Politics Forum Quiz

Take the Politics Forum quiz for an ideal of where you stand politically.

It's a little long but very detailed and breaks down your personal stance into 6 categories. You can even see graphs showing how others have answered.

The quiz can be found here.

My results are below.



Overall, the PoliticsForum quiz considers you a socially-orientated, materialist, small-government, free-trade, non-absolutist, kind of person, who doesn't sound like a Marxist.

These characteristics would put you in the overall category of libertarian. Your natural home at PoliticsForum would be the Liberalism area.


Individual vs Social

"The individualist believes that society works best through a focus on individual rights, freedoms, actions and responsibilities. The social thinker believes that the ideal state should focus more upon collective action and take a social approach to rights and responsibilities."



You scored 69 out of 100 on a scale of Individual vs Social. This means that politically you are more likely to value the need for group actions and group benefit over individual enterprise and benefit.

* 79% of test takers were more individual than you.
* 19% of test takers were more social than you.


Theist vs Materialist

"The materialist believes that all objective criteria to influence politics can be reasonably derived without recourse to the divine or the spiritual. The theist believes that spiritual beliefs are important and should influence government policy."

You scored 61 out of 100 on a scale of Theist vs Materialist. This means that politically you are more likely to believe that religion and spirituality are superstitions that should not inform political debate.

* 48% of test takers were more theist than you.
* 50% of test takers were more materialist than you.


Big Government vs Small Government

"The big government advocate believes that governments should be responsible for regulating a wide array of social practices, even what might be considered personal decisions such as abortion, euthanasia, children's education and births. A small government advocate thinks that, wherever possible, these issues should be up to individuals or companies to direct."

You scored 65 out of 100 on a scale of Big Government vs Small Government. This means that politically you are more likely to believe that government should keep out of legislating social policies, leaving such decisions to individuals.

* 66% of test takers were more big government than you.
* 32% of test takers were more small government than you.


Nationalist vs Internationalist

"The nationalist believes in the sovereign rule of nation states, particularly his or her own. The internationalist believes that there should be more important international fora and perhaps, ultimately, international government."

You scored 51 out of 100 on a scale of Nationalist vs Internationalist. This means that politically you are neither more nor less likely to favour international bodies over national ones.

* 31% of test takers were more nationalist than you.
* 68% of test takers were more internationalist than you.


Protectionist vs Free Trader

"The protectionist believes in barriers against free trade most probably due to a belief that this is in his or her country's interests. The free trader rejects such notions, believing that the system ultimately suffers when tariffs, subsidies and other obstacles to free trade persist."

You scored 65 out of 100 on a scale of Protectionist vs Free Trader. This means that politically you are more likely to favour free trade over protectionist policies.

* 67% of test takers were more protectionist than you.
* 32% of test takers were more pro free trade than you.


Absolutist vs Non-Absolutist

"The absolutist believes that either a divine presence or scientific laws provide absolute truths about the world, which can and should be applied in practise. The non-absolutist may be either a relativist, or simply someone who is more pragmatic."

You scored 74 out of 100 on a scale of Absolutist vs Non Absolutist. This means that politically you are less likely to believe that there is an absolute truth that may guide your ideological beliefs.

* 95% of test takers were more absolutist than you.
* 4% of test takers were more non-absolutist than you.


Controlled Market vs Liberal Market

"Both of these categories assume a capitalist system. Assuming this system, the controlled market believer holds that government should intervene in regulating a nation's economy: wage laws, environmental standards, privatised industries and workplace relations policy. A liberal market thinker believes that such regulation is unnecessary and often counter-productive."

You scored 59 out of 100 on a scale of Controlled Market vs Liberal Market. This means that politically you are neither more nor less likely to believe that there is need for government regulation of industry.

* 80% of test takers were more controlled market thinkers than you.
* 19% of test takers were more liberal market thinkers than you.


Marxist vs Non-Marxist

"This scale purports to show to what extent you follow the thought and teachings of Marx. Marxists tend to be scientific, materialist and revolutionary, believe in class struggle and the laws of historical and dialectic materialism."

You scored 73 out of 100 on a scale of Marxist vs Non-Marxist. This means that politically you are less likely to follow the philosophies of Marx.

* 95% of test takers were more Marxist than you.
* 4% of test takers were more non-Marxist than you.

Why would you vote for Ming?

This question has just been asked on the Politics Show, why would you vote for Ming Campbell?

It’s a very good question, why would you?

The Lib Dem’s do have a couple of very good policies, politically reducing income tax in favour of green taxes is a very good idea.

However in a day when image means as much as policies Sir Campbell is a long way behind Cameron and even Gordon Brown. I just can’t picture Ming as a Prime Minister. I don’t think had he been in the Labour or Conservative Party, he would ever have got to Leadership level. He was a very good Foreign Affairs Speaker, but as a leader he just doesn’t cut it.

I do think he will still be the leader of the Lib Dems for the next election, which will be a mistake. The reason I can’t see him going before then is because of the level of respect he has from his fellow Lib Dem MPs. Unfortunately though, respect doesn’t gain you votes.

Greedy banks

At a time when Banks are soon to no longer offer free banking it seems ironic that the Halifax can offer £100 to anyone who uses their current account switching service to move their account to them.

Quite clearly it can’t cost that much to maintain a bank account. In this day and age with computers doing most of the work, the costs of an account must be coming down.

So clearly the only reason to no longer offer free banking is for banks to boost their profits at a time when they are already announcing billion pound figures.

Foreign Secretary loses her memory?

The Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett in response to her apparent setting up by Rory Bremnar has claimed she does not remember such a conversation taking place.

Yet she then says "If he has done as he suggests, it is both an unprincipled and unpleasant breach of privacy." Well the one person besides Rory Bremnar who would know if such a conversation took place is Margaret Beckett herself.

Surely the conversation took place or it didn’t. It can’t be both.

No.10 Petitions, the real reason

This week we found out the real reason for E-Petitions on the Downing Street website, one massive propaganda machine.

The 1.8 million signatures to the anti road pricing petition all received an email this week from the PM spelling out exactly why we need road pricing. Hardly recognition of the opposition to the scheme.

The ideal way to build a database of email addresses in which to ignore the views of the voters and try to bring them around to the Government’s way of thinking.

Is Blair lining up his new job?

