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When Labour was turfed out of government in 2010, leadership wannabe Andy Burnham said the party had been "in denial" about immigration and had failed to grasp that many voters felt that under Gordon Brown, it had failed to address the issue.
On a visit to Kent as part of his leadership campaign, I asked him if he felt the party had remained in denial in 2015.
Unsurprisingly, he denied it, saying the party had beefed up its policies and had addressed concerns about welfare tourism by advocating a policy in which arrivals would not be able to claim benefits for two years.
Events in Calais have, however, only served to underline that Kent, as the 'Gateway to Europe' is at the sharp end of the debate.
Rolling footage and photographs of migrants clambering on to lorries destined for Dover or Folkestone reinforces the belief of many that the situation remains volatile and we are only a few steps away from some kind of invasion.
Add in the chaos caused to the county by the implementation of Operation Stack (caused by A wild cat industrial dispute) and it is hardly surprising that Labour struggles to get much traction on the issue.
The party's problem is this. It wants to be tough on immigration at the same time as wanting to continue to support open borders and the principle of the free movement of labour.
All the while that it does, it exposes itself to the charge that it is facing in two different directions and that is precisely why it has haemmorrhaged so much support to UKIP. The public tend to lump together genuine asylum seekers with economic migrants - they are all part of the same stream that have set up camp in Calais.
At least Andy Burnham has acknowledged that Kent is vital to the party's prospects at the election in 2020.
Although it is worth remembering that during the election campaign not a single senior party figure made it down to Kent, where it had two target seats and suffered a crushing defeat in both.
Meanwhile, Conservative MPs Damian Collins and Charlie Elphicke have laid the blame for the recent choas at the door of the Calais authorities - specifically the town mayor Natasha Bouchart.
Both have lobbed a few well-targeted political hand grenades in that direction, accusing the town's leaders of being complicit in allowing migrants to travel across the channel to the UK.
No doubt they thought it would help the Conservative cause.
But it was slightly undermined when Prime Minister David Cameron said it was not helpful to point fingers as the government tried to build a consensus with its European partners about what is, after all, not exclusively a UK/French issue.
Tags: migrants, Calais, immigration, Folkestone, Dover, Elphicke, MPs, Cameron
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Here's a thought. As the lucrative James Bond film franchise shows no sign of coming to an end, what are the odds of the next 007 blockbuster being filmed and produced in Kent?
Until today, you might have thought the chances were pretty remote.
But the owners of the former Manston site - now rebranded as Stone Hill Park - say that they are in discussions with a consortium looking at developing a studio which would be on the same scale as Pinewood.
Our blueprint for Manston: owners reveal details>>>
At the press conference today, hosted in a rather stifling marquee adjacent to the runway, I asked one of the two partners Trevor Cartner - rather flippantly - what the odds are on the prospect of the next Bond installment being produced in Thanet. "It is not beyond the realms of possibillity," he replied with a decidedly straight face.
A Hollywood pipe dream? Who knows. Plenty of scorn has already been poured on the idea, rather predictably.
But the possibility of the Manston site partly becoming a film studio and attracting associated creative industries was just one element of a masterplan unveiled by the owners - along with a new name - who have clearly decided that they won't hang around waiting to see whether they get served with a CPO and will get on with advancing their scheme for a mixed-use business park.
As well as the film studio, there was talk of a 50-metre swimming pool as part of a sports village on the site and 2,500 homes - which will be a mix of affordable starter homes and 'executive' houses - which is already proving contentious.
How realistic any of this is is difficult to gauge but the intention of the owners is clear.
The more they can talk about what they plan, and the more evidence there is of action rather than words, the more likely they are to elicit wider support in the community.
And they clearly hope that a plan by the Broadstairs business Instro Precision to take up residency on the site because they want to expand will give the lie to the idea that no-one wants to relocate there.
Of course, the threat of a CPO remains and the lack of political support at council and central government remains an issue. Both partners alluded to their frustration at this and acknowledged their task was more challenging because of it.
They also referred to those striving to prevent them laying a brick as an 'irritant' but insisted they were happy to discuss their scheme with anyone (even Sir Roger Gale) but would not engage in a debate based on 'nonsense' and those peddling black propaganda.
However, they weren't shy of a bit of spin, warning that any attempt at a CPO was destined for failure and would leave the taxpayer out of pocket to the tune of £76m.
The owners' chief spinner and attack dog Ray Mallon was forthright in saying the company would not walk away at any point and it emerged later that they have already got a legal team working on how to sink any legal threat.
None of this is likely to see the tenacious campaigners for Manston to be re-opened as an airport sidle off and admit defeat.
And given the new UKIP administration at the council is committed to a CPO, we are probably in for a lengthy tussle.
Today's briefing was ultimately less about the precise plans but an attempt to win over those who are ambivalent about Manston being restored as an airport and could find the alternative prospectus rather more attractive.
Whether it will succeed is hard to tell.
But like the best Hollywood blockbusters, this saga will have plenty of twists and turns before the final reel.
Tags: UKIP, Thanet, councils, election, Mansto, CPO, Riveroak
When politicians are in a corner, they often try to deflect the blame for events that have gone wrong on third parties.
And a common target is the media.
So perhaps we ought not to be surprised that the Kent crime commissioner Ann Barnes has opted for this strategy to justify her decision not to continue with having a youth crime tsar.
It would, she asserted, be unfair to place a third young person under the intense media scrutiny that her predecessors were subjected to.
What this overlooks - in a quite breathtakingly naive way - is that it was the commissioner herself who was responsible for exposing her proteges to the media spotlight.
Indeed, her very obvious determination to score a political PR coup ensured that the spotlight shone very directly on both, particularly the first appointee Paris Brown.
At the time, the commissioner and Paris, then just 17, willlingly toured every TV and radio station to spread the "good news," the pair sitting on sofas with breakfast show presenters in a very deliberate charm offensive which also garnered swathes of coverage in national newspapers.
The commissioner could, of course, have declined the pile of requests for media interviews. She could have done them herself and kept her crime tsar out of the limelight.
But the desire to spin a good news story blinded the commissioner and her team to the dangers ahead.
Barely days later, the story unravelled spectacularly, triggering the first of a number of PR car crashes in the commissioner's tenure.
The Mail On Sunday, offering to do a profile piece, splashed a story concerning offensive comments posted by Paris on Twitter, some of which were construed as racist and homophobic.
