A week with the Tories - What does it tell us about them ?

It is fascinating how the Conservative party has tried to paint itself in David Cameron's image as something new and shiny that should be trusted at a time when politicians cannot be trusted to tell the truth. However, the last seven days tell us just how much of this image is wrong.

Let's start in Norfolk. In South West Norfolk the Tories were selecting a new candidate to stand in the safe Tory seat of South West Norfolk. Their selection effectively decides who will be the next MP in this seat. Now David Cameron likes to tell us how the Conservative Party has changed, how it is opening itself up, how it is letting the electorate make real decisions. He trumpets the so called "open primary" as a sign that the Tory Party is opening itself up. However, these open primaries are being used almost exclusively in seat where the sitting MP has stood down directly because of s scandal over expenses, meaning the "open primary" can help cleanse the Tory party's reputation in that area or alternatively they are being held in marginal seats where the use of the primary can win over a few more wavering voters.

In South West Norfolk there was no open primary. David Cameron's pledges about opening up democracy, how the Tory party was changing, and how local people could be allowed to make real decisions went out of the window. The sham of what David Cameron says, and how the Tories really act was shown for all to see.

Then we saw just how hypocritical the Tory Party really is in the wake of the selection of Elizabeth Truss as their candidate. Despite "openness" being their new watchword, the closed meeting of Tory members was not briefed on who had made the shortlist meaning that local Tories did not have a chance to find out the full details on who the candidates were. Then, upon being selected, it was revealed that their chosen candidate had had an 18 month affair with a married Tory MP, which she failed to mention at the meeting, the Tory Party showed itself to be as hypocritical as any party could be.

The leadership, ignoring their pledge towards openness, said that it was in the public domain and the candidate had their full support. The local party, feeling they had been lied to, referred her selection back to the Tory Party members in South West Norfolk and, as yet, we are not to know whether she will or will not be the Tory candidate.

In short this whole affair tells us that openness and honesty cuts only one way with the Tories. It is used to whitewash the Tories words. I don't much care if the Tory had an affair or not. It is her business. However, if you are claiming to be honest and open, you have to be exactly that and not expect people to have to look up your past on the internet.

Then switching from the East to the West, we have the example of the Tories in Cornwall and their "honesty" and "openness" when campaigning. Last week, Caroline Righton, the Conservative candidate in Newquay and St Austell misrepresented her Lib Dem opponent to electors. You can find chapter and verse on it all HERE.

Now everyone makes a mistake, and Caroline Righton appears to have made a big mistake in smearing her opponent. The deliberate insertion of a swear word in to a statement made by the Lib Dem candidate is childish. The forwarding of this false statement to electors is blatant low level dirty campaigning. But it could all be settled of Caroline Righton simply issued an apology, contacted those people who received her false information to make sure they understood it was an error and she apologised, and perhaps she could also have the guts to speak to the press and explain to them what she did without refusing to comment on what she has done.

The question is though, why a someone who uses the Tory mantra of fighting a positive and honest campaign can justify to herself telling untruths, peddling muck about her opponent and then refusing to apologise unless the simple truth is that the "positive and honest" campaign is just a means to an end. In fact the aim is not to be truthful, honest or positive, but instead to appear to be so in order to win at any cost.

Moving back from the West towards the Midlands, we read about two Tory councillors caught being unpleasant about fellow councillors in the Cotswolds. Two Tory councillors referred to Lib Dem councillors as "morons" on an internet forum. Did they apologise ? Did they offer an excuse ? No. Instead they claimed that one of their Facebook friends must be a Lib Dem sympathiser, and then ranted that it showed how "low the Lib Dems would go". So no apology, not reason given. Their abuse is forgotten in their foaming at the mouth to attack the Lib Dems again.

Finally we move back towards London for our geographical tour of the Tories behaviour. Watford Tories have returned to their usual form in spreading lies and innuendo about the actions of the Lib Dems in Watford. Before we start, let's remember that it was the former Watford Tory candidate who was found guilty of running a hate campaign against the Lib Dems in Watford just a few months ago, so you might have imagined the Tories would show more care and sensitivity when campaigning in Watford. But apparently not. The Tory headlines read "Lib Dems ban parents from playgrounds". The truth, as you can read HERE is completely different. That doesn't stop the Tories in Watford from blathering about this as a case of "political correctness gone mad". Sadly, it appears that child protection issues are something, even in the wake of the Baby Peter case that the Tories still feel they can make political capital from.

So aside from worrying parents, from stirring up distrust of the council, telling lies about the Lib Dems and seeking to undermine measures to protect children, what have the Tories achieved ? Well they have gained publicity for their candidate. Their "To hell with the truth and honesty" view to politics knows no shame.

So what do we learn about the Tories from this week ?

