Green Party: Call on Clogg to Back Berry not Paddick

Looks like the scourge of the photoshopping classes - Lib Dem Voice - are not practicing what they preach. Now there's a surprise.

In essence they are running an attack on Ken Livingstone, Gordon Brown and Sian Berry - the Green Mayoral candidate - for being cosier together than they should be. By calling for second preference trading. Rather than the Greens defaulting to the Liberal Democrats. A party who are as we all know still too yellow to be green (and too yellow to be fair) and whose stock in trade is squeezing greens 'til the pips squeak.

Lib Dem Voice are following their party's tradition and not even beginning to deal with Sian Berry's New Statesman piece claiming that Paddick is neither a "real Lib Dem" (whatever that may be) nor a supporter of even mainstream green-ish policies. They have even called on Nick Clegg himself to switch to backing Berry. He is weighing that up.

There is also a rather worrying acceptance from the LDV commentati of their party being in bed with Booby Boris Johnson's Conservatives. Surely London Lib Dems should also be calling for 2nd pref votes to Ken not Boz? Over the war. Over a very good level of community leadership after 7/7. Over the Green stuff too. Instead there is just smearage, even outrageously alleging Ken somehow supported the "execution" of Jean Charles De Menezes.

Berry's points re Paddick's policies need a response. And apparently wishing for a Tory Mayor for London and a great boost for Dave Cameron's Conservatives - mostly at the expense of the Lib Dem Party! - also needs an explanation from Lib Dems who like to have it every which way but true.

Tory supporting? Not something that will go down well among their very strange coalition in our urban centres. Liberal Democrats want to do business with Tories. Iain says so here: second preferences 39.4% to Tories, just 14.2% to Labour . And so do LDV in their vote tory strand.

That is Tories who were 1% against the war, rather than 40% from the PLP. Tories who clearly harbour plans to slash the public services. Tories who deliberately destroyed employment, distinctly dog whistle on race, and diligently deny community. Is that the party that Lib Dem voters borrowed from the independent left, working communities, and the greenish should support? Along with tactical Tories?

In my own ward the Lib Dems are desperately trying to squeeze Greens to vote for them. With empty propaganda that bears no relation to their own sham or non-existent greenery where they hold power. Most notably in NW in poor Liverpool.

Commenters at LDV have called Greens names for siding with Labour in Bristol - against Lib Dems who were removing subsidy from local trains, threatening to ban door mats, amd giving themselves a humungous pay rise - and in Sheffield where their reign was short though not sweet.

Even more on the plus side we have the Greens support in Manchester for a cross-party initiative on no cooperation with the BNP. Probably even the Nu Tory will sign that. Lib Dems have refused the opportunity to sign up to this on at least three occasions. The Greens are highly likely to lose their solitary representation on our Council on May 1. Now is not the time for their supporters to be drifting away to Paddick's crew - in this case a right young fibber - who will say anything it takes to get elected.

With her boss even lying - in "utter twaddle" to quote one of their own most enthusiastic supporters - to cancer patients waiting for chemotherapy.

Luke Akehurst also has coverage.

Farmer Dale: Some Blogs Are More Unequal Than Others

Speaking of babbling confusion we have Iain Dale mocking Wendy Alexander for giving herself a perfect 10. Iain's clearly opening the door to some unpleasant misogynist, body fascist banter, though more moderate than GuF would orchestrate. But he ends with a strangely inappropriate quote from George Orwell's Animal Farm.

In which work the incumbent "farmer class" are usurped by the insurgent "animal class" whose leaders then sadly go on to become decadent, wear clothes, smoke cheroots, and walk on two legs. Treating and partying with their former oppressors. Which is not a bad comparator to the snout-wise Scottish Nats, as LOL suggested seven months ago, but seems pretty dismal in relation to Wee Wendy. What is Farmer Dale on abaht? And why does he set up these opportunities for sock puppets and gutter snipe rascals? Salmond passes the Mars Bar Pakoras.

BBC Category Error: Broadcasting Babbling Confusion

Sometimes, quite often even, I wonder whether today's journalists have the intellectual tools to report fairly, logically or even factually. This is the BBC no less reporting on "Speaker Michael Martin's ... improvements".

Now clearly there are issues with MPs expenses, including some related to Mr Martin personally.