How had they got them? Simply by looking at her account and timeline, which fatally, it later turned out, had not been checked as part of the recruitment process.
The story might have been a classic tabloid hatchet job but the cosy sofa interviews quickly became a distant memory.
What had started as a PR dream became a PR nightmare that ended just days later when a tearful Paris announced at a painful press conference that she was to stand down.
If that was not eonugh to alert the commissioner to the risks of over exposure in the media, it is hard to think what else could have been. A sensible strategy might have been to announce a period of reflection and then quietly drop the idea.
But politicians dislike compromise and positively loathe being accused of a U-turn.
The commissioner ploughed on, saying she would appoint another youth commissioner - perhaps considering that more stringent checks during the recruitment process would be enough to ensure nothing could go wrong.
Up to a point, they did and Kerry Boyd seemed to be a safe pair of hands. Until, that is, reports emerged of an inappropriate relationship with a former county councillor who had been a referee for her application.
She was placed on the equivalent of light duties and kept well away from the public eye to a point where very few seemed to have any idea what was actually being done.
So, after two youth commissioners, there will not be a third. Instead, a forum of young people will be set up to "engage" young people, ironically one of the recommendations members of the Kent crime panel made some time ago.
Have lessons been learned? Up to a point.
But one thing stands out above everything. It was not the media that appointed the two youth tsars. It was the commissioner. It didn't work out quite as expected.
And no amount of shooting the messenger can disguise that.
Tags: Ann Barnes, media, youth commissioner, Kent, Paris Brown, Kerry Boyd
There can't be many politicians who declare that the summit of their aspirations is to run a council in a way that makes it the most boring in the country.
But that is what Chris Wells, the leader of the first council in the country to be run by UKIP, has declared as his ambition for Thanet.
It is certainly a novel political platform but underlying it is a strategy that makes some sense: Thanet Council hs been in the headlines over the years for all the wrong reasons and from the outside has often appeared to be chronically dysfuntional.
It has seen a former council leader jailed and just a year ago,a peer group review described the behaviour of councillors as "toxic".
A report by the review team published last May stated: "We found examples of antagonism, hostility, homophobia and discourtesy in the way that some councillors behave."
It is this reputation that Cllr Wells wants to replace, saying that he wants to be a "service focused, resident-orientated council." He says that is the measure by which he wishes to be judged in four years time.
It sounds modest but it will be a challenge. UKIP does not as a party like to do things quietly and as the only council under its control after the election, can expect to be fiercely scrutinised.
Cllr Wells says that the first few weeks have underlined just how intense the media spotlight will be. "The days after the election have made me understand what it is like to walk out of the Big Brother house."
Interestingly, it looks like UKIP has examined how the Green-run Brighton Council unravelled over its four years in control and is studying that to see how it can avoid similar mistakes and bad publicity. Cllr Wells' mantra is that Thanet will not be a council run on political dogma but what residents want.
An unrelenting focus on rubbish collections may seem rather modest but the message is clear - move along please, there is nothing to see.
It may be optimistic. Cllr Wells leads a 33-strong group of councillors which is precariously short on experience and while he himself has plenty - he was a Conservative cabinet member at KCC for several years (before falling out with leader Paul Carter) - the same cannot be said for many in his group.
And overshadowing the authority is the Manston issue, evidenced by the decision this week to review the decision of the former Labour-run administration not to pursue a CPO for the airport, which threatens to lead the authority into a long-running legal tussle.
Even if the costs will not necessarily fall to taxpayers, such a legal wrangle could be debilitating - it is interesting to hear that the leader's first week in office was dominated by meetings with the current owners and RiverOak - and could ultimately be a political faultline for the council.
However, set against that is the much-reduced Conservative group also backs a CPO and the only opposition is from the four-strong Labour group.
Will the "being boring" mantra work?
Who knows but while Thanet politics could benefit from a period of calm, recent history shows it might be a tougher challenge than anyone expects.
It is proving rather tricky to keep up-to-date with developments surrounding UKIP but there can be little doubt that the recriminations over the party's performance in the elections are getting increasingly bitter.
The blood lettting is nothing new in parties that have not achieved what they wanted or set out to do but even by the standards of our politicians, this is descending fairly quickly into the gutter.
Ukip in turmoil as senior figure says party should not have been defeated in South Thanet>>>
Of course, had Nigel Farage got another 1,500 votes in South Thanet, there wouldn't be any debate at all or threat to his leadership.
His supporters in and outside the party would all be talking about what a political masterstroke Ukip had achieved and what a fine leader the party had.
As it is, there seems to be something approaching civil war and the knives are out. This spectacle may well confound its voters at the grass roots and you can understand why.
It polled nearly 4m votes nationally and in Kent, its vote soared by a staggering 400%. It took outright control of Thanet Council and beat Labour and the Liberal Democrats to second place in seven seats in the county.
A failure to grab South Thanet was clearly a set back but even so, it is strange to see how this supposedly poor showing has triggered such a crisis.
If there has been a mistake, it is Nigel Farage's decision to accept an appeal by the party's NEC to stay on as leader rather than resign. And while technically he can argue that having lost, he fulfilled his pledge to stand aside as party leader, it won't have convinced many.
The internal row only serves to further underline both the virtues and disadvantages of having someone as charismatic as Nigel Farage to lead the party.
Where it will go from here is anyone's guess but the spectacle of a power struggle at the top will not impress those at the grass roots.
Particularly given that Ukip has styled itself as the party that is "not like the others."
Its current bout of in-fighting is,unfortunately, just like the others.
Not since Margaret Thatcher's heyday has the Garden of England looked so Conservative.
It was a genuinely remarkable outcome in an election that was supposed to be too tight to call.
The predictions that UKIP's "People's Army" would continue its march across Fortress Kent came to nothing. Instead of a purple rash, we got a sea of blue.
The Conservatives now hold every single Parliamentary seat in the county and every single council bar one - ironically, Thanet.
And it was not a case of scraping through for victorious MPs. Several actually increased their majorities as they romped home. The party's grip on seats in west Kent were already impregnable and now look even more so.
The warning that voting UKIP could let Ed Miliband sneak through and leave the country at the political whim of the SNP led by Nicola Sturgeon clearly hit home.
The net effect was a truly gruesome election for Labour. Even in its key target seats, it fell back.
The Conservative majority in Dover and Deal - its number one target - increased to 6,294. In Chatham and Aylesford, the Conservatives nearly doubled the majority.
