Iain Dale on Bracknell shortlist ?

Rumours and comments on ConHome suggest Iain Dale is one of the six shortlisted Tories to replace Andrew Mackay in Bracknell.

Only a rumour as yet.

Update : In further support of this, Iain says on Twitter that he is canvassing for a local council election this morning. I note on the Bracknell Council website that they have a by-election in October.

Another guilty pleasure is back

We all have a guilty pleasure. For some it is Strictly Come Dancing, for others it is The X Factor or The Jeremy Kyle Show. But foe me, THIS IS MY GUILTY PLEASURE.

"Bring on the wall !"

What do you do when you see a beggar ?

Watching 'The One Show' on BBC tonight it was interesting to see the article about beggars and the evidence that they do not earn a good living from begging on the streets of our towns and cities.

One of the myths put around in the late 80s and early 90s by the tabloids was that beggars earn £200-£300 a day, but that clearly is not the case. However, the programme did make me think about my own attitude to beggars, particularly in the light of the advice from homeless charities on the show who all advised people never to give money to beggars, instead telling people to but them food or as a better option, give the money to homeless charity like shelter.

My own personal attitude to beggars has been to give money to Big Issue sellers (and I don't take the magazine) because I see them as trying to make the situation better by hard work. Aside from that, I think I try to use certain things to justify my own unwillingness to give money to beggars.

In particular, I find the whole issue of beggars with dogs a complete contradiction. If you don't have enough money to feed yourself, why have a dog. If you have enough money to feed a dog, you don't need to beg. Yes, I know it offers companionship, but if you don't have the money to fed yourself, why inflict this starving and suffering on an animal ?

So what am I trying to say ? I guess I'm like most people. I don't give money to beggars and I try to justify it in my mind using my moral compass. What would I do if I were in a desperate situation ? I'd like to think I'd try my hardest through hard work to sort myself out. That said, I am lucky enough to have a family that love and care for me. Without my great upbringing, what would I have been like. I guess it's a case of "there but for the grace of God go I".

Anyone who wants to offer their views would be welcome.

Tories want to make BBC a puppet of the Tories officially

Apparently the Tories want to openly politicise the BBC by positively discriminating in favour of recruiting Tor members as BBC journalists.

Another ploy by the Tories to ruin the BBC and a sign that the Tories care little for unbiased news gathering.

Hat Tip to Irfan Ahmed

How dim is Sir Liam Donaldson ?

The Chief Medical Officer Liam Donaldson said two weeks ago that

"We are tantalisingly close to beating swine flu".

Anyone with any medical knowledge would know that this was a stupid comment to make. Although flu numbers were at the time falling, it was obvious that this was down to the school holidays. This was made even more obvious by the fact that flu numbers started falling first in Scotland (where they go on holiday first) and then started to rise again in Scotland (when they returned earlier than in England and Wales). So knowing this, why did Sir Liam say what he said ?

Now, with the holidays over, we have seen two rises in successive weeks, and now Sir Liam says he thinks "this might be the start of the second wave". Isn't that plainly obvious to everyone ? So why did Sir Liam close his eyes and hope for the best two weeks ago and make such an inane statement ?

Furthermore though, it does make you wonder why schools were not kept closed for another couple of weeks. Children apparently infect 2.4 other people with any virus they have whereas adults infect 1.6 people. This means that children will infect 50% more people than adults this meaning the return to school will make things much worse.

If they had hung on for a couple of weeks before allowing the reopening of schools we would have seen weekly infection rates fall to around 1000 a week. That means that within three weeks of schools reopening we would have been up to about 7000 infections a week just as the vaccine would come on stream. This means that the vaccine would have had a chance to be effective in halting the very worst of the second wave. Instead, by the time the vaccine comes on stream in around 3 weeks infection levels will be 72,000 per week. By the time the vaccine is effective (10-14 days) that means that infection levels will reach 250,000 a week. Assuming the current death rates persist it means around 50-80 people dying who need not have died.

And still Sir Liam thought we were closed to beating swine flu. What an absolute idiot.

Update : Interestingly, the highest number of hospitalisations for any age group so far infected with swine flu is the under 5s, according to the BBC documentary last week. So guess which group is not going to be in the first round of vaccinations ? Under 5s. Well done Sir Liam.

Is there anything he will not say ?

Charles Clarke was when serving as a government minister that just about everyone despised. He would defend the indefensible, introduced legislation that was at odds with the principles of the labour movement from which he came, and seemed like your typical toadying minister.

As a result of this his majority was slashed last time and he now sits on a relatively small majority over the Liberal Democrats in his Norwich South seat.

Then he lost his job as a minister.

From that point on we are supposed to believe from his regular headline grabbing attempts to attack Gordon Brown, a man who Clarke spoke highly of when he was a minister, that he is Labour MP people can trust to speak the truth. Piffle and balderdash.

Charles Clarke, in my opinion, will do anything to save his parliamentary career. This week he was attending the Lib Dem conference speaking at a fringe event. Perhaps the aim was to try and persuade Lib Dems he isn't so bad and that a journey to Norwich South to help out Simon Wright's Lib Dem challenge there is not worth the time. I would strongly disagree. Anyone who wants to send a message to Labour MPs that they will be judged on how they acted when in power, they will be reminded of the wasted opportunities they had and they will have to take responsibility for the mess the country is in after 12 years of Labour rule, then Mr Clarke should be one of our top targets to unseat.

When it comes to MPs doing one thing in office but saying the opposite when out of power, in my opinion Mr Clarke really does take some beating.

Why you cannot rely on "The Market" to look after us

If you ever needed proof why the market does not self regulate and why rules, laws and governments are needed, take the cases reported today of companies ripping off the public sector (you know the public sector, the one always being slagged off by the private sector as being inefficient) by colluding of tenders for contracts.

Yes, finally evidence has been produced to show that taxpayers are being ripped off be private companies who in some cases pay each other to put in inflated bids !

No doubt some libertarian will be along shortly to tell is that the market self regulates and that this is all a figment of my imagination.

Tory Party fractures in Bedford over Mayoral Open Primary

Iain Dale hosted the Tory "Open Primary" in Bedford a few days ago to select their candidate and did a good job of glossing over what seemed obvious from all the TV coverage. That being that the meeting appeared to have been packed with supporters of one candidate.

People commenting to Iain's blog suggested that voters had been instructed by their Mosque to attend and vote for a particular candidate whilst the sudden interest (over 800 people turning up with undreds left outside) surpassed Tory estimates and previous open primaries, suggesting somethig different was happening in Bedford in order to see such a dramatic increase in the turnout of people voting.

Now this criticism would be easy to dismiss and has been by many Tories merely as Lib Dem bluster or sour grapes. But the rift in the local Tories in Beford, widely gossiped and whispered about, but denied by the Tories and Tory bloggers, appears now to have made the news. The Bedford on Sunday Newspaper reports that one of the defeated candidates who was shortlisted has complained that the meeting had been packed and broke its own rules that had been arranged in advance.

In the Bedford on Sunday article, which had details of a leaked e-mail from Nicky Attenborough (Tory Group leader on Bedford Council) it says

‘It is my opinion that Monday night was quite disgraceful. The members, who had been told to get there by 7.30pm, were left sitting there for two hours and the candidates locked in one nasty classroom for two hours and told nothing.‘When I protested at the shambles that was occurring outside, I was told by our minder, ‘you can always go home’.