They tell lies. They don't apologise. They mislead people. They will refuse to comment when pressed on their smears. They know no boundaries and will use issues of child protection as a means of gaining votes, and actually honest, truthful and positive campaigning are just words.

More on Tories telling fibs in Cornwall

More articles can be found about the Caroline Righton "fibbing" story HERE

Iain Dale gets his facts completely wrong - Slight "Googling" hypocrisy ?

Iain Dale appears to have some egg on his face for reporting a story from The Metro without bothering to do a Google search and checking if the facts are correct.

This seems odd because Iain and other Tory bloggers were suggesting the other day that South West Norfolk Tories should have done a Google search about her sexual misdemeanours before selecting her. It's a shame therefore that Iain didn't bother to do a Google search before implying things about the Lib Dems that are not true.

Then again, this appears to be the Tory policy these days !

That's the kiss of death for Blair's ambitions

Gordon Brown today spoke up on behalf of Tony Blair becoming the first President of the EU. Brown called Blair and "excellent candidate" and spoke highly of Blair's qualities. There is only one problem. An endorsement from Gordon Brown is like a reverse form of the Midas touch for everything Gordon Brown touches turns in to excrement, not gold.

Such is the contempt in which Gordon Brown is held by the public these days, should he endorse beer, chocolate or sex then it is likely that beer sales would fall, women would stop thinking about chocolate and the birth rate would drop dramatically.

Green Party in "Do as we say, not as we do" shocker

Actually the title of this post is supposed to be sarcastic. We already have a Green candidate who stood in the Norwich North by-election whose carbon footprint is higher than I will achieve in a lifetime whilst the Greens voting record on Norwich City Council shows a level of inconsistency even the government would find hard to match.

So we shouldn't be surprised in the least to read that the Green Party leader does not follow her own advice when it comes to preventing energy and heat loss.

That said, the story is in the Daily Scum, so it probably isn't true.

Caroline Righton - Hypocrite, liar or fool ? Perhaps all three given what she has been doing in Newquay and St Austell

A week after Tory candidate for Newquay and St Austell misrepresented her Lib Dem opponent, she has still done nothing in the way of an apology or even explained why she chose to mislead people about her ability to check the facts.

One has to wonder what the Conservative voters in Newquay and St Austell will think of her particularly given her recent pledge to 'fight a positive and honesty campaign'. David Cameron is, of course, totally silent on the issue. Mr Cameron is quick to talk about honest and decency in politics but in this case does not seem to practise what he preaches.

Caroline Righton might do well to remember in 2005 Iain Dale was caught out misleading the electorate about his Lib Dem opponent Norman Lamb in North Norfolk. We all know what happened then. The Conservative Partyin Newquay and St Austell would do well to note this.

The truth is that a quick apology by Caroline Righton would have buried this as an issue, and with her refusing to comment on it for the local press, meaning the spineless local press have pulled two stories on this issue (they won't print without a statement from both sides), Caroline Righton, a former BBC and TVam journalist obviously knew the rules the press followed and assumed it would go away. She does not realise that the blogosphere does not work like that.

Update - Mark Pack reports that the Lib Dems have written to David Cameron about this. It does, of course, put "Dave" in an awkward position. He cannot back one of his candidates when she is lying but likewise his failure to respond would be seen as a refusal to back her actions. Interesting.

Update 2 - A member of Caroline Righton's staff has also been caught out trying to blank her wikipedia entry. Question ? What has she got to hide ?

Latest - Elizabeth Truss forced to explain herself to South West Norfolk Conservative members

Following on from the story yesterday about Elizabeth Truss, the newly selected Tory candidate for South West Norfolk, the BBC are reporting the the executive committee of South West Norfolk Conservative association have met tonight and asked her to return to speak to all party members at a special AGM to be held at the weekend.

The executive could have rubber stamped her appointment but have chosen not to do so.

Caroline Righton - Still no apology

I blogged about a Tory candidate in Cornwall going around misrepresenting her Lib Dem opponent. Apparently, according to twitter, she has still not apologised.

Come on Caroline Righton. Surely the people of Newquay and St Austell deserve better. Apologise to your Lib Dem opponent and move on.

Newly selected Tory candidate might be deselected within days

The EDP reports that Elizabeth Truss, the Tory A lister selected for the safe Tory seat of South West Norfolk might be deselected within days of being selected after revelations of her affair with a Tory MP were published by a national newspaper.

I thought it odd that South West Norfolk again did not choose a local person for the area after the clear success of having local woman Gillian Shephard as their MP for so many years. Still, it after the awful Christopher Fraser, the invisible man of Norfolk politics, surely anyone would be an improvement.

Now this explains a lot

According to research, the key to a happy marriage is for a man to marry a woman who is five years younger than him and who is smarter than him.

Given that my wife is five year, three months younger than me and better qualified than me, it seems that the research might be correct.

She doesn't read my blog so at least she won't know that I think she is smarter than me. I'll carry on giving the impression that I am the brains of the partnership !

Is Caroline Righton, The Conservative Candidate for St Austell & Newquay, telling fibs about her Lib Dem opponenent ?

Work it out for yourself HERE. One thing is for certain, she is showing an enormous amount of distain to constituents in Newquay and St Austell by not bothering to check her facts before making statements about her opponents.

Update : Reading on Twitter, despite being asked to apologise and retract what she said, Caroline Righton has still refused to do so. Speaks volumes about her as a person. I suggest the Lib Dems in Cornwall visit the solicitors.

The proof that Nick Griffin's pronouncements on Question Time don't fit the facts

For anyone fooled by Nick Griffin, and I was talking to a pensioner yesterday who seemed to have been fooled by the twaddle Nick Griffin spoke on Question Time, Channel 4 have fact checked every statement of "fact" he made on the show and , er, to put it nicely, it appears he was attmepting to pull the wool over voters eyes.

Check out what Mr Griffin said, and the real facts by clicking HERE

Hat Tip to Peter Black for finding this information.

The not so solid post strike

The Mirror (which I read today because someone brought it in to work) would have us believe today that support for the postal strike is rock solid. This seems at odds with my own experience.

I know people still receiving parcels. I myself have received my post for the last two days and plenty of other people tell me that they are also receiving their post.

The truth is that there are many in Royal Mail who know that the strikes will inevitably lead to greater job losses. It was pointed out on TV last night by Andrew Neil that back under the 1970-74 Edward Heath government, there were many strikes and the government caved in on al of them except for one. The only unsuccessful strike was the postal strike. Back in the 70s there was no e-mail and no competition. The world now does not come to an end when postal workers go on strike and the longer they strike, the more this becomes obvious to everyone.

The left wing campaigners who shame us all

One of the biggest ironies in free speech principles allowing the BNP to have a seat on the BBC Question Time panel tonight is the simple fact that extreme right wing parties of the ilk of the BNP are the very parties who would, if they could, deny people those rights. So for those of us who believe in free speech, it is very much through gritted teeth that we support the BBC's principled stance in allowing the BNP to appear on the show.

Sadly though, there are those who have used the BNPs appearance on Question Time as a means of pursuing their own vested interests.

Looking at the the usual suspect waving socialist worker placards whilst attempting to attack and break in to the BBC, you realise that there is only a very subtle difference between the methods of the far left and the far right. The differences are that whilst the far right claim to speak for the "ordinary working person", the far left seek to claim the title of speaking for the rest of us, which of course they don't.

The truth is that the actions of the far left outside the BBC today will only give solice to the BNP and will add to the view of many of those people, ignorant enough to vote BNP, that the whole world is against them and that people don't want to hear the BNPs version of the truth.

The majority of people, those who are liberal both with a small and large "l" who vote for mainstream parties, abhor the views of the BNP and hope that people see them for what they are. But the is a clear division between those who choose to oppose violent thugs in suits by legitimate democratic means and those who seek to wave placards and deny those they do not like from exercising rights that the vast majority of this country hold dear.

The truth is, of course, that the far left oppose the BNP from exercising freedom of speech because just like the far right, the far left are not to be trusted with guarding our freedoms.

Whilst they may not be racists, they want a class war, they also show prejudice and would be as quick to remove the rights we all hold dear as quickly as the BNP, if they had the chance. Meanwhile they shame the rest of us who oppose the BNP and who are now cast by them as being part of the BNP opposition alongside them.

Possibly no the greatest line from a salesman on the door

At teatime, up to my arms in cooking and looking after my song, a salesman knocked on the door trying to get me to switch electricity suppliers. The typical three loud knocks signalled his arrival.

( I open the door)

Salesman : Don't worry, I'm not a salesman (lie) and I am not one of those awful politicians who knock on doors to annoy people.

Me : Errm, I am one of the politicians who knock on doors. I don't do it to annoy people. Possibly not the greatest start.

Salesman : No. I don't suppose you are interested in switching electrical suppliers ?

Me : No.

Another Swine flu question ?

If the government have done all they can to ensure our swine flu immunisation programme is as effective and quick as possible, can we ask them why they started immunising people in Australia three weeks ago and we have yet to start in the UK ?

Why Nick Robinson is loathe to attack the Tories

It appears Nick Robinson, the former Tory and BBC political reporter, has links to Bedford Tories and perhaps lacks the principled backbone to report the Tory failure to gain the Bedford Mayoralty.

And the Tories claim the BBC is biased against them.

