New look website

My GLA campaign website was the victim of a hacking attack, the site was hijacked and was sending people to a Turkish hackers' discussion forum. Thanks lads!

I took this as an opportunity to give the site a big overhaul, take out the elements that people weren't using and focus on campaign orientated stuff.

The blogging element has been stripped out so that there is a clear distinction between this blog and the campaign site. This one will be for my opinions, observations and jokes, the campaign site will be for policy, campaign news and announcements. I hope you like the new design.

A Gentlemen's duel

A little light relief on a dull and windy morning.

Ooooops

In show business they say "never work with children and animals" in politics there should probably by a "never work with pop stars and celebs" mantra.

Labour have flirted with the glamorous set before and been bitten. Just Gordon Brown flirted with Mariella on stage at the Bournemouth conference she goes on to call for a referendum on the EU constitution. OOOOOOOPS!

Boris wins with 79% of the vote

While I always felt confident that Boris would win the nomination even I am surprised by how big his winning margin was.

The knives will be out for him now!

Labour minister Tom McNulty misses the point by claiming that the Conservatives selecting Boris as our candidate was "frankly an insult to London". Tom, how can it be an insult to London when it was London that selected him? It was an OPEN primary, remember!

To my mind this shows just how scared Labour is of the prospect of a serious challenger to Livingstone.

Andrew Pelling

There has been much talk on the internet about Andrew Pelling and the situation with his wife. I don't know any of the details of their marriage and I'm not going to start idle speculation on this blog.

Abuse is a serious offence and it was right for the police to take Mrs Pellings allegations seriously and arrest Andrew, arrest however is not the same as being guilty. I also think that the party is right to suspend Andrew pending a full investigation.

So far all these decisions are easy.

The big question will come if Brown calls an Autumn election. Andrew's local association will have to decide on whether or not to deselect him as their candidate, ultimately it is their decisions but they should think very carefully about their reasons for doing so. The fact that this news might make it harder for Andrew to win the seat should not be the only, or main, factor.

Maybe I'm old fashioned but I do believe that Politicians should be expected to maintain higher personal standards than the norm. It may well be the case that Andrew's conduct proves not to be criminal but falls short of what should be expected of and MP. If so it is right for him to be deselected.

However.

When couples' relationships break down they can say some very damning things about each other and consequently Mrs Pelling's claims need to be fully investigated and not necessarily taken at face value.

If Andrew has beaten his wife she deserves protection and justice and he deserves the full weight of the law upon him. But Andrew deserves a fair hearing and not be subject to a proxy trial by media, gossip and speculation.

Top 10 right of centre blogs

Break out the bunting, crack open the Champers, stuff yourself with vol au vents. For the second year running I have found myself in the top ten right of centre political blogs.

Only just in the top ten, mind you. I can't help think of Alan (Fluff) Freeman's voice and that music as I say the words "and down three places at number ten in the charts.....".

Putting forward a list like this is a bold move because it is so much down to personal taste but looking down the list I can see that right and libertarian blogs are in rude health and long may that continue. Huge pat on the back to Iain for putting this and the other blog lists together.

Here is the full list (the first number is this year's position and the second number last year's):

