The next step for fighting 42 days
It’s time to stop the bullshit, we’ve now been sitting around for about a week and a half doing little more than bicker about the integrity of a single person while standing around gawking.
The question now should be: what can we do, and can we do it, in a way that can unite those that support and loathe David Davis’ stance?
I’ll be heading on the journey over to London today for the Liberal Conspiracy gathering and hope that this subject can be explored in more depth by those that attend.
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Failing, stalling, withdrawing
Welcome to a slightly later Sunday edition of Casting the net. Jennie is off doing far more important things than sitting by a computer, whereas I, on the other hand, have nothing better to do. Remember to to us. You can catch my extended review over at my blog shortly.
Existential Rage – Gordon Brown knows he’s unpopular and that he won’t last as long as Blair, allegedly. Are wishes coming true slowly but surely?
Lib Dem Voice – Is this the plan Z I was asking for? Thomas records his thoughts on the way forward for the EU.
Zebra-Mbizi – After todays news about the withdrawal of Mugabe’s main opponent, will the unfortunate realities suggested by this article hold true?
Lynne Featherstone – Lynne thinks an MPs life is far from easy, and lets us know about her job outside parliament.
Mark Tran: Guardian blog – Iran hates Israel and vice versa, but it could all just be leading to a counter-productive end result.
The Bickerstaff record – Paul wonders where proportional punishment for crimes has gone.
Bob Piper – Total Politics is upon us, but is it as great as a “balanced” editorial board suggests?
Casting Back:
Johnathan Freedland: Guardian – In 2005 we were well aware of the integrity of information that took us to war, but where was the fuss?
Comment is plentiful
Happy emancipation day everyone, and welcome to Thursday’s Casting the Net. Looking back on the last 24 hours(ish) of blogs it’s been hard to pick out anything that doesn’t reside on CiF. Must do better bloggers, you can’t rely on dodgy grades from me to get your gold star for the day! Remember that you can send in your to be included in these round ups, we’re all happy to receive them.
Jonathan Freedland/CiF – It’s coming up to Gordon’s first anniversary of having achieved bugger all. If the cake he gets is reflective of his performance then it’ll have to be a stale chili muffin as far as I’m concerned.
Timothy Garton Ash/CiF – Timothy muses on plans D and E for the EU. Personally I’m thinking of taking bets on if we reach a plan Z before 2010.
Alex Hannaford/CiF – The death penalty has slowly come back in to being after a legal review deems it acceptable to lethally inject once more. Alex reiterates some old arguments that can’t afford to not be repeated.
Stephen’s Linlithgow Journal – Stephen talks about an issue fairly close to my heart, and questions the arbitrary limits that society is placing on natural instincts, as if laws and rules are heeded by hormones and DNA.
Happymarx – Who’d have thought that Labour just shove people in to prison and forget about them as human beings? Everyone then…
How to save Labour: cut our bills
The real problem with Labour is right, more than anything, is the perception that we’re being bled dry by various different outlets of our hard earned cash.
If Gordon Brown is to have any hope of a fightback, the best place to start is with our energy prices, a subject that the government clearly feel is a priority given the announcements made on the 30th of May. Don’t be fooled though, if you’re hoping for a cure to the ever booming gas and electricity prices then you’ll be sorely disappointed by this latest official announcement.
All in all the plans seem to do as much as the idea of the big six energy companies investing a further £225million over 3 years in to social tariffs, a scheme that if you take British Gas’s profits (which is from my perspective a good average of the other companies) would mean merely 2-3% of their annual profits being “reinvested” in to helping the poorest customers afford their rising energy bills.
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42
Welcome to the Thursday edition of Casting the Net, the round up of the last 24 hours of political blogging. And what else could dominate the list of links today other than the victory by Brown and his government on the issue of 42 days, by only 9 votes, 36 Labour rebels after 5 hours of debate. That’s so many numbers Carol Vorderman must be getting flustered just thinking of it. On to the review!
Obsolete – Septicisle thinks that there are definite positives to take from yesterdays result, a bloody nose for Brown perhaps?
Devils Kitchen – DK on the other hand is not so happy.
Comment Is Free – on CiF they feel a little disappointed about how the result came about.
Stephen’s Linlithgow Journal – Stephen is a little more placid about the whole situation, asking as many of us are about the DUP.
