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April 30, 2004

Education, education, education

It's one thing to meet a target, and quite a different matter altogether to maintain the standard, something the Secretary of State for Education is now discovering. Labour was elected in 1997 with a manifesto promise that class sizes for 5, 6 and 7 year olds would be no bigger than 30 pupils, this target to be attained by 2002. In what is now becoming an increasingly rare display of competance, the target was met.

Since then according to the DfES the situation has worsened, with more than 23,000 pupils being taught in groups of 30 or more, an increase of nearly 6,000 over the previous year, a situation exacerbated by the loos of 800 primary teachers.

"But hey" I hear you say, "the Government keeps going on about the increasing numbers of teachers. Are they lying?". Well the answer to that is no and yes. Last year the number of teachers did rise by 4,200 to nearly 428,000, but of the rise only 1,800 were extra qualified teachers, with the balance of 2,400 due to working trainees and overseas staff.

Furthermore, the DfES claims that only 38 classes broke the rules, as the others had been allowed to exceed the 30-pupil ceiling for a variety of reasons. However from my experience, I have seen a number of fiddles whereby the real class size is being disguised, by placing children on the register for a different class for example. So I suspect that the real scale of the issue is greater than the DfES reports. The bottom line is that the Government has used the demographic changes leading to falling rolls not as an opportunity to reduce class sizes, but instead as a way of making cost savings by reducing teacher numbers. Not the best way to improve standards in primary education.

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Leadership? Change. Now.

Good summary of the current state of the Blair presidencypremiership over at bloggerheads. As Manic says, we're not taking the credit, but do feel justified in letting out a rather satisfying "We told you so..." --------

Posted by Clive at 12:23 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Laugh or Cry

On reading that MI5 is publishing its terrorist threat assessment online I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. US figures show terror attacks to be at a 30-year low and yet MI5 is advising business to plan for the worst. Recommendations include carrying out risk assessments and having locks on windows and doors, both of which are sensible actions for any business premises regardless. It then gets a bit more scary, advising the use of anti-shatter film on windows and bomb blast net curtains. One tip is to keep gardens free from shrubbery, from which I can only assume that Al Qaeda has joined forces with The Knights Who Say Ni! --------

Posted by Clive at 10:46 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

April 29, 2004

War and Diplomacy

The Fourth International lays the boot into Blair in this report about the letter from 52 diplomats published at the World Socialist Web Site. Someone should have told Blair that one danger of taking virtually solo control of Britain's Middle East policy direction is that somewhere there will be an expert who not only knows more about the situation that Blair does, but is also prepared to speak out. In this case, there are 52 experts, all speaking with one voice and no matter what spin he attempts to put on the letter, Blair has once again managed to make himself look like the fumbling lightweight he is.

A quick glance at some of the signatories who include....

Sir Terence Clark, the UK's ambassador to Iraq from 1985 to 1989;
Sir Marrack Goulding, a former diplomat in Kuwait, Libya, Egypt and Lebanon who worked for the United Nations from 1986 to 1993;
Francis Cornish, former head of the Foreign Office news department and UK ambassador to Israel from 1998 to 2001;
Richard Muir, ambassador to Kuwait until 2002

... shows that these are no mere minions, but are instead seasoned diplomats with a vast wealth of knowledge and experience to draw on. That some of them have only recently left the Foreign Office and many still have contacts within the coalition government in Iraq should come as a damning indictment of Blair's policy. Indeed, the tone of the letter is such that one is left with the inescapable conclusion that virtually the entire Foriegn Office is against Britain's policy in Iraq and the Middle East.

In the face of such condemnation, both Blair and Straw refused to respond, choosing instead to hide behind poor Foriegn Office Minister Mike O'Brien, who stated,

"We can influence the US, but we can't control a superpower. They listen to our quiet diplomacy but they also have their own policy - we influence each other."

Given that the the UK is on the verge of sending more forces to Iraq at the behest of the US, then it is hard to see what influence the UK wields. O'Brien did little better when addressing the letter's concerns regarding the Arab-Israeli situation, focusing on Bush's original acceptance of the roadmap and the creation of an independant Palestinian state,

"[UK had been successful in encouraging Bush] to become the first US president to call for a Palestinian state independent of Israel and to support the whole road map process."

Yet no mention was made of the way Bush trampled over international laws, tearing up the roadmap with his support for Sharon. Nor was there any reference to Blair's total aquiesence and indeed, support for Bush.

Not only did Blair get us into Iraq against our wishes and thus exposing us to the threat of terror, but he has so comprehensively tied his colours to Bush's mast that the Uk no longer appears to have any discernable, independant policy towards Iraq. As long as Blair remains in power, our diplomatic support and military commitment will be dertmined by America. If we truly want an equitable solution to the mess Bush and Blair have made in Iraq, then our first step has to be the removal from power of Tony Blair.

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Police Farce

Youd think the release of all ten terror suspects recently arrested in Manchester and South Yorkshire would make headline news, but apparently not. Of the ten originally arrested, three were released without charge, six were released before being re-arrested for crimes unrelated to terrorism and the tenth is to be deported. Not really a very impressive result for the 400 police officers involved in the investigation, although it did do a reasonable job of diverting media attention. Worth noting as well, that the majority of those arrested under the Terrorism Act 2000 have later been freed.... --------

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Tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime

I don't know whether to be pleased that overall crime figures appear stable, disappointed that they haven't fallen in spite of increased expenditure, or depressed by the seemingly inexorable rise in violent crime. Notice how the Home Office tries to emphasise that most of the rise is due to an increase in reporting drink related violence and general thuggery, which rose 21%. At the same time it plays down the fact that murder and wounding rose by 13%. Meanwhile burglary, robbery and vehicle crime are falling. Which is good news, I guess, for those who'd rather be glassed by a drunken lout than have their car stereo nicked.

So what does the government intend to do about the drink-related violence?

[Home Office Minister] Ms Blears said police would be carrying out sting operations to tackle shops and clubs selling to underage drinkers.

Well that's really going to do a lot. I've no idea if Barnsley is typical or not, but I know of 5 people who have been attacked on a saturday night out drinking in the town centre. And not one of them was attacked by an under-age drinker. So personally, my confidence in the likely success of such stings is not very high. If this government is serious about being tough on the causes of crime, then perhaps they should start by trying to understand just why violence is more commonplace in our society. It couldn't have anything to do with the government's failure to address the sense of social disenfranchisement that thrived under Conservative rule, and which has continued to grow in the last seven years? It is time to stop tinkering with pet schemes, and get down to the real task of reversing these social trends.

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The whole nine yards

According to John Reid, Tony Blair is intending to see out an entire third term in office, "God and the electorate willing". To date, all the talk has been of Tony winning the next election before resigning after an EU referendum defeat. However, if I were Tony, I'd be less concerned about God and the voters, and more concerned about whether or not the Labour Party will let him remain as leader. I sense an undercurrent, growing in strength, of disillusionment with Blair and the New Labour Project from within the grass-roots party. Blair should concede that he is now profoundly damaged goods and that the longer he remains the figurehead then the more damage he will do to the party. Whilst defeat in the general election is most unlikely, Blair will have to face up to the fact that New Labour MPs are the most vulnerable group within the party. It would only take a 5% swing to the Conservatives for Blair to lose most of the core MPs supporting New Labour. At that point the PLP is likely to act, and we may well witness scenes reminiscent of 1990 when Thatcher was ousted. My concern is not that Blair goes (please God let him go soon and go quickly), but how the Labour Party chooses to replace him. Any attempt to rubber-stamp Gordon Brown would leave Labour tarred with the same brush as the Conservatives when Michael Howard was effectively handed the leadership. Labour must rise above such undemocratic behaviour, must listen to the people who matter. Now is the time for the grass-roots party members to start planning and working towards reclaiming their party for the people, rather than let it continue to be merely a high-taxing, pale shadow of Thatcher's Conservatives. --------

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April 28, 2004

Light Relief?

