John Harris: Casualisation of Our Workplaces

I spent a little time with John Harris after doing the Labour Blog for his So Now Who Do We Vote For? (Dodgy link to the mothership? It's supposed to be archived for posterity somewhere?) project of 2005.

Anyway, I generally read John's columns and features. This one from Friday is about how bosses and "the system" are deliberately casualising what ought to be ongoing permanent jobs. To increase profits, control and flexibility.

Not caring much - until a profit-sapping crisis arrives - about screwing their workers. This is not acceptable. How can a company have a Corporate Social Responsibility stance on the environment and back local charities but abuse their workers? Happy to see them - in house or in supplier companies - miserable, if not mentally and physically ill, through insecurity, inadequate leave, unhealthy conditions, poverty pay, fear and loathing?

We are supposed to work to live not live to work.

Yes, this is a market of course. (As comments ranging from Trot to BNP point out at CIF.) But workers are allowed to, even bound to act collectively and resist these urges from capitalists - public, private and third sector. That is part of the market working too. Organising in a single workplace by banding together, or nationally and internationally though established Trade Unions.

Unions in the UK have been mostly pretty quiet of late. No bad thing. If we can negotiate a fair deal with reasonable employers then industrial action can and should remain in the last resort box.

But there has always been a great problem with Unions not successfully organising in the most difficult and casualised sub markets - retail and distribution, licensed retail, agriculture, construction, catering, even media. The very places where workers are most exploited and strong Trade Unions could have most effect. This Baristas Union for coffee shop workers hasn't exactly taken off.

The arithmetic is now such that some employers - surprising employers - are willing to constructively dismiss or even sack workers for legitimate Union activity, pay the penalties for doing so, and hope that more will not spring up like Hydra's heads. There may be some more on some Manchester cases of this past, present and future before too long.

Meanwhile this post from yesterday - about the National union of Journalists and bloggers - has generated some conversation. Let's hope the casually employed scribbler John Harris has finally filled his form in and joined the NUJ in solidarity with 35,000 colleagues! Stand Up For Journalists!

LIB DEM LEADERSHIP: 63 MPs, nine of them women, all white, two serious candidates for leader, both from the same school, with near identical political histories. Here's John Harris on the "choice" now facing the Lib Dems. Something about Steve Webb's decision not to stand and provide a little political choice at least should be up here tomorrow.

Lunchtime Today: Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?

Well lunch actually. None other than Mr Will Parbury of the New, Improved, Parburypolitica up from Bath with tales from a Mr Peter Wheeler dinner of last night. A Burnham/Blears double act it seems.

Was able to check his side of some of those Burnage stories. And also teach him how to make a superior plate of scrambled eggs on lightly toasted heavily buttered home made granary loaf, washed down with home made lemon drizzle cake.

"Just like the Waltons" said Will mysteriously. In fact it was similar to that we served in the Castle Cafe in High Wycombe where I worked five mornings a week before going on to school and at weekends. Before the three day week and the new fangled dishwasher put paid to all that.

Meanwhile the ASDA free range egg carton revealed a profound wisdom. Allergy warning: contains eggs. Well I never!

Rugby World Cup: Just Ten Minutes to Go, 15-6 Down

Has been a fascinating if scrappy game. Decision on Tait Cueto touch down at start of second half has made a huge difference. Thought it was good myself. Only two or four points, but a huge difference.

Nine points in ten minutes is a huge ask at this level. At any level.

71. Drop goal attempt falls short. 72. Man of match = RSA line out player/vice captain. Excellent grub kick from Tait. Lose line out. 73. Line out on RSA. Lose it. 22. England need a converted try and a pen or dg. 76. Penalty to RSA deep in own half. 77. RSA are running down the clock . 78. Commentator says "RSA are running down the clock".

79. England knock on. RSA win. Some of the ITV commentary really was twaddle. Two minutes to go: "they need a try and then a drop goal". Whereas the other way round would have made more sense.

Apart from the decision on the try England lost this in the line out where South Africa monstered them completely.

UPDATE: Tait Cueto trailed his toe just onto the whitewash before balletically, beautifully lifting his boot. It was in fact an excellent decision.

APOLOGIES: to Mr Tait, Mr Cueto and my readers for a woeful factual inaccuracy.

Blogroll Additions: Hopi Sen, Westmonster & Omar Salem

Hopi Sen is a some time LP press officer who's now running a useful blog between running errands for a leaping lord.

Westmonster came out of the trap at full tilt and Omar's has been an omission in the LOL blog roll.

As I recall the pair of us helped carry a LATW banner through London together in September 2005. So this is overdue.

Sean Fear Talks the Talk: Local Voters Walked the Walk

Missed a real gem in London Tory Sean Fear's Friday Slot at Political Betting. What a load of old nonsense he concocts in conclusions from what really are a rather depressing set of local by-election results.

