Blog round up

Some interesting posts from the rest of the blogosphere:

Coleview, Covingham & Nythe Conservatives have noted how the Minister of Democracy and his family's electoral registration is in breach of the rules about second homes in Minister of Democracy's family ineligible to vote in Swindon elections

Dizzy Thinks has a sense of proportion about the way some MPs have made totally reasonable claims for their particular constituencies and are still being pilloried form them in This is the problem......

Iain Dale discusses the way criticism of the Telegraph's motives has been silenced in Telegraph Takes Down Nadine's Blog.

Paul Burgin (Mars Hill) discusses the forthcoming reshuffle in What Needs To Be Done With The Cabinet.

Tom Harris (And another thing) warns against kneejerk constitutional changes that have nothing to do with MPs' expenses The worst possible time to consider wider reform.

And since there's more than just MPs' expenses:

Kerron Cross wonders what the departure of the main generator of Liberal Democrat nastiness means in The End Of The Bar Chart Party?

Nábídána.com takes a look at some scientific developments at two rival universities in Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil students bid to outdo each other in political science.

Tory Bear in A small victory notes how LGBT Labour are losing both the T-shirt war and the plot.

Glyn Davies (A View from Rural Wales) is Declaring war on Bambi.

The most useless website ever?

Hattip to Kerron Cross: Is Size Important? for highlighting this.

One of the problems of email, messageboards, Twitter, Facebook and the like is that URLs (or "website addresses") are often very long and get broken. So TinyURL.com was created to shrink the links. For example Kerron's post has this address:

http://kerroncross.blogspot.com/2009/04/is-size-important.html

TinyURL converts it to:

http://tinyurl.com/cuzp6m

But is small always beautiful? HugeURL.com has been created to do the reverse. It converts Kerron's post into:

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Can anyone conceive of any use for the website whatsoever?!

Saucer of milk, table 11 please!

One of the more amusing moments in the Labour blogosphere is the war of words between Kerron Cross and Luke Akehurst. Or in each other's words, "the former Vice-Chair of Croxley Green Parish Council" and "the man who dreams of being 'Chief Whip in an 8th term Labour Government'". I am trying to think of an intra-Conservative exchange on this level.

For more, see Kerron Cross: How To Improve BBC's Election Night Coverage? and Luke's Blog: Kerron still Cross

Harper 1, Dion Nil

The first time I mentioned Stéphane Dion here (in Liberal woes) it was when I'd seen the following on Kerron Cross: Liberal Party Finished:

He is finished, as is the Liberal Party. Many Liberals are considering quitting the party because of the incompetent leader they have.

Time to face some facts:

+ He will never be prime minister
+ He is not a leader
+ He will never connect with local people
+ He will never connect with the rest of the country

Liberals will now have to force a new leadership contest if they want to have even the slightest chance of being the official opposition over the next years.

At the time the comparison was with Sir Menzies Campbell, but the words still ring true. After his shabby last ditch attempt to get himself installed as Prime Minister, Dion has today succumbed to Liberal Party pressure to bring forward his resignation. (Globe and Mail: Liberal battle lines drawn) So after a dramatic week in Canadian politics, one that has had many around the globe deeply following the saga (and its implications for the Westminster system of government), the immediate outcome is that Stephen Harper is still Prime Minister and Stéphane Dion has been sent packing by his own party. The coalition deal has backfired on the Liberals before it's even delivered anything and it gets more doubtful that the attempt will be renewed in January.

Inhuman MPs?

Tom Watson has beaten Kerron Cross to this one. (Tom Watson: Biohazard in the House of Commons & Kerron Cross: In Loo Of Recent Posts...) This is the scene in a House of Commons toilet:

When people say MPs are inhuman I didn't think they mean it quite like this!

Odd uses of Labour blogs

The other night I was in a pub quiz where one of the questions was "what number links [a couple of things I didn't know about and can't remember] and the district surrounding Rickmansworth?" It was one to stump people but luckily only thanks to Kerron Cross's blog I was aware of the existence of Three Rivers District Council. And that question proved decisive.

Has anyone got any even more obscure uses of political blogs?

Would you want this bow fired at you?

Kerron Cross: Cupid, Draw Back Your Bow... highlights this curious story of a couple in the process of divorce but still working together professionally. Nothing unusual about that you might say. Only their job involves her firing a crossbow at him!

