Denverstrope (Free subscription) | 04/11/2009
One wonders how many of these venerable political veterans are actually going to make it to the next election, let alone keep their seats by fighting in it. Mind you, quite a few of them have been found with snouts firmly planted deep in the trough during the expenses scandal, so they're already treading water until the arrival of the first gold-plated pension cheque that will signal the blissful,...
The Observer (Free subscription) | 23/10/2009
British National party leader Nick Griffin's appearance on Question Time gave it nearly three times its normal audience The British National party leader Nick Griffin's controversial appearance on Question Time last night brought almost 8 million viewers to the show – nearly three times its normal audience. Question Time, filmed late yesterday amid chaotic scenes outside BBC Television Centre...
Archbishop Cranmer (Free subscription) | 23/10/2009
He has already been signed to succeed Jonathan Ross. That will save the corporation (or rather the licence fee payer) £18 million, for Nick Griffin comes at a bargain price (free) and his views are not quite so offensive. And, as far as Cranmer knows, Mr Griffin has never verbally assaulted a pensioner or made obscene phone calls. But he has managed to boost the Question Time audience to record...
The Guardian (Free subscription) | 08/10/2009
Ecotowns are a blind alley. It may be a dirty secret, but the most environmentally friendly places to live are big cities As Whitehall scoured the English countryside for sites on which to pitch Gordon Brown's ecotowns , Rackheath must have seemed a soft target. This flat land of fields, farms and housing estates sandwiched between Norwich and the Broads was an unlikely habitat for the greater spotted...
Irfan Ahmed (Free subscription) | 29/09/2009
Whilst watching Newsnight last night (something I don't do regularly), I was amazed by the optimists in the Labour party. Margaret Beckett was among them, clearly everyone knows Labour is going through a tough time but why are people like Beckett so optimistic? If I was a Labour party member I wouldn't be optimistic at all, I would actually be looking at alternative leaders for the Labour party with...
Stephen Mold's Blog (Free subscription) | 29/09/2009
Very Interesting Article in the Times. Confirming that Derby North will be pivotal in the Conservatives forming the next Government at the general Election. Landslide win for Conservatives may bury Labour’s big names Some of Labour’s best-known MPs, including Margaret Beckett and Jacqui Smith as well as ten ministers, are predicted to lose their seats in the event of a landslide election...
Times Online (Free subscription) | 28/09/2009
Some of Labour’s best-known MPs, including Margaret Beckett and Jacqui Smith as well as ten ministers, are predicted to lose their seats in the event of a landslide election defeat.
The Guardian (Free subscription) | 23/09/2009
As the man at the heart of a key battleground in the run-up to the general election, the housing minister John Healey tells Peter Hetherington why government spending is crucial to revive housebuilding and the wider economy Since becoming housing minister in June, John Healey has set about the task of reflating a battered building industry with the enthusiasm of a man in a great hurry. "The economic...
The Lone Voice (Free subscription) | 20/09/2009
So what ever happened to debate and free speech? Well in the 12 years since Labour came into power they have become dirty words, associated with all that is wrong in our society. Or rather dirty words to the righteous elite, the elite who make rules they themselves ignore whilst enforcing them on the rest of us. Disagree with the ruling powers and your classed as a racist, smeared, run down and turned...
A Brief Encounter (Free subscription) | 20/09/2009
I have the terribly British habit of having a full English cooked breakfast on a Sunday morning while reading the Sunday papers. Now if that sentence offends you, or you think the mention of breakfast, including bacon, might offend muslims then tough shit! Mrs B and I nearly choked on our Lincolnshire sausage this morning when we read: Home Office Tells Staff Not To Eat Near Muslims Just after almost...
Events dear boy, events (Free subscription) | 15/09/2009
Margaret Beckett has revealed to Lobbydog her final moments as Housing Minister: It was extremely brief. It was something like, ‘I’m afraid I’ll have to let you go’ and then some suggestion that there might be other things in time. I’m not the kind of person to think, ‘how awful, he should have said more’. It’s the decision that matters, and if that’s...
Not a sheep (Free subscription) | 11/09/2009
A much covered song, and one of my favourites, here's some different versions some good, some great, some odd and one beyond the pale. The Animals (live) The Animals (film version - 1964) The Animals version that I like best can be viewed here , love the walking around the studio idea... Frijid Pink (1971) Bob Dylan (1961) Joan Baez (1960) Woody Guthrie (1941?) Lead Belly (1948 - the earliest recording,...
Not a sheep (Free subscription) | 11/09/2009
The sight of John Bercow pretending to reluctantly take The Speaker's chair made me feel quite nauseous as it was clear to many observers of the political scene that he had been after the position of Speaker for quite some time. So it was with no great shock that I read on Lobby Dog that "Lobbydog got a sniff of the full extent of his machinations earlier today when he was talking with defeated...
Lobbydog (Free subscription) | 10/09/2009
Everyone knows that John Bercow had an eye on the Speaker’s chair very quickly after Michael Martin announced his resignation. He apparently circulated a manifesto for his campaign around fellow MPs within hours of Martin’s official demise. But Lobbydog got a sniff of the full extent of his machinations earlier today when he was talking with defeated Speaker candidate Margaret Beckett....
The Guardian (Free subscription) | 08/09/2009
A cross-party group of ex-ministers and former generals will be launched next month to push for global nuclear disarmament. The group, chaired by a former defence secretary, Des Browne, will seek to rally European support for a US-led initiative to work towards the abolition of nuclear weapons through radical, co-ordinated cuts in the arsenals of existing nuclear states, in an effort to persuade emerging...
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