Is Labour rotten to the core?

When the Labour party were pointing at us in the 1990s and screaming "sleaze" they were referring to individual acts of stupidity or greed by a few Conservative MPs.

Peter Hain's admission that he failed to declare a substantial donation just adds to the feeling that Labour politicians are the perpetrators of a much more professional style of sleaze. And the list of people involved goes to the very heart of this government.

Why should we be surprised? The Ecclestone affair came to light in 2000 and showed a blatant disregard for the rules of part funding even then.

What I find particularly galling is the fact that these very people are looking to change the law to prevent Lord Ashcroft from making substantial, but perfectly legal and transparent, donations to the Conservative party.

I think I understand why this is. There is a strong seam of hatred for the Conservatives running through the Labour movement, a hatred which isn't reciprocated. Conservatives may well think that Labour activists are wrong, misguided, blinkered possibly even stupid in some cases but there isn't anything which matches the deep visceral detestation which informs much of the Labour movements actions.

Many people have said that Brown and Balls' desire is not just to beat the Conservatives but to destroy us, it's like a crusade to them. Because they are blinded by their own sanctimony they feel that breaking electoral law is justified.

Like so many on the left of politics they feel that the ends justify the means, in this issue as in so many others.

Back in business

The business community is very important, the small business community in particular. The bulk of UK companies only employ a few people each and many aren't hugely profitable but their combined influence on the economy cannot be understated. British business pays for all the spending on hospitals, education, policing, the armed forces etc. etc.

David Cameron's late pull out from the CBI conference last year didn't go down well at all, the last few months have seen something of a Prince Hal moment for DC in the eyes of the business community.

Darling lost the confidence of businesses with his (Browns?) poorly thought through Capital Gains Tax proposals, it was incumbent upon us to show that we would be different. Cameron's speech yesterday did just that. The background noise in the business community is now very positive towards the Conservatives again.

Self inflicted wound

When troubles come they come not as single spies but in battalions. I once said that about the Lib Dems and shortly afterwards Ming Campbell was knifed by his own party.

The election that never was, Northern Rock, HMRC's lost data, Defence Chiefs on the attack, Dodgy donors, what next?

Gordon Brown must be looking at the waves of troubles coming at him from the front and the knives from behind.

Miliband's time machine

David "call me Mr Miliband" Miliband must have a time machine.

He must have jumped forward in time, seen tomorrow's poll in the Independent, realised what a liability Brown had become, gone back in time, gone on Question Time and said:

"People will be saying 'wouldn't it be great to have that Blair back because we can't stand that Gordon Brown"

Reminded just how crap this government is

I didn't blog over the weekend because I was off with the army, nowhere dangerous, just Woolwich.

I was at a study weekend hosted by Central Volunteer HQ Royal Artillery (such a natty title!), we were given a briefing by the CGS' Briefing Team and had a chance to discuss the state of the armed forces. It didn't make for happy listening.

The briefing and discussion were non political, we didn't discuss how we got where we are, we just talked through where we go from here. What was deafening, yet unsaid, was that we are being asked to do so much with so little and the current hemorrhaging of troops means that it will only get worse in the short term.

I got home to be presented with the letter from Dave Hartnett, Acting Chairman of HMRC, informing me that my children's names and Susie's bank details had been lost.

What a shower!

If Brown picks a fight with the Army....

he will lose, and lose badly.

The government have committed the British armed forces to an unprecedented number of conflicts, the Balkans, Kosovo, Sierra Leone, Iran and Afghanistan. Yet during Labour's time in office defence spending has fallen as a % of GDP every year, it now stands at the lowest level since Ramsey MacDonald was Prime Minister (he was Labour too).

The military usually keep themselves publicly politically neutral, even into retirement. That five former defence chiefs so passionately criticised the government and the Prime Minister indicates a deep problem.

