Diary: 29 November - 2 December Opinions 05 December 2005 Voting at 16, writing to Ruth Kelly and talking to headteachers. Read more...   Carers Rights Day News Flash 02 December 2005 Austin is supporting Carers UK’s sixth annual Carers Rights Day today. If you look after a sick or disabled relative you may not be claiming all the benefits and services you are entitled to. You can find out more from the Carers UK website, from where you can order a free Carers Rights Guide.   Selling Educashun Opinions 25 November 2005 No wonder the Whips objected so strongly to my letter to Grimsby Heads. The "Tool Kit" for Labour MPs shows what I should have done to sell the Educashun White Paper. Read more...   How socially inclusive are Academies? Opinions 17 November 2005 No one would accuse Education Minister, Jacqui Smith, of terminological inexactitudes in her letter to the Guardian to refute Matthew Taylor’s claim that Academies are less socially inclusive because they’re admitting fewer free school meals pupils than their predecessors. But to claim that the schools were both admitting more pupils and becoming more comprehensive was a New Labour truth. Read more...   The Long Farewell: Week Two (of several) Opinions 17 November 2005 Our lovely Party looks more and more like the USS Caine. Captain Queeg on the bridge clicking balls, looking more and more tense, becoming more assertive and messianic. Crew divided and worried. Majority anxious to maintain Naval regulations and support the captain. Read more...   The beginning of the end? Opinions 14 November 2005 The pundittieri have got Tony’s defeat wrong. Not the beginning of the end. Just a change in his situation which he’s only just beginning to understand. Read more...   Letter to Mervyn King August 2005 Monetary Policy 08 November 2005 Dear Mr King The Labour Economic Policy Group recommends that the Bank should continue the progress to lower rates which it began two months ago, by reducing interest rates by one half of one percent this month and indicating that the trend is down and that the Bank will be carrying out further reductions into next year, feeling its way to a lower level of rates to bring British interest rates to a more competitive level than the other advanced industrial countries, rather than keeping them at a higher level as we have for the past few years. Read more...   Hunt for the snitch General Ramblings 08 November 2005 Last week Chief Whip Hilary let slip the fact that she’s got a copy of my letter to Grimsby Headteachers about the Education White Paper. The letter was pretty critical (see below since Ian Cawsey tells me it’s circulating round the Whips office) but the basic points were endorsed by Tony at the PLP i.e. we should concentrate on the worst schools in the worst areas. Tony says we will. Don’t want the advantaged schools to drain the others or be selective. Tony says they wouldn’t. Keep LEAs. Tony said we could. It will be modified by discussion and consultation. Tony said it will be. Read more...   Toughing it out on 90 days General Ramblings 08 November 2005 Packed PLP meeting for Blair’s speech. Low-key performance. Stony faced reception (no-one wants to give anything away). Blair is circling the wagons and toughing it out by taking a stand on 90 days internment. This makes fools of the Whips who were persuading people to vote for 90 days on the understanding that he’d reduce it at report stage. It also undermines Clarke who promised full consultation but has had to spend the day going round with a police escort letting him explain why 90 days is essential. Read more...   YP in Exile: Dateline Grimsby Opinions 03 November 2005 What is happening to the People’s Tone? His star quality has helped us to power and him to popularity. His brilliant presentation, inspired by Alistair Campbell (RIP), made our government triumphant. We have adored him for five years or more, a record for Labour, because we’ve no staying power in love. Read more...   Still not the Yorkshire Post - just smarter Opinions 28 October 2005 Last week’s vote on ID cards and particularly the amendment to make them voluntary had the whips rattled to a degree I’ve not seen before and unnecessarily as it turned out. Read more...   The real Tony Blair Opinions 28 October 2005 Before he finally ascends to the higher realms of house prices we should be told who the real Tony Blair is. He’s a star. He still twinkles and looks nice. He took Labour to victory. But what’s inside? Read more...   Mergers and abolitions Opinions 28 October 2005 In the summer lull the Tonyite vandal squad has snook in and bashed a lot of structures around. Change has become the only constant for a Prime Minister in legacy mode, anxious to be remembered for something other than Iraq. Everything is being thrown up into the air before the last lot of changes have even settled in. Read more...   House Magazine Diary for October 2005 House Magazine Diary 25 October 2005 Happy Days are here again. The Pioneer Corps of socialism re-assembles on the Westminster Parade Ground. Tony triangulates the line of march. The Party Conference retriangulates it back again. No-one’s sure where we’re going, the Tories are all over the place and the Lib Dems apparently asleep. Read more...   Back to the blog Opinions 24 October 2005 Once more unto the blog, Dear Friends. The nation has waited impatiently for the revival of Britain’s most honest blog site. The people have begged and pleaded. Some have been reduced to reading and re reading the joys of the first bloggy election. Others have written to Tony asking him to make me a bloggy minister. Most have relapsed into sobbing and misery. Read more...   PEOPLE'S POST: THE BLOG THE HACKERS CAN`T STOP Opinions 26 August 2005 Robin Cook’s death is a sad loss to a Parliamentary Labour Party which isn’t exactly overflowing with talent. It`s an even bigger loss to the quality of debating. Robin was not only a great debater but the best forensic debater around. His logic was always as powerful as Enoch Powell`s, but unlike Enoch Robin’s speeches were laced with savage humour. Read more...   The People's Post is deepest Red - 2nd August General Ramblings 02 August 2005 There’s a general assumption that a shoot to kill policy is acceptable in view of the terrorist threat and the need to deal quickly with suicide bombers. I don’t share it. Shoot to kill is a total change. It hasn’t been authorized by Parliament. There is no indication that it can stop suicide bombers but every indication that innocent lives will be lost. Indeed, in the case of the Brazilian plumber one already has. Read more...   Letter to Mervyn King July 2005 Monetary Policy 29 July 2005 Dear Mr King This month`s advice of the Labour Economic Policy Group to the Monetary Policy Committee is to reduce interest rates, preferably by as much as two percent to bring them down to the level of other advanced countries, but certainly by a more substantial amount the usual cautious, little by little approach would allow. The reduction, necessary last month, and which would have occurred then had it not been for the London bombings, now needs to be at least doubled to one half of one percent, preferably more. That is less than we think necessary but it would be more acceptable to you and would indicate to the world how serious the softening of the economy is becoming and how great the need for action to boost it. It would also give the necessary signal to markets that rates are on the way down, the pound with them. Read more...   Blog - July 24th 2005 General Ramblings 29 July 2005 The triumph of Tony rolls on. And on. The troops have all been sent on extended leave singing his praises as we go. His poll ratings are back to pre-election levels. The other party leaders dance attendance and endorse terror legislation - which will I hope apply to Irish terrorism just as much as Al-Qaeda.. So Tony`s in his heaven when all’s wrong with the world. I can`t resist the cynical thought that one more bomb attempt and the entire Labour Party will be queuing up to ask him to stay on as president for life. Read more...   THE PEOPLE'S POST Yorkshire Post Articles 22 July 2005 Hilary Armstrong, Labour`s Chief Whip, has managed to avoid the usual rows over her Select Committee appointments because the Parliamentary Committee stepped in to stop some of the lunacies the Whips were inclined to in their desire to use Select Committee appointments as a form of patronage and discipline. Gwyneth Dunwoody stays in place as a powerful critic on Transport. Some attempts to give former ministers a nice little retirement niche as committee chairs are cancelled and a few rebels, like Andrew McInley, given places. Read more...

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