It is very easy for those on the left to sink into defeatism and despondency. For instance, the feeling that the trade unions are hemmed in by their bureaucracies and false loyalties, that strikes are a relic of the 1970's and the defeat of the NUM was the death rattle of 'old labour' trade unionism. The cynicism of the electorate to politicians who have arrived at a middle ground concensus is manipulated and portrayed by the media to be voter apathy, without any real analysis about why people are disillusioned. It is easy to slip into the feeling that everyone has accepted the law of the free market, that trade unions are no longer relevant because we've got a national minimum wage and that talk of socialism is confined to far off third world regimes in South America.

Well, I know the Live 8 stuff was about a rock concert, but as skuds points out, and he was there, it is difficult to imagine that the people who were there were not positively affected by the experience. Certainly the tens of thousands marching in Edinburgh are not there just because some pop star told them it was going to be fun. As for the labour movement, it is not dead, nor even sleeping. All across the world, every day, trade unions are fighting for workers' rights. As Eric Lee points out, the fact that the mainstream press and 24-hour news channels don't even murmur the word 'union' doesn't mean nothing is happening. So, if they won't tell you what's going on, get out there and look for it yourself. Go to LabourStart a couple of days a week, and while you are there, click on the UK site in the left hand column. Hopefully it will cheer up your week... it certainly lifts my spirits.

OK... it's not Live 8... but it is a charity gig all the same. Organised in Moseley (or Muesli as we usually refer to it) for one of the most popular guys in Brum. Saxophonist and blues guitar hero Steve Ajao was run down whilst crossing the road a few weeks ago and today saw the biggest outpouring of support for Steve so far from his many admirers. The crowds poured into the beer garden of the Prince of Wales all afternoon as a series of jazz and blues artists played for free the sort of music Steve plays so well. OK... Macca, Bono and Snoop Dogg didn't make it, nor Robbie, Maddona or Dido. But we still had fun in the sun for a real good cause... and someone even paid more than £50 for a special Ajao T-shirt with a zebra crossing on the front and the legend, 'Steve's Greatest Hit' emblazoned across it.

There's another benefit gig for Steve at the Birmingham Jazz Festival on Saturday Night starting at 11.pm. if you're about. Should be good.

Crowds continue to pour in six hours after the doors opened.




Michael Stipe... eat you heart out!

One of the authors of the Poll Tax claims that the ID Card Bill is Blair's Poll Tax. "...third-term prime ministers are not wise. They are too busy with their global agenda to study the detail of what their ministers have devised. A flood of testosterone dulls the messages from their political antennae. Machismo distorts their sense of proportion."

Well... could it be Tone is too concerned with his international image to be concentrating on the domestic agenda? Has Gordon thrown his not inconsiderable weight behind ID cards?

Talk Politics has a good post on His Bobness, Blair and the whole G8 business. The ever sceptical John Pilger is equally scathing. I'm ambiguous on this one. As per Gramsci, I do think culture is vitally important and that music can influence masses, and that masses can influence politicians. I also think Geldof and company are fully aware that their media embraced concert will not... in itself... change anything, but it is part of a process. On the concert itself, give me Tinariwen, Youssou N'Dour (minus Dido), Salif Keita etc at The Eden Project any day of the week.

Afghanistan is no longer a haven for terror, the Taliban is history, and the Afghan people are free. (George W. Bush - August 2003) Via Bloggerheads and Think Progress (which has a number of other similar links)

Helicopter brought down by hostile fire in Afghanistan - 17 feared dead.

Farewell to Essaouira! Sunset from our flat.


Islamic terrorists attack the US. Iraq did not carry out attacks against the US, despite a decade of bombing raids over Iraq by US aircraft. The US invades Iraq. Those who resist and oppose this invasion are dubbed terrorists. The war in Iraq is therefore part of The War Against Terrorism (T.W.A.T.). Truth is lies. Black is white. War is peace. Bush repeats the spurious link between September 11th and the war in Iraq.

If Michael White is to be believed then the Campaign Group look set to compromise over ID cards. What surprises me is the notion that the cost issues outweigh the civil liberty issues. Personally I'm not unhappy about some form of ID card which allows me to verify my credit transactions and rent a DVD, but the sort of Big Brother approach being suggested in the Bill goes much further than that... and the notion of tying it in to the aforementioned T.W.A.T. makes it even more scary. Not a scientific poll I know, but the responses to Tom's blog survey suggest both cost and civil liberties are significant.

A pretty good map search and route planner.

In the pre-general election quiz I was exposed as a closet Lib Dem. Just about as accurate as this one which tells me I act 30! My MP would never accuse me of being that mature.

As I move inside from the sun kissed beaches of Essaouira, I note that New Labour whips are supposed to be threatening dissident backbenchers that they will withhold all-expenses-paid official trips to exotic locations unless they promise to toe the line. Given how cheaply me & Mrs P. have been able to spend a week in Morocco watching one of the world's great music festivals, I have to say this has the smack of an empty threat about it. Anyway, tomorrow, tanned, relaxed, rested up and recovered from an early dose of Montazuma's Revenge, I will return from this short break fully invigorated. (I hasten to add that this trip was not a fact finding freebie courtesy of the Sandwell taxpayers in order to investigate the possibilities of a festival in the desert just outside of Rowley Regis)

Note from Essaouira

We arrived in Marrakech on Tuesday and stayed at a terrific Riad owned by two Scots, David and Ross. If you are ever in Marrakech I could not recommend their hospitality at Riad Arahanta too highly. Ross took us the short walk through teeming Marrakech streets to the incredible Djemaa el Fna. It is absolutely breathtaking and almost impossible to put into words. Ross even found a place where we could get a couple of beers too.

We moved on the next day to Essaouira, a quite beautiful costal town and the home of an annual world music festival. There are musicians on almost every corner and three giant stages, two in the main squares and one on the beach. Again we managed to blag a drink by convincing hotel staff we were with the TV crews and sponsors in a large beachside hotel. There was an extraordinary buffet which sat uneasily with some of the poverty outside, and the grotesque site of an arabic drum band accompanying a bloody fashion show. The festival finishes tomorrow with a performance by Youssou N'Dour. Glastonbury? Who needs it?

Well, tomorrow we fly to Marrakech, and then on Wednesday to Essaouira for the music festival. The way the weather has been the last 3 days, Marrakech promises to be a bit cooler. For those following the saga of 'Hemmingate', and don't want to buy a tabloid, you can follow the best of it (and a lot more besides) through my two fellow Midlands bloggers Political Hack and TalkPolitics. So… unless the sleepy fishing port has an Internet Café, its farewell for a while.


No.. not me... this is His Bobness in Africa

Master of the understatement

Liberal Democrat MP John Hemming reveals that his wife is "not best pleased."

The very model of a modern Labour Minister: A tribute to Charles Clarke. (via TalkPolitics).

Next week Mrs P. and myself are heading off to Essaouira in Morocco for the annual Gnawa World Music Festival. Headlining this year is the Senegalese musical legend Youssou N'Dour. If you're unable to join the 100,000 of us descending on Essaouira (and if you haven't got accommodation, don't even think about it) you could do worse than go to London to see these two Malian masters at work.

Never mind the legal issues around Michael Jackson, there is another legal scandal hopefully working its way to a conclusion in Mississippi. The scandal is that it has taken 41 years for the state of Mississippi to bring a murder prosecution against one of the white supremacists who it is alleged murdered three students and dumped their bodies in a swamp in 1964. The killing of the 3 civil rights workers was chillingly recorded by the late Phil Ochs within months of the murders with the chorus of... "Oh, here's to the land you've torn out the heart of -- Mississippi, find yourself another country to be part of!" Later attention was brought to the killings when Gene Hackman starred in a Hollywood film based on the murders.

For all those who believe that the US is a civilising force, bringing democracy to dark and shady areas of the world, take the time to remember that this was US democracy just four decades ago.

" In truth, corruption has seldom been a barrier to foreign aid and loans: look at the money we have given, directly and through the World Bank and IMF, to Mobutu, Suharto, Marcos, Moi and every other premier-league crook."
George Monbiot on debt relief.

Birmingham has 11 Members of Parliament. Nine of them are Labour, one is a Lib Dem... and one is a Tory. So when a leading Birmingham Tory Councillor says the City's TEN MPs should "get off their butts" and start fighting for the people of Birmingham, has he simply forgotten their sole Member of Parliament? Or does he think the people of Sutton Coldfield don't matter anyway?

This evening myself and Mrs P. went for a meal with two members of the Town Twinning Committee from Sandwell’s twin town Le Blanc Mesnil. Shortly after the first bonjour my linguistic skills ran out, but Mrs P. and two local tame trots, Lynn and Godfey and our hosts, Clare and Dave Hallam, knew sufficient French to get us through. Anyway, the upshot is I’ve pledged to try and spend some time raising the profile of the Council’s twinning arrangements with Le Blanc Mesnil. Personally I would like to encourage better links between UK and French trade unionists as opposed to more arrangements between bigwigs in business on both sides of the Channel. However, our guests, Serge Jorry and Monique Chabanois thought the internal politics of French trade unionism may be a barrier to that.


Me, Monique, Serge and mine host, David Hallam

Banksy

Just some of the fantastic images at Banksy's site. (Thanks to Skuds for the reference) However... some of the images contain writing so they may be banned if the increasingly esoteric John Hemming were to have his way.

cctv


feeling


kissing coppers

Earlier this week the great Steve Ajao was knocked down on a pedestrian crossing and he is seriously ill in hospital. Steve is a giant in Birmingham jazz and blues circles, and not just because he towers over almost everyone. One of the nicest blokes you could ever wish to meet, Steve runs the Bebop Club in Ladypool Road in Balsall Heath and tonight there will be all sorts of things going on to raise money for him and some of the best jazz musicians in the area will be playing. Jazz musicians don't get sick pay... come along if you can.

Terence McSwiney, the Lord Mayor of Cork, died on hunger strike during the Irish War of Independence in 1920. This year Cork is the European Capital of Culture and as McSwiney's book Principles of freedom, written immediately before the hunger strike, has been published as part of that event. however, McSwiney's introduction has been replaced in the latest publication, which is unfortunate because it contains a passage about Hiberianism, the catholic equivalent of the Orange Order. To make up for what it describes as this "cultural vandalism" the Irish Political review reprints Terence McSwiney's original introduction. For more, absolutely fascinating stuff on this, go to Tom Griffin's excellent site The Green Ribbon.

Wow! Electoral fraud. Not postal voting, but proxy voting. It's all quiet over here though.

Splitters!!!

Letter in The Guardian
As a London cyclist, I can assure Tristan Clayton that Idiot on Board signs for cars are available (Letters, June 8). They are conveniently fitted by the manufacturer and read "BMW".
William Weinstein
London

It's all about trust, Tony. That's the message from the splendid Big Barn website. Links to local food producers in your area and some interesting recipes.

There was an interesting feature on the radio yesterday about the jailed Russian billionaire Mikhail Khodorkovsky. A Russian commentator was asked about the reaction of the people to Khodorkovsky’s nine year prison sentence. The overwhelming majority of the population are in favour of it, he replied. Irrespective of the charges of tax evasion and fraud, they have seen state assets handed over to private individuals who have made fortunes beyond their imagination out of companies which once belonged to the people. Despite what seems to be reported in the media overseas, there has not been few signs of sympathy for Khodorkovsky amongst ordinary Russians , he added.

This got me thinking. Surely the overwhelming majority of people in this country would feel exactly the same…. if only they were asked the same question? How do you feel about the British Government handing over state assets, and in the case of fuel, water, telecommunications, transport, (and latterly education and health) etc, vital necessities for people’s everyday existence, to private individuals who accumulate massive wealth as a consequence of this asset stripping operation?

One person who has shown sympathy for Khodorkovsky, though, is George W. Bush. Leaving aside any natural empathy he may have for corrupt individuals who make a fortune out of crooked oil deals, Dubya, who doesn’t do irony said, "Here, you're innocent until proven guilty and it appeared to us, at least people in my administration, that it looked like he had been judged guilty prior to having a fair trial." This would make interesting reading (if only there were allowed to read it) to those who have been incarcerated in Guantanamo Bay for three years without charges or access to any legal system at all.

Trivia

A Lazy Sunday afternoon! If you Hate that Frog here's your chance to let him have it in the style of Yeti Sports! (Via New Links) which also offers a referral to a site with an interesting explanation as to why cyclists wear black shorts.

Doctor Vee can get on my wick with all that lib Dem crap... but he refers to some cracking posts. For instance, this one. If this is how much attention people pay to credit card signatures, what difference will ID cards make!

Watch out, here they come... McDonald's, Starbucks and Disneyworld Basra. Freedom is on its way people.

Meanwhile Gordon Brown seems to be dragging Dubya screaming to address the problems of Africa. You see, George doesn't mind helping to write off the debts they lent to corrupt dictators, but he wants to fund it out of the existing aid budgets. In one hand, out the other. Anyway... these greedy swine could cough up £7 million worth of assistance. If you're thinking of changing your mobile service provider... remember them.

The Liberal Democrats have long been the most Euro fanatical of the main parties, even more so than the New Labour project people who seem almost as determined to create a Thatcherite free market across Europe.

The Lib Dem Manifesto, whilst making twittering noises about ‘decentralisation’ and ‘more democracy’ came out firmly in favour of the EU constitution:

“…... With enlargement to twenty-five member states the EU needs reform to become more efficient and more accountable. The new constitution helps to achieve this by improving EU coherence, strengthening the powers of the elected European Parliament compared with the Council of Ministers, allowing proper oversight of the unelected commission and enhancing the role of national parliaments. It also more clearly defines and limits the powers of the EU, reflecting diversity and preventing over centralisation. We are therefore clear in our support for the constitution, which we believe is in Britain’s best interests.” (The REAL Alternative 2005)

Yes, there it is. The Lib Dem argument for a yes vote in a referendum on the EU constitution. Clear, unequivocal, no room for doubt in anyone’s mind there then.

So, a few days after the French voted to reject the Constitution, and the Dutch kicked it into touch… what do we find? Regular readers of the always interesting John Hemming weblog will have seen a splendid example of political gymnastics, even by his standards. So quick out of the blocks was JH that at 6.00pm on Sunday night, with opinion polls across France declaring a victory for the 'no' campaign, Hemming already had one foot on the bandwagon. Now he writes... "There is an opportunity of changing the direction of the European Union away from "ever closer union". I've searched his site for the words... clear in our support for the constitution, to no avail. Ah well, that's one pledge ditched... just three weeks after the election!

On the road (or wall, to be precise)

I know this will infuriate those like John Hemming who regards all graffiti as vandalism, but this site is dedicated to some of the more creative images from cities around the world... including this one from... Wolverhampton!





Making Pascal Lamy head of the WTO is as mad as making, say, Paul Wolfowitz... er, satire doesn't really seem to work any more. George Monbiot on how, beyond the rhetoric, the UK and the EU are keeping the poorer nations where they want them: beholden to their patrons.

For over 40 years Richard Gott has written high quality material on South America. He is currently working on an analysis of Chavez's Bolivarian revolution in Venezuela. There's a good article in The Guardian today. The chrysalis of the Venezuelan revolution led by Chavez, often attacked and derided as the incoherent vision of an authoritarian leader, has finally emerged as a resplendent butterfly whose image and example will radiate for decades to come.

The Tories will continue their descent into hell if they elect Malcolm Rifkind as their next leader.It does, though, raise the interesting prospect of all three major parties (and Respect) being led by Scots.

The Political Hack leaps to the defence of John Hemming MP, and makes some really good points about blogging politicians.

If you've got an hour or two to spare... read The History of Rock 'n' Roll. Incredible does not do it justice. (via Poons)

Apparently Tony Blair is going to scrap plans for a referendum on the EU constitution if the French vote 'Non'. Blair, together with Euro Federalist fanatics the Lib Dems, doesn't want a referendum unless their result wins. Why? Should we not be given the chance to kick it into the long grass?

Quite a lot of good stuff on a Scottish theme at FirstFoot.com. Some provocative reviews in Good Pop, Bad Pop... and their jokes aren't bad.

The Guardian's Book Review has a review of Johnny Rogan's new biography of the grumpiest man in popular music, which advises you to snap it up quick before Van's solicitors run their toothcombs over it. Also in the Review Mark Hayhurst's essay on Nye.

I wrote the other day about the difficulty of getting hold of anything other than mainsteam music. Well, if you live anywhere near a shop that stocks any sort of 'world' music (a fairly ridiculous title... all music is presumably world music) try and get to listen to Dimanche à Bamako (Sunday in Bamako)as remixed by Manu Chao. I was going to say, if you don't like it I'll give you your money back, but there are some unscrupulous people out there who might try to take advantage of me (and even some people with an appalling sense of taste). Of course, the difficulty is that these days you get little or no chance to hear this sort of music before you buy it, but if you listen to either Andy Kershaw or the magnificent Charlie Gillet (both shows available online for a week... and don't start me off about why those morons at the BBC don't network Gillet's programme) then you'll catch some of these gems on their programmes.

Letter in The Guardian

More social housing is the only answer

It is good to see that New Labour has at last recognised that there is a problem in the provision of housing, but it continues to stick rigidly to the private sector (Prescott plans to increase housing supply, May 23). In fact, they don't have an answer to the housing problems of the poorest, which were brought about by the destruction of the council house supply by Thatcher and which New Labour has continued with a fervour. They insist that all council housing be handed over to the private sector or the government will not give money for the refurbishment of them.
Shared accommodation and shared mortgages are not the answer - building more "social" housing for rent is.

