Affairs with his Secretary, incompetence, amateur boxing... how John Prescott defies political gravity

independent
"Six years ago, it emerged that while Deputy Prime Minister he had been engaging in sexual acts with his diary secretary Tracey Temple not just in his state-funded apartments in Admiralty Arch, but even in his office, where Ms Temple gave him the full Lewinsky under the gaze of a portrait of Oliver Cromwell. It's not necessary to be a feminist to believe that Prescott was using his position of power for his own sexual gratification, and exploiting the vulnerability of a much younger employee. This, by the way, was the same man who at the 1996 Labour Party conference derided the then Transport Minister Steven Norris for his sexual adventurism and went on: "This Tory Government have the audacity to talk about morality. For too many Tories, morality means not getting caught."

Sardine can Britain: What life will be like in 2050 when experts predict the population will have exploded to 80million

Daily Mail
"The population of Britain will rocket to nearly 80 million by 2050 — an increase of a third — according to an authoritative new projection by the Population Reference Bureau. It’s a chilling prospect and has sparked renewed debate about mass immigration. Last week, the Economist magazine called the Tories’ attempts to limit immigration their ‘barmiest policy’, and complained Britain ‘has, in effect, installed a “keep out” sign over the white cliffs of Dover’. But is it wrong to want tighter controls over our borders? Here, a leading historian imagines what life could be like 38 years from now . . . "

Don't believe the austerity hype

ASI
"..Er…what austerity? This graph, compiled by Veronique de Rugy of the Mercatus Centre, shows that UK public expenditure has been growing at a pretty solid pace, even in real, inflation-adjusted terms. If you or I were in debt as deep as the government's, we would aim to cut our spending and reduce it. But the government continues to increase its spending, and continues to borrow and add to its debt to finance it. Indeed, the Treasury expects that UK government debt will increase three times, from around £581bn in 2008 when the present crisis hit, to £1,500bn in 2015/16 which is as far ahead as the Treasury forecasts.
Public expenditure is, of course, notoriously difficult to cut. It involves making politically difficult and unpopular decisions. And indeed, during difficult times there are more people drawing unemployment and other social benefits, which are a very large part of the UK government budget. George Osborne's hope was that he could finesse things by hoping that the growth of people's incomes would outpace the growth of public expenditure, so that the relative burden of public spending would diminish, and less borrowing would be required. But given the general economic malaise in Western economies, and the disarray in the euro area in particular, our customers are not buying much more, even at the cheaper prices made possible by the downward slide in the value of the pound."

Nobel Peace Prize: "the anti-European Shitstorm"

Dr Richard North
"With a headline like that from Die Zeit, the story is irresistible. Writer Ludwig Green refers to a prediction that there would be at least 500 comments within two days, with 99 percent negative."

It's got a collapsing currency and rioting on the streets but the European Union wins the Nobel PEACE Prize

Daily Mail
"The past 12 months have also seen Brussels help to push aside the democratically elected governments in Greece and Italy, and widespread civil unrest and rioting. This week saw Greek citizens dressed as Nazis burn swastika flags to protest at a visit to Athens by German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Last night former Chancellor Lord Lamont ridiculed the decision, saying: 'Today's decision seems preposterous and absurd. 'It would require a heart of stone not to die of laughter. It is the most ridiculous decision since the committee gave the peace prize to Barack Obama when he had been US President for two minutes.'

Gaffe-prone Mitt Romney defied the odds and wiped the floor with the President in the first TV debate. So was this the night Obama lost the White House?

Daily Mail
"And as Republican campaigners yesterday rubbed their hands with glee, and their Democrat opponents rubbed their eyes in disbelief, early opinion polls suggested voters agree with the verdict of the political professionals. Incredible as it sounds, Mr Romney, a politician dismissed all along as unengaging, gaffe-prone and robotic, wiped the floor with one of the greatest orators of his generation. And in a one-on-one debate of all things."

Hypocrite who dare not tell voters the truth

Daily Mail
"Which was the more offensive aspect of Ed Balls’s speech to the Labour conference yesterday: his intellectually dishonest prescription for curing the woes of the British economy, or his hypocritical refusal to acknowledge his part in causing them? Mr Balls had – or claimed he had – a masterplan for growth. The State stands to make £3billion to £4billion when the rights to operate the fourth generation of mobile phone services are auctioned, and Mr Balls promised to use the money to build 100,000 affordable homes and give first-time buyers a stamp duty holiday. This promise typified the hypocrisy of Mr Balls’s speech. He wouldn’t, in all probability, become Chancellor until long after the proceeds from the 4G sale have been deployed by George Osborne.
.....The bitter irony is that, privately, Labour insiders say Messrs Miliband and Balls recognise the need to be ‘disciplined’ about spending should they win power. They cannot say this now, apparently, because it would run counter to their hollow but relentless argument that the Coalition’s so-called austerity policies are far too severe."