Paramedic becomes Doner in Kebab shop

The Independent reports that

A man who went berserk in a kebab shop left two paramedics in hospital today after biting one on the leg. Another ambulance worker was slightly injured when he was later headbutted by the man in Clontarf Garda station.

The paramedics from Dublin Fire Brigade were called to a disturbance at the take-away in Fairview Strand, north Dublin at around 4am. Gardai also arrived at the scene around the same time to find the man foaming at the mouth and threatening violence.

The man, suspected of being intoxicated, turned on one of the ambulance workers and bit him on the leg, according to Dublin Fire Brigade. After gardai were forced to restrain him and bring him to Clontarf Garda station, paramedics were again called out at around 5am to bring the man to hospital. Another disturbance erupted during which a paramedic was headbutted as he attempted to take the man for medical help.
Both ambulance workers have since been released from hospital and their injuries are not serious.

Gardai are expected to question the man when he is released from
medical care.

The Independent does not report if the drunk thought the man's leg was tastier than a Kebab.

Paramedic bitten on leg in kebab shop - Europe, World - The Independent

BBC says "Downturn" ends £1bn plant project in Scotland

The "Downturn" is apparently responsible for the end of plans to build a £1bn wood processing plant that could have created thousands of jobs. Note the BBC statement it was the "Downturn", not the Recession.

Forscot said it had decided not to proceed with its proposals for a paper, pulp and energy plant at Invergordon due to a lack of funding.The company said there was also little chance of attracting investment in the current economic climate.

This is a sad end to a project which would have provided much needed employment in this area.

BBC NEWS | Scotland | Downturn ends £1bn plant project

Not the R word page - BBC Mandied

As I said a couple of days ago the BBC has been Mandied and we are now in a "Downturn".

Need I say more.

By the way Sterling down 6 cents to day. FTSE down 6% and GDP down 0.5%. No more "Boom and Bust"

BBC NEWS | Special Reports | downturn

Wot - No R word here says BBC

Sister Moonshine from the album Challenge, What Challenge by Supertramp.
I would have used The Meaning but I can't find a decent video of it

Mandy and that nice Mr Campbell must have on the blower to their old pals at the BBC to explain to them that the R word is forbidden. There is no R word and they must not use the R word. They will have explained that under Labour the R word it is not a R word but a "downturn", this is because as we know under Brown there is no possibility of "Boom and Bust". Also they are now turning a Crisis into a "Challenge". So officially for the BBC Friday when the latest figures appear it it will be a Downturn day rather than a R word Day. Will it also be D-Day for Brown.

As Matthew Parris says in the Times

Corporate challenge

Crisis? What crisis? I'm looking forward to catching out BBC newscasters and editors using that word. From tomorrow there is to be a corporation-wide ban on broadcast references to any “economic crisis” when discussing what our Government might prefer to call the “global financial challenge”. In place of “crisis” BBC staff have apparently been instructed to say “downturn” - the same word, incidentally, that Cabinet ministers are pointedly employing in place of “recession” or even “coming recession”. Friday is D (for Downturn) Day in corporation-speak.

Move along now no bias at the BBC.

Now that we've come to the crunch... | Matthew Parris - Times Online

Mandy and his Friends

According to the Times

Lord Mandelson has frequently accepted hospitality from Nathaniel Rothschild, including a stay at his chalet in the Alps.

The depth of the friendship between the former European Trade Commissioner and the international financier has emerged as the extent of business links between Mr Rothschild and Oleg Deripaska, the Russian oligarch, has become clear.

Lord Mandelson stayed at Mr Rothschild’s home in Klosters, Switzerland, earlier this year. In August he was a guest of Mr Rothschild in Corfu, during which he was “billeted” on Mr Deripaska’s yacht because there were so many guests staying at the family villa.

The Times then goes onto explain a little of the web that links Mandy to this little partnership and explain how throughout this the sainted Mandelson has not been affected in performing his roles at the EU and now in the British Parliament.

Whilst the Times may believe that, and from my reading, they are more than a little reluctant to do so, I am more than a little worried that someone who has already had to resign twice because of some "difficulties" might again got himself into a pickle.

If Osborne is supposed to have show a degree of lack of judgment, then Mandelson has a complete lack of judgment, that has already impacted his chosen career.

It's time that this servant of us, the public, came clean and told the full story of the relationship he has with Mr Rothschild's, Deripaska and the others in his little web.

Perhaps the Prime Minister might want to get someone to answer these allegations.

Lord Mandelson’s friendships ‘did not affect his EU role’ - Times Online

Hercules Deaths Result Of Serious Systemic Failures

Yet again we have a report of serious systemic failures causing the deaths of servicemen. The Herald reports

The deaths of 10 British servicemen killed when their RAF Hercules was shot downin Iraq was the result of "serious systemic failures", a coroner said today. The fact that the Ministry of Defence and RAF had not fitted the Hercules fleet with ESF (explosion-suppressant foam) was a factor in the tragedy, coroner David Masters said.

He continues

"The failure to fit ESF was on the facts found a serious systemic failure and a contributory factor in the loss of the aircraft."There was a loss of opportunity for the survival of the crew by that failure."The Hercules C130k aircraft, 47 Squadron Special Forces flight XV179, was flying at low-level (about 150ft) in daylight from Baghdad to Balad to await further tasking orders when it was downed by insurgents. The coroner, ruling that the 10 men were unlawfully killed, highlighted the way intelligence was not passed on about a previous attack by insurgents on the US Blackhawks on the same day in the same sector. He described this as another "failure." But he said XV179's decision to fly at low level was not a failure because the Hercules flying community at the time had no idea of their vulnerability to small arms fire, which they were in range of at 150ft.

More information on the Hercules case here.

Hercules Inquest Deaths Result Of Serious Systemic Failures

Brown makes it up again

I see our erstwhile PM whilst forgetting to answer any questions at PMQ's yet again has managed to answer one from the "Beast of Bolsover" Dennis Skinner who was somehow allowed to ask the last question at PMQ's by his mate "Gorbals Mick" the "non-partisan" Speaker of the House of Commons.

Unfortunately his answer as is usual with our lying and fudging Prime Minister does not make a lot of sense. Gordon demanded an investifThis from the BBC

The No 10 spokesman also refused to be drawn on which "authorities" would carry out an investigation, saying "whichever authorities are appropriate".

The Electoral Commission told BBC Radio 4's The World at One it would not be investigating the claims as "soliciting a donation is not an offence".

Labour MP Tony Wright, chairman of the public administration select committee, also dismissed calls for a probe.

"Gordon obviously thinks it was a serious matter, and I suppose in a sense it is a serious matter," he said.

"But we are not talking about corruption here, there was no corruption. We're not talking about law-breaking, there is no law-breaking. What there is is a massive misjudgement.

"I am not sure which authorities Gordon thought he was talking about. The only one I can think of is the Conservative Party."

Conservative MP John Redwood said Lord Mandelson should be forced to answer questions about his presence on Mr Deripaska's yacht and he rejected claims Mr Osborne had shown poor judgement.

"There is no crime committed and this is just an absurd media fantasy," he told WATO.

As usual Gordon has made it up again to cover for his stupidity.

Brown makes it up again

Sterling Plunging - Labour Recession is here

After last nights speech by Mervyn King saying we are in recession Sterling plunged on the markets.

Not really surprising when you consider the state this country is in.

Guardian has this

The pound began tumbling last night as the Bank of England governor told business leaders in Leeds that the economy is shrinking and hinted at fresh interest rate cuts.

By this morning it had fallen by seven cents to $1.6209, a drop of more than 4%. Traders reported frantic selling as investors rushed to cut their losses by selling the UK currency.

Shares also fell sharply in London this morning, with the FTSE 100 shedding over 100 points, or 2.3%, in early trading to 4127.29.