Sid Hollands
Maidstone, Kent

I couldn't agree with you more Sid. All three main political parties over the last thirty years have used every ruse possible to get rid of council housing. Not just the high-rise nightmares that are being demolished, but also the solid, between-the-wars, bloody good housing which has either been flogged off or passed over to so-called non-profit making social housing companies. (They are non-profit making because the fat cat executives pay themselves vastly inflated salaries). Now, with expressioins of surprise, our leaders express dismay that housing shortage = rising property prices = housing crisis. God's teeth!

I was speaking to a friend at the weekend who had gone to Walsall to check out a couple of record shops, only to be surprised that they had both closed. I know they didn't sell 'records' in the shape of vinyl,(well actually, one of them did have a large second hand collection) but they were both independent from the big chains, Virgin, HMV, MVC, etc and if you wanted to buy something outside of the mainstream they were always worth a punt. The closure of these two shops started us thinking that record shops are really a thing of the past. If you go into Virgin or HMV the music now is almost hidden behind the racks of DVD's, and if you want anything special, jazz, blues or world music you have to start looking in the basement or hidden away in a corner somewhere. Mainstream cds are usually less than a tenner via the internet or in ASDA, Tesco or whatever, and anyway, people have got so used to downloading or copying on to blank cdr's that the medium itself must be seriously under threat. As we were ruminating on the death of the local record shop industry, a bloke walked in the pub and offered us a DVD of the new Star Wars movie for a fiver, ot three for £10 if we wanted more. Perhaps eventually the Branson empire will go the same way as Sundown and Bridge Records in Walsall.

Wow! BBC staff are on strike. This morning I woke up and instead of listening to the Today programme with Humphrys, Naughtie and co. winding up politicians over how many angels they can get on a pinhead, we were woken up to this! In a profile of Dizzy Gillespie, Former Chancellor Ken Clarke played 'A Night in Tunisia' from this fantastic concert where Gillespie, Parker, Mingus, Powell and Roach played out of their skins in front of a half full audience in Toronto. I almost always support striking workers and if this is the sort of substitute programming we can expect, more power to the unions, I say.

Thanks to Sonic for the link... but who wants a Georgeous George t-shirt?

Birmingham City Football Club boast that they have won a trophy that other 'big' clubs haven't. They won the Autoglass Trophy... a sort of 'Cup for Losers' played out by clubs from what used to be called the Third and Fourth Division in old money. Apart from that, these sleeping giants who have been snoozing for over 100 years, are the Newcastle United of the Midlands. They don't have a trophy room... but a glass cabinet with the 'Autoglass' in it, together with a pennant from the Anglo-Italian Trophy and a boot from a full back who died tragically from polio decades ago. So... it was difficult to suppress a snigger when their owner splashes out half a million quids worth of his earnings from his porno business to buy this.

I can empathise with Tony Blair over his back problem. Last year my back went into spasm and for a couple of weeks I was in mortal agony. “You know what you need” said my mate Reg, “You need a chiropractor. My wife swears by them.” So, I booked an appointment, had an examination and an x-ray, and, £120 lighter, I fixed an appointment for treatment. “Come in and lie down on your stomach on this bench,” said the Amazonian chiropractor. I did as I was told, and she started lightly manipulating my back muscles. “Ah yes”, she said, “your muscles have gone into spasm.” I should have been suspicious then… and asked for my money back. Suddenly, with an almighty fury, she punched me violently in the back with incredible force. “Did you hear that, well that popping sound was the sound of air coming out of your spine.” Well, actually, it was the sound of the air being forced out of every orifice in my body …. but it was also the sound of my rib cracking! So, for the next two months I went to my GP who repaired my back problem with a course of acupuncture, and I almost forgot the pain anyway because breathing, twisting, turning over in bed and virtually any sharp movement sent stabs of wracking pain through my rib cage. So, Tone, if you want the address of a chiropractor, give me a bell.

I have followed the fortunes of Hartlepool United Football Club for forty years... since a young Brian Clough was their manager. Next week they will be playing in Cardiff in the play-offs and today, in The Guardian letters column, their elected Mayor, Stuart Drummond (AKA H'Angus the Monkey) puts forward the case for Hartlepool. Good on ya... and best of luck in Cardiff!

The splendid Warley Woods


One of the things Birmingham’s Labour controlled Council did before they lost control to the Tories and their allies, the little tories last year, was to hand over the running of a large expanse of park, woodland and a golf course in my Ward to a Community Trust. The Warley Woods Community Trust is comprised of a democratically elected Board from amongst members of the local community who pay a nominal sum to join. With the income from the Golf Club and some national lottery funding, we are at last beginning to see a reversal of the decades of decline.

However, a few hundred yards away there is a public park which is also in Sandwell, but administered by Birmingham City Council. Lightwoods Park has a fine bandstand (featured on this blog’s masthead) …. and…. errrm… that’s it. The children’s playground hasn’t had a penny spent on it since Anneka Rice helicoptered in for the day about 12 years ago, and the paths are a danger to cyclists, people with pushchairs or wheelchairs, and pedestrians who cannot cope with rough terrain. The tennis courts have long since disappeared and old men with misty-eyed memories stare out over what used to be a fine bowling green.

This isn’t a Labour-Tory rant. The park fell into decline years ago and has been getting worse under both administrations. I wrote to Labour Councillor Ian Ward about three years ago to complain, and he never even bothered to reply. My fellow Ward Councillor has tried to complain to the City Council and they said he couldn’t complain because “he didn’t live in Birmingham.” True… but the bloody park isn’t in Birmingham!

We’re not even demanding a lot. All we want is our local park to be under local democratic control, and our MP has now written to the Leader of Sandwell Council asking him to take up the matter with Birmingham’s Tory Leader, Mike Whitby. To make matters worse, Whitby lives within a hundred yards or so of Lightwoods Park, and directly opposite Warley Woods, but he doesn’t seem to care a toss. Well, the people of Bearwood do… and it’s time we raised our voices so loud that Cllr. Whitby will not be able to avoid us.