Gordon Brown has shown how seriously he takes the armed forces by making the Defence Secretary's job part time. Defence ministers have tried to defend themselves, Des Browne even claimed that no soldiers have complained to him about being a part timer, surprise, surprise. I can confirm that I have heard plenty of complaints from serving soldiers. The man is a joke!

Soldiers don't go on strike, they don't refuse to deploy, they don't embarrass the government in the way that firemen, teachers, train drivers etc. can. That is why they have been screwed over by this government, the public is waking up to the fact and they will make Labour suffer at the polls because of it.

And not before time.

We can see the style of mayoral campaign that the Lib Dems are planning

Quite an interesting piece over on Ian Carter's Croydon Advertiser blog.

The Lib Dems really can't help using personal attacks and sweeping generalisations. This time they're attacking Boris for using the name "Bridget Jones" in a press release about the housing needs of London's single women.

Not criticising the idea or the policy, no, no, no. Just the use of the words Bridget and Jones describing it as "shocking blunder"!

Then comes the condescending generalisation "The majority of women in London are smart, independent and focused". In which case they won't need Brian Paddock to tell them whether or not to be offended by the name Bridget Jones.

It just gets worse

Lazy? Incompetent? Tight fisted? Or all three?

According to the BBC the HMRC sent so much information in an unencrypted format because it was too "burdensome" to strip out the sensitive data. And rather than being made by a junior official it is now claimed that the decision was made a quite a senior level.

Brown and Darling made some very specific statements about what happened and why. As time goes on it becomes clear that what they said was incorrect, the question now is "what did they know and when".

If it turns out that they have misled the House of Commons and the country we may have a general election sooner that we expect.

It's all rubbish

Rubbish weather, rubbish pitch, rubbish manager, rubbish result. At lunchtime today I heard McClaren saying that England needed to "scratch out a result".

Hardly inspiring language from the manager, is it any wonder that the team played like a bunch of schoolboys?

Can someone explain this to me please

Up and down the country there are A&E departments under threat of closure. Yet... A story of ambulances queuing to get into a Norfolk A&E department.

Maybe it's just me but it doesn't seem to make sense.

Does Paul Gray's resignation put more pressure on Blair?

Paul Gray's department screwed up!

HM Customs and Revenue (HMRC) lost the personal data of 15 million people. There is no question that Gray was personally to blame for the error but he has taken responsibility for it because of the magnitude of the incident.

Now, let us look at Sir Ian Blair.

Clegg and Huhne both show their weaknesses

A quick update from last night's post.

Having looked at the footage again, the underlying characters of the two men seem to have become clear.

Huhne came across as unprincipled, nasty and aggressive. This half hearted apology seems to say "it's OK to slag off you opponent as long as you don't call him silly names". Clegg, poor lad, looked weak and defencive. He was totally talked over by Huhne.

The funny thing is that he was presented with a perfect line of attack but didn't even see it. If I were him i would simply have asked "Is that the behaviour of someone with the integrity to run a party?"

Actually in the case of the Lib Dems the sad answer would probably be "yes".

The nasty party

The last few years have not shown the Lib Dems in a good light. Anyone who has had to campaign against them on the doorstep will have be under no illusions as to the nature of their party, but the general public were blissfully unaware.

The deposing of both Kennedy and Campbell was done in the nastiest and most underhand way and people noticed. The last leadership campaign was personal and spiteful, in sharp contrast to the Conservative leadership contest and even the Labour leadership contest between Brown and ......... (oh I forget, they didn't bother with one), again this seeped into the public consciousness.

I would have thought that Clegg and Huhme would have learned that when their party shows its nasty underbelly they fall in the polls. It seems not, as this exchange highlights.

Thanks to Iain Dale for pointing me to this.

Livingstone's fare freeze spin

Also posted on the Bexley & Bromley Conservatives campaign website.

Increased security

Gordon Brown has announced increased security for transport hubs. We'll need a few more illegal immigrants then!

What's the point of Brown's big tent?

Brown made a big thing of his "government of all the talents". He was bringing in people from a wide range of backgrounds and was even confident enough to bring in people from very different political backgrounds to his own.

