Oh Dear! It must be really galling to be called "vacuous" by an ex-Premier whose nickname was Bambi, led us into an illegal war, and some people want prosecuting for war crimes. Tory MP calls Lord Mandelson... 'Mandelweasel' Wednesday, March 31st, 2010 - 10:07 am
You really don't need any more words for that story do you? Happy Birthday David Steel Wednesday, March 31st, 2010 - 9:05 am
Although I voted for John Pardoe in the leadership election of 1976, I've always had the deepest respect for David Steel, because he was responsible for introducing the Abortion Act, as a Private Member's Bill, in 1967.
For that act alone he deserves to go down as major progressive.
So, many happy returns of the day, David. Cogito, ergo sum... I think therefore I am Wednesday, March 31st, 2010 - 8:10 am
My melancholia over, it's a beautiful day AND the day that Rene Descartes was born.
Descartes was part of that glorious group of philosophers who re-vitalised European thinking in the 17th century, these included Spinoza, Leibniz, Hobbes, Hume, Locke, and of course Rousseau.
Having studied them all at uni, I realised that I was a child of the Enlightenment and rationality, indeed it is that very rationality that underpins my political philosophy and makes me a Liberal.
In fact it is another phrase of Descartes' that best sums up my worldview Dubium sapientiae initium... Doubt is the origin of wisdom. Indeed, it leads to my belief that politics should be evidence-based rather than pure dogma. Had we but world enough, and time Wednesday, March 31st, 2010 - 12:01 am
I wrote about French poets yesterday and today is the turn of the English with a few lines from Andrew Marvell's To His Coy Mistress which we used at our wedding.
It includes the lines which for some reason reflects the rather melancholic and reflective mood I feel tonight.
But at my back I always hear
Time's wingèd chariot hurrying near;
And yonder all before us lie
Deserts of vast eternity. II pleut doucement sur la ville... Arthur Rimbaud Tuesday, March 30th, 2010 - 7:41 am
Il pleure dans mon coeur
Comme il pleut sur la ville;
Quelle est cette langueur
Qui pénètre mon coeur?
The beautiful quatrain above is by Paul Verlaine, who along with Arthur Rimbaud, Charles Baudelaire, and Stéphane Mallarmé are my favourite 19th century French poets.
Rimbaud was probably the most gifted of the four, but Verlaine was fascinating, he joined the Garde nationale, becoming a Communard and later head of the press bureau, and managed to escape the street fighting of the Semaine Sanglante.
His doomed love affair with Rimbaud and their trip to Britain really earned them the soubriquet of "The Damned Poets". Gwladys Monday, March 29th, 2010 - 7:37 am
Today is Passover and so hag same'ah to all my Jewish friends.
Also interstingly it is also the feast day of St Gwladys, whose main church is at Bargoed where Doris Hare (who played Mabel, Stan Butler's mum, in On the Buses) was born.
I've liked the name Gwladys ever since I came across it in a Jeeves and Wooster story about an artist called Gwladys Pendleton or Pendlebury, with whom Bertie falls in love, and of course it all comes to naught.
I remember Jeeves being very dismissive of the name, saying that it was not a particularly attractive one, being on a par with Kathryn and Ethyl, all of which came about because of the writings of Alfred, Lord Tennyson.
I believe that Jeeves had a thing about the semi-vowels w and y.
Mind you, I've always liked Welsh girls' names like Rhiannon, Morwenna, Branwen, Angharad, and of course Myfanawy (Nye Bevan's beloved youngest sister). The Tories: The singer's changed but the song remains the same! Sunday, March 28th, 2010 - 6:58 pm
Project Cameron would have us believe that the Tories have become detoxified... some hope.
Analysis of the record of 25 Tory members of the European Parliament this year shows they voted against, or abstained, eight times on issues relating to sexual equality, family-friendly working hours, maternity leave, and reproductive health, often in clear defiance of official Tory Party policy.
Some detoxification! Does DC want to change the Tories simply to win, or because it was wrong before? Sunday, March 28th, 2010 - 8:09 am
There was a book review in yesterday's Guardian that asked the above question.
A passage that struck me was its assessment of the New Tory Party "above all a startling short-termism and lack of constructive planning... Cameron is the front man, but it is not always clear if he knows what he is fronting, only that he is good at doing it".