A cogent argument for abolishing the system of patronage and backscratching that currently comprises the House of Lords, and if favour of an elected second chamber.... by... errrm... the newly anointed Lord Adonis in 1998!

As many people have said, whatever you think about George Galloway (and there is a good deal to be suspicious about), his performance in carrying the anti-war argument into the heart of the US political machine, was pretty damn spectacular.

You've got to hand it to Charlie Kennedy. Ok, he's not a political heavyweight, but the lad has got a sense of humour, and his decision to appoint Michael Moore as his Defence spokesperson should raise a laugh or two if he visits the US.

We are always hearing that "young people are just not interested in politics." But then you find thousands of them getting wound up about corporatism, share trading on the stock exchange, and the power of US capitalists. Next Saturday tens of thousands of these anti-globalisation protesters will converging on Cardiff for a major demonstration. I wonder if the usual crowd of trot paper sellers will be out in force.

When the cat's away...

For decades the US, through their school for terrorists in Fort Benning, has destabilised countries in Central, Latin and South America that have shown even the slightest inclination towards the 'democracy'that the neo-cons now hold so precious. Well... whilst the family Bush have been busy securing their stranglehold over Afghanistan and the Gulf, in their own backyard, something is beginning to rumble. No longer just the beard in Cuba, the Chavez revolution in Venezuela is offering a model of freedom and democracy that is starting to get people to ask questions. Equador is the latest country to start asking.

Some egomaiac twerp has decided to sue a blogger for saying the way their town is run is shambolic! Whatever happened to freedom of speech. “Liberty, fraternity, equality” my arse!. Contributions to the defence fund here.

I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now.

Nostalgia time. Was it really 40 years ago? Bob Dylan's Like a Rolling Stone does stand out for me as not only a great rock song, but a real revolution in the head. And it is all set off by that single drum beat (repeated with less drama but equally stunning by Marvin Gaye on 'Grapevine') and then the band kick in. I saw Dylan a year later at The Odeon Liverpool, and as soon as the band started the electric second session the 'folkies' started heckling, booing and slow handclapping. Me... I was spellbound. The sound was incredibly loud in contrast to the acoustic first half, but the impact was something I only ever saw once again, in a small club in London when a young chap called Jimi Hendrix did things with a guitar that should never have been possible. Who knows where the time goes?

Following yesterday's post about Councillors' websites, I have just found out, courtesy of Paul of Never Trust a Hippy, that I can post pictures on my site. Unfortunately, it appears you can only see the photos if you are using Explorer... but for those of you who do... The Casino is back!

We had a discussion at Committee tonight about Councillors' websites. Sandwell Council is considering whether or not to renew a contract with Councillor.info, a Poptel organisation who provide easy-to-produce websites for elected members. Although Sandwell has 60 councillors signed up to the project, it is doubtful if more than half a dozen ever bother to update their site even irregularly. One of the problems is that the sites have to be fairly anodyne politically because they are funded by council tax payers. I have tried to get round that restriction by putting a direct link to my blog site from my council site, but if you have a non political councillors' website, there is an argument to say: why bother? On balance though I do think they can be made to work, even if only to tell people what is happening locally in their area.

The ego has landed....

After less than a week in office, the people of Yardley appear to have found a way to resolve the problem of their 'rent-a-quote' MP John Hemming.

An article in today's Guardian has been drawn to my attention by a constituent. It's about a secret Tory slush fund of over £2 million used to fund their election campaign. The interesting thing from my point of view is that the money appears to have been channeled through a company called Bearwood Corporate Services. So, that's what goes on behind the lace curtains of the Bearwood Conservative and Unionist Club.

Another broken Labour promise?

I saw Tom Watson at the AGM of our Labour Group this evening and he explained the reason his blog is down is due to problems with the server... but he has pledged to return. However, I don't know whether we can believe him because he also pledged a free pint to every member of the Group, but then mysteriously disappeared when we arrived at the pub.

Anyone for realignment? It would appear the Tories, as predicted by Meaders' mole on Saturday, are going to engage their brains before putting their leadership (s)election into action. That could mean that instead of trying to wallow deeper into the slime occupied by the BNP and banging on about immigration and asylum in the hope of dredging up an extra one or two percentage points, they will challenge the Lib Dems and New Labour for the centre ground of British politics. Should Yeo, Soames and co. succeed, perhaps the interesting thing will be seeing how Labour and the Lib Dems respond. Vince Cable and his free marketeer 'orange book' crowd already want to ditch Chat-Show Charlie, and the rumblings on the Labour backbenches for a more radical direction, indicate they may travel in slightly different directions to meet the challenge. It would be refreshing (although I'm sure David Blunkett would say 'self indulgent') if the debate within Labour was about policies and principles, instead of how best to exploit the half a million or so floating voters. The flip side of Kinnock's dismissal of Militant, (You can have all the principles in the world, but they count for nothing without power) is that you can have all the power in the world, but without principles..... it also counts for nowt.

John Prescott was apparently not too enamoured with Tony Blair's proposal to make David Blunkett Minister for Yobs within Prescott's portfolio.

What a shock. No wonder Tone finds the need to do some more listening. He could perhaps try a spot of reading too!

The Monster Raving Loonies waiting for the Sedgefield announcement....

.... and in Bethnel Green & Bow!

Perhaps one of the first acts of the new Labour Government should be to get rid of this stupid piece of legislation introduced by the Tories.

I don't mind the challenging or aggressive nature of media punditry. I certainly prefer it to the obsequious David Frost style... but the increasingly sneering manner of Paxman brings his profession into (even further) disrepute. Last night's interview with George Galloway plumbed new depths.

I remember Maggie Jones as UNISON's political officer. She sat on the Labour Party NEC and pursued a New Labour agenda as opposed to UNISON policy. Perhaps if she now has time on her hands I could suggest a new career in music. She could give us her version of 'I fought the Law, and the Law won'.

