I appreciate the blockade situation is not clear cut, I also appreciate we may not know all the facts, but what Israel did here last night could be described as totally uncalled for and alarming at best. In any case the Israeli government are going to find themselves in a habit of explaining themselves and issuing "regrets" if their sledgehammer tactics continue
Monday, May 31, 2010
"Regret" is not good enough Prime Minister Netanyahu
Is it just me or does the word "regret" stick in one's throat here. How about "disproportionate", "reckless", "ill-judged", and "tragic".
Sunday, May 30, 2010
David Laws Resigns
It had it's tragedy but it was inevitable, and as Tom Harris has said it is down to his financial situation more than anything else and it is that what has annoyed a no of people who have called for Laws to go.
I am sorry that he felt so trapped and, lets not forget that many of us (whatever our sexuality) would be tempted to do the same in his place rather than let our parents know something about us we would rather they didn't. But that does not justify what he has done, it has merely made a no of us empathise.
I am sorry that he felt so trapped and, lets not forget that many of us (whatever our sexuality) would be tempted to do the same in his place rather than let our parents know something about us we would rather they didn't. But that does not justify what he has done, it has merely made a no of us empathise.
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Gary Coleman RIP
Sad, and was rather shocked when my brother rang to tell me. Different Strokes was a favourite programme of mine as a child and it was somewhat sad to hear of the troubling stories about it's lead actors in recent years. I hope now that he is at peace.
David Laws: The First Coalition Scandal
On first reading this I was shocked, even outraged that Laws did not make his claims open earlier, but then it's since become clear that he was understandably anxious not to let his sexuality out into the open and that has clearly helped cause him problems with the current situation. In terms of being "outed" in the process, my heart goes out to him and his partner.
That said he does seem to be playing fast and loose with the definition of "partner" and whilst he has not been crooked over the financial situation, he could have worked around it at least and should certainly been a bit more honest. At the least he should perhaps take a break from his job whilst there is an investigation as Stephen Tall suggests.
That said he does seem to be playing fast and loose with the definition of "partner" and whilst he has not been crooked over the financial situation, he could have worked around it at least and should certainly been a bit more honest. At the least he should perhaps take a break from his job whilst there is an investigation as Stephen Tall suggests.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Dunkirk - 70 Years On!
In 1987 I went on my first trip abroad without my family. It was a week-long school trip to Valkenberg in Holland, and along the way we drove past Dunkirk. I was struck by the sight of large memorial tablets by the side of the road, a reminder of the cost that was involved in the rescue of those many soldiers who were trapped in this Belgian town in May 1940.
And so it is that seventy years on that we recall the sacrifices involved, in particular the flotilla of boats being sailed by many ordinary British people, some of whom had never heard a shot fired in anger or had seen violence at close hand. They knew the risks and some of them died for their bravery and their belief in the duty in saving others. This indeed, was one of the first incidences during the Second World War where many British people had found themselves on the Front Line and they would do so again in the devastation of the Blitz later that year.
But they did not cower, they did not turn back and they refused to budge in the face of a vile and cowardly enemy that left the World reeling from the magnitude of it's evil before the War ended. Churchill said of the Battle of Britain that this was Our Finest Hour and with great respect to the memory of one of our greatest Prime Ministers I slightly disagree. We had a no of fine hours during this War and our attempts to rescue as many soldiers at Dunkirk as possible is one of them.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
The David Miliband Campaign Website
It's here, it's bold, it's imaginative, and I think we have an exciting journey ahead of us!
Unsure? Then take a look!
Monday, May 24, 2010
Gideon the Axeman
In the Old Testament, in the Book of Judges to be precise, there is a character named Gideon whom God calls to drive the Midanites out of Israel. He is nervous and uncertain and a man of great humility, and yet (as with many Biblical figures and great people throughout history) that humility is used to great advantage and through cunning and intelligence the Midanites are defeated.
Some 3,000 years later, a namesake who decides to eschew such a name which he sees as naff, has no sense of proper humility (indeed if this little incident is anything to go by) and yet in being bold and trying to look clever and wise he makes mistakes, and today he has been making mistakes which will rebound on the more vulnerable in our society.
For a start there is the axing of Child Trust Fund Payments, which is pure Thatcherism in terms of seeing a policy as indulgence rather than helping those who desperately need it, then of course he is being a bit coy regards to job losses. He hasn't mentioned any and this morning my Jaw dropped when I watched him being interviewed on BBC Breakfast stating that there would be no refilling of vacancies, but no redundancies either! What Planet does he think we are on, of course there will be job losses in that sort of environment, unless of course he wishes to give redundancies another name.
To be honest though, how many of us expected nothing less from the man. Make no mistake though, as this morning's Times cartoon showed. Osborne will do the dirty and when the mess hits the fan he will shift the blame onto his Lib Dem colleagues and try and look good, irrespective of the fact that he has an unfortunate knack of making enemies left, right, and centre.
