Liverpool Dérive: The Blue Coats, The Rope Works and The Black Rights

Back to passport central but with a green light on the slightly non-regulation photo it's a case of hitting the streets again. The Bluecoat, where a particular memory is seeing the Artangel and Brian Eno-promoted Moscow art-punksters Zvuki Mu (I put their sister act AVIA of Leningrad on in Manchester Town Hall) is sort of closed for refurbishment but there's still a craft gallery open at the back of the building site, and an overspill across the road. Some interesting work in both spaces. Not inexpensive.

Onwards to Ropeworks where we, IDEA, had an early interest and which at around "half done" has some good models for urban living and small public spaces.

Garage spaces, and family homes, and odds and ends of terraces in this area, probably indicate a much softer land market than applies in the centre of Manchester. A "private estate" remains permeable to the hoi polloi - but no dogs, no kids, no ball games, no noise the signs say. And finally a CPO on some of the largest merchants houses. There is still a lot to go at.

FACT (Foundation for Art and Creative Technology) is the next call. FACT were one of the main collaborators, along with Manchester Metropolitan University and Liverpool John Moore's, with IDEA, in the 1998 International Symposium of Electronic Arts which was themed Revolution and Terror. And actually shared between the two cities! On the basis as I recall of a Revolution/Terror dichotomy between the two. Manchester was Terror. We at IDEA hosted "Revolting" and "36MC" which were the best bits of the whole thing.

An hour or two now is spent absorbing some of the work in the Black Audio Film Collective retrospective "The Ghosts of Songs". In many cases just a few moments with a particular film or programme reminds of the whole.

Catching some journalist explaining how Docklands got moving: building without planning consent; accepting the international Dollar, Krone and Yen from all comers. There's something there for Liverpool to learn from; though I'd wager this was not the way the displaced and disrupted communities looked on the process at the time.

More enthralling though were snatches of the life and death stories of Martin Luther King and Malcolm Little aka Malcolm X. I will certainly aim to go back soon - the show runs until 01 April 2007 in Liverpool and then tours - as there is too much for an hour or two.

But reading today's Guardian Weekend piece on Barack Obama I am frankly amazed that Gary Younge distances Barack so far from the tradition of these two vital civil rights, and indeed human rights, campaigners.

At one point Younge quotes at length from a speech Barack gave at the Democratic Party Convention in August 2004. The construction and content of this - to my ears - mirrored the King/X speechcraft. Not for the first time I believe that Younge has got it just a little bit wrong.

Of course white people in the USA now are much more comfortable with Obama than they were with King and X, say in 1960. Clearly this advance would not have been gained without King and X. And the speechcraft and even the ideas within are remarkably similar. Even if circumstances are 50 years apart. How would Malcolm X have fared if born instead of shot dead in the 1960s? Or King? Around when Barack Obama first arrived on the planet? I think Younge has missed the story.

In the Ropeworks link above my old friend Andy Lovatt suggested some years ago that the name Ropeworks was unfortunate because it reminded us of Liverpool's part in the slave trade. That doesn't seem like a problem now, if it ever was. Though the fact a google search for "Ropeworks" brings little or no sign of this "Soho of Liverpool" is perhaps more of a problem.

Liverpool Dérive: Passport and Past Port

Park up in one of Liverpool's Car Parks. A place in the Lib Dem's control where one can spend £8 on parking for four hours and one minute at any time of the day or night. Which makes their opposition to parking charges in Manchester seem a bit hypocritical and dim. Though it has to be said those weren't thought through.

Onwards to the Passport Office where the service is excellent, the appointments system a great improvement on the drop in and queues of yore, the IT all working very well, and the staff full of cheer and help. Cheerful and helpful.

Daughter's picture isn't quite ideal. But they'll tell me in an hour if that's a deal breaker. So I'm off to wander the streets. To the Pierhead first. To see whether the 24 hour greasy has made a comeback. No it has not. Not even a coffee dispenser. And the slot machine which mashes pennies into mementos is itself mashed.

The walk down here has been extremely pedestrian unfriendly, the multi-lane roadway along the river clear of traffic, but the ped crossings are inept.

