Wednesday 31 March 2010
Blair calls Cameron "vacuous"
Oh Dear! It must be really galling to be called "vacuous" by an ex-Premier whose nickname was Bambi, led us into an illegal war, and some people want prosecuting for war crimes.
Cogito, ergo sum... I think therefore I am
It's a beautiful day AND the day that Rene Descartes was born.
Descartes was part of that glorious group of philosophers who re-vitalised European thinking in the 17th century, these included Spinoza, Leibniz, Hobbes, Hume, Locke, and of course Rousseau.
Having studied them all at uni, I realised that I was a child of the Enlightenment and rationality, indeed it is that very rationality that underpins my political philosophy and makes me a Liberal.
In fact it is another phrase of Descartes' that best sums up my worldview
Dubium sapientiae initium... Doubt is the origin of wisdom.
Indeed, it leads to my belief that politics should be evidence-based rather than pure dogma.
Descartes was part of that glorious group of philosophers who re-vitalised European thinking in the 17th century, these included Spinoza, Leibniz, Hobbes, Hume, Locke, and of course Rousseau.
Having studied them all at uni, I realised that I was a child of the Enlightenment and rationality, indeed it is that very rationality that underpins my political philosophy and makes me a Liberal.
In fact it is another phrase of Descartes' that best sums up my worldview
Dubium sapientiae initium... Doubt is the origin of wisdom.
Indeed, it leads to my belief that politics should be evidence-based rather than pure dogma.
Tuesday 30 March 2010
II pleut doucement sur la ville... Arthur Rimbaud
Il pleure dans mon coeur
Comme il pleut sur la ville;
Quelle est cette langueur
Qui pénètre mon coeur?
The beautiful quatrain above is by Paul Verlaine, who along with Arthur Rimbaud, Charles Baudelaire, and Stéphane Mallarmé are my favourite 19th century French poets.
Rimbaud was probably the most gifted of the four, but Verlaine was fascinating, he joined the Garde nationale, becoming a Communard and later head of the press bureau, and managed to escape the street fighting of the Semaine Sanglante.
His doomed love affair with Rimbaud and their trip to Britain really earned them the soubriquet of "The Damned Poets".
Comme il pleut sur la ville;
Quelle est cette langueur
Qui pénètre mon coeur?
The beautiful quatrain above is by Paul Verlaine, who along with Arthur Rimbaud, Charles Baudelaire, and Stéphane Mallarmé are my favourite 19th century French poets.
Rimbaud was probably the most gifted of the four, but Verlaine was fascinating, he joined the Garde nationale, becoming a Communard and later head of the press bureau, and managed to escape the street fighting of the Semaine Sanglante.
His doomed love affair with Rimbaud and their trip to Britain really earned them the soubriquet of "The Damned Poets".
II pleut doucement sur la ville... Arthur Rimbaud
Il pleure dans mon coeur
Comme il pleut sur la ville;
Quelle est cette langueur
Qui pénètre mon coeur?
The beautiful quatrain above is by Paul Verlaine, who along with Arthur Rimbaud, Charles Baudelaire, and Stéphane Mallarmé are my favourite 19th century French poets.
Rimbaud was probably the most gifted of the four, but Verlaine was fascinating, he joined the Garde nationale, becoming a Communard and later head of the press bureau, and managed to escape the street fighting of the Semaine Sanglante.
Monday 29 March 2010
Gwladys
Today is Passover and so hag same'ah to all my Jewish friends.
Also interstingly it is also the feast day of St Gwladys, whose main church is at Bargoed where Doris Hare (who played Mabel, Stan Butler's mum, in On the Buses) was born.
I've liked the name Gwladys ever since I came across it in a Jeeves and Wooster story about an artist called Gwladys Pendleton or Pendlebury, with whom Bertie falls in love, and of course it all comes to naught.
I remember Jeeves being very dismissive of the name, saying that it was not a particularly attractive one, being on a par with Kathryn and Ethyl, all of which came about because of the writings of Alfred, Lord Tennyson.
I believe that Jeeves had a thing about the semi-vowels w and y.
Mind you, I've always liked Welsh girls' names like Rhiannon, Morwenna, Branwen, Angharad, and of course Myfanwy (Nye Bevan's beloved youngest sister).