Another political flash, of a more genteel nature.

(link courtesy of Bloggerheads)

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Reasons to be fearful #1

It would appear from a Conservative internal document leaked to The Independant that the gloves are coming off at CCO. The Tories are intending to use the campaign for June's Euro elections as a launchpad for their general election campaign. In a worrying move, party campaigners have been instructed to "use any issue that will motivate Conservatives to vote". In the current climate do not be surprised when they play the immigration and asylum card, especially in areas where the BNP is active.

Whilst any campaign that plays the race card should be considered abhorent, spare some of your contempt for the Labour Party. If Blair hadn't displayed such dithering over the rights of the new EU members, if Blunkett had handled the Beverley Hughes issue with a degree of competance and above all, if the Labour Party had demonstrated that it had a coherent and well-thought policy on immigration and asylum rather than a focus group driven premier, then the Conservatives would have been deprived of significant ammunition.

With - in my opinion - the General Election coming sometime in the next 12-13 months, expect to see many more reasons to be fearful of a resurgent Conservative Party. We are going to see one of the longest, bloodiest and dirtiest campaigns for many years, and it is vital that Labour be able to show the electorate that it is open, honest and trustworthy and can present strong and cohesive policies. I cannot see anyway to achieve that goal with the current leadership.

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Railways

So Jarvis and Network Rail have admitted liability for the Potters Bar crash in which seven people died. At first sight, it might seem good news that the organisations involved have accepted responsibility for the accident, but then you check the small print...

A Jarvis spokesman added the move did not mean the firm was to blame for the accident, which killed seven people.

In fact all Jarvis have done is agreed joint liability for the compensation claims, whilst continuing to protest their innocence. Personally I share Bob Crowe's sense of disbelief...

"This is a nonsense. How can they accept liability without accepting responsibility?"

Indeed. After all, according to my dictionary:

liability (n) 1. the state of being liable.
liable (adj) 1. Legally obliged or responsible; answerable.

It would be no different if you saw a road accident, but were not involved, however you gave those involved your insurance details so they could claim off you.

I suspect that the motivation here is to try and push the whole matter out of the public eye in the hope that it will be forgotten. With more and more railway maintenance work being taken in-house, companies such as Jarvis, who thrived on rail contracts under privatisation, will need to look elsewhere for business. Having the legacy of Potters Bar hanging around doesn't make for a good advert.

Meanwhile after nearly 2 years and 3 interim reports, the HSE has still not yet identified the root cause of the accident. Let me give them a clue: look who pushed through railway privatisation, because there's the root cause.

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April 27, 2004

Labour Needs New Leadership

I firmly believe in democracy, fairness and social justice. Maybe that makes me a reckless idealist, but they are principles worth fighting for. Over the past seven years I have become more and more frustrated with the leadership and direction that the Labour Party has taken in government. With the Conservatives and the extreme right gaining in strength and popularity, I have grown increasingly concerned that unless the Labour Party changes its leadership, the country will eventually be controlled by the more unsavoury elements of the political spectrum.

So, a couple of links for you:

Labour Needs Leadership Change
Labour: I See Red (Labour Needs Leadership Change)

Watch the video, distribute the posters, and above all think of the consequences of a return to Thatcherism.

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April 26, 2004

Tuseday

Busy morning Tuesday, blogging in the afternoon. Ta. --------

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Le Weekend, Le Pen, Le Protest

French fascist Jean-Marie Le Pen arrived in Cheshire this weekend to show his support for the BNP, to be met by over a hundred protesters. For a visitor with Le Pen's reputation and profile, I considered the hundred or so demonstrators be be quite a low number. There are two possible conclusions to be drawn from this:

1. Extreme Right Politics in the UK lack sufficient credibility for people to deem it worthwhile protesting against.

2. Extreme Right Politics in the UK is now seen as an acceptable aspect of the political spectrum, and therefore fewer people are prepared to speak out.

I hope that the first is the real reason, but would point out that considerable danger lies in meeting the Far Right with apathy. The BNP has several councillors and appears to be far better organised than its predecessors, couching its extremist policies in a sugar coating of reason. At the same time even the mainstream media seems to feel a certain resonance with fascism, witness the outburst of Nazi-inspired behaviour at The Express last week. Throw in a resurgent Conservative Party playing the asylum/immigration card (albeit not to the same degree as the BNP), and we are left looking at a situation where the sorts of policies espoused by Le Pen and the BNP could become acceptable to the mainstream. This must not be allowed to happen.

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April 23, 2004

Fact or Fiction?

The Sun reckons it knows the real reason why some countries such as France and Russia vehemently opposed the war in Iraq.

SHOCK revelations of corruption at the heart of the UN's Iraq aid project help explain French and Russian opposition to the war.

UN officials, French diplomats and Vladimir Putin's Kremlin were all accused of being bribed with cash earmarked for starving children.

Secret Iraqi files giving details of oil deals list the names of 45 Russians and 11 French citizens.

These would appear to be very convenient 'secret files'. Now I could be accused of being cynical, but let's take a look at this scenario. A pro-American regime, soon to be handed limited power by the US and UK, turns up documents incriminating those countries opposed to the war. While they could be genuine documents, I would treat any newly discovered 'secret' documents with a healthy degree of scepticism given the current state of affairs in Iraq.

Both countries' leaders vetoed a UN Security Council resolution in 2003 backing war and have continued to criticise the invasion. Under the scam, Iraq sold oil under UN supervision for food and medicines.

Two valid yet unrelated statements, with the Sun attempting to us guilt by association. The countries vetoed the war, so must be implicated in the scam, but the converse is true, the two countries could be implicated in the scam because they opposed the war.

But it could choose its own middlemen, who raked off 10 per cent from sales and gave it to Saddam.

Very generous middlemen, giving their tithes to Saddam. In return for what? The Sun doesn't say.

Russian oil dealers received 2.5billion barrels of crude while French traders pocketed 165million barrels.

Given that the US and UK appeared to be hell-bent on blowing seven shades out of Iraq, and were enforcing no-fly zones, is it any wonder that they chose more sympathetic nations to deal with.

According to documents, Saddam also bribed influential figures by handing them vouchers for goods illegally imported into Iraq in defiance of UN sanctions.

More 'secret' documents. And just what could Saddam offer them that they couldn't get elsewhere? As far as I can see, this piece is just another bunch of allegations being pushed by a pro-war, anti-European media group. They carry about as much credibility as an election manifesto i.e. none to speak of.

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War

Great news for anyone with friends or relatives in the armed forces. As Spain withdraws its contingent of troops from Iraq, along with Honduras and the Dominican Republic, the MoD is drawing up plans to send a further 1,700 British troops to Iraq.

Although the reinforcements have yet to be confirmed, Jack Straw yesterday said...

"The troop numbers are kept under review; the Prime Minister made this clear yesterday in the House of Commons. If there is a need for more troops to be sent, then I'm sure my colleague Geoff Hoon will arrange for that to happen. I don't think there are political objections to send more troops if that is what is needed on the ground."

Well, there may no political objection from the Labour or Conservative benches, but I can't imagine the LibDems being too happy. And anyway, enough of the politicians concerns; we live in a democracy and I bet a substantial portion of the population will seriously unimpressed by any requirement to increase the size of the British garrison in Iraq. Especially when the commander of the British Forces reckons we may well be required to keep forces in Iraq for the next 10 years.

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Richard Desmond - Total Nutter?

