Why you never see Ivan Lewis and Peter Kay together

I've just realised why I've never seen Labour MP (and hypocrite of the year according to Iain Dale) and comedian Peter Kay together.

Is anyone intersted in hourly updates about new year ?

The BBC, ITV and Sky News are under the mis-apprehension that anyone is interested in the fact that each and every hour, somewhere around the globe, a new day and a new year has started.

So what ? Does it warrant sending a team of presenters from Radio five live across to Australia ? Do I care that they are having a firework display, and will I care in an hour that the same will happen in Hong Kong, then an hour later in Bangladesh, then an hour later in Delhi, etc, etc. I like fireworks, but they are something that is only good if you are actually there. Fireworks on TV is much like listening to someone talking about a lovely meal they've had.

I know it's a no news day, but really, is anyone interested in rolling news services telling us the time in lots of different countries, because I know of no-one who is.

Font of all knowledge - Hazel Blears

Hazel Blears, fresh from protesting about cabinet decisions that affect her own constituents whilst seemingly caring little of they affect other people's constituencies hsa found a new side line.

Social commentator and philosopher.

According to the BBC HERE she knows why British people like to drink so much. Apparently, according to Hazel "Font of all knowledge" Blears, its our "Anglo Saxon mentality" and "risk-taking" and "wanting to push the limits of danger". Also, and this shows clearly that there is just no start, sorry, end to her talents, she reveals that British people "like getting drunk".

Everytime she speaks she reminds me of the quote "better to remain silent and let people think you are thick than open your mouth and confirm it"

Is it April Fools Day already ?

Apparently, according to David Cameron, the Conservative Party are the party of the working people ! Read more HERE. Yes April Fools day has come four months early.

I wonder if we looked at the demographic of their councillors across the country just how it would prove or disprove this ? My guess, from my own experience, is that it would disprove this massively.

In know you can fool some of the people some of the time, but David Cameron really is under the mis-apprehension that you can foll all of the people all of the time. An Eton educated millionaire saying "I'm a working man like you, and so is my friend Gideon, sorry, George Osborne and David, sorry Dave Willetts, etc, etc". Just look at the Tory front bench and they are hardly an example of a typical workers.

Part of Margaret Thatcher's success was tapping in to the working class vote, with the selling of council houses being a key part of this, but I cannot see any initiatives from the Tories aimed at "wooing" the working class, not yet anyway.

Despite the latest good polls for the Conservatives, the regional splits show the Tories are doing well where they already have seats, but in the North and large parts of the Midlands, they still trail Labour, and you would have to see David Cameron's comments today in this context. He needs those voters to form a government. Will it work ?

Anybody able to solve a maths problem ?

I am sure I am not the only person who goes to watch Norwich at Carrow Road who is completely confused by the attendance figures that are read out during the matches.

Against Southend on Boxing Day, there were 25,433 fans present, which according to the announcer was "an 86% turnout". This would mean that a 100% turnout would give the ground a capacity of 28,900 people. Yet against QPR on 30th December, there were 25,113 fans at the game, which was according to the announcer "a 90% turnout". This would make the ground capacity 27,600. So on 30th December Carrow Road had a capacity of 1,300 less than it did on Boxing Day ?

Having checked the facts, it appears that Carrow Road's official capacity is 26,034. This would make the attendance on Boxing Day 97%, not 86%.

These odd percentages are read out every week, each one just as bizarre as the next. Could someone explain how Norwich City come up with their percentages. As a teacher of maths, I cannot come up with any mathematical way to explain it.

There's only one Dion Dublin !

When Norwich announced in September that they were signing thirty seven year old veteran Dion Dublin, there were hoots of derision from Norwich fans, myself included. So it is about time to put the record straight.

In hindsight, the only shame is that we didn't sign two Dion Dublin's. When he plays in defence, he is Norwich's best player, when he plays up front, he is also the best player on the pitch. Perhaps it could be argued that this says more about Norwich this season than anything else, but he is an example to any youngster. He communicates, he encourages, he has an amazing first touch and is an all round superstar.

Thanks Dion for brightening up Carrow Road this year and can we squeeze one more year out of your 37 year old legs ?

The shocking picture that confirms why I am against the death penalty

This picture for me confirms every reason why the death penalty is wrong. The thought, the very thought that a man, however, bad he is, is about to be killed by a state is just wrong.

I know he is evil, has killed and is responsible for the deaths of millions, I know he deserves the very strongest sanctions available under law. I just think it is awful that in Iraq, a country wracked with death and killing every day, that another has to die whilst we urging a stop to the killings.

I'd personally like to see him rot in jail, for the rest of his life, like Rudolf Hess. But now he has his "martyr" status, he died "honourably", if this is the right word to describe being hung without a hood and with his head held high. Will this stop the Sunni insurgency ? I doubt it.

New Year's honours - Arbitrary and unfair ?

So the New Year's honours list has been published. I guess Rod Stewart deserves one for his success and it's amusing to think that Zara Phillips will get an award too. However, something irks me about the people's awards.

Don't get me wrong, I think they are a good idea in principle, but they do seem somewhat arbitrary. I remember the clerk to Horsford Parish Council in Horsford serving as clerk for seventy years. Every year they parish council put his name forward as a tribute to his unswerving work for the community over decades, yet he never got an award and died three years ago. I thought this was a shame as seventy years of service doing the same job is so very rare. Yet I know of people who have got them for simply doing their job, be it being a dinner lady, a man collecting car park money or a head teacher.

Again, I am not wanting to demean those worthwhile jobs. Indeed, we'd be lost without them, but I want to see honours going to people who have done something extra-ordinary. Won medals, saved lives, made history, won awards, basically, I don't expect one myself for teaching, so am a little concerned when I see headteachers and getting them.

It is perhaps a measure of the society we live in that everyone has to have an award. The problem is for me, I want to see awards based on the extra-ordinary. I want to see people rewarded for doing something that I couldn't do and not getting one arbitrarily, subjectively on the basis of "well, he tries hard" !

Why do people post comments anonymously ?

I have today received what I can only regard as a lecture in an anonymous post. Quite why someone would go to the lengths of cutting and pasting a large chunk of text from a Conservative press release (which is what he or she did), then ranting on about something completely off-topic, then, having gone to this effort failing to even put a name, I will never know.

I'll make clear my rules on whether comments get through the moderation stage. you will always be published if:

1) If you stick to the topic in hand
2) If you stray from the topic, but it is your own work.
3) If you rant, you might get published so long as your give a name.
4) You rant and rant and don't make any sense, but you log on with a blogger ID.

You won't get published if you :

1) Post copies of press releases and don't talk about the topic in hand and post anonymously.

So now you know.

Am I there first to blog from a nintendo wii ?

I often read other peoples blogs and see that they have blogged remotely using a blackberry or mobile phone. However I think I can at least claim a political blogging first by being the first to blog using a Nintendo Wii.

I would add that it might also be the last time I do it too as it takes too long to write the messages out.

John Butcher - A likeable man to disagree with

When I was at University In Coventry in the mid 1990's, many of my friends were Tories and were involved in all things Conservative. Through this, I came to meet John Butcher, then Tory MP Coventry South West, a seat that was abolished in the 1997 General Election, so it is with some sadness that I read HERE of his death on Christmas Day.

I met John on about three occasions. Once, when he came to my house to speak to my Tory housemates about something, and the other times in a pub. I have to say, that I could disagree with him on almost every point he made, but I found him to be a very pleasant chap. He was very open about his heart by-pass operations, which was a reason for him not standing for parliament in 1997 (also the boundarary revisions were very favourable to Labour). He used to joke that his heart had been by-passed so many times that the surgeons had run out of space for future ones, although this didn't stop him from enjoying a drink !