It is hard to see where the Liberal Democrats go from here. Its hopes of pulling off a coup in Maidstone and The Weald came to nothing. The lack of any real national organisational base means it will take years to recover the ground it lost.
Politics can always surprise.
But the scale of the Conservative victory means Kent has had its reputation as a true blue Tory heartland firmly restored - possibly for several elections to come.
Tags: UKIP, ELECTION, NIGEL FARAGE, THANET, KENT, CONSERVATIVES, LABOUR
Categories: Local Politics | Localism
With less than two weeks to go, the outcome of the battle for South Thanet looks as unpredictable as ever, with opinion polls swinging this way and that way. About all that anyone can say with any authority is that it genuinely looks like a bona fide cliffhanger, with the three main parties all still in contention to claim the spoils on May 7.
Here's my assessment of the main contenders and how they could win - or lose:
After what appeared to be a wobble in its campaign and a dip in its poll rating, the party believes it has recently recovered the momentum it seemed to have lost.
The turning point came a week ago when Nigel Farage held three public meetings in a day and seemed to sense that the response at those meetings had put it back on track. It was also bouyed by the recent Survation poll - commissioned by one of its donors - which gave it a significant lead over the Tories and contrasted with the earlier one by ComRes which had given the Conservatives a narrow lead.
Such was the relief at the Survation poll the leader celebrated in some style with an impromptu party on St George's Day at a Ramsgate pub during which Mr Farage serenaded activists with a rendition of "New York, New York." It won't have been pleased by this weekend's events in which members of a far-right group ambushed Labour activists as they canvassed in Broadstairs.
The party's prospects continue to be helped by the fact that neither the Conservatives nor Labour have been able to establish a decisive lead over the other. This has the potential to split the vote among the anti-Farage coalition. Even if there was a clear alternative frontrunner, it would be hard to conceive that Labour supporters would bring themselves to put a cross against the Conservatives in the ballot box and vice versa.
The danger is that Farage - on his own admission - is a Marmite politician and his name on the ballot paper is as much a hindrance as it is an asset. On the other hand, party strategists believe that there are a reasonably significant number of voters who are "secret" supporters who disguise their intentions when contacted by olling organisations.
The party is continuing to emphasise that in candidate Will Scobie, voters have the opportunity to choose a genuinely 'local' candidate who has the area's interests at heart rather than someone who has been parachuted in and has other motives (ie Nigel Farage and, to a lesser extent Craig Mackinlay).
It has some traction: generally voters are not that keen on "outsiders" with ambitions in other directions, however much they might protest that if elected they will put the constituency first. You can say a lot of things about Labour's candidate but he has unimpeachable local connections. The question is whether that in itself is enough to carry him over the finish line in first place.
On one of the key local issues, the fate of Manston Airport, he is not taking sides - arguing that to do so without all the facts would not be responsible and saying he does not want to over promise and under deliver, which is his preferred soundbite. His campaign team certainly think they are in with as good a shout as any of its rivals and has - contrary to some reports - has received some fairly sizeable donations for its fighting fund.
Despite better poll ratings, one factor that remains awkward for the local campaign is the extent to which voters feel Ed Miliband is not Prime Ministerial material. And it remains a mystery why Labour has not been love-bombing the constituency with VIP visits.
South Thanet is not an official target seat - or at least wasn't when the party drew up its target list - but if the feeling was that Labour can steal the seat from Ukip surely the national party would want to associate itself very publicly with what would be a major electoral coup?
The party feels that in selecting a former member of UKIP the party has made a misjudgement. The argument goes that had Laura Sandys remained as the Conservative candidate, it would have been more difficult to win over centre-left Conservatives. As it is, it has appealed for tactical voting from supporters of other parties to block UKIP. This kind of appeal tends to be made when parties recognise that they are less likely to win under their own steam.
The word from the Conservative camp is that it is they, rather than Labour, that are to be considered as the chief rival to Ukip.Indeed, recent election leaflets have said as much, cheekily suggesting that Labour has given up on the seat and it is a straight two-way fight between the two.
Saying it enough times won't make it a reality of course. The party campaign has recently gone up a notch perhaps in the realisation that it has to do more than simply posit itself as the sensible - and only - alternative to Ukip. Anyone travelling down to Thanet can't help but have noticed billboards featuring large images of Craig Mackinlay - a sign that he possibly lacks the recognition factor of the others.
In choosing a former Ukip member (and for a brief period, its leader) Craig Mackinlay, the party clearly hoped that it would be able to neutralise Nigel Farage but I don't sense that it has. In fact, what is interesting is that the debate over the EU has not proved half as contentious as might have been expected.
In relation to the key issue of Manston Airport, there is barely a cigarette paper (or boarding pass) between it and Ukip. Still, insiders insist that the campaign is going well and the response on the doorsteps is positive.
If you want to spread a little political stardust around your campaign, Boris Johnson would be pretty much top of the list. So, it was quite a coup by South Thanet Conservatives to get him down for a visit.
Romping round Ramsgate at a pace that suggested he'd swallowed a large number of Smarties, the Mayor of London spent a good hour in a melee of camera crews, selfie sticks and Ukip activists trying - allegedly - to burst Tory balloons.
Did it cut through with voters? Who knows.
But his exuberance and energy - along with him repeating ad infinitum the phrase that candidate Craig Mackinlay had a five-point plan - did rather underline that outspoken politicians unafraid of speaking their mind for fear of making some dreadful gaffe are rather thin on the ground these days.
Tags: election, Boris Johnson, UKIP, Nigel Farage, Thanet, Ramsgate, Kent
If you are looking for a measure of how tight the election battle is in Kent, then you don't need to look much further than the attempts being made by all parties to woo supporters of their rivals.
The trouble is that there are some different lines coming out which is serving to make an aready complicated election even more confusing for voters.
In Maidstone, Nick Clegg delivered an appeal to Labour supporters to back the candidate Jasper Gerard - saying that represented the best way to oust the the Conservative incumbent Helen Grant. Party strategists even disclosed their private polling data to show that so far one in five Labour voters had indicated their willingness to switch.
But the message from South Thanet is rather different. There, Labour is calling on both Liberal Democrat supporters and soft Conservative voters to back its man Will Scobie. And that appeal was endorsed by a former Liberal Democrat peer Lord Oakshott last week, who said the only way to stop Ukip was to have a "progessive voters" forge an alliance to thwart his Parliamentary ambitions.
As to Ukip, party leader Nigel Farage has encouraged "old" Labour voters as well as Conservatives, to support him, saying the party is the only one who can control immigration.
