Ben Brogan in Brussels

Ben Brogan is writing a brilliant, almost hour by hour, account of the Brussels summit HERE.

The Military and the Media

This is a little film David Heathfield made for 18 Doughty Street on how journalists embed themselves with the military and war stories can now be covered by citizen journalists.

Citizen Journalism at War
Uploaded by 18doughtystreet

In Praise of Liam Byrne

This afternoon I gave a short speech at a MORI conference on the Blair Legacy and the politics in the next decade. One of my co-panellists was the Immigration Minister Liam Byrne. I have to say I was rather impressed. He gave a 15 minute powerpoint presentation (no notes) on immigration policy and was not only polished - he was pleasant, amusing and seemed a totally normal guy. I thought to myself while he was speaking that if all Labour Ministers were like him the Conservatives would have a much tougher fight on their hands. If Gordon Brown doesn't promote Liam Byrne to the Cabinet next week I'll be astonished. He told a great anecdote from his by-election...

He and Ian McCartney were out canvassing in an area with a lot of Asian voters. They knocked on a door and a lady answered. Ian McCartney went through his spiel but just got a blank look. A fellow party worker then translated it into Punjabi and still got a blank look. Someone else then said it all in Urdu but still no response. After a few seconds the woman look at the growing group of people on her doorstep and said: "Doesn't anyone speak English?" This time the blank look came from Ian McCartney...

Another little anecdote, this time from Ben Page of MORI. He was talking about the poverty gap and referred to the Haves, the Have Nots and the Have Yachts.

What Paddy Really Thinks of Gordon

This is from the GMTV Sunday programme earlier in the year. No wonder Paddy felt he had to say no...

Steve Richards: Have you got a sense now from the more relaxed perspective from which you can view these things compared with the mid 1990's about how Gordon Brown will approach this specific area of foreign affairs? Is it your sense that he will be empathic to the agenda you broadly outlined in this interview and which you will do so in more detail in the book?

Paddy Ashdown: My guess is not. I mean, I don't think he likes foreign policy, I don't think he's very interested in it. He's passionately interested in Africa but I think that comes much more from his Methodist, his Presbyterian upbringing in the Manse. You know, I suspect it's the same general instinct that would have caused his mother to sell jam for starving children in Africa on the stalls in Edinburgh or Glasgow or wherever he was. So I don't think he has a grand world vision in the way that Blair, maybe too much, had a grand world vision. One of the things that worries me about Blair sometimes is this sense of Messianic and moral purpose, which I quite dislike in somebody who leads the country into war. So no, I don't think he will be. I think he will have a narrower vision. I remember saying to a friend recently that I thought that Camelot would turn to Gormenghast overnight when Gordon Brown came to power. Our spectral Prime Minister would be seen flitting up Downing Street after the hours of darkness and there would be a single guttering candle shining out of a window in Downing Street. So I think it would be a rather more gloomy Downing Street than we have at present.

Steve Richards: That's quite an image. Given that obviously the current leader of your country Sir Menzies Campbell has some important calculations to make, you famously moved your party away from what's called equidistance - going through the middle of the other parties and keeping a similar gap between both. I got the impression at his weekend speech in Harrogate that Menzies Campbell was saying 'No way can the Conservatives meet the challenges I'm setting!'. Well, he was explicit. He said 'They can't meet them. Gordon Brown, meet them and you'll have done the business!'. Was he indicating a sort of movement?

Paddy Ashdown: You'd better ask him, Steve, not me. I mean look, Gladstone once famously said that ex-Prime Ministers, for this take ex-party leaders, are like untethered battleships in the harbour. They bang about and do a lot of damage. I said when I finished my job that I would leave the decisions, the very difficult decisions that have to be taken, and not interfere in them - certainly not in public! The truth is that each of the past Liberal Democrat leaders has had an opportunity to do this. Thorpe did; Steel did, as you recall; I did. Each of them did it in a different circumstance and had a different hand of cards to play and Menzies will be different as well and he will have to take those decisions for himself. One thing I would say, however, and it's the only exception I make to this rule, and I suspect Menzies would say it too, is this: you know the old phrase in English 'If you dine with the Devil, you take a long spoon' - I would not dine with God if PR was not on the menu, but I would dine with the Devil if it was.