But there is a huge difference between repairs and refurbishments and indeed furnishings for a "tied cottage" grace and favour address which will, generally speaking remain in situ for whoever next serves, and items from the John Lewis List which immediately belong to the MP purchasing them, may add to the value of the freehold or leasehold for their address, and can later be sold on separately or in situ by them.

The speaker, whether Mr Martin or someone else before or after, cannot sell their grace and favour home or its furnishings on. Now can they?

The British Broadcasting Corporation is guilty of the sort of category error that is all too common in today's media.

Immigration and Borders: What a Day We've Had

Many thanks to Tony Lloyd MP and Liam Byrne MP and everyone else involved in the release from detention today of Elly Kiptarbei Tarus (right), a young Kenyan athlete who has been trying to join the British Forces and has become an overstayer in the process.

Tarus is still liable to be detained and removed, if he does not leave voluntarily or sort his status out, but not let's hope in this remarkable way.

He has an unused return portion of an Emirates ticket which can be re-dated for $80, he has never had any recourse to public funds, he has been in no trouble whatsoever, and he has suffered mistakes and/or unintended consequences from four (count 'em) different government departments.

Unwittingly, and at times with intended kindness and generosity, conspiring to prevent his joining British Forces.

He had already agreed to go back to Kenya voluntarily at his own expense should his attempts to correct these mistakes ultimately fail. That way he would be 95% likely to get back in and be able to serve in the forces as he wishes. My running club has guaranteed he won't need recourse to public funds in the meantime.

Today when he attended a routine interview to "collect his passport back". He was instead detained and put in a cell. This broke a series of clear promises and agreements that had been made to him or with him. That being at an initial interview I attended myself.

Tarus was later I believe shipped to Manchester Airport, from whence he would have been transferred to a detention centre for five nights at tax payers' expense, before being bundled on a flight - without his possessions - at tax payers' expense on Wednesday.

Perhaps with a little post modern torture in Terminal 5 thrown in.

Papers - specifically representations to the Minister - had been lost somewhere in the mix. Today we were able to right that, just in time. But even so, this was quite a carry on given the assurances we had been given.

Many thanks to those that did help. And quite an anecdote collected on the way from some North West solicitors who certainly did not help us out one little bit.

NW Libdemologists: There's Nowt as Queer as Folk

What a strange old world those Lib Dems live in! One side of the M6 they're resigning due to Stalinist plots preventing de-selection of a councillor. The other side they're resigning due to Stalinist plots achieving de-selection of a councillor.

There's really nowt as queer as Lib Dem folk.

Lib Dem "Green" Propaganda: Latest Waste Paper

Oh dear. A second piece of Lib Dem propaganda through the door in 12 hours and the fourth in five days or so. Is there an election coming up soon or something?

Hilariously given this flood of wasted paper and wasted ink and wasted fibs this last leaflet is on green paper and partly in green ink and, laying things on a bit thick this, claims green credentials too in case we missed the point.

Perhaps I'll have the time later to come back to this heaving pile of dubiosity. Just one word for now: LIVERPOOL.

FOOTNOTE: This thing arrived with the post. Have the Lib Dems actually paid for today's delivery?

Dizzy Thinks: Ex-Tory Ex-Councillor is Lefty

Yes, that's right. Anything wrong in the world of politics is by definition leftist, according to Dizzy Thinks. Certainly making a monkey of Croydonian who provided an endorsement claiming hilariously that Phil Hendren thinks before he blogs. As if!

Still, he does get a visit from the ex-Tory ex-Councillor "lefty" himself. His finger slipped and he posted before he had polished his turgid sermon:

The article went up erroneously before being completed, and that (like the rest of the material that (Ed's insert) went up) was a quote I had taken from elsewhere -- actually last September -- and was trying to find the original source when I was interrupted (pushy 'cold caller' at the door!).
I had to dash out after he'd held me up, so I never finished the job.
Actually, I have since found the link (in Google Blogs) though the page itself has been taken down -- just as I did with mine for that matter, once I realised what had happened.
Anyway, the point was to show that this kind of extreme thinking was already out there, and we need as a nation to 'brainstorm' a better solution before the economic crunch forces Gordon B into one his typical dithers followed by panic draconian measures.
As always, where possible I prefer 'carrots' to 'sticks'.
Of course, the hatchet men of the media [Ed: Lefties like the Mail] weren't interested in that, as they had their own agenda...
Anyway, for good, pragmatic reasons, I have now resigned, and (as I have blogged HERE) it is a weight off my mind.

