Casting the net – Kicking Brown when he’s down
Welcome to Casting the net, Liberal Conspiracy’s daily web review.
Highlights
Cassilis – Some politicians make the weather, some endure it, others still succumb…
Gordon Brown is struggling. He may be intelligent, dedicated and hard-working, but he lacks the skills to be a natural leader.
Mark Thomas/CiF – Help me put Gordon in jail
It may be a stunt, but Thomas has a serious point to make.
Crooked Timber – Less bad news from Iraq
Time to declare victory (again), and get the hell out of dodge.
The Daily (Maybe) – I kip for U-KIP
Jim Jay takes a look at the fortunes of UKIP. The diagnosis isn’t great.
Love and Garbage – Straw man’s argument on liberty
Jack Straw has said that Labour’s record on civil liberties is impressive. Poppycock says L&G.
tygerland – am i a lib dem’r?
Should I really support the Lib Dems?
Pluggage
Bella Caledonia calls itself innocent, vigorous and insatiably curious. It’s an unaligned magazine for free thinking republicans. Enjoy.
Elsewhere
LibDem Voice – PMQs: Vince skewers Gordon (again)
openDemocracy – Who makes the law in Britain?
openDemocracy – Britain’s defence: all at sea
Pastichio Nuts – Yes, it’s that time of year again
Mark Mardell’s Euroblog/BBC – Gordon goes to Lisbon, eventually
Remembering the Ability in Disability – Is the Disability Benefit department feeling ok?
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.
Casting the net – Revisiting Iraq
Welcome to Casting the net, Liberal Conspiracy’s daily web review.
Breaking News
Vladimir Putin’s nomination for the Russian Presidency, Dmitry Medvedev, is in return planning to install Putin as Prime Minister in any new government. A move that will ensure Putins’s grip on power holds, and constitutional limits on Presidential terms are not breached. [NYT]
Russia watchers wondered how Putin would protect his power-structure after elections next March, now we know.
Did you shoot anybody? Did you kill anybody? How many people?
Michael J. Totten [Wiki bio] is a journo/blogger based in the Middle East and is noted for his coverage of Iraq. He has recently returned to Fallujah to see a city rebuilding itself after one of the most controversial and violent battles of the current conflict. This is a very interesting article and one definitely worth reading – regardless of your position on the invasion itself.
US Marine: “…These people are working hard. They have good family values. Their religious faith is incredible compared to how people are in the States. Even people who think they’re religious in the States, they’re nothing compared to the people here. They have city-wide prayers every day, you know? Honestly, I have a lot of respect for the people here.”
Totten: “In my experience, though, contempt for Iraqi culture specifically, and Arabs and Islam more generally, is far more prevalent in the American civilian population, even in liberal coastal cities, than it is among American soldiers and Marines who interact with Iraqis every day, forge sometimes intense personal bonds with Iraqis, eat Iraqi food, and speak at least a little Arabic. Stereotypes about racist and psychotic Marines, as well as fanatical and psychotic Iraqis, can’t survive a lengthy trip to Fallujah, at least not to the Fallujah of late 2007.” [more]
In balance::
Patrick Cockburn – Only one thing unites Iraq: hatred of the US
The Americans are still the problem and not the solution, warns Cockburn.
Highlights
theyorkshergob – Republicanism and the SB
A LibDem’r asks what would be the point of removing the Monarchy? Executives are never elected on merit anyway.
Paul Linford – Is it time for a Ken Clarke comeback?
The Tories lack frontbench “gravitas”, something the Rushcliffe MP has in spades.
Obsolete – The witch hunt over Manhunt is over. For now.
It may have been overturned, but the BBFC’s decision to ban Manhunt was evidence of an organisation terrified of faux-outrage from politicians and The Daily Mail. It doesn’t matter though, the game’s crap.
Michael Meacher/CiF – Business as usual
The government’s proposed Planning Bill is undemocratic and demonstrative of this administration’s slavish attitude to business.
Elsewhere
Sunny Hundal/CiF – A festive gathering to avoid
Charlotte Gore – The Pitiful Reality of Labour’s Attitude To Children
John McDonnell – Dodgy Donors Scandal Masks Business as Usual for Brown’s New Labour
Liberal Burblings – Guiliani: “imploding“ – Clinton: “losing support“ – Obama and Huckabee: “surging“
Philip Stephens/FT – A poser for Lib Dems: what are you for?
Mohammed Omer/New Statesman – The grim reality in Gaza
Finally, Tim invites you to a festive sing-song.
There will be no Casting the net tomorrow. I’m away.
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.
Casting the net – The crumbling FCO and liberal sanctimony
Welcome to Casting the net, Liberal Conspiracy’s daily web review.
Breaking News
Vladimir Putin has announced his support for First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev to succeed him as Russian President. [NYT]
Highlights
Mark Mardell – A very foreign office
The BBC’s Europe editor on British foreign policy and its relationship with Europe as leaders sign the Lisbon Treaty
Ian Buruma/CiF – The dustbin of history
Buruma claims that the recent decision by the Spanish parliament to outlaw rallies and memorials celebrating the life of Franco is misguided
The voice of young liberal democrats – Why Ethics Alone Can’t Save The World
Environmentalism: Liberal sanctimony will only get us so far. We need an international, “far-reaching, legally binding multi-lateral effort”
Indigo Jo Blogs – In denial about our speed habit?