The nearer the elections get and the more probing the questions over their policies, the more I am convinced that people will see through the smoke and mirrors that is the CamCon Project. Thanks the NHS Saturday, March 27th, 2010 - 7:23 pm
Just spent last night in hospital, feeling much better, but may not post for a couple of days. I Sing the Body Electric Friday, March 26th, 2010 - 7:31 am
I believe that the vital difference between the philosophy of Liberalism and that of Conservatism is an essential and unshakeable belief in the goodness and commonality of human beings.
Ours is a philosophy of boundless optimism and joyous celebration of the human spirit, forever seeking the soaring heights rather than a gloomy, despondent, and dare I say misanthropic view of our fellow men and women.
Few lines sum it up better than a quartet from Walt Whitman's "Leaves of Grass":
Comrade of raftsmen and coalmen, comrade of all who shake hands and welcome to drink and meat,
A learner with the simplest, a teacher of the thoughtfullest,
A novice beginning yet experient of myriads of seasons,
Of every hue and caste am I, of every rank and religion. The people have spoken! Thursday, March 25th, 2010 - 10:27 am
1st Lib Dems
2nd Labour
3rd Conservative
According to an article by Bob Roberts (No, not the fictional Tim Robbins character in the 1992 film of the same name) in yesterday's Mirror, support for the would-be Chancellors of the three parties placed the sainted Vince Cable head and shoulders above the current incumbent, and the Tory whose name I forget.
So now you know, don't bother with the rest vote for the best.
Go for Gold go Lib Dems. The Budget: a political dodge not an economic plan Wednesday, March 24th, 2010 - 5:45 pm
Cleggy went on to say that Labour is in denial, while the Tories are talking tough to cover up that they only offer more of the same.
We need a budget that gives us honesty in spending and fairness in tax, we got neither.
It says something when the most substantive announcement was a tax agreement with Belize, however welcome that may be. Concert for the Young at Heart Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010 - 10:44 pm
Just back from a fantastic FREE concert at the Victoria Theatre in Halifax, it was brilliant.
The acts were magnificent, ranging from some littlies to some older citizens, and all ages in between, all-singing all-dancing giving their all. From the Irving Berlin numbers to Michael Jackson's Thriller, via Oklahoma and Lennon & McCartney.
A big thankyou to all who took part, front of house, performers, the MC, and the backroom boys and girls.
When certain people tell you that we are living in a "Broken Britain" tell them that they are talking rot.
The overwhelming majority of people, are good the overwhelming majority of the time doing their best by their friends, family, and community.
Yes there is such a thing as society, and we should celebrate it. Obama's Health Reforms Monday, March 22nd, 2010 - 9:00 pm
Good to see that a minuscule step towards a fairer health system has taken place across the pond.
Despite the drivel spouted by many Republicans (and some Democrats) about the "socialist" nature of the reforms, (Socialist? You've got to laugh haven't you?) the Americans spend more on "health" than any other country in the world, both in total terms and amount per head.
The fact missed out by most opponents and indeed commentators is the "race" factor, namely that of the approximately 40m Americans without any form of healthcare insurance, the overwhelming majority are either Black or Hispanic.
One shameful footnote to the apparent victory however, has been the concession by the Obama team of withholding of Federal funds for women seeking abortion.
In the words of Lenin, "one step forward, two steps back". Ho, hum, two cheers for democracy! Sharpeville fifty years on Sunday, March 21st, 2010 - 9:00 pm
I couldn't really let today pass without a mention of Sharpeville in South Africa.
Half-a-century ago and a world away in apartheid South Africa, every black person had to carry passbooks. This physical everyday shackle of oppression listed the person's name, birthplace, and "tribal" affiliation, contained their picture and serial number, showed whether they had paid their taxes or been arrested, and unless it was signed monthly by their employer, the African could be herded with the other unemployed into a "native reservation".
All Africans had to carry them about their person at all times, and they could (and were) checked at any time by the notoriously unforgiving police, and heaven help you if you didn't have it or there was something amiss. You could be hauled off to jail, without a word of warning to your family, and fined or imprisoned.
For more than a century blacks had endured this vile system and then following the Gandhian precepts of non-violent action, a mass campaign of non-compliance was started where people were urged to turn up at police stations without their passbooks and demand to be arrested.
