How to Annoy Your Fellow Passengers...

Mike Rouse has an entertaining piece about his bank holiday rail journey to Wales, full of witty observations about his fellow passengers and their rather irritating activities...

SNP Select Glenrothes By Election Candidate

The SNP has tonight selected its candidate for the Glenrothes by election. He is Peter Grant, the leader of Fife Council.

Labour is having difficulty finding a candidate to fight this by-election. So far, three leading candidates have said thanks, but no thanks.

* Henry McLeish (ex-MP and MSP in Fife and First Minister).
* Christine May (ex-MSP for the area, lost her seat in 2007).
* Alex Rowley (Labour leader on Fife Council, ex-Secretary of the Labour Party in Scotland, and a Brown protege - think Douglas Alexander and add an extra "Fife" dimension).

It shows just how desperate things have become when Labour can't find a candidate for a seat with a five figure majority.

UPDATE: Just for your info, the BBC finally reported this story at 9.31, over an hour after I posted it. Is that really the best it can do? I know it's August, but even so.

Alex Salmond & Margaret Thatcher: The Truth

I hadn't quite realised what a stink my interview with Alex Salmond had caused in Scotland until I heard that the First Minister himself had called a phone in on BBC Radio Scotland to clarify his remarks. You can listen to it HERE. In the interview with me he said...

ID: Ten years ago, the Conservatives were seen as a terrible enemy by the SNP, and they saw you as very left-wing. It seems to me that you have tried to change that, and create a big tent for the SNP.
AS: I suppose I have tried to bring the SNP into the mainstream of Scotland. We have a very competitive economic agenda. Many business people have warmed towards the SNP. We need a competitive edge, a competitive advantage - get on with it, get things done, speed up decision making, reduce bureaucracy. The SNP has a strong social conscience, which is very Scottish in itself. One of the reasons Scotland didn't take to Lady Thatcher was because of that. We didn't mind the economic side so much. But we didn't like the social side at all.
ID: Doesn't that illustrate the problem, that Scotland is seen as having quite a big public sector and, as the country of Adam Smith, it is no longer seen as the country of enterprise?
AS: I think that betrays Adam Smith. He was not just a friend of economics. He was a moral philosopher. Margaret Thatcher could have only ever read the Penguin edition of Wealth of Nations and she missed out the moral sentiments. I would absolutely defend the reputation of Adam Smith against the Adam Smith Institute. I said to Eamonn Butler [Deputy Director of the ASI], if Adam Smith could sue, you'd be in real trouble.

Labour has seized on the highlighted passage and called on Alex Salmond to apologise. It is astonishing that even eighteen years after she left office Margaret Thatcher still dominates much of our political discourse. Quite how Labour has managed to spin Salmond's remarks about Thatcher in the way that it has is quite astonishing - but the Scottish media has such a Labour bias it makes English newspapers look positively balanced by comparison. Every single Scottish media outlet is biased against the SNP. A point I made in an unpublished part of the interview...

ID It must be a relief to have got through the first year with a reputation for competence.
AS It was a desirable objective. As you probably have noticed, I am not short of confidence, so relief is the wrong phrase, but I was determined that that should be done. So much so that I banned their holidays last Summer and said look, you’re Cabinet Ministers, make your mark. And they did.
ID My point is that the Scottish media is against the SNP and apart from the Labour Party most other people in politics have said quite nice things about you.
AS If you get complimented by your critics then that is better than just being complimented by your friends.

Anyone who seriously thinks that Alex Salmond has turned into an admirer of Margaret Thatcher must want their heads read. As he has been quick to point out, it was Gordon Brown who invited her to Number Ten, so it’s a bit rich for Labour to make hay with his remarks!

When one does an In Conversation interview like this, it has to be edited. The original transcript ran to 6,500 words, whereas the version which appeared in the magazine was less than half that. I have just gone back and checked against the original transcript of the conversation and was relieved to find it is an entirely accurate report of what Alex said. Here, just for the record is the unedited version...

