Why Labour shouldn’t run Alan Sugar for London mayor
If New Labour really does see celebrity status as the only requisite qualification for running the greatest city in the world, it might as well just cut to the chase and check out whether or not any or all of Girls Aloud would be up for the job.
Better that than a man whose background and value system are antithetical to every last damn thing for which the labour movement used to stand.
The same Alan Sugar who – in explaining his decision to back Tony Blair in 1997 – admitted:
I did very well out of the Tory years. I was proud to be considered one of Margaret Thatcher’s favourite businessmen
Tory AM Brian Coleman triples expense claims – and you’re paying!
The Tory Troll reports:
[Conservative London Assembly Member] Brian Coleman has almost tripled the amount of expenses he claims from the London Fire Authority, Tory Troll can reveal. The figures released to this blog, show that the man Boris Johnson appointed to chair LFEPA claimed a whopping £2275 in ’subsistence and travel’ between 1 April and 31 December 2008.
In fact, as information collated from other blogs shows, this isn’t the only sign that Brian Coleman is putting the entire London Assembly to shame though his inflated expenses claims.
continue reading… »
Time to defend politics – not liberties
Try as I might, I can’t help feeling that this week’s Convention on Modern Liberty addresses far more of the symptoms that our liberal democracy exhibits than the actual diseases that it suffers from. I say this because I’d argue that the biggest threat to individual liberties is not the particular instances of illiberality in themselves by governments, as much as what the late Bernard Crick described as the populist mode of democracy that we are drifting into.
Here’s an example. I would argue that the Conservatives have – this week – promoted perhaps the most reactionary and dangerous set of proposals that any party with a realistic prospect of victory has ever announced in this country.
In their local government proposals, they have adopted the very worst excesses of populism. And by populist, I don’t mean any half-arsed Phillip Gould-type attempt-to-push-the-party-where-focus-groups-tell-them sort of populism.
continue reading… »
Distorting St George’s day
To the dismay of the hysterical anti-PC brigade in Sandwell, the local council has cancelled funding for a St. George’s Day parade. Suddenly a cause celebre, the issue is discussed on Stormfront, and has become part of a campaign by nationalist nutjobs, the English Democrats.
This news has been picked up by our own Bob Piper and has received stinging rebuke from Tory Harry Phibbs of Conservative Home. One wonders if Councillor Phibbs knows what sort of company he is keeping on the issue. He should do, if he reads his own comment box.
It has always seemed something of an irony that the imagery adopted by parts of the far right in the UK has been of a mythical individual, a foreigner, who never visited England.
continue reading… »
TPA bullies score own goal
Hot on the heels of the Guardian’s excellent Tax Gap series, LabourList’s Derek Draper sparked a shouting match – real and online – when he invited the TaxPayers’ Alliance to condemn corporate tax avoidance. He pointed out – quite reasonably – that corporate tax avoidance increases the burden on those ordinary taxpayers that the TPA claims to represent.
But the TPA’s campaign director, Mark Wallace, complained that Draper’s tone was quite unreasonable – and added: “Corporate tax avoidance is a rational response to an overly complex and burdensome tax code.” So no condemnation there.
I find the spectre of being shouted at by Draper less menacing than the TPA’s own sneering condenscension towards seemingly everyone involved in providing public services.
continue reading… »
Why regional minimum wages are a bad idea
Over any holiday, online reading material tends to accumulate. Christmas 2008 has been no exception even though no few blogs are on vacation. One that I really wanted to challenge was the post over at Mil’s place entitled, “The Petri Dish Philosophy of Politics“. Mil makes the argument that we should import regional minimum wages into the UK, allowing say Birmingham or Manchester to experiment with a higher minimum wage.
The problem is that, as often as not, what we grow in a Petri dish is harmful.
Regional minimum wages exist in the US, where there is a federal, a state-by-state and in a few cases a city-based minimum wage. The San Francisco Chronicle carries an article about how the SF minimum wage is about to climb to $9.79 per hour, against the wishes of local employers, but much to the appreciation of SF workers. Economists on the other hand think it helps keep the unskilled unemployed.
continue reading… »
CIC: Can ‘community assets’ work?