At Sharpeville police station, a determined crowd of more than 20,000 Africans gathered demanding to be arrested. The twenty police officers present barricaded themselves inside and sent for reinforcements, hundreds of whom duly arrived, supported by armoured cars, and aircraft buzzing the crowd to try and scatter it.
When that failed, the police began firing with revolvers, rifles, and Sten guns. In two awful minutes, hundreds of blacks lay dead or wounded, many shot in the back.
It is fair to say that the events of that day hastened South Africa's march to pariah state in the world community shunned by almost everyone. And although there were many setbacks along the way, thirty years later and much bloodshed apartheid was defeated and the struggle for freedom by the black majority achieved.
Maatla ke a rona! omnia vincit amor... Sunday, March 21st, 2010 - 1:13 am
According to Virgil "love conquers all" this a propos of today being World Poetry Day.
And my favourite (today at least) lines of English poetry?
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away. نوروز مبارك
Happy New Year Saturday, March 20th, 2010 - 12:32 pm
Later on today, in five hours exactly, I shall be celebrating the Iranian New Year with my family.
It is a very special occasion marking the first day of Spring and a new beginning both chronologically and dare I say spiritually.
Nowruz, as it is called in Persian, literally means New Day and is celebrated across Iran, Afghanistan, Iraqi Kurdistan, much of West and Central Asia and of course worldwide among the Iranian, Afghan, and Kurdish diaspora, as well as Zoroastrian and Baha'i communities.
It is an ancient festival going back some three thousand years and is really is a most joyous festival.
So Happy New Year one and all and sad sal beh az in salha. Military intelligence is a contradiction in terms... Groucho Marx Friday, March 19th, 2010 - 8:35 pm
I don't know whether to be angry or bloody angry about the crassly stupid comments made by US General John Sheehan.
This eejit, who rather than blaming tens of thousands of Bosnian Serb forces for the massacre of 8,000 male civilians in Srebrenica, chose to focus his condemnation on unionisation and gays in the Dutch military.
Srebrenica is a stain on the conscience of post-war Europe, the EU's response to the break-up of Yugoslavia was woefully inadequate, and the Dutch forces "guarding" the safe area were understrength, but for General Sheehan to blame gays is ridiculous and he should apologise for his offensive remarks. Proud to pledge my support to the NSPCC Friday, March 19th, 2010 - 5:25 pm
Earlier this week, I was pleased to pledge my support to the NSPCC and their General Election campaign.
The NSPCC is an important ally of social workers in protecting vulnerable children and I am delighted to back them.
The Campaign's focus is on:
* Implementing vital child protection reforms following the tragic child deaths.
* Continued funding for helpline services for children and adults concerned about the welfare of a child.
* Seeing domestic violence from a child's point of view.
* Making the internet safer for children.
* Strengthening the role of the Children's Commissioner in England.
* Providing resources for vital therapeutic services for children who have experienced abuse.
I am confident that all Keighley and Ilkley residents will join me in supporting these aims. Vote Lib Dem... go on you know you want to Thursday, March 18th, 2010 - 7:31 pm
I think that's a better slogan than our general election one launched last week, but hey what do I know.
Actually there's a rather funky little filmette that was broadcast before the leader's speech last Sunday that's now available on youtube you might want to have a look at, showing ordinary folk, young and old, black and white, male and female ALL wanting us to win.
Good on yer! Happy St Pat's Wednesday, March 17th, 2010 - 9:36 pm
Obviously being married to an Anglo-Irish woman, I couldn't let today go past without a mention of St Patrick's.
However, you'll be pleased to know that I've not been going over the top with the wearing of the green and the shamrocks everywhere, but I did have a quiet glass of Guinness and a little Bushmills.
Happy St Pat's everyone. Parkinson's Law works everywhere... Mikhail Gorbachev Tuesday, March 16th, 2010 - 7:19 pm
More than half-a-centurty ago The Economist published an essay Cyril Northcote Parkinson that coined the adage "Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion".
From this he developed a mathematical equation which described the rate that bureaucracies expand over time. The prime example he used to support and illustrate this "law" was the number of employees at the Colonial Office while Britain's overseas empire declined.
Parkinson explained this growth by two forces, first was that an "official wants to multiply subordinates, not rivals" and second "officials make work for each other".
His humorous, but nevertheless valid, point was that the numbers employed in a bureaucracy rises by 5%-7% per year "irrespective of any variation in the amount of work (if any) to be done".