The News of The World today is reporting that Blair is to sign the resurrected European Constitution without going to the country for a referendum, like he promised the last time it was attempted to be introduced.

The Constitution will set up a European President and a Foreign Minister, two jobs which Blair is bound to be interested in. These two positions will be key to international relations for Europe and therefore whoever holds them will hold quite a bit of power and in true European style be unaccountable to the people, ideal for Blair then!

Perfect timing for Blair then in the year he will step down, that one of his last acts as Prime Minister will be to sign a treaty creating a position ideal for him, which will allow him to continue in a position above Brown.

That 1million figure

It doesn’t seem to matter to this Government what the views of the people who elected them are. Even if one million people are against what they plan, the Government carries on regardless. The first case came with the Iraq war, and now it appears the same is going to happen with road charging.

More than one million people have signed a petition against planned vehicle and road charging on 10 Downing Street’s own website, but this is going to be ignored.

It does prove just what a gimmick this website is as the Government clearly has no intention of acting upon the petitions.

DWP favour to ID fraudsters

At a time when the Government is encouoraging people to take care over their personal data due to identity fraud, the Deparment for Work and Pensions has done its best to help out fraudsters by sending 26’000 letters containing personal and bank account details to the wrong addresses.

The DWP has said it launched an investigation as soon as it found out about the problem. Not really going to help all those whos details have been sent to the wrong house. The problem is made worse by the fact it is pensioners details, a group who are more vunerable than most.

The problem occurred because two letters were put into the same envelope, throwing the whole process out. The simple solution to ensure this problem doesn’t happen again? Use windowed envelopes!

3 arrests in C4H?

Depending on whether you believe what is printed in the News of the World (the fact its been given such a prominent position says there must be something backing it up) 3 people are to be charged in the Cash for Honours investigation and Tony Blair will be questioned for a third time, under caution.

Things could yet get very interesting. I would be surprised if Lord Levy, Ruth Turner and Sir Christopher Evans don’t bring Blair down with them, if he is indeed involved.

New boundaries will cost Labour

Research from the University of Plymouth (my very own lecturers I should add) has shown that Labour stand to lose 7 seven seats and the Conservatives gain 12, just because of boundary changes.

This of course assumes people vote the same way as they did at the last election. Even so, had these boundaries been in place at the last election, Labour would have a majority of just 28.

The bounderies are yet to be confirmed for England, which adds support for an early General Election, as it would be held under the current boundaries, benefiting Labour.

Jump Up and Down!

The Government has provided us with the answer to tackling anti social behaviour. Jump up and down. I’m serious, that was confirmed as one thing you could do to distract criminals, whilst waiting for the police to arrive.

Anybody think that will actually help? Nope, didn’t think so. To be fair to Home Office Minister, Tony McNulty, he suggested distracting people and it was Jeremy Vine (the interviewer) who suggested by jumping up and down. But even so, it appears quite clear from the interview that Mr McNulty has no idea what you should do if you see a crime happening in the street.

Here’s the text from BBC One’s Panorama,

Jeremy Vine: You see something happening in the street. Do you step in?

Tony McNulty: I think the general line must be to get in touch with the authorities straight and make sure that if things are as bad as you paint the police will be there as quickly as they can.

Jeremy: You see a young man looking aggressive, shouting at an old woman, what do you do? You retreat and ring the police?

Tony McNulty: I think you should in the first instance. It may well be the simply shouting at them, blowing your horn or whatever else deters them and they go away.

Jeremy: He's now hitting her and the police haven't come, what do you do then?

Tony McNulty: The same the same, you must always ...

Jeremy: Still wait?

Tony McNulty: Get back to the police, try some distractive activities whatever else.

Jeremy: What jump up and down?

Tony McNulty: But I would say you know sometimes that that may well work.

Clearly a sign the Government has run out of ideas. Bring in the next lot.

The programme is being shown Monday 5th Feb at 8:30 on BBC 1.

Blair interviewed again!

Tony Blair’s second interview in the Cash for Peerages investigation, suggests Blair is not in the clear yet. He was only interviewed as a witness, but this shows the investigation is not moving away from Blair’s door.

Will it lead to Blair being charged? I expect not. I still think the best we can hope for, is Blair being called as a witness against one of his own aides. Unless of course, they bring him down with them.

Here we go again...

John Reid, the Home Secretary is going to try to extend the time limit for detention without trial beyond the current 28 day limit.

Nothing like ‘if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again’. So here we go.

I probably would be in favour of an extension in time, if it could be proven it was needed. Even John Reid has admitted that the police have not encountered a time when they needed more than 28 days. So why is there really such a need for it? I think this question will need to be answered if John Reid is to get his way.

Olympic games funding solution

All fears over funding of the Olympic games can be easily put to rest with a very simple solution. The Government can sort out all the money it wastes every year. I know never going to happen, but it just puts into perspective how much money is wasted each year.

A Government report from the Department for Work and Pensions has estimated that £2.6bn was overpaid last year in benefits due to errors and fraud. To stage the Olympic games themselves will cost £2bn, so that would be that bit paid for.

This estimate is just for benefits, so if the whole of Government spending was taken into account, I imagine the Olympics could be paid for several times over without the tax payer having to pay anything.

We can only dream….

Time to finally sort the House of Lords?

House of Lords reform, which has been a controversial and difficult reform process for the Government is to go before the House of Commons for a free vote.

MPs will get to vote on the percentage of Lords that are elected to the House of Lords. The minimum being 10% and the maximum 100%

Now I’m not in favour of an elected House of Lords of any proportion. The issue I have is over when to hold the elections. If they are held on the same day as a General Election, people are likely to vote the same way for the Commons and the Lords, so the Lords would just become a rubber stamp for Government legislation. On the other hand, if elections took place mid way through a Parliament, the Lords is likely to reflect the Opposition as Governments are most unpopular midterm. Resulting in a stale mate over legislation.

Hence the reason I still think the Lords should continue to be appointed. It seems to be doing the job alright to my. I do agree with getting rid of Hereditary Peers though.

Lord Levy arrested again

So Lord Levy has been arrested again and later released on bail. The interesting thing is he, like Ruth Turner, was arrested for perverting the course of justice.

Now I’m no expert, but in order to pervert the course of justice, wouldn’t you actually have to be worried the police might find something?

