David Davis shows why we can’t trust Tories
John Harris reports from the Conservative Party conference:
Richards asked him if there was a specifically Tory story on civil liberties, at which point he went on about poppies, Churchill, and – once again cranking up the testosterone – the supposedly unreliable ways of lefties. “If we had relied on Guardian-reading vegetarians to defend liberty,” he reckoned, “we’d all be speaking German.”
You’ll remember that last year when David Davis decided to resign from his seat to re-fight it under the banner of civil liberties – many of those same “Guardian-reading vegetarians” decided to support him because they also cared for civil liberties (me included).
Many of us on LibCon were split because a sizeable contingent were of the opinion that you can never trust a Tory. I’m afraid they have been proven right.
Also, as someone said in the first comment:
More accurately, if we’d have relied on the Daily Mail’s 1930s editorial stance to defend liberty, we’d all be speaking German
(via Chicken Yoghurt)
Paxman disgraces himself over Boris interview
Newsnight Jeremy Paxman’s probing interview with London Mayor Boris Johnson was a farce.
Nothing about his policy u-turns. Nothing about the incompetence that surrounds the GLA administration. Nothing about serious policy.
Just one question about Lisbon and then back to that stupidity over Boris’s Bullingdon club days.
Tory Troll is also, quite rightly, annoyed by the whole farce:
First up we had Andrew Neil, who given ten minutes to question the Mayor, decided to ask age-old questions about the Bullingdon Club and play an 18 month old clip of the Mayoral elections.
Worse than that, the vast bulk of the questioning was on an area (EU treaty law) where Boris has zero knowledge, control or influence over. Truly awful.
Next up we had Jeremy Paxman, who having seemingly missed Neil’s interview, proceeded to ask almost exactly the same irrelevant questions all over again.
…
All on the same day that Boris announces a major u-turn and a £5bn cut in transport spending
Watch
Tory education policy: Set ‘em while they’re young
Here’s my (brief) story. I’m a web developer, I dabble in new web technologies and find it all incredibly exciting. I started web development almost as soon as I first got an opportunity to go on to the internet, around 1998 and years later I took Computer Science at A-Level and university. Yet despite all of this I was never at any point sure, not even 70 or 80% let alone 100%, what it was I wanted to *be* when I “grew up.”
One of the reasons for this was the feeling that the state of this world was not one for pigeon-holing one’s self; I’d started my journey with 28.8kbps internet, AOL chat rooms and over the next 5 years was entering a world of ISDN, CSS, standards and the monopoly of internet explorer.
The fact was that the world of employment and hobby could change very quickly, for the better or for the worse. For me a broad understanding of science, mathematics, philosophy and literature would provide for my future far better than becoming an absolute expert in the one field that I had such an affinity for.
So why, in this world of changing ambitions, vast opportunities for development and greater accessibility to new careers and education, do Tories want to propose to set up highly specialised schools for kids aged 14+?
continue reading… »
Bloggers: did you get money for reviews?
US bloggers have been asked to disclose whether they’ve received payments for product reviews by the FTC, according to a report in the Huffington Post.
For the first time the Federal Trade Commission will require that online reviews are more accurate for consumers, in effect regulating blogging.
The FTC will require that writers on the Web clearly disclose any freebies or payments they get from companies for reviewing their products. The commission also said advertisers featuring testimonials that claim dramatic results cannot hide behind disclaimers that the results aren’t typical.
The FTC has now approved guidelines that, while not binding in law, offer interpretations of the law to help advertisers comply with regulations.
Violating the rules, which take effect at the beginning of December, could result in lawsuits against online publishers by consumer groups or even rival companies of products being reviewed.
It is unclear whether the guidelines will apply to British blogs hosted on US server.
To placate such fears, Cleland said the FTC will more likely go after an advertiser instead of a blogger for violations. The exception would be a blogger who runs a “substantial” operation that violates FTC rules and already received a warning.
MI5 spied on Jack Jones; Jack Jones spied for the KGB
Such is the harmless good guy reputation that the passage of time has granted the once widely hated Jack Jones that even Gordon Brown felt safe in hailing him as ‘a giant of the labour movement’ in a speech to the TUC conference in Liverpool last month.
In terms of leftie street cred, Jones really did have it all. Born into a socialist family of Liverpool dockers, he was even christened by the middle name of Larkin, in honour of the great Irish union leader.
Even after retirement, Jones continued to campaign for pensioners’ rights. Although I only met him once, I found his company agreeable enough, and it was clear from the conversation that he was no particular fan of New Labour, privately at least.
continue reading… »
Tories keep attacking Telegraph’s coverage
The Telegraph, long seen as the organ of the Conservative Party, has fallen out of favour with the new Tory guard.
And the latter are loudly making their views known, no doubt to hope the paper will fall in line with the Cameroon project.
Take, for example, Guido Fawkes’ post on the Spectator party (now the favoured organ thanks to unflinching loyalty):
Bizarrely scheduled against the premier party (Guido saw Telegraph hacks at the Speccie party) it shows just how out of touch the Telegraph is with the party it once had a monopoly on reporting.
A familiar face approached as Guido exited, he extended his hand, Guido shook his hand, slurred a “hello”, and smiled. God knows what Fraser thought as his star guest, David Cameron, moved down the blue carpet towards him.
How chummy. Grayling, Dorries and now Cameron must have Paul Staines on speed-dial.
The meme that the Telegraph is “out of touch” with the party is now constantly pushed by the new right.
Most prominently, ConservativeHome has repeatedly attacked it for not being supportive enough. Some headlines:
The Telegraph makes more mischief
The Mail and Telegraph fail their readers (it’s Cameron’s job to change that)
The Telegraph to Cameron: Dare to be unpopular
These attacks on the Telegraph’s criticisms of Cameron has been going on for a while.