Steve Richards: Right, so absolutely central to it is proportional representation.

Paddy Ashdown: That's my view.

Steve Richards: Right, that's absolutely your view. It's interesting: he didn't mention that actually in his speech.

Paddy Ashdown: I wouldn't dine with God if PR was not on the menu but I'd dine with the Devil if it was.

Brown Stirs it up For the LibDems

Yesterday two people told me that Paddy Ashdown would join Brown's cabinet to oversee a wihtdrawal from Iraq. Preposterous, I thought. I contemplated blogging about it, but reckoned it was just too far off-beam. Shows what I know!

But Ashdown was was indeed offered a cabinet post yesterday - Northern Ireland secretary. The Liberal Democrats will be furious about this as it adds further fuel to the Tory claim of Vote LibDem Get Labour.

Ashdown turned it down outright and made it public today before Labour could. Some people believe this is pure political mischief making by Brown. He knew the LibDems would turn it down, but in doing so it would cause them much internal trouble. The Independent reports today that LibDem MPs are furious with Sir Ming Campbell for meeting Brown on Monday in the first place. They view it as a gross political misjudgement. The Indy says...

[LibDem MPs] protested yesterday that a clique of 'elderly Scots' - including Sir Menzies and one of his closest aides Lord Kirkwood of Kirkhope - had got too close to Mr Brown and the Scottish Labour establishment. One said: "This report has the distinct ring of truth about it. Amongst all the smoke there is definitely fire." Another warned: "We are steaming about it".

Meanwhile, staff at CCHQ were rubbing their hands with glee.

UPDATE 10am: Sky are now reporting that Ming Campbell did indeed discuss LibDems taking junior ministerial positions in a Brown government, but not Cabinet positions. The man has no political acument whatsoever.

UPDATE 12.45pm: Nick Robinson has a very good timeline on his blog HERE. A perfect example of why journalists should have a blog. He reveals that Ming was offered a series of junior ministerial positions. Instead of turning them down outright, he went to discuss it with colleagues. He then appointed Archy Kirkwood as point man to continue liaising with Brown's fellow Scot, Alistair Darling.

The interesting thing here is that the whole thing is Paddy Ashdown's fault. If he hadn't leaked the offer to Alan Rusbridger on Tuesday evening, the whole sorry series of events might never have come to light. Or at least not in this way, which has been deeply damaging to the LibDems. I suspect Gordon Brown will be grinning to himself over his late night whisky tonight.

Overheard...

Two young American females overheard on the tube...

Girl 1: Every girl would sleep with the President of the United States, wouldn't she?
Girl 2: Yeah definitely...well, not Bush.
Girl 1: No, definitely not.
Girl 2: And not Reagan.
Girl 1: No...
Girl 2: And I guess not Roosevelt...

UPDATE: Jules Crittenden takes this a bit further HERE.

LibDems to Prop Up Labour?

The Guardian story this morning about Gordon Brown trying to entice Ming Campbell to join his government, along with Nick Clegg, has all the hallmarks of a bit of Labour spin. I saw Nick Clegg this morning and he had a face like thunder. He hadn't seen the story and was none too impressed. The fact that the story was written by a 'staff reporter' demonstrates its lack of credibility. If one of the Guardian political team really thought it worthy of an exclusive they would presumably have put their names to it, or am I missing something?

If Ming Campbell really wants the LibDems to go down the toilet then he would certainly want to enter into some sort of coalition. As ConservativeHome says this morning, it would allow the Tory jibe of VOTE LIBDEM GET LABOUR to gain some real credibility. Let's hope Ming's thirst to become Foreign Secretary outweighs his political antennae.