1 2 Iain Dale’s Diary 2 5 Dizzy Thinks 3 NEW Guido Fawkes 4 1 ConservativeHome 5 14 Croydonian 6 8 Archbishop Cranmer 7 3 Burning our Money 8 NEW Devil's Kitchen 9 NEW Tim Worstall 10 7 James Cleverly 11 23 Mr Eugenides 12 NEW Waendel Journal 13 NEW Nadine Dorries MP 14 NEW Adam Smith Institute 15 NEW Donal Blaney 16 64 Prague Tory 17 11 Tory Radio 18 4 Boris Johnson 19 9 Ellee Seymour 20 56 Caroline Hunt 21 NEW Daily Referendum 22 NEW EU Referendum 23 NEW Sinclair's Musings 24 NEW An Englishman's Castle 25 52 Theo Spark 26 NEW John Redwood MP 27 NEW Daniel Hannan MEP 28 36 UK Daily Pundit 29 58 Freedom & Whiskey 30 NEW Mike Rouse 31 NEW Roger Helmer MEP 32 NEW Islington Newmania 33 NEW City Unslicker 34 NEW Matt Wardman 35 48 Man in a Shed 36 18 Dodgeblogium 37 NEW Nourishing Obscurity 38 NEW Samizdata 39 NEW Taxpayers' Alliance 40 50 Martine Martin's Lebwog 41 NEW Daily Propaganda 42 NEW Musings of a Reactionary Snob 43 22 Bel is Thinking 44 NEW Prodicus 45 65 A Very British Dude 46 NEW WebCameron 47 NEW Priti Patel 48 NEW Richard Spring MP 49 28 A Tangled Web 50 NEW Edland 51 NEW Nation of Shopkeepers 52 NEW Not Proud of Britain 53 NEW The Bristow Blog 54 79 Thunder Dragon 55 NEW Glyn Davies 56 NEW Little Man in a Toque 57 NEW Globalisation Institute 58 NEW Britain & America 59 NEW Last Ditch 60 31 Gavin Ayling 61 NEW Vicky Ford 62 NEW Birmingham University CF 63 27 Ed Vaizey MP 64 NEW Is there more to life than shoes? 65 72 Conservative Party Reptile 66 41 A Conservative's Blog 67 57 Last Boy Scout 68 NEW Tory Reform Group 69 NEW Ghost of the Hitch 70 NEW John Moorcraft 71 NEW Blognor Regis 72 NEW England Expects 73 NEW Rachel Joyce 74 NEW PJC Journal 75 NEW David Gold 76 37 Tim Roll Pickering 77 46 Remittance Man 78 NEW Tapestry Talks 79 NEW Platform 10 80 89 Curly's Corner Shop 81 24 Road to EU Serfdom 82 13 West Brom Blog 83 NEW David Jones MP 84 NEW Istanbul Tory 85 NEW Neue Arbeit Macht Frei 86 NEW Pub Philosopher 87 17 Trevor Ivory 88 NEW Brussels Journal 89 NEW The Crossed Pond 90 NEW Not a Sheep Maybe a Goat 91 NEW YBF Activists 92 38 Contra Tory 93 NEW Scottish Tory Boy 94 NEW Hunter & Shooter 95 49 Civitas 96 NEW Cross of St George 97 NEW Nicolas Webb 98 NEW Martin Kelly 99 NEW Cornerstone 100 71 Laban Tall

All spin on the Western Front

Gordon Brown's speech was clearly designed to show him as steady, I would call it dull but that's down to personal preference. The Today Programme on Radio 4, however, were gushing in their praise of the most plagiarised speech in history.

The one thing that came out of yesterday which tells us more about the "principled" Gordon Brown than anything else was his announcement of a council tax reduction for troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Let's just think this through for a second. He hasn't committed any more money to the forces which means that they will have to pay this money rather than the individual soldier. That is money that could be spent on things like refurbishing the military housing stock, training, vehicles or even bullets.

The other option is that the local council loses out on the money. Bear in mind that soldiers tend to live in clusters and when deployed do so as a group. This could be quite a dent for the council affected.

Either way Gordon Brown is trying to buy headlines with money that rightly belongs elsewhere. To me this demonstrates that he is not willing to make bold decisions about forces' funding and is willing to take money from the every department that needs it most just to appear to be friendly to the forces.

Despicable!

Lib Dem Mayor to job share?

I don't pretend to understand the inner workings of the Lib Dem party machine. It may well be the case that they intend to have two candidates for Mayor of London, one for north London and one for south.

If that is the case then Fiyaz Mughal is pitching for the north London gig. He has even called his website "Is it cos I am a North Londoner?".

Fellow south Londoner Duncan Borrowman sums things up rather well.

London Freewheel

I spent Sunday afternoon at the Hovis London Freewheel. It was great fun.

I started out at Peckham Rye Park and followed the signs for about a mile and a half before missing a turning. Rather than double back I made my own way up to Westminster and joined the estimated 100,000 cyclists doing big slow laps around embankment and St James' Park.