Our approach to speeding is riddled with contradiction and devoid of common-sense
PoliticalBetting.Com – Should Huckabee really be the favourite for the GOP nomination?
Guest editor Paul Maggs looks at the rising star that is GOP 2008 hopeful Mike Huckabee
Craig Murray – Foreign Office Performance
Why did “conventional diplomacy” fail to secure the release of Gillian Gibbons, and is the FCO now marginalised to the point of irrelevance?
Westminster Wisdom – Britblog roundup
The latest issue of the long-running Britblog roundup, delightfully penned by Gracchi
Also… the last weekend of 50.50, openDemocracy’s “16 Days Against Gender Violence” blog, saw a flurry of excellent articles.
Elsewhere
Mike Ion – The BNP in their own words: ’sleazy, lying incompetent scumbags’
a radical writes – Telegraph guarantees to boost your Britishness by up to 28%!!!
Unknown Conscience – Hands Off the People of Iran Conference Report
The Pamphleteer – On £35,000 cocktails
John’s Labour blog – The “absolute nightmares” Where should they live?
Mind the Gap – Female musicians “shackled by feminism”
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.
Casting the net – Christianophobia revisited & why British Gas is rubbish
Welcome to Casting the net, Liberal Conspiracy’s daily web review.
Highlights
Andrew Hinton – Christianophobia
On the War on Christmas – that “perennial bonanza of bollocks” – and the separation of Church and State
The Whiskey Priest – Forty Two Days
Gavin Whenman believes the government’s pretence at compromise (re. the plans for 42-day detention without charge) is a “fairly transparent and deceitful tactic”
Nick Robinson’s Newslog – Change of command
BBC’s Nick explains why changes at Murdoch’s NewsCorp are not good for the PM
Karen Greenberg/CiF – The way forward on Guantánamo
Time is up, the SCOTUS must make a decision and enemy combatants must charged or released
Mike Barker – British Gas Electric! You’re ‘aving a laugh!
Barker’s frustrating anecdote deals with hulking bureaucracy, outsourcing, corporate arrogance and plain old incompetence
Ideas & Issues – Are you sufficiently inconvenienced yet?
A book review of An Inconvenient Book, the latest polemic by rightwing commentator Glenn Beck
Vino S – A few comments on Sino-Japanese relations
China and Japan may be important economic partners, but in politics and history huge rifts still exist
Elsewhere
Liberal Burblings – Abrahams episode – has Gordon Brown actually done something right?
Jo’s Jottings – Racist residents? Or guilty gypsies?
Parburypolitica – Unhappy families
Freemania – Cack-handed Maggie, and other stories
Could have been a contender – Why the left loves the war
Chris Paul – Abrahams and Ashcroft: Time For Openness and Honesty
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Casting the net – Fidel with referenda
Welcome to Casting the net, Liberal Conspiracy’s daily blog review.
Hugo & Me
Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez is a tricky figure for the left. The Classical Liberals (quite rightly, IMO) loathe him for his socialist and militarist leanings (not to mention his land reform programme), and the leftie progressives are uncomfortable with him because of the hint of totalitarianism that now lingers in Caracas. However, that doesn’t mean that us Lefties can’t smother a chuckle when the chubby South American leader sticks it to the Man – that man being, of course, the clown in the White House. And we could be forgiven for grinning whenever Chávez pulls off one of his crazy stunts (such as giving cheap oil to the “impoverished” people of London), which are designed to bate those on the Right, and quite brilliantly, almost always have the desired effect. What we don’t do of course, is defend Chávez and openly support him.
(It’s old news now but…) Earlier this week Hugo Chávez lost a referendum that would have allowed him to stay in power until 2050 and complete his Socialist revolution. This has, somewhat obviously, given some on the Right reason to gloat. Danny Finkelstein took the opportunity to call the President a “dreadful windbag”, highlighting earlier attempts by Chávez to bifurcate the referendum into a vote for George W. Bush or himself. However, few left-leaning blogs have stepped forward in defence of Hugo Chávez – allowing the Right to wallow in seeing the wings of the “Bolivarian hero” clipped. continue reading… »
Casting the net – Small is Beautiful (sometimes)
Welcome to Casting the net, Liberal Conspiracy’s daily blog review.
Tiny States
I thought, for a change, we’d concentrate on a debate from the mainstream. Robin Lustig is the presenter of that late-night sanctuary, BBC Radio Four’s The World Tonight. At 10pm (weeknights), when everything on TV seems to be presented by Graham bloody Norton, The World Tonight offers 45-minutes of internationally-flavoured news and comment to soothe a news junkie off to sleep. Listig also writes a rather tidy little blog too, and yesterday picked up the baton from the FT’s Gideon Rachman, who wrote on Monday about the increased success of the world’s smaller countries (roughly around 10m people or less).
Rachman had made some good points (reader comments to the story via Rachman’s blog), highlighting international league tables where small countries lead: -
Look at almost any league table of national welfare and small countries dominate. The International Monetary Fund’s ranking of countries by gross domestic product per capita shows that four of the five richest countries in the world have populations of less than 5m. (The US – placed fourth in wealth-per-head – is the exception.) The Global Peace Index, produced by the Economist Intelligence Unit, ranks nations by criteria such as homicide rates and prison populations and it too makes pleasant reading for pocket-sized countries. The most peaceful place on earth is, apparently, Norway (quite cold, though) and eight of the 10 most peaceful countries have populations of less than 10m.