Cambridge News: Circus stars aim to hit the right target tells how circus performers Natasha and Anton Popazov have found themselves contractually obliged to continue their act, in which Natasha shoots an apple off Anton's head in the style of William Tell, even though their marriage has failed. I suppose the show must go on and they seem like true professionals, but can you imagine the sensation if Heather Mills and Sir Paul McCartney found themselves in a similar situation? And would anyone trust Heather?

How not to deny one is gay

Courtesy of Kerron Cross: A Tale of Two Cities?. US Senator Larry Craig issues a statement about an incident and denies being gay. Look out for his first words.

Not the best phrase to use, is it?

The Harman impact bounce

I've long thought that "Harriet" is one of the loveliest female names going. So it's a pity that the most prominent person in politics with that name - in fact the only politician I can think of - is so awful.

And it seems I'm not alone in thinking this. Two of my favourite Labour blogs are also deeply sceptical that Harman's election has been wise - see Kerron Cross: You Are Joking, Right? and Mars Hill: Harriet the Deputy.

Of course one can ask if the post means anything - see my past post Is the Labour Deputy Leadership worth a pitcher of warm piss? Certainly Harman is qualified in some respects to succeed John Prescott - as I wrote over a year ago in Yet another (deputy) leadership election:

...I initially laughed.

But on reflection Harman is being stripped of key ministerial responsibilities, prone to making silly gaffes, has hit the headlines for her driving activities, can generate fierce political storms and is considered by some to be ignorant.

Would she really be such an unthinkable choice to step into John Prescott's shoes?

She's also been made Labour Party Chairman, or whatever the position is titled, and Gordon Brown will no doubt expect her to buck up her act - no more writing to Conservative councillors to ask them to support Labour politicians! (Where does New Labour find these ministers?!?!)

The big losers are the Old Labour Left. I don't mean the John McDonnells but rather those who John Prescott has spent the last thirteen years keeping happy with the New Labour Project. Now Old Labour has no voice at the top. This could be the beginning of the long expected fracture.

The Meacher-McDonnell indecision

The previous news that Michael Meacher and John McDonnell had come to an agreement to ensure that Gordon Brown faces some opposition had cheered many, and both men are to be credited for having something that so many others on the Labour benches lack - balls. (So *someone* will take on Brown ) But now comes the news that the two have failed to reach agreement on who has more support, delaying confirmation as to whom will go forward to challenge Brown. (BBC News: Brown rivals delay bid decision) Kerron Cross has more information (Kerron Cross: McDonnell to Stand Down?), suggesting that McDonnell appears to have fewer nominations but is doubting the veracity of some of Meacher's. Will they honour the agreement come Monday?

What is more worrying are reports that even combined the two lack enough support to get one nominated. It cannot be in the country's interest for Gordon Brown to be made Prime Minister unopposed. Are there no Brownite MPs who would be willing to help their own man by ensuring that he can face some opposition? Or are the Brownites scared that Brown can't win?

Are the Lib Dems facing their final point?

You've got to hand it to the Liberal Democrats. Despite over a year of being allegedly led by Ming the Meaningless it seems that their eventual destruction is rooted in the Kennedy era. Charles Kennedy himself has not exactly been totally denying the possibility of a return to the leadership, but given the circumstances one has to wonder whether he has the judgement to lead a party, let alone present himself to the public pretending to be a potential Prime Minister.

Kerron Cross has details of how the Lib Dems are facing the disaster of not only having to repay a £2.4 million donation from Majorca based businessman Michael Brown (who famously declared that the party were "Muppets" for getting rid of Charles Kennedy) but also have to pay another £2.4 million fine. (KERRON CROSS - The Voice of The Delectable Left: Lib Dems To Go Bankrupt Due To Dodgy Donations? See also Scotsman.com News: Lib Dems face ruin over £4m 'fine') With the party already £1 million in the red it does not have an easy £4.8 million to spare. Individual members could end up having to pay between £50 and £60 each.

In a way this is good news for Ming Campbell though. As well as helping to further discredit the possibility of a Kennedy comeback, it also makes yet another leadership election financially undesirable for the Lib Dems. So his gain is the party's loss. But the party remains in a mess and no court is going to fall for a Lib Dem bar chart "proving" they can't pay.

Once again the Lib Dems' sums don't add up. Kerron says it best:

...it would be rather amusing that the Lib Dems would now be both economically and morally bankrupt.

