How not to be aware

A question.

Did the PM and Home Secretary specifically ask NOT to be informed about the possible arrest of Damian Green?

After all, there are none so blind as those who wish not to see.

No prior knowledge of the "arrest"

I find it hard to believe the the Prime Minister, or at least the Home Secretary, had no prior knowledge of the investigation and that an arrest might be on the cards.

It is feasible that they didn't get a phone call just before the police knocked on Mr Green's door but I cannot believe that they were unaware that Damian Green might end up arrested.

Considering the fact that many top Labour ministers, including Gordon Brown made their names on the back of leaked information it is deeply hypocritical of them to cry wolf now.

morning after pill on the night before

I was rather disturbed to hear that BPAS (formerly the pregnancy advisory service) is urging women to stock up on the morning after pill because pharmacies and GP surgeries will be closed after Christmas.

I don't think that I'm being either out of touch or stuffy in saying that this is outrageous. Young people get drunk at this time of year, some of them will no doubt have sex. I would advise moderation in both, I would also strongly advise the use of a condom.

The implicit acceptance of unsafe sex that dishing out morning after pill conveys, is very wrong. And that this organisation get government money even more so.

There is more at stake with unprotected sex than unwanted pregnancies. Have fun, but stay safe.

What's the difference?

Hat tip Guido (in case you couldn't work it out)

Damian Green's arrest

I have a great deal of respect for the Counter Terrorism officers of the Met but last night's actions are deeply worrying.

Damian Green has been highly critical of the government's ineptitude in immigration matters and has backed up his criticism with evidence leaked from the Home Office. Government leaks are a thorny issue, they can be hugely important and beneficial to the nation or they can deeply undermine the security of the country. I do not believe for a minute that Damian would have had anything to do with a leak that hurt Britain or the British people.

The information that Damian has made public has been hugely embarrassing to the government, I quite understand the government's desire to stop the leaks but if they have abused the Met's Counter Terrorism team to do it they are in very dangerous, Orwellian, waters.

Congestion Charge Western extension Zone to be scrapped

This morning Boris announced that the Western Extension Zone of the Congestion Charge was going to be scrapped.

The WEZ was stiffling local businesses and was counter-productive as the residents discount gave a financial insentive for it's residents to drive in central London.

Val Shawcross and Jenny Jones have bothe waded in with their highly predictable condemnations, but as I said on Dave Hill's Guardian blog:

Val Shawcross and Jenny Jones are passionate about what they believe in, which is admirable but they are wrong in their facts and display a shocking contempt for democracy.

Boris had an explicit manifesto commitment to hold a binding consultation on the WEZ. He was voted in, he held the consultation and he has abided by the result. Saying what you are going to do and then doing what you said is what politics should be about.

Mumbai

My thoughts are with the friends and families of those who have lost their lives or are caught up in the Mumbai terrorist attacks, in particular to the family of my friend and colleague Said Kamal.

Saddened but not surprised

The news that Woolworths and MFI have gone into administration was bad news but hardly a surprise. Woolworths had struggled to either get critical mass or establish itself in a niche and as the famous business adage goes "get big, get niche or get out".

The company had been struggling for some time and as the market tightened they were always likely to be hit first and hardest. Clearly my thoughts are with the staff of both companies who face an uncertain future. I've been there and it isn't nice.

Fall out from the PBR

Here we are, a couple of days down the line from the PBR and the shine has already come off. George Osborne did a good job in tearing the plan apart in his response from the dispatch box and the media were pretty damning too.

We now find out that Labour have detailed plans for major tax hike after the next election, that would explain the £100 Billion shortfall in the PBR maths. The feedback that I have seen has been at best mixed erring on the side disappointment, everyone knows that taxes will be painful after the election if Labour get in, the only discussion is just how painful.

I have always thought that Gordon Brown was crap, we are now living through the results of his ineptitude and in a few years time will will be hit with even more proof. I've never been a fan of the bombshell metaphor but in this case it's justified.

Excellent Pre-Budget Report coverage

Looking at the Chancellor's plans from a small business perspective.

Pre Budget dilemma

I remember when the content of the budget (mini budget, pre budget etc.) was a closely guarded secret, leaks could distort markets. It seems that that convention goes out of the window when the government needs some favourable headlines over a weekend.

Well I find myself on the horns of a dilemma today. Our 25 year old fridge died this morning and I need to buy a new one, today. But it has been heavily trailed that there is going to be a cut in VAT, so I'm torn. Do I buy a fridge this morning and lose out on the VAT bonanza or do I wait until the changes are implemented by the retailers and risk ruining much of the food in the gently warming fridge?

I did the maths. If one of the packets of meat in the fridge has to be thrown out, the big VAT give away will be wiped out. So much for financial stimulus.

Tax cuts now, pain later

Says Darling.

As the mouthpiece of the master spinner this level of honesty scares me. I can only asume that when the pain comes it will be very painful indeed.

Safe Bromley Awards

I get to go to a lot of receptions, dinners and awards ceremonies in my job. I won't pretend that I don't enjoy the because for the most part I do. But last night was a particularly fun evening.

I attended the Safer Bromley Awards, it might not sound like the most glittering evening in the London Social calender but I loved it. The evening celebrated the work of the local Safer Neighbourhood Teams, the local panels and provide recognition from the community they serve.

It wasn't the food, drink or venue that set this apart it was the sheer enthusiasm of the people involved. I don't have the full list of winners just yet but I was particularly pleased to see my good friends at the Darwin SNT get an award for their youth work with Charles Darwin School over the year.