I've always had my suspicions regarding Richard Desmond's apparently tenuous hold on reality. After all, anyone who owns 45 pornographic magazines (albet at arms-length) yet rails at being branded a pornographer can't be the most balanced or reasonable person on the planet, can they? Anyway, Desmond now seems to be bidding for the epithet of "Total Nutter" with his latest exploit, a meeting with staff from The Telegraph during which the Nazi salute was given, along with numerous references to Nazis (alluding to a potential German buyout of The Telegraph) and a rendition of "Deutschland Uber Alles". So now we can take our pick of the following Richard Desmonds:

Richard Desmond - Pornographer
Richard Desmond - Pension Fund F**ker
Richard Desmond - Total Nutter

In many ways it is tragic that someone who wields media influence (although not as much as some) should behave more like a character from Viz than a responsible businessman. Just the right sort of person for New Labour to accept donations from.

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Thieving Scum

So the Mail didn't merely rip off Joe Wezorek's 'War President' yesterday, but actually pulled a fast one on the Independant.

(link courtesy of Bloggerheads)

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April 22, 2004

ID Cards

So Blunkett reckons a majority of us are happy to have identity cards, based on a survey of 1,000 people or 0.002% of the population. Well, that makes yesterday EU poll in the Sun look positively meaningful. Better still, Blunkett goes on to say that...

"...he would bring in outside expertise to ensure the system worked."

Well, that completely misses the point that historically these big projects have gone pearshaped due to poor project management and specification, areas usually the responsibility of the department concerned. So we can anticipate another money-spinner for private enterprise that fails to deliver. He seems to believe that the proposed system, based on biometric principles would end identity theft, multiple fraudulent identities, not to mention giving a boost to the fight against terrorism and organised crime. I'm only surprised that he hasn't announced that it will bring world peace and solve poverty in the third world, because ID cards seem other to be a universal panacea, at least to Blunkett.

Blunkett asks,

"What has anybody to worry about having their true identity known?"

Well, putting to one side the fact that the introduction of ID cards will probably just create a new criminal niche market in fake IDs, my concern lies in the uses to which an increasingly control-obsessed government will put them. Put ID cards together with new data aquisition techniques in an effort to preempt crime, and how long will it be before people are being investigated by the security services for crimes for which their profile fits? Big Brother is not only watching you (via cctv), but now he intends to predict your every move. First the biometric data will consist of finger prints and iris patterns, but how long before dna is included? This government treats the people like mere statistics and ID cards are just another way of categorising individuals.

And is it really coincidental that the US wants to introduce biometric border controls in a similar timeframe? At the end of the day, we will pay our money to American firms to increase America's security. It may seem like a good deal for the US, but as a British Citizen, it sucks.

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Who are the victims?

I'm not particularly a fan of the Daily Mail, but in today's paper they carry a full page image of Tony Blair, made up from photographs of all the British servicemen and servicewomen who have died in the various actions over the last seven years.The image is obviously inspired by 'War President originally posted at American Leftist, but there the similarities fail. In 'War President, each photograph is used no more than 3 times, but in the Mail's effort some images have been used more than twenty times in order to create a recognisable picture from the photographs of the 71 service personnel

Who are the real victims? I'll leave people to form their own opinions, but whilst I don't condone Blair's handling of Iraq, I find it extremely disingeneous of the Mail to portray him as having sent what appears to be hundreds to their death when some were involved in more legitimate actions than Iraq. I beleieve that the real victims are the 71 and their families and loved ones, and the people of Iraq, Kosovo and all the other regions where we have failed to act in a responsible manner

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April 21, 2004

Reading

I've added a new section to the sidebar, containing links to books I've read and feel that others may find informative, stimulating, etc. That they're linked to Amazon might be considered a bit of a sell-out, but as it is the easiest way to help you at least find the relevant details and given that I'll probably make two thirds of bugger all from any you care to purchase, I for one can live with the shame. If you like, treat them as recommendations and just ask your local bookseller to order any that catch your eye. Anyway, I'll gradually tag each one with a one or two line precis, and there won't be too many for now. --------

Posted by Clive at 8:54 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

In God we trust

The Archbishop of Canterbury believes that the nation's political health has been damaged by the failure to find any WMDs in Iraq. He raises some valid points regarding the almost indecent rush to war in 2003

"The evidence suggests to many that obedience to a complex truth suffered from a sense of urgency that made attention harder."

Archbishop Williams has been a staunch critic of the war from the beginning, questioning from a very early stage the moral concerns raised by Tony Blair. However I believe that by confining himself to the war in Iraq, the Archbishop is in some respects addressing the symptoms of the disease at the heart of British politics, rather than the disease itself. He points out that the way forward to rebuilding trust...

...lay in the government's openness to accountability, the freedom to think again and willingness to admit error or miscalculation.

These flaws; the inability to admit to error, the lack of openness and the single-minded determination to carry on regardless; they are all traits that have been exhibited by this government since 1997. Jo Moore's refusal to resign over the "good day to bury bad news", Mandelson's determination to hang in there, the botched reform of the House of Lords, Gordon Brown's pension raid and attempts at social engineering through tax credits, all these are graphic illustrations of just how our trust in government has declined. As recently as yesterday with the announcement of the referendum (which was made without actually using the 'R' word), this government has continued to display the traits that the Archbishop finds so deplorable.

There will be no restoration of trust until such time as the government, and Tony Blair in particular, stop harping on about how wonderfully moral and Christian their policies are, and actually start to act in a Christian manner. Let them stop the spin, stop believing that getting the message across is the important thing, stop hiding behind closed doors. To quote from Proverbs

"Even a child is known by his actions, by whether his conduct is pure and right" (Proverbs 20:11, NIV).

Only when the government starts to behave in a trustworthy manner will we see the beginnings of a restoration in trust. But the decline has been spread over many years - though more noticable over the last seven - and many more will pass before our faith in authority will be restored. Such trust may never be fully restored from the damage done by this government, though I hope that the eventual departure from power of the perpetrators may signal the end of the decline.

Maybe now is the time when the people of this nation should stand up and demand a new compact between the governors and the governed, a time for a new UK Constitution embracing all aspects of democracy and accountability. It is more than three hundred years since the Glorious Revolution was to have freed us from the tyranny of an absolute monarchy ruling by divine right. Now we need a similar revolution to free us from an unaccountable, elected tyranny that also believes in ruling by divine right. As the Church is the house of God, so Parliament should be the house of the People, and now more than ever we need to reclaim our house.

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April 20, 2004

War

Bob Woodward has a creditable track record, he was one of the journalists who broke the Watergate Scandal which eventually brought down President Nixon. In his new book Woodward reveals that the planning for an invasion of Iraq was started back at the end of 2001.

More important are the revelations regarding Blair's involvement.

Blair was key," Mr Woodward said yesterday. "He was the partner, a driving force in all of it."

Shortly before the war began, Mr Bush even offered the Prime Minister a chance to avoid committing troops. But Mr Woodward said: "Maybe it was an offer that Bush knew wouldn't be accepted."

It makes Blair's determination to get Parliamentary support for war all the more understandable. If he had already made a commitment to Bush to provide British military involvement, then his personal credibility would have been at stake we've all seen before how that comes before the nation's interests.

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Referendum Reprise #2

In an announcement laden with rhetoric, Tony Blair has admitted that there is a need for a referendum on the European Constitution. There are some worrying signals in his statement, that make me believe that Blair's intentions are merely media window dressing, rather than evidence of any real desire to consult with the public.

"The question will be on the treaty, but the implications go far wider. It is time to resolve once and for all whether this country, Britain, wants to be at the centre and heart of decision-making or not."