PS The story has disappeared from the edition of the Guardian I have with me here. I wonder why that would be.

Labour MP Dies

The Labour MP Piara Khabra has died thus causing a by election. I'm not at my desk but I believe the LibDems are in second place in his Ealing Southall seat. According to the Guardian the LibDems will be in government by the time the by election takes place! Much chuntering among Labour MPs this morning I gather. More later when I am out of this EI breakfast meeting titled CAN CAMERON CRACK IT? Some interesting perspectives here...


UPDATE 12.51: I see some people in the comments have been saying this post is in bad taste. Er, in what respect exactly? I report that a Labour MP has died and it will cause a by election. They are the facts. I didn't write anything more because at the time of the post I was attending a breakfast speaker meeting. I have been in other meetings all morning as I do have to work for my living, you know! Anyway [sigh] [/sigh]...



I only met Piara Khabra once and found him a very pleasant and thoughtful man. He defied Labour whips to stand at the last election even though he was in his early eighties, and must have had good support from his constituency party to do so. Regular readers will know that I am a great advocate of parliament having more older MPs. Mr Khabra had been ill for some time but had still made regular appearances in the Commons. A Conservative MP I have spoken to this morning described him as "a true lovely old gent".

UPDATE 2.15pm: Now THIS is bad taste. Labour have reportedly been phoning voters in Mr Khabra's constituency over the last two weeks, according to respondents on LibDem Voice...

The Gordon Brown Meme

I have been tagged by Benedict White to say 2 things Gordon Brown Should be...

2 things Gordon Brown should be proud of
Liberating the Bank of England
His family

2 Things he should apologise for
The pensions raid
Writing a book called courage, despite not having much himself

2 Things he should do immediately when he becomes PM
Sack Patricia Hewitt
Give my little chipmunk a well deserved promotion

2 things he should do while he is PM
Cut taxes
Resign

I will tag Donal Blaney, Blamerbell, Glyn Davies, Lynne Featherstone & Nadine Dorries

America's Next President?

Senator Fred Thompson has been in London today and have a speech at lunchtime to Policy Exchange. 18 Doughty Street filmed the whole thing and will be broadcasting it tomorrow night at 7.30pm. Here's a two minute highlights clip, with some suitable musical interludes. Fans of Law & Order will recognise them.

I will put a link on this post to the full programme when it is uploaded to our archive tomorrow.

You Try And Do a Good Deed...

Some time ago a journalist friend of mine, who shall remain nameless for the purpose of this blog, asked me if her 15 year old son could come and do a week's work experience with me in July. I like to be helpful so I said yes and thought no more of it. Yesterday I got a phone message from someone, who conveniently didn't leave their name, from a company called Trident, about this work experience. I phoned them back and spent ten minutes on hold while they tried to find the right person. They never did and in the end I hung up. Today they phoned back to tell me that in order for this boy to come and work for us they need to visit 18 Doughty Street, carry out a health and safety survey, see our employers liability insurance and a full breakdown of what he will be doing while he is with us. They want half an hour of my time on top of the twenty minutes I have spent on the phone to them. It doesn't matter that it was all arranged by his mother, who is presumably happy for him to be here otherwise she wouldn't have asked in the first place. It was all I could do to stop myself telling them exactly what they could do with their survey.

The only thing which kept me smiling was the thought of them phoning Michael White of The Guardian and asking him the same questions, for my friend's son is doing some work experience with him too. Anyone who's visited the Guardian office in the Lobby will know what I mean!

Abortion Figures Shame This Country

Question: How many babies were born in the UK in 2006?
Answer: 635,679

Question: How many abortions were carried out in 2006?
Answer: 194,000 (up 4% since 2005)

This means that nearly one in three four babies conceived in this country is aborted. Let me repeat that. One in three four babies conceived in this country is aborted. This is a statistic which I found profoundly shocking and at first did not believe. What on earth does it say about our broken society that so many living beings are aborted? Surely even those who are pro-choice are also shocked at these statistics?

