The Labour Party are finally telling the public what it means to be an ID card state (albeit through leaked documents!). This story in the Gaurdian today. This plan is, at best, morally bankrupt and, at worst, one of the biggest infringements of peace time civil liberties since the Magna Charta. 
George Galloway has left Respect, the political party he helped to set up. He aims to set up a new party instead.
David Laws, Lib Dem shadow schools and families secretary, is one of the panellists on tonights Question Time (broadcast on BBC1 and online from 10.35 pm GMT). Hell be alongside Labour MP Geoffrey Robinson, Chairman of the Conservative Policy Review Oliver Letwin, the bassist for the band Blur (and Labour council candidate) Alex James, and consultant [...]
The Wapley Bushes Conservation Group is meeting on Sunday at the Shire Way gate at 10.00 am. They will be doing some planting and general conservation work. You'll need to wear wellies or stout footwear and appropriate clothing. If you would like more details please ring Paul on 01454 315851 or Isabel on 01454 313055. You can also find out more about the Nature Reserve from the Wapley Bushes Blog.
It is quite weird who you get to meet and some of the things you end up doing when you're involved in politics. I won't bother going into how I know the person in the band tonight (or the person who I went there with!) because it would take too long! They were one of the best bands that I've seen in ages and well worth a look. They are called Artibella and are from Leeds. Check out their
Leeds Uni Liberal Democrats are holding a joint event with LUU LGBT assembly on the 27th of February from 21.00-2.00 at Mine in Leeds University Union. The event will be raising the profile of the LDYS campaign, 'Homophobia is Gay' as well as raising money for a charity fighting against homophobia in schools and universities (EACH). It's £3 in, all of which will go to the charity and it should
The Bexley Pensioners Forum hustings proved to be its usual interesting and lively event. Lined up were: Myself - as PPC for Old Bexley & Sidcup and Bexley & Bromley London Assembly candidate at the 2000 and 2004 elections for Bexley & Bromley James Cleverly - the Conservative candidate for Bexley & Bromley The Labour London Assembly candidate The UKIP GLA candidate Just to remind people of the
Martin Bright responds to Ken Livingstone’s response to Martin Bright’s response to Ken Livingstone’s response to Martin Bright’s original trailing of his Channel 4 documentary on the New Statesman website today. It’s a robust response, but of as much interest is the left-wing group think in many of the comments on the piece which really boils [...]
First Great Western hope to run some trains from tomorrow morning. Network Rail will be working overnight to remove about 2000 tons of soil from the landslip to clear the line. However trains will be delayed because of the damage to signalling equipment and except for peak time the London - South Wales service will be halved. First Great Western's website, which has train-by-train details of service changes says "Following discussions with Network Rail, we hope to run a full morning peak service between South Wales and London on Friday. These trains are planned to run over the normal route, ...
I you need cheering up at this depressing time of the year, read Paul Flynn's account of why we should be sorry that Peter Hain has lost his job. The almost comical list of Peter Hain's achievements does go on and, if it is to be believed, Peter Hain should be made a saint, given a nobel prize and should be given a statue on the 4th plinth in Trafalgar Square. Perhaps the most comical of Paul Flynn' assertions about who will not be sorry about Peter Hain departure are ; "Hardcore tribalists in Northern Ireland who resent the results ...
Ah, those bright, heady, summer days, when a nation anticipated - just briefly - the prospect that Gordon Brown might breathe some new life into British politics, might even (whisper it gently) prove to be a radical reformer. It all seems so far away now. There were even hints, you may recall, that the new Prime [...]
Last night was the second Talking Together roadshow event in the central area, this time in Albert Hill. The discussion forum, amiably chaired by Cllr Harker, had about 18 adults and a dozen children present. Some of the primary school kids asked questions first, which officers dealt with, in varying degrees of child-friendly language! When the adults took over, the discussion heated up with a
Marks & Spencer has been in the news this week. Well, Jeremy Paxman has been in the news. He was talking b*ll*cks. And when I say talking b*ll*cks I don't mean what he was saying was rubbish. Paxman had emailed Stuart Rose about the M & S's pants and socks. Somehow the email got leaked and now everyone knows that Jeremy is having trouble keeping his boys comfortable. No one dared suggest this was anything to do with the presenter's anatomy. I have to declare an interest. I wear the stores boxers. On the whole I am very happy with ...
