It's not the guy they like... it's the one they trust

Iain Dale writing on David Cameron, The Brand:

A cult of personality has been consciously engendered. He, not the party, is now the Conservative brand. He is a thoroughly modern man whose marketing persona aims at direct comparison with one man - Gordon Brown. The media perceive Cameron to be where the zeitgeist is. By comparison, Brown looks like a man of the past. And that's exactly the way the Cameroons want it.

The opinion polls definitely show Cameron to be more popular (i.e. likeable, affable) than Brown. The crucial question though, "Which man do you think would respond best in a crisis?" gives Brown an overwhelming majority. It is that mistrust of Cameron's political depth, not his "niceness" that will, I suspect, prove his undoing. Despite everything the spin doctors have been doing over the last decade, people would still rather have Alex Ferguson running the team than David Beckham and Posh Spice, or thick and thin as they are otherwise known. As Blair said on Tuesday (I knew I must have agreed with something he said) "Using opinion polls now to predict the outcome of the next general election is like trying to predict the weather forecast in four years time."

A bevvy or two

I had a wee drink or six with young Tom Watson last night in the Midland Hotel. The impressive thing was the numbers of his colleagues and other delegates, from across the political spectrum within the Party, who came up, shook him by the hand and congratulated him on his recent decision. I do believe he will be giving his first television interview since the resignation at 11pm tonight (in the Central TV area only, I think).

Peterloo massacre

As numerous delegates and speakers have been keen to point out to us all week, the GMEX conference centre is built on the site of St Peter's Fields where in 1819 mounted troops set about peaceful protesters which ended with the infamous Peterloo Massacre. Just to show the lessons have not been lost on the modern day constabulary and their masters, it seems that yesterday they decided to commemorate the event with a historical re-enactment. About 70 peaceful supporters of CND were taking part in a 'release a balloon' demonstration in protest at Trident renewal. Just before the balloons were due to be released three ranks of police, accompanied by mounted police and dogs, swooped on the demonstrators because they believed the group to be "intending to cause disruption". One of the most fierce and highly dangerous protesters... a 62 year-old woman... was arrested, together with a graphic designer who was passing by and who objected to the heavy handed policing. Whew! Do I feel safe now!

Conference saved from dangerous protesters

As numerous delegates and speakers have been keen to point out to us all week, the GMEX conference centre is built on the site of St Peter's Fields where in 1819 mounted troops set about peaceful protesters which ended with the infamous Peterloo Massacre. Just to show the lessons have not been lost on the modern day constabulary and their masters, it seems that yesterday they decided to commemorate the event with a historical re-enactment. About 70 peaceful supporters of CND were taking place in a 'release a balloon' demonstration in protest at Trident renewal. Just before the balloons were due to be released three ranks of police, accompanied by mounted police and dogs, swooped on the demonstrators because they believed the group to be "intending to cause disruption". One of the most fierce and highly dangerous protesters... a 62 year-old woman... had been arrested, together with a graphic designer who was passing by and who objected to the heavy handed policing. Whew! Do I feel safe now!

Feed the world

A nice little snippet in The Independent conference diary today about Geldof's remarks that...one cause of poverty in Africa is that 70% of their intellectuals live abroad.

"I'm sure we could spare David Aaronovitch. He'd feed a family of six for months."

A proper choice

Despite the enthusiasm of those delegates who would walk over hot coals for Blair, and those who want a coronation for Gordon, I get the feeling the Party itself is up for a contest based on ideas. Not "Old" Labour versus "New" Labour (despite what a lot of people say, I do not consider myself to be Old Labour. The whole concept of Old Labour was based around a sexism, often racism and more often than not male, homophobic right wing agenda) but a party that wants a debate about direction. The Lib Dems are having a debate between social and economic liberal values, Cameron is at least on the face of it trying to drag the Tories out of the 18th Century... so we should also question many of the Blairite principles instead of clapping like demented seals everytime anyone says "three consequetive general election victories". Michael Meacher in The Guardian writes...

Domestically, we should end the obsession with privatisation as a panacea, not only in health and education, but also in housing, pensions, probation, rail and local government. We need a new leadership that will genuinely listen to the party and the public, with mechanisms in place so that it can be held to account. Conference should have a decision-making role, not merely act as an opportunity for the leader to grandstand, and nominations each year for leader and deputy leader would allow sentiment within the party to be channelled towards change. Parliament should take back much of the patronage and decision-making that No 10 has appropriated to itself.

and frankly, I couldn't disagree with a word of that.

This afternoon, for instance, the delegates supported a resolution opposing Patricia Hewitt's sell-off of the supply agency NHS Logistics to unionbusters DHL.... and in light of all that....this may prove very interesting.

Independent views

They give you a free copy of The Independent when you go into Conference. So, I hope the delegates enjoyed this letter as much as I did.

Sir: In his conference speech Gordon Brown said, "It has been a privilege to work for the most succesful ever Labour leader and Prime Minister." "Well, that's a lie," replied Cherie. Perhaps she's just a big fan of Clement Atlee.

Bloggers 4 Labour

After making some rather tetchy remarks about Kerron Cross, it was inevitable I suppose that we should meet up at the Bloggers4Labour drink.... and guess what, he's a really nice guy, not an 'on message' Blairite at all, and was even featured on the telly later that night supporting Gordon Brown (so I suppose he must be a bit on message). Others present that I had a chance to talk to included Antonia (who confessed to clapping the video screen during HIS speech - a quite bizzare sight. People actually gave the screen a standing ovation at the end!!) Gareth, (who is a giant so I'm not going to write any rude comments on his site anymore) Catherine from North of the River and Adele, who wanted to know if Dave Prentis was a 'trot' (No, Adele, he's not). Anyway, there were a number of others present who I didn't get much chance to talk to or didn't remember their blog name after having imbibed a bit, but they all seemed pretty decent folks. I couldn't help thinking how dreary a Tory equivalent would be.

You'll never guess who I met in a queue....

Just to show how hi-tech we are here in the New Labour village we have an internet zone for the thousands of delegates and visitors to use to access their e-mail, update their blogs and in some cases re-write the holy bible, I think. You see... there are only 6 computers between all of us, and some people are hogging them. So, in order to access the computers you have to wait in a queue (yes, another bloody queue) for anything up to half an hour.

It has it's interesting aspects though. This morning, whilst nosing in on someone's conversation in the queue I realised that I was standing right behind the world's numero uno Labour bogger, none other than Kerron Cross. To be brutally honest, I was a little disappointed. His blog shows a fresh faced youth, smartly dressed and neatly pressed. Not this Kerron Cross, however. Tieless, dressed in a Burton's suit which had definitely seen better days and with a ripped lining, he looked an altogether sorrier figure than I had anticipated. He must have that natural charisma though, because whereas I shuffled along unnoticed by fellow delegates, Kerron was approached by a series of nubile young things keen to chat and simply exist in the same atmosphere as him.

