The Lone Voice (Free subscription) | yesterday
Questions are being asked over the picture that showed McCyclops jogging. Ever since Gordon Brown was photographed jogging in a London park earlier this month – his track suit bottoms tucked neatly into his socks, naturally – the paparazzi have been lying in wait, hoping, no doubt, for the first picture of the Prime Minister running out of puff. So far, alas, their quarry has eluded them....
NO2ID Birmingham (Free subscription) | 16/11/2009
The rightly respected Henry Porter has set out his thoughts on why, in terms of civil liberties, we've never had it so bad, see HERE. It was Harold Macmillan who used the phrase “you've never had it so good” in 1957. At that time the UK was still recovering from the effects of WW2. Many people had suffered in the depression of the pre-war years and by the mid-1950s were desperate for a...
No Borders Brighton (Free subscription) | 16/11/2009
David Blunkett to ABC Television in Australia on Friday: " We always wished that we had a Christmas Island because it would have made it (processing) simpler and easier to deal with. Processing claims offshore makes sense because asylum seekers do not have the same access to appeal mechanisms as those who make it to the mainland. " " If you can do it (process claims) elsewhere, you can...
Labour Matters (Free subscription) | 16/11/2009
The Labour Government has announced an additional funding of £1,093,270 for Sheffield to tackle long-term worklessness, and ensure that no-one is left behind during the recession and everyone can benefit as the upturn happens. While the number of long-term jobless families across the country has been reduced by 13 per cent over the last ten years, this funding demonstrates Labour's commitment...
Independence Cymru (Free subscription) | 14/11/2009
By Tom Whitehead, Home Affairs Editor Published: 6:42PM BST 23 Oct 2009 Quote: The huge increases in migrants over the last decade were partly due to a politically motivated attempt by ministers to radically change the country and "rub the Right's nose in diversity", according to Andrew Neather, a former adviser to Tony Blair, Jack Straw and David Blunkett. He said Labour's relaxation of...
bristling badger (Free subscription) | 13/11/2009
Bovine terrorism continues. As I mentioned at the time, in June David Blunkett was nearly killed by a cow. The cow chose to do it on his birthday for extra symbolic and media value. This week, Question Time chairperson David Dimbleby missed the programme for the first time ever after being attacked by a bullock, possibly in retribution for having Nick Griffin on his show. According to the Health and...
Labourlist (Free subscription) | 12/11/2009
By Marjorie Smith It's the issue that seems to be top of the political agenda in many areas of Britain; a multi-faceted political issue that has no easy answers, no easy solutions and creates differing political tensions amongst many Labour party supporters and wavering voters. It also seems to be a policy area 'that dare not speak its name' in polite Labour society - until Gordon Brown's speech this...
Sydney Morning Herald (Free subscription) | 12/11/2009
Australia is set to enter an age of "information anarchy" if the traditional media don't lift their game, former British home secretary David Blunkett says.
The Guardian (Free subscription) | 11/11/2009
The UK citizenship test looks like crude social engineering – and is an appropriation of rights that existing citizens shouldn't accept The American pledge of allegiance and citizenship test emerged from the swell of a civic movement – born first in Baptist halls and community classrooms, and only later laid down in law. The UK citizenship test came from Whitehall, when then home secretary...
Dolton's Domain (Free subscription) | 10/11/2009
Apologies once again for a bit of "churnalism", but I thought it was about time I updated this blog with something and saw one of my course mates had put some of his university work on his blog. So here's my chapter review of Contradictions in Capitalist Media Practices , by Colin Sparks, an assessed piece of work for the Journalism Media Culture and Communications unit: A few weeks ago I...
Mark Pack's blog (Free subscription) | 10/11/2009
It's 2003. Parliament is debating foreign surveillance. The then Home Secretary, David Blunkett, is debating a point with Liberal Democrat MP David Heath. Blunket makes a one word interjection. The word? Chocolate. Obvious, really. It sets off a whole debate about how a hypothetical case of Belgians smuggling chocolate into the UK might be handled as you [...]
The Guardian (Free subscription) | 10/11/2009
David Blunkett's claim that we live a first-class lifestyle bears no relation to the truth, says John Parsons So, David Blunkett is mystified about "the most bizarre result of Sir Christopher's recommendation" ( Kelly simply doesn't get it , 5 November). I suppose if you accept that some or all of what he claims is true, one might well be mystified. Blunkett gives a hypothetical example...
Tell the Sky (Free subscription) | 09/11/2009
In this article I want to talk about: Very Small Countries . The smallest country in the whole of this damn fine huge great big spinny world is: Vatican City . The second smallest is Monaco . Also very small is Andorra , which is where there was a tragedy yesterday when a bridge collapsed and some people died. Actually, while we're on that subject, I told my dad about that today, having read it on...
The Guardian (Free subscription) | 09/11/2009
David Blunkett makes a mistake to benchmark MPs' work and status against senior civil servants ( Kelly simply doesn't get it , 5 November). Until a rigorous job evaluation is done such comparisons lack any validity and merely represent an aspiration (if not an early self-interested bid) in forthcoming discussions about MPs' salaries and pensions. Blunkett's points about the demands of working with...
Legalise Cannabis Alliance (Free subscription) | 06/11/2009
I have to say that I am appalled at the sacking of Professor David Nutt from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) by the Home Secretary Alan Johnson - and the support given to him by our un-elected Prime Minister Gordon Brown. David Cameron is no better for agreeing with their decision to ignore experts' advice if it flies in the face of media-led public opinion. Professor Nutt, head...
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