Sorry Iain

Just a quick note to say how sorry I am that my old political foe Iain Dale was not selected for Bracknell. You can read more about it HERE.

I ran myself in to the ground four years ago ensuring Norman Lamb beat Iain Dale in North Norfolk, but since then I have built up a great respect for Iain and I was happy to say that if I lived in Bracknell I would support Iain if i were able to vote at a Conservative selection meeting.

I read that Iain is now off to a family party for his father's 80th birthday. He's probably feeling very down, but I think a chance to be amongst loved ones is the ideal tonic for a disappointment.

Go Jenson

How pleasing to see Jenson Button win the world championship today in some style showing real flair in his overtaking and real emotion in victory.

We have a nasty habit of knocking our stars and the press have been full of those talking Jenson Button down in recent weeks, but he has become World Champion with a race to spare, and he's British. Let's be proud of him.

When two add two adds up to 57

In a by-election in Noth Norfolk yesterday the Tories hled the seat of The Runtons on North Norfolk Council. According to the Tory PPC in North Norfolk it is a "triumph for the Conservatives and a blow to the Lib Dems". Of course any victory is a victory and cannot be denied, but the comments from the Tory in North Norfolk is somewhat overblown.

For starters, the Runton's ward is the sort of ward the Tories should be winning easily, especially given their current poll ratings. The Lib Dems did hold the seat until 2007, but this was because the local Lib Dem councillor there had been on the council for many years, was extremely well known, and the previous councillor had been her husband, so there were specific local circumstances.

Taking in to account that the winning Tory in yesterday's election was also a trained Tory agent and that the Lib Dems were fighting on a broader front than the Tories (in that the Lib Dems gained a seat on North Norfolk council two weeks ago in an election that the Tories did not fight as hard), the result should be expected.

So of course, well done to the Tories for winning, but winning The Runtons by 70 votes really is a sign of the state of North Norfolk Tories. They ought to be weighing the votes in a ward like this, not sneaking home.

Flu questions of the week

Questions about flu for the week

1) Why, when the swine flu vaccine was approved two weeks ago, the first 2 million doses delivered to the UK next week, are doctors not expecting to receive any vaccine until the end of next week, with the actual vaccination not starting until the week after ?

Good job its not killing anyone ... oops !

2) Why is the swine flu vaccine "safe" for children and being planned to be given to children but the season flu vaccine is not given to children even if parents want to pay for their children to get the vaccine ? In the US the regularly vaccinate children against seasonal flu, which the UK government tell is is more serious than swine flu and kills in greater numbers, so why won't the UK government ?

Opportunity wasted

It struck me yesterday morning that Nick Clegg could really have stolen the thunder of Cameron by making an early statement to the effect that any Lib Dem MP not willing to pay back money owed would be deselected and have the whip withdrawn.

I note this morning that Cameron has said words to this effect.

A missed opportunity by Clegg.

Is it just me or do you want to keep saying Terence and Philip instead of John and Edward Grimes ?

For those who don't know, Terence and Philip are two obnoxious characters in the TV series Southpark whereas John and Edward and two tone deaf teenagers from Ireland who appear in the TV series X Factor.

Would you want a swine flu vaccine created by Baxter ?

The UK government are sourcing Swine Flu vaccine from two companies. One is UK company GSK (Glaxo Smithkline), whilst the other is a US firm called Baxter.

Would it give you confidence to know that Baxter sent out a batch of seasonal flu vaccines last year to Europe that were actually contaminated with the live version of the H5N1 Bird flu and this was only detected by authorities in the Czech Republic, not by Baxter themselves !

And to think the UK government are trusting this company to produce a vaccine to save lives.

Judge a person by their actions, not words

When looking fairly randomly through some articles on wikipedia, I was struck by this sentence about William Hague in relation to the former Tory MP Shaun Woodward.

"he was a front-bench spokesman on London for the Conservative opposition under William Hague until 1999, when he was sacked for supporting the repeal of Section 28,[2] a regulation which prevented the "promotion" of homosexuality in schools."

It says all I need to know about William Hague's values.

It's not just the Irish Twins who need to be kicked out of X Factor

Having watched the opening "Live Show" of this year's X Factor, the most striking thing for the first 115 minutes was the stunning quality of all the acts except for the absolutely useless Irish twins. Then someone else suddenly appeared to be less deserving of a place on next weeks show. That person was Dannii Minogue.

Having seen the excellent final act Danyl, Dannii questioned, "if rumours in the papers were true" why Danyl had changed the lyrics of a song so that it made reference to being in love with a woman rather than a man.

Now I have not seen the paper, so this is guesswork and the opinion of myself, but putting two and two together, Dannii Minogue seemed to be trying to "out" Danyl, live on TV. If that is what she was doing then she should hang her head in shame.