All of which brings me neatly to a report by the Commons Public Administration Committee said the number of ministers had doubled during the past century.
In 1900, when we ran a global empire, there were just 60, today there are 119.
Despite devolved government for Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and the privatisation of many parts of government.
Many appointments are based more on political reward rather than the need to fill the position, and their number should be cut "by as much as a third".
We have the ludicrous situation where civil servants are left "making work" for some junior ministers, because they had so little work to do.
This is absurd.
That is why we Lib Dems have called for a a 30% cut in the number of Welsh MPs, 28% in Northern Ireland, 20% in England, and 14% in Scotland. How to save the NHS £2bn EVERY YEAR! Tuesday, March 16th, 2010 - 10:40 am
I am supporting the new Self Care Campaign launched by the NHS which is calling on people to use the NHS at the point of need, not demand.
This has come about because of the catastrophic impact that the “worried well” are having on NHS services.
Common treatable ailments now account for a fifth of GP appointments - that is more than 50 million consultations annually for minor problems alone. What is worse is that it is costing the health service an astonishing £2bn annually.
We need a change in behaviour around treating minor ailments which could save the NHS this money without any cuts to services whatsoever.
I believe that we must educate people to manage minor ailments so that GP's and practice nurses' time is freed up to look after more complex conditions. Lib Dem Spring Conference-Green Stimulus Monday, March 15th, 2010 - 3:00 pm
I noticed yesterday when Cleggy was giving his speech he was all husky-voiced so obviously going for the Annie Nightingale/Mariella Frostrup sound, quite fetching actually.
As well as the blindingly obvious pledge to clean up politics, the measures that most struck me was the Green Jobs Stimulus, a package designed to rebalance the economy and create thousands of new green jobs.
I believe that the plans will play a vital part in a fair recovery that locks in investment and ensures a path of low-carbon growth.
The plans include:
* Immediate investment to expand our green energy infrastructure
* Bringing hundreds of thousands of empty homes back into use
* Insulating schools and other public buildings
* A National Infrastructure Bank to promote long-term investment in sustainable public transport and renewable energy.
I believe that neither Labour nor the Tories can be trusted to deliver the green growth we need. Cleggy... live on the telly Sunday, March 14th, 2010 - 12:36 pm
Tax cuts for the millions... not tax cuts for the millionaires! Mrs Thatcher... the architect of so many of our current troubles Sunday, March 14th, 2010 - 12:59 am
Like many Lib Dems, and indeed people across Keighley and Ilkley, and in fact up and down the country I agree wholeheartedly with Claire Rayner's comments above.
Far be it for me to rebuke my leader for his comments earlier this week in the Spectator magazine, wherein he extolled Mrs Thatcher. But he was talking rot. He mistakes her dogma for principle, her obduracy for strength, and her lack of compassion for resolve.
Claire goes on to say that "She [Mrs. Thatcher] made it good to be greedy, good to neglect the poor and she denied there was such a thing as society".
People who say they admire Mrs Thatcher and her Tories remind me of all those appeasers who used to say things like "Say what you will about Mussolini, but at least he made the trains run on time", it's both crass and factually inaccurate.
She was the person at the head of a government who devastated this country economically, politically, and socially. Nick only has to look at his own city of Sheffield and the plight of the steelworkers in the 1980s.
As for the miners... to unleash the full force of the state on a section of society, a trade union, and communities up and down the country was unconscionable. Where there should have been compassion there was instead belligerance, instead of wisdom there was vengeance, instead of magnanimity there was the crowing of the yahoo.
I say this to Nick and the leadership, the Tories cannot be trusted, they are ideologically our antithesis, politically our enemies, and morally bereft of any saving graces.
The last thing that Britain needs, even with all the restraining influences that we Lib Dems may be able to bring upon them, would be a Tory government of any shape or form. A bit of fun for the week-end Saturday, March 13th, 2010 - 12:01 am
Douglas Carswell, the Tory MP for Harwich, has claimed that the Conservatives are the party of the Levellers!
The Levellers (not the band) were an important faction before and during the English Civil War of the mid-17th century. I studied them, and others, in my degree, and going back over my notes I can't see anything that links them with the tiniest thread within modern Tory political philosophy.