Sterling had already been hit yesterday by unexpectedly gloomy manufacturing data showing that confidence has collapsed, and King's comments appear to have added to concern over quite how weak the British economy now is.

Guido has this

Government borrowing is at record levels, unemployment is heading towards two million, car workers are on a 3-day week, public sector workers are threatening strikes, nationalisation is back, Deripaska-owned Leyland is even in back the news and we are entering a recession. To complete the whole 70s era feel we have a sterling collapse. 6% last night, 20% since the beginning of the year.

The BBC's business editor is focusing on political gossip. Guido will therefore have to take up the slack on the business reporting front..

Pound falls to five-year low as Bank head admits recession is here | Business | guardian.co.uk

The R word has happened

Recession is apparently upon us or so the Governor of The Bank of England whispered in a speech to the CBI last night, hardly reported by the MSM yesterday. Mr King had this to say

Why has the outlook deteriorated so quickly? The banking crisis dealt a severe blow to the availability of credit. Growth in secured lending to households fell to an annualised rate of 1.9% in the three months to August, its lowest level in more than a decade. The Bank of England’s survey of credit conditions suggests that the terms on which banks provide credit to companies have tightened even further. And, on some estimates, the supply of finance to the UK corporate sector has ground to a halt. This credit shock has come on top of a fall in real disposable incomes resulting from the rise in energy and food prices earlier in the year. So, taken together, the combination of a squeeze on real take home pay and a decline in the availability of credit poses the risk of a sharp and prolonged slowdown in domestic demand. Indeed, it now seems likely that the UK economy is entering a recession.

So what are the media concentrating on instead, the story that George Osborne might have discussed a donation to the Tory Coffers of £50,000 pounds from a possibly illegal donor. Not a donation but a possibility of a donation that was refused. Even the main protagonist Nat Rothschild needed 3 attempts to get his "idea" of the facts correct.

Here we are in the middle of a crisis that has seen banks collapse, the apparent almost collapse of the banking system in Britain and on a day we learn that we are officially in Recession and the media are frothing at a Mandelson spin story.

As Hezza said in an interview on Radio 4 interview for the PM programme

Extraordinary, bizzare, have we all gone mad

How better can I express it.

Market jitters continue as bank chief uses the 'R' word - Scotsman.com News

Rothschild and Mandy - Just Good friends

The Rothschilds and Peter Mandelson are as they say just good friends. This article is by Jonathon Carr from the Sunday Times on 22nd September 2002. Now I wonder what has happened in the past 6 years that might have lead to what has been going on in the news for the past week. Or is it as Nick Robinson from the BBC said Osborne paying a heavy price for breaking the rules of the rich man’s club… Mandelson’s revenge.

HE IS a man with generous friends. Peter Mandelson, the former secretary of state for Northern Ireland, has found a new backer for his political ambitions in the shape of Sir Evelyn de Rothschild, the multi-millionaire banker. De Rothschild may be 21 years Mandelson’s senior but the two have become firm friends, lunching and sharing an interest in Albanian affairs. When the banker married his third wife two years ago, Mandelson was a guest. So it is perhaps no surprise that de Rothschild has emerged as the mystery funder of Policy Network, a “super think tank” that boasts some of No 10’s senior policy advisers on its board and is chaired by none other than Mandelson. The sum donated to date is said to be £250,000. The name of the donor is missing from the think tank’s accounts, but its directors have been privately concerned that they will look secretive if they continue to hide his identity. One tipped off The Sunday Times last week: “It hasn’t been publicised, but de Rothschild’s involvement is well known to the board.” Last night critics said the donation is yet another example of a businessman with vast commercial interests in government policies giving “cash for access” via a Labour think tank. De Rothschild and Policy Network have declined to comment on the matter. De Rothschild, 71, heads the British arm of the Rothschild banking dynasty and chairs N M Rothschild & Sons, its merchant bank. His personal fortune is estimated in The Sunday Times Rich List as £500m. Mandelson’s attraction to rich men has already led to him resigning from the government twice. The revelation that Geoffrey Robinson, the multimillionaire businessman and Labour MP, had loaned him £330,000 to buy a home prompted his first resignation from the Department of Trade and Industry. Then his friendship with the billionaire Hinduja brothers led to his downfall as Northern Ireland secretary when he was accused of helping them obtain British passports. De Rothschild was not previously known to have political leanings but the donation is attributed to Mandelson’s influence and to the banker’s wife Lynn Forester, a friend of Bill Clinton and part of New York’s Democratic party elite. The couple’s friendship with Mandelson blossomed when he was flown to Albania, where de Rothschild and Lord Sainsbury are trying to preserve the city of Butrint, a world heritage site. In June this year the de Rothschilds were among the organisers of a “progressive” leaders’ conference run by Policy Network at Brocket Hall in Hertfordshire, which attracted Clinton and the prime minister. In the evening, the gathering moved to Ascott House, de Rothschild’s home in Buckinghamshire, for a seated banquet for 100. The board of Policy Network — set up by a group of young Blairites in 2000 — reads like a Who’s Who of Labour’s inner circle. It includes Andrew Adonis, head of Downing Street’s policy unit, Roger Liddle, a senior member of the No 10 policy unit, Lord Levy, Blair’s chief fundraiser, and Adair Turner, the former CBI director who is now part of Blair’s “blue sky” thinking unit. When Mandelson resigned as Northern Ireland secretary, both Policy Network and No 10 steered the MP for Hartlepool in its direction. A source close to the think tank claimed it was all part of attempts by Downing Street and friends to “feather bed” his second fall from grace. According to Policy Network directors, the de Rothschilds gave the money to a charity, the Policy Network Foundation, before Mandelson came on board. A Downing Street spokesman denied that there was any conflict of interest between Adonis’s and Liddle’s presence on the board. He said: “These are unpaid positions from which no financial gain is sought or received.”

H/T to Barry on PoliticalBetting

Rothschild bankrolls Mandelson think tank

Mandy - Try Try Try Again

Mandy's and Labours attempts to catch George Osborne in their sticky, sleazy web have failed yet again. Their prompting to Rothschild to stir it up again, possibly via the Bliar person have come unstuck as Osborne details his contacts, both with Deripaska and of course Mandy who seems the common linkage in the whole story. I would suggest that it is Mandy that the media should be turning their spotlight on. Notice how Mandy appears at almost all the meetings.

In his statement to the press and in particular the biased duo at the BBC (Yes, you Robinson and Peston) he has this to say. I'll put it in full because it such a good rebuttal of all the sleazy things that Labour has become now with added Campbell and Mandy trying to direct the media

George Osborne has met Oleg Deripaska on five occasions, four of which happened over a weekend in Corfu in August.

On January 26, at the Davos World Economic Forum, Mr Osborne was introduced to Mr Deripaska in the company of others including Peter Mandelson.

They had a brief group conversation about the world economy.

On August 22, while on a family holiday in Corfu, Mr Osborne and his wife were invited onto Mr Deripaska's yacht by Mr Rothschild.

Others present again included Peter Mandelson. The conversation involved Russian and British politics. There was no conversation of any kind about political donations.

That evening Mr Osborne attended a party at the Rothschild villa and sat on the same table as Mr Rothschild, Mr Deripaska and Mr Mandelson. Again, there was no conversation about party funding.

The following evening, August 23, Mr Osborne attended a dinner at a local taverna.

Mr Deripaska did not attend but both Mr Rothschild and Peter Mandelson did. The conversation involved the state of British politics.

The next day, Mr Osborne, who had been staying in a rented house but was now staying at the Rothschild villa with his family, mentioned to Mr Rothschild that Andrew Feldman - who Mr Rothschild had met once before - was holidaying half an hour away with his family and friends.

Mr Rothschild then invited Mr Feldman to join them for an early evening drink at the villa.