Hard to argue with hard data, but Lustig provides some caveats in his post, pointing out that many small countries suffer and that the recipe for a successful state is much more complicated than Rachman suggests: -
For every successful small state (Finland, Switzerland, Ireland), I can name an unsuccessful one (East Timor, Eritrea, Equitorial Guinea). I think I’d be tempted to leave size out of it and look elsewhere when trying to work out what makes some nations work well and others not.
Having decided geographical mass is not the single deciding factor, Lustig ponders what considerations are also important: -
Is homogeneity a useful attribute? (In which case, what about the US?) Are natural resources essential? (You might think it’s obvious, but what about Singapore? Yes, I know it’s got a harbour, but what else?) Equitorial Guinea has plenty of oil, but meets pretty much all the requirements of a classic failed state.
The context for this debate is of course the planned foundation of a new small – and incredibly controversial – state: Kosovo (Lustig is worried that Rachman’s optimism about the new Balkan nation is misplaced). Yet the debate could be easily widened to include arguments in favour of all Europe’s wantaway regions. Scotland, Basque and Northern Ireland are the popular causes we know all about, but struggles for independence exist all over Europe, especially in its South East corner. Would Scotland be a success? Will Kosovo? What about puny Wales, should it too seek independence from Westminster?
Lustig is right, the factors which dictate a nation’s prosperity are many. Regional stability and development, natural resources, weather, geography, religion, and population all have an impact on how a country can be managed. However, Rachman is right to point out that population is an important consideration, as his insightful anecdote proves: –
I remember visiting Palaniappan Chidambaram, who was then India’s trade minister (he is now finance minister), some years ago. Mr Chidambaram seemed a little depressed,so I asked what was bothering him. He groaned and said that he had been visited by Finland’s trade minister. This alone did not seem like a cause for melancholy, so I pressed him further. “Do you know what the population of Finland is,” he asked? “Five million. We have 5m blind people in India.”
Elsewhere
Westminster Wisdom – Peter Franklin on Blogs
vox – Successful assimilation of immigrants (via)
Shiraz Socialist – When the Left needs to remember why it’s there
Liberal England – Karpov tried to visit Kasparov in jail
anticant’s arena – Soft Centre
John’s Labour blog – Justice for Agency Workers?
The New Humanist Blog – 15-year-old girl lured into “vampire” cult
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.
Casting the net – Good news and bad news
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.
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Casting the net – Morrissey is not exactly Nick Griffin and other revelations
Welcome to Casting the net, Liberal Conspiracy’s daily blog review. No time for commentary today, so just a selection of links from the weekend’s blogs.
Highlights
Cassilis – Hoist on their own petard: If there’s a moral high ground in party funding then it’s been a helluva long time since any of the three main parties paid a visit.
Rupa Huq’s home on the web – Morrissey: he speaks, he sues (and if he seems little dotty that’s because he is): Morrissey is not exactly Nick Griffin. He’s more pop’s equivalent of Tony Benn: a chap of longevity whose current status is loveable eccentric, still capable of voicing controversial views.
TMP – JRF: Government’s anti-poverty strategy needs major rethink: Half of all children in poverty are in working families – this is similar to a decade ago. Low wages therefore continue to be an issue.
The Diary of Chris K – Party Funding: Anyone got a spare £100,000?: We have got ourselves into a situation where the press and many people assume that anyone who gives large sums of money to political parties is trying to get some kind of favour in return. By and large I don’t think that’s accurate. The people who give lots of money are motivated by the same things which motivate people who give the odd ten quid – the desire to support the party they most agree with.
Love and Garbage – The decline of the Scottish political scandal: If one examines the political scandals that have given the greatest amount of pleasure to the British public, the scandals whose story is known in general outline to almost everyone and which are rehashed over and over again in the Sunday papers, one finds a fairly strong family resemblance running through the greater number of them. It’s sex.
Jock’s Place – Labour “Guinness Four” moment?: I have news for the four thousand or so politicians and their hangers on at Westminster – not one of you is indispensable.
Elsewhere
The Nether-World – The Truth About the ‘Special Relationship’ With The Empire
Pickled Politics/Rumbold – Vincemania, and the reality?
openDemocracy/50.50 – HIV/Aids: More than numbers (part 1)
Clairwil – Is this a phase?
The Spade – Parisian French not acceptable in Québec
And Philobiblon has the latest Britblog Roundup (no. 146).
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Casting the net – Another enquiry and human dignity? Pah!
It was another bad-news day for The Labour Party. So, at the risk of this review becoming awfully tedious, we’ll have a *quick* look at some of the blogs discussing the referral of the funding scandal to the police [BBC], and then some ‘link ‘n quote’ highlights covering other stories.
A glorious day (as long as you’re not a Labour supporter)
Grimmerupnorth was the first blog to pop its head above the parapet (excusing the Tories, naturally) following the crushing news that the police have been called in, and explains that while those involved represent a “small, elite coterie at the top of New Labour”, it’s the rest of the Labour Party and its supporters who’ll suffer, and goes on to ask “God knows what the next round of opinion polls will bring.” Well, very bad news according to today’s YouGov/Telegraph poll.
