The Indy Accepts Effects of Globalisation

Next time you read a story in The Independent bewailing the fact that big companies are outsourcing some of their core functions to other countries, you might like to know that The Indy has just outsourced its finance department to Clonakilty in Co Cork, Ireland. Nothing wrong with that at all, but what's good for the globalisation goose...

Who Should Present The Westminster Hour?

Since Andrew Rawnsley's abrupt departure from The Westminster Hour there has been much speculation as to who the new presenter should be. Kevin Maguire speculates in his New Statesman gossip column this week that the BBC is seeking a 'Cameroon sounding' voice. Whatever that may be. I suppose that rules me out then... (that was a joke). My shortlist would consist of one name... James Landale. James has made the transition from print journalist to broadcast much more smoothly than most. He has good camera presence, speaks with authority and avoids the kind of hectoring interviewing style you often get with modern day TV journalists. And he's one of the nicest guys in political journalism. [That should ruin his chances - ed].

Examples of Blair's Lies: No 94

Do you remember Gordon Brown saying to Tony Blair "I can never believe another word you will ever say to me"?

When Blair went into hospital with his heart murmor a couple of years ago Downing Street said: "He does not have, has never had, a heart condition".

Blair himself said at the time: "This has never happened before... I have never had this condition before"

David Blunkett says in his diaries: "Tony told me that he had had the heart problem, on and off, for fifteen years..."

Bill Clinton and The Queen have both said that Blair had told them about his heart condition some years before.

No wonder Gordon Brown has come to believe Blair to be a congenital liar.

Should He Stay or Should He Go

What a clash. The Chief of the Army staff has, depending on your point of view, courageously spoken out on behalf of his troops, demanding their early withdrawal or he has committed a gross act of insubordination to his Commander in Chief.

His words mean that there will be an inevitable clash between politicians and the military. I have no doubt that the instinct of Tony Blair and Des Browne is to call Sir Richard Dannant in for an interview without coffee and sack him on the spot. But just imagine the reaction among the army staff and troops if that happened. Mutiny is not a word I use lightly, but Blair knows that it is not inconceivable.

The reason they can't sack Sir Richard Dannant is that if they did, they would have to get rid of his boss too - the Chief of Defence Staff. I am assuming he will have at least tacitly approved the nature of Sir Richard's remarks in the interview.

The most likely scenario is for the politicians to persuade the CDS to take action himself. It is not beyond the bounds of possibility that Sir Richard may fall on his sword, albeit involuntarily.

It could, of course, all blow over but in the absence of any other big story to help bury this one, I think that's unlikely.
This is a major political crisis in the making. But it does have one silver lining for Labour. At least it has knocked the ridiculous Sion Simon off the headlines.
From Iain Dale's Blackberry

This Week, Iraq & Peter Kilfoyle

I got home half an hour ago and watched the last fifteen minutes of the 18DoughtyStreet End of the Day Show on my laptop (I have to keep an eye on Mr Montgomerie, you know) while putting This Week on the TV. This Week's studio guests are Miss UK, James Brown and Martin Amis. If that line-up doesn't make you switch over to Internet TV in the future, nothing will.

Anyway, I digress. Earlier this evening I got a text from Sky News telling me that the Chief of the Defence Staff had called for British troops to be withdrawn from Iraq as soon as possible. At first I thought it was a wind-up. But it wasn't. I cannot recall a precedent for this kind of public disavowal of Government policy by such a senior military officer and I'm not sure what the consequences will be. While it puts the Defence Secretary and PM in a difficult position, it also puts the Conservatives in a quandry.

Liam Fox's response tonight was odd in that its primary purpose seemed to be to point out that Tony Blair's authority is ebbing away. It also hinted that the Conservative position is to align itself to the Chief of Defence Staff. This is dangerous territory. Our troops are on a mission in Iraq and my head tells me they have to complete it. If they don't, and they are withdrawn, we are into comparisons with Suez, where our troops were sent home with their tails between their legs. They deserve better than that. Fifty years on, is history about to repeat itself?