Scaling from local elections to generals is rubbish at the best of times but from 37 local by-elections to the next General Election? Sean says the extraordinarily poor results for Tories preface success.

Absolute tory tosh. Particularly as Tories have lost eight seats - won in 2007 or 2006 - six to Labour and two to Libs.

How can this signal "happy days are here again". What a load of old nonsense!

Racist Professor: “I cannot understand how I could have said what I am quoted as having said"

Dr James Graham whose remarks on race and IQ caused a storm has cancelled his UK speaking tour - if there was any of it left - and gone back to the USA to try to save his job as Chancellor of an academic institution. The Times broke the story and carried this follow up today.

Comments there are mixed with some thinking he should stick to his guns and quoting spurious generalised IQ scores. It is patently obvious that most IQ tests are culturally and linguistically and in many cases historically at least also gender biased. Dr Graham is back peddling furiously. Good.

Citizen Andreas: Do the Maths, Find Out the Tories

Inspired by divergence of opinion between myself and Mr Dale on a 37% Tory claim re IHT Citizen Andreas has done some digging and some hard sums.

A recommended read for the details. The post shows that the Tory claim that 37% of houses will be affected - despite the FACT that only 6% of estates actually are - is based on an average house VALUE of £210,000 with no loans whatsoever outstanding and £94,000+ of other assets that make it into a person's estate.

I've three points to add:

1. The fact that someone's house is worth £210,000 is not the same as them having equity in it of £210,000. The idea that the 37th percentile of equity held is £210,000 seems very unlikely.

2. Scottish Widows/You Gov (who did the survey) have apparently not included other types of houses. Rented from social or private landlords.

3. None of these parties have allowed for the existing arrangement that have been available for some time to those families with good (expensive) tax planning and are now available to all.

Assuming all mortgages are paid off, not including the rented sector, and not including a known tax gimmick must account for the fact that IN THE REAL WORLD only 6% of estates pay IHT. Less than one sixth of the Tory prediction. They're not so stupid that they didn't realise this are they? But if they did realise then they must be liars!

Are Tories very very stupid? Or do they tell big bad porkies?

Figures being quoted by a financial institution with an interest in making people think they should have more equity in the sort of schemes they, now there's a coincidence, happen to be selling, are clearly not reliable. They're known to risk a bit of mis-selling for the sake of a fat commission.

As we revealled here Channel 4's excellent factcheck service found that Tory positioning on Labour's tax regime was 90% mendacious while on the likes of IHT and non doms their own plans were a mere 60% mendacious.

Which is - let's be completely fair here - a 33.33% improvement in accuracy, albeit from a very low start indeed.

BELLY LAUGH: If you go to Comments on this post you can find Mr Iain Dale, that's Mr ID himself, suggesting that a blogger other than himself (aw shucks) has "an ego the size of a mountain".

CAPTION: As Dustin Hoffman could have told us instantly there are 18 monopoly houses in the illustration above. Before recent changes only about ONE of the above, around 6%, had to pay Inheritance Tax. Now we can add the 17 more below with only around 1:35 being liable. In this regard at least the New Labour Project's socialism quotient is homeopathic. Sadly nothing to be scared of for the well to do. Though such homeopathic socialism has meant we can have the minimum wage, huge investments in public services, and the minimum income guarantee for pensioners too. Not all bad then.

Iain Dale: Bad Maths and Forgetfulness or a Fibber?

Iain Dale is still saying that Inheritance Tax affects 37% of houses, which I do believe is a Scottish Widows figure which is only slightly less hooky than an Accountancy Age guesstimate of number of Non Doms lifted from something glib, imprecise and inaccurate in a sunday newspaper.

"Affects 37% of houses"? What a pile of tosh Iain. Absolute steaming doo doos. Really! How can you still be repeating this discredited propaganda?

Next you'll be telling us that doing away with IHT would solve the first time buyer squeeze as gentlefolk inherit from their mum and dad and can buy a home when they're 50, 60 or 70. In fact my Gran's 102 next birthday and my dad (75) still wouldn't have had his stash.

Anyway THAT brilliant thought and marvellous mathematics, along with the idea that Maggie wasn't expecting to serve a full term when she was last elected as PM, came from Ms Caroline Spelman MP on QT.

37% of houses? I repeat: Tosh! It's not even 6% of houses in any snapshot of what's going on.

In fact 6% of estates that are not only WORTH either £300,000 plus or £600,000 plus in the case of a well-tax-planned couple but ACTUALLY OWN THAT EQUITY.

This becomes a very tiny number and proportion of all houses when one considers the number of houses vs the whole housinh stock willed each year.

There are all sorts of not even particularly clever ways of avoiding IHT, helping poor impoverished might be first time buyers rellies, and generally amassing an unconscionable fortune on the backs of the real workers.

