Rules of Engagement

RULES ON COMMENTS

I welcome a healthy debate on this blog. It's what blogging is all about. Strongly worded comments are acceptable, but libellous ones are not. It is commonly thought that somehow bloggers operate outside the law of libel. This is an incorrect assumption. If I feel that any comment could be construed as libellous I will not allow it through comment moderation or retrospectively delete it.

Swearing is banned on this blog. If you use a swear word in your comment, again, it is liable to be deleted without explanation.

Anonymous posting is no longer allowed, although you are able to post under a pseudonym if you have first registered a Google or Blogger account. If your post is insulting to me or other people posting in the thread I reserve the right not to allow it through. Persistent abuse of me, the host of this blog by way of spurious allegations or name-calling is liable to result in a ban, either for a period of time or permanently. You may disagree with me, but there is a limit to my patience if my hospitality is abused.

Please try to be as polite as possible. People seem to think that the internet can be used to say things to people which you would never dream of saying to their face. Strong argument is welcomed, but please try to steer clear of personal insults where possible.

If any of these rules are continually transgressed I reserve the right to ban an individual from posting further comments.

In short, I reserve the right to delete any comment made on this blog with no explanation. This is a debating forum which I have created and if people do not like my rules they should feel free not to participate.

If you have suggestions for further rules of engagement, please feel free to leave them in the comments on this thread.

COMMENTERS ON A YELLOW CARD

None

RED CARDED

Tim Ireland (from 29 March)

These rules were created on 20 January 2008 and amended in mid 2008 in order to provide greater clarity. They were further updated on 24 November to reflect the fact that comment registration was introduced on 22 November.

Advertising on This Site

Several people have asked why adverts for Brian Paddick and the London United campaign are appearing on the site today and implied I should not accept these adverts.

In common with blogs of all political persuasions, advertising on my blog is handled by MessageSpace. They ask advertisers which blogs they wish to appear on and the adverts are fed through. I can veto any advert if I want to, but if I did I would no doubt be accused of censorship. Accepting an advert does not imply my endorsement of the product or campaign whatsoever.

I have a living to earn to keep me in the Audi-loving lifestyle I enjoy Gio in dog biscuits. This blog provides me directly or indirectly with much of my income nowadays. I make no apology for accepting adverts on it, even ones whose cause I cannot agree with. Obviously there are lines I won't cross in this regard, but these two ads come nowhere near that boundary.

So let me be clear. I support Boris Johnson for Mayor of London (come on Boris, when are we getting an ad from your campaign?!) and I support the building of a third runway at Heathrow. Clear?

A Good Argument for Fixed Term Parliaments

This is one of the best arguments for fixed term parliaments I have read - it's from LibDem MP Lynne Featherstone.

It’s 80 minutes into an Arsenal-Tottenham football derby. Tottenham lead 1-0.
Arsenal are piling on the pressure. The Tottenham manager shouts at the ref,
“OK, that’s it – can we have the final score now please?” The ref agrees, all
the players troop off the pitch 10 minutes early and Tottenham get the three
points. Sounds absurd doesn’t it (and I don’t just mean the idea of Tottenham
beating Arsenal!)? But that’s what passes for normal in the world of Palace of
Westminster politics when it comes to general election dates. The Prime Minister
– and the Prime Minister alone – gets to choose the date. Now – in theory
Parliaments last for five years and the monarch has to agree to any earlier
election, but in practice – the PM always gets his or her way.

Join the Campaign for Fixed Term Parliaments Facebook Group HERE.

It Shouldn't Happen to an Audi...

Not happy, not happy at all. I'm typing this sitting in the BBC car park waiting for Audi Assist to come and rescue me. Zac Goldsmith would say it serves me right for buying a one man global warming machine. My response would be that I didn't buy it, my partner did! We got it nine days ago and during that time have been able to drive it for one whole day. You turn the key to start it and nothing happens. I think it's safe to say that Audi can have it back on Monday morning.

UPDATE 3am: I'm home. I really wouldn't want to be the Audi Sales Manager on Monday morning. As Dr David Banner used to say: "You wouldn't like me when I am angry..."

