Bloggers Social last night

Several bloggers of mixed politics met up last night in the Coal Hole on the Strand. Amongst those present were Anyway, Andrew, Andrew, Malcolm and Paul. I was the only Conservative present but that did not prove a problem. Contrary to what many believe, most Conservative and Labour members have no problem whatsoever drinking together and we all had a great time.
You can read more about the night on Mars Hill: Bloggers Social - The Event or wongaBlog: Paul's meetup.

Reg Empey admits his past

I've just spotted this thread on Slugger O'Toole about Reg Empey admitting to past connections with loyalist paramilitaries:

Empey acknowledged the SDLP leader, remarkable in itself: "All of us - a lot of us - have not had an absolutely pristine record in terms of dealing with paramilitarism. There's a lot of truth in what Mark [Durkan] said." He thought unionist politicians had a responsibility now to "clear up the mess", because in the 1970s and '80s they had used paramilitary organisations for political purposes: "That's a fact." He recalled that the DUP and his own party had been in the same voting group in Belfast City Council for years with David Ervine's party and the UDA's representatives, "and that's when there was no ceasefire".

And finally:

It was a point that Ulster Unionists, like the DUP, were in the habit of dismissing angrily at the time, with much abuse of the journalists who put it to them.

Yes, he had been in Vanguard, Empey said, the umbrella group including politicians and paramilitaries which backed the 1974 loyalist strike, "and I think my attitude in 1974 was wrong". Sir Reg broke ranks, and tore up the pretences. The oddity is that he should have flouted such a tribal rule and had the courage to question his own past so soon after meriting universal scorn. But he did it.

Empey was indeed a leading member of the Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party and then, following a split, Deputy Leader of the United Ulster Unionist Party (irony is not a strong point in the names of a number of Northern Irish parties), but often pasts go unacknowledged. Vanguard at times flaunted its paramilitary links in a way that no major Unionist party would do now and there are no doubt photographs that some would rather not see again. Is Empey's action merely trying to see off any unearthing of such photos? Or is he trying to position the UUP as a party that is more honest about links with loyalists, in the hope of bringing about a ceasefire? Ultimately the ability to deliver a UVF ceasefire will be the mark of his leadership and one wonders if this is another step towards it.

Correction - the Lib Dems are making it up

Contrary to my earlier post about the Liberal Democrats grasping at straws, Yellow Peril have now confirmed that the Lib Dems are just making things up when they claim "It's a two horse races" say bookies. The "bookies" they cite are not bookies at all:

Betfair don't run their own book on anything - they allow punters to swap bets.

It might sound like a small technical difference, but it is central to their claims in the byelection that Labour are out of the running. When bookmakers offer odds they have to make a decision about the likely outcome when they set the odds, no such process takes place at Betfair.

But there is another lie within the Lib Dem claim - as Betfair are a swap service they offer a range of odds. At this moment in time the best odds for Labour are indeed 100-1. But at the other end of the market the shortest odds offered for the Lib Dems - 3 - 1 - are the same as the shortest odds offered for Labour.

Bromley & Chiselhurst - Lib Dems grasp at straws

In the continuing saga of the Bromley & Chislehurst by-election, the Liberal Democrats have made their utterly predictable claim that "It's a two horse race". Every election they try to claim that only they can take the seat from the incumbents, citing some extremely dubious statistics, ranging from "most recent election in this area" (and not saying it's a parish council by-election thirty miles away) to "current political representation" (based on the number of councillors each party in a Conservative-Labour marginal ward held, after one of the three Conservatives defected to the Lib Dems). This time round it's based on what bookies giving Labour 100/1 odds on winning. Curiously the Lib Dem odds are not cited in the story. And I wouldn't put it past Lib Dems to be making bets themselves in the hope of bringing the odds down to support this dodgy propaganda. This is a classic case of Lib Dems grasping at straws.

What do UKIP offer the people of Bromley & Chislehurst?

The UK Independence Party has selected its candidate for the Bromley and Chislehurst by-election. It is to be Nigel Farage.

The same Nigel Farage who once declared:

"We will never win the nigger vote. The nig-nogs will never vote for us,"

To my knowledge Farage has never sued over these comments. No doubt UKIP will continue its focus on the far right.

Also looking at the Bromley & Chislehurst UKIP local branch website, the "local issues" on which UKIP intend to fight the by-election are:

...

Yes, literally nothing.

Once again this fruitcake party has nothing to offer the people of this country.

How much longer will the AUT/NATFHE/UCU marking boycott last?

There's an interesting article by Mike Baker on BBC News about the ongoing lecturers' marking boycott and the tangled web of issues involved. Sadly, as with so many disputes amongst academics, "the facts of the matter" are in bitter dispute, ranging from just what average pay is at the moment to when the dispute began. We've had the farce of one side arguing they tried to resolve the matter before the exam season and the other arguing that they tried to avoid the dispute until afterwards. Somehow I think students waiting for results aren't going to be too impressed. What's not noted so much is that there are several other unions representing staff in universities (mainly non-academic) who are on the same pay spine and so the University and Colleges' Employers' Association (UCEA) couldn't begin negotiations before all the unions had submitted their claims.