ID I perceive that the SNP has changed a lot in the last ten years. The Conservatives were seen as a terrible enemy by you and the SNP was seen to be a very left wing party by the Conservatives. It seems to me that you have copied Bill Clinton – I’ll be careful where I go with this analogy – and tried to create a big tent for the SNP, so you can attract ex Conservative voters who had previously felt put off by some of the more left wing ideas of the SNP.
AS I suppose I have tried to bring the SNP into the mainstream of Scotland. We have a very competitive economic agenda. Many businesspeople have warmed towards the SNP. We need a competitive edge, a competitive advantage. That side of SNP politics – get on with it, get things done, speed up decision making, reduce bureaucracy. The SNP has a strong, beating social conscience, which is very Scottish in itself. One of the reasons Scotland didn’t take to Lady Thatcher was because of that. It didn’t mind the economic side so much. But we didn’t like the social side at all. One of the most famous phrases in Scottish history is the ‘Community of the realm’ – I used it earlier. This idea that there is a community of interest stretching across the population. It’s a very Scottish concept and Scotland doesn’t like people who regale against it.
ID Doesn’t that illustrate the problem that Scotland is seen as having quite a big public sector, a bit too much of the Nanny State, and as the country of Adam Smith it is no longer seen as the country of enterprise. Or am I betraying English prejudices by even daring to suggest such a thing?
AS I think you are betraying Adam Smith. He was not just a friend of economics. He was a moral philosopher. Margaret Thatcher had only ever read the Penguin edition of Wealth of Nations and she missed out the moral sentiments. I would absolutely defend the reputation of Adam Smith against the Adam Smith Institute.
ID You’re a better man than I am.
AS I said to Eamonn Butler [Deputy Director of the ASI], if Adam Smith could sue, you’d be in real trouble.

You can read the whole interview HERE.

I Miss My Combine Harvester

This weekend, weather permitting, I hope to be driving a combine harvester on my father’s farm near Saffron Walden. I suspect that there are many farmers around the country who, like him, are extremely concerned by the terrible weather we have been having and its effect on yields. There’s nothing quite like driving a combine harvester. I know it sounds stupid, but you can become quite attached to them. I was quite emotional when in the mid 1990s my father pensioned off an old Massey Ferguson combine (pic above) which we had bought in 1966. In fact I was furious. I knew every inch of that old hulk like the back of my hand and I still miss it!

The other thing I miss about harvest is stubble burning. My Dad still hates John Gummer with a passion for banning it in the early 1990s!

And yes, that's me, aged 21 wearing my I Love Maggie T Shirt. Hunky, eh?

Total Politics: Boris, Alex Salmond and Dowdy Female MPs

The September issue of Total Politics is now available online. We're delighted that in addition to WH Smith Travel outlets at stations and airports stocking it, WH Smith High Street shops will now also be stocking the magazine. You can read it on the E-Zine, or you'll find each article on THIS page. Here are some of the highlights.

Extended interview with Alex Salmond
Interview with Boris Johnson
Interview with Peter Robinson
Survey: Councillors back All Out Elections
Interview with the Prime Minister of Gibraltar
Pete Wishart MP: My Political Hinterland
Political Diets: The curse of the canape
If I Were PM: Ian Rankin
Why are female MPs do dowdy?
Debate: Is the Green Belt Sacred?

We've had a design makeover for this issue and hope you like the result.

We've also had some great press coverage for four of the features. Scotland is in uproar at Alex Salmond's comment to me that Margaret Thatcher wasn't so bad really, Boris has caused controversy with a hint that he would like to succeed David Cameron, Dr Oliver Hartwich from Policy Exchange has done it again and suggested the green belt should be scrapped and the Peter Robinson interview has made headlines in Northern Ireland. To say we are over the moon at the press coverage this issue has generated is an understatement.

The next issue will be available at all the party conferences. We're also taking advertising for fringe events. If you're organising a fringe at any of the conferences and want to publicise it, do let us know. We go to press on 1 September.


You can subscribe to the magazine HERE for £35 (a 27% discount off the cover price).

Know Your Place, Says Polly

The History Channel debate was hugely enjoyable. More than one hundred people packed into the Marble Room at the Royal Society to hear a panel consisting of Polly Toynbee, Douglad Murray, Dominic Sandbrook and Diane Abbott. Sadly Simon Heffer couldn't join us due to illness. It was a good natured debate with more agreement than I might have predicted. All the panellists agreed that up to the age of 16 it was important for children to learn by rote so they knew the important dates and events. They were all sceptical about the value of teaching history by empathy.

A major point of disagreement emerged, though, on aspirational teaching, and encouraging kids to dream the dream. Christian May on the CF blog tells the story...