I have just come off the phone to Peter Kilfoyle, Labour MP for Walton. I published Peter's book LEFT BEHIND some years ago and we got on like a house on fire. He's recovering from a quadruple heart bypass at the moment and hasn't touched a cigarette for four months. Anyone who knows him will tell you how remarkable that is. He hopes to be back in the Commons by the end of November and I can assure you he will be gracing the Doughty Street sofas too. But he's lost so much weight, he might not need a sofa now. Get well soon, Peter.

Oops, Sion Simon Does It Again...

I suspect Sion Simon is feeling a bit of a prat tonight. We've all done it - written things on our blogs which we've regretted later, although I have to say I don't think I have ever made quite such a fool of myself as Sion. Did Tom Watson goad him into it? The trouble is, it's not actually very good or very funny. It just repeats a mantra and makes some slightly insulting suggestions but hey, we've all done that in our time. It's fascinating that Sion Simon is attacking David Cameron rather than Tony Blair. I am sure this will come as a shock to many of his colleagues. Cameron himself ought to be remarkably relaxed by this row. After all, it will result in several thousand more hits to WebCameron. And it's given me a couple of opportunities to plug 18DoughtyStreet on Sky News and News at Ten (watch this evening).

LibDems Stare Bankruptcy in the Face

Page 2 of The Times makes interesting reading today. A High Court Judge ruled yesterday that 5th Avenue Partners, the company owned by jailed fraudster Michael Brown and which gave the LibDems £2.4 million, had never actually traded. Surely this totally blows apart the contention put about by the LibDems that they had done their due diligance properly and had obeyed Electoral Commission rules. It really does seem to me that they are up a creek without a paddle on this and would at least do themselves some good if they admitted they had made the most horrendous mistake.

It's quite clear they haven't got the money to pay it back, so the interesting question now is this: will former Manchester United chairman Martin Edwards and his three colleagues now take this action further, and if so how? Is it possible they could issue a winding up order against the LibDems effectively rendering them bankrupt? My knowledge of law in this area is not even sketchy so perhaps any lawyers readig this might offer us - and indeed the LibDems - some free advice...

Thatcherism New Zealand Style

Proportional representation is not something I approve of. I could just about stomach it for local council elections but I could never support it for Westminster elections. Whatever system emerged would be bound to ruin the link between MPs and their constituencies. Just look at the system for electing MEPs. I suspect only a small proportion of the people reading this could name their own MEPs. I have absolutely no idea who the MEPs for my area of Kent are, with the exception of Dan Hannan.

If we had PR I think you'd find a plethora of new political parties being formed. Last week I recorded an interview for my One 2 One programme with the leader and deputy leader of ACT, a Thatcherite liberal party in New Zealand. Rodney Hide and Heather Roy are ACT's only two MPs in the New Zealand Parliament. The party was formed in the early 1990s by the former Labour finance minister Roger Douglas, who had grown disillusioned with the Labour Party. it was he who reformed the New Zealand economy and experimented with so-called 'Rogernomics'.

The interview will be shown at 10.30pm on 18DoughtyStreet.

Ann Widdecombe - Live & Uncensored Tonight

Ann Widdecombe is the guest on Vox Politics tonight. Click HERE to find out more and suggest some questions for me. You know how lazy I am...

What do you Want to Say to Yasmin Alibhai Brown?

Lynne Featherstone has a great account of the first transmission of Vox Politix last night HERE. Tonight's programme on 18DoughtyStreet at 9pm features Yasmin Alibhai Brown and Brian Micklethwait, former director of the Libertarian Alliance. Click HERE for the Vox Politix Blog with more details of the programme.

The reaction to 18DoughtyStreet's first night has been rather encouraging I think. Even the criticism has been of a constructive rather than a destructive nature. If I get time I will link to some of the best posts from the blogs. Personally, I was hugely relieved to get to the end of the day without anything major going wrong. Yes of course there was the odd glitsch (what on earth was the claxon?!) but we expected that. The main thing was that the streaming worked for virtually everybody. We had a few sound issues at the beginning but I think they were sorted out fairly swiftly.