So, with Luke Akehurst being altogether 'rounder' than I had expected, and Kerron being somewhat shabbier, I hesitate to attend the Bloggers4Labour 'do' tonight in case more of my mythical impressions get debunked. I think I'll go home and dress down a bit though, I wouldn't want to stand out from the crowd.

New localism

The theme of the week seems to be 'devolving power to communities' So far I've heard Hazel Blears telling people about the need to 'empower local people', Ruth Kelly saying we need 'doorstep devolution', and Gordon Brown on Today saying we need to devolve power from 'Central Government to local communities'.

It all sounds very fine, doesn't it. But what does it mean? What I suspect it means is finding a way to take power away from local authorities. Empowering who then? Who or what are 'local people'? It's a stupid, meaningless phrase and one of the sorts of cliches that endlessly drips from David Cameron's tongue. Every local councillor knows about the self-appointed 'local activist' or 'voice of the people'. There is even one in my Ward who has given himself the OBE and signs his corespondence with this fictional award after his name. Self-appointed, unelected, unaccountable. By and large, they are unelectable... and hence their attraction to the Blairites. Like Thatcher, who wiped out a whole tier of local government because it wouldn't do as she commanded, the Blairites talk the talk on democracy... but they don't walk the walk. If someone else can claim a democratic mandate, it threatens theirs. Watch out for the Local Government Bill in the autumn and the Lyons report shortly after... and when you hear people talk of 'empowering local people' ask them the five questions!

Not now, Hazel, not now.

Ok... I'm in! I'm blogging from the broadband access in the exhibition hall inside the GMex Centre. I have to admit, I never thought I would ever make it. The registration hall is about three-quarters of a mile from the GMEX Centre. When I got there at about 1pm I was asked to join an enourmous queue of other delegates who had either not received police clearance or simply been victims of Labour Party imefficiency (take your pick). 20 minutes later, the queue had not budged an inch, other than those elderly people in front of me who had given way to fatigue. But... at about 2.30pm, half an hour after Conference opened, I finally got to the front, was told I was one of the 'happy people' (believe me, she cannot begin to know how wrong she was) and nwas given a slip of paper and received some instructions to go down a corridor and take the fourth door on the left..... where I joined another bloody queue!!! This was much shorter, and 10 minutes later I was given my pass (and who should be waiting for his pass, but none other than Luke Akehurst - we didn't speak). Another hike up the road, and starving hungry, bloody thirsty, and a bit too sweaty for comfort... I passed through the security checks and metal detectors, just in time to hear Hazel Blears making sweet noises about encouraging the voluntary sector and engaging with Labour supporters, not just members. She then went on to talk about efficiency and renewal under Labour.

Not now, Hazel, not now.

Must go... I've just seen an old UNISON contact, Wendy Nichols from Yorkshire, up at the mike and giving it plenty about the NHS strike.

And they all lived happily ever after

To all those of you who think the world is full of nasty, selfish little Thatcherites, standing on their own two feet, and if that doesn't work, standing on everyone else's... read Steve's story at Occupied Country. It'll warm the cockles of your heart whilst bringing a tear to the eye.... and show you the value of good old working class solidarity.

Michael Meacher joins the blogging community

So, now Michael Meacher has joined the very short list of blogging Labour MPs. Today he can reveal from an unimpeachable source that Gordon Brown has told junior ministers that if they do not vote for him in the forthcoming leadership contest, they'’ll be out. Well it is nice to see that the authoritarian streak which has characterised the Party leadership under Blair is not going to be changed under Brown... if he wins.

Any other Labour MPs who want some advice about how easy it is to set up a blog, get in touch with me at Conference. Alternatively, you could arrange to pass your exclusive bits of juicy gossip, particularly about your fellow MPs in the Tory and Lib Dem camps, through to little old me and I'll repeat them.

It's not clever and it's not popular

Simon Jenkins in the Guardian on the failure of Thatcher-Blairism to understand that the privatisation of public services is neither popular nor an improvement.

When viewed in the round, Thatcherism's conduct of the public sector is one of extraordinary ineptitude: the poll tax, rail privatisation, on-off hospital autonomy, school testing, computer procurement, farm subsidies, family tax credits. Private finance, said to be "the only game in town", is startlingly expensive. Blair's quest for service delivery through "e-government" is as elusive as his quest for democracy abroad through e-war. Labour's most treasured creation, the NHS, is forced to find upwards of £12bn to pay for a computer system it does not need and must cut swaths through hospital services to do so. To all this, Thatcherism seems to have no answer.

Kalinka

One of the highlights of my secondary education in Aston (and believe me, there were not many) was an amazing visit to the school by the Red Army Choir. I can still remember Kalinka, so in order to send all those off to conference in good spirits... here goes.


PS- Before the comments box is filled with Tory plonkers saying that this means I am personally responsible for the execution of every Russian kulak and peasant since 1917... save yourself the effort, I'm not interested.

Join the queue

I always liked Bill Bryson's description of the French attitude to queuing. They all stand around patiently in line waiting for a bus in an orderly queue. Then, as soon as the bus arrives it descends into a chaotic rugby scrum. Well, here's a blog about the British approach. I love this particular one... how many times have I stood behind this woman?

B19

Lozells is not one of Birmingham's prettiest suburbs, and rap music, whether it be from the studios of New York or Dakar is not something I find very listenable, but Soweto Kinch has released an album about Lozells which sounds like it could be well worth a listen.

18 Doughty Street

I've added a link on the sidebar to 18 Doughty Street, the latest innovation by ConservativeHome's Tim Montgomerie and Iain Dale. It sounds as if it has got some real potential, although only time will tell if it descends into Labour bashing or Tory propoganda. I have some grounds for optimism on the basis that they seem to be inviting a network of 'reporters' to record slots for the station from across the political spectrum. I have been asked by Iain to give some thought to taking part and I'm going to try to visit the studio next month to see what it involves. However, as I told Iain, my rather broad 'brummie' accent (so I am told) never really translates to radio or tv.... but, let's see.

If there is anyone else who thinks they could do something along those lines, you may want to contact Iain via his blog and offer your services. I mean, Tom Watson must have some extra time on his hands these days, and he has got a face which is made for radio!

Old Big 'ead

It's late in the day for this I know, but Paulie from Never Trust a Hippy reminds us that even though it wasn't listed in Dead Socialist Watch, today marks the anniversary of the death of probably the best football manager this country has ever known (I don't know whether I'm the best, but I'm in the top one, he used to say). They are collecting for a statue to be erected to the great man if you want to send a quid or two.

His Master's Voice

Listen out for the PM's speech next week and see how often this happens (from 50 ways to irritate everyone)

Middle class people (especially politicians and media folk) who try to talk in "street" accents but can't keep it up – saying "goh", "woh" or "loh" one moment and "got", "what" or "lot" the next.

Only 18 holes in the game?

18 Reasons why I hate the Ryder Cup. What... only 18?? Here's another couple...

19. When it is played at the Belfry even the hotels and bars in the far West of Birmingham (20 miles away) are full of Americans dressed in silly clothing who were conned into thinking that the Hagley Road was in the heart of Shakespeare country, so they wonder around asking if you know where Anne Hathaway's cottage is.

20. Golf... or even worse still, golf on television. This is surpassed only by Formula 1 motor racing and anything involving horses as THE most boring spectator spectacle when viewed on tv. However, I suspect that unlike motor racing where being at the circuit and smelling the fuel, or horse racing where being near the parade ring and smelling the horse shit, golf is probably an even more distressing experience to watch live on the course.

I'll stop there, but I'm sure given the time I could get the list up near the 100 mark.

Alas... poor Ming


Watching Vince Cable explain the Lib Dems tax plans was a bit like watching Norman Wisdom explain nuclear fusion.His answers lasted as long as it took Andrew Neil to point out that he was talking rollocks.

Read more at the excellent Impossible Promises.

The cat litter tray of history

I've just seen Liverpool Lib Dem Councillor Richard Kemp make a Conference speech in which he called for their proposals for local government to be "condemned to the litter tray of history". Another speaker moving reference back of the report said, "There is nothing very much wrong with this paper.... because there's nothing very much in it". How very satisfying that the Party that only actually runs anything at all at local government level...seems to know sod all about it.

Everybody seems to be getting worked up about the Panorama programme tonight in case it names some well known football managers in bung scandals, with Bolton Wanderers manager Sam Allardyce threatening to sue if he is accused. Well, we certainly know that David O'Dreary is in the clear during his last year with the club because the tight-fisted old get who was running the club never let him spend any money anyway.

On the subject of which, there's an entertaining thread on this site about the renaming of the Witton Lane Stand at Villa Park now the old swine has shuffled off. One dipstick bravely tries to defend Ellis... and even tries to suggest that the club has a policy of not having any minutes silence before the game (during O'Dreary's reign we often had 90 of them every home game). Others are less generous towards the self-styled Mr Aston Villa.

Never appear with animals, kids or celebrities.

It seems like Nancy Banks-Smith has been writing the sharpest television reviews in the media since Adam were a lad. Today she has written a neat little review of Jamie Oliver's latest school dinners programme which just captures the way in which politicians struggle to cope with celebs in front of a camera without a script. The scene where Oliver meets with new, and desperately unprepared, Education Secretary Alan Johnson was a treat, as Nancy saw it...

"Johnson was new to the job ("I'm this week's secretary of state") and it showed. I haven't seen anyone so unbriefed since The Full Monty. When he said "I can't commit to anything after 2008 financially", Jamie snapped back: "So does that mean our boys are going to be out of Iraq in a year and a half?" At this the minister's special adviser bounded from her seat as if gravity had been cancelled."

I'm quite sure we can expect David Cameron to take up the cause with gusto. "Every school-aged child will get free muesli and fresh fruit," Dave will pledge, adding with a wink to the camera how Margaret Thatcher was wrong to snatch the kids free school milk off them and he was apologising on behalf of 'modern day Conservatives' everywhere.

Some helpful advice for Conference Delegates

The Campaign for Labour Party Democracy has published Pete Willsman's Guide for Annual Conference delegates, and very helpful it is too.

Am I persona non grata?

I don't usually go to the Labour Party Conference. After over 30 years of going to trade union conferences I tend to think of myself as all conferenced-out. I've done my bit; I've spent whole weeks of my life listening to some of the world's most boring speakers reading out speeches they had spent nights in front of the mirror rehearsing.

But, this year my fellow Ward councillor is the Constituency delegate, and with a foolish rush of blood to the head, I offered to go along to offer moral support and the benefit of my dubious political wisdom. The Party is allowing Labour councillors special access to the Conference this year so I dutifully filled in my form, sent my photo for the pass (which I am told has Murdoch's Sky logo on it - have we sold that too?) and wrote out the cheque which the Party cashed pretty damn quick.

I received confirmation of my registration in Early August, but to date... no credentials, agenda, etc. So I phoned the Conference arrangements people, who confirmed my registration on their computer. However... they said... we haven't had your clearance back from the police!!

After 30 odd years membership, having held virtually every Branch Labour Party position, having sat on the interminable Constituency Management Committee for over 20 years, and 7 years a Labour councillor... this is what it has come to. Some member of Her Majesty's constabulary is going to decide whether or not I am a fit and proper person to go to Party Conference. Thanks a bunch!

Flog the lot

Patricia Hewitt says she is "fighting for the soul of the NHS". If this does not wake up delegates to next week's Labour Party Conference that we are actually involved in a fight to save the bloody soul of the Labour Party I do not know what will. When Blair is packed off to the US speaking circuit perhaps he can take Hewitt with him to carry his bags.... she has experience in the job, she used to do it for Neil Kinnock. Those of us with longer memories recall her days as a strident Bennite, screaming 'traitor' at those who had voted for Healey for Deputy Leader. Believe it or not... she was considered a danger to national security by MI5.... I think they got it right for once.

A plague on both our houses

I'm pleased to hear that Skuds has got them down in Crawley too... because we seem to be the subject of a plague of these buggers at the moment. By the way, I'm told that Skuds' team Crawley Town are actually on the box this week in a top v bottom clash.

Four more years....

For all those deadhead blogging youths at University who say they would rather have a Tory Government than another Labour Government... this is what it used to be like:

The Chancellor raised interest rates from 10% to 12%, then to 15%, and authorised the spending of billions of pounds to buy up the sterling being frantically sold on the currency markets.

Thanks to Elephunt at Impossible Promises for that via the BBC at On This day in 1992.

Although, despite all our recent troubles.... this makes happy reading. It would appear Conservative Party Central Office is even dozier than some our our lot..

A 'cold-calling' survey, in which party workers emailed local constituencies pretending to be members of the public interested in joining, found that only a third even got a response after the first attempt.

Exclusive: John Spellar on his Leadership bid

My MP John Spellar saw fit to announce to his constituency party meeting last night that in the interest of Party unity, and in order to avoid continuing media speculation... he will not be a candidate in an election for party Leader or Deputy Leader.

A stitch in time...

Antonia is a hero She has provided a link list to Iain Dale's top 100 Labour bloggers.

Sudan Watch

Ingrid Jones hosts the excellent Sudan Watch website, which has been cataloguing the horrors in Darfur for the last two years. She is sickened by what she knows, frustrated that the world watches the genocide taking place, and drained of energy, Ingrid is having to take a break. She writes:

Life is short. Taking a break. Can't stomach reading any more news of calls for war and death that gives thieves, terrorists, killers and rapists a field day. Can't bear to see any more photos of uneducated African children living in war zones where billions of dollars are wasted on greedy power crazy bums.

Despite the arrival of the rainy season in south Darfur the country is still faced with critical water shortages, International Committee of the Red Cross reported 7 Sep 2006.