This seems to me to be a veiled indication that the referendum will not simply be a question of signing up to the new EU constitution, but that we will be expected to decide on the broader issue of EU involvement. Alternatively, the question could be pitched in such a convoluted manner that would make it difficult for all but the most Euro-sceptic voters to vote against. And to an extent, this may have been signaled in the speech

"The electorate should be asked for their opinion when all our questions have been answered, when all the details are known, when the legislation has been finally tempered and scrutinised in this House, and when Parliament has debated and decided,"

At the end of the day, the whole referendum issue has very little to do with Europe, and is primarily driven by domestic needs. By agreeing to a referendum whilst deferring it until after the next election, Blair has effectively removed European Integration from the list of potential issues upon which the Conservatives could hope to draw votes. It could also boost Labour's performance at the European elections in June. At the very least, Blair will hope to lead Labour through the next general election and deliver a truly historic third term, thus ensuring (he believes) his place in history. A subsequent referendum would give him an opportunity to stand down regardless of the outcome. Furthermore, by delaying any vote for at least a year, he gives himself breathing space, allowing another country the opportunity to step up and scupper the Constitution, thus guaranteeing that it will not be Tony Blair who goes down as the Premier who stalled the superstate's formation.

The sad aspect to all this is that the primary motivation does not appear to be a desire to have an open and healthy debate on the issue of greater European Integration, but rather a personal agenda. And on a issue as important as our relationship with Europe, such motivations do the debate a great injustice, clouding the issues rather than bringing greater clarity and understanding. Once again Blair has shown a failure in leadership and an inability to see beyond his own personal agendas.

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Highway Robbery

All credit to brewery boss Dave Roberts, for making money out of his misfortune. His brewery, the independant Northumberland Brewery, has introduced a brew called Highway Robbery after Roberts was caught by a speed camera The first batch sold out in a week and it is now being supplied to free houses across the North and Scotland. Further down the article there is a quote from Ray King, project manager for the Northumbria Safety Camera Partnership, who clearly misses the point when denying that the cameras are placed to mae money from motorists...

"The money goes to central government and we can only reclaim what is spent on camera enforcement and training and education initiatives."

Right, so it may not be a local revenue generator, but it sure has hell raises income for the Treasury. Anway, I for one applaud Dave Roberts, and will be seeking a pint of his finest when next I venture northwards.

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Referendum Reprise

According to The Sun, Blair's referendum decision was due to their readership. More probably - and as many have pointed out - the cold touch of Rupert Murdoch is the more probable cause for the EU-Turn.

Update - 13:55 - Seems Neil Kinnock shares the media suspicions regarding Murdoch's involvement.

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The long haul

"We are in cloud-cuckooland if we think we are going to create overnight a police force that is accountable to the population. Certainly for a number of years to come, western forces are going to have to be there to support the police force" - Brigadier Nick Carter, Commander of British forces in Basra

According to this article in The Scotsman we can expect to see British forces in Iraq for the next ten years. Yup, ten years! In some ways it is ironic that the War on Terror has effectively bogged down in the second country attacked, especially when Iraq was at best peripheral to the terror networks concerned. With this sort of performance we could well be looking at the global equivalent of the Hundred Years war, an interminable conflict with regular flareups. The question is whether this is the sort of legacy we really want to leave for our children and grand-children. These men - Bush and Blair - are our leaders, elected to be our representatives and whether we like it or not, it is almost incumbent upon us to address their legacy of violence and deceit.

Impeachment or election defeat for Bush and resignation or defeat for Blair in a general election may well be our only options, but it would be our failure if we turned a blind eye to their excesses.

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April 19, 2004

Fool

It would appear that Tony Blair is surprised by how unstable security is in Iraq in the aftermath of the invasion last year. Is it any wonder though, given the abscence of any apparent exit strategy for the US and UK? Couldn't be another half-baked policy criticised in a leaked cabinet memo. --------

Posted by Clive at 10:08 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Euro-Turn

So Tony Blair has executed one for the biggest U-Turns in UK political history.

I see no case for having a referendum on this.
- Tony Blair, May 13, 2003

There will not be a referendum.
- Tony Blair, October 17, 2003

But is it really the U-turn everyone seems to think it is? For starters, Blair is not announcing a referendum, but rather a manifesto commitment to holding a referendum. As with Tuition Fees, Blair doesn't see manifesto promises as anything more substantial that marketing ploys, and certainly not as binding commitments. And with the next election most likely 18 months away, there is plenty of time for the promise to be dropped should Labour be re-elected. In the meantime, such announcement would - he hopes - defuse the issue, allowing him to try a focus on domestic policy, along with the impending Euro elections on 10th June. It also comes at a time when fighting in Iraq continues to dominate the news, and so anything that could show Tony as listening to the voice of the people would make a welcome change.

Blair's biggest threat is his own back-benchers, many of whom are contemplating an ammendment to the Bill making it subject to a referendum. As both the Tories and the Lib-Dems are pro-plebiscite, it is very likely that Blair would have to accept such an ammendment, loosing political face as a consequence. By announcing the referendum now, he can hope to try and head off any back-bench revolt, and at the same time giving himself the breathing space to bring all his forces of spin and scaremongering to bear on the issue.

Having accepted a Euro referendum, it is incumbent on Tony - as a good European - to deliver a Yes vote. Anything less than unanimity from all 25 nations would derail the federalisation of Europe and, worse still, destroy what little credibility Blair has in Europe after the invasion of Iraq. And with Blair still desperate to leave a lasting mark on British history, being remembered as the man who failed to deliver a European Constitution would be a devastating and humiliating blow to his psyche.

Until the referendum date is announced, and the wording of the question made public (a question that should address the Constitution, not simply whether or not to be in or out of the EU), I will consider this to be just another cynical ploy from Blair, made in an effort to hang on to power and pander to his vanity.

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April 16, 2004

Back Pedalling

It would appear that, having seen the response to his support of Sharon's revised peace plan, Blair is now frantically back-pedalling in an effort to have everyone love him. One has to wonder whether Tony ever considered thinking before opening his mouth on this one. --------

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Message to Bin LadenBush

The Sun today published its own response to Bin Laden's offer of a truce with the European Nations. For those who don't wish to grace a Murdoch website with their presence, the text of the message follows:

This is a message for Osama Bin Laden.
You try to terrorise the innocent by boasting about the evil acts of others.
But the free world will not bow to the rantings of a cowardly murderer.
Especially not one who is afraid to show himself.
You are an enemy of the world but we, who cherish our life in the civilised world, have faced bigger bullies that you and defeated them before.
We will never surrender to terrorists.
We will never give in to threats.
We will fight evil wherever it rears its head. We will win this war.
You send out threats. Consider this your goods returned.
Your days are numbered. You cannot hide forever.
And when you are found you will be brought to justice.
We offer no truce.

- copyright 2003 New Group Newspapers

With the sole exception of lines one and four, and the second sentence on line ten, the message could apply with equal validity to George Bush. And what is the difference between Bin Laden hiding in Afghanistan, and Bush being surrounded by Secret Service agents, driven in armed motorcades and generally shielding himself with the military might of the US? By lowering themselves to the same level as Bin Laden, Bush and Blair have become no better than Osama, and I would call upon The Sun to send the same message to them.

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Crunch time

Blair meets Bush today, and the moment has arrived - possibly for the first time in his Premiership - when Tony must stopped telling his audience what it wants to hear, stop trying to be liked all the time and instead come out with the cold, hard truth. Tony Blair must tell George W. Bush in no uncertain terms, that there is no military solution to the conflict in Iraq. He needs to make it clear that the War on Terror cannot be won by force of arms, that victory instead will come through winning the battle of hearts and minds.

Tragically, the signals coming from Downing St take a far more conciliatory tone.

The PMS said that we were in agreement with the US about the overall strategy and approach to dealing with Iraq.

If Tony Blair truly wishes to be seen as a great international statesman, then now is the time for him to step forward from Bush's coat tails and make a stand. Sadly I suspect that once again, when it comes to the crunch, Tony Blair will fail to deliver.