One of the stereotypes grounded in reality about Councillors is that they sit on a lot of committees. Today I attended the Councils Plans West Panel ( Britain's biggest covering just shy of 4 parliamentary constituencies ) I was quite slack missing the site visits and arriving late. However starting at 1030 and finishing at 1815 you can see why people need to dip in an out. I like Plans Panel because you actually get to take real decisions which frankly Councillors do less of than you might think. It was a bitty agenda and I only got to make ...
I tried to fix his blog and failed. He linked to me, so I'm linking back! 
So, a charismatic Glasgow socialist egomaniac with a propensity for lawsuits who founded his own party and screams that everyone else is a splitter has, er, split from his own party, claiming that he hasnt left it, but theyve left him. George Galloways apparent desertion of Respect is probably (assuming the usual love all those in the socialist fraternity have for each other) the only thing to give Tommy Sheridan a good belly-laugh for months. Lets hope, as seems highly likely, that Mr Galloway now follows Mr Sheridans meteoric career path: that is, bursting into flames and crashing to earth. ...
I have just read that applications are now being taken from people wishing to be approved as a candidate in the 2009 Somerset County Council Elections. I can't help wondering just how many of our existing Lib Dem borough councillors will put themselves forwards for selection Not many I'm willing to bet. But how many will be approached and asked to stand Quite a few if history is anything to go by. But should we be doing that Of course we shouldn't. In Taunton Deane we have 26 Lib Dem borough councillors, four of whom are also on Somerset County ...
So Peter Hain has resigned after failing to uphold the laws about donations the government of which he was a member introduced to clean up politics. A rather sad end to someone who, were you to rate him against some other members of the government, has a bit more talent. This is of course relative. I get the distinct impression listening to people I know in the Labour party that Hain was not
Fair trade chocolate is very tasty too!
Why does it always seem to be a third party that moans on behalf of a group that actually isn't bothered about the so called problem The latest example is Becta, an educational IT body who are moaning about a new version of the story of the three little pigs because for computers could not be recommended for schools because "It might cause offence to Muslims". The odd thing is that Muslim organisations don't seem to be bothered by this. Why does it always seem to be some white Christian "do gooder", stuck in an office in London who decides ... 
I recently discovered a Conservative version of the Lib Dem Blogs aggregator and so my eyes have been opened to a whole new genre of political blogging! Today I spotted a chap called Mike Rouse writing about "spectrum auctions" as it was called: I am hoping, nay praying, that Gordon Brown is out of office when the analogue TV signal is switched off. You see, that old airspace is very valuable to mobile phone operators and the likes of Google. They would be able to use it to send fast data to mobile devices and other cool things like that. ...
Readers of Viz magazine will be familiar with the Newcastle curry house owner Abdul Latif. I was sorry to read on the Journal website that he has died aged only 52. It also turns out that he was a Liberal Democrat supporter and had stood as a council candidate several times. The newspaper site quotes tributes to him from Greg Stone and Peter Hardy, and Chris Foote-Wood was writing his biography. Later. And Lembit Opik has paid tribute to Abdul Latif too.
http://www.jkcook.net/Articles2/0165.htm
Wikipedia tells us: The term "Hoon" was first used in Australia at the turn of the 20th century where it referred to a man living off immoral earnings (i.e. a pimp).The origin of its current usage is currently unknown but is widely believed to be a shortened form of "hooligan". In more recent times it has been used to describe any young male or female who drives in a manner which is anti-social towards the standards of modern day society.The Hoon is such a social problem down under that anti-Hoon legislation has been introduced in Western Australia and Victoria and ...
Having passed through Ben-Gurion airport and having been appalled by the attitude of the security personnel I found this on a website: `That’s why Ben-Gurion Airport security staff emphasize intelligence gathering in security. Every passenger going through Ben-Gurion Airport undergoes questioning. Israel won’t divulge the specifics of its process, but it will say that screeners ask [...]
