'Forget Iraq, think Afghanistan'

Following on from a previous post we have the attached article.
Instead, of finishing off the work in Iraq the Brownites prefer to concentrate their energy on promoting the case for Britain's continued involvement in Afghanistan, which, they argue, has a more legitimate claim to be the front line in what was not so long ago known as the war on terror.

In one quote it maybe sums up all that is wrong with Gordon Brown and his government

This radical change of tack is best epitomised by the approach taken by David Miliband, the new Foreign Secretary, in setting out his foreign policy priorities.

As he boasts in this week's Spectator, he decided that his first visit outside Europe should be to Afghanistan and Pakistan because British interests are directly under threat from the activities of terror groups operating on both sides of the 1,500-mile border between the two countries.

By contrast, the fate of Iraq seems hardly to figure in his calculations, to the extent that senior Foreign Office officials privately complain that their new boss finds it difficult to stifle a yawn whenever the subject is raised at policy briefing sessions.

Yes the bad news is rolling in so just ignore it and it will go away. How often can Labour keep doing this to us?

'Forget Iraq, think Afghanistan' - Telegraph

Gagged by the Clunking Fist

Having allowed the sailors who were captured in Iran to sell their stories the MOD is now gagging the armed services from speaking out about conditions they are serving under. The use of forums, bulletin boards and blogs to do this has been increasing in the past months as conditions and the casualty rates have been increasing.

Let us wonder who might have prompted this "modernised" policy. The great "clunking fist" of Broon seems to be the most likely source as he attempts to control the political quagmire that is Iraq and Afghanistan.

Unfortunately for him, the stories and details of what is happening there are more and more coming into the public arena, particularly from members of the armed forces who have served in the area and have returned to the UK, who are passing on details to their friends and relatives. The true extent of casualties is coming out and the conditions and problems they are encountering are becoming well known.

This attempt to gag the Armed Forces will I predict backfire as the feelings in the Services are rising. The ability to post and blog anonymously is rather easy even from Iraq. Expect an increase in blogging from this area.

Update: Also have a look at this link in the Register which has some good comments about the effectiveness of this gagging order.

Update 2: Perhaps the new rules have been put in place because the MOD army of 1000 PR personnel is not quite getting it right and "bad" stories are appearing more frequently.

Also pop along to AARSE for some more discussion on this.

MoD issues gag order on armed forces | Special reports | Guardian Unlimited

Fighting for Pride

This article in the Times highlights the pressures and stresses our Armed Forces are encountering while serving in Iraq, and I doubt that Afghanistan will be any better.

The whole resolve to sort out the situation has disappeared from our Political Masters who can see the mounting body count and see only one way to come out of this whilst continuing to serve at the altar of the gravy train at Westminster. They will withdraw and leave Iraq to fend for itself.

What will we have achieved during our time in Iraq.

The truth is we will have achieved nothing and made Iraq a worse place to live. We went into Iraq saying we would bring them freedom and prosperity. All we have done is watch them disappear into anarchy. The least we can do is stay there with committed Politicians and Leaders and try to ensure peace for the majority of Iraqis.

The Americans at least are trying to do this now in the Baghdad area, whilst we are withdrawing from Basra, a city where we were initially welcomed, with our tails firmly between our legs.

The price for our armed forces and the conditions in which they operate is truly appalling, but the price being paid by Iraqi citizens is even worse. We cannot just withdraw and say get on with it.



Fighting for pride as pressure mounts on beleaguered troops - Times Online

Bottom Fetish?

First blog for along time. Stand by for resumption of Blogging as the Summer hols come to an end.



This rating was determined based on the presence of the following words:

* crap (3x)
* fart (2x)

New Arrival

New Arrival
Originally uploaded by fitaloon

New toy for Dad has arrived!

Conor Mckay - Wikipedia

Nice to see youngster's getting involved in Politics, particularly when you know them well. Conor is the son of one of my wife's good schoolfriends and his brother Aiden, is my wife's godson.

Conor Mckay - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Imperialism lives on!

Imperialism lives on!

Group claims EU imperial victory

Crap Coverage

Friday was a bit of a bad day for personal reasons I'm not going to mention, but a bit before that all happened the event mentioned happened, and I must admit I was a bit bemused at the time and wondered if I had really heard it right.

Anyway 12 hours later I remembered about it and thought it was worth mentioning as it was definitely the funniest moment I could recall in the election coverage, even surpassing watching our Jack stumble through his acceptance speech, the Arran boat saga, wondering why Ms Sturgeon should be called "Gnasher" and the debates on what Mr Eugenides should drink (A flaming anti-freeze, margarita and toilet duck cocktails with a brolly and a twist of lemon).

I thought Iain might ignore it, I would have, but he fessed up really well. As one of the comments on his blog says

I can't imagine any politician except Iain being honest enough to say 'had to answer a call of nature'.

That honesty is the main reason I look at your blog every day, Iain - though, admittedly, hearing you fart and so on was a little too much realism :)

If only these politicians had brain enough to learn that honesty is what the electorate long for. Spin and scripted presentation - even when designed to appear unscripted - are just massive turn electoral offs.

Politicians, burn your bloody scripts, forget the over-sculpted, apparatchick hair styles and personas and please, please, please speak from the heart - if you have hearts, that is.

Thanks for the moment Iain, I just don't want to dream about it again.

Iain Dale's Diary: Great Television Moments: No 94

Labour "Soor Plums"

According to the Telegraph and other sources Labour have taken the hump, a bit like their future Leader MaCavity Brown, and are apparently looking to challenge the result of the vote in Cunninghame North constituency which was won by just 49 votes by the SNP. This is the constituency which includes Arran and had a problem getting the votes delivered by boat. According to Labour

When the ballot boxes arrived they had been opened and some of the papers inside were wet.

Which is not surprising considering what they had gone through, anybody who has seen the boxes might understand why they might have been a bit battered, even if they hadn't been attacked by a golf club waving senior citizen.

Whilst this might appear to mean they would then be back in control of the Scottish Parliament, it is more likely that they would then drop one from the regional list which would go back to the SNP, which means no change in the number of MSP's for either party. The BBC has more on the story here.

If Labour does press for a review of this, they are more than likely going to open up a huge can of worms that they may prefer to leave closed, but as the columnist in the Telegraph says

... as I learnt from reporting on the murky world of Scottish politics, it pays never to underestimate the Scottish Labour party's arrogance and stupidity (a fatal combination in the affairs of a country) when it is backed into a corner. And so it is proving in Thursday's aftermath.

Continuing in the Telegraph is a litany of how the Labour Party in Scotland is having a severe sour grapes problem (should I have said soor plums). These include

• Jack McConnell stuttering and muttering about how he still wants to form a Government.
• Others saying it was just one seat so they are still within their rights to govern.

Nobody like a bad loser and this is what they are, granted that if after 50 years it is a bit of a shock to them, their supporters and their lackeys in the Scottish Media.

Any attempt to back-door a win in this election will inevitably create a huge backlash against them so let's hope they try and then fail.


Humility and guile: a plan to save the Union

Iain Dale forgets to turn off Microphone

Funniest part of the Election Coverage must go to Iain Dale at about 11ish this morning, whilst listening to the audio feed on 18DS he announced he needed to go and left his fellow announcers rather rapidly, sounds of them carrying on but in the background sound of walking , door banging and thunk, then loud, long fart and a good groan and then silence, thank god he was cut off in his prime, anyway couple of minutes later he arrives back in the studio saying he had urgent call of nature. One of the guests says "hope you turned your Mic off"

He hadn't! Priceless.

P.S. Was enjoying the coverage on 18DS before this.

Salmond's Victory in Gordon gives him the keys to Holyrood

Alex Salmond has led his party to victory in the Scottish Elections but has still to form a government in Scotland as he will have to go into coalition with other parties. It is likely to be the trough slurping Lib Dems as the major partners. I can't see the SNP managing to get into bed with any of the other parties. Even this won't be enough to give them a clear majority so it may just be a minority Government.

Alex Salmond meanwhile has claimed a great victory for himself by getting elected in Gordon. He took on a long shot and his victory gave the SNP's the seat they needed to best Labour. Anyone disputing his right to be First Minister will have a tough job.