It is bitterly cold and windswept. I find a sarnie kiosk and get, what else?, a sarnie. This is on the corner of the Mann Island site and hard by the Quay where the Walk The Plank theatre ship Fitzcarraldo is moored. I've been a Trustee of this arts charity now for more than ten years.

Onwards to Liverpool Vision to see: what the agencies are telling people, and more important what people are telling the agencies:

1. "Distinct lack of quality modern architecture ... a museum city ... where's the affordable family housing?"

2. "My biggest concern is the Council's approach to tall buildings. Liverpool should reach for the sky ... five or six 40-50 storey towers ... Liverpool Council - Wake Up!!"

3. "Liverpool is suddenly dashing into the future."

4. "Planning officers are unimaginative and the councillors always accept the officers' decisions. A junior officer rejected Boeings plan to set up a European base here."

5. "The Marina is to be run by a Manchester Company. And MDHC has been sold to Peel Holdings, based in Manchester. There are now only four employees here." [Mersey Docks and Harbours Company]

6. "How can English Heritage block excellent proposals for the Chieftain Tower when it allowed dross nearby? ... please don't deter business and investors ... don't blow it!"

7. "Make not little plans for they do not stir the hearts of men"

This last quoted from Daniel Burham by a visiting scouse La now based in LA.

Meanwhile The Telegraph has run a piece on the 'Discreet charms of the Cinderella city' in which Hugh Frost, the Chairman of local company Beethams which has exported its best moves elsewhere, states baldly:
"Liverpool has a reputation that has to be 'overcome' not built on."

The best parts of the exhibition are children's work on the Tiber Project, pump priming regeneration of Liverpool 8 from their Tiber Street. And news on the boards that the English Cities Fund have a strong hand in getting things moving. Also now heavily involved in Central Salford.

Still, there are a few clumps of cranes here and there. And some of the other development has lessons for Manchester. But it must be said that the last couple of five year EU programmes in Liverpool have been frustrating.

At one point Liverpool had the distinction of sending in annual returns which said EU funding had got more people back into jobs than there were in the whole workforce! Twice as many in fact. And the distaste for outsider input shown in quote 5 above - though not seen in much resistance to US involvement at Liverpool FC - has been rife. There is a really parochial culture which is quite unlike Manchester and bad news too for graduate retention and incoming investment.

BOTTOM PIC: WTP Co-Director Liz Pugh eventually stopped the Doddy-hilarious flow as he launched the ship's Liverpool moorage.

Liverpool Dérive: A City Adrift

Collecting a passport for a daughter planning a trip to Auschwitz found me dérive in Liverpool for most of Friday. The drive across has been a fairly regular trip down the years. For regional meetings. Consulting on broadband and distributed workspaces for the Ropeworks developments. Concerts. Galleries. Fundraising for Liverpool companies. Even a Black Power meeting.

Hopefully Edge Lane and the approach from the East is going to get a whole lot better when the ongoing and belated improvements are done (Thank Eu! as some of the chinese posters say). But it has to be said that as Graham Stringer pointed out at the GMPTE fringe meeting at Labour's Manchester Conference even with a crappy gateway route and roadworks the congestion is minimal.

Sadly Liverpool just doesn't have the gravity of Manchester. The city is really crying out for Liverpool Labour to seize back control and get things moving again. The Lib Dems have been scandal-riven wasters and drifters for years.

Past the Hotel where we had our regional conference in 2006 - with Hazel Blears, Peter Hain, Hilary Benn, Ian McCartney and Phil Woolas among those strutting their stuff. Though Kensington, the district whose regeneration needs were put on hold for years by the drifting Lib Dem regime ...

IMAGES: From what Liverpool are calling their 'Big Dig' at Edge Lane. Looking back on how we used to live?

Dave's Part: Carbon Trading Perverse Incentive To Burn While Rome Fiddles?

Dave Osler was stunned to read a piece in the Financial Times yesterday, revealing that the system has actually become a perverse incentive to increase pollution:

’The price for a permit to emit one tonne of carbon dioxide has plummeted to a record low of just €1.50 ($1.94) a tonne - a fraction of the peak €30 level hit last April.

‘Chris Rogers, utility analyst at JPMorgan, says that at current prices it is far cheaper for utilities to burn coal - and buy the emissions permits that allow them to pollute - than it is for them to buy cleaner fuels such as natural gas.