This is the final post reviewing the last chapter of the Communities in Control White Paper launched by Hazel Blears recently.
Chapter 8 looks at how citizens can move beyond being consulted or holding officials to account, to how people can own and run services for themselves, either by serving on local boards and committees, or through social enterprises and cooperatives.
The first question I want to ask Hazel Blears when Hazel blathers on about the joys of handing community assets to the community to operate is: you mean the few assets that New Labour hasn’t allowed to be sold yet, Haze?
I mean really, people – this has not been the golden age of community, or community assets, exactly: swathes of housing stock moved to arms’ length management organisations, schools closed and ownership of new city academies handed to private sponsors, lidos closed, nursery schools shut and nursery places cut, etc, with Labour, Lib Dem and Conservative councils all cheerful offenders.
continue reading… »
Let’s respond to the Welfare Reform Bill
There’s been a lot of debate in recent days about James Purnell’s welfare reform proposals. Supporters claim that the measures are true to Labour’s traditional values, are essential in difficult economic times and that there is nothing progressive about leaving people to languish on benefit.
Opponents claim that the plans would privatise the welfare state, are an attack on the most vulnerable in our society, and won’t work. In response to the proposals, they’ve set up the ‘Welfare for All’ campaign.
And the truth is… both sides have a point. Even the strongest critics of the bill would probably agree that there are some good ideas in it, for example changing the rules so that people don’t have their benefits reduced if they get child maintenance payments; while even some of the bill’s strongest supporters would concede that we don’t know how successful some of its proposals will actually turn out to be in practice.
Which is where you come in.
continue reading… »
Brian Coleman should resign
The Fire Brigades Union have issued this press release:
Fire Brigades Union (FBU) leaders in London have called on the chairman of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority (LFEPA) to consider his position, after he labelled as “dizzy” and an “airhead” a woman MP who dialled 999 when sparks began to fly from her boiler.
Conservative councillor Brian Coleman’s remarks were branded “sexist” by Lynne Featherstone, Liberal Democrat member of parliament for Hornsey and Wood Green, who said she intends to protest to the London Fire Brigade commissioner, Ron Dobson.
As the Daily Telegraph reported earlier:
Brian Coleman, the Conservative chairman of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority, laughed off accusations that his attack on Lynne Featherstone was sexist – by remarking that a man was unlikely to have acted in the same way.
A website asks: Is Brian Coleman a Tedious Cock?. There is also a campaign now on Facebook and myspace calling for his resignation. Aren’t the Conservatives disgusted for having such a sexist representative?
Brian Coleman AM: Ignorant incompetent sexist buffoon
Oh dear. Boris doesn’t half know how to pick ‘em, right? This time, it’s his Chair of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority, Brian Coleman AM, that’s shown himself up. His crime? Complete ignorance of fire authority guidelines, a sexist attack on a female MP and a complete unwillingness to actually find out what you’re supposed to do in an emergency.
Beggers belief, doesn’t it? I think the worst aspect of the whole story is that the Tory press is completely on side with his story, and even when quoting fire service sources debunking his claim, have still joined in with his incompetent posturing.
continue reading… »
CIC: Why don’t more people get into politics?
If this whole business of debating the CLG white paper, ‘Communities In Control’ is starting to make you feel like you’re losing the will to live then take my sincere advice and steer clear of the Chapter (7) on ‘Standing For Office’.
The chapter kicks off by pointing out that women, ethnic minorities and under 25’s are heavily under-represented on local councils as elected members compared to broad population demographics, after which we discover that bears really do shit in the woods and that they suspect that the Pope may possibly be a Catholic.
The proposed ‘solution’ for this problem is a Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Women Councillors Taskforce, which already exists, and all usual nonsense about training, mentoring, shadowing, networking and outreach events that gets thrown in the pot by the government devoid of genuinely innovative thinking.
continue reading… »
CIC: How to complain to councils
All this week, Liberal Conspiracy will finish reviewing the Communities in Control White Paper launched by Hazel Blears recently.