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United We Stand

When I was growing up during the Thatcher Years, the Labour Party of the time appeared so ineffectual that the Unions were seen as the last defenders of the rights of the ordinary working man. In spite of their defeats during the 1980s, they did at least try to act as a counterweight to the government, while the Labour Party indulged in internicine strife and navel gazing. Today we have a Labour government, but a government that appears to put the needs of big business first, a government that has done little to encourage the growth of the manufacturing industry, a government that actively encourages the outsourcing of service industry jobs to countries such as India. So now, and much as at any time in the past, we need a strong, conhesive Union movement to balance the rightward movement in mainstream politics. Which makes the internal warfare within Aslef such a soul-destroying occurence. Whether or not you agree with Shaun Brady's Blairite sympathies, the bottom line is that he is the elected General Secretary, and both he and the Union Executive should be resolving the issues between them without trying to tear the union apart. --------

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April 15, 2004

Religion

Now the Anglican Church is getting in on the webnetthingy. The i-church has long-listed seven applicants for a Web Pastor and Ship of Fools, the magazine of Christian Unrest is opening a 3D internet church, The Church of Fools. --------

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Viral Politics

Labour introduced The Big Conversation, an effort to engage the general public in the policy-making process that may have been motivated by either a desire to appear in touch with the nation or an attempt to re-invigorate tired policies with fresh ideas. Now the Conservatives have decided to try a similar approach with their party advertising. Well good luck to them, because they sure as heck are going to need all the luck they can get, given how comprehensively they are failing to get the webnetthingy.

It's a shame really, because the viral nature of the webnetthingy could have one of two profound effects on politics. If the major parties manage to get their heads round the concepts, we could see the exact antithesis of The Big Conversation. Instead of merely canvassing the public for ideas, new policies could be disseminated prior to implementation. by careful tracking and refinement it would be possible for the political Parties to constantly hone their policies in such a way as to achieve their political objectives whilst sidestepping any contentious debate within Parliament. However I consider this consequence to be extremely unlikely, as it relies on senior politicians being prepared to subvert their ideological beliefs for the sake of concensus, something many of them (are you listening Tony and Gordon) appear totally incapable of doing.

However, were we to introduce a system of PR, then such a viral approach would enable the smaller, more flexible parties to exert a greater influence than traditional methods would allow. It would then become a great leveller and potentially see the gradual deconstruction of the large, almost monolithic parties of today. The opportunities for non-partisan government might become capable of realisation, and we might finally see government of the people, by the people. It may not occur in my lifetime, but in the political blogosphere we may very well be seeing the beginning of the end of traditional party politics.

Update - 14:50 - More at Bloggerheads

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Out of touch

Not content with making a right royal mess of Iraq, messrs Bush and Blair now seem determined to see what havoc they can cause in relations between Israel and the Palestinians. By supporting Sharon's proposal, Blair has - alongside Bush - effectively recognised Israel's right to maintain settlements on the West Bank, making a mockery of the peace process. I suspect that Sharon's intentions are to provoke the Palestinians into increasing acts of violence, whilst at the same time attempting to portray himself as a man wronged by having his peaceful overture rejected. He can then use the threat of violence as an excuse for a clampdown on both Gazza and the West Bank, with the end result being increased an Israeli presence in the disputed territories, rather than a peaceful withdrawal. That Blair should choose to stand alongside Bush in supporting this move shows just how desperate Blair is to be seen as a great international statesman, and how inexorably entwined our foriegn policy has become with that of the US. --------

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Pot, meet Kettle

So Alistair Campbell thinks Michael Howard is "nasty"? Good to see from this article in The Scotsman that the old bruiser is still living in his own strange virtual reality. --------

Posted by Clive at 11:16 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

April 14, 2004

European View

A brilliant article by Matthias Matussek was published in Der Spiegel last week, in which he takes a critical and in many cases, damning view of Britain under New Labour. The original is in German, but a translation can be found in The Independant. Whether or not you agree with Matussek's conclusions, he does make some valid points, --------

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Pointing the finger

So now it is our fault that the attacks of 11th Sep 2001 took place. --------

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"Would you like to supersize that?"

And I thought McDonald's were trying to improve their image by including healthier options. Not sure how heroin fits in with that. --------

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Education

According to Pat Lerew, President of the NASUWT, the high level of violence in schools today is a direct result of Thatcherism. Personally I'd say that is giving Thatcher far too much credit, not to mention being a cop out. There are a multitude of reasons behind the rise in violence in the classroom, and the decline in tradition forms of school discpline plays at least an equal part. While Thatcher's Children were out grabbing every penny they could, the schools - whether they liked it or not - should have been acting in loco parentis, at least to a degree. After all, from the age of 5 children spend between 6 and 7 hours a day in school, 5 days a week so the educational establishment must bear some responsibility for the failure to inculcate children with a sense of social responsibility. There again, the NASUWT conference probably wouldn't want to hear that they must bear some of the blame, that their right-on liberal approach to discipline actually weakened their authority. So rather than indulge in some open and honest self-criticism, it has proved far easier to point the finger at past politicians, at the media and at parents themselves as being responsible for the decline. --------

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Iraq

I was going to blog about Blair's trip to the US, about how he should use the opportunity to try and restrain the almost inevitable military overkill we are going to see as a consequence of Falluja. But what is the point? Blair has about as much influence on Bush as a flea on an elephant. The mess in Iraq owes almost as much to Blair's misplaced sense of being an international statesman as it does to Bush's hawkish determination to teach Saddam a lesson. Blair was never going to prevent the US invasion, never going to swing the UN behind the invasion. Instead of tying our fortunes to Bush's apron strings, Blair should have concentrated on building a UN-based concensus on Iraq. Without the undermining effects of the US and UK going it alone in Iraq, we might now be in a position where the international community could try and bring some sense of calm to the country. As it is, we are just going to see a rising body count, larger military forces commitment and a massive increase in civilian suffering, all to secure Iraq as Airstrip 2. And as long as Blair stands shoulder-to-shoulder with Bush, there will be no end until a bloodier price than Vietnam has been paid. --------

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April 13, 2004

Normal Service will be resumed...

... tomorrow. After a blissful 5 day break during which I shifted 5 tonnes of crushed limestone, built a small greenhouse, helped a neighbour build a dog pen, went rat hunting, reconnected with the wife and children and was crucified before an audience, I am now fully rejuvenated and ready once more to sound off. --------

Posted by Clive at 7:47 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

April 8, 2004

Council Tax

I bet council tax payers are seething in Scotland. Just days after the announcement of inflation busting council tax increases, it turns out that Scottish local authorities have stashed away £320 million, with £25 million in Edinburgh alone. Whilst prudence should not be condemned, especially when councils can be hit with unforseen expenses, hording on this scale seems completely unjustified. In Edinburgh, the surplus equates to £119 per household, or nearly 10%. While no one would expect a cut in council tax, surely some of the reserve could have been used to reduce the increase, if only by a percentage point. --------

Posted by Clive at 3:27 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

War

Some telling points from an interview with Robin Cookregarding the current situation in Iraq.

"What we have done over the last few days, I fear, is we have increased the strength of the militants and we have cut the ground from underneath the moderates, which is the last thing we should be doing."

"We need to adopt a policy of peacekeeping and minimum force and try and defuse the situation, rather than ... escalating the situation.

"The problem we have at present is we are dealing with a puppet regime installed by the US which doesn't appear to command much support from its own people."

"Part of the difficulty that underlies this is that the US went in with no exit strategy at all because Donald Rumsfeld never saw them leaving. The first thing he did after the war was to close the [US military] bases in Saudi Arabia, because he thought he now had bases in Iraq."

"Tony Blair was not, I'm sure, complicit in the full hidden agenda of the US. The sad fact, though, is that we are now stuck in Iraq as very much the junior partner with our advice unfortunately not always being heard. "

I have only one point to make. Either Tony Blair knew what the US hidden agenda was, condoned it and thus effectively lied to the people, or he was naive enough to seriously believe that the US shared his sense of moral rightness. Naive or dishonest, the same options presented to one of his ministers last week. A minister who subsequently resigned.

