The Old Ones Are the Best

Tony Benn is reported in the Telegraph Spy column as telling LBC Radio: "I got a death threat the other day. I haven't had one of those for years and I was so chuffed that someone thought I was still dangerous." Cue chuckles. The only trouble is that Benn has been coming out with the line for several years. It's a good one and always goes down well with an audience. And he's not alone in wheeling out tried and tested laugh lines. Most politicians do it. I remember Michael Portillo got into trouble several years ago when he told the exact same jokes at a dinner which he had told at the same dinner a few years before. Ann Widdecombe has her "Christian principles joke", David Davis has his "diamond ring joke", and I have my "Ann Widdecombe's knickers" joke. And if you haven't heard me tell that one before, I can guarantee you will, if you come to an event I am speaking at!

How Much Will Ming's Book Reveal?

Ming Campbell's autobiography is out in a couple of weeks' time on 6 March. Considering he only resigned as leader four months ago, this really has been published in double quick time. However, I wonder how light much this book will shed on recent events. The publishers were less than satisfied with the chapters on Charles Kennedy's overthrow and Ming's own departure. They sent the manuscript back ordering him to spice it up. You can preorder the book HERE for £13.20.

Am I alone in finding the subtitle annoying? Of course it is MY Autobiography. Whose else would it be?

Podcast with Tory Radio

Yesterday I recorded a ten minute PODCAST with Tory Radio about the new magazine I am working on, TOTAL POLITICS, and a few other things besides. You can sign up for email alerts on the magazine on the TOTAL POLITICS website HERE.

Heffer Confronted: Thick & Useless Tories

Simon Heffer's column today took the Tories to task over their failure to provide a proper opposition. He suggests that John Redwood should take over as Shadow Chancellor. I am a great admirer of John Redwood but I put it to Simon Heffer that he does seem to frighten the electoral horses a bit. And when Mr S calls David Willetts thick ... well, see for yourself.

The Daley Dozen: Wednesday

1. Dizzy reckons he's bigger than ConservativeHome. Fight. Fight!
2. Philip Johnston on Brown's inability to make a decision.
3. Shane Greer excuses those who take sickies. Is he trying to tell me something?
4. Sam Coates asks if the LibDems are going wobbly on Norther Rock and asks if the Government has been less than truthful over Northern Rock.
5. LibDem Voice asks when is a police investigation not a police investigation. When it concerns Lee Jasper, it seems.
6. Donal Blaney encourages those on the left to pay more tax if they want to.
7. Paul Linford wants a leap year public holiday.
8. Anthony Barnett on what's wrong with the Tory Party.
9. Tom Watson is in consultative mood.
10. Devil's Kitchen tells us what white people like.
11. Kerron Cross asks THE question about Kosovo's future. Will it be in Eurovision?
12. Cassilis has his think tank roundup.

Do You Know How Big the PSBR Is?

In the 1970s and 1980s we all used to wait with baited breath for the latest trade figures or the latest PSBR (public sector borrowing requirement, for those born after 1975) deficit. I have no idea what the latest trade figures are. Do you? For some reason the media doesn't report them any longer. Probably too frightening. Until today, I had no idea how bad the PSBR had got. Allister Heath informs us that for the financial year 2007/8 the total has already reached £26.8 billion, with the final figure expected to be nearer £40 billion. This is the kind of economic stability we are supposed to be impressed by, apparently.

Do Al Qaeda Want McCain To Win?

Yes, according to BBC America Correspondent Justin Webb. He writes on his blog today...

Islamic terrorists want war. They want suffering - among others and their own people alike. They would surely surmise that McCain will give them what they want. Bin Laden himself intervened with what many thought was the effect of keeping President Bush in power in 2004 with that weird tape just before the poll. I think al-Qaeda would back McCain - that is not an argument for or against America backing him, but it seems to me that the vague assumption that the terrorists would back a lefty is lazy thinking...

Quite an astonishing thing for a BBC reporter to say, even on his own blog.

Hattip Centre Right.com

Radical Car/Road Agenda Unveiled by CWF

Conservative Way Forward has today published a new transport policy paper titled STOP THE WAR ON DRIVERS. Written by transport expert and former Borough Engineer Malcolm Heymer, it contains some fairly radical proposals each of which seeks to give more power back to the car driver. Unfortunately, its more sensible headline proposals are bound to be obscured by some which, on the face of it, seem to be distinctly odd, to say the very least. The paper calls for the scrapping of...

* Speed cameras (no - only ones that are cash cows)

* Bus lanes that reduce road capacity (only if they directly cause congestion)

* 40mph and 50mph speed limits for HGVs (open minded on this one)

* Tolls on the Dartford Crossing (should have happened years ago)

* Obstructive road calming schemes (yes, but with some exceptions)

* Road user charging schemes (disagree - M6 toll road works very well)

* Maximum parking standards in new developments

* Any form of technology that takes decisions away from the driver (need clarification)

* Urban cycle lanes (disagree, but need to read their reasoning)

In addition they call for...