In an ideal world there would be no abortion, but we do not live in that world and never will. Those of us who adopt a pro-life attitude must recognise that we cannot roll back the clock and shouldn't try to. We have to be pragmatic, but that does not stop us trying to understand why the abortion rate in this country is so much higher than in most others, and then doing something about it. The question is, what.

UPDATE 2.52pm: As I expected, this has provoked a lot of comments, some insightful, others prejudiced. One describes what I have written as inflammatory. I'd like to know how. Some people don't seem to actually read what I write before venting their spleens. So let's be clear. All I was doing with this post is asking why we are in this situation and what we can do about it. Read what I actually said rather than what you think I said. I did not say we should ban abortion. I did not even say we should restrict abortion. All I said was that we need to examine why these figures are so high in comparison with other countries and I then questioned what we should do about it. What on earth is there to object to in that?!

UPDATE: It has been pointed out to me that there are 250,000 miscarriages a year. So if you add them to the babies born and babies aborted you get 1.1 million conceptions, so the actual ratio of babies aborted to babies conceived is nearer 1 in 5 or 1 in 6. I don't think that alters to fundamental point though. This ratio is far, far higher than in comparable countries and we ought to understanmd why that is.

The True Face of Hamas

I don't think I have ever read a column by Johann Hari that I agreed with. In fact , I rather pride myself on it. Yesterday's offering from him was his usual anti Israel and anti America tirade. According to Hari Hamas have been acting like little angels in Gaza and it's all the fault of those nasty Americans and Israelis. Presumably they forced the hooded gunmen onto the streets to slaughter their opponents. According to Hari Hamas have behaved "in a pragmatic way". I'd love to see what they do when they get the courage of their convictions. Hamas is a nasty, vicious, murderous terrorist organisation. They have now been ejected from the Palestinian government. As a result the USA and the EU have restored aid to Palestine. I wonder what Mr Hari has to say about that.

One other thing. I saw an interview with a AK47 touting hooded gunmen from group Army of Islam, the terrorists who are holding Alan Johnston, giving an interview to Al Jazeera. Is it unreasonable to demand that TV channels to make people they are interviewing to show their faces?

Is Gordon Brown At It Again?

You will recall the story I ran a couple of weeks ago where I accused Gordon Brown's spin team of bullying the Sunday lobby. Well, it appears the Great Clunking Fist has been at it again.

Last night the Conservatives were told that the only Minister speaking at the Association of Chief Police Officers Conference in Manchester today was Police Minister Tony McNulty. Shadow Home Secretary David Davis is also speaking. Davis will have been somewhat surprised to learn this morning via the Today Programme that Gordon Brown is now due to speak.

So the question is: was ACPO under instruction not to tell the Conservatives about Brown's speech, or was it hastily arranged in the small hours of this morning? I think I know which my money is on.

Cameron Underlines EU Referendum Commitment

David Cameron's speech yesterday hit a number of the right notes with party activists. What hasn't yet been reported were the four extra lines he added to his speech at the last minute making clear his total commitment to a referendum on any new EU treaty which gives Brussels further powers. Very welcome.

Salman Rushdie Does Not Deserve a Knighthood But He Must Keep It

Let me be clear. I cannot stand Salman Rushdie. I tried to read one of his books once but barely got beyond the first chapter. I think he is a dreadful writer, but it seems I am in the minority. His books sell in their thousands so he must be doing something right, and for that he has been given a knighthood. While I think there are far more deserving causes, so be it. What I cannot stand, however, is people saying that this is a "provocative act" and Britain should apologise for it. The Pakistani religious affairs minister has gone so far as to say it warrants a suicide bombing unless Britain apologises. Perhaps our response should be to cut off all our millions of pounds of aid to Pakistan until this minister is sacked from the Pakistani government.