So onwards to the Referendum. Once we have got that out of the way and rejected it, we can really find out what the Scottish Political Landscape is like, as the SNP lose their reason for existing and scatter to the other parties. Could be interesting, especially as England will be suffering under MaCavity for the next couple of years.

Hat Tip to Blue Moon on PB for pointing out the impact of the result in Gordon.

P.S. Lost in England one grumpy dour Brown bear, answers to the name of MaCavity. Known to hibernate in strange faraway places when bad news is on the go.

Salmond achieves Holyrood victory

SNP biggest party in Holyrood. McConnell Humbled

They will have 47 Lab 46. Macavity now gone into hiding in England somewhere. Will he ever come back to Scotland.

Blair's Springboard to Oblivion

Brown showing what he would do to Blair.

Whilst MaCavity Brown has been hiding in a deep dark damp place in the bowels of No 11 in case any part of this Labour Disaster might reflect on him, across at No 10 Blair appears to be living in a fantasy world where facts are mangled and fiction becomes the truth.

Despite losing 500 seats, the Tories eating into his heartlands and the SNP the biggest party and with the most MSP's in Scotland, Tony Blair has insisted Labour has a

"good springboard"

to win the next general election.

BBC political editor Nick Robinson, assessing the picture across Britain, said:

"By any conventional measure, if we look at Labour and don't think about their opponents, this is pretty dire."

BBC NEWS | Politics | Blair defiant despite poll losses

Scottish Elections ruined by vote problems

The Scottish Elections in 2007 for the Scottish Parliament and Local Councils will go down in history as the most inept and inadequate ever. They are worse that those that dogged the 2004 American Presidential elections and to hear Labour, as usual blaming it on anyone else but the Scottish Executive is beyond belief.

At the moment it looks like over 100,000 spoilt ballot papers have been (not) counted in the Scottish Parliamentary elections, no figures for the council elections are appearing yet but they will likely be as bad.

In addition to this the count has been suspended in seven places either because of system problems or recounts because of the vast number of spoilt ballots and what must now be a complete lack of faith in the system.

None of these problems will be news to people who have been reading the Scottish Blogs during the election as they have been highlighted many times.

What happens next, there will be an inquiry and as usual no one will be held responsible, but there is a likelihood that there may be legal challenges as this size of problem has never been encountered before. I foresee a number of challenges that may go on for some time leaving the real result in doubt for many months.

Human rights lawyers will no doubt be rubbing their hands with glee this morning with the thought of how much money they can make from this.
Rumours will soon be going round that Cherie Blair has arrived in Scotland to see if she can get her snout into the trough as Tony has given up his day job.

No doubt there will also be a number of former or budding politicians who will also be looking at challenging the results.

So what does this mean to us the voter (spoilt or not).

Without a doubt it shows that our level of interest in Politics has diminished when we cannot be bothered to learn how to vote. The information has been there and the help has been there. If we can't be bothered to notice that there were new ballot papers and new forms of voting then to an extent we have only ourselves to blame.

However we have also the fact that various organisations warned the Scottish Executive about combining the two types of voting on one day. Whilst it was no doubt cheaper and should have been more efficient, it has confused voters as to whether they should mark with a cross or with numbers. Scotland managed before when the elections were not held on the same day.

Right now we have become a third world country in terms of Electoral Competence, we will be a laughing stock to many countries whom we have looked down on in the past years. This is yet another in the long line of incompetent decisions made by the Scottish Executive and will live on to embarrass them for many years.

The result of the election will not now be known until much later today, though from indications it will be very close. After watching the coverage last night I was appalled at the stumbling and mumbling Jack McConnell after his declaration, if he retains his position as First Minister it may be time to flee the country, he is nearly as much of a joke as the elections. I just hope the SNP do get most seats and we get a change, it can only be better for Scotland.

Update: This story from one of the returning officers is worth a read.

More stories of incompetence appearing all over the place. A Wifie was on BBC Radio Scotland news at lunchtime as I was driving home saying at her Polling Station the plastic boxes had failed/broken and the returning officer was stacking the papers up on the floor next to him. So much for secrecy/security/honesty etc etc etc. Apparently she complained and the officer was rude to her. She is chasing the matter up with Chief Returning Officer.