‘What followed was quite shameful, for a party that prides itself on its efficiency and democracy.‘It was very obvious that the meeting had been hijacked and quite clearly, from where I was sitting, I could see the Liberal Democrats on the front row, Labour on the back row and a sea of faces who couldn't even understand what the candidates were saying.

‘So how could you say that this was a Conservative selection procedure? It was a joke and the backlash has been very severe. Especially since the members were written and told they would have a private meeting in the end to endorse the candidate.‘Despite several angry protestations from the floor, this was ignored, and people with a green band were told to put their hands up. Quite frankly, it just seemed the icing on a very bad cake.

‘You have treated loyal members of this Party with utter contempt, people who fundraise for you, support you financially, go out in the good years and the bad, in all weathers to deliver and canvass for you, sit in polling stations for you, and up to now, were proud to stand for the Conservative Party.

With BBC East reporting this in some detail on the lcoal news today, with more expected tomorrow, it seems that the cat is out of the bag about how this meeting was not all that it seemed.

Remember, David Cameron goes around telling everyone that this is what other parties should be doing !

Tories and the BBC - Shadow Minister lets the cat out of the bag

I argued some years ago that the strategy of those who oppose the BBC does not hold water.

Those with an axe to grind against the BBC attack it when it has popular programmes for appealing to populism and comprting with commercial broadcasters but when the BBC commits itself to minority interestests it gets attacked for not justifying its license fee due to lack of viewers.

This hollow line of reasoning has been shown in its full colours by the ever excellent Liberal Burblings who points out the total hypocrisy of the Tory spokesman at the Royal television Society's Conference.

As I wrote in my original article

"the best way for the BBC to justify its existence is to ensure that they have high viewing figures, popular shows, relevant content, and hit shows. In order to do this the BBC needs to invest lots of money in facilities, creative people and top presenters. But this is where the problems start. If the BBC pays too much for top stars, they are criticised by the Tories/Daily Mail. But as soon as the BBC fails to have top shows, lacks the stars to get viewers watching you know that the Daily Mail will be the very first to jump in and demand the axing of the licence fee because the BBC no longer has any top stars that anyone wants to watch."

And for anyone who believes that commercial broadcaster can make the sort of programmes the BBC makes, can I refer you to THIS article I wrote a long time ago which deals with original BBC shows and ITV derivitive copies which are useless in comparison.

Tory blogger doing the job that a Lib Dem blogger should be doing.

One of my favourite Tory blogs is Andrew Allison's "A Conservative View". As a resident of Hull North Andrew is heartily sick and tired of his rather useless Labour MP and has in recent weeks regularly highlighted the flaws in her arguments, her contradictions and ways in which public money is used to fund her campaigns.

All of this is well observed and worthy of being pointed out.

My only question, why is a Lib Dem not doing this sort of thing too ? Hull is a major Lib Dem target yet it takes a local Tory to tell us these things.

In the meantime, well done Andrew.

Why Nick Clegg is right about the Tory con trick

Nick Clegg will open the Lib Dem conference with a stinging attack on David Cameron and the Tories for trying to con the electorate in thinking that Tories offer a change that will be break from the politics of the last 30 years. He also will also say the Tories arrogantly believe it is "their turn".

The questions is, was it ever any different ?

In 1997 I remember friends of mine who were not interested in politics get swept along in the religious fervour of New Labour and that things were going to change. Aide from the fact that I was a Lib Dem back then, I felt rather down the day Labour were elected because I knew a massive opportunity to deliver real change had been missed by Tony Blair in an attempt to appear safe to Middle England voters. As a result reforms were small, change was merely window dressing and we kept most of the same old systems and institutions that needed radical reform. Unless you lived in Scotland or Wales, change passed you by.

Now what is different ? What are the Tories planning to do which they think earns them the title to be called progressive ? As I see it the only thing that people expect the Tories to do is make cuts. Now I know the Lib Dems (and Labour belatedly) pledge this too, but I hear nothing else which involves reform other than bland and rather idiotic statements about allowing people with no educational background to run schools. Where is the Tory big idea ?

The answer is that there is no big idea. The Tory plan is to play it safe, follow the Basic Fawlty line of "Don't mention the war" but change it to "Don't mention a policy". I have visions of Tory shadow ministers returning to Cameron's office saying "I mentioned a policy once but I think I got away with it !"

The truth is this country needs more than a rearranging of the deckchairs. We do need policy that will dramatically alter the directing we take if not we risk returning back to where we are now in 10 years time because nobody genuinely believes the Tories will properly regulate the City (after all, their fundraising efforts are co-ordinated by hedge fund managers) whilst genuine policy breakthroughs like those outlined by IDS the other day on welfare do not seem to have been welcomed with open arms.

So whilst the Tories might be better than Labour (come off it, anyone would be better than Labour), what we really want is a something that is more than "a bit better", because this country deserves so much more.

I didn't like her anyway so her views rather justify my opinion

I was always of the opinion that the Queen Mother was a rather spiteful women who did all she could to stop any kind of healing of wounds within the Royal family regarding the former King Edward VIII whilst holding back the modernisation of the whole Royal setup.

On top of this, she lived a good life at our expense indulging her lavish tastes whilst employing people of questionable moral standards.

So I was not in the least surprised today to read in the Queen Mother's offical biography that she disliked talk of money (so she could avoid any fiscal responsibility) and she disliked Liberal Democrats !

Perhaps it is a badge of honour Lib Dems should wear.

Why Iain Duncan Smith is right

I used to love IDS when he was leader of the Tory Party. Slightly hapless, vague, lacking direction, uninspiring & ineffectual were words that summed up (probably unfairly) his stewardship of the Tory Party. However, opinions can change.

In recent years IDS has cleverly created a niche of expertise for himself by becoming the Tories equivalent of Labour's Frank Field in becoming an independent minded expert on Social Security and benefits who is able to say the things that their party leaders are not brave enough to say. And so it is today in the latest proposals from IDS.

I note the Tory Party were quick to disown his ideas and said 2they will be looked at but are not currently Party policy", but I think they were wrong to do so.

The IDS plans involve the benefits system actually helping people back to work (rather then telling people to get a job but cutting of their benefits immediately upon employment leaving people high, dry and broke for several weeks until they are paid) whilst also simplifying the whole confused and complicated system.

In my opinion, the proposals could have gone further as I think that the current benefits system encourages people who have never worked to stay on benefits whilst also incentivising having more and more children in order to avoid work.

So well done IDS. Perhaps not such a bad chap after all.

Garth Crooks brings football punditry in to disrepute

In the immediate aftermath of Emmanuel Adebayor's efforts to rile, wind up and taunt Arsenal fans at Manchester City last weekend you would expect football pundits to show a degree if common sense, but not, it appears, Garth Crooks.

When other pundits on BBC's Final Score show were saying that footballs need to show responsibility for the actions and not exacerbate tensions in the crowd by deliberately running 80 yards to the opposite end of the pitch in order to taunt fans, Garth Crooks stands alone in supporting the rights of the overpaid £150k a week prima donnas to cause crown problems because, in his words "They have a responsibility to celebrate their goal". He even backed up his views by complaining that "It's disgraceful that players are not even allowed to celebrate scoring".

