Prescott loses his Rag on Newsnight

Man alive, how can anyone take this man seriously? He is just a typical union thug dressed up as a politician. The sooner the Commons is rid of him the better, for both Hull and the country as a whole.

Hypocrisy of the Highest Order

News broke late last week that Jack Dromey, Labour Party Secretary and husband of the equality campaigner (militant feminist) Harriet Harman has been selected to fight a Birmingham seat for Labour.

The whole thing has smacks of hypocrisy about it. Hatty has been going on and on about how wee need all women short-lists to encourage more women into parliament, then the only seat not to have such a case just so happens to be the seat her own husband is selected in.

So, of course we know that the Tories just hand out seats based on who your parents are and how disgraceful this is, so we couldn’t imagine the Labour party doing the same thing could we? Let’s run down a list of such Labour persons:

1. Mr & Mrs Ed Balls (Evette Cooper)
2. The Benn clan. Tony, then there’s Hilary, and now his daughter has been selected as well
3. Harriet Harmen and Jack Dromey

The list goes on and there are more examples which I wont bore you with. Anyhow, Labour aren’t guilty of keeping it in the family, surely not?

Too Much or Too Little?

Regular readers of this blog will note that virtually since it’s birth in 2008, I have been calling for Cameron to announce policy ideas so that we and more importantly the country knew what his ideas would mean in practice.

Since Christmas I have not complained about the lack of policies. That is because we have been announcing a ton of policies since the new year. The problem is that it doesn’t seem to be washing with the public. Saturday’s YouGov poll put the Tories just 2 points ahead of Labour and only MORI have a Tory lead of double figures and even then it’s only 10 points.

I reckon the lack of reaction to the policy announcements has got very much to do with their timing. Now, I know that CCHQ is anxious to not announce policies too early for fear (and it’s a well founded fear) that Labour will simply steal them. However, I you suddenly announce so many policies so close to the election without any talk of them before now it starts to look like they’ve been cobbled together in a bit of a hurry.

I’m confident that the party has been sitting on these policies for quite some time and that they aren’t just hastily arranged announcements. However, we should have started to announce policies at the conference last October. I expected the shadow cabinet to make some announcements in their speeches, instead we got staged managed cloned speeches that all said “what we need is change”. I tell you, if I hear that stupid word again I’m going to go insane!

Anyway, I think Tim Montgomerie hit the right note when he said that the Tory leadership need to focus on the policies they’ve already announced rather than continuing to announce more and more policies. Having announced so many policies, what now needs to happen is tying them into the broader themes of the campaign and if they can do this successfully then the polls will improve again.

The election has not been won, or indeed lost. The Conservatives need to win 117 seats just to get a majority of 1. They need something like a 6.9% national swing just to get that slender majority and that’s no mean feat.  I am confident in CCHQs abilities to conduct the election campaign properly. The campaign bulletins have been taken up a notch. On Friday evening, a 52 page ‘summary’ of all the stories going on went out. Yes, it’s a top-down campaign and yes I don’t particuarly like it, but if that’s what is going to work then we just have to accept it.

If you need any further evidence of the Americanisation of UK politics then look no further than the news that team Cameron have secured the services of some of Obama’s election advisers. Again, I don’t like the Americanisation of the UK, but if these moves are going to shift Labour and give the country a chance to pick itself up off the ground then, again, it just has to be accepted.

Quotes From Brussels

Much hilarity was had by all on the Brussels trip and as ever on such trips there are certain phrases which feature heavily. This was no different, so I have compiled a list of quotes from the trip which stuck out the most. They ae in no particular order of funniness or times spoken.

1. Faceless Eurocrat
2. “NATO is no different to the European Army”
3. “we’re not allowed to quote Enoch Powell any more, but I’m going to anyway” – A legendary Conservative MEP
4. “hello lady you light of my life” – random restaurant owner
5. “I am Mr satisfaction” – another restaurant owner
6. I’m not sure what to say as I wasn’t really listening to the previous speech” – member of the EU Environment committee after being asked to reply to a speech
7. “I could go on about climate change for hours but it’s mostly boring so I won’t” – Roger Helmer MEP

There were many more that I could go on with. My favourite poster was an invitation to a special meeting of the inboard plenary on water. I was as astonished as everybody else.

p.s. The reason I haven’t posted a review of the trip yet is that I am just ridiculously busy with university work at the moment.

All Things European

So here I am, sitting in on an environment committee in the EU Parliament.
It’s been an interesting day, some parts tedious, the highlight has to be meetig Roger Helmer MEP.
The day kicked off early with an introduction from a spokesman from the EU Commission. He spoke about the work of the commission, claiming that the only democratic deficit in the EU is that of the low turnout at elections. Nothing about the commission making many of the decisions whilst not being an elected body!
After that we moved off to the Scottish office where we heard from a completely bipartisan civil servant who said her job was to push for ways that would see Scotland as a viable independent member state of the EU. so, basically we are paying for nationalists to promote Scottish independence as a viable option. This is exactly why so many dislike the EU!
The other aspect that has struck me most is the amount of offices. Brussels is just rammed full of offices with a distinct lack of eating places as the staff all get food on expenses.
We’ve now left the aforementioned committee and we are now off to meet the Conservative spokesman for agriculture.
This evening we are having a meal with Struan Stevenson MEP and then we return to the mother land tomorrow morning.
The whole point of the trip is clearly to get us thinking that the EU isn’t such a bad thing, but I’m pleased to report it’s done nothing but strengthen my position on it all.

And So To Brussels…

As of now I am in the air, en route to Brussels for a ride on the gravy train that is the European Parliament. I’ll blog the full details of it after the trip, but for now let’s just call it an ‘all expenses and above’ covered trip.

Basically, Struan Stevenson, Conservative MEP for Scotland, has arranged a trip for members of Conservative Future Scotland (the youth wing of the Tories for those of you not in the know) to the European Parliament. Given that our itinery kicks off at 0930 hrs tomorrow morning, we have decided to travel today to take full advantage of the Brussels social scene this evening.

Today is a relaxing day. Tomorrow we have a full agenda of tours, meetings and greetings with various aspects of the parliament. I will of course keep you abreast with our activities right here on Green’s Diary.

Code named ‘ operation better off out’ (which will become quite clear after I return to he UK), we will be sampling the EU fisheries committee, meeting other MEPs, taking full advantage of the Belgium beers and of course consuming a fair amount of fine food.

Now, before you all scream, “students these days, what are they like? Weren’t like that in my day!” and wonder who is paying for all this then look no further than youself. I will explain the details on Wednesday when I return, but basically, if you pay tax in the UK, or any other EU member state for thet matter than I thank you. You have just funded 30 students to go on a booze cruise in Brussels. Did you sanction this action? no. Were you consulted on it? no. But, then this is the European  Parliament we are talking about. The finest example of a model democracy ever known to man.

If you’re interested in scandalous expenses claims then look no further than the EU. Westminster is a mere acidental ink blot on the graph paper compared to that which is going on in Brussels.

Anyway, for up to the minute updates from the trip, check out my twitter feed here. I’ll also be posting regular updates on the blog, so long as the old ‘roaming interweb’ all works.

In Winterton’s Defence

Having read and listened to Sir Nicholas Winterton’s comments on Rail travel tickets for MPs I can see where the uproar has come from, but I am saddened to say the least that so many Tories are joining the crusade against him. CCHQ has released a statement condemning his comments saying they are “out of touch views from a soon to be retiring MP whose views do not represent that of the Conservative Party”. Well there’s a surprise, the same CCHQ that has been trying to oust the Wintertons ever since Cameron came to power has now distanced itself from his public comments. Couldn’t really see that one coming could we?

Now, there will no doubt be many of you reading this thinking is he actually going to defend Sir Nicholas? Yes. I am. If you listen to what he actually says he is making a very reasonable argument as to why MPs should be allowed to go  in first class. By talking about people who have a “totally different outlook on life”, he is talking about people just on their way to work and who are reading a book or people travelling to see friends, etc. He is not talking people down in the pompous and snobbish fashion that it is made out to be.

I am disgusted that the Tories have condemned his words. Sir Nicholas has represented the people of Macclesfield for many a decade and if they had a problem with him travelling by first class, then they would not have consistently voted for him. I personally prefer to travel first class because I find it quieter and you generally don’t get distracted by children or other noise. If I have work to be concentrating on I would rather be in first class where I know I can get on with it. Yes, there will be times when standard class suffices, but this is no guarantee. Does that make me a snob? IN CCHQ’s eyes, probably, yes it does. In the real world. No, it doesn’t. I don’t know about anyone else, but I would much rather my MP turned up to a debate having had the opportunity to study his papers fully rather than turning up to a debate not fully prepared because he couldn’t get a seat in standard class and there were children making noise and a variety of other general conversations taking place.

I’m happy for MPs to claim for first class tickets. Of course, if they claim for a first class ticket and then travel standard class (as happens with MEPs all the time) then that is wrong and is another matter. However, in this case  it does not seem unreasonable to provide members of parliament with first class travel. It is not saying they are above the general public for they are not. It is merely saying that they need a place where they can guarantee they can get on with the work they have to do.

If you read previous articles on this blog you will quite easily find that I have consistently rallied against excessive expenses where necessary, but I will defend MPs when what they are saying has merit and this is one of those situations. There will no doubt be many other MPs who have the same feelings as Sir Nicholas, but are not in a position to push their head above the parapet.

It’s a dark day for politics when it gets lowered to lambasting members of parliament for simply wanting a quiet place to do what is important work which can and often does have widespread implications not only for their constituents, but for the country as a whole.

Iain Dale reckons the interview on 5Live was car crash esq, ConHome has come out against his words and practically every other media outlet is rallying against him. Yes, he might have come across better had he worded his answers slightly differently, however the point still stands. Sir Nicholas has been a fantastic MP standing up for this country and protecting traditions when others have insisted modernisation is the way forward. He will be missed from the Commons. He’s right, it’s not ‘troughing’ as Guido suggests and I’m proud to defend his comments.

Incidentally, if you don’t believe me about Sir Nicholas being right on this issue, then you can listen to his interview for yourself. Listen to what he actually says and listen to the disgraceful way Stephen Nolan tries to get him to retract his comments.

UPDATE: I’ve had a browse around the twitter and blogging world and evidently there is suspiciously nothing on this subject from Tom Harris, not even anything on his Twitter feed. Interesting, given that he uses first class to travel between Glasgow and London.

When Piers Met Gordon

So how many saw the Piers Morgan “I want to be friendly” interview with our dear leader on Sunday evening? Apparently 4 million of us did. I have to admit, I was one of them, however I did have a glass of wine to help me through it.

I actually tried to view the programme without taking any prejudices into it and to be perfectly honest, I felt that 5-10 minutes into it Brown was actually doing quite well. He was smiling, responding to questions well and looked genuinely relaxed. But as is so often the case with Brown he can’t keep the facade up for long and once we got past the first advert break he slipped back into his usual dull tones with long winded answers and a face that looks like it’s been slapped by an army of blind beings.

When we got to the part that had been trailed the most – the questions about how he dealt with and how he felt at the time of his first daughter’s death I though the dealt with it well. It was obviously very hard for him to talk about it as you might expect, but he spoke slowly and calmly in measured tones that came across well. Now, as a pre-record interview it is clear that they’ve had several takes and I would suspect that lying in the ITV dungeons offices is a tape of all the attempts that for whatever reason were not aired. I would not be surprised if Gordon did actually break down and then he refused to allow it to be shown as even he would consider that PR gone too far.

Clearly the object of the exercise was a PR stunt otherwise his advisers would not have agreed to him doing the interview. Piers Morgan’s questioning was hardly tricky to deal with, particularly because it didn’t deal with government policy, it focused solely on Gordon the man. So, will it help when it comes to the ballot box? I doubt it. Yes, the programme shows that he does have a personality and I don’t doubt that, but what I and many others have always said is that he doesn’t have the right personality to be a leader in the limelight such as the Prime Minister is.

I know from people who have worked closely with Brown that he is not necessarily the man the media make him out to be. Yes, by his own admittance he is not always the best at explaining things and that is very evident when he tries to sell his policies. Yes he doesn’t come across well on the TV and that is why he was better placed at the Treasury where he was by and large out of the view of the cameras.

I don’t often write in favour of Tony Blair, but thank goodness he got the leadership when he did, otherwise Labour would be in a much worse position than they already are. Oh, actually, maybe that would have meant the Tories would have been in government by now and the economy wouldn’t have been completely wrecked. Just a thought.