This was a social invitation and at no point previously had Mr Osborne and Mr Rothschild discussed the possibility of a donation to the Conservative Party from Mr Deripaska.

Mr Feldman, Mr Osborne, Mr Rothschild and two other house guests gathered on the villa terrace.

There was a discussion about British and American politics and, in the course of which, Mr Rothschild suggested to Mr Feldman that his friend Mr Deripaska could be interested in making a party donation.

Mr Feldman had not met Mr Deripaska previously and was not aware who he was.

Mr Feldman made clear that there are very strict rules on donations to political parties in the UK.

He explained that there are only two ways of giving a political donation. Firstly, if you appear as an individual on the UK electoral roll. Secondly, if the donation comes from a legitimate UK trading company.

This is an explanation Mr Feldman gives regularly when asked about donations both privately and publicly.

At this point, Mr Rothschild said that Mr Deripaska owned UK trading companies including Leyland Daf.

There was no discussion about how a donation by Mr Deripaska could be concealed or channelled.

At no point did Mr Osborne or Mr Feldman solicit or ask for a donation, suggest ways of channelling a donation or express any wish to meet with Mr Deripaska to discuss donations.

The conversation moved on to the US elections. Some time later Mr Rothschild - having phoned Mr Deripaska - invited Mr Osborne, Mr Feldman and one other house guest for a further drink on Mr Deripaska's yacht which was moored nearby.

Mr Osborne and Mr Feldman agreed to meet with Mr Deripaska and his wife and family.

They stayed on the boat for about an hour and drank tea. There was a discussion about British and Russian politics, education and Russian history.

There was no conversation or mention of party funding or the possibility of Mr Deripaska making a donation to the Conservative Party.

After the group left the boat. Mr Feldman did not see Mr Deripaska or Mr Rothschild again and had no further conversations with Mr Deripaska.

Mr Osborne met Mr Deripaska again briefly the following lunchtime when both Mr Deripaska and Mr Mandelson visited the Rothschild villa.

The conversation between them lasted no more than five minutes and again there was no discussion about political donations.

Indeed Mr Osborne, has had no further discussions with Mr Deripaska. Nor has he had a further conversation with Mr Rothschild about donations.

On September 18, Mr Feldman and Mr Rothschild had a phone conversation about the possibility of Mr Rothschild hosting a fundraising dinner for the Conservative Party - something the Rothschild family have done before.

At the end of that conversation Mr Rothschild mentioned that Leyland Daf, a UK trading company owned by Mr Deripaska, was interested in making a donation to the party.

Leyland Daf is well known to be a company recently purchased and owned by Mr Deripaska.

Mr Feldman said that he was not sure if such a donation was appropriate. He told Mr Rothschild that he would have to seek advice on the matter.

Later that day it was decided after consultation with senior party officials that it would not be appropriate to accept such a donation.

There was no further contact from Mr Rothschild or Mr Deripaska and the matter was considered to be at an end.

For clarity, neither Mr Feldman nor Mr Osborne have ever discussed with Oleg Deripaska the possibility of him making a political donation.

At no point in any of these meetings and discussions did either Mr Osborne or Mr Feldman solicit or attempt to solicit a donation from Mr Deripaska. Nor did they at any stage suggest any way that a donation could be channelled or concealed through a British company.

This statement constitutes a full and detailed explanation of Mr Osborne and Mr Feldman's dealings with Mr Deripaska. We would now urge Lord Mandelson to provide the same.

Over to you Mandy. Explain ALL your dealings with Deripaska.

The spinning web that is Mandelson

Sir Walter Scott wrote

“Oh what a tangled web we weave, When first we practice to deceive”

We must congratulate Lord Mandy on his weaving skills. As the Telegraph "reports"

George Osborne, the shadow chancellor, met Oleg Deripaska on his yacht this summer. It was alleged there was discussion of a possible £50,000 donation to the Tory party.

It comes after questions were raised in Parliament over Lord Mandelson's relationship with the oligarch, whose hospitality the Business Secretary is said to have enjoyed on several occasions.

The hand of Mandy is firmly on this story. As Guido reports

Mandelson's ability to get Nathan Rothschild, a Tory donor, to counter-attack Osborne over the "pouring poison" line is widely seen as a tribute to his powers of persuasion.

In reality Rothschild, who has long been enamoured with and in thrall to Tony Blair, acted after Mandelson got Blair to call Rothschild to encourage him to embarrass Osborne. M'learned friends are now being consulted as claim and counter-claim are spun. Isn't it great to have all the fun of the circus with Mandelson back...

As Our Gordon said. No more spin.....

The spinning web that is Mandelson

The Mystery of Northern Rock and the other 1.2 trillion

A while ago Fraser Nelson writing in the Coffee House Blog wondered if a certain Gordon Brown, our erstwhile PM, might try to hide the nationalisation of the Northern Rock away so it didn't count against the National Debt. He wrote this thinking it might not be possible.

Well lo and behold we now hear that he has done just this. With a sleight of hand Gordon has made 7% of our supposed National Debt just disappear. That's 82 billion according to my calculations from the ONS website. This means that the figures quoted by Gordon Brown in parliament yesterday for a national debt percentage of 37.9% of GDP were entirely bogus. They are now at 43.4% of GDP. Of course Gordon has redefined debt now so he can use some "doublespeak" to make it sound good.

Gordon has basically hidden the debt. It's like me saying I have no debts, oh, apart from my mortgage which doesn't count as it's really an asset. The problem with this is that I have to pay it off which of course leaves me less money to deal with my other spending.

Now of course Gordon and Alistair Darling think they can spend, spend spend in an orgy of Keynesian economic theory to sort out their earlier problems. Of course these problem are not of their own making, they are the devil's spawn sent from America to destroy us.

Of course the figures shown above are entirely bogus as described below. Gordon, who wants banks to be transparent, has hidden away much of the true national debt. His creative accounting with the public pensions and PFI has left true debt at a level vastly above that which he purports is within EEC guidelines. The true figure may be as much as 1,854 billion, 3 times as much as Gordon wants to admit and makes our National Debt over 120% of GDP, a truly remarkable figure, which eclipses that of even Italy. These figure were calculated by Conservative MP, Brooks Newmark, he

says the true level of government borrowing is much higher. He calculates – including the cost of projects financed through the PFI, unfunded public sector pension liabilities, the debt incurred by Network Rail and the recent nationalisation of Bradford and Bingley – the true figure is at £1,854 billion – three times greater than the official figures, equivalent to 126.9 per cent of GDP, or £75,984 for every household in the country. "The true figures for government debt are the result of this government's loose fiscal policies and excessive spending,"

Writing in the Guardian Brooks has the following to say

The British government often congratulates itself on its efforts to keep public finances on a stable and sustainable level. Yesterday Gordon Brown even claimed:

"Debt is considerably lower than a decade ago".

However, Britain's public debt is actually £1,866 billion, equivalent to 125.5% of GDP, nearly three times larger than the government's published figure of £645 billion and 43.4% of GDP. This measures out as a debt of £76,475 per British household.
While figures recently released on the scale of the government's public spending bonanza point to government borrowing leaping to a record £8.1 billion in September, this is only the tip of the iceberg. Opaque off-balance sheet measures have, until
revealed in The Price of Irresponsibility published by the Centre for Policy Studies, kept hidden the full cost of projects financed through the Private Finance Initiative, the extent of unfunded public sector pension liabilities, the debt incurred by Network Rail and the recent nationalisation of Bradford &Bingley. Yet, the figure may be much worse. While the exact impact on the public finances of the government's recent bail-out of the banking sector is as yet unknown, it could imply an addition of as much as £500 billion to the balance sheet. This would increase public debt to a massive £2,366 billion, which is 159.1% of GDP, or over £96,967 per British household.