Their manifesto, the "Agreement of the People" was inherently republican and democratic. Just the sort of thing to be supported by the present Tory front-bench! Cameron says one thing in opposition and will do another in government... Friday, March 12th, 2010 - 3:50 pm
Not my words dear reader, but those of the former leading Tory Edward McMillan-Scott.
He has joined the Lib Dems because as he says has, "long fought against totalitarianism and the extremism and religious persecution it brings. It was wrong of Cameron to associate with MEPs who have extremist pasts in his new European alliance".
We welcome him into our ranks and the experience and expertise he brings especially after representing (parts of) Yorkshire in the European parliament for more than a quarter-of-a-century. Prince Phillip... the best argument for a Republic Friday, March 12th, 2010 - 12:35 pm
Over the years you think there's little to shock you about the Royal Family, and then along comes Prince Phillip...
Yesterday at a parade in Exeter meeting cadets the following exchange apparently took place.
HRH PP: Hello what do you do then, in your day job?
Cdt ER: I work in a club.
HRH PP: Is it a strip club?
Cdt ER: Er... no.
HRH PP: Probably too cold for that anyway.
To her credit the young cadet laughed it off, but should she have had to?
Why does an octogenarian think it is alright to make sexually suggestive remarks to a young woman? Dangerous Dogs or Irresponsible Owners? Friday, March 12th, 2010 - 7:32 am
A couple of years ago, the RSPCA called for compulsory microchipping of dogs and a database of dog owners.
A call that I supported at the time and do so today.
Furthermore, I agree with the notion that the blame should lie with irresponsible owners rather than certain breeds of dogs, as the sadly large numbers of dogs being bred for dog fighting, and for use as potential weapons shows. David Cameron... "much more conservative" than the image he projects Thursday, March 11th, 2010 - 10:37 am
Great story in today's Independent confirming what many of us have said for a long time, namely that David "Tony Blair lite" Cameron is much more conservative by nature than he acts, or than he is forced to be by political expediency.
The man will say and do anything to get into power, and once in the mask will slip and it'll be back to the horribly divided, damaged, and destructive Britain of the 1980s.
The ghost of Thatcher lives on... Oh hold on, she's not yet dead... sorry! Junk, junk, glorious junk! Wednesday, March 10th, 2010 - 5:07 pm
One of the consequences of the new deal between Royal Mail and the unions is going to be the inevitable rise in direct/unsolicted or junk mail that we shall all receive.
Until now, the amount of unsolicited mail delivered by posties has been limited to a MERE three items weekly. With the cap off heaven only knows what dross we'll get through our letterboxes.
And according to Nielsen Media Research, which company topped the annual list of big spenders junk mail?
None other than... Rupert Murdoch's BSkyB. The UK has the worst social mobility record among developed countries Wednesday, March 10th, 2010 - 4:44 pm
An eye-popping report from the OECD says that children from poor families in Britain have a greater chance of struggling on low incomes than their counterparts in the west's other rich countries.
Along with the disastrous and illegal war in Iraq, this must surely be the most awful legacy of more than a dozen years of a Labour government "I'm an Atheist...thank God". Wednesday, March 10th, 2010 - 12:07 am
That was one of Dave Allen's sayings. The great Dave Allen who passed away five years back today.
He was one of the most astute observers of human nature, given to point out the absurdities and hypocricies of everyday life especially in religion and and sex.
But all in a gentle and wry way that was actually very thought-provoking. I loved his TV shows and managed to see him perform live once.
To quote him again "Goodnight, thank you, and may your God go with you". "It started with Iraq... But [the Lib Dems] have become the natural home for left-liberal Cookites" Tuesday, March 9th, 2010 - 9:39 am
Astonishing article in today's Guardian by former editor of the New Statesman charting how massive a disappointment the Labour government of the last dozen years has been and how for anyone of a vaguely left/left-of-centre persuasion the Lib Dems are the NATURAL choice. Tories... all boss-eyed maniacs obsessed with Europe - BoJo Monday, March 8th, 2010 - 8:08 pm
Great quote from Boris Johnson in tonight's Channel 4 programme Dispatches: Cameron Uncovered. The Hurt Locker Monday, March 8th, 2010 - 8:00 pm
How fitting that on IWD Kathryn Bigelow should become the first ever woman to win an Oscar for Best Director, and indeed Best Film.
Bravo! Happy International Women's Day Monday, March 8th, 2010 - 12:00 am
Today is the centenary celebration of International Women's Day, and around the world, it is celebrated to mark the economic, political, and social achievements of women.
