David Davis Resigns

Earlier today I had decided to have a three day break from blogging, for reasons which I will explain later on today or tomorrow. Just as well I didn't.

David Davis is resigning from the Shadow Cabnet, resignng his seat and will fight a by election on the 42 days issue.

More later...

Why Alex Salmond is Smiling Today

It is strongly rumoured that one of the DUP's conditions for voting with the government on 42 days was that the revenues from the sale of disused army bases and barracks in Northern Ireland would go to Stormont, rather than the Treasury, as would be normal in these circumstances.

If true, Brown may have made a very big rod for his own back. My SNP friends are already licking their lips in anticipation of a precedent now having been set. The precedent is that that revenues from UK assets in a devolved territory are the property of that devolved government, not Westminster. This means Alex Salmond is sitting on a potential goldmine at Faslane (one of the world's very few facilities dedicated to the servicing and upkeep of nuclear-powered and nuclear-armed submarines - which could mean an independent Scotland using the facilities to service American, English or French subs...for a price, of course) and more importantly...oil.

Oops.

Brown's Mendacity Knows No Bounds

Not flash, just Gordon, was the slogan. That rings hollow this morning. At his press conference this morning Gordon Brown was asked repeatedly by Tom Bradby of ITN and Jon Craig from Sky about deals with the DUP. Brown responded by quoting two DUP MPs saying there was no deal. He also said he personally had not done a deal. This rather cleverly left open the possibility that he hadn't sullied his own hands (he is a man of courage, after all) but had left it to Northern Ireland Secretary Shaun Woodward to do the dirty work.

His cover was blown when Jon Craig revealed that DUP MP Gregory Campbell had told him what was on the DUP's shopping list. It remains unclear how many items on that list were ticked off.

An Opportunity for Conservatives in Northern Ireland?

I suspect that there are a number of DUP supporters and voters in Ulster who do not agree with what their party leadership yesterday. This presents an opportunity for the Conservatives in Northern Ireland. Their take on the vote is HERE. I'm not too familiar with how the Conservative Party is organised there, or how they have been doing since the relative demise of the UUP, but I do know they have a very committed band of activists who are keen to grow the party's base.

Peter Robinson: The New Deputy Prime Minister

An amusing exchange has been reported to me between a Tory MP and a Labour junior minister about the PM's press conference this morning...

Tory MP: So who will the Prime Minister be flanked by at his press conference this morning in the wake of these Al Qaeda papers going missing? Jacqui Smith perhaps?

Labour Minister: Hmmm. Peter Robinson might be a better bet.

42 Days: The Unnoticed Rebellion

Apart from Ann Widdecombe and 36 Labour MPs, there was another rebellion last night, which up until now has gone unnoticed. UKIP's only MP, Bob Spink voted with the government thereby defying his new party's policy on 42 days. Nigel Farage has made a big thing out of opposing the government on civil liberties grounds. It must be pretty galling for the party's much heralded only MP to defy him like this - apparently at the personal behest of Gordon Brown.

UKIP supporters are very angry if THIS messageboard is anything to go by.

LibDems at Sea on Lisbon Treaty. Again.

The LibDems confirmed their status as the "right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing" party tonight in the Lisbon Treaty vote in the House of Lords. LibDem Peers delivered an embarrassing rebuff to Nick Clegg when instead of following the example of LibDems and abstaining on the idea of a referendum, they went through the No Lobby and voted against. The irony is that if they had abstained the Lords vote would have approved a referendum.

So for those already confused by the LibDem stance here's a three point outline of their stance...

2005 LibDem manifesto commits to a referendum
Jan 2008 LibDem MPs abstain on a referendum
May 2008 LibDem Peers vote against a referendum

Is this Nick Clegg demonstrating an ability to lead from the front? More like hiding behind Shirley Williams' skirt. Still, the Irish might yet put the LibDems out of their misery.

Barack's Boring Blog & Blog Trouble for McCain

Newsweek has an indepth article looking at the blogs of Barack Obama and John McCain. McCain is revealed as a huge Abba fan. Maybe he will get my support, after all! The article says that Obama's blog is a bit boring while McCain's is much better - and that spells trouble for McCain's campaign. Read it HERE.

