1. Tim Montgomerie explains why Guido, Tebbit and Hitchens are wrong. Well, I'm convinced. Are you?2. English Eclectic wonders if Damian McBride is back on the Brown payroll.
3. Dan Hannan finally finds a Labour voter.
4. Plato Says we should be grateful for Sir Gerald Kaufman's frugality.
5. Mark Reckons the electoral system has contributed to the expenses scandal and comes up with some interesting evidence. Update is HERE.
6. Lynne Featherstone explains why the Speaker should go.
7. Vicky Ford is berated on a Hatfield doorstep.
8. Philip Oppenheim on how MPs have got themselves a bad name.
9. Ben Brogan says the Speaker's future is up to Gordon Brown.
10. Sunder Katwala says there are two Iain Dales.
11. Luke Akehurst (to whom we all wish a speedy recovery) blogs from his sickbed on Labour's woes.
12. Cranmer says the Queen should dissolve Parliament.
15 comments:
I certainly agree with the first in the list.
I think: Guido is completely wrong.
Just shifting your vote to a no-hoper party is lazy and ineffective. If you really care, get up and do something.
"Cranmer says the Queen should dissolve Parliament."
Can she do that, even in theory? I thought that ever since Charles I's temper tantrums, Parliament could only be dissolved by itself.
Mouse
HM can dissolve parliament - certainly if the Government fails to dissolve parliament at the end of its elected term.
Funny how the Daley Dozen becomes the quality benchmark :)
It is quite gutting not to make the list, after a good day of blogging.
But when selected.....woo hoo !!
Roll on tomorrow. Try again
Sorry. Deeply unconvinced by Tim Montgomery. Cameron's Conservatism is new Labour Lite. If he isn't going to be as bad, or worse, than Blair, he needs to be threatened from the right.
Totally agree. Cameron needs hardening up by the right wing.
TrueBlueBlood....I like your new blog btw. Don't expect to be in Iain's Daley Dozen every day, I think you were named twice last week.
However, must say this weekend's blogs are your best yet...by a long way....loved the MP's toolkit piece... keep up the great work mate and be patient.
Mouse...love the idea of dissolving Parliament
Of course you're convinced, Iain. If we put a blue rosette on a dog, you'd tell us you'd vote for it to be an MP. Still, I wouldn't mind paying for the aforementioned dog's expenses - the occasional bone, a place for him to sleep at night and some dog biscuits. Beats paying for moat dredging, non-existent mortgages and horse shit.
Thank heavens we don't have two Sunder Katwalas, that's not a world I want to live in.
Some great blogs today.
Iain listened to your radio debut---loved it mate. Look forward to the rest.
Agree that TrueBlueBlood was overlooked today.
Cant wait for tomorrow...Speaker Martin falling on his sword.
Completely off-topic - apologies.
Iain, can you post your diary for each week, say on Sundays?
I'd like to follow your doings and to catch them as they happen.
Ta. :)
O/t but of interest, I hope!
Speaker's statement.
It's fine boycotting the major parties but to transfer to the minor parties simply means you are likely to select an even more hopeless, venal tosser than the one you are replacing.
UKIP is hardly an example of probity and professionalism.
The problem is that the whole political process is controlled by the party system. At present (save for extreme local circumstances) only those sponsored by the two main parties are seen as electable and access to the lists is manipulated by a tiny cabal. Oborne and Finklestein have been writing about this for some time and the Georgia Gould coup manqué only goes to prove it.
The expenses fiasco has happened because all parties colluded to allow it to.
In a perfect world we would have a system where candidates would be elected for their attributes (and held accountable for their performance) not merely for their party branding.
That would reduce the number of copper-bottomed Tory shits, barely literate Union placemen and 'token' candidates chosen purely for their gender or ethnicity (a practice which only hinders the goals of gender and racial equality).
Only when we abandon 'party' interests will we address the malaise at the heart of the present crisis of confidence in our democratic system.
If only I knew how it might be done.
How about doing a daily dozen of non troughing MPs?
It should be easy, only 12 from 646, they can be from any party.
Been reading your blog since 2005 - only just noticed the pun in 'The Daley Dozen'. Oh dear...
I disagree with TrueBlueBlood that the Daley Dozen is the quality benchmark.
Regular readers will know Iain has his favourites and the same regular names crop up---even if their article is complete tosh.
Nadine could post her shopping list up and Iain will blindly link to it.
Disagree with TM. The are some areas where working class people, whether Tory or Labour can usually agree.
- The EU
- Immigration
- Political Correctness
And who's position on these subjects do you think they would concur with:
Gordon Brown?
Dave Cameron?
Nigel Farage?
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