Watch: Murdoch wants to block Google (interview)
In an interview with Sky New in Australia, Rupert Murdoch said today he wanted to block Google from indexing its stories once he starts charging for newspapers.
He also said he wanted to challenge the doctine of “fair use” of his content on other websites.
He also calls the BBC “a scandal” (9m50s).
via Leon on Twitter.
Atlantic Bridge: Is this really a non-partisan charity?
contribution by Stephen Newton
As already reported on Liberal Conspiracy, Tuesday night is destined to see Dr Henry Kissinger deliver the Margaret Thatcher Lecture to the Atlantic Bridge and to collect the oxymoronic Margaret Thatcher Medal of Freedom, which the charity claims was endowed to it by Baroness Thatcher herself.
With ordinary tickets priced at £400 and VIP tickets with ‘priority seating’ going for £750, the night promises to raise a significant amount of money for the think tank.
Atlantic Bridge briefly came to prominence in the summer when its American members were accused of launching scathing attacks on the NHS. And with an advisory board that includes shadow chancellor George Osborne, former leader and shadow foreign secretary William Hague, shadow home secretary Chris Grayling and shadow schools secretary Michael Gove it looks like the stars will be out for Kissinger.
Established in 1997 by shadow defence secretary Liam Fox and dedicated to ‘the simple aim of strengthening the special relationship exemplified by the Reagan-Thatcher partnership of the 1980s,’ the Atlantic Bridge helps Tories bond with their US allies.
Typical events include supporting the US launch of one of William Hague’s books or dinner in LA with Fox News film reviewer James Hirsen.
continue reading… »
Telegraph omits links of leaders attacking Miliband
The Daily Telegraph today publishes a letter signed by various “Jewish leaders” attacking David Miliband on his criticisms of Tory EU allies.
SIR – Many people in the Jewish community have noted with concern the recent attacks on David Cameron’s allies in eastern Europe. In particular, Michal Kaminski, the leader of the European Conservative and Reformists group in the European Parliament, and the LNNK party of Latvia have been accused of anti-Semitism and neo-Nazism by opponents of the Conservative Party.
It has become increasingly obvious that these accusations are unfair, baseless and politically motivated. The Chief Rabbi of Poland has now spoken up on behalf of Michal Kaminski and has made it clear that far from being an anti-Semite, Mr Kaminski is an outspoken opponent of anti-Semitism and a friend of Israel.
The Latvian Foreign Minister has publicly criticised attacks on the LNNK and stated that “none of the ruling parties in Latvia has ever glorified Nazism”. Anger has been expressed at the highest levels in both Poland and Latvia at what are seen as smears on respectable, mainstream politicians. Anti-Semitism is far too grave a charge to be used as a political football. We call upon those responsible for making unsubstantiated allegations to withdraw them.
But the letter does not address any criticisms of the Conservative Party’s EU allies where they have been found as changing their stories or said highly objectionable things.
Blogger Soho Politico recently laid out a series of questions Mr Hague should answer on their EU allies, but have repeatedly been ignored.
Today, Will Straw at Left Foot Forward points out that several of the signatories to the letter attacking David Miliband themselves have political motivations and ties to the Conservative Party.
For example, the top four signatories all have links to the Conservative party. Lord Young of Graffham was President of the Board of Trade under Margaret Thatcher; Flo Kaufmann donated £4,950 to the party; Howard Leigh is the party’s senior Treasurer and has made a series of donations; and Benjamin Perl was John Major’s constituency agent in Huntingdon.
Among the other signatories, Dr Alan Mendoza is a Conservative party councillor in Brent and Executive Director of the neo-conservative think tank, the Henry Jackson Society. Meanwhile, Richard Harrington is Chair, and Stephen Massey sits on, the Executive Board of the Conservative Friends of Israel. The Telegraph’s accompanying article only lists Lord Young’s link to the Tories.
He adds that the total donations to the Tories from signatories to the letter amounted to £135,683.
Update: A commenter adds that: “Howard Leigh’s company Cavendish has given the Tories over 70,000 pounds as well as his personal contribution.” — though this is still unverified.
Jonathan Freedland has also hit back: Those who have attacked David Miliband for criticising Kaminski do not represent the Jewish community – they’re partisan Tories
Tony Benn and the Tories: don’t go there
Tony Benn doesn’t hate the Tories anymore. That’s according to yesterday’s Sunday Times, anyway, which reports that these days ‘the veteran radical campaigner’ finds his views on issues such as civil liberties and Europe closer to those of the Conservatives than those of New Labour.