Well it couldn't happen to a nicer party...

Indeed.

Apparently the UK still controls the US...

Kerron Cross has had one of the strangest comments yet left on his blog, as he reports in his post Kerron Is Un-American and Facist on Fireworks. His previous proposal for fireworks to banned from general sale to the public in this country has been attacked for being "un-american" and "an assult on my rights as a citizen of [the United States]".

I didn't know we'd taken the US back into our empire!

One year on

Inevitably there's one event dominating the blogosphere today. Amongst the many blogs discussing it are, in no particular order, Anorak, Keeping the tab on the tabloids, Slugger O'Toole, Dodgeblogium, An Englishman's Castle, Politics through the eyes of a teenager, Jo's Journal, Mars Hill, Kerron Cross - The Voice of The Delectable, Take back the voice, Paul Linford and Iain Dale.

My own memories of the day are mixed. The night before a friend had been crashing at my flat as he had been working too late to return home to Coventry. I think this was the first time I alerted him to existence and usefulness of the Gospel Oak to Barking Line which allowed him to travel from Holloway Road to Forest Gate (the stations are Upper Holloway and the misleadingly named Wanstead Park). Otherwise his route would have taken him via the Piccadilly through King's Cross and the Circle Line at Liverpool Street. The next morning he set off at about 08:20 and I got a bite to eat, then flicked on the television at about 09:00 to catch up with what was going on. Later I planned to go down to Mile End to do some work in the library.

It was around this time that reports were coming in of widespread problems across the tube due to "power surges". I thought to myself how lucky it was that I'd told Joe about the railway line, otherwise he might get caught in a tunnel (the GOBLIN mainly runs on viaducts above the street). I then went to tell my flatmate there were problems as, unusually, he had to go into central London that day en route to a course somewhere in Reigate and he might need to leave some extra time. Then I heard the television announce the problems were more serious and there had been explosions.

I sat down at my computer (next to the television) and opened up a mass MSN window with every single contact I had online. For the next few hours I just stayed in the flat, alternating between catching up on the television, making phonecalls to check friends were okay and sharing information online.

Maybe it's my degree, but I think I'd realised before the announcement that this was a terrorist attack. The "power surge" story just rang hollow - I couldn't understand why several explosions had occurred in very different parts of the network all at once. No this was clearly a co-ordinated attack by terrorists on London.

Much of the rest of the day passed in a blur. My flatmate and I set things up to use one phoneline for the internet and the other for phonecalls so we could keep in contact. I received a few "are you okay?" calls and sent out some emails. My flatmate had his course rescheduled because of the travel problems.

The thing that worried me the most was the number of people I knew who either worked in Bloomsbury or who could have been on one of the trains hit. Whilst the actual attack hadn't shocked me as I could remember the last IRA campaign all too well (at the time I was at school in the City and we regularly had bomb alarm drills), the possibility of those I knew being caught in them was concerning. Fortunately I was able to reach everyone eventually, but the difficulties of ringing to and from mobiles that day made many anxious.

It was one of those days when one felt London had pulled together. The emergency services were magnificent in their response and there was a real sense that all communities were united. What was saddening was to hear people like George Galloway being given airtime so they could dance on the victims' graves and use the event as an excuse to make their usual rants. Fortunately very few listened.

One year on I'm not sure much has changed. Maybe people are a little more cautious about abandoned packages and cases but has London stayed together? Current tensions and fears, especially both towards and amongst the Muslim community, enhanced by the notorious innocent shootings, have shown that the metropolis is still deeply divided and there are times when I think things are getting further apart. That would be to let the terrorists win.

Statler's been getting around a bit

It seems Statler's been a bit busy in the blogosphere since certain similarities were first noticed. I've just seen yet another blog where his image appears alongside a relevant story.

First off KERRON CROSS - The Voice of The Delectable Left used him for "Brown Pants for Lib Dems" (although he seems to be casting Statler as Vincent Cable, Waldorf as Campbell, Fozzie as Mark Oaten and Kermit as Lembit Öpik, although at least Miss Piggy is Sarah Teather). Then Guido Fawkes ran "Muppet Ming Muffs PMQs Again", followed by The Vented Spleen with "Apparently Ming Will Be Gone Within a Year".

Does anyone else have any sightings of Statler in the blogosphere? Maybe he can become the de facto representation.