Does it matter what the sexual preferences of the X Factor contestants are ? Isn't it terribly 1980s to be trying to "out" people ?

If this is what Dannii is doing to get her acts an advantage then its not the twins who should go, it is Dannii.

Is this putting the country's defence first ?

In order to save money all Territorial Army training is to be suspended for 6 months. Remember, this is just after a TV advertising campaign (costing several million pounds) to get people to join the TA.

It further undermines any credibility this awful Labour government has when it comes to defence issues.

What really undermines politics are false front organisations

The Tories talk about cleaning up politics whilst conveniently choosing to forget that the Tory Party, above all others, did more to frustrate reforms of parliaments procedures than any other party. But when it comes to outside of the Palace of Westminster, the Tories seem quite happy to use front organisations to pursue their aim of misleading the electorate.

Take the Countryside Alliance. This so called independent organisation is nothing more than a Tory dominated lobbying organisation. They actively help Tory candidates and they campaign for them yet the press speak to them and give them a voice as "the voice of the countryside". If the press were being fair they would properly designate the CSA as a part of the Conservative Party.

Now we read that another group purporting to be independent is also heavily linked to the Tory Party. The Taxpayers Alliance it seems are very much the plaything of the Tories with senior members of Cameron's team speaking at their meetings and now Cameron and Osborne repeating the words of the Taxpayers Alliance verbatim. yet despite these clear links the BBC, SKY and ITV insist of speaking to the Taxpayers Alliance (who certainly don't have my support because of their willingness to support lawbreakers who refuse to pay tax and put my tax up) as "The voice of the Taxpayer". If the broadcasters were being accurate they would properly describe the Taxpayers Alliance as the Tory linked right wing Taxpayers Alliance.

On top of all this, we read that the Taxpayers Alliance has as one of its leading light a man who does no even reside in the UK and pays no UK tax. Talk about hypocrites.

It's dead easy to talk about cleaning up politics with regard to donations and expenses. but resentment at politicians not answering questions or manipulation the agenda will not go away whilst the Tories continue to use front organisations to do their dirty work.

A story about Muslims and discrimination

Read this story.

It's probably not the story you were expecting, I suspect.

This weekend I will be most feeling unwell

Due to a head cold, an intolerance to light and an amazing ability to sneeze for prolonged periods for no apparent reason, blogging will be light.

I may still Twitter from bed !

Have a good weekend.

Am I the only person fed up with the British Retail Consortium ?

Yet again on BBC Watchdog tonight there was a story about supermarkets ripping off customers. Yet again, the supermarkets failed to turn up to answer the complaints and instead put forward a spokesman from the British Retail Consortium.

A few days ago there was a story about supermarkets driving dairy farmers out of business. Again, not a single person from the supermarket chains would turn up and instead a spokesman from the British Retail Consortium.

When there was a positive story a few weeks ago about supermarket clothing on Watchdog, guess who turned up ? All the supermarkets !

Yes, whenever there is bad news the supermarkets can't be seen for dust.

Well done at least to Anne Robinson who clearly pointed out on Watchdog tonight that the British Retail Consortium is not in any way an independent body and is paid for by the supermarkets.

We're all in this together

A sign that the Tories don't listen

As Andrew Allison points out in his blog,

"If he had listened to the question, he would have given the appropriate answer. He didn't and he has paid the price."

To be fair, it's not just confined to the Tories, but as George Osborne also showed this morning on Radio FiveLive, irrespective of the question asked the consumate politician will answer the question they want to answer, not the one that is being asked.

Another dim idea from a Labour supporter, but given the source it's hardly surprising

A Norfolk Labour activist is suggesting that people buying a round of drinks be effectively abolished as people's alcohol consumption could be monitored on an "entitlement card". His suggestion would mean that if you bought a round the whole round would appear next to your name on your record of alcohol consumption. This would stop you buying rinks for your partner, it would stop people drinking if they had had too much. Presumably also creating a black market for people who don't drink to also sell their entitlement to someone else ?

And of course on top of all this it would essentially be another way of the big brother Labour state monitoring and controlling what people do in their private lives.

You have to remember though that the person who wrote this letter is someone many Lib Dems in Norfolk know. Before jumping ship from the Lib Dems, something that every Lib Dem I know gave a big cheer for when they heard (indeed, many would have wanted to give him a shove and encouragement many years before), the author, was the sort of person you avoided at conferences. Long on talk but short on anything interesting to say. And now, having been a Tory, then a Lib Dem, he finds himself in Labour.

Believe me, they are welcome to him.

In some ways I agree about Safety Cameras, but oh the hypocrisy

Having recently travelled down to London and seen the obsession some parts of the country have with installing speed cameras almost every couple of miles along some roads, I have to agree with the Tory idea that most speed cameras could be culled.