How to Make the Party Conference Better

Donal Blaney, on his increasingly unmissable blog, has made a brilliant suggestion HERE. He reckons that the Conservatives should allow the wider Conservative Movement to take exhibition stands at the annual conference at a minimal cost. Normal stands cost a minimum of £6,000, with most costing upwards of £10k. If you're a well funded pressure group that's just about affordable, but if not, you're excluded. Wouldn't it be great to see the likes of the Taxpayers' Alliance, the Centre for Policy Studies and the Conservative History Group with their own stands? The LibDems make every effort to facilitate party affiliated groups at their own conference and so should the Tories. I hope this is a suggestion which the Party hierarchy will take seriously.

Clegg Gets a B+ for His First Month

Tim Montgomerie has analysed Nick Clegg's first month as LibDem leader HERE. He scores him quite highly in most categories. So do I. I'd give him a B+ so far. After the disastrous eighteen months of Ming, Most LibDems are just relieved that Nick Clegg hasn't dropped a bollock so far. I think he's done a bit better than that. As Tim says, though, he faces a very difficult test in the May elections. There is no sign of a recovery of the LibDem position in the polls. This means that he is not yet attracting back the voters who have recently deserted the LibDems for the Conservatives.

Chipmunks of the World, Rejoice!

I bring glad tidings. My little Chipmunk has won her selection battle against Ian Stewart MP. She was today selected for the new seat of Salford & Eccles.

My joy is uncontained.

Giuliani Needs Huckabee to Win Tonight

Today's Republican Primary is possibly the most important yet. If John McCain wins it will give him a huge boost for Super Tuesday, but if he doesn't the pundits will interpret it as his campaign stalling. A Mike Huckabee victory would mean him having to be taken seriously by everyone, including the likes of me. And we shouldn't rule it out. There is a big religious vote in South Carolina, which he is best equipped to tap. But perhaps the biggest consequence of a Huckabee victory over McCain would be the size of the smile on Rudy Giuliani's face. He has his first big test next week in Florida. If McCain is derailed in South Caroline, Giuliani will feel that he has Florida in the bag. However, Giuliani's campaign so far has been shambolic, and been a huge disappointment to his supporters (of whom I am one). He needs to win in Florida and win big, if he is to do what he needs to on February 5th.

UPDATE: Mitt Romney has just won the Nevada Caucuses.

On News 24 at 11.45pm

I'll be reviewing tomorrow's newspapers on News 24 at 11.45pm tonight with the lovely Celia Walden from The Telegraph's Spy Column.

Just a word of thanks for all your kind comments on the diabetes threas, and also for the multitudinous bits of advice and tips. Much appreciated. I got my pills today... and two jars of diabetic jam. Next is the running machine...

The Daley Dozen: Saturday

1. Roger Helmer MEP explains how the European Parliament doctors its TV coverage.

2. Dizzy thinks the government is about to create a new department.

3. Ben Brogan has brilliant coverage of Gord's trip the China.

4. Rosa Prince of Three Line Whip has a question for Peter Hain and Gus O'Donnell.

5. Jonathan Levy of Sky News's Boulton & Co analyses the Northern Rock situation.

6. Gavin's Gaily Digest suggests that a new LibDem website might be on the way.

7. Red Box on out of joint Labour noses regarding the appointment of a new Gen Sec.

8. Westmonster asks why there is such a weird coalition of interests who hate Ken.

9. Paul Linford on why it pays to be nice to journalists.

10. Political Betting.com's Mike Smithson on his audience with Bill and Hillary.

11. NHS Blog Doctor slams the BBC for its tabloid reporting of the TPA's Health Report.

12. Danny Finkelstein tips John McCain to be Republican nominee. Brave man.

Diabetes Can Be Beaten

I got a bit of bad news on Wednesday, when I was told I had been diagnosed with diabetes. It wasn't a shock as - using my enormous medical expertise :) - I had already diagnosed myself. For some time I have had an unquenchable thirst and other symptoms. Luckily it is Type 2, so I won't have to inject myself every day.