* A surge of spending on trunk roads and the motorway network (an increase, not a surge)

* An 80mph speed limit on motorways

* A return to the 85th percentile principle in speed limit setting (no idea what this is)

* Vehicle activated signs on the approaches to hazards, rather than speed cameras

* Positive licence points for advanced driver training (open minded)

* Shared-space traffic calming schemes where appropriate (no idea what this means)

Unfortunately the full pdf document doesn't seem to be on their website. I haven't read it in full yet, but I have highlighted in green the ones I would agree with 100% and given further comments in brackets.

I am a particualr fan of vehicle activated signs rather than speed cameras as they are far more effective in persuading drivers to reduce their speed on an approach to a dangerous piece of road or a village.

So, which of these suggestions meet with your approval or disapproval?

UPDATE: The full document can be read HERE.

PMQs on Sky News at 8.30pm

I'm on Sky News at 8.30pm commentating on PMQs with the ever fragrant Julia Hartley-Brewer. I'm quite clear on who came out on top in today's exchanges, but would be interested in your feedback. Issues to discuss:

* Gordon Brown's continuing habit of turning the question back on David Cameron
* Camerons's tactic of the 'vicious aside'
* Nick Clegg's tactic of two questions on different subjects
* Brown's weak response on FOI and Cameron's demolition in the 5th question

BBC Makes us Pay Twice

So the BBC intends to charge us twice for watching their programmes and again through iTunes. Currently their programmes are available for 7days on the iPlayer (which is superb). I thought the reason they couldn't be available after that was one of licensing. Apparently not, if they are going to be on iTunes. I'd have no objection to them being on iTunes if they were also permanently available on the iPlayer too. Perhaps someone from the BBC could get in touch to explain why licence fee payers are now expected to pay £1.89 to watch a programme they have already paid for through the licence fee - and twice the amount American subscribers of iTunes are being charged.

UPDATE: Some people in the comments are drawing an analogy to DVD sales. I understand the point but I think it is misplaced. I have no objection to these programmes being on iTunes so if people want to download them they can. In those terms it is similar to buying a DVD in that you have bought a product. What I object to is being told that the programmes can only be on iPlayer for 7 days for licensing reasons. That is quite clearly not the case. Streaming a programme is very different from downloading one. I do not understand why a programme cannot be streamed more than sevemn days after its transmission. Perhaps someone can enlighten me.

New Labour Sheds Its Skin

Late news from my parliamentary correspondent at Westminster: group of Labour MPs (principally Ken Purchase) break into chorus of "The Red Flag" in corridor outside the tea room after 3rd reading of the Banking (Special Provisions) Bill.

Dan Hannan Ejected from the EPP

I've just been told that Dan Hannan has been thrown out of the EPP*. Lucky him. Apparently there was some sort of vote, presumably among MEP members. I am sure he got full support from the rest of his British colleagues. Actually, I am not sure of that at all, come to think of it. It followed THIS row last month. Anyone got the details of what actually happened this evening?

* Note, single sourced!

On Newsnight Scotland Tonight

Busy night tonight, so not much opportunity for blogging. Just off to a Conservatives Abroad reception - strangely held in this country - followed by dinner with Sir Patrick Cormack, followed by a debut appearance on Newsnight Scotland, where I shall be defending the honour of the English. I think. So if you happen to be north of the border (or in Berwick) do tune in at 11pm. I've got a particularly nice tie on today (passes sick bag...).

UPDATE: Much enjoyed the appearance. You can see it HERE until 23.00 on 20 Feb. The piece starts about 14 minutes in.

The Daley Dozen: Tuesday

1. Dr Crippen assails David Aaranovitch and Polyclinics. And all in one article.

2. Ellee Seymour on MPs interacting on each others' blogs.

3. Jonathan Shephard's going to 'have' Brian Paddick. And it's going to be a marathon session.

4. Our Kingdom wants more politics on TV. Yes please. More media tarting ops.

5. Red Box on some jiggery pokery pro Labour lottery funding.

6. Daniel Finkelstein asks: Where is President Bartlett? Indeed so.

7. Paul Linford asks if Neil Hamilton was hard done by.

8. Ben Brogan examines the Northern Rock Board's Labour connections.

9. Cicero's Songs examines Kosovo's past, present and, yup you guessed it...

10. Richard Spring MP discovers that homeownership is at a ten year low.

11. Bryan Appleyard looks into the art of 'Mastur-interviewing'.

12. Guido now comes to you via Bloomberg. Am I left behind?!

A Flushed Tory Candidate is Incommunicado

Blogging Tory candidate Tracey Crouch has been "off line" for the last 18 hours having dropped her Blackberry down the lavatory. What is worse - she heard the "splash" but unaware what caused the noise (stop it!), she then flushed the loo, only realising far too late as her precious Blackberry disappeared around the u-bend. She is now back on-line having spent £250 on new machine. Lesson to us all: don't blog from the bog!