Also interstingly it is also the feast day of St Gwladys, whose main church is at Bargoed where Doris Hare (who played Mabel, Stan Butler's mum, in On the Buses) was born.
I've liked the name Gwladys ever since I came across it in a Jeeves and Wooster story about an artist called Gwladys Pendleton or Pendlebury, with whom Bertie falls in love, and of course it all comes to naught.
I remember Jeeves being very dismissive of the name, saying that it was not a particularly attractive one, being on a par with Kathryn and Ethyl, all of which came about because of the writings of Alfred, Lord Tennyson.
I believe that Jeeves had a thing about the semi-vowels w and y.
Mind you, I've always liked Welsh girls' names like Rhiannon, Morwenna, Branwen, Angharad, and of course Myfanwy (Nye Bevan's beloved youngest sister).
Sunday 28 March 2010
The Tories: The singer's changed but the song remains the same!
Project Cameron would have us believe that the Tories have become detoxified... some hope.
Analysis of the record of 25 Tory members of the European Parliament this year shows they voted against, or abstained, eight times on issues relating to sexual equality, family-friendly working hours, maternity leave, and reproductive health, often in clear defiance of official Tory Party policy.
Some detoxification!
Analysis of the record of 25 Tory members of the European Parliament this year shows they voted against, or abstained, eight times on issues relating to sexual equality, family-friendly working hours, maternity leave, and reproductive health, often in clear defiance of official Tory Party policy.
Some detoxification!
Friday 26 March 2010
I Sing the Body Electric
I believe that the vital difference between the philosophy of Liberalism and that of Conservatism is an essential and unshakeable belief in the goodness and commonality of human beings.
Ours is a philosophy of boundless optimism and joyous celebration of the human spirit, forever seeking the soaring heights rather than a gloomy, despondent, and dare I say misanthropic view of our fellow men and women.
Few lines sum it up better than a quartet from Walt Whitman's "Leaves of Grass":
Comrade of raftsmen and coalmen, comrade of all who shake hands and welcome to drink and meat,
A learner with the simplest, a teacher of the thoughtfullest,
A novice beginning yet experient of myriads of seasons,
Of every hue and caste am I, of every rank and religion.
Ours is a philosophy of boundless optimism and joyous celebration of the human spirit, forever seeking the soaring heights rather than a gloomy, despondent, and dare I say misanthropic view of our fellow men and women.
Few lines sum it up better than a quartet from Walt Whitman's "Leaves of Grass":
Comrade of raftsmen and coalmen, comrade of all who shake hands and welcome to drink and meat,
A learner with the simplest, a teacher of the thoughtfullest,
A novice beginning yet experient of myriads of seasons,
Of every hue and caste am I, of every rank and religion.
Tuesday 23 March 2010
Concert for the Young at Heart
Just back from a fantastic FREE concert at the Victoria Theatre in Halifax, it was brilliant.
The acts were magnificent, ranging from some littlies to some older citizens, and all ages in between, all-singing all-dancing giving their all. From the Irving Berlin numbers to Michael Jackson's Thriller, via Oklahoma and Lennon & McCartney.
A big thankyou to all who took part, front of house, performers, the MC, and the backroom boys and girls.
When certain people tell you that we are living in a "Broken Britain" tell them that they are talking rot.
The overwhelming majority of people, are good the overwhelming majority of the time doing their best by their friends, family, and community.
Yes there is such a thing as society, and we should celebrate it.
The acts were magnificent, ranging from some littlies to some older citizens, and all ages in between, all-singing all-dancing giving their all. From the Irving Berlin numbers to Michael Jackson's Thriller, via Oklahoma and Lennon & McCartney.
A big thankyou to all who took part, front of house, performers, the MC, and the backroom boys and girls.
When certain people tell you that we are living in a "Broken Britain" tell them that they are talking rot.
The overwhelming majority of people, are good the overwhelming majority of the time doing their best by their friends, family, and community.
Yes there is such a thing as society, and we should celebrate it.
Sunday 21 March 2010
Sharpeville fifty years on
I couldn't really let today pass without a mention of Sharpeville in South Africa.
Half-a-century ago and a world away in apartheid South Africa, every black person had to carry passbooks.
This physical everyday shackle of oppression listed the person's name, birthplace, and "tribal" affiliation, contained their picture and serial number, showed whether they had paid their taxes or been arrested, and unless it was signed monthly by their employer, the African could be herded with the other unemployed into a "native reservation".
