Iraq equiry

So the Government has won and the motion tabled calling for a new inquiry into the Iraq War has been defeated.

Not that it really matters. Had the motion of passed and an inquiry held, it wouldn’t of criticised the Government. Just look at the Hutton Report.

It's always good however when the Government fears defeat. All kinds of reasons come out to try and convince MPs to vote with the Government. This times came from the Foreign Secretary, Margaret Beckett, who said it was the wrong time for an inquiry as “our words... will be heard a very long way away. They can be heard by our troops who are already in great danger in Iraq".

I know if I was in Iraq I would like to know why 3 years after the war had supposedly ended I was still in danger.

One thing is certain, the issue of Iraq is not going to die down and with this motion being defeated, calls for an inquiry will continue.

Environmental advisors...

Guido makes a very good point regarding the appointment of Al Gore as an Environmental Advisor to the Government.

Plea for gambling sites to relocate to the UK

The Government has said its attempts to encourage gambling sites to register in the UK are not for tax purposes but to protect punters.

The thing is, most of these online gambling sites are based in tax havens such as Gibraltar. So for them to relocated to the UK, we would have to offer them the same sort of incentives. Otherwise why would they want to come here?

Is the Government with this proposal therefore saying it will give concessions to the online gambling industry? We already know the Treasury is in favour of gambling with its new casino licenses.

Do protests make a difference?

Students are marching in London today in protest to the introduction of top-up fees.

Almost every week there is a protest of some sort, against something, taking place. This has led me to think, do these protests actually make a difference?

My current thought is not really, the only protest I can think of in recent years that has led to a change from Government, is over the Poll Tax (and there were many other factors involved) some 16 years ago. There have been numerous protests over the Iraq War, top up fees, the hunting ban, etc. that have failed in their aim.

The reason in my view as to why these protests take place is because the people protesting have lost the ear of Government and as a last resort are taking to the streets. By the time it gets to this stage, it is too late, as those who do have the Government’s ear will be lobbying to keep on track and ignore the protests.

So why do we still see these protests on such a regular basis. I suppose the answer is because people still believe they can make a difference and of course the answer is they can. The problem is people feel Governments just don’t listen, so why bother to turn out? This is the attitude organisers must change to make their protest a success.

However for every protest that takes place, whatever the turn out, it can be spun to favour the Government’s stance. As was the case with the Iraq war, 1 million people march, but 59 million people didn’t. Therefore it can be argued that those who stay at home either support or are indifferent to the Government’s stance.

Therefore it is very difficult for any protest to make a difference, the odds of a success are stacked against them from the start. People power is the most powerful weapon against a Government, if it is possible to unite enough around the same cause. It is the belief that this can be done, that enough people will turn out to make a difference, that means protests will continue to take place.

Environmentally friendly leader...

I’m currently watching The Politics Show on BBC 1. They have just shown the results of their ICM poll which asked “which leader would be kindest to the environment?”

The results were David Cameron 33%, Gordon Brown 20%, Ming Campbell 14% with 33% not knowing.

This must be worrying for Ming Campbell and the Lib Dems who have always been seen as the Greenest of the three main parties, as this poll shows Campbell lagging well behind Cameron when it comes to the environment.

The green tax bandwagon

So the Government looks set to finally put forward its own suggestions for green taxes if the leaked letter published today in the Mail on Sunday is to be believed.

It’s about time considering both the Lib Dems and the Conservatives have been saying for a while that they will introduce green taxes.

The difference between the Government’s, the Lib Dems and (maybe) the Conservative’s proposals is that the Government doesn’t seem to be suggesting any tax cuts to run alongside.

So in true Labour style, the tax burden on the individual looks set to rise still further if the proposals in the letter are implemented.

Efficiency in the NHS

I have not witnessed this myself but I’ve heard that residents in the old people’s home in Saltford (nr Bath) are being taken to their local hospital, some 50 yards away, by ambulance because hospital workers won’t walk the patients across the busy road for health and safety reasons as there is no pedestrian crossing.

Now I don’t blame the hospital workers. Old people, bless them, aren’t exactly the quickest movers in the world. So you wouldn’t won’t to be stuck in the middle of a busy road with one.

Currently the only solution to this is to take them by ambulance. I don’t know the exact cost of calling in an ambulance each time to make the transfers, but I doubt it is cost effective. At a time when the NHS is facing cutbacks, money being spent like this is ridiculous.

The solution, put a pedestrian crossing in. Surely this would be a much better use of public funds?

Political suicide?

A very brave move was announced today by the Lib Dem led Richmond council which will see huge increases in prices of parking permits for residents with tax polluting cars.

The greenest cars will be exempt, but residents with two high emission cars could pay £750 a year, compared to £200 now.

This decision follows in the lines of the Green Tax Switch campaign that the Lib Dem’s are currently running on a national scale. But this is sure to be a turnoff to the voters. Richmond is one of the country’s most affluent areas, so there are bound to be a number of higher polluting cars, who’s owners won’t be keen on the higher costs of parking.

I would expect this to encourage these voters to support another party at the next election. Time will tell.

Debenhams comes to Bath

Today Debenhams was confirmed as the main store to parter Morley Fund Management in the redevelopment of the Southgate shopping complex in Bath.

The project has been delayed due to the uncertainty over a major store to back the project but now with Debenhams on board the work can start. This is currently rumoured to be in January. Current shops within the Southgate complex have already moved out to allow the development to begin.

I just hope they start with demolishing of Churchill House, I really don’t see what the fuss is about in trying to preserve that building!

Please, could you just stop reporting the truth!

The Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman has blamed the media for influencing people’s opinion of the Iraq war through news bulletins that repeatedly report suicide bombings.

Whilst I agree with the spokesman that the media will influence people, they can hardly be blamed for reporting what is happening in Iraq.

The fact that Iraq is effectively in a state of civil war, with suicide bombings occurring on a daily basis, means it's hardly surprising that the media is reporting it. What else are they suppose to report?

I think the Government is lucky that the media is taking the angle it is, rather than reporting the number of innocent Iraqi’s that have been killed. I’m sure if they wanted to, the reports could be a lot worse for the Government.

Stating the obvious...

Cameron will say in a speech to Age Concern that over 50s can contribute millions to the economy.

Well he is hardly going to tell his audience people over 50 are a burden on society and should be disposed of!!

Gordon Brown is giving Cameron a run for his money by saying in reaction to Clare Short's resignation,

"It has been known for some time she wasn't voting with the Labour whip."

Clap, clap Mr Brown

It all depends who it is...

I just wonder, had it of been Hezbollah using phosphorous, whether the reaction would have been the same?

Of course not…

Another Lords reform proposal...

Yet another document proposing reform of the House of Lords has been drawn up by Jack Straw, the Leader of the House of Commons.

This round of proposals suggests an end to life peerages and quotas for ethnic minorities. The number of peers would be cut by a 1/3 and instead of claiming an attendance allowance, would be salaried.

A spokesman for Jack Straw has said the “Document is Jack Straw's attempt to facilitate cross-party discussion and that discussion is continuing. It is not government policy."

The thing is, House of Lords reform has been discussed for many years. In 2003 the discussions collapsed as no agreement could be found, these new proposals are likely to go the same way. The reason this document is not government policy, is because the government itself can’t agree on reforms.

House of Lords reform is of course a difficult topic as there are many views and options to consider. A few I think should be included are:

- Fully appointed. Candidates nominated by parties on grounds of expertise.

- Truly independent panel to decide who is appointed.

- Removal of party groups and party whips.

- Function: to scrutinise government legislation and propose amendments.

Niether a nerd or a chav!

Here's my nerd score....

Overall, you scored as follows:

91% scored higher (more nerdy), and
9% scored lower (less nerdy).

What does this mean? Your nerdiness is:

Definitely not nerdy, you are probably cool.



I wonder though, does doing the test make you more or less nerdy?


Having done that test, I figured I should do the one at the other end of the scale. The Chav test!

At least it seems I'm not a nerd or a Chav.

Ring of Fire

Bath and North East Somerset Council held their “Ring of Fire” event tonight. This saw £80’000’s of fireworks being set off from 6 locations around the hills of Bath in 3 minutes.

The evening went well and was quite impressive. 3 minutes doesn’t sound a lot but when there’s 6 lots of fireworks going off all around you, it’s quite something.

The event was to celebrate the success the Bath Spa has enjoyed since its opening a couple of months ago and to launch Heritage Open Week.

A single firework was fired from the roof of the Bath Spa to launch the event. This was quite a disappointing firework though, I thought it was someone having a laugh and launching their own! But once the main event started you didn’t know which direction to look, there were fireworks everywhere.

Short resigns...

Clare Short has resigned as a Labour MP and will continue to sit as an independent for the remainder of this parliament.

This is hardly surprising news, although somewhat belated. I think resigning now, will make very little difference to anything.

Clare Short missed her big chance to worry the Government she has come to see as “arrogant and error prone” when she should of resigned in the build up to the Iraq war. Then she could of really done something with other Labour backbenchers who felt likewise.

Will be interesting to see if she chooses to stand as an independent at the next election.

A good thing

David Cameron has met with US rapper Rhymefest, who requested the meeting after Cameron said on Radio 1 a few months ago that hip-hop "encourages people to carry guns and knives.”

The meeting has led some to criticize Cameron, accusing him of taking his effort to reach the younger generation too far and branding the meeting as a media stunt.

I totally disagree. I think these kind of meetings with people from varying backgrounds are a good thing. Ok, so Rhymefest is from the US and not the UK, which would be more appropriate, but that doesn’t mean you can’t listen.

Politicians are often accused of being out of touch with the people, so any engagement with them should be encouraged and not criticised.

US claims space

Details of the US’s new space policy was released today.

To quote directly from the BBC:

“US President George W Bush has signed an order which asserts the US right to block access to space to any country or group deemed hostile to its interests.

The document says the US is determined to protect its interests in outer space and will defeat any adversary who threatens them.”

Now surely to control access to something and other users right to it, you have to own it.

So tax cuts it is...

…£21 billion pounds worth of them.

That is what the Conservative Tax Commission will report tomorrow. This is hardly surprising as it has been known for some time that the commission was going to recommend tax cuts.

There are a number of tax reforms proposed covering a variety of taxes. I’m not going to dictate them, you can read them here.

However I’m most disappointed that there appears to be no explanation as to how the tax cuts will be funded. ConservativeHome’s ToryDiary is saying they will “apparently to be funded by growth.” I’m very sceptical that this will balance the books.

So for me, as nice as any reduction in taxation is, I wouldn’t support the Conservative’s proposals until details of funding are put forward.

Europe and 18 Doughty Street

I’m currently watching Up Front on 18 Doughty Street. They are discussing the poll today that showed businesses are in favour of a new deal for membership of Europe and a reform of the EU.

I’m quite disappointed that the two guests on the show are Euro sceptics. It appears to me, that my fear of a clear political bias is already showing through. The channel said it would "challenge the biases of big media." Funny way of doing this, by being bias themselves.

I stand to be corrected people at 18 Doughty Street.

A note on the poll: It is hardly surprising that a poll commissioned by Open Europe who “believes that the EU must now embrace radical reform” found exactly that.