Shame for the Lib Dems that their policy of giving convicted prisoners the vote hasn't been implemented... they might have picked up the ginger-minger's anti-war vote.

Just one of the stunning images from a Russian site on the theme of stripes.

(via Never Trust a Hippy)

You get to read and listen to a whole pile of crap during a General Election campaign, some of which is incredibly pompous. For a spot of light relief I would suggest a read of the Monster Raving Loony Party Manifesto. They promise smaller school class sizes (by making pupils sit closer together) and they will issue a 99p coin "to save on change".

Prison works! Lock up this lawbreaker.

Apparently watching TV boosts your intelligence, according to this report. Sound's OK to me. Bugger the canvassing, I think I'll go back to bed and watch the footie!

If this is true, it would appear it is not just the voters Georgie has been wooing. Having said that, it wouldn't be the first time 'the spooks' have used this sort of tactic.

Interesting (or should I say depressing) to see Tony Banks, one time Livingstone ally, who shortly after being elected to Parliament in 1983 offered to resign to allow Tony Benn an opportunity to get back into Parliament, is apparently going to the House of Lords. Quite staggering from a man who said he was quitting the Commons "intellectually numbing". Still, with Chat Show Charlie nominating Jenny Tonge, the Lib Dem MP who said she "empathised with terrorist suicide bombers" to be one of the new Lib Dem Peers, the second chamber may liven up a bit.

Anyone who has ever come into contact with Kath Phillips will know that this required a superhuman effort. I can think of a couple of Sandwell councillors who find it impossible.

Following Labour's defeat in the 1983 General Election the right-wing of the Party, (remembered nostalgically by some as 'Old Labour') did what they always do, and blamed the left wing of the Party for the defeat. Never mind that the left had never run the Party for a minute, the Thatcher victory was blamed on the manifesto, described by Kauffman as 'the longest suicide note in history' for having the nerve to commit the Party to a programme of social justice and wealth redistribution. Also castigated, and Blair repeats this myth to this day, were those in the Party demanding democratic reforms, (the ability to select/deselect their MP, one member one vote) who were condemned as 'splitters', despite the fact that it was the right that had broken away to form the SDP. I still cringe to think of West Bromwich MP Peter Snape going on local television the night after the election and stating that the one good thing to come out of the defeat was that Tony Benn had lost his seat in Bristol.

For those with a less twisted view of labour history, pop along to 340 Old Street if you are in London, and although, apparently, you won't get to see Benn in the nude, you will probably enjoy this exhibition, entitled, perhaps ironically, Power.

Best of luck to Phil Sawford, the Labour MP (or candidate to be precise) in Kettering. How ironic that he'll probably be signing-on soon because of the anti-Blair factor.

Charles Kennedy says the atmosphere at this General Election reminds him of those 'heady days' of the 1983 election. Heady days indeed. The Liberals got 10 seats, the Alliance got 13 and the SDP got 3. I'll settle for that.

"There is absolutely no disagreement between colleagues in our Party"

(picture via Honorable Fiend)

Beats a night with Edwina any day of the week!

A popular tactic of those who like to think of themselves ‘on the left’ is to smear those to the left of them as being either mad (Benn, Scargill, Derek Robinson) or fascists. Cohen in The Observer uses the latter technique to smear George Galloway and RESPECT. Apparently it's called Godwin's Law.... or cheap shot lazy journalism.

...to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free, silhouetted by the sea, circled by the circus sands

Today's Guardian lists some of this summer's music festivals. Glastonbury, probably Britain's biggest outdoor music bash gets a mention, but it clashes with the Festival Gnaoua in Essaouira that Mrs P. and myself are going to (which The Guardian fails to mention) and where rumour has it that Youssou N'Dour will headline this year.

Almost every radical I've spoken to or read on blog sites who has filled in one of those 'How should I vote?' Internet surveys has been told they should vote Liberal Democrat. As we know, come election day, they will not vote Lib Dem and Chat Show Charlie will be asked to spend more time with his baby before June comes round. John O'Farrell has been playing with himself in secret.

Paul Merton on the perfectionist and comic genius Buster Keaton.

Hemming, egg, face, let me introduce you. Birmingham's very own Screaming Lord Sutch makes the news again. He cannot say he wasn't told.

Usually, within minutes of a blog post about him, particularly in respect of postal votes, Hemming shoots from the lip with an instant response. Strangely he has been reluctant to answer the following question posed by Talk Politics:
Are Birmingham Lib Dem carrying out the instructions of the national Liberal Democrat party and processing applications for postal votes from Lib Dem supporter through its Birmingham Office?
It's four days now, and counting.

Google Maps are excellent. Print them out and see where your leaflets are going. This is our Ward.

WMD hunt

OK... it's now final. Google maps can't find them either.

Altenatively, Bloggerheads and Mushybees will let you join the hunt.

Bandwagon for Howard!

How ironic that the man behind the Poll Tax, and a member of the Government that introduced the Council Tax, wants to leap on to a passing bandwagon.

Victory in the battle against crime

Whatever the Tories and Lib Dems say about the performance of the government, I do feel we need to herald a tremendous victory in the fight against crime. Why, in Northumbria it would appear that burglary, car crime, assault and most other crimes have been resolved totally. So much so, it appears the police have had to resort to investigating such nonsensical 'crimes' as this.

According to George Galloway... RESPECT have "the busiest political website in the country." Well, do they? What's the opposite of busy?

Are you drinking what we're drinking? (Underblog via Guido) and thanks to Toryscum for this.

As usual, Talkpolitics shows that he also also talks sense, and exposes John Hemming's vanity clause:
"...as seems to be perenially the case with John, his ego has got the better of him once again and his personal vanity would not allow anyone but him to be the one to make the challenge - even if others would have been far better placed, in law, as the plaintiff in this matter."

