³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ

Birnam Wood continues to advance to Dunsinane to do for the Thane o' Fife?

The other big story in Brown's backyard
is the 'sit-in' and threatened job losses
at Curtis Fine Papers in Guardbridge in
Fife between Leuchars and St Andrews.

They've been hit by the strong Euro and the rising cost of raw materials (including fuel) -
but the tipping point seems to have come with the credit crunch which has scuppered bold attempts to diversity into local housing to cross-subsidise the overseas expansion?

The Dundee Courier website has details -
and also a picture of Alex Salmond being
given a football shirt by Barcelona .........

I also heard a radio report about big electricity price increases by EDF the
French electricity company whose PR
is of course Gordon B's little brother!

EDF are also having problems over in France with their nuclear reactor leak.

Shame you didn't do a whole edition on Glasgow East a week ago. You might have been able to read the runes better.

Note for next time, perhaps?

Could someone explain why you got the turnout so wrong - from the 46% Michael reported at the beginning of the count to the real 42%?

BUT BUT.....GLASGOW EAST WAS A RESULT!

Given that New Labour's Socialist International (the new COMINTERN) agenda is the fragmentation of the UK into Regional Assemblies (or NUTS in the EU vernacular) about the size of err... Scotland for example as part of the grand EU plan, isn't this 'Richter Scale' success of the SNP and weakening of Westminster precisely what one might expect? Other examples are losing lots of MOD laptops, making a mess of the NHS, contracting all sorts of IT white elephants, emasculating the armed forces, making the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Office dysfunctional, feminising and then contracting out SATs to a company 'unfamiliar with UK culture', losing track of immigration, selling lots of our gold reserve at the bottom of the market, discrediting the honours system, devaluing the higher education system with trashy degree courses, using 'education, education, education' to cleverly further tilt an already below replacement level birth rate further towards dysgenic IQ and thus thin out the intelligentsia whilst breeding yet more non-discriminating, impulsive consumers/hedonists/voters... need I go on?

1.

Edf couldn't raise prices like this in france.

Is the uk energy user paying for EDF's purchase Of British Nuclear?


The uk energy user is being unfairly hit while the govt refuses to put the british people first by having energy storage, a two way grid, etc

Harriet Harmon

I just watched an interview where unlike other ministers that were defending Gordon Brown by saying that government was collective responsibility, she was defending Gordon Browns record as pm or pinning it on him one might say !

Is this a start of Labour's infighting for the top job ?

if you listen to Brown after another dire by-election it is the same mantra....'we have listened to the people, they are angry, they are seeing their fuel bills rocket, the prices at the supermarket are rising' and on, and on, just repating the same old sentences he uttered after Crewe, the London elections, and what does he do? Absolutely nothing. He says he is listening but he isn't, he has no intention of changing one iota of policy as he would have done it after Crewe and Nantwich. He cannot understand that it is he who is the problem. He was instrumental in the Iraq war, the lies and deceit of that whole sorry episode, he lied over the 10p fiasco, he baled Blair out over tuition fees and now the voters of Glasgow just want him to go, as will the country.

JOSEPH ROWNTREE AND UK PRIME MINISTERS

Joseph Rowntree encouraged those who came after him to: 'Seek out the causes of weakness and evil in society.' A weak (needy) leader is inevitably a source of evil.
Thatcher: 'We are a grandmother'.
Blair: The George Bush, copycat walk.
Brown: The fake smile (especially when he spots a camera).
Thatcher and Blair, gave us a soulless attitude at home and wars abroad. I dread to think what Brown might do in his desperate search for that elusive sense of greatness. Will this country EVER find a mature, sincere, honest, honourable, person of integrity to occupy the highest office?

The SNP have become a force to be reckoned with, and they seem to be operating a sensible and popular Government in Scotland. Even if this is untrue, this is what the Scots think, hence the SNP electoral success.

New Labour will be remembered for dishonesty, not the personal dishonesty that ended the Major Government, but even worse, as the nation no longer believes in Government because of them.

New Labour will be remembered for the breakup of the UK, which is inevitable, and the loss of faith in Government and the public sector in general. They have communized Britain, criminalizing the masses in the process.

Stuff the politics of politics, the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ have once again completely failed (miserably) to cover the voters opinions of why they want this dishonest and deeply bankrupt Labour Party booted out.