Great news - English Heritage are seriously considering my request to put a blue plaque on the house in Belsize Avenue where England's first female councillor lived. Reina Emily Lawrence was elected to Hampstead Borough Council on 12 Dec 1907 after winning a by-election with a majority of 319 votes. It was the first year women were allowed to stand as candidates for local councils. During her time as a councillor, Reina served on the baths, distress, public health and works committees. Unfortunately, her time in local government was brief. She stood for re-election in October 1909, supported by the ...
Well, its not often I return home to be asked Do you think Im sexy while being confronted by one of Bromleys Conservative Councillors. I should have seen it coming, of course. All the signs were there. The furtive emails, phone calls to people I knew, whispering and pointing. But at last the truth (and Councillor Gordon Jenkins secret) are out, splashed all over the front page of the local paper. Jenkins is, or rather was, a Facebook flirt. The Tory from Bickleys Facebook page now sadly not available, having been removed and replaced by a very dull alternative was ...
Following the events about the breaching of the wall between Gaza and Egypt is it time to allow Gaza to become a region of Egypt btw I agree wholeheartedly with Danny Alexander’s comments on Gaza.
Just to let everyone know that: 1. I probably won't be in the golden dozen this week. 2. This is because I haven't had the time to blog. 3. I'm not at all bothered by this. 4. Apparently I've just been told this is the most depressing week of the year. 5. People who are depressed always say this to people who are smiling too much, don't they! 6. Well, maybe I'm a little bit annoyed. Mostly about point 2 though...
Conservative Assembly Member, Mark Isherwood started off his contribution to the debate on Welsh GVA yesterday by declaring emphatically that Gordon Brown's career as a serious politician was over. A few minutes later he suggested that Rhodri Morgan was also finished as a serious politician. Curiously there was no mention of Peter Hain.
Thursday Each year we hold a talent show where the little mites at the village school can do a turn, and each year the Reverend Hughes volunteers to act as Chairman of the judging panel. I have to say that I have some doubts as to his impartiality. As the children variously sing, tap-dance or recite from the works of T. H. Green, he boos them, attempts to start a slow handclap or throws bottles. One poor girl is led away in tears before she is two verses into The Ballad of Geraint Howells. Only when the Revd Hughess favoured ...
As a Londoner and a non-driver, the much vexed question, How long do I wait for the bus is one that occupies much of my commuting time (far too much, for those of you who are interested). Once you start waiting, you feel obliged to wait just those extra five minutes, in the almost certain knowledge that, if you dont, the bus will arrive just as you reach the point of no return. It was,
One aspect of life in Westminster is the overlap between your professional and social life. Dinners and receptions abound and, whilst they are not exactly work, they are not really free time either. Ive learned to be selective in my choice of event, and as a result get a lot more from them than when I tried to get along to everything. The three invitations I accepted this week were each very different. On Tuesday, after a day which started with a Lloyds Register Board meeting in the City in the morning and ended with the Party Federal Finance and ...
{James Purnell and DWP website} Congratulations James! Share This
Last Australian federal election: 140 km of string used. I'm off to make my fortune in the string market.
The Lib Dems have dropped us a line to say the contract for providing the Lib Dem’s printing and merchandising requirements is up for tender, as it is every four years. If you think you’ve got what it takes to produce Alan Beith mugs, sticky labels, headed notepaper, rosettes, banners, flags and the like, as well [...]
A side-effect of the Clegg leadership campaign was that I started to read the Political Betting website more frequently than otherwise. The levels of comment activity on this site are fascinating. Take today’s story on the Peter Hain resignation. There are already 222 comments as I post around 4 hours after the event. The typical comment rate for this site is a range from 100 to 400 posts - an impressive rate that beats most political sites.
LATEST: George Galloway has quit Respect and is joining the PFJ for the London Assembly elections.