I still remember (and have found the link HERE) when he proposed that the then Tory Government should employ entertainers and jugglers to soothe the nerves of those people stuck in traffic jams on the M6 motorway !

So, I'll raise a glass myself to John Butcher tonight. A nice bloke to completely disagree with.

Hazel Blears - Desperation setting in ?

The BBC reports that Hazel Blears has joined a protest against the government's proposed closure of a maternity unit in her constituency. You could almost admire her for this were it not for the background to the story, the on going Labour selections in the area and her past record.

Iain Dale reported about two weeks ago on the fact that Hazel Blears has already lost out on selection for one of the new seats being carved out of her existing seat as a result of boundary changes whilst she is looking more likely to lose than win in the other. This means that a Blair loyalist minister could be deselected.

One of the reasons for her possible de-selection (or non-selection), it has been claimed, is because she is such a government crony, supporting Tony Blair even when his polcies are bad for her own constituents. From this, it is clear to see why she is now trying to appear disloyal.

So the simple rule is, if you want an MP' who will fight for your area, don't choose a government minister.

22 Tories under investigation for breaking rules

The BBC has picked up on the story from the Guardian yesterday which reported that twenty two Tory MP's are being investigated for using House of Commons hospitality to help fund campaigns in Conservative target seats.

The rules are quite clear when it comes to using the House of Commons facilities, and it appears the Tories have been up to no good. No wonder "Dave" is so keen to introduce rules on limiting party funding donations when it appears his party have come up with ingenious new ways of getting funding, even if they break parliamentary rules !

Tis the season for the Daily Mail to rant

Spending last night at my in-laws meant that the only paper I could read this morning was the Daily Scum, sorry, Daily Mail.

Reading through it confirmed to me again everything I dislike about the paper, the biggest of which is the fact that it reports very little news, but is heavy on its "witchhunts" against individuals and organisations on the Daily Mail's "hit list". Here is a brief summary :

1) Attacking John Prescott - Why this time ? No new news at all, just a resume of things that have happened in the past dresssed up as new news. Pathetic journalism.

2) BBC attacked for Christmas viewing figures - Of course, the Daily Mail LOATHES this BBC, but when you read the story it shows clearly that 8 of the top 10 shows on Christmas Day were BBC programmes. Quite why this was so bad for the BBC was never explained in the story itself. Again, a pathetic piece of journalism.

3) Labour Party losing members story - Predictable as a story in the Mail, but the story skirted over the fact that the Tories were losing members too !

4) Barclays Scam e-mails - The Daily Mail reports that scam e-mails are going out from scammers trying to get people's login details. Is this really new news ? this has been happening for years ! If the Daily Mail has only just discovered it, well, it says it all.

5) An asylum story (Britain is full of foreigners apparently)

6) Another asylum story (seriously, yes, another)

Yes, this is Britain's best selling "quality" tabloid ! That statement says as much about why this country is in the state it is in than anything the Mail says about the government, if not more !

Boxing Day Football - Love it !

I'm really excited today because I am going to the football this afternoon and, in my humble opinion, there is nothing better on a Boxing Day than going to a football match.

To be honest, I don't particularly care if it is a good game or not, so long as Norwich win, and just so long as the imbecile linesman from the Wolves game isn't officiating at this one.

The best thing though about the whole Boxing Day football is the great atmosphere. People turn up in Father Christmas hats in Norwich City colours, people you see every week are wearing a jumper they were bought for Christmas, most people have a healthy glow and everyone is smiling. A great day out.

Come on Norwich !

Haven't you got something better to do ?

I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings, and of course there are plenty of non-Christians who could be surfing the internet today, but I have to ask, "what on earth are you doing looking at blogs for today ?"

Seriously, put your feet up, watch some telly, play some computer games, but don't look at people's blogs today.

Have a great day.

Annoying things about Christmas - Number 6

And the final thing on my list of things that annoy me about Christmas is ... ITV

I'm sure those of a certain age can remember the jingle each Christmas "Christmas means ITV". But for the last 10 years or so, ITV have completely given up on Christmas. Why ? Because there is not the advertising revenue there to justify the BIG programmes and expense. Instead they serve up a pile of "celebrity" drivel, as hhighlighted by Iain Dale HERE.

So, thank goodness for the public service that is the BBC. They don't have to worry about advertising budgets, they just serve up a whole feast of Christmas treats. Little Britain, The Vicar of Dibley, Doctor Who, and the excellent Worst Christmas of My Life, which has already been shown, as well as loads more.

So ITV, shame on you. Christmas will mean for me no ITV. If ITV want people to tune in to their channel in the future they need to start getting some brand loyalty and there is no better way to do that then when people have had a few drinks and want to avoid a game of trivial pursuit !

300'th Posting & Merry Christmas

This is my 300th posting, and so I'd like to thank the 40 or so daily regular readers of my blog for indulging my ranting over the last four months.

I'm also pleased to offer season's greetings and a very merry Christmas to everyone else who has looked at my blog. According to my statistics, I am now averaging about 150 unique visitors a day, which in just four months is fabulous. So thank you, one and all.

If anybody has issues with my blog, or any suggestions I'd be happy to know, so don't hesitate to leave comments, and I'd echo comments made on other blogs recently by saying that comments ARE important. I try to leave as many comments on people's blogs as I have time for. Indeed, sometimes the comments make more sense that the orginal posting !

A restful & stress free Christmas to you all. Nich Starling (Norfolk Blogger)

7 best things I've done this year - Blog tagged again

I've been blog tagged by Ellee Seymour, who was herself tagged by Iain Dale, on the meme of the seven best things I've done this year.

1) Getting married, the most incredible day of my life.
2) Deciding not to run for Parliament, ever ! I've finally got my life back.
3) Teaching some great lessons during my school's Ofsted Inspection. It was so good to be part of such a good inspection for my school.
4) Taking up blogging and burying the hatchet with Iain Dale.
5) Finally getting the Council to shelve plans to close a toilet and car park in my ward in Fakenham.
6) Helping and being involved in the Spixworth by-election victory in Broadland at the beginning of the year.
7) Getting our house sorted so that there is nothing else we have to fix, paint, re-tile, fill or replace.

This is a very personal list and perhaps not as exciting as some other people's lists, but for me 2006 has been the best year of my life.

I'll pass this on to Cassilis, John Wilkes, Duncan Borrowman, Neil Fawcett and Robert Rams,
with seasons greetings to all of them. I note Robert is away for a week, but he can still list his seven before the end of the year.

Things that annoy me about Christmas - Number 5

In the fifth part of my seasonal rant about things that wind me up about Christmas, let me nominate ... Last minute panic shoppers.

I remember about 15 years ago witnessing two women literally fighting over the last turkey in Marks and Spencer, similarly, I have been to shops on Christmas Eve where every loaf, every point of milk, all the teabags, indeed, every basic item had been taken by people in a blind panic worrying about how they will survive for two days, yes, TWO DAYS without the shops being open.

It's not even as if there is nowhere open on Christmas day these days. After all, the large service stations are open and plenty of non Christians who own shops still remain open.

So, if you see someone tomorrow with twelve pints of milk, four loaves, five hundred tea bags and thirty six eggs in their trolley, have pity on them as they are truly sad people.

Major blow to Norfolk success story

Kings Lynn and West Norfolk Borough Council have turned down a request to build a campus on the site of the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB). The CITB are the largest training provider for the Construction Industry in the UK and it is a real success story. Read more about it HERE.

To my mind, it is a shame that Kings Lynn and West Norfolk Borough Council (KLWNBC) have turned down the application as this would have cemented (no pun intended) the position of the CITB nationally, just at a time when the newspapers are full of stories about us having to impoirt construction workers from Eastern Europe. The CITB provides lots of employment in West Norfolk, and also in my council ward in Fakenham.