Repent ye sins

There's hope for Howard yet as Catholics elect a reactionary old conservative! According to the BBC the new Pope is a former member of the Hitler youth.

Hell's teeth

Grace by Jeff Buckley... no.61, Blood on the Tracks at 55, Born to Run at 37, ... and worst of all, Van the Man's classic Astral Weeks and Tom Waits' Rain Dogs, absolutely bloody nowhere. Totally unbelievable and discredited methinks.

I'm wary of the politics of the last atrocity, but... car bombs, like cruise missiles, don't ask questions about the people they kill. Marla Ruzicka's name joins the death toll.

Thanks to Christine (Supermum) for this. Ouch!

I shall vote labour, by Christopher Logue (written 1966)

I shall vote labour because
God votes labour
I shall vote labour to protect
the sacred institution of the family
I shall vote labour because
I am a dog
I shall vote labour because Labour tolerates
the traitor Ian Smith
I shall vote labour because
I am on a diet
I shall vote labour because Ringo votes labour
I shall vote labour because
upper class hoorays annoy me in expensive restaurants
I shall vote labour because if I don't
somebody else will

And

I shall vote labour because if one person does it everybody else will be wanting to do it.
I shall vote labour because
my husband looks like Antony Wedgewood_Benn
I shall vote labour because I am obedient
I shall vote labour because if I do not vote labour
my balls will drop off.
I shall vote labour because there are too few
cars on the road
I shall vote labour because
Mrs Wilson promised me five pounds if I did
I shall vote labour because I love
Look at Life films
I shall vote labour because
I am a hopeless drug addict
I shall vote labour because
I am a Wincarnis shareholder
I shall vote labour because
I failed to be a dollar millionaire aged three
I shall vote labour because labour will build
More maximum security prisons
I shall vote labour because I want to see
Nureyev and Fonteyne dance in Swansea Civic Centre
I shall vote labour because I want to shop
In a covered precinct stretching from Yeovil to Glasgow
I shall vote labour because I want to rape an air hostess
I shall vote labour because I am a hairdresser
I shall vote labour because
The Queen's Stamp collection is the best in the world
I shall vote labour because
Deep in my heart
I am a conservative

In the aftermath of the death of Pope John Paul I (August 26 1978)and the election of Pope John Paul II (September 28 1978), Birmingham City Football Club created the legend of being the team that failed to win a match during the reign of a Pope.

Good news.... we're two matches in and counting. Let's all hope they take their time to elect the new fellah!

A sobering thought for someone who has to submit themselves for election, according to this test, only 1.7% of the population have the same political views as me... and only 2.5% of Labour voters! I hope the 2.5% bother to vote! Thanks to Pete.

I smell a bid for the 'yoof vote'....
Alan Milburn used to listen to German '60's hippie outfit Tangerine Dream... George Galloway and Milburn are Dylan freaks (is that the only thing they have in common), Lemit Opik is a Led Zep fan and Oliver Letwin boogies on down to the last movement of the Fourth Symphony and the Kindertotenleider by Mahler, much of Beethoven's Ninth, and Strauss's waltzes.

The new membership of the House of Lords is now being recruited as compliant senior backbenchers agree to give up their seats in return for becoming Baron Blatherskyte of Betrayal in the next Honour’s List. I’ve not been sounded yet, except at a lower level, but every time my phone rings the humorists say “House of Lords calling”.

Austin Mitchell's amusing end of term report.

Over at Harry's Place there's a post which uses an interview with former UN weapons inspector and anti-war campaigner Scott Ritter to prove conclusively that the war wasn't all about oil

That elicited this comment from a computer generated blue hedgehog.... which offers an alternative explanation for motive behind the US/UK war in Iraq:

Guys you are missing Gene's point, it's obvious that it was not about oil (despite the fact Iraq has the second biggest known reserves in the world) and we know it was not about WMD's so that leaves.....Sand!

yes it's a little known fact that Iraq has one of the biggest reserves of high quality sand known, sand that can be used for many things like sandblasters and beach creation and, er, well lots of good stuff.

After all surely no-one is seriously expecting us to believe that Bush and Cheney lay awake at night crying at how Iraq was not free and how poor arabs were being tortured by Saddam and therefore spent $200 billion to save these poor people.

So if it's not oil, or WMD's and it was certainly not about freedom I put it to you that all is left is my groundbreaking Sand theory!

More Lib Dem lies...

Baroness Shirley Williams was on Radio 5 this afternoon. She was asked whether, as she had got Crosby in her title, she would be keeping a lookout for the Liverpool v Juventus score this evening. A pretty banal question, I grant you, but not as banal as the answer... "I'm doing an election thing tonight, but I will be trying to keep in touch because I think Liverpool United is a good team." Slightly embarrassed, the interviewer pressed on... "Have you been to Anfield lately" he tried. "No" said the noble one, "I haven't been for about 18 months. I like the Grand National and I've been in the past, but I suppose I just watch it on TV like everyone else now."

Roll on an elected second chamber, and meanwhile, God preserve us from politicians who think they have to impress us with their love and knowledge of football, when really they couldn't give a toss.

The mind boggles

Big news in Brum as the Lib Dem Deputy Leader of the Tory run council John Hemming meets Deepthroat! How very distasteful.

Photo fit

Via The Guardian election blog

(via Cheeks)

"As far as Rover is concerned, it is hard to see how a workers' co-op could have made a bigger cock-up of the business than its bosses did."
George Monbiot on the Rover fiasco.

Hugo Chavez.... Capitalism is Savagery. How long before the war against terror starts to focus on oil rich Venezuela?

Chancer

I wouldn't call Birmingham City Council Leader Mike Whitby an opportunist.... but... to ask central government for a £140m commitment for the redevelopment of New Street Station on the back of a request for assistance to Rover smacks of a chancer at work!

Tall tales (but good, all the same)

J.A.M. Hemming (the Max Clifford of self-publicity) was, according to Talk Politics, beaten in an election by a dog!
(Please refrain from tasteless comments about his Labour opponent in Yardley).