I really enjoyed the 11pm-midnight programme, THE END OF THE DAY. It's meant to be a bit of a free for all where we preview tomorrow's newspapers and discuss anything that takes our fancy. Absolutely no planning goes into it - we only decided I should host it shortly before it went on air. The great thing was the number of people who texted and emailed. We even had Dizzy on MSN. Indeed I have now added an MSN feature so anyone can get in touch through MSN live during the programme - just add studio@18doughtystreet.com to your MSN contacts.

Really grateful to everyone who wished us well yesterday either here or at the 18DoughtyStreet site. It means a lot. Just keep watching!

Ladyman Dazzled by EU Headlights

Transport Minister Stephen Ladyman needs to get some cojones. EU Transport Ministers are trying to force us to use dipped headlights on our cars 24 hours a day. Yesterday, he told the House of Commons: "A number of powerful states think it's a good idea."

So what? The arguments against the measure are very strong so we should fight it. Having headlights on all day boosts fuel consumption and therefor CO2 emissions. Motor bike safety groups also point out that they use their headlights during the day to stand out fromm cars, so this measure would affect them adversely.

Presumably we gave away our veto in the area of transport (was it under Major or Blair?) some time ago. A good reason not to surrender it in other areas.

PS The Sun's Whip column has a snippet on Stephen Ladyman.. He has bought a Road Angel speed camera detector for his car as he has nine points on his licence. However, as Roads Minister it would surely have been far easier just to introduce the Speed Cameras (Abolition) Bill... For a road safety Minister to have nine points on his licence really tells you all you need to know about this government.

Orange Reinstate Inigo Wilson

Remember the case of Inigo Wilson who was suspended by Orange for writing an article on ConservativeHome? (see HERE) Guido reports that he has been reinstated with 'no case to answer'. Guido, Tim and I should be careful not to make a big thing of this. It's quite clear that the pressure from the blogosphere put huge pressure on Orange - but it's not in Inigo Wilson's interests for anyone to gloat.

18DoughtyStreet Website Goes Live

The 18DoughtyStreet Website is now live HERE. Please do visit my programme's blog HERE and suggest what I should ask Fraser Nelson and Lynne Featherstone.

The schedule starts at 8pm, just log onto the website and click on the live stream. Tim Montgomerie's show is first on and my Vox Politix programme goes on air at 9pm. Less than six hours...gulp.

If, when we are on air you cannot access the stream or have comments on any technical aspect of the streaming please direct them to my colleague Mike Rouse by emailing support AT 18doughtystreet DOT com. And if you have nice things to say, say them here!

18DoughtyStreet - First Night Nerves...

Tonight we go on air for the first time and I'll be presenting with my Leftie friend Rena Valeh. I don't know about Rena, but I'm feeling uncharateristically nervous.

Our guests will be The Spectator's political editor Fraser Nelson and LibDem MP Lynne Featherstone.

At midday I'll be attending Eric Forth's memorial service so we hope to have a brief film report from St Margaret's. Do leave your own recollections of Eric in the Comments. Eric would be most amused that his memorial service is on a famous anniversary. Any idea which one?

Lynne Featherstone is possibly the best known LibDem blogger. We have a brief film report of Francis Maude opening the bloggers stand at Bourenmouth. We'll be asking Lynne about the dangers of blogging for elected politicians and asking Fraser Nelson why he' so far avoided having a blog? Shame on him!

I haven't finally decided what the subject of our half hour debate at 9.30pm will be. Following North Korea's nuclear test yesterday, I'm tempted by the question WHAT SHOULD THE WEST DO ABOUT ROGUE STATES? Unless of course you know better...

Remember you can text us live in the studio on 83222 - type the word COMMENT before your message. Texts cost 50p. Or email the show at voxpolitix@18doughtystreet.com.