However it would appear that with the way the investigation is going, no one is going to be charged under the original Honours (Prevention of Abuses) Act 1925. Otherwise why are the police arresting people for preventing the course of justice. Perhaps they are trying to make up for the fact they haven’t found anything?

Evidence of Blair link in Cash for Honours?

The Sunday Telegraph today is reporting detectives have found a hand written note from Tony Blair linking him directly into the Cash for Honours scandal.

Downing Street is of course denying any such document exists.

I still don’t think the PM will be charged, would be interesting if he was required to be a witness against the likes of Lord Levy and Ruth Turner though.

Week of blunders for Home Office

John Reid must be regretting the day he said the Home Office “isn’t fit for purpose” and attacked the Judge in the Craig Sweeney case for being too lenient. The Home Office hasn’t been out of the news for the last two weeks due to blunder after blunder being reported and now Reid has had to right to Judges, asking them to be more lenient.

What a way to land yourself in it. Gordon Brown must be loving this from a leadership point of view.

Future Olympic fiasco

Could the Olympics be an absolute disaster for this country? If there is one country that could manage to get it horribly wrong, it’s bound to be this one.

The Select Committee on Culture Media and Sport is to issue a very critical report over the handling of the Olympic project’s finances and the project is still in its early days. Plenty of time for things to get far worse yet!

Hiding behind terrorism

It seems the Government and it’s loyal MPs will use terrorism however they can, if it can be useful to them. One could be forgiven for thinking they actually want the terrorist attacks to continue, so they can continue to hide behind it.

Personal beliefs and Government

Can a Minister who believes homosexuality is a sin, really promote equal rights? It appears the answer has been made clear today. Ruth Kelly, the Minister responsible for equal rights, is pushing for an opt-out for Catholic adoption agencies, so they wouldn’t have to allow gay couples to adopt from their agencies. So much for equal rights.

The fact that if Ruth Kelly fails to get an opt-out, she will have to lead a debate promoting something she doesn’t believe in and her own religion denounces, could be interesting.

Blair can't face Iraq debate

So our wonderful Prime Minister who took us into the Iraq War, isn’t prepared to face the debate over how badly it’s going. How typical of our PM. Makes a decision and isn’t prepared to face the consiquences.

Split the Home Office

So John Reid wants to split the Home Office in two. One part responsible for justice and the other for public protection.

It’s always interesting when a Minister says they want to get rid of their own department. Reid clearly knows he won’t be Home Secretary once Brown takes over. Hence the split coming within months, Reid needs to move quickly if he is to the Home Secretary who made this dramatic change to the structure of Government and the Home Office. His own legacy if you like.

SNP and Trident

The SNP is proposal that should it be in power it will introduce a tax on Trident missiles which are brought into Scottish harbours.

They claim it could raise £85m a year. But of course that wouldn’t happen. Should ever such a tax be introduced, all the UK Government has to do is move our nuclear fleet from the Faslane Naval Base on the Clyde in Scotland, to somewhere in England, therefore avoiding the tax. This would lead to the Faslane Navel Base becoming obsolete, costing Scottish jobs. I’m sure the SNP wouldn’t be popular for that.

Ming Campbell's day?

Wednesday provides a good day for Ming Campbell to demostrate to the country and his own party that he is the right man to lead the Liberal Democrats. On that day is a full debate on the Iraq war, a subject which at the time, Campbell has been one of the best MPs in the House of Commons.

Can he turn back the clock and come out of Wednesday’s debate on top, like he has in the past? He certainly could do with it!

Labour Party corruption everywhere

It seems Labour just can't help themselves, particularly those who are backers of Blair's New Labour ideal.

This is from LabourHome.

"A Tribune investigation has discovered that party staff and Downing Street officials, have been breaking selection rules, in order to assist favoured candidates."

It seems to be Labour's answer to everything, if the rules get in the way, just break them, even if it's your own rules.

When it suites us...

Guido makes a good point here, over the response of some Labour MPs to the arrest of Ms Turner in the cash for honours enquiry.

They have chosen to comment on "an ongoing investigation" after maintaining for months it would be improper to comment. Then again, should we really be surprised that MPs change their minds depending on whether it suites them or not?

Watch out for killer adverts

This is footage from a match in Johannesburg, South Africa.



And we think we had strong winds.

I should add, the match was later abandoned due to a lightning storm, not the wind!!

Chancellor snubs his own Union celebration

Our glorious Chancellor, Gordon Brown, who only last week was praising the union between England and Scotland has snubbed his own party at No. 11 to celebrate the 300 years of the Act of Union.

Of course despite praising the union, there’s no press coverage in attending a party at No.11. There is however press coverage for travelling to India, espeically at the moment with the goings on in the BB house.

Eu constitution to be ressurrected

It seems Germany when it takes over the presidency of the EU wants to bring back the failed EU constituction.

Here we go again! Another chance for EU members to show they don’t get along with each other in reality.

The off button

Fianally an MP has made a statement about TV that actually resembles common sense.

David Cameron when asked about the racism in the Big Brother House has said there is "a great regulator called the off button". About time this was said.

Instead of complaining about something you don’t like on the tele, just don’t watch it. In this case unless Shilpa Shetty actually complains herself, I don’t think we should be worried. All those that are, there is plenty of other channels. It’s like when people complain about Friday Night with Johnathan Ross. You know what he’s like and his sense of humour, so if you don’t like it, don’t watch it. If enough people feel the same way, ratings will plummet and the show will be axed.

The fact Miss Shetty hasn’t complained says a lot. I believe she said upon entering the BB House she was there to increase her status in the UK. This must be fantastic for doing that. Front pages in the press and even raised in the House of Commons. Everyone knows who she is now.

I should add I haven’t actually seen the show.

UKIP will cost Conservatives

This is stating the obvious a bit but the Conservatives have warned that UKIP will cost them and help Labour.

This is hardly a surprise as UKIP is aiming to attract the anti Europe Conservative vote. Labour doesn’t have quite the same problems.

However UKIP could be a problem for the Conservatives at the next election, provided they don’t completely collaspe before then. Remember the Referendum Party in 1997?

Blair gets his own award

So Blair is to receive the Congressional Gold Medal of Honor later this year.

Now we all know why the UK was dragged into a war in Iraq. So Blair could be awarded this medal, move to the States and go on a tour of the US delivering speeches which will earn him millions. Nice to know the PM had the countries interests at heart the whole time and not his own future!