I went to see my doctor yesterday evening who told me that it "could be a blessing in disguise". I must admit I wondered about her sanity when she said that, but she may be right. To have it diagnosed at my age means I can beat it if I adopt the right diet and exercise routines and get my blood sugar levels down. This will "unfur" arteries and lessen the risk of heart or kidney problems in the future.

So I guess I am going to be harvesting lots of info about diabetes from various websites over the next few weeks and learning from other people about their experiences. My father was diagnosed with it seven years ago and my Godmother (the one who died in November) had it too. She had to inject herself twice a day and had been doing it since the 1960s. I am now going to have to take 10 pills a day for the foreseeable future. Even worse, I won't be able to drink Lemon Lucozade anymore!

I must admit I was rather shocked by the reaction of a couple of people I have told face to face. They seemed to equate it with being told that I had a terminal illness. I don't see it that way at all. I count myself very lucky. I've had 45 years of being totally healthy. In the last few weeks, a good friend of mine has been diagnosed with MS and another friend has been diagnosed with cancer. I'm the lucky one.

I debated whether to share this rather private information with you, my blogreaders, but I've done it because I want to learn from other people's experiences.

Selling to the Chinese

I heard an amazing statistic on the Today Programme this morning. Apparently the whole of the EU exports more to Switzerland than it does to China. Take a moment to digest that.

China's markets are there to be sold to and I guess that's why Gordon Brown is making China such a key target of his foreign policy and why he's taken 25 businessmen there this week. Britain is in a prime position to explot the Chinese export markets. Too often we have been beaten to the punch by Germany or the US.

So how best do we explot the Chinese opportunity? Have they got trade barriers which we will find difficult to overcome? Which kinds of industries will benefit most? Answers in the comments please.

Telegraph Column: Hain Was Warned of His Legal Responsibilities by Electoral Commission

My Telegraph column today looks at Peter Hain's position and concludes that Gordon Brown has bottled it again. Not much original in that, you may feel, but read the whole article HERE. Here is the slightly newsworthy paragraph...

The Electoral Commission confirmed to me yesterday that it wrote to Mr Hain, at
the beginning of his campaign, outlining his obligations and his duties relating
to the declaration of donations. The letter explained to him that he was legally
responsible for his campaign, and it was his responsibility to ensure that all
donations were declared within 30 days of receipt. Forms were provided for him
or his team to do just that. All these forms had to be signed by him personally.
Indeed, we know he received the forms, because he did declare some donations on
May 31.

So Peter Hain has no excuses for his "incompetence" (copyright G Brown 2008). He had been duly warned about his legal responsibilities but he chose to ignore them. Another example of Labour politicians thinking they are above the law.

I rang the Electoral Commission because I remember David Davis receiving such a letter at the beginning of the Tory leadership campaign. Surely the existence of such a letter weakens his position even further. The Commission wouldn't give me a copy of the letter, but someone might like to do an FOI on it. I suspect its contents would make his position untenable.

The Daley Dozen: Thursday

1. James Schneider asks if the 'Filipino Monkey' was in the Straits of Hormuz...

2. Franck Guillory on the new Excuse My French blog has news on Sarko's marriage.

3. Iain Duncan Smith is a gay icon according to Peter Whittle on CentreRight.com. He will be pleased.

4. Harry's Place asks why Ken Livingstone is so 'weird and nasty'.

5. Nadine Dorries explains why she is so popular among Labour MPs.

6. Hillary Clinton becomes a trolley dolly courtesy of Three Line Whip.

7. Red Box takes Patricia Hewitt to task over her new job with Boots.

8. Paul Linford on the return of King Kev.

9. Anthony Barnett on Our Kingdom has a train story. It's catching.

10. A new blog from Baroness Ros Scott. It has the wonderful title of Because Baronesses are People Too.

11. Ellee Seymour has a rather worrying train story. No more train stories. Promise.

12. Tim Ireland has completed his submission (in video format) to the Home Office arguing against the SOCPA laws preventing demonstrations around Parliament.

Another Train Story

From a reader called Cart...

