Become a Vet, Mr Brown

As usual, the Daily Mash hits the nail on the head -

Pointing to the early successes of his premiership, Mr Brown added: "I'm really more of an animal diseases kind of prime minister.

"Bluetongue, foot and mouth, H5N1 - that's really my forte. I know all the names and I'm very good at setting up exclusion zones. "In fact, some of you are probably thinking, 'he'd make a bloody good vet'. And, d'you know what? You may well be right.

"I can just see myself tootling around the Dales in my battered but reliable Austin 7, a side of bacon from old Mr Otterthwaite and my arm all the way up a cow. Is it too late? Who knows?"

No round up I'm afraid...

Apologies - no time for a round up today. I will do a bumper one tomorrow for you all.

In the meantime, go over to the Wardman Wire and read Politics Decoded...

The Weekend Poliblogs 24th & 25th November 2007

What's Kennedy up to?

They're an odd lot, the Lib Dems. They have some good people, but tend not to give prominence to them. There is no doubt that the best leader available to the Lib Dems at Westminster is Vince Cable. He's impressed everyone since he was appointed their 'acting' leader. This blog has acknowledged the impressiveness of this man for many years. But he's not a candidate for the leadership. This is being fought out (with 'fought being an entirely suitable word) between two much lesser men.

A view from rural Wales

Out

No more opt-outs. Either the United Kingdom should be in the European Union and within the eurozone, or it should not be in the European Union at all. Prime Minister of Denmark Rasmussen is to give Danes a say 'in joining the euro and ending Denmark’s opt-outs from Brussels', because staying outside the single currency and retaining opt-outs on defence, justice and home affairs are damaging Denmark's relationship with the European Union.

Angels in marble

In Praise of Vince

'Mind the cable' I said to the acting Lib Dem leader as I guided him into our Westminster studios. Doh! Vince Cable gave me a rueful smile, much like the one he's given to Gordon Brown across the floor of the House of Commons in the last few weeks. Vince is a velvet assassin you see. He organised the letter to Charles Kennedy from members of the Lib Dem Shadow Cabinet threatening mass resignations if Chatshow Charlie didn't do the decent thing after his alcoholism confession. He also delivered it in person to Mr Kennedy. This sexagenarian stabs in the front!

Boulton & Co.

How Much Will We Lose On Northern Crock?

Having glanced under the bonnet, none of the prospective buyers thinks the Crock is even worth a fiver. And they're only prepared to tow it away for scrap if we taxpayers provide them with fully comp insurance for free. So how much are we going to lose?

Burning Our Money

How bad is it for Brown?

Jackie Ashley is one of the columnists who is normally most sympathetic to Gordon Brown. So her take on the issue of how much trouble the Prime Minister is in is essential reading. Here’s how she starts, “

Coffee House

Ten reasons to scrap the plans for I.D Cards.

Following the incredible incompetence shown by the government in failing to protect our personal data, I have compiled a list of ten reasons to scrap the plans for I.D Cards:

Daily Referendum

Green dreams

Gordon Brown's new environmental aspirations are very welcome, but how exactly does he intend to achieve them?

Michael Meacher

Forging new bonds

The left can no longer rely on political parties. A new kind of alliance between producers and consumers could provide the answer

Gregor Gall

Uncomfortable truths

According to the aviation white paper the southeast needs two new runways. So what are the pros and cons of expansion at Heathrow?

David Learmount

If Brown picks a fight with the Army....

he will lose, and lose badly. The government have committed the British armed forces to an unprecedented number of conflicts, the Balkans, Kosovo, Sierra Leone, Iran and Afghanistan. Yet during Labour's time in office defence spending has fallen as a % of GDP every year, it now stands at the lowest level since Ramsey MacDonald was Prime Minister (he was Labour too). The military usually keep themselves publicly politically neutral, even into retirement. That five former defence chiefs so passionately criticised the government and the Prime Minister indicates a deep problem.

James Cleverly

What's the difference between the Oxford Union and the Stop the War Coalition?

