To ask Tony Blair, the Prime minister to stand on his head and juggle ice-cream, because If he's not going to resign, the least he can do is provide us with some entertainment. You can sign the petition here!
It was suggested by Tim Ireland who's blog is here.
Hat tip to kjh on politicalbetting.com.
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Is the Smith Institute history?
Well, I watched this 12 minute broadcast by Iain Dale on 18 Doughty Street. It is devastating.
The Smith Institute is a charity. As such it gets certain benefits, (see this article for more)
A charity is supposed to do things for the public good. It can engage in political activity such as advocating particular policies. Fair enough. Amnesty international does that all the time, as do Oxfam and numerous other charities. What they are not allowed to do is to be politically partisan. As in supporting one party or politician.
On it's website the Smith Institute claims to:
Fair enough. Can't argue with that.
However watching Iain Dale's report is shocking. It details meetings held by the Smith Institute which are clearly partisan, for example Bob Schrum setting out way of dealing with and attacking David Cameron. If that is not politically partisan I don't know what is.
Of course as MiniTrue points out here there is a potential get out for the Smith Institute in that it may not have organised the event, it may have got a company called SI Events, wholly owned by the Smith Institute, to organise the meeting. In many ways that would circumvent the need to be nonpartisan.
However that question does need to be answered, (was it SI events or not?) after all it is possible that they overlooked something. I expect the Charity Commission to have a look. The other question has to be why oh why the Smith Institute gets so much more access to No 11 than everyone else put together. (Apart from Gordon Brown that is).
The Smith Institute is a charity. As such it gets certain benefits, (see this article for more)
A charity is supposed to do things for the public good. It can engage in political activity such as advocating particular policies. Fair enough. Amnesty international does that all the time, as do Oxfam and numerous other charities. What they are not allowed to do is to be politically partisan. As in supporting one party or politician.
On it's website the Smith Institute claims to:
"The Smith Institute is an independent think tank, which has been set up to undertake research and education in issues that flow from the changing relationship between social values and economic imperatives. In recent years the Institute has centred its work on the policy implications arising from the interactions of equality, enterprise and equity."
Fair enough. Can't argue with that.
However watching Iain Dale's report is shocking. It details meetings held by the Smith Institute which are clearly partisan, for example Bob Schrum setting out way of dealing with and attacking David Cameron. If that is not politically partisan I don't know what is.
Of course as MiniTrue points out here there is a potential get out for the Smith Institute in that it may not have organised the event, it may have got a company called SI Events, wholly owned by the Smith Institute, to organise the meeting. In many ways that would circumvent the need to be nonpartisan.
However that question does need to be answered, (was it SI events or not?) after all it is possible that they overlooked something. I expect the Charity Commission to have a look. The other question has to be why oh why the Smith Institute gets so much more access to No 11 than everyone else put together. (Apart from Gordon Brown that is).
You can't stone women in Canada
Apparently. I have just read this on the BBC. I did not realise Herouxville town council needed to pass rules stating the obvious.
Mind you perhaps it was legal to stone women to death last weak? I think I would have heard about it if it was though.
The rule also appears to have come about because of 1 immigrant family moving into a town. How bizzare taht someone would want to get on their high horse about that?
Not a very nice welcome at all if you ask me.
Mind you perhaps it was legal to stone women to death last weak? I think I would have heard about it if it was though.
The rule also appears to have come about because of 1 immigrant family moving into a town. How bizzare taht someone would want to get on their high horse about that?
Not a very nice welcome at all if you ask me.
Cash for Peerages, Wednesday morning update.
Well, you will already know that Lord Levy was arrested today for perverting the course of justice.
Well, according to a couple of news papers, who seem to have missed the significance, he was arrested for conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.
That involves the accused and at least on other. Ruth Turner was arrested for perversion of the course of justice, so it is possible that she is the other alleged co accused.
It should of course be noted that the police having reasonable suspicion that a crime has taken place does not mean that one has, nor does the fact that they have reasonable suspicion that a particular person is guilty of a crime mean he is.
We are innocent until proven guilty, at least whilst Tony Blair has not implemented guilty until proven innocent.
However I digress.
The conspiracy thing is very interesting. We sill see how it pans out.
The daily Mail carries the most damaging information, citing John McTernan's interview as the reason for the Ruth Turner arrest and leading to today's arrest.
The Mail also seems to speculate that there is a significant email trail linking Lord Levy, Ruth Turner and Mr Powell to the enquiry. They may also mention K's and P's.
Well, mostly regurgitation, missing the conspiracy side of things but some very interesting things in the Mail (if you can get past it's lack of style)
You can read what the Times has here, the Telegraph here, the Daily Mail here, and the Guardian here.
I must admit it is quite amusing to see the news papers rehash old news, when those in the blogosphere say see this article I wrote earlier for more.
Well, according to a couple of news papers, who seem to have missed the significance, he was arrested for conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.
That involves the accused and at least on other. Ruth Turner was arrested for perversion of the course of justice, so it is possible that she is the other alleged co accused.
It should of course be noted that the police having reasonable suspicion that a crime has taken place does not mean that one has, nor does the fact that they have reasonable suspicion that a particular person is guilty of a crime mean he is.
We are innocent until proven guilty, at least whilst Tony Blair has not implemented guilty until proven innocent.
However I digress.
The conspiracy thing is very interesting. We sill see how it pans out.
The daily Mail carries the most damaging information, citing John McTernan's interview as the reason for the Ruth Turner arrest and leading to today's arrest.
The Mail also seems to speculate that there is a significant email trail linking Lord Levy, Ruth Turner and Mr Powell to the enquiry. They may also mention K's and P's.
Well, mostly regurgitation, missing the conspiracy side of things but some very interesting things in the Mail (if you can get past it's lack of style)
You can read what the Times has here, the Telegraph here, the Daily Mail here, and the Guardian here.
I must admit it is quite amusing to see the news papers rehash old news, when those in the blogosphere say see this article I wrote earlier for more.
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Cash for Peerages, Lord Levy Arrested Again!
Well, would you believe it! This time however he was arrested on suspicion of perverting the course of justice.
This could well end up like Watergate.
He was bailed later though. What I do not yet know is when he was arrested or how long he was questioned for.
This is looking decidedly bad for Labour!
The BBC has this, Guido has this, whilst Iain Dale has this.
For more articles and background on the cash for peerages scandal see here.
More later as I find out the details!
This could well end up like Watergate.
He was bailed later though. What I do not yet know is when he was arrested or how long he was questioned for.
This is looking decidedly bad for Labour!
The BBC has this, Guido has this, whilst Iain Dale has this.
For more articles and background on the cash for peerages scandal see here.
More later as I find out the details!
18 Doughty Street's Tax attack advert
Just in case you were not aware, the good people of 18 Doughty Street have now put their "tax attack advert" online. You can view it here.
I thought it was an interesting ad, aiming to show all the things that could end up getting taxed in a very effective way. In many ways in fact all the things they did show are already taxed in one way or another.
There is of course an interesting other angle. People at the higher end of earnings tend to get a tax return to fill in, which asks lots of questions about what you do. People at the lower end now get to fill in lots of intrusive forms as well to get tax credits.
You can give feedback of what you thought of the add here. Tim Montgomerie has this piece in the Times today covering what he thinks of the current political spectrum here.
The tax payers alliance website is here.
I thought it was an interesting ad, aiming to show all the things that could end up getting taxed in a very effective way. In many ways in fact all the things they did show are already taxed in one way or another.
There is of course an interesting other angle. People at the higher end of earnings tend to get a tax return to fill in, which asks lots of questions about what you do. People at the lower end now get to fill in lots of intrusive forms as well to get tax credits.
You can give feedback of what you thought of the add here. Tim Montgomerie has this piece in the Times today covering what he thinks of the current political spectrum here.
The tax payers alliance website is here.
The NHS, Burning our money II
Just in case you missed BBC Radio 4's Today program report on wasting money in the NHS, this is their report today. (Available as audio only)
The report covers private Independent treatment centers (ISTC's), like the Netcare one in Greater Manchester.
The main bone of contention with these is the way the contract has been negotiated. The first wave of contracts are for a fixed number of operations, in this case 44,863. They get paid for them whether they are carried out or not.
Part of the problem that these centers face in their early days is that they won't get all the referrals they could handle on day one. In fact according to comments from the man running the center, in the first 3 months they may have been operating at 25 to 30% capacity and are now running at 85% of capacity overall. That means that they have been paid for 15% of operations that have not happened.
In practice this is a waste of money, but the people running the Netcare center hope to get to running at over 100% of their contracted rates so as to make up the shortfall.
In the next wave of contracts these treatment centers will only get paid for the operations they carry out.
We will have to see how this policy pans out. All change costs money (something seldom factored in enough) and if this one is going to be about for 5 or 10 years, it may be worth it.
However I do have some clinical concerns about some ISTC units which only handle people for the operation and do not then go on to handle after care. You do hear reports of NHS clinicians slating "bad work". That may be fair or unfair, but unless the whole care and after care package are delivered by one provider you always face the danger of one blaming the other if things go wrong, leaving both the patient and the NHS bewildered as to what to do next.
The report covers private Independent treatment centers (ISTC's), like the Netcare one in Greater Manchester.
The main bone of contention with these is the way the contract has been negotiated. The first wave of contracts are for a fixed number of operations, in this case 44,863. They get paid for them whether they are carried out or not.
Part of the problem that these centers face in their early days is that they won't get all the referrals they could handle on day one. In fact according to comments from the man running the center, in the first 3 months they may have been operating at 25 to 30% capacity and are now running at 85% of capacity overall. That means that they have been paid for 15% of operations that have not happened.
In practice this is a waste of money, but the people running the Netcare center hope to get to running at over 100% of their contracted rates so as to make up the shortfall.
In the next wave of contracts these treatment centers will only get paid for the operations they carry out.
We will have to see how this policy pans out. All change costs money (something seldom factored in enough) and if this one is going to be about for 5 or 10 years, it may be worth it.
However I do have some clinical concerns about some ISTC units which only handle people for the operation and do not then go on to handle after care. You do hear reports of NHS clinicians slating "bad work". That may be fair or unfair, but unless the whole care and after care package are delivered by one provider you always face the danger of one blaming the other if things go wrong, leaving both the patient and the NHS bewildered as to what to do next.
Monday, January 29, 2007
18 Doughty Street on Newsnight
And there it was. I got the tip it would be on from this post on Ellee Seymour's blog! (I would have thought I would have heard it on Iain Dale's blog first).
Made quite interesting watching. Tim Montgomery of 18 Doughty Street, also of Conservative Home was interviewed by Jeremy Paxman, along with some Labour MP who's name *cough* I can't quite remember.
Tim made the point that in a political world where all the leaders of the political parties seem close on controversial issues, a lot of voters feel cut out. He cited tax and gay adoption as two issues. I agree. I think that there seems to be too much political unity (though I think the Conservative position on tax is fine as far as it goes).
However the beauty of the blogosphere is the debate rages here!
18 Doughty street are running a weekly series covering issues that it does not feel the establishment are covering adequately, if at all. This weeks one is tax. Next weeks will be party funding. You can get involved by looking at the issue, putting in your tuppence worth, and then voting on the proposals. See here.
Personally I think it is a great idea. I certainly think that the state funding of political parties is a very very bad idea.
Made quite interesting watching. Tim Montgomery of 18 Doughty Street, also of Conservative Home was interviewed by Jeremy Paxman, along with some Labour MP who's name *cough* I can't quite remember.
Tim made the point that in a political world where all the leaders of the political parties seem close on controversial issues, a lot of voters feel cut out. He cited tax and gay adoption as two issues. I agree. I think that there seems to be too much political unity (though I think the Conservative position on tax is fine as far as it goes).
However the beauty of the blogosphere is the debate rages here!
18 Doughty street are running a weekly series covering issues that it does not feel the establishment are covering adequately, if at all. This weeks one is tax. Next weeks will be party funding. You can get involved by looking at the issue, putting in your tuppence worth, and then voting on the proposals. See here.
Personally I think it is a great idea. I certainly think that the state funding of political parties is a very very bad idea.
Cameron's bombshell speech
Well, I don't think David Cameron can be accused of sitting on the fence on multiculturalism.
In a speech in Birmingham he roundly attacked the concept of multiculturalism, and also more importantly tackled the issue of those groups that purport to represent British Muslims, like the Muslim Council of Britain for not representing Muslims very well, and also their more hard line and vocal members drowning out the voices of the more moderate and reasonable.
You can read more here.
In a speech in Birmingham he roundly attacked the concept of multiculturalism, and also more importantly tackled the issue of those groups that purport to represent British Muslims, like the Muslim Council of Britain for not representing Muslims very well, and also their more hard line and vocal members drowning out the voices of the more moderate and reasonable.
You can read more here.
Fudging the gay adoption issue
Well, it seems David Davis has come out in favour of an "opt out" for the Catholic church in the gay adoption row, whilst David Cameron on the Today Program said basically there should be no block exemption for the Catholic church.
however as a get around to keep the Catholic adoption agencies, they could have three or four years to adapt, by twining with other agencies. The effect would be that if a gay couple went to a Catholic agency, they would get referred to the "other part" that dealt with those things.
Personally I am not convinced that we need the law in the first place. I have not seen the case made. Further more I am against compelling people to act against their religious beliefs. (And no I don't mean one made up last week.)
This whole debate seems to be stirring up division. You only need look at this Yougov poll here. The Scotsman has this report here which indicates that the Catholic Church in Scotland will use the European Court to get around it's woes. This story will not have a happy ending.
You can listen to David Cameron on the Today program here, or read the Telegraph report here.
however as a get around to keep the Catholic adoption agencies, they could have three or four years to adapt, by twining with other agencies. The effect would be that if a gay couple went to a Catholic agency, they would get referred to the "other part" that dealt with those things.
Personally I am not convinced that we need the law in the first place. I have not seen the case made. Further more I am against compelling people to act against their religious beliefs. (And no I don't mean one made up last week.)
This whole debate seems to be stirring up division. You only need look at this Yougov poll here. The Scotsman has this report here which indicates that the Catholic Church in Scotland will use the European Court to get around it's woes. This story will not have a happy ending.
You can listen to David Cameron on the Today program here, or read the Telegraph report here.
The NHS, Burning our money.
BBC Radio 4's the today Program is running a series of reports at 7.30 every morning on the NHS, burning our money.
You can read the print article here, and listen again here.
Interesting numbers. Of the £19 billion increase in budget since 2004/5 to 2007/8 only £5.9 billion has been spent on increasing services. The rest has gone on various forms of cost increases such as a £6.6 billion in wages.
There will be some other interesting facts coming out during the week. Apparently the Today program has had trouble getting people to speak on the record because they are scared.
You can read the print article here, and listen again here.
Interesting numbers. Of the £19 billion increase in budget since 2004/5 to 2007/8 only £5.9 billion has been spent on increasing services. The rest has gone on various forms of cost increases such as a £6.6 billion in wages.
There will be some other interesting facts coming out during the week. Apparently the Today program has had trouble getting people to speak on the record because they are scared.
Sunday, January 28, 2007
I just love Top Gear!
I have to say it is one of my favourite programs!
I particularly likes tonight's episode with the film of Richard Hammond's crash, and the sense of humour that surrounded it. It is very easy to get depressed about danger, and very British to laugh about it afterwards!
I particularly liked the pre accident shots where the Hamster suggested he might be facing the biggest accident ever, and it was only the last run, you know he one he shouldn't have done which caught him out.
Still, I am so pleased he is well, and not only that but back!
I particularly likes tonight's episode with the film of Richard Hammond's crash, and the sense of humour that surrounded it. It is very easy to get depressed about danger, and very British to laugh about it afterwards!
I particularly liked the pre accident shots where the Hamster suggested he might be facing the biggest accident ever, and it was only the last run, you know he one he shouldn't have done which caught him out.
Still, I am so pleased he is well, and not only that but back!
Cash for Peerages, Yet Another Sunday morning update.
Well, here is the position. The Sunday Telegraph claims here that Yates of the Yard has found a hand written note that links Tony Blair into the investigation.
I won't be salivating yet however because it is clear that it is no nail in the coffin of Tony Blair. It may only result in him being a witness at any future trial.
However from the report, it appears one cabinet minister is concerned that this story is killing Labour, and the longer it runs the worse it will get. He is at least right.
We will have to see where this part of the story goes. Personally I think the only way Tony Blair will get charged, or indeed arrested, is if a canary sings.
You can read more about the Cash for Peerages scandal here.
I won't be salivating yet however because it is clear that it is no nail in the coffin of Tony Blair. It may only result in him being a witness at any future trial.
However from the report, it appears one cabinet minister is concerned that this story is killing Labour, and the longer it runs the worse it will get. He is at least right.
We will have to see where this part of the story goes. Personally I think the only way Tony Blair will get charged, or indeed arrested, is if a canary sings.
You can read more about the Cash for Peerages scandal here.
Saturday, January 27, 2007
NHS burning our money!
Well, certainly it seems to be hemorrhaging cash on an epic scale. According to this report originally in Friday's Telegraph one NHS trust is asking it's workers to do some days for free or consider taking a sabbatical. The reason is that it needs to reduce it's deficit so that it can pay rich bankers lots of money start a PFI new build hospital. Needless to say some staff are up in arms.
However BBC Radio 4's The Today program has been doing some digging. It seems to have been working on the basis that the NHS has been flooded with cash, so if there is a cash crisis some must have been wasted. It is going to be running stories on NHS waste every say at 7.30 AM next week. it will make interesting listening.
Of course the NHS being in crisis is nothing new. You only have to look at stories like this or this from Dr. Crippen's NHS Blog.
If you have any information on how the NHS is wasting money please Email Me!
However BBC Radio 4's The Today program has been doing some digging. It seems to have been working on the basis that the NHS has been flooded with cash, so if there is a cash crisis some must have been wasted. It is going to be running stories on NHS waste every say at 7.30 AM next week. it will make interesting listening.
Of course the NHS being in crisis is nothing new. You only have to look at stories like this or this from Dr. Crippen's NHS Blog.
If you have any information on how the NHS is wasting money please Email Me!
Branscombe beach looting: We need more laws allegedly
A lot of people have been understandably horrified at the looting or salvage of cargo that has happened as a result of the beaching of the MSC Napoli of Sidmouth.
It appears that the police were unable to stop this happening.
As a result people like George Pascoe-Watson, editor of the Sun have suggested we need new laws to cover this.
When I hear things like this it horrifies me. As it happens the police now appear to have found that they had the powers they needed and have taken action to stop the looting. Passing another law to allow them to do the same "with nobs on" really is not going to help. The more complex the law is the harder it is to find the needle in that haystack of a power that it is you need. We need a smaller haystack, not a bigger one.
This government has passed so many more new laws it must be very hard to keep up. The police service knows well the laws it deals with every day. That which turns only very rarely is going to be difficult to figure out. There may be a case for a small central agency of some sort which can look up and research the more esoteric situations, but one thing we do not need is yet more laws.
It appears that the police were unable to stop this happening.
As a result people like George Pascoe-Watson, editor of the Sun have suggested we need new laws to cover this.
When I hear things like this it horrifies me. As it happens the police now appear to have found that they had the powers they needed and have taken action to stop the looting. Passing another law to allow them to do the same "with nobs on" really is not going to help. The more complex the law is the harder it is to find the needle in that haystack of a power that it is you need. We need a smaller haystack, not a bigger one.
This government has passed so many more new laws it must be very hard to keep up. The police service knows well the laws it deals with every day. That which turns only very rarely is going to be difficult to figure out. There may be a case for a small central agency of some sort which can look up and research the more esoteric situations, but one thing we do not need is yet more laws.
Home Office's novel news management strategy
You have to wonder just what is going on in the Home Office these days. Well perhaps they are trying a novel news management strategy. Keep the bad news stories flowing so thick and fast that the seriousness of the last one is lost as people move on to discuss today's latest blunder.
The latest one we have is the failure of the passport agency to do anything to stop convicted drug traffickers from traveling, after a court has made an order that they can't.
Apparently most are still in prison, or at least are supposed to be, while 15 need to be tracked down.
Brilliant!
The BBC has this here.
The latest one we have is the failure of the passport agency to do anything to stop convicted drug traffickers from traveling, after a court has made an order that they can't.
Apparently most are still in prison, or at least are supposed to be, while 15 need to be tracked down.
Brilliant!
The BBC has this here.
Cash for Peerages, heat turned up
Just in case you had not heard, there are some interesting stories about. For example the Telegraph today has this story about how the police may end up getting a warrant to search Downing street. If that happens that will be politically devastating in and off itself.
Also Downing street has denied having a "secret" email system. Well Guido seems to have found one here, as well as evidence of other accounts here.
Hmm.. I wonder if Guido is keeping Yates of the yard informed? I do hope so.
The other interesting little fact is that John McTernan, the director of government relations, has been questioned under caution. Again!
Will the story be the cover up not the crime as it was in Watergate?
Also Downing street has denied having a "secret" email system. Well Guido seems to have found one here, as well as evidence of other accounts here.
Hmm.. I wonder if Guido is keeping Yates of the yard informed? I do hope so.
The other interesting little fact is that John McTernan, the director of government relations, has been questioned under caution. Again!
Will the story be the cover up not the crime as it was in Watergate?
Friday, January 26, 2007
Another nail in the coffin of the Magna Carta
All the while the home Office has been burying it's own bad news in other bits of it's own bad news, and the gay adoption row has dominated the headlines you may have missed the fact that The Fraud (Trials Without A Jury) Bill passed its third reading in the House of Commons yesterday. The BBC has this.
The government does not believe that juries can handle long complex fraud trials. The fact is that this is rubbish. American juries handled Enron. (See the BBC here) The real problem is that our lawyers don't appear to be able to organise it properly.
It seems a bit like the Home Office saga. Labour can't run the Home Office so wants to split it up rather than fixing it, except of course that trial by jury was enshrined the the Magna Carta (Great Charter) back in 1215. So there we go. Another vital part of our constitution down the pan because this government can't fix simple problems and learn from others.
The government does not believe that juries can handle long complex fraud trials. The fact is that this is rubbish. American juries handled Enron. (See the BBC here) The real problem is that our lawyers don't appear to be able to organise it properly.
It seems a bit like the Home Office saga. Labour can't run the Home Office so wants to split it up rather than fixing it, except of course that trial by jury was enshrined the the Magna Carta (Great Charter) back in 1215. So there we go. Another vital part of our constitution down the pan because this government can't fix simple problems and learn from others.
Any information please!
If you have information you would like to get "out there" or think I should be looking at a particular issue, please email me with the link on the right hand side.
Home Office in crisis again. Can it get any worse?
Well, we have had all sorts of bad news about the Home Office in recent days. For example they are now in a panic over prison places, or rather the lack of them, (see here) that has now led to a man convicted of downloading child pornography getting off with out a prison sentence (See the BBC's article here). It seems that sentences are being set by the number of prison places.
A man who pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a teenager has been released on bail. The judge said that last week he would have sent him straight to jail.
We now have the Rod Morgan, head of the Youth Justice Board resigning because the system is being "swamped" by minor offenders who would not have ended up in prison in the first place before 1997.
Why are we in this situation? Well, in short Labour have been talking very tough on crime, and sentencing but have not provided the prison places to back up the rhetoric. Whether or not the policy is a good one is another matter. If you want to send more people to prison for longer you do need more places.
Government has had advance notice of this looming crisis for years. However there is also a real problem in our system is that there is no time and space to rehabilitate people, particularly young offenders. We can't afford to have 10 year olds locked up in prison and not rehabilitated moving on to a life of crime. This is just very wrong and wasteful of future tax payers money.
We also have worsening crime figures as well. You are apparently more likely to be a victim of crime this year than last, the first rise since 1995. (See the BBC's article here)
Can it get worse? I think it can, we will have to wait and see.
A man who pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a teenager has been released on bail. The judge said that last week he would have sent him straight to jail.
We now have the Rod Morgan, head of the Youth Justice Board resigning because the system is being "swamped" by minor offenders who would not have ended up in prison in the first place before 1997.
Why are we in this situation? Well, in short Labour have been talking very tough on crime, and sentencing but have not provided the prison places to back up the rhetoric. Whether or not the policy is a good one is another matter. If you want to send more people to prison for longer you do need more places.
Government has had advance notice of this looming crisis for years. However there is also a real problem in our system is that there is no time and space to rehabilitate people, particularly young offenders. We can't afford to have 10 year olds locked up in prison and not rehabilitated moving on to a life of crime. This is just very wrong and wasteful of future tax payers money.
We also have worsening crime figures as well. You are apparently more likely to be a victim of crime this year than last, the first rise since 1995. (See the BBC's article here)
Can it get worse? I think it can, we will have to wait and see.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