I hope that KLWNBC will look at this again more favourably if a revised application is sent in.

Idiots in the fog

I was stunned today to see just how many people didn't have their fog lights on driving in the fog, but even worse, the number of people who didn't have any lights on at all.

It is a shame the police weren't stopping people for it !

Is this the NHS Labour are so proud of ?

My mother has just been in hospital for a minor operation. She has left today, two days later than expected, feeling very let down by the NHS. Let me tell you why.

Firstly, she was supposed to go in for just one day, but the minor operation left her in too much pain, so they insisted that she should stay overnight because, and let me stress this point, SHE WAS IN TOO MUCH PAIN AND NEEDED LOTS OF PAIN RELIEF.

So what happens when she gets to the ward ? She is not given any proper pain relief other than a paracetamol because, and again this needs to be stressed, THEY SENT HER TO A LOW DEPENDENCY WARD WHERE THEY CANNOT ADMINISTER THE STRONG PAIN KILLERS SHE NEEDED !

Absolute bloody incompetence.

If this is added to the fact that the hospital also lost my mothers stronger medication she brought in with her and then she waited 8 hours for a doctor to turn up to discharge her today, this really is a sorry tale of shockingly poor standards of health care.

Mr Blair, I hope you are proud !

Livingstone vs Phillips - Old enemies at it again

The latest spat between Ken Livingston and Trevor Phillips is the most recent in a long line of confrontations between the two, and I guess has to be seen in this context. Read about it HERE.

When Ken was in the Labour Party first time round and expressed a clear interest in standing as the Labour candidate, Trevor Phillips was one of those "New Labour" loyalists who spoke openly against Ken. Indeed, through various Quango's and other organisations within the Labour Party, Trevor Phillips was openly touted as the futire Labour candidate for Mayor of London at the time.

Of course, when Ken went and left Labour, Trevor Phillips must have known he could not win and his campaign floundered after this.

I have to say that I think Trevor Phillips has done a poor job as head of the Commission for Racial Equality because his speeches and comments on issues appear, at least to me, to be all about Trevor Phillips making the headlines and do little for true equality.

Is Phillips "a dud", as Ken suggests, to my mind, yes he is.

62 million could die from Bird Flu

I have gone on before about bird flu on this blog, but I do so because I really don't think that people are taking the problem seriously.

A BBC programme a few weeks ago said the biggest problem that will lead to the spread of bird flu and the death of many hundreds of thousands of people needlessly is ignorance, ignorance of:

1) What to do if it starts.
2) How to protect yourself.
3) How to stop it spreading.
4) Most shockingly, ignorance of the fact that a flu pandemic will happen at all.

It is not a question of "if", but "when".

Read the latest report on it HERE.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

A name to remember, if ever there was. The title of the final part of the Harry Potter series of books has been announced and is to be called Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The release of this book will be like then end of an era in my life as the Harry Potter books seem to have been published since I started teaching, and it has, for me, been fascinating to see children taking up the books at different ages and being fascinated by them. I know all good things come to an end, but somehow, it's a shame.

The big question is, what will JK Rowling do next ? No doubt whatever she writes will be panned by the critics (as they often do for someone in her situation), but I hope she does not retire with her vast fortune. She has written some beautiful stories which have enchanted a generation, and it would be a big loss, particularly as she has played an important part in getting lots of children to actually want to read a book.

Doctors speak out against community hospital closures in North Norfolk

The EDP reports HERE that doctors in North Walsham are united in their opposition to the closure of community hospital beds in North Norfolk.

I have written about this issue before, but it is clear that North Norfolk will suffer dreadfully as a result of the new Norfolk Primary Care Trust having to balance its budget after it failed to receive the level of grant from the Labour government needed in order to maintain services.

Norman Lamb, MP for North Norfolk and now Lib Dem shadow Health Secretary has said he intends to visit all the community hospitals in Norfolk that face closure and cuts (he is no stranger to them anyway as he regularly visits all the ones in his North Norfolk constituency) over the Christmas period.

This time of year, the elderly and inform who rely on community hospitals as their "local" health care providers, need some re-assurance from government, not fears and worries. It is good news that the doctors are supporting local people, it is just shame that the government won't !

Why have I never heard of Paris syndrome ?

I learnt something today, well two things, if you call learning how to re-format and re-install windows on my parents PC. I learnt about something called "Paris syndrome".

Most westerners know about the almost legendary rudeness of the French, and particularly people from Paris. However, it comes as a shock to Japanese who have a romaticised view of the French, little knowing about their arrogance and attitude. Apparently four Japanese people have had to be re-patriated to Japan this year alone with medical assistance, so shocked have these Japanese people been.

Read more about it HERE.

Can anyone think of a UK equivilent or is there somewhere elsewhere in the world even worse than Paris that deserves a syndrome named after it ?

Recycling advice for the insane

The Easter Daily Press today produced a nice little chart of things that could and could not be recylcled this Christmas. Unfortunately, they have not produced their chart of things you cannot recycle on their website, but the first thing on their list of things NOT to recycle was, and I'm not kidding, "Ammunition and Explosives".

I kid you not !

Even when Lembit Opik does the right thing, people assume the worst !

It's funny how it becomes important news on the BBC to report that an MP has taken up an issue and dealt with it appropriately.

So why was it that when I read the story that I expected the worst ?

The fact that the BBC is reporting this HERE seems a little odd when it is quite clear that he passed the matter on to the appropriate local MP, as he should have done, and when discussing it with the minister, he stated he knew the person in a personal capacity, as he should have done.

I guess the problem is that people now always assume the very worst of MP's, so it is just a little bit sad that when Lembit appears to have acted appropriately, the BBC has written this story as if he has a not.

Brainwashed Blair

According to the Iraqi Vice President, on a visit to Washington, Tony Blair was "brainwashed by George Bush" in to not setting a timetable for the withdrawal of British troops from Iraq. Read about it HERE.

Is this further evidence that Blair is in the pocket of the Americans ?

Which Council ?

Norfolk Blogger has been told that a Tory Council in Norfolk is offering its staff a 3.5% pay increase over 18 months whilst councillors allowances have gone up by 4% over 12 months ?

I would add that in North Norfolk we have not increased councillors allowances in the four years the Lib Dems have run the council there, indeed, the amount we receive has actually fallen by 2%.

Oh dear, oh dear, not more Tory hypocrisy ?

Hamleys makes a Threshers error !

ITN are reporting that Hamleys, the world famous toy shop, have made the same mistake that Threshers did. They appear to have let a "special offer" get in to cyber space, the information was made available to thousands of users and as a result, Hamley's stock has been virtually wiped out and they have had to revoke the offer.

You'd think they would have learnt from Threshers. Read the whole story HERE.

What an absolute prat !

This morning when my car was telling me the outside temperature was just about minus 2 degrees celcius, I saw an absolute tit of a bloke driving a Citroen "pluriel" (as seen on the right), with the roof down. He was wearing a woolly had, a winter coat done up to the neck and a scarf around his neck and face.

I used to own a convertible, I never had the roof down from about November to April, and only then if it was warm.

So all I could think was that the bloke was an absolute prat. Sorry, I just had to tell someone !

Did the delay by Geoff Hoon cost a life ?

The MOD today claimed that the delay in Geoff Hoon ordering the correct amount of body armour for UK troops must be seen in relation to the ongoing diplomatic action at the time in late 2002, early 2003. They claim that ordering body armour might have been seen to "pre-judge" the situation and could have been provocative.

This contradicts the actual evidence that showed that Geoff Hoon simply wrote "more information needed" on the request from the army for more body armour, thus causing a delay of some eight weeks to the body armour order. If Geoff Hoon has just agreed this request immediately, Sgt Steven Roberts would almost certainly be alive today.