It is a complete failure of the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's 'public' broadcast responsibilities to not feature a single minute of Glasgow Easts own opinions. Instead they covered the trials of bankrupt Browns contortions which allowed Labour cronies to say what they think the problems are (economy) rather than answer the electorate.

Remember ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ the electorate maketh the election. They are the point. You missed the point as the increasingly bent ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ News stations do. Prefering hour after hour of PR releases about climate change, political and social trivia.

There's never been a discussion (head to head) about the smoking issue/ban, climate change, Nanny/Bully State and sheer lack of democracy in Britain. These are real issues people are fed up to the back teeth with which you do not represent.

It's not just Labour that's completely out-of-touch. It's the politicised unrepresentative offices of the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ too. Who pays your license fee - the PR boys or the people?

What a speech featuring Gordon today, shown on Newsnight. First off he talks about double digit price rises for bread, milk etc....

Whilst his 'inflation' figures, compiled by averaging everything including Primark chinese clothes and dodgy DVD's in the pub say we are at less than 3%!

Then he mentions petrol........ 'Drivers are paying more to do their driving'

How quaintly and obviously out of touch, from a man whose never driven a car in his life, and probably never been out of a suit since he left hairy left wing gombo land drug addled university.

Drivers don't 'do their driving' its not a bloody hobby!!!!!

Everyone in the real world is a driver Gordon, and they acttually drive to/from and during their work.........geddit?

Geoff

Once again we had no one from the SNP due to tech. difficulties so it was left to all Labour people to make their excuses.

How do the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ get away with this continous left wing bias.

Watching Milliband he was like a glove puppet totaly comming out with the same old lines.

How does the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ justify one million for Paxo when he is always on the school holidays ?

As ever I am amazed that a few of the "goose stepping" posters really believe they can make capital out of this situation.

Very sad people with delusions of intellectual grandeur.

I've often been disappointed in ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's coverage of Scottish affairs, but tonight's (Friday) Newsnight on the consequences of the Glasgow East by-election was absolutely unforgiveable. It was entirely devoted to the Labour Party without a single comment from the SNP - the Party that WON the election. How Anglo-centric can you get?

Essler's throw away excuse. "We intended to speak to the SNP but our line to Dundee is down" was pathetic.

My personal views -

One thing that the media never seem to mention about Labour's dramatic down fall is the perceived deliberate deception over Labour's manifesto promise of the 2005 general election ,the referendum.

Maybe people think like me, if the Labour election manifesto promises something , that promise is not worth the paper its written on.

If this is the case, then Labour will need to keep the support of its pro EU super state voters. Maybe even the Lib Dem's could rejoin the Labour party ?
As they have the same EU super state views.

This is also the glass jaw of the SNP , they will find it hard to win support for their independence referendum if they offer the Scottish people withdraw from one remote legislature with a 1/12 representation to only join a more remote legislature (the EU) and have 1/100 representation. When you ask SNP voters their views on this , some are EU supporters others actually want ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Rule and only trading links.

I think we are seeing a big change in UK politics , the politicians either can not see it yet or as I suspect they just don't want to acknowledge it in public.

Still from a viewer stand point , it will be interesting to watch , from a citizens stand point it will be disturbing .

MidnightPantsman - Jeremy has a freelance contract for 100 hours a year. He is not "always on holiday." :p

is the govt so detached from reality that they do not see for themselves what needs doing but must always 'listen' as if that was an end in itself?


JP on £10 grand an hour for reading an autocue? ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ pay scales. Its what we do.

i see the i player puts on a tv licensing reporting cookie. why is that? does one need a licence to watch recorded programmes? Or are they hoping to catch people out if they accidently watch a live programme on the net? Not that there are any warnings on live transmission via the net informing people. Sometimes links go straight to a live broadcast. Is that not entrapment?

Mistress76uk is always so well informed on Jeremy I am sure you are Jeremy !

! million for 100 hours great beats Jonathan Ross that does
Many thanks INDEED for this info

:-)

Mistress76uk I would like a contract like that and the salary that goes with it.
If he is not on holiday, what is he doing?
I'm with Midnight.

As to the rest of the comments it's not the break-up of the Union that is the issue but the break-up of the party system with the stereotyped parroting of the usual excuses (listening and learning) and the knee-jerk gloating over whose "fault" it all was.