War is senseless. As noted here many times before, countries with water shortages need to be helped by armies of world class land rights lawyers and water engineers to enable clean drinking water to be accessible where needed.

Sudan is a country the size of Europe. For sure, scientists say, it will face increasing water shortages (hence more fighting and killing over water holes, livestock, arable land) due to climate change. A dear old English friend, who'd lived and worked in the Sudan 50 years ago, once described to me Sudan's ongoing crises as "too many people living in the wrong place". I fear he is correct.

300,000 have died already. Now there are fears Sudan is preparing a brutal 'final solution' in Darfur

Measure the column inches this weekend devoted to this horror against those given over to the spoutings of an elderly German religious leader or whether Gordon is talking to Tony this week... and see if you can work out which should be more important.

Something for the weekend

No.2 in Iain Dale's top 100 Labour bloggers. Damn that Kerron Cross! He looks so smug (errm, sorry, I meant cuddly) too! Hopefully by 7pm tonight he will not have anything to smile about... but I do have a sense of unease about this one.

The God slot... or thought for the day

It would appear the Pope has put his size 9’s in it with some remarks quoting some 14th century Christian Emperor saying that the Prophet Muhammad had brought the world only "evil and inhuman" things. OK… who cares what the 14th Century bigots thought about these things, or why the Pope thought it so necessary to regurgitate, it would appear a peculiar way of, in his diplomats words “cultivating a position of respect and dialogue towards other religions.” But what do I know? I was taught religion at school by a Welsh, fundamentalist, sadist named Hughes. One of his tricks was to make us learn whole passages of the Bible, and then read them out from memory to the whole class. He would stand, fist poised behind your head waiting for you to stumble, hesitate, deviate or just plain forget. If and when you did his fist would bring down the vengeance of the Lord swiftly upon you. The one passage I cocked-up on was the 10 commandments, although I can still to this day recall elements of it that were burnt, or beaten, into my brain. So, how about this one for the Holy Father to contemplate in his quieter moments…

I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, punishing the iniquities of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those that hate me;

Even leaving aside his child beating tendencies, just how was this supposed to persuade me of the value of Hughes’ religion? If I make a mistake and worship a false idol, not only do I cop it (fair enough, you might say, although not terribly compassionate) but my kids? Their children, and even their children following them? No, not for me, mate, count me out of all of this stuff.

Home Truths

Radio 4 is deeply ingrained in my psyche. It dates back to childhood memories of the Home Service with, De Manio, Timpson, and Redhead on Today, Yesterday in Parliament and, of course, the bloody Archers (which as someone once said provided sufficient evidence to prove Marx’s theory that the peasantry were not a force for revolution).

I have to admit though, that in recent years I have drifted away from Radio 4 towards Radio 5. As one well respected commentator (well, OK, Iain Dale) said profoundly not so long ago, if your main interests are Sport and News, tuning in to Radio 5 is likely to be where you get your fix. So it is with me, although I am also driven completely up the wall by those constant commercial radio-style jingles telling me what I already know… that I am listening to 5 Live.

So, I was particularly intrigued by this shortlist of the worst programmes on Radio 4… and there is just so much here that I agree with. I used to almost worship the ground that John Peel walked upon… but I could not bear to listen to more than a few grating seconds of the execrable Home Truths. It is impossible to say how much I agree with this assessment of ‘Any Answers’…

Any Questions is bad enough, full of politicians who at least pretend to know what they are talking about. But allowing anyone who can dial the phone access to Radio 4 airwaves - anyone who doesn't have a public image to consider when voicing their opinion on immigration, homosexuality and homosexual immigrants - is not a good idea.

Suddenly... the Tories have stopped believing opinion polls.

Following what some commentators have described as Labour's worst couple of weeks since the last time we had our worst couple of weeks...(errm, sometime in late April/early May) MORI has published an opinion poll which reveals... Labour 1% in front of dozy Dave's crew! As you will see from the comments on ConservativeHome, the boys and girls are getting all jittery and have started blaming MORI for not being able to conduct opinion polls properly.

All it tells me is.... Labour try to ditch Blair... Labour's opinion poll rating rises. If the wider Party is listening, there might even be a message in there somewhere from the electorate.

Selling herself Short

Unlike a lot of comrades who were bemused over her belated resignation at the time of the Iraq invasion, I have always had a lot of time for Clare Short. When it was difficult to get any politician, particularly a Birmingham politician, to take up issues around Ireland on any other basis than 'send more troops, increase repression, etc.' Clare would bravely appear at public meetings and make the case for Irish self determination. She was roundly condemned by many as dithering over her resignation around the Iraq invasion and falsely, I think, accused of putting her career before her principles. As many regular readers will know, I am frequently sympathetic to those who stay and fight their corner rather than indulging in gesture resignations. Whereas Robin Cook achieved Sainthood in the movement, despite presiding as Shadow Foreign Secretary and later Foreign Secretary of a Government which flew daily raids over Iraq and approved sanctions which killed hundreds of thousands of Iraqi children, Clare Short was lambasted for staying on as Overseas Development Secretary because she thought, wrongly, she could have more influence than George W. Bush over our Prime Minister.

On that basis, I am sorry to hear that she will not contest the next General Election... (well done to those bloggers who broke the story before the media), and I'm even sadder to see the fact that she wants to campaign for a hung parliament. As a Birmingham MP she only has to look at the state of almost total inertia in the City since the pathetic and clueless Tory administration, propped up by Lib Dems who would sell their grannies for a foot under the Cabinet table, took control of the Council three years ago. Think again, Clare. By all means campaign for a more progressive Labour Leadership, but not for a coalition of orange book yellow Tories and Cameroon chameleons.

UPDATE: If this story is correct it would appear that Clare has chosen to commit political suicide. Her meetings with the other Birmingham Lib Dem MP, local lothario John Hemming, would be well worth the price of the entrance ticket.

Better to die on your feet than live on your knees

Just a different perspective, I suppose. My comrade from the right of the Party, Luke Akehurst, is at it again. Following the RMT walkout at the TUC before His Master's Voice began, Luke states that in his experience that sort of behaviour is How not to recruit people into trade unions. It just goes to show how experiences differ. I have done a bit in the trade unions myself over the last few years. Strangely, I invariably found that it was those trade unionists who stood up for what they believed in, who voiced the opinions of people in the workplace even when they were unpopular with the bosses, and who were actively prepared to oppose redundancies, closures, privatisations etc. who were respected by their members and were best equipped to recruit more members. Those that silently sat back, meekly accepted the crumbs handed down from the top table, sheepishly followed their careerist full-time officials... they never seemed to get respect, or recruits.

The very observant Pc

I am indebted to Red Mist for this reference to an article from the Express & Star newspaper about a blind man who had been banned from driving for three years. I like the bit where the prosecuting solicitor Peter Love asked Pc Glyn Austin, one of two officers who pulled Aziz over, if he had noticed anything about the driver. Pc Austin replied: “I did - he didn’t have any eyes, Your Worships.” I also agree that the comments of former Leader of Sandwell Conservative Group, Karen Bissell, could be construed as meaning the fragrant Karen didn't think the poor chap should be banned at all. I'm sure she didn't mean that... but the phrase about beggars in respect of this particular gentleman could have been better chosen.

Balti plotting

I have no idea about the validity of this story, although Tom is known to like a curry (or two). But I must question its credibility, I mean... why on earth would you go to Wolverhampton for a balti????

Party poopers

They've all gone quiet over HERE. Despite joining in the London media hype over West Ham's new aquisitions, Iain Dale appears to have gone all shy after they were played off the park yesterday By Martin's lads. I know how Kerron felt now when Watford were only able to get a draw after apparently murdering the Hammers. Still, watch out Kerron... you're up next!

The not-so-secret thoughts of Adrian Bailey Aged 53 and three-quarters

Tom Watson... as most people know by now, is the Labour MP for West Bromwich East. Tom has been in the news for his part in the move to get Tony Blair to avoid leading Labour into the valley of death next May. The MP for the next door constituency, West Bromwich West, is Adrian Bailey, who you almost certainly will not have heard of. Mr Bailey is not even a celebrity in the Bailey household. An ultra loyalist to Blair, Bailey has now come out to condemn Tom Watson's actions, claiming Tom was “out of touch with the people in the borough” This is funny enough to be a spoof. Bailey publicly critices Watson in the newspapers... whilst claiming Watson is being disruptive. As one Sandwell Councillor points out in the article, Watson has the overwhelming support of people in our area. He is a bloody good constituency MP. Adrian Bailey, on the contrary, is an MP who seems to spend an extraordinary amount of time meddling in the affairs of his constituency Labour Party. Perhaps if he looks at the BNP voting pattern in his constituency he would learn a few lessons from Tom Watson about working WITH party members, not AGAINST them.

He's having a bad week

When it's not going your way... it's just not going your way. Blair not welcome here either. Still, I note (via Red Mist) that someone still loves ya, Tone.

It really is quite strange. Keeping the Faith has listed the top 50 achievements of Tony Blair. Now, I thought they were achievements of the Labour Government! Surely that man Gordon Brown, so much slagged off by Blairites over the last few days, must have had something to do with these. Such as No.1, for instance... oh, and no.2.... errm, not forgetting no.3. Equally strange, there seems to be no mention of an obvious ommission..... eliminating weapons of mass destruction from Iraq.

Revolting MPs

Tom Watson is a Sandwell MP, a blogger, and a very, very loyal Labour Party man. Although Tom and myself differ over very many areas of Party policy, he has never adopted a hostile attitude whenever we meet, and when we very occasionally bump into each other we have been known to sink a pint or two very amicably. He thinks I'm a mad trot and I think he is a New Labour clone (and we're both wide of the mark). Since coming into Parliament I don't think Tom has ever voted against the Government line, so for him to sign this letter must have took a lot of soul searching for a man who has only just been appointed to a Ministerial position. There will be those (Iain Dale springs to mind) who will say this is Tom Watson taking a cynical political gamble and hoping for his reward in a Brown Government. But I was watching Tom recently when the Sandwell Labour Group gave their verdict to MPs on the antics of Clarke, Prescott, Jowell... and Tony Blair following the local government elections, and I could tell that as a Party man, it was hurting.

It's his party and he'll cry if he wants to

Here we go, here we go, here we go. There, see, that's one more we've got... we only need to get rid of Blair and the other half a million members he promised us when he took over might actualy join or rejoin.

We're sorry. honestly, really, really, sorry

The self-flagellation of the Conservative Party continues. In the wake of their, "We're terribly sorry" for Thatcher's previous support for racist South Africa, we now have a "we're really, honestly sorry" about the fact that they cocked-up the public services under the old witches regime. I await with baited breath Dave's pronouncement that "We're genuinely sorry for being Conservatives".

File under De-Thatchification.

Essential wear

Just one of the T-shirts available from the good folk at Philosophy Football to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Spanish Civil war. Each one of the four designs is based on banners of the Republic and the International Brigades who fought for land and freedom against the fascists.

It must be History Revisionism week. Thatcher didn't really call Mandela a terrorist. Young Tories didn't wear badges saying 'Hang Mandela'

Iain Dale seems like a nice guy... but his fixation with Lady Doom really does tend to overshadow his judgement at times. Now we find he is using the Foreign Minister of the discredited racist apartheid government to defend the old witch's policies towards South Africa in the strangely titled The Rights & Wrongs of Margaret Thatcher (errrm, where's the wrongs, Iain?). The bit I like is where Botha says... "she was firmly opposed to apartheid and any form of racial discrimination." This latest piece of sucking up is evenly mildly critical of the boy Dave. It is really quite bizarre and reveals something deeply unhealthy in Iain's inner psyche ... something of the Johnothan Woss in the night here, methinks. Whatever next? Pinochet the torturer and tea-sipping companion revealed as a cuddly old uncle who was misunderstood by everyone except her? No, of course not... why, even Iain goes on to say he didn't think the old bat was right on everything!!! So, perhaps Iain will give us the benefit of one of his top 100 lists. The top 100 things Thatcher got wrong! Don't hold your breath.

It's Squeaky Bum Time

There are moves underway in the Labour Party to get support from Constituencies for a Contemporary Resolution on the Leadership issue. Constituence delegates are urged not to be distracted by those trying to persuade them to support a trade union resolution.

The Leadership model resolution is:

Conference notes the call by the First Minister of the Labour Welsh Assembly Government on 10 August 2006 for clarity over the leadership of the Labour British government well before the Welsh, Scottish and local government elections in May 2007.

Conference notes with concern mounting electoral losses and public controversy about the direction of both domestic and foreign policy.

Moreover, Conference notes growing public concern and interest in a new constitutional settlement to ensure that future British Prime Ministers and their governments are held accountable to Parliament and the electorate.

Conference commends the achievements of its Party Leader since his election in 1994, and subsequently as Prime Minister through Labour’s three successive British General election victories in 1997, 2001 and 2005.

Conference notes the Prime Minister’s previous statement that he will not fight the next General Election as Party Leader or Prime Minister. Conference now believes that the next Labour Prime Minister needs as much time as possible in office before the next General Election, if Labour is to secure a fourth term.

Conference, therefore, calls on the NEC to use its powers under Clause VIII 3 (h)* to table a resolution at Conference for debate and ballot on Wednesday 27 September under Rule 4B. 2d (ii) to enable delegates to decide on a card vote whether or not there should be a Leadership contest before the 2007 Annual Conference.

Relax... browse... it's Saturday!

When I refererred to 10,000 Reasons Civilisation is Doomed (No.3266 is a bitter man) I forgot to reference the fact that I got to it from HERE. Amongst the other little gems worth browsing from the same site you will find Photos made in Moscow subway which shows that Uncle Joe is alive and well and riding the Moscow underground. Looking at the other pictures in the set, there must be a lot of people who think the country would shape up a bit if he went back to the day job. Also.... someone who likes Tunnels and takes some cool pictures of them.

Looking after No.1

It seems strange how you can have no money available.... unless you are stuffing your own pockets with it!

Ride On....

This morning a package arrived from Amazon containing a real gem... the new double cd by one of the planet's greatest living Irishmen, Christy Moore. 35 songs, mostly from his extensive back catalogue, performed at The Point in Dublin by Christy with Declan Sinnot, and bloody good it is too. Not so long ago it seemed as if we had lost the man permanently as a consequence of years of alcohol (and other substance) abuse, and it is tremedous to hear him in such terrific form. One of the highlights is the old Moving Hearts classic, Hiroshima Nagasaki Russian Roulette... and the whole lot for less than six pounds fifty via Amazon.... I'm sending off for the dvd tonight!

I don't know whether this is true... but someone told it to me at the weekend and it made me laugh. Bono is at a U2 concert when he asks the audience for some quiet. Then in the silence, he starts to slowly clap his hands. Holding the audience in total silence, he says into the microphone... "Every time I clap my hands, a child in Africa dies." A voice from near the front pierces the silence... "Well, f***ing stop it then!"

10,000 Reasons Civilisation is Doomed

This is a list that is started by the people, aggregated by the people and an offering to all people everywhere that want to take solace in a list that proves that we are not being fooled. Rather, we are on to all the bullshit out there and want to make it clear to anyone that adds to this list that you, too, can take comfort in like-minded individuals that have come together to express the 10,000 Reasons Civilization is Doomed. Perhaps if we are heard, some of the doom can be deterred.

Keep the faith

A letter in The Guardian:

"It won't only be the bookmakers queuing up if Peter Wilby is prepared to put his money where his mouth is. Most of us can work out that the Cameron position is false, as he has been given an easy ride by a media obsessed with its own self-appointed role in ending the Blair premiership. Wilby makes much of Labour's lack of cabinet talent post-Blair, but who does he think Cameron is going to offer us beyond a small group of old Etonians, tired Thatcherites and Boris Johnson? Does Wilby really believe that the hundreds of thousands of us who have benefited from a stable economy are going to recklessly pass it into the hands of an untested unknown? But the biggest argument against his prediction is that out here in the sticks the Tories are still the same bickering, small-minded group - much more Howard than Cameron."
David Wotherspoon
Downholland, West Lancashire

Just to emphasise the last point... there is THIS... and THIS.

Not so much a bang as a whimper

I've said this before... but I think it is worth repeating. In the late 1970's there were a group of, comfortably off, largely middle-class, often trotskyist and frequently law students or journalists, who advocated a Labour defeat in 1979. A Tory victory, they argued, would mobilise the working class, give rise to a militancy in the trade unions, and allow Labour to refresh its ranks and renew its strategies. Well, a bloody fine strategy that turned out to be. We had 18 years of reactionary Conservative rule, pit closures, closure of the steel industry and our manufacturing base, decimation of the national health service and savage attacks on education and public sector investment. I only repeat all this because of this twaddle in The Guardian today.

"A period in opposition, far from being a disaster, will be the final test of the durability of Blair's historic transformation."

Particularly for former editors of the New Statesmen with comfortable bank accounts to rest on, no doubt.

A wag in the crowd.

The new owner turned up at Villa Park today and the crowd on the Holte End burst into a chorus of "Randy, Randy give us a wave, give us a wave, give us a wave". To hilarious laughter the chap sitting in front of me stood up and waved towards the crowd behind him!

DeThatchification

The DeThatchification of the Conservative Party continues apace as David Cameron administers another 40 lashes to the old witch by admitting they were wrong to support the white racist regimes in South Africa. This will have the old Major-Generals and landed gentry vomit over breakfast as they react in the same way as that old duffer Ingham who says... 'I wonder whether David Cameron is a Conservative.' Bernard, get with it, Cameron is trying to drag the retards into the 20th Century, get on board or leave the bandwagon.

Getting to grips with business

As NHS Trusts gear themselves up for Foundation Trust status the Government are placing a great emphasis on the need for 'business' skills. Presumably the thinking is that if you are going to throw the NHS to the markets, you need to ensure that the Chairs and Non-Excecutive Directors have got a grounding in how markets work and how private companies are run. The argument continues, the existing non-execs with a base in the community have presided over record funding deficits, and the new commercially orientated non-execs will steady the ship (based on their stunning successes in running British industry). So... this little article made me chortle.

Not before time

They build you up, only to let you down. A classic headline. Thatcher could face police investigation. Damn. Damn. Damn.

His Masters Voice

Conservative blogger and media luvvie Iain Dale has got his boxers in a twist over remarks made in The Sun yesterday. Iain gets all precious because Blunkett suggests that the Tories were using him to play the race card for them on a tv programme watched by one man and his dog on Sunday night. Blunkett clearly implies that because playing the anti-immigration card does not befit the, warm, cuddly, New Tory image that the boy Dave wants to cultivate, they used Iain Dale to do it for them. I suspect the allegation is untrue... and I have no reason to doubt Iain's word that he had not had any contact with Cameron, nor even his old boss David Davis. But interestingly, in the heat of his righteous indignation over Blunkett's remarks, Iain says... "After all, it was you who reassured us that only 13,000 Eastern Europeans would come here. Remind us, what was the final number? 600,000, was it?" Now, where could Iain Dale have got this 13,000 figure from? Well, it was a figure thrown at Blunkett in 2004 during a debate on the enlargement of the EU... by none other than his old mukker David Davis. In reply, Blunkett said... "I have never said that there would be only 13,000 people... We published independent research on the website last summer, with its methodology. The figure of 13,000 has never crossed my lips. We will not know the situation until people apply for the vacancies that exist in our economy."
That didn't stop Davis from repeating the allegation 8 months later in another debate... nor the independently-minded, entirely unconnected 'conservative commentator' continuing to peddle the untruth 2 years later.

Steve Ajao at Bearwood Jazz

For those Midlands based bloggers who are not trekking off to the centre of the universe tomorrow for the Bloggers4Labour bash... you can see the excellent Steve Ajao Quartet at Bearwood Jazz. Steve had a really serious accident last year when he was mowed down by a car and spent days in intensive care with head injuries and fractured bones. He still has problems with mobility (will we ever see his hendrix-style guitar work again) but at least he can now play the sax without the aid of a barstool. It promises to be a good night all round.


(Steve Ajao - photo courtesy of Russ Escritt)

Israelification

Legofesto - Israel in Lebanon: "If You Haven't Left, You're Hezbollah" Hat tip to Blairwatch.

You've got a lot of nerve...

On your journey through hell you will meet the avaricious, just past them you will come across the greedy, they will be followed by the downright mean, money-grabbing selfish bastards. Then, when you think you have sunk so low it can get no worse.... you arrive here!

And believe it or not, there will still be some lamebrains who wander around twittering... "He did a lot of good for the club." "He put a lot of money in when we needed it." "He had the club at heart did Mr Aston Villa!" Cobblers! It has been take, take and take again, right to the very last day!

Right wing voting fraud?

There are some very sad individuals out there.

Cameron's Tories are revolting

With an interesting analogy, James Cleverly thinks David Cameron could be grabbing the arse end of the snake by trying to get more women Tory MPs. The old Tory comes out in James though...

"I am not convinced women, especially mothers, are as willing as men to put their families into second place to fight an election."

I've been tagged...

I don't normally do these things... but I've been tagged by Iain Dale, so, here goes...

The Meme of 3

1... Things that scare me
Heights
Injections
Bats and rats

2.…People who make me laugh
Peter Kay
Buster Keaton
Tony Hancock

3...Things I hate the most
Racism
Slugs
Birmingham City Football Club

4...Things I don't understand
Foreign languages
How pictures come down that wire on to my television screen
People who are enthusiastic about DIY

5...Things I'm doing right now
Typing this
Listening to 6.0.6
That’s enough… I don’t do multi-tasking

6...Things I want to do before I die
Read the obituaries of Margaret Thatcher and Doug Ellis
See Labour elected and carry out a socialist manifesto
Write a novel

7... Things I can do
Ride a bike
Be a little tactless
Cook

8. Ways to describe my personality
Patient
Tolerant
Understanding
(I’m told)

9. Things I can't do
Dance
Climb mountains (or stepladders) See Q.1
Give up drinking

10...Things I think you should listen to
Charlie Gillett, BBC London 8pm, Saturdays
Bob Dylan
Jazz, live at Corks, Bearwood

11...Things you should never listen to
My wife snoring (or don't let me catch you)
Norman Tebbitt
Gangsta Rap

12...Things I'd like to learn
To keep my big mouth shut
To draw
To play guitar

13...Favorite foods
Fresh French bread
Blue Stilton
Avocado

14...Beverages I drink regularly
Timothy Taylor’s Landlord Bitter
Batham’s Bitter
Mojito

15...Shows I watched as a kid
Bill & Ben the flowerpot men
Champion the Wonder Horse
Dixon of Dock Green

16. People I'm tagging...
Lobster Blogster
Mike Ion
Skuds

Victims

David Grossman, the celebrated Israeli writer, publicly urged his government to accept a ceasefire. And then...

Downloading

As I said I would, I have spent much of the weekend (in between watching endless re-runs of Olof Mellberg's towering header) crawling around in the loft, sifting through hundreds upon hundreds of vinyl LP's in order to convert selected albums and tracks into MP3 files for the ipod. Well, the good news is... it works! Even someone with my limited technical knowledge has been able to do it, and I'm currently listening through the ipod to....
Man Kind - Misty in Roots - Live from the Counter-Eurovision, 1979.

The following quote from the intro to that track was played at Peel's funeral:

"When we trod this land, we walk for one reason ... to try to help another man think for himself. The music of our hearts is roots music, music which recalls history, because without the knowledge of your history, you cannot turn in your destiny: the music about the present, because if you are not conscious about the present, you're like a cabbage in this society."

Too true mate... and good news for anyone from the South Wales area... Misty are coming there next Saturday!

I'll list my favourite vinyl to mp3 selection later this week.. but for now I'm going to start downloading.

Fantasy Football

Absolutely nothing to add!

My brain hurts

This can be infuriating. A brainteaser. (Via Rachel)

Backtracking

I will be spending most of this weekend scrabbling around in the loft sorting through the 2,000 or so vinyl albums stashed away up there. I haven't owned a turntable for about 7 years when the CD finally won the war and I had to resort to sorting around the shops to recreate the back catalogue. Obviously not everything got replaced. Some were so obscure that they were not translated to CD, and some albums had just one standout track but didn’t warrant the exorbitant price being demanded for the whole album. Then, as the mp3 revolution arrived, the prospect of vinyl became even more remote... although folks down the pub were always passing on highly technical, and as such, useless advice about transferring vinyl to cdr and then on to the ipod.

But today… this arrived in the post and my life can be complete again.

The BIG kick off

OK, just two days to go to the start of the football season proper. Yes, I know, the bluenoses and yam yams around here think it has been going two weeks already, and they are busy pretending that football is much more fun, cheaper, contains less diving and cheating etc. etc. outside of the top division. It makes you wonder why they were in such depths of despair last season as the tumbled the first steps to hopeful oblivion. Still, people in Colchester, Southend and Plymouth can look forward to their weekend being invaded by neanderthal brummies telling everyone how the sleeping giant is about to wake up.

So, for all of them who have already forgotten what life is like in the fast lane...



Alternatively, you can have even more fun HERE.

(PS - this smug, boasting piece of arrogance is written in advance of the opportunity we have been given to allow the gooners to inflict their usual brand of homocide on our defence in celebratation of the opening of their new stadium)

Ask the powerful 5 questions

1. What power have you got?
2. Where did you get it from?
3. In whose interest do you exercise it?
4. To whom are you accountable?
5. How can we get rid of you?

Only democracy gives us that right.
That is why no-one in power likes democracy.
- and that is why every generation must struggle to win it and keep it.
Including you and me - here and now.

You can read more here.

An offer of help....

Apparently, Walsall Illuminations need a new name! I could suggest a few things, but I bet they don't ask me. You can e-mail your suggestions here.

No depth charge

My online dictionary definition of the word vacuous states:

1. Devoid of matter; empty.

2. a. Lacking intelligence; stupid.
b. Devoid of substance or meaning; inane: a vacuous comment.
c. Devoid of expression; vacant: “The narrow, swinelike eyes were open, no more vacuous in death than they had been in life” (Nicholas Proffitt).

3. Lacking serious purpose or occupation;

There can be no better description than the word vacuous to describe the performance by the Leader of Her Majesty's Opposition, David Cameron, on the Today programme this morning. I have crticised Tony Blair more than most over the last decade... but the very notion that this silly public schoolboy Cameron could lead the country is barely credible. Thatcher was brutal, Major was boring, Hague and IDS were joke figures, Howard had substance, though people just didn't like his substance, but Cameron is just.... well, vacuous!

It certainly seems like the old duffers at The Telegraph are getting worried:

Mr Cameron's ill-judged sally gave John Prescott the opportunity to wallow in righteous (and wholly artificial) indignation, describing the Conservative leader's remarks as "beyond belief" at a time "when we should all stand united". Political sanctimony from Mr Prescott is hard to stomach, but it has to be said that Mr Cameron left himself wide open to the attack. We trust his future musings on these complex issues will be both more thoughtful and more memorable.

Private Farr (8871 - 1st West Yorks) was found guilty of "mis-behaving before the enemy in such a manner as to show cowardice". Private Farr simply refused to return to the trenches while suffering from "shell shock". After two years on the Western Front he was so badly affected that he spent five months in hospital. Despite this he was found guilty at the court-martial and executed in Northern France. Well done Des Browne, Andrew Mackinlay and most of all, Gertrude Harris (now aged 93) . Now it seems... John Reid may soon arrive at the same opinion. It would have been even better if Gertrude Harris had been given that peace of mind 8 years ago!