...you first read something that you could genuinely describe yourself as "disgusted" at. Not just your common or garden intellectual disapproval, but a genuine visceral reaction. Well folks, today I hit that point, thanks to this story, tucked away on EducationGuardian: Students will be "blackmailed" into holding identity cards in order to apply for student loans, the Tories have
I have been patiently labouring away in the comments fields of Liberal Democrat Voice about the nature of a constitution versus the EU Reform Treaty. It was therefore with a shower of relief and delight that I read James Graham making the same point with great authority and clarity: But is Nick Clegg correct to insist that an in or out referendum is the closest we have to the promised
I have just received my copy of Taunton Deane Constituency Liberal Democrats Members' Newsletter. And, do you know what For once, it isn't that bad! In fact, its the best I've seen produced in years! Well done to all those concerned with its production! However, there is, in my opinion, just the one story that stands out from all the others . This is it. Have a read and tell me what you think. It's on the subject of the US Presidential election and is entitled ' lesser known news from the campaign trail'. And, this is what it said; ...
The BBC is reporting that George Galloway is “distancing himself” from the Respect Party to form a new organisation instead. Names floated for the new party: Respect ME - The “ME” standing for “my ego”. Indefatigability - In honour of his praise for former Iraq leader Saddam Huessin. The Ba’ath Party - See above. Headquartered in Somerset. Gorgeous: The [...]
There is an incredible irony about todays resignation of Peter Hain, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. Most ministers bite the dust because of financial and sexual peccadilloes, the odd one because they simply arent up to the job. Unusually, Hain has gone because of a simple inability to understand that, if you are a senior figure in a political party that has created legislation to
Like many Londoners, I have been reading and watching the steady stream of allegations being levelled at Ken Livingstone, the London Development Agency, and his inner circle of Advisers, with fascination: It really has been like watching a train crash. A lot of mud is being slung around, and there's no doubt that a good deal of it will stick. Public perception is all when the issues are about public funds. The gloves have really come off for the London Mayoral race. Ken said it was his 'worst week' so far, and so not surprisingly, he is launching his fightback, ...
Click here to view the BBC news report video.
It seems I am caught between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand, the Lib Dem PP’s refusal to back a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty under any circumstances is something I’m not happy with. On the other hand, saying so publicly makes me subject to the fatuous braying of Tory bloggers like Iain Dale and Dan Hassett. Let’s be clear: the reason the Lib Dem front bench don’t want a referendum on Lisbon is because they are (correctly) convinced we would lose it. To that extent they are being opportunistic, and no amount of soft soaping ...
Peter Hain has resigned to spend more time with his sunbed. See also: Resigning from the Cabinet is a lot like making love to a beautiful woman. Millennium Elephant’s alliterative exit.
Thursday: So farewell then, Mr Peter Vain, you ridiculous russet rogue.
With friends like Donald Trump, who needs enemies
Having called for Peter Hain to go over his deputy leadership election finance fiasco, I'm delighted that he has bowed to the inevitable and finally gone. Better late than never. I knew he was doomed the moment I saw that Lembit Opik was supporting him.
Well, a rather smug and arrogant British politician is forced out of ministerial office following the referral of his financial dealings to the Metropolitan Police- I see that Guido Fawkes is happily dancing on Peter Hain's political grave, and indeed claiming his political scalp as the first victory of the insurgent blogosphere over the political class, and indeed the "old media". The blogosphere redux Well, I am not too sure about that. The medium has changed quite a bit from the heady days of last year when a blog was being created every blink of an eye. Despite the supposed ...
{Chavez tshirt} Given that Martin Bright has made a very high profile attack on Ken Livingstone this week for, among other things, his links with Hugo Chavez, I have to say I find it very amusing that the magazine of which he is Political Editor, the New Statesman, is currently offering this to all new subscribers: Pay just £14.99 UK (£26.00 Europe, £32.00 World) for 12 issues of the New Statesman and receive this special edition T-shirt worth £20.99 absolutely free. In addition New Statesman will donate £1 to Venezuela Information Centre UK. Don’t worry if you aren’t sure about ...