All Africans had to carry them about their person at all times, and they could (and were) checked at any time by the notoriously unforgiving police, and heaven help you if you didn't have it or there was something amiss.
You could be hauled off to jail, without a word of warning to your family, and fined or imprisoned.
For more than a century blacks had endured this vile system and then following the Gandhian precepts of non-violent action, a mass campaign of non-compliance was started where people were urged to turn up at police stations without their passbooks and demand to be arrested.
At Sharpeville police station, a determined crowd of more than 20,000 Africans gathered demanding to be arrested. The twenty police officers present barricaded themselves inside and sent for reinforcements, hundreds of whom duly arrived, supported by armoured cars, and aircraft buzzing the crowd to try and scatter it.
When that failed, the police began firing with revolvers, rifles, and Sten guns. In two awful minutes, hundreds of blacks lay dead or wounded, many shot in the back.
It is fair to say that the events of that day hastened South Africa's march to pariah state in the world community shunned by almost everyone. And although there were many setbacks along the way, thirty years later and much bloodshed apartheid was defeated and the struggle for freedom by the black majority achieved.
Maatla ke a rona!
Half-a-century ago and a world away in apartheid South Africa, every black person had to carry passbooks.
This physical everyday shackle of oppression listed the person's name, birthplace, and "tribal" affiliation, contained their picture and serial number, showed whether they had paid their taxes or been arrested, and unless it was signed monthly by their employer, the African could be herded with the other unemployed into a "native reservation".
All Africans had to carry them about their person at all times, and they could (and were) checked at any time by the notoriously unforgiving police, and heaven help you if you didn't have it or there was something amiss.
You could be hauled off to jail, without a word of warning to your family, and fined or imprisoned.
For more than a century blacks had endured this vile system and then following the Gandhian precepts of non-violent action, a mass campaign of non-compliance was started where people were urged to turn up at police stations without their passbooks and demand to be arrested.
At Sharpeville police station, a determined crowd of more than 20,000 Africans gathered demanding to be arrested. The twenty police officers present barricaded themselves inside and sent for reinforcements, hundreds of whom duly arrived, supported by armoured cars, and aircraft buzzing the crowd to try and scatter it.
When that failed, the police began firing with revolvers, rifles, and Sten guns. In two awful minutes, hundreds of blacks lay dead or wounded, many shot in the back.
It is fair to say that the events of that day hastened South Africa's march to pariah state in the world community shunned by almost everyone. And although there were many setbacks along the way, thirty years later and much bloodshed apartheid was defeated and the struggle for freedom by the black majority achieved.
Maatla ke a rona!
omnia vincit amor...
According to Virgil "love conquers all" this a propos of today being World Poetry Day.
And my favourite (today at least) lines of English poetry?"
My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
And my favourite (today at least) lines of English poetry?"
My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
Saturday 20 March 2010
نوروز مبارك Happy New Year
Later on today, in five hours exactly, I shall be celebrating the Iranian New Year with my family.
It is a very special occasion marking the first day of Spring and a new beginning both chronologically and dare I say spiritually.
Nowruz, as it is called in Persian, literally means New Day and is celebrated across Iran, Afghanistan, Iraqi Kurdistan, much of West and Central Asia and of course worldwide among the Iranian, Afghan, and Kurdish diaspora, as well as Zoroastrian and Baha'i communities.
It is an ancient festival going back some three thousand years and is really is a most joyous festival.
So Happy New Year one and all and sad sal beh az in salha.
It is a very special occasion marking the first day of Spring and a new beginning both chronologically and dare I say spiritually.
Nowruz, as it is called in Persian, literally means New Day and is celebrated across Iran, Afghanistan, Iraqi Kurdistan, much of West and Central Asia and of course worldwide among the Iranian, Afghan, and Kurdish diaspora, as well as Zoroastrian and Baha'i communities.
It is an ancient festival going back some three thousand years and is really is a most joyous festival.
So Happy New Year one and all and sad sal beh az in salha.
Friday 19 March 2010
Military intelligence is a contradiction in terms... Groucho Marx
I don't know whether to be angry or bloody angry about the crassly stupid comments made by US General John Sheehan.
This eejit, who rather than blaming tens of thousands of Bosnian Serb forces for the massacre of 8,000 male civilians in Srebrenica, chose to focus his condemnation on unionisation and gays in the Dutch military.