Newsnight is always asking in its early morning posting for ideas. (do they ever read what you regulars post?)
Gangophone and I were having an interesting debate on yesterday's site on the merits of PR. Perhaps the issue or question should be whether the current party system and its allies (Old Labour/Blue rinse Tories/sandal wearig Libs) has had its day.

Society moves on, as the C.of E. is finding and a political system that worked for the last century may not be the one for this. Just check your history books how politics have changed. Is it time for the re-emergence of the Whigs?

I have mentioned before a book written in 1984 "Thatcher and Friends" where the author states that whenever the Labour Party gets back into power it will find itself locked into a commercial system as set up by the Tories and the prophetic punch line "by the turn of the century the voters will find no differnece between the two major parties". To put another way the oft claim that Politicians are "all the same".

Perhaps newsnight can look into this.
As some of you state I am tired of the false smile of Brown and political "interviews" that tell us nothing except what "they" want to tell us, probablya self serving pack of lies.
No wonder people are fed up. As someone "blogged" above it's the small irritations that get under our skin such as someone being fined for smoking in his van or that conkers is a dangerous sport.
All these are a cumaltive effect and why voters react the way they do.

Politicians think it's the BIG issues. It's not.

Newsnight on a Friday is a 30 min slot now with that being cut down to accomodate the Late Review long menu then the link to SNP Dundee was down so I reckon we had about 20 minutes of a programme I sincerely hope Newsnight do not get a 50min budget from the channel for what transmits on a Friday night as we are getting less than a normal programme and in addition having to endure Kirsty's wardrobe ...What did she come as last night ?

SPOIL PARTY GAMES 1

Billbradbury (#21) asks if parties have had their day. My answer is yes; they belong to a simplistic political scene where honour (albeit the blinkered stubborn sort) was upheld, even to the point of self- destruction. Today, dishonour facilitates a self-serving game of Wesminster Monopoly.

SPOIL PARTY GAMES 2

Regular bloggers will know I stood for election in 2005 as agent provocateur, under the 'banner' SPOIL PARTY GAMES. At the next election, I will be on the streets of Newbury again (but not as a candidate) driving home that message; challenging people to ask themselves why they vote for a rosette and its 'stand', rather than a true representative of their area; of its needs and aspirations. I have asked Newsnight to challenge every one of the usual suspects, who enter the Newsnight Videodrome, to stand in their constituency AS THEMSELVES, on merit rather than 'under-rosette'.

SPOIL PARTY GAMES 3

I see this issue as FUNDAMENTAL to British political integrity and, as such, 'OUTSIDE THE LIE'. Just the sort of thing that concerned citizens are looking to Public Service Broadcasting to illuminate. Just the sort of thing concerned citizens, daily confronted, feel so helpless and disempowered about. There is a connection to be made here somewhere . . .


POLITICS
The art of self-deception
Wrapped in the craft of deceiving others
'For their own good'

PARTIES AND PARLIAMENTARY DEMOCRACY

Barrie, here's the problem as I see it. Simply put, party politics is a necessary evil given that the business of parliamentary democracies is reform through legislation. Given that this comes down to who has the majority of seats how could independent candidates credibly promise their constituents that they could do anything given that they're not members of a large enough group able to do just that?

The only way it could work is in a one-party state surely? Example: China - hence my citing Article 3 of the 1982 PRC constitution:

/blogs/newsnight/fromthewebteam/2008/07/prospects_for_friday_25_july.html

HEAVIER THAN AIR FLIGHT

They said that the job just couldn't be done
With a will he went right to it.
He tackled that job that couldn't be done -
And couldn't do it.

But seriously folks . . .

Hi JJ. Apologies for missing Post 21 on previous thread, last time I looked it wasn't there. I think I an suggesting a 'no party state' but what's in a name . . .

I agree it looks impossible JJ - hence my title.
But there are groups of all sizes from family to large corporations, all of which achieve self governance without a formal division into 'parties'. I effectively make two points:
(1) If a group of individuals cannot function as a government (management) they are the wrong people. (2) If it has not been tried, it is not proved impossible.

It has just occurred to me: Currently Britain needs to 'escape' from all manner of threats - internal and external. If the 'escape committee' insists on dividing into factions and wasting time, energy and resources, fighting one-another, we have the wrong committee and will descend into chaos. Oh - we have.

My knowledge of history is bunk. But I thought I heard, the other day, that the current party system evolve in the last hundred-or-so years?