‘He estimates that a utility can buy coal that is €10 per megawatt hour cheaper than gas.

‘"There is no economic incentive for users to import less coal than they did last year," he says.’

As Dave himself concludes: The story is further evidence that, when it comes to saving the planet, the free market is more likely to prove part of the problem than part of the solution.

PICTURE: Europe's Worst Culprit Drax from The Daily Telegraph.

House of Cards: Ian Richardson RIP

A rather West Wing publicity still for Michael Dobbs' House of Cards.

Channel 4 News had a truly great Obit segment for the Shakespearian ac-tor Ian Richardson persuading two former Tory whippers to talk about (a) blackmailing recalcitrant members by offering to expose their adultery etc and (b) buying them off by getting them out of debt.

Meanwhile Nick Brown MP was excellent having opined that only Peter Mandelson on the Labour side could match the Tory excesses he said:
"Francis Urquhart was a high Tory ... but he clearly believed in something. Which is not something that could ever be said about Peter Mandelson."

Urquart Sites: HERE, HERE, and HERE.

Meanwhile LoL found this BBC report from 1999.

Suggesting that Tony Blair was then facing a House of Cards situation. Mandy, natch, gets a good mensch.

Leaving of Liverpool: My Low Blog Excuse

Today I was mainly eating ... Liverpool. Did you know that when the UK Passport Office say: "two means of identification" that this DOES NOT include a UK Passport? Much more on Liverpool soon. It was a great day. Really it was.

Withington Selection: Thanks for Good Behaviour

There have now been 20 comments on Withington Selection posts without any repeat of the nastier rough and tumble in the 20 before that. Thanks very much for respecting the spirit and letter of the selection process which expects avoidance of disparagement.

Very damaging exchanges which ended up in the public domain from the last Lib Dem selection indicated racism, misogyny and islamophobia from that party. There's been none of that. Let's keep it clean. Thanks.

MEN DISCUSSION: The "MEN" are inviting comments on their "WOMEN" story HERE.

Fiona Jones RIP: Strange Comments on Janestheones Blog

It is clear that my loyal readers are gagging for more on the Manchester Withington selection. But I must admit that the story of Fiona Jones blogged on Sunday, and reading round it, has taken up the last 60 minutes of my life. With this tribute blog from Jane Griffiths, and the always positive about FJ but often scurrilous comments about others, dominating.

The last comment at the time I was there was No 36 or thereabouts from The Withington Observer and clearly this character, whose promised debut on the blogging scene I blogged almost two months ago but which is yet to arrive, has referred to Leech in bitter terms, and to the current selection proceedings in Withington with some concern.

So does anyone else, apart from this lightweight The Withington Observer, get the sense of someone being parachuted in around here? Is anyone with No 10 connections making 'phone calls? Would we put up with that? Or would we send them homewards, to think again?

COMMENT: It is very hard to imagine the Demon Headmaster of The Commons pouncing on tired and emotional, and married to boot, new women MPs. The News of the World must now put up or shut up. The swine!

Iain Dale: Shows His Rellies Early Day Motions He Prepared Earlier - Captions Anybody?

A bit dessicated yes, but McKeith Type 4s, Don't you agree?

Charities, Thinktanks and Book Burning: Dale's Glass House Stoned Again

Iain Dale is getting some stick in the comments on this story where he reports that the charity Commission may get busy over the charitable status of the King Fahd Academy which stills stocks some books with rude things about Christians and Jews in their pages.

Apparently Iain doesn't think this is fair enough considering the regular content of our own media, when they aren't getting all PC over Jade Goody and Shilpa Shetty. I agree. However the school's offer to cut out the offending pages rather than letting booklover Iain Dale burn the books may be a sufficient remedy and a lesson learned.

Iain is taking some stick because he is a Trustee of an apparently politically motivated "Charity" - The Policy Exchange - which has exclusively Tory associates and trustees. He has been attacking The Smith Institute which appears similar if a little less party political, and now the Fahd. Something about glass houses and stones again springs to mind.

Labour of Love says: Pull charitable status from all independent schools. It's not like top english public schools haven't been filling young heads with largely Tory tosh for centuries. You only have to look at that rapscallion Cameron and that jackanape Johnson for evidence of the fuddled and erratic thinking induced behind the bike sheds of Eton, Harrow etc.

Are you thinking what I'm thinking? ... Now? ... How about Now? ... And Now?

Here is a note of a meeting at the Saudi Embassy on No Place for Radicalism in Islam which Iain might read now he is finished Blunkett's bletherings.

BNP State Funding: From Scotsman 7 February 2007

Verbatim from Scotsman, no URL at present, no quote from Scottish Liberal Democrats.

BNP to get £670,000 from taxpayers to fund campaign

HAMISH MACDONELL SCOTTISH POLITICAL EDITOR (hmacdonell @ scotsman dot com)

POLITICIANS and anti-racism campaigners reacted with outrage last night when it emerged that the far-right British National Party was to get its own election broadcast during this year's Holyrood campaign as well as hundreds of thousands of pounds in free election publicity from the taxpayer.

The Scotsman has learned that the BNP is to field candidates across Scotland for the first time in May. It will put up 32 candidates, four on each of the eight regional lists.

This is partly an attempt to maximise the far-right vote. But it is also a tactic to get the most out of the electoral rules. Any party which stands at least four candidates in every region is entitled to a party election broadcast.

The party said it hopes all its candidates will live in the area they aim to represent, but it has three Scottish members, currently living in England, who are willing to stand north of the border if required.

As well as gaining a nationwide television platform, the party will also be able to claim postal costs from the government for each candidate to send a leaflet to every voter in their region or constituency.

This is another rule established to help candidates get their message out, but the BNP will use it to send out 2.6 million leaflets, one to every household in Scotland. The cost of second-class postage on these will be £594,000.

The three to four-minute party election broadcast, at prime time on BBC1 Scotland, BBC2 and the Scottish parts of the ITV network, is the equivalent of about £75,000 of advertising time - giving the BNP almost £670,000 in free publicity.

Christine May, for Labour, said she was outraged that the BNP was using the system just to get itself a party election broadcast.

She said: "This is a clear misuse of the electoral system. They are doing it because there is no other way of getting publicity for their obnoxious policies.

"They are treating the electorate with the same sort of contempt they usually reserve for ethnic minorities.";

Chris Bartter, for the Unison union, which has campaigned consistently against racism, said: "We have had previous experience of the BNP's message of hate. In the 2004 European elections they used our taxes to send out material that was full of half-truths, mistruths and groundless assertions.

"The BNP masquerade as respectable politicians, but the reality is that they abuse taxpayers' money to promote their aim of whipping up hatred against immigrants and asylum seekers.";

And Robina Qureshi, director of Positive Action for Housing, said: "These are fascists masquerading as politicians and we will see them off. We will make sure they don't get a platform.";

Kenny Smith, BNP spokesman in Scotland, said the party had most of its candidates in place and was confident of getting the remainder within weeks. He said the BNP aimed to attract 40,000 votes across Scotland. "A crew from BNP TV will come up to film the broadcast nearer the time"; he said.

The party believes its anti-immigration approach will win votes, particularly in Glasgow.

Mr Smith said: "There are people coming in who get housing and benefits which local people don't get. They have to sit in sub-standard, damp housing while other people get things in five minutes.";

Opposition parties were united in their condemnation of the BNP.

Nicola Sturgeon, the deputy leader of the SNP, said: "I'm sure Scots will ensure that any attempts by the BNP to gain an electoral foothold in Scotland will be firmly rejected.";

Bill Aitken, for the Tories, said: "I am sure they will be just as successful as they were last time - when they disappeared without trace in Glasgow.";

Tommy Sheridan, leader of Solidarity, said he would refuse to share a platform, debate or attend meetings with the BNP.

He said: "These people epitomise hate, intolerance and racial division. Violence follows them wherever they go. They would deny democracy to all others if they could and therefore deserve no democratic tolerance.";

• THE British National Party has achieved little success in Scotland in the past.

In 1999, it stood in the European elections and got just 3,000 votes.

In 2003, at the Scottish Parliament elections, the BNP stood candidates on the list in Glasgow and received 2,344 votes - just 1.1 per cent of the vote.