Whilst speeding is a crime, it is not a premeditated crime intended to be at the expense of someone else. I happen to think flashing signs, better road markings and the occasional risk that a police officer might be standing there with a speed gun does provide the necessary inducement to slow down.

The problem though, for the Tories is that whilst they might like to slag speed cameras off, at a local level the Tories are actually very keen to put them up and make money from them.

Take, for example, in Norfolk, where Tory run Norfolk County Council are themselves major partners in Norfolk Safety Camera Partnership. This same partnership is responsible for the recent placing of a camera on my route to work in an area which I have, in four years of travelling that route, never seen an accident or been held up at that point. Of course, with a good flow of traffic I think most people know why the camera was placed at that exact point, and I am sure it will be a money spinner for them.

The problem though that the Tories will face by abolishing camera is that they do provide a source of income for the police, the same police that will apparently have to make its share of cuts. So the prize that motorists will get as a result of having less speed cameras will be less police officers and less crime solved.

The Tories will have to learn that for every policy there is a knock on associated.

X Factor - John and Edward Grimes - The Irish twins !

If ever there was s stunt designed to get people talking about a TV show it appears to be the X Factor's willingness to accept that two talentless, rude and obnoxious people with no discernible qualities other than their passports can foul up three auditions yet still get to the final twelve.

Louis Walsh's controversial decision to put through John and Edward Grimes seems based on Louis's belief that he thinks "people will like them". Usually such decisions split the public, but no this one. It seems from message boards that absolutely nobody likes them !

The biggest winner, of course, from this will again be Simon Cowell. With thousands already pledging to vote for all of the eleven other hopefuls in an attempt to get John and Edward thrown out it seems that record numbers are likely to vote.

Perhaps the greatest sadness is that in some of the other categories there were some fabulous artistes who could not get to the final 12 because their categories were so strong. Simon Cowell's over 25s, for instance, seemed to be blessed with 6 singers all of whom could have won the show outright.

The other shame is that there will be some young people who will see that arrogance, cockiness, rudeness and lying will get you some level of success and fame. Talent will win out in the end, but it is a shame that the Irish twins, whose biggest appeal to Louis Walsh appears to be their Irish passports, should be seen as achieving success with no visible talent.

Why is Alex Salmond misleading people in order to justify himself ?

Alex Salmond was just on Radio FiveLive justifying why the SNP deserves equal treatment in TV debates with the three main parties. The problem is, he tells lies in order to justify himself not realising seemingly that these lies undermine his whole argument.

Firstly he made the comment that he deserved to be speaking as the SNP's representative in the debate even though he would not be standing because "We do not have a presidential government in this country". Indeed not Mr Salmond. But we also don't have a system where people who are not members of the Houses of Parliament can become Prime Minister.

Secondly, and this is where the lies started to come in . He said in reply to the point that as this was a debate about who wanted to be Prime Minister, he never could be as the SNP only field candidates in 10% of seats, his response was to claim that Nick Clegg was invited to the debates and he would not be Prime Minister. Putting aside the silly rivalries and put downs Lib Dems always get in such circumstances, the fact remains that Nick Clegg could become Prime Minister since the Lib Dems field a full slate of candidates.

Then came the outright lies when it was put to him that many of the issues that the Prime Minister would debate (health, the police, education) were nothing to do with a Scottish party since they have their own parliament to deal with these issues. In response Salmond raised the issue of Trident, commenting that "all three Westminster parties were committed to Trident". As Mr Salmond knows, the Lib Dems are not wedded to trident.

Still, never let the truth get in the way of SNP mud slinging.

Will I miss Tracey Emin ?

Apparently the artist (and I use that term loosely) Tracy Emin is considering moving abroad because she does not want to pay 50% tax. She states that "the French appreciate art".

Indeed the French do appreciate art, which makes me wonder what ms Emin will do there ? After all, great art will always have an audience. Whereas her career appears to me to be based around a pompous London based market obsessed with spending large sums of money city bonus money on "installations" which are neither thought provoking or artistic.

Great art needs to make people gasp at the ability of the artist. When I look at the work of Ms Emin I am shocked at just how little artistic ability is required to produce it. To give it some relevance, when I go to watch football I want to see someone produce something on the pitch that I could never do on a Sunday morning playing for the local pub team on the village green. In the same way we want to hear musicians who can play guitar, can hit the notes with their voices, and whose lyrics inspire. We don't want someone tunelessly singing twinkle twinkle little star. And that is what Ms Emin's artwork is, to me. Decidedly average and something that I could produce, had I "the name" and the patronage of lots of rich people with friends to impress and no taste.