Chapter Six of the Communities in Control White Paper is entitled “redress” and details proposals about what should happen when the public aren’t happy with a service.
The chapter’s introduction starts with the suggestion that the country is not in the bad old days of “wait of many weeks for a phone to be installed” and follows up with three statistics, one in five people complain to their council every year, only 34 percent of those people are happy with how that complaint is dealt with but 55% of people believe this service is better than what they receive from the private sector.
continue reading… »
CIC: Toying with elected Mayors
All this week, Liberal Conspiracy will finish reviewing the Communities in Control White Paper launched by Hazel Blears recently.
The purpose of Chapter 5 is to outline “how people can hold officials to account through new powers of petitioning, and ways in which we will establish more visible and accountable local leaders by encouraging more powerful elected mayors”.
Their intention is to raise visibility of existing scrutiny functions, particularly Overview and Scrutiny Committees (OSCs), and encourage councils to consider new approaches to scrutiny. Ways this could be done include having large scale public forums or making committee meetings more accessible by moving them out of the town hall and into the community and having webcasts.
continue reading… »
CIC: Are petitions the way forward?
All this week, Liberal Conspiracy will finish reviewing the Communities in Control White Paper (link corrected) launched by Hazel Blears.
Chapter 4: Having an Influence, deals with the enhancement of the right to petition and also discusses ways to encourage electors to vote. But it covers a lot of other things too.
The chapter also tells us what this is not about.
We are not proposing government by petitions, nor are we suggesting that the role of elected representatives in taking difficult decisions should be undermined. But, we do believe that stronger petition powers will enable more people to have their voice heard and help elected representatives do their jobs better.
This is at least clear cut.
Frankly, this chapter should have been at least two, or probably three or four separate sections. It tries to cover too many topics under the catch all heading ‘Having an Influence’ and even the introductory paragraph does not, at least in my view, do justice to the depth and breadth of the subject matter.
continue reading… »
CIC paper: Access to information
Liberal Conspiracy is publishing a series of discussions about the government’s Community Empowerment White Paper. This is a summary of the third chapter.
Chapter 3: Access to information
How can I find out information in a way I understand and can use?
Information is power say the paper, and a lack of information leads to powerlessness. Jargon can ‘alienate, confuse and frustrate citizens’ and be exclusionary. Barely half of local authority residents feel that their council keeps them very or fairly well informed about the services and benefits it provides.
The Internet is a powerful information delivery system but those without online access should not be forgotten. Information across the range of issues is being made available via the likes of NHS Choices. The government wants to support the use of new technologies.
A ‘Digital Mentor’ scheme in deprived areas will support groups to develop websites and podcasts, to use digital photography and online publishing tools. Community radio can have a unique role in working within communities.
Comments
continue reading… »
What an odd idea of democracy, Boris
Boris Johnson beat Ken Livingstone in the London mayoral contest last May in big part because a lot of people wanted the right to drive their vehicles wherever, whenever and as fast as they like. Now he’s taking the first step towards paying them back for their support by announcing the abolition of the western extension to London’s congestion zone.
Actually, bicycle-riding Bojo didn’t have the ungreen guts to simply abolish the zone off his own bat. He disguised the decision as the product of a public consultation exercise. And he warned those who were ‘consulted’ that abolition would cost a lot of money, cause a lot of congestion, pollute the air in London even more than it is already and generally make life more difficult and unpleasant in the city. So he could palm off all responsibility for this environmental disaster in that bumbling Bojoish manner with a ‘Look, I did my jolly best to make the environmentalist case but the public just weren’t having it and who am I to ride my bicycle roughshod over their democratic verdict?’
continue reading… »
The tactical case for supporting Greens at Euros
The next big electoral test in this country is the Euro-elections, next June. I’m the lead Green Party candidate for Eastern Region, one of our two top target Regions (the other being NorthWest) for the Euro-elections.
So what?, some of you may ask. “What has all this got to do with me? What do I, as a Socialist / Labour supporter / LibDem / independent care about the Green Party’s performance next June?”