" My father was sitting on a train waiting to leave King's Cross a few years ago, when Lord Falconer sat down next to him. After considering the dilemma you mentioned, Iain, my dad said"Excuse me, but are you Lord Falconer?"Falconer (beaming at being recognised)"Yes"At which point my dad said "'Scuse me", got up and went to sit somewhere else on the train... "

Well it made me laugh, anyway!

Telegraph Launches Weekly "Right On" Politics Show

Today Telegraph TV is launching a new weekly politics show, with a definite right of centre bias, called RIGHT ON. It lasts twelve minutes and consists of three sections - a discussion between Andrew Pierce and Ann Widdecombe, HEFFER CONFRONTED, in which I confront Simon Heffer about the contents of his latest column and WESTMINSTER WHISPERS, where Andrew Pierce takes a gossipy look at the Westminster Village. Each section is viewable on its own. This is HEFFER CONFRONTED



To view the whole 12 minute RIGHT ON programme click HERE.

Gordon Must Learn to Schmooze - It's Part of the Job

A correspondent tells me of a reception in Portcullis House last night for service veterans. It started at 6pm and the Prime Minister was good enough to put in an appearance, along with his combative PPS Ian Austin. However, he left shortly after six o'clock while most of the veterans were still queueing to get into the building. Gordon Brown had only met the sprinkling of MOD officials in the room and spoke to hardly any veterans. As Brown walked out of the building he walked past a long queue of veterans - some of WW2 vintage - but failed to acknowledge them at all, let alone engage any of them in conversation. How crap is that?! Tony Blair would have at least schmoozed the queue! Several of them reckoned afterwards that it would have been better if he had not gone at all but had sent a message.

Schmoozing is part of the job of a modern day Prime Minister. Time and again Gordon Brown shows he is SO unsuited to the finesse part of the job.

UPDATE: Justin Webb reckons Mitt Romney has a similar problem.
UPDATE 2: Oh dear. What have I started? Adam Boulton has a tale of some disgruntled businessmen who are travelling with El Gordon to China today.

The Daley Dozen: Wednesday

1. Kevin Maguire indulges in a bit of arselicking to Gordie. Again. And his colleague James Lyons is five days late with THIS Lembit Opik story. You read it here 5 days ago.

2. Ellee Seymour blogs on compensation for MRSA victims. Or lack of it.

3. Tim Worstall on the Business Blog suggests that the BBC has found the best way of bribing politicians.

4. The Taxpayers' Alliance reckons that Peter Hain's SpAds should get the chop too.

5. Malcolm Savage on Open House argues for nuclear alternatives.

6. Labour Home has 10 Ways to Improve the UK. Not sure about number 2...

7. The Greens used to love Biofuels. Now they don't Rupert Read explains...

8. Guy Ruddle talks about the new political programme, RIGHT ON, on Telegraph TV, starring...well... modesty forbids...

9. Danny Finkelstein's Top Ten Reasons Barack Obama should pick Al Gore as his running mate.

10. Dave Hill on gay-friendly police.

11. Richard Spring MP on fish and kettles.

12. Fraser Nelson reviews PMQs.

Peter Hain: How Very Rude...

A correspondent just sent me this...

Dear Iain

Your post about David Starkey put me in mind of a moment on the tube that epitomised my take on Peter Hain. A while back (before he had a ministerial car) I was sitting on a crowded tube and Hain was standing next to me furiously trying to write on a piece of paper. Seeing the man was in a hurry I offered him my seat so he could complete his task more easily. He took the seat without saying thank you, wrote his speech or whatever, got off at Westminster giving me no acknowledgment of any kind....A man who thinks he's entitled perhaps?

Yours, M

Labour MPs Boycott Hain

There is an opposition day debate at the moment on national insurance numbers and migrants. Peter Hain is in attendance as it covers his area of policy. My parliamentary informat tells me that the debate is due to finish at 4pm but will probably finish earlier as the Labour whips cannot get enough speakers to fill the time. No one wants to support Peter Hain, apparently. The whips have not gone beyond cajoling. It's now got to the threats and blackmail stage. Poor Peter Hain. Let someone put him out of his misery, for goodness sake.