Labour depict David Cameron as Gene Hunt
The Labour party has just unveiled a poster depicting Conservative leader David Cameron as "Ashes to Ashes" star Gene Hunt.
What a brilliant idea ! (For the Conservatives, that is.)
This is the Conservative response:
What a brilliant idea ! (For the Conservatives, that is.)
This is the Conservative response:
Comments
"I'm increasingly certain someone high up in in Labour HQ put a big bet on the Tories winning the election and doesn't fancy losing."
"This isn't a late April Fool's is it?"
"This is incredibly weak. If it was still April Fool's day I'd assume this was a joke. Why are they letting amateurs design their campaign posters?
"Because they can't afford the professionals?
"Good judgement costs nothing. Only people utterly detached from everyday reality, like it seems the New Labour hierarchy, would think that portraying a politician as the swaggering, blokeish, fast car driving, 'politically incorrect', geezer anti-hero of a popular TV series would be a bad thing, especially one who's spent his time since becoming Tory leader trying to shake off his Lord Snooty image. No wonder Call me Dave's reported as saying he's flattered by the depiction and, on this occasion, I can readily believe him."
"For Pete's sake. This ad actually uses the same basic colour scheme as the 1997 'New Labour, New Danger' ads. And the same argument - 'Be afraid of change'.
"It was a dumb, scummy argument in '97, and its a dumb, scummy argument now. When your appeal to stay in power is 'the other guys are scary' it means you stand for nothing.
"And, as mentioned above, Cameron actually looks sort of 'cool', so it fails even on the make-him-look-like-a-spiv-ometer."
"Question: When you voted for the
first time was what happened three decades earlier uppermost in your mind?
"No, me neither"
"What a fantastic own goal by Labour - they've made Cameron cool. And Hunt is one of the most popular characters on TV. Oh dear, Labour - start preparing for a long, long spell in opposition."
"Oh well done Labour !
You've actually managed to make David Cameron look . . . Cool!
Could someone please take the gun out of their hand before they shoot themselves in the other foot"
"I thought this was an April fool but clearly not. It's another sign that Labour have lost it frankly. You do not associate someone/thing you are trying to rubbish with a quality and dependable brand - Audi. At the same time, they have made Cameron look 'blokey' and 'streetwise' ...
"This is free advertising for Cameron. Most people won't take the message in even subliminally, they'll just see him and an Audi...
"The kid who came up with this would only have been four when the 80s finished. His knowledge of that period of our history probably comes from watching Andrew Marr on the telly or indeed Ashes to Ashes."
"Mandelson is displaying all the judgement and flair which so carried Labour and Kinnock to impressive victory in 1987 and 1992."
"This to me indicates that senior labour ministers are seriously out of touch with the common public and also quite frankly stupid. Its obvious that a poster like this would most likely be interpreted in a different way. This fiasco reads like a plot line from the 'Thick of it'. If a party can't manage something like this how can they possibly run a country?"
I just think it is rather sad that you feel you cannot do anything to change things yourself. It is time for good people to take responsibility for the type of world we live in and hand on to the next generation.
Interested in your comment, do you think it is virtuous to stand on the sidelines and sneer, or could you be more effective if you took a risk and put your cards on the table? Does it worry you or any of the non-voters, that the fence you are sitting on, could impale you?
The point that I am making is that there is choice. Active interest in politics and scrutiny curbs the likes of this Government. Defeatist cynicism gives in to all the abuses you criticise. I once thought cynics were disillusioned idealists, now I come full circle and think they are naive. Silence, opt out, it is a vote for more of the same. Another five years of Gordon Brown.
It's now over a year since I was made redundant from a well paid IT job. I worked for Legal and General but they outsourced their IT to TATA. We didn't get to vote on this, although if the union involved had decided to call a strike about this, it would have to have gone to a ballot. Surprise, surprise ! our jobs were moved to India, but only after we trained up the new inferior but much cheaper work force. We found out later that these people had been brought over on visas that should not have been issued. I also found out recently that a Labour MP - Margaret Moran has been lobbied by TATA in order to change the points system for non EU workers. What was in it for her ? Why is her first concern not to her constituents ?
What do Shameron and Ozzy intend to do about this ? There are about 50,000 unemployed IT workers in Britain. This could be costing about a billion pounds to the exchequer annually, so something needs to be done - maybe a tax on companies that outsource when there is perfectly capable home grown talent.
There are a whole host of other things that require serious change. All three main parties are enthusiastic about Turkey joining the EU. I believe that this could be a total nightmare. Turkey has an open door policy with its neighbours, like Syria, so opening the door to Turkey could allow untold numbers of people access to Britain, some of whom may well have highly malevolent reasons for being here.
I'll leave it there, over the next month this blog will no doubt be highlighting the differences between voting for the three main parties. I'll be happy to demonstrate that you'll hardly be able to get a Rizzla paper between them !
We do need to ensure that British workers get a fair chance to apply for jobs. We can and should start by applying existing law properly.