Srebrenica is a stain on the conscience of post-war Europe, the EU's response to the break-up of Yugoslavia was woefully inadequate, and the Dutch forces "guarding" the safe area were understrength, but for General Sheehan to blame gays is ridiculous and he should apologise for his offensive remarks.
This eejit, who rather than blaming tens of thousands of Bosnian Serb forces for the massacre of 8,000 male civilians in Srebrenica, chose to focus his condemnation on unionisation and gays in the Dutch military.
Srebrenica is a stain on the conscience of post-war Europe, the EU's response to the break-up of Yugoslavia was woefully inadequate, and the Dutch forces "guarding" the safe area were understrength, but for General Sheehan to blame gays is ridiculous and he should apologise for his offensive remarks.
Wednesday 17 March 2010
Happy St Pat's
Obviously being married to an Anglo-Irish woman, I couldn't let today go past without a mention of St Patrick's.
However, you'll be pleased to know that I've not been going over the top with the wearing of the green and the shamrocks everywhere, but I did have a quiet glass of Guinness and a little Bushmills.
Happy St Pat's everyone.
However, you'll be pleased to know that I've not been going over the top with the wearing of the green and the shamrocks everywhere, but I did have a quiet glass of Guinness and a little Bushmills.
Happy St Pat's everyone.
Tuesday 16 March 2010
Parkinson's Law works everywhere... Mikhail Gorbachev
More than half-a-centurty ago The Economist published an essay Cyril Northcote Parkinson that coined the adage "Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion".
From this he developed a mathematical equation which described the rate that bureaucracies expand over time. The prime example he used to support and illustrate this "law" was the number of employees at the Colonial Office while Britain's overseas empire declined. Parkinson explained this growth by two forces, first was that an "official wants to multiply subordinates, not rivals" and second "officials make work for each other".
His humorous, but nevertheless valid, point was that the numbers employed in a bureaucracy rises by 5%-7% per year "irrespective of any variation in the amount of work (if any) to be done".
All of which brings me neatly to a report by the Commons Public Administration Committee said the number of ministers had doubled during the past century.
In 1900, when we ran a global empire, there were just 60, today there are 119.
Despite devolved government for Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and the privatisation of many parts of government.
Many appointments are based more on political reward rather than the need to fill the position, and their number should be cut "by as much as a third".
We have the ludicrous situation where civil servants are left "making work" for some junior ministers, because they had so little work to do.
This is absurd.
That is why we Lib Dems have called for a a 30% cut in the number of Welsh MPs, 28% in Northern Ireland, 20% in England, and 14% in Scotland.
From this he developed a mathematical equation which described the rate that bureaucracies expand over time. The prime example he used to support and illustrate this "law" was the number of employees at the Colonial Office while Britain's overseas empire declined. Parkinson explained this growth by two forces, first was that an "official wants to multiply subordinates, not rivals" and second "officials make work for each other".
His humorous, but nevertheless valid, point was that the numbers employed in a bureaucracy rises by 5%-7% per year "irrespective of any variation in the amount of work (if any) to be done".
All of which brings me neatly to a report by the Commons Public Administration Committee said the number of ministers had doubled during the past century.
In 1900, when we ran a global empire, there were just 60, today there are 119.
Despite devolved government for Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and the privatisation of many parts of government.
Many appointments are based more on political reward rather than the need to fill the position, and their number should be cut "by as much as a third".
We have the ludicrous situation where civil servants are left "making work" for some junior ministers, because they had so little work to do.
This is absurd.
That is why we Lib Dems have called for a a 30% cut in the number of Welsh MPs, 28% in Northern Ireland, 20% in England, and 14% in Scotland.
Sunday 14 March 2010
Mrs Thatcher... the architect of so many of our current troubles
Like many Lib Dems, and indeed people across Keighley and Ilkley, and in fact up and down the country I agree wholeheartedly with Claire Rayner's comments above.
Far be it for me to rebuke my leader for his comments earlier this week in the Spectator magazine, wherein he extolled Mrs Thatcher. But he was talking rot. He mistakes her dogma for principle, her obduracy for strength, and her lack of compassion for resolve.
Claire goes on to say that "She [Mrs. Thatcher] made it good to be greedy, good to neglect the poor, and she denied there was such a thing as society".