It's a shocking indictment of this government again that they send troops to Afghanistan without proper helicopter support, they send ammunition that does not work properly and keeps jamming in machine guns to Afghanistan and they send troops to war in Iraq without body armour.

You've an excuse to be a bad loser, but why is Jose Mourinho such a bad winner ?

I've never been able to cope very well with people who sulk or go in to a mood. I had too many years of having to endure one of my younger brother's moods when I was a child and he could go in to a mood for Britain, if only it was an Olympic sport. Although he has grown out of it now he's grown up (I'm sure his wife would disagree though).

Anyway, people who go in to moods because they have lost or missed out on something can be irritating, but you can at least understand why they do it. Bad losers have an excuse.

So what is Jose Mourinho's excuse for being such a bad winner. After winning against Everton yesterday, closing the gap on Manchester United and seeing his team score three terrific goal, you'd imagine that he could go home, look at Chelsea's bank balances, think about how many world class players he can buy in the January transfer window and be happy with life.

But no, Jose can't do that. Instead he had to launch a tirade of defamatory statements aimed at Andrew Johnson, a player who was clearly fouled in the area yesterday, Sky Sports commentators agreed, indeed the only person who felt it wasn't a penalty was Jose Mourinho, oh, and the referee. So again, you'd have to ask, what is his problem ?

I remember the 1997 general election in North Norfolk when Norman Lamb was narrowly defeated by David Prior by 1293 votes. After a hard fought campaign and a long count finishing at five in the morning, Norman congratulated David Prior on his win, and went to shake his hand. David Prior turned away, shook the hand of the Labour candidate and refused to shake Norman's hand. I remember at the time that it seemed petulant and childish, and that moment often spurred me on in the years from 1997 to 2001 when I was helping to unseat Mr Prior, resulting in a 483 vote victory for Norman Lamb in 2001. At that count, which finished at about the same time as 1997, Norman offered his hand again, David Prior shook it. I think David Prior probably regretted not doing the same in 1997.

That day in 1997 taught me a lesson. Try to be a good loser, but never, never be a bad winner. It is the very worst kind of self indulgent, self important petulance. It's a lesson I wish Jose Mourinho would learn too.

Promotion for Norman !

Pleased to see that Norman Lamb, my good friend (I'm starting to sound like Iain Dale here) has been promoted in today's Lib Dem shadow cabinet re-shuffle to the role of Shadow Health Secretary. Full details can be found HERE.

With all the problems we have in Norfolk with massive bed closures in cottage hospitals across the County , Norman will be in a strong position to argue on their behalf. Norman really made his name fighting on health issues before he was elected as MP and is well suited to that role.

Well done Norman.

Lib Dem MP of the Year - Via Iain Dale's blog

Iain Dale is running a poll for the "Lib Dem MP of the year".

Get your votes in so that Lib Dems can play a role in the vote

Click on Iain's blog HERE and the poll is on the left in the side panel.

Am I in the wrong demographic ?

Watching the rather poor ITV drama "Driving Lessons", two things occurred to me. Firstly, what a waste of a great cast on such a poor story.

Regarding the film, a ludicrous "love interest", completely out of nowhere and with no justification for it in the script in the part set in Edinburgh. All the story is set in a rather "twee" world like no part of England I have ever lived in, whilst Julie Walters plays a cross between her character from "dinnerladies" and Mrs Overall from "Acorn Antiques". A lot of money wasted on this I feel.

The second thing that I noticed is the advert breaks. During every break there has been an advert for "Sound of the Valleys" or "Andrea Bocelli" or "Il Davo" or "All Angels" or "Another Opera Singer". Is it me, or am I in completely the wrong demographic ? Obviously this has been researched by someone, but if someone bought me one of those CD's for Christmas, I'd be gutted. So I must be on the wrong demographic.

It's almost as bad as catching part of Countdown and realising all the adverts are for walk in baths, stair lifts, automatic garage doors or over 70's burial plans !

Not another reason to shop at Tesco !!

Twice in one week is getting ridiculous !

Last week I said I was thinking more kindly towards Tesco because of their financial support towards building a new ground for Everton football club and now they'ev announced that they intend to run 75% of their fleet of vehicles on bio-diesel by the end of 2007. Read about it HERE.

Now Tesco have done this, I would hope other supermarkets and large hauliers will follow.

So what has Lembit Opik done?

I gather, from reading other people's blogs, that Lembit Opik has split with Sian Lloyd, the ITV weather girl (I always thought she looked a bit odd, but that's my personal preference), and is now dating one of the "Cheeky Girls".

I'm not quite sure what Lembit has done so wrong. At least Lembit split up from Sian before they got married, unlike certain Tory MP's who have been exposed recently to be either having affairs whilst their wives undergo cancer treatment or running off and leaving their wives for their male interior designer.

It is a shame that Sian got hurt in this whole episode, but she must have have done well from telling her story to the papers. I just hope for Lembit's sake that he is going out with the more attractive (less scary) Cheeky Girl (the one who usually stands on the left).

And some people still argue that global warming is not happening

According to a BBC report, snow levels in Europe are so low this year, that the start of the skiing season will have to be delayed. Read the report HERE.

I don't need to go to Europe to know this, after all, I keep finding that my lawn keeps growing, something that usually only happens at about 12 or 13 degrees celcius, so I know this is true. However, there are some, mainly American, but also some British, with interests in the fossil fuel industry, who maintain that global warming is not happening.

I would urge them to use the evidence of their own eyes and stop all this phoney science that says global warming is not happening. It is and we need to do something about it now.

Spain finally growing up over Gibraltar ?

Spain today finally restarted direct flights from Spain to Gibraltar and allowed aircraft flying to Gibraltar to overfly Spanish airspace after a gap of 40 years whilst Spain has been acting like the dictatorship it was in 1965 when these bizarre restrictions were imposed.

I think today's move is a healthy one and, perhaps, a sign that Spain is finally growing up in its relationship with Britain and Gibraltar.

The fact that the people of Gibraltar are so overwhelmingly keen to remain British is less to do with their Britishness, more to do with their being anti Spanish. The Spanish have to realise, and perhaps they have, that acting like an old style dictatorship has had the exact opposite reaction that they hoped for amongst the Gibraltans.

Perhaps the Spanish will also halt their complaining to UEFA aimed at trying to block Gibraltar's entry to UEFA's european competitions. Sport should be free from petty politics.

Come on Spain, you've made big steps, now let the Gibraltans play football !

For the first time in years I voted in a TV talent show

I've watched most weeks of the X Factor and since the start of the series and have felt for some time that Leona Lewis was the star act.

Tonight's show showed the way a singer can sometimes sing something absolutely beautifully and effortlessly. So that is why I voted for Leona (the last time I voted in something like this was for Will Young about 5 years ago), and I would urge you all to do the same !

Inland Revenue cocks up - It happened to me too

The BBC reports that the Inland Revenue has sent out hundreds of thousands of letters telling peeple there is a gap in their National Insurance payments and that they owe £371 or they miss out on pension benefits. Read the story HERE.

It is amazing it has taken so long for this to come to light as I received a letter two months ago telling me this. When I phoned my employer to get a duplicate P60, they told me that this has happened to dozens of people.

The BBC estimate here is that 4.7 million people were sent such letters. I have since then received a letter telling me that everything is now okay, but just try working out the cost of postage of nine millions letters (two to each person) and the printing costs, and this error may well have cost about £4.5 million pounds.

If the Inland Revenue knew these letters werre going out in error, why didn't they stop them ?

Do you want a "K" or a "big P"

The BBC tonight has run a story about a Labour donor allegedly being offered by Lord Levy a "K" or a "Big P", apparently references to either a "Knighthood" or a "Peerage".

This story continues to get bigger and bigger.