One pleasant surprise was the number of Back Boris flags that were being proudly displayed. I must have seen over a 100, including some on a group heading down the Evelyn Street on my way home.

Shaun Bailey dossier

Shaun Bailey is the Conservative candidate for Hammersmith, he has a good chance of winning and the local Labour party is clearly rattled.

Suddenly there is a dossier of "facts" exposing him as a hard line right winger with a dodgy past. On closer inspection, this dossier seems to be filled with distortions and opinions.

Do we see a pattern emerging?

Ming is just good enough

Great news! Ming Campbell has proven to be just dynamic enough to put calls for his head behind him this week. Although Clegg and Humne have been positioning themselves like mad neither is likely to be Lib Dem leader in the very near future.

As a Conservative I can only see this as good news.

Cats, competitions and left wing bias

Why is it people resign at the BBC over the naming of a cat yet no one there seems in the least bit worried that their coverage of the Conservatives has been biased and distorted for years?

Frankly I don't care if the cat is called Tiddles, Cookie, Socks or Stalin.

Mayoral Hustings

The final hustings (husting?) for the Conservative mayoral hopefuls was at the Sidcup Rugby club last night. Here is my take on the evening, please bear in mind that I introduced Boris at his launch event but I will try to be fair and accurate.

There were fewer people at the meeting than I would have expected although I know a number of people had already been to earlier hustings and the bulk of Lewisham's Conservatives were at a reception in Blackheath with Francis Maude.

The speeches and Q&A reinforced the impression that I held about each of the candidates.

Andrew Boff gave a good speech and had a confident, easy manner, in both the speech and the Q&A he was clearly the most populist with bold and unambiguous commitments to cut the numbers of London Assembly staff, reduce costs and not spend any extra money on the Olympics. Stirring stuff but it may prove tough to implement.

Boris Johnson spoke passionately, if a little quickly. I felt that he articulated the most complete "vision" of what he would like to achieve and while keeping humorous showed that he had thought deeply about the issues.

Victoria Borwick spoke very clearly and professionally, she stuck to her core theme of crime reduction with a New York style zero tolerance policy. Her speach didn't have the passion that some of the others had but was clearly well thought out.

Warwick Lightfoot has a wealth of experience and really knows his stuff. For a professional number cruncher has spoke very well and probably impressed a number of people who didn't know him before the event.

I felt that Boris came across best with Warwick Lightfoot next. They would all be able to do a better job than Livingstone as Mayor but I still feel that Boris Johnson gives us the very best chance of winning.

Caption competition

Boris in Bromley

Boris Johnson is well into his grand tour of London and spent the morning in Bromley. After visiting some green field land, which was saved from development by Bromley's Conservative council, he met shopkeepers and shoppers in Hayes.

It is a real eye opener watching the way people interact with Boris. There is an easy manner, people feel comfortable walking up to him and asking questions or giving their views and he is in his element chatting with complete strangers.

The response was universally positive. You can read another first hand account over on Neil Reddin's blog.

When troubles come they come not as single spies.....

......but in battalions.

Ming has been at the wrong end of a series of unfortunate incidents at the Lib Dem team get together in Brighton.

Not all his fault but that hardly matters, in politics there is always a queue if people to kick you when you're down.  In Ming's case it seems as though fate has joined the queue.

PS.  I love the tieless shirt in the photo.  It makes him look young, well younger, well a little bit younger.  Well not quite as old.

Lib Dem positioning

I listened to Ed Davey, Ming Campbell's Campaign Chief, on the radio yesterday.  Poor bloke.

He had to defend Ming's leadership and their poor poll position.  His problem is that the Lib Dems don't really know where they want to be, until they sort this out it is almost impossible for them to put forward a coherent plan.

Here's an example:
When asked about Ming's age, Davey cracked the old Ronald Regan joke about not exploiting his opponents' youth and inexperience.  It fell flat.  He then went on to say that a PM needs gravitas and experience which Ming "had in spades".