People who say they admire Mrs Thatcher and her Tories remind me of all those appeasers who used to say things like, "Say what you will about Mussolini, but at least he made the trains run on time", it's both crass and factually inaccurate.
She was the person at the head of a government who devastated this country economically, politically, and socially. Nick only has to look at his own city of Sheffield and the plight of the steelworkers in the 1980s.
As for the miners... to unleash the full force of the state on a section of society, a trade union, and communities up and down the country was unconscionable. Where there should have been compassion there was instead belligerance, instead of wisdom there was vengeance, instead of magnanimity there was the crowing of the yahoo.
I say this to Nick and the leadership, the Tories cannot be trusted, they are ideologically our antithesis, politically our enemies, and morally bereft of any saving graces.
The last thing that Britain needs, even with all the restraining influences that we Lib Dems may be able to bring upon them, would be a Tory government of any shape or form.
Far be it for me to rebuke my leader for his comments earlier this week in the Spectator magazine, wherein he extolled Mrs Thatcher. But he was talking rot. He mistakes her dogma for principle, her obduracy for strength, and her lack of compassion for resolve.
Claire goes on to say that "She [Mrs. Thatcher] made it good to be greedy, good to neglect the poor, and she denied there was such a thing as society".
People who say they admire Mrs Thatcher and her Tories remind me of all those appeasers who used to say things like, "Say what you will about Mussolini, but at least he made the trains run on time", it's both crass and factually inaccurate.
She was the person at the head of a government who devastated this country economically, politically, and socially. Nick only has to look at his own city of Sheffield and the plight of the steelworkers in the 1980s.
As for the miners... to unleash the full force of the state on a section of society, a trade union, and communities up and down the country was unconscionable. Where there should have been compassion there was instead belligerance, instead of wisdom there was vengeance, instead of magnanimity there was the crowing of the yahoo.
I say this to Nick and the leadership, the Tories cannot be trusted, they are ideologically our antithesis, politically our enemies, and morally bereft of any saving graces.
The last thing that Britain needs, even with all the restraining influences that we Lib Dems may be able to bring upon them, would be a Tory government of any shape or form.
Saturday 13 March 2010
A bit of fun for the week-end
Douglas Carswell, the Tory MP for Harwich, has claimed that the Conservatives are the party of the Levellers!
The Levellers (not the band) were an important faction before and during the English Civil War of the mid-17th century. I studied them, and others, in my degree, and going back over my notes I can't see anything that links them with the tiniest thread within modern Tory political philosophy.
Their manifesto, the "Agreement of the People" was inherently republican and democratic. Just the sort of thing to be supported by the present Tory front-bench!
The Levellers (not the band) were an important faction before and during the English Civil War of the mid-17th century. I studied them, and others, in my degree, and going back over my notes I can't see anything that links them with the tiniest thread within modern Tory political philosophy.
Their manifesto, the "Agreement of the People" was inherently republican and democratic. Just the sort of thing to be supported by the present Tory front-bench!
Friday 12 March 2010
Prince Phillip... the best argument for a Republic
Over the years you think there's little to shock you about the Royal Family, and then along comes Prince Phillip...
Yesterday at a parade in Exeter meeting cadets the following exchange apparently took place.
HRH PP: Hello what do you do then, in your day job?
Cdt ER: I work in a club.
HRH PP: Is it a strip club?
Cdt ER: Er... no.
HRH PP: Probably too cold for that anyway.
To her credit the young cadet laughed it off, but should she have had to?
Why does an octogenarian think it is alright to make sexually suggestive remarks to a young woman?
Yesterday at a parade in Exeter meeting cadets the following exchange apparently took place.
HRH PP: Hello what do you do then, in your day job?
Cdt ER: I work in a club.
HRH PP: Is it a strip club?
Cdt ER: Er... no.
HRH PP: Probably too cold for that anyway.
To her credit the young cadet laughed it off, but should she have had to?
Why does an octogenarian think it is alright to make sexually suggestive remarks to a young woman?
Thursday 11 March 2010
David Cameron... "much more conservative" than the image he projects
Great story in today's Independent (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/with-friends-like-these-tory-leaders-ally-puts-his-foot-in-it-1919447.html) confirming what many of us have said for a long time, namely that David "Tony Blair lite" Cameron is much more conservative by nature than he acts, or than he is forced to be by political expediency.