As I have blogged before, my life in applied science meant I got quite good at achieving the 'impossible'. Perhaps I have a warped mind-set! But I am stuck on one thing: if the voters knew they were voting for a PERSON on whose integrity and mentality they would rely for representation at government level, more thought would be applied, more would turn out and - on balance - a higher calibre of MP would be returned. It cannot be worse than what we have, if our recent PMs are the dross de la dross.

Thanks for yours. B

Barrie (#26) the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Parliament:



highlights (1 hr) from the Lords 18th June speeches on The Lisbon Treaty (repeated above every day from tomorrow morning onwards) are worth watching for anyone who still has any doubts at all about just how powerless one is without a parliamentary majority, and how truth and democracy have precious little to do with anything even when one has.

As an aside, on the subject of applied science, sadly, it's made crystal clear to scientists working within our Civil Service that their allegiance is to their masters first, not to truth, and that any breach of this code will be (and frequently is), treated as a disciplinary matter. It was no surprise to me that our ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Office was deemed 'unfit for purpose'.

LIVING IN INTERESTING TIMES

So, here we are, highly aware life-forms in the Petri-dish of a dysfunctional master- organism who has absolute power but no sense of responsibility or direction. As the old shaver advertisement used to say: 'Sing lad - SING!'

midnightPantsman - the reason I know Jeremy has a freelance 100 hour yearly contract is because it was he disclosed it in an interview at the Frontline Club back in Feb 2008, and can be seen here:



As for the Jonathon Ross calculation, he gets £18million for 3 years, so that's £6million per year. He does a weekly show for 1 hour - so (excluding a few holiday weeks) it's roughly 50 hours a week for £6million. He does half the time for 6 times the amount of money. How does Jeremy beat that? Incidently, Jeremy also does University Challenge on ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ2 and he will also be doing a 4 part series on the Victorians next year too.

Incidently J Ross does ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ radio 2 and does appear during the school holidays Paxo is always missing- good agent he has !Grade family of course

Further to post #1: have just noticed that the product range for Curtis Fine Papers
in Fife which has just gone bust included
ballot papers as well as cheques ...........

Maybe Brown should call an election and help save these jobs in his Fife backyard?

AS IT WAS IN THE BEGINNING - NOT NOW

Mistress76uk! Having nothing better to do, and being curious why Paxman is so highly regarded, I watched the entire interview
(link at #29). NO MENTION OF PAXO PAY.

On the matter of Politicians who avoid questions, Jeremy effectively said that nothing can be done. But neither he, nor any other interviewer, ever announces to the viewer AND TO THE POLITICIAN that the game is afoot, has been rumbled, and we are moving on in consequence. This would be to step out of the lie (Havel) and to spoil the game AT WHICH BOTH CONNIVE.
A few weeks back when Hague was waltzing round a question, Jon Sopel said: 'Mr Hague you are speaking in code'. How poignant that Sopel USED CODE HIMSELF to say: 'You are avoiding the question so we shall move on!'
Jeremy told an aspiring journalist she must naturally BE INQUISITIVE. I feel he studiously avoids self-enquiry to his detriment.

Call me old fashioned but as an elected Cllr. I believe in telling the truth as I see it. Which means that sometimes I have to say to my constituents that I cannot deliver on their requests, mainly due to legislation over which I have had no control.

I contact my MP's regularly but I get no joy as they "toe the party line". i.e. what do they REALLY think about Brown. One is a Government whip and one is Minister for Northern Ireland, so they both know on which side their bread is buttered.

They are sleepwalking into oblivion as both mine are on Safe??? seats (subject to Glasgow none are safe).

Barrie, I didn't say what Jeremy got paid ( I used midnightPantsman's figure of £1million). However, at 37mins 22 secs of Jeremy's interview he does state he does a freelance contract of 100 days a year.

I've never actually watched Jon Sopel - he's on a bit too early for me on a Sunday...but I think his show is on ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖi Player, so will watch him.

I find Jeremy very inquisitive and love his interviewing technique. Well the Royal Television Society likes him and has awarded him with an RTS Presenter of the Year quite a few times. Oh and Mr. Brown avoids him like the plague!

MISSION CREEP (nothing personal)

Quite so Mistress76uk (or may I call you 76?)
I was still carrying Midnightpantsman's £1M in my head, when I read your post. I inferred where naught was implied! My apologies.