In July Guido Fawkes wrote that it lost £200,000 a week and called it “The Daily Labourgraph”. Hilarious.
Tim Montgomerie picked up the baton and asked: Whatever happened to The Telegraph’s coverage of the Conservatives?
The Telegraph was once THE party of Tory coverage but no longer. The only thing it covered from the ConIntelligence conference was a feature on women candidates (and, I am told, only because it would be accompanied by some glamorous photographs). The Telegraph has abandoned its position as the journal for Tory news and at a time when coverage of the Conservative Party hasn’t been so important for a generation.
More recently he revived this theme by polling readers. Surprise surprise:
In particular, Simon Heffer was singled out for his continual criticisms of David Cameron.
Things to note: how the right are playing to each other’s themes in attacking the Telegraph, clearly hoping it will become more supportive of Cameron. Discipline is important you know.
Also note how, despite his continual protestations that he’s not pro-Tory, Paul Staines is playing along.
I wonder how the Telegraph will react.
Lisbon treaty is fraudulent democracy at work
When the 2005 referenda on the EU constitution began to go sour – with France and Holland rejecting it and most other countries postponing their referendum – the leaders of the EU learned an important lesson.
Don’t ask the electorate a question unless a) you actually want to hear the answer or b) you think you can control the answer. Which is why virtually no country has held a referendum on the Treaty of Lisbon – the only one that did hold such a referendum was Ireland.
And if the people of Ireland had rejected the Treaty? Well then there would have been another referendum, or the question would have been folded into a General Election where it would have been obscured by fifteen other concerns.
Not to mention that the two political parties which campaigned for a no vote have neither the manpower or resources to beat every major Irish political party, the Irish media, the Irish Business and Employers Confederation (the Irish version of the CBI) and certain sections of the trades unions in an election.
Leaving aside the politics of whether or not the Treaty is a good thing or a bad thing, the fact that yet again, the government held a second referendum because it didn’t like the answer of the first one is scandalous.
continue reading… »
Boris: please don’t hurt poor bankers!
London Mayor Boris Johnson has defended bankers from criticism and higher taxes today, despite accepting many had wrecked havoc on the economy.
He said in a speech:
I know how unpopular these bankers are. I know how far out I am on this limb in sticking up for these pariahs. But never forget, all you would-be banker bashers, that the leper colony in the City of London produces 9% of UK GDP, 13% of value added and taxes that pay for roads and schools and hospitals across this country.
He said he would freeze on the amount of council tax that goes to City Hall to next year.
He added:
I will oppose high marginal rates of taxation because they failed in the miserable 1970s, because they yield tiny sums of revenue and because they only serve to drive away talent. I think it does matter that the City of London should remain competitive.
But he did not offer any evidence to back up his assertions.
He said he was “willing to take the fight to our friends and partners in Brussels” against regulation.
He added that the City was “not so much a problem as a vital part of the solution” to the economic downturn.
He did not elaborate on how the economic downturn came about.
The Libdems today criticised the London Mayor for being “the unacceptable face of capitalism”.
Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesperson, Lord (Matthew) Oakeshott said:
He wants low taxes and light regulation for the bankers who brought Britain to its knees and ‘compassionate cuts’ for everyone else.
Cameron must cringe every time Boris opens his mouth. He’s so off the caring conservatism message, he’s off the wall.
Boris was also contradicted by Sir James Dyson, the vacuum cleaner tycoon, who said Britain needed to back science and engineering rather than the “thrill” of financial trading.
Tory MP complains after bin Laden gaffe
The story that made me the happiest today was news that David Amess, Conservative MP for Southend West, told staff at Heathrow Airport that Osama Bin Laden had packed his bags for his Virgin Atlantic flight, shortly before throwing up in front of them, and then writing a letter of complaint to them.
Apparently he wasn’t even pissed up, which is lucky since this would constitute irresponsible drinking, an apparent hot potato for our favourite anti-abortion, friend of Israel.
But what, if not booze, made him throw up? Perhaps too much Cake? Video evidence for his dubious paranoia over the subject can be seen here (skip until 02.50).
Here is a picture of Amess in a cake shop in Leigh-on-Sea (via here)
(David Amess with Juliette, proprietor of Leigh cake shop Fancy Nancy)
Need I say more?
Purnell slams proposed Tory welfare policy
Former cabinet minister James Purnell has slammed Conservative welfare policy by specifically rebutting each of the points made by Conservatives.
Writing on Open Left he said Tory plans were, “so full of holes, that the Tories are clearly hoping that the press will have moved on by the time anyone notices.”
He proceeded to point out some holes:
1. We will simplify Labour’s numerous and piecemeal programmes into one single back-to-work programme for everyone on out of work benefits.
This would be a good idea if they were proposing to do it. Indeed, it’s government policy – with the Flexible New Deal bringing previous New Deals in to one and the December 2008 White Paper proposing the same for IB and lone parents. But the press release then goes to on to add back in Youth Action for Work, Work Pairings, Work for Yourself, Work Together, Work Clubs. So, seven programmes, not one. Moreover, these seem to have a lot of the features (especially centralized design) of the original New Deal which the Tories say failed.
…
3. We will abolish the Treasury’s rule that prevents the Government paying work providers using the benefits saved once someone has a job. This will allow us to offer support to the 2.6 million people on Incapacity Benefit.
There is no such rule. The question is whether there is appetite to lend.
4. We will offer greater support to the young unemployed by referring them on to the Work Programme after 6 months of unemployment compared to a year under the Flexible New Deal.
This is misleading. Young unemployed people already get this support at 6 months – the only differences are that it’s currently delivered by Job Centres and the Tories have tinkered with the options claimants get (at the moment, the options are employment subsidies, self employment, training and volunteering).
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