Tories strangely silent on scrapping of Saudi investigation

Is it me or have the Conservative Party been strangely silent over the news that the Serious Fraud Office have been "ordered" to cancel the investigation in to bribes when BAE won the deal to supply tornado jets to the Saudi government in the 1980's ?

Iain Dale made clear is anger at the decision HERE, but the only people I heard today being vocal in their criticism of the government have been Norman Lamb and Menzies Campbell.

Is it what I alluded on Iain's blog when I commented that the SFO investigation might have dug up too much on the Tories ?

Outer harbour for Great Yarmouth is great news for Norfolk

The news today that the outer harbour at Great Yarmouth has cleared the final hurdles before being approved is great news for Norfolk and Great Yarmouth. Read the EDP story HERE.

Great Yarmouth has long lost its cheerful holiday veneer and looks sadly run down. There have been efforts at renewal with work finally commencing on replacing the shopping centre burned down ten years ago, the Oasis being made smarter, Wellington pier being virtually re-built and hopefully soon something to replace the Marina Centre. However, what Great Yarmouth really needs is proper work for local people, not just seasonal work.

The outer harbour will make Great Yamouth and viable alternative to Felixstowe for many bulk carriers and make Norfolk more of an important hub on the transport network. Great Yarmouth has good rail links and it is to be hoped that this will mean that rail will be used as much as possible when the outer harbour is completed.

Overall, good news and potentially a great way of helping Great Yarmouth prosper and develop and be less reliant on the dwindling tourist trade.

A good day to bury bad news ?

Just a co-incidence or am I a cynic ?

1) Closing thousands of Post Offices announced.

2) Blair interviews by police.

3) Serious Fraud Office halt investigation in to Saudi trade deal.

All these on the same day as the long awaited and announced publishing of the Stevens report in to the death of Diana, Princess of Wales and also with the news still full of announcement from Suffolk about the terrible goings on there.

I cannot believe that 1, 2 and 3 were all co-incidental.

Wii share your pain

I read that a new blog has been set up called www.WiiHaveAProblem.com (pronounced "we have a problem", which looks at some of the bizarre and funny stories about people and their new Nintendo wii consoles.

The problem for many is that they simply forget to keep hold of the wii-mote controller (the motion sensor device that controls the games, meaning that windows, TV's and heirlooms are broken by playing too violently.

I can share some of the pain with fellow wii owners as I have pulled a muscle in my arm playing ten pin bowling on my own own machine, at least that is my excuse and I am sticking to it.

Mohamed Al Fayed - Blind to the facts and the truth

In the wake of the pulblication of the Stevens report in to the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, I listened to the press conference of Mohamed Al Fayed on the radio this afternoon it re-inforced to me that Mr Al Fayed is blinf to the facts and a stranger to the truth.

His comments calling the Stevens enquiry a cover up were simply a case of a man who seeks to hide behind innuendo to deny his employee's involvement in Diana and Dodi's death. His constant insinuation that Diana's death was the responsibility of the Royal family are, yo my mond, distasteful and do little to make people believe he has anything important and useful to say.

The evidence shows quite clearly that Mr Al Fayed's employee was drunk and drove too fast. Accidents can happen and they did. It is about time Mr Al Fayed moved on and stopped trying to find a scapegoat for his son's tragic death.

It is natural to want to blame someone, but his muck raking has to be seen the context of a man with a grudge against the "establishment" who blocked his British citizenship and Diana's two sons who want to move on in their lives. It is time to forget all the conspiracies and move on.

Lord Stevens is a good man who has been very thorough in preparing his report. Given a choice of who to believe, Mr Al Fayed or Lord Stevens, I know who most people would back, and he isn't an Egyptian !

Languages to be taught to younger pupils ?

A report by Sir Ron Dearing is expected to advise the government that languages should be taight from a much earlier age. Read the report HERE.

I used to be one of those who used to say "Well everyone speaks English anyway", but I now teach French at school and the kids really enjoy it. The problem is, however, that languages are only taught from year seven, age eleven, which is ironically exactly the age at which a child starts to find it harder to pick up a new language. Children up to the age of ten are much more likely to be able to learn a language quickly.

So I would applaud the this report and hope it will be acted on and not swept away as previous reports from Ron Dearing have been in the past.

New CSA - Will powers actually be used ?

I have my doubts that changing the name of the Child Support Agency and offering it optional new powers will actually make much difference.

The CSA was hopeless, inefficient and obsessed with trying to save the Department for Social Security money rather than actually trying to be fair.

I don't know why the inland revenue are not made responsible for collecting the money owed by parents (note parents, I have a friend who is owed a lot of money from his wife who pays nothing towards her son's upkeep despite her massive income).

The CSA has powers largely unused and they fail to make proper checks in to people's incomes anyway, preferring to make assumptions rather than actually checking. If the CSA fails to use its powers, why should I believe its replacement will be any better ?

Time will tell if there is any improvement.

North Norfolk District Council votes to oppose Norwich Unitary bid

Despite what the Eastern Daily Press might have said this week regarding North Norfolk supposedly backing Norwich City Council's bid for unitary status, North Norfolk councillors tonight overwhelmingly chose to oppose such plans and re-affirmed support for the current two tier status.

I know that the reason this was brought up at the full council meeting tonight was purely procedural so that North Norfolk could actually express an opinion, unfortunately, the EDP thought that this meant that the motion was going to be passed.

A few councillors told me after today's council meeting that they had been inclined to support the motion but had said that my comments had persuaded them otherwise. My main reasons for opposing Norwich's Unitary status are:

1) The cost, which is currently thought to be from £12million to £17 million, depending on whose estimates you read. There is also a further cost to residents of North Norfolk who would end up paying more because the current economies of scale from Norfolk County Council would be diminished.
2) The residents of Broadland, that Norwich wants to consume, are bitterly opposed to being part of Norwich. The fact that Norwich's own survey only showed about 40% support for their proposals shows just hoe much support they have.

Interestingly, and I am sure this is just a one off (at least I hope so), the Conservatives applauded my speech at council. I hope that does not become a habit.

Norwich City should use the money they are wasting on this proposal to improve people's lives in Norwich, not waste it on expensive proposals that do not have popular support.

Another reason to emigrate to New Zealand ?

I heard about this earlier on Radio Five Live, and have now found the link. Wouldn't it be great to have this as a job ?

Read the full story HERE.

Why Ming is wrong and right on the EU

Ming Campbell, who I supported in the leadership contest learlier this year, has today spelled out why he feels that the EU should have a greater role in foreign and security policy.

Initially after reading this, I was concerned about the direction he wants the UK to take. Personally I feel there is too wide a gap in the EU between forward thinking interventionist states and those who sit in the corner with a scared look on their faces. I remember well the first Gulf War in 1990 when the Belgians didn't want to sell the UK artillery shells in case they became a terrorist target. How can we have a shared foreign policy if an ally cannot even sell a friend military equipment ?

I also fear that the porous borders, the selling of EU passports in some Southern and Eastern EU states and a generally insular bunch of EU states means that security is something that we must completely rely on ourselves. I do not want to have to rely on the Slovenians or Polish to defend me from attack.

Where I agree with Menzies Campbell is when he says we need to re-evaluate our relationship with the US. I like the phrase he uses when he says

"(We should) rediscover independence of thought. We should all value our relationship with the United States but the relationship needs to be rebalanced, redesigned and renewed."

America takes UK support for granted but gives little back. In much the same way as High Grant's Prime Minister character in the film "Love Actually" makes his passionate speech about how the special relationship had gone bad, I know many who would agree with Ming (and Hugh Grant).

The other important point Ming made was really when he said the EU should just keep out of things that are not any of their business.

"The EU would better reflect its peoples' priorities if it stuck to legislating only where necessary,"

Too true Ming, but the EU at present shows little willingness to do this.

