No home for Lib Dems in Labour Party.

In the year 2000 Chief Executives got 47 times the national average pay. By 2010 this had risen to 81 times. If you are a left wing Lib Dem distressed at some of the things coming out of the Coalition please don't delude yourself that you have a spiritual home in the Labour Party. Their record on social justice made even Thatchers jaw drop open.

The 'Dunce of the Year Award' - to the Daily Telegraph

The Daily Telegraph is an arch opponent of the Murdoch empire so what does do? Why it hires some people to do a 'sting' the publication of which results in the decision on whether or not to curb Murdoch's ambition being removed from the one man who might oppose such ambition. Clever stuff huh!

Ill informed punditry gets trashed by events.

A certain Bill Carmichael, who seems to be given column inches in the National press in which to air his opinions, wrote in the Yorkshire Post on 24th December: " It is precisely the same reason why the Business Secretary was so easily seduced into making a fool of himself in a Christmas special of 'Strictly Come Dancing'. This was written before the show was aired and it is not clear whether Mr Carmichael had seen it. In the event Vince Cable and his partner came second in the judges vote and one judge gave them a perfect 10 score. One might venture to suggest that it was not the Business Secretary who made a fool of himself on this occasion.

Mad and cruel

There is neither sanity or fairness in an asylum system that allows a failed asylum seeker,who has somehow escaped deportation and who kills a girl with a car that he has no business to be driving in the first place, to stay in Britain. Especially when desperate people with young families who have done nothing wrong, can work, want to work and want to integrate are deported. I feel deeply ashamed as well as very angry. It is high time that the insanity and injustice of our system was dealt with.

Stupid Student

Cambridge history student Charlie Gilmour, photographed climbing the Cenotaph, has apologised (good). However he is reported as saying that he didn't realise it was the Cenotaph. If that is true how did anyone so appallingly ignorant ever get into Cambridge & should he not be sent down?

Wiki leaks - a Different Question

I'm not going to defend Wikileaks. There is always some information which it is being wrongly withheld from a wider audience but there is also some which it is not constructive to disclose. However when we look at the list of locations of facilities that the USA considers vital to its' security and you find a snake ant-venom laboratory in Australia listed you have to ask a question about dangers to the world created by US paranoia.

The price of power

The Governments proposals on higher education funding and student finance etc. are to be debated on 9th December. The two briefing notes on this, available on the House of Commons website, run to 37pages. It is a measure of the failure to communicate the content of these proposals that tuition fees have grabbed all the attention. Liberal Democrat MPs at last seem to have sorted out how they are going to vote in this debate. That question should never have been allowed to grab so much air time. Those Lib Dem MPs in the Government should vote with the Government or resign from it. The rest can do as they please. This simple rule should apply to all issues and should have been in place ages ago thus preventing all the 'will you won't you' dithering & bad publicity. We are having an enormous problem going from a party of protest to a party of power. It is much easier to be a party of protest and most Lib Dems feel very comfortable in that role. Almost 50yrs ago when asked about the pressures that forced pragmatism to compromise principle Harold McMillan replied : "Events dear boy, events". Of course in Scotland since devolution, and in many Town & County Halls across the land, hundreds of LibDems have had to cope with the conflicts created by power both shared and by themselves but it is very new to the Parliamentary Party. Let's hope they learn & make a better job of it in future than they have this time.