I just wish I could make my mortgage disappear like Gordon does.

Making Northern Rock disappear Coffee House

Labour's dodgy biil to save their Marginal MP's

Not content with the way the set up of constituencies already massively helps them win a majority and still poll less than the Conservatives, they are now trying to stop Political Parties from spending money in constituencies before an election is called. This is despite the fact that standing MP's can spend up 40,000 pounds a year "communicating" with their electors.

Jack Straw is obviously wanting to get this bill passed as soon as possible so that it hampers other political parties before the next General Election

Tories Claim General Election Spending Rules Fix

The Big Brother database and the DPP

Hard on the heels of stories about the Giant databases and the censorship of the internet we now have the Director of Public Prosecutions, Sir Ken Macdonald, publicly telling the current Labour Government not to

"break the back of freedom"

by creating irreversible powers that could be misused to spy on individual citizens and so threaten Britain's hard-won democracy. Sir Ken, who steps down next month as DPP, continued

"We need to take very great care not to fall into a way of life in which freedom's back is broken by the relentless pressure of a security state.

"Technology gives the state enormous powers of access to knowledge and information about each of us, and the ability to collect and store it at will. Of course, modern technology is of critical importance to the struggle against serious crime. Used wisely, it can protect us."

But he added that "we need to understand that it is in the nature of state power that decisions taken in the next few months and years about how the state may use these powers, and to what extent, are likely to be irreversible. They will be with us forever. And they, in turn, will be built upon. So we should take very great care to imagine the world we are creating before we build it. We might end up living with something we can't bear".

The most important point of this speech is the fact that these type of plans are irreversible. Once they are in place they just never go away and are almost always built upon to take away more freedoms and allow us less privacy in our normal lives.

This is from the Government who has publicly said that not supporting 42 days allows terrorists to kill members of the public. The implied threat is that they know best and can do no wrong.

This is the true "crimespeak" of 1984 arriving in 2008.

Big Brother database threatens to 'break the back of freedom' - UK Politics, UK - The Independent

Doublethink and Crimethink Time has arrived

Read this I will add more later.

According to Andy Burnham, the introduction of a ratings system for internet content would not be "over-burdensome". We have asked the Ministry of Truth (aka Department for Culture, Media and Sport) on several occasions how such a system might work and how its Minister’s view that such regulation would be easy to implement could be squared with general consensus that it would be unworkable. Or, as one expert put it: "bonkers". We asked again last week.

The Ministry did not feel they could elucidate further. A spokesperson explained that as the UK Council for Child Safety on the Internet had only just been set up, and would be making recommendations about regulating the internet in due course, "it wouldn't be helpful or appropriate for us to speculate about what those recommendations might be".

Also have a look at this article in the Guardian

UK.gov says: Regulate the internet • The Register

Mandy rumours Continue.

Gordon may yet live to regret the re-re-appointment of Mandy. The rumours continue that he was hitting the gravy train hard whilst he was EU Trade Commisar. There are now allegations of at least 3 separate relationships that may not be quite right. Time will tell, but with the history of Mandy's previous ministerial positions it's not looking good.

Storm over Mandy's freebie yacht cruise with shoe tycoon Mail Online

MoD should 'hang their heads in shame'

Yet again the Coroner has sent a bleak message to the MOD after the death of one of our soldiers. This time he has said to the MOD that they should "Hang their heads in Shame" over the death of Cpl Mark Wright.

Cpl Wright was killed attempting to rescue one of his injured comrades. The Coroner said his death was caused by equipment failure and lack of equipment amongst other reasons. The failures were both large and small, some of which could have been fixed by minimal expenditure.

We have apparently just found 50 bn to bail out our banks surely we can find 2-3 bn to ensure our troops are properly equipped for their jobs.

Coroner: MoD should 'hang their heads in shame' over soldier's death - Telegraph

The Downfall of Gordon Brown

This is part of a series of Video clips based around a short clip from Der Untergang . Basically it's Hitler having a bit of a stushie at his underlings. Now the clip is used with subtitles to shed a light on some current situations. This one is about Gordon Brown and the House Price Crash. Not for the easily offended but a good laugh.

Til' death us do Part - A reminder to Mandelson

Mandy or more rightly The Right Honourable The Lord Mandelson, had his first speech as a Minister in the House of Lords yesterday. Apparently it a was all slickness and sweetness. However the reply to Mandy had a few nice touches of irony for him. As Simon Hoggart explains

The Tory Lord Hunt replied in equally glutinous terms. "A very accomplished maiden speech!" he gushed. "He led us on a fascinating and absorbing journey through history ... his impressive career to date ... his tributes to colleagues and, in particular, the staff were much appreciated and reciprocated by us all! He has indeed joined the aristocracy."

At this point I thought I would gag, but at least he had concealed one or two little acid bombs.

"As a life peer he can only be introduced once into the house ... we are together now until death us do part."

He quoted the Bible on the topic of lilies: "They toil not, neither do they spin.

"While he toils, I am sure he will reflect deeply on the second part of that quotation ..."

This was good, sarcastic stuff, and I suddenly found my breath returning.

A little reminder to Mandy that the House of Lords may not be that easy a place to live if your life is full of spin.

It has become a difficult place to please as a number of Government Ministers have found to their cost just this week.

Simon Hoggart's sketch: Mandelson takes peers' breath away Politics The Guardian

What's eating Campbell

Alastair Campbell froths at the mouth about the possibility of Cameron and the Tories being the next government in this article in the New Statesman. He really is a piece of work. His real problem is that he can't see past the old style "class" wars. These disappeared years ago, but he is stuck in Labour time lock which refuses to see that the world moves on. His hypocrisy knows no bounds.

Some quotes from the article

I cannot stand the sight of the Tories getting smugger and smugger, thinking they can waltz back into power when they have done nothing to deserve it.

Smug you couldn't get any smugger than Alastair!
Next we have this piece of garbage about doffing caps and toffs

Much more than here, the old class structures still have a certain hold in our country, I am afraid to say, and there is a lot of cap-doffing going on. With him as leader and Boris Johnson in the mayor's office - quite a lot of the highly paid people running the newspapers and broadcasts and filling the columns have no trouble with a bunch of Old Etonians running the country from White's.

"But it is the last thing Britain needs, not after all the progress we've made towards a truly meritocratic country. Cameron's speech at his conference showed that once you get [past] his youth and his cherubic looks, there is nothing much new Tory about him," Campbell said. "There was also a nastiness there that will have surprised a few people - all that rubbish about teachers refusing to put plasters on kids' knees and soldiers not being respected in their communities. What complete cock.

Stunning, he has no idea about real life and what goes on in the UK these days.


New Statesman - What's eating Campbell

42 Days Pay-off for DUP?

According to the Mail Gordon Brown and Harriet Harman have had a big stushie over the relaxation of the abortion laws planned for the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill.

The final line in the article is interesting it says

It emerged yesterday that Mr Brown has responded to pressure from Ulster MPs by making it clear that the Government should not support moves to legalise abortion in the Province on the grounds that it would jeopardise the peace process.

Now pardon me for being a bit suspicious but might this be part of the pay-off for the DUP supporting Gordon's 42 day Debacle?

Just a thought.

PM clashes with deputy Harman over plans to relax abortion laws Mail Online

Audit Commission loses 10 Million in Iceland Crash

Stunning the Audit Commission who really should know better, have apparently lost £10m in the Iceland Banks crash. Somewhat humiliating for a watchdog whose remit is

The Audit Commission is an independent watchdog, driving economy, efficiency and effectiveness in local public services to deliver better outcomes for everyone.

Our work across local government, health, housing, community safety and fire and rescue services means that we have a unique perspective. We promote value for money for taxpayers, covering the £180 billion spent by 11,000 local public bodies.