OK, the poor old sod is 84 and recovering from an operation on his prostate gland, which involves surgeons sticking scalpels into regions of the anatomy that make most men somewhat squeamish.
But for those who have critically admired his consistent advocacy of democratic socialism for three decades and more, this is as shocking as the first time you hear your nine-year-old daughter utter a grown-up cuss.
You can use those words in the playground if you have to, Tony, but I never, ever want to hear you say them in this house, do you hear?
But will do the Met police do something?
Friday last week the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) convened a new panel to talk about policing in the aftermath of the G20 protests fiasco.
We received three accounts of the meeting and are publishing excerpts from each.
Helen Lambert — Police State UK
“Today is all about listening to you – we’re not here to speak for the Met, nor to defend them,” said Victoria Borwick, chair of the MPA’s newly convened Civil Liberties Panel, opening this morning’s open meeting.
The scope of the meeting – an evidence gathering session on public order policing, and more specifically the G20 demonstrations in April – had been unclear to some. Many people had brought questions demanding immediate answers, but instead their concerns have been ‘noted’, with no clear idea if answers will be forthcoming.
It may seem late in the day for a data-gathering session on the policing of G20. Photos, video footage, eyewitness accounts and the Climate Camp Legal report have been publically available for months.
But did this morning achieve anything more than a collective airing of grievances? The reach of the Civil Liberties Panel remains unclear. All this evidence will inform a report on public order policing to be released at the end of this year. The Panel seems largely sympathetic to the experiences of protestors, but the whole MPA has to approve its recommendations. Even the MPA are not involved with day-to-day or disciplinary policing issues, and can only advise on the overall framework of policy. Implementing change is a slow and frustrating process, each stage of representation more distanced than the last.
continue reading… »
Where is the left’s new economic map?
contribution by Adam Lent
Imagine this scenario. You’re driving to a vital meeting in a part of the world you’ve never visited before. The roads are winding and there are lots of unexpected turns. So you are relying very heavily on your map of the area, which begins to appear increasingly divorced from reality. Bu in the absence of anything better you plough on.
You only realise quite how bad the map is a few minutes later when you and your car end up bonnet first in a ditch. In disgust and anger you decide to tear up the map. It is then you notice the thing was printed forty years ago.
Those with a pathological inability to analyse a situation might believe that they just need to stick to the map even more closely. Most of would probably chuck it and look for a more up-to-date map.
Long metaphor but this pretty well summarises where we are on economic policy at the moment. The old neo-liberal economic paradigm has clearly dumped us into the mother of all economic ditches.
For groups like the Taxpayers Alliance and increasingly the Conservative Party, the problem originates not with the paradigm but because we drifted too far away from it.
continue reading… »
Times condemns French, not Osborne for ‘autistic’
Last week The Times newspaper dedicated a full leader column to condemning the French minister for Europe, Pierre Lellouche, for using the word “autistic” to describe the Tory approach to the EU.
He is entitled to voice his disagreement with David Cameron’s stance on Europe. It may be useful to hear his warning that the Conservative leader’s promise to repatriate powers from Brussels is unrealistic. It is less helpful to hear his crude depiction of Britain having “castrated” its influence. What is absolutely unacceptable, however, is his description of Conservative policy as “bizarre autism”.
Autism is a serious, lifelong and disabling condition, affecting more than half a million people in Britain. To use the term “autism” and “autistic” in a derogatory or flippant manner can cause deep hurt to those affected by the condition. To use the term as a criticism, for dramatic effect or to try to gain political advantage, perpetuates the misunderstanding of this condition and is, as the National Autistic Society said yesterday, “extremely unhelpful”.
Blogger Tom Freeman says he “agrees with every word”.
He adds:
But what puzzles me is that the editorial makes no mention of the only noteworthy use in recent years by a British politician of the same term “in a derogatory or flippant manner… for dramatic effect or to try to gain political advantage”.
I mean George Osborne’s suggestion in October 2006 that Gordon Brown was “mildly autistic”.
Anyone who follows politics reasonably closely, as Times leader writers most certainly do, will remember this. Yet not a mention of this episode.
The newspaper also ran two columns by Ann Mary Seighart excusing George Osborne’s use of the term.
Curious that those two columns or the Osborne row were not mentioned.
Blogger Septicisle adds in the comments below Tom Freeman’s post:
Nothing to do with it being the Graun that reported it then. Or the fact that the Times accused the Graun of translating the French minister inaccurately when the interview was in fact conducted in, err, English.
