The Spectator: W Menzies Campbell FCO Swansong?

Speculation in the New Statesman has triggered still more at IDD. This is essentially the story that Gordon Brown will cosy up to Ming Campbell and give him a prominent cabinet job, echoing the Blair-Ashdown pact of yore.

As a campaigner in an exceedingly close Labour-Lib Dem marginal and a citizen of a City plagued by dissembling yellow hordes of misery I wonder, in the remaining minutes or hours before Ming quashes this half-heartedly, what such a move from GB could mean for us? One comment at IDD was especially interesting.

HF said...
Beware an old man in a hurry. Ming either gets into bed with Gordon within next three years or his chances of a cabinet job (and his political career) are over. Ming will see it as part of the Ashdown/Blair discussions in the mid 90s. If the LD party let Paddy do it then why can't they let Ming do it now? He will also protect his MPs from losing their seats at the next GE.

Don't know who HF is, but I do wonder about that last bit and ask:

How will Ming protect his MPs by doing this? ... will (this) mean an electoral pact too? So Lab and Lib Dem candidates in marginals between them and/or in Lib-Con marginals could be stood down?

This could kill the Tories first, with the Lib Dems for afters. So would that be attractive to GB as stage two in the project to move the goalposts and take the ball away from other right wingers for ever?

Sporting Bets: Amaechi, Dettori or Deputy Dawgs?

John Amaechi, Manchester and England's leading Basketball player is to lead Utah Gay Pride Parade. He is seen above with Lance Bass of NSYNC (nice site of it's kind, btw) who had a similarly public coming out, though in a somethingly less hostile milieu.

Right, John's playing as 13 for the Manchester Magic, based a mile from LOL HQ in leafy Manchester Gorton. John's Journey and his Travelogue have been on here before.

Anyway, back to Gorton. That constituency nominated Hazey for Deputy. There was some controversy over something of a lock out of potential voters. Central and Blackley don't seem to have nominated at all for DL. Withington backed Benn and Wythenshawe and Sale East Hain. Full lists can be found at Leadership central under each candidate, and Luke Akehurst has a useful summary of final CLP and Affiliate totals here.

But commentators and gamblers - who would rather back a DL wannabe than Franki Dettori on his Authentic chance of a Derby success in his 15th attempt - and indeed candidates and supporters would do well to recognise as Political Betting are in this and other links that all these FPTP nominations by small to medium groups of delegates are (a) not binding when the ballots land next week and (b) are little help when it comes to exhaustive 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and even 5th preferences which come into play.

"Clever money" on Hilary Benn may be following a shakey analysis. And there is some of that over at Luke's also. Why is Hain toast and his fave Blears not when their nominations across the sections are not dissimilar?

If you must bet, back Dettori, it's better value than going to the Dawgs. Though almost 9-1 on Harman may be worth a little flutter to hedge your sheepish punt on Benn or Johnson or Cruddas.

Positive Inaction: London Lib Dems Day at the Races

Iain Dale lobs his fork across to a neighbouring glass house (rather than curry house, read on) at the Lib Dem list for the London Assembly elections. This is it seems very geographically skewed to South/SW London and has no Black and Ethnic Minority candidates in winnable positions. There is some interesting commentary in both places.

The LD list does have two women in the top three (though no more in the top six) whereas it may be that the Tories have no women at all on the LA after the next election. And many of us remember the toys flying out of the IDD pram when CCHQ announced some positive action which might marginally increase the female representation in the Tory MEP group ... from the current ONE.

Here's the CCHQ statement:

The Board of the Conservative Party has reached a decision in principle on the method for selection of candidates for the European Parliament for the 2009 election. Sitting MEPs who have been re-selected following a procedure similar to that laid down in the Party’s constitution for Westminster MPs will be placed in ranking order by party members in a postal ballot. Members will also be asked to place additional candidates in ranking order. In the wholly exceptional circumstances that there will be no sitting MEPs who are women seeking re-election, and for this selection process only, the top position in each region below any reselected sitting MEPs will be occupied by the woman candidate who gets the most votes in the postal ballot. Detailed arrangements will be developed in the coming weeks.

"In the wholly exceptional circumstances" etc incidentally was and is absolutely amazing double speak, absolutely effing amazing as Dale might say himself, as this is so exceptional that it seems to apply to ALL BUT ONE of the Regions! Tories have one woman MEP Nationwide. Yet the Tory Boy Bloggers are furious about men losing out.

Dale's conclusion: "Why any self respecting male would want to put themselves through this process is beyond me - not that I can see any attraction in being a Euro MP anyway." The comments from the "equality party" are priceless.

Iain Dale's Diary: In Praise of Al Jazeera

Back on Wednesday Iain Dale realised that Al Jazeera is class and not crass. Well done Iain! Next time the USA cook up a rocket attack on Al Jazeera studios we'll be glad of your support.

Round Up: Cats and Dogs, Spuds, Cats and Dogs Again, Crudds, Husts, QT, BB and 4th Protocol

First thing took three dogs on foot and two cats by car to the vets. Innoculations. Expense. Also got the full SP on Kennel Cough. Arguably not worth the cash for fit dogs. Homewards Ottey, the girl dog, doesn't want to leave the rest of the pack (cats and human) behind but is persuaded by dog-whispered reasoning.

Have decided to stop earthing up the spuds. 20-odd plants in one bed and half a dozen containers. We started late so we're stopping earthing up late too. House and Garden special soon.

Later cats and dogs are some violent rain storms. Sheltered in the Help the Aged shop where there are some interesting books and a good chat. Some strong sounding information about the Post Office opposite.

Off to a meeting with Jon Cruddas at the Mechanics Institute with a Rally for Remploy downstairs. Then a hustings with all six DL candidates represented. Two by themselves. One by a spouse. One by an NEC member. One Minister. One Bag Carrier. Quite good. Interesting chatter with assorted Respect people on the way in. And Ivan Lewis MP (Johnson delegate) on the way out.

Home for Question Time. Some late Big Brother. And Polonium, Caine and Brosnan in The Fourth Protocol. But this lot is just a list. Perhaps tomorrow. There were some interesting 'phone calls and meetings too.

Labour PPBs: Nice Kinnock vs Nasty Seducer Dave-id

Speaking of Neil kinnock PPB's Rupa Huq linked to the above from 1987 only yesterday.

[pedant]As she amusingly pointed out in a Mrs Malaprop kinda way young Kinnock was big on his Cola mining (sic) heritage.[/pedant] Seriously, I hear there was a grave danger of ADD and obesity unless you are assigned to one of the low E-numbers and/or low calorie seams. Some miners got so big and full of CO2 they had to stay down for months.


This one is (a) fantastic and (b) horrific in equal measures. The jilted lover, representing Tony Blair out of favour, is curiously like Dave-id Cameron. Though the nasty Tories are Bullingdon Bully Bullshitter perfect.

Rupa closes with:

If I was quicker witted I’d have paraphrased the Thatcher “lady’s not for turning” quote with “You Tube if you want to…” but I’m not blessed with sufficient comic genius to pull it off I’m afraid.

I'll not be attempting it. But here is an important sociologist or media theorist or the like, giving us some underpinning knowledge and entertainment. By the way Neil, nice don't pay the rent.

Akehurst and Jones: At it Like Rats in a Sack

Luke Akehurst is pushing out vast tranches of sectarian bile instead of rational arguments in support of his fave Hazel Blears and against such dangerous left wing lunatics as Peter Hain, Harriet Harman, Hilary Benn, Alan Johnson and Jon Cruddas.

In fact The Sun today went one better, giving two or three glorious reasons why Hazel Blears is also a dangerous lefty who will sadly flush the Brown one right down the toilet of old Labour Militancy.

This beggars belief really. Luke rather than The Sun, whose job it is to knacker Labour lefty ideas. Things like, oh, having trade unions, supporting comprehensive schools, ending world poverty.

But to be blunt some of the responses to the enforcer have been a bit on the gaga side of things too. Owen brings up Kinnock as a left slayer and jeers that he never won any elections. LOL responded, this was hours ago and perhaps Luke will have admitted he has been wrong all along by now. But here goes, first with Owen:

Owen: It must be said that Kinnock's longform PPB of 1987 was excellent and dare I say it socialistic in a solidarity kind of way and also that Hatton was a complete and utter tosser. "Lies" he can be seen to heckle as Kinnock runs his taxi line. Labour in Liverpool is making a good fist now of recovering - but TWO DECADES later.

Kinnock should have won elections and it might be said that the early doors New Labourists pissed it away for him in the last couple of weeks with over confidence, smugness and razzle dazzle. And yes back in the day he was considered young, inexperienced, thin on top and welsh.

And then, warmed up, onto Luke:

Luke: Notwithstanding the above. You're just not getting it are you? The "moderate" wing of the Labour Party has never been more overbalancing of the whole aircraft or more right wing.

You are pretty much saying that anyone that doesn't comply with your addled world view can take a running jump. And sadly NL have been saying that to the electorate as well as to the membership, such that we have less and less reliable core vote out there.

Meanwhile the Tories are trying to stop themselves look scarey by saying that are more Luke than Luke and such like. People could even believe them if Luke slips an inch from his orthodoxy.

Owen has reeled off - elsewhen and elsewhere - whole litanies of policy areas where the "left" have 50%+ of those polled agreeing with us (or them, because I am regarded as soft left by the left and hard left by "moderates"!)

The fact that Labour can win handsomely with 35% does not mean it could not win by even more with just a little bit more socialism mixed into the managerial and sell-out tendancies.

Universal quality not fake choice for example. Choice is getting us into a right old mess.

Putting Blair and Brown and the roundheads and organisers at the helm of a really social democratic movement with more principle and less kowtowing to capital and we really would have got somewhere sustainable and real, and not to Iraq.

Finally, cannot the three right wingers you identify get a bit of bottle to stop mirroring and start leading? On immigration for example.

I was pleased to hear Johnson saying he was minded to agree with earnt regularisation for asylum seekers, refugees and over stayers. This is bold and a leader's position. Hain, Blears and Benn are funked on this because they fear the ballot.

Because they fear the ballot. Not because of what is right or wrong. there is nothing so important as winning elections. But there is more than one way to skin a cat.

Tory Campbellisation: Rattiest Press Rat Gets Caught in Tory Honey Trap

According to Iain Dale's own bells and whistles LOL is the first Labour supporting blog to even mention the world stopping news that the Tories plan to appoint a 'phone tapping, prosecution sabotaging, breast monger as their Director of Campbellisation.

Love and Garbage has the right idea. Not sure if the MSM care anymore than the vibrant Labour blogosphere, some of which (Parbury) have not posted anything, not even a one liner, for a fortnight. While Akefirst is first with the Hake, but slow on any news that doesn't involve his affection for Nuts or his contempt for "nutters".

Gonzales Hired Griffin: Caging One Million Voters

BBC Newsnight has a good follow up story from Greg Palast In Washington. Mr Gonzales, Attorney General is in trouble for hiring Mr Griffin who was prime mover in the "caging" of one million voters across USA in 2004. This was unlawfully removing them from electoral registers for e.g. having names that sounded a bit like the names of felons, had a couple of the same letters, sounded a bit black etc etc.

It's now said that Gonzales was aware of the history. And it is now feared that Griffin will be at it again in 2008.

Seattle PI has a little more here.

Apprentice vs Big Brother: The Job's a Good 'Un

Chose The Apprentice for starters. This lot really are the most inept candidates Sir Alan has ever had. I'm not sure ANY of these last six would have made the last five last year.

They do the QTV type daytime telly sales job. They chose appalling products. They are amazingly inept. They sell just 10% of the channel's usual take for the slot. Sir Alan cannot be happy with how this is going ...

OVER AT BB: East End George is followed by East End Carole as Respect Coalition representative in the the Big Brother House. The other parties have been barred it seems. 11 women so far. The BB Belles.

One guy in at the deep end on Friday. Carole's the one on the far left, natch.

Deputy Dawgs: Paxman Gains a 1st Preference

For those who didn't see the Newsnight debate between the Labour deputy leadership contenders, and aren't satisfied with the blog-down, the programme can be viewed here.

It was all a bit much for one young socialist on the yahoogroups Labour and Socialism Forum:
.

I experienced a shift in consciousness watching the Newsnight debate. I stared in disbelief at the screen and asked myself if I am really a member of the same political party as people who hold views like these. The most left-wing participant seemed to be Paxman.

Recall the NEC! Tear up the rule book! What's that? Paxman says no??! How could he? Sadly our young socialist, let's call him Michael, will not be getting his dream team. Not this time anyway.

Revisionism: Eldest Due Back from Auschwitz

My eldest has been away on a visit to Auschwitz and Krakow. Due back at Midnight. Showed her this site of Revisionist Photos before she left. The premise is to show images after the revisionists have been at them to remove all trace of the nazis and the holocaust with roll-overs of the originals. Above is an "after", below a "before". Not for the faint hearted. The site is organised so that it is progressively more disturbing.

Hattip to Drinked Soaked Trots for War with the one comment on this particular post moaning that Stalin hadn't been revised also.

Caracas TV: Chicago Critique of Corporation Coverage

HERE. Radio Caracas TV was going 53 years with a right wing agenda amidst soaps and game shows. They failed to re-win their licence.

Luke Akehurst: Won't Be Told, Still a Weary Bleary

Luke Akehurst has published a strange "report" of the Newsnight Hustings which some wag dubbed a "distort".

And when Luke starts on reluctant Labour in the electorate as "the enemies" he gets this:

Labour people against the war and fed up with spin are ENEMIES? Hardly. Labour people for the war without regret and for more spin are the ENEMA that could see Labour down the pan.

Venezuela: The Medium is the Message?

Further to the Venezuela story here the above is the FreeRCTV video linked from PragueTory. It begins with a quote from Camus:

A free press can be good or bad, but, most certainly, without freedom a press will be never be anything but bad.

And it ends with a quote from Chomsky:

If we don't believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don't believe in it at all.

More on what these quotes actually mean. And what I see as the true situation in Venezuela anon. Those dogs need walking. Meanwhile feel free to watch the video. Consider the quotes. Make comments.

HINT: All Chavez has done so far is advised his people that some of the media are poison, asked them to think before they decide which media to buy, and NOT RENEWED one RCTV UHF licence that was up. RCTV and others have NOT been shut down. Careful who you believe!

Ireland: Punishment Beatings for Adams, and Dale?

While we all wonder not whether Iain Dale escaped unscathed from his search for a pot of Irish Gold last night, but just how scathed did he get? Dave's Part takes a leftists', even a revolutionary leftists', look at the irish elections with some good additions from the commentaria.

This one in particular caught the eye:

And, yes the PDs (that's Lib Dems ... LOL) getting the bum's rush was a small ray of light, though you gotta love McDowell (left with stick - LOL) for his put down of Gerry Adams's (right with stars - LOL) hypocrisy.
In the TV debate Adams claimed he was only living on an average industrial wage. McDowell then asked him how he managed to own a holiday home worth about a million euro then. To which Adams replied it's "owned by the bank".
McDowell - quick as flash - "the Northern Bank?"
It was the first time in many years that anybody has landed a punch on Adams and it was in the George Foreman class.

Totally unfair. But beats something about "tree fellas" I guess.

Meanwhile, back at Dale's and just 8 days (or "almost three weeks") after his ban on potty mouthed comments Dale himself posted not a link but a full on rant with at least six Fs and a C within, with plenty more at the link.

No stamina whatsoever on abstinence, award-winning Tory bloggers.

Political Science: Live on The Old Grey Whistle Test

Of course it is there. It has been for all of eight months. (1972 recording)

Old Grey Whistle Test Story: Randy Newman

Nice clips of Randy Newman singing the excellent Political Science. No one likes us, I don't know why, let's drop the big one now. Post-911 US angst predicted. I wonder if there is a YouTube of that one? Sadly can't keep awake to watch this, even after the thrill of the deputy's hustings. Go set a tape Chris ... Mark "Spark" Radcliffe is on. Which reminds me of his college band, Zoot Suit and the Zeroids since you ask. There were others.

Newsnight Hustings: If not standing, who to vote for?

Hain - Ducked it with blethering about himself
Cruddas - Harman
Harman - Ducked it but interestingly saw Cruddas as offering her a deal
Blears - Cruddas for party renewal, Johnson for politics, Harman as a woman - so Blears for all in one
Benn - All very good colleagues
Johnson - None of the above possibly, but put very nicely

Newsnight Hustings: Different from Prescott?

Benn says something. Blears takes hats off to Cruddas for preaching systemic renewal. Johnson takes hats off to Prezza for telling Tony what's what. Harman says remind the PM to look after women's issues properly.

Cruddas would refuse DPM and Ministerial Brief. But tellingly suggested he wasn't likely to have to make that choice. If so Jon's second preferences are going to be important. See how he himself opts in the next post.

Newsnight Hustings: Amnesty for Asylum Seekers

Johnson tempted, Harman and Cruddas agree with earnt regularisation.
Benn, Blears and Hain don't seem to. Because they're scared politically to be quite blunt about it.

Newsnight Hustings: Cap on Fundraising?

Harman: Cap on Spending not Donations
Hain: Cap on Spending not Donations, no equivalence between millionaires and levy payers
Benn: Yes to spend cap, Including in between elections
Cruddas: All parties too close to big business
Blears: I don't deny it's been a difficult time, small amount of state support
Johnson: No to extra public funding

Newsnight Hustings: Making the Beckhams Poorer?

Harman - Wants to reduce gap and rejects Blair answer.
Hain - Ditto
Cruddas - 2020 Abolish Child Poverty, Equal Schools.
Johnson - Still Backs Blairs Answer, Pull Up not Pull Down.
Blears - Responsibility if to help the majority to get on, not punitive taxes.
Benn - Of course inequality matters. Leeds - rich and poor cheek by jowl. Education is the answer.

Newsnight Hustings: Three Quick Yes/No Questions

Name; Trident; Nukes; School Charities

Cruddas: No Yes Yes
Hain: Yes Yes No
Johnson: Yes Yes No
Harman: Maybe Yes Yes-but-no-but
Blears: Yes Yes Yes
Benn:Yes Yes No

UPDATE: I'm going to check this. The last question was I think for stopping schools being charities and I think Blears and Benn were the other way round.

Newsnight Hustings: What Will Be the Difference?

Johnson - Seriousness and Moral Purpose. Serious politics, not stunts with Huskies from Cameron.
Harman - Slams the Bank Holiday briefing without consultation on Police Powers. People are fed up with being bounced.
Hain - That came on the back of other similar briefings. Agrees with Harman.
Blears - Balance between Security and Liberty. She's for Security. Claims the Police Powers ideas come after request from NI Office. Hain denies that. She says Stop and Question is a liberalisation from Stop and Search. I don't think so.
Cruddas - Opportunity to turn the page and get back to a real public service ethos.
Benn - There's a crisis of trust in politics. We must be honest and open with people. (Answering a Paxman supplementary which Cruddas rightly declined).

Newsnight Hustings: Harman and Cruddas with a Firm Hindsight No To War

Blears says the vote would not have happened if we knew then what we know now. Hain takes responsibility for his vote. Benn does not regret that Saddam is out of power, says defend fragile democracy. Johnson is standing out in backing the war. Harman suggests that she and Cruddas are not trying to wriggle out of responsibility.

Should Blair say sorry? Yes - say Cruddas and Harman, as part of reconciliation with the country.

Too close with USA? Hain, Blears, Benn big up international institutions. Shame says Paxman there wasn't a second UN resolution then.

Ooops: First Blood, Cruddas Gets His Sums Wrong

Jon Cruddas correctly pointed out that the party has lost 200,000 members in 10 years. Though that's not "more than 20,000 a month".

Whoops: East17 Comeback Overshadows Hustings

Hard to drag myself away from this intriguing story. But duty calls.

Deputy Dawgs: Cruddas and Chavez as Comrades

With all the tooing and froing over Jon Cruddas' real estate and school choices a storm in a tea cup in the backwaters of the award winning Tory blogosphere has escaped much notice.

Here at last Cruddas will score some deeper appreciation from the left and centre left, if not immediately winning any Brownie points.

The quiet storm is over his signing of a letter to the Guardian supporting Hugo Chavez's recent action to protect the democracy of his country from a media insurgency. Prague Tory and his chums apply a strangely detached protocol to all this. I ask them rhetorically whether a British government would tolerate the same.

They come out with some libertarian tosh. And I go again:

My question was of course rhetorical for the UK, and for the UK I might well accept that some kind of The Day-to-Day meets Tiswas fronted by Nick Griffin and Margaret Hodge and calling for a broomstick rebellion, a military putsch and a following fascist dictatorship could be tolerated as absurd.
However in Venezuela the question is real and elected leaders of whatever politics cannot yet afford the luxury of being media libertarians.
In Prague Tory and his cadre's hatred of lefties they are I think completely missing the point. Which is that IN VENEZUELA at the moment no democratically elected (and let's be honest extremely popular with the broad population) politician could tolerate sponsored uprisings with foreign support AND unfettered propaganda.
The foreign support is hard to deal with but unfettered destructive propaganda is possible.
I'm no expert on Venezuela but I do think it is pointless using London Tory values to crow about this.

Meanwhile the website of the embassy of the Bolivarian Government of Venezuela gives some more useful perspectives:

The Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, says: "For many years people have demanded that social progress and democracy go hand in hand, and that is exactly what is now taking place in Venezuela. It therefore deserves the unequivocal support of not only every supporter of social progress but every genuine believer in democracy in the world".

And also there my own MP Tony Lloyd who is Chair of the All Party Venezuela Group: "The history of Latin America in recent times gravely illustrates that policies which seek to isolate and demonise sovereign nations only serve to radicalise governments and opposition groups, creating a situation of extreme polarisation and high instability. This cannot be in the UK's national interest"

Watford Sponsorship Saga: And Other Tardy Rubbish

On Sunday Dizzy caught up with the BBC and
The Mirror with a hilarious story of things sounding funny in one language that don't in their mother country.

Alas though Jon Henley had already had and
embellished the story. Or if we're being honest corrected the thing. Days earlier.

This three or four day kicking for the red top may go some very small way to meet the time defecit for his and finally story the same day. Which was, frankly, a load of old rubbish.

In a hot poop scoop Jon revealled that Keep Britain Tidy had changed its name to ENCAMS. Not quite true as "Keep Britain Tidy" is still the name of one of their campaigns. But old hat. As revealled three weeks earlier in Jeremy Paxman's paean to clean streets in the same paper, more than a year before in Wolverhampton (17 March 06), in autumn 2004 in Money Guardian and on 3 July 2003 in PR Newswire.

Sheffield Council had the story a month earlier than that, while The Scottish Parliament had already discussed ENCAMS' 2002 Dog Fouling survey with great interest. PDF Download.

In its ‘Control of Dog Fouling Survey 2002’ the Environmental Campaign (ENCAMS), which runs the Keep Britain Tidy campaign, estimates that the dog population in the UK is between 6.5 million and 7.4 million, and that collectively they produce 1,000 tonnes of excrement per day.

Less than our newspapers then. And only 8% of this down to Scottish mutts before you start. But the facts soon wiped away those three days you had in hand eh Jon?

Wikipedia has the whole enterprise kicking off in 1955. While Charitable Status was first secured under the KBT brand in September 1984. And ENCAMS got theirs on 28 Sep 1998. Phew. Thank goodness the MSM still has fact checkers. Otherwise they'd be no better than bloggers.

Viral Marketing: Ice Box Cool Web Site

Http://noonebelongsheremorethanyou.com is the Pope of web cool.

EXCLUSIVE Iain Dale: Margaret Hodge, Minister for BNP Mainstreaming Missed

That Iain Dale Poll has given the thumbs up to quite a number of top class Labour ministers as included in this post and the comments thereon.

One who came away unscathed and unnoticed so far is the estimable Rt Hon Margaret Hodge whose crack pot announcements are clearly waved through the "incompetent and gaga" poll and into the land of High Tory approval. Well done Margaret! A slap on the back from Iain Dale and one from Nick Griffin too. You must be delighted.

LINK FROM COMMENTS: Lawyers say sack Hodge.

Bob Marshall-Andrews QC: Could this be the Prime Minister That Got Away?

Dizzy pulls Richard Caborn's leg over his words "drive by shooting" in this Telegraph item.

This quotes one Gill Marshall-Andrews, Chair of the Gun Control Network sandbagging Dave-id Cameron for being soft on guns. Could this perchance be any relation to the "Probably the best orator we have in the House", (Simon Hoggett - The Humanist) viz Bob Marshall-Andrews QC MP? Backed Brown, they say, rather than Campaign Group comrade John McDonnell, as he had wanted a run out himself.

Well yes. Bob let's on to a tangential interest, and again here in funnily enough backing a government, Home Office measure on replica guns.

But as a lover of all sports, according to his own homepage will he be quite so on board in wanting to continue the suppression of sports pistols, as used to win medals in 2012 pistol and modern pentathlon events?

This by the way is National Gun Week or some such ... pop down to your local range to take a pop. Bob in Green Wellies is gazing anxiously over the Medway marshes, ready to repel wetbacks from Tory lands with his bare hands. Longing for the days when guns was guns, and HE was making the headlines.

Gordon Brown Shows Off His Courage: Making Hay While the Sun Shines

There was enough sun today for young Arnie Ryan Sidebottom to take another four-for and see the West Indies to their worst test defeat I'm told in more than 50 years.

Yesterday was not so dry with our Prime Minister in waiting cracking hilarious jokes left right and centre, in conversation with one Mariella Fostrup at the Guardian Hay Festival.

Boy am I glad I didn't blog Gordon's off the cuff remarks and anecdotes when he first passed the no-contest threshold all those days ago, in conversation with Oona King that time. But now the Guardian have stuck some of his best material in the google-sphere we may need to revisit.

Mariella of course was just moving on from the Ferret and Spanner plugging operation as Distant Cousins moved in as clients around 1989. The girl's done well hasn't she? Though I do recall a certain cattiness from the day. Both conversationalists have come along way since then.

THE LINK: Also includes SP that GB will fix the FOI PMB so no MP EXES on the QT.

Phil Woolas MP: Silly Me, Does Have History on the Two Homes Politics

Many years ago, in my penultimate year as a registered student, Phil Woolas was General Secretary at Manchester University Students' Union.

He signed my Life Membership card.

So, obviously, I would not trust him as far as I could throw him.

However many amusing speeches he gives on pummelling the Lib Dems for their flirting with race and their having no discernible politics.

And however many slap up sausage and mash suppers he may introduce for the Association of Labour Councillors.

However I am astonished to discover that, belying my assurance, he does sadly have history for using an opponent's multiple addresses against them. Which does not mean that he would talk with the Mail on Sunday, heaven forfend, or grass up Jon Cruddas.


In the case of Oldham Lib Dem PPC "Tony" aka Richard Anthony Dawson he accused Lib Dems of photoshopping banners, giving totally incorrect names like "Tony" on nomination papers, and of course having an address of convenience - in Dobcross rather than Dagenham - which was a ghost house with whitewashed windows. On a windswept moor, near a Local Shop for Local People.

World Peace: Hallelujah! Iran and USA (and Iraq) in Baghdad Talks

And there was a rush of wind and the holy spirit descended and bashed some nutters' heads together in a padded room in a secure cell in Baghdad. Hallelujah! Allah Akbar! Phew!

The Guardian's Gary Younge: What Labour Has in Common with Jade Goody

Er, nothing. Mr Younge's writing belongs in Socialist Worker which is not a criticism of that thrusting and polemic organ, but is sadly of The Guardian. Society is not more segregated, fearful and divided. Not here in Manchester anyway. Turns out that Matthew Parris is more down with the streets than Gary who is using up valuable op-ed space in my paper for unevidenced and ill-observed drivel. Which is not to say I don't catch him doing something right every now and then. Just not very often these days.

Jon Cruddas: Has this Lefty Done the School Run?

Well, well, well. Tory bloggers and the Daily Mail have joined forces to "expose" Jon Cruddas as having a home in Dagenham and another in Central London. This is connected to his son's education at an RC Comp named for Bishop Vaughan and according to the Mail better in exam tables than the London Oratory School.

Naturally Tory bloggers aren't satisfied with whacking Cruddas. They also have a dig at Hazel Blears who reveals exclusively for the umpteenth time that she was briefly on film as a five year old in A Taste of Honey.

This is indeed reprehensible. LOL do not go on about our own film triumphs - since you ask, second Flying Finn in the steeplechase when the wheels came off poor Aubrey's chariot of fire in the water jump - so we cannot possibly forgive Hazey.

But Hazey's big fan - a little ginger himself as he once discovered growing a 'tache - makes an accusation that she may have dobbed Jon in ... before spreading the pointing fingers to Peter Hain and his campaign maestro Phil Woolas.

Not so long ago these Tories had mild mannered Hilary Benn turning the air blue at supposed Alan Johnson dirty tricks. Only Harriet "I'm a Lady" Harman seems to be neither dishing or being dished on. So far.

But Phil Woolas? Really? Would he seek to exploit a rival having two addresses? Never. More and pictures and all that tomorrow which may be a bank holiday, but is not a blog holiday.

Living Wage: Number 10 Petition and Campaign Blog

Nick Wall from Merseyside GMB has set off a Number 10 Petition calling for a "living wage" rather than a "minimum wage" principle. It has as a corollary the idea of quite detailed local variation according to the cost of living which is kinda controversial but I've signed.

Nick has also set up a campaign resource blog. John Cruddas MP and Caroline Lucas MEP are among those endorsing the campaign.

Also spotted today. Left Politics for the 21st Century is a Facebook group that looks, shall we say, rather more scholarly than the herd.

Statistics Interruptus: Sitemeter on the Blink?

Sitemeter seems to have been playing up this week showing zero returns for three days and only a partial recovery this weekend - though comment traffic has been much as ever. Anyone else experienced this? I'll have to rely on my other service.
UPDATE: Tracksy has come to the rescue, and more. Daily record is now 671 unique visitors.

Labour Leadership: Moving Back the Goalposts AND Challenging the PLP Hegemony?

Susan Press is urging Constituency Parties to meet the June 8th deadline for submitting rule changes with an amendment aiming to reduce the number of MPs needed by 40%, from 12.5% to 7.5%.

This is a good idea. But surely we could and should expect the party of democracy, inclusion, equality to go further?

This is the existing clause 4B Procedural rules for elections for national officers of the Party.Paragraph 4B.2b(1) :
"In the case of a vacancy for leader or deputy leader, each nomination must be supported by 12.5 per cent of the Commons members of the PLP. Nominations not attaining this threshold shall be null and void."

After "supported by" add colon and form list which reads as follows:
(i) 7.5% of the commons members of the PLP; or
i.e. delete 12.5 and insert 7.5
and insert
(ii) 20 CLP GCs drawn from at least three regions; or
(iii) 7.5% of levy paying Trade Union members in OMOV

And delete "this threshold" and replace with "at least one of these three thresholds, none of which shall have preeminence," to give:
Nominations not attaining at least one of these three thresholds, none of which shall have preeminence, shall be null and void.

The whole would then read:

4B Procedural rules for elections for national officers of the Party.
Paragraph 4B.2b(1)
"In the case of a vacancy for leader or deputy leader, each nomination must be supported:
(i) by 7.5 per cent of the Commons members of the PLP; or
(ii) by 20 CLP GCs drawn from at least three regions; or
(iii) by 7.5% of levy paying Trade Union members in OMOV;
Nominations not attaining at least one of these three thesholds, none of which shall have preeminence, shall be null and void."

I would also suggest this be sent to NEC urgently with a request that it be sponsored as an NEC amendment. This means it could be discussed this year in Brighton, rather than next year in Manchester.

I would also support a similar amendment for the rules in case of there not being a vacancy but there being a challenge. Say 20%, 60 and 20% respectively. Tony Benn's challenge to Neil Kinnock when there was no vacancy led us to this sorry pass.

Changing only the PLP threshold is accepting the hegemony of the PLP when we all know that PLP members rely on the winner of any contest for their progress in the government, for nomination to other bodies, and even to an extent for re-selection for their seats.

UKIP Comedy Page: Returns Droogy, A Site Privodeeted by a Bezoomny Malenky Monkey

LOL used to link to bezoomny Chad at the UKIP Comedy Page. Now he's back, possibly on either rather more or rather less medication and calling himself YHN, posting in pigeon Nadsat at Droogie.com. Don't speak Nadsat myself but have got a Russian O Level which is close enough.

His current lead story tells us how the Tory spin privodivat Steve Hilton (right with his mini-Privo) has had his devotchka Rachel Whetstone poogy Google into dumping Chad as top result of their search engine. A likely story.

GLOSSARY: Bezoomny - mad; Privodeet/Privodivat - lead/leader; Malenky - little; Monkey - monkey; YHN - Your Humble Narrator; Nadsat - teenager, teen argot; Devotchka - girl; Poogy - frighten.

Hillary Clinton: Interactive Campaigning to Music

Dizzy found these. Hillary asking readers to take part in a poll. And sharing early results.

EXCLUSIVE Tory Cuts: Week Slashed to 72 Hours

Iain Dale has confounded critics who dub him the motley "court blogger" for Old King Cameron with a shocking revelation of Tory cuts that get right to the heart of the national life. He's done a Willets!

Since when was Wednesday "about a week ago"? Give us back the other 58% of our week you blue scoundrels!

Apart from the whoopsy we find the jester Dale listing a number of New Labour Ministers and inviting readers to put away their potty mouths and misogyny for a moment and rank their favourite three most incompetent 1-2-3.

The following is by no means a comprehensive list of Ministers now judged COMPETENT and BEYOND REPROACH by Iain Dale's Diary:

Hazel Blears escapes I see, and Alan Johnson, and Peter Hain, and Hilary Benn (i.e. four of the five DL Minister candidates), and Jack Straw, and David Miliband, and Michael Meacher, and Beverly Hughes (!), and Phil Woolas, and Andy Burnham, and Alan Milburn, and Ian McCartney, and Alistair Darling, and Baroness Amos, and Robin Cook, and Richard Caborn, and Meg Munn, and very surprisingly David Blunkett, and Tony Blair himself.

Hurrah! Names of others missed in comments please.

Meanwhile the Tories are dipping into a very shallow and small gene pool of toffs, biffers, blethers and Bullingdon bullshitters.

Iain Dale: Labour and Lib Dem MPs Champion McJobs (Once They Have Been Re-Christened)

Iain Dale has a good dig at Clive Betts MP for having an EDM go at the term "McJob" popularised by Douglas Coupland in Generation X oooh, almost a generation ago. Second signatory John Leech MP, like Betts declaring an interest thanks to their shared World Cup McJunket*, seems to have Mr Dale a bit baffled, along the lines of a "who he?" moment. Let LOL assist a little with this story of how Mr Leech narrowly missed his chance to bathe in glory at a former McJob. And there's this one with a spot the ball competition thrown in. And finally Kerron's ramblings about Johno not really earning a losers' man of the match award.

* Unlike Betts, Leech apparently did a U-Turn and gave the World Cup tickets back to the sponsor ... after quite an outcry it must be said.

Newsnight: Beeston and Broxtowe, Griffin and Vaz

The greater part of the research I was doing today was into BNP activity. We have a by-election in a couple of weeks in a strong Labour ward in North Manchester. This is not far from the ward where the BNP polled more than 700 votes in May. There is some ancient history of NF activity. But the 700 votes came from a standing start, more than half won I'd say from people who don't regularly vote, and many from Tories and Libs who ran minimal campaigns.

The same elfin scrote is their candidate once again. More on that soon.

However the Newsnight piece was fascinating. People in Nottinghamshire, with almost 100% Labour support in the vox pop, were concerned about immigration as can be expected. But about immigration of building tradesmen from accession countries.

Newsnight then had a video love triangle with the convicted hate-merchant Nick Griffin and Keith Vaz who is a long standing MP in the East Midlands as well as recently being elected NEC Representative for Ethnic Minorities. Gavin Esler asked at one point in his video interview: "Why do we have the BNP on?" And he was right. Why did they have the BNP on?

Busy Friday: Research, Action, Contemplation

But not hometown blogging so far. This may be corrected later. There is that banquet of half-baked items to cook off. The oft-promised Parbury election anecdotes. And a Home and Garden photo special carried forward from Easter ...

Deputy Dawgs: Extra Hustings, Manchester, May 31st

Details to follow. Party members only. 31 May also the last day to join and vote. You know you want to.

Dave-id Cameron: Anthromorphic Sock Puppets

David Cameron with Sock Puppets. Like Blair without the class.

Germaine Greer: Triumph of a Lesbian Gypsy

Have just caught up with THIS from Germaine on Marija Serifovic's victory at Eurovision. Good stuff.

McDonnell Fan: "We Only Need to Win Once ; )"

So that's it? But then again I think that's what Blair said. And he did it.

Mugabe/Tenzin: How Wrong Can a Blogger Be?

Six weeks ago I used the stencil art (right) to illustrate a blog post referring to Robert Mugabe. How wrong can a blogger be? This is in fact an image of Tenzin a Buddhist monk whose death sentence has been commuted to life. Funny old language we have.

The stenciller for Manchester apparently didn't think it at all likely to work, but found the sentiment went down well with prospective female friends.

Click on the name above to send a firm letter to the Government of China and prove this agit-flirt completely wrong.

Corrected information came from the magnificent MCR Marks blog.

Dizzy Thinks: Tory Blogger of the Day

Sad to say Dizzy did not win Tory Blogger of the year from Conservative Home. Certainly the best of the shortlist. So have the judges whoever they are been wowed by Iain's statwanks?

While Iain still had leftover scraps from yesterday on display Dizzy has rattled off some fine stories. Spotting this Manchester/Salford story of Traffic Wardens with an electronic eye and on-the-spot fines for ASB for one.

And spotting that Gordon Brown's brother works in PR for EDF who have designs on new Nuclear Power Station contracts for two.

On the first story the head-mounted CCTV seems novel but we've had wardens doing instant tickets for ASB for years and surely a Tory blogger doesn't mind if they're public or private if they do the work?

And of course Dizzy would be the first to complain - hours before Iain Dale - if EDF didn't get the contract if they offered the best VFM.

Though LOL will be hoping as a red-green lefty to stop the Power Stations and save Gordy the quandary.

Turing Machines: Censoring Arts Blogs

But what is the key? Been having a tremendous struggle to get comments published at a particular artist's blog. Taking the URL out helps. But does not suffice. What does the censor in chief require?

Is this pitched battle the real artwork?

Ed Balls MP: With Big Brother at His Shoulder

LOL have been back to the Yorkshire Evening Post site for Ed Balls and other MPs explaining their vote on Mr Maclean's Tory Bill on Friday.

One of the Bill's critics, Liberal Democrat Simon Hughes (voted, unlike Ming and DC) is promising that his troops will be out-naming-and-shaming MPs who voted for the bill - although largely to prevent a talking out attempt:

"ensuring that nobody can be in any doubt as to who must take responsibility for these dangerous plans making progress."

Presumably they'll have to flirt with the truth a bit? Exaggerate shamelessly? Let's see. By pretending the MPs wanted to cover up their expenses? That should do it. Tell lies in other words.

Don't get me wrong. It's a terrible Tory Bill. Backed 21-4 by the Tories in the room. But the Lib Dems have just announced a campaign of lies in a press release!

CAPTION: Mr Balls' acceptance speech at the Charity Champions Awards was overseen by his very own Big Brother

Tory FOIer David Maclean MP: "Listening to You"?

You'd have thought that there would be lots of insider info on the Tory ex-Chief Whip David Maclean's latest forays against Freedom of Information on his natty website.

Sadly not, though there was news of his new extra site to listen to our opinions HERE. Sadly this is a series of forced answer yes/no questions in five headings. There is no planned opportunity to make your own freeform comments or ask Maclean a question.

The address box at the top doesn't appear to have any word limit however and you can tap at will there, though I've not tried submitting a long comment for the moment.

Electoral Commission: Political Donations

Dizzy is beside himself with glee that Respect have only recorded £4636.28 as a donation with the Electoral Commission ... and had to give this back as it came from Dubai's Khansaheb Civil Engineering. It was less than the BNP's £6,000 anyway! How Dizzy laughed!

And of course Dizzy reckons that Respect and the BNP have in common their misogyny and homophobia. Now, I don't know how many Respect activists Dizzy actually knows? But I'd like to assure him that when it comes to misogyny, homophobia and indeed racism the BNP have more in common with certain Tory Boy Bloggers than ever with Respect activists.

Back to the numbers. Captain Sensible's Blah! Party meanwhile have received £ 35,350.00, part of a mighty total of £ 209,898.50. Most of which is in cash rather than the non-cash it's recorded as.

Usually at this point the Tory Blogoferia would begin crowing about how much Labour received. Sadly the main parties have been skipped by Dizzy this quarter. Whyever is that?

Labour £ 4,966,059.00
(plus Co-op Party £ 352,725.65)
Tories £ 3,744,572.36
Lib Dems £ 1,169,331.20
SNP £ 495,663.00
UKIP £ 109,121.95
Plaid £ 55,591.08
Green £ 8,322.00

It is Quarter 2 which contains the immediate election period of course.

We'll have to wait three months to see how things work out.

Dale's Quixotic Quest: Gordon Brown, Celebrity

"Sorry Bob. THIS is how much I care about celebrity, or what Dale says."

The Tory Boy Blogoteria is grasping at straws. "Gordon Brown and Celebrity" is the working title of a 'short video film' - which phrase one could fisk to shreds - which Mr Iain Dale proposes to make.

Surely Brown's attitude to celebrity is more about Blair and Cameron playing at being **celebrities** themselves rather than occasionally politely shaking hands with one or even being on a platform with one who dreams of being a politician.

Brown is Mr Dale will find relatively, indeed extremely, ascetic in these matters. And this piece has the making of a thin series of isolated anecdotes "proving" a duff theory of a generality. That would be a very poor show. Best stop now.

If Iain draws a relative blank on this. Finds no case to answer ... And let's face it that in asking his blog readers to assist he must be drawing a bit of a blank already ... I hope that Iain will put his hands up and admit that, whatever else Brown may be, he is more of a monk than a groupee when it comes to brushing with celebrity.

Still less actually aiming to be one himself. As Mr Dale and Mr Cameron both. Like Mr Blair (pictured right, receiving Beau Bo D'or BAFTA) before them.

Shawcross and Fawkes: Gunpowder Treason and Plot

Hamer Shawcross and Guido Fawkes were both on the missing list for a slightly staggered long weekend. Has anyone ever seen them together? Or can they now be described as co-conspirators?

Shawcross: Last Post 18/5 09:06 am Return Post 22/5 09:56 am
Fawkes: Last Post 17/5 17:04 am Return Post 21/5 18:37 am

Famous Belgians: "Herge" Georges Remi Centenary

Stephen Spielberg and Peter Jackson have each committed to at least one of an initial three feature film Tintin franchise.

BNP: Steve Bell and Michael White 5, Barking MP 0

Barking MP Margaret Hodge, supported by Hazel Blears alone of the Deputy Dawgs, has clearly misjudged the story AGAIN. Her constituents are more sophisticated and reasonable than she thinks. And sticking to the facts and debunking the myths as Michael White suggests and good neighbour Jon Cruddas practices successfully is the way to go.
Steve Bell Merchandise HERE.

Freedom of Information Act: Brown Will Sort It

Tory MP David Maclean rides a £3,300 quad bike through our Liberties, and below waves a red rag and some bull at Brampton, Cumbria."

The Guardian is correct to suggest that Gordon Brown is planning to sort out this unfortunate affair with a smart deal rather than a great clunking fist. Meanwhile as predicted opposition leaders and bloggers try to exploit the vote with a varying level of hypocrisy.

Most of us surely accept that MPs' private correspondence on behalf of constituents to public bodies should be protected? Most of us would surely wish to see more not less information on the detail of parliamentary expenses? Even with chronic scandalised misreporting.

As the Guardian report at the above link: "Mr Brown has come under criticism for appearing to support the measure at the same time as he has called for a more transparent government."

But writing in the Yorkshire Evening Post, Brown's sidekick-in-chief Mr Ed Balls said:

"Like many other MPs, I've been concerned that my correspondence on behalf of my constituents to other public bodies can be made public ... A private member's bill may not be the ideal way to go about settling this issue, but it's important we reach a conclusion whereby constituents are properly protected."

But he added:

"As for the proper public scrutiny of MPs' expenses and allowances ... the Speaker has said they will continue to be published. That's the right thing to do and I would like to see an amendment to that effect included in the bill."

Although only a quarter of Lib Demmers turned out for the vote, and Tories who turned up, including nine front benchers, voted for the unamended private members bill TEN-to-ONE, bothDave-id Cameron and Ming Campbell are competing in the outraged hypocrisy stakes

My information is that Labour MPs piled in on Friday to shut down the debate - the opposite of fillybustering - and that Gordon will sort things out to everyone's satisfaction - except perhaps the quad-biking David Maclean MP - with consenting adults of all parties in the Lords. A second piece of McDonnellism in just a couple of days.

Iain Dale has taken the opportunity to call Ming Campbell a liar for his saying Tory Front Benchers backed the bill. Only nine of them says Dale. But just TWO would have made Mr Campbell a truth-sayer, much as it goes against his party's "convictions". As Tories would have passed this bill by more than TEN-to-ONE on their own if Labour and Libs had all stayed home I think Mr Campbell whose people would have almost stopped them in fact has the slightly higher ground.

This has all been a rather clumsy way to get to a result - courtesy of a former Tory Chief Whip - but what ends well ends well. Full stop.

QUAD BIKE NOTES: Much as Libertarian PJC Blog disputes the legality of Mr MacLean's transport I think it is a completely fair use of public money, unlike his ridiculous Tory private members' bill which has so far cost us an estimated .... £xxxxxx?????

Bernard Kouchner: Thanked by Mandela, Pro Iraq War, Now Sarkozy's Socialist Foreign Minister

I mentioned David Lindsay's blog recently. His post about French kicking their "surrender monkey" habit went like this:

Bernard Kouchner was one of the very few French Socialists to support the Iraq War. His punishment for this gargantuan error? Appointment as Sarkozy's Foreign Minister. Of course.

That's all David says. But Kouchner was also a co-founder of Medecins sans Frontieres and Mandela once whispered to him "Thanks for intervening in matters that don't concern you."

So perhaps it is not that simple.

David was certainly wrong in my eyes to have been taken in by Margaret Hodge's View from Barking.

Labour Leadership: Changing the Rulebook

On 18th May Calder Valley CLP unanimously passed a resolution calling for the nomination threshhold to be dropped from 12.5% to 7.5%. These are the figures that apply where there is a vacancy. Where there is a challenge the figure is I think 20% and that one is not slated to change.

This doesn't seem like a bad idea. I might be tempted to trade this - or a fixed figure (20?) - for an increase in the number for a hostile challenge when there is no vacancy. However, I do not think this resolution gets to the heart of the problem. The membership and affliated trade unionists numbering 3 million or more can easily be excluded from input by the Westminster professionals numbering around 350. It's not happened before quite like this. Perhaps it will never happen again.

But the system is wrong. Very wrong, even if it provides a contest of sorts. There is a huge conflict of interest for MPs. They rely on the winner for opportunities. I believe all three elements of the party should be able to nominate in case of a vacancy. Anything else is an undemocratic travesty.

Luke Akehurst suggests (as an amusement) a self nomination process confined to those who have not once broken the whip in the current parliament. Not the worst idea Luke's ever had.

Gordon Brown: His First McDonnellite Policy

Luke Akehurst hopes that this Guardian story is true. And so do I. This is McDonnellite. Making the Lords 100% elected, with some form of PR.

Labour Blogsclusive: Dave-id Cameron to be Cast as Bligh in Bounty Mutiny Re-enactment?

Clearly reading UK Daily Pundit's comment at Conservative Home will advise LOL readers that right wing bloggers are saying Cameron will be gone by his own doing or otherwise by the end of 2007. Wonder what the price is on that eventuality? (4-1 that he is first leader to go)

Tory Boy Bloggers: Dale-Fisk-Gate, the Aftermath

There is an interesting discussion going on at Conservative Home about Melissa Kite's Tory shadow cabinet predictions (yawn), Iain Dale's bullocking fisking of these (yawn), the way the ensuing spat has developed through feud to vendetta.

Reading Ms Kite's Sunday Telegraph riposte-riposte-riposte (yes, it's getting tortuous) we find a sample of obnoxious commentary she has endured, mostly on Guido Fawkes' blog.

One of the more interesting comments at Conservative Home is the one from The Daily Pundit reproduced below.


The UK Daily Pundit, like Guido Fawkes, is not a member of any UK party but both can be considered natural Tories who appear to dislike Dave-id Cameron quite a bit.

Melissa Kite and Iain Dale: Kiss Fisk and Make Up

Today, the Tory Telegraph Op-Ed writer Melissa Kite used her column to further her ongoing struggle for respect from Tory Boy Bloggers like ID, GF and TM. Inevitably MK has got still more disrespect as a result.

Penny on Radio Five Live picked this story. With Melissa sharing some of the virtual passes, virtual gropes, virtual goosings and slagging off she had 'enjoyed' from this nasty element of the Tory Blogotoria. As a result of expressing an opinion.

Of course Mr Dale texted straight in to Penny on R5 saying Melissa was the sexist one for calling these tory boy bloggers, er "boys". He has this morning written a post continuing the love in.

I don't much care about the Tory Front Bench re-shuffle; the more are sacked the better I suppose; the more getting a platform to show their "talents"; the more shuffling the better.

But when I first blogged that Iain was wrong to rag Melissa he threw his toys. He didn't reply to the next one about Melissa's response piece.

But soon after my comment on one of his posts, asking for a proper source and link to some vague statistics, was met with a torrent of abuse from Iain himself. And also naturally from his horde of attack nasties.

So these Tory boy bloggers and their outriders lambast and objectify women. They simply lambast men who dare to disagree. Naturally with traces of homophobia and willy waving. It's so panto it's not true.

Melissa reports today that Alan Duncan has joined in battle to help these boys out when they are unhappy with someone else's opinion. Perhaps Melissa could get Lady T to take a handbag to him and sort him out?!

One of Dale's more intelligent commenterati found this glorious link to a suitable headline for the Tory Boy Blogger Girl Monstering process.

Seems to me that Iain Dale should try to see Melissa's point of view here. When they were still friends he launched a very harsh critique of her opinion, of her speculation. Actually a teeny difference of opinion launched a staggering wave of misogynist fury and creepy wet dreamage.

I don't blame Melissa for being annoyed.

Iain should apologise. And not for claiming she is his friend when she no longer is. She could be Iain's friend and vice versa. Perhaps she has over-reacted. But why should anyone put up with this? Time to kiss and make up. Iain's move I think.

Comment is free, facts are sacred. This was comment. Should be free of trolling and monstering.

Everybody Hates Chris: Thanksgiving Special

Before I report on my investigation into the Dale-Kite spat I'd like to say that I LOVE "Everybody Hates Chris". Apart from validating my whole life story, in the series title alone, it is often very funny.

I'm not sure "Everybody Hates Thanksgiving" was anywhere near the funniest. But the last minute was marvellous.

The family had had macaroni cheese for their scheduled "feast" - due to a cock up on the catering front - and Uncle (Huggy Bear) had handed Chris a subversive book by "Trevor X" to help with his homebook.

Many hours later they had their turkey too. And after the holiday, back in school Chris insisted on reading his homework: 'The Meaning of Thanksgiving: What I'm Thankful For' to the class.

It meant family love to him. And reminded him of how the Pilgrim Fathers were so very welcomed. Roofs over their heads and a thanksgiving feast, thanks to the Native Americans. In thanks the pilgrims slaughtered the Native Americans, and so what Chris was most thankful for was NOT being Native American.

How DO they sell this cosy family gathering to the good people of America?

Radio Five Live: Later, There Was Still More

After the race there was something on with some woman called Penny laying into empathising against a Tory Boy Blogger called Iain Dale for his (and his colleagues and all their lewd commenting crew) sexist trolling of some real journalist called Melissa Kite. Or something like that. Iain even texted in an immediate defence suggesting Melissa was sexist for calling Tory Boy Bloggers "Boys". Resolved to get to the bottom of this story. Who TF is Iain Dale, and Who OE is Melissa Kite?
UPDATE: Crossing out and comment in brackets is new today, Monday, 10am, following a Dale complaint.

Great Manchester Run: Across The Pennines

Today 10s of 000s were pounding the streets of Manchester in the annual 10k. Normally I'd be with them and was putting together a good series with 37, 36, 35 until last year where I ran unfit with a bad cold for 42 minutes.

This year I took Tarus to Sheffield for the Half Marathon instead. Alas, one of his Shakespearo fellow Kenyans escaped the gravity of the GMR and T was only second, still comfortably his best race at the distance.

Our "run" across the Pennines meant several hours of dipping in and out of Radio Five Live. The great CCTV debate, yawn; jocks taking steroids, yawn; and William Hague on the necessity of a General Election.

"Oh" said Julian Worricker "But John Major didn't have one when Margaret Thatcher resigned. Why should Gordon Brown?"

"Oh" replied William "18 Pops" Hague "But that's different. Margaret Thatcher had no intention of going early."

Yeah, right! But Tony Blair did? Hoist by own petard.

Prezza's Retirement Plans: Review the Papers, Run a Blog and DT Column?

Iain Dale asked earlier today what John Prescott could get up to in retirement. Prisoner's Voice quotes this suggestion:

When he is not a constituency MP he will be able to spare the time to go on the telly and review the papers when they are caught short handed, write a blog perhaps, string together a column about how women tend to decide how to vote. You know Iain, that kind of thing that a non-MP can fit in.

Mr Dale seems to have removed it for some reason.

Durruti Column: Worried Over Next Cabinet Meeting!

Ha ha ha. What are they like? Bless! You'd think that revolutionary situationist Buenaventura Durruti would know better than to worry about a Brown-Blair stand off at the next cabinet meeting! Some would say that would be business as usual. While others would simply jeer:
"Cabinet meeting? Next cabinet meeting? What are you on abaht?"
So very last week.

FA Cup Final: Extra Time

They should have scrapped the first 45 and started from half time. Good game now though. Well, until three minutes from the end it was.

David Lindsay: Interesting Developments

David Lindsay has got his side bar links going and continues to push out thinking and at times contentious blog posts. Some more links here soon.