Please Tories DO THE MATHS. Then get Memory Dave to commit the answers to the party's collective memory and NEVER EVER EVER REPEAT the untruths. Making mistakes is one thing. And acknowledgement or even an apology might suffice, if they ever came.

Knowingly repeating untruths Mr Iain Dale is ... SIMPLY LYING.

Stand Up For Journalism: Should NUJ Organise Bloggers?

Miles has created a jump post listing some of us who have already covered the Stand Up For Journalism event. Remember, remember this is on 5th of November. Focused here in Manchester. At the site of the Peterloo Massacre.

While it is primarily about a great slump in local and regional journalist numbers and time and money constraints on their ability to be effective in the newspaper business the breaking news on job losses and rip offs in the television/radio/web trimedia does provide a momentous back drop.

The NUJ should now push the boat out in the Blogging sector. There is a considerable unmet training need - particularly afflicting the Tory lot! - and also various other areas where a collective voice and bargaining would be useful.

Special lower subs rate at entry level will be needed and also some serious targeted recruitment advertising. Preferably booked direct with bloggers rather than through some major advertising contractor. And on the basis of a small retainer and a recurring slice of subscription revenue.

Stand Up For Journalism!

Bloggerheads.com and Iaindale.com: Back to Feuding

Bloggerheads has been pursuing the Great Dale Robbery under which he covers a story - a new twist in the tedious MPs priority for muffins bun fight - many hours after it has first broken by Kerron Cross, as if new and all his own work.

It seems that I threw the first stone on this one but had no idea what a storm of comments, many of them deleted, then ensued. I understand Iain told me in his best jeery tones to stop jeering!! Hilarious.

Iain says he got the story from another source. Kerron is one of the more established of Iain's daily reads and it was a hell of a long time - more than 14 hours - after first publication but hey ho, things like this do happen. The wheel probably was reinvented quite a few times after all. I tend to believe Iain when he admits not paying attention and Kerron does too, so that's all right then?

Not quite. Iain says he always gives hat tips. This claim is not fair or accurate. He certainly doesn't. So not everyone will believe him in this case. It is fairly rare for Iain to admit when he is wrong, even when he has made serious false allegations, completely misunderstood something technical, or otherwise Daled Up badly.

Yet he is forever calling on others to apologise, resign, recant, call an election, hold a referendum, get to the back of the muffin queue. It's a case of "what i say, not what I do".

There is another traffic driving trick. Mr Dale credits a source openly but reproduces a whole article, extended quotes or the real meat of that article. He's not the only one to do this. There are a few blogs that do an awful lot of republication of other people's work.

But Iain Dale's is an important blog. It is the country's leading political blog. It's official. According to Iain's own list. So he should be setting a better example.

This practice cuts off the water supply from the true source and becomes the focus of most if not all further referrals. Even immediate commenters think it's Iain's story, calling it "great digging" etc.

Powerful nations have been to war over less.

Iain did this today with the Spectator's early spot of the Independent reproducing a Foreign Office statement almost verbatim but without attribution. He rather rashly jumps to a probable wrong conclusion - collusion - rather than to the sub-editor who missed a few words identifying the progenitor of the statement.

Almost like failing to give a hat tip. But less serious.

ASIDE: We still have not discovered why Iain Dale did not appear in the Right One Hundred list. Did he decide he was a journalist? Or that Guido Fawkes and Tim Montgomery were in fact much more important bloggers then himself? And that various council leaders, ginger group chiefs and obscure PPCs were far more important too?

Iain Dale's Diary: Panic at the Ministry of Defence

Iain Dale thinks an exchange in the Lords on a little Des Browne gaffe (or big set up) makes things "muddier and muddier". In what way Iain? No more muddy and perhaps even slightly less muddy?

And when Mr Browne is reshuffled as happens to all eventually rather than being the first of Brown's ministers to go wouldn't he be the last of Blair's?!

Des Browne does seem to be painted as gaffe prone. Tory clots persist in calling him Swiss Tony. Which is I think a sign of how dim Tories are. Tony Lloyd MP, the Chair of the PLP, is clearly Swiss Tony, not Des.

Des does have a bit of a run-away gob on him and some non linear thought processes. These might be handy doing a Crossword or finishing a Sudoku in record time. But not necessarily the best asset when wrestling with a loathsome word weasel like Liam Fox.

In this case though it looks a bit like Browne's had some trouble with linearity. Perhaps he is party to an upcoming announcement on this matter which he thought was already in the public domain? Or else he's been set up.

Purely as a little thought experiment - for fun - would you think the MoD staff would be more or less prone to setting up a minister or colluding with opposition spokesmen than those in other Departments of State?

When Browne was immigration minister he had a meeting with Farhat Khan's MP Graham Stringer and told him as a serious point that as FK had collected 10,000 signatures she was clearly the sort of resourceful individual who could escape death and destruction (from gangsters and warlords) for herself and her young children when returned to NWFP.