Zimbabwe Report: How Mugabe is Tieing Up Postal Votes

A friend of mine just sent me the following message from Zimbabwe...

Now it looks like the vile dictator Mugabe has added yet another weapon to his vote-rigging armoury. Not content with driving 25,000 suspected MDC supporters from their homes, beating up a further 3,000 and killing 65 (to date), he's now moving on to the next stage of his "electoral cleansing" campaign: Stealing the postal votes.

It drives me crazy that this man is allowed to get away with stealing an election, while literally starving his own country - as well as destablising an entire region - and there is literally nothing I can do about it from here. Anyway, here is the latest:

Through abuse of the electoral laws relating to postal votes, Mugabe looks set to win between 30,000 and 50,000 illegal votes, and potentially may score tens of thousands more.

Only members of the Zimbabwean military (or other parts of the government) and their families are supposed to be eligible to vote. George Chiweshe, head of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC), confirmed that approximately 8,000 applications for postal votes were received in respect of the Harmonised Elections of 29 March 2008 – entailing elections for President, Parliament and local government authorities. In the event, less than half of these applications were approved despite 600,000 postal ballots having been printed.

Now credible reports, including a leaked internal police document entitled “Postal Voting Mechanism” indicate that police and army officers, their spouses and dependents will be required to vote in the run-off by postal ballot and will be compelled to do so under supervision. This is likely to yield Mugabe between 30,000 and 50,000 votes, but may – because of the excessive number of ballots printed for the first round — mean tens of thousands more.

The Depend Upon Promises Party

Peter Robinson's leadership of the DUP has certainly got off to an inauspicious start. The phrase 'no surrender' is one which can never be applied to them again. Robinson cravely surrendered to a Gordon Brown bribe. We don't know what they asked for and we don't know what they got. But it must have been big.

Gordon Brown may be pleased to have won the vote on 42 days, but he couldn't have done it without the DUP. The duplicitous bastards kept reassuring the Conservatives they wouldn't cave in, but they were not to be trusted in the end.

There are many people who will view this result as a weakening of Brown's personal position rather than a strengthening of it. Whether that is true or not, we are about to find out.

UPDATE: Dan Hannan is none too impressed by the way the DUP have sold their votes.
UPDATE: Our Kingdom has an excellent round-up.

PMQs: A Very High Scoring Draw

I think this was one of the best Prime Minister's Questions in recent years. I think both Brown and Cameron were at the top of their game and they debated real, substantive issues. It was certainly Brown's best performance so far, on a day when he needed it to be. I'd give them both 9 out of 10. Clegg again failed to rise to the occasion

I was aghast when Gordon Brown started quoting ConservativeHome's editorial in favour of 42 days this morning, and I suspect Tim and Sam will have gone a little green around the gills too. Cameron was clearly furious, and I have to say I don't blame him. However, it's a free country and if they feel so strongly they have every right to make their views clear, I suppose. It's just a pity it had to be today.

I'm just about to go and interview Damian Green and Jeremy Browne on College Green about 42 days and PMQs and will post the video later.

Is £42,000 Enough to Buy Off 42 Day Labour Rebels?

It is quite disgusting that if Labour wins the 42 day pre charge detention vote tonight, they will have done it with two financial bribes.

In his latest concession to backbench rebels Gordon Brown has said that anyone released after 28 days would get £3,000 a day compensation. In a Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy spooky coincidence, someone released after 42 days would get £42,000 compo.

We wait to find out what kind of financial inducement is being offered to DUP MPs, but rest assured it will be a high one.

What an utter travesty that human rights which have been protected since the 1215 Magna Carta are worth so little to some of our parliamentarians. Some very brave Labour MPs will defy their party line this evening and vote on the side of freedom. Others will follow their party out of a sense of loyalty rather than because they believe in what they are voting for. Loyalty to party is a fine quality. But loyalty to country is far more important.

To any Labour MP reading this - and I know there are many who will be - let me say this.

Have you heard a single convincing reason for 42 days?