Bernard Salmon (Lib Dem) is “intrigued” as to why David Abrahams gave money to more than one candidate in the Dep. Leadership Election. And fellow Lib Dem’r, Nich Starling, comments that “minister after minister has been wheeled out in front of the press for the last four days telling us that their own internal investigation was all that was required, and that calling the police was just opportunistic and playing politics by the opposition parties.” He goes on, describing the unfolding story as “some sort of slow and lingering death.”
Labour MP Caroline Flint appeared on last night’s Question Time and seemed to be building the government’s barricade out of support for the “thorough enquiry” into the affair. Political Hack UK is concerned about the damage done to the party, and demands that any such enquiry is “No whitewash, no half-truths, because it will be uncovered. The original crime doesn’t always end careers, but a cover-up will.” And finally, Bop Bob Piper (who assures us he doesn’t like conspiracy theories) has a conspiracy theory.
Other highlights
Butterflies and Wheels – Dignitas: Okay, you tell me – what does the phrase ‘human dignity’ mean? [...] Why do I consider it meaningless? I suppose largely because it doesn’t seem to refer to anything real. What human dignity? I don’t consider humans to have much dignity. We’re too mortal, too fleshy, too fragile, too clumsy, too weak, too dim to have dignity. It’s not a word it would occur to me to use about human beings; it’s not even an abstract noun it would occur to me to attribute to humans. (Norman Geras disagrees.)
Head of Legal – The worst legal system in the world? Version 2.0: The charging of Gillian Gibbons is a disgrace not just to Sudan, but to Islamic legal systems all over the world. I’m afraid that, until legal systems like this, and like the Saudi one, are abolished, nothing that calls itself Islamic law can really be taken seriously as a fit system for any society to live by.
Unknown Conscience – One Lefty Woman’s Perspective: Let’s have those face to face conversations. I don’t care if you come to the bloggers piss ups or not – that’s up to you. But if I am at a conference and you want to claim I am supporting imperialism, a racist and the war in Iran – come up to my face and tell me so – and we can have a calm conversation about it – and I can explain to you why none of those things are true.
Padraig Reidy/indexcomment.org – Pakistan: Coping with censorship: Having shut down every broadcasting station but state run television, Musharraf’s government proceeded to raid the offices of independent news channels such as Geo News and Aaj television. Phone lines were cut, some stations reported jamming, and there were threats of long jail terms for broadcasters who would not comply. Hundreds of journalists were arrested. But two independent news channels continued to broadcast live.
Eathpal – Bali: Climate conference: I guess we can expect some disharmony and a certain level of obstruction from the usual suspects but on the upside, we did recently lose a key obstructionist because of John Howard being booted out of office (yay!) and being replaced by the much more Kyoto-friendly Kevin Rudd.
Elsewhere
openDemocracy 50.50 – Whose side are we on?
Greg Palast – Brown’s Fixer Explains How It’s Done: Jon Mendelsohn and the Secret Tape
Cicero’s Songs – The Liberal Democrat Leader
Sinclair’s Musings – ‘Liberals’ conspire against the Public Sector Rich List
Skipper – Impressive Political use of Internet by US Democrats
Conor’s Commentary – Why we should not confine early learning to the middle classes
Paul Smith’s Blog – The difference between socialism, communism etc
yourfriendinthenorth – Saving Ulster from science
The Yorksher Gob – The Process of Argument
Casting the net – A Star is born
Parliament chuckles
Liberal Democrats watching yesterday’s PMQs might have wondered if they’ve missed out on the best man for the vacancy of Party Leader (bar the sainted Charles Kennedy, naturally). Vince Cable proved to be a Parliamentary sketch writer’s wet-dream [Simon Hoggart, Guardian] as he teased the embattled Gordon Brown. While the candidates for the Party Leadership continue to bicker like a couple of chumps on chat show sofas, Cable delighted the House with a rib-tickler of the highest order: -
“The house has noticed the prime minister’s remarkable transformation in the past few weeks – from Stalin to Mr Bean.“
Oh how the house roared. Notes were waived, and feet were stamped. Brown looked, and must have felt, like he’d just been punched in the stomach. The ’safe pair of hands™’, who had steered Britain’s economy into the record books with a decade of continuous growth, now looked out of his depth, humiliated by the Parliamentary equivalent of a supply-teacher. And, of course, the Lib Dem bloggers loved it!
Hot Ginger & Dynamite agrees that Cable has done a tremendous job, calling him “an outrageously good Acting Leader and Shadow Chancellor.” HG&D is also right about Cable’s ability to pick his punches, choosing sensitive issues (such as the Saudi Royal visit) to put clear blue water between the Lib Dems and the other main parties. Caron’s Musings declared “Vince Cable plays a blinder”, and adds that the new leader must reward Cable with a “high profile” position in the new set-up. Hmmm. Not sure about that. Surely you hide the competent ones and promote the muppets? Makes you look good. Indeed, Mike Smithson worries if Cable will “over-shadow whoever wins?” Falkirk-based blog Love and Garbage wants to keep Vinny for good. And Nich Starling observes that even the BBC is now taking notice of the Lib Dems. Crikey.
