Labour needs to create a new electorate
This Times opinion poll shows the abject failure of New Labour. It shows that only 26% of public sector workers support the government. Which means that the billions of pounds the government has thrown at them has not won it much support.
This matters. It is not just the case that electorates choose governments. Governments also choose electorates, by building or facilitating the growth of client groups – people who believe that their self-interest lies in voting for the government, or failing that, people who are grateful for what government has given them.
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LC briefing: DWP on Trial – a quick update
Yesterday, the Guardian technology supplement carried a story that covers a part of our briefing, specifically the threat of a libel action by Amir Liberman/Nemesysco against two Swedish reseachers who published a paper criticising the ‘lie detector’.
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Top Stories – 13th March
Nationwide
Ministers ‘must open up finances’
Stern: Warming even worse than I thought
More lifers in our jails than Europe combined
Hospitals failing on child protection
International
45 percent of world’s wealth destroyed
Seven arrested over Dutch bomb plot
Shoe-thrower jailed for three years
Swiss action sparks talk of ‘currency war’
DAILY BLOG REVIEW / coming later
Fred Goodwin should be stripped of his knighthood
Good luck to Martin Salter, who has tabled a motion calling for the forfeiture committee to meet to consider stripping Not-Sir Fred Goodwin of his knighthood. Salter says this to Paul Waugh of the Standard.
Sir Fred Goodwin is a symbol of corporate greed and the honours system is there to reward service not selfishness. There’s clearly a powerful case for his refusal to hand back his knightood to be considered by the Forfeiture Committee in order to preserve the integrity of the honours system.
About which I have only one complaint.
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The English Lobby is not happy
We received this email the other day. How should we respond?
Dear Mr Semple
Re: Distorting St George’s day
I observe that you lack the candour to disclose YOUR interest in this subject of St George’s Day.
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LC briefing: Lie detectors – how it all started
Time for some background to this story. The public sector business services contracts company Capita are behind the DWP trial. In fact all the local authorities involved in the trial have IT services and outsourcing contracts with Capita. This notice verifies that.
In November 2004, Capita acquired the full shareholding in an insurance claims investigation company called Brownsword Ltd from private equity investors, ISIS Equity Partners. In buying out Brownsword, Capita also acquired an exclusive 10 year licence, from another company (DigiLog UK) for what DigiLog calls its ‘Advanced Validation Solutions’ – this is the same system that the DWP are trialling and at the heart of that system lies the controversial ‘voice risk analysis’ software we’ve been investigating.
As some readers have already noted, this software-based system, which its developer calls ‘Layered Voice Analysis’ (LVA), was developed from a patent filed in 1997 by an Israeli national, Amir Liberman, and is currently owned and marketed by Liberman’s company, Nemesysco. DigiLog UK is Nemesysco’s UK agent and distributor.
So far, we’ve referred to this system as a ‘lie detector’, but in fact, Nemesysco makes a number of much more expansive claims for its technology on its website.
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Top Stories – 12th March
Nationwide
Police use ‘psychological operations’ during protest
Luton: the enemy within?
Tories hit out at UK aid to China
2037: the last year of the British pub?
International
15 killed in German school massacre
Sarah Palin’s daughter dumps her baby’s dad
Sarkozy to end France’s 40-year Nato feud
Pakistan locks up hundreds to silence protests
DAILY BLOG REVIEW / by Aaron Murin-Heath
Andy Worthington provides a comprehensive account of Guantanamo’s last remaining Brit, Shaker Aamer.
Hagley Road to Ladywood reports on The Sun’s one-sided report about a group protesting returning Basra troops.
Political Betting asks why RBS is politically vetting its customers?
Tim Ireland has more on the reptilian Paula Murray (and her slippery editor, Martin Townsend).
Jonathan Calder wonders just which ancient cult the lovely Lynne Featherstone has got herself mixed up in. Sounds like a case for Robert Langdon is you ask me, which you didn’t.
Oh, and all that blogging bitchery over twitter. Our Sunny wisely points out that all involved are a bit daft – and wonders if they shouldn’t be doing something a little more constructive?
A bit rushed for time this morning, so why not pop over to Neil’s blog for his “selected reading”? Go on… Shoo!
In defence of the Luton Islamist demo
Al Muhajiroun’s Luton demonstration and the Real IRA/Continuity IRA killings of the last week – although vastly differentiated in terms of degree -are based on broadly similar tactical considerations.
It is a law of politics that actions such as these are designed to provoke equal and opposite reactions.
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LC briefing: editor’s note
Last year Hazel Blears MP (in)famously said most blogs did little to ‘add value’ to our political culture. If by ‘value’, Blears did not mean bloggers doing research into government initiatives and occasionally exposing them for the gimmicks they are, then she probably won’t be pleased with our briefing either.
Today, coincidentally, David Hencke asks if James Purnell is the worst social security minister ever: I’d say he is in contention for the worst Labour minister ever given how empty his initiatives at the DWP have been. His plans to trial lie detectors to tackle benefit fraud will eventually be exposed as one of those vacuous stunts.
First a bit of background.
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Christian party bus ads criticised
The advertising watchdog has decided not to launch a formal investigation into a controversial advertisement from the Christian party proclaiming that “there is definitely a God”, even though it has become one of the four most criticised adverts of all time.
The advertisement was unveiled by the party last month in response to the British Humanist Association’s bus adverts, which state: “There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.” The Christian party’s advert – displayed on 50 London buses – carries the slogan: “There definitely is a God. So join the Christian party and enjoy your life.”
Figures from the Advertising Standards Authority reveal that the advertisement has so far attracted 1,045 complaints – and rising – making it the fourth most complained about advert since the ASA’s records began. But it has decided not to launch an investigation because the poster is deemed to be ‘electioneering material’, and falls outside the remit of its codes of practice.
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