Why is it that every other Western democracy makes do with 14 days or fewer? Is the threat here really three times that in Australia or six times that in the USA?

Neither the Prime Minister, nor the Home Secretary, have been able to answer this question or give any convincing reason for the rise to 42 days beyond banal generalities.

The Police are split dowm the middle on the need, the prosecuting authorities don't want it and the security services are said to be ambivalent. In such circumstances our legislators would be well advised to leave well alone.

UPDATE: Astonishingly, ConservativeHome has declared its support for the government on 42 days. Its readers are none too impressed judging by the comments. It takes something to be more right wing than Simon Heffer, who has a brilliant article critiquing 42 days HERE.

Andy Burnham's 'Bullingdon' Moment

Bearing in mind he oversees licensing, our new "Kulture Minister" would not seem `fit for purpose. The Cambridge Evening News (not online) reports tonight that Andy Burnham - Labour Minister for tackling teenage drinking - has admitted being a member of Fitzwilliam College "Mornie Onion Society", a male only drinking club.

Initiation consisted of downing a yard of ale with an onion floating on top whilst naked or wearing just a towel. The Society's main aim is "dedicated to getting drunk".

Respect. Or totally shocking, depending on your point of view. Might be difficult to hurl the word Bullingdon at David Cameron after this revelation...

PS Anyone got a pic of a naked Mr Burnham? I ask out of professional, rather than personal, interest, you understand. Natch.

UPDATE 8pm: It seems this was in the Times and Mail at the weekend. Guess I ought to change my reading habits and ditch the Cambridge Evening News, eh?

Tory Defector's Inconvenient Truth

When I heard this afternoon of the defection of Cllr Les Byrom to Labour (ostensibly over 42 days) I thought to myself it was a bit odd, seeing as though it has been Tory policy to oppose extending the pre charge detention period for at least four years. So I rang a friend in the North West to ask for some background. All is, as is usual with defections, not quite what it seems.

Cllr Byrom has had a nice little earner as Tory chairman of the Merseyside Fire & Rescue Authority (£7,596). Sadly (for him) his term comes to an end next week, and the Tory leader on Sefton Borough Council has decided not to renominate him. He has moved heaven and earth to try to get her to reverse the decision, but she has stuck to her guns. He even tried to enlist the support of Bob Neill and Eric Pickles. Why is he so anxious? Because without that position, he cannot continue as Chairman of the LGA Fire Committee (remuneration £9,996). So by losing these two jobs, Cllr Byrom has lost more than £17,500 in allowances.

When I spoke to Eric on something else half an hour ago his ghast was well and truly flabbered. He said he was astounded at Byrom's defection and what he was saying on the BBC News Channel, especially given the email he and Bob Neill had received from him after Crewe & Nantwich. Eric has given me full permission to quote from the email. Here's what Mr Byrom thought, only two weeks ago...

Great result in Crewe, I picked up the vibes last Friday as Janice and I pounded the streets and council houses, Labour were in for a kicking, but it brings us renewed confidence, the press and establishment are now predicting a Tory Government, there is a buzz about our next administration and we are on the way back.

Also reflects well on the Local Government team and Eric, with good press coverage.

Doesn't sound to me like an unhappy Conservative. He goes on in the email to berate the leader of his council group for her plans not to renominate him to the Fire Authority, which would then place in jeopardy his place on the LGA Fire Committee. He pleads with Bob Neill and Eric Pickles to intervene and save his position. They, however, felt unable to do so as it is entirely down to the local group leader how she allocates jobs like this.

So Les Byrom sees both his sinecures disappearing and decides to defect on the spurious pretence of disagreeing with the Tory leadership on 42 days. How convenient for that to happen a day before the vote.

Perhaps Cllr Byrom could tell the truth and stop pretending it's about 42 days, when it so clearly is not.

PS Thank you to my correspondent who has sent me the above picture of Cllr Byrom. I assume that he will be instantly branded a 'toff' by Labour HQ and ejected from the party immediately.

UPDATE 6pm: Hmmm, Cllr Byrom has certainly built up some enemies over the years judging by the avalanche of emails which I have been sent over the last hour. Excuse me while I filter them...