Well at least he will have the money to buy his own peerage!

A big hole

I find the Government’s line over the current Home Office scandle involving 27’500 unprocessed overseas criminals rediculous.

They keep saying the Home Office is doing all it can to identify those people who may have “slipped through the net”.

Well it must be a bloody big hole for 27’500 people to of slipped through. Quite worrying really. How many terrorists have “slipped through the net”?

Halifax scam?

During December Halifax were running a promotion for existing Halifax One credit card holders of 0% on balance transfers for 6 months.

Thinking this was quite a good offer I filled out the form and returned it to the Halifax 2 weeks before the deadline date for applications, to give them plenty of time as it said 5 days were needed to process the application.

But of course nothing happened. The balance from my other card wasn’t transferred and the deadline date ellasped.

I wasn’t too bothered really but then last week I got another letter from the Halifax offering 6.95% on balance transfers until the balance was paid off. Now call me a synic but at a rate of 0% the Halifax makes no money, yet at 6.95% it does. So surely it’s in the Halifax’s interest not to process applications under the first promotion in the hope customers will reapply under the second?

Of course I’ve no proof this is the case but it’s very convienient for the Halifax.

Do the Conservatives really want an early election?

It’s interesting the messages that are coming out from the Conservatives. They are calling for Labour to hold a proper leadership contest and for an early election to be called as the new leader has no mandate.

It’s simply because the Conservatives are calling for these two things that I don’t think they really want either.

A Labour leadership contest if carried out in the right way is sure to be good for the Labour Party and increase their poll ratings. An early General Election is more likely to suit Labour, one because it can be called off the back of this poll boost and secondly because they have a number of policies to present the electorate. The Conservatives currently have very few and will be forced to rush out policies should there be an early election.

So could the Conservatives current line purely be one to ensure no Labour leadership contest and no early election takes place because that is what the Conservatives appear to want? Clever planning if it is.

Major v Brown?

Is there a difference between when John Major took over as Prime Minister to then Gordon Brown takes over from Tony Blair?

I don’t really believe there is. When Thatcher was re-elected in 1987 the electorate voted for her as Prime Minister untill the next election, not for John Major to take over when she resigned. This will be the same when Tony Blair steps down and Gordon Brown takes over. Now Blair did say at the last election that he would serve a full term which is the argument David Cameron used today. But I think this is just a statement of what everyone was expecting anyway.

So does Brown have a mandate to carry on as Prime Minister? I think he does. Brown is an elected MP, who became leader of the party and the leader of the largest party in the House of Commons forms a Government. That’s the way it is, there’s nothing that requires Brown to hold an election so why should he, just like John Major chose not to.

Labour leadership contest?

The big question that is sure to be referred to almost every day until it’s decided is will there be a Labour leadership contest?

Today Stephen Byers (a Blairite) has warned Gordon Brown (although not by name) that Labour will not just follow his lead and "The Labour Party is not royalty and we don't go in for coronations.”

It doesn’t surprise me that an ally of Blair is making these warnings but does he have a point?

I think he does. A Labour leadership contest can only be good for the Labour Party, whereas a coronation for Brown will bring all sorts of difficulties. These will be set to one side should he win a fair leadership battle. It is clear from the Conservative leadership contest of the benefits it can bring to the party. Not to mention all the media coverage whilst it takes place.

It is for this reason that I’m slightly surprised by the line the Conservatives are taking. They are taunting Gordon Brown using the line “Labour only has a mandate for a full Blair term, anything else requires a General Election and they’ve stitched it up (the leadership) so there’s not even an election in his own party”.

Now attacking Brown over a General Election I agree with, however encouraging him to fight a leadership contest can only benefit the Labour Party. A bounce in the polls from which to call a General Election could lead to a new Labour Government. Whereas no leadership contest, a split Labour Party and a hostile media is sure to be play right into the Conservative’s hands.

Mike Smithson of PBC is offering £200 that “Gordon Brown will not get his coronation”

3 months overdue

The Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt has said the NHS is on track to break even within three months.

This is of course 3 months later than Ms Hewitt previously said the NHS would balance its books.

How is the £500m the NHS is currently over budget to be recovered? Through job cuts. It is claimed these cuts will be made in administration and not frontline doctors and nurses, we will see if this is the case. £500m is a lot of administrators.

Will he, won't he

The big question over the forthcoming Labour leadership race, will or won’t John Reid stand?

He is clearly testing the water, with speeches like the one today and other speeches which cover a much wider scope than his current Home Office portfolio.

I still think it is too early to tell John Reid’s true intentions. I think he wants to stand, but there are two problems. The first is can he beat Gordon Brown, which I’m not sure he can. The second is, he can’t appear to be making his pitch for the leadership until Blair announces a clear departure date. Otherwise he will appear to be undermining Blair’s leadership.

Belarus hits back

Following Belarus’ grudging acceptance of new gas prices set by Russia’s Gazprom , Belarus has hit back by putting large taxes on Russia oil pumped through Belarus’ pipe lines.

This clearly shows Russia’s influence over its former Soviet Union countries is dwindling. What it hoped would regain some of this influence, in this case at least, has clearly backfired.

Good for Belarus to stand up to its much bigger neighbour.

"The next general election and beyond"

Ming Campbell on the Today programme has defended his leadership of the Lib Dems confirming the fact the Lib Dems are in trouble.

Even though Campbell had the chance to spell out what he has done since becoming leader, the best he has managed is “restoring stability”. Hardly the best claim since it was him that brought the instability in the first place. This is a clear example that he hasn’t achieved much since taking over and infact the Lib Dems are going backwards.

He then went onto say “I will lead the party through this parliament, through the next general election and beyond”. Always a dangerous comment to make in my opinion. I still think he’ll make it through the year though.

Politicalbetting.com forecasting

Politicalbetting.com has its forecasting questions up for 2007.

