Saturday, October 09, 2010

The Daley Dozen: Saturday



1. Gates of Vienna has some disturbing evidence of electoral fraud.

2. Antony Little has a brilliant analysis on the good and bad things about the Tory conference.

3. Tory Totty is back online.

4. Next Left on how Charlie Whelan is refusing to gloat. At all. Never let it be said.

5. Paul Linford on which political leader faces the toughest task.

6. Jerry Hayes on the deprivation of the Balls family.

7. Skipper on the ten tasks facing Ed Miliband.

8. Paul Waugh reviews Tony Blair's memoirs for Critical Reaction.

9. Michael Heaver doesn't know whether he's Arthur or Martha on AV.

10. Nick Robinson on why Alan Johnson is Shadow Chancellor.

11. Ben the Prisoner on Ken Clarke's ideas for working prisoners.

12. Tom Harris says to IPSA: "Come and have a go if you think you're hard enough".

17 comments:

Michael Heaver said...

Nice one Iain, ta muchly. The missus won't be happy with you giving me a bunch of other stuff to read!

The business world from somebody in it said...

Hia Iain,

Tell me, how popular does my blog have to be to get it in the top 10 :)

http://www.epsilica.com/insights

Advice is most welcome

Malcolm Redfellow said...

Mr Dale:

Have you read through the contents of your first choice, above?

If you have, please justify its inclusion and your recommendation of such preposterous filth as:

... the local postman, Mr Abdul Aziz, knows very well where he should deliver the extra 200 postal votes designated for the non-people within the non-houses.

[And, for family consumption, that's one of the safer bits!]

Do you really approve and applaud a site, run out of the Great State of Virginia, explictly predicated to the assertion that At the siege of Vienna in 1683 Islam seemed poised to overrun Christian Europe. We are in a new phase of a very old war?

Note particularly, in the context of the whole inflammatory piece, that bit in the last paragraph as the native EDL square up to foreign Islam and their Communist allies.

Jimmy said...

"Gates of Vienna has some disturbing evidence of electoral fraud."

You'll no doubt let us know when they publish it.

Anonymous said...

Only 10 tasks?

Edward Bond said...

when i visit Totty Tory I get this message: Warning: Visiting this site may harm your computer!
The website at www.torytottyonline.com contains elements from the site rpc.blogrolling.com, which appears to host malware – software that can hurt your computer or otherwise operate without your consent. Just visiting a site that contains malware can infect your computer.

Anonymous said...

Opinions will differ on the Gates of Vienna site, but there has been enough other evidence of electoral fraud.

Iain, do you think it should be Coalition policy to abolish postal voting for everyone except those who are too disabled to get to the polling station, and members of the forces who are serving away from home? I do.

(Being on holiday should no longer count as a reason for having a postal vote, now that we have fixed-term Parliaments. Anyone who wants to ensure that he or she votes, can choose holiday dates accordingly. And when polling booths are open from 7 am to 10 pm, very few shift workers would be unable to vote in person.)

wild said...

It is OK Jimmy, you are a Labour Party apologist, and so nobody was expecting you to be concerned about electoral fraud.

Unknown said...

Linking to the Gates of Vienna website? Really?

Malcolm Redfellow said...

wild @ 11:46 AM

Of course all democrats, of any political persusasion, should be aware of the dangers of electoral fraud. I'm astounded it is necessary to endorse such a truism.

For the record, I am aware of just two current legal actions. Neither has any connection to Baroness Warsi's claims.

That is not the point here.

Rather, it is whether Mr Dale was ill-advised to give his imprimatur to this particular piece on that particular site, a site which shows considerable enthusiasm for the EDL mob.

The author of the diatribe recommended by Mr Dale was the UKIP candidate for the Cities of London and Westminster (664 votes). He predicts racial Civil War and the "ethnic cleansing of the English". His views are so extreme that his admirers have seen them as anticipating a UKIP-BNP merger.

Perhaps Mr Dale will explain his choice and prioritising of this fact-less nonsense, which he said contained disturbing evidence of electoral fraud

Iain Dale said...

Malcolm, as a regular reader you will know that I link to all sorts of blogposts, including ones I disagree with and slag me off.

It seemed to me that this blogpost raised issues which ought to be discussed.

The EDL is not a proscribed organisation as far as I know. I may not agree with what they do but that shouldn't prevent me linking to a site which links to them.