In these days of ubiquitous Photoshopping, it was only a matter of hours before Brown’s mug would be superimposed on various Mr. Bean posters. And indeed, the blogosphere was soon awash with images of Brown mashed with Rowan Atkinson’s comedic invention. An honourable mention should go to Liberal Democrat Voice which remade the Mr.Bean’s Holiday film poster (ConHome has some too). Childish, perhaps, but great fun nonetheless. While still over at LibDem Voice (seamless, eh?), Stephen Tall has a copy of the Hansard transcript of Cable’s exchange with the PM.
Meral’s Musings agreed that Cable’s quip had “raised the bar.” Quite right. Great stuff. But Vince Cable’s good day didn’t end there, as Charlotte Gore points out.
Elsewhere…
Remembering the ability in disability – Northern Rock and Down’s Syndrome… Yes, you did read that right…
Philobiblon – Medieval Africa – the great kingdoms [Book Review]
Obsolete – Mendelsohn becomes Mandelson
The Nether-World – Letting The Iraqi Employees Die
Blood & Treasure – cargo and its discontents
Dave’s Part – Annapolis: Oslo for slow learners
Three Score Years And Ten – The Undiplomatic Diplomat
Casting the net – Money talks
Today’s links didn’t take any money from questionable sources. Although such contributions are more than welcome…
Harman in the mire
As the political fallout from the David Abrahams scandal continues, Deputy Leader Harriet Harman has been reluctantly dragged into the story [Guardian], as it emerges she accepted £5,000 from Janet Kidd – a proxy for Mr. Abrahams – during the Deputy Leadership election. Harman denies any knowledge of any wrongdoing at the time, and has subsequently repaid the donation. Today, Harman’s future as Brown’s number two is in doubt, and predictions suggest Harman may be a sacrificial lamb to quell the story.
Paul Linford argues that Harman’s resignation, and another deputy leadership election, cannot be ruled out. Linford thinks that John Cruddas and Alan Johnson would both stand again, but that it’s unlikely that Hazel Blears, Hilary Benn and Peter Hain would put their names forward, “on the grounds of their disappointing performances in June.”
News emerges this morning that (possibly) Peter Watt was not the only Labour official aware of the deception. Nick Robinson claims that Jon Mendelson – a Gordon Brown appointment as chief fund-raiser – was told a month ago by Watt. Never one to miss a trick, the Tories have said that Mendelson “must go” if indeed the the stories are true. This will be no surprise to Dermot Rathbone, who yesterday poured scorn on suggestions Watt was the only person in the loop, calling the statements “frankly risible and an insult to the intelligence of us, the rank and file of the Party, plus the British People.” Mark Pack asks if two previous General Secretaries also knew?
Hopi Sen thinks the Tories should be careful about picking at Labour’s wound. Sen points at similar questions about Conservative funding. Sen believes Brown is handling things well – all things considered – and that “some journalists have let their inner loathing of Gordon Brown get the better of them.”
Andy Howell sums up the last couple of weeks with a sombre piece criticising Watt for what he calls his “little real understanding of the need to make the Party accountable to its membership.” Howell goes on: “he may just have dealt out [sic] electoral chances a fatal blow.” Howell also makes an insightful – and more general – point about our political culture: -
Sadly, there is a culture in our political machine of people who see it as their job to sail as close to the wind as is possible. They would argue, of course, that they need to seek maximum advantage whenever they can. They are there to push – to stretch – at every opportunity. There’s is a macho culture. It’s exciting an thrilling I’m sure, but ultimately it is in nobody’s best interests.
And finally… Conor Ryan thinks we should “Bite the bullet on state funding for parties.”
Elswhere…
OurKingdom/Jon Bright – Plans for EU wide data sharing
The Diary of Chris K – The stamping boot of the ‘anti-fascist’ Left
Campaigning for animals – Would drugs be safe for us without first being tested on animals?
Obsolete – Abrahams sacrifices Labour.
Eaten by missionaries\Iain Sharpe – When did choice become a dirty word for Liberals?
Skuds’ Sister’s Brother – Is Gordon our Steve McLaren?
openDemocracy 50/50 – Karama: women activists across the Middle East
Cassilis – Am I robbing the ‘fourth estate’?
Casting the net – More woes for the government
Welcome to Casting the net, Liberal Conspiracy’s daily blog review.
More woes for the government
Gordon Brown would have hoped that the funding scandals that marred the latter days of Blair’s tenure would be over. Sadly for the brooding Scot, this is not the case. Peter Watt resigned as the party’s General Secretary last night [Guardian], after admitting that he knew a millionaire was using intermediaries to secretly funnel cash to the party. This is the latest blow to land on a government fighting desperately to retain its credibility.
Labour blogger Jon Worth asks if it can “get any worse?”, adding: “It feels like there is some sort of tornado blowing through the corridors of Westminster, relentlessly tearing into the conventions and traditions.” Paul Burgin is depressed. But the Herts-based Labour activist says we shouldn’t forget “the good work we have done and the hard work of many decent MP’s who could lose their seats over this fiasco.”
Peter Kenyon, another Labour blogger, believes that plans for the state-funding of political parties are “being dusted down by Jack Straw MP in the wake of yet another momumental Labour Party blunder over party funding.” This will delight councillor Cllr Andrew Burns who believes that unless some ‘enhanced’ form of public funding is established, the situation “will only get worse, not better.”
Steve Webb MP thinks it’s “time for a severe cap on donations – people should indeed be able to support a party of their choice if they wish, but no-one should be in a position either to buy influence or to appear to buy influence.” Other Lib Dem’rs have some questions: Duncan Borrowman asks if Peter Watt is an “idiot or liar?” and Mike Smithson wants to know just “How dangerous is the ’sleaze’ tag for Labour?”
Blogs on the BNP/David Irving Oxford Union Debate
Antonia Bance – Frontline
Hug A Hoodie – BNP debate at the Oxford Union: an eyewitness account
Andy Mayer – Hate-campaigners in Oxford
Mike’s Little Red Page – Fascists – and facists’ pandars – out of Oxford!
Elsewhere…
The Poor Mouth – Oh so she was an adulterer, well that’s alright then…
bowblog – Cynical? Moi?
Disgruntled Radical – Annapolis – the long view
Spy Blog – Biometrics – Labour Government are still clueless about the technology
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.
Casting the net – helping our friends
It’s a busy day here on Liberal Conspiracy, so we just have room for a couple of quick highlights.
Elsewhere
Mark Mills – Why you don’t need to be selfish to believe in capitalism.
Liberal Democrat Voice – Labour’s secret donor: what the law says
Clairwil – It has to be a conspiracy………
Action-without-theory – R.E.S.P.E.C.T. – D.I.V.O.R.C.E.
Conor’s Commentary – Recovering from another worst ever week in the history of politics
Casting the net – Controversy and polls
I’m out of bread and milk, so today’s links are powered by strong black coffee and HobNobs.
The Left: the real fascists?
Tristan Mills [Liberty Alone] has created a stir with a short post (inspired by this Tim Worstall [Trading Floor] article) asserting that fascists are left wing. Tristan explains: “Of course, if we take the political compass of left-right economics and authoritarian-libertarian socially, fascism and communism would coincide, they just differ on what differentiates people and what determines their actions – communists take class, fascists take race, blood or nationality…” Hmmm. It’s the old left must mean socialist assumption.
In fairness to Mills, he does ponder the limitations of political language, which “allow people sharing similar opinions being on different wings of the political spectrum…”
John Dixon [a radical writes] picks up the gauntlet (which, let’s be frank, is simply about the blurring between economic and social definitions of right and left): “My view of left and right is not so much based on [Tristan Mills'] well defined methods but on which people those methods are aimed at helping, whether it is aimed at creating equality and fraternity in society or class and hierarchy. Under those definitions which I find portray the left and right far more accurately fascism is a thoroughly right wing ideology.” Charlotte Gore [Charlotte Gore's Diary] is next up, and takes a very Classical Liberal approach, arguing that Fascism is “a variant of classical conservatism.” Why can’t we just all get along, eh?
Polls
A Guardian poll [link] indicates that Huhne has a 20% lead over the Cleggster, but there are some concerns over the validity of the sample used [Politicalbetting.com]. Indeed, Stephen Tall [Lib Dem Voice] isn’t convinced: “These kinds of polls fill newspaper column inches; but have absolutely no predictive powers, except by fluke. Even the forthcoming YouGov poll [...] should be taken with a pinch of salt, as its one full survey in 2006 proved to be wide of the mark.”
And, according to YouGov poll [link], the Tories enjoy a 9-point lead over Labour – a poll linked to the Data fiasco. Mike Smithson [Politicalbetting.com], as ever, has commentary.
Elsewhere
Question That – Jahongir Sidikov: List of Supporters
Spy Blog – Did the NAO hand over the 25 million HMRC Child Benefit records to KPMG, unencrypted?
Indigo Jo Blogs – Woman killed for rejecting proposal on chat show
Westminster Wisdom – Electability (highly recommended)
Simon Titley/Lib Dem Voice – Opinion: Will you take the ‘Bunker Pledge’?
Right, off to the shops. Catch you Monday. Bye.
Casting the net – Job security, pah!
Like the England football team, today’s links are looking forward to taking the summer off.
The Data Crisis rumbles on
If Alistair Darling were hoping for some respite this morning, he’ll be very disappointed. The Tories claim that a National Audit Office memo proves that senior HMRC officials were in the loop with regard to the posting of sensitive public data through a non-secure courier service. Much to the delight of the opposition, it appears that bank account details were not removed from the database because it would have been too costly to do so. continue reading… »
Casting the net – Lost in transit
Like the Chancellor, today’s links have seen better days…
Data dump
Yesterday the government proved, yet again, its admirable commitment to the Freedom of Information Act, when it released the private (still?) data of some 25 million UK citizens into the public domain. MPs “gasped” as Darling explained: ”Two password protected discs containing a full copy of HMRC’s entire data in relation to the payment of child benefit was sent to the NAO, by HMRC’s internal post system operated by the courier TNT.
The package was not recorded or registered. It appears the data has failed to reach the addressee in the NAO.” continue reading… »
Casting the net – safe as houses
Today’s links are not worth the paper they’re written on.
