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Archive for January, 2008

The Case of Derek Conway is an interesting one, a man who used his Parliamentary Allowances to pay his two sons, at different times, an income as his “researchers” and it would appear that they did nothing much in return to earn the money. Now that in itself and as every parent of teenagers will attest, is not unusual, at an early age they learn to take the money for cleaning the car but somehow, not get round to performing the service.

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Having strong views, it is easy for me to write about politics because that is “projecting outwards” from me. By observing the on-going game in the Westminster Village and as we know, the watcher sees more of the game than those taking part in it but on a personal level, I know nothing about the people I write about whether Cameron or Brown. In that sense and to puncture my own vanity, my views are no more valid concerning the protagonists than an avid reader of “Celebrity” magazines holding firm views on the personalities of Kate Moss or Paris Hilton !

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David Cameron and his Front Bench Team do have a problem and a series of obstacles to overcome in dealing with the EU Constitution currently before the House on second reading. In a very particular sense, between the lobby fodder on the Labour bank benches and the “Quisling” tendencies of the LibDems, the only party the country can rely on to approach the EU conundrum sensibly, are the Tories but even then, Cameron has to keep his own supporters in check.

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The loss of data on 600,000 recruits or potential recruits to the Armed Forces from a car owned by a Naval Officer in Birmingham, on top of all the other data losses, the most spectacular being 25 million names on two DVDs is staggering in it’s total incompetence. As a Liberal Democrat MP observed, there cannot be anyone in the country who can now believe in Identity Cards and entrusting such data to one source.

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The other day, the Government through the Ministry of Justice put out a consultation paper – is it just me or does that name ‘MoJ’ have slightly Orwellian overtones, black & white movies, shot in the sewers of Vienna and starring Orson Wells as Jack Straw ? Sorry, I digress anyway, it is proposed that the Insolvency Laws should be changed in order to achieve wondrous things although the cynic in me suspects that any changes are designed for the political benefit of the Government or at least, in the event of a sharp increase in insolvencies, a mitigation of the blame laid upon the Government.

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From next Monday the European Union (Amendment) Bill starts its second reading and a month of Parliamentary time has been set aside for it, no doubt on the assumption that everyone will get bored by it. As three line whips will abound and only 20 Labour MPs will oppose or abstain , the outcome is a foregone conclusion because Read the rest of this entry »

Today’s crash landing at Heathrow of a BA Boeing 777 with no loss of life or even serious injury, is little short of amazing. In due course we shall hear what caused the catastrophic power failure at the very last moments before landing, that led to this extraordinary crash landing Read the rest of this entry »

Gordon Brown has seen fit to lend his support to the idea that Parliament should pass legislation that says that on death by default, organs may be harvested from anyone who hasn’t opted out of being a donor, the exact opposite of the current situation where people “opt in” to be a donor.

This is a wrong headed move that only an idiot politician could come up with. Read the rest of this entry »

“What we need most today, is to want less.” was said by an Athenian many centuries before the birth of Christ and it is, I suggest still a very sobering thought today. The singer Cheryl Crow echoed the sentiment in a 2002 song “Soak Up the Sun” with: “It’s not getting what you want, it’s wanting what you’ve got.” Read the rest of this entry »

The 1960′s saw an end to deference based upon class in the UK however, it was the start of just another stage in a much longer process of change that probably started with the outbreak of WWII. One of the hallmarks of change is the loss of past certainties, things previously taken for granted are swept away and it is difficult to see what will replace them. What bought this to my mind was the collapse Read the rest of this entry »