What isn't in dispute is this:

There is a lot of anger, bitterness, recrimination and lack of trust in this dispute.

Just when is this dispute going to end?

John Prescott is not irreplaceable

Both nicola and Iain Dale have commented on the big story today that Alan Johnson is "interested" in becoming Deputy Leader of the Labour Party. The none too subtle message is that "John Prescott can be completely replaced". Given that Prescott has demonstrated a complete inability to extract himself from newspaper frontpages over the last month it's not surprising that many are writing him off for good.

Assuming that whoever succeeds Prescott as Deputy Leader becomes Deputy Prime Minister as well, I have to say I'd prefer Johnson over Prescott continuing or for that matter Harriet "who actually is the Prime Minister?" Harman (though frankly it's clear even she doesn't see herself as a serious contender in a competitive field). A few years ago I met Johnson when he was Minister for Higher Education and he proved to be one of the best Labour ministers I've met. The country would be safer in his hands in Tony Blair's absence than it is in Prescott's.

Okay who did this?

Someone has created a Wikipedia page about me. Frankly if I merit inclusion in an encyclopedia then so does nearly everyone in the phonebook.

The article has been listed for deletion and I've voted to scrap it. I urge all other Wikipedia editors to do so as well.

May on this blog

Yes it's the monthly look at who's been visiting this site in the past month, courtesy of tracksy.com. Earlier stats have previously been covered for February, March and April.

First off the sites most people come from:

1. Blogger.com (-)
   
2. Google (-)
   
3. Slugger O'Toole (NEW)
   
4. Mars Hill (NEW)
   
5. Educationet (+7)
   
6. Jo Salmon (-1)
   
7. Conservative Mind (-4)
   
8. Iain Dale's Diary (+3)
   
9. The Little Red Book of New Labour Sleaze (NEW)
   
10. Take back the voice (-6)

Dropping out of the top ten altogether are Antonia Bance (at 12, down 6), Contemplative Activist (at 25, down 18), Vote 2006 Discussion Forum (which has disappeared from the listings altogether - well the local elections have now happened), A Tangled Web (also disappeared completely) and Adloyada (again completely gone).

For once Jo and her partner Antonia have not swapped order - just what is going on in the Salmon-Bance home?

Then we have the top ten search engine requests that brought people here:

1. tim roll-pickering (+3)
   
2. what does your birthday say about you (-)
   
3. laura blomeley (-2)
   
4. john ramsden don't mention the war (NEW)
   
5. london local elections tower hamlets tim archer (NEW)
   
6. hounslow conservative-control (NEW)
   
7. councillors, pickering, scandal (NEW)
   
8. tim roll pickering blog (NEW)
   
9. millwall rotterdam loonies (NEW)
   
10. barking and dagenham politic (NEW)

A bit of change from recent months, reflecting the passage of time. The searches are far more diverse now, though still many are looking for information about Laura Blomeley. The most read post this month is now Ervine in, Women out, in part because it was cited in a post on the much read Slugger O'Toole.

This time round few if any searches were for 'sutton labour manifesto', 'Kat Stark letter', 'edmonton bars without grumpy old men', 'arnold schwarzenegger in forest gate', 'stratford station protection from falling collision impact', 'labour in sutton' and 'james juggapah'.

Finally we have a list of all the cities detected that people are in (although many are listed as "other"):

LONDON, NEWPORT, OXFORD, COVENTRY, LEEDS, VANCOUVER, BROOKLYN, BELFAST, MANCHESTER, BIRMINGHAM, READING, CARDIFF, NOTTINGHAM, SHEFFIELD, NEW YORK, IPSWICH, CAMBRIDGE, BRISTOL, LEICESTER, SOUTHAMPTON, DURHAM, ATHENS, EDINBURGH, TORONTO, DUBLIN, LUTON, ST. LOUIS, FLORENCE, DULLES, WASHINGTON, ARUSHA, NORMAL, STERLING, LIVERPOOL, LANCASTER, BANGKOK, NORTHAMPTON, MANASSAS, SINGAPORE, ATLANTA, HARROW, MOUNTAIN VIEW, NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, STATEN ISLAND, WOLVERHAMPTON, REYNOLDSBURG, DUNDEE and CHESTER.

(As ever this is not always perfect - for some reason readers at both the University of Kent and Canterbury Christ Church University are listed as being in London. Canterbury is not exactly next to London!)

Once more, thanks to everyone who's been reading and contributing to this blog!

What are Lib Dems like when they're dried out?

Yet another Lib Dem is in trouble, only unlike some others, this one isn't under party pressure. This time David Heath, the parliamentary affairs spokesperson, is hitting the headlines because the village where he lives is facing the permanent ending of its water supply. Water has been supplied to Witham Friary since the nineteenth century from a reservoir owned by the Dukes of Somerset, but lately the water supply has been running low and the Duke's estate has announced the forthcoming termination of the arrangement. Legally no-one is responsible for supplying the villagers - it will be up to them to pay the costs of probably £10,000 per home to be connected to the mains network. There may be alternatives, but it could be that David Heath will be left high and dry.