In 2004, the party had its biggest success, getting 20,000 votes in the European elections, when the whole of the country was counted as one region, electing seven MEPs together.

At the 2005 general election, the BNP stood just two candidates in Scotland, in Glasgow North East and Glasgow Central, and got between 2.5 and 3 per cent of the ballot - 1,571 votes.

All these performances have been disappointing for the BNP in the context of the party's record across the UK.

Lib Dems: "Shadow" "Mimic-ster" Catches Up on Minimum Wage

"It is outdated and unfair for someone aged 16 to be paid less than someone aged 18, who in turn is paid less than someone aged 21, for doing the same work. Following the introduction of recent age discrimination legislation, these [National Minimum Wage rate differences] are no longer acceptable. They should be scrapped."
Susan Kramer MP, Lib Dem Trade and Industry Secretary
www.libdems.org.uk - 18 January 2007

Hurrah! Lib Dems have finally come round to the concept of the minimum wage. Originally in 1997 they mostly voted against. Later they had policy to have unfair regional variations as well as age based variations.

It is still too low of course. And Lib Dems and Tories are a good part of the friction trying to slow down improvements. The Liberal Democrats were quick to claim that the National Minimum Wage was 'dangerous' and 'bad for business' (Vince Cable).

At last we can agree with this Lib Dem. The variation on age is unfair. But well done to Susan Kramer for finally recognising the folly of the Lib Dems' cumudgeonly policies towards those on low pay and trying to make amends. The Orange Book economic liberals will have her card marked for when their men eventually off W Menzies Campbell.

ABOVE: Susan is pictured snuggled grimly up to Local Income Tax pariah Ed Davey who told town hall money people that Manchester's Local Income Tax would need to collect 50% of council expenditure. This would have represented an increase towards 600% and therefore crippling tax for many households with two earners and all those with extended families under one roof. Rich people accounting for limited revenue but sitting on huge wealth would not have to pay.

Lib Dem: Crackdown on Drug Dealers (not)

As reported en passant below the delectable Kerron Cross has a story about Libdemologists and their barmy bar charts. Don't get me started!

He uses the headline "Lib Dems Crackdown on Researchers". A reader writes: "Lib Dem Researchers up on Crack" would be a better headline."

Here in Manchester Labour of Love have now been reliably informed that an anonymous tip from "the Clayton Boggart" was correct. We had reported that The Lib Dems tried to chuck a councillor who outed another Lib Dem member as problematic (a) off their candidates panel (b) out of the party and (c) out of his seat. The Boggart, or Bloggart perhaps?, adding the information that the complaint outed another Lib Dem candidate as a petty gangster scrote and a drug dealer

This outed one allegedly was and possibly still is living the Lib Dem dream of drug dealers on every street corner ahead of the legislation they will push through in the event of a Lib Con pact. This would be quite a big step up from recruiting hooky off licences as poster sites with the implication that curtailed licences (through serving alcohol to feral children) could be more favourably looked at under a "liberal" regime.

Just to make matters worse it was the Lib Dem leadership who put the councillor up to complaining in the first place! Before turning on him. The alleged scrote in question is still up on at least one of their websites. Beaming like a good un. All trace of this character does however seem to have been removed from their main site. Which is not the only piece of airbrushing LoL've noticed.

It will be interesting to see whether they dare to put this man with his alleged misdemeanours up as a candidate in further elections. Let's hope they do. If they don't of course the people will have a good idea why this is.

There has been speculation in the comment from "the Clayton Bloggart" on my blog that the Lib Dem leadership changed their minds because the dealer pointed out where the lines of pills and white powder actually led.

But we'll have to assume that this is completely untrue and search for another credible explanation. Like possibly conspiring all along to get a supposedly safe seat for one of their maverick mates perhaps.

Libdemology: Lib Dem MEPs Waste £25,000 on Racey Fantasy Comic

Quite hilarious that Lib Dem MEPs have produced 40,000 copies of a comic book personifying themselves and their struggle against corruption in world trade (or something) with a scantily clad "Jane Bond" type taking on and defeating nefarious Chinese generals.