As a force for improvement, we work in partnership to assess local public services and make practical recommendations for promoting a better quality of life for local people.

Apparently they have five strategic objectives as follows

• to raise standards of financial management and financial reporting;
• to challenge public bodies to deliver better value for money;
• to encourage continual improvement in public services so they meet the changing needs of diverse communities and provide fair access for all;
• to promote high standards of governance and accountability; and
• to stimulate significant improvement in the quality of data and the use of information by decision makers.

Number 1 appears to be a bust now!

Perhaps this will help the government to understand how LGA's manage to lose so much money investing in Icelandic Banks.

Financial crisis: Oxford University and Audit Commission fall victim to banks - Telegraph

La La Land - Wednesday - Boom and Bust Day

The news in Gordon's La La Land has moved on now that the Banking Crisis has been solved by our own Superman. Unfortunately it's now dominated by Boom and Bust, in particular Bust which appears to be the way we are heading in the UK. Of course Bust no longer exists in Gordon's La La Land so it has been renamed as Tory Bust and of course will never happen as Gordon now has the figures to prove this, or he will have shortly once he's brownied them.

Unfortunately the UK Jobless figures managed to defeat even Brown's dodgy mathematics. They show the highest rise in the total for 17 years and with over 2,000 a day becoming jobless the total in the UK will likely be more than 2m by Christmas and could reach as much as 3m by the time of the next election in 2010.

Never mind Super-Broon has a stunning idea for all these people, not only has he got work for them they will also save the world from Climate Change. Loft Lagging will be the new job for all the unemployed Bankers, their job will now, not be to spout out hot air, but to stop it from escaping from our cold and draughty houses. Unfortunately as usual Broon's statistics and maths are a little wayward. It appears that only 2-3 days worth of jobless people at the current rate could solve this problem in no time at all. Never mind but it did seem like Gordon had had his Norman Tebbit moment. Just a shame he doesn't get on his bike and find a new job.

With the Banking crisis sorted and Gordon telling all and sundry how he alone had solved it, across in Europe it looks like some of his minions in Europe don't quite believe his story. In fact Newsnight had an interesting interview with Badger's French equivalent Christine Lagarde who, having donated her hairstyle to Badger, wasn't quite on story for the BBC's EmilyMaitlis who was desperately trying to get her to acknowledge the beatification of the hero Gordon. As "Sally C" on Political Betting put it

1.You have all implemented the Brown plan.

No, the plans are not all Brown plans, they are all different. There is a mix of ideas from the British plan but also ideas from others.

2. But Gordon was the fast off the mark; you needed a kick up the bum.
No. We all acted at different paces because some were in more trouble than others and had to act more urgently [ie us!].

3. But Gordon was the driving force.
No. It was the G4 who ALL put ideas on the table at that meeting and decided to move forward with other nations, each nation doing its part.
The President of the EU was directing operations.

All the time she spoke she had a half smile on her face.

They think Gordon is a spinning prat - not a superhero. He has done his bit [no doubt] but he’s overegged it and they have seen through him.

I am begining to like the EU. More than Brown anyway.

I would add that Madame Lagrande did give Badger some praise!

On the home scene we missed Gordon at Prime Minister's Questions when Harriet Harman wasn't quite on form especially when sitting in Superman's seat. She obviously hasn't quite had the proper superhero training yet. Hague was stately and his final question was rather good when he said Brown's claim to have abolished boom and bust was the

"most foolish, most hubristic, most irresponsible ever made". As the economy goes into recession, people are not going to forget who led us to this point.

Uncle Vince also had two good questions which Harriet appeared to fail to understand, her grasp on the current crisis and the economy appeared rather poor and she required to consult her prepared notes for some appropriate or in most cases inappropriate answers.

Mandelson was also still having a bit of a tough time seemingly not trusted with the role of anti-corruption Champion. What can he have done not to be trusted with this role?

Elsewhere Labour's new Schools Minister Sarah McCarthy-Fry admitted to Michael Gove in a Parliamentary Question that just 4 of the 113 letters about the government's new diplomas have been supportive, unfortunately she couldn't then do some simple calculator work on these figures or get her English correct. Obviously she is high on the list to become Chancellor in the near future.

Oh and by the way the Stock Markets have been tanking today, and are continuing to crash in Asia so it looks like fears of the Banking Crisis being over are slightly premature or then again it could be the coming recession.

Euro we go!

Benedict Brogan reports the following

The Luxembourg Legend that is Jean-Claude Juncker has offered an intriguing analysis of the financial bail-out in an interview with the Rheinischer Merkur, which we might have missed had it not been for the eagle eyes of Bloomberg:

Oct. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Luxembourg Finance Minister Jean-Claude Juncker told German newspaper Rheinischer Merkur the U.K. will consider adopting the euro once the credit crisis abates. ``The British prime minister had to beg to be let into the room in which the euro group was meeting,'' Juncker told the newspaper in an interview published today. ``I'm sure that when the storm is over, the British will think about whether they shouldn't become an equal in all decision-making bodies.''

Stunning if true. Would Gordon do this without a vote.

Benedict Brogan's political blog

Mandy won't be Anti-Corruption Champion

This is embarrassing to say the least for Peter Mandelson. Jack Straw has just announced in a written ministerial statement that he and not the Business Secretary has been personally appointed by Gordon Brown as the Goverment's official "Anti-Corruption Champion".

Why is this bad news for Lord Mandelson? Well, the last person to hold the title was his predecessor at DBERR, John Hutton. Worse still, the secretariat and other officials will REMAIN in Mandelson's department.

Not surprising really that your anti-corruption champion shouldn't be a minister who has already resigned twice and is already having questions asked about his probity yet again.

Labour can't even trust it's own ministers shocker!


Paul Waugh | Blogs | Evening Standard

Giant Database Plan

Not content to spray just our personnel data about the place, Labour now have a plan to spray all our communications data about the place. Apparently they will keep this in a giant Database.

Judging by their previous attempts this will be a very large Microsoft Access database kept on someone's USB pen drive though in a huge advance they may remember to password protect it with a default password so at least one person won't be able to access it.

Apparently even Governments own reviewer of anti-terror laws, Lord Carlile, is not greatly in favour, he said:

"The raw idea of simply handing over all this information to any government, however benign, and sticking it in an electronic warehouse is an awful idea if there are not very strict controls about it."

He's not joking. Currently data is leaking from this government like a bottomless bucket. They have no idea how to store and access data securely.

This is just another example of Big Brother Labour at work.


BBC NEWS | Politics | Police may get more data powers

La La Land - Tuesday's Report of Burials

Buried under the Reports of how the Financial Crisis has been sorted by Gordon we have the following list just from today.

1. Secret Coroners Inquests dropped from the Counter Terrorism bill. The bill is now a complete waste of time.
   
2. SAT tests dropped for 14 year olds.
3. Inflation at record high for 16 years.
4. Justice Department to cutback over 10,000 jobs.
5. Mandy in double trouble.
6. New Terror alert coincidence day after 42 days bill dropped. "Reckless" Comments by Lord West.

Remarkable! Considering yesterday was a bad day as well.

Not in La La Land - Total, utter, dreadful defeat.

A link to an article by Daniel Finkelstein in the Times. Read it and understand why the Great Saviour is really an Emperor with new Clothes.

His final conclusion is spot on

The idea that boom and bust had been abolished was not a small claim among many. It was the central claim of this Government. It was the boast of boasts - the boast upon which all other boasts were built. And now it has been revealed as totally empty. Not triumph, then. Disaster. Not victory. Total, utter, dreadful defeat.

If this is a triumph, I'd hate to see a disaster | Daniel Finkelstein - Times Online

Mandelson the Bully

The attached article in the First Post shows another sample of Mandelson's behaviour in Government that should raise more concerns on his appointment as Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.