Here are my predictions using pbc's questions:

On Christmas Day 2007 who will be…?
1. Prime Minister – Gordon Brown
2. Leader of the Opposition – David Cameron
3. Leader of the Liberal Democrats – Ming Campbell
4. Deputy Leader of the Labour Party – Hilary Benn
5. Chancellor of the Exchequer – Alastair Darling
6. President of France - Nicholas Sarkozy
7. Scotland’s First Minister - Nichol Stephens
8. Leader based on average of the three latest polls in race for the Democratic nomination – Hilary Clinton
9. Leader based on average of the three latest polls in race for the Republican nomination – John McCain

For how many days during 2007 will…?
10. Tony Blair serve as PM - 160
11. Ming Campbell serve as Lib Dem Leader - 365
12. David Cameron serve as Tory Leader - 365
13. Lembit Opik serve as LD party spokesman on Wales and Northern Ireland - 151
14. The “Cash for Honours” investigation continue without any current members of the House of Commons or the House of Lords being charged - 100
15. The Conservative Party candidate “A-List” continue in its current form - 365

What increase/decrease in the monthly Guardian ICM poll will there be for…?
16. Labour, compared with an average of the party’s ratings for the previous three months, when the new leader takes over the office - +3
17. Labour in the third month after the new leader has taken over compared with the first month. - 4

What will the Guardian ICM Poll report as..?
18. The Tories highest rating during the year - 42
19. The Tories lowest rating during the year - 32
20. The LDs highest rating during the year - 21
21. The LDs lowest rating during the year - 13

Seat losses and gains in the May 3rd elections.
22. Net SNP seats won/lost for the Scottish Parliament - +6
23. Net PC seats won/lost for the Welsh Assembly - -1
24. Net Labour seats won/lost for the Scottish Parliament - -11
25. Net Labour seats won/lost for the Welsh Assembly - -4
26. Net Labour seats won/lost for the local elections - -300
27. Net Lib Dem seats won/lost for the local elections - -45

EU grows to 27

One of the things the new year has brought is an increase in the size of the European Union to 27 with Bulgaria and Romania the latest additions.

When any new member state joins the EU the same question is always asked: How many will migrate to Britain?

Now with Bulgaria and Romania I don’t feel we face anything like the same situation when Poland joined. Bulgaria’s and Romania’s population combined isn’t as much as Poland’s. So the discussions over a new wave of mass immigration are unfounded. Besides the Government appears to of learnt from the previous time, by placing restrictions on migrant workers from the new countries.

However one thing that is interesting about the restrictions the Government has implemented is the admission of self employed workers. Any EU citizen is allowed to come to the UK to work, providing they are to work self employed, including those from Bulgaria and Romania.

Now I would of thought it would be much better for the UK if migrants were employed? That way under the PAYE system we know that taxes are being paid. If migrants are self employed how do we know they are even working? If they are working how do we know that their tax returns are being completed, and if they’re not, is it possible for the HMRC to find the workers. The HMRC isn’t exactly the most organised organisation anyway!

Happy New Year

Happy New Year everyone. Lets hope it's a good one for us and an interesting one to blog about.

Faltering Lib Dems

Christmas 2006 has not been a good one for the Liberal Democrats. This week they have scored 15% and 14% in the polls, which when entered into Electoral Calculus gives the Lib Dems just 6 seats.

Added to this is the defection of three Lib Dem PPCs at the 2005 General Election to the Conservatives.

These show the Lib Dems need to act if they are to even hold their seats at a General Election, let alone make any gains.

Now I don’t believe they will be reduced to as little as 6 seats, but the question has to be asked of the leadership and the direction the Lib Dems are heading. It has been well publicised that they are planning for a snap election to be called, yet Campbell just doesn’t seem up to the challenge.

I think the Lib Dems made a mistake when they elected Campbell as their leader, as at a time when Labour and the Conservatives have relatively young leaders in Blair (soon to be Brown) and Cameron, the Lib Dems went the other way and chose an older leader. For me, Campbell just doesn’t fit in with this age of politics. To win votes the leader of a party needs charisma and to come across well on TV. Campbell just doesn’t have this which is being reflected in the polls and through the defections that have occurred.

So could Campbell serve a shorter term as leader of the Lib Dems than Duncan Smith did as leader of the Conservatives. This would require Campbell going before May 2008 (Duncan Smith served two years, two months). Of course this would depend on any General Election and its result occurring during this period. But let’s take it there is no General Election as was the case with Duncan Smith. I can’t see the party ousting Campbell within this time, even if things look bad for any upcoming General Election. There’s two reasons for this. The first being the level of support Campbell has from fellow Lib Dem MPs. After the way Kennedy was removed, it would take someone very brave to try and remove Campbell in the same way. The other reason is that the Lib Dem MPs would have to admit they got it wrong backing Campbell as their leader. As we know, it takes a lot for MPs to admit they were wrong.

So for the Lib Dems the new year does look bleak. It will take something for Campbell to turn his party around for the election that could be not far away. I just don’t think he can do it.

No solution, other than more money!

The Government has come up with a new solution for tackling anti-social behaviour. It’s going to through money at problem areas.

You would of thought that after the lack of improvement in education and the NHS, which the Government has thrown money at, it would of realised money isn’t the solution to everything.

Obviously it appears not. Local councils are bidding to become one of the forty new “respect areas”. The name itself tells you this is nothing more than another New Labour gimmick. What does a respect area mean? If you go to one you’re likely to receive no respect, perhaps?

Well I suppose it will be easy to recognise where not to go, by its “respect area” status!

New "cash for" enquiry?

It seems Labour is trying its best to ensure the Conservatives are brought under the “cash for” light of sleaze.

Several Conservative MPs, including Shadow Cabinet members, have been reported to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards over their use of House of Commons dining rooms by two Labour MPs.

The rules state that dining rooms cannot be used for "direct financial or material gain" by parties, sponsors, or any person or group.

Whether Conservative MPs have been breaking the rules or not will be for any inquiry by the Parliamentary Commissioner to decide. It will be interesting of course to find out if any similar activities have been undertaken by Labour MPs.

I very much doubt hiring out dining rooms raises as much cash as selling peerages though.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone. Hope it's a good one for you all.

Too Tory for Jowell

Tess Jowell, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sports has vetoed both of the candidates for Chairman of English Heritage.

The nominations were Lord Marland, the Tory party Treasurer, and Lady Cobham, the partner of the former Conservative Cabinet minister David Mellor. Both of these were nominated by an independent body.

The reason giving for not appointing either of the candidates? “Neither quite demonstrated the full range of criteria for the post.” Errrr so how did they get past the nomination process then, to be the final two? Surely if that was the case, they would have been eliminated early on?

This comes after five Labour supporters were appointed to the BLF. Obviously the chairman of English Heritage can’t be appointed until a Labour supporter is one of the final two.