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Families

According to a poll in the BBC's Parenting magazine, Marge Simpson is the most popular mother, and Gary Lineker the most popular father. Throw in Sean Connery (grandfather), Judi Dench (grandmother) and Harry Potter (most popular child) and you have quite an interesting family unit. The interesting thing is that Marge also topped a recent poll by the Mothers Union, and Bart Simpson was placed second in the BBC poll. That a family derided by George Bush Snr in his 1992 presidential campaign should be popular is maybe a sign that all is not lost. --------

Posted by Clive at 9:40 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Terror

Interesting use of English over at the BBC today. When announcing that one of the nine "ammonium nitrate" terror suspects had been re-arrested, this time on charges of deception, they used the phrase dearrested under the Terrorism Act , rather than released. I would have thought that a better way of putting it would have been released without charge, but maybe the Terrorism Act requires some specific de-arresting process. Is it me or does de-arrest give a lessor impression of innocence than the more familiar released without charge? It is almost as if being released after arrest under the Act is intended to leave some residual stain of suspicion or guilt. Odd. --------

Posted by Clive at 9:13 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

NHS

One minute we're being warned about the harm caused by watching too much tv, the next we find that the NHS forces some patients to watch tv for up to 15 hours a day. Apparently there are nearly 20,000 televisions without on-off switches installed in NHS hospitals. If patients complain too much, then a technician is required to actually turn the tv off, hardly an effeicient and effective use of resources in the health service. It turns out that the company supplying the equipment - Patientline - has since introduced a second-generation set which incorporates an on-off switch, and hospitals with the first-generation kit will be offered an upgrade at some point. I somehow doubt that it will be a free upgrade, leaving hospitals with the older equipment in a Catch-22 situation; either waste money paying for upgraded equipment or waste money paying technicians to switch off the older sets. --------

Posted by Clive at 9:05 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

April 7, 2004

The Sun

You can always rely on the Sun to get things completely out of proportion (bit like some of the Page 3 girls actually). According to the Sun, Al Qaeda were attempting to make a flesh-melting bomb using Osmium Tetroxide. Conjures images of people staggering from tube stations, their flesh falling from them in gelatinous lumps like rotting zombies from Dawn of the Dead. Now it may make for a good headline, but it is hardly realistic. For starters the terrorists would have to get hold of the chemical in the first place, and the cheapest place I found was £20 per gram. A quick glance at the material safety sheet (link courtesy of bloggerheads) shows that while the stuff is corrosive, the biggest problem is with inhalation, but I guess cough inducing bomb doesn't have quite the same ring to it.

Okay, so we know it is nasty stuff when inhaled, but first you've got to get people to inhale it. It isn't simply a case of mixing the osmium (Christ if security forces read this site, I'm probably in trouble) with an explosive and then blowing it up, because unless you've got a considerable quantity of the substance in a weaponised state (e.g. extremely fine dust particles that will stay suspended in the atmosphere), all you're going to do is make life difficult for the cleanup crew. Now if they were talking about mustard gas, lewisite, etc then I'd be concerned, but osmium is up there with anthrax and vx, a bugger to actually deploy effectively. Use it in a bomb, and the actual blast will cause far more injuries and deaths than any added osmium.

What I suspect is going on is that Al Qaeda wants this information to get out, but has no real intention of using it. The mere threat ensures that in the event of a bomb attack, or bomb materials being found, the security forces will have to use full protective clothing regardless. Net result would be massive effect for minimal effort. That's the secret of terror attacks; it isn't what they do, but what they could do.

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Speed

The country's shortest 30mph zone eh. I wonder how long before they stick a speed camera on it. --------

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Crisis, what crisis

Bush and Blair are meeting soon, and top of the agenda will be Iraq. The handover of sovereignty is due at the end of June, but we have yet to see any coherent plans to implement a functional, democratic government. At the same time there are increasing outbreaks of violence, and a confusion regarding security roles and responsibilities that has resulted in an increased dependance on British and American forces. There are currently 105,000 allied troops in Iraq, compared with 130,000 during the actual conflict last year, hardly the sign of increased stability.

Bush and Blair may deny any crisis in Iraq, but no matter how you look at it, Iraq is in crisis.

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Hmmm

I wonder if this is the reason why Tony Blair has retained John Prescott as Deputy PM? Would explain a lot. --------

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Vindication

So David Blunkett reckons the latest foiled plot to bomb the underground vindicates the tough new anti-terror laws he has introduced. Apparently it shows that the government did not exaggerate the terror threat, but I think our Home Secretary is missing the point. No one doubts that - thanks to Tony Blair - the UK is a prime target for an Al Qaeda attack, but what is disputed is whether the annoucement of exposed plots constitute real counter-terrorist successes or media distractions.

So far we've had:

- an unsustantiated claim of a plot to use cyanide gas on the London Underground.
- nine people arrested (but only one so far charged) and half a ton of ammonium nitrate held.
- an supposed plot to use Osmium Tetroxide in a chemical bomb on the London Underground.

And this is justification for the Government trying to scare us sh*tless on a regular basis, and - strangely enough - at times when domestic policy seems to be going a bit pear-shaped. Even more ironic, given the tough new laws, is the fact that the one person so far charged in relation to the ammonium nitrate plot, has been charged under an 1883 law, which may well be tough, but sure as heck isn't new.

I'll consider Blunkett and co. to be vindicated only when solid evidence is discovered, and the potential terrorists arrested, charged and convicted in a court of law. And convicted by standards of proof used in all cases, not the reduced standards Blunkett desires so much. Until then, all I will continue to assume that the threat is being used to scare us into acceptance of legislation that impinges upon our personal freedoms.

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Can't get there from here

On of the key factors in modern warfare is battlefield mobility, about getting forces from point A to point B as quickly as possible. Unfortunately for British troops, it seems that the procurement department is probably still living in the days of cavalry, certainly on current performance. First we radios that didn't work, guns that jammed, tanks without dust filters, insufficient body armour and now we have helicopters which can't fly in cloudy weather or conditions of poor visibility, such as those found on a battlefield. These new helicopters won't be fixed until 2007, which is a nightmare given that the RAF has a shortfall in helicopters that won't be resolved until 2017.

To be honest, with the current standards of equipment provided to our armed forces, we're effectively sending them out naked every time they're commited to action. How long before all they have is big sticks and harsh language to use? Perhaps it is time for the families of soldiers killed in one of Tony's moral wars or conflicts to consider a civil action against HMG for unlawful killing, 'cause from where I'm sitting it sure looks like manslaughter to me.

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April 6, 2004

Terror Attacks

So, the security forces have foiled another terrorist plot to bomb the London Underground. The big deal - at first glance - is the mention of Osmium Tetroxide, which is typically used as either a catalyst or a staining agent. Its applicability to a terrorist bomb seems a bit obscure. Although the chemical does act as an irritant and is toxic - leading to asthma-like symptoms on inhalation, the Police have yet to find any Osmium Tetroxide. And in spite of the toxicity, it isn't particularly cheap, costing in the region of £20 per gm. Not really Al Qaeda's style, and so I suspect we have another case similar to that from last year where the tube was supposedly at risk from a cyanide gas attack that came to nothing.

On a related note, it will be interesting to see what happens to the people arrested last week in connection with the discovery of potential bomb-making materials. The first must be released by the end of today and the others on thursday, unless application is made to detain them for longer.

Call me cynical, but this all comes at a useful time for a beleagured Prime Minister, doesn't it?

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Corporate Colonialism

Most people think of outsourcing as only affecting jobs in certain areas, such as IT or call centres. For many it is a case of "so what". Maybe they wouldn't be so complacent if they knew that they were exposed to potential fraud. The fact that Capital One has already pulled out, and comments such as "given the volume of offshoring that is going on and the risks attached, there will be a major regulatory failing within five years", made recently by Ernst and Young. As I have said before, the outsourcing, en masse, of jobs to India is not the way to help that (or any other) country's economy to develop. --------

Posted by Clive at 11:52 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Missing

Apparently the nation has managed to misplace a million people at the last census. --------

Posted by Clive at 11:39 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Oops

So slackness, inefficiency, and possibly incompetance as well, at Camden Borough Council has resulted in three squatters being granted ownership of a former-council property worth nearly £0.5 million. What is depressing is not the value of the property, nor the fact that the council has failed to get its act together for the best part of thirty years. The tragedy is that there must be hundreds of properties in similar situations, not necessarily of equal value though, that councils have just given up on. If they are prepared to write-off the value of the properties concerned, then wouldn't it be better to enforce the councils ownership and then turn them into council flats for lower income people? Surely that would be better than simply giving up and handing them over? --------

Posted by Clive at 11:31 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

The Sun

More Becks Sex in the Sun today, though only the top three stories on line cover this boring subject. Lower down - after the Becks Bird is Bisexual story - we find the Sun bragging about how it has forced Tony Blair to consider a referendum on EU membership. Personally I detect the hand of Murdoch behind this, a quiet word with Tony and Rupert's your uncle. --------

Posted by Clive at 11:20 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Pensions

It looks as though the Labour backbenchers have had enough. Disappointed by the fact that the Pensions bill provides no relief for the 60,000 pensioners already affected by the collapse of their funds, Kevin Brennan (Lab, Cardiff West) has tabled a Commons Early Day Motion calling for the Government to compensate those affected. Impessively, the motion has already garnered the support of 291 MPs, of which 203 are Labour. Once again Tony is facing defeat, and this time the chances of the legislation in question, the Pensions Bill, surviving are extremely low. Even if it survives in the Commons, the Lords will almost certainly send it back and it is highly unlikely that there would be sufficient support in the Commons to overrule the upper house.

The bottom line is that many of the 60,000 affected have spent a lifetime working, showing prudence in planning for their retirement, only to have it snatched away from them. And whilst there is no single figure who can be blamed, consecutive governments have failed to get a grip of the issues, from the Conservative Government's botched handling of the Maxwell affair with the sunsequent introduction of ill-conceived legislation that failed to offer significant protection; to Labour's introduction of rigid accounting rules which hammered many reasonably well-managed funds, and the imposition of the tax on dividends paid into pension funds. We need to sort this out now, because demographics are against us. The ideal solution would be a state run pension, but properly managed and funded, rather than a inadequate safety net funded from current tax revenues. However I doubt that we'll see anything that radical in my lifetime.

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Outrage

There's more than a bit of outrage at Liverpool's Metropolitan Cathedral as a result of the cathedral featuring in an advert with a topless model being "crucified" in front of it. The image in question can be found at the the website of the company concerned, bdbx. And while it isn't the most tasteful of pictures, I suspect that it will now get more visibility as a result of the hue and cry than it otherwise would have. It certainly strikes me as more "bad taste" than blasphemy.

And for those who don't like flash, here's the image concerned....

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April 5, 2004

Railways

Thames Trains has been fined £2 million for health and safety failings which led to the crash at Ladbroke Grove in October 1999. This should be seen as a victory for the Paddington Survivors Group, especially in light of the way the Government had attempted to smear them, an act that finally cost Stephen Byers his role as Transport Minister. --------

Posted by Clive at 5:32 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

The Numbers Game

So Tony Blair is to hold an immigration summit as the immigration fiasco rumbles inexorably on. Blair was probably hoping that Beverley Hughes' resignation would draw a line under the matter, but that seems impossible as further revelations of high level deals leak out. That the Prime Minister could consider a deal whereby visa requirements for immigrants from Romania were eased in exchange for a reduction in asylum applicants, just to assist the Government in claiming to have met targets shows how obsessed it is with playing the numbers game, rather than actually implementing sensible policies.

And Blair has only himself to blame, for in failing to bring forward convincing arguments and sound economic reasons for immigrant workers and instead kowtowing to those elements of the media who shouted the loudest for restrictions on the numbers of asylum seekers. The origins of the current crisis lie back in February last year. The media had at that time been full of stories regarding bogus asylum claims and although Sangatte had closed, the public had neither forgotten it nor what it seemed to have stood for. In to this frenzy stepped Tony Blair, man of the people, who's response to public outcry was to promise to halve the number of asylum seekers by September 2003. As with all these policy announcements there is a world of difference between the saying and the doing, and the devil was in the detail. Having rashly made the promise, the Government was beholden to deliver if not a halving, then at least a substantial reduction in numbers. And the consequence of this ill-considered commitment seems to have been the introduction of various fast-track schemes, corner cutting on entry visa requirements and other acts of legerdemain.

Yet it was all so unnecessary. Had the Government spelled out this country's need for additional skilled and unskilled workers; had it pointed out that many migrants were from countries acceding to the EU in the next few years anyway and would thus have relaxed entry requirements; in short, had the Government acted in an open, forthright and clearheaded manner then there would be no current crisis. Instead they displayed the archetypical traits of New Labour, resorting to obfuscation and spin to try and get the people to hear what the Government thought they wanted to hear. Playing the numbers game is the easy option, relying on headline targets to give the appearance of solid government action. But numbers are no substitute for considered policy implementation. As the truth came out, the Government made itself look incompetent, deceitful and untrustworthy. It is apparent that this is a Government that has never heard the phrase "when you're in a hole, stop digging", and until such time as they put the shovel down, we will be treated to the unedifying sight of a Government that has, though its own ineptitude, played into the hands of the xenophobic elements of society.

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Posted by Clive at 4:46 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Political Correctness

Last week it was a junior football league in Sheffield that, in an excess of politically correct zeal, banned the reporting of any football score over 14-0. This week we go north of the border where the Scottish Football Association and the Scottish Executive have decided it is their turn to show just how touchy feely they can be. In an effort to protect primary school footballers from the harsh reality of competitive sport, it is proposed to make matches friendlier by allowing teams facing hefty defeat to field extra players, and resetting the score to 0-0 at half time. Don't see how that's supposed to work though. One week a team is losing 12-0, the next week they draw 3-3, but fielded 3 extra players and ignored a first half scoreline of 3-0 to the opposition. So rather than the humiliation of a thorough trouncing, weaker teams will instead have to put up with the shame of only being able to win with extra players and half the match being ignored. Bonkers. --------

Posted by Clive at 12:28 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Sex

Good to see that in these times of turmoil, the Sun manages to cover all the bases with its top six stories which relate not to the introduction of ID cards, not the collecting of DNA samples, not the immigration summit that Tone is having this week. Oh no, they're far to trivial for the Sun, which leads with six (go on, count 'em) stories about David Beckham playing hide the helmet with his PA.

So we're treated to

• Posh's agony over Becks 'affair'


• And she really is posh ...


• 'I did sleep with Becks'


• I warned him about girl


• Becks and the sex texts


• Driver: All over each other

I mean, for f**ks sake, he's an overpaid footballer (who might just lose his contract with Vodafone over the text messages) and she's a talentless glory-hound. It's hardly the end of the world for heavens sake.