Just like Enoch Powell, John M Ward was quoting from elsewhere when he made his headline grabbing contribution.

Tibet Petition: Beyond One Million in a Week

Thanks to those who have signed the petition for dialogue not crackdown on Tibet. Beyond a million in just seven days. Now shooting for two million.

Another Day Off Blogging: Musing on Rape Case

Another day off blogging. Sorry. Busy with various work things. But no excuses.

Also considering what to do about the request in comments for an exposition of the part of John Leech and others in the accused rape raised there.

GMP also have a lot of explaining to do on that IMO. And local media that let it go. But I'll let you know.

So Weak: Mr GuF Too Crashes on Bio-Science Bill

Mr Paul Staines aka Guido Fawkes aka Mr GuF has also had better days. But has certainly outdone Dale ... by having some content.

But then again. What silly content it really is. That gratuitous Emily Maitlis thigh picture again. And the good old boy homophobia.

The prospect of using shell animal eggs plus human stuff to make stem cells for life-saving experiments (99.99% human but very non viable and short-lived) is referred to with the F word. Is GuF a libertarian or not? Does the pope shit in the woods? Probably if he's caught short. But do Bears wear pointy hats? Err, NO!

Does GuF have a brain or not? Is Guido Fawkes the blogger pretending to be some centuries old dissident? Or is Staines himself a pathetic catholic drone in the here and now?

Why is the flat earth libertarian GuF not actually saying what HE THINKS or HE FEELS about the issue of scientists using their brains to solve human problems? Dale doesn't either. Pathetic, the pair of them.

In case you don't read comments at Dale's place I'd like to say that I am utterly in favour of the spirit of this Bill. It is crazy to oppose science to resist Parkinson's and the like. My dad has it. And it is not pretty. It's certainly a huge pain for him.

My mother, a card-carrying pro-life marcher, now faces quite a quandary. But to me it is so obvious - as Jim Devine MP has stated in a very heroic way in my view - that the church(es) is/are way wrong on this. I hope that Catholic Ministers and MPs use this opportunity to vote for modernity and science over medievalism and superstition.

This is the blessing of a free vote on clauses as far as I'm concerned. Let's see just who has so little regard for science and modernity that they vote with the more stupid bishops, cardinals and nazi popes. With clerics that scarcely seem to have even the slightest moral or ethical argument against saving and enhancing lives with science.

The image of the "heretic" Galileo comes from the Roshi Bob Blog.

So Weak: Dale's Diary, Weakest Five Posts Ever?

It is just possible that the last 24 hours or so have been the weakest ever in the history of Iain Dale's Diary. Looking for some acute political analysis from Britain's top political blogger today has been needle in haystack fruitless.

Instead we have had tedious treading water on the failure of Tory planning and highways authorities in Kent; the amusing antics of the nutty NUT,
specifically on military preying on schools (both NUT and Iain Dale are wrong); some vacuous twaddle on the conscience wrestling over the Frankenfurter Bill; some fillyblogbusting over alleged fillybustering from Jack Straw and some absolute tosh attacking the speaker of the house.

Presumably Iain has promised himself that there will be four posts a day and he's not had much time; but he's still hit the target, albeit with nonsense. I blame Total Politics, the new Cashcroft vehicle, substantially slower than the Dassault jet, but supporting the Tories direction of travel none-the-less.

HoP Poetry: Cabinet of Curiosities or Wunderkammer?

Was interested to hear Alex Hilton of the reactivated Recess Monkey blog on Radio Five Live yesterday. Musing and amusing about the muse that has infected the HoP (right).

Denis MacShane told the Mail: "I think a rather better poem would be:

Pity poor Dave
So rich and so blue
The Tories to save
Nothing he'll not do."

Which is almost bad enough to constitute a confession. But I think the whole thing's Balls. Which might be an accusation. Or it might be literary criticism. More likely perhaps is Cam or Goo or Gove; or perhaps the person of persons unknown who carved a four letter word on Blair's dispatch box. As Mr Hilton revealled.