http://liberalconspiracy.org creating a new liberal-left force Thu, 18 Mar 2010 16:30:00 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Over at OurKingdom, Guy Aitchison has posted again on the news that Labour is considering making the retention of DNA samples 'an issue' for the election. The latest twist in the tale is that Alan Johnson is reputedly scuppering a compromise with the Conservatives on this issue in order to ... http://liberalconspiracy.org/2010/03/18/dna-sampling-wrong-in-principle-wrong-in-practice/ From the file marked 'are you fucking stupid or what?'... A few days ago Dizzy Thinks spotted an oddity in the expense claims of Hull North Labour MP Diana Johnson: At the end of the detailed, albeit censored claims, provided on the Parliamentary website, is an invoice to the tune of £1,654 for ... http://liberalconspiracy.org/2010/03/18/dizzy-in-a-tizzy-over-mps-invoice/ Guest post by Tom Freeman This month’s Prospect magazine has a section on neuroscience, and in particular its political implications. One thing came up in their roundtable discussion that always gets my goat: the idea that neuroscience is going to be a good way of telling what effects on people ... http://liberalconspiracy.org/2010/03/18/what-brain-scans-cant-teach-us/ Over the weekend, I was fortunate enough to receive a review copy of Spirit Level films' excellent new documentary 'The Fear Factory', which I promise I'll get around to reviewing for Lib Con sometime in the next few days. In anticipation of that review and in keeping with my recent post ... http://liberalconspiracy.org/2010/03/18/its-not-just-criminals-who-carry-knives/ It is hardly news that Tory MPs attack unions or pocket freebies from employers - it is in their nature to do so. But if I were a Tory MP who regularly enjoyed flight upgrades on his frequent Washington trips from British Airways, I'm not sure I would have ... http://liberalconspiracy.org/2010/03/18/tory-mp-attacks-unite-after-receiving-thousands-from-british-airways/ There's a race on, and no it's not the Cheltenham festival. Should the election be held on the 6th of May as is expected then parliament will be duly dissolved around the 6th of April, which leaves only 10 days of parliamentary time to debate all the remaining laws trying ... http://liberalconspiracy.org/2010/03/18/would-the-actions-of-the-digital-economy-bill-be-tolerated-offline/ Liberal Conspiracy has obtained a set of notes taken at a recent seminar which show that the Conservative Party is pushing ahead with plans to provide state funding to a network of independent schools with close ties to a controversial occult society. The notes were taken at a recent seminar organised ... http://liberalconspiracy.org/2010/03/18/tories-offer-state-funding-to-schools-linked-to-occult-society/ Israel's announcement of plans for 1,600 new settler housing units in illegally occupied Palestinian territory has triggered both stern condemnation from Washington and rioting on the streets of East Jerusalem. And just to highlight their heartfelt regret over these adverse reactions, the Israeli authorities have today confirmed their desire to ... http://liberalconspiracy.org/2010/03/17/settlements-are-unsustainable-and-netanyahu-knows-it/ Today the European Commission release their (Reuters-leaked) report under the ‘excessive deficit procedure’ warning the UK that it needs to get its deficit down towards 3% of GDP quicker than the government is currently planning. Stephanie Flanders has a good article setting out the way in which the Tories have ... http://liberalconspiracy.org/2010/03/17/the-illogical-heart-of-the-european-union/ It's a matter of common knowledge that the Daily Express has long since scraped right through the bottom of the barrel and is now busily digging its way to Australia. Nevertheless, the latest entry in it ongoing 'thieving foreigners' series really takes the biscuit: NOW POLES GET FREE ABORTIONS ON NHS POSTERS advising ... http://liberalconspiracy.org/2010/03/17/now-the-poles-are-nicking-our-abortions/ Here's Tory shadow minister for children and young people and former banker, Tim Loughton, in an interview with the Guardian: He eventually touches upon a rather explosive, hitherto hidden, line of Tory thinking: criminalising the young for having sex. "We need a message that actually it is not a very good ... http://liberalconspiracy.org/2010/03/17/prosecute-teenagers-who-have-sex-says-top-tory/ The acute observer may have noted that, whenever the scandal of multi-millionaire non-dom top party donor Lord Ashcroft is brought up, the Tories' default reaction is "yeah but the Unions too, they bankroll Labour". Let's leave aside the long list of differences (technical, fiscal, substantial, ethical, practical, etc) between the two ... http://liberalconspiracy.org/2010/03/17/12408/ Notting Hill Housing Association recently announced plans to get rid of carers leave, flexi-time and reduce basic terms and conditions of staff. They are refusing to go to ACAS and are refusing to allow the union to even speak to its Board members. This prompted Unison members to go ... http://liberalconspiracy.org/2010/03/16/notting-hill-housing-association-strike/ William Hague’s recent remarks in an FT interview, and in a speech to the Royal United Services Institute give us some idea of the purposes and shape of Conservative foreign policy, in the aftermath of a Tory election win. In short, it is exactly the same sort of interventionist twaddle ... http://liberalconspiracy.org/2010/03/16/guns-versus-butter/ Spring is a time of year that full of firsts. The first newborn lambs. The first snowdrops and daffodills... ...and the first election leaflets to feature an inaccurately drawn graphs, the credit for which appears to be going [inevitably] to the Lib Dems in Camden for this delightful effort> (Hat Tip: Ben ... http://liberalconspiracy.org/2010/03/16/election-2010-tackling-graph-abuse/ You don’t have to be a non-dom to avoid paying income tax. Over the last 12 months, I’ve paid less than 10% tax and national insurance on my income. This isn’t because I’m a non-dom - I haven’t been abroad for 15 years - or because I have a fancy ... http://liberalconspiracy.org/2010/03/16/tax-dodger-moi/ This is more a note than a full explanation as yet (as I'm currently travelling around S E Asia). I've booked the 12th of June as the second Liberal Conspiracy 'Blog Nation' event date. Held in central London (sorry out-of-towners, hence the advance notice) - this event will be a forum ... http://liberalconspiracy.org/2010/03/16/save-the-date-12th-june/ Guest post by Tom Freeman Justin McKeating argues: If you are the sort of person who approves of, or allows their voting preference to be swayed even a little by, the interventions in our electoral process by the wives of the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition, you are a ... http://liberalconspiracy.org/2010/03/16/political-wife-swap/ Guest post by Phil BC Once upon a time you would be hard pressed to find a more solid Labour stronghold than Stoke-on-Trent. The potteries, the mines, and the steel works gave birth to a close-knit working class that produced generations of Labour party activists who absolutely dominated the city's politics. ... http://liberalconspiracy.org/2010/03/16/labours-collapse-in-stoke/ On Sunday, the French went to vote in the first round of their regional elections, and delivered a heavy defeat for Right-wing President Nicolas Sarkozy's Party. The Socialist Party topped the poll with 29%, ahead of the Centre-Right UMP on 26%. The Green Party finished third with 12%, with the ... http://liberalconspiracy.org/2010/03/15/socialists-greens-makes-gains-in-french-elections/ This afternoon, I attended a speech by the Minister for Identity, Meg Hillier MP, hosted by the Social Market Foundation. The address was titled "Building a national identity service for all" and presented much softer case for identity cards, compared to the terror-focused arguments of a few years back. ... http://liberalconspiracy.org/2010/03/15/new-arguments-for-id-cards/ Sad news that Labour MP Ashok Kumar suddenly passed away today. Thoughts of all of us at Liberal Conspiracy are with his family. From Kerry McCarthy's blog: MPs were shocked today to learn of the sudden death of Dr Ashok Kumar MP. I didn't really know him, and consequently was surprised ... http://liberalconspiracy.org/2010/03/15/ashok-kumar-rip/ Guest post by pagar The policy of multiculturalism is built on two theories. Firstly, there is the idea that human beings need, at a very primal level, some sort of attachment to cultural heritage. Without such attachment, the argument goes, people are likely to be less fulfilled and lack personal foundation. ... http://liberalconspiracy.org/2010/03/15/against-multiculturalism/ Oh dear... Trevor McDonald Meets David Cameron attracted nearly 1.7 million viewers on ITV1 last night, Sunday 14 March - less than half the audience for Gordon Brown's interview with Piers Morgan on the same network last month. The Conservative leader opted to submit to a fly-on-the-wall documentary rather than an interview, ... http://liberalconspiracy.org/2010/03/15/cameron-tv-love-in-bombs-in-the-ratings/ Lord Adonis says the British Airways strike is ‘deplorable’, and Gordon Brown says the British Airways strike is ‘deplorable’. Adonis calls the impending walkout ‘totally unjustified’, but Brown holds back and simply designates it ‘unjustified’. Woooah! Did you see that? The prime minister failed to use an adverb of degree. Labour ... http://liberalconspiracy.org/2010/03/15/labour-unite-and-the-ba-strike/