More scaremongering

Sir Ian Blair has joined the Government in attempting to raise our fears of a terrorist attack over the Christmas period. He has said the UK is facing an increasing threat of a terrorist attack.

This comes just weeks after Home Secretary John Reid said a similar thing. My guess is this is being said so that were something to happen, those responsible for preventing it, can say we told you! Some reassurance.

Sir Blair has said there was “no specific intelligence” of a new attack but there was an “ever present” chance. This whole line from the Government and the Met really is getting quite boring now. The scaremongering tactic this Government has adopted to try and justify its legislation really drops to the lowest level.

Treasury errors make it difficult for the BoE

Well, after all Gordon Brown’s ranting about how successful a Chancellor he has been and how well he has run the Treasury, it turns out the Treasury has been making it very difficult for the Bank of England.

The BoE is responsible for setting interest rates which help to keep inflation under control. It’s my belief that it is the good job the BoE has done, that has lead to much of the success and stability of the economy over the past 9 years.

But a report out today says the Treasury’s over rated forecasts for economic growth have not helped the BoE do its job. The Treasury’s response to this, "fiscal and economic forecasting is complex". I’m sure it took the most intelligent people in the Treasury to come up with that!

As the BoE has done such a good job with interest rates, prehaps forecasting should be devolved to them as well.

No. 10 Perverting the course of justice?

An article in Today’s Times suggests the CPS is pushing for No. 10 to be investigated for perverting the course of justice.

The most interesting part states,

“it does not matter whether or not the act results in a perversion of the course of justice: the offence is committed when acts tending and intended to pervert a course of justice are done”.

I just hope the article is true.

The state of New Labour

New Labour appears to be in an absolute mess at this current moment in time. One I will be very surprised if they ever fully recover from.

To start off it now appears that evidence exists which contradicts Blair’s defence in the Cash for Peerages investigation. The Independent on Sunday is reporting that the nomination papers show donors were nominated for public service, not for their work for the Labour Party, as Blair claimed in his interview.

Added to this is the report in the Sunday Telegraph which suggests Blair is refusing to support Lord Levy. Essentially this means Blair is trying to put all of the blame onto Lord Levy in the hope Blair can exonerate himself. This could all get very messy if Lord Levy refuses to play along.

To finish off is the report in the Mail on Sunday which claims to of received a leaked memo which spells out that “Labour has no chance of winning the next Election because voters think the Government is a shambles”.

It makes very grim reading for Labour but especially Gordon Brown, as it claims No. 10 considered bypassing him in favour of a younger candidate. This suggests No. 10 are behind the leaking of the memo. Iain Dale believes Philip Gould is the one who wrote it.

Of course No. 10 has denied all knowledge, in true New Labour form.

Although we don’t need a memo to work out what a shambles the Government is in.

The point of democracy?

It seems to me that “democracy in the Middle East” is somewhat pointless.

When the West calls for “democracy in the Middle East”, what they actually mean is “the party we want in power”.

Take for example Palestine. The West had been calling on Palestine to hold democratic elections to form a Government for years, which they did in January this year. The fact that Hamas was elected (which took the West by surprise) was a kick in the teeth for the West and frankly created a problem.

On the one hand they had to defend the democratic process whilst on the other condemning the result it had produced.

So what do you do when left with a problem like this. Well you do your best to destabilise the regime which has been elected. First, cut off aid to the Palestinians, leaving them with a financial crisis. Then blame the regime for everything that happens in the region, such as the Hezbollah attacks on Israel. After that ensure the regime destroys itself through fighting with its opposition party Fatah, which is led by the President of Palestine. Finally you get the Palestinian President to call for new elections in the hope the result you want is produced, a Fatah Government.

The Palestinian President has called for new elections in the hope it will solve the current tensions between Fatah and Hamas in Palestine, which is close to civil war. Of course the idea of early elections is bitterly contested by Hamas, which has never been allowed to operate its mandate it won last January.

Now Hamas’ refusal to recognise Israel is a problem to future peace in the Middle East. But I’ve purposefully ignored how to gain peace and just focused on the democratic side. By penalising the result of the January election is a clear undermining of the democratic process and refusal to recognise the wish of the Palestinian people who did the voting.

It just shows the West isn’t keen on true democracy, as when it happens, everything is done to change it.

Why we love the Inland Revenue!

Of course I am being sarcastic in the headline!

Apart from the fact they take our hard earned money, it is for reasons like this that the Inland Revenue (now called Customs and Revenue) is hated so much.

The Revenue has sent out millions of letters to people saying they have a gap in their tax payments that will affect their pensions. They are asked to pay £371 to correct this.

The problem is an unknown amount of these letters have been sent out in error! Of course this is being blamed on a glitch in the system.

You just got to love the Revenue!

The effects of alcohol

You would need to be very drunk to sleep through a train going past your head!

New limits on Freedom Of Information

What a surprise that the Government was to limit the number of Freedom Of Information requests.

The Government currently answers all requests which cost less than £600. Currently this does not include officials time, yet reforms being considered by the Government would include officials time. This is bound to lead to a huge reduction in the number of Freedom Of Information requests which are answered.

Therefore a large amount of information which should be disclosed will continue to be hidden. The Government will be pleased as a number of requests have led to information being released which is embarrassing to the Government.

It’s quite amusing how much legislation this Government has itself introduced has turned out to be a nuisance to itself. The Freedom Of Information Act, The Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act, The Human Rights Act, I could go on…

How was Blair not questioned under caution?

Well, Tony Blair has finally been questioned in the Cash for Honours investigation, but only as a witness, not under caution. This means he is not considered a suspect!

I really fail to see how he cannot be classified as a suspect. Even if it was others who were offering the peerages in exchange for donations to the Labour Party, Blair has to make the nominations. Therefore Blair must be implicated? Is it really possible that others can tell Blair who to nominate and he doesn’t ask why?

We may never know how the Met reached the decision not to caution Blair, could they have lost their bottle?

It is hardly surprising that having let Blair chose when the interview took place, it happened on what must have been one of the busiest news days of the year.

Adam Bolton has a very good analysis of the Blair questioning on his blog.

UPDATE: The BBC is reporting that “notes” suggest Lord Levy offered Sir Christopher Evans “a K or a big P” in exchange for a donation. I wonder who leaked that information? Trying to shift the investigation away from Blair I wonder?