Later he defended losing over 200 council seats by saying that in their target constituencies they did OK.

If you look at where the Lib Dems lost seats it soon becomes clear that they are no way near getting an an overall majority and clearly don't expect to get one.  They can't have it both ways, either they are a fringe party hoping to influence the political agenda through coalitions or they are seriously hoping to form a government.

The latter position is clearly fantasy, as Ed Davey basically admitted when he defined his "target seats".  In order to maximize their influence the Lib Dems need a leader who can move quickly and squeeze enough seats at the next general election to become an influential block in the commons.

That isn't Ming!  For that reason I hope he stays Lib Dem leader for a long time.

Non spin Brown

OK Gordon Brown, the non-spin Prime Minister, wants us to believe that he:

1. Works out while listening to the Arctic Monkeys on his Ipod.
2. Thinks that Gazza scoring a goal AGAINST Scotland was his favourite sporting moment.
3. He really loves Margret Thatcher.
4. Is responsible for the current knife edge situation with the economy.

I could just about swallow the first three but, that last one.............

No way!

Ming is all over the place

Earlier this week it was "No to a referendum" from Ming, now it is "Yes to a referendum" from Ming.

Indecisive, weak or just a little confused?

The Conservatives, the unions or both

Who was meant to be wound up by this visit more?  To be honest I'm not sure!

Clearly many in the Conservative party found the visit galling but the unions are furious.  There was a time when union heads could make or break a government, irrespective of which party was in office.  Many of the current union leaders would love to have that power again, they don't largely due to the union reforms brought in during the 1980s.  To them Margaret Thatcher is the Devil incarnate.

Could Brown's meeting with Lady Thatcher be more about sending a message to the unions than winding up David Cameron?  Parading her now, just after strike threats, could be his way of saying "remember what happened last time you tried to screw over a Labour PM".

Blair used the ogre of a Conservative return as a means of keeping order within his party, might this be Browns way of keeping the unions in check?

And the award for least surprising news of the year goes to........

The news that police officers are tied down in red tape.

In other news, the Sun is very hot, there are lots of fish in the sea and you can't touch your right elbow with your right hand.

Ooooooops, not good news for Gordon

Even the unions think that he should keep his word and hold a referendum. It seems that the only person on Gordon's side is Ming!

Brown is making a simple political calculation, will not having a referendum do him more damage than having one and losing? The simple answer is no probably not. The problem for him is that not having a referendum may well damage him enough to lose the next general election.

Transport Fat Cats

Boris Johnson has raised an interesting point about where Londoner's council tax money is going.

You probably know that Livingstone employs an army of press officers, that the staff numbers at City Hall are already outgrowing the building and that the Mayor spends more on advertising each year than all political parties did at the last general election.

But did you know that there are 232 people working for TFL who earn over £100,000 per year? I didn't until Boris pointed it out. This compares with only 43 who earn over £100,000 in the Home office and seven in the Treasury.

TFL don't have a reputation for excellence, so why the huge salaries?

10,000 pages of tax

More tax and more complicated tax rules have increased the size of Tolley's Tax guide by almost 100% over the last 6 years.  This year the guide has only kept under the iconic 10,000 pages by printing the rules in a small font size.  

Euripides, the ancient Greek poet, said "Those whom the gods wish to destroy They first make mad".  10,000 pages of tax rules would drive most business people mad!  Thank you Gordon.

Weekend in Rome

The mystery weekend that I told you about on Friday turned out to be a trip to Rome.  We did all the traditional tourist stuff and eat far too much food.

What a great weekend.  I have to say a big thank you to my lovely wife.

Mystery weekend

I have no idea what I am doing!  This isn't a confession of ineptitude, although I am sure that some will read it as such, Susie has organised "something" this weekend to celebrate our birthday.  The thing is, she hasn't told me any of the details.

We are meeting this afternoon in a hotel in Canary Wharf, after that I have no idea what she has got planned.

Blogging will be light for a few days, I'll fill you in with whatever details are appropriate for a public medium on Monday.