Change of Venue: Douglas Hurd at the Conservative History Group

The Serjeant at Arms has unfortunately notified us of a change of venue for the Douglas Hurd meeting tomorrow (Tuesday) starting at 6.30pm. If you are attending, please note that the event will now take place in Committee Room 17 (which I think is in the Upper Committee Room Corridor) in the main building of the House of Commons. For those coming from outside, please enter the building via the St Stephens Entrance . Please allow enough time to get through security. Do NOT try to enter the building via Portcullis House.

Boles Launches New Social Entrepreneurship Initiative

Following David Cameron's lead on social responsibility London mayoral candidate Nick Boles has today launched 'Good Neighbours', a philanthropic initiative designed to help youth groups working in some of the most deprived parts of London. He will help them raise money from those generating new wealth in the City. He says...

I believe that the solution to London's problems lie within our own community. We are all neighbours in London. And good neighbours help each other in times of need. I am confident that the people currently enjoying spectacular success in the City want to do their bit to give all of London's young people opportunities to learn and grow and to build confidence in themselves and their futures. But many of these new millionaires are busy people who work very hard and they need someone to make it easy for them.That is what Good Neighbours will do.

Good Neighbours is already working with groups like XLP in SouthLondon and the Eastside Young Leaders Academy in East London. Donors will be encouraged to provide support in a number of ways: some will want to form a relationship with a particular youth group and give money directly to them; others will want to give money to a charitable intermediary that assesses which groups most deserve support. For this reason, Good Neighbours is working with the new charity andventure philanthropist, Future, which was set up to support projects assisting disadvantaged young people. Future will vet youth groups looking for support and report to donors on the outcome of their investment. Good Neighbours will encourage donors to make a long-term commitment ( e.g. 3 years) and to support the core costs of youth groups rather than just the eye-catching new projects on which most statutory funding is focused.

Speaking ahead of the launch this morning, Nick Boles said...

In recent months, London has seen a spate of gang murders involving childrenkilling other children. At the same time, just a few miles away, other Londoners have been making unprecedented fortunes from hedgefunds, private equity and investment banking. Although the primary focus of Good Neighbours is to encourage wealthy Londoners to donate larger sums of money, we want to encourage every Londoner to try and make a difference, whether by giving £50 or volunteering a few hours each week. Any Londoner who wants to be a good neighbour to London's young people should visit our website and sign up.

Obviously Nick wants this kind of initiative to help his campaign, and good luck to him. It's certainly innovative and a very different way of campaigning to the others who have already announced they are running. To find out more visit the Good Neighbours website.

Wrong Place at the Wrong Time

Before David Cameron made his speech in Tooting he addressed the Parliamentary Party in Portcullis House. Some Tory MPs who turned up at the meeting were somewhat disconcerted to find Tony Blair standing at the entrance to the Attlee Room. Sensing a major league defection Tory MP Brooks Newmark immediately asked him if he was joining the meeting. Tony gave his 'I'm a pretty straight kinda guy giggle', before another Conservative MP was heard to mutter "Nah, he's going to be our candidate for London Mayor'. At that point the PM beat a hasty retreat into the Liaison Select Committee... Let's face it, who wouldn't have?

Simon Mayo at 1pm

I'm going to be on the Simon Mayo show on 5 Live from 1pm to 1.45pm talking about David Cameron's speech in Tooting this lunchtime on progressive conservatism.

UPDATE: Well that was a first - four Tory guests on a programme on the BBC and not a discordant note between them. Three of us had been David Davis supporters (John Strafford and Andrew Percy being the other two) but were positively glowing in our Cameroonery - as was Sheila Gunn. I really must put a tie on next time :)

UPDATE: Just been interviewed by Mr Crick for Newsnight. Asm I shalle bon 18DS when it is on, please do let me know what I said!