What a pillock.

Celebrating is something you do with friends, colleagues, supporter of your team but not those who oppose you. If he cannot see the difference between celebrating with your fans and taunting opposition fans, then he should not be employed as a pundit.

X Factor losing the X Factor

They always say "Never change a winning formula". So It is odd to see how much the X Factor has changed this year.

Gone are the cosy intimate auditions done in front of a camera crew and the four judges, instead replaced by performing to 2500 people in an arena making the show virtually indistinguishable from Simon Cowell's other hit show Britain's Got Talent.

Also gone are the unaccompanied auditions instead replaced by full backing tracks making it harder to work out if the singers really are that good.

Gone too are the judges disagreeing about contestants. Now every judge seems to vote yes or no in unison.

And with all this somehow, and don't ask me why, the X Factor has gone from the show too. perhaps it is time to switch to Strictly Come Dancing ?

Where is the swine flu vaccine ?

When Swine Flu first reared its head we were assured that a vaccine could be available as early as the first weeks of July. This date passed and we were then told it would be August. As August rolled on we were then told it would be September. Now, it appears, it will be October at the earliest that the vaccine will be here.

I've made this point before, but the government's planning for pandemics was based on H5N1 Bird Flu, which has a kill rate of about 60%. This means that for every 100,000 people getting it, 60,000 die. The government's own plan stated that a vaccine should take just four months to start arriving.

Now we are very lucky that this is a mild swine flu, but still it will be six months before the vaccine arrives.

How can the government have got this so wrong, been so slow and the government get away with it without receiving any flak ? If this had been H5N1 (and it might still be at some future date), we'd have had 200,000 dead by now, with another 500,000 in a second wave. Why are the government being let off the hook for getting this flu wrong just because only a few are dying. People are still dying who could have been saved if this government had pulled their finger out.

Criminal checks for everyone

The latest initiative by the government to ensure that everyone who has anything to do with children, including those parents who give lifts to and from clubs is an astonishing amount of overkill and symbolic of this government's willingness to ignore common sense at all costs.

Whilst we can all appreciate that criminal record checks (CRB checks) are important and necessary for those employed to work with children and those who run childrens' activities, it seems ludicrous to apply this to a further 11 million people.

Clubs and voluntary groups find it hard enough to find volunteers and this move will make that even harder. The government seem to believe that these checks will eliminate all dangers to children but ignore the fact that all offenders have, at some point, been first time offenders. These checks will not stop people with clean records but bad intent having contact with children, so risk will not be eliminated.

The other aspect is the fact that CRB checks are a very good income stream for the government. My old school had to get me CRB checked when I qualified as a teacher. I then got CRB checked again 3 years later when I became a councillor. There was then a change in the status of my school and all staff (including me) had to have further CRB checks. Then I changed school, and my old CRB check (only one year old) was deemed invalid so I was checked again. Two years later my school changed to a Primary school from a Middle school, thus changing it's name, which apparently invalidated the CRB check so all staff were checked again. So by my reckoning in a little over 10 years I have been CRB checked five times, at a cost of £32 each time, costing more than £150. Why a CRB check and a certificate cannot be transferred, take with you from establishment to establishment for a period of five years, only requiring your new employer to phone your previous school or employer to check you have not got any recent convictions, I do not know.

What is the silliest part though was the fact that all 40 plus staff at my school had to be redone just because our school name changed. That's £1300 on checks that were not needed. And now we are being told that school budgets will be squeezed in the recession !

Stuck in Afghanistan

Whilst I never accepted that there was a valid case for the war in Iraq, I have always been firmly of the opinion that Afghanistan, under the Taliban, was a rogue state that promoted and exported terrorism and as a result, our military actions there were worthy of support. I was also deeply aware that many of those in the Taliban were not Afghans and they Taliban were themselves referred to as "Arabs" due to the number of them who were from other countries and enjoying something of a free ride running around with guns on Toyota Landcruisers oppressing local Afghans.

So given my support, it is sickening to think that so many of our troops seem to now have the tag of being out there to support a corrupt leader who fiddled his way through an election which was in many way no more legitimate that the recent Iranian election.

The problem now is that the election fiasco and Hamid Karzai's willingness to legitimise and almost encourage corruption in gives succour not only to those who support terrorists, but also to those too spineless in Europe and the UK to realise that confronting terrorism in Afghanistan keeps it off the streets of the UK.

The only winner of the election in Afghanistan is terrorism, and we appear to be stuck there.

Alan Duncan

Coming to the issue of Alan Duncan late due to my broadband router breaking on Monday (it had lasted five years being on 24/7 which must be some kind of record), I am slightly bemused as to the goings on around Alan Duncan.

Presumably he had done something wrong, so I assumed wrongly he had been sacked. But no. He has still retained a job as a shadow minister. How odd. Is David Cameron saying Alan Duncan was only partly wrong ? Is he saying he wasn't really wrong at all or is it simply a case that friends of Cameron, be they involved in scandals or fiddling expenses or other errors of judgement are allowed to stay close to power whilst the older Tories who resist Cameron's agenda are told to stand down ?

For me there is nothing like the dishonesty of a pseudonym

As the Liberal England blog points out today, there really are questions to be answered by Mr Paul Staines (who likes to refer to himself as Guido Fawkes) about his independence.

The Guido Fawkes blog for some time like to have a veneer of not being tied to one political party or doctrine but has increasingly become more Tory than Iain Dale. Now at least Iain Dale is open about his politics, but isn't it about time we knew the truth about where Guido Fawkes blog now stands politically ?

Why I am not a Tory

The fact that young people now cannot remember the Tories in power must be a blessing for them, but for people my age who remember the Tories and were brought up in the Thatcher years have a long held and almost allergic reaction to the Conservative Party which probably acount for the fact that the Tories, although doing well in the polls, are not at the New Labour levels of 1995-97.

I know people who loathe this government but cannot bring themselves to vote Tory because they remember many of the things in this Youtube video.

My brief views on Libya and Al Megrahi

I have not blogged on the whole prisoner release and Libya before, but there are few things I want to get off my chest.

My view is that Al Megrahi was not guilty of the bombing, planning it or anything else to do with the bombing. The truth is that he was convicted on the basis of evidence from dodgy sources who were incentivised by the US to give evidence that would frame Libya in order to justify the US stance towards that country since the early 1980s.

I don't doubt Libya was guilty of a lot of nasty things in the 1980s. They funded, armed and trained the IRA. But Czechoslovakia too was guilty of this by continuing to produce semtex with no chemical marker (as they promised to do) which would allow it to be detected by sniffer dogs. The Czech's were complicit in working with the Libyans to ensure the IRA was well stocked with grade A Semtex but we say nothing about them. The truth is that whilst Gadaffi was not a nice person, neither was General Franco and the US was happy to deal with him. Likewise the last Shah of Iran was despicable to his people but he too was a friend of the UK and the US.

The truth of the matter is that an innocent man was let go, but sadly the fact that his retrial and appeal never went ahead was the worst thing about this release. It means that those who were really guilty will never be prosecuted or found.