The answer lies bang in the centre of the ‘remit’ of Liberal Conspiracy: because of the electoral system that the Euro-elections are fought under, and because of the arithmetic.
continue reading… »
Living Wage campaigns across London
Yesterday evening I attended the launch of the London Living Wage campaign at Kings College London – aimed at helping the cleaners and caterers at the uni. Various organisations in London already pay the LLW to their lowest paid, including Barclays, HSBC, Morgan Stanley, PWC, IPPR, City Hall, LDA, Police, TFL, Westway Shopping.
I like the campaign especially because its driven by London Citizens, and done in their grassroots organising style. One of their key focuses now is on Higher Education. This week KCL and Birkbeck kick off their campaigns, run mostly by students (over 30 people turned up last night to get involved!), on the back of recent successes at London School of Economics, SOAS and Queen Mary’s.
A representative from LSE recounted how their group had to run a guerilla PR campaign to force the uni through with their promises. This even involved demonstrating at recruitment fairs where companies that didn’t pay the LLW came to recruit. It embarassed the university and employers: things moved quicker.
Even Boris Johnson supports the LLW, what’s not to like? Don’t answer that, right-wing libertarian readers. I’m going to keep the blog updated with the LLW campaigns across London. If your university doesn’t pay it yet, then get in touch and I’ll point you in the right direction so you can help organise and start a campaign.
Update: Noel helpfully points to a Compass LLW campaign toolkit.
CIC paper: Can British citizens become ‘active’?
Liberal Conspiracy is publishing a series of discussions about the government’s Community Empowerment White Paper. This is a summary of the second chapter.
Chapter 2: Active citizens and the value of volunteering
The government wants to “make it easier to be involved in voluntary and community activity” and proposes:
Volunteering
- Community Allowance pilots – paying people to do community work without losing benefits.
- Job Centres to help people do volunteer work.
- £2m more to support people with disabilities.
Mentoring
- Developing a strategy for extending mentoring
Citizenship
- A review of citizenship education in schools.
- a ‘Take Part local pathfinder programme’, offering information and training on being an active citizen for adults.
continue reading… »
The roles of Sharon Shoesmith and George Meehan
On Saturday went I on Ken Livingstone’s LBC show.
Most of the time was spent on Baby P, not surprisingly. Just to break for a brief moment from Baby P – Ken said at the end that I could spend the last minute ranting about whatever I wanted. So I did. I made an appeal to Gordon Brown to re-open the sub-post offices in London that he has closed. Having decided to stop any further closures it seems to me that those of us who were unfortunate enough to have had the axe already fall should have the closures reversed.
Back to Baby P – Saturday was the day Sharon Shoesmith received some support in the form of a letter to the media from 61 head teachers in Haringey. Sharon is Director of Education here in Haringey. As Ken put it on air – she’s their boss.
But this isn’t about her competence or otherwise in education – it’s about her responsibility and accountability for the social services side of her brief – which includes having – under the Children’s Act of 2004 – the responsibility for child protection in Haringey. Under this legal framework her and the political leadership side of the equation have the ultimate responsibility.
continue reading… »
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
|
66 Comments 20 Comments 13 Comments 10 Comments 18 Comments 4 Comments 25 Comments 49 Comments 31 Comments 16 Comments |
|
LATEST COMMENTS » Sunny Hundal posted on Complete tits » Lee Griffin posted on The Labour leadership's token contender.. and it's not Diane Abbott » dan posted on Defend the urban fox! » Richard W posted on Boris rise for Living Wage left of Labour » Julian Swainson posted on How many cabinet MPs went to private schools? » sally posted on Complete tits » Joanne Dunn posted on How many cabinet MPs went to private schools? » Lovely Lynnette Peck posted on How many cabinet MPs went to private schools? » Nick posted on Why don't MPs pay back tuition fees instead of increasing ours? » Bob B posted on Complete tits » Nick posted on Complete tits » Mike Killingworth posted on Complete tits » Mr S. Pill posted on Complete tits » Nick Cohen is a Tory posted on Complete tits » Nick Cohen is a Tory posted on Complete tits |