It looks at his "misjudgement" in being associated with Russian Billionaire Oleg Deripaska, and then looks at how he was bullying the tiny state of Guyana. The First Post says

One of Mandelson's last acts as EU Trade Commissioner was to threaten Guyana, one of the poorest countries in the world, with financial penalties that could amount to €70m a year because the Guyanese government has so far refused to join an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the European Union.

Guyana has criticised various "anti-developmental" conditions of the agreement, including the relaxation of barriers on foreign investment and clauses on intellectual property rights that would make it more difficult for Caribbean countries to patent their own generic medicines.

The First Post also comments that it is

No wonder that a report commissioned by the EU's rotating president, Nicolas Sarkozy, condemned the tactics - "pressure, paternalism and threats" - used by the EU commission during these negotiations.

So here we have Mandelson doing what he does best bullying and cajoling the "little" people into doing what he wants with various threats. This is exactly what he did in his previous times in British Government and why he has been brought back in a cynical move by Gordon Brown, to be the Labour Heavy after Gordon's failed attempts.

The report in the First Post also finishes off with the following

For Mandelson, ­ like the New Labour project itself, ­ symbolises the bullying arrogance of the neo-liberal creed that has dominated the world for the last three decades.

It is a world in which powerful countries prise open the economies of the poorest so that private corporations can control their food, their water and their electricity, where governments claim to be powerless to intervene in the workings of the 'free market' and yet are suddenly able to produce undreamt-of sums of money to bail out banks when they fail - our banks, not those of Russia, Argentina or Thailand which once went to the wall without receiving any bail-outs or offers of assistance.

We may well wonder at the motives of Gordon Brown for bringing one of his former political enemies back into the government. But as we shake our heads at the cynicism and moral blankness of the "prince of darkness" we might pause to consider that these vices are not just his: ­ they are part and parcel of the system that allows such men to flourish.

Not only should we consider how Mandy can be brought back but, why and how, our system can allow this to happen to a twice disgraced politician who appears to have sucked more bonuses from the system than many of the erstwhile bankers we have seen pilloried in the press in the last few days.


How Guyana brought out the bully in Mandelson | Opinion | The First Post:

Mandy and the Russian Billionaire

A new mystery involving Brown's new poodle Peter Mandelson. According to the Evening Standard.

Peter Mandelson faced new questions today over his relationship with Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska. The newly-appointed Business Secretary is at the centre of a row over a potential conflict of interest, the Evening Standard can reveal, after two European companies sought his help following allegations that Deripaska's company cheated them over a $1 billion deal in Moscow.

Mandelson, then European Trade Commissioner, took up their case. To their surprise, the two companies then learned that Mandelson was enjoying lavish hospitality aboard the Queen K, the yacht owned by Deripaska, the man they blamed for defrauding them.

The revelation comes at an awkward time for Mandelson. The Business Secretary, now Lord Mandelson after his ennoblement yesterday, was parachuted into the Government by Gordon Brown at a time of grave crisis. Mandelson had already resigned from the Cabinet twice and this new disclosure yet again raises questions about his judgment. Why, it was asked, did he not declare a personal interest when his role as commissioner clashed with a friendship?

Mandelson dismissed suggestions that he had acted unwisely and, in a long statement to the Standard, defended his right to a private life. Yet the Russian connection raises nagging doubts at a time when the Government is fighting to stabilise the turmoil engulfing Britain's financial sector.

One day after he has been ennobled to be Gordon's new enforcer, he's already in the muck. Now there's a surprise for this man who has already had to resign twice.

H/T James A on Political Betting

Mandelson, the billionaire and a growing mystery | News

La La Land Report - Tuesday - Toothless Gordon

After all Gordon Brown's hard man act with the Counter Terrorism bill and his bribing of the DUP with 200 million of our money, we now have a bill that bears little resemblance to what Gordon wanted to impose on us.

Gone are the two main tenets of the bill, 42 days and secret inquests.

What is also gone is any relationship Gordon had with Civil Liberties groups and many of his own MP's. All in the aim of trying to portray him as a "hard" man of politics.

I hope he thinks it was worth it.


BBC NEWS | Politics | 'Secret inquests' plans dropped

Black October?

I thought I'd jut pop this comment from Political Betting up on the blog as it is by someone dear to my heart...!

Iain Dale has just posted this on his blog, Cameron Foresaw Liquidity Crisis in March.

I don’t often quote in its entirely a blogpost from another blog, but this one from ConservativeHome’s Tory Diary merits an exception. Over to Tim Montgomerie…

There’s been a lot of criticism of David Cameron recently but this extract of a speech that he gave more than six months ago showed a pretty good understanding of the issues of capital inadequacy and illiquidity at the heart of this crisis:

“As well as the reforms we have outlined for the UK financial system, we need reforms at a global level too. So let me suggest one important reform that needs to take place in light of the recent crisis in world banking.

“The Basel capital accords determine how much capital a bank must set aside for a given amount of lending. This makes good sense, and, for obvious reasons, it is right to set the rules at a global level. But economists have identified some key problems with the current Basel accord.

“First, the rules on liquidity, which has been at the core of the current crisis, are too weak. Banks can operate with enough funding only to survive for a couple of weeks, but still be within the rules. Second, we need to examine which asset classes and which institutions are covered by existing rules. For example, the zero-weighting of some triple A assets has led to distortions in asset allocation. Put simply, some of the debts were kept off balance sheet so they didn’t count as lending under the rules.

“Third, judgements about credit risk were delegated to rating agencies who themselves had incentives to expand the amount of lending that was allowed under the rules. Put simply, because they are paid fees for rating debts, credit rating agencies had an interest in there being as much debt as possible. Finally, market risk was measured by backward looking models which tend to exacerbate the credit cycle, not dampen it. When credit is easy, the models allow more lending. When credit tightens, the models reduce the amount of permitted lending.

“In short, liquidity risk was all but ignored, credit risk was delegated, and market risk was backward looking. And we now know that not only did the regulators not know, but too often the banks themselves didn’t know, the full extent of the risks they were subjected to. But let me say again, any reforms at an international level will need care to ensure that in tackling the past problems they do not create the problems of the future. At the same time, we must all recognise that crises are inevitable, so a prudent Government, as we will be, that is committed tol be, must improve our response to these crises when they appear.”

Thanks to Richard North of EU Referendum blogspot for pointing the extract out to us.

Now, I don’t remember Gordon Brown anticipating the banking crisis in this clear way, do you? And while I am in the mood to nick things from other blogs, take a look at THIS post from Ben Brogan, where he quotes from Gordon Brown’s speech to Reuters this morning…

“In future regulatory systems there will be both greater attention to issues of solvency and liquidity and probably a pro-cyclical attitude where in a period of growth you have got to lay aside more for the possibility that there will be contractions.”

Isn’t that what the Conservatives have been saying for the last 18 months?”

I think that Brown and the PLP misread the mood last week, but I don’t think that Cameron and Osborne did. I suspect that the Conservative Whips worked just as hard as the Labour Whips to make sure that the Conservative benches behaved in exactly the opposite manner to their colleagues across the floor.

Back during the Conservative Conference Cameron was able to articulated the current problems in a much more voter friendly way than Brown, the bipartisan attempt to get the government into the drivers seat and get the engine started was effective.
Brown turned down any offers to share the limelight with Osborne and Cable, but they were offered in this time of economic crisis.

Now its time for a reality check some honesty from our politicians. We are not in a good place to weather this economic downturn, and we are facing years of belt tightening both personally, and in the public finances.

Very tough decisions are going to need to be taken sooner, rather than later. And if this government continue with a Scorched earth policy for short term political gain, rather than longer term fiscal prudence, then they need to be held to account at every point.