Another woman from Aberdeen detailed how she had not received her postal vote which is again appearing to be a common problem.

Counts still going on.


Elections marred by vote problems

Aberdeenshire is Labour Free again

All the results for the Aberdeenshire Local Elections are in and the best news is that there are no Labour Councillors in the whole of Aberdeenshire yet again.

State of play after all counts is
Liberal Democrats 24(-4)
SNP 22(+7)
Conservatives 14(+3)
Independent 8(-6)


Aberdeenshire Council - Local Election Results 2007

Bruce Luffman and Marcus Humphrey Retain their seats.

My local Conservative councillors have both retained their seats, Congratulations. Aberdeenshire Council - Elections - Ward -

Spoilt Ballot Party ruins Scottish Elections

As previously warned both the E-Count system and the complications of new voting methods is making a joke of the Scottish Elections. Anniesland has just declared over 7% spoilt Ballots. If this goes on the Spoilt Ballot party will come in either 4 or 5th in the Election defeating the Greens.

This is shocking, it is a travesty and makes us look like a third-rate nation. A total rethink will be necessary and I would suggest their will need to be an Official Enquiry.

Don't also forget with the rate of spoilt ballots the whole election could now be in jeopardy and open to legal challenge. The rate is now overall at about 4-5%.

Countries like Zimbabwe and Nigeria will just be laughing at us. This is just another low point for the Scottish Executive.

Live Blog 3 - Last one just won't edit

From PB

Sean T; there are no exit polls because they’re vastly expensive. I led national polls for Harris for ITN in the 1987-92 period and they cost a couple of hundred thousand pounds even then. Regional polls really wouldn’t be much cheaper, as they still need the sample size and the number of sampling points to be valid.
The audience for other than a general election will not justify the cost for the media. We’re just going to have to keep watching real results - elsewhere and here!

by Robert Waller May 3rd, 2007 at 11:08 pm

23:36 Fog stopping Ballot boxes from Barra. Will be midday before count complete.

23:38 BBC reports turnout may be up to 60%

23:44 SNP contact in Inverness East Nairn and Lochaber still taking down signs,

23:48 5 mins to Wishaw declaration!

23:57 Mr Eugenides reports: Stirling is Michael Forsyth's old [Westminster] seat, and the Tories are trying desperately to take it "back". They require a swing of just under 5% to capture it from Labour.

My man inside the Stirling Tory campaign says - and this is hard information, by the way - that the Tories were ahead on the postal vote, with the SNP pushing Labour into third. With half the ballots now counted, the SNP are in pole position - just - with the Tories second and Labour still third. The remaining votes are, they think, from more rural areas of the constituency, which tend to be more Tory. It's going to be tight.

00:26

Nick Robinson of the BBC says Our boffins behind the scenes are analysing in detail the results in a few key wards. They tell me that the the early signs suggest this may not be as bad a night for Labour in England as had been anticipated. It may instead be the Lib Dems whose support is down on last year.

00:33 Mr eugenides reports

Radio Scotland have Annabel Goldie ahead in West Renfrewshire. Our Lady of the Doilies, much maligned (and rightly so) has had a good campaign: it would be a terrific result if she can come from third to boot out the egregious Trish Godman, of Labour.

00:34 Jack Mcconnell holds Wishaw, majority cut by 3500 and he is struggling to put brave face on it. This is dire, If he is our leader again we might as well flush the toilet on any hopes in the future.

00:38 hearing reports SNP doing well in ABerdeen south (Nicol Stephen), Please god let that be true.

00:43 Nearly 1,000 spoilt ballots in Wishaw. How thick are some people? Jesus.

00:51 Nick Robinson is continuing with the BBC line as follows

Some early signs of how the Tories are doing in the north. The party says that they are on course to become the largest party in Bury and to make gains in Crewe and Nantwich. The official results are not yet in. Sounds good - at first.

These areas used to have Tory MPs and these are councils they really need to take control of. So, the verdict will be likely to be good, but not good enough

00:52 Mcconnell back on the BBC, very nervous and halting, What a Gawwp. Hopes he has won confidence of Scotland. Almost stuttering, and mumbling and now onto pathetic manifesto speak.