Youth service

I like this idea a lot! I spoke on this subject at a Bow Group meeting a couple of years ago and was pleased to hear the idea floated during the leadership election and given detail now.

There should be a balance between rights and responsibilities, young people should understand that not everything in life comes easily and pre packed. Labour have an obsession with the "respect agenda" seeming not to understand that respect has to be earned.

I would feel very uncomfortable if this kind of scheme was limited to military service, but the mix of activities is a healthy idea. I'm sure that there will be plenty on the left who will try to paint this idea as a big step back into the fifties but until they can come up with a better idea to tackle the fragmentation of communities and the huge increases in youth crime and anti-social behaviour they should keep shtum.

Boris battle bus

The first stop on Boris' big tour of London was at a recycling centre in Sidcup. Just in case Livingstone is reading that is in outer London. Get someone to show you on a map.

Happy birthday to us

Susie and I share today as our birthday, so it's a happy birthday to her from me and vice versa.

Tube strike

I was going to call this post "I'm all right Jack" because this strike reminded me of the film of that name and also because I cycle to work and am therefore relatively unaffected.

It is interesting to see that the old habits of the militant and unreasonable union leaders is alive and well in the form of Bob Crow, even Livingstone can't quite get he head around it. Luckily for him the Conservatives limited the worst excesses of the union's abuse of power or the whole of London's transport could have closed down.

Backing Boris

Those of you who have been living on the moon for the last few weeks my not be aware that Boris Johnson is putting himself forward to be the Conservative candidate for Mayor of London.

There are others in the race, Andrew Boff, Warwick Lightfoot and Victoria Borwick.  All of them with the ability to run London better than Livingstone, but I feel that Boris has not only the capability to improve London government dramatically but also to beat Livingstone.

If the volume of Boris bashing coming from Livingstone's supporters is anything to go by he believes this too.

Everyone is aware of the caricature of Boris but today's speech shows that he has thought long and hard not just about London's problems but about the solutions to those problems.  I felt that it also highlighted the passion that he has for the job.

And so it begins

Alec Salmon is rebranding the Scottish Executive, it will now become the "Scottish Government". The Royal Coat of Arms will also be replaced with the saltire.

We are a step closer the the break up of the UK, something which Conservatives warned would happen and something we were opposed to. Labour started this process, despite all warnings and are now powerless to stop it. I expect that somehow this will all be blamed on the Conservatives.

Compass telling porkies about Boris

Andrew Gilligan, he of the Evening Standard, has been doing some research. He has been looking into the Compass' own "dodgy dossier" on Boris Johnson.

Some of the examples of Boris' "hard right wing" views were pretty weak, even on casual examination but Andrew has dug up the actual quotes that Boris made and printed them in full. It completely undermines the core point that Compass made.

Here are a few examples:

They said: Johnson "is a hard-line Right-winger ... by far the most Right-wing candidate ever to be presented by a major party for Mayor of London."

The truth is: In each of the Tory leadership contests since he became an MP, Johnson has voted for the most Left-wing of the candidates: Kenneth Clarke in 2001 and David Cameron in 2005. Johnson describes the Tory Right as "revolutionary defeatists", the party's "Kamikaze movement" and the "lemming tendency" and has said: "I like this stuff about there being a 'we' as well as a 'me' in politics ... Toryism is not about one section of society grinding the faces of another ... if we want to encourage people to win - as we do - then we must be prepared to look after the losers. We're all in this together."

What they said he said: "Not only did I want Bush to win, but we threw the entire weight of The Spectator behind him."

What he said: As the use of the past tense might suggest, this is actually an extract from a piece in which Johnson bitterly regrets his support for Bush, describing him as a "cross-eyed warmonger" and "serially incompetent ... maniac" whose re-election was "the most dismal awakening of my life".

The list goes on.

Londoners will have the chance to chose our candidate for Mayor of London, they will then have the chance to compare that candidate against Ken Livingstone. It is called democracy.

Why are the left wingers so scared of it?

PS

I wonder if there is a word for the act of writing things about someone which you know to be untrue and which will cause loss or damage to the person written about?