David Cameron, who tried to push tactical voting at the Rochester by-election, has encouraged Lib Dems and Ukip supporters to vote Conservative to block a Labour government propped up by the SNP.
There is nothing new about tactical voting but the various entreaties being made by all parties do indicate that this will be what everyone knows is an unpredictable outcome.
And it is worth remembering that tactical voting is as much to do with politicians enhancing their prospects of getting the job as it is to do with some higher moral purpose - the "vote for me because you might think I am no good but wait til you see what the other guy is like" argument.
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT KENT AND THE GENERAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN - all in one place #kentecides
The election campaign has been a pretty timid and lifeless one so far, with no real flashpoints or defining moments. It seems as though the parties are campaigning in monotone.
This is because they are all totally terrified of making a gaffe that will come to haunt them come May 7 and are, so far as possible, micro-managing events in a way that ensures that contact with unpredictable voters is kept to a minimum and if at all possible avoided altogether.
Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg, visiting Maidstone, did at leat meet some students and happily gave countless media interviews.
But there have been visits where the public will have been totally oblivious to them happening. Conservative Home Secretary Theresa May came down to Ramsgate last week but I am not sure she had any interaction with voters. (I should, to be fair, stress that she was quite happy to be interviewed by us).
At least Labour can be spared the charge that it is trying to evade encounters with the public - only because to date, there have been no VIP visits at all which seems strange given there are two official target seats and South Thanet in its sights.
As to Ukip, it is at least opening up the endless "meet Nigel" events to both the Press and public - although at recent ones, he has declined to ask the audience how many are party members or activists, suggesting that many of those attending are probably already backing the party.
John Major was widely ridiculed for his election "soap box" stunt back in 1992 but 23 years on it is interesting to see that the Conservatives are considering bringing it back to reinvigorate what has, so far, been a curiously lifeless affair given what is at stake.
Tags: election, general, UKIP, Conservatives, Nick Clegg, MAIDSTONE, Nigel Farage
Categories: Politics
Could the Lib Dems really pull off an electoral coup in Maidstone, the County Town?
Improbable though it may seem, the party is cautiously optimistic and, unusually, decided to release private polling data to indicate it was closing the gap on the Conservatives.
Candidate Jasper Gerard is proving a tenacious campaigner and there seems to be a buzz and zip about its campaign that the Conservatives are lacking.
The party is clearly trading on what it claims to be the unpopularity of candidate Helen Grant.
But the reality is that it is unlikely to win under its own steam, which explains the overtures it is making to the other parties to consider voting tactically.
Labour candidate Allen Simpson has already derided the idea, saying the party wants to promote its policies to voters rather than asking them to vote for someone else. According to Lib Dem strategists, one in five Labour voters has already indicated they will switch to Nick Clegg's party.
Add in the votes that could be leaking from the Conservatives to UKIP and you can see why the Lib Dems have a plausible, if not compelling case. It is also making much of the of polling indicating that Helen Grant is viewed unfavourably by more of her constiuents than she is viewed favourably - with a net score of -5.3%
It does look like being an uncomfortably close contest for the Conservatives who would be understandably shocked if it was to relinquish control of a seat that has never been anything but true blue. I still see them edging out the Lib Dems but they have a real fight on their hands.
Visits by party leaders are notoriously stage-managed affairs and Nick Clegg's to Maidstone was no different.
To be fair, he was willing to do endless media interviews and selfies and is a good performer in public.
The only momentary slip-up - and it was hardly that - was when he stopped in mid flow during a Q and A with students at Mid Kent College because he had just spotted Jasper Gerard's cufflinks, saying how much he admired them.
Tags: election, NICK CLEGG, Ukip, Jasper Gerard, Helen Grant
The fate of Manston was always going to be a major issue in the election battle for South Thanet and it is hardly a surprise that the rival parties - notably Ukip and the Conservatives - have been falling over themselves to dip into the political sweetie jar to offer assorted pledges and commitments.
First out of the block were the Conservatives.
They clearly wanted to pre-empt Ukip's rally on Saturday at Margate's Winter Gardens and brought down the transport minister John Hayes two days earlier to pronounce that, according to what he had seen from the government consultants appointed to review the CPO papers, there was nothing to stop Thanet council from pursuing that option.
But what had he seen? It wasn't quite clear and when the Department for Transport was asked for a copy of the interim report PwC had produced, we were told to put the question to GCHQ because it was a political event and nothing to do with them.
Mr Hayes said in a rather breathless press release that it represented a 'huge step' towards re-opening Manston as a working airport and that the only way to ensure that it did was to vote Conservative.
This was then overshadowed by a row over whether the news breached the strict rules of "purdah" which are supposed to apply during election campaigns and are designed to ensure that no announcements are made which might be construed as giving some electoral advantage to a party or candidate.
The owners of Manston lost no time in denouncing the way the announcement had been made to say that it felt there may be a case to answer and were taking legal advice on the issue.
This was swiftly followed by Ukip unveiling its position - or rather, repeating its position - that the first thing that it would do, were it to take control of Thanet District Council, would be to also instruct council officials to start a CPO process to restore Manston as a working airport.
So, in a sense Manston is a zero sum game for both Ukip and the Conservatives: there really is not much difference between them.
The only problem they may have is that while Manston is unquestionably an important issue in South Thanet, voters may get rather tired of it if the issue is all the parties talk about between now and May 7.
Everything you need to know about the election battle in Kent -constituencies guide, candidates, commment and analysis: #KENTDECIDES
Will Nigel Farage win in South Thanet? It looked like the party was having a bit of a wobble and it did not come out well from the revelation that it had tried to suppress a poll which appeared to indicate it was falling back in he constituency.
It is becoming next to impossible to read the runes with any changes in the standing of the parties fluctuating on a daily basis. Having said that, I detected a spring in the step of Labour this week, who are feeling that they are steadily improving and represent the main challenger.
The problem for both the Conservatives and Labour is that neither has a decisive lead in the polls. For floating voters who want to keep Ukip out, there is no clear choice to go for. That will potentially help Ukip and split the anti-Farage vote.
With three weeks to go, there are bound to be more twists and turns and the launch of the party manifestos next week could represent a potential banana skin for Ukip.
There are election posters and election posters but 2015 will go down as the year that saw - courtesy of Ukip - the first one to feature the words "compulsory purchase order in relation to Manston. Next up?
Maybe a Conservative one featuring "quantitive easing."
The usually mild-mannered Sevenoaks candidate Michael Fallon took on the role of Conservative bruiser-in-chief this week with his "stabbed in the back" jibe against Ed Miliband. The Conservatives defended the comments but it is the kind of politicking that really turns off voters.
And the row they generated did have one consequence. It helped distract voters from other issue - partcularly Labour's "non-doms" announcement - which might have just been the purpose.
Tags: general election, Nigel Farage, Thanet, Kent, Roger Gale, Michael Fallon
Categories: Manston | Precept
It was inevitable that the party spin doctors all declared that their candidate won but the truth is that the seven-way election debate was a score draw - and a highly entertaining one at that. The fact that the snap polls had differing results served to underline that this is a highly unpredictable election where any number of outcomes remain possible.
Here's my verdict:
DAVID CAMERON: A composed but slightly safe performance, lacking a little passion perhaps as he strived to present himself as the safe pair of hands and appealed to voters to let him finish the job. It was never likely that he as going to make any gaffes. But stuck out at the end of the podiums did rather make him appear a little aloof. Safe rather than inspring but his aides won't be unhappy about that.
ED MILIBAND: Another solid performance but I did find his one-armed fist clenching podium punching a little distracting. Kept to the script well, had a good line attacking the Conservatives for being unwilling to tallk about the future. His obvious attempts to address the audience beyond those in the studio were a little bit clunky.No "hell yeah" moments.
NICK CLEGG: The clear winner in the 2010 debates, this was another smooth performance, and his attacks on Cameron had you wondering how on earth the pair had managed a coalition for five years. However, while his willingness to acknowledge mistakes - including the U-turn on tuition fees - had the virtue of candour it did also remind voters of a politician who said one thing and did another
NIGEL FARAGE: Began a little woodenly but got into his stride as the debate went on and pushed all the usual Ukip buttons - effectively depicting his rivals as "all the same" and how he represents those who feel disconnected from mainstream parties. There is always scope for something left field when he is interviewed and his comments on people from abroad being treated for HIV came close to that. While he mentioned his party's support for grammar schools he could have put Cameron on the spot over his failure to back a plan for a new one in Kent.
NICOLA STURGEON: By common consent was one of the best performers on the night. Assertive and confident, it could have been tricky for her to make a wider appeal to voters beyond Scotland but did the job well. Effectively criticised the main party leaders as the old boys club. But her strong showing may have served to remind voters that the SNP may have a pivotal role in determining who may run the country after May 7 - allowing Cameron to claim that the SNP might let Miliband through the back door.
NATALIE BENNETT: The most nervous of the seven and appeared to be referring to cue cards on the podium. No major mishaps but I think that she did not come across as well as her rivals. Still, she staked out the Green party claim that it is the most progressive of the parties, arguing that we should "celebrate free movement in the EU". Didn't really cut through as strongly as she may have done.
LEANNE WOODS: Had an even trickier proposition than Nicola Sturgeon but did with some success. Her scolding of Nigel Farage over HIV patients and anti-immigration rhetoric was particularly effective and she had a great line about ordinary people needing a bale out - not just the bankers.
Tags: TV debate, politicians, labour, UKIP, Conservatives, Lib Dems, general elction
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5 May 2015
Canadian venture capital firm Northleaf Capital Partners has held a $264m close for its early-stage investment focused fund of funds thanks to backing from the Ontario Pension Board.
Read full story
1 May 2015
Google Ventures, the venture capital investment arm of Google, has led a $15m round for Rocana a provider of so-called "root cause analysis" software formerly known as ScalingData.
Third Rock Ventures-backed enzyme specialist Blueprint Medicines Corp has launched its IPO on the New York Stock Exchange raising $147m.
Companies run by chief executives who have been divorced tend to do "slightly better" than companies run by CEOs who've never been divorced, according to London- and Guernsey-based venture capitalist Jon Moulton.
Global investment firm T Rowe Price has led a $100m financing round in e-commerce eyeglass retailer Warby Parker, doubling the company's valuation.
30 April 2015
Private equity firms Goldman Sachs and IDG Capital Partners have co-led a $50m Series C round in bitcoin startup Circle.
New York-based growth equity firm Catalyst Investors has closed on $377m for its fourth fund thanks to over-subscription.
Mainsail Partners, the San Francisco-based growth equity specialist, has named Michael Anderson an investment partner, bringing the investment partner team to four.
Flare Capital Partners, formerly known as Foundation Medical Partners, has hit the market with its first fund since its name change.
Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm Foundation Capital has hired innovator and angel investor Rahul 'RJ' Jain as entrepreneur-in-residence.
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
May 7, 2014 By Severalnines
Following the release of ClusterControl 1.2.6 a couple of weeks ago, we are now looking forward to demonstrating this latest version of the product on Tuesday next week, May 13th.
This release contains key new features (along with performance improvements and bug fixes), which we will be demonstrating live during the webinar. …[Read more...]


text:
I need some step by step help here guys.
I've been trying to figure out how to embed WordPress posts INTO a pre-existing website. All of the tutorials I've found, I've had trouble with because most want you to use PHP on a page with a .php extension which I don't want. I want to incorporate the PHP into a .html page.
I searched here (found this topic http://wordpress.org/support/topic/using-php-to-embed-wordpress-posts?replies=4) and other places for tutorials.
The few tutorials I found that mention using PHP on an HTML page say that I need to add a few lines to an .htaccess file to tell the server to parse the PHP on that HTML page as if it was a PHP page. The problem is that they don't say where to put it or what to do after you add it to make it work.
I have Godaddy. I installed WordPress. I saw that it has an .htaccess file in the wordpress directory. I tried adding the lines the tutorials said to that. I also tried just creating a new .htaccess in the folder where the actual HTML file with the PHP inserted is located.
In both cases, when I saved it and refreshed the HTML page, it gave me a 403 forbidden yada yada error. I Googled that and places said it's either a permissions error or an .htaccess file blocking access but none of the places detailed how to fix that.
Anyway, I started over entirely using this tutorial:
Left as an html page, it showed a (read more) link so at least I'm getting farther because the PHP from the other tutorials I tried broke the page entirely lol When I changed it to a php page, I get this error:
Warning: require(./wordpress/wp-load.php) [function.require]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory
I can't show you the website I'm working on so pretend it's http://www.example.com. My first question is how am I supposed to link to the right directory as far as syntax goes? The tutorial says to start with this code:
// Include WordPress
define('WP_USE_THEMES', false);
I kept my directory name as wordpress just until I can get the hang of this so it would be http://www.example.com/wordpress/wp-load.php. My HTML file I'm trying to insert the PHP into is in a different directory in http://www.example.com/other/blah.html.