As Kerron Cross reports:
It seems when the Lib Dems aren't supporting the BNP, or sending their staff on courses on how to make misleading bar charts, they are fantasising about themselves as a busty comic book heroine.

Lady Thatcher: More Press Coverage Than She Can Shake Her Stick At

Guido Fawkes has noticed that one Margaret Thatcher is still getting quite a few mentions in the media. Labour of Love reported this phenomenon the best part of two months ago.

Unfortunately the new, soft, Cameron pillow cases mentioned in the piece proved as complete a confidence trick as Cuddly Nu Toryism itself.

Margaret was way ahead of all current leaders on eBay memorabilia. More than 250 items worldwide. Versus W Menzies Campbell's corrected total of ... precisely none.

Dave/id Cameron: 666 Number of the Beast on Doughty Street

This week's PMQ rating session saw Doughty Tim, Shane and Sam giving Dave/id the number of the beast for his half lame performance. They were divided though on which half of his contribution was lame. The blue-on-blue incident, or the yahoo boo Blair-Brown baiting.

The panel agreed that Shilpa Shetty's presence in the public gallery at the invitation of Keith Vaz would dominate the headlines to a rather bog standard session. That Cameron's recent contributions on diversity debate were jeered to his obvious discomfort. And also that W Menzies Campbell remains a good asset for all parties but his own.

666 Lore HERE

Shameless, Shameless, Shameless: Chatsworth Estate and Chorlton Park

Shameless! Above, Cllr John "Two Jobs" Leech MP, "Tone" Bethell, and "Norm" Lewis.

Supposedly the above are the councillors for Chorlton Park, which has been a ridiculous reign, blighted by talking the place down and doing absolutely nothing. Based on some very Shameless principles. This TV Drama for the so-called "Chatsworth Estate", could surely be based on "Chorlton Park" if these guys don't get their finger out?

The Chatsworth has rape, date rape, sleep rape, on-the-sick, assault, ABH, GBH, murder, petty crime, major crime, extortion, sex addicts, drunks, druggies, serious druggies, little orgies, bi-sex, het-sex, homo-sex, bestial-sex, all-the-above-sex, gangs and gangsters.

The Chorlton Park estates meanwhile have only "most of the above". 95% of the people on these estates are honest, hard-working and hoping that another world is possible. Unfortunately some of their representatives appear more in tune with the other 5%.

Shameless: Major Props and Locations Problem

Excuse me. But having crucifixes, with jesus bodies on, all around your house is NOT a sign of being a pentecostal charismatic. More usual in Catholic homes really. That's a big mess from cult TV programme Shameless. Paul Abbot knows this and needs to more carefully protect the hand of history on his shoulder.

Frank's segregation of Catholics and Christians however is spot on. What a patronising smile I got aged nine when asked by a teacher (actually a non-Catholic TV tennis star, knocking up with Rod Laver) "what is our religion" I answered "christian" which was quickly corrected by others, with sneering and sniggering, to "catholic". Hey ho! What a mess!

Shiite, Sunni, Wahabi, Sufi. Muslim.

Catholic, Protestant, Baptist, Bushy. Christian.

Withington Selection: Flickr Set, Apparently Including Readers' Spouses

LORENZO 23 has added a slightly subversive Flickr set to the Manchester Withington post commentary below.

Next, I reckon, this so called Lorenzo 23'll be blogging it. The more the merrier.

Reds Under the Bed: Lurchers are Shifty Teeves, Shock Horror, It's Official

It was great to see Dominic Littlewood of Revenge TV dealing with the case of 'Red' the enterprising Lurcher dog of Battersea and a dab hand with doors, gates and locks.

My own Lurcher Dog Hooch might have been separated at birth both in his lunk-headed good looks and his houdini instincts. Quite capable of opening our front door by pawing round a classic Yale, and able to open an inward opening door through his advanced grasp of mechanics, he has thankfully been baffled by the new-fangled USA style Yale deadlock.

Hooch has been in the cells of Trafford Police just the once. After being told off mightily by the desk sergeant for he not having a dog tag, and insisting he did in fact sport one, I then listened while the sergeant collected the doggie and wrestled with him to remove his tag off stage. Terrific!

ABOVE: "Red" the resourceful lurcher; BELOW: "Hooch" the resourceful lurcher. Or vice versa.

