Friday, 27 July 2007

The Poliblogs 27 July 2007



Dulling down

George Galloway's eviction outburst was met only by disapproving tuts in the Commons. Where's the wit and anger the house was once famed for?

Alastair Harper

Not Boris

Oh dear, I think I'll be in a minority of about one when I write this here.

I realise that Boris is the Spectator's candidate for Mayor, and that he's an all round funny fellow and all that. But...

I can't for the life of me see how anyone could consider he'd make a good Mayor. I made a huge mistake last time round in voting for Ken Livingstone on a single issue, the congestion charge. Steve Norris was against, and I was (and remain) hugely in favour. But I stupidly ignored the more rounded picture - that Livingstone is a first class sh*t, and a man who disgraces the city he represents.

The Spectator’s Blog

Scottish independence and the English left

The reasons why the Scottish National Party are so often derided as Tartan Tories continue to escape me. I’ve always found it more analytically useful to consider them as some species of social democrats.

Let’s put it like this: since Alex Salmond took over at Holyrood last May, I have read nothing to suggest that that the SNP are to the right of the outgoing New Labour-Lib Dem coalition.

The policies currently on offer at their website are mostly the usual motherhood and apple pie stuff served up by all mainstream parties these days, pledging ‘fairer this’ and ‘safer that’.

Even so, it also includes radical-sounding promises to pull Scottish troops out of Iraq and British nuclear weapons out of Scotland.

Dave’s Part

Political arithmetic

This time around, the government seems to be winning its battle over the the 28-day limit for detaining terror suspects.

Alan Travis

Just what has the Foreign Office been telling Pakistan?

Miliband Major is in Pakistan at the moment, and an anxious nation holds its breath, awaiting his return. So far, so very dull indeed. However, a report on this momentous event in Pakistani newspaper Dawn is remarkably telling:

Mr Miliband, who earlier served as the Environment secretary in Blair’s final Cabinet, was opposed to the Iraq war and within the Cabinet also criticized the Israeli attack on Hezbollah last year".

Opposed to the Iraq war? Really?

The Croydonian

Could the Scientists Tell Us If Floods Are Caused by Climate Change Please?

Isn't it nice when two people on the same side of the argument put forward entirely contradictory viewpoints on climate change. These two quotes are from columnists for the same national newspaper. Could anyone prove to us what the science REALLY says, please? Isn;t it strange, I thought the scientists were all agreed. At least, so we were told...

Iain Dale

URGENT: Take Ladbroke’s 8/1 on a 2007 election

The Telegraphs YouGov survey for July, our this morning, has more good news for Labour and could reinforce the growing calls for Gordon to go to the country early. These are the figures with comparisons on the last poll from the pollster five days ago - CON 32% (-1): LAB 41% (+1): LD 16% (+1)

This is the biggest lead by any pollster for Labour since November 2005 before David Cameron became Tory leader.The last time that YouGov had a margin on this scale was in August 2005.

Political Betting

BROWN: The Hypocrite

David Cameron made a point in his final PMQs of the year by questioning Brown over the EU Constitution/Treaty. As Cameron said, the Irish PM said the treaty was 90% the same as the constitution which was rejected by the people of France and Holland, and the Spanish premier even said it was 98% the same. However, Brown now says we won’t have a vote on it despite in their manifesto saying ‘we will hold a referendum on any EU constitution.’ All that has changed is the name, but now he says we don’t need a referendum on it. This is despite the fact he says we are willing to trust the people and listen to them. This is all just New New Labour spin, he can get away with it now in his honeymoon period, but soon he will become massively unstuck, if he says he wants to listen to the people, he cannot just simply treat them like fools!!

UoB Conservative Home

Gordon Brown - The Con is On

Nothing has changed under Gordon Brown. He talks the talk, but he does not walk the walk. With all the put on earnest sincerety that he can muster, he tells people that he, Prime Minister Brown, is different to Tony Blair. But is he? Of course not. There may have been personal animosity and resentment between the two men which leads some people to think they are very different characters, but when it comes to their modus operandi, they are two peas from the same deceitful pod. The Labour culture of say one thing and do the opposite is alive and well in the Brownite government - which in reality is absolutely no different to the Blairite one that preceeded it.

The Waendal Journal

Po-faced puritanism

The atmosphere of bansturbation thickens. There appears now, for many people, to be no middle ground between "I dislike X" and "X should be banned". Whether X is fox-hunting, smoking, drinking, trading with Israel or online pornography is irrelevant. The apotheosis of this attitude comes in this article on Comment is Free.

Conservative Party Reptile

Climate Change My Arse - Part 9 (The Cold, Hard Facts?)

Global Warming, as we think we know it, doesn't exist. And I am not the only one trying to make people open up their eyes and see the truth. But few listen, despite the fact that I was one of the first Canadian Ph.Ds. in Climatology and I have an extensive background in climatology, especially the reconstruction of past climates and the impact of climate change on human history and the human condition. Few listen, even though I have a Ph.D, (Doctor of Science) from the University of London, England and was a climatology professor at the University of Winnipeg. For some reason (actually for many), the World is not listening. Here is why.

Daily Referendum

What's the point of university?

Students are getting into deeper and deeper into debt, but they may not be getting much for their money.

Tomas Hirst

How Brown is reversing Blair's reforms

Doesn’t anyone spot what Gordon Brown is really up to? The great Peter Riddell isn’t convinced that he has altered the Blair reform agenda, and thinks that “changes are at the margins”. Well, you could say that. If you snap the brake cable of a car, change is at the margins – but the consequences will be rather profound. Brown has ingeniously sabotaged the City Academy programme, keeping the name but ensuring new ones will be indistinguishable from existing schools. Meanwhile the NHS establishment is freezing out (or, as happened yesterday, just sacking) independent healthcare providers. They will now never get the critical mass they need. The CBI says it is “alarmed by this shift into neutral”.

Coffee House

Model behaviour from Ed Balls

The children's secretary has spoken out against Asbos, admitting that they have failed. I never thought I'd see the day, but I'm very glad I have.

Matt Foot

No comments: