Emily performs a classic; Happy New Year Everybody!
Are you watching, Simon Cowell?
December 31, 2007
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My Predictions for 2008
December 27, 2007Given my normal phenominal performance in predicting political events, I thought I’d do my Mystic Meg impression and make a stab at what might happen next year. Some of them more likely than others…
1. One cabinet minister will resign, citing Ministerial Responsibility, because of a massive foul-up in their department.
2. Nick Clegg will tell his party to be honest in campaigning and orders them to stop producing dodgy bar-charts. Over 150 party members are expelled for failure to comply with their leader.
3. The media will admit that just because David Cameron had a good education and a priviledged upbringing, it means he can appreciate popular culture and use public transport. Labour pledge not to use the word “toff” during their election campaign.
4. Voters in Norwich elect another hung council but the LibDems become the fourth party and the Greens become the official opposition.
5. At least one MP in each main party will call upon their leader to resign / shape up but all three will still be in place at the end of the year.
6. Education will become a political battleground and we can talk about grade inflation, inclusion, SEN and discipline without being accused of belittling students, teachers etc etc. The LibDems will get an education policy, the Tories will broaden out their policy and the goverment will admit not everything is working and will do something to bloody well sort it out.
7. Children-in-Need / Red Nose Day won’t have a record breaking year and will raise less money than previously because absolutely nobody believes they can keep on getting more despite wheeling out the same old tat every year.
8. The Government will fund councils properly and stop heaping their central stealth taxes upon local people. In return councils promise to stop spending money on silly projects and cut waste.
9. The most talented person will win all reality TV events, following a new private members bill that is laid down following public outrage this year’s X-Factor result.
10. LibDem Voice will actually post something that is controversial and interesting.
Your views?
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Having a Wonderful Christmas Time
December 27, 2007Just a quick note to say I hope everyone has had a great Christmas and look forward to a fantastic 2008!
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Blogging Council Question Time – December
December 21, 2007For once the Questions certainly outshone the debates in terms of topics, answers and good old fashioned political point scoring.
Attack of the Day
An uncharacteristically boisterous attack from Cllr John Wyatt (Con, Bowthorpe) who asked the Executive if they would lobby the UEA to accommodate more students on campus in order to save the Norwich housing stock. Cllr Bert Bremner, Executive Member for Communities, replied it gave the normally docile Tory a bit of an electric shock. Cllr Wyatt responded saying that the answer was “typically evasive and devoid of any real action”. It certainly didn’t answer Cllr Wyatt’s question but could Cllr Bremner – who has incurred the wrath of UEA students several times – really be failing to provide leadership on this? Apparently so. So shocked was he that Cllr Bremner refused to answer the question. Oh dear – not a festive start.
Fluff of the Day
Cllr Wright (LibDem, Eaton) with a quite bizarre question about data protection. It was clearly meant for some press release or another and was meant to be topical but it failed miserably on all counts. Some ideas are just too clever I suppose.
Insult of the Day
“Comparing yourselfs to the woeful performance of the last LibDem administration is like saying Terry Venebals was a good England manager but only compared to Steve McClaren.” Cllr Little (Con, Bowthorpe)
Angry Man of the Day
LibDem Jeremy Hooke (Thorpe Hamlet) launched into Executive Member Cllr Alan Waters about council tax collection rates with the gusto of a man possessed with political indignation. But when he got the reply he wanted, the wind was well and truly out of his sails.
Exchange of the Day
For a second month running this goes to Cllr Lubbock (LibDem, Eaton) who is moving away from her reputation for shooting herself in the foot. She asked if Cllr Morrey (Labour) would back the campaign to reduce the speed limit on Newmarket Road. When Cllr Morrey said no, Cllr Lubbock produced with wonderful timing and brilliant tone, a quote from Charles Clarke backing the plans. “Well, he’s the MP and I’m on the council … er, I have nothing to do with Charles Clarke,” spluttered poor old Cllr Morrey. A second direct hit for Cllr Lubbock.
Question of the Day
The billing of LibDem Deputy Leader Brian Watkins (Eaton) versus Labour’s Bert Bremner (University) didn’t quite live up to the billing, but it was a well crafted question. Cllr Bremner has been involved with the campaign to save the Blackdale fields for some time. His Labour government has given permission to sell off the fields, so Cllr Watkins asked if the government had let down local people. There was no right answer to this question for Cllr Bremner. So he started a long rant about the campaign not being dead. Very very boring and most people had forgotten the political hole he was in by the end of it. Cllr Watkins had the chance to pour on pressure but his supplementary was a bit flat and let Cllr Bremner off the hook. A great question but, to be honest, a pisspoor answer.
Answer of the Day
In a bunch of Green questions that fell flat, the best of them was from Cllr Little (Town Close) who asked what carbon reduction has so far been achieved. To what poor old Cllr Brian Morrey splutter and wince and then admit he had no idea was priceless. Apparently we were making progress, but, er, um, nobody has any idea how much. If at all. Really. Ah. Yes. Cllr Morrey had a bad night all round really. Full marks to Cllr Read (Green, Wensum) who was quick enough during his question to say, “I wanted an answer to the last question actually but I suppose the answer to this one will do.”
Don’t mistake activity for achievement
December 21, 2007The desperation of opposition has sunk into the LibDems, having issued two press releases in two months attacking the Greens and Conservatives for not putting forward motions at council. The reason I call this desperate is because it fundamentally mistakes activity for achievement.
In the last year or so the Conservatives have put forward motions on congestion charging, travellers, climate change and unitary.
The Greens have put forward motions on frois gras and sustainable developments.
The LibDems have put forward motions on plastic bags, high speed rail links to London and now energy saving at City Hall.
I’m not saying that any are more important than the others (except maybe the Frois Gras one) but it is right that parties should only put forward motions that are meaningful, workable and will make an impact. Some of the absolutely tat we have to debate from the LibDems fails on all three counts. In the end, it seems to me that the Labour administration has taken to ingoring LibDems motions because they are not costed and that is because the LibDems seem unwilling to take part in proper budget negotiations.
Anyway, this is a typical politico issue that virtually nobody outside of City Hall and party meetings will care about.
And who am I to, for example, mention that the only party to use 100% of their chances to cross question the Executive are the Conservatives, with LibDem members frequently failing to scrutinise Labour?
Or that the LibDem Leader used his time on scrutiny to complain about the page numbering in a report and left it to the Conservative Leader to attack the tone and content?
Of course, I wouldn’t mention such things …
A very modern resignation
December 21, 2007Social networking may have gone a step too far as one friend points out that Labour’s latest resignation in the City has come on the Facebook site. Dan Roper, who I think may even have stood as a candidate before, has quit and left an open message giving his reasons why. At least Labour have found an up-to-date way of people of shunning them.
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LibDem member quits when he finds out what the party stands for
December 21, 2007Today’s postbag was good. Along with a mixture of Christmas cards from party figures I have never heard of came a letter from a gentleman in Norwich who told us about his decision to resign from the Liberal Democrats.
He said he had been a member of the party since the beginning but had concluded that as a group they are now totally pointless (his words, not mine). So what had caused this resignation? A Huhne voter fed up? A disgruntled party activist?
No, for the first time in many years he looked up the LibDem policies on various issues. On top of a long list of policy errors, he says it was their decision to support Congestion Charging in Norwich that was the final straw and you could almost feel the passion of the ripped up membership card in the way he wrote.
This gentleman isn’t crossing the floor to Labour or defecting to the Tories. He wants to step back from politics and says he’ll look again next May to see who deserves his vote. Good on him. I always like to hear of open minded voters, and maybe one day he’ll vote LibDem again.
On a similar note, of fluid politics, whilst out canvassing around Newmarket Road recently I met a couple who told me they were switching from LibDem to Green. Apparently a LibDem had tried to convince them this would mean letting a Tory in via the backdoor. They didn’t care at all, because they weren’t worried about electing a Conservative. That sort of change is all down to Cameron ; such an attitude would never have existed under Howard or, say, IDS.
There’s a lot of churn on the doorsteps of Norwich at the moment. The next election is wide open.
Nick Clegg’s First Shuffle
December 21, 2007Having started well, Nick Clegg today walked straight into his first political brick wall with his post-election reshuffle. Not the people in the shuffle, obviously, but his first quote about it.
“I’m hugely excited to announce my new shadow cabinet. I think this team is the strongest political team in British politics today,” he said.
Oh dear. And this man wants to be taken seriously. It’s bad enough they use the term “shadow cabinet” which according to the Parliamentary Library is a term reserved only for the main opposition party. But to claim the LibDems have the strongest team in British politics is so far from the mark it makes you wonder if Nick Clegg is the man who writes all those bar-chart stories for Focus leaflets.
Let’s compare and contrast.
Labour Home Secretary Jacqui Smith is having a tough time of it at the moment – but in Huhne versus David Davis, its got to be Basher all the way.
Now think about pigmy Foreign Secretary Milliband against Shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague. I think both of them dwarf poor little Ed Davey.
Now what about Business? John Hutton and Alan Duncan – both polished performers with a good background. Clearly, no, we’d all prefer to see Sarah Teather in the job.
The environment? Hilary Benn, Peter Ainsworth or … Steve Webb?
Housing: Absolutely anybody would be better than Lembit!
In fact, I cannot find a single portfolio where the LibDem spokesman would be better than both their Labour or Tory equivalent.
There are clearly some good people on the LibDem frontbench – Browne, Cable, Featherstone, Lamb to name a few. But these are not the political giants in this country.
Add to that the news that the LibDem Frontbench team is now nearly half their total parliamentary party and you understand why their top team is becoming more and more like an “everybody wins a prize” machine.
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Posted by antonylittle
No
December 21, 2007That was Nick Clegg’s answer when asked if he believes in God. I think he was quite right to be honest and this may be the chance we need to broaden politican debate when it comes to religion.
I believe in God. My wife and children are all Catholic and I too attend Mass. I am not christened but do count myself as some kind of christian. However I believe that we best express our christian faith not through the symbols we wear or the church services we attend, but how we behave and act towards others. I like to think I am christian in outlook and attitude if not strictly so on paper.
David Cameron, when asked the same question, gave the brilliant answer “yes, but I don’t have a direct hotline.” There was once a time when any serious British politican, let alone the man who could be the next Prime Minister, would have to have a serious attitude towards religion. Now I think we can finally start to talk about this properly. After all, it isn’t long before Blair converts to catholicism.
I want politicans to show respect, honesty, tolerance, decency, selflessness and – yes – love. If I can get all those things from a non-believer then that is as good as such qualities from a regular church-goer.
I am (as you might expect from a man who teaches at a catholic school) a great supporter of religion. But the qualities of a leader I expect aren’t always synonymous with being a christian.
So well done to Nick Clegg – a thought provoking start!
LibDems vote for a calamity … just!
December 18, 2007The 511 vote margin of victory for Nick Clegg in today’s LibDem Leadership vote will no doubt occupy vast reams of blog pages, so I will just stick to a few key points.
Firstly, just over 40,000 people voted – down on those that turned out to elect Sir Ming and a worrying sign for the membership of the LibDems generally.
Secondly the slim margin of victory may cause a headache for Clegg everytime he has a party showdown. He actually got, if you include spoilt ballot papers and those with the inevitable Cable write-ins, less than 50% of the vote. No prize to the first LibDem to throw that back at him when me makes an unpopular decision.
Thirdly, the LibDems will now have a leader for whom the word “calamity” will forever be linked. Again, no prizes for the first use of that at PMQs, Question Time etc. It’s a tag he won’t be able to shift.
Lastly is the problem with what to do with Huhne. Chris must be gutted ; but the frontbench reshuffle would be easier if it were Huhne shuffling Nick (remaining as Home Affairs Spokesman is a no-brianer) but less easy to know what Nick should do with Chris. Sticking at Environment plays down his important and the fact he was a handful of votes away from being party leader, but can he have somebody who personally dislikes him so much in one of the key jobs? Vince is guaranteed Deputy Leadership and the Treasury. What can Nick do that doesn’t look bad?
I always said – to some derision – that the Tories would fear Huhne more and I stick by that. This is the wrong decision for the LibDems and, as so, Cameron must be laughing tonight. Huhne was capable of leading them forward in terms of media and intellectually. Lightweight Clegg – Calamity Man – hasn’t had a good leadership contest.
So well done, Mr Clegg. We all look forward, with interest, to what you do now.
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