By linking to a site does not mean I endorse it. I've even linked to extreme left sites before now.

Malcolm Redfellow said...

Iain Dale @ 3:13 PM:

I thank you for your acknowledgement. I accept all of what you say there.

My objection was made, not because such hysterics need "discussed", but because you specifically saw "disturbing evidence" in what I see as evidence of disturbance.

So, my initial interjection was made in horror. The views in the post you listed would hardly shock on too many right/centre sites. They do here, precisely because your Diary is wide-ranging and typifies decent and (smallest "l") liberal attitudes — which is why I come around for my regular dose of execration and ridicule.

wild said...

Malcolm Redfellow, it is evident that you struggle to comprehend the concept of freedom of speech, so here is a clue. In a free society people have the freedom to say things with which Malcolm Redfellow diasgrees.

As far as I am aware, Baroness Warsi told the New Statesman that she believed that the Conservatives lost three seats at the General Election because of electoral fraud, and that these problems seemed to be predominantly associated with the Asian community, with Labour the beneficiary.

The suggestion that her claims have no connection with current police investigations is baseless speculation on your part, since she did not mention any specific constituency.

As for electoral fraud not being the point, I think you will find that accusations of electoral fraud is the point. That is why Iain linked to the article.

Now Iain may or may not agree with every single point uttered in every article to which he links, but what is clear is that you show a typical Leftist desire to close down any debate which contains opinions with with which you disagree.

Let us hope that the concerns about electoral fraud turn out to be incorrect.

As for arguments about the success or otherwise of people from one religious tradition integrating into a community dominated by another religious tradition, I am sure the history of Ireland can give us many instructive examples, but that is another debate.

Jimmy said...

"As far as I am aware, Baroness Warsi told the New Statesman that she believed that the Conservatives lost three seats at the General Election because of electoral fraud,"

She stated it as fact, not merely that she believed it. She's been rowing back furiously ever since. She is truly the gift that keeps on giving.

You may want not follow Malcolm's excellent link, although I would warn you it does contain facts. You may not be used to this approach.

Iain I think the problem is not that you merely linked to the site, but you appended the implicit endorsement that they had evidence to support their racist gibberish. Anyone reading the screed will see they have no such thing

Malcolm Redfellow said...

These trolls really bug me, man.

I rise to the bait purely on matters of fact.

wild @ 5:23 PM gives a fair account of the doings of the noble Baroness Warsi. He obviously failed to link to my reference: type in haste, repent at leisure. We've all done it.

The active cases of which I have heard are both private actions:

* The Lib Dem candidate in Oldham East and Saddleworth, Elwyn Watkins, is pursuing Phil Woolas over alleged false statements. This action is under Section 106 of the 1983 Representation of the People Act; and has nothing to do with fraudulent voting.

* Rodney Connor, the “independent” Unionist (with DUP and UCUNF support), has lodged an election petition to overturn Michelle Gildernew’s majority of 4. This is in Fermanagh and South Tyrone. Among the dreary steeples such court action is considered an essential part of the electoral timetable.

As I said, neither bears any possible resemblance to Baroness Warsi's statements, nor to the remarkably-similar piece that (for one example) the Observer published as long ago as 2nd May 2010.

For the third time, my objection to Mr Dale giving the piece in question his premier recommendation is that he claimed it to be disturbing evidence of electoral fraud. I read the piece. It contains absolutely no evidence. I therefore invoked the Trades Descriptions Act. I have learned to expect better of Mr Dale.

wild said...

Jimmy,

You condemn Baroness Warsi for asserting that electoral fraud has taken place. Well whatever her evidence we can be sure of one thing, your rejection of her claims is based on no evidence whatsoever. If you condemn her on those grounds, then you equally condemn yourself. Neither you nor Baroness Warsi however will be the ones who decide if there is a case to answer. It will be decided by the police and the courts. It is an issue however that will concern anybody with the slightest moral integrity.


Malcolm Redfellow,

I think that Iain said that he may or not agree with the articles that he links to, but that he links to articles which raises issues which merit discussion. It seems that you fail to understand this concept. Whether or not you yourself would have linked to the article is irrelevant. Got it yet?

Jimmy said...

"Well whatever her evidence we can be sure of one thing, your rejection of her claims is based on no evidence whatsoever. If you condemn her on those grounds, then you equally condemn yourself."

You really are quite special you know.