In search of the right

It is very difficult to find anyone in the Labour Party who calls themselves ‘right-wing’. It’s very strange really, because most of them have no difficulty in identifying the ‘left wing’. But if you are going to have a left wing, it seems almost inevitable with the line of definition… you will have a right wing. You see, the problem is the right wing Labour people are frightened to call themselves right wing so they define themselves as moderate, or centrist (although, again without someone further to the right… how can you have a bloody centre). The Lib Dems get round this issue of left and right by trying to be both, and put on a different hat depending on who they are talking to. So they say there is no loger a left and right, but ‘modernisers’, traditionalists or whatever.

Anyway… I’ve resolved it, I’ve found the right wing. Believe me… this guy is right-wing. There’s a greasy pole, and he is either going to climb it, or use it to shaft someone with.

Are they by any chance related?

Is there anyone out there (other than Hazel Blears) who cannot make the connection between Blow for Labour in double byelections and Stealth plan to 'privatise' NHS care?

Cameron. Bubble. Burst.

First, try and get them to go quietly.... then, if that doesn't work...

Following yesterday's post about Kelly & co. pushing for Elected Mayors, here comes Phil Woolas with the carrot. If the Council Leaders don't pick up on that... watch out for the stick right behind it. Perhaps the most sinister part is the bit where Woolas says, "Council leaders were not to blame, he said. Instead, the whole system of local government needed to be changed." What is it about these people that makes me think that will not be about MORE democracy? As usual, these talks on Regionalism are taking place over the heads of Labour Party members. It may be a handful of members, generally speaking the Leaders of Councils, are involved, but for the remaining councillors, they couldn't give a toss what we think. As for the wider membership (which is considerably less wide than it was when Blair promised to recreate a mass membership party)... well, they can just forget it. Instead of being ashamed of this, they look at 'new ways of funding political parties' (by the way, for more on that Labour people, try here) and other gimmicks designed to allow politics to operate in a vacuum from the people. When Blair says: "if we remain New Labour we will remain in office" you have to ask yourself who he means by "we"... because he might just be talking about David Cameron.

You WILL have a Mayor says LOCAL government Minister

Ruth Kelly has become the latest blairite clone to decide that the solution to all of our problems relies on the election of a media star, someone dressed in a monkey suit, or a megalomaniac politician to take all the important strategic decisions. This really does sum up the New Labour project. 20 years ago we had a democratically elected tier of local government operating at a strategic level across our metropolitan local government areas. In this region it was the West Midlands County Council and it had a cross borough resposibility for issues such as regeneration, transport, and economic development. Thatcher hated Ken Livingstone and in a piece stupid vindictiveness, she dismantled the GLC and the Metropolitan County Councils.

Clearly that has not helped matters, and as the regions have stuttered and spluttered to provide any strategic lead role through a series of quangos. New Labour (or should we say Tony Blair, because it doesn't matter if Miliband is replaced by Kelly, it is the Leader and his 'advisers' who dictate the policy, the Minister simply has to 'do it' and fall on their sword if it goes tits up) has decided that the solution to all of this is not to reinstate a democratically elected and accountable body, but to impose an Elected Mayor on the regions. The notion of Elected Mayors having been rejected almost universally by Councils up and down the country, the solution therefore is to ignore them and create a new tier of government led by.... someone like Tony. A thrusting, determined demagogue (defined in my dictionary as: A leader who obtains power by means of impassioned appeals to the emotions and prejudices of the populace... sounds about right). It will be a test for the Leaders of these Councils throughout the country to see if they stand up to the Government... or whether, Tory, Labour, Liberal Democrat to a man and woman, they roll over and allow the Government to tickle their tummy... whist drawing back the foot to kick them in their private parts. LOCAL government, my arse.


UKPoliticalHack has some interesting observations on the latest piece of dithering by Birmingham City Council's truly hopeless coalition which would seem to justify Ruth Kelly's point about "strong leadership".... but if that is what the people of Birmingham have voted for, that is what they get. There is nothing to say the electorate in a 'Greater Birmingham (God, how they detest that name outside of Birmingham) Region' wouldn't elect an incompetent bloody Mayor, then we would all be in the brown stuff.

Pole.... grease.... climb

"Mrs Beckett has come a long way since she denounced Neil Kinnock at a Tribune rally in 1981 for refusing to support her friend Tony Benn as deputy Labour leader. She dropped her opposition to Europe early on and moved from unilateralism to multilateral disarmament along with much of her party. Updating Trident, which Gordon Brown backed last week, is unlikely to be a problem for her." A profile of a career politician.

Ex... site... ing times.