I'd love to say I'd miss Ms Emin, but I won't. A selfish millionaire with little discernible talent who is not willing to pay tax is hardly a role model for the youth of today.

I always feel sick when I see David Amess, so perhaps he caught sight of a mirror ?

David Amess, Tory MP for Southend, told Virgin Airlines that Osama Bin Laden packed his bags then had the nerve to complain about the way the airline treated him.

On top of this, he became ill on the plane (blaming it on travel sickness) and threw up in front of immigration officials.

As someone who gets travel sick on occasions (never on a plane or boat though), I have to say I have never lost the use of my legs (I've never been legless, so to speak) when I was ill.

You can read more about it HERE.

"Bash the teachers" - The Tories new policy

The idea that standards can be improved by sacking teachers, bringing in people who have received no teacher training and handing schools over to those organisations that have already proved cannot be trusted to run schools seems a daft idea. But not if you are a Tory education spokesman.

Read more HERE.

Would we sack privates in the army if a military operation failed ? Would we sack police officers if crime went up ? Would we sack firemen if a fire cannot be put out quickly ?

Then if all these daft things were done, would we replace these people with untrained people ?

Tory policy on Lison in three tweets

Iain Dale is getting all excited about Louise Bagshaw summarising Tory policy on the Lisbon Treaty in three tweets. You can read it HERE.

The version Iain is getting excited about is

Here's our policy on Lisbon: we oppose it, and we want a referendum. And if it's not ratified by polling day, we'll have one.

And if it is?If it is, we'll announce what we do about its lack of legitimacy then. The Tories: crossing bridges when we come to them.

Labour hates it when David Cameron is pragmatic. It's sweet how desperate for a Euro-split they are. This sceptic is fine w/ being practical.

I thought I'd give my version below.

Here's our policy on Lisbon: we oppose it, & we want a referendum. & if it's not ratified by polling day, we say we'll one.

We say this cos it wins us votes & it's a promise we won't have to keep. If it's not ratified we don't know what we'll do. The Tories: saying anything to win votes

Labour hates it when David Cameron avoids real choices. But he'll do anything to avoid Euro-split, even lying to the public.

That's nearer the truth.

Spot the Tory Press Spinning the Tory Lies

A quote from the Murdoch owned Times yesterday

"Elderly people will no longer be forced to sell their homes to pay for care under a scheme proposed by the Conservatives. "

Actually, what it should have said is

"Elderly people who are able to afford it will no longer be foreced to sell their homes. Those who cannot afford to pay will still have their homes taken from them, under proposals put forward by the Conservatives.

Marginals Poll misses the point

The poll of marginal seat published today seems to miss the point and be something of a throwback to the old two party swingometer last seen to be effective in 1979.

Virtually all the seats show a swing between Tory and labour (interestingly with a lower swing to the Tories in 2009 than in 2008). But in Lib Dem target seats, in particular those seats where the Lib Dems are in a clear second place and the Tories a distant third, they are still working out Tory - Labour swings.

If this poll is to be believed, they think there will be not one gain made by the Lib Dems from Labour. Considering that the Lib Dems made limited gains from Labour in 2005 with Labour much higher in the polls in the Lib Dems slightly lower, this shows this poll is wide of the mark.

Take a look for yourself here.

The Tories keep very strange company - Are they endorsing a homophobic rag ?

Iain Dale highlights the Daily Mail's attitude towards gay Tory candidates and is going to the Press Complaints Commission to complain (quite rightly so in my opinion).

Tomorrow the Conservative Party chooses to use the Daily Mail to publicise their new proposals on caring for the elderly.

So what is the Tory Party doing ? Are they endorsing the views of The Daily Mail ?

Two gains for the Lib Dems in Broadland constituency

The Lib Dem target seat of Broadland received a timely boost yesterday when two local council gains were made in the constituency.

In Wroxham, a large rural ward on Broadland District Council the Lib Dem vote was up by more than 50% to snatch the seat the Tories expected to pick up easily. This seat was won by the Tories in 1998, and although the councillor later sat as an independent, he was never known for being anything other than a Con-dependent and was not often opposed in elections by Tory candidates.

In the other election, the Lib Dems gained Walsingham from the North Norfolk independent group after the sad death of Cllr Tom Moore. I knew Tom when I was on North Norfolk council and he was a genuine and popular independent councillor. Again the Lib Dem vote was up significantly (over 30% up).

With Broadland Lib Dems on something of a roll after other recent by-election wins in Aylsham and Buxton, there should be no shortage of good candidates wanting to stand to become the Lib Dem PPC. Many people will know that the former PPC transferred her candidature to Norwich North.

As for the Council representation after this, North Norfolk Council now has 31 Lib Dems (Tories on 15 with one vacancy) and Broadland has 11 Lib Dems, the Tories on 34.

