politicsjunkie

A momentary glimpse of how government should be

noreply@blogger.com (politicsjunkie) — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 23:36:00 +0000

Harriet Harman filled in for Gordon Brown at Prime Minister's Questions today, and in my view she played a blinder.

Although there was a touch of the Prescotts about some of her responses, one thing that struck me was the way in which she dealt with some of the questions put to her.

Although the banter with William Hague was funny, she commenting that the government would take no advice about food wastage from a man who thinks 18 pints of beer is a good diet, and Hague responding that none of his youthful beer consumption was wasted, one thing stood out.

And it was not Hague's slick line, standing in for Cameron, that the PM is past his sell-by date.

It was the way that Harriet spoke to and listened to the Cabinet sitting around her.

On the economy, she was prompted by the Chancellor, and her answer was stronger for it.

On Heathrow expansion, she got advice from Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly and then answered.

On the emotive issue of Zimbabwean refugees, she was on the front bench talking to Home Secretary Jacqui Smith to formulate her response.

Although there is no chance of Harriet becoming the next PM, I was impressed with her approach.

Government is collective, and should be co-operative.

It was a stark contrast with the macho posturing of Gordon Brown, and most other government ministers.

It was a small thing, but it made me want to back her more when, instead of pretending she was master of all trades, she turned to the people around her who knew more about each issue for help with her answers to MPs.

It felt more real, and for a small moment I was impressed by Harriet Harman.

Will Glasgow East be the end for Gordon?

noreply@blogger.com (politicsjunkie) — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 20:14:00 +0000

Yea, yea, I don't have time to blog - so here is another entry - it's only been three weeks.

Fun things have been happening - I met that David Cameron for the first time - he is bulkier in real life - not fat or anything - just meatier. I had a lovely birthday picnic, went to Pride London and have interviewed Boris twice in a week - but not about his troubles unfortunately but about gay related things.

Interesting guy that David Cameron. I was slightly impressed that he rocked up to Glasgow yesterday to do a launch in a by-election he has no chance of winning.

Of course, things are looking very bad for the PM.

House prices are falling, the market for new home buyers has all but disappeared, the people are angry about fuel and rising bills and rising prices.

Even my mum said she would vote him out, if only she could (she lives in Northern Ireland).

That whole mollycoddled generation of English people who think it is normal to buy eight year old children hundreds of pounds worth of gifts twice a year are suddenly feeling the pinch, and Labour MPs in seats that are starting to look to the Tories are more nervous than Adam Rickitt at a selection meeting.

Big name pundits are saying that if Gordon loses the Glasgow East by-election, he is toast. Three disasters in a row - the party as you know lost Crewe and Nantwich, a supposedly safe seat.

They came fifth in the by-election to replace Boris (who the Speaker thinks is the Lord Mayor of London), beaten by them Greens and the lovely BNP.

So the smart talk is all about Labour losing in Glasgow East, and that the PM cannot even attract support in Scotland, and that he will have to go.

I do not buy it. A string of by-election defeats is damaging, but I do not think it is fatal. Perhaps I am naive to make comparisons with John Major, but he lost a string of by-elections during his time as PM and the public hated him too.

Then again, he did not get us involved in any wars and his whole party knew they were going to lose the 1997 election, and indeed Major won in 1992.

And perhaps the public's disaffection with Gordon is of a different order. More visceral.

But the idea that the Labour movement will remove the PM in mid parliament is madness as far as I can see.

It is not just MPs and the Westminster crowd who pick and choose leaders but the affiliated societies, MEPs, the unions and party members.

Are they all baying for his blood?

Also, its bloody difficult to remove a sitting Labour Prime Minister. You need a lot of those MPs to put their head above the parapet and it will cause infighting that the party can ill afford.

It seems to me that no matter how bad things get, Gordon is staying in Number 10 until the bitter end.

THT on why they support a ban on gay blood

noreply@blogger.com (politicsjunkie) — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 20:12:00 +0000

Sexual health charities are one of the most complained about groups working within the gay community.

While they broadly command the support of the pink press, there is consistent criticism of their ad campaigns, priorities and stance on issues such as the ban on gay men donating blood.

Terrence Higgins Trust is the biggest fish in the HIV/AIDS pond, and consequently comes in for the most criticism.

Recent campaigns such as Drugfucked and PlayZone are accused of glamourising drug use and underground sex clubs.

THT command considerable amounts from the NHS and other statutory bodies.

Their most recent report states:

"In 2006-07, we received income from 108 statutory bodies, funding both regional and national work. Of our total statutory income for the year of £8,031,000, £568,000 (7%) came from new contracts.

"Voluntary income rose in 2006-07 by £433,000 (12%) to £4,155,000, with a key increase of £139,000 (8%) coming from individual givers, through regular and one off gifts. Additional funding of £330,000 was also received from the Department of Health."

So THT has the support of government and donors, even if there is disquiet about their strategies to reduce HIV infections in the UK.

The charity works with all people, not just gay men.

Approximately 2,700 men who have sex with men were diagnosed in 2006, the highest number since the epidemic began. 82% of these men probably acquired HIV in the UK.

PinkNews.co.uk sat down with Lisa Power, head of policy at THT.

A gay activist since the 1970s, she has been with the charity for more than a decade.

In a frank interview, she revealed that THT is committed to becoming a mass membership organisation, defended their controversial campaigns and explained why she does not think the gay blood ban is discrimination.

PinkNews.co.uk: The first thing that we need to clear up is that a lot of our readers are under the impression that THT just deals with gay men.

Lisa Power: It would be reassuring to know in a way, since we seem to get a lot of complaints from gay men that we don't deal with them enough, that we are giving too much time to somebody else.

We deal with HIV and sexual health, and HIV will always be central to our work, so a lot of our work is with gay men and a lot our work will remain with gay men.

But we also work, in terms of HIV, we have three target groups.

One is gay men, one is African migrants and the other is people with HIV, anybody who has got HIV.

In terms of sexual health it's again gay men, because gay men have particular issues around sexual health, ethnic minorities, because there are a number of black men who have raised levels of problems with sexual health, and it's young people.

We have incredible rates of things like chlamydia in this country and in fact we have the worst sexual health in western Europe, which is a bit of a disgrace really, and a bit turn up from the 80s when we had some of the best.

PinkNews.co.uk received a lot of emails about a new website for gay men about sex and drugs, it talks about the effects of recreational drugs. How do you counter the argument that you are encouraging drug use.

We have been told that we had been encouraging all sorts of things right from the beginning, we started out with people like Mary Whitehouse saying we were encouraging sex.

The point is that you have to start of from where people are, and not from where you want them to be, and the fact is that a lot of gay men are using recreational drugs.

We'd rather they took them safely, and if they must take them we'd also rather that they thought about the kind of sex they want to have and to try and make that as safe as possible.

Our main aim is to reduce the transmission of HIV and poor sexual health, and gay men as a group have particularity bad sexual health.

We know that is linked with large amounts of recreational drugs taken and if we don't do something about it we are seriously not doing out duty.

We know that it doesn't work to tell people not to do it, we aren't Nancy Reagan we are not going to go 'just say no,' we have to talk to people in the language that they use and in the manner they will be most willing to hear what we have to say.

If that means T-shirts that say drugfucked and special materials for that group and using the language that people who use recreation drugs use, then that's what we will do.

Large amounts of immigrants, people who don't speak English very well, are not getting, served the way English speakers are.

We would agree with that, and it's one of the things that we have really started to highlight, we have just done the annual gay men's sex survey again with Sigma and through the CHAPS programme.

There is some really clear evidence this year that we need to do more targeting of certain groups of gay men.

A key group of gay men who are themselves migrants, it's not just African migrants, it's also gay men who have come here from Latin America, from Eastern Europe and a whole range of other places.

They are not as clued up around sexual health as people who have been subjected to all the materials for the last few years, sometimes it's a language issue, sometimes it's cultural issues, sometimes it's about getting to people in the right place, and we are very well aware of that and it's some of our key aims for future work.

We always work on the evidence base, and the evidence is clearly there, and we would agree that people have been saying that do you that we need to do more work.

An argument often put forward is that the approach that you are taking in your campaigns isn't working you need to start scaring people.

Read the rest of this interview here.

Interview: Richard Barnes, Deputy Mayor of London

noreply@blogger.com (politicsjunkie) — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 20:05:00 +0000

Deputy mayors have been in the news a lot recently.

On Friday Ray Lewis resigned as Deputy Mayor of London amid a welter of allegations about his previous incarnation as a Church of England priest.

While his departure was a blow to Boris Johnson, he has quite a few other deputies.

However, only one of them is the statutory Deputy Mayor, the one mentioned in the legislation that created the post of Mayor of London.

That man is Richard Barnes, who has been out and proud, and fighting, for so long that sometimes it seems he was the original gay Tory.

A Hillingdon borough councillor since 1982 and former council leader, he has served on the London Assembly since its creation in 2000.

After eight years of Ken, he is finally in power and, before last week's Pride parade, he sat down with PinkNews.co.uk to talk about Boris, HIV prevention, and why the terrorist attacks exactly three years ago today showed our city at its most resilient.

PinkNews.co.uk: Congratulations on your appointment. I understand that you are the statutory Mayor, can you explain what that entails?

A statutory Mayor is a legal requirement and should be there if anything untoward happened to the Mayor.

Does that mean you are a heart beat away from being Mayor?

I'm just a little bit further but yeah.

How does that work in terms of influencing the Mayor, do you meet regularly, do you have conversations?

We will meet regularly but obviously during the course of the campaign Boris and I did establish a close rapport and we worked very closely together.

When we were talking about Boris Johnson in November and even in January and February there was this idea that his candidacy was a Tory bit of fun …

I don't believe that.

Well what I was going to say is his majority is sizeable, a considerable vote, did that surprise you having been on the campaign trail with him, or were you expecting it on election night?

Before he was selected I just had that gut feeling that he was that symbol of change that everybody in London wanted and given the way his magnetic celebrity status on the campaign trail people just flocked to him.

I've been out with (former Mayor) Ken and you see people on opposite sides of the street say "oh there's Ken Livingstone."

With Boris they had to get near him, they had to get their photograph taken with him.

They want to be close to him which is that difference between premier division and a full star if you like.

You have been and assembly member since the beginning. What sort of changes did you want to see over those eight years, what changes do you want to see now and what do you think Boris will bring forward?

I would rather look forward than look backward.

But you must have seen an organisation that you thought could be better run?

I thought the organisation has improved since we came into office, that it was dysfunctional, the decision making was channelled through a very small coterie of people.

The professional offices were not allowed to make decisions of their own, they were all referred upwards.

What I believe is that you should trust the offices and professionals that you've put there, that you should allow them to get on and make decisions, clearly ask for checks and balances.

They just got a budget which has been examined and approved. I don't expect them to come back on a monthly basis and say "can I spend part of my budget?"

Boris had a bit of a rough ride from the gay community….

Read the rest of this interview.

The Democratic race explained in under nine minutes

noreply@blogger.com (politicsjunkie) — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 15:14:00 +0000

This video is awesome!

David Davis - what the hell is he up to?

noreply@blogger.com (politicsjunkie) — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 21:59:00 +0000

The DUP are the undertakers of governments, as Shirley Williams said on Question Time. Very true, a typical blast of common sense from the tenacious peer.

However, yesterday's vote on 42 and the shenanigans around how Gordon won the vote seems like months ago after today's bombshell.

David Davis insists he is resigning from the Shadow Cabinet on a matter of principle. I don't buy it.

Why resign and fight a lone battle against a piece of legislation? Why piss off the leader and abandon the party, steal headlines from them and make the fight against 42 when the Lords are more than likely to kick it out, plus the government bill is unworkable?

And why now? I think this has got a lot more to do with the leadership of the party and not any issues of liberty.

Fighting his case in his own constituency - it is barmy.

And where will the Tories come into all this? Is he official candidate?

Cameron said he was going to campaign for Davis? How will that work?

Its all very confusing, but I think at the end of the day the loser will be Davis. He is out of the Shadow Cabinet - will he ever get back in?

Nice to see one of the Robinsons has some sense

noreply@blogger.com (politicsjunkie) — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 19:25:00 +0000

The Iris issue rumbles on - she was on the radio this morning claiming that she only said that gay people could be cured, not they should be.

Her hubby, the First Minister of Northern Ireland, today assured the Assembly that not only does he take his responsibilites seriously with regard to discrimination but he and the missus are fighters against it.

Anyway there are still issues, not least round this idea that people can be "converted" by nutty psychiarists.

It hurts gay people. It gives the impression that they are somehow mentally ill, that they need help.

We don't. Leave us alone.

Iris through the looking glass

noreply@blogger.com (politicsjunkie) — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 18:34:00 +0000

Iris Robinson's outburst about how gays just need therapy is interesting - on her first day as the effective First Lady of Northern Ireland, the rib enthusiast (see quote) just popped on Radio Ulster to remake herself as helpful kind of Oprah figure - offering to put gays in touch with a nice doctor who can make them all better.

Here she is on lesbians being allowed near baby making facilities without even having the deceny to bring a gay along so they can pose as a couple for the nice doctor.

"I speak tonight saddened by the approach taken by right hon. and hon. Members who wish to airbrush out the role of fatherhood. I notice that there are many grins on faces, but I stand by my faith and the word of God that man was created in the image of God and that woman was created from the rib of Adam to be his helpmeet and companion. That is the natural progression of procreation."

Well exactly.

Since you've been gone

noreply@blogger.com (politicsjunkie) — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 18:22:00 +0000

SO here it is my first blog entry since 19th April.

In that time I have been to Miami, spent the day with schoolkids at Auschwitz, been on BBC Radio Ulster (personal goal ticked off the list - shame my mum wasn't listening!) reported on the election of Boris Johnson as Mayor of London, been to my first PMQ and got to sit in the Press Gallery which was just SO cool (thanks Kevin), talked St Paul's epistles with the only gay bishop in the Anglican communion (only out one obviously. Its faggot central as everyone knows) discussed the psychology of Ann Widdecombe with drunken Labour researchers, listened to London's first gay deputy Mayor relive the experience of his partner dying in his arms, and then be told he was not a 'fit person' to register his death - he went all the way to the Registrar General to have that obscene insult abolished.

I have brooded over getting an interview with David Cameron, then brooded over getting one with Gordon Brown, planned by birthday picnic on Primrose Hill, thought about growing my hair long, had a beautiful dinner with my friend Michael in his new flat, received news that my brother Dominic is a father for a third time, a girl called Megan, found myself agreeing with everything my mother was saying about Tibet, fought a losing battle with Snickers addiction, argued about the ban on gay blood donations with two people who knew a lot more about it than me, had dinner with someone I fully expect to be in the Cabinet in ten years, realised what an brilliant film Minority Report is, interviewed about a million interns and not slept enough.

Clearly no time for blogging - its SO 2007. But we shall keep at it when we find a moment.

Dunwoody's death is a blow for the Commons

noreply@blogger.com (politicsjunkie) — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 16:11:00 +0000

I was genuinely upset to hear of the death of Labour MP Gywneth Dunwoody.

Ms Dunwoody, who had been the MP for Crewe and Nantwich since 1974, was chair of the transport select committee and a highly-respected parliamentarian.

She was 77.

The longest serving female MP ever, she first entered Parliament in 1966, representing Exeter. From 1966 to 1970 she sat alongside her then-husband, John Dunwoody, MP for Falmouth. In 1983 she ran for Labour deputy leader on a Euro-sceptic platform, but only attracted 1.3% support.

Ms Dunwoody was one of life's awkward squad, speaking out when she thought her own party was wrong, and her fellow MPs clearly had a lot of time for her.

An attempt in 2001 to remove her from the chair of the transport committee led to an effective rebellion by her colleagues, and the government had to let her take her rightful place.

In committee she was a wonder to behold, making ministers, civil servants and senior transport executives look like ill-prepared chancers.

In the chamber she was an exceptionally effective speaker, but more than that she carried before her respect, from MPs on all sides of the House. They listened to her. They liked her, and she was always good value for money.

The Times summed it up best: "a battleaxe in the best tradition."

I saw her in Parliament just a few weeks ago. She was examining trinkets for sale just outside Central Lobby, and I wanted to go over and speak to her, to say hello, so I could say that I had met her, someone I admire so much.

But I was late for my appointment, and I figured I would get many more chances to meet this formidable woman.

She was one of the only MPs I ever saw who managed to pin down the elusive Tony Blair, forcing him to admit that he had, in effect, no policy on immigration.

While some may breathe a sigh of relief that they will never be on the receiving end of her fearsome questioning, most people who knew her will say that the Commons lost one of its most important MPs this week.

Among the tributes from party leaders and political grandees, the words of her son David were the most touching:

"She was a woman who stood up and said what she believed was true and defended those who did not have many people to defend them. And she stood up for her principles, she was a wonderful woman."

Andrew Pierce's piece about her is outstanding - read it here.

Hustings was a huge success

noreply@blogger.com (politicsjunkie) — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 15:54:00 +0000

This morning's Mayor of London hustings, organised by Stonewall, was packed - nearly 400 people were there to hear Ken, Boris, Brian speak alongside Sian Berry from the Greens and Lindsey German from Respect - The Left List.

Both the female candidates impressed the audience with their common sense answers and general demeanour. Sian, only 33, is particularly highly thought of not just in the Green party but among political watchers of all shades. I do hope she wins a seat on the London Assembly.

I was chairing the event, which was daunting, but I think it turned out OK in the end. At least the crowd was mostly well-behaved, with just a handful of people shouting out from the crowd. What is it with these people? How is shouting at people acceptable? It is just rudeness in my opinion.

Anyway, there was very little of that, though one person did shout at me at one point, accusing me (at the end) of not picking any black people. She didn't even mention Asians or other minorities. Racist.

Boris had an interesting time - both charming the audience and failing to convince them that he never really supported Section 28. I tackled him about his infamous comment piece where he compared civil partnerships to "three men and a dog" getting married, but he would not apologise.

Ken was in his comfort zone. I thought he dealt well with accusations about corruption - there are seven police investigations ongoing, apparently.

Anyway, I have chaired my first hustings, and I liked it. I guess I will only have to wait until 2012 for the next one!

Ken tours Soho in search of pink votes

noreply@blogger.com (politicsjunkie) — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 15:47:00 +0000

It was a surreal moment in an already bizarre election; Ken Livingstone standing at the bar in Comptons, chatting happily to bears about his plans for London if elected for a third time as the city's Mayor.

Ken's whole Soho walkabout was part farce, part hard-nosed politics.

With Brian Paddick, the only openly gay candidate, attracting a respectable number of LGBT voters, Ken was out to remind people he was fighting for gay rights when his opponent wasn't even out.

Of course, he got stuck into Boris at every opportunity.

Ken, a man with acute political antennae, knew better than to attack Mr Paddick. He brushed away questions from PinkNews.co.uk about whether the 49-year-old Lib Dem was challenging for the pink vote.

Gay MP Chris Bryant was Mr Livingstone's guide round the area. He confided that he has a flat "near here" but added he doesn't spend much time in the gay ghetto. He certainly seemed to know where he was going.

Ken's cavalcade of press photographers, journalists, members of LGBT Labour and other supporters began at Comptons in Old Compton St and finished up at Heaven.

The nightclub's VIP room was bedecked with some very fetching images of Red Ken from the days when he sported a neat moustache, several drag queens and some of the prettier Labour supporters.

But back to the walkabout. Scrums of photographers followed the Mayor from the Admiral Duncan, up Dean St and across Soho Square.

In that time about two voters spoke to Mr Livingstone, a gang of camp, annoying teenagers joined the throng and several people shouted obscenities at the candidate.

The press were relieved to reach Profile, where canapes, cocktails and champagne were laid on.

Topless waiters presented Mr Livingstone with a thick, sludgy beverage which I was informed contained brandy and cream, and possibly champagne. I spilt a cocktail on my notes so I can't be sure.

I asked one of the waiters if they are normally topless, or if it had been laid on for Ken.

In a delightfully impregnable Brazilian accent he informed me they do "no top" on Fridays and Saturdays. And sometimes Mondays.

Famed journalist A.A. Gill was there to observe the scene - he is to write a piece on Mr Livingstone for The Sunday Times. He seemed amused by the whole experience.

After this short respite Ken was back on manoeuvres.

"Oh, this is fun!" he exclaimed as he and his posse of press and leaflet-wielding supporters made their way into The Yard, where he was warmly received by patrons.

As he trolled past Comptons for the third time, he popped in for a drink, and was greeted with cheers. They like the older gentlemen at Comptons.

Moving finally towards the river, there was a touching moment when a young, frail homeless girl, who looked about 17, a dirty blanket wrapped round her shoulders, pushed herself forward.

As Ken leaned in to listen, so did the press. I was too far out to hear what she said, but I noticed that Ken was holding her hand, looking into her eyes, and I heard him promise that someone would "come back for her and find her."

Among the jollity, the camp boys at G-A-Y and the drunken secretaries shouting “KEN!” as if they were at a hen night and he was the stripper, it was a sobering reminder that the gay village is also filled with the desperate and despondent, the ones London fails.

READ THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE HERE.

MP calls for Speaker to go

noreply@blogger.com (politicsjunkie) — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 19:10:00 +0000

It wasn't a vicious attack by any means. Rogue Tory Douglas Carswell has said what many of his colleagues think: the House of Commons needs serious reform and that cannot begin until the Speaker stands down.

He has broken a strong convention of the House, namely that the Speaker is above both party politics and public reproach, and by attacking him Carswell is attacking the Commons itselt.

Not quite. While he can expect a chat with the Whips, it would be stupid and petty of the Speaker not to call him in debates.

And his point is valid, and it could be argued he is acting in defence of the best traditions of the House.

The Speaker's own expenses are the subject of investigation and tabloid fodder adding to the gaiety of the nation on a weekly basis. Perhaps it is he who should consider if that damages the Speakership?

Carswell, the MP for Harwich, is an ardent campaigner for a range of parliamentary reforms.

"We need to clean up Westminster politics and take action to restore faith in our political system," he told the Mail on Sunday.

"Speaker Martin must step down. Perhaps not immediately, but he needs to set a date for his departure now.

"Until Speaker Martin goes, we will make little progress with anything else."

The photo is from Douglas Carswell's website.

"Douglas in Afghanistan
08 March 2007
Watch on ClactonTV.com"

Stonewall hustings event names chair

noreply@blogger.com (politicsjunkie) — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 19:06:00 +0000

And it's me!

Yes, yours truly will be on stage at BFI Southbank (formerly the National Film Theatre) on FRIDAY 19th APRIL from 11am.

The whole thing is booked up, which is a bit scary, as is the prospect of trying to keep the peace between Boris Johnson, Ken Livingstone, Brian Paddick and Lindsey German, the Respect - The Left List candidate.

It will be the last hustings before voters go to the polls on May 1st, so the candidates will either be particularly combative or dog tired, we will just have to see.

Bad press day for the Prime Minister

noreply@blogger.com (politicsjunkie) — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 18:51:00 +0000

Bad news for Gordon Brown - the papers today are a chorus of disapproval - Matthew Parris in The Times complaining that he is a naked, clueless vacuum.

Crikey. The Sun reports that he could face a challenge to his leadership if Labour do badly in the local elections next month, and The Guardian has published a series of comments from un-named government MPs bemoaning his election unopposed as leader last year.

All are agreed that the boy Miliband will not be challenging, and that the most likely contenders are Blairites Alan Milburn or Charles Clarke.

This talk of a leadership challenge is bollocks, though the underlying message that support for the government has all but evaporated is true.

The collapse in Gordon Brown's poll numbers is stunning, and it looks unlikely he will substantially raise it in the coming months.

Tessa Jowell, that harbinger of doom, has been raising hackles about the abolition of the 10p tax.

It looks likely that the PM is entering his John Major phase much earlier than predicted; we will see him defeated by his own party on key legislation, his younger Cabinet colleagues jockeying for position, safe in the knowledge they can hold their fire until after he loses the next election.

It is fast becoming a cliche, but it is all so terribly Shakespearean. It is as if he is under a curse, to always half-succeed but always look as if he failed completely.

Everything from the signing of the Lisbon treaty to getting lost in Windsor Castle, to not going to the opening of the Olympics, but happy to be there for the closing, he and his team seem unable to get anything right.

Kebab-eating Home Secretaries, the one-woman wrecking machine that is Harriet Harman and the sight of Tessa Jowell and the Olympics budget roadshow, all adds to the tragedy.

The idea that Brown promised only to serve one term, in favour of Ed Balls, is pure fantasy. There are few Cabinet ministers with as little support on the backbenches as Balls. He is entirely a creation of the Prime Minister, not the party.

And while the Tories may be jubilant at their poll lead, they are still only getting 40% of the vote - hardly enough to propel them into government.

They have yet to make a serious impact in cities like London, Manchester and Sheffield. The local elections on May 1st is their best chance to achieve those symbolic gains.

Even if they do, David Cameron has yet to convince voters that he is the man to lead Britain in a new direction.

boris blears and the BNP

noreply@blogger.com (politicsjunkie) — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 12:58:00 +0000

The Secretary of State for Communities has said that the Tory candidate for Mayor of London will "depend on attracting support in second preferences from BNP and UKIP supporters" to win the May 1st election.

Hazel Blears, who is in charge of the Labour party's local election campaign, made her assertion in an interview with The Sunday Telegraph in which she characterised the council elections as vital for David Cameron.

Labour is braced for considerable losses in the 4,500 seats up for election across England and Wales, with party insiders predicting as many as 250.

The party could lose control of Sheffield to the Liberal Democrats. Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg is an MP for the city.

It is Gordon Brown's first major electoral test since becoming Prime Minister last year. In cities such as Birmingham, Manchester, Newcastle and Sunderland, and 73 English district authorities, one third of the council seats are up for election.

Seven English district authorities will elect half of the council while in Wales all councillors in all 22 councils will be elected.

The Prime Minister already faces unrest among his own MPs about plans to extend detention without trial for terrorist suspects and the abolition of the 10p tax band, which took effect last week.

Meanwhile Tory leader David Cameron will be hoping to pick up support in northern England, particularly cities, where his party is currently absent.

"Cameron needs to show he can get real support in the North of England and Wales, beyond his political comfort zone in the shires. Not just a few gains here or there," said Ms Blears.

Her comments about Conservative candidate for Mayor of London Boris Johnson indicates that the battle for City Hall is set to remain ill-tempered right up until polling day.

"The London Mayoral will be very close, given the resources the Tories are ploughing into the capital," she told The Sunday Telegraph."

Success for Boris Johnson will depend on attracting support in second preferences from BNP and UKIP supporters, I am afraid."

Labour candidate Ken Livingstone, seeking a third term in office, has used the threat of a BNP candidate winning a seat on the 25-member London Assembly as a late theme in his campaign.

"Like all fascist parties the BNP seek power with populist policies but their aim is to divide communities and foster hatred and violence," he said last week.

"We have to get across one simple fact: there's only one way to stop the BNP, which is by actually going out to vote against them. A low voter turnout will help the BNP get elected."

He was speaking after the fascist party had called on its supporters to cast their second preference vote for Mr Johnson – an endorsement he utterly rejected.

"In this race, the Tory clown Johnson is a lesser evil than the Marxist crank Livingstone, so replacing the latter with the former would, on balance, be an improvement for the majority of Londoners," the party said in a statement on their website.

"Even if Johnson condemns the BNP a second choice vote for him gives you the chance to vote BNP as your first preference and still vote to get Livingstone out of office."

Ms Blear's advisers later said she had not mean that Mr Johnson was seeking the votes of BNP members, but he rejected that position.

"Regardless of whether or not she meant to suggest I was deliberately courting BNP votes, this is yet another cynical attempt by Labour to play politics with an issue on which all the mayoral candidates are united," he said.

"I have said before that I don't want the second preference vote of any BNP supporter.

"I believe my message of a fresh approach and new ideas for London will resonate with all voters."

For more click here.

Harriet and William banter over the despatch box

noreply@blogger.com (politicsjunkie) — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 17:04:00 +0000

Secretary of State for Equality Harriet Harman made history yesterday when she became the first woman from the Labour party to answer Prime Minister's Questions.

Ms Harman is also Leader of the House of Commons and Deputy Leader of the Labour party.

Yesterday she was faced with former Tory leader William Hague, filling in for David Cameron.

The Prime Minister was at a NATO summit in Bucharest, and by tradition the other party leaders stay away from PMQs as well.

Mr Hague's performance at the dispatch box confirmed his reputation as possibly the funniest Commons performer of his generation.

Earlier this week Ms Harman caused outrage in her own constituency after she was filmed on a walkabout with local police wearing a stab-proof vest.

She later insisted she was only wearing it as part of the 'kit,' in the same way a politician visiting a factory may wear a hard hat or a hair net.

"Before turning to domestic issues, I was going to be nice to the right honourable and learned Lady," said Mr Hague.

"She has had a difficult week.

"She had to explain yesterday that she dresses in accordance with wherever she is going: she wears a helmet on a building site, she wears Indian clothes in the parts of her constituency with a large representation of Indian people, so when she goes to a Cabinet meeting, she presumably dresses as a clown."

Ms Harman kept her composure, though many on her own benches were visibly amused by the barb, and responded in kind:

"I would just start by saying that if I were looking for advice on what to wear or what not to wear, the very last person I would look to is the man in the baseball cap."

Read the rest of this story here.

Gay terrorist shocker

noreply@blogger.com (politicsjunkie) — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 22:01:00 +0000

Is someone out to get the Speaker?

noreply@blogger.com (politicsjunkie) — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 21:02:00 +0000

Revelations over the weekend that the Speaker has spent £148,900 on furniture, £191,000 on an air conditioning system and £13,000 on art for his official apartment in the Palace of Westminster make for grim reading.

Particularly for Labour MPs who have been defending Michael Martin as a working-class hero and the victim of a Daily Mail-led campaign of snobbery against the former sheet metal worker.

OK so I get that the Speaker's apartment is used for official business and you can't really pop down to IKEA when you live in a Grade I listed property.

But the sums involved here do seem profligate. However, these stories are not about art or air-conditioning. Like the furore surrounding Lord Irvine's wallpaper, these attacks are about the man.

I think the Speaker is below-average and I sympathise with the many MPs on all sides who want him to retire.

The Tories are right not only to still be sore that Labour broke the convention of alternating Speakers from the main parties in 2000, when Martin succeeded Betty Boothroyd.

He has appeared at turns nakedly partisan and close to incompetence. But the point about the Speaker is that no MP can speak out against him. It has been left to former independent MP Martin Bell to say what needs to be said: it is time he stood down.

Because the Speaker in many ways IS the House of Commons, MPs are in a difficult position. They cannot openly express their displeasure at his performance and the ida of removing him is unthinkable.

There have been problematic Speakers before, many of them Labour. George Thomas was a drinker, for example, but the "usual channels" prevailed on him to stand aside for the legendary Bernard Weatherill.

The problem with Michael Martin is that, because the attacks on him appear class-based, they raise the hackles of many of his former Labour colleagues.

But the bottom line is that a Speaker on the front pages of the papers cannot, by defenition, continue in his job as an impartial chairman and figure of respect in the House.

We can expect Michael Martin to stand down at the next election. My money is on Ming Campbell to succeed him, and if he does not want it, there is talk of John Bercow.

After the shambles of the 2000 election, we can also expect his successor to have been decided behind the scenes.

From Wikipedia!

Betty Boothroyd announced her retirement shortly before the summer recess in 2000, which left a long time for would-be Speakers to declare their candidature but little opportunity for Members of Parliament to negotiate and decide on who should be chosen. Many backbench Labour MPs, especially from Scotland, advanced the claims of Michael Martin as a long-serving Deputy Speaker. Most Conservatives felt strongly that the recent alternation between the main parties ought to be maintained and a Conservative Speaker chosen. The most prominent Conservative choices were Sir George Young and Deputy Speaker Sir Alan Haselhurst. With several maverick candidates announcing themselves, the total number of Members seeking the Speakership was 14, none of whom would withdraw. A lengthy sitting of the House saw Michael Martin first proposed, then each of the candidates proposed as an amendment which was voted down. In points of order before the debate, many members demanded a secret ballot.

Is our politics genetic?

noreply@blogger.com (politicsjunkie) — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 00:32:00 +0000

very interesting article on the bbc website which poses the question, are our political views genetic?

Why we love the Sarkozys

noreply@blogger.com (politicsjunkie) — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 00:07:00 +0000

The next time the President of France comes to London, can he bring his son Jean? We want to ask him about the small animal he appears to be hiding in his trousers.

Though there might be some quarantine issues ...

Catholics victorious over embryology bill

noreply@blogger.com (politicsjunkie) — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 21:42:00 +0000

It may have saved Gordon Brown the crisis of three members of the Cabinet resigning over a point of religious principle, but I for one would question whether people who cannot reconcile party and government policy with their faith should be in the Cabinet at all.

After days of hysterical and mostly totally inaccurate attacks from leading Roman Catholic church leaders, the PM has caved and announced that three parts of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill currently before Parliament will be a free vote for Labour MPs.

While this may spare Ruth Kelly, Des Browne and Paul Murphy from resigning from the government, it raises the role of the Roman Catholic church in British society.

If, like me, you grew up in Ireland in the 1980s and 90s, the sight of the government caving into the brute force of the Roman church demanding that MPs put faith above their role as elected representatives is worrying.

Ireland did not have divorce or abortion because priests stood up in their pulpits and instructed their parishoners how to vote in referendums. The church effectively decided social policy.

Now they have won a significant victory in the UK, and they are unlikely to rest there.

The PM should have stood firm, as Tony Blair did over gay adoption. The church on that occasion threatened to close its adoption agencies rather than consider gay couples. After much internal wrangling Blair, ironically a convert to Catholicism, called their bluff.

What is most troubling about this recent church spat is that they have told blatant lies about the scope and the impact of the bill. There will be no Frankenstein monsters, half-human half-beast creations.

More than 200 charities have spoken up for research. Yet the PM, somehow fearful of the small minority of his own MPs and Cabinet colleagues who feel they must side with their church, has allowed the bill to be challenged by Catholic politicians.

The Roman church has been trying this tactic in every country where they have influence. Gay rights in Italy are frustrated by their malign influence. They blatantly tried to stop the re-election of the Spanish government earlier this month, preaching that people who had allowed gay marriage were "anti-family."

Now they have managed to get their way in the UK. Fortunately, the bill will still pass and those Catholic MPs will have to explain to their constituents why they did not keep their best interests at heart over this matter.

Oh, and yes David Cameron and Nick Clegg have given their MPs a free vote, but then this is not their bill is it!

Read this excellent article on the topic of church vs constituents!

Mirror skewers bicycling Dave

noreply@blogger.com (politicsjunkie) — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 12:37:00 +0000

You have to smile at the good old-fashioned journalism on show in today's Daily Mirror.

Journalists, determined to find something about David Cameron's cycling to the Commons stunt to take the sheen off it.

They followed him on three Wednesday's as he cycled from his Notting Hill home to Parliament.

The Tory boss was spotted flouting the law by cycling the wrong way in a one-way street, through red lights and the wrong side of a bollard on his 30-minute trip to work.
Hapless Cameron was breaking the rules within minutes of leaving his Notting Hill home in West London for Westminster.
He sailed past a large red no entry sign even Mr Magoo would have noticed. Another clue was the huge arrows on the road pointing which way traffic should go.

Next to be ignored was a keep left beacon in the Mall. He veered off to the right...no change there then. Cam also hurtled over a toucan crossing, for cyclists and pedestrians, while the signal was red.

Dave, to his credit, immediately apologised and said he would not do it again. But still, its made it onto the One O'Clock News, which is not good at all.

Obama, race and gay business

noreply@blogger.com (politicsjunkie) — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 22:18:00 +0000

Hey

it has been a while - work it mad ATM.

Anyway my friend asked me what I thought about diversity strategies encouraging companies to purchase services from businesses just because they are gay owned, and why I published this article on the website I edit.

Here is what I said - probably the most logical thing I am going to write tonight, so enjoy!

gay businesses: interestingly Stonewall ask that their workplace diversity champions ensure their suppliers have gay-friendly hiring policies, which I agree with

But just going to a business because its owner is gay is madness, and only in America would I back going to a business because its owner is from an ethnic minority

Most of the UK minorities seem to be doing quite well enough in business without our help.

This sort of action entrenches the ghettoisation of the gay community.

It always strikes me that people are shocked to find out that most of the people who write for PinkNews.co.uk are straight

Like a straight person could not get their head round the issues, like I would not, as a journalist, be able to go to write for the Jewish Chronicle and easily pick up what their issues where and become attuned to it.

I think businesses should be encouraged to be gay-friendly, but ownership is a ridiculous model on which to judge whether or not a company will be the best to fulfil a contract.

"For me that speech yesterday showed more than ever that this man can be a great president," you said in your email.

I agree 100% and you know I do - that is why I published it in full, at one in the morning, having just read it.

But a news organisation exists to challenge the accepted wisdom and to stimulate debate.

Duane, who wrote the obama piece, is a black gay American - I felt his points were valid, if only because everyone deserves a say, if only for their view to be shot down, as is already happening on our comment pages.

The race speech is, in my opinion, one of the defining speeches we have seen this century, and is already being talked about in those terms on the BBC, who do not throw around accolades like that very often.

I agree with your comments about leadership and "qualifications"

Those that think leadership is about being experienced, go to Iraq and tell that to the 20 year old officers who lead our troops into danger every day.

Unfortunately, the sense I get is that the Hillary lady is going to work her black magic and snatch the nomination, back room style, before the convention - and then attempt to make obama take the VP slot.

But, in the unlikely story that is America, there is nothing false about hope! After all, JFK and Teddy Roosevelt made it to the White House by appealing to exactly the same values as Obama.

So there.

The expert speaks ... again

noreply@blogger.com (politicsjunkie) — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 20:08:00 +0000

Me in The Scotsman:

http://news.scotsman.com/scotland/Catholic-couple-win-first-round.3862907.jp