You watch, that is exactly what will happen. The trick is to make sure that he doesn't get away from the blame when it does.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Doctor Who - Is the Dream Lord the Valeyard?
For Who fans out there.
I am slightly on the fence on this one, but am heavily inclined to believe that he is the Valeyard*
*Hat tip to Ruth
Ashes to Ashes - The Final Episode (Part 2)
HERE BE SPOILERS. IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW, SCROLL AWAY NOW!
Well now we know. Hunt is a dead adolescent copper from 1953, Keats is a demon, Ray, Shaz, and Chris are dead coppers, and Nelson (yes he from Life On Mars) is an angel.
It kind of tied up a lot of loose ends and it was sad that it turned out that Drake had died in the "Real World" at the start of Series Three, but again, I can't see at this stage how they could have got her back, it also begs the question as to whether Sam Tyler's suicide at the end of Life On Mars saved the lives of his colleagues? Plus how come what happened in that place had a knock on effect in the Real World, as if Tyler and Drake time-travelled!
Ah well, if all the ends were tied up that would be all the fun gone, still it was a wonderful four years and fiver series :-)
Friday, May 21, 2010
Ashes to Ashes - The Final Episode
So now we know. I have to say I was not really surprised, will let you know more about what I think when there are less chances of causing spoilers :-)
The Sarkosy Test
Some of you will be familiar with the Tebbit Test, which was somewhat controversial but it seems there well may be a Sarkosy Test! This is where you find that you have no opinion on President Sarkosy of France or dislike him, but find you have much in common with him, or vice versa.
Let me explain, it seems that the French President once said the following to Gordon Brown when he was PM, as reported by Nick Robinson:
"I shouldn't like you. You're boring, you're Scottish, you don't like women and wine - but I love you, Gordon."
"Not, though," he hastily added, "in a sexual way."*
This somewhat bemused me as I have little or no opinion on the French President as a person and yet I am not Scottish (although admittedly a 16th of my blood is North of the Border and proud I am of it, although my ancestors were the Heitons who in turn were of French descent), and I like women and wine, esp French Red Wine.
So where do you stand where Sarkosy is concerned, do you think he's great but dislike women and wine and are definetly not Scottish, or vice versa? That said there is a caveat to this, he has been gushing over Cameron recently
*This should not be seen as an acurate reflection on the former PM
Let me explain, it seems that the French President once said the following to Gordon Brown when he was PM, as reported by Nick Robinson:
"I shouldn't like you. You're boring, you're Scottish, you don't like women and wine - but I love you, Gordon."
"Not, though," he hastily added, "in a sexual way."*
This somewhat bemused me as I have little or no opinion on the French President as a person and yet I am not Scottish (although admittedly a 16th of my blood is North of the Border and proud I am of it, although my ancestors were the Heitons who in turn were of French descent), and I like women and wine, esp French Red Wine.
So where do you stand where Sarkosy is concerned, do you think he's great but dislike women and wine and are definetly not Scottish, or vice versa? That said there is a caveat to this, he has been gushing over Cameron recently
*This should not be seen as an acurate reflection on the former PM
MP's Reform Proposals on Expenses Are Not On!
I appreciate the need for radical change following the Expenses fiasco last year, but the reforms should be well-thought out, not knee-jerk reactions. I have a horrible feeling these are knee-jerk reactions designed to punish, not to help. On that basis I can totally empathise with MP's anger, esp when you consider that nearly a third of them are newly elected.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Why I Want David Miliband to be the next Labour Leader!
It was always going to be one of the Miliband brothers' as far as I was concerned, but in the end I have opted for David Miliband. Why? Well for one thing he is young, energetic, potentially popular with voters, relaxed, has cabinet experience, realises the need to move on from New Labour, is open to new ideas, and is definitely not of the hard left. What's more he has described in a nutshell what I feel about this country in the past thirty years. That we need a market economy and not a market society.
You can see his campaign site here and will be linking to it within the next couple of days on my sidebar.
Bercow Re-Elected as Speaker
This should have been a mere formality but of course some tried to turn it into a contest.
As Iain Dale has said, he isn't a perfect Speaker (but name me one who has been), but he makes the effort and I think he'll mature into the job. Equally however, I hope some MP's (and yes Nadine Dorries that includes you) will develop some maturity over their hostility towards the Speaker.
Friday, May 14, 2010
The 55% Majority
Forgive me here, but I always thought that to secure a decent majority you needed just 50.5% or 51%, so it is that I am somewhat disgusted to see that, barely days into power, the Con/Lib Dem Coalition are tightening their claws on power. As Tom Harris says, if it were a Labour/Lib Dem coalition there would be outrage from the Tories!
There are persuasive arguments but the bottom line is it feels wrong and smacks of being anti-Democratic and power obsessed. Thankfully Iain Dale seems to agree.
If we are to be a mature opposition then we need to show this up for what it is, to stand by and let it happen would be morally indefensible!
Stephen Timms Stabbed!
It goes without saying that I was shocked and appalled by today's news. Stephen is one of the most thoughtful and decent MP's at Westminster and it is no hyperbole to say he is one of the nicest people I, or anyone else who has dealt with him, has met.
It does of course call into question the issue of security for MP's as they go about their business but I would point out that, whilst it goes without saying that all MP's and their staff should always be careful in certain public situations and places it would be be foolish to go for knee-jerk reactions as a response to this appalling act. My prayers go out to Stephen and his family, and also to his attacker who may well be mentally disturbed.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Labour's Next Leader
Check out this post I have written for LabourList, where I set out what Labour needs in it's next leader and what kind of opposition we must be
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
The Dilemma of the Disaffected Liberal Democrats
According to some sources, it seems that a large no of Lib Dem activists tore up their cards yesterday and joined Labour. I am not sure of the exact figure but it does show how hurtful the latest situation has been, no matter how much it is in the National Interest.
As Julian Ware-Lane has stated, it looks like the end of the Lib-Social Democratic coalition, and so it is that it is worth stating that for those Lib Dems who have left as of yesterday, there is always a home with Labour. We have just come into opposition, we are open to ideas and criticism and we aim to work hard as a constructive opposition that aims to be in government should the Lib Dem/Con alliance fail.
Lets work together and help bring to the reality the Alliance that was dreamed of many years ago
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
The End of an Era
So the government is to resign, after the drama over the past few dayds one feels something of a relief. Relief too that the Lib Dems might temper the Tories worst excesses (although don't hold your breath too much), and relief that it seems that Osborne won't be Chancellor of the Exchequer (what does that say about him!)
What happens now is anybody's guess. We are in uncharted territory as we face the first peacetime coalition in seventy years, there are potential clouds on the horizon and how Cameron manages is crucial. For those of us in Labour, our job is to lick our wounds, learn from our mistakes, be wise in picking our new leader and be ready to be prepared for power for when the s**t hits the fan.
It's getting towards sunset and it was sunrise when Labour celebrated that glorious day thirteen years ago. Lets do our bit and make sure that the country is not plunged into darkness
Am Wondering
I want Labour to be in power, but not at any cost, not at short circuiting the electorate.
I want a Rainbow Coalition but fear it will collapse leaving Labour out of power for years.
I don't want the Conservatives to be in coalition with the Lib Dems because that means a strong Conservative-led government and I obviously don't want that (if it is to be a Tory government I want it to be a minority one made to heel before Parliament), neither given it's a Hung Parliament, do the electorate (in terms of strong Conservative govt), but I recognise that the Social Democratic elements in the Lib Dems might temper the Tories policies' (but don't hold much hope)
I want a strong new Labour leader who has the interests of the nation at heart but is good at attacking the Conservatives
I want another general election soon, and never, never have my tribal and ethical and patriotic and, yes, my Christian instincts been in such open conflict with each other
And I suspect, right across the political parties, I am not alone.
Monday, May 10, 2010
Gordon Brown Resigns
Lets be honest, this was inevitable from Thursday evening/Friday morning, although it's sad that a potentially brilliant premiership never found it's wings and has ended like this. That said Brown has worked hard to keep this country going in the face of a Worldwide recession and has publicly dealt with his critics with grace and dignity and for that he should be commended, as well as having the courage to quit in what must be for him, humiliating circumstances.
Sunday, May 09, 2010
The Coalition Talks
Is it me or do you have the feeling this could cause internal damage to a certain degree in both parties if successful! I somehow get the impression the Tories feel they can govern alone thankyou very much (with 306 seats out of 650!?!) and indeed, if reading the Tweets of some of their activists they hardly seem to be approaching power with humility!
Friday, May 07, 2010
Election 10 Bulletin Part XXVI: The Result
Well they did say it would be a Hung Parliament and for all of us I think there were some results that were sad. That said the people have spoken and now we have to work with what we have.
I will give to comments though. The first is that this Parliament is clearly going to be short, which leaves little time for any of the main parties to work on people's trust, so expect it do be a fraught six-twelve months. The second is that I have a feeling that the Conservative/Liberal Democrat cosying won't last. The two parties are too different and in any case would be an easy target for Labour in opposition should the coalition take place.
But for now, congratulations to the three main party leaders for all their hard work and here is to a new era, however uncertain it may be.
Thursday, May 06, 2010
General Election Results Live Blog/Tweets
As mentioned earlier this week you can see my thoughts regarding this evening/tomorrow here, live! Active from about an hours time. After tomorrow morning, will paste all tweets onto here as a readily accessible archive
Here's to a final push for that fourth term. May it not be elusive
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