The hits on this blog have been going crazy over the last 24 hours (not just by Micky Oakeshott). No... I'm not leaping Iain Dale-like into the blogging stratosphere and looking for shoddy sponsorship deals, but I do appear to have received some interesting links. Firstly, the BBC News 'The Editors' comments had some nice words about the blog from 'My Mate Dave' a regular commenter here and an old comrade from Warley Labour Party. For the next few hours the referrers came pouring in. Then I got a hat tip from The Guardian News blog... which rather quaintly described me as "engaging". Then, this afternoon, the biggest boost of all. Just before 3pm this afternoon, I got a very kind recommendation from someone who said "...yesterday I came across a great site run by a labour (definitely not new labour) councillor in Sandwell called Bob Piper. I'm a Lib Dem but on first reading I love this man and would vote for him if I was in that area." For some strange reason, following that reference, the hits generated by the BBC and The Guardian were eclipsed. The reference was on.... The BigBrother gossip pages (thank you Nicc, whoever you are). Now I know I've made it. Move over George... Celebrity Big Brother here I come.

Clarke savages his Leader

I don't know whether he will get the full Newsnight, 10.0 clock News and Radio 4 treatment, but another big beast in the jungle named Clarke has turned on his party leader. Describing Cameron's proposals for a Bill of Rights as "xenophobic and legal nonsense" Kenneth Clarke, who is supposed to be heading up the Tory Task Force on Constitutional issues, but wasn't even told about the proposals, proved what many of us thought all along, Cameron makes these things up as he goes along. They are pieces of ill-considered, misconceived 'back-of-a-fag-packet' policies designed Blair-like to appeal to the nastiest tabloid headline writers.

Charlie comes out

I surely cannot be alone in finding the comparison between Charles Clarke's trawl around the media yesterday with Geoffrey Howe slipping the knife gentle between the Lady's shoulder blades to be entirely fatuous. Howe had resigned on a matter of principle. Yes, he resented Thatcher, but much, much more than that he despised her for the direction she was taking the Tories in. Clarke was sacked... and the almost universal opinion of those I have spoken to in the Labour Party is that the only problem with his dismissal was that it wasn't done sooner. OK, so... ex-Minister is sacked and spits a bit of bile in the direction of the person that sacked him. Join the line, Charlie. You would get a damn site more respect from me if you felt so strongly about the direction that Blair was taking the Party if you had done the Geoffrey Howe thing and then launched your missiles.

Having watched the Newsnight interview... and missed the only worthwhile 5 minutes of Switzerland-Ukraine, I really cannot understand why Iain Dale was wetting himself about David Davis's 'killer instinct'. Davis was limp wristed to say the least. If this was a savaging from a 'nearly-was' member of the SAS, John Reid will probably sleep easy. Sometimes Iain lets his affection for Davis run away with him. Now... if you want to see a savaging of John Reid... this is a way to go! Say what you think, I say.

Fame

An excellent piece in The Guardian today by George Monbiot. "Advertising (and the businesses supported by it) is not the clattering of the stick in the swill bucket that Orwell perceived as much as the carrot that keeps the donkey moving. You are never allowed to come close enough to eat, however hard you pull. An economy driven by dissatisfaction could scarcely fail to cultivate mental illness." We used to call it alienation.

Customer Care... You're the customer... and we don't bloody care!

One of my constituents wrote to the Leader of Birmingham City Council and their Leisure Services Department about the state of our local park which, despite being in Sandwell (near Whitby's home in Sandwell, in fact) is owned and (laughably) maintained by Birmingham City Council. This is a copy of the letter:

Ms Woods

I am still waiting for a response from you since this out of office
automatic notification was sent on 14 April.

Since then we have entered into a consultation period on the future of
Lightwoods Park, and the children's play area remains in an attrocious
state. There is inappropriate graffiti of a sexual nature which has still
not been removed, and there is still a swastika on the floor.

The paths are still dangerous and a friend of my toddler daughter fell and
badly hurt his face recently.

As previously in April, I am again copying this to Mike Whitby, in his
capacities as Leader of the Council, councillor for the adjoining Harborne
ward, and as a local resident. I am disappointed not to have even received
an acknowledgement to my original email, especially as I note that the
Council's Performance Plan, which is before Cabinet today, indicates a
target of replying to every complaint "within 10 days".......and here we are
10 WEEKS on from my original contact, and not an acknowledgement from either yourself or Cllr Whitby.

I hope to hear from you within the next ten days.

Yours sincerely

L. S......
Bearwood

Q & A with the foetus

As Tory leader, you became a bit of a joke. Now you are a part-time shadow Foreign Secretary, so why would anyone want so see you in office?

Do you regret making a prat of yourself with that speech to the Tory conference when you were 16?

William Hague shows he has lost none of his old popularity... and fortunately for him retained his sense of humour as he answers questions in The Indy.

Same old shit... different sauce

"There are other important matters, such as a possible Bill of Rights.... which we shall wish to discuss with all parties." No, not David Cameron with his latest 'New' initiative, but the Conservative Party Manifesto in 1979. It obviously escaped the witch's attention when she got the big job, and we had to wait until 1998 for Labour to introduce the Human Rights Act in order to enshrine some civil liberties into British law. Now Cameron is trying to appear fresh and bold, reheating some stale old commitments, and promising to introduce... a Bill of Rights (maybe...). At the same time Cameron wants to scrap the Human Rights Act, introduced in order to ensure British law was in line with the European Court of Human Rights, but not withdraw from the Convention, so you would still be able to appeal to the ECHR. Serious politics... or a gimmick.... or as they used to say in the Merchant Navy kithchens when the cooks were reheating yesterday's stale grub, "Same old shit, different sauce".

The bland and the blander

There are a number of 'liberal' bloggers who advocate 'anyone but Labour' in order to remove what they regard as the most authoritarian government in history. Whilst I obviously wouldn't accept their solution, I have some sympathy with their analysis. The Government's attacks on civil liberties justified by the war on terror, the invasion of Iraq in the name of... the war on terror, even Gordon Brown's commitment to renewing the nuclear deterrent (who's finger is on the button... if it is a 'unilateral deterrent' can Britain fire these things without US consent - I very much doubt it) in the name of the war on anyone you like, all of these things fuel the 'Get Blair/Brown out at any cost' argument.

But whereas some Labour activists have lived in hope that Gordon (he's one of us, from Labour, not someone who has infiltrated the Party) will bring about a new dawn... what on earth do the 'anyone but Labour' people imagine Cameron is going to bring to the table. He tells Jonathan Ross that he still believes the invasion of Iraq was right, he tells Andy Marr he wants to scrap the Human Rights Act and bring in something else (but unlike the Government, he doesn't have to say what it is) and he is committed to the same nuclear future (in power and weapons) that Blair favours.

The Tory history on sleaze is hardly likely to impress people that electing them is going to change anything there, and their record of running down public services is second to none. So what motive is there in replacing the bland with the blander? Revenge? Punishment? It's about the only one that I can think of, and it does have some validity, but cutting off your nose to spite your face is a bloody painful lesson.

Skips for Votes

Never mind 'cash for questions'. Ignore the 'loans for peerages' row. In Birmingham they've unearthed the great 'skips for votes' scandal.

I'm touched...

It is an honour to be recognised by my fellow bloggers (pause to wipe tear from eye and hide smug smile). Ernesto... any questions about aubergines will be ruled out!

Johnathan Ross for the 'A' list?

Did anyone catch 'Dave' on the Friday Night Johnathan Ross programme? I know most people wouldn't have done, I mean who wants to put up with that overpaid egomaniac when you leave the pub (Ross is a pain in the arse too). But actually, it was truly illuminating and I'm sure they repeat the show sometime over the weekend in an obscure slot - so try to catch it. When the Leader of a political party does this sort of thing, you should start to worry anyway. Blair's done enough tripe on the Richard & Judy circuit, so we know, but at least he wasn't overshadowed politically by the dozy duo. That is what happened to Cameron. Interspersed with his usual crude sexual remarks and innuendo, Ross actually raised some political issues... and Cameron looked completely flumoxed... a real rabbit in the headlights.

He squirmed in his boxers when Ross pinned him down to say he still thought the Iraq invasion was right, he looked distinctly uncomfortable when he said the old witch of Finchley was right to throw people out of work in Scotland, Wales and the North of England, and he squirmed again when Ross pressed him on the failure of privatised water companies. The highlight, though, was still to come. Ross raised the issue of decriminalising drugs (no, the conversation didn't touch on Dave's flirtation with the nose candy, although the guffaws from the audience indicated that was where they thought it was heading) and Cameron sort of giggled and said he didn't think that was right, and the proper thing to do was to care for the addicts - his touchy feely side showing, he hoped). Ross then said that drugs were actually available now, to anyone who actually wanted them, and that virtually any kid in the street could tell you where to get drugs (and, although he didn't say it, it was hanging in the air... even David Cameron knew where to score). It wasn't a question of caring for addicts, it was about driving the criminals out of the drug scene, said Ross. Dave said ....errrm, he didn't think that was right and the real issue was about caring for the addicts. Obviously not briefed beyond that, Cameron looked immensley relieved when Ross asked him if he could do a 'high five'. That was more like it for the lad... get me off the bloody policy stuff and play at being Ali G. As I say... watch or tape the repeat, it'll be just as good sober.

It's official... Cameron is a useless tosser.

I've lived in Sandwell for nearly 30 years... and they still think I'm a foreigner. That's the good thing about people round here, it doesn't matter if you come from the Punjab or Perry Barr, "yo ain't one of us"... but they welcome you in. Ar, I'm proud to be a Brummie (via Pete another brummie in exile).

Street Art?

The Council in Bristol are to consult people to see whether they want a piece of Graffiti artist Banksy’s work removed or retained as ‘public art’. Personally speaking, I prefer this one…


I need someone to protect me from all the measures
they take in order to protect me

A sense of Purpose - Austin Mitchell

I'm indebted to Not Little England for highlighting Austin Mitchell's suggestions for a new Government get-tough campaign. Austin attempts to show Micky Oakeshott that he can outdo his daft suggestions any day... the difference is, Austin has a sense of humor and understands irony. Micky thinks it's what his mom does with his shirts.

Digital Dave and family values... as seen through the eyes of a twisted genius.