Cameron and Osborne need to carry on with their strategy of being honest about the difficulties, and tough medicine which will need to be administered. They need to knock this spin about military wars, this is an economic tsunami.

We had Black Wednesday, this is more like Black October!

Kind of sums up what is happening this month.

La La Land - Monday's Report - Gordon saves the World

Today was apparently the day according to some commentators that "our" Gordon saved the world. Let's have a look at what he and his government have achieved today.

1. Spent 37bn of our money on second class banks, who are in a Financial Crisis, much of which was caused by the actions and then inactions by their "saviour" Gordon Brown
   
2. Lost a humiliating vote in the Lords when the 42 day detention plan was defeated by 309 - 118 votes.
   
3. Then released details of the plan to drop 42 days from the anti-terrorism bill and replace it by an emergency one-line bill to be used when Labour deem it correct.
4. Admitted the loss of 1.7 million, yes 1.7 million peoples data. They don't even really know how much, who or what has been lost.
5. A probe by the Speaker of the House of Commons into an allegation that the former Prime Minister deliberately misled the House over exemption of F1 from tobacco advertising bans.

So a great day for Gordon. On any ordinary day anyone of the bottom 4 would have been enough to bring about calls for heads to roll, but today Gordon has saved the world.

I can only wonder what he can achieve in La La land on Tuesday. The Universe beckons. Only a few problems though. The supplies are running out there is no money to buy more and borrowings getting a bit tricky these days without any collateral.

Will we own Second Class Banks?

The attached article from the Telegraph discusses why Barclay's has preferred to try and raise capital itself rather than go cap in hand to Gordon for some of our money to keep them in business.

As the article says

Barclays yesterday unveiled plans to raise £6.6bn of new capital from the private sector as chief executive John Varley warned that government ownership of rival banks will leave them "hobbled" and at risk of losing key employees.

John Varley the Chief Executive says Barclay's can get the money privately and it will also stop dividends for a few years and raise further money through savings. If it can do this then it will not have to put up with any interference from the government nor any hobbling on their chosen strategies.

It is also worried that if it did take money from the public purse it could not retain top employees as they might feel constrained or perhaps they would not like the idea of following government instructions.

If this is so it means that if Barclay's survives the next couple of years it will be better able to perform and will have better personnel than banks who have taken the public money.

If this is so then we may well have just bought 37bn worth of second class banks. This could mean a greater loss on this high risk investment or a much longer repayment period. This means that the British public will suffer as we have less money for public spending and/or possible tax cuts.

Barclays in £6.6bn private fundraising to avoid constraint - Telegraph

Brown in La La Land - He's just making it up now

Fraser Nelson writing in the Spectator's Coffee House blog has this to say.

Another breathtaking Brownie at the Prime Minister’s press conference today:

“I have to say we face this situation with relatively low national debt because of the steps we have taken since 1997, where we wiped off perhaps more than around £100 billion of debt by reducing the proportion of debt in our national income.”

Huh? The ONS is unequivocal: net debt was £351bn in May 1997 and £632bn in August – or £545bn if you exclude Northern Rock. So where is his “wiping out” of £100 billion? Normally with a Brownie you can see how he cooked up the fake figure. But this time, it really does look like he just made it up.

Consider this for a moment. As Brown chastises bankers for dishonest off balance sheet accounting, he is concocting figures live on national television. There has never been a greater need for honesty but Brown remains unable to level with the public about the amount of debt his government has saddled us with. A reminder that the malaise Brown so piously diagnoses in the City – creative accounting – remains at the heart of his own treatment of government accounting.

On live television has yet again lied to us all. This fantasy land he lives in where he quotes out tractor statistics which are patently untrue is just amazing. Why don't the big TV networks take him up on his lying. I understand they are unlikely to get repeat interviews if they do this but that's what real journalism should be about.

He's just making it up now | Coffee House

Lords humiliates Labour on 42 days

The Lords have rejected the proposed changes to the detention plans to allow 42 days. They rejected them by 309 - 118 votes. As Jon Craig on Sky said, "This is a crushing humiliation for the Government".

Update: Government to make statement on this in House of Commons at 20:30. Will this be a humiliation for Gordon Brown who has personally backed the 42 plan? I can't see it being anything else.

Lords rejects 42-day detention plans Politics guardian.co.uk

Tearjerking Hypocrisy

Who said this and when?

And so here I am - working for this incredible country, while trying as far as possible to give my children an ordinary childhood

Some people have been asking why I haven't served my children up for spreads in the papers

And my answer is simple

My children aren't props; they're people

Clue here.

Today we get this.

The PM has been meeting people all day. But when we walk into the living room of the flat 'above the shop', there is someone else waiting patiently for his help - a small boy wearing a pair of cartoon pyjamas. 'The wheel's come off,' says John Brown, five next week, handing over a Transformers car. 'Fix it, Dad.'

Brown puts his jacket on the coffee table, where a stack of official papers are ready for tomorrow. Then, obligingly, he gets down on all fours on the carpet, his tie flapping, and searches for the missing wheel.

Stunning, but why should be surprised by the King of Brownies, supported by the Prince of Darkness

Brown is La-la - Official

Psychologist Lucy Beresford tells Daily Politics Gordon Brown is 'deeply insecure' and bringing Peter Mandelson back was "Freudian" bordering on "self-mutilating behaviour".


BBC NEWS | Programmes | Daily Politics | Brown 'psychologically insecure'

More La-La from Gordon

According to Gordon who was speaking from his home in La-La land

... he was working internationally to reduce the price of oil, and that he'd like to see the winter fuel allowance higher, were it not for the need to balance expenditure.“I’d like the winter allowance, frankly, to be higher, but we’ve got to balance off the need to do other things such as increase expenditure on the health service and meet all our targets on the health service.

“I’m trying to get the oil price down, and get the fall passed on directly to people at the petrol pumps and then on to gas and electricity bills. “We are determined that just as people pass on the rise, they pass on the fall when the oil price falls.“We want to see more stability – I’m talking to OPEC members and telling them that they must not cut oil production now…they must act in a statesman like way to help the rest of the world by having a stable reduction in the oil price.

Translation. I'm about to try and bribe the voters but I've just found out I left my wallet at home so you'll have to wait a few days. After Saving the world from Financial Meltdown, I am now sorting out the final problem of Oil Prices over which I have no control, I think God consults me and my Beatification is now complete.

Men in white coats are now talking to the Prime Minister to explain to him he is no longer in control of the future of the UK.

Update: Spectator has this as Gordon's Canute moment

Politics Home

MoD computer hard drive missing

Stunning a year after the major loss of Child Benefit data our government agencies and their contractors are still holding unencrypted data on portable disks that are either easily stolen or mislaid. In this case it is serving soldiers, many of whom will be abroad with little or no access to check if their id's are being used fraudulently.

What are they thinking about. Have they no brain, have they not ready anything about secure holding of data. Data such as this should be encrypted from birth to death and never stored unencrypted in any form for any reason.

It's not that difficult but it does require decent systems and processes. These are obviously missing despite the warnings and reports.

Yet again we have the same problem and yet again still bonus's will be paid and heads will not roll. Shocking and a disgrace to our serving forces.

BBC NEWS | UK | MoD computer hard drive missing

Join Gordon Brown in his La-La Land

The linked article in the Times is a must read for you to understand the fantasy La-La land our supposed Prime Minister is living in.

He is currently touring the country explaining to us how he has single-handily cured the world of all its financial ill's whilst inanely grinning at anyone who asks him a tricky question such as "What about the coming Recession?".

Now the Spectator suggests it's not even his own plan but comes from the G7/IMF World Bank Leaders.