Anyway, my fundamental point stands: all political interviews connive at THE LIE (Havel) within which government and media dance. Until Jeremy chooses to point that -oh so pointy - finger at Standard Politician, saying (yea verily) 'We all know you are avoiding the question, and I have a duty to the viewers not to be party to this charade' (or similar) he will continue to be a (well paid) conniver and WE will continue to be (expensively) stuffed. Sadly, the most that Sopel did was find a way of looking like a people's hero, going right to the wire, but without actually breaking out of the lie (like whistling 'Colonel Bogey' at the Germans, knowing only the cognoscenti are privy to the words). Ah well, never mind, I gather Magic Obama has a plan to save us.

WINDBAGS AND DIPLOMATS

Barrie (#35) 'Mission creep' captures it succinctly. As you astutely remarked elsewhere with respect to Newsnight's aptly named diplomatic editor:

/blogs/newsnight/markurban/2008/06/two_decades_of_diplomacy.html

all of this urbane talk may well be very skillful (and one should not forget that it's a predominanty genetic 'feminine' skill), it generally has a low signal-to-noise ratio (for some reason, Hazel Blears comes to mind as she's very short and urbane, but so are Lord Levy, Scooter Libby, Paul Wolfowitz and Jeffrey Sachs of course).

I recall Newsnight did piece on this windy matter not too long ago. The gist of it was that unless journalists play ball with these windbags/spin-doctors they can't get them to come onto their programmes or otherwise get anything out of them! Still, we do seem to get lots of 'we asked for xxxxxx to comment but nobody was available' lines on Newsnight which probably worry the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Mandarins viz ratings.

I suspect we may agree that it'd be best to just ignore the politicians altogether and ask educated others onto the programme instead? But preferably not the 'Policy Exchange' and 'The Centre For Social Cohesion' think tank types unless it's just to let them hoist themselves.

CHAMBER POTTY

Hi JJ. I watched a program last night covering the 'Yes Minister' and 'Yes Prime Minister' series. Apparently those responsible for that tour de force, considered, briefly, the idea of Hacker standing for Parliament. (Perhaps as the Anti Humbug candidate.) They were sure he would have been elected. What wonderful havoc he could have caused.
I wonder if anyone is working on another political comedy? I am still mourning Spitting Image. It should be possible to structure the action so as to expose the falsehoods of the honourable members to a degree that makes their continued existence untenable.
I suspect just the procedural cobblers alone would yield rich pickings. As for speaker Martin - how do you make him more funny than he is? I think it should be set actually in the Chamber (pot) or is there a law against mocking that honourable gathering? Still dreaming . . .

LEVY, COHEN, BLAIR, BROWN AND FRIENDS

"..there were reports yesterday that the younger members of the Cabinet may have begun discussing who could run for leader in the event of a contest being called. It was suggested that James Purnell, the Work and Pensions Secretary, would not run but instead back David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary. However, friends of Mr Purnell believe that it is unlikely that any such deal has been struck."

would-be-a-big-mistake'.html

Hmm...after Mr Brown's gushing speech in Israel which clearly threatened Iran, does anyone else think the profile is just a tad too high for a group comprising under half a percent of the UK population? Or this just The (Third) Way that the new rose and fist worker's 'democracy' works?

One mustn't forget The Holocaust (or the Petro-Dollar) and of course, nobody would ever seriously suggest that a poor, 'persecuted', minority group, which has, against all odds, disproportionately given so much to the world (as Mr Brown said in his recent speech), could possibly have done so through nepotistically looking after/promoting their own group's interests whilst undermining those of others.

Only VERY evil people would ever think such malevolent thoughts........wouldn't they??

BOOM DOOM (Did someone say evil?)

Magic Obama - Rentagod
has taken up Tony’s staff and rod
to biblically wander the wilderness
where the simple folk crave his address
and yearn to feel his healing grace
as Obama succours (!) the Human Race.
Magic Obama comes nigh to implore ya:
make room in your hearts for this Barack-room lawyer.
Hail to the king who needs no crown
your sorrows in vacuous rhetoric drown!
His words ranging wide, cover every angle
but his trousers still have a recalcitrant dangle.
And what’s this I see – are those shoulders a-slope?
Don’t tell me Obama: our latest white hope
is as lost as the others who went before;
a boy, needing status – who’ll always want more?
Alas yes! He’s another whose childhood decreed
like Blair, there’s no status can sate such great need!
Thus the World goes on down to a welcoming doom
to the sound of Obama’s abominable boom.