This year the theme is equal rights, equal opportunities: Progress for all, and the ICRC is drawing attention to the hardship displaced women endure.
The displacement of populations is one of the gravest consequences of today's wars. It affects women in so many dreadful ways, but far from being helpless victims, women are resourceful, resilient, and courageous in the face of hardship.
Since 2005, the TUC has asked for IWD to be designated a public holiday, and I'd like to support that call.
Red Hot Chili Peppers eat your heart out! Sunday, March 7th, 2010 - 10:43 pm
Just back from a family event in Manchester, and shattered.
My eldest is in a band, and they had managed to pass an audition last month to get to the regional finals. While of course they were the best act there, unfortunately they didn't make the cut to get through to the national finals.
Nil desperandum, we all went off to Chinatown in Manchester and had a great Sìchuānese meal. The recession and Keighley's health Saturday, March 6th, 2010 - 11:11 am
One of the consequences of the economic recession has been a rise in smoking figures, with higher stress levels a factor, and people who are very deprived being the most likely to smoke.
This smoking epidemic is the biggest cause of illness and premature death in the constituency, and research shows that two thirds of smokers would like to stop.
So, I'd like to add my voice to those of the health professionals and urge folk to take up the free help available on the NHS to quit on National No Smoking Day next Wednesday at Keighley indoor market, from 1pm to 4pm.
I've been told that anyone who wants to hand over their cigarettes will receive a free fire safety assessment as well as advice and support.
I should've added that there's more info at http://www.wequit.co.uk/ Freedom is always the freedom of dissenters - Rosa Luxemburg Friday, March 5th, 2010 - 10:48 pm
The fuller quote is, "Freedom only for the supporters of the government, only for the members of a party is no freedom at all. Freedom is always the freedom of the dissenter... and its effects cease to work when "freedom" becomes a privilege". Lib Dem Economic Policy Friday, March 5th, 2010 - 10:28 pm
One of the things that Michael Meadowcroft said last month at Yorkshire Regional Conference was for us Lib Dems to have much more confidence in ourselves and our policies.
A prime example is the Economy, where back in 2003, Vince Cable was warning that banking regulation wasn’t working, and called for the nationalisation of Northern Rock long before anyone else realised how serious the situation was.
Which also brings me to that other great Liberal economist William Beveridge whose birthday it is today. He it was who in 1942 wrote the ground-breaking report entitled Social Insurance and Allied Services (better known as the Beveridge Report) which served as the basis for the post-World War II Welfare State, admittedly put in place by the Labour government.
The message being if you want radicalism, don't go for pale imitations go for the real thing and vote Lib Dem. UKIP - "To lose one MEP may be regarded as a misfortune; but to lose four..." Friday, March 5th, 2010 - 1:07 am
News from the wilder shores of sensibilty that ANOTHER UKIP MEP has left the party.
UKIP has a track record of butter-fingeredness towards its MEPs, in the last European Parliament it started with a dozen and finished with nine after two expulsions and a flounce-out by Robert Kilroy-Silk, to form the even madder (though not ironically named Veritas).
Now, only a few months into a new European Parliament they've lost another MEP.
I suppose it should come as no surprise, given that the party's founder Alan Sked resigned the leadership and left the party, saying it was "doomed to remain on the political fringes".
The Tories’ apparent commitment to a Pupil Premium is totally meaningless unless extra money is put in. Without this money, many schools will see their budgets cut.
This will be even more devastating at a time when public spending will be squeezed, especially as the Tories are already targeting the Education budget for cuts.
It is nonsense to give "freedoms" to some schools, but deny them to others. The Tories' plans to simply rely on the market, without any accountability or local oversight will fail and will have little impact in the vast majority of schools.
Worse still, both the Labour and Tory obsession with academies will mean an eventual end to state education as we know it and a fragmentation that will lead to chaos.
We must enure every child gets an excellent education, not just a lucky few. Michael Foot - A man of integrity and honesty Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010 - 3:33 pm
I was devastated to hear of the death of Michael Foot earlier today. The man was a giant of a figure for those of us in the peace movement and his opposition to nuclear weapons never wavered.
He was a brilliant orator, and an even better author and journalist. One of my most prized possessions is a signed copy of two volume life of Nye Bevan.