Report suggests limit on Labour funding lifeline

Sir Hayden Phillips who is in charge of a review into party funding, is suggesting £50’000 limits on political party donations, including those from Trade Unions.

This is sure to be of huge concern to the Labour Party, who currently receive around £10.5 million a year from Trade Unions.

Of course the Government would have to endorse the proposals and put them into law, something I think they will be more than reluctant to do.

What is more likely to happen is that public funding of political parties should be introduced. We already know Labour are keen on this idea. So expect a donation tax to be introduced and the caps on Trade Unions to be ignored.

UPDATE: The BBC is now reporting Labour MP John McDonnell opposition to the idea. What a surprise considering he is a left-wing Labour MP. I'm not so sure about his belief Tony Blair supports the idea. Such is the concern over the suggestion that the Labour National Executive has called an emergency meeting for tomorrow.

Lib Dems build for the Olympics!

Liberal Democrat MP, Sandra Gidley, has labelled school sports days as an humiliation of those less able at sports.

Iain Dale is reporting the story that is in the Daily Echo.

It’s all well and good saying school sports days humiliate and put kids off of sport for life. But it’s also the way we find those who excel at sports.

She said: "I would ask that we try to get away from competitive sport in schools and think about increasing exercise and activity.

"Personal improvement initiatives are much more positive and inspiring for children than those in which their performance is compared with that of others."

This is ridiculous. If the competitive nature of sport is taken out of schools, how are we ever going to find our top sportspersons. Saying they should be replaced with “personal improvement initiatives” like “skipping, dance and games” is not going to help.

This is hardly a supportive gesture to make when the Olympics are 6 years away and we need to find and bring through the system are best sportspersons if we our to avoid total humiliation as a country in London 2012.

The failure of "education, education, education".

Remember the pledge on education Tony Blair made in 1997? “Education, education, education” were three words Tony Blair promised would be central to his new Labour Government.

But nine and a half years on what has the Labour Government really achieved on this three word pledge?

The answer makes very disappointing reading. 1.24 million people between the age of 15 and 24 are not in education, work or training. This is a 15% rise on the figures of 1997 when Labour came to power. In fact this is now such a big group that the Government has an acronym for them. NEETs: Not in Education, Employment or Training.

These figures come despite the billions of pounds Labour has poured into education over the years and into other programmes such as the New Deal. Clearly they have fallen far short of the success that has been made out. Yet again further proof that just throwing money at problems doesn’t solve them.

Carbon "credit cards!"

Environment Secretary, David Miliband has announced he is looking into the possibility of introducing carbon “credit cards”.

I can see so many holes in this idea, there’s just too many to list.

Each person would be given an annual allowance which things like travel, energy and food would count against. Therefore each item, bill and travel ticket would need labelling with its carbon credit level. This alone is a massive task.

Then there’s the actual system for implementing it. Will it tie in with the current chip and pin system or will need hardware need to be installed at checkouts.

Never mind the fact that people will have to remember to take their cards with them wherever they go.

Just as well a feasibility study has said many questions need to be answered. I wonder how much the study cost? I could of told them that for a competitive fee.

The Government and terrorism

It’s interesting that on Sunday John Reid continues Labour’s campaign of fear by stating a terrorist attack over the Christmas period is “highly likely” with around 30 plots in motion at any one time.

Then today Reid announces two terror suspects who went missing two and four months ago are still on the run.

No doubt we will hear next that 90 days detention without trial would solve all this.

Let’s hope it doesn’t turn out that one of the two in the second report isn’t responsible for what is claimed could happen in the first.

Amusing petitions

The 10 Downing Street website has a section where you can create a petition to put to the Prime Minister.

Whether any of the petitions will ever be acted upon is a matter for discussion another time, but the website does have some amusing petitions.

I’ve listed the ones I’ve noticed:

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to…

Resign immediately

Replace the national anthem with 'Gold' by Spandau Ballet

Force all ramblers/walkers to wave a red flag when walking on a "public road"

Stand on his head and juggle ice-cream

Change the electoral process to include a binding "None of the above, re-open nominations" on every ballot paper

Ignore the petition to repeal the hunting act 2004

Release a Christmas single

Stop Being So Politically Correct & Use Some Common Sense

Scrap all quangos and see if anyone notices

Let Mrs Pritchard run the country

How to make sure you can't be wrong

The Government seems to of learnt at least one lesson from its past mistakes.

Instead of trying to predict how many migrants from EU countries will come to the UK, just don’t make any prediction at all.

The Government’s answer to ensure they don’t get it totally wrong again.

Unemployment to break 1 million

One thing Gordon Brown 'forgot' to mention that is contained within his Pre-Budget Report is the fact it shows unemployment will break the all significant 1 million marker next year.

The figure is contained in the Key Assumptions part of the Report.

Vince Cable Lib Dem Shadow Chancellor asked Gordon Brown to confirm the figure in the report. Brown’s reply, the Government doesn’t predict unemployment rates.

So that’s the reason why its labeled as an “assumption” then.

Perhaps the Treasury calls it an assumption because a prediction is more of an estimate whereas an assumption is “something taken for granted.”

Brown delivers his (last) Pre-Budget Report

So Gordon Brown has delivered his Pre-Budget Report. Not on the whole very exciting really.

There was the usual boosting about the UK’s continuing growth which will this year be 2.75%, above the Treasury’s prediction and Brown said the government's policies were responsible for low inflation, growing exports and increased investment. Although what Brown forgets to mention here, is the important role the Bank of England plays with its control over interest rates, which are central to the stability of the economy and controlling inflation.

In the Pre-Budget Report The Chancellor introduced an inflation increase on fuel duty of 1.25p per litre and announced a doubling of air passenger duty to £10.

Of course Brown will play that he has introduced these rises to help fight climate change. I’m more inclined to think that the hole created by the £2 billion short full in North Sea Oil Revenues needs plugging and this will do the job nicely.