Graham Stringer remarked at the time that Browne's remark was "perverse". Which is to say the least.

As Farhat herself told Michael Buerk on R4 Choices: "I am strong, but I am not bullet proof". Sources tell me this programme has been considered "best ever", will be repeated and may even get a wider airing.

Wilson Memorials: Living and Breathing in Manchester

Mark Garner of Manchester Confidential points out Wilson's living memorial. That is son Oliver and daughter Isabelle (right). The insane dear dog William, who took a goodly friendly enthusiastic tear into my favourite Donna Karan shirt as Wilson signed my election papers in 2006, represents that famous walk on the wild side. Not allowed into the Hilton.

Memorials meanwhile do flow. The first ever posthumous Freeman's Stone in the Ante Room to the Council Chamber, poor old Joseph Whitworth getting screwed as his Street becomes Wilson's Way (surely better wordage than what's on offer), a book what some people wrote in Salford. Still the "statue" proposition rumbles on. Still I don't think that's the way to go. Too STILL see?

Must admit though that I am more taken by New Order bassist Hooky's concept of a kind of Colossus of Roads towering over the Parkway than by the sort of hokey bronze inflicted on one of Wilson's great heroes, Alan Turing after he'd had his wicked Way. Which runs right through Fujitsu (ICL), Rolls Royce and Sports City.


Another living monument to Wilson lives and breathes this weekend in the form of In The City's annual bacchanalia. For the moment incidentally the event website does not seem to mention the great man. That may change.

I'd expect to see a transfer to Liverpool for 2008 as another event of International Importance for our sibling City's City of Culture effort. London have contributed the Turner Prize, and Manchester will presumably (exclusive scoop blogsclusive?) contribute In The City to add to the flagship MS Fitzcarraldo aka the Walk The Plank Ship welcomed from Salford a couple of years back by Ken Dodd himself.

MONTAGE: Colossus of Rhodes painting by M Larrinaga plus Parkway photo from Laivakoira Photo Blog.

Racist Scientist Carpeted: His Brain is in a Pickle

Phew! Pickled Politics' medical Doctor Rohin brings news of the inexorable decline of the nutty Professor James Watson (right) who has added upfront racism to his previous upfront sexism, homophobia and support for eugenics.

Watson was one of the 1962 Nobel Laureate's credited with discovery of DNA. But the addled fool's brain has now shrunk to the size of a small walnut and swung round to face the far right. This is letting irrational racist prejudices and demonstrably culturally biased and unscientific IQ testing overpower reality. There may have been some astrology and homeopathy in there too.

Since this Times report the man's sell out gig at the Science Museum has been unceremoniously pulled amid condemnation from all directions.

Watson's shamanism reminds me of a "learned paper" I once got to tear apart in which a "scientist" had measured the volume of the cavities in various skulls - not actually a very good analogue for brain power in any case - and then used their white male middle aged racist sexist doh brain to support their idee fixee that his own kind were top of the tree intelligence wise.

Thing was his "science" was circular as he had attributed race and gender to the sample skulls on the basis of the size of the skull cavities in the first place! On the basis of his superior a priori knowledge of what his experiment would reveal!

VAGUE HAT TIP: Perhaps I'll find the links in due course. My hat tip at the time was to an item in a 1978 or 1979 popular academic journal possibly Geography, Nature or Science. I think the pen name was Ptolemy. And I believe the tragically flawed original article was in the Journal of Geology ca 1898 (give or take).

GRATUITOUS MARK TWAIN QUOTE: "The wonderful thing about science is the large return of conjecture on a small investment of fact." OWTTE

European Treaty: Will June 2009 General Election Help the UKIP Ultras Screw Cameron?

Ben Brogan wonders aloud whether Cameron would or could unpick that blessed EU Treaty. He suggests too that an election in June 2009, as I have been predicting since Brown took over (just stick June 2009 in the blog search), would worry Cam about a UKIP takeover.

Surely it should assist the Tories in annihilating UKIP MEPs by weight of numbers as well as swamping the BNP's tattered cadre?

If Cam is actually currently worried about UKIP crossing into UK Parliament and taking a few seats or splitting votes in a bigger way than in the past - as man-in-the-know Brogan suggests - then all talk of Tory recovery must surely be considered massively over-stated?

Cameron's Tories know full well that :

* they will not in fact be campaigning to get out of Europe;

* they have nothing but trivial quibbles with the Treaty itself and they do know that it is an amending Treaty and that no other country barring Ireland is Referending on it (and they have to by law);

and

* having "done the country in" in lumbering the UK of the regions with the far more significant issues of Maastricht, without one, they will be seen as quite weak on the referendum question anyway.

They also know that the message in the above poster is not one they can tango with in Paris or elsewhere.