On Thursday we'll be joined by Ann Widdecombe and Yasmin Alibhai Brown. Put your tin helmets on....

Among our guests in the next fortnight are Newsnight editor Peter Barron, Shami Chakrabarti, Mark Oaten, David Davis, David Trimble and a whole lot of new faces you may have never seen before!

The 18DoughtyStreet Website launches later today and my programme Vox Politix will have its very own blog. Early each morning I'll be posting something similar to this post to tell you what's on the programme that day and to ask for your input and ideas.

So don't forget to tune in at 8pm for Tim Montgomerie's Doughty News programme and then Vox Politix at 9pm. And keep your fingers crossed for us...

UPDATE: To watch 18DoughtyStreet from 8pm click on www.18doughtystreet.com and then click on the live stream. The stream is in Windows Media Player. Some Mac users may need a Plug in, which is downloadable from the Stream window. All programmes are archived and can be watched from the archive page on the website (which will be live a little later).

NHS Dentistry - A Decaying Service

A friend of mine went to the Dentist yesterday. Having had his checkup the dentist said: "See you in 9 months". "I thought iit was 6 months," said my friend. He was then told by the dentist that the Government had changed the rules recently and that appointments could now only be every 9 months in order to achieve waiting list targets. I am sure the nation's teeth will be grateful.

I don't remember seeing any coverage of this in the press, or have I been asleep?

Leadership Candidate Resigns from UKIP

Richard Suchorzewski, the man who came second in the UKIP leadership contest has resigned from the Party citing character assassination as his main reason. I reprint his letter below. Further comment from me is unncessary I think...

Dear Chairman, Please be so good as to accept, and post on UKIP.org, this my letter of resignation from The UK Independence Party. It was a privilege to be elected Chairman of UKIP Wales and work to represent the members in restructuring and introducing an organisational structure for growth. I would like to thank, for their invaluable assistance, John Bufton as Regional Organiser and my hard working and supportive committee and members in Wales. I am pleased to have been able to help turn UKIP Wales around and put in place foundations for growth and success in the National Assembly Elections next May.

I was honoured to be elected by the membership to represent them on the NEC, where they believed I had specialist skills and experience to best represent their interests, to the benefit of UKIP and its primary cause. When I stood for the leadership election I did so, on a ticket of Transparency, Integrity and Equality. These standards reflect my inner beliefs, as well as the moral, ethical and Christian principles upon which I have based my whole life. I knew there were significant problems with the Party, and also believed that the moral integrity of a number of people at the top left much to be desired. It was my belief that should I be elected leader these problems could be resolved and the Party then could move forward together, on a firmer footing in probity and strength.

Nothing however prepared me for the scurrilous behaviour, defamatory comments and downright dishonesty of some of Nigel Farage's & David Bannerman's staff, supporters and members of the Press Office staff, in which they clearly colluded. I was accused of having associations with the BNP – even when these scoundrels knew that my grandfather was murdered by the Nazis in a concentration camp and my Great Grandfather was discovered hanged by them from a lamp post near his home by my 14 year old Father. Further I am angry that UKIP's leadership were happy to collude in this base and obscene slur, particularly in the light of the fact that I have been 'courting' a young woman from St Lucia for the last 2 years, she herself has been victimised by racial abuse.

I was accused of being a homosexual, despite no evidence of this, and my having been happily married for 14 years, a marriage which sadly ended in an amicable divorce and now subsequently I am courting the above mentioned lady. I was accused of having 'run up' a company debt of £4millions in one of my businesses when these accusers knew that I had purchased the company with secured debts, that it had already accrued, amounting to £4millions of losses. My business is in the field of mergers and acquisitions, specialising in the purchase, development and sale of problematic companies.