00:56 he's getting worse and worse, he is dying on screen, He accuses others of being arrogant but declines to name them, what a prat.

01:01
God he is awful, accusing others of being arrogant but afraid to say who. Worst interview of a winning candidate I think I have ever heard.

If he is still our First Minister we should just turn into lemmings and jump off the nearest cliff.

01:10 Dr Hfuhruhurr has information from Gordon that Salmond is neck and neck there.

01:11 Parliamentary vote in Kelvin has over 1100 votes spoilt!

01:13 Dundee West to the Nats from Labour, Meltdown starting hopefully.

01:15 Swing was 6.8% Again spoilt votes very high. This will cause a big problem for the new parliament.

01:17 Everyone remarking on spoilt votes. I spent ages educating people how to vote what is so difficult about it. Next time we will have to take names and go round with the heavy mob.

01:22 Looking really bad for Lab in Wales may it continue.

01:28 Tartan hero reports
1.10am Gordon Jackson has just been overheard saying "there is no coming back from this" ... more or less conceding defeat... Nicola Sturgeon about to be declared the new Govan MSP.
On the three results declared across Scotland, the SNP vote is up 10%, Labour down 1%.

01:39 Tories holding Galloway & Upper Nithsdale.

01:40 With 3 results in nearly 3400 spoilt ballots, last time less than 500. What a disaster!

01:48 , What a prat Bill Butler a rant about heckling made him look stupid. Yet again a huge number of spoilt votes in Anniesland.

01:58 Shock News Spoilt Ballot Party take 4th place in Scottish Elections just behind Tories

02:13 Dundee is now totally SNP, Their first ever city.

02:29 my final entry I have to be up in 4 hours. It looks like Alex Salmond has won Gordon, great result for the SNP and kick in the teeth for the Lib dems. Hopefully this will continue into West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine and the Tories kick out the Lib Dems.

Have fun!

03:10 One final entry as Salmond wins Gordon and says that Postal Voting arrangements were totally inadequate, Also the fact of having the two different elections at the same time has invalidated thousands of votes. It's going to be tight, it will probably go down to the Western Isles tomorrow.

Now must go.

Live blog 2 - Live bloggers in Scotland

23:13 Picked this up from Doctor Vee ,just having a wander around.


23:15 First result from Motherwell & Wishaw expected within 30 mins. ?

23:17 Live coverage of Scottish Elections on BBC Parliament here

Live Blog Time

In rural Aberdeenshire people still voting late on met a couple just walking down at 21:30 and the Polling station was quite busy. Hopefully a good turnout, itching to see change in Scotland.
Might grab a quick wee dram but work and a drive in the morning beckons so it will only be a little one.
SNP claim they are challenging Labour closely in Glasgow Kelvin. Could be the first seat to declare.

10:48 Finally got kids to bed , wife watching Question Time on Sky (Channel 974-988 ) as its not on in Scotland.

22:51 Now got QT up on in internet hoping for Patsy to have a hard time, she would be gone by now if the elections weren't on. She is the sacrificial lamb for tonight.

22:53 just as I write that the question is should Patsy resign, apparently the most asked question!

22:57 Patsy at her patronising worst!

22:58 Caol Ila in hand, tasty

22:59 Patsy getting hard time what a shame!

23:04 newsnight saying indications turnout up in Scotland

23:05 test on PB says

LOL

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/localgovernment/story/0,,2072153,00.html

Guardian story on briefing doc for Labour ministers tonight

“The first of three “key messages” ministers were briefed to explain reads: “This was always a very tough set of midterm elections for Labour. However we fully respect the message the British people is sending us this evening.”
It offers recommended answers to questions about the party’s unpopularity and the handover of power to Mr Brown. Initially, ministers were told they should say: “Let us wait and see what the results are before engaging in speculation. We will know soon enough.” Once the results began to come in, the paper said ministers should reply: “We are midway through an unprecedented third term. All governments experience midterm setbacks at the polls. In the end what matters is we have the right policies to take the country forward and take the tough decisions for the long term.”