Centre Right – So perhaps you never though the LC would link to Centre Right? This time they’re talking sense, David Davies *was* superb and very liberal.
Program your own mind – And then there are my personal views on the events of yesterday for your pleasure also.
Neil Harding Blog – But wait! Not everyone is blogging about the events of yesterday, Neil is bitterly looking at his own party wishing for better.
Casting Back:
The Observer – The 12th of June 1999 marked a change in the war in Kosovo…the Observer once upon a time had a look deeper.
The Black Prince
Welcome to Casting the Net this Thursday afternoon. The big news of the last day is of course Democrats seemingly working out who they want to be their presidential candidate. Most of us knew how this would end months ago, but it’s all over now and the vast majority of liberal bloggers around the web are celebrating.
Luke’s Blog – Not everyone is happy about Obama’s victory, Luke sheds a tear for the Clintons and laments on the loss of a “golden age.”
Harry’s Place – So if Clinton was the first black president, And Obama the first Jewish one, does that make Bush the first genius president?
Quaequam Blog – More backlash against the new Lib Dem road pricing proposals, could Nick Clegg have misjudged his levels of support this time?
Cicero’s Songs – The Ukraine has the potential to be the new Poland for our own economic benefit, but it’ll never win us the Eurovision Song Contest.
Dizzy Thinks – Since when do basic websites cost over £500 a month to host? continue reading… »
Legislation, legislation, legislation
Quaequam Blog! – The justice department wants us to all close our eyes and tap our ruby red shoes together chanting “There’s no legislation like child abuse legislation.” Eventually we may actually see some evidence to back it up too…maybe.
Obsolete – Scepticisle delves in to the impact Mary Whitehouse has had on our governance in lieu of the BBC show “Filth.” It also turns out Melanie Phillips is a hypocritical idiot, so no shocks there.
The blog of Dave Cole – Dave revisits one of the more interesting debates on LC and talks in depth about abortion and the “viability” argument.
Between the Hammer and the Anvil – Smoking being the new paedophilia is perhaps a little over-dramatic (as Devil’s Kitchen laments), but the liberties being ignored in the quest for perfect health are too many in number
Neil Stockley – Neil takes a superb look at the politics of ridicule, and also compares the Lib Dems to Barack Obama. I wonder who should be more flattered?
Peter Black AM – This story is already getting all over the blogosphere, so it deserves a mention…Labour to be broke by Christmas?
Moments of Clarity – In a rare instance of a debate on LC being taken outside of this site, Darrell attacks the “no platform policy” idea
Casting Back: The Guardian (2001) – John Crace’s article, in hindsight, showing naivety over the integrity of electoral systems
We need to push electoral reform
Reform, change, improvement. These are words that are all important to us as voters and concerned citizens regardless of where we live and what our circumstances are. Unfortunately, as Nick Robinson states, politicians in the UK have got a hold of these words and made them mean something less than they are. While Barack Obama invigorates his campaign along with the hopes and aspirations of millions of Americans with the simple word “change”, it is getting to the stage on British shores that claims of reform are met with sideways glances and the rolling of eyes. “I’ll see it when I believe it,” says Nick, and I’d be surprised if he was alone in this way of thinking.
With the current vacuum of any real reform despite all of the talk at the beginning of Gordon Brown’s premiership, now is the perfect opportunity, as Sunny said on CiF last week, for those on the liberal-left to truly push reform forward.
At the very top of this list should be electoral reform.
I want to take you back in time, to 1969. This is the last time Britain saw meaningful reform on making the process of elections fairer by lowering the voting age to 18 for all eligible men and women in the UK. Twenty years earlier academic votes were abolished, twenty years earlier again women were given equal rights to men in voting. It seems the rate of necessary reform has begun to stutter and stumble since 1969.
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Having your cake and eating it
Once upon a time I was in secondary school and had to do cookery lessons with everyone else as part of a revolving door scheme of design and technology work. This meant that cooking was only taught for a fraction of the year but it was potentially valuable experience.
I feel that this is the reality for many going through “food technology” lessons, so I have to welcome the news today about cookery being made compulsory with mixed emotions.
It is, in an objective sense, great news. The idea that kids will be learning about basic ingredients, how to cook basic meals, how to keep a nutritionally balanced diet and do it in a fun and tasty way…all of these things need to be taught to people. But herein lies my concerns.
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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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