News reports today (exaggerated by the Scum on Sunday) which claim the US is going to withdraw security co-operation with the UK because of Al Megrahi's release are all part of the media spin and the Tory campaign to use this story as another stick to beat Labour with. But they also show a shallow disregard for the fact that real justice will not be done.

Yes, the government have made a dreadful cock up in linking things to trade and denying them whilst the SNP's Justice Minister came over as shallow, dull, slightly dim and unable to say anything other than repeat the same lines over and over again. The SNP have looked just as bad as Labour if not worse.

Anyway, enough of a rant from me. That's my illogically strung together views on this issue. Feel free to tell me I am wrong.

All credit to England Ladies

Much as England's ladies cricket team is a considerably better team than the male equivalent, England Ladies football team appear to be doing the same.

This evening England Ladies beat The Netherlands 2-1 after extra time to get through to the final of the Euro Championships. Just one match now from being the top team in Europe !

It is a shame these games are hidden away Eurosport and are not being shown on any terrestrial broadcast channels. It seems very odd given that Eurosport is in part owned by Eurovision of which the BBC is a shareholder and funding body.

Let us hope that the BBC or one of the many unwatched and unloved ITV Channels might pick the final up.

You don't have to be thick to work in the local media ... but it helps

On BBC East tonight regarding swine flu

"Locally 70,000 people are believed to have Swine Flu"

What ? So nationally last week there were 5,000 new cases but according to the local BBC (the same BBC who thought the Greens would do well in Norwich North and excluded UKIP from the televised debate) there are 70,000 in the East alone. That means that fourteen times as many people have swine flu in East Anglia than there are cases in the whole country at the moment !

Then again, it could be worse. On Radio Norwich, a local radio station which shares the same name as the one Alan Partridge is supposed to work for, showed that Alan Partridge might be a credit to their station when their host this afternoon announced that the answer to the question "Who was the host in 1983 of It'll Be Alright On The Night" was "Graham Norton". And no, there was no irony, no self deprecation, no joke, no apology for getting it wrong. He was deadly serious.

Guess who's back ... Back again ...

If you hadn't noticed (and I'd be surprised if you hadn't), I've been out of the country for the last week and my blogging had been done in advance using scheduled posts (which accounts for their lack of topical issues).

I take the view regarding holidays that you have top have something for people to read as lots of people do like to check in to their regular blogs on a daily basis. But I also don't tell people (except family and neighbours) that I am going away. When I was a councillor I was always surprised that in the weekly councillor briefing it highlighted which councillors were on holiday and the dates they were away. Is there any better way to alert a burglar to your absence other than putting an advert in the paper. Clearly Iain Dale lives in an area with little in the way of crime.

Anyway, back from sunny Menorca and back to work tomorrow.

Three years old

I started this blog three years ago today !

Thanks to all my readers who keep me going.

How to put me off an issue

Certain pro smoking groups are still trying to get the smoking ban amended to that people can smoke once again in pubs. Personal I like now being able to go for a drink knowing I will not have to wash all my clothes immediately the next day to remove the smell of smoke. However, some groups do have plans for designated smoking rooms which may make some sense. But if one thing is going to put me off supporting them it is seeing that these groups are using Anthony Worrall-Thomson on their adverts.

Like Coral Vorderman, anything he does is an instant turn off for me. His politics too are not to my taste, just like his overly fancy food. Still, if you want to get people on side, why not choose a cook who let his own businesses fold recently because he did not want to secure the loans against his own personal wealth.

Alan Turing - A real British hero that we should all honour

One of the most annoying things about being British is the fact that our government, indeed virtually every government, never lives up to the high reputation that the people themselves deserve. The persecution of people who serve this country, the continued slap in the face our servicemen receive, the lack of gratitude to people who put their lives on the line is never ending. When you read stories of VC holders having to sell their medals to make ends meet, war heroes having the payments challenged by the government or the story of Alan Turing, you have to wonder what they do it for.

I found THIS article from the Independent which highlights how Alan Turing, the man who broke the enigma code, a man who should be lauded as the person with the greatest single contribution to saving Britain in WW2 was persecuted by the UK government because he was gay, and eventually killed himself as a result. The Pink News reports also on the petition that has been signed by nearly 5000 people already.

It is a shameful blot on the history of this country that a man who did so much to preserve the freedoms we love was treated so badly. So I would support any move to pardon him and feel a more permanent reminder of his contribution to British freedoms should be recognised.

The charade that is the X Factor audition

Firstly let me say that I am a big fan of the X factor, I have watched it each and every year and along with Harry Hill's TV burp, it is the only programme I watch on ITV. But does anyone for one minute actually believe the contrived series of events that they put out each week when they show the auditions.

Firstly, you only get to perform for the two judges if you are either very good or very bad. Everyone else is filtered out at a series of pre-auditions. You are expected to stand around and wave like a performing seal shouting "We've got the X Factor" so that Dermot can do his links in front of you. If you moan about anything you will be thrown out of the auditions. And finally, the signs saying things like "I've got the X Factor" and "I love Simon" are made by the production team and given out to the people for staged shots. Presumably this is also done for Big Brother.

Don't get me wrong, I know it is al part of the entertainment, but the show is appearing to be more and more contrived and controlled. Why not show some element of the pre auditions ? Why not allow through some of the god people and omit some of those who have no ability at all ?

If you want to read more about the X Factor auditions, there is an excellent article about them HERE.

Colonel Gadaffi looks like one of the Rolling Stones

Is it just me or does Colonel Gadaffi now have the look of an ageing rock star ?

He looks like a sort of cross between Phil Spector, Keith Richards and Tom Jones (with no insult meant to any of them, except perhaps Phil Spector).

What do party conferences achieve outside of political circles ?

With conference season approaching, it does leave me to wonder what they achieve beyond being a get together for the party delegates. In particular though, with Labour and Tory conferences being about talking from the leadership and listening for the delegates, are they a shop window for the public on the way parties operate and are they part of the problem with politics today ?

Taking the conferences in order, the Liberal Democrat conference is always the first to be held, but it is also the most democratic and open of all the party conferences. The Lib Dems do actually debate and decide on policy with members and delegates having a real choice and real involvement. The real fly in the ointment is that fact that you can be guaranteed to have a Lib Dem conference spoilt each year by some nutty motion which might attract the headlines, but puts the party in the dock with the public.

Whilst it might have been necessary when the Lib Dems had 18 MPs to get the press to pay attention, this really is no longer the case. So what is it with the need to have the motions on abortion (1993) , euthanasia (1997) , banning goldfish from fairground stalls (1992), hard porn for 16-year-olds (2001), or controversial policies such as abolishing the monarchy (2003), and liberalising dope laws (2002). Hopefully those days are gone, but it doesn't stop people suggesting some daft motion or other like privatising the NHS or other such craziness. I remember virtually every year having to placate a member or dealing with an unhappy deliverer who was upset at something debated at Lib Dem conference. One would hope that this year will see a real focus on the economy, on civil liberties and on dealing with the problems resulting from the depression.

Labour conferences have gone from one extreme to another in recent years. gone is the socialism, the mass block votes and the real debate. Instead Labour conferences are just incredibly bring. party of this is in part because ruling parties do not have the freedom to allow party conferences to dictate policy willy nilly, but in great part it is more to do with Labour's control freakery. the clearest example of this was the throwing out of a delegate a few years ago by a bunch of heavies.