Well done to everyone who took part.

Leaked BNP list

How interested am I? Not very.

JusB birthday

I've just got back from the 5th Birthday service for JusB at the Bromley Baptist Church. JusB is a youth organisation that works with Bromley kids and helps them make the most of their lives. Happy birthday and well done for all the work.

If your credit cards are maxed out you're in good company

Docklands and Mile End

The London Conservative conference was held in Canary Wharf today. Lots of very interesting stuff which I'm not going to share with you, ohhh aren't I enigmatic!

After that event I went off to help campaign in Mile End in support of Motiur Rahman, or candidate. This area hasn't traditionally been great for us but the Poplar & Limehouse Conservatives have been grafting like Trojans over the last few years and have grown from having no councilors in 2002 to be the official opposition in Tower Hamlets by 2006.

Motiur is a classic hard working local activist and has a huge personal following. Keep your eyes out for the results late on the 20th/early 21st of this month.

Art in Bexley

I'm just back from the opening of the new gallery space at Hall Place. The event was organised by the the Arts Council of Bexley and attracted a very high range of paintings.

Hall Place is a stunning building and if you haven't been I would strongly recommend it.

I cried on the train to work this morning

I read the report on terrible fate of Baby P this morning, it felt like a stone in my stomach.

As a parent I find it very difficult reading about things like this. The catalogue of failure on the part of so many people makes me deeply angry and the unwillingness of any of them to take responsibility makes me sick.

Watching the Prime Minister try to play politics with this issue was one of the most demeaning things I have witnessed in parliament and I hope that when he watches the recording he will see just how crass his actions were.

Free travel for veterans

I forgot to write about this at the time, slap wrist to me!

War veterans can now travel for free on London's public transport system. During the campaign Boris promised he would introduce this scheme, now he has made good on that promise and did so in time for the remembrance services at the weekend.

All war veterans in receipt of a pension under the War Pensions Scheme or the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme are eligible for passes and over 1,500 passes have already been issued.

As you may know I have long felt that service personnel have been undervalued and their efforts gone largely unrecognised. This is a step in the right direction and an indicator of London's gratitude to the people who knowingly risk their lives to protect us.

Brown's enjoying his recession

Remembrance Sunday

I attended the Remembrance parade in Beckenham this morning and the Service of Remembrance in Welling this afternoon.

I have been to more parades at more war memorials than I care to remember and yet I still find the familiar words and prayers moving.

Monks brawl at Jerusalem shrine

That is such a great headline.

Lord Mayor's Show

I've been at the Lord Mayor's Show today. Despite being a Londoner for nearly 40 years I've never been before, that was a mistake on my part, it was great.

I managed to spot a number of friends from the TA in the parade, including members of 100 and 106 Regiments Royal Artillery. I would definitely recommend going if you get the chance.

People's Question Time

I've just got back from the People's Question Time (PQT) at Bromley Civic Centre. PQT gives people a chance to quiz the Mayor and the Assembly on a range of topics. The questions covered security and policing, transport, the environment and the Olympics.

I think it went fairly well. We had a chap with a guitar sing us all a song at the start, we didn't ask him to, he just did it. The mood was good humoured, people's questions were fair and interesting and I'd like to think that the answers were fairly interesting.

I heard that there were a number of people who weren't able to get in on the night. I'd like to apologise, because of the huge popularity of the event, it was over subscribed, I hope that if you were one of those people you were not too disappointed.

My thoughts on the Obama win

I had planned to blog about the Obama victory as soon as the result came through but I fell asleep. I had then planned to write about it yesterday but the day got rather busy. Now the world and their dog have analysed the results and there is little more for me to say, but here goes.

I'm very excited about the Obama win. While there are elements of policy that I do not share with him I feel that he will have a very positive effect on America and her standing in the world.

As someone who has a young, dynamic, eloquent party leader it is great to see that voters are not just willing but eager to embrace the opportunity for change even at a time of uncertainty.

Obama now has a couple of months to tune into government and assemble his team, he is getting the President's daily CIA briefings and other decision support information. At the point he takes over he will be able to hit the ground running.

Compare that with the situation we found ourselves in at City Hall in May. The election result was announced on the Friday, Livingstone's team moved out over the weekend and we started work on Monday, or Sunday afternoon in Boris' case. Boris had to start running London and build his top team at the same time. Not easy and a few mistakes were made.

These are exciting times ahead for America and by extension for us, I'm glad I'm living through it.

To display one example of poor judgement......

.....could be thought of as a misfortune, to display two looks like crassness.

Quentin Davis, what a tool!

Well done Lewis

Lewis Hamilton come in 5th in Brazil to win the 2008 F1 title. Well done.

Knowing me, knowing you.....

Ah ha.

There was an episode of Knowing Me, Knowing You with Alan Partridge, where Alan invites another Alan Partridge on as a guest on the show. Great idea, the only problem being the recent death of the second Alan Partridge. It was a very funny show.

Why am I telling you this? Because today I was coaching a group of under 7s rugby players with James Cleverly, first team prop for Beckenham Rugby Club.

James and I are friends on facebook but have not met up until now. Apparently he spent much of the spring explaining that he wasn't standing for Bexley and Bromley, while I was explaining that I hadn't scored a try in the match on Saturday.

Looking at the breakdown of results, I seemed to have done very well in Beckenham. I wonder how many people thought they were voting for someone else?