What rubbish!

The leaning on of Lord West clearly shows it was nothing but spin. At 8.20 Lord west said that the case for more than 28 days pre charge detention had not been made. 90 minutes and a summons from Gordon Brown later, Lord West has a significant shift of position.

It is incredibly sad to see a senior sailor, with many years of command experience, treated like an wet behind the ears parliamentary assistant. And to be forced to describe himself as "a simple sailor" who was not good at choosing his words was demeaning.

Brown wants a big tent alright, but he wants it full of supplicants.

What I'm offering people is 'Ken-plus'

That is what Brian Paddick is offering Londoners. Heaven help us!

Let us not forget

I attended the service of remembrance in Orpington this morning. The Orpington service is particularly interesting because it is split over two locations, the first part being at the war memorial at the southern end of the town the second at "Canadian Corner" in the All Saints churchyard.

Orpington was the site of a Canadian military hospital during the WW1 and 182 Canadians are buried there. The churchyard is also the resting place of the last person to be killed by enemy action in WW2, Ivy Millichamp, who was killed by a V-2 on 27th March 1945.

Let us not forget the sacrifice made by men and women of the armed forces and the civilians who gave their lives so that we might live in freedom and peace, in the world wars and subsequently.

Removing bad teachers

This strikes me as being fairly obvious stuff. If someone really isn't up to their job you have to ask if it is right for them to continue doing it, with something as important as the education of children this becomes even more important.

The reaction of the NUT is unsurprising and disappointing. They want to protect the jobs of teachers, that I understand and sympathise with. However, defending underperformance is in itself indefensible.

Things don't get better by accident, if you want to improve thing you have to take action, the NUT need both to understand this and help make it happen.

When you're in a hole, stop digging

The government stole our plans in inheritance tax, everyone knows that. Gordon Brown claims that there were going to make the changes anyway, everyone knows that's rubbish. He claimed that he could produce documents that would prove it, everyone know he couldn't.

And now his "proof" is to released documents showing that the government had discussed inheritance tax. Hardly compelling evidence.

Losers!

East Anglia floods

A few year ago I wrote about an emergency planning exercise that I attended in Lincoln. It was designed to practice the join response from the police, fire service, armed forces, local government and the utility providers.

It was an eye opener. But as long as the debrief points from that exercise were taken on board the east coast should be well prepared for the floods, if they come.

Sir Ian Blair's position is untenable

Sir Ian Blair's position is untenable

I have been very careful not to comment on the Ian Blair situation before now because I wanted to see what the investigation into the Stockwell shooting would produce. What it has produced is a widespread lack of confidence in the operational head of The Metropolitan Police.

It is a big step for David Davis and the London Assembly to call for his resignation and despite what Len Duval may claim it is not a party political move. Sir Ian Blair is not a representative of any political party.

Livingstone and Duval have both attempted to pain criticism of Sir Ian as an attack on the police, this is rubbish. A series of terrible mistakes were made, these were compounded by procedural issues and finally the management of information after the event was woeful.

Sir Ian Blair has said that the Stockwell shooting was an isolated incident and as such did not indicate a systemic failure. He is basically saying that nothing needs to change. I would suggest the fact that a suspected bomb carrying terrorist was allowed travel on two buses and a tube train, an unarmed man was killed, totally inaccurate information was released to the public shows that thing do need to change.

The fact that Sir Ian Blair can't see that is a strong indication of his unsuitability for the post.

So what is Brown's great vision?

This Queen's speech was trailed as being Brown's vehicle to show his "vision for Britain". Maybe it's just me but I can't see any.

Where is the coherent theme, where is the goal and where is the route to that goal. Theses plans are little more than some tweaks, reheats and party political positionings.

Perhaps Brown's plan is just to be the dullest PM in British history!

Very foolish comments indeed

There is a serious lesson to be learned from the Nigel Hastilow incident.