Withington Selection: Chorlton/Chorlton Park Social

LoL's reporter and photographer there. Eight candidates. Forty members. Some candidate machinery. Gossip. Tidbits nibbled. Atmosphere drunk in. Attempts to OUT "local voter" met blank expressions. Denials of NCTJ training. More tomorrow.

Luke Akehurst: Spinning Rallings and Thrasher

Luke Akehurst spins the Rallings and Thrasher calculator on the BBC web here like there's no tomorrow, no yesterday and no today.

In essence the calculation projects what may have happened with the exact same votes cast in 2005 if the boundaries recommended by the various boundary commissioners were in place. Luke suggests that David Cameron is in the same shape as Michael Foot was all those years ago. But I don't think there's much point in providing an overspun analysis.

The figures show that Michael Howard was in similar shape to Michael Foot, though Mr Foot had thirteen more Scottish seats to shoot at back in the day. So Foot was arguably even worse off.

The numbers are quite encouraging and the loss to Labour's majority is less than the 20-plus that had been reported but 20 months, and two leadership changes with a third on the way, and events dear boy events mean that the table for 2005 on the new boundaries still leaves everything to play for.

The BBC say it's good news for Cameron, the Akehurst says it's good news for Labour. The truth is perhaps somewhere betwixt and between.

Web 2.0: Explanation of Where We're At, Webwise

Hat tipped to Guido, his tipped to Guardian tech blog (4/2/7).

Luke Akehurst: With the Old Aged Swingers In Tow

Triangulation tells us where to train our heavy artillery. Winning the odd battle. But what about the war?

Luke Akehurst quotes the case of the newly boundaried Dagenham and Rainham constituency and tries to use this as a stick to beat those of us in the Party who are not convinced that perpetual triangulation to hook swing votes is sustainable or desirable.

Luke says that people in MARGINAL seats will notice bloggers and deputy candidates arguing about the policy dog whistles aimed at them and close their ears. But it's people in NOT MARGINAL seats hearing this stuff and telling us where to get off to that concerns me.

Obviously we want to get first past the post and preferably 350 seats but we don't want to be screwing over 315 of these and giving tidbits to the other 35 ... or do we Luke?

As one commentator Nick said the minutae of policy and even to an extent the broad brushes are lost on many voters. They notice the biggest headlines, wars, the price of a pint, potholes and dog poo ... and, hold the presses, most could stand more honest to goodness Labour policies from the Labour Party! They don't like having NO CHOICE and that causes some to stay at home and not follow their tribal instincts.

From my point of view Tony Blair has been a class act as PR man, but he went too far with product reinvention in 1997 and continued to go farther. That's why we're right out on the right of whatever being Labour possibly is. If only he had been marketeering for the progressive democratic socialist programme the country was crying out for!

The core vote - that alleged 32% or thereabouts - that we and the Tories each have as instinctive, tribal voters is partly dying out, partly finding ready to dabble, partly finding themselves ready to ship out for good.

Good luck in Rainham and Dagenham. But anecdotal single constituency "reasons" are hardly enough for a generalisation. Swing voters are excellent if they come down on the right side in the end but the cost of wooing them in both policy and financial terms is a hard one to bear. In Manchester Withington - won in 1987 (close in 83) on unselfish principles and lost in 2005 on selfish triangulation at the centre - the picture is entirely different.

Perhaps Manchester Withington is Labour's wake up call rather than the aberration of urban intelligensia that New Labour spin central bashed out by way of excuse for the 17% swing to the Lib Dems.

ParburyPolitica: Join The Dots to See Libs Sinking Like a Stone

Parburypolitica is picking up some new tricks, the old dog. The SPSS produced distribution shows how sadly lots of Lib Dems either lose seats immediately or see a drop in their votes. More than half of them polled a much lower percentage in 2005 than in 2001.

Whether they are vying with a government flavoured opponent or a not very resurgent Tory. John Leech's 667 majority has never looked a safer bet to be overturned. It'll take some doing of course as Lib Dems here are renowned for their lying, cheating and stealing. But these charts never lie. He's toast. And I'll drink to that.

FOLLOW UP: Can Mr Parbury please explain immediately why the Diabolical Liberties have so many dots? Or see me after class.