Here are a selection of responses I have found on the Pre-Budget Report:

"With this PBR, like the nine PBRs before it, Britain is moving further from the direction we need to go. Today the chancellor had no new answers. He promised to change a gear, but all we got was more of the same." George Osborne – Conservative Shadow Chancellor

“The Chancellor’s legacy is one of high personal debt and massive spending commitments. Household debt has grown to a very dangerous level. British household debts are without precedent. Given that the next Chancellor will inherit a set of massively expensive commitments – the continuing war in Iraq, ID cars and now Trident – can he guarantee that in meeting these commitments he will not cut essential services, such as pensions, hospitals and policing?” Vince Cable – Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor

"Gordon Brown has a long way to go to gain any real green credentials, and his pre-Budget report will not even start him on the right road. This is gesture politics at its worst: he is trying to outflank the Tories on sounding green. What is the point in raising a tax on airline seats when his support for airport expansion will ensure the biggest growth in the aviation sector for a generation?" Sian Berry – The Green Party Principal Speaker

"I would give him probably one out of 10, maybe two out of 10. I think it's pretty feeble really. He's got a terrible record. For 10 years he's failed to provide a green budget. We thought in the wake of the Stern Review, given the new science demonstrating how bad climate change is, he's got to take action. And he's failed to do so again." Ed Matthews - Friends of the Earth

“The increase in duty has nothing to do with reinforcing the UK’s efforts to reduce its carbon footprint. Extra taxes of this type enhance the government’s reputation of helping itself to cash from road users.” Simon Chapman – Freight Transport Association’s chief economist

“Air Passenger Duty is an extremely blunt instrument that provides the Treasury with extra funds for general public expenditure without any benefit to the environment whatsoever.” British Airways

"A successful economy depends on being able to move goods, services and people across the country. Increasing aviation and fuel taxes will not help small business to increase productivity." Federation of Small Business

Not a very popular report then!

After Lottery funding?

If you are after lottery funding, then what’s the best way of securing it?

Not many organisations will have the same advantage as the Labour Government now has.

The new board of the Big Lottery Fund now has five committed Labour supporters. The BLF board is responsible for distributing National Lottery money, around £630 million a year.

Remember how the Government was defeated by the Lords over the powers Minister’s had to influence how Lottery money was distributed. Seems the Government has found its way around that one!

I wonder, could the National Lottery bail out the Labour Party?

The return of back to basics!

David Cameron has said education should focus on the basic core subjects of English, maths, science, history and modern languages.

Remember the last time the Conservatives tried going “back to basics”. Although so far the focus has only been on the basics of education.

It would have to be quite a spectacular failure to be any worse than John Major’s attempt at back to basics though.

£100k a year for MPs?

The Times today is reporting that MPs have written to the Senior Salaries Review Body (SSRB) calling for MPs salaries to be increased to similar levels with GPs and council chief executives.

This would put MPs salaries around the £100’000 a year mark. Is this plain greediness from MPs or a fair reward for the work they do?

We are just talking about backbench MPs here, who currently earn £60,277. MPs who have a position, such as Ministers and Shadow Ministers earn more depending on their position.

£60k to £100k is some increase, in fact it’s a 66% rise. The average wage increase at the moment is around 4.5%.

Any increase in MPs salaries is likely to be unpopular amongst the general public given the way politicians are currently viewed at the moment.

But are MPs underpaid? In my view £60k a year is on the low side and £100k too high for a backbencher. £75k seems a more reasonable salary.

Income tax cut?

An article in today’s People claims Gordon Brown will cut income tax by 2p when he becomes Prime Minister.

The article says Brown would reduce income tax within 12 months of becoming PM. It’s certainly a good platform to go into an election on and is sure to still the thunder away from the Conservatives and Lib Dems. To maximise the benefit of this an October 2007 General Election would be ideal.

The tax cut would be funded by putting an extra 1p on fuel and an extra £5 on air passenger tax. Sounds very much like the Lib Dems Green Tax Switch.

If this article is correct, the days of opposition parties attacking Brown as the big tax riser will be gone, as he will no doubt claim he is returning the benefits of those rises to the people.

Wednesday’s Pre-Budget report will be studied hard looking for clues as to Brown’s intentions.

Blair went into the 1997 election promising to freeze income tax levels. Brown may well go into the next election promising to reduce them!

What were they doing?

Police have spent six hours outside an empty house due to reports a man was being held hostage.

I have to wonder what they were doing for the six hours?

Does it really take that long to work out a house is empty?

Exactly what I said...

After my post yesterday, David Cameron has told the Daily Telegraph that his party has to "change to reflect changes to British society" or face another election defeat.

Exactly what I was saying.

Passport control?

It appears £250 is all you need if you want to get into the UK.

A BBC journalist for the BBC’s Panorama has managed to enter the UK twice on fake and stolen passports.

The first of which the reporter managed to get in London by responding to an advert in a Russian language newspaper.

Something like this can’t even be prevented by the introduction of new biometric passports. That will make it much more difficult for UK passports to be faked, but unless they are introduced in every country, nothing much will change.

People wanting to enter the UK illegally will get hold of a passport from another country and just stroll right in, it appears.

Panorama: My Fake Passports and Me will be broadcast on Monday, 4 December, 2006 at 2100 GMT on BBC One.

New is the old Old

New Labour has been branded old by First Minister Rhodri Morgan.

This is no surprise really as politics and the centre ground that New Labour was built on has shifted in the 12 years since New Labour’s creation in 1994.

First Minister Morgan has suggested that New Labour will die when Tony Blair leaves Downing Street. However this needs to happen for Labour to remain attractive to the voters. Political parties have to recognise and move with the mood of the electorate. Hence Cameron’s reinvention of the Conservatives.

Tony Blair was a master of this. Whether his successor, most likely Gordon Brown is as good, we will have to see.

Insane bank charges

The Consumer Action Group today protested outside the Office For Fair Trading, calling for them to investigate bank charges imposed on customers who go overdrawn without permission.

This is a campaign that I fully support and if you have incurred bank charges, claim them back using the step by step guide in the CAG forums. My best friend incurred £90 of charges for going as little overdrawn as 18p. Between the two of us and using the guide on the website, we managed to claim back £60 of them, so it does work.

There is no justification for these charges other than to make the banks extra money at the expense of the consumer. Ok so there needs to be some sort of deterrent to deter people from just going overdrawn, but the idea of charging someone for going overdrawn, which puts them further overdrawn makes no sense at all.

Having said that, had better go check the bank balances!

Bring on 1st July 2007

The Government has finally announced that smoking in enclosed public places will be banned from 1^st July 2007.

I can’t wait for this day to arrive. I’m a huge supporter of the smoking ban.

There’s nothing worse than being in a smoke filled room, breathing in and smelling of someone else’s smoke on a night out.