My critics in this area are either commercial illiterates or unarguably dishonest either of which reflects ill on the competence of the new leadership. My local newspaper was contacted by an UKIP official and advised to look into some of these accusations – in order to attempt to taint my unblemished reputation. Even friends within my own local Conservative Party have informed me that they were asked for 'any dirt' they had on me including my political, personal and business affairs. This list shamefully goes on.

Despite all of this I was willing to forgive and forget. I called for Party unity behind the new leader Nigel Farage, regardless of how he had gained his new position. I hoped this would in some way result in a change of attitude. Clearly it did NOT. Farage colluded with, and thus endorsed the scurrilous behaviour. He was not prepared for his staff to apologise for the BNP allegations as he felt that the issue 'would go away' – and he tried to justify the concern on the basis that a fellow NEC member David Abbott volunteered his support of my leadership candidacy. (David Abbott is the very man whom Farage and his secretary Douglas Denny introduced and actively supported to the NEC and only turned against when he supported my candidacy.) Farage also claimed concern in that a Mr Andrew Edwards supported my leadership bid on an internet blog that he runs.

I am to be tainted by this, even though I have never posted on his site, spoken to, nor communicated with the said person, who I am advised is NOT a member of UKIP. Farage has also claimed that a long term associate of his, Greg Lance-Watkins is a supporter and associate of the BNP, of which I have seen no evidence – yet this seems to besmirch my reputation, as G.L-W . openly supported my candidacy, having stated, based on extensive personal dealings with Nigel Farage that "he was a good performer for UKIP but lacked either the probity or competence to lead UKIP." This logic that UKIP's new leader has adopted if seriously applied, must call into question his own credentials, bearing in mind both his long term association with G.L-W. and that the BNP actually refused to stand against Farage, and supported, his candidacy at the Bromley by-election. Does this make Nigel a BNP supporter?

Rather than be magnanimous in victory and help the Party unite, Nigel and his clique overturned a perfectly legitimate democratic vote at the NEC which had elected Geoffrey Kingscott (a most honourable man) as Party Secretary, denying the Party of another person with integrity at the top, and placing his supporter the discredited Douglas Denny in the post. A witch hunt has now commenced, seemingly with the aim to disingenuously massage MEP lists, with the disciplinary hearing of Peter Baker for daring to make public his committee's majority voted opposition to Roger Knapman's morally questionable exploitation and involvement in a Polish Workers import business run by his son. Similarly Dennis Brookes a loyal and devoted supporter and Regional Organiser of UKIP would seem to have been victimised, for having the temerity not to object to his committee's support of my candidacy, and this apparently has contributed to losing him his job.

I have no doubt from Nigel's discussion with me, subsequent to the election, that others too will suffer similar fates. On policy issues, Nigel has made statements already, that make it clear to me, we are to become a shadow alternative Tory Party. A pressure group created to persuade the Tories to dump Cameron and change its policy on the EU. I am sorry; I did not leave the real Tory party to join a poor imitation. I believed UKIP was sincere in its endeavour to extricate Britain from the European Union, returning sovereignty to a British Parliament and playing a full independent part in that new Parliament. On financial and transparency issues, I believe a cloud still overhangs the Ashford call centre and various aspects of UKIP accounts. Also the financial dealings and involvement in fraud, (as exposed by the media), of Tom Wise, one of UKIP's MEP's, have not adequately been resolved. Likewise there has been a lack of transparency of others. I have contended that funding mechanisms are too heavily reliant on the EU, as this makes us subservient to the very body from which we wish to disassociate and which we openly accuse of corruption particularly in the area of accounting!.

I stood for leader knowing full well that it was a challenge I was unlikely to win. Farage had control of a number of advantages that if abused would guarantee him success. Knowing this, I was more than surprised that he allowed his cronies, supporters and certain staff to openly and reprehensibly lie and rubbish a loyal UKIP member, with elected duties, who devoted the last 2 years of his life, full time, unpaid, to help UKIP progress. Even now in 'victory', Farage appears determined not to change his ways, and because of this I cannot support this Party under his leadership any longer. Reluctantly I am left with no honourable action open to me other than leave, as I am not prepared to give my good name, reputation and integrity in support of Farage and many in his clique. I therefore stand alongside other Party devotees and former NEC members, Anthony Butcher, Gill Chant and others (not to mention the many activists who have already resigned). My heart and my grateful thanks go out to all of those who supported me and the values in which we believed, and those who have committed so much of their lives in their patriotic pursuit of regaining democracy, British Independence and Sovereignty.