The man will say and do anything to get into power, and once in the mask will slip and it'll be back to the horribly divided, damaged, and destructive Britain of the 1980s.
The ghost of Thatcher lives on... Oh hold on, she's not yet dead... sorry!
The man will say and do anything to get into power, and once in the mask will slip and it'll be back to the horribly divided, damaged, and destructive Britain of the 1980s.
The ghost of Thatcher lives on... Oh hold on, she's not yet dead... sorry!
Wednesday 10 March 2010
"I'm an Atheist...thank God".
That was one of Dave Allen's sayings. The great Dave Allen who passed away five years back today.
He was one of the most astute observers of human nature, given to point out the absurdities and hypocricies of everyday life especially in religion and and sex.
But all in a gentle and wry way that was actually very thought-provoking. I loved his TV shows and managed to see him perform live once.
To quote him again "Goodnight, thank you, and may your God go with you".
He was one of the most astute observers of human nature, given to point out the absurdities and hypocricies of everyday life especially in religion and and sex.
But all in a gentle and wry way that was actually very thought-provoking. I loved his TV shows and managed to see him perform live once.
To quote him again "Goodnight, thank you, and may your God go with you".
Tuesday 9 March 2010
"It started with Iraq... But [the Lib Dems] have become the natural home for left-liberal Cookites"
Astonishing article (http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/mar/09/labour-lib-dems-left-cookites) in today's Guardian by John Kampfner (former editor of the New Statesman) charting how massive a disappointment the Labour government of the last dozen years has been and how for anyone of a vaguely left/left-of-centre persuasion the Lib Dems are the NATURAL choice.
Monday 8 March 2010
Happy International Women's Day
Today is the centenary celebration of International Women's Day, and around the world, it is celebrated to mark the economic, political, and social achievements of women.
This year the theme is equal rights, equal opportunities: Progress for all, and the ICRC is drawing attention to the hardship displaced women endure.
The displacement of populations is one of the gravest consequences of today's wars. It affects women in so many dreadful ways, but far from being helpless victims, women are resourceful, resilient, and courageous in the face of hardship.
Since 2005, the TUC has asked for IWD to be designated a public holiday, and I'd like to support that call.
This year the theme is equal rights, equal opportunities: Progress for all, and the ICRC is drawing attention to the hardship displaced women endure.
The displacement of populations is one of the gravest consequences of today's wars. It affects women in so many dreadful ways, but far from being helpless victims, women are resourceful, resilient, and courageous in the face of hardship.
Since 2005, the TUC has asked for IWD to be designated a public holiday, and I'd like to support that call.
Sunday 7 March 2010
Red Hot Chili Peppers eat your heart out!
Just back from a family event in Manchester, and shattered.
My eldest is in a band, and they had managed to pass an audition last month to get to the regional finals.
While of course they were the best act there, unfortunately they didn't make the cut to get through to the national finals.
Nil desperandum, we all went off to Chinatown in Manchester and had a great Sìchuānese meal.
My eldest is in a band, and they had managed to pass an audition last month to get to the regional finals.
While of course they were the best act there, unfortunately they didn't make the cut to get through to the national finals.
Nil desperandum, we all went off to Chinatown in Manchester and had a great Sìchuānese meal.
Friday 5 March 2010
Freedom is always the freedom of dissenters - Rosa Luxemburg
UKIP - "To lose one MEP may be regarded as a misfortune; but to lose four..."
News from the wilder shores of sensibilty that ANOTHER UKIP MEP has left the party.
UKIP has a track record of butter-fingeredness towards its MEPs, in the last European Parliament it started with a dozen and finished with nine after two expulsions and a flounce-out by Robert Kilroy-Silk, to form the even madder (though not ironically named Veritas). Now, only a few months into a new European Parliament they've lost another MEP.
I suppose it should come as no surprise, given that the party's founder Alan Sked resigned the leadership and left the party, saying it was "doomed to remain on the political fringes".
Hear, Hear!
UKIP has a track record of butter-fingeredness towards its MEPs, in the last European Parliament it started with a dozen and finished with nine after two expulsions and a flounce-out by Robert Kilroy-Silk, to form the even madder (though not ironically named Veritas). Now, only a few months into a new European Parliament they've lost another MEP.