Interesting times. Timothy Garton Ash said bring it on referendum wise but only after calling it a Cameron Con and a Hague Hoax with the Tories' vision for a brave new world built on a confidence trick.

POSTER: Is a ? Hungarian Nationalist Eurosceptic one reproduced on the Euroscepticism wiki page.

Hat Tip and Blog Counter Gate: Dale Acknowledgement Vacuum, and Cross Purposes

It seems that rather paradoxically, as in the catering areas of the Palace of Westminster, all bloggers are equal but some are more equal than others. One rather self important blogging PPC is pushing to the front of the queue and trampling on the hopes and dreams of others of their own kind.

10:37 am yesterday Kerron Cross had this on the ever so dreary Muffin Gate scandal over MP self-importance vs MP Staff self-importance whereas at 1:06 am today just 14-plus hours later, Iain Dale had this quite different take on the matter.



No doubt more people will see the latter albeit Johnny-come-lately effort and Mr Dale will get all the kudos for his discovery. Meanwhile in an even more horrific scandal LOL can reveal that Kerron's counter appears to be clocking page impressions not visits.

Naughty, naughty, they've very very naughty, they're very naughty.

Manchester Libdemologists: Losing on Own Poll

Nothing yet at Manchester Lib Dems' website on the leadership contest that is gripping the nation, not. Current score 10 opted out, one opted in, the other 50 or so consulting with their constituents.

Cllr Simon Ashley has spoken of course. He says Charles Kennedy so long as he's sober. Because, and I do paraphrase a little, "all the rest are complete rubbish".

But there is some poll news. Manchester residents are voting in favour of a passenger transport improvement plus congestion charging package. Apparently the Lib Dems are not really supporting this package unless there is a referendum. But their voters, you'd think they'd be partisan Lib Dem supporters, are telling them to GROW UP!

Still waiting for news on any referenda that Lib Dems have held when they've been in charge. But let's not let transparent humbuggery and double standards get in the way of a good bit of a Lib Dem miserablism and opportunism!

No referendum in Liverpool from Lib Dems on building a 70,000 seater stadium in the historic Grade II Listed Stanley Park.

No referendum in Bristol from Lib Dems in removing subsidy (just £100,000 per annum) from a well-loved commuter railway from Severn Beach though Clifton to Bristol Temple Meads.

No referendum in Cardiff from Lib Dems on massively expanding the Sofia Gardens Cricket Ground in the midst of Grade I and Grade II listed parkland. In fact Labour councillors have been mature enough to support the plan because on balance it is considered a good thing.

No referendum in Liverpool from Lib Dems on the choice of a Will Allsop design for the ill-fated Fourth Grace. There was a consultation though. But the Lib Dems ignored it and picked the fourth ranked of four in the public vote.

No referendum in Bristol on Lib Dem plans to BAN DOOR MATS. Yes, they really did plan to do that.

Can anyone provide any example of Lib Dem referenda in action where they have full or shared control of a City Council?

IMAGE: Thanks to Getty for a blick of just a few of the fridge magnets already available for Lib Dem leadership candidates. Lib Dem MPs can nominate as many people as they like. So they can all have a go. Why not collect the set?

UPDATE: Kerron Cross has hosted a comment saying they're only letting MPs back one candidate each. If this is true it means only about eight or nine of them will be able to stand.

Alex Deane: Dale's Aussie Election Monkey

It has to be said that Iain Dale's Aussie Election Monkey is not setting the switchboards alight. Which is a shame as Alex's insights deserve attention followed by a good battering.

Today (Day 3) he promises to look at Oz Labour's tax plans (some time) and presumably compare these to Oz Tories existing arrangements (some time)? You'd hope so wouldn't you? But he doesn't provide any real content at all.

Truth is even under Oz Tories the state is pretty humungous; taxes too ... are pretty humungous; protectionism on trade ... well that's pretty humungous.

Things that are not humungous under Oz Tories are the population or growth thereof, the rate of immigration, the economy or growth thereof, and whatever the Sydney Olympics sought to suggest, the community cohesion and global consciousness of Oz.

It is clearly time for a change. It must be Howard's End? More anon perhaps.

PMQs: Stalking Horse Brady Sunk Without Trace

Ben Brogan clearly needs watching after yesterday's strange headline. Today he sticks the knife in just a tad to dear Graham "Nice-but-Dim" Brady. GB is outed as the stalking horse lined up by Thatcherites to get rid of Cameron just a few short months ago. (Incidentally Brogan does not name that horse's "trainer").

Remember? When DC was considered to be foundering? Drowning not waving.

Don't worry. "He'll Be Back" Schwarzenneger style. He's like a kid in a swimming pool pretending he can swim a length or more, without armbands.

"Look mum no notes!" But actually he's been cheating and putting his feet down quite frequently.

Gordon is normally a strong swimmer himself. With badges on his trunks for endurance and safety first. And even Mr Brogan scored today's gala as business as usual and a score draw. Brady's question sank without trace. Along with his front bench career.

