrelevant?

Ed Milliband says Labour fightback begins in Scotland-29/10/10. He said about the SNP in the same speech ""Let's make next May's election a referendum on the job they have done for the people of Scotland." He has the answer now.

For the Tories to gain 81 extra Councillors a year into tough austerity measures is a fantastic result for them.

A massive win for the No campaign which puts electrol reform back in the box for another 20 years. Milliband, Clegg, Ashdown and the like are so out of touch with the electrate that never in a million years did they expect a defeat on this scale. The Lib/Dems had their chance when entering into the Coalition agreement, they had a chance to get the best deal possible as a condition to entering the coalition. Clowns like Cable and Ashdown and the grass roots can bleat all they want, but Clegg didn't negotiate on his own and the party had a vote on entering the coalition.They acepted the deal offered of a vote on AV. W've seen how easy they are and the turnout was pretty good so lets have a referundum on Europe a simple in or out, after all that was another manifesto promise made by the Lib/Dems.

Early results from the BBC is that No is running away with it. Nick Robinson is calling it a stunning victory for the No vote.

That is the interesting question, if people think the Yes/No campaign was full of half truths and lies, wait for the independance vote. I think a Federation is the only way to go, because the people and companies of England and Scotland are too linked together. There's the issue of North Sea oil, of the bank bail outs, and all sorts of other issues. Whilst "Ethnic cleansing" of all the English based Jocks would carry some appeal, it's proberly not policically correct. My hope is that a more nationalistic Scotland will lead the English to wake up and demend some sort of devolution for themselves.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/briantaylor/2011/05/shout_of_joy_for_snp.html Quite a good summary of what happened in Scotland.

This seems to be the Labour line, I've heard it over and over again today. Makes you wonder why the Leader is standing down. As an "English Nat", I'm hoping that the Scots are starting to eye and independent state. Labour fully expected to win in Scotland and pick up the Lib/Dem votes. If they cant pick them up in Scotland,they're not going to do so in the South of England.

Before the Sheff Utd game I told my little boy that I would not be running on the pitch, told him that for a club like ours staying in the Championship was not something to be running on the pitch for. Come the final whistle and I'm off, gone past him, over the barrier and last seen dancing around on the hallowed turf. It was a spontaneous act and I feel that thousends of others were the same. Saturday wont be the same, and I really want to acknowledge the great job that Nigel and boys did by staying in the stands as they do a lap of honour.

Figures show more people turned out to vote in the AV referendum than many commentators expected. Of the eight regions so far announced, Scotland had the highest - 50.7% - and London the lowest - 35.4%.

The headline key points were; The Lib Dems have had their worst local election result since the party was formed, losing control of several key councils in England. The SNP have won an overall majority in Scotland. The Conservatives have held their ground in England. Labour have made gains in Wales, but suffered a terrible night in Scotland. What do people make of these sets of results and what is the future for the UK on the back of Labour losing their Scottish heartlands?

Us, Huddersfield and Brighton are head and shoulders above anyone else this season. However much they deserve it, I hope they dont go up. They have some investment behind them and are a proper football town. It'll be tough getting 6 points off them next season, whereas Boscombe, MK and Peterb will all be down the bottom and easier pickings for us. I also dont want West Ham relegated, as they'll be challanging next season. Wigan and Blackpool will be like Hull and Burnley, with only Wolves posing a threat. One of the reasons the promoted clubs did so well this year is that Burnly, Skates and Hull were all poor and nowhere near the shake up. The weaker the Championship is, the better for us.

Funny how so many British politicans seem to be praising the death of Bin Laden, yet had he murdered British Kids like Huntley or Brady they would not want the death penalty. I'm all for going in and murdering evil people without trial, but then I believe in the death penalty for all murder, not just certain types. The next time the Israelis go in and murder a terrorist enemy of that state I hope Ed Milliband echos his "the world is a better and safer place" quote from yesterday.However, I get the feeling that the policy will be USA kill terrorist-good, Isreal does it, bad.

I've never understood why this is perceived as a Left/Right issue. The US as a nation are amongst the most right wing people in the world, on the other side of the coin Countries like The Netherlands and Sweeden have monarchs. For me the left like to tell people how to behave,they like to rule every aspect of your life.Whereas I believe in freedom for people to decide themselves. It would be a bit bizzare to believe in a free market and then back an insitution like the Royal family.

I think it's his best solo effort to date, but like all his solo stuff his voice lets it down a touch. Steve Winwood and Clapton feature on it, so all in all I'd say it's pretty good.

Got hold of my first new CD for about 15 years, (are people still using CD's). Robbie Robertson's "How To Become Clairvoyant. The great man's first offering for 13 years.Got the head phones on, glass of wine in hand....Nice.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edTvD4XW8Po&feature=related

If we cant beat one of Plymouth away or Walsall at home, we dont deserve to go up.

Us, Town and Brighton are heads above any other team in this league. All 3 deserve promotion.

A few flag waving stalkers and Lady Di fanatics is hardly a celebration. Most people used it as a **** up. If St George's day was a Bank Holiday we could all have a **** up then. My choice would be Independance day, the day that the Heredity privilege was ended and England joined the grown up nations of the world, where every single English man and women, was born equal.That would be a great celebration.......

Just had a text from my Huddersfield supporting mate. He hopes they lose, he cant see us not picking up 6 points in 2 1/2 games when we're 2-0 up in one of them. He reckons they'll beat Brentford next week and he doesn't want to go into the play offs on the back of a 24 game unbeaten run.He wants a defeat out of the way before proving their the 3rd best team, strange but I'm hoping he's right.

I've no worries on that score. You dont get to be a top player as Poyet was without being a bad loser. Neither he or his side will want to lose today, however sides with nothing to play for do tend to relax and even the top sides ease off once they've won the League. Brentford with nothing to play for, or Brighton with nothing to play for, both are beatable and should be put to bed if either us or Town deserve promotion.Plymouth and Walsall are slightly different, they have something to play for. If Town win and we lose, it wont be down to Poyet or Brighton.

I think you're on to something here. Let's get the majority to decide who becomes head of state. We could call it an election, and vote every 4 years.