I suppose it should come as no surprise, given that the party's founder Alan Sked resigned the leadership and left the party, saying it was "doomed to remain on the political fringes".
Hear, Hear!
Thursday 4 March 2010
Tory education plans fundamentally flawed
The Tories’ apparent commitment to a Pupil Premium is totally meaningless unless extra money is put in. Without this money, many schools will see their budgets cut.
This will be even more devastating at a time when public spending will be squeezed, especially as the Tories are already targeting the Education budget for cuts.
It is nonsense to give "freedoms" to some schools, but deny them to others. The Tories' plans to simply rely on the market, without any accountability or local oversight will fail and will have little impact in the vast majority of schools.
Worse still, both the Labour and Tory obsession with academies will mean an eventual end to state education as we know it and a fragmentation that will lead to chaos.
We must enure every child gets an excellent education, not just a lucky few.
This will be even more devastating at a time when public spending will be squeezed, especially as the Tories are already targeting the Education budget for cuts.
It is nonsense to give "freedoms" to some schools, but deny them to others. The Tories' plans to simply rely on the market, without any accountability or local oversight will fail and will have little impact in the vast majority of schools.
Worse still, both the Labour and Tory obsession with academies will mean an eventual end to state education as we know it and a fragmentation that will lead to chaos.
We must enure every child gets an excellent education, not just a lucky few.
Wednesday 3 March 2010
Michael Foot - A man of integrity and honesty
I was devastated to hear of the death of Michael Foot earlier today.
The man was a giant of a figure for those of us in the peace movement and his opposition to nuclear weapons never wavered.
He was a brilliant orator, and an even better author and journalist.
One of my most prized possessions is a signed copy of two volume life of Nye Bevan.
Although I profoundly disagreed with his position on the "Common Market", I respected him on so many different things that I believe one of the most principled and progressive voices on the radical left can genuinely be mourned by almost everyone in the country.
At a time before parliament was televised his speeches made great reading. I thought he was the best person to take over the Labour leadership in 1976 when Harold Wilson stood down.
His leadership of the party came at a particularly difficult time, not helped by the egos of people like David Owen, and although Foot could be particularly cruel to us Liberals. I still retained a fondness for him borne out by the fact that he refused right to the end of taking ANY sort of honour and indeed joining the unelected Second Chamber.
I remember his last speech in the House, when he spoke about the situation in Yugoslavia. He was one of the few to bunk the myth that the Serbs and the Croats had been at each others' throats since time immemorial.
"I do not believe, that the Yugoslav problem represents a recrudescence or revival of what has happened in the area before. Most of the Balkan countries before the Second and the First World Wars were rebelling against foreign imperialism, against outside Governments that tried to impose their will on them. The Austrian Government was the most hated of all; Turkey was another. The people of the Balkans sometimes combined against them.
On top of all the human tragedies taking place in the area we must number the tragedy of the fact that Croats and Serbs have begun fighting each other at all. It is not as if they have often fought before or have just been waiting for a chance to start fighting each other. At times they combined to resist Austrian and then German imperialism, not to mention Turkish imperialism".
He was a Republican, an Honorary Associate of the National Secular Society, and a Distinguished Supporter of the British Humanist Association, we are all that little bit diminished today.
The man was a giant of a figure for those of us in the peace movement and his opposition to nuclear weapons never wavered.
He was a brilliant orator, and an even better author and journalist.
One of my most prized possessions is a signed copy of two volume life of Nye Bevan.
Although I profoundly disagreed with his position on the "Common Market", I respected him on so many different things that I believe one of the most principled and progressive voices on the radical left can genuinely be mourned by almost everyone in the country.
At a time before parliament was televised his speeches made great reading. I thought he was the best person to take over the Labour leadership in 1976 when Harold Wilson stood down.
His leadership of the party came at a particularly difficult time, not helped by the egos of people like David Owen, and although Foot could be particularly cruel to us Liberals. I still retained a fondness for him borne out by the fact that he refused right to the end of taking ANY sort of honour and indeed joining the unelected Second Chamber.
I remember his last speech in the House, when he spoke about the situation in Yugoslavia. He was one of the few to bunk the myth that the Serbs and the Croats had been at each others' throats since time immemorial.
