Click here for the winners and runners up in the Witanagemot Political Blog Awards 2007. I suspect that whilst the likes of Iain Dale and Political Betting are pretty happy with the results, the one they really have their eye on is Dale's Top 100 due out in September.
Question to Northern Irish bloggers - is Slugger really that good or are you really that bad?!
Thursday, 2 August 2007
Wednesday, 1 August 2007
Blogroll
Finally my links to other sites are pretty much up to date. If you see any blogs in the wrong categories please let me know. And continue to send me any blogs that you think should be included in my daily read.
Top Political Blogger
As you will probably have noticed, Iain Dale is compiling a new list of the top 100 bloggers - this time chosen by any one who wishes to vote. Many sites are publishing their top 20. I will also be voting before the deadline closes on the 15th. I am genuinely unsure who is going to make the cut however. Blogs go through their ups and downs like anything else and my top 20 this week may well be different from my top 20 next week. I may introduce a column on the right hand side to indicate who I think the form bloggers are at any one time...I think I have decided one thing though, that Political Betting will get my vote at the top spot.
The Poliblogs 1st August 2007
An early election? Not on Brown's watch
Peter Riddell explains clearly this morning why Gordon Brown is likely to resist the temptations of an early election. He doesn't mention cash constraints, and he's right not to. If Mr Brown needs the cash, it will be there. And, in any case, the role of cash in election campaigns is greatly over stated - this is not
The world stage
Opinion: What Brown should be saying to Bush
Recently Lib Dem leader Ming Campbell commented on three things that Gordon Brown should be saying to George Bush;
Deal on
When we saw Gordon Brown for drinks in the Waldorf Astoria bar last night, he was brimming with enthusiasm. And who can blame him? He had just come from a successful
BBC Poll Results Belie Claim
To mark next month’s sixtieth anniversary of the independence of
Peter Franklin: Of kettles and car engines - why nuclear power is not the solution to energy security
National security is an all important issue, and the security of our energy supplies a vital part of this equation. Thus the Dave-baiters couldn’t believe their luck when the National and International Security Policy Group, chaired by Dame Pauline Neville-Jones – now a member of the Shadow Cabinet , appeared to contradict the Conservative leader on the subject of nuclear power.
President Robert Mugabe's incompetence reaches new heights as the Zimbabwean bank issue a $200,000 note and the IMF predict inflation at 4,500 per cent. The new note has been issued due to the fact that the $100,000 note (pictured above) now only has an official exchange rate of $7.58 ($0.58 on
It really is the economy, stupid
David Cameron only has himself to blame - trying to win 'hearts and minds' while postponing hard policy debate was a dreadful mistake.
How much damage has Miraj done?
The ongoing saga that is the Tory party took another turn today with the revelation from David Cameron that Ali Miraj, the former parliamentary candidate who had attacked his leader, had only yesterday asked to be made a peer.
Coming out fighting
David Cameron demonstrated that his days of Bullingdon Club destruction aren't that far behind him when he came out attacking those who have criticised him in recent days with the tried and tested method of playing the man and not the ball.
Keeping order?
So Ali Miraj, whose extraordinary criticisms of David Cameron I first reported on the Ten O'Clock News on Monday night, is struck off the list of approved candidates for the Conservative Party.
The view from the leadership, his behaviour was completely unacceptable and he therefore should be punished.
Cameron is beginning to reassert his authority
Candidates should always enjoy a certain freedom of expression. I am glad, for example, that Eurosceptic candidates are free to support the Better Off Out campaign, despite the frontbench's commitment to EU membership. Many candidates take strong positions against the
The world's biggest list of really annoying, offensive, niggling, irritating, infuriating, thoughtless, fat-headed, arrogant, anti-social behaviour
Here's your chance to perform a service to mankind. We're going to help create a nicer, more civilised society. Sort of.
Between us we are going to draw up a comprehensive list of anti-social behaviour. Not big things - murder, rape, impolite use of chemical weapons - but the small and medium sized things that make life just that bit more irritating.
Brown still sending Blair abusive emails
Gordon Brown is in regular contact with his predecessor Tony Blair through a relentless stream of angry, foul-mouthed emails.
The Prime Minister's spokesman said Mr Blair's 10 years in power meant Mr Brown would always look to him as a source of raw hatred.
Tuesday, 31 July 2007
The Poliblogs 31st July 2007
Stinging criticism of Brown from Labour MP
Gisela Stuart MP is an unlikely "rebel". She's your archetypal "Blair babe". On election night in 1997, her successful result at Edgbaston came early on, and gave a clear signal that we were in for a Labour landslide.
Ms Stuart has been criticising Gordon Brown for not holding a referendum on the European Constitution/Treaty. She should know what she is talking about. She helped write the original "constitution".
Both Cheeky Girls move in with Opik
Lib Dem MP Lembit Opik has been forced to welcome Gabriela Irimia's twin sister into his home.
The politician was thrilled when fiancée Gabriela agreed to move in to his country cottage in Montgomeryshire,
NHS hits the news again
After a lull in which there was talk of "clinical engagement" and getting staff back onside, the DH reveals its true colours again. And they are not nice.
Lord Saatchi calls for an end to "nicey-nicey" politics
Lord Saatchi has today warned that "nicey-nicey" politics will not win us the next general election urging David Cameron to reach out to voters on the economy instead of focusing on branding. He said all of Mr Cameron's efforts so far had been "to no avail".
Could Gordon torpedo the Tory EU lifeboat?
One of the most brilliant moves by Tony Blair was his amazing U-turn in April 2004 on having a referendum on the EU constitution. For in one short announcement he completely undermined the Tory campaign for the Euro Election seven weeks hence. The demand for a referendum had been Michael Howard’s device of uniting the Tories on the contentious EU issue.
The Gordon and George Show
In public George W. Bush is an unpredictable figure. Sometimes he’s skittish, seeming to blurt out the first thing that comes into his head. At others he’s sullen and doesn’t really seem as if he wants to be there, and can’t really be bothered now he is.
It's not Blair
Gordon Brown's first trip to the
Andrew Lilico: The Difference between a modern Conservative and a Blairite
Why are you a Conservative? How are your views different from those of a New Labour supporter? How do you believe that your views are better than those of a New Labour supporter? I’ll tell you how I think matters lie.
Unnecessarily detained
The government wants to detain terror suspects for more than 28 days. Very well then, show us the evidence to justify it.
I wouldn't waste the shoe leather to vote in a private referendum
I'll make my views clear to everyone to start off with. I am something of a sceptic over
The buzz around David Davis
Some interesting speculation on the Tory blogosphere over the last couple of days over whether David Davis is now becoming David Cameron's de facto deputy, and as such whether he rather than George Osborne or William Hague is now best placed to take over should Cambo fall under the bus or, alternatively, be ditched by his increasingly restive party.
Has the Brown bounce run out of steam?
There are still lots of smiling Gordons to illustrate our main article this morning but not quite on the same scale as recent polls have suggested. The surveys are from two pollsters who have hardly figured as successive YouGov and ICM polls have reported big leads for Labour in the past three weeks.
Populus in the Times has with comparisons on its last poll at the start of the month CON 33% (-1): LAB 39% (+2): LD 15% (-3)
Communicate Research in the Independent has compared with its last survey carried out before Gordon moved into Number 10 CON 34% (-3): LAB 37% (+5): LD 16% (-2)
Prolonging the Agony of School
Raise the school leaving age to 18? Teachers think it's a shocking idea. Geraldine Everett, chairman of the Professional Association of Teachers, says:
“Here is a Government that has toyed with the idea of lowering the voting age to 16 in order to promote a greater sense of citizenship among our young people. Yet it proposes to extend compulsory education or training to 18, to compel the already disaffected to, in their perception, prolong the agony.
To make them conscripts is likely to reinforce failure, leading to even greater disaffection. Enforcement could lead to mass truancy, further disruption to other learners and staff, maybe even needless criminalisation if enforcement measures are imposed.”
Of course, the commissars will not listen to the teachers. Piff! What do they know?
Is Brown reversing Blair's reforms?
The think-thank Reform has a interesting report setting out how in the 1st month of the Brown era, a reverse gear has been found on the public sector reforms we saw during the Blair era. Many I guess will welcome this, but as the Reform report point's out the 'inital decisions will impose an upwards pressure on public sector costs'.
Monday, 30 July 2007
Links
As you can probably see, I have managed to add only a few more links to the site - in the Left and Right bloggers sections. I still have many more to add. It is a very tedious and boring process so I am doing it in as small a stages as I can!
If you think I have categorised you blog incorrectly then let me know.
If you think I have categorised you blog incorrectly then let me know.
The Weekend Poliblogs 28th-29th July 2007
Balls and Alexander should worry
Horrid bunch that we are at
Stephan Shakespeare: Changing the leader would be madness for the party; but it is also madness not to change a flawed strategy
“No lurch to the right”, “stay the course”, “stick with the centre ground”, “no wobble” – when these familiar phrases appear in the press, we can sum up the situation with one word: “trouble”.
The next election is still winnable for David Cameron. But it will demand clear thinking. Above all, Tory strategists must understand that in the modern world – and after all, we strive to be ‘modern’ – there is no such thing as a ‘centre ground’. We live in a multi-dimensional world, we do not aggregate around some fixed mid-position on a line on a graph. Where would you place the Gordon Brown of taper relief, which he has pledged to continue even for private equity? On the left or right? It’s certainly not centrist.
Has Brown been over-bought?
A summer onslaught by the Tories may bring the new leader's honeymoon to an abrupt end.
Going Private
If Gordon Brown refuses to hold an EU referendum, the Tories might just back a privately funded poll. That is from William Hague via The Guardian who is looking at an initiative by former minister Lord Young of Graffham.
If Daniel Hannan is right, though, Alex Salmond, the Scottish First Minister, could also call a referendum on the revamped EU constitution.
The SNP, he says, like all the other parties, fought the last election arguing that the EU constitution should not come into effect without a referendum. Salmond could call such a referendum in
The first Democratic spat
Barack Obama says he's willing to meet the leaders of
Flooding bonuses
I am not particularly enamoured with large bonuses in either the private or the public sector. There is always a question mark over who determines them, how they are assessed and whether they can be justified or not. I am not therefore singling out the Environment Agency for any other reason apart from the fact that they are the latest body to have gone down this route.
If I Was American.
Firstly, as the title points out, I'm not American, so I cannot vote in the 2008 elections. But, if I was American, what would be important to me and which issues appeal to me as a voter? Well, I'll break them down.
Cannabis: Don’t die of shoddy reporting - UPDATED
I’ve written a couple of articles in the last couple of months on the general theme of the abject state of science/health journalism in the mainstream press - see Why is the Indy Shilling for Big Pharma? and Dumbing Down Dementia- the second of which includes this observation:
Not worth a life
"Too many died," said Harry Patch the 109 year old only survivor of the Passchendale trenches. "War isn't worth one life." He said war was the "calculated and condoned slaughter of human beings".
Memories flowed back of my own father who would have been 108 this year. He died aged 43. I recall a rumbustious, lovely man who brought fun and laughter to any company he joined.
Piers Corbyn, the man who has successfully forecast, weeks or even months ahead, much of this summer's extreme weather events, has issued a warning of further heavy rainfall on 5th-9th and 18th-23rd August. He also warns that there is a serious risk of flooding in
YouGov boost for Boris over Ken?
Tucked away in the detailed data from YouGov’s July poll for the Daily Telegraph is a question about the mayor of
For when asked “If you had a vote and had to choose, who would you prefer to see elected as the next Mayor of London, Boris Johnson or Ken Livingstone?” those surveyed split Boris 36%: Ken 35%: Dont Know 29%.
Does this data make an early election less likely?
If Gordon is thinking about a 2007 general election then every bit of data will be scrutinised to spot the trends so he can be absolutely sure that Labour would be heading for victory with a comfortable majority.
The above table has been clipped from the full data from ICM’s Guardian poll this week that had Labour’s margin down a point but still with a healthy 6% lead. What it shows is the view of people who said they actually voted last time for one of the three main parties and how their voting intentions have changed since.
Would the Tories really do better with Hague?
Ths is the first in a series of articles in which I will look at the possible alternatives to David Cameron should, for whatever reason the party find itself choosing another leader.
This is something that I don’t think is likely to happen but it just might. The potential of several figures will be examined before I reveal the identity of the person I have good reason to believe that Labour most fears.
Talisman of victory or just another albatross?
I maintain my belief that David Cameron will never be Prime Minister. Events of the past week have simply confirmed that in my mind.
Time for Cameron to reflect
Perhaps the best outcome of these torrid last few weeks is that the Cameron project has been brought down to earth. After winning the party leadership against all the odds, some of the
The Honours System,
The Honours system is corrupt, everybody knows this. It is a means of rewarding cronies and sucking up to high society. Now most people seem to think that this a good reason to scrap the whole thing or at least reform it but that misses the point. As it is if you donate large amounts of money to political parties, or serve out a career in the civil service without spilling the beans you will be rewarded with a gong. If the OBEs, MBEs, KCMGs etc didn't exist then the politicians would still want to give something in return for services rendered so what would the various donors receive instead?
Tying the knot? For you, we promise £5,000
Have you ever attended Weight Watchers or Slimming World? Or bet on a horse? I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be personal. It’s just that if you have, I have good news. Even if you put all that weight back on when you stopped going, or lost all your money when Dobbin refused at the first fence, your experience can still be put to use. It can help you to understand how the Tories can solve their dilemma over marriage.
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?
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.
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
Political arithmetic
This time around, the government seems to be winning its battle over the the 28-day limit for detaining terror suspects.
Just what has the Foreign Office been telling
Miliband Major is in
… Mr Miliband, who earlier served as the Environment secretary in Blair’s final Cabinet, was opposed to the
Opposed to the
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...
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.
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!!
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.
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
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
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.
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
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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