How do I write the syntax in the HTML page for it to point to the proper wp-load directory?


text:
CNBC's Rick Santelli discusses bond prices and yields.» Read More
JAKARTA, June 15- Indonesia data contained the good news that the country's wide current account most likely is narrowing, but Monday also produced evidence that consumer demand is much weaker than expected ahead of the biggest shopping season. May produced a large trade surplus of $950 million, instead of $410 million seen in a Reuters poll, and that should help...
CNBC's Rick Santelli discusses bond prices and yields, and the action in the pound after the S&P cut its outlook for the UK.
Jigar Shah, CEO of Maybank Kim Eng Securities India, explains why India's consumer prices will likely remain at "comfortable levels" for now.
Shilan Shah, India economist at Capital Economics, expects India's consumer prices to rise 4.8 percent on-year in May, adding that inflation remains comfortably within the central bank's target.
Hugh Young, Global head of equities and MD at Aberdeen Asset Management, discusses the rise in the benchmark JGB yield, which hit its highest level since September 2014 on Thursday.
The World Bank has raised its forecasts for India's gross domestic product (GDP) to 7.4 percent this year. Devika Mehndiratta, senior economist for South Asia & ASEAN at ANZ, discusses.
CNBC's Rick Santelli discusses bond prices and yields after the 30-year auction.
CNBC's Rick Santelli discusses bond prices and yields after the 10-year note auction.
Jeff Rosenberg, BlackRock, is not surprised by the huge move in yields and discusses where investors should go.
Personal Capital's Bill Harris explains how Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities can help investors manage inflation risk.
Bill Harris, CEO of Personal Capital explains Treasure Inflation Protected Securities, also known as TIPS.
Peng Wengsheng, global economist and head of Research at CITIC Securities, says low domestic demand will likely underpin weak inflation in China for the near term.
China's inflation in May slowed more than expected, offering more evidence Asia's largest economy is stalling and suggesting more easing may be ahead.
SHANGHAI, June 9- China's consumer inflation eased to 1.2 percent year-on-year in May, weaker than market expectations, raising concerns about growing deflationary pressures as the economy cools. Analysts polled by Reuters predicted the index would come in at 1.3 percent compared with 1.5 percent the prior month. The producer price index was unchanged at...
Times are hard for Japanese with a sweet tooth as the country bemoans the latest side effect of Abenomics: a surge in the price of chocolate. More from The Financial Times.
Mikio Kumada, executive director & Global strategist at LGT Capital Partners, says the revised first-quarter gross domestic product indicates that Japan is showing steady progress.
Apart from Japan's first-quarter revised gross domestic product (GDP), China will publish a raft of economic indicators in the week ahead. CNBC's Oriel Morrison has more.
RIO DE JANEIRO, June 7- Renowned Brazilian fund manager Luis Stuhlberger warned Brazil's economy is at risk of suffering a new lost decade, saying recent efforts to balance its finances are not enough and that growth will remain lackluster until at least 2018.. Brazil is in the process of trying to cut back spending in a bid to convince investors that President...
CNBC Contributors, Jim Iuorio and Jeff Kilburg, discuss how to play a raise in rates.
CNBC's Rick Santelli discusses yields on the benchmark 10-year soaring on the back of the latest jobs report.


text: Home > Medical > Genetics > Genes and disease advertisement Get a quote Fedhealth - What cover is right for you? Momentum - save up to 35% on healthcare advertisement Read Health24's Comments Policy Comment on this story 0 comments Add your comment Thank you, your comment has been submitted. Logout Comment 0 characters remaining Share on Facebook Logout Comment 0 characters remaining Share on Facebook Loading comments... Other news Medical WHO issues warning over shoddy HIV clinical trials Lifestyle The drug Bill Cosby gave women for sex Diet and nutrition How almonds can help you lose weight Lifestyle Vancouver imposes regulations on marijuana sales Medical Cholera kills 32 in South Sudan Medical First US measles death in 12 years From our sponsors Soothe your family's coughs and colds Why hydration is important while exercising Taking charge of your health Man, take care of your health! Live healthier Too Tired? » 20 signs of burnout Staying active reduces stress 10 ways to have a healthier work day Why you're exhausted Lost your mojo? Here are 5 surprising energy drainers, plus the easy fixes that will help put the pep back in your step! Have a happy kid! » Obesity may not help teens lose weight Should we tell our kids they're fat? Keep an eye on your kids by smartphone Win with MySmartkid Stand a chance of winning a six-month subscription valued at over R1 100!


text:
Come visit me, Kyle, Honey & Oscar.
Come visit me, Hi everybirdie, i'm back!!!!.
Come visit me, Polly; V4 Jester Bean #256517. BOTM & Zippy; THANX BOTD V4Jester Bean# 256517..
Come visit me, Callie*, * Mango*, GREEN* Today I am 10!!, Peetie Thank you for BOTD 3/26/15 :), Paulie* Today I am 9!! & Little Angel Peep meets Lola at the RB 6/8/14.
Come visit me, Derby Farms, Chyna & Bailey ♥ RIP.
Come visit me, Gus--Chi chi ♥ RIP & Chi chi RIP my sweet girl..
Come visit me, Raffikki,Cydney, PumBaa & Max say Hi!.
Come visit me, ALEX, POPEYE, SAWYER, BLUE & JEWEL, GINGER & CALICO.
Come visit me, Hulk Vote Jester (256517)BOTM.
Come visit me, Pepper & Jamaica, Butterball, Apollo, Annie, NAME THAT TUNE ! !, Chardonnay, Rico & Paulie - the Ninja Budgies, Buddy Beak, Sally - In Loving Memory & Valentine.
Come visit me, Pearl & Silver.
Come visit me, Carter-Justice For Ozzi-TY 4 BOTD 8/28/14, Doo Diligence-Justice for Ozzi TY 4 BOTD!, Cookie-Justice For Ozzi-thank you for BOTD 7/31/14, Charlie-Justice 4 Ozzy-TY for BOTD 10/29/14, Tricky D- RIP 12/12/12-Thank you BOTD 12/12/14, Teal'c-Thank you for BOTD 10-14-14 Justice for Ozz, Elvis Thank you for BOTD 2/22/15, Joshua Chico Justice for Ozzi, Blue-Justice for Ozzi-TY 4 BOTD 9/7/14, Moggie -Justice for Ozzi, George (Gen George Hammond)RIP Gen 12/13/08, Cu-Bird -Justice for Ozzi, Nanday Security Services, LLC, Miranda -Justice for Ozzi-ty 4 botd 5/13/15, Captain Darling-RIP 5/19/2014 ty 4 BOTD 9/19/14 & Baldrick Thank you for BOTD 3/20/14.
Come visit me, Ms BB 4th of July, TPB&G., The castle is now hosting Sweeeettttyyyyy, Charley Bird, The Bird. Lets play BazBall !!!!!!, Army Games with Cookie and Tweety... & Buba, ready for the race.
Come visit me, Paddy Cake & Piddy Girl, CORI reigning champ on feed the birdie & BOO BOO vote JESTER 256517.
Come visit me, Silver Sluggers Page Where Greyt Things Happen & Sam & Miranda on a Picnic.
Come visit me, Angel Bertie's Rainbow Gym: Thanks for BOTD!, Angel Bertie: Happy New Year!, Chirps: Happy New Year!!!, The Happy Couple!!!, Spot: Vote Mikey D for May BOTM,276082 & BonBon and Parker:Vote for BOTM!.
Come visit me, Gizmo and Divo, mom loves you both, Willie, Peppino & Falco.
Come visit me, Maui, Mango & Willy: Thanks for all of the votes for botd:.
Come visit me, Sunny(RIP) and Haley, Romeo and Julie(loving memory of Maxi ) & Tahoe and Pearl.
Come visit me, Abby~ Thanks EveryBirdy!, *~Blueberry~*, ~*Ogre*~ (2003-2013), Grendel~ WOW Thanks everybirdy!!!, *~Snowball~*, Grithr, Lucky, Homer & Giggle.
Come visit me, Tweet & Squak.
Come visit me, Screech & Roof Top.
Come visit me, Queen Angel Sallykins says thank you all 4 BOTD, Pookie says lets go to the beach !!! & Princess Laka thanks everyone for making her BOTD.
Susan, Boiling Springs, SC.
Valerie, Franklin Square, NY.
Come visit me, Ruby.
*Content generated by our loyal visitors, which includes comments and club postings, is free of constraints from our editors' red pens, and therefore not governed by I-5 Publishing, LLC's Gold Standard Quality Content, but instead allowed to follow the free form expression necessary for quick, inspired and spontaneous communication.
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text:
BeneFit Cosmetics Play Sticks Concealer, foundation and powder all-in-one!
288 reviews
64% would repurchase
Package Quality: 4.2
Price: $$$
Package Quality: 4.2
Price: $$$
on 1/29/2013 9:20:00 AM
Age: 25-29
Skin: Normal, Fair, Not Sure
Hair: Brunette, Other, Other
Eyes: Brown
I've just repurchased this, and I'm not generally a repurchaser, so that tells you something.
I use the colour paper doll; it's a fraction too dark for me but a good blending makes it look fine.
The smell is lovely, lavender, and having read lavender is antibacterial, there might be something in it as my skin is the best it has ever been with this.
I went back to Mac Studiofix for just a few days and broke out again, so knew there was something good about this.
It's easy to put on as it's in a stick - I just swipe on forehead, cheeks, nose and chin and get blending. Seems to have fairly decent staying power - maybe 6 hours of looking really good.
Slightly greasy feel to the fingers but it does seem quite moisturising.
The packaging is great and I plan to buy a spare to keep in my handbag.
The only negative is that the stick isn't very big (although when you get to the bottom there's a lot of product left that you can dig out).
Would love to have a greater range of colours.
on 11/17/2012 11:46:00 PM
Age: 19-24
Skin: Sensitive, Fair, Not Sure
Hair: Brunette, Other, Other
Eyes: Brown
I have a love/hate relationship with this product.
The compliments my boyfriend use to give me when I wore it, He would actually tell me my skin looked really nice every time I wore this, I even tried switching from using it to not using it on different days and he always complimented my skin and saw the difference on the days I wore it.
It didn't make my skin break out.
Very good coverage
Creamy texture which I like
Smooth feel
Its unlike any other foundation I have used, combines concealer and foundation properties in one,
No matter what color I use its too dark for my skin tone, I am very fair skinned.
The texture, although providing good coverage and feeling smooth, is way too heavy for my skin and face and looked caked, every time! I have slightly thinner skin.
The main thing I didn't like was that I would never stay in place. I would try to smooth it on and blend it in and it would just move around!
If you use too much, like my sister does, you literally look like someone put a mask of foundation over you and you have to be very careful not to get lines and smudges.
I don't have oily skin but this foundation would always end up looking oily on me after a few hours and/or giving me a slight shine which never happens with other foundations.
After a while I noticed it made my skin look dull as it was too matt, I personally prefer foundations with luminous properties as they brighten the skin and look more natural.
It can work really well but I don't feel its worth the hassle and required daily upkeep and uncomfortable feel.
When I had blemishes such as bumps and spots it had the potential to highlight them if not used very specifically and carefully.
Its expensive.
on 8/3/2012 5:04:00 AM
Age: 25-29
Skin: Acne-prone, Fair-Medium, Not Sure
Hair: Blond, Other, Other
Eyes: Hazel
My mum bought me this as a treat at Benefit on a girly shopping day. I am 26 but have oily skin with dry patches.
This looked great when applied in store, but when I got it home I fell out of love.
It's a very wet consistency and you really have to apply a lot of it to get any kind of good coverage.
It also made me feel a bit sweaty underneath it - like it was clogging me up.
Love benefit but sad to say this is just sat in my make up box for dire emergencies only!
on 6/16/2012 4:31:00 PM
Age: 44-55
Skin: Sensitive, Fair-Medium, Not Sure
Hair: Blond, Other, Other
Eyes: Hazel
I have combination-dry skin which can vary one direction or another based on the type of moisturizer I use (always an SPF 30+). Sensitive, rosacea prone skin.
First the good. Beautiful texture. Emoilliant, easy to apply, great slip. Light matte, dewy.
Now the not so good. The color Tea Party was the perfect color. We tested it at Sephora's, went out into the light - perfect. Took it home and when i did my entire face, oh boy - it looked chalky/mask- like and slightly ashy.