Quote of the Day

In Florida, a man who was pulled over in a routine traffic stop ended up killing the traffic cop who stopped him. The deputy was shot eight times, including once behind his right ear at close range. Another deputy was wounded and a police dog killed. A statewide manhunt ensued. The man was found hiding in a wooded area with his gun. SWAT team officers fired and hit him 68 times. The media asked why they shot him 68 times. Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd (pic), told the Orlando Sentinel...

"That's all the bullets we had!"

More Money to Our Friends in the North?

I thought I'd share this email with you, from someone in local government in the Surrey Borough of Waverley...

I thought you might be interested in a grossly unfair situation that my
borough council in Surrey is faced with due to the policies of this morally
bankrupt government. Waverley Borough Council is in South West Surrey and is one
of the most affluent boroughs in the UK. However, it also has pockets of
deprivation and the council owns and manages some 5,000 council dwellings
throughout the borough.

Under an iniquitous system devised by this Labour government, nearly half
of Waverley’s rental income from its council housing stock is taken by the
government every year, presumably for redistribution elsewhere in the country
(Labour marginals perhaps?). This will amount to £10.8 million in 2008/9, which
is £2,000 per home or £40 per tenant per week. As a result of this, there is
absolutely no chance that our housing stock will be able to meet the
government’s own Decent Homes Standard, which in effect means that this Labour
government is imposing a grossly unfair tax on the most vulnerable and needy in
our community.

The council has already had to cut housing maintenance in the coming
budget, and the Housing Revenue Account has now run out of reserves. Ian
Wright, the Parliamentary under Secretary in the Department of Communities and
Local Government, has acknowledged by letter that he has become increasingly
aware that the system is unpopular and widely perceived as unfair. But all he
promises is a review, with no terms of reference and no timetable. He has
refused to meet with the Leader and Chief Executive of the council. The irony of
this situation is that if these council houses were to be transferred to a
housing trust under LSVT, the government would not take a single penny. Our
tenants have twice voted to remain with the council, and by deciding to remain
with the council this Labour government is penalising them to the tune of more
than £10m a year.

Badgering Dave

I'm not sure it David Cameron will have endeared himself to his National Farmers Union audience yesterday, when he told them there is nothing he likes better than watching badgers playing in the road outside his Oxfordshire house. Every farmer I know regards badgers as vermin and would cheerfully take a gun to them - if they weren't protected, of course!

Seriously, the reason why farmers are so anti-badger is that the cases of bovine tuberculosis - which badgers carry and then infect cattle - have risen from 125 to 2,000 a year over the last 14 years. The government stands accused of doing nothing and as a result Hillary Benn was heckled during his speech at the same conference yesterday.

You Couldn't Make it Up: No 94

Being rewarded for failure in the public sector is nothing new, but it has reached new heights of farce in local government, where it's always possible to come up smelling of roses.

I grew up near Saffron Walden, where the District Council rejoices in the name of Uttlesford. The chief executive finance director of the council, Phil O'Dell, was forced to resign recently, when it was disovered he had presided over a massive deficit of £1.8 million, leading to 21 staff redundancies.

A matter of two months later, Mr O'Dell has got himslef a new job as a local government consultant ... advising various local authorities ... wait for it ... cue drumroll ... on their financial affairs! And even better; according to The Sun, one of the councils he will be advising is none other then ... you got there ahead of me ... Uttlesford! Hurrah for Mr O'Dell!

UPDATE: A local journalist has got a quote from Uttlesford. "Mr O'Dell will not be working, directly or indirectly, to offer advice directly or indirectly to Uttlesford District Council now or at any point in the future". He also says the current chief executive is also leaving at the end of this month.



Next they'll be abolishing language oral exams. Er...

Ridiculous Job Titles: No 94

Fancy a new job? HERE'S a corker. If you can come up with a more ridiculous job title than HEAD OF HORIZON PLANNING you've done better than me. And read the guff that accompanies it!

Horizon Scanning (HS) is the systematic examination of potential threats, opportunities and likely developments, including but not restricted to those at the margins of current thinking and planning. The Horizon Scanning Centre’s (HSC) main aims are to undertake HS for Government and to help Government Departments raise their HS capabilities. In this high profile role, you will be expected to develop the HSC’s vision and direction, leading and creating the best mix of teams and resources. You will continue to build and maintain the high level cross-Government market for strategic futures products and services, working with other relevant centres and cross-Government groups as necessary. You will lead in improving further the evidential and analytical basis for horizon scanning, so that the UK Government is positioned increasingly at the cutting-edge of the field.

No doubt another £100k of our money down the swanny.