Last year's conference was credited with giving Gordon Brown the mandate to carry on, but in truth the fact that nobody stuck their head above the parapet to challenge him had more to do with it than the conference.

As for the Tory conference, to describe it as anything other than a drinks party where party bigwigs gives speeches would be wrong. For that is what it is. Policy is never decided, a real debate is not allowed, disagreement is not encouraged and it is in no way democratic.

So what is the point ? Perhaps the biggest thing a conference does it to confirm the general view a party has towards it leader. Remember IDS and his "Quiet man" speech ? Then there was Tony Blair's "Education, education, education" speech. powerful at the time (even if it were a lie). Kinnock taking on the Militant left was also a mile stone. But in recent years the most notably party conference may perhaps have been the Tory party conference when David Davis speech went down like a lead balloon and David Cameron won over the Tory faithful with a rousing speech that nobody expected.

Perhaps though the best reason for a party conference was written some years ago in The Independent when they said

"It is also the one week in the year the party workers - the "poor bloody infantry" who stick leaflets through letter boxes - can let their hair down and have a week-long gang-bang with like-minded people."

I think I need to move to Scotland

I see that STV, who remain outside of the ownership of the rest of the mainland ITV network , have dropped certain ITV shows from their schedule and are producing more local programming in their place.

I have for some time stated that I think ITV turn out generic crap that either apes poorly what the BBC are doing or produces safe and uninspired drama that allows you to turn your brain off. It really should be no surprise to anyone that ITV are in so much financial trouble.

The problems at ITV started when their regional identity started to go. Locally here in Norwich Anglia TV had a reputation of turning out quality drama (Tales of the Unexpected, The PD James detective mysteries, The Chief, and other) and great wildlife documentaries through Survival Productions. The regional network might have been costly, but it allowed each area of the network to specialist and also provide competition. As soon as this diversity went from ITV, so did the originality and the quality. Now in Norwich all they produce is regional news.

So perhaps I should move to Scotland where at least they still value locally produced programming.

What have the Green Party achieved in Twickenham ?

Apparently nothing, according to their website.




Note the blank space where they list their achievements.

More Green problems ?

You may have read on this and other blogs a couple of weeks ago about the cancellation of one of the Green Party's own internal elections.

There is a new twist to the story the ERO who suspended the election has resigned; he isn't giving much away on his blog, but there is clearly an under-current.

On a more positive note from the Greens, Derek Wall has praised our own blogging peer and all-round good egg Eric Avebury.

What will the Tories priorities be in government ?

Letters from a Tory has an excellent letter regarding the Tories "back door" means of legalising Fox Hunting again after the next general election. I am unimpressed, as it A. Tory, but I wonder how impressed the electorate will be.

Imagine a Tory government coming to power. They have serious financial problems to deal with and have pledged to rid the country of needless QUANGOs. Then, by means of getting Fox Hunting within a legal framework they give teeth (and money) to a new QUANGO to oversee hunting (wasting more money) and are seen by the electorate as being more concerned about hunting defenceless animals rather than dealing with the economic problems.

It's potentially absolutely wonderful stuff for an opposition leaflet for the local elections in 2011.

Action at last over low flying US jets

Norman Lamb MP is calling a public meeting on Cromer regarding the persistent problems with US airforce jet undertaking low flying exercises late at night over Fakenham, Cromer and other towns in North Norfolk.

Having been brought up on one of the flight paths regularly used by RAF jets landing at the now closed RAF Coltishall, i have no problem with low flying jets. But when I lived in Fakenham I was always surprised to see US jets screaming very low and very fast across Fakenham, going in to steep climbs (needing an afterburner and making lots of noise) and failing to do what the RAF routinely do, which is to fly around towns.

I have no problem with jets practising as this is a small price to pay for our security. But the US airforce jets show a flagrant disregard to local towns and villages in North Norfolk.

Extraordinary people - Dean du Plessis - The blind cricket commentator

If I were asked to name any group of people I admire above any other it is the blind. When ever I see someone using a white stick to guide themselves to their place of work in total blindness I am amazed at their ability to live such normal lives with a disability that I cannot comprehend.

Now it is well known that when someone is deprived of their senses they then find their other senses become more finely tuned, with smell and hearing becoming far more sensative as the brain develops these areas. And there can be no greater example of this than Dean du Plessis, the blind Ximbabwean cricket commentator.

Dean du Plessis uses his amazing hearing from stump microphones and can detect the area of the bat that the ball hit, he can hear the unique way that players grunt, moan or excitely shout to the ball they have hit, and is then able to use this in his commentary.

I could go on, but I would suggest that you listen to the story of Dean du Plessis on the BBC Iplayer in the next four days before the programme is removed. He really is a remarkable man and somone I admire.

Do the Tories only say what they really think when they think nobody can hear them ?

The chairman of Gosport Tories caused something of a furore by giving his view that a woman candidate might be a decent candidate if she were attractive. Now, he has apologised and said he thought the interview was over.

This leads me to wonder if the Tories only say what they really think behind closed doors.

Proof that the Daily Mail really is your Daily Scum

Liberal Conspiracy, not a blog I always warm to, has a great article picking apart the Daily Mail story on immigrants outnumbering the number of people signing on for benefits. The implied bias of the Daily mail artcile was to make out that immigrants were over here putting British people out of work. In short the artcile was a BNP wet dream.

It's well worth a read and can be found HERE.

Whilst the Daily Mail's support for the Nazis in the 1930s (and indeed in to the 40s) might be a long time ago, its support for natioanlism still lives on.

How wrong can the Met office be ?

A few months ago the Meteorological Office declared that the UK was in for a good summer with temperatures in August expected to be warm (something that has not really happened since 2005) and sunshine expected to be seen more often than not. This was greeted at the time with some relief by the UK tourist industry and a bumper summer was expected.

Then a few weeks ago the Met Office declared that they were wrong and instead we could expect colder weather and showers.

Now since they have made this announcement I cannot remember it raining here just North of Norwich. I know it rained in South Norfolk for five minutes yesterday lunchtime, but apart from that, the weather has been glorious for nearly three weeks.

So the question is how the hell can the Met Office get it so wrong ?

A few weeks ago there was a reported sudden surge in people booking holidays abroad in the light of the Met Office's change of forecast. So who has benefited from the Met Office's incompetence ? Thomas Cook and Thomson, that's who.

Why people don't use public transport

Norwich fans returning from West London last night after watching Brentford beat Norwich 2-1 suffered another blow after their train arrived home in Norwich at 6.35 am.

The train, which broke down twice, took more than seven hours to get them home turning the usual two hour journey in to the journey from hell.

How many football fans will drive instead of using the train in future ?

Meeja studies

I found my self nodding my head in some level of agreement with the Tories when they stated that there needs to be some way of differentiating a media studies A level from a maths or chemistry A level.

For years, perhaps unfairly, media and film studies seem to have taken stick from the press for their perceived "easy ride" way of getting an A level or a degree. This may be unfair, but it does remind me of a chap I knew at university who excelled at nothing other than getting drunk. The be quite honest and fair, he really was not that bright. He told me he was studying a degree in media and film. One of his modules was on the films of James Stewart. Well as soon as he said this I started eulogising about The Glenn Miller Story, Mr Smith Goes to Washington, The Rear Window, Vertigo, Harvey, and of course, It's a Wonderful Life.

And what was the chap's response ? "What ... oh ... I don't know them". What the hell had he been studying if I knew more about James Stewart films than him ?

For me it justified the prejudice that some people study subjects which are ultimately worthless and really not worthy of equality with other subjects. Of course this is grossly unfair and there are, I am sure, some media courses that are really tough and genuinely a challenge but perhaps these need some form of assessment to make them stand out from other media courses.

If you want to know the sort of stuff media studies students should know then click HERE to do the BBC media studies test. I scored 6/7.

The right to bare arms - The right to bear arms

A report suggest the UK should be more careful about who we sell weapons to incase they are used against civilians. Tighter controls on who we sell stuff like this to should be welcomed, but we should be careful about the examples given.

Israel has been singled out because of the use of the military equipment they have been sold against civilian targets outside the borders of the country. This is a valid argument. However, the report sites Sri Lanka as another country we have sold weapons to which might have seen civilians attacked using the weaponry. Sri Lanka is, in my opinion, a different case.

Sri Lanka was dealing with an internal insurgency from within its own borders. Whilst there may be evidence of the Sri Lanka army attacking civilians, are we seriously suggesting that we should not have sold weapons to a country fighting a terrorist group within its own borders ?

It does remind me of the the days when Labour claimed it would have an ethical foreign policy. That seems like a long time ago now.

Update - Used the wrong "bare/bear" so decided to keep it in honour of the hot weather today.

When is it my turn ?

Two weeks ago, Harriett Harman was standing in for Gordon Brown. A week later it was Peter Mandelson. This week, apparently Alistair Darling is standing in for the Prime Minister.

At this rate it will be my turn to stand in for Gordon Brown in about three weeks.

Why this story is no surprise to me

The BBC reports on the detention at Newark-New Jersey Airport of a Bollywood film star for two hours, apparently because he has a Muslim name. This comes as no surprise to me from my experience of that airport.

In 2006 we returned to the UK from Mexico via New-New Jersey Airport, and the way passengers were treated in the name of security was preposterous.

When we were going through security to get back in to departures, having reclaimed our luggage from our connection, we were stood behind a white American man who was ordered, by security staff, to remove his shoes. He explained that he was wearing calipers and could not remove them. He was then ordered, with security staff arriving and standing around him with their hands on the gun holsters to "remove your shoes sir." Again, he explained politely that he was wearing calipers, he rolled his trouser legs up and revealed the metal and strapping. Now I would have expected anyone with a shred of decency to say politely to him "No problem, we need to sort this out, could you follow us to this room so we can sort this out". But oh, not in America. He was then grabbed by each arm, force marched to a desk, and another US security gut then shouted something about him being uncooperative and he would be required to undergo a DNA test. They then in full view started taking sample from his mouth whilst an armed guard stood over him.

We all know about the shoe bomber and 9/11, but this was a massive overreaction and appalled both myself and my wife.

So no, I am not surprised to read what happened to this Indian film star.

Please be nice to me

Those of you who have read my blog for some time will know that I am a season ticket holder at Carrow Road where I follow Norwich City, and that I have, since I was seven, been an Everton fan.

So after Norwich started the season last week losing 7-1, I was feeling a little bruised.

Imagine how I feel today with Everton losing 6-1.

So please be nice to me.

BMA share my concerns about flu jabs for children

A couple of days ago I wrote that it seems odd that tamiflu is dangerous for kids, but children will not be in the first wave of immunisations.

Now the BMA are saying the same thing.

I wonder of the government have noticed the correlation between infection rates dropping Scotland from early July (when their school holidays started) and in England from late July ( when English school started their holidays). It seems that children are one of the main ways in which flu spreads quickly (any idiot could tell you that but obviously the government do not know).

In the 1918/19 flu, US cities that closed schools noticed their overall infection rates and absenteeism from work was lower than those cities where schools remained open.

But do our government learn from history ? Course not.

Headlines for Daniel Hannan

Tories think you should die six months earlier

Based on the fact that the average life expectancy at birth in the US is six months less than that in the UK (using the NHS).

Tory MEP wants a higher infant mortality rate

Based on figures that show the infant mortality rate is higher (50% higher) in the US than it is in the UK (using the NHS).

Oxbridge educated wealthy man opposes free health care for poor people

Why is it always those born in to privilige that oppose anything that help poor people ?

Now it I were running a campaign in any Lib Dem seat I'd be doing mail shots to all voters asking them to sign a "Save the NHS" petition, particularly if I was in Daniel Hannan's South East region.

Here's a challenge for the local press in Norfolk

Following the story about Rupert Read and the abuses that appear to have happened in internal elections in the Green Party, lots of people have commented about whether the local press will follow up on the story. My guess is that they won't. The local press love the Greens and with a former high profile journalist running the Green PR in Norwich, the press seem scared to print anything that would paint the Green Party in a bad light.

So will the press report on what is happening ? I know you read this blog.

Government Logic

Two days ago we read that Tamiflu is not considered to be good for children to take and it may do more harm than good.

Today we hear the government are NOT, I repeat NOT, going to prioritise children for immunisations for swine flu.

So children are left to rely on Tamiflu, which is dangerous to them.

Warped and sadly fatal logic.

The not so clean Green Party

Rupert Read gained himself a lot of publicity (but few votes) for his so called "Clean Campaign Pledge" in the Norwich North by-election. the Lib Dems, knowing what he is like and that this was a worthless pledge refused to sign, and the local press fell over themselves to tickle Rupert Read's belly and give his campaign more credibility which the result itself didn't justify.

Well now the truth has come out about the "Clean Campaign" that Mr Read is currently running.
It appears, as well as carrying a scathing attack on one of his opponents on his campaign website, someone has been contacting Green local parties with further attacks on one of the candidates.

The election has now been suspended.

One wonders how certain Greens have the nerve to lecture us all on clean politics when their own internal elections are so downright dirty.

Update - There is more interesting stuff on the Greens HERE.

And in further news, Tory MP discovers he is six months late

Last week I wrote that Tom Watson MP was six months behind me in questioning why the DVLA were giving away Spanish built cars instead of British built cars.

This week a Tory MP asks the same question.

Nice to know that the Tories are six months behind the Lib Dems and a week behind Labour.

Hat Tip to Peter Black.

How many chances will Alan Duncan be given by Cameron ?

Before the expenses scandal really got a head of steam, Alan Duncan, when answering criticisms from Ian Hislop on Have I Got News For You described his ability to claim for a second home even though he own half a dozen homes as "wonderful". He later described this as a joke, in poor taste, and he apologised.

Now we read that Alan Duncan has described the MPs salary of £60k as having to "live on rations". Again, Alan Duncan has apologised unreservedly.

Now what will Cameron do ? Come on Dave, show some backbone.

Do you get the impression that now the by-election team have gone home, Chloe Smith doesn't know what to do ?

During the Norwich North by-election Chloe Smith was the face of the campaign for the Tories, but everything else was, I have on good authority, done by outsiders from CCHQ. A blog (which nobody could comment to) mysteriously appeared overnight and her website was suddenly updated very regularly. Now, it appears, the people who did this have done home. Witness the mess that is now her website.