Are you thinking what I'm thinking?

"We believe in devolving power down to the lowest level so that local people are given greater control over their own lives."
Page 22 of The Conservative Party Manifesto 2005

"A Conservative Government will... review all speed cameras to ensure that they are there to save lives and not make money."
Page 22 of The Conservative Party Manifest 2005

That's empowerment?

It is easy to be cynical about politicians promises and sloganising. Things can only get better, though, wasn't just a slogan. It has taken time for investment to start showing results, but certainly on the issue of anti-social behaviour and crime, the feedback I get is that people really do think we are making progress after the Tory years of under investment and the running down of public services. Certainly these people in Sandwell seem to agree that efforts to stop low level crime and anti-social behaviour are beginning to have an effect.

One of the strangest aspects of politics is the way some politicians grab every opportunity to make events fit into their particular worldview. So, when David Blunkett is asked about voting fraud in Birmingham, quick as a flash our Dave is able to translate the question into an answer about the benefits of a national ID card scheme. Equally, when my favourite Lib Dem John Hemming spys a problem "spiralling out of control" at MG Rover, he instantly identifies the DTI (that, coincidentally, the Lib Dems are pledged to abolish) as the main cause of the problem. David... John... the public are not as daft as you perceive, please stop this blatant opportunism and have a bit of respect for them.

When it comes to election time, there is a case for brightening up the process through publicity seeking eccentrics like the Monster Raving Loony Party who would lighten up the news with a series of ridiculous stunts. In the absence of the late Screaming Lord Sutch... it is good to see that the Lib Dems have found a publicity seeking eccentric egomaniac to fill the void.

Ebay, obviously aware of ace election sleuth John Hemming, have decided not to accept votes for sale on ebay.

Following numerous requests over the years we have finally got Sandwell Council to install one of those continental-style Superloos in the main Bearwood shopping centre. This is my nightmare. Our Superloo has been installed following an arrangement the council reached with advertisers JC Decaux.... who were the masterminds behind this. Please, please don't let this happen to us!

A few weeks ago Tony Benn suggested that national newspapers should ask election candidates a series of questions to give the electorate some idea of where they stand on certain key issues. Well, now The Guardian has done something like it (albeit only for sitting MPs... and many, including, shame on him, blogging MP Tom Watson, do not seem to have responded). Should George Galloway be elected as Respect MP I wonder if he would turn up to vote more frequently.

Neo-con Paul Wolfowitz, newly appointed President of the World Bank could, according to some, emulate his predecessor Robert MacNamara and move from a White House hawk to a succesful World Bank President. Oh yes? George Monbiot in The Guardian has a different view of MacNamara "He bankrolled Mobutu and Suharto, deforested Nepal, trashed the Amazon and promoted genocide in Indonesia. The countries he worked in were left with unpayable debts, wrecked environments, grinding poverty and pro-US dictators."

John Hemming, Lib Dem partner of Birmingham's Conservative controlled Council, claims that electoral fraud has been reported in Sandwell. By whom... and with what evidence? I cannot find anyone who can verify this story... apart from this twunk who makes the claim that he has "considerable experience in the current political arena" (he spent a year on Sandwell Council, only spoke once, and then supported a Labour Group resolution to welcome the cultural diversity brought about by immigration into the country). Is this man Hemming's witness? Or is Hemming so gullible he believes everything he's told. No... that can't be the case, because he forgot to mention this one.

For more on Hemming, self-publicist supreme and failed Parliamentary candidate (must have been postal voting fraud that did it) I refer you to the excellent UK Political Hack.

The Pope... from a different perspective

"The greatest crime of his papacy, however, was neither his part in this cover up nor his neanderthal attitude to women. It was the grotesque irony by which the Vatican condemned - as a "culture of death" - condoms, which might have saved countless Catholics in the developing world from an agonising Aids death."
Terry Eagleton in The Guardian

Apparently Birmingham City Council has spent £2.35m on a park in Birmingham. Meanwhile, a park in my Ward which is perversely owned by Birmingham City Council and supposedly maintained by them, is a bloody disgrace. Despite the fact that the City Council Leader lives within yards of the park, he seems content to allow Lightwoods Park to deteriorate.

I wasn't sure exactly what it is about David Aaronovitch that really gets up my nose. Certainly his so-called "polemic dynamite" can be provocative, but the article in today's Observer really sums up what it is I despise about the nation's most high profile ex-communist come Blairite (or is that Sue Slipman). It's the way he describes the working class as male, right-wing and saloon bar intellectuals... and those who think differently to him as "the British intelligentsia" who are living "in shuttered dining-rooms in Holland Park, Highbury and Kennington, in converted barns in Herefordshire and flagged kitchens in Brittany, in the pages of the London Review of Books and at publishing parties". So, perhaps we should have a little feature in the Observer colour supplement, a sort of "At home with the Aaronovith's" number, where David can show us round his little two up, two down terraced house, coal in the bath, whippet warming up outside etc, just before our Dave gets ready for his Sunday trip down the boozer for a few pints of mild before his roast beef and an afternoon of farting in the armchair watching the footie. Patronising fat get!

Dave Lambert at Talk Politics, (2/4/05) raises some interesting points in response to my question about the problems of a local income tax. I await the flood of comments from the Lib Dem intelligensia.

An April Fool

OK... it was 1st April... but surely Oliver Kamm was having a laugh when, in this article on human rights under Fidel Castro, he quotes Donald Rumsfeld attacking "Old Europe" as some sort of justification. If you really want to look for human rights abuses in Cuba, surely you need to look no further than Guantanamo Bay.

Fear the yobs. Toryscum.com.

Is there anyone out there with information on how a local income tax would work? If my constituents in Sandwell work in Birmingham and pay their local income tax through PAYE, who gets the payment... the borough with a business, or the borough where they live? If it is the area where you live... wouldn't those captains of industry in the leafy lanes of Worcestershire benefit over the working class areas of Sandwell where the factories are?