If you go tiger hunting, make sure you're ready to catch a tiger.

He wrote about immigration with, what I can only assume was an intentionally, provocative phraseology. For many people the name Enoch Powell is shorthand for racism so to use his name and the words "was right" in close proximity is asking for trouble.

I am not saying Nigel is a racist, I have been at the receiving end of the "you're a racist" type allegations and they are more often than not unfounded. But actions have reactions and you have to be prepared for them.

Don't believe everything you read in the press

Quite an interesting set of headlines.

David Cameron recently made a speech on the effects of Labour mismanagement of immigration. I thought it was fair, well thought out and even handed. Trevor Phillips commented on the speech.

Let us just recap, same man delivering the speech, same speech, same man commenting on the speech.

Telegraph headline: David Cameron praised for immigration views

Guardian headline: Phillips attacks Cameron over plan to cap immigration

As the Americans would say "go figure"

Election day that never was

Today is the day that Gordon Brown was going to have an election, but only if he was sure that he was going to win it. We had a good conference, he made that crass visit to Iraq and the rest is history.

Sooooooooo

What would have happened if he hadn't have called it off?

Firstly I don't think he would have called it straight away either. He would have ummed and ahhed a bit longer, maybe a week. By this time the cries for an election would have become deafening. MPs and candidates in marginal seats would have started their operations and the election would have begun in all but name.

Then the poll results would have come out but Brown would realise that despite the poor results it was too late to call the election off. The Conservatives and the media would say that Brown had been bounced into an election he didn't want.

The big story for the first few days would have been the stamp duty and inheritance tax policies announced at conference by George Osborne. Labour initially dismissive of these plans then announced plans for a £600,000 joint threshold on inheritance tax. Alister Darling is savaged by Paxman on Newsnight, the interview is widely covered in the papers and other broadcast media.

During the campaign period Brown and the shadow cabinet appear regularly on the media but don't seem to be on at the top of their games. Cameron, Osborne, Hague, Davis, Fox and Gove all seem much more comfortable during their policy announcements.

Somehow the government looks and sounds more like an opposition party, the Conservatives look increasingly like a party ready for government. The Lib Dems don't seem to be making the most of their increased airtime, Campbell looks completely out of his depth and the other spokesmen/women keep commenting outside their briefs. It is clear that they are positioning themselves for the post election leadership battle.

A few candidates from each of the major parties make mistakes that embarrass their respective leaderships and there are some surprise retirements but none of these deflect much from the main story. Labour is clearly going to lose the election. All the media speculation is about how bad a night it will be for them, the more the speculation the worse the polls.

On election night the picture slowly becomes clear. Various Labour supporting pundits (John Reid, Derrick Draper) say that unless the Conservatives have a 30+ majority it will be a bad night for them. The Conservative supporting voices (Mathew Paris, Michael Portillo) say that a small majority or a hung parliament is the best that the Conservatives can hope for.

In the end the Labour vote holds up better than expected (by either party), indeed in some of their heartland seats their share of vote increases. But in the key marginals they are broken. The South East of England becomes virtually Labour free and London is a Conservative city. The swing away from Labour in the Midlands is the most pronounced and a number of suburban seats in the North become Conservative too.

The Lib Dems don't pick up a single new seat and they suffer badly in the South West. They lose the bulk of their seats to the Conservatives but Labour take some solace in the fact that they got some back too.

High profile Labour scalps include: Ruth Kelly, Tom McNulty and Jaqui Smith. The Lib Dems lose: Julia Goldsworthy, Lynne Featherstone (to Labour), Evan Harris, Nick Clegg (doing a very good impression of Michael Portillo on election night), Vince Cable and David Laws.

Labour claim that it is all because of Lord Ashcroft's money and the Conservatives say that it is because of Brown's inability to show leadership, poor track record and a strong set of Conservative policies.

The final count shows...............

Well it wouldn't be any fun if I gave that away would it? Please feel free to tell me what you think the result would have been and any thing that you think would have happened differently.