At one point during the lively discussion about how history should be taught, Douglas Murray said that one of the benefits of learning about great people in history is that it encourages children to think “that could be me” - a sense that individuals matter. Given how much of a Labour lover Toynbee is one would have thought that she might have agreed with this, given that it seems to fit with Brown’s “aspiration agenda.” However, she attacked Murray’s argument and said that to tell children that they could achieve greatness was to fill their heads with fairy tale nonsense. Apparently we live in a society where only the very rich achieve greatness. She went on to say that America’s notion that ‘anyone can make it if they work hard’ is simply a way of “keeping people in their place.” I couldn’t quite believe what I was hearing, and during the Q&A session I asked her to clarify her remarks and suggested that there was no better way of “keeping children in their place” than by telling them not to bother aspiring to greatness. I’m pleased to say that my questioning was met with general approval by the audience, but Polly just reiterated her notion that we live in a society where only the rich can make it etc. I then put it to her that not all great figures from history were born wealthy (or indeed achieved wealth), at which point she reverted to some safe ground - America bashing.

As a (relatively young) Conservative it is one of my core beliefs that individuals should aspire to better themselves, and society, through ambition and hard work. A world run by Toynbee would be a world where children are encouraged not to try, as “they’ll never make it in to the history book. That’s just where rich people end up.” Frightening stuff.

I put to Polly that in her word a thirteen year old Usain Bolt would never have won double Olympic Gold if her 'know your place' world existed.

UPDATE: Coffee House has a long post on the debate, together with the list of the 50 Things...

* The History Channel series '50 Things You Need to Know About British History' starts at 9pm on September 7th.

Top 10 Northern Irish Blogs

1. Slugger O'Toole
2. Three Thousand Versts
3. A Pint of Unionist Lite
4. Redemption's Son
5. Conor's Commentary
6. Everything Ulster
7. Devenport Diaries
8. Balrog
9. Modern Unionist Voice
10. O'Conall Street

These blogs were voted for by the readers of more than 60 UK political blogs and the readers of TOTAL POLITICS Magazine. Each person voted for their top ten blogs. Their favourite was awarded ten points, their second favourite nine points and so on down to one point. 1,142 people cast a vote. These were the thirty most popular media blogs blogs.

The full results will be published in the Guide to Political Blogging in the UK 2008-9 which is published on 5 September and will be available at all the party conferences. You can now also order it via the Total Politics website for £12 inc p&p. You will receive it in mid September.

The Importance of British History

Having been on Any Questions last week, I now get to play the Jonathan Dimbleby role tonight when I chair a panel discussion at the Royal Society on how we view history in this country, how it is taught in schools and how to engage people with the subject. It's being put on by the History Channel and the Daily Telegraph, who are about to launch a series of programmes called '50 Things You Should Know About British History', which will be presented by TV historian Dan Snow. Each programme in the series will feature between eight and 12 events from British history - such as the construction of Stonehenge or the invention of the internet - with a total of 50 to be featured. The series starts on 7 September.

The panel tonight consists of Simon Heffer, Polly Toynbee, Dianne Abbott, Dominic Sandbrook, and Douglas Murray. If that doesn't get a bit sparky, then nothing will!

If you have strong views on the teaching of history, engaging people with the subject, the growing popularity of history programmes on TV, do leave a comment and I may well bring it into the debate tonight.

I think there are a few tickets left (it's free) so if you have a spare couple of hours and want to pop along please email history@luther.co.uk.

Ways of Driving Traffic to Paul Waugh's Blog: No 94

Paul Waugh of the Evening Standard (who writes an excellent blog) will have caused a few male blood pressures to raise this morning, not to mention the hackles of a few feminists. He's written about an interview Total Politics has done in next month's issue (out tomorrow) with Boris Johnson, in which he reveals that he prefers blondes. Waugh has illustrated his story on this blog with a picture of Cheryl Tiegs with ... well, there's no other way of putting this ... her tits out.

I just emailed him to say I wonder how he gets away with it. If I put that picture on here I would be kicked from pillar to post. Or perhaps not...

Just in case you think interviewer James Silver was only interested in talking to Boris about fluff, let me dispell that. He also called Ken Livingstone's administration "pretty sleazy" and warned that criminal prosecutions in connection with misuse of public funds are "almost certain". More HERE. The full interview will be available from tomorrow on the TP website.

UPDATE: The Scotsman also has a long piece about an interview I have done with Alex Salmond. Thankfully Salmond doesn't get his tits out in the interview.