It does not give me any satisfaction to realise that the old saying "Fish Rots from the Head Down" may have more than a cursory resemblance to UKIP. Please be so good as to convey to the membership my very best wishes and thanks for allowing me to serve them! At the moment I feel honour bound to continue the struggle for liberation from the EU and better Governance outside of UKIP, but would be happy to reconsider my position should there be notable changes within UKIP in the future under very different leadership.

Yours Sincerely, Richard Suchorzewski
UKIP Wales Chairman (resigned 5th Oct 2006) NEC Member (resigned 5th Oct 2006).

UPDATE: Devil's Kitchen has fisked the letter.

The Amazing Mr Richards

The day before launching a new TV Channel may not be the best time to question the appointment of Ed Richards as the new chief executive of OfCom, but there you go. I am sure Mr Richards is a supremely talented individual, but shouldn't this particular job be filled by someone without party political bias? Richards was a key adviser to Tony Blair and as a special adviser at the DCMS drafted the legislation which set OfCom up in the first place. In other spheres he'd stand accused God knows what.

Still, as long as keeps OfCom away from blogs and internet TV I suppose I shouldn't complain too much.

Prison Shouldn't Be the Default Penalty

For years now we have been on the brink of a prisons crisis. This week it has finally hit us. Yesterday's Sunday Times had a leaked memo showing John Reid is prepared to risk prison breaks as the prison population reaches crisis point. But it needn't be like this. Prison does indeed work in the sense that it keeps people off the street and in an environment where prisoners are no longer able to harm society. But we all know that there are many people in prison who would have been punished more easily and effectively by a non custodial sentence.

The Daily Telegraph has an excellent editorial this morning suggesting we should look more seriously at other forms of punishment. Read it in full HERE. Here is the concluding paragraph...

Alternatives to prison need not be soft. In America, where the judicial system is tied by guy-ropes to public opinion, sentencing is imaginative and apt. Some offenders are shamed by having details of their misdeeds published in the local newspaper, or by being made to stand in public places with placards denoting their crimes. Others are invited to make direct restitution to the victim, or to forfeit their immoral earnings. Judges, with an eye on their local communities, do their best to find suitable, inexpensive and visible sentences. Prison can work well; but there are other, sometimes more severe, ways to punish criminals than by locking them up. We should not be shy of exploring them.

The Latest from 18DoughtyStreet

Did any of you catch the Politics Show feature on blogging and 18DoughtyStreet? Not a bad report, I thought! I've also got an article on the new TV channel in the Sunday Times News review today. You can read the 'uncut' version HERE.

I have a great show lined up for Vox Politix on Thursday evening... two female guests who can be assured to agree on absolutely nothing at all...

Right, off to the studio for yet another rehearsal.

The Grey List is as Important as the 'A' List

In January I wrote an ARTICLE for ConservativeHome on the desirability of the Party selecting more older candidates. Today, the Sunday Telegraph carries an article speculating that most of the older MPs on the Conservative benches are not going to stand down at the next election. This does not surprise me. If there is a likelihood of a Conservative government I do not expect there to many safe seats becoming free at at all. Indeed, just as it is desireable for a Party to have a scattering of MPs in their twenties, it is equally as important for the upper age groups to be represented too. Indeed, I would go so far as to say that there are two few septagenarians or even octaganerians in Parliament. if the Conservative Party's aim is to make its Parliamentary party 'reflect modern Britain as it is today', we should be recruiting many more candidates in their fifties and sixties. Hattip to ConservativeHome for the graphic