So, I support in general what Ming is saying, but do not want to see the EU speaking on my behalf when it comes to international matters. I don't much like what Tony Blair does on my behalf, but at least I can campaign to get rid of him, but I wouldn't have the first idea how to campaign against an EU foreign minister and their is little I could do.

At last, a reason to like Tesco.

According to the BBC, plans for Everton to build a new stadium in Kirby are being bank rolled in great part by Tesco, who plan to build a shop on the site. However, it appears that the fact that Sir Terry leahy, top man at Tesco is an Evertonian also means that this is receiving more support than might have been the case with other clubs.

At last, after all my problems with Tesco over the years , a reason to shop at their stores !

Read the full story HERE.

CIA use Google to find Iran's nuclear secrets

According to the Guardian, the CIA have found a new secret weapon in their battle to gain inside knowledge of the Iranian's nuclear program. It's called Google !

I seem to recall John Wilkes Libertarian Blog also finding that the CIA had looked at his blog recently too. It's amazing isn't it. All that money, all those resources and agents and they still use Google to look things up. Give them more staff and they'll check out Yahoo and MSN too !

Read the Guardian story HERE.

87% of statistics are made up !

Today's press excitement over Ian Duncan-Smith's publication of a report about Tory social policy is full of statistics, but light on awareness of what the statistics mean.

In order to really understand what the statistics mean, you need to understand the context, and this was sorely lacking when I heard "Dave" on the radio earlier being interviews on Five Live he said words to the effect of ;

"50% of co-habiting couples with children will split up before the child reaches the age of five whilst only one in twelve who are married will do this."

So Dave's solution is to apparently offer tax breaks to "encourage" people to marry. I wonder why he didn't also think about these possible reasons for the statistics :

1) People marry older these days. Older couples having children are less likely to spliut than younger couples.
2) Co-habiting couples split up because they don't love each other or are unable to make the commitment to each other to marry. It is similar to "having a girlfriend" or "boyfriend". Trying to force these people to marry is actually just going to put the divorce rate up.

By "Dave" claiming that his statistics prove that married couples split up less often is stating the obvious. Of course married couples split up less than co-habiting couples, but co-habiting is often the way people discover if they are compatible. If they are not, they split, if they are compatible, they marry.

Dave's statistics tell us nothing that anyone with a brain couldn't work out for themselves.

Did the Tories create the new underclass they now tell us about ?

So the Tories are warning that a new underclass exist in this country. I agree with them, there is, but I disagree with them about whose fault it is. read the story HERE.

The simple fact is it takes many, many years to create a new "underclass", not just nine years. The Tories, under Thatcher in particular told people that you didn't matter if you lost your job, they said you didn't matter if you were not contributing to society and indeed, there was no such thing as society !

The mass cull of industrial manual jobs under the Conservatives means that scars still exist, people in some communities still find it hard to find work unless they are highly qualified (not always possible for some people in some areas), whilst the selling off of council houses taught a generation under the Tories that the only way to get to the front of the housing queue was to have children and have them as young as possible.

So I welcome the fact that the Tories recognise the problem, I would just aregue that they were the ones who planted the seed of the problem in the first place.

More Conservative homophobia or "distortion"

Ian Duncan-Smith is claiming that comments from his policy group, which stated that same sex couples were "irrelevent" to his work shaping family policy, have been distorted.

Mr Duncan Smith told the Telepgraph that Same-sex partnerships do not "register on the Richter scale of how to bring up children", Mr Duncan Smith added.

Mr Duncan Smith later said a factual response had been "distorted into an alleged slur on gay couples" and that it had been taken "out of context".

To be fair to Mr Duncan Smith, he has a better record than most Tories on equality for gay people, and I genuinely hope he was not being homophobic. However, we all know that homophobia still exists in the Tory party (just look at the comments made in earlier posts regarding the homophobic comments at the selection meeting of North Norfolk Conservatives).

However, with Iain Dale & John Wilkes with comments from Cassilis, all Tories, taking this issue up and being quite shocked, it appears that there is a feeling even amongst more "modern" Tories that this is the old Tory Party rearing its ugly head.

Read the BBC report HERE.

Annoying things about Christmas - Number 4

In the fourth part of my regular seasonal series of things that annoy me about Christmas, number four is ... Santa Claus.

The reason for this is nothing to do with the Christmas story and de-christianisation of Christmas, it is because we, in the UK do not hav a tradition of calling him Santa Claus. He is, in the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and any number of other commonwealth countries called Father Christmas, not Santa.

I know it's not important, but "Father Christmas" is a tradition in this country, "Santa" is an American one. Let's keep our own traditions, please !

For one moment I thought this was about the former Archbishop of Canterbury !

I honestly clicked this link believing it to be about the fofmer Archbishop of Canterbury after I saw the headline on the BBC website titled:

"Carey battles porn star over name"

Click HERE to read the story.

Only in America ?

Sad little story from the BBC website the other day.

Read it HERE.

I wonder how many British parents would call the police in such circumstances ? It's one the situations that is difficult to comprehend, but if his parents had tried everything else, who knows, may be it will have some effect.

Tory Troubles

I know that many people read my blog for some of the Norfolk stuff I put on here and don't trawl through other political blogs, so it is worth me highlighting to potential Tory voters in my own neck of the woods (not many of them left, to be fair, in Fakenham) just some of the problems the Tories are having nationally.

They have, this week, lost control of two councils, in Dover and Crawley with in both cases Tories defecting to the Lib Dems. This is reported on the Lib Dem voice blog HERE.

Then there is the problems they are having with parliamentary candidates. They have deselected a Tory candidate in Cumbria, another has stepped down citing the attitude of Tory members in Chester whilst reports of problems and dissatisfaction have also come form Plymouth and North Norfolk. Read about them HERE.

Despite "Dave" smiling and talking and talking and talking, behind the veneer of his "new" Tory party, the old one still exists.

P.S. Now, it is reported, the Tories have lost control of another council with Gosport slipping from their grip also. What a dreadful week for "Dave". Read about it HERE. 10/12/06

March 2008 General Election ?

According to a number of sources, the dreadful Hazel Blears has written to Labour MP's warning to be prepared for an election in the next 16 months. Read The Times report HERE.

Does this mean an election will happen ? No, not at all. To my mind it is Labour trying to get moribund and inactive Labour local parties to start being more active, select candidates and raise some money.

I know some Labour members in a couple of different constituencies (one is Labour held) and even they say little proper campaigning is going on, so I would guess this announcement is all about getting a sense of urgency and activity from Labour people in preparation for 2009.

How many villages will die after Post Office closures ?

The news today that up to half of all Post Offices will close under plans by the Post Office to save money will be a shattering blow to many, but particularly those in rural communities whose local Post Office is often the very heart of the community and is what keeps the villages sustainable.

I was impressed by plans adopted last year by the Liberal Democrats to part privatise the Royal Mail (the people who sort and deliver the post) in order to raise funds to invest in the Post Office network. It appears though that the government are less creative in their thinking. The government's answer is instead to withdraw the £150 million subsidy the rural Post Office network currently receives.

Let us be in no doubt about the government's actions for they show at its clearest that this government cares not one jot about people living outside of major towns and cities. They simply believe that closure is the only answer.

Very sad indeed !

Nintendo Wii pre-orders - The retailers fault, not Nintendo

Amongst the overwhelmingly good reviews and coverage the new Nintendo wii console has received today, there have been stories of people who pre-ordered months ago being let down by not receiving their orders.

The retailers have sought to blame Nintendo, but it is the retailers who should take soul blame.