UPDATE: Having been a candidate for four parliamentary elections and two EU ones, his applications to get on the candidates list after 2005, and again last year, were rejected.

UPDATE: Reaction from the Southport Visitor.

UKIP Demo Outside LibDem HQ

I just emerged into the sunlight from my bunker office in Cowley Street, not far from the House of Commons to find fifty members of UKIP demonstrating outside the LibDem HQ building. "We want a referendum," they chanted. It looked like a day trip out for the Surbiton Bowls club! It did occur to me that it might have been better to do it outside Labour HQ, as they are the ones who have actually denied us a referendum, but I imagine they were pointing out the illogicality of the LibDems' position in the Lords on this issue, where they have taken a rather different stand to the LibDem MPs in the Commons.

The demo might have been better timed too, because from what I can see, the whole of LibDem HQ seems to have decamped to Henley.

Now, if they'd like to stop chanting, we have a magazine to get to the printers today... [wraps cold towel round head for further bout of proof reading and tries to concentrate].

Clegg Loses His PR Chief

David Singleton in PR Week has just broken the news that LibDem Communications Director Johnny Oates is quitting his job after only 15 months in the post. Here's their report...

The Liberal Democrats' comms chief is quitting the party and returning to his previous employer.

Jonny Oates is to return to Bell Pottinger Public Affairs after just 15 months with the Liberal Democrats. He rejoins as director of strategic media relations. News of his move comes six months after Nick Clegg took over as party leader. Since then, the Lib Dems have failed to improve their standing in the polls, dropping to 16 per cent in a recent ComRes survey.

Clegg has also earned the unwanted nickname 'Cleggover' following an interview with GQ magazine in which he admitted to sleeping with 'no more than 30' women. Oates was previously a director at Bell Pottinger, which he joined in 2004.

He left the agency last year to join the Lib Dems as director of policy and communications, overseeing a 14-strong media team and a further 14 policy and research staff.

So, who will now take on one of the most unrewarding jobs in British politics?

Does Trevor Phillips Have a Conflict of Interest?

There's a lot of fuss in the papers about Trevor Phillips being paid to advise Channel 4 on equality issues, while at the same time he is chairman of the body which regulates equality issues. He was on the Today programme this morning defending himself, somewhat unconvincingly. He said that he only worked for the Equality Commission for three days a week and was therefore free to do what he liked the rest of the time. John Humphrys made the point that he ought to do work outside equality-related issues. Either he didn't get the point or choe to ignore it as he repeatedly asked Humphrys is he was saying he should sit on his hands all the time.

The point here is not about there being an actual conflict of interest, it's about there being the appearance of one. Trevor Phillips is being paid by a company he in theory regulates. I actually think that in his case he is able distinguish between the two roles, but to the outside world it is another case of having your cake and eating it. Imagine if it was a politician, rather than a quangocrat...

Where Did It All Go Wrong?

I'm watching Andrew Rawnsley's demolition job on Gordon Brown on Channel 4 +1 at the moment. The programme is titled WHERE DID IT ALL GO WRONG? Indeed so. I have seen a lot of programmes like this in my time.

I have never seen a documentary which is such an effective obituary of a government.

I have also never seen an obituary written before the corpse has stopped twitching.

I have also never seen a whole host of Cabinet Ministers appearing in a documentary about their own government while it was still in power.

I have also never seen serving Cabinet Ministers openly criticise their own government and their own Prime Minister, seemingly without fear of the consequences.

Astonishing stuff.

I Wouldn't Want to be a Mobile Phone in No 10 Tonight

Tomorrow's Times has a poll from Populus showing the Tories up five points at 45 per cent, Labour down four at 25 and the Libdems up one at 20. Gordon Brown's personal rating is now even lower than IDS's was just before he was knifed.

Jeremy Hunt Has Got a Blog

Jeremy Hunt has just become the first Shadow Cabinet blogger. Read his new blog HERE. His latest post is about what Hamlet could teach Gordon Brown! Hopefully he will be able to teach his colleague Mr Vaizey the joys of blogging regularly! He's been doing better lately though, it has to be said...