Vince Cable overcame extreme nervousness to leave the shallow end and raise a deep moral question on tax breaks for married folk.

But Brown "took him for a swim" as the Water Polo folk say, describing a near drowning of an opponent, pointedly including "new investment against bullying" in a list of £16 Billion of uncosted Lib Dem proposals of the last few weeks.

TRIVIA QUIZ: Bob Marshall-Andrews was very keen indeed to be a stalking horse back in 2005 when the rest of the parliamentary party were looking to get rid of Mr Blair manage the succession without blood on the carpets.

"Trouble was" confided the stalking donkey the PLP "ingrates" actually had lined up instead "Bob actually believed he could have won". He couldn't be relied on to bow out once the deed was done. But who was that donkey?

Ben Brogan: Non Sequitor Tag on Appeasement Rebuttal

Mr Brogan seems to rather admire David Miliband as he:

DOES show a strong command of his European Treaty portfolio
DOES NOT tolerate a comparison with appeasement and Munich
DOES NOT suffer committee room fools gladly

I'm sure Mr Brogan need not be concerned that Mr Miliband will treat senior European politicians with the same disdain as some spectacularly dim back benchers of all stripes.

So the non sequitor headline "Miliband Crashes" is pretty curious.

Libdemologists: Yet More Eee-yore from Simple Simon?

Well well well. It seems that Cllr Simon Ashley (left), Lib Dem group leader in Manchester, has lived up to the donkey vote thing by not buying a round of drinks and toasting Charles Kennedy with a glass that is even emptier than half empty:

"To lose one leader is unfortunate, to lose two is downright clumsy. I don't think we should have got rid of Charles Kennedy. Presuming he wants the job and is sober who else do we have that has the experience to do the job" (Manchester Evening News, but not online)

Apart perhaps from Ashley himself - seeing as he has survived countless assassination attempts over his inept leadership.

You will find Ashley putting his weight behind Hughes last time in this fascinating timeline with some marvellous opinion poll action swirling around like a bunch of headless chickens flocking together.

Meanwhile the leftier-than-thou and holier-than-thou Cllr John "Hospital Hoax" Leech MP (centre) plugged Clegg as he pretended to want Kennedy to stay. But then switched to Huhne when Clegg didn't run.

They are all over the place these Lib Dems they really are.

Libdemologists: Knifing Ming AND Knifing Free Speech?

While the "grown up" Lib Dems in Westminster were knifing dear old Ming the babies in York Hull were trying to smother free speech from lunchtime organisers and youth workers that they were having to let go.

To do this muffling they tried to use a rule intended to stop councillors with snouts adjacent to troughs from feathering their own nests. The Labour Group has stopped this shenanigans.

When Lib Dems tell you they are the nice party and the party of free speech and youth engagement and human rights shout "Et Tu Brute?" followed swiftly by "Alas, poor York, I knew him well" or possibly "Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious by this sun of York".

UPDATE: Hull, York? What's the difference? Well quotes with Hull in are thinner on the ground, let me tell you.

Shami Chakrabarti: Did an L of a Job on Tony Blair

Shami Chakrabarti did a good job with Independent reader's questions yesterday. During Tony Blair's valedictory conference speech of 2006 I was sitting in the same row as SC in the overflow room. Later that day she spoke in the bizarre surroundings of the "Library" of Manchester's Freemasons Hall, distinguished by a significant lack of books as it goes, but for the time being we were both listening intently to Mr Blair.

Between us were a pair of middle aged women Blairistas who had brought enough hankies with them to dry the decks of a sinking battleship ... and used most of them. They were hilarious. If there hadn't been witnesses including a top torture watcher they would probably have slapped the backs of my legs and poked my ribs as I failed to clap and cheer at Blair's blithe banter.

There was a capital L on the word Liberty when I sent this letter in to the Guardian and a short second para explaining how there had been a capital L on it when Blair uttered the word. There was one in at least some of the transcripts. And one was clearly audible, and visible in the syntax too.

I have no idea how the press were persuaded to make it lower case.

Any campaigning organisation who can get so up an outgoing Prime Minister's nose that they get a hidden namecheck in his last conference speech as leader is doing a fine job. Shami had really got to him. Well good. Guardian Podcast on influences is here. Above with some self-effacing seamstress.

Libdemologists: Particularly Stricken by Donkey Effect?

Dizzy says the future's not bright and the future's not yellow for those spectral Libdemologists. Definitely isn't yellow Dizzy? Aren't they going to remain all-things to all people cowardy custards then? Both front runners - Clegg and Huhne - are economically right-wing low-taxers and over-confident Westminster old boys. The Strummer and Macgowan of liberal politics.