A war-criminal comes to London
contribution by Ben Six
So, on Tuesday, Liam Fox, the man who’s likely to be our next Defence Secretary, will step onto a platform somewhere in London and celebrate one of the 20th Century’s most notorious war criminals: Henry Kissinger, a man whose bloody footprints trail through Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and East Timor.
He even had a hand in Iraq, talking to Cheney “probably…more than just about anybody else“.
The event’s organised by The Atlantic Bridge, “a policy organization that seeks to promote a special security relationship between the U.S. and U.K.“. As relationships go, that’s one of the most wholly unhealthy since Caligula first hit puberty.
Fox, Gove, Osborne, Hague and Grayling all sit on the Bridge’s advisory board, along with US belligerents like Joe Lieberman. It operates largely through dinners and discussions, the low profile of which belie the standing and influence of those involved.
They bring together some of the most hawkish figures in US politics, the media and even banking – Lehman Bros. high-ups made a number of appearances.
continue reading… »
Population growth: Are you pro-cancer?
It is documented that the human condition is generally compassionate and generous. Ask a person for their seat in a subway (where there is no predefined right to a seat) and half the time they’ll give it to you, even if you give no reason.
However put in to the mix a sense of ownership and expectation for ones own outcome and we become much more selfish. Jump the queue and expect evil stares, the odd comment, and the person you’ve cut in front of to get abusive.
This is the problem with population growth in the UK. When trying to find something to blame there really is a simple choice in front of you.
You either put your gaze on those that have just as much right to be in the position you are, or those you perceive are “jumping the queue”; this is why the stance of anti-immigration is the natural position for a population to take when faced with problems caused by population growth.
continue reading… »
Power 2010: Will it work?
Power 2010 is asking people to come up with ideas for the democratic and political reforms that are needed in Britain. You can submit them here, the deadline is November 30th.
These ideas will then be considered by a panel of citizens chosen at random, and the five ideas that they like most will become the ‘Power 2010 pledge’, which Power 2010 will try to get politicians to sign up to in the run up to the next General Election.
There’s been a lively discussion about these plans, here, here and here. I think the principle of the campaign is a good one, but have some questions:
1. How can we get ideas from a sufficiently wide range of people?
The campaign seems very orientated towards getting responses from politically engaged people who read and write blogs (it is possible to submit ideas via e-mail, by post or at public meetings – venues to be confirmed). The panel of citizens also need to have the chance to consider ideas from a much wider range of people – those who don’t have computers, people who don’t vote or follow politics closely, people from all parts of the UK. Maybe one way to achieve this would be to hold the public meeting in areas where there have been low levels of responses, in partnership with local community groups. Instead of London and Manchester, why not go to places like Rhyl, Sunderland and Glossop?
A campaign based on ideas from bloggers who don’t like party politics is too narrow a base to build a popular campaign on, and a personal reflection is that most of the ideas highlighted so far are not ones which I can imagine leading to the creation of a credible pledge.
2. How will the top five ideas will be chosen?
I like the idea of getting a panel of randomly chosen people to evaluate the ideas, but what are the safeguards to ensure that (a) they don’t choose some really off-the-wall ideas, while at the same time ensuring that (b) the organisers don’t end up “fixing” the discussion. For example, if the panel chose ‘take the vote away from all immigrants’ as one of its top five, would Power2010 really campaign on that?
3. Why would any politician sign up to the pledge?
For this whole exercise to be successful, it needs to gain the active support of a significant number of candidates standing for election. Some might sign it because they happen to agree with the proposals, but to win over people who are unconvinced, Power2010 needs credible threats ‘x number of people will not vote for you if you oppose this’ or incentives ‘you will be more popular/have a better reputation/get access to more funding and volunteer help if you sign up’. What’s the plan to make these threats or incentive credible?
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Some critics of Power2010 have suggested that the whole exercise is a waste of time, with significant opportunity costs. I don’t agree with them, because I think a range of different progressive campaigns and campaigning techniques are worthwhile (it is not as if we know of any particular way of campaigning which is so amazingly effective that everything else should be abandoned). I’m particularly interested to see how the citizens’ panel idea works.
At the same time, I think that, overall, us lefties and liberals put too many resources into ‘insider’ campaigns such as think tanks and lobby groups which spend their time talking to the small minority who are already politically engaged, and not enough into grassroots community organising which mobilises more people to join us and get involved. Hopefully Power2010 will be able to reach out further and mobilise more people to get involved and campaign for change.
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