Tomorrow, the Oxford Union is hosting a debate on free speech with Nick Griffin of the BNP and discredited historian David Irving as guest speakers. It has created a media circus, with people condemning them as neo-Nazis and anti-semites.On Saturday, the Stop the War Coalition (StWC) has invited Ibrahim Mousawi, a spokesperson of Hizbollah, to speak at its World Against War conference. In contrast with the Oxford Union, this visit has only received publicity in the Jewish media.

Earthquake Cove

Could Gordon really go BEFORE the election?

It’s Monday and that means it’s the day of the Guardian column of Jackie Ashley - who for a long time has been one of Brown’s most enthusiastic media cheer leaders. And this morning, as she tries to assess the political damage that Gordon has suffered in the past few weeks, she touches on what has not really been debated - could he go BEFORE the general election?

Political Betting

Why is Virgin Group fit to own Northern Rock? Remember the Virgin Atlantic Fraud

Less than 4 months ago another of Richard Branson’s companies - Virgin Atlantic - admitted to colluding with British Airways over a 1-2 year period to defraud it’s own customers of a sum (I think - I can’t find an exact figure) of £50-£100m by engaging in price-fixing of fuel surcharges. Virgin Atlantic was an active participant in the price-fxiing. Richard Branson’s airline avoided a fine because it told the authorities first.

The Wardman Wire

Labour at an all-time low - and quite rightly too

In the midst of this crisis of lost records, Northern Rock, and general Labour incompetence, the Labour Party is at an all-time low in the opinion polls. A YouGov poll for C4 News on Thursday puts Labour at 32% (a 9-point Tory lead) and an ICM poll in tomorrow’s Guardian on 31% (only a 6% Tory lead, due to a remarkable Lib Dem comeback). Hat tip: Conservative Home. With the LibDems on 21%, at the expense of both major parties although it is certainly a “LibDem Leadership Bounce”, it may be the return to three-party politics.

The Wilted Rose

Sunday polls

There are apparently new polls tomorrow in the News of the World and the Mail on Sunday. The News of the World poll is by MSL, a sister company of ICM - both are owned by Creston plc. I’ve never them do political media polls before, if I had to make a wild stab in the dark I’d guess that the News of World phoned up ICM for a poll and found that ICM were already contracted to do a poll on the same subject for the Guardian this weekend, and were hence given MSL as someone else who might be able to do it for them. No news of any voting intention questions in the MSL poll, but it found that 54% thought ministers had handled Northern Rock badly and 49% of respondents wanted Alistair Darling to resign.

Polling Report

New Blogs Added

I have added a few more blogs to my Daily Round-up over the past couple of weeks:

Tony Blair - an ultra Blairite writes about why we are worse off for losing Blair as our PM.

Miss Wagstaff - an excellent blog looking at the politics of Wales.

Metrix - is an interesting blog made up of a defence and eductaion consortium. Given the troubles at the MoD, this could be one to watch over the coming weeks.

The Office of Tony Blair- Blair's new online presence covers his work as the Middle East Envoy.

Politics Decoded EXTRA: A Question or two for you Darling

I posted a special edition of Politics Decoded on The Wardman Wire yesterday. Here it is in full:

This week has seen a new point in politics and spin. Things have got so bad for Labour (and I have no doubt that if this was a Tory government they would not have faired much better - but it’s not, so Labour must take the stick) that they are now not just burying bad news but they are burying bad news with even worse news.

Given that Darling had some leeway on when he could have made both his announcements on Northern Rock and the missing discs, it does seem strange (or not) that he said them with 24hrs of each other. Not only that, but no-one has even noticed the news that the Treasury net public borrowing has reached £40bn and that the net inflow of cash last month was only £1bn, against £3.5bn October last year. There have also been a number of other announcements recently that you may have missed - did you know that HIPs are soon to apply to all flats and houses?

They really are in trouble - but I do not think they are nearly out of the woods yet either. I suspect that we are not being given the whole story about all this. As a result, I have some questions for Alastair Darling:

If you and your department are in no way responsible for the data losses, why are you apologising and what are you apologising about?

Why was the data not encrypted and why was so much data sent, even though the NAO only asked for names and NI numbers? Was this in line with HMRC procedures?

Why was a junior clerk left with the responsibility of handling such sensitive data and why if he/she did not follow procedures has he/she not been sacked?

If he/she did follow procedures, does this not make your department responsible given the review of procedures at HMRC?

If it turns out that this loss of data did involve more senior staff too, would you accept that you have misled the house and consequently resign?

If fraudulent activities do result from the loss of this data, will you guarantee the individuals’ financial losses with public money?

If there is any evidence of these discs falling in to the wrong hands and fraudulent activity results, would you consider this an issue to resign over?

As you have accepted that all data that the government stores will always be at some sort of risk, why are still pursuing the ID cards policy when the implications of a data loss on the scale we have just had will be disastrous?

If biometric data is stolen from an individual it cannot be replaced like a password or number. You cannot change someone finger prints. Given that you have accepted that you can never guarantee that all data is safe, would you not agree that biometric data is at risk of being stolen only this time it cannot be replaced with a new code thus creating an even more dangerous system to the current one?

Why has one of your ministers claimed that the discs are still “probably on government property” and why have you claimed that there is no evidence that the dics have fallen in to the wrong hands if you actually do not have a clue? Do you have any evidence that that have not fallen in to the wrong hands or that they are on government property?

In light of the Northern Rock fiasco, the worryingly high net borrowing levels that threaten to exceed £40bn and the latest in a long line of systematic procedural failures, is the Treasury fit for purpose?

Will you accept that one more major fiasco, such as the Northern Rock or the data loss situations, your position will be untenable or are you the Steve McClaren of politics and wait for someone to push you instead?

The Thermometer of Doom

There is much speculation over who will be first to be forced out of the cabinet. Alastair Darling has been putting forward a pretty good case recently and as such is favourite. Though Des Browne is trying his hardest not be beaten to it.

I will keep a regular update on the Thermometer of Doom of how close the big players are before Brown is forced to say "You're Fired".

The Poliblogs 23 November 2007

So this is what an African coup feels like

Tradition has it that African dictators are at their weakest when they go abroad, leaving the coast clear for generals on the make to seize the radio station and declare power. Gordon Brown has had cause to invoke the analogy before, when he got off a plane in the US one night to find that while he was conveniently out of contact over the Atlantic, Tony Blair announced that he wouldn't fight another election.

Ben Brogan

Nice Work If You Can Get It

Fancy a nice little earner? Ever considered a career as a Whitehall special adviser? You can earn up to £137,400. Not bad, eh, with all the civil service perks like a big pay-off when your boss gets the sack, and a fat public sector pension? On what Tory MPs are calling "a good day to bury bad news", the Prime Minister has published details of how many special advisers - known in the trade as SPADs - are employed in Whitehall, who they are and how much they earn.

Boulton & Co.

The maths of losing discs

Is the disc error just one of those things? Something that just happens and has nothing, really, to do with politics? Yes and then again no. With every action taken by a state organisation there is a small chance of an error. So the Government can reasonably protest that such things are just life. But in two ways Labour's philosophy of Government helped create this fiasco.

Comment Central

'Cover-up' or ignorance?

Did he cover up as the Tories claim or did he not know? The release of e-mails relating to the child benefit data fiasco have been used to suggest that the chancellor was guilty of a "cover-up" of the role of senior officials. Alastair Darling’s Commons statement focused purely on the role of "junior officials".

Nick Robinson

Revealed : HMRC were warned about delivering the disks safely by the National Audit Office

Information has been released by the government showing that the National Audit Office warned HMRC to ensure that the disks (the now famous disks) holding the personal information on 25 million people, be delivered "as safely as possible". The government apparently asked for this information to be released to "prove their case". The problem is, for them, is that I cannot see how it does.

Norfolk Blogger

Do you feel reassured?

We are now told that the CDs are "likely" to be still "on Government property". Do you feel safe now? How do "they" know this? Have they proof? If so, why aren't they telling us that the CDs are definitely safe? If not, then why start spinning? Nick Robinson has been going quite strongly on this, he now reveals the cavalier attitude of the Civil Servants to our private details and information security. Do you trust these people?

Edland

A day's a long time in politics

When Dave wrote it (two days ago - I apologise for the title of this post - poetic license) this was a reasonable, if overly generous, account of what had gone wrong at HMRC. Now it looks like pretty much every argument in Darling's defence is completely invalid.

Sinclair’s Musings

A week is a long time in the Inland Revenue … : Hot Issue of the Week

This week’s hot issue has been on the first page for much of the week. It focuses on Alastair Darling and the loss of the the personal details of more than 25 million people through the downloading, writing to CD, and posting of this data. This is issue is large enough to even force the Prime Minister to apologise .

The Wardman Wire

ID cards: money talks

My prediction on Wednesday that defenders of ID cards would quickly twist this child benefit data debacle to their advantage has been borne out. My expectation that it would be Polly's Friday column, though, has been stymied by her non-appearance in today's Guardian - but, via Dizzy, I see that David Blunkett has stepped up to the plate admirably with a letter in today's Times.

Mr Eugenides

Playing with fire

For once, the BBC is ahead of the game. It is the only media outlet so far (at the time of writing) to recognise the political importance of the "unprecedented attack" on Gordon Brown by no less than five former defence chiefs in the House of Lords yesterday. Featuring it as its lead item on the ten o'clock news, the BBC had Admiral Lord Boyce mount a personal attack on the prime minister, attacking his decision to give Des Browne the combined role of defence secretary and Scottish secretary.

EU Referendum

Now is not the time for a big shift in Tory policy on the EU

Gordon Brown's unwillingness to give the British people a referendum on the EU Treaty is back in the news this morning following the newly-elected Danish PM's decision to give his people a say on their country's relationship with the European Union.

Conservative Home

The Left vs hierarchy

In a sense, HMRC’s loss of child benefit records highlights the weakness of the Left - it’s failure to challenge the assumption that organizations must be hierarchic.

For years, the Left seems to have believed, to quote Orwell, that Britain is a family with the wrong people in charge. All would be well, it has assumed, if only there were better people with better policies at the top. To listen to some calls for Sir Ian Blair to resign, you’d think that the only problem with the Met is that the wrong arse is in the Commissioner’s chair.

Liberal Conspiracy

Can we believe the Guardian’s hustings poll?

Is Huhne really 20% ahead? In the absence of any proper polling of Lib Dem party members anybody wanting to have a punt on the leadership election has almost no hard evidence on which to make their choice. The Guardian, however, reports on a survey it carried out on Wednesday night amongst 200 members it questioned at a hustings meeting in Cambridge. The outcome was certainly encouraging for the former Guardian journalist and now party environment spokesman, Chris Huhne. This found 40% saying Huhne, 20% saying Clegg, and the balance being undecided or preferring not to say. But Guardian hustings polls have a record of getting it terribly terribly wrong as we saw during the 2006 race.

Political Betting

First poll since the missing discs

I expect the benefit data incident will result in a deluge of polls over the next few days - the first one is already out, a snap YouGov poll for Channel 4 news. The topline figures with changes from YouGov’s last poll are CON 41%(nc), LAB 32%(-3), LDEM 14(+1). Labour’s support is down, as might be expected, but it has not benefited the Conservatives who remain static at 41% (the same level they’ve been at for the last 4 polls), the benefit going instead to the Lib Dems, continuing to creep upwards from the appalling figures last month, and “others”. Not that this is likely to dismay the Conservatives too much, it is the largest lead YouGov have given them so far.

Polling Report

Politics Decoded EXTRA

Go over to the Wardman Wire to read a surprise Politics Decoded, where I pose a few questions for Alastair Darling...