A Few Facts about Teenage Pregnancy
Right, it’s time to give Derek Draper a lesson in how to do a proper rebuttal.
Yesterday, Don Paskini took Tom Harris MP to task for adopting the time-honoured gutter tactic of picking on teenage mums to curry favour with the Daily Mail crowd – time of post, 9:20am.
Almost exactly one hour later, a trackback arrived from Stuart Sharpe, who accuses the Don of being an ‘apologist for the welfare state’ – yes, it’s that tired old canard, yet again – before going on to offer up this comment on the Don’s post:
If Tony Blair was talking about it 10 years ago, everything must be perfectly fine, and Tom Harris’s points are completely invalid. Never mind that in those ten years the teenage pregnancy rate has continued to climb exponentially. Never mind that Tony Blair talking about something rarely ever amounted to Tony Blair doing anything about it.
All of which makes Stuart wrong on just about every substantive point of his argument. continue reading… »
Top Stories – 6th March 2009
Nationwide
Osborne approves of ‘printing money’ plan
Lobbyists may be forced to reveal meetings
Courts are ‘outdated and overfilled’
Foreign drivers to face £900 roadside fines
Construction industry blacklist shut down by ICO
International
Let’s dance, Biden tells Unions in America
‘We know the culprits,’ says Pakistan
Clinton seeks new relationship with Russia
Couple die together in Swiss suicide pact
DAILY BLOG REVIEW / by Douglas Johnson
The Daily (Maybe) - doesn’t think soundbites will save jobs or the environment.
Millenium Elephant - We need to do more than just rail against politicians.
New Direction - Why aren’t young people allowed to hold political positions as well? Judging by critics of those who stand in elections, you’d think anyone under 30 who ran did so purely for ambition.
The Enemies of Reason - is glad we don’t meet Andrew Gilligan’s very particular standards for the press.
Dave Osler - digs up Scargill.
How do we explain the populist case against civil liberties?
At the Convention last week, the magnificent array of speakers did their job of giving us some strong and pithy arguments against the encroachments on our shared civil liberties.
Memorable rhetoric is important, because the shifting of public opinion is not shifted by one speech by Philip Pullman, (however lyrical) but by a hundred thousand discussions in homes and offices, and more than a few more opinion columns and TV shows in the coming years.
But we did not hear how to address the possibility that specific crimes may be committed when some of the state’s major incursions into our liberty are rolled back. It is crucial that those of us who push for a tempering of databases and surveillance own these possibilities and embrace them.
continue reading… »
UK lobbyists to be curbed?
Senior politicians are considering inserting a number of clauses into the Constitutional Ren ewal Bill, which is currently being drafted by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ).
This would pave the way for a statutory register of all lobbyists and an external regulatory body.
A senior Cabinet Office source told PRWeek no decision had been made about whether to push ahead with legislation. But the source added: ‘If we do go down the legislative route, the Constitutional Renewal Bill will be the vehicle we use.’
With many lobbyists keen to pursue self-regulation, the news that legislation has been identified will set alarm bells ringing at many public affairs agencies. In January, the public adm inistration select committee called for greater transparency in lobbying.
Boulton stung by Prescott
Stung by the criticism of his journalism, Adam Boulton today hit back at John Prescott.
The Sky journalist was responding to an attack by John Prescott on his blog.
Alastair Campbell told Boulton to stop wasting his time and do some proper investigative journalism.
Defending Gordon Brown on the economy
Gordon Brown says he has “has nothing to apologise for” about the recession. You know, I think he has a point.
For one thing, the UK economy, so far, is not doing especially badly. Yes, the 1.5% fall in UK GDP in Q4 was worse than that suffered by France or Canada, but its less than that suffered by the US (1.6%), Italy (1.8%), Germany (2.1%), or Japan (3.3%). By G7 standards, then, we’re doing OK. Only a silly little Englander can believe this is an unusually British recession. What’s more, it’s not obvious what exactly Brown is to blame for. The allegations don’t stack up.
continue reading… »
Why is Andrew Gilligan still taken seriously?
I was intrigued by a Londoner’s Diary column in the Evening Standard having a dig yesterday at occasional LC contributor Dave Hill. Could it have anything to do with the fact that Dave Hill keeps exposing Andrew Gilligan’s piss-poor journalism?
Last week Gilligan flew the kite that Sir Alan Sugar had been approached to stand as Mayor. “Complete bollocks,” as Dave Hill soon pointed out. Then, as Adam documents here, the story died as other journalists realised it didn’t stack up either. The Evening Standard story too kept getting revised to fit the facts. Not the first time Andrew “sockpuppet” Gilligan has been left with egg on his face.
On a side note, the Tories are also left with egg on their faces. As Mick Fealty points out here, it’s no surprise blogger Iain Dale has kept silent about Caroline Spelman being caught out: he confidently predicted recently that she’d be cleared of any wrong-doing. It was, of course, part of a half-hearted attempt to influence the parliamentary committee’s decision. Fail.
Guys, if you want to do media hit-jobs, you must learn from the Democrats. Though, I’m not sure there’s any hope for Andrew Gilligan; he’s still running a campaign against Ken Livingstone.
On liberty: laughter and forgetting
1) Traditional civil liberties have been eroded in recent years.
2) Amongst those concerned about the erosion of civil liberties are quite a few posh people.
3) Therefore, civil liberties are an issue only of concern to the elites and not ‘ordinary people’.
I would have thought the failure to apply elementary logical thinking in this formulation was pretty obvious – yet this is exactly this sort of argument I’m reading on what seems like a daily basis in the blogosphere.
Or it just feels like it. I’m getting a bit fed up with it, to be honest. Apart from anything else, it’s a little selective, isn’t it? The decidedly plummy tones of the New Atheists don’t seem to prompt the same dismissal. Only toffs are concerned about things like the extension in police powers and not ‘ordinary working class people’?
continue reading… »
Tom Harris MP and teenage mums
One of the many sad and pathetic things about Tom Harris MP slagging off teenage mums on his blog is that he obviously believes he is being brave in doing so.
Harris is a Member of Parliament, his argument draws on comments which Tony Blair made a decade ago and in content and tone he is regurgitating the prejudices found in national newspapers and conversations amongst the rich and powerful on a daily basis. You might have thought this would be sufficient support to take on the mighty lobby group that is 16 year old girls who have children.
continue reading… »
Top Stories – 5th March 09
Nationwide
BNP uses Polish Spitfire in anti-immigration poster
Brown: We can outlaw tax havens
‘Thousands at risk’ from childcare failures
Museum rejects Israel protests
International
China pledges growth amid economic crisis
Response to terrorists makes bus driver hero
Two big black holes found together
‘Israel seriously considering action against Iran’
DAILY BLOG REVIEW / by Aaron Murin-Heath
Craig Murray MUST be heard. What’s the point of a Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights, if it ignores evidence from someone in the know?
Timothy Egan on how Rush Limbaugh’s apparent anointment as the leader of the GOP, is great news for the Dems.
Jonathan Calder has a quite wonderful story for you. A Liberal one.
Heresy Corner writes the alternative Brown speech to Congress.
Matt Wardman follows up on this Boing Boing story. Seriously, THIS is why we fight against the encroachment of our civil liberties. Bad laws WILL be abused.
Hagley Road to Ladywood asks if union proposals from Spain might be a tonic for our financial woes.
John’s Labour blog on why electioneering is no fun in the rain.
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