Although I profoundly disagreed with his position on the "Common Market", I respected him on so many different things that I believe one of the most principled and progressive voices on the radical left can genuinely be mourned by almost everyone in the country.
At a time before parliament was televised his speeches made great reading. I thought he was the best person to take over the Labour leadership in 1976 when Harold Wilson stood down.
His leadership of the party came at a particularly difficult time, not helped by the egos of people like David Owen, and although Foot could be particularly cruel to us Liberals. I still retained a fondness for him borne out by the fact that he refused right to the end of taking ANY sort of honour and indeed joining the unelected Second Chamber.
I remember his last speech in the House, when he spoke about the situation in Yugoslavia. He was one of the few to bunk the myth that the Serbs and the Croats had been at each others' throats since time immemorial.
"I do not believe, that the Yugoslav problem represents a recrudescence or revival of what has happened in the area before. Most of the Balkan countries before the Second and the First World Wars were rebelling against foreign imperialism, against outside Governments that tried to impose their will on them. The Austrian Government was the most hated of all; Turkey was another. The people of the Balkans sometimes combined against them.
On top of all the human tragedies taking place in the area we must number the tragedy of the fact that Croats and Serbs have begun fighting each other at all. It is not as if they have often fought before or have just been waiting for a chance to start fighting each other. At times they combined to resist Austrian and then German imperialism, not to mention Turkish imperialism".
He was a Republican, an Honorary Associate of the National Secular Society, and a Distinguished Supporter of the British Humanist Association, we are all that little bit diminished today. Lord Cashcroft runs the Tories like a "Banana Republic" Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010 - 10:37 am
My favourite phrase of yesterday's was Chris Huhne likening the Tories to a Banana Republic.
A definition I liked is a "small country, esp. in Central America, that is politically unstable and has an economy dominated by foreign interest, usually dependent on one export, such as bananas".
Spooky isn't it? The term was originally coined for Honduras in the last century which by happy co-incidence is neighbour to Belize (formerly British Honduras), where Lord Cashcroft resides.
Belize's largest employer? Bananas!
The serious point, however, is how much all this money sloshing about in Tory coffers distorts and damages our political life. Given the preponderance of this "loose" money the question has to be asked, "How much are the Tories receiving in Keighley and Ilkley". Asfcroft: Non-Dom All-Dim Monday, March 1st, 2010 - 10:24 pm
So Lord Ashcroft owns up after ten years - mind that - surprise, surprise, he is a non-domiciled tax-payer.
The Tories, who were bleating about patriotism but yesterday, are only too happy to take money from someone (actually a law-maker in the Upper House) who loves Britain so much, that he can't be bothered to shoulder his share.
Ashcroft is willing to put in money in marginals like Keighley, to swing the elections but not pay his fair taxes.
He's agreed to change his status if the Tories win. How big of him!
Surely another reason to keep well away from the Tories.
It may well be legal, but it sure as hell ain't cricket. Dydd Gwŷl Dewi Sant hapus Monday, March 1st, 2010 - 8:37 am
Happy St David's Day.
I'm off to drop the boys off at school, and will stop by at Holt's to buy a daffodil to wear in my buttonhole.
Co-incidentally, I made a pot of leek and potato soup yesterday, and given how cold it was last night (and today) it'll be most welcome. Cameron will not deliver on fairness Monday, March 1st, 2010 - 7:37 am
Listening to David Cameron’s speech at Tory spring conference, it was painfully clear how yet again he was so damnably short on specifics and on the key assurance of fairness that is essential if we are to tackle our economic problems.
As Chris Huhne said earlier today, we need "fair taxation, new green jobs, a fair start for our children, and a fair political system that gives voters real choice to sack miscreant MPs." Bura na mano, Holi hai! Monday, March 1st, 2010 - 12:12 am
One of the phrases you'll hear in India (were you to be there today) is "it's all right it's Holi".
I must admit the festival of Holi is one of my favourites as it celebrates good harvests and fertility of the land.
Folk go around in high spirits and basically use it as an excuse to shed their inhibitions and caste differences for a day of spring fever.
Teenagers go around flirting and misbehaving in the streets, adults extend the hand of peace, and everyone chases everyone else around, throwing brightly coloured gulal and water over each other.
Then promptly at noon, the fever subsides and everyone heads to home to have a wash and feast on sweets and other goodies, and an exhausted and contented hush falls over the land.
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