First, let’s look at this in context. Microsoft were criticised heavily last year for failing to provide as many Xbox 360 units as the retailers planned. Many people (like myself) who order months in advance were either left without a console or they got the lowers specification system instead of the full system they ordered (as was the case with me). I asked my friend Norman Lamb, MP for North Norfolk to ask retailers why this had happened. In relation to my purchase from a store in North Norfolk he was told that this was a “one off” and that “it will not happen again”. Despite these assurances, it has.

So knowing what Microsoft did wrong, Nintendo told retailers quite clearly that they would be told at the end of September or in early October exactly how many Nintendo wii consoles they could expect to receive so that the did not take too many pre-orders.

This instruction from Nintendo did not, however, prevent some unscrupulous retailers taking pre-orders from as early as July when they had no idea at all if they could fulfil the orders !

So in the Autumn, stores were told the minimum number they would receive, but were also told that other stock might be sent to them if it could be arranged. This again meant that some stores oversold on the expectation of receiving more. And again, they took pre-orders from people and their cash in advance without knowing if they could deliver.

Is it Nintendo’s fault ? Hardly.

It gets worse, however, for some retailers. Dixons Store Group, it is rumoured, failed to receive any where near as many consoles a similar sized retailers. This is because Nintendo decided to allocate wii’s to stores who had supported Nintendo in the past 12 months, so the allocations were based on how many Nintendo products were sold previously. Since Dixons Store Group had unilaterally stopped selling Nintendo’s previous console, the Gamecube, many years ago, they received much less of an allocation from Nintendo.

Again, it is not Nintendo’s fault that they chose to support companies that had supported them, although it must have put a smile on a few Nintendo faces when they realised that Dixons, Currys and PC World would miss out to their rivals because they had chosen to “dump” on Nintendo a few years ago !

So, the real question should be why are stores allowed to take pre-orders on stock they cannot guarantee to deliver. The press should be taking the stores to task and NOT let them get away with blaming Nintendo.

That's Asda Price

The War on Wany report about Asda, Tesco and Primark selling goods where the factory workers in impoverished countries are receiving as little as five pence an hour should not come as a shock.

I've bough a couple of T-shirts from Primark for as little as four pounds each. I never assumed the workers were earning the UK minimum wage because they wouldn't make a profit on just £4.

The fact is that UK shoppers want cheap clothes as an option.

What I was confused about was the War on Want wanted consumers to "write to the shops telling them how unhappy they" and want the government to "introduce leglislation". They don't actually make clear what they want the legislation to say or even tell us in their report what they would do.

I'm not advocating that paying slave wages is good, but 5p an hour relative to no income at all in a poor country where there is no welfare state is different from earning 5p an hour in the UK. We do need to look at it in relative terms. I would be happy to pay more for my T-shirts, but will all shoppers ?

Coastal Concern Action Group - Saving Happisburgh and a coastline near you soon

It is good to see the Coastal Concern Action Group getting some of the credit it deserves HERE on the EDP website.

I have been at meeting that Malcolm Kerby has run on the subject of Happisburgh, the offshore dredging and the dangers to the Norfolk coast and he is a passionate and incredibly well informed man. He has worked really closely with North Norfolk District Council and Norman Lamb and has got everyone in North Norfolk pulling together on this.

They deserve praise and I wish them good luck in their endeavours.

They also have a website HERE. It is certainly worth looking at.

Primary School league tables don't tell the whole story

Before people say I am biased against league tables because I am a teacher, I should make clear that this is, in part correct. However, I do not oppose them simply because I am a teacher but instead because being a teacher has shown me at first hand just why they are so ludicrous.

Today the papers, and in partiuclar local papers, are full of who is best and who is worst in their areas, a completely demoralising day for people who work very hard in schools at the bottom of the lists, with much back slapping, no doubt for those at the top. But the league tables tell us nothing about the teaching, the aspirations the children and the parents of the children have and what sort of area each school is in.

I've worked in a various areas in Norfolk, village commuter belt "well to do" parts outside Norwich, small towns and inner city schools. The teaching required at each has been markedly different. The leafy suburban school required little disciplinary effort, I was teaching the sons and daughters of doctors, solicitors, people who ran their own businesses, generally children who didn't have to worry about whether they were going to be fed or if their parents would have mony for Christmas. There were few after school clubs, children were picked up in 4x4's at the gates, it was, an easy school to teach at. I enjoyed it a lot.

My current school is a model of what a good inner city school in what is labelled a "difficult" area of Norwich schould be. Supportive, part of the community, a real emphasis on behaviour, a "good" Ofsted report, after school clubs every afternoon after school. 99% of pupils arrive on foot, there is enormous social deprivation and it is in just about every way an area that although just five miles from the other school, could be described as being a million miles away. However, I've never had to work so hard in my life, it is hard, but enormously enjoyable and rewarding. We all work our socks off to provide a decent education and for some children, the only stability in their lives.

I'll leave you to guess which school came higher in the league tables published today. Of course a league table cannot measure everything, but if it could measure hard work, effort, turning some of the most difficult children round and offering a real future to young people who can have no aspirations what so ever, then we'd be top, by a mile.

So that is why I don't like school league tables. They rate and record what is measurable, not what is important !

Why do I always get stuck next to a nutter like this ?

Are you one of those people like me who ends up having to sit next to the nutter on any long journey ?

You know the situation, the seats are filling up on the bus or train, then on walks a person who looks like they have been dragged through a hedge backwards, they look a mess and you can tell already that they smell. You just know they are going to sit next to you.

Well spare a thought for the poor people who had to share a plane with this woman !

Read HERE

Life on Mars

Firstly, I read today the new series (and final series) of the excellent BBC drama starring John Simm and Philip Glenister is back on soon.

Secondly, I was fascinated by the piece on the news today about recent geographical and geological changes on the planet Mars indicates that water may have been flowing on the planet as recently as just five years ago. Read about it HERE.

I remember having a book about space and planets as a child and being fascinated by it all. If there is water there than that means there may be some primitive life and as a result it would prove a lot of people wrong as well as having serious questions about the religious view of creation and life.

Brilliant Christmas event in Wells

Friends of mine in Wells (North Norfolk) have drawn my attention to an event happening in 10 days time, and I am happy to plug this event on my blog.

On Saturday December 16 festive celebrations will be happening most of the day. Click THIS LINK to find out more.

A unique Christmas experience is promised with many fabulous events too numerous to mention, but I would in particular point out that Fakenham Town Band are playing and they are superb.

So for all those people in Fakenham who read this blog, cannot I suggest you go to Wells and support this event.

Father Christmas, Santa Claus & Coca Cola again

Some of you may have read me little rant about the awful Coke adverts on TV at Christmas (this year's rather sozzled red faced Santa, smiling drunkenly at people as the pass is a new low). However, not everyone has read it.

So when I received an e-mail today from the Council making some reference to branding and putting on the e-mail "Most people do not know that Coca-Cola created the Red suited Santa Claus in 1931", I was annoyed (I know, I'm pathetic).

So, for all those that don't know it already, Coca-cola did NOT create the red coated Santa. Follow THIS LINK to read the full facts.

If Bush says jump, Blair says how high ?

Would it have been a surprise to anyone that if the the new US Defense secretary had said the war was being won, Blair would have repeated it ?

So why does it come as no surprise that as soon as the US says "we" are losing the war, Blair agrees.

Read the BBC report HERE.

Blair makes us all look like poodle the more he deals with Bush. God knows how stupid he will make us look tomorrow in Washington !

Litvinenko - UK extradition rules with Russia discriminate against UK

Once again, the dreadful extradition laws introduced by this government which have been shown to be so biased towards America, have been shown to be an absolute ass.

The excellent John Wilkes Libertarian Blog highlights that although we may want to extradite from Russia someone who may be responsible for Litvinenko's death, the Russians have already said a firm no. However, Russia is free to extradite UK citizens easily.

Read HERE to learn more.