A real disappointment. Will not buy again.
on 5/31/2012 5:28:00 PM
Age: 25-29
Skin: Acne-prone, Fair, Warm
Hair: Brunette, Straight, Fine
Eyes: Blue
Oh, I wanted to like this product SO much! But as for me and my oily, acne-prone skin... it just wasn't love.
Coverage-wise, this didn't deliver what I was hoping for (it barely covered the redness of blemishes, let alone some red post-acne marks), and no matter how I applied (directly from the stick, with my fingers, blending with a sponge), the final effect always looked cakey. (I wasn't even using much, either, so I ruled out that option.)
Plus, compared to when I use mineral foundation, I noticed my face (particularly my T-zone and forehead) felt much, much greasier than normal.
The kicker for me, though? Something in this makeup did NOT get along with my skin; after two days of use, I was broken out in all the places I'd applied it, and the pores closest to my nose on both cheeks began to just look... HUGE. Almost like they were having a weird, slightly swollen allergic reaction. So strange.
Not a re-purchase for me; thank everything for Sephora's return policy!
on 5/18/2012 4:21:00 AM
Age: 19-24
Skin: Combination, Olive, Not Sure
Hair: Black, Wavy, Medium
Eyes: Brown
I bought this product after wanting a new foundation. I've been using studio sculpt by MAC for a very long time because the color match was so good (NC42) and it left a nice, satin finish. Well, the benefit play sticks are also satin-type to semi-matte finishes and cover so well. The way I use it is by taking the stick and putting 3 streaks across each cheek, one one my forehead, nose and chin and blend away. This foundation blends so well! It's the type of foundation I can use in 5 minutes, and I'll have full natural looking coverage. I use the color jump rope and it matches my NC42 pretty nicely, except, it does have a slight pink undertone to it. If I need more coverage on certain areas, I will go back and put a seconds layer and pat the product as I would with a concealer. Even though it is pricey for a stick foundation, it is worth it, as the product is easy to travel with, does not require brushes(unless you want to of course) and it has ingredients that are supposedly good for your skin. Downfall is that there are only 4-5 shades, I believe, so not everyone will have a match. Would definitely recommend.
on 3/23/2012 1:47:00 PM
Age: 19-24
Skin: Acne-prone, Fair-Medium, Not Sure
Hair: Black, Wavy, Medium
Eyes: Hazel
I took a chance & chose this off someone's list who wanted to swap with me. I was afraid at first because the color was the lightest color & I thought it would make me look too white(I'm fair skinned but I'm never the lightest shade). When I swatched it I saw it was actually pretty good color for me. Now, I HATE liquid foundation but I'm forced to wear it because I need full coverage & my HG powder I found with full coverage, broke me out. So.. I decided to give stick foundations a try & I do really like them. I don't know why I waited so long to try this particular one but I'm glad I swapped for it now that I have. I have deep red acne scaring all over my face & this gives me the full coverage I need. I don't need concealer with it because it works as both. It doesn't make me look cake faced the way Max Factor Pan-Stik made me look. I set it lightly with some powder & it looks flawless. The staying powder is actually pretty decent also. If this doesn't start to break me out(praying it doesn't), I'm sure this will be my HG.
on 3/10/2012 3:27:00 PM
Age: 25-29
Skin: Combination, Fair-Medium, Neutral
Hair: Brown, Wavy, Medium
Eyes: Brown
I'm trying to be a bit unbias in this review as my true dissatisfaction comes from the Benefit rep who sold me this...here goes: as far as coverage goes, this made my face look flawless and it matched my skin extremely well. I also like the "stick" form and being able to apply straight to my face and just blending out with either by fingers or brush. However, after 3 days of use, I broke out horribly!!! I'm talking the worst breakout I have ever had in my life. So bad, that the girls at Sephora gave me HUGE free samples of tons of skincare products to help. According to them, someone like me (oily combination, sensitive skin) would never warrant a recommendation in benefit products.
on 2/23/2012 4:31:00 AM
Age: 30-35
Skin: Sensitive, Fair-Medium, Neutral
Hair: Black, Straight, Coarse
Eyes: Brown
This is a great foundation/concealer for me. I have problem skin, but it sits comfortably and doesn't cause any reactions or break outs. The coverage is buildable and has a natural to matt finish depending on how much you use (it even covers my rosacea). Its portable and convenient to use although I don't use the stick directly on my face for fear of spreading germs. It lasts for ages because its quite concentrated/creamy.
on 2/8/2012 1:14:00 PM
Age: 25-29
Skin: Combination, Fair, Cool
Hair: Brunette, Straight, Fine
Eyes: Green
This foundation gives lovely even colour if you don't apply too much, lasts well if you set it with light powder, and looks flawless and smooth if you moisturise beforehand. I tend to paint a couple of stripes on my face in the areas where I most need product, and then I blend it out with my fingers. If I'm feeling fancy, I blend it out in circular motions with my Illamasqua highlighter brush. Both achieve pretty much the same effect. I imagine this would work well with a stippling brush too, but with a flat foundation brush I didn't have so much luck.
I have a kind of love-hate relationship with this foundation.
This is a great colour match for my pale skin (I wear 'Spin The Bottle') and it makes a lovely foundation: not greasy, not cakey, not obvious, and I don't feel it on my skin (unless I apply too much). It looks flawless most of the day if set with a light powder, and it is incredibly quick and easy to apply. The stick lasts quite a long time too. It's quite rich, so it's great for Winter time, or for anyone who is on the slightly drier side of normal skin. (My skin is mostly normal, but my nose can sometimes get a little oily, and my cheeks a little dry.)
However, for a foundation that costs upwards of £20 and purports to have such great ingredients to promote healthy skin (soya oil, chamomile, green tea extract, and gingko) I expected an improvement in my skin in general, but it really didn't do much. I found this particularly surprising because soya oil and green tea are powerful antioxidants and chamomile is very skin-soothing. I expected to use it for a few weeks and have radiant, even skin and I was pretty disappointed. I suppose the quantities might be low, or perhaps the other ingredients cancel the benefits out.
Nonetheless, since this foundation contains more natural stuff than your average make-up product I feel much better about wearing it on a daily basis - so this has become a staple in my collection.
If you want a straightforward, gentle foundation that's super-easy to apply and will make your skin look amazing when it's on, then this is for you. To summarise: it does precisely what you want a good foundation to do, but unfortunately it doesn't do everything it says on the tin - and for that reason it loses a point.
Popular Foundations