One has his great greenhouse torching past to look forward to in blow by blow accounts. The other his multiple car ownership and vanity plate vs green posturing. Cable could well run I'd say. There is a head of steam behind a Kennedy re-tread. Hughes has said "no, nay, never" but he's a well known fibologist. And there's talk of a Kramer or Featherstone grrrl power run out.

That's seven names and all in the first 11 letters of the alphabet. Are Lib Dems particularly striken by the donkey effect? Campbell, Kennedy, Ashdown ... aaaaaargh! To paraphrase Galloway: "Donkeys, led by Donkeys."

POSTSCRIPT: Are we really supposed to believe Dizzy's view that a 20 ounces cache of cannabis would be treated as for personal use?

Sunny Hundal vs Martin Amis: Hundal Says "He's a Bigoted and Ignorant Fool" Amis Says "Who He?"

Didn't see or read a transcript of Martin Amis in conversation at the ICA. Apparently alluding en passant to the idea that some people might hold that Muslims in general should get their house in order or face some cold shoulders. Not his own idea exactly. But one others might have that he mentioned.

From what little I have read about the gig, this was some discursive and live free thinking. Not a long-sweated sentence in some considered piece. But not necessarily something he would not have written.

Whatever, this is from the University of Manchester chef de mission literature-ally. And not someone completely dim, bigoted and ignorant.

Sunny Hundal seems to think otherwise and speaks of cheap soundbites.

For myself, I thought that the Martin Amis idea of "species consciousness" coined almost immediately after the 11 September 2001 attacks was rather brilliant and potentially transformative.

Unpaid Advertorial: Progress Annual Conference

Clearly I'll not be commenting on this line up. Oh go on then, just the one satirical jab ... Toynbee and Montgomerie are actually there to represent the left on taxation and family values?

PROGRESS ANNUAL CONFERENCE
'Countdown to the general election: how can Labour win?'

Saturday 3 November 2007

The East Wintergarden, Canary Wharf

Speakers include David Aaronovitch, Wendy Alexander, Ed Balls, Andy Burnham, Nick Cohen, Yvette Cooper, Tony Giddens, Lynsey Hanley, Ed Husain, Peter Kellner, Oona King, Ed Miliband, Tim Montgomerie, Estelle Morris, James Purnell, Dave Rowntree, Polly Toynbee, and many more.

Seminar topics include foreign policy post-Iraq, the public services, housing, the security debate, equality and aspiration, business and social justice, Cameron and the Tories, Labour party reform, politics post-spin, the green agenda, and how progressives should engage with political Islam.

The best way to book is online, please visit:
http://www.progressonline.org.uk/Events/event.asp?e=869

Tom Brooks Pollock
Events and Communications Manager
Progress
83 Victoria Street
London
SW1H 0HW

Sock Garters?: David Grossman - These Let Ming Down

BNP: Down to Sandwell Two Through Zero Attendance

Bob Piper has the details. Griffin's Master Race are falling apart and should clearly be known by the Nazi company they keep. Below: the Fuhrer's favourite bodyguard wears his hate on his sleeves, and his chest, and his back.

Breaking News: W Menzies Campbell is Finished

BBC REPORT. An amazingly weaselly interview even by his own standards from David Laws on C4N followed by another in the same ilk from Lord Razzall.

What will Cllr John "Hospital Hoax" Leech MP do now? When there was speculation about Charles Kennedy going Leech insisted that he must stay and that he was backing him 100%. Meanwhile sticking in a big under the counter plug for Nick Clegg's candidature.

When the Twisted Fire Starter Clegg did not stand Hoaxer Leech plumped for Chris the Loon Huhne. Now both are standing what will he do? Will he stick or will he twist once more?

LIB DEM SUCCESSION: It was Lord Razzall who pointed out that Lib Dem carelessness with their leaders extends to the last three on the trot as Paddy Pantsdown was also a sharp exit stage right.

UPDATE: Iain Dale has brought forward his support for a Charles Kennedy re-tread. Are Tory CHQ trying to kill this option? The BBC Report above came only 75 minutes after this one with Lib Dems saying "don't panic".

RESIGNATION LETTER IN FULL: Carried by Lib Dem Voice along with a timeline and some links here.

CABLE IS SQUIRMING: Clearly Ming was pushed and pushed hard. No press conference. No comment.

"Catch Jeffrey Archer": On 18 Doughty Street

Like some kind of nasty pox, scratch or itch. Positively venereal. STD Zone.

Christie Hospital Hoax: Laughing Leech's Sock Puppet

It was a minute to midnight last night when LOL asked in passing: Ipsos MORI Poll: Will South Manchester Reject Leech? (Man Wit's Lib Dem MP, Maj c 650)

Inevitably the bold and brave "Anonymous" said in comments ...

Did the 60 doctors lie then Chris?
15 October, 2007 13:44

No dear sock puppet, in fact most of these Doctors didn't say anything, most if not all didn't fill in any petition, didn't sign any form letter, didn't stand outside the hospital with Save Our Hospital banners, and certainly didn't claim that the hospital, that any ward or facility, or that any service would close unless Cllr John "Hospital Hoax" Leech was elected as MP.

It was the Lib Dems that lied. It was the Lib Dems that invented this armageddon. It was also the Lib Dems that stuck leaflets into waiting rooms for seriously ill patients attending for chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

This sort of scandalous hoax must have had a very desperate effect on these people and their relatives and friends. One leaflet on the matter was so overboard that it was allegedly burnt instead of distributed. Goodness knows what that would have done to the campaign overspending.

And of course it is the Lib Dems that have continued to lie about an imaginary threat. Rather than owning up to incompetence and/or irresponsibility there is no end to the dissembling and post-rationalisations.

Even the least reasonable and most irresponsible of the Doctors - Dr Don Quixote and Dr Cap'n Ahab was it? - were simply taking a negotiating position in the course of a routine options appraisal and consultation.

The time is long overdue for John Leech to make a grovelling apology for this scurrilous campaign. He should hang his head in shame at this appalling prevarication. It will continue to haunt him until he does so.

Instead he is digging himself ever deeper. Sticking out leaflets with lots of health and cancer dog whistles in the run up to an expected election - as he has just done - seems to be classic over-compensation, betraying a deep and enduring guilt.

Being brought up in the manse John boy was surely brought up to know the difference between truth and untruth? Sadly he seems to have put every scrap of that moral education behind him.

Guildford Tories: Poll Rigging and Off Square Dealing?

Sadly no news in the Surrey Advertiser this week. Presumably the District Auditor is yet to report. Meaning that both the apparent internet poll fiddling and the apparent dodgy valuation advice issues are still not a fiddle and still not dodgy.

The poll - now freed from not-at-all-suspicious-block-voting - has continued to move in the direction that the people may be losing out, though it's still running 46:54 in favour of the allegedly whiffy deal.

Tax Breaks: A Feckless Unmarried Dad Writes ...

The unmarried feminist Mr Luke Akehurst (right) has taken instructions and a swift kick to the head from Linda (far right) and gingerly announces: "Tax shouldn't be anything to do with relationships".

Sadly, whatever Andy Burnham or Luke Akehurst may say, a marriage confers substantial legal advantages on the parties entering into it. "Depends who you're married to" as the long suffering Mrs Love might say with a twinkle, before conceding with lurid examples from girlfriends XY and Z how not actually marrying bastards AB and C reduced their rights when they split.

Victoria Dutchman-Smith at the F-word mentions but skates over this lack of adequate legal status. Dame Butler-Sloss had a rant bigging up the institution to celebrate her retirement. Hazel Roberts solicits custom by rattling off a few of the problems with Pensions, PEPs, Inheritance and Family Homes for the unmarried.

Some but not all of these problems being soluble without matrimony.

The law is an ass. And in the interests of equality also a 'mare.

It's Official: Donor to Tories Must Have Been Mad

Iain Dale's Diary: You Don't Have to be Mad to Give Money to the Tories, But it Helps. Now there's a surprise.

Ipsos MORI Poll: Will South Manchester Reject Leech?

Iscris SORI Ipsos MORI North has just completed a survey of Manchester citizens on behalf of the council. I wonder how many respondents in South Manchester have answered the final question like this:

Q. "If there was one thing you could change to make life better ..."
A. "Getting rid of John Leech the hospital hoaxing MP who plays us for fools."

Tory Marginals Poll: Exceptionally Good for Labour, But ...

A new poll in the Tories top 119112 marginals must be highly caveated as it is by Anthony Wells at the link, but it shows Gordon Brown's Labour holding on in every last one. The polling period was long and straddled the conference season.

Man in a Shed Widow: Actually Lived in Midsomer?

Happily Jennifer Chubb, erstwhile stalwart of society in Mid Somerset, seems to have landed on her feet beau-wise.

Only trouble is - rather like a rejected-as-way-too-corny plot from Midsomer Murders - the tragic spontaneous combustion widow has it seems hooked up with the quietly eccentric solicitor who drew up what was allegedly her late lamented hubby's Last Will and Testament. Ten years before the incendiary incident.

In another too corny-for-even-corny-TV twist this married gent and stalwart of the Cotley Hunt had taken a nasty knock on the head in a riding accident which left him even more erratic than he already was before it.

Sadly Mrs Chubb remissly had the remains of the shed removed by bulldozer before proper forensic examination, the person performing the autopsy was no Amanda Burton, and the "other will" favouring the deceased Judge's distraught girlfriend Kerry Sparrow has never been found.

So, as they say in Midsomer, not even John Nettles could have been expected to have tied up these loose ends.

The otherwise loathsome Daily Mail has all the cheery details of how these stalwarts of local Somerset life came to this happy pass.