Top 20 MP Blogs

1. John Redwood
2. Tom Harris
3. Tom Watson
4. Nadine Dorries
5. Lynne Featherstone
6. Adam Price MP
7. John McDonnell
8. Kerry McCarthy
9. Jeremy Hunt
10. David Jones
11. Paul Flynn
12. Douglas Carswell
13. Richard Spring
14. Ed Vaizey
15. Elfyn Llwyd
16. Austin Mitchell
17. Sadiq Khan
18. Steve Webb
19. John Hemming
20. Adrian Sanders

These blogs were voted for by the readers of more than 60 UK political blogs and the readers of TOTAL POLITICS Magazine. Each person voted for their top ten blogs. Their favourite was awarded ten points, their second favourite nine points and so on down to one point. 1,142 people cast a vote. These were the thirty most popular media blogs blogs.

The full results will be published in the Guide to Political Blogging in the UK 2008-9 which is published on 5 September and will be available at all the party conferences. You can also order it via the Total Politics website from the end of this week.

Every Little Bit of Inflation Helps...

Since I gave up gazzling gallons of Lemon Lucozade (not good for diabetes, you see) my drink of choice is now sparkling mineral water with squeezed lime juice.

Having just been down to the local Tesco to buy some limes I thought I should share with you the fact that they have gone up in price by 33%! Still, inflation is only 4%, so I find that deeply reassuring.

How Many Kids Has This Happened To?

I had this email just now from a friend of mine. It speaks for itself.

My son had an offer from London University based on a BBC but when he got his result he had a BCC and the offer was withdrawn. Upon examining the grades we saw that on all the components of the English paper he had A’s and B’s but there was a U grade which gave him an overall C grade. There was no way this was true – this particular component was one that he excelled at, so we have sent for a re-mark. There was something in the news last night about this happening to a whole bunch of students in Herts. Anyhow, the great news is that I told my son to e-mail London University to tell them what happened and to convince them of his interest and dedication. The Professor called last night and today offered him a place despite the U grade. There was no way I was giving up on this one. Can you imagine though, how awful it is for kids that don’t have a pushy bitch of a mother like me? It really is a scandal and Edexel should be shot.

Does Gordon's Visit Signal the End of the Gold Rush

[tongue firmly in cheek] Have you noticed how since Gordon Brown congratulated our olympians for their gold medal haul, we haven't won any more? Our athletes are dreading his arrival in the Olympic Village today. "The game's up," said Tom Daley. "My gold medal hope has just gone down the tube," said Triple Jump hope Philips Idowu. [extracts tongue from cheek].

NB I'm supposed to be having a day off today, but am having to spend it proof reading the Blogging Guide. Allow me my little bit of fun...

By the way, check out THIS post on the PR Media blog. It seems that even his PR staff are ignoring orders from the Fuehrerbunker now...

UPDATE: Donal Blaney has a new version of the medals table HERE.

A World Without America Revisited

Tim Montgomerie's new AmericaInTheWorld site launched this week, with the aim of countering the growing tide of anti-americanism in this country and beyond. One of its first actions has been to create a WORLD WITHOUT AMERICA: THE SEQUEL video. Older readers will remember the furore created by the original one created 18 months ago by 18 Doughty Street (see it HERE). The first one got close on half a million views on YouTube. This one is slightly more thoughtful and low budget, and therefore its impact won't be the same. It looks at what the world would be like without the American soldier.



Tim's initative is a worthy one and I fully support his aims, but I do wonder if videos of this length work. IMHO they should be 30 seconds in length and hit you between the eyes.

Like the first video, this one will get a lot of notice in America, but that's not really the point. It's people in this country who need persuading that America is "a good thing". Tim's certainly got his work cut out on that one, and I wish AmericaInTheWorld well.

A Little Silliness to Brighten Your Morning

HOW TO START EACH DAY WITH A POSITIVE OUTLOOK

1. Open a new file in your computer.
2. Name it 'Gordon Brown'.
3. Send it to the Recycle Bin.
4. Empty the Recycle Bin.
5. Your PC will ask you: 'Do you really want to get rid of 'Gordon Brown?'
6. Firmly Click 'Yes'.
7. Feel better ....?