Nice and sleazy does it...

Bloody hell! This bloke is not even having the decency to wait a while before he dips his hands up to the elbows in the sleaze bucket. Coming on top of this it seems Cameron and co. are vadvertising the fact that they are 'open for business'. No doubt aspirant Tory MP Iain Dale has already started his Book of New Tory Sleaze.

Coming.... and going

A comrade of my for many years has started his own blog - just before he goes on holiday, perhaps not the best time to start - and today he explains why he is no longer a member of the Labour Party.

"Well I finally got my reward for this unstinting loyalty - I received a letter saying that because I had failed to pay my membership fee within the first six months of this year (having never missed a payment for the last 31 years) I WAS NO LONGER A MEMBER. Nice to be wanted eh?
My thoughts on this - thanks for nothing and goodbye!!."

More takeover talk

Lerner bid for Villa is apparently not a done deal... yet.

The world's greatest lover?

I can ass-ure you... this guy is hot!

Oh happy day....!

I detest the notion of Football Clubs being taken over by US (or Russian) billionaires to use them as their playthings, or even to asset strip them. But given the fact that Aston Villa Football Club has been in the hands of one of life's most malevolent creatures for a quarter of a century... today's news must be regarded as a blessed release. I despise the very air that a very small group of people use, (Margaret Thatcher, Ariel Sharon... and Doug Ellis?) so today I will raise a mojito to Randy Lerner (whose very name conjures up an image of a student called Sean who I once shared a flat with).

Lubbly jubbly

Our local curry house, the always excellent Haweli in Bearwood... actually gets a little feature in The Guardian Weekend magazine, including a rather good illustration (which unfortunately doesn't appear in the online edition).

Stomp the dirt down!

Should we honour the mother of a convicted terrorist... or should she burn in hell for eternity. Your chance to vote.

Relax

You probably don't have time in the week when you're pinching a few minutes at work to surf the blogs... but relax, it's the weekend. Take your time, put this on in the background and let 'Trane and Miles blow while you surf.

Missing it

I now know why people who go to Tuscany want to go back. Sunset over Bearwood is delightful... but it just doesn't compare.

The ego has landed

Is there a football manager with a more inflated reputation than Terry Venables. For over 20 years he has beed feted by the London based media as if he was the best football coach on the planet, with just the right combination of the cheeky cockney chappie with the coaching skills of Marcello Lippi. I just cannot believe the hype he has received this week. Eriksson is castigated and dismissed as a failure because he 'only' got us to the quarter final of two World Cups and a European Championship... El Tel is the Messiah who got us to the semi-final of the European Championship with every game played at Wembley! His achievements in the last 20 years appear to have been to help to avoid relegation with Middlesboro with a Chairman with more money than sense (sufficient qualification incidentally to enable his new boss to get the main job), winning an FA Cup Final with Tottenham (on that basis John Sillett or Bobby Gould could claim the job) and contributing towards getting Leeds United relegated... oh, and that Euro 96 semi-final. Not to mention, of course, conducting a business career which would make Del Boy Trotter look like a pillar of the community.

Anyway... this is no major prediction... but I suspect the FA will be writing out the P45's for El Tel and his boss sometime in the next 18 months... and McClaren will carry the can whilst Tel Boy will go with his media image untarnished.

Labour Conference Blogger? Moi?

Innovative, fresh, enthusiastic blogger wanted. What gives me the impression that they are not thinking of me?

Lords Reform

Elect the Lords. "The power of political patronage has to be protected. Preferment and promotion are the levers the party whips use to coerce loyalty from recalcitrant MPs, and it is alleged that party fundraisers sometimes dangle peerages in front of prospective donors."
Billy Bragg on commenting on the hint that only 50% of the reformed house might be elected is the feeble admission that hard choices are being evaded.

Ceasefire Now

Tony Benn and others calling for a Ceasefire Now in the Lebanon.

Essential reading

The Independent has, until now, tended to make Robert Fisk's superb articles on the Middle East part of their subscription service. They appear to have decided now we can all read them. Crocodile tears of leaders as city burns.

Sunset

This was the stunning view across the pool and the Tuscany hillsides from the patio of our holiday apartment in Tuscany. I'm not going to bore you with the complete set, but I will post some other pics on the Flickr site as soon as I can get round to it. There is also more about these wonderful, peaceful apartments on Jules and George's website. (Thanks to George for towing me out of the ditch last week when I went off the road - only joking if you're reading this from the car hire company).

Legover time

I'm sure Inzy didn't join in the laughter... but this was just the moment for Jonathan Agnew to recreate his famous "he just couldn't get his leg over" remark, although without Jonners being reduced to fits of hysterics alongside him, it could never work again.

Role Reversal

Tony Benn in Media Guardian writing about his forthcoming interviews with interviewers. Should be worth watching.

Home Thoughts

Well, I’m back, and at least I’ll be able to follow the news a bit easier now, and as far as I’m concerned the appointment of Martin O’Neill is only part of the job. As I posted a number of times when he was up for the England job, I’m not half as convinced of O’Neill’s qualities as he, or his mates in the media are. He won a couple of League Cups with Leicester (even Big Fat Ron has won that for us) and finished first in a two horse race in Scotland. But compared to the job he has got on at Villa Park, they were easy-peasy, particularly whilst that scrote continues to run the club. Still, I wish him all the best (Martin, that is… you really don’t want to know my wishes for Doug Ellis), but as my curmudgeonly old mate Ernesto texted me in Italy to say… “Yippee! We’ve got a manager who thinks Robbie Savage and Alan Thompson are footballers!”

Mug of the Month

The Tories have been scrabbling around all sorts of useless characters to stand instead of Nobber to get a bashing from Ken Livingstone in the London Mayor elections. Ian Dale, bless his little silk socks, has come up with a cracker! Ken will be shaking in his boxers when he reads this.

I have not shared a bed with Neil and Christine Hamilton (yet)

In this modest Tuscan cottage we are staying in, beaming down from the top of the stairs is a signed photograph of the fragrant Christine Hamilton smiling lovingly at her weedy husband Neil. At first I thought I was going to be able to post a blog headed "Councillor Piper shares a bed with the Hamilton's" but I thought I had better confirm that in advance of another missive from my old friends at Carter Ruck. A good job I checked too, because it turns out that Neil and Christine had not in fact stayed here, but the owner had appeared alongside them in the 'Rocky Horror Show'.

Wolfie goes for it!

It would seem that the Labour heirarchy are running scared that Wolfgang may win a seat on the National Executive Committee. I am assured in my holiday hidey-hole that the panic is not because Blairites are now deciding to switch to Wolfgang because of his insistence that Jack straw was talking rubbish!