"I do not believe, that the Yugoslav problem represents a recrudescence or revival of what has happened in the area before. Most of the Balkan countries before the Second and the First World Wars were rebelling against foreign imperialism, against outside Governments that tried to impose their will on them. The Austrian Government was the most hated of all; Turkey was another. The people of the Balkans sometimes combined against them.
On top of all the human tragedies taking place in the area we must number the tragedy of the fact that Croats and Serbs have begun fighting each other at all. It is not as if they have often fought before or have just been waiting for a chance to start fighting each other. At times they combined to resist Austrian and then German imperialism, not to mention Turkish imperialism".
He was a Republican, an Honorary Associate of the National Secular Society, and a Distinguished Supporter of the British Humanist Association, we are all that little bit diminished today.
Tuesday 2 March 2010
Lord Cashcroft runs the Tories like a "Banana Republic"
My favourite phrase of yesterday's was Chris Huhne likening the Tories to a Banana Republic.
A definition I liked is a "small country, esp. in Central America, that is politically unstable and has an economy dominated by foreign interest, usually dependent on one export, such as bananas".
Spooky isn't it?
The term was originally coined for Honduras in the last century which by happy co-incidence is neighbour to Belize (formerly British Honduras), where Lord Cashcroft resides. Belize's largest employer? Bananas!
The serious point, however, is how much all this money sloshing about in Tory coffers distorts and damages our political life. Given the preponderance of this "loose" money the question has to be asked, "How much are the Tories receiving in Keighley and Ilkley".
A definition I liked is a "small country, esp. in Central America, that is politically unstable and has an economy dominated by foreign interest, usually dependent on one export, such as bananas".
Spooky isn't it?
The term was originally coined for Honduras in the last century which by happy co-incidence is neighbour to Belize (formerly British Honduras), where Lord Cashcroft resides. Belize's largest employer? Bananas!
The serious point, however, is how much all this money sloshing about in Tory coffers distorts and damages our political life. Given the preponderance of this "loose" money the question has to be asked, "How much are the Tories receiving in Keighley and Ilkley".
Monday 1 March 2010
Ashcroft: Non-Dom All-Dim
So Lord Ashcroft owns up after ten years - mind that - surprise, surprise, he is a non-domiciled tax-payer.
The Tories, who were bleating about patriotism but yesterday, are only too happy to take money from someone (actually a law-maker in the Upper House) who loves Britain so much, that he can't be bothered to shoulder his share.
Ashcroft is willing to put in money in marginals like Keighley, to swing the elections but not pay his fair taxes.He's agreed to change his status if the Tories win. How big of him!
Surely another reason to keep well away from the Tories.
It may well be legal, but it sure as hell ain't cricket.
The Tories, who were bleating about patriotism but yesterday, are only too happy to take money from someone (actually a law-maker in the Upper House) who loves Britain so much, that he can't be bothered to shoulder his share.
Ashcroft is willing to put in money in marginals like Keighley, to swing the elections but not pay his fair taxes.He's agreed to change his status if the Tories win. How big of him!
Surely another reason to keep well away from the Tories.
It may well be legal, but it sure as hell ain't cricket.
Dydd Gwŷl Dewi Sant hapus
Bura na mano, Holi hai!
One of the phrases you'll hear in India (were you to be there today) is "it's all right it's Holi".
I must admit the festival of Holi is one of my favourites as it celebrates good harvests and fertility of the land.
Folk go around in high spirits and basically use it as an excuse to shed their inhibitions and caste differences for a day of spring fever.
Teenagers go around flirting and misbehaving in the streets, adults extend the hand of peace, and everyone chases everyone else around, throwing brightly coloured gulal and water over each other.
Then promptly at noon, the fever subsides and everyone heads to home to have a wash and feast on sweets and other goodies, and an exhausted and contented hush falls over the land.
To all my Indian friends, Happy Holi.
I must admit the festival of Holi is one of my favourites as it celebrates good harvests and fertility of the land.
Folk go around in high spirits and basically use it as an excuse to shed their inhibitions and caste differences for a day of spring fever.
Teenagers go around flirting and misbehaving in the streets, adults extend the hand of peace, and everyone chases everyone else around, throwing brightly coloured gulal and water over each other.
Then promptly at noon, the fever subsides and everyone heads to home to have a wash and feast on sweets and other goodies, and an exhausted and contented hush falls over the land.
To all my Indian friends, Happy Holi.
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