On the rocks
As the sub-prime crisis begins to dominate US domestic politics, British homeowners and 1st-time-buyers are also increasingly nervous about the property market over here. It doesn’t help when one of our own major lenders is up the creek. Yesterday, the Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling, told parliament that government guarantees securing savings with Northern Rock would remain in place, and that state-funded loans would be repaid. continue reading… »
Casting the net – The Chris Huhne turns nasty episode
Today’s links have been reheated several times, and are now stored in a Tupperware container at the back of the fridge. Warning: these links may give you the trots…
Lib Dem Special Redux
The weekend’s blogs offer no respite from the ongoing Lib Dem leadership contest. This time the venue for the rematch was a couple of naff leather chairs on The Politics Show (regulars should note, Huhne is still wearing that tie – is he taking the piss?). The exchange, destined on paper to be yet another points-draw, was anything but, as Huhne turned nasty and hit Clegg several times below the belt (don’t worry, there is plenty of life in this boxing analogy yet).
The Cleggies were apoplectic with rage, with none more so than Linda Jack (Lindyloo’s Muze), whose opinion of Huhne’s fighting style had slumped to the point where she declared he’s, “a man I personally now dread becoming our leader.” Ouch. She goes on, her anger spilling over into yet another post (less than an hour later): “I am far too ladylike to say what I really think, so I will have to stick with horrible.” Steady on. But wait. There’s more: “…Team Huhne even tried to suggest he had twice as many supporters as Clegg………..doh!!!!!! Since when was 1000 twice as many as 1441? So he can’t do maths either, and I thought that was supposed to be one of his USPs?”
Going for “Bestest header ever”, is David Rundle (de moribus liberalibus), with, “Huhne and Cry.” Genius. Rundle’s not taken with Huhne’s spiky new persona either, as he finally makes his mind up who he’ll vote for, dismissing Huhne as, “a bad loser even before the votes are cast.” That’ll teach him for wearing that shit tie, eh?
Steve Webb MP is not a happy camper either, as he laments the election’s descent into animosity: “This is obviously unhelpful for us as a party, as a leadership contest that is about issues gives us a chance to promote the party, but one that turns into a slanging match is damaging for us all.” Dat gotta hurt.
Huhne denied that he had anything to do with the dossier that referred to his opponent as “Calamity Clegg”, but this didn’t wash with Chris Abbot, who cried “beggars belief”. Abbot also points out that such antics were a sign of desperation, a sentiment probably shared by Jeremy Hargreaves, who believes Clegg now has the momentum to win.
In the spirit of balance, I really should link to Steve Guy (the sandals are off), who is still backing Chris. So there. I have.
More red mist
Chris Dillow is positively seething at Rod Liddle’s piece in today’s Times. Liddle is of course becoming quite the arse, shovelling, as he does, the sort of rightwing fodder that a certain rabid section of The Times’ readership relishes. Dillow examines Liddle’s latest anti-immigration rant and finds it wanting.
Elsewhere…
Indigo Jo Blogs – NHS hymen repairs
nourishing obscurity – [bad theology] tutu should check his bible
OurKingdom – The case for detention without trial rebutted
Shiraz Socialist – Labour Representation Committee Conference Report
Mike Ion – The Oxford Union, the BNP and David Irving
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.
Casting the net – Lib Dem Leadership Special
Today’s links were put together by Chris Huhne’s tie; after last night’s performance, this is the only work it can get.
LD on the QT
Last night the two rivals for the Lib Dem leadership met on BBC 1’s Question Time to duke it out in front of a live audience.
The early bouts were characterised by nicety, something our referee for the evening, David Dimbleby, had no intention of tolerating. Dimbleby quickly added some spice into the proceedings by digging up a quote Clegg made last year, accusing Huhne of opportunism. Sweet. Cue some dithering back-peddling by the Cleggster. This must have delighted Alix at THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF MORTIMER, who, earlier in the day had demanded, “a dirty, nasty, petty contest.” Hmmm. Methinks the Tories and Labour would agree.
The usual grass-roots bitterness towards the regicide of Charles Kennedy didn’t take long to surface, but Peter Black AM thinks it’s time to move on: “whoever wins will be in a position to finally jettison the baggage of Kennedy’s departure and lead in their own right.” Quite right, too. Both candidates made the usual platitudes, while discreetly wiping clean their bloodied knife.
Caron, over at Caron’s Musings, finds fault with the Cleggster’s tie. Seriously. She doesn’t even comment on the monstrosity around Huhne’s neck. I’m flabbergasted, Huhne’s bizarre choice of throat decoration would make even a harlequin vomit. Caron does have a good point, though, when she states, “I think Nick came across better – Chris was a bit ponderous and remote as he often is in a question and answer situation, where Nick came across as a real human being.” Maybe she has a point, Huhne does occasionally come across as if he’s only visiting the planet to buy milk. Jonathan Calder doesn’t agree though. He believes Huhne won on points, and, “is at least as good a communicator,” as Clegg.
Policies that curried favour among Lib Dem bloggers included Huhne’s pledge to ensure state schools enjoy parity of funding with public ones. Paul Walter (Liberal Burblings) gushes: “This commitment is absolutely right. It is also radical – astonishingly radical in fact, when you consider the spending implications.”