He has obviously been told to look cheery in the face of the current crisis but his inability to work out what is appropriate during current times is beyond belief. This was again demonstrated at PMQ's this week when he managed to destroy any sense of the crisis staring him in the face by his inappropriate response to David Cameron's last question, when he was accompanied in his supposed joke by the braying donkeys of his supposed Government

As Gordon fêtes his five year 500 billion "stability and restructuring" plan, World Stock markets are dropping like stones for the seventh day in a row and countries, companies and our countrymen are going bankrupt at an alarming rate. Soon Gordon will not be able to sleep for his phone ringing as another company goes bankrupt, will he be laughing for much longer.

His inability to understand that the UK is uniquely badly placed to face this recession is now becoming a joke around the world. His belief that under his 10 years of stewardship of the economic well-being of the country he created a masterpiece immune to boom and bust has collapsed around him like the walls of Jericho but he remains convinced that it was nothing to do with him.

He has pissed the wealth of this nation down a drain of spending that we could not sustain whilst not even managing to sort out those problems his government promised to cure, back 11 years ago in the heady days of 1997. Now he is attempting to portray himself as Moses returned to deliver us from this Crisis of his own doing.

I am now seriously worried about our former great country, we have a leader who can't lead and is in a state of beatification, believing himself the great leader and curer of all ills, when in fact he is verging on delusional.

Our only hope, up here in Scotland, seems to be that Alex Salmond can bring forward his promise of Independence and we can lock Gordon away down in England. Time to vote SNP or have I now gone La-La as well.

We must lead the world to financial stability | Gordon Brown - Times Online

MSPs approve tartan register bill

Just so you know how MSP's spend their valuable time at Holyrood and how well our money is spent in this time of Crisis. Maybe this is why Gordon Brown has an inane grin on his face.

Surely this sort of thing should be done by the manufacturers and makes of these products and not at our expense.

BBC NEWS | Scotland | MSPs approve tartan register bill

Aberdeen Schools - £120m scheme 'funded by Iceland'

The BBC are reporting that the current project to refurbish 10 Aberdeen schools is being funded by money from a collapsed Icelandic Bank.

The Icelandic government seized control of Landsbanki earlier this week. So far the council has not commented on the impact of the Landsbanki collapse on the project or the extent of the bank's involvement in the deal.

Aberdeen City Council signed a public private partnership agreement with a consortium in February. The deal involved the consortium designing, building, financing and operating the schools over 30 years. Under the project, two new secondaries and seven new primaries will be built, with another primary being refurbished.

Aberdeen council are of course so cash strapped they couldn't actually afford to have money invested in the banks unlike other councils in Scotland who may have lost substantial amounts of money.

What the impact of this is on the schools and on current schools, some of which are under construction, remains to be seen.

BBC NEWS Scotland North East/N Isles £120m scheme 'funded by Iceland'

Gordon's (call me Joe) Five Year Stability and Restructuring Plan

Tomorrow at 7am Gordon or his sidekick Alistair will announce his 5 Year Stability and Restructuring Plan. This plan had better be good. But it is a huge gamble and is a result of the ten years of Gordon and Labour's stewardship of our economy.

As Damien Reece says in his article

Of course, gambling on banks could produce spectacular returns but at least Darling and Brown seem, finally, to have realised that they can no longer sit on their hands and wait for the financial crisis to abate. But they may have severely underestimated how much a US-style bail-out will cost.

The IMF provided a rather shocking figure to answer that question yesterday: £115bn – equivalent to the entire health budget or a one-off payment of around £2,000 for every man woman and child in the country.

If ever there were a finer illustration of how catastrophically exposed Britain is to the financial crisis, this must be it. The UK followed the mantra of “spend first, think later” for so many years that we forgot it would all have to be paid off eventually.

Few if any countries are immune to the crisis, but Britain is facing a proportionally bigger bill than most, largely for one specific reason: the regulation system set up by Gordon Brown in 1997 did not clamp down hard enough on those responsible for the current crisis.

The final bill for this manic clean-up operation will be enormous and future generations will end up paying, not just us. But this is no time to quibble – it is time to tackle this crisis head-on and put the building blocks in place for an eventual recovery.

Let us hope that Gordon and Alistair have for once got the numbers and decisions right.

We need more than Darling’s £50bn gamble to stave off recession - Telegraph

Don't Panic - We're Doomed?

Martin Wolf writing in the Financial Times has the following to say

As John Maynard Keynes is alleged to have said: “When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?” I have changed my mind, as the panic has grown. Investors and lenders have moved from trusting anybody to trusting nobody. The fear driving today’s breakdown in financial markets is as exaggerated as the greed that drove the opposite behaviour a little while ago. But unjustified panic also causes devastation. It must be halted, not next week, but right now.

That's great but what do you do if your savings are in Icesave?

All I can say at the moment is that Alistair Darling had better pull his finger out tomorrow morning and announce something that will stop the panic and not just another bit of dithering.

By the way who does Captain Mainwaring remind you of?

FT.com / Columnists / Martin Wolf - It is time for comprehensive rescues of financial systems

42-day detention dropped as unworkable

What a waste of all our time and money. This unworkable bill will be dropped just as Gordon Brown will be dropped at the next election.

The only good thing is that Gordon Brown wasted so much of his political leverage on this bill. He has only achieved much bad feeling amongst his own party. This was supposed to be the clunker showing the strength of his hold on Labour.

It is typical of Labour that this bad news is buried on "Brown" Monday.

42-day detention dropped as unworkable - Times Online

The Curse of Jonah hits Mandy

According to the Sun

PETER Mandelson was recovering this morning after being rushed to hospital last night with a mystery health crisis.

The new Business Secretary was taken ill as he dined with health minister Lord Darzi.

Sources refuse to confirm it was a heart-related condition.

He was whisked to St Mary's hospital, Paddington, from the west London restaurant.

Today government sources refused to give details of Lord Mandy's illness.

But a source said: "It isn't life threatening."

Lord Mandelson was having dinner with health minister and world-renowned surgeon Lord Darzi to discuss NHS reform.

The fact that the internationally-renowned surgeon was with him and unable to assist suggests it was a serious attack.

Sources say the Business Secretary will have to return to hospital for treatment.

But the scare means he will miss the inaugural meeting of the new National Economic Council this morning.

Update 09:50: According to the BBC he will need an operation.

Peter Mandelson's late night dash to hospital | The Sun |News

What's a Mandelson

According to David Cameron the definition of a Mandelson in Conservative circles is the time it takes between meeting Mandelson and him being rude about Gordon Brown.

Mischievous Mandy drops another brick

I haven't blogged for a while but thought this story about Mandelson would show the character of this politician.

I quote

It was only weeks ago that Peter Mandelson was, in the words of a senior Tory source, “dripping pure poison” about Gordon Brown in his ears. These were not just passing remarks but a well-constructed critique of the prime minister’s failings born of intimate knowledge. The government’s vulnerability to the charge of overloading the country with debt was also discussed, I can reveal.

This article will let you know who the senior Tory is.

When Peter picked a peck of pitta ...

Could the Taverna Agni be the new Granita? It has already been noted that European Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson dined with shadow chancellor George Osborne at the taverna in northern Corfu in August, and Osborne has said he has broken bread with Mandelson before, at Davos earlier this year.

But since when was Corfu the scene of high-powered political meetings? Mandelson has been a keen visitor to the island since banker and philanthropist Lord Rothschild, who owns a swish villa there, began extending his hospitality to the former spin doctor. And Osborne has also been schmoozing with the banking family. He has found a keen fan in the shape of Lady Serena Rothschild, who donated £190,000 to the Conservative party, specifically for Osborne's office.

What could Osborne and Mandelson be talking of while chewing their calamari? Surely Mandelson, occasional friend of Gordon Brown, would not have been so naughty as to offer advice to Osborne on strategy?

Gordon will reap what he has sowed.

Mischievous Mandy drops another brick | Martin Ivens - Times Online