In terms of district councillors within each of the Broadland and North Norfolk constituencies, the number for Broadland is 17 Lib Dems to 18 Tories. In North Norfolk it is 23 Lib Dems to 15 Tories.

Lib Dem gain in Wroxham (Broadland)

Just received a text telling me that the Liberal Democrats gained the wroxham seat on broadland district council from an independent Tory with 63% of the vote. The same ward is held by the Tories at county level and also has another Tory district councillor.

The Con-dependent who died had been elected as a Tory and was re-elected with the Tories failing to field a full slate. He was also known to be a Tory party member, so in many ways this is gain from the Tories.

So much for "The Sun" effect.

Weekly flu update

Apparently the laughable Sir Liam Donaldson believes that there is a chance that flu numbers could "shoot up" in the winter. In further news he also believes that the Pope is Catholic, bears do defecate in the woods and that people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.

Everytime this man opens his mouth it make you wonder why he is in his job. Three weeks ago he said we were "tantalisingly close to beating swine flu". At the start of the holidays he wondered why it was that flu numbers were falling, seemingly unaware of the schools breaking up).

As for my question of the week, why is it that the flu vaccine passed its final approval phase last week, but will not start being given to people for two more weeks. In effect there is a three week gap between approval and the start of the process. The vaccine is ready, hundreds of thousands of doses have already been manufactured, doctors don't need all there doses of vaccine in order to start, they just need to start doing injections for the vulnerable as soon as possible yet we have to wait for three weeks.

Just to put this in to context, if this were H5N1 flu (which has a kill rate of 60%), a delay of three weeks and another 10-12 days in order for the vaccine to take effect, would see (at current infection rates) 14,000 infections in week one, 22,000 in week two, 33,000 in week three and 50,000 in week four. A total of 121,000 extra infections and an nearly 75,000 people dying needlessly.

Okay, so this is not H5N1, but our flu pandemic plans are based on it being H5N1. So the government's own uselessness in getting the vaccine out would kill 75,000 people !

Sickening hypocrisy

I note today that The Sun has highlighted a dossier of issues where Labour has "got it wrong".

What The Sun fails to say though is that whilst all these policies were being introduced, The Sun was in total support and failed to raise an objection.

Sickening hypocrisy from The Sun.

Nobody likes glory hunters on the make

So the glory hunters are at it again. Mr Murdoch's weight has shift back to the Tories and "The Sun" is backing David Cameron. Is anybody shocked or surprised ?

Like a seven year old wearing a Manchester United top, the Sun follows the winning team. Forget principles, forget standing for something or arguing your point, The Sun is used as a tool merely to curry favour with whoever is going to hold power.

And what will the price be ? With Recent attacks by James Murdoch on the BBC, will the Murdoch "pay off" be a dismemberment of the BBC ? Will it be a free hand given to Sky ? Don't you just know that there will be a price to be paid for this.

But don't worry, Cameron has the backing of a paper which told lies about Hillsborough, which told lies about Elton John, and is prepared to sell its soul to anyone who looks like they can win.

Receiving the support of "The Sun" is like being patted on the back and told "Well done" by a serial liar and muck spreader. You must be very proud Mr Cameron.

Party Theme Songs For Conference

Details of a survey conducted by PRS for Music have been sent to me by email revealing the UK’s vote for party conference songs.

Last year the Gordon Brown walked on stage with Jackie Wilson’s Your Love Keeps Lifting Me Higher and Higher. However, in the survey of over 1,000 people, Elton John’s Sorry seems to be the hardest word was voted as most popular suggestion for the entrance of the Prime Minister this year.

Labour Party – most voted songs:
Sorry seems to be the hardest word – Elton John
Tragedy – Steps
So Sad – George Harrison
Die Another Day – Madonna

Conservative Party – most voted songs:
Money, Money, Money – ABBA
I could be so good for you – Dennis Waterman
We are the champions – Queen
The future’s so bright, I gotta wear shades – Timbuk3

Liberal Democrat Party – most voted songs:
When will I be famous – Bros
Moving on up – M People
For once in my life – Stevie Wonder
Working 9 to 5 – Dolly Parton

Ellis Rich, chairman of PRS for Music comments: “Politics and music have a long-standing reputation of going hand in hand. Many famous artists have expressed their political voice through the medium of music, whilst many politicians have used music as a platform to address their audience. The song which each party leader ultimately decides to use could have a significant impact on the outcome of the upcoming elections”.

Any views on which songs might be better ?

Pressure on Baroness Scotland after new revelations

It is being reported that Baroness Scotland never asked to see the passport of the illegal immigrant she employed illegally.

It puts further pressure on her to resign and overshadows this week's Labour conference.

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.