'Chutzpah' is the attribute posessed by someone who, having pissed through your letterbox, then knocks on the door and offers the services of his carpet-cleaning firm. This is exactly what the Labour party are doing. They are now planning to make I.D. cards compulsory (at a cost of £100) for anyone who wants a student loan. Or, indeed, a bank account. I am still amazed, bemused, befuzzled, and baffled by this. HOW could Labour be so stupid If you think this is a crap idea, you can join the protest Facebook group here.
The main London to South Wales railway line was blocked by a landslip near Chipping Sodbury at 11.15 this morning. This section of line will need to be stabilised and rebuilt, and it is expected to be closed for two days or so. Services to and from South Wales are being diverted via Bath and Bristol and will operate every hour instead of every 30 minutes. Train services from South Wales will not call at Bristol Parkway but stop at Patchway station instead, with a coach connection linking the two stations. First Great Western gives details and soon revised timetable ...
I’m rather disappointed that Swiss Peter’s reason for resigning from the Cabinet wasn’t ‘to spend more time with my tan’.
It's being reported today that First Scotrail are rated as the worst performing UK rail franchise when it comes to customer service - why does that not surprise me in the least Primarily because I use them to commute from Irvine to Glasgow 5 days a week and travel from Glasgow to Edinburgh and back at least twice a week. In January services outwith Strathclyde saw their fares rise by an inflation busting 4.8%. Passenger Focus reports that throughout the UK only 45% of passengers believe that rail fares are value for money and that only 35% believe that rail ...
The Electoral Commission has this morning referred the case of Peter Hain's Deputy Leadership donations to the Police. As a result Peter Hain has resigned from the Cabinet to attempt to prove his innocence.
That’s the big news this Thursday lunchtime: Peter Hain has quit the Cabinet after his deputy leader campaign donations were referred to the Met Police. Mr Hain, work and pensions secretary and Wales secretary, said he had stood down so he could “clear my name”. He quit within minutes of the Electoral Commission saying that it [...]
An extra £ on the cost of putting a bag into the hold of the plane, which means that your measly 15kg baggage allowance will now cost you a ridiculous £12 for a return flight. If you check in at the airport rather than electronically an extra £6 will be added to the cost of your return journey. Charges for "priority boarding", expensive food and drink and the wheelchair charge even if there isn't a wheelchair user on board etc, etc. Then of course they sue the Government in the hope of winning more of the taxpayers dosh It all ...
Via Lib Dem Voice comes Home Secretary Jacqui Smith’s answer to an accusation that introducing detention without charge for 42 days is legislating for hypothetical situations: "It won’t be hypothetical if and when it occurs. We are not legislating now on the basis that we are bringing it in now for something that might happen in [...]
On BBC Breakfast this morning Quentin Letts of the Daily Scum said "I'd cull 20% of MP's" Okay, he might have an argument that MP's should have bigger seats, which would mean more constituents and more casework. But then less than a minute later he said "I'd get MP's away from their constituencies. They spend too much time doing casework for constituents" Hang on, isn't this a contradiction Surely bigger seats = less MP's, but bigger seats and less MP's means more casework He then had a dig at the intelligence of most MPs. Never mind the intelligence of journalists. ...
Dear dear dear. It got to him in the end. How the mighty have fallen. The final straw seemed to be the Electoral Commission referring his case to the police.
The news that Peter Hain has quit the Cabinet, after his deputy leader campaign donations are referred to the Met Police, should give pause to those who place personal ambition over concerns about influence-peddling. It also means that politicians should take more care over the choice of people to run their administrations. There did seem to have been a trend towards US-style big money campaigns in British politics. Nick Clegg's and Chris Huhne's combined spending of over £160,000 on the recent leadership campaign may be less than US equivalents, but must be well over what was considered seemly for previous ...
David Cameron seemed to try to copy Vince Cable's sense of humour (a la "Stalin to Mr Bean") yesterday with this comment: Its like a used car salesman who wont tell you the price, wont tell you the mileage, wont give you a warranty. Youve gone from prudence to Del Boy. Not very funny. But the Sun have given Cameron their full treatment ("Cameron's a right plonker" and photo montage)
Yesterday on Comment is Free and today in The Guardian’s G2 supplement. You can sign the party’s petition against ID cards here.