Graphic hattip: A Janus Face

Top 20 Green Blogs

1. The Daily (Maybe)
2. Two Doctors
3. Another Green World
4. Coventry Green Voice
5. George Monbiot
6. Green Ladywell
7. Philobiblon
8. Flesh is Grass
9. Peter Cranie
10. Barkingside 21
11. Paul Kingsnorth - Know Your Place
12. Transition Culture
13. Greenman's Occasional Organ
14. Jason Kitcat
15. La Lutte Continue
16. Ruscombe Green
17. Conservengland
18. Rupert Read
19. Adrian Ramsay
20. Scribo Ergo Sum

These blogs were voted for by the readers of more than 60 UK political blogs and the readers of TOTAL POLITICS Magazine. Each person voted for their top ten blogs. Their favourite was awarded ten points, their second favourite nine points and so on down to one point. These were the twenty most popular Green blogs.

The full results will be published in the Guide to Political Blogging in the UK 2008-9 which is published on 5 September and will be available at all the party conferences. You can also order it via the Total Politics website from the end of this week.

5 Live & A State Funeral for Lady Thatcher

I'm doing an hour long phone-in on 5 Live's Richard Bacon programme at midnight tonight on the subject of whether Margaret Thatcher should have a State Funeral. I'm up against some lefty playwright called Ed Waugh, who wrote a play called MAGGIE'S END. Nice. It is probably just as well that he will be in the Newcastle studio.

UPDATE; A few people have commented that such a discussion is in poor taste and I shouldn't be taking part. I tend to agree that this is not an agreeable subject for polite discussion, but would you rather the whole hour was given over to Thatcher haters like Ed Waugh? I shall be vigorously defending the Good Lady's honour!

PS If you would like to phone into the show it's 0845 909693, text 85058 or email bacon@bbc.co.uk

Ed Davey Part 2

You may recall this extract from Ed Davey’s twaddle a few days ago:

“Third, we must respond enthusiastically to the strong leadership shown by President Sarkozy, not just over Georgia, but in his historic revision of Gaullism, with his proposal for France to join NATO. With Europe’s other major military power for the first time in decades prepared to join the defence pact we have with the US, surely we should be setting aside the lingering doubts some have over the place for the EU’s Defence and Security Policy.”

It was pointed out in the comments that France is a founder member of NATO, and has always been a member of NATO, even if its troops have not always been under NATO’s integrated command. Now we have THIS sad news from Afghanistan, where ten French soldiers have lost their lives.

One can’t help wondering how angry the families of these soldiers would be that a senior party spokesman on foreign affairs from Britain, one of their major allies and closest neighbours, is unaware of that France is not only a member of NATO, but is losing its own sons fighting along side British forces.

Let's Avoid This Buttock-Clenching Spectacle

I don't know about you, but I find some of these post race trackside interviews very uncomfortable viewing indeed. Should athletes really be expected to do interviews within seconds of their race of event finishing. I have just watched Andrew Steele do one just after he failed to get through an athletics semi final. He was having to give instant analysis of his failings in the race. Yesterday four women rowers were in floods of tears, having just failed to clinch a gold. Apart from being voyeuristic in the extreme, what purpose do these interviews actually serve? Surely a more considered view a bit later would be a bit more enlightening for everyone.

Top 30 Media Blogs

Over the last month you have been voting for your favourite political blogs. Here's the first one to be released. Overall, more than 60 different blogs from all parts of the political spectrum urged their readers to vote and more than 1,100 people did so. Ici les resultats...

1. Spectator Coffee House
2. Ben Brogan
3. Three Line Whip
4. Boulton & Co
5. Nick Robinson
6. Comment Central
7. Paul Linford
8. David Cornock
9. Peter Hitchens
10. Melanie Phillips
11. Red Box
12. Betsan Powys
13. Vaughan Roderick
14. Kevin Maguire
15. Blether with Brian
16. Devenport Diaries
17. Mark Mardell
18. Brassneck
19. Certain Ideas of Europe
20. 07.25 to Paddington
21. Michael White
22. Total Politics Campaigns Blog
23. Bruno Waterfield
24. David Ottewell
25. Justin Webb
26. Adrian Monck
27. Clive Davis
28. Douglas Fraser
29. Toby Harnden
30. Green Ribbon

These blogs were voted for by the readers of more than 60 UK political blogs and the readers of TOTAL POLITICS Magazine. Each person voted for their top ten blogs. Their favourite was awarded ten points, their second favourite nine points and so on down to one point. 1,142 people cast a vote. These were the thirty most popular media blogs blogs.

The full results will be published in the Guide to Political Blogging in the UK 2008-9 which is published on 5 September and will be available at all the party conferences. You can also order it via the Total Politics website from the end of this week.