Fiddling while Rome burns

[leeslover]

I'll sleep easier tonight knowing Gordon is keeping the contestants' morale up

 

PM writes to X Factor finalists

2 hours 58 mins ago

 

 

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has taken time out of his busy schedule to write to the remaining X Factor finalists.

Spanish finalist Ruth Lorenzo has revealed Mr Brown wrote to her praising her for ignoring Simon Cowell's advice to sing in her native language.

 

Lorenzo said: "In the letter that the Prime Minister sent us he said 'Keep singing in English girl. You're doing a great job! Going against Simon'. It was great.

 

"I'm glad I didn't listen to Simon. I think following my heart has gotten me here. Simon is going to have to fight hard against me. I'm a hard lady. Not even my mum could control me. I'm a rebel."

 

The 25-year-old singer is delighted to be in the final five of the British TV talent show, thanks to viewers' support.

 

She said: "I never thought British people were so amazing. I come from a different country, I speak a different language, I have a big accent and they still are keeping me in. It's amazing."

 

She added: "It's great that I've gone from being seen as the Spanish girl and everyone has seen me now. And now I'm the rock chick, the Purple Rain chick."

 

Lorenzo has had to sing for her survival on more than one occasion, but was saved by the judges the week Laura White was voted off the show.

 

As a result, thousands of viewers complained to television watchdog Ofcom and the campaign to get her back into the competition was even mentioned in the Houses of Parliament.

 

Lorenzo said only: "You say Laura and my heart breaks, I tell you."

[help_shiny]

Another shameless attempt by a politician to appeal to the great unwashed. What worries me is the possibility that there are actually people out there who would think 'awww that nice Gordon Brown sent a letter to that bird on the telly, I'll certainly be voting Labour next time'?

[mikejh45]

Another shameless attempt by a politician to appeal to the great unwashed. What worries me is the possibility that there are actually people out there who would think 'awww that nice Gordon Brown sent a letter to that bird on the telly, I'll certainly be voting Labour next time'?

 

Shameless is a perfect choice of word for him.

 

I also read in one paper this morning about a female army captain who lost a leg in Afghanistan and gets £50k for doing her master's bidding and a female corporal gets £200k for being called a "dyke".

 

Something not right in this society when something like that happens.

 

Sorry for the mini-rant, but I needed to get it off my chest.

[opinions4u]

Some nice quotes from Gordy and his friends:

 

 

1) Tony Blair: 1997 Conference Speech

"I want this to be the New Labour Government that ended Tory boom and bust forever."

 

2) Tony Blair: 2000 Conference Speech

"The first big choice: a government with the strength to deliver stability, or a government that takes the country back to boom and bust."

 

3) Tony Blair: 2005 Conference Speech

"In the first two terms we corrected the weaknesses of the Tory years: boom-and-bust economics "

 

4) Tony Blair: November 2003

"If we want to contrast what we have done in the past few years on delivery with what the right hon. and learned Gentleman delivered, let us remember the interest rates at 10 per cent. to 15 per cent., the 1.5 million fewer people in work, the boom and the bust and the borrowing at 8 per cent. of GDP. "

 

5) Tony Blair: November 1999

"We have the best chance of ending boom and bust in years."

 

6) Tony Blair: November 1998

"...examine the legacy that we inherited and what we did. We had boom-and-bust economics and a doubled national debt. "

 

7) Tony Blair: 2006 Conference Speech

"In 1997, we faced daunting challenges. Boom and bust economics.....

Now, for all that remains to be done, dwell for a moment on what has been achieved."

 

8) Tony Blair: February 1999

"Moreover, for decades we have been prone to far greater swings in the economic cycle than our continental counterparts. It has been boom and bust....Under this Government, there is an entirely new framework for economic management in place "

 

9) Yvette Cooper: May 2004

"We know that they want to turn the clock back, but it would be foolish to turn it back to a policy of boom and bust. "

 

10) Alistair Darling: January 2000

"On top of that, we have a healthy and stable economy and an end to the boom and bust that characterised the Tory years."

 

11) Alistair Darling: March 2005

"As I said, there are two approaches—first, a strong economy, stability and helping families or, secondly, the Tory cuts, the undermining of stability, and a return to the boom and bust of the 1990s."

 

12) Alistair Darling: June 2007

"...acknowledges the outstanding performance of the economy under this Government with the longest unbroken economic expansion on record, in contrast to the boom and bust of the previous Government "

 

13) Gordon Brown: March 2007

"We will not return to the old boom and bust "

 

14) Gordon Brown: December 2006

"Boom and bust is a term that applied to the Conservative years and two of the worst recessions in history"

 

15) Gordon Brown: March 2006

"I have said before: no return to boom and bust."

 

16) Gordon Brown: March 2001

"We will not return to boom and bust. "

 

17) Gordon Brown: November 2000

"Our approach is to reject the old vicious circle of the '80s--rising debt, higher long-term interest rates, higher debt repayment costs, lower growth, higher unemployment, then enforced cuts in public spending. That was the old boom and bust. "

 

18) Gordon Brown: March 2000

"Britain does not want a return to boom and bust. "

 

19) Gordon Brown: November 1999

"Indeed, Britain was set to repeat the old, familiar cycle of boom and bust. Since then, we have created and rigorously adhered to a new framework of modern economic management "

 

20) Gordon Brown: November 1998

"Britain was set to repeat the boom-bust cycle that led to 15 per cent. interest rates for one whole year in the early 1990s. "

 

21) Gordon Brown: June 1998

"rigorous financial discipline that, together with monetary stability, ends once and for all the boom and bust that for 30 years has undermined stability "

 

22) Gordon Brown: May 1998

"The Government have put in place policies to deliver that objective and are determined to avoid a return to boom and bust. "

 

23) Gordon Brown: April 1998

"We will not return to the stop-go, boom-bust years which we saw under the Conservatives. "

 

24) Gordon Brown: November 1997

"I am satisfied that the new monetary policy arrangements will deliver long-term price stability, and prevent a return to the cycle of boom and bust."

 

25) Gordon Brown: July 1997

"Today, the Bank of England has agreed with me that, if we are to prevent the cycle of boom and bust, inflationary pressures in the economy, which the previous Government negligently failed to tackle, must be brought under control "

 

26) John Prescott (Pie eating fat waste of space): January 2005

"Labour economic stability has replaced Tory boom and bust "

 

27) Alan Johnson: February 2000

"The Government's first priority on coming to office was to secure long-term economic stability and put an end to the damaging cycle of boom and bust."

 

28) Douglas Alexander: June 2006

"there are genuine questions to be asked about why we now have the highest level of employment in many decades, contrary to the position during the boom-bust years of the Conservatives."

 

29) Ruth Kelly: November 1999

"The Government have rejected the boom and bust of the Conservative party "

 

30) Ruth Kelly: May 2002

"We must avoid a return to the days of boom and bust that manufacturers had to endure for a long time under the Conservatives. "

 

Trust a politician? Never.