Commenting on the Northern Rock debacle, Jeremy Browne MP (Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury) wrote: 'On Monday the Chancellor made another statement in the House of Commons on Northern Rock. The saga of the crisis-hit building society is a cautionary tale for these turbulent economic times. The business practices of Northern Rock were unbelievable. In an already overheated housing market, they were willing to lend some borrowers 125% of the value of their property, while others secured mortgages seven-times greater than their salary. Without the assets to cover these loans, Northern Rock then borrowed the money itself. There is ...
I have been in further correspondence with Ofcom and others regarding digital television. As residents will be aware, my original complaint on behalf of residents in the West End, was the lack of Freeview in much of the area until the analogue switch off in just over 2 years' time. However, a further issue has emerged - the intention to provide a reduced "Freeview Lite" service from the Tay Bridge relay transmitter after 2010 - giving residents only 22 of the 58 TV and radio channels that others served by main transmitters (like the Angus transmitter which serves most of ...
You know, I think the Home Secretary Jacqui Smith is turning into our very own Donald Rumsfeld. After the previous entertainments caused by her rather odd pair of views (here and here) on walking and the little problem over the timing of her kebab purchases, we had this morning something right up there in the Mr Rumsfeld [...]
Malcolm Bruce — MP for Gordon and President of Liberal International British Group — put an interesting spin on his speech to the Immortal Memory of the Scots Bard at Merton LibDems’ Burns Night Supper in Wimbledon last night, by eulogising Estonia as the most Liberal country in Europe. Parties in both the government and [...]
Here, here or how about here. Spend a few minutes you can find abuses of power and of people all across the world, from the UK to Darfur. Frankly, I find the thought of campaigns to save a few chickens to assuage the guilt of the middle classes distasteful and complete misplacement of people’s energy. This is [...]
Today Iain Dale has written: I am pushed to remember any party in this country which has EVER promised up front tax cuts in its manifesto. If I am right, it seems this spat is over nothing. Margaret Thatcher certainly promised lower taxes in 1979 but didn’t specify what they would be or how she would [...]
Dubbed the asbo generation, youngsters today tend to get alot of bad press. However, as this story in the Western Daily Press goes to show, not all reputations are deserved.
The European Union has produced a White Paper on sport and my select committee (Culture, Media & Sport) decided to go and question the European Commission and members of the European Parliament to...
The Fortune Green by-election has been set for Thursday 21st February and the Lib Dem candidate will be Nancy Jirira. Nancy works in health care, know the local area really well, lives in Sarre Road in the middle of the ward and is just really enthusiastic to work with the community. I can genuinely say that Nancy would be a superb councillor for the local area - she know the patch, she get's on really well with Flick Rea and Russell Eagling (the other two ward councillors) and anyone meeting her will sense her charm and energy. More to follow, ...
The BBC report this morning that Ceredigion County Council have criticised for granting planning applications from Welsh speakers despite advice to reject them: It came after Ceredigion councillors approved three applications against the advice of planners which were later rejected by the assembly government. The assembly government's planning inspector said it was "discriminatory" to grant plans on a language basis. But one planning committee member said it was trying to protect communities. The incident came to light when one of the three approved applications was called in by the assembly government. In a subsequent report, planning inspector Ian Osborne said ...
I have written the Ideas column in this weeks New Statesman, in despair and praise of Brian Haw.
The urge to save humanity is almost always a false-face for the urge to rule it. H.L. Mencken Of course, anyone claiming to be saving humanity would claim that they’re the exception.
I attended a meeting for the Bath Recreation ground trust committee last week and was astounded at what I heard. I was always under the impression that the Rec was given to the people of Bath for their use and recreation but after what I heard last week I begin to wonder. The very name recreation ground gives the impression that is exactly what it is for but apparently according to the...