It seems the phrase is very much the order of the day.

If you want to join Chloe's campaign to supportEmptyParas click HERE, and HERE and HERE and HERE to read more.

Perhaps CCHQ should make a note in future that it is not good enough merely to turn up in the campaign and run it but also leave someone behind with the knowledge to be able to maintain those things the campaign started up in the first place.

The murky politics of the Green Party

There is some interesting stuff on the the blog "Another Green World" about some really rather dodgy internal party politics and the Stalinist nature of the Green Party.

A membership list, it appears, were being used without permission, in order for one side to campaign on the internal referendum on the issue of a single leader for the Green Party. Then it is alleged that people are being thrown out of the Green Party for raising issues of concern about party procedures being broken, with a kangaroo court using a catch 22 situation in order to force people out.

From a local perspective we read in the comment section of the post that at least one Green Party Councillor in Norwich has been forced out of the Green Party for a period of five years, but remains (oddly) a member of the Green Group on Norwich City Council. It seems odd that the Norwich Greens are so at odds with their own national party that the national party can exclude someone from membership of the Greens yet their own deputy leader (who sits as a Norwich City Councillor) can work with this excluded member in his own council group. What does this say about Norwich Greens or the views that their deputy leader has of the Green Party nationally ?

There was an interesting comment made to me by a journalist at the Norwich North count who mentioned that the Green Party had in its deselection of a local candidate in favour of another in Norwich North and through its other internal problems which have started to appear, discovered that it is a political party with egos, factions and all the same problems and divisions of any other political party.

So are the Norwich Greens going to tell us which of their members has been thrown out of the Green Party nationally ?

What unites Iain Dale and Roger Helmer MEP ?

Iain Dale writes today in support of the rantings of Roger Helmer, the most unpleasant of Tory MEPs in my opinion, with the title "What Unites Roger Helmer and me".

Come on Iain, we know what unites you. It's pictured below. It's a shame you can't see past it sometimes.

Is it any wonder HBOS are in such trouble ?

Bloody HBOS. Damn them. Every bleeding 30 minutes today we are getting autodialer calls from HBOS for my wife. She's not in, so I can't answer the security question, so the computer (for that is what is phoning me) calls again, 30 minutes later asking for my wife.

I phone up HBOS and they inform me that they cannot do anything about it because my wife has to phone them up. For what reason ? The woman on the phone from HBOS didn't know.

I bet I bloody know why they are phoning, it will be to try and sell us car insurance or home insurance. So, for the rest of the day I have to put up with bloody HBOS every 30 minutes phoning up.

If I had an account with HBOS I'd close it.

Getting on wrong on flu again and again and again and again

I've posted too often about flu and must be boring people, but I feel there is a public duty to go on about the level of incompetence the government have shown in dealing with pandemic flu both before and during this outbreak.

I've listed the various cock ups the government have made since April HERE, but we need to look very carefully at the government's whole flu strategy to see where they have gone so badly wrong, and in particular their reliance on the "silver bullet" that they think Tamiflu is.

The government announced back in 2005 that they were to order progressively (with about 3 million doses arriving each year) 14.3 million doses of Tamiflu in case of an outbreak of bird flu (which may still happen at some future point). The problem is that Tamiflu is almost completely useless against the bird flu anyway, and this has been known since 2005. Now we hear today that against the much milder swine flu Tamiflu will not save your life. Infact, all that tamiflu does is reduce the length of the illness by between 12 and 24 hours but in children can have nasty side effects. It does not stop you dying from flu if you are going to die, all it does is lessen the symptoms of those who are actually suffering from a milder type of flu. So much for the wonder cure that would save us if bird flu strikes.

So what's the government's strategy now ? Well its what it was before. Keep your fingers crossed, give out the placebo that is tamiflu and hope that a vaccine arrives soon (the same vaccine that was delayed because the UK government put pressure on the World Health Organisation to delay declaring a pandemic.

We just have to pray this shower are not still in charge when bird flu mutates to a human form.

No nominations please

I might be being very presumptuous even suggesting it, but anyone thinking of suggesting any postings of mine or thinking of nominating my blog for any Lib Dem Voice blog awards shouldn't bother.

Last year I wrote in Iain Dale's guide to political blogging that I felt the awards were too self congratulatory, rather too on message, and the judges rather self selecting in that the same people and the same "friends" get chosen every time. Those of you from the provinces (and I use that term loosely) and who don't get to conference really don't matter. Yes, I am sure I'll get comments decrying my views, but I would add that it would me hypocritical for me to seek votes or feign interest in these awards given my published views.

For my money, Stephen Glenn writes the best Lib Dem blog at the moment so perhaps he will get some credit for his good writing.

Horribly unfair posting alert !

Before the Norwich game this afternoon I saw new Norwich North MP Chloe Smith in the club shop (she looked slightly hassled so I didn't speak to her). Presumably (as many MPs do) she was going to attend the match in order to confirm her local credentials (although she may well have been a fan for years).

Anyway, it occurred to me after the game that I often used to see Ian Gibson (her predecessor in Norwich North) at Carrow Road, yet as soon as a Tory gets elected Norwich get their worst home result in over 100 years of their existence.

You see people of Norwich North, that's what you get with the Tories !!

(Note, I am trying to make light of a pretty dismal day and am not just having a go at the Tories or Chloe Smith)

Flaming Sambuca anyone ?

I think 95% of the population hangs its head in shamed ambarrassment at the way a small hardcore of British tourists behave abroad. So whilst it is, of course, terrible what happened to a British tourist in Crete, you do have to ask whether it will take THIS kind of treatment to get some British men to keep their shorts on and British women to keep their tops on in bars abroad.

Murdoch's plan to move his newspapers to the periphery of the web

Rupert Murdoch has announced today that his newspapers websites are to become subscription sites, charging a fee, and will no longer be free. Whilst this might generate some cash, it is going to drastically affect the influence his companies have on the internet.

For starters, the vast majority of people will not pay for news on the internet. If you want free news you can go to the BBC website (I know we pay a license fee but the website is free for everyone to use) or any other number of free to read sites. Murdoch believes other papers will follow his lead. Personally I don't think they will and those that don't will have a greater market share, more readers and more influence.

Then there is the issue of advertising. Advertisers are going to be less inclined to place adverts with Murdoch's papers if they have less of a market share. This will mean more money for his rivals and less for his subscription titles.

Then there is the issue of influence. Murdoch has an unparallelled amount of influence in the UK at the moment. His papers can make or break politicians and political parties. Yet with the growth of new media, he seems to be willing to let this go and diminish his influence.

The world, it seems, is moving on and away from newspapers. More and more young people expect things on the internet to be free. Yet the Murdoch's seem to thing that they can roll out a similar policy to that which works for SKY on to newspapers. The difference is that SKY has control of the pay TV market with very few and much smaller rivals. Newspapers and the internet are very different things.

As I see it I welcome the news from Murdoch today. Anything that diminishes his ability to manipulate our political system and moves his titles to the periphery has got to be good.

I don't begrudge John Bercow making his accomodation child friendly but ...

