It’s the Economy Stupid - Not Pure Politics
Thursday, May 29th, 2008One of the problems with writing a political blog is that your mates don’t comment on posts - they ring you up for a good argument and, of course, to tell you you’re wrong! Mind you - and whisper it quietly - it does sometimes seem the more connection these folks have with political office, [...]
Once Again to Crewe: Adjusting the Policy Balance
Thursday, May 22nd, 2008To Crewe again yesterday. Mercifully, the campaign material that I was shoving through letter boxes was free of the type of content that has been hitting the headlines over the last week or so.
As ever, you hear some interesting conversations but the most fascinating one I was involved one was at the Regional Office, before [...]
Call for Johnson …
Saturday, May 17th, 2008A bit late this, but if you didn’t see Question Time on Thursday, well nip over to the BBC iPlayer and take a look.
The programme, from Cardiff, was a bit of a classic. The Labour rep. was Alan Johnson, the Tory Alan Duncan, there was an old battle axe from Plaid, the usual trendy [...]
Agreeing with Hazel !!!
Wednesday, May 14th, 2008Well, it didn’t take long! After yesterday’s post we have today’s notion of directly elected Police Chiefs.
The government has an obsession with directly elected things and they like to meddle and experiment without ever really instituting widespread change.
Not so long ago the Local Government Association commissioned research into what kinds of electoral reform would capture [...]
Digging Holes
Wednesday, May 14th, 2008One of the least appealing traits of die-hard New Labourites is their belief that if you say something often enough, and loud enough, that people will simply come to believe it. There may have been a time - in the dying days of Major - when most of the country believed in more or less [...]
Getting the Cabinet Out into the Country
Tuesday, May 13th, 2008I rather like Hazel Blears’ new idea, to get the Cabinet out of London occasionally, to meet in Town Halls up and down the Country.
In today’s connected world there is no real reason why government cannot become more mobile. I remember the G8 summit in Birmingham and the dark, windowed, van that sat outside of [...]
Apologies for Being Away!
Sunday, May 11th, 2008The blog has been down for a few days - sorry about that! A Wordpress upgrade went a little weird on me, but as you can see I’m back now.
Daytrip to Crewe
Thursday, May 8th, 2008Up to Crewe yesterday, in foot slogging mode, for the campaign that is now getting involved in full swing.
Crewe is a kinds of unspectacular but solid kind of a place, a bit like Gwyneth Dunwoody in a way. Gwyneth as certainly a one off, a kind of ‘Ms Crewe’ if ever there was one. There [...]
The Meaning of Words
Tuesday, May 6th, 2008How lovely it was to have gone walking in the Snowdonia mountains for a few days. One of the good things about taking yourself out of the fray is that there is no temptation to offer quick analysis and no chance that you’ll make some instant comment that you’ll lie to regret.
Yesterday morning I lay [...]
Podcasts - New Stuff on its Way
Tuesday, May 6th, 2008The podcasts have been on the back-burner recently but I’ll be making more of an effort with them over the coming months in an attempt to broaden the progressive, political consensus.
First up will be a chat on the forthcoming Climate Change Bill with a mate of mine who is both an impressive environmentalist and a [...]