It was extraordinary to have the prime 15 minutes of Today turned over exclusively to examining Ken Livingstone's dirty laundry. You can listen to it here. In fairness, I thought Ken did pretty well, particularly in avoiding sounding defensive - which is the mistake made by many politicians. We did however, appear to be entering the realms of a novella when discussing the trip to Nigeria made
On Today this morning, Carolyn Quinn put to Jacqui Smith that the legislation for 42 days detention without charge was to cover "hypothetical" situations. "No", said the Home Secretary. When Smith outlined some examples, Quinn persisted and said: "But these are hypothetical situations" The Home Secretary's retort was priceless: "But they won't be hypothetical if and when they happen".
In this weeks Realpolitik podcast, with myself, Richard and Alex Baker: Black Monday and Northern Rocks non-nationalisation, with special guest Vince Cable. The EU Constitution Reform Treaty riles a few Lib Dems. Jacqui Smith and her Peckham kebab. More missing data (especially important for one of us) and ID cards. The police are protesting. Kids need to cook. And finally the [...]
Didn't manage to blog this yesterday as have a bit of manflu and feeling sorry for myself. But there was news that Labour's attempts to force us all to have identity cards are on the ropes. The arguments against ID cards are well-known - essentially, the wrong answer to the wrong problem. The next general election will now give everyone a chance to put the final nail in the ID card coffin, by rejecting candidates standing on a manifesto to give us all a barcode. Please sign the petition against ID cards - you can do it online by clicking ...
With a 'radical overhaul' of organ donation on the way, I'm happy to see that Gordon Brown is apparently backing the idea of presumed consent when it comes to organ donation. It could be a difficult one to call for a liberal. Presuming consent with an opt-out register (rather than an opt-in one, as at present) could be seen to be an infringement of civil liberties and unnecessary control from the state. But it doesn't seem a difficult one to me. When you're dead, you don't need your organs any more - but nonetheless people who feel otherwise, for religious ...
A flurry of emails has arrived to tell me that Apple have launched the MacBook Air - the latest incarnation of their supercool laptops (if you are reading this on a computer that is just a black or grey box with sharp corners, and running Windows, then you don’t known what I’m talking about…). From its publicity, the MacBook Air does indeed look very cool indeed: its main feature is how thin it is (just three-quarters of an inch at its thickest point), but it also looks generally very smooth and sexy, immediately making even the mainstream MacBook look a ...
Since the events of the autumn its been unfashionable in the mainstream media to say anything nice about the prime minister. But it seems to me that Gordon Brown has found his feet as a debater in the House of Commons. He's can be a powerful, punchy and incisive debater. I don't find this odd, since Brown had more than ten years to practice. Let's be honest, PMQs is all the better for it. Cameron's got the sense of fun and boyish bragado to fire up his baying backbenchers. Unfortunately, yesterday he was so busy chasing catch-phrases that he seemed ...
Yes, I admit it, I have been too busy/too lazy, to blog over the last few days. So, having just returned from my highlight of the year - Burns Supper in Edinburgh with Young Scot, fellow blogger Alex Cole-Hamilton and our own MSP Robert Brown on my table - I thought I should maybe have a wee comment on the referendum debate. I am not a policywonka (honest! ask them.........they will agree.......) I do not inhabit the Westminster bubble. But, it has to be said, I am at a complete loss to understand our U turn on the referendum. OK..........so ...
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There's something about the whole tedious debate over whether there should be a referendum on the European reform treaty which puzzles me. It's this: much of the opposition to Europe generally and to the reform treaty in particular centres around the idea of sovereignty and the notion that the UK is somehow losing control of its own sovereign affairs. But this is mostly tripe. Most of those who make that argument are quite content to give up British sovereignty in other areas where it suits their own purposes, with the clearest example being defence. If sovereignty is to mean anything ...
Both Nick Clegg and David Cameron tackled Gordon Brown on the Northern Rock crisis at Prime Ministers Questions. The Tory leader got in a good line against the PMs protestations that putting the bank into administration would lead to a fire sale of the assets: Does he not understand that administration and liquidation are different [...] | < | January 2008 | > | ||||
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