Nigel Farage claims Tories offered him safe seat

The BBC reports that Nigel Farage is claiming that the Tories offered him a safe seat in Parliament to defect to the Tories shortly before the last general election. Read the story HERE.

The Conservatives have denied the story, but if they had offered him a seat, they would deny it now, wouldn't they ?

Blears meets Dean - Poor old Dean !

Apparently Hazel Blears met Howard Dean to discuss the role the internet played in his campaigning and how it could help the Labour Party. Read the story HERE.

Apparently, he spoke to her for more than an hour. Goodness knows how he stayed awake for so long in her presence. If there is anyone (possibly with the exception of Stephen Timms) who is more boring in the government, please let me know.

It's official - We're losing the war in Iraq

What a refreshing change Bob Gates will be as secretary of defense in the USA. He speaks bluntly, tells the truth and is not George Bush's "yes" man.

Today he has already debunked Bush's obsession with claiming that Iraq is central to the war on terror, whilst unusually for a politician he gave a straight answer to a straight question by making it clear that the war in Iraq is being lost.

Who knows, this man might even have a solution, at least at the moment he is ruling nothing out. I'm not expecting miracles, but we can hope.

10 Downing Street Petition - Made me laugh !

Duncan Borrowman points to the only 10 Downing Street petition I have wanted to sign (I said I never would sign one two weeks ago) HERE.

Spandau Ballet's "Gold" would make a perfect national anthem in an Olympic year !

The worst 118 service just got even worse

Anyone who has tried 118 118 will almost certainly know that they are about as useless a service as you can get, are ust about the most expensive and rely on advertising, not positive word of mouth to get people to use their service.

But hey, they just got even worse. Read HERE.

Yes, now you can get the shocking service of 118 118 for "free", but with a number of adverts to listen to first and you cannot speak to anyone real, they instead use voice recognition software. That said, if you've ever spoken to one of the 118 118 operators, perhaps that might be better !

Waveney Tory Council in illegal contracts row

It appears the Tory group on Waveney District Council are in some trouble after it was revealed that they have issued £600,000 of contracts illegally !

Read the story HERE.

Dutch honour soldiers who allowed 10,000 to die in Srebrenica

I've always liked the Dutch. Perhaps it is because my ancestors are Dutch, but I prefer to think it is because they are easy going laid back people who speak excellent English. However, even I am finding it difficult to fathtom why they are honouring the Dutch soldiers who were in Srebrenica when 10,000 Bosnian Muslims they were there to protect were massacred.

Read the story HERE.

It is difficult for me to comprehend the situation the Dutch troops must have been in, hamstrung by rules meaning they felt they could not act to protect the muslims in the town. However, there is also evidence to show they could have done more, much more, to protect the people they were there to protect. A documentary made a few years ago indicated that the Dutch put up little resistance to the Serbs and appeared, certainly to the Serbs, to be passive and unwilling to make a stand. The report HERE indicates that whilst the Dutch commander was calling for a NATO air strike at the start, this never happened. Later on the report claims Dutch soldiers were even helping the Serbs with the ethnic cleansing by lifting Muslims on to lorries !

I'm sure that given the chance many of those Dutch soldiers would act differently now, hindsight is, after all, always 20:20, however, giving them a special insignia, as the Dutch government has seems appallingly crass given that they did nothing and 10,000 people were massacred.

Staying Nuclear - The right decision in an uncertain world

After listening to Tony Blair; statement today about replacing Trident, Iam convinced his logic is right on this issue and there is a need for a continuing submarine nuclear deterrent.

Of course Trident was xommissioned in the cold war, but likewise, Trident will still be in service until 2020 at least, and who knows what situations we may face in the world in another 15 years.

I agree that we cannot leave it to lady luck to hope we have a decent deterrent, likewise, if we want to be more independent of America, we cannot rely on sitting under the USA's nuclear umbrella either.

Of course, its a lot of money, but what price security, what price insurance against what might happen ?

What next - Cameron to advise on wiping your nose ?

Looking at THIS story from Friday leads me to ask whatever next for Mr Cameron ? Advise on wiping your nose, perhaps telling us how to wash our hands after foing to the toilet or even how to hold our cutlery ?

I suppose I shouldn't be too critical of Mr Cameron and should instead ask the fool at the BBC who gave this monumental non story so much coverage why they thought this was newsworthy ?

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P.S. I know the picture has nothing to do with Dave, but I found it on the net and wanted to use it !

Rumsfeld loses job then realises US is failing in Iraq

The Observer reports today that Donald Rumsfeld has now realised that the US is failing in Iraq.

Has he come to this decision because he was sacked, did he hold this opinion before he was sacked or is it that now he has lost his job, he wants to expose Bush for being a pillock with his head in the sand ?

What ever the answer, it is amaxing that it takes Rumsfeld to lose his job before he can see something as startlingly obvious.

The big question is what do they do now in Iraq ? I cannot see a solution other than the country splitting in to three. Not the answer that anyone wants, but it might be the only solution.

Iain Dale's blog reports disatisfaction amongst North Norfolk Tories and homophobia !

Iain Dale had a polite little piece about the Tory selection of Trevor Ivory as the Conservative candidate in North Norfolk. However, some of the comments about Mr Ivory and issues regarding homophobia from Tories at the meeting show much deeper problems than a 10606 vote Lib Dem majority to overturn.

Interesting reading for anyone who thinks Mr Cameron has changed his party.

Read the whole thread HERE.

LGA Commission on Council grants a good idea

The BBC reports that the LGA are asking the government to set up an independent commission to allocate cental government grants, taking this potential political weapon out of the hands of politicians. Read the story HERE.

To my mind, it is completely wrong that central government grants are in the hands of politicians to the extent that a council does not know what it is going to get until it receives it's letter from Minister Phil Woolas. I cannot comment on Mr Woollas' honesty, but in his parliamentary seat, his main opposition are the Lib Dems. If he was feeling particularly bitter, he could, if he wanted, give out lower grants to Lib Dem council's just out of spite under the current system. I am not suggesting he has done this, but, a minister in his situation coudl, if he wanted. This can't be right ?

The flow of funds form the South to the North of England under Labour could easily be described as political. An independent commission could mean that nobody could accuse the government, and future governments, of this again.

Nintendo Wii - "We" can't wait !

I can't be the only one getting very excited about the iminent lauch of the Nintendo Wii, can I ?

For years people have liked to label video games systems as the spawn of the devil and responsible for obesity, crime, violence and just about any other ill the world is suffering from.

Well, the Nintedo Wii (pronounced "we") changes that. The games require active participation. The motion sensor in one of the controllers means the controller can be used a a sword, a bat in baseball, you can use it to hit the tennis ball in tennis, you can use it to replicate bowling at 10 pin bowling. Read more about it HERE.

This is the future, and I can't wait.

Tories choose their man for North Norfolk

North Norfolk Tories have chosen Trevor Ivory as their candidate for Lib Dem held North Norfolk.

The fact that this selection received little press coverage, a lack of Tory "A" list candidates and passed almost without anyone noticing shows just how far North Norfolk has slipped down the list of priorities for the Tories. At the final selection the Tories only had two candidates to choose from.

Mr Ivory, has only really made the headlines once before after claiming people would be better off if Prime Minister Tony Blair killed himself !

At the time his comments were widely denounced as inappropriate, unpleasant and did little to broaden and raise the level of political debate.

He obviously hasn't learnt anything from this experience as after his selection by North Norfolk Tories he claimed sitting Lib Dem MP Norman Lamb was "nasty". One would hope that Mr Ivory's political comments will change from calling people names and saying that the country could be helped by a person committing suicide.

P.S. More information about Mr Ivory's 15 minutes of fame can be found HERE. If even the Samaritans are calling North Norfolk's Conservative candidate "beyond the pale", then heaven help them.