Liberal Polemic has an excellent write up of the clash, describing Cleggs as “frank and open”, and said Huhne was “earnest”. Liberal Polemic also refers to the programme’s Trident debate as a “spat”, pointing out that, “Chris made a bid for the anti-American vote by arguing that Trident wed us to the United States and somehow suggesting a link between this and the Iraq war – a suggestion that does not bear up to scrutiny.” Discuss.
theyorkshergob thought Huhne was the more attractive option: “Huhne impressed me, personally, far more than Clegg. He was passionate, his jokes were better, he made sense, he didn’t repeat the same soundbite three times…” Lib Dems for Chris, somewhat unsurprisingly, agreed that Huhne won, regurgitating glowing quotes from Lib Dem Voice’s Question Time thread.
Other reactions to the bout
On Liberty, Online: “I ended up coming away with the impression that Nick shaded it… [snip] That said, Chris Huhne is doing very well and certainly improved on his performance a year and a half ago.”
The Sound of Gunfire actually gives scores: “Vision – Clegg 7, Huhne 8; Detail – Clegg 8, Huhne 9; Charisma – Clegg 8, Huhne 7; Passion/forcefulness – Clegg 7, Huhne 8; Pressure – Clegg 6, Huhne 9. Totals: Clegg 36, Huhne 41… I shall therefore be voting for Chris Huhne in the leadership election.”
Charlotte Gore: “Who won? First half Chris, second half Nick. Chris was consistent throughout while Nick started fairly ho-hum and ended on a blazing finish.”
Liberal Legend II: “Despite what looks like a Huhnite plant to paint Nick as “Cameron-lite“, Nick Clegg clearly set himself apart from Cameron for the same reasons I got involved in Liberal politics.”
Wit and Wisdom: “I started the programme as a ‘Cleggie’ and that’s how I ended it.” Sounds nasty.
And finally, Mike Smithson, of PoliticalBetting.COM, askes, “Will either be as good as Vince Cable?”
Elsewhere…
anticant’s arena – Open Letter to Yankee Doodle (recommended)
Norfolk Blogger – For all those people who think political correctness only exists in the UK and is all Labour’s fault
Freemania – Power and engagement in foreign policy
Richard Corbett MEP – Depressing state of the press
Normal service will be resumed on Monday.
Casting the net – 15.11.07
To be honest, this writer is not convinced that today’s links pass the mustard.
RING! RING!
*whispers*
Er hello, Sunny. Yes. I know I said that, but. Well… I mean. Okay.
*clears throat*
Welcome to today’s quite excellent links!
Terrorism, again
Terrorism is dominating the news again, with the proposed increase in the police’s detention powers up for debate. Rachel North, writing for CiF, argues that she has, “not seen any compelling evidence that such powers are necessary,” and asks, “Why hand terrorists the gift of a society that is a little angrier, a little more fearful, a little less free?”
According to the Tories, the proposed new powers amount to a “permanent undeclared state of emergency”. Brown looks uncomfortable on this issue, and Lord West’s about turn yesterday (live on The BBC, Demos reports) will not have helped. Mike Smithson claimed that West’s blunder highlighted that, “Gordon Brown’s policy agenda is driven far too much by his desire to wrong-foot the Tories.” LC’s Dave Osler – writing on his blog – claimed, “A 56-day limit, which is what New Labour seems to want, would be tantamount to the reintroduction of interment without trial.”
While still on the subject of security, Jeremy Hargreaves has an interesting post on Britain’s future relations with Washington and Europe.
Highlights
The New Humanist blog is covering the fallout from Martin Rowson’s illustration to a story in NH. The cartoon has been labelled “homophobic”, and has been criticised for ridiculing Christopher Hitchen’s weight. Is satire dead? (org. NH article)
The Daily (maybe) – John Mullen: Class struggle in France: “Train workers are striking against the destruction of their pension deal, civil servants are aiming at pay rises and job creations, students are angry at the imposition of influence from private companies in universities, magistrates are campaigning against cuts.”
The Dissenter’s Voice – The left turn is a dead end: “The difference between them though is that Chris Huhne has decided to run to the left, outlining a platform which appears designed to appeal to the small selectorate of LibDem activists, while Nick Clegg looks to be trying to challenge the party and reach out beyond it to the wider electorate.”
Elsewhere
Jon Bright @ OurKingdom – Democratic reform is Brown’s real chance at a vision.
Peter Black AM – Affordable Housing
The Poor Mouth – Most definitely not the tinfoil hat brigade
Darren Grover – I wish I was a tory..
Don’t miss Mind the Gap on Guardian’s interview of Trinny and Susannah.
And finally… Good luck to Mike Smithson, who’s going to blog full-time.
You can read articles through the front page, via Twitter or rss feeds.
» How bad is the feline obesity crisis?
» Why don’t MPs pay back tuition fees instead of increasing ours?
» Obama is right to slam BP – and why capitalists should too
» Why does Phillip Blond see civic cohesion as a security issue?
» So what if the Labour candidates went to Oxbridge?
» Last night’s Labour hustings: will it get interesting or turn to torture?
» It’s now down to Ken to win London for Labour
» The Labour people need
» Blog Nation: what would you like to see discussed?
» The Labour leadership’s token contender.. and it’s not Diane Abbott
» In defence of these fraternal nominations
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