Duffy and the Daily Tabs

Reports suggest that Mrs Duffy, of 'bigot-gate' fame, has done a deal with a leading Tab. Which I'm sure will pay handsomely for the exclusive. On Radio 5, Max Clifford suggested, she could earn up to £100,000 out of the scandal.

Could this be good news for Labour? The right wing press attacks on Nick Clegg backfired because the public were more cynical about a biased press than a politician. Will they meet the Gillian Duffy exclusive with similar indifference?

Canny Alex

So Alex Salmond couldn't help but put the boot in.* He should know better. Cameron and Clegg have been restrained so far. Maybe they understand that Brown's error could so easily have happened to them too.

In fact, Salmond is a far cannier operator than either of them; so how to explain the Salmond attack? The SNP (19%) are down to third in the polls in Scotland, behind Labour (37%) and the Lib Dems (24%), just ahead of the Tories (16%). As the current government in Scotland, this is a disaster.

Of course, Thatcher is still deeply unpopular in Scotland, so any reference to a hated figure and the current PM is sensible from their point of view.

But there is something deeper here. Salmond is blaming his parties poor poll ratings on his exclusion from the leader debates. Canny though he is, he is not above becoming frustrated. And that is the real reason for him lashing out.


* - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/election2010/liveevent/
1306 "Gordon Brown didn't seem to have any trouble meeting Margaret Thatcher but he seems to have trouble meeting old age pensioners in Rochdale," SNP leader Alex Salmond tells the Scottish Parliament.

Is it all over?

The media have had a field day. The Prime Minister insults a voter and the radio waves and TV channels are abuzz with....well, not quite what you would imagine. If the BBC 'Campaign Show' and late night Radio 5 listeners are to be believed, the Prime Minister got a surprising amount of support from the people of the UK.

He is human after all. We all make mistakes, and he did at least apologise.

However, one cannot help but think that Labour will find it difficult to recover from this. They had an uphill battle to win the election, and it makes it tougher now.

The one positive from this is that Brown now has nothing to lose. What is the worst thing that could possibly happen? I expect he will either perform brilliantly tonight, or let the events of yesterday weigh him down. Call me crazy, but I suspect it will be the former.

There is still one problem. The opinion polls are still not in Labour's favour, being behind both the Tories and Lib Dems. Long term survival for Labour could depend on one thing. If the Tories are tempted by a coalition with the Lib Dems, who would be left to be the opposition, if not the Labour party?

Gaff of the election - bigots!

Oh dear. Poor Gordon. Rochdale, and a difficult discussion with a member of the public. All seemed to going so well until.....

He thought he was in private, and he thought his comments would not be heard. But they weren't.

This is such a boon for the Tories that they won't need to actually make any headway on it. Conservative Tim Montgomerie has advised the party to leave it to the media to "bury" the PM.

We can spend the rest of the campaign contrasting the bigotry of certain sections of the media, with an offhand remark from the Prime Minister. But then hypocrisy has never stopped the media before.

The Tories have a problem though. There are no guarantees that voters will transfer to Cameron in order to punish Brown. In an ever-increasing Presidential style campaign, bigoted homophobic statements from background Conservatives still have an impact.

The Tories maybe smiling most from this, but Clegg may end up the biggest winner from this spat.

The Politics of Change

Change. Real Change. Or indeed, Change you can believe in. Political slogans and their attempts to convince shouldn't be taken lightly; especially if they convince enough of us to vote for the intended party.

I will declare who I am to vote for next week. The choice is between two of the three, and it certainly aint going to be for "Call me Dave's" party.

In the meantime I will leave you with this:
“In politics, the belief that certain facts are unalterable or certain trends irresistible commonly reflects a lack of desire or lack of interest to change or resist them.”
E. H. Carr 'The Twenty Years Crisis'

Nice one Ed.

Punk and McLaren

The Sex Pistols manager, Malcolm Mclaren was buried yesterday. What struck me about the reporting of the event were the almost reverential terms with which Malcolm Mclaren's career was spoken of.

From the most unlikely of sources, conventional media mourned his passing; from the bland and complacent 'One Show' to even a mention in the Daily Mail for goodness sake.

During the Punk era, these types of media would have been glad to see the back of Punk, and all it stood for. So why the praise now? Times change, I guess, and with the passing of the years, Punk certainly won't seem as dangerous as it once was to the bland and complacent.

The anger of the SNP

Within moments of last night’s debate, the smaller parties were falling over themselves to get at the BBC to appear before the electorate. They needn't have bothered as they all said the same thing. We weren’t involved; it was a boring debate and the real issue of the campaign, in other words the one we feel most passionately about, (Europe for UKIP, Race for the BNP, Environment for the Greens etc.) was ignored by the main parties.

One stand out exception however, was the SNP. Angus Robertson was the angriest of the lot of them. (On a side note, I have met Angus Robertson once before, and he seemed quite a pleasant guy; though he won’t remember me).

But why the anger? The SNP are the government in Scotland, the chance of a hung parliament could mean increased influence at Westminster, surely things aren’t too bad for the SNP?

But there is a problem. The SNP share of the vote is the same as the last general election. But this is down from the last Holyrood elections, so it will feel as though they have gone backwards. Secondly, with every passing debate that Nick Clegg performs well in, it is doubly galling for the SNP.

The SNP leader, Alex Salmond is certainly the most intelligent and charismatic politician in Scottish politics, if not the whole of the UK. If Clegg could be doing this well against Brown and Cameron, just think what Salmond would be able to achieve? Hence the SNP's frustration.

Of course there is also the small matter of the Scottish electorate. The polls certainly seem to suggest the SNP are in second place. (http://www.ukpollingreport.co.uk/blog/scottish-voting-intention) Also, will they turnout in greater numbers for a Westminster election, rather than Holyrood? Is it possible the Scottish see Westminster as a more important election?

The 2nd Election debate; but what does the future hold?

We stand at a precipice. Nobody is running away with this election in terms of the polls. Last night’s debate was a score draw for all three leaders. Clegg did well, but Brown and Cameron performed better. Cameron still hasn’t sealed the deal, but more of that later.

No election has been as close as this since 1974. Unless the polls are as incorrect as they were in 1992, it looks like no single party will command a majority. In fact this new three party system (which isn’t very new; in terms of votes since the 1970s) looks eerily similar to the 1920s; three parties, all on roughly equal share of the votes.

Labour ought to be worried. Could they be surpassed as the Centre-left alternative, much as they over took the Liberals during the interwar years?

But something even more significant could happen. This election could change everything. If there is to be a hung parliament, electoral reform will be almost irresistible.

The only scenario this could not happen is if the Conservatives win a minority government. To do that, they would need to win the highest number of seats. But Cameron is failing to look sincere, and now appears to be making policy on the hoof. I wouldn’t bet on a Tory victory just yet.

With the other parties openly advocating electoral reform, it seems this election really could be a defining moment in British political history.

Urban Living, Jeremy Paxman, and Ballard's 'High Rise'

Whilst reading Paxman's (yes him off Newsnight) book 'The English,' I came across a passage which I thought I would share in light of the review I had written on J.G. Ballard's 'High Rise.'

Here it is:
“Rich and poor differ in their expectations, but they share the same ambition. It is a house with a garden...Where else in the world would you hear it seriously argued that living in flats causes riots?”* (Original italics kept.)

Paxman argues for the need to improve urban living, being that England isn’t in the countryside. That is a myth. England is where people actually live. Full review of the book to follow....

* p170 Paxman, Jeremy, 'The English' (1998)

Quick election debate blog

Ok, last time round I discussed the possibility (nay, the likelihood) of a Conservative minority Government. Nick Clegg's performance last week in the TV debate would appear to opened up the election debate. Oft-used phrase, but never truer than in this case; it really is ALL to play for.

What has been most interesting is that the UK newspapers have tried their best to be relevant in this election by attacking Nick Clegg. How very predictable. It is this blog's opinion that their effect will be minimal. The broadcast media, if any will have the greatest influence. Plus, it has been clear to the British public for decades that Newspapers have ceased to report the news anymore. Rather they are opinion pieces with an agenda to push.

For them therefore, Nick Clegg is seen as a threat to the right-wing press. Nick Clegg clearly has to go.

If this works, remains to be seen. I doubt it will. I certainly wouldn't advise either Cameron or Brown to pursue the point. Dirty tricks and negative campaigning have not resonated with the British people this time as it may have in previous elections.

Entering the UK

The election campaign continues. Yet, each night the headlines in the media have focussed on the Ash cloud from Iceland. Getting back to the UK seems to have been remarkably difficult for thousands of tourists.

The philosopher Alain de Botton has made an interesting point about taking this as an opportunity to enjoy travelling a continent by means other than sanitised air travel.

This has clearly been lost on some of the returning public, relieved to be home and wanting to jump in the shower as soon as possible. Unpleasant as some of the stories may seem, it has left one to wonder – if UK nationals have found it hard to get back into the UK – isn’t this also proof the UK is not the easiest country to enter for immigrants and asylum seekers too?

Drugs - a bad news story and loop holes

A small town on the east coast of England, better known for containing a profanity within its name, recently became famous for something even more sinister. Scunthorpe was seen to be on the front line of a campaign against 'deadly legal highs.' In March, Louis Wainwright and Nicholas Smith were reported to have taken the then loop-hole drug Mephedrone.

The 'legal' part of the description of Mephedrone has always been misleading. More accurate would be to describe them as 'loop-hole' highs. But this would take some explaining, whereas most commentators are more comfortable with the moniker 'so-called legal highs.' Which, you have to agree has the advantage of communicating the commentators self righteous disgust on the subject of drugs.

Be that as it may, there is also something Orwellian in the terms used about the War on Drugs. One of them, 'control' automatically springs to mind. Mephedrone is said to have become a 'controlled' drug, as of the 16th April, because it is now illegal. Though the Home Secretary and the chair of the ACMD are unable to explain how they, as our representatives, now have control of this drug, rather than criminal gangs that now sell Mephedrone.

All of this ignores that the drug, marketed as a plant food with properties close to Ecstasy if consumed by humans, was never really legal. And here our 'loop-hole' comes in handy. The producers and distributors had found a loop-hole in the Medicines Act 1968. Slap on a label 'not for human consumption' and hey presto - you now have a 'high' which allows you to trade the substance over the counter.

All of which means - we and our government, did not ever have 'control' of Mephedrone. More regulations were required to sell and produce a tin of baked beans than Mephedrone. Or indeed, a packet of cigarettes or a bottle of wine.

Politically it was all too easy for our politicians to just simply make the drug illegal, and claim they now 'controlled' the drug, because its possession and supply is now a criminal offence.

Good politics, but bad, bad policy.

At the time of writing, results of the toxicology tests of Louis Wainwright and Nicholas Smith have not been published. Over a month after there deaths, we still do not know what killed them.

"On Beauty" by Zadie Smith

Influneced by her undergraduate and postgraduate experiences in Cambridge and Harvard, this is a well written satire on the world of the Academy which explores the themes of ethnicity and love. Politics is left mostly hovering in the background, surfacing explicitly on occasion. Which makes this a much more subtle book than Smith's debut 'White Teeth.'

But like that debut, this is a wide ranging and ambitous book. In fact, the greatest compliment one can make about this book, is to demonstrate that Smith is no one-hit wonder and may encourage this reviewer to revisit the most disappointing of Smith's novels, 'The Autograph Man,' to see if it can be improved on a second reading.

She also has an ability to introduce the reader to concepts, they may never have thought of before. This, her most 'American' novel to date and contains a gentle humour, though not as funny as her first novel, but a vast improvement on the second, this book gets 4/5.

Dr Who in LSD-drugs shocker !

If you dont believe me please click on the link below; but ask yourselves this. Have drugs inspired popular culture, and thereby enhanced all of our lives? Bill Hicks would say yes. Or better still, ask the BBC....

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8616911.stm

Mephedrone

Friday the 16th April.
Make a note in your diary.....although you will be forgiven for not bothering. Today Mephedrone is now a Class B drug. Illegal. Prohibited. Against the law to possess, trade or consume.

Not a memorable date; just another day in the already decades long and failed policy of the War on Drugs.

The illegality of this drug will not solve our drug problem. That will continue for as long as the law keeps drugs in the hands of criminal gangs.

UK Election Time

Week One of the Campaign over, and the first election debate has come and gone.
My first impressions so far:
Has the election really started? The manifestos are out, and the first debate has been had. Yet, for such an important election (and it must be, The Economist has said so*) it all seems dreadfully low key. Maybe living in a safe seat in East Yorkshire, has meant the parties are concentrating elsewhere. All thanks to an outdated electoral system no doubt.
Still, here are my initial thoughts;

1 - The polls maybe heading for a hung parliament, but a coalition is NOT what we are likely to end up with. At the moment the Polls suggest a minority Conservative administration. Think Stephen Harper in Canada, and Alex Salmond in Scotland,** and it is possible to imagine how David Cameron can still head the largest party in the Commons, without a majority.
2 - An improvement to the TV Debate: the French presidential debates, between Ségolène Royal and Nicolas Sarkozy, had a nice touch we would do well to emulate. For each candidate, the TV audience were able to see a timer to display how long each had been speaking for. That way we could see if they each had equal time, or were speaking for longer than the other candidate. I suspect for long periods, Nick Clegg did not get as much speak time as the other two. The time he did have, he used ever so effectively.




* The Economist "Britain's Choice" 10-04-2010, p13
** The Economist 28-11-2009 p42 “Lessons form a hung parliament”
“But experience shows, in Scotland and other places, that by building a constellation of alliances, minority government can be made to function. It is just hard work.”

Eddie Izzard - Brilliant Britain

Eddie Izzard is brilliant.

"Canal Dreams" by Iain Banks

With his best work being his first book, The Wasp Factory, this is still a good old ripping yarn of modern derring do. Staple stuff from Iain Banks' fiction books.

What is amazing is clearly how much research has gone into a book of only 275 pages. Something Banks clearly takes seriously (who else knew that the normal timing of waves to hit the shore is seven or eight a minute?) This reviewer is also struggling to think of any other novel that can smoothly transfer between Panama and Japan, and this is a welcome edition to his portfolio of work. What Banks sometimes struggles with is coming up with an ending that is to the same standard as the rest of the book.

Shocking in all the right places and well recommended reading. This book gets 3/5

"High Rise" by J. G. Ballard

This book has a double edge. Firstly there are is the recent growth of high rise 'executive' flats built in the UK since the early 2000s (slowed only by the recession). Secondly there are the 1960s and 1970s tower blocks, the then solution to slum clearance, sold to the residents as 'streets in the sky'.

First published in 1975, Ballard was sending out a dystopian warning about the social conditions of the residents that were to live within such tower blocks. Be that as it may, the High Rise, executive or council, is still part of our present and future. For sure, the english dream of a semi-detached, with front and rear garden in the suburbs cannot be accessed by everyone.

Of course Ballard would not have had the foresight of the current trend to build executive flats, and would have had in mind the tower blocks of the 1960 and 1970s, which were mainly imported designs from Europe (yet another indication of how European the UK actually is).

But one criticism of the Tower Blocks during the 1980s, was that the architects that built them, did not have to suffer the conditions in which the residents lived within them. In "High Rise" Ballard turns this on its head, and has his architect living in the Tower Block. Yet this makes little difference, as the conditions deteriorate and the residents turn on each other anyway.

An entertaining short read, and as relevant to todays' modern Britain as when it was written, as our relationship with the Tower Block shows no end in sight. This book gets 3/5.