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Posted by Clive at 11:55 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Civil liberties

Once again Tony Blair is waging another assualt on our civil liberties. Not content with compulsory ID cards, he also wants the police to use new legislation to take DNA samples from anyone they arrest, regardless of the seriousness of the crime, whether or not the person is actually charged and above all, without the person's consent. What is more disturbing is that Blair will undoubtedly use the current climate of fear of terrorist attack to push these powers through, without a full appreciation of how they may be abused in future. Another day under New Labour, and another infringement of your liberties. Of course we can expect the old "if you've done nothing wrong, then you've nothing to fear" routine to be trotted out, but that is avoiding the real issue. As free people, why should we be classified and categorised, recorded and monitored in such a totalitarian manner. --------

Posted by Clive at 11:27 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Ebay madness

Tunnel boring machine anyone? Only one careful owner, delivery not included.

Update - 12:35 - Anyone interested might like to know that the machine in question is somewhere between 6m and 8.5m in diameter and between 211m and 318m in length, depending on which machine is being auctioned.

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Posted by Clive at 9:36 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

April 2, 2004

Democracy in decline

All power to the Lords for trying to stop it, but the Government has got its own way and the best part of half the English electorate will have to vote by post at the European elections in June. For some reason this Government seems to believe that postal voting will increase turnout, but why anyone will be bothered to fill out a postal ballot rather than go to a polling station is beyond me. The problem with poor turnouts has nothing to do with the hassle of getting to a polling station, and everything to do with people feeling unrepresented and disenfranchised. If politicians really want to increase the turnout at elections, then there are two simple steps they need to take. Firstly dust off the Jenkins Report and introduce proportional representation. I know it was a manifesto commitment in 1997 and New Labour is seriously averse to sticking by its promises, but that would at least make people feel that their vote actually counts. The other step is for Government to actually listen to our elected representatives. In a truly democratic nation, the Government would have listened to the fact that the Higher Education bill only scraped through by 5 votes. They would have then consulted with those opposed to the original legislation and made acceptable ammendments. Instead of which they simply bludgeoned the Bill through.

Worse still is the fact that not only will postal voting not increase the turnout, but it will also lead to more opportunities for electoral fraud, an activity that tends to favour the Labour Party. Not that I would for one minute suggest that there is any other motive behind this change than simple misguided New Labour bad ideas.

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Posted by Clive at 12:56 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Web stuff

Makes a change from porn. --------

Posted by Clive at 12:44 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Your government

Is this the sort of government we want, where an unelected crony of Tony Blair's abuses his powers to discipline someone from his department for telling the truth? The Lord Chancellor, Charlie Falconer, was yesterday accused of contempt for trying to suspend Judy Weleminskey for submitting written evidence to MPs regarding deficiencies at Cafcass. Her crimes were, in Falconer's words, failure to observe confidentiality and failure to behave in a corporate manner. So from that we can assume that Charlie likes to encourage a climate of dishonesty where any failings are to be covered up by hiding evidence from MPs.

The killer bit comes at the end of the report...

MPs on the standards committee agreed no further action should be taken against Lord Falconer or the former Cafcass board chairman, Anthony Hewson, and a senior official in the Department for Constitutional Affairs, David Crawley. But it said all three had been guilty of contempt of Parliament.

Well that shows how highly Parliament is regarded these days. Three individuals found guilty of contempt, but no further action to be taken. If this is leading by example, then is it no wonder that democracy is held in such little respect when unelected grandees can escape with nothing more than being told off for being naughty, naughty boys.

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Posted by Clive at 12:18 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Railways

The rail regulator, Tom Winsor, has come out fighting, obviously realising that creeping nationalisation of the railways will put him out of a job. His problem is that a lot of the report's criticisms are justified, as are those directed at the SRA. Given that the biggest problem facing the rail network is the complexity introduced by privatisation and the difficulty in reversing this when dealing with private companies, then the only real solution is re-nationalisation. --------

Posted by Clive at 10:31 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Trust

And so the immigration row rumbles on, with attention now switching to David Blunkett. It would be a shame if one of this government's more able ministers was forced to resign, but at the end of the day it is important that openess and accountability are brought to what is one of the most contentious areas of politics at the moment. After all, the mendacity of Ms Hughes, and the generally poor handling of this row is merely playing into the hands of extreme racist groups such as the BNP. After all, it's about trust, stupid. As long as the government fails to come clean on this matter, people are going to think the worst, or at least give credance to rumours, and that is the worst possible situation to be in with regards to immigration and asylum seekers. As an illustration of just how far this government has slipped in the people's trust, consider that Tony Blair was told of the correspondance between Hughes and Ainsworth before Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday, yet chose to say nothing about it. Add in the fact that the two whistleblowers involved are both facing disciplinary action, and you are left with the abiding impression of a government incapable of honesty and determine to silence any criticism from within, an impression made all the worse by the fact that Labour actually introduced the Public Interest Disclosure Act precisely to protect whistleblowers in these cases. --------

Posted by Clive at 9:42 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Best man for the job?

Given his track record, I'm not convinced that Michael Grade is really the best man for the job of Chairman of the BBC. This is the man who, at the same time as boosting the audiences for Panorama and Omnibus, gave us Eastenders and scrapped Doctor Who. He then moved to Channel 4 and perpetrated such crimes as Eurotrash, Dyke TV and The Word. One thing is for sure, the BBC is in for some interesting - if not particularly safe or comfortable - times under Michael Grade. It will be very interesting to see who is appointed Director General. --------

Posted by Clive at 9:18 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

April 1, 2004

Hmmm

Whilst not in the Rosie Reid league, it seems that becoming a virtual girlfriend is a new avenue being followed by debt-ridden students. I guess it has the advantage in that, unlike one's virginity, there are opportunities for repeat business. In a typical British twist, someone has come up with the concept of the virtual nagging wife, and it can't be long before we start to see virtual mother-in-laws. Now that is a scary thought.

Actually the frightening bit is just how bad these university students grammar is. Take (ooerr) Emma Jones for example...

My name is Emma Jones and Im 19years old and Im a student trying to get by and pay my fee's etc.

I hope she isn't studying English, though with a nice arse like that who cares about her language skills?

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Posted by Clive at 1:14 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Railways

More bad news I'm afraid. Read this and weep. £10 billion for the West Coast Mainline upgrade is nearly £3 billion more that NASA intends spending to put a man back on the moon. And the WCML project is only supposed to take passengers from London to Glasgow at up to 125mph. Had the original 140mph targets been retained, then the bill would now be approaching £40 billion! --------

Posted by Clive at 12:29 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

About time too

After all revelations about immigration fiascos, immigration minister Beverley Hughes has finally resigned. The shame of it all is the way she tenaciously hung on in spite of revelations piling one upon another. It will be interesting to she what happens in the cabinet reshuffle this will inevitably provoke, especially given the staunch support Ms Hughes received from David Blunkett.

Update - 11:55 - More details emerge. Apparently she quit after giving a "misleading impression - albeit unwittingly" to MPs. So her vehement denial of knowing anything about the issue before last month, in spite of the fact that a year ago Home Office minister, Bob Ainsworth, had told her of it, and she had even replied to him and taken action constitutes unwitting behaviour. Yesterday she defended herself, saying "I am neither incompetent nor dishonest." Well I hate to disappoint her, but on the basis of the last few weeks she can't have it both ways. Let's see if Des Browne can make a decent job of cleaning up Bev's mess and taking things forward.

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Posted by Clive at 10:47 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Say it aint so

The trouble with today is trying to sift the real stories from the April Fools. Take, for example, the story in today's Independant regarding the Archers. It states that the BBC have brought in Brian Eno to update the theme tune, giving it a more modern, almost rave-like feel. Spoof or genuine story? --------

Posted by Clive at 10:11 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

BBC

I hope to God this story about Peter Mandelson being the front-runner to become chairman of the BBC is an April Fool. Unfortunately it is all too plausible, and exactly the sort things we've come to expect from New Labour. Although conversely, it is also just the sort of humour one could expect from the Guardian. --------

Posted by Clive at 9:37 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

April Fool

Is this story about a chicken filled nuclear landmine an April Fool or not? --------

Posted by Clive at 9:31 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack