Welcome to Casting the net, Liberal Conspiracy’s daily blog review.

Good news and bad news
There were a couple of big stories that rumbled along yesterday. The first, of course, was related to further financial irregularities by The Labour Party. The second was a report from US Spy Agencies claiming that Iran “halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003 and that the program remains on hold“ (NYT).

Right, Labour first: The problem is, when people are looking for a problem, they’ll usually find one… or many. Yesterday Labour was again rocked by stories relating to the finances of its politicians. Wendy Alexander MSP – the leader of the Labour Group at Holyrood, was accused of not declaring a cheque for £950 from a Jersey-based businessman. Hardly a massive donation, but still, rules are rules. Then Peter Hain, a runner in this year’s Deputy Leadership race, admitted he’d accepted £5,000 that also went undeclared. Of course either story may end up being much ado about nothing, but these things do tend to mount up.

Lib Dem’r – and co-conspirator – James Graham can’t understand why such relatively small amounts “are getting journalists so excited”. Graham adds that “no party has clean hands, least of all the Conservatives who continue to use unincorporated associations to legally protect the anonymity of their donors.” One wonders why Cameron is making so much hay, when funding remains a plague on all their houses? One yearns for a tenacious journo to take an in-depth look at Tory HQ’s books…

Regardless of whether genuine deception has been committed, the public are beginning to move against Gordon Brown, with 57% of respondents to an ICM/Newsnight poll claiming the PM was ‘tainted by sleaze’. This put certain Tory bloggers into overdrive, prompting Chris Paul to throw stones in the opposite direction. But Septicisle has had enough: “Labour has never been more of a busted flush. Do we help build the Greens or go somewhere else? Fact is, we simply don’t know, and what’s more, we won’t. Being disaffected is much easier than starting again.”

And now back to news that a US intel report claims that Iran froze its nuclear weapons programme in ‘03, and remains in stasis. Geoffrey Payne now believes that even bombing strikes are off the table: “Well next year is election year in the US, and it is hard to believe that Bush would really want to do anything silly in Iran, undermining the Republican candidates for president in doing so.” Payne does warn, however, that Hawks “still want to attack Iran, regardless of whether they intend to obtain nuclear weapons are not.”

Jock Coats also gives his thoughts on the subject: “Ultimately the way we may be able to change what is still to me an odious regime is going to be through showing ordinary Iranians by whatever means we can that liberal democracy is a better way and we can only do that if we both open up a bit.” Cynics may ask how the hell US armament manufacturers expect to profit from diplomacy? These people have jobs you know…

Expect to see a concerted effort to demolish the report’s credibility… no wait! The Israelis have already started.

Highlights
Question That – Power Grab: No-one is actually capable of making any informed decisions in this country. So the Government has to make our minds up for us. And if that means brainwashing people with alarmist bullshit, so much the better.

Michael White – political blog: December 4 : You might have expected Chavez the gifted platform demagogue to lash out against the enemies he routinely denounces as fascists and US stooges. Or even to tweak such a narrow result. [..] Instead he seems to have accepted his defeat, urged his enemies to enjoy their victory and promised to fight on for socialism.

Elsewhere
Remembering the Ability in Disability – Mainstream Madness
OurKingdom – What to think about New Labour corruption I – IV
Conor’s Commentary – Democracy alive and well in Latin America
People’s Republic of Mortimer – Vince Cable and the elephant in the room
Jock’s Place – Oxbridge Academies: history repeating itself?
Cassilis – Muddled thinking on speed cameras…
Oh, and don’t forget to vote for Mr. Splashy Pants. Democracy etc.

If you would like your blog or site to be considered as source material for future reviews, drop me an email at aaronh [at] liberalconspiracy [dot] org with the relevant url. I can then enter it into my RSS reader and monitor it for suitable content to be included. Likewise, if you have a specific article/post you feel deserves a little more traffic, get in touch.

About the author
Aaron Murin-Heath is a regular contributor. He is a writer based in Newark-on-Trent and Tallinn, Estonia. He is both socially and economically liberal. Aaron blogs at tygerland.net.
· Other posts by Aaron Murin-Heath

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