My initial reaction when I read earlier that the new speaker, John Bercow, has ordered £20,000 worth of alterations and refurbishments to his quarters was slight shock. Then I read that it was in order to make the accommodation more child friendly, and I thought it wasn't so bad. Then, however, reading the details I changed back to my initial reaction.

According to The Times he is spending money on making the place safe and having ducts checked to ensure his children will come to no harm, but I was shocked to read

"A further £3,880 has been spent on planters on the terrace to make it safer for the children.
The drawing room will get a new sofa and cushions for the window seat, costing £7,524.30.

Are these planters manufactured by Rolls Royce ? This is a ludicrous price and I could but planters from Homebase for considerably less.

But the real extravagance comes in his choice of sofas and cushions. To spend £7524.30 on a sofas and cushions shows a real ability to spend money without a care or concern for those paying for it.

Yes, I know it is less that Michael Martin spent, but then again Premiership footballers spend less on their mock mansions than Mr Martin spent, but I would have expected Mr Bercow to show a little more restraint.

And we went to war for this lot

I have discovered an only occasionally updated blog that tells us much of what happens in Kuwait, and to describe Kuwait as anything other than an authoritarian racist state would be unfair.

Remember, we went to war to remove a tyrannical dictator so that the rules of Kuwait could return to their opulent lifestyle, taking advantage of foreign migrant workers and perpetuating a racist policy which prevents foreigners from having equal access to the law and equal treatment.

Click HERE to read Q8 Undressed.

What's Iain Dale's take on this ?

Yesterday Iain Dale branded my concerns about the open primary the Tories held in Totnes as "pathetic".

I wonder then what he makes of THIS.

Labour MP agrees with me ... but does so 6 months late

Iain Dale brings our attention to the fact that Labour MP John Spellar is wondering why a UK Government agency is giving away foreign built cars as prizes instead of UK built cars.

I would at this stage like to point out that I raised this point six months ago !

Why has it taken six months to notice this ? .Nice to know you are keeping up Mr Spellar.

I am a Lib Dem (or so this website says)

Clicking on this website and answering the questions told me I am a Lib Dem. Interestingly my third choice is apparently "Green". Funny that as I don't support their policy of allowing people to stay out of work and earning a "citizens income" with no compulsion to work, I don't believe in the nationalisation of supermarkets and I don't support green plans to abolish stem cell research.

Open Primaries - Another way for a party with money to buy off the electorate

Forgive me for scoffing at the Conservative Party holding open primaries, but for me these do nothing for the democratic process as a whole an instead are a means of buying lots of publicity for the Tory party whilst giving a pretence of being at the leading edge of reform of the political system.

The cost of the Totnes open primary is reported to be in excess of £40000. This is a cost that Lib Dem and Labour constituency parties cannot afford. So instantly this idea is a one sided affair, with the Tories using their Ashcroft money (when will he get his affairs in order as he promised when he got his peerage) and and the rest of the cash that is flying in to their reserves in order to appear to be the bastions of electoral reform when anyone with any political knowledge will know that the Tories are the very last party who want to see a fairer electoral system in this country.

The truth of the matter is that this is an expensive PR exercise, and in many ways it has worked. But let's not pretend that this is a model for all constituencies or all parties. If the Tories were lower in the polls do you think they would do this ? Why are they not doing it in safe Labour seats ? Might the answer be that they know that in Tory seats the Tory majority of the electorate are more likely to choose the candidate the Tories want whereas in safe Labour seats the Labour majority could land the Tories with the least palatable candidate ?

So yes, I am a sceptic of this system because it is a system that discriminates against the parties without cash and a system that pretends to be more democratic than it is.

Update : Iain Dale has linked to this article referring to my arguments as apthetic, yet in the article above his Daily Dozen he points the the electoral reasons for the open primary being a good thing. The Tory Party can't have it both ways. Is it about opening up democracy (the Tory line) or PR and winning votes (Iain's line) ?

Is Mandelson the new Heseltine ?

In the dying months of the last Tory government, when all was doom and gloom for the Tories, when everyone knew they were going to lose the 1997 election heavily, there was one Tory who was unbowed, still took the fight to Labour and despite the polls saying otherwise, was telling the press he was predicting a Tory majority of 20 seats. In many ways Michael Heseltine was like the German propaganda ministry in April 1945 or Comical Ali in Iraq in 2003, talking a good war, making much of tiny successes whilst ignoring the obvious. It seemed slightly ludicrous at the time, but must have been offering some reassurance to Tories in those dark days. It appears Peter Mandelson has taken on this role with gusto for the Labour Party.

Peter Mandelson has nothing to lose of course. he has no parliamentary seat and has no reputation to lose with the press. By offering such a resolute defence of Labour even when they are in the wrong, he does not woo voters or the media, but he gives Labour activists some hope, he wins lots of kudos within Labour ranks and can then hope to play a leading role in reshaping the Labour Party after the next general election, and this is perhaps the most significant thing. Whereas Heseltine was coming to the end of his career in politics, Peter Mandelson is not yet at that stage and having been heavily involved in the creation of New Labour, he might be one of the few positives the Labour Party might have after the next general election. A man with a vision.

There are other interesting parallels between these two political characters. Both have stood on the periphery after holding ministerial office whilst they also share a love hate relationship between themselves and their parties. Mandelson is blamed by some on the left of betraying the socialist principles of Labour. Heseltine, in contrast, is still loathed by some Tories for having the guts to stand against Thatcher.

In the meantime we can expect another nine months of Mandelson defending the indefensible. Whilst it might look and sound ridiculous for him to do so, remember that with each utterance his position becomes stronger with the Labour Party.

Have Sat-Navs made road sign makers lazy ?

Having spent the last few days on a mini break near Windsor without a sat nav, I am left wondering whether the sheer volume of people owning sat nav systems has made those responsible for putting up road signs forget that there are some of us who do not use sat navs and actually rely upon signs.

I'll give you a couple of examples. Upon leaving Legoland on Friday we could turn left signposted for Windsor and the M4 (the way we came and lots of traffic) or right, which was signposted M4 Alternative route. As we wanted the M4, we thought we'd turn tight. After a while, we reached a roundabout which had one junction shown on the sign as M4. So we followed this road for another two miles, came to a roundabout, drove around it several times looking vain for any sign which the said M4. Not one did. So the directions simply dried up. It's like getting the instructions to a piece of flatpack furniture only to find that everything after the third instruction is missing.

Then there was trying to get back on to the M25 today. Driving along from where we were staying it told me to turn left if I wanted to go on the M25 South. Since I didn't, I stayed on the road. So having stayed on the road, was there a sign saying M25 North ? Was there hell. No, looking back at the map it appears the road sign should have said M25 North and South, but it didn't.

Now I know I am getting older and I have no aversion to sat navs. I simply don't own one because I have got around the country quite happily before without needing one. But I, like many others, rely on decent signing on the way, and lots of what I have seen over the last few days seems to be there just to conform to legal requirements but does not actually tell you what you need to know.

Separated at birth ?

I found THIS from a few days ago on the every excellent City Unslicker/Capitalists at Work blog.

They do sound somewhat similar, although someone suggest on a comment to my blog that Chloe looks like Ant from "Ant and Dec", but with a fringe instead of a forehead. She actually looks better in the flesh than she appears on TV and in pictures, although she is painfully thin.