Slough RE Teacher: "Most Suicide Bombers are Muslims"

Iain Dale thinks this teacher's departure from his temporary teaching post in a Slough Secondary for allegedly saying, among other things: "Most (or All) suicide bombers are Muslim" to a class discussing an essay they had produced, set by another teacher, on the advantages and disadvantages of religion.

There doesn't seem to be enough evidence in the BBC text or the linked video tape for Iain to seem so certain that the decision to let the teacher go constitutes an outrage. Perhaps it does. But there is no evidence. Just the man's assertion of his innocence.

The reporter's question about racism, vehemently denied by the supply teacher, specifying as evidence in his rebuttal that he was a Christian as if that cleared him instantly of being capable of racism, completely misses the nuance between racism and religious discrimination.

Nick Griffin and Mark Collett are seriously damaged goods. But court claims "Not racist". Every one of these BNP men do however boast criminal records.

This is of course the main reason quoted on why Mr Nick Griffin and Mr Mark Collett of the fine, upstanding and eminently respectable BNP escaped justice in Leeds Crown Court recently. Slagging off Islam but successfully arguing that this was not racist or even aimed at muslims. Local Blogger's View: 2 February 2006 entry.

Let us wait and see what if anything emerges over time on this strange case of a certain Mr McCluskey, an allegedly loose and rather reprehensible remark, and the upset 12 year old students of Baylis Court School.

Suicide bombing is completely outwith the correct practice of Islam. Just as placing murderous bombs in Omagh Town is not within the teaching of the Catholic Church in Ireland.

I imagine that a supply teacher who went into the old school of Padraig O'Brien (BBC London's reporter) and made a similar remark about Catholics or Protestants would find that their feet would not touch the floor.

Trade Unions: BNP's "Solidarity" Work Sets Us Free

Dizzy picks up the Labour MP for Blaydon, David Anderson, claiming that on the 24th February, the BNP will "effectively be recognised as a trade union by the certification officer".

Dizzy goes on to follow the Telegraph in making out that the BNP are in fact lefties. But one of his correspondents calling themselves 'Charlotte' says they will join this union not run "for the benefit of marxists", which rather screws Dizzy's analysis.

The BNP are divisive communalists (on the south asian or old Nazi model) and fascists rather than "white-power socialists" as Dizzy asserts. A genius adds the following comment:
"Though it (the BNP's fascism) may be based on an illusion of worker interest it is of course in the interests of the few not the many, commencing with a divide and rule and common enemy format as dog-whistled by the Tory strategist Dave/id Cameron for 2005 before he became a Cuddly-Nu-Tory."

Thorough story on the stage Solidarity is at from Searchlight who also cover the BNP's subversion of Trade Union participation in Holocaust Memorial Day 2005.

HERE the Telegraph covered the story of the BNP's newspaper being printed by a Saudi owned firm alongside a host of Arab and Muslim publications.

Guido Fawkes: Reads The News of the World

Guido and Iain are only too pleased to be taken in by a Murdoch story in NOTW which quotes a CPS source - presumably a porter or cloakroom attendant or someone Guido or CCHQ made up - with all sorts of wild revelations and predictions about how the investigation is going and where it is heading.

Quite the opposite to what police sources were telling BBC Newsnight's Martha Kearney and others on Thursday. What do you reckon? News of the Screws? Or BBC TV? Who to believe?

"FA" Faria Alam is also successfully stitched up. But the saddest story of the day is of former Labour MP Fiona Jones who has died of hard drinking. This was triggered by both a degenerate drinking culture at the Palace of Westminister and by the campaign to oust her based on allegations of over-spending in her election campaign. Of which Fiona was quickly cleared on appeal.

On a day when Iain Dale is inaccurately calling sensible expenses capping rules for the between elections period "Gerrymandering" LoL would hope that more well-founded allegations of over-spending are acted upon, without the same tragic results.

Snake Oil: Diet Trim, Dietrim, Die Trim

Even Boots sell this stuff. Though their online shop is sadly out of stock just now. "Die Trim" is surely a very unfortunate illision indeed in this size-zero-aghast generation?







Rubenesque anti-size-0 campaigner