Blogging will be lighter

You can keep your Michael Jackson concert tickets, and your Michael Jackson memorial tickets, there is only one ticket which really counts.

Another synthetic attack by Labour

On top of the accusation of spending cuts planned by the Conservatives (as opposed to "challenges" to Labour ;-)), the Tories are now accused of homophobia. Today's Independent piece by Jane Merrick sums up the battle so far. MP for Rhondda, and Deputy Leader of the Commons, Chris Bryant went so far as to say: "If gays vote Tory, they will rue the day very soon."

But this concerted attack is disingenuous. No government (except one dominated by UKIP or BNP) is going to reverse the sexual reforms of the last decade, and the Labour spin-doctors know it. The worst that can happen is that further reforms will be held up, but here Labour seems to have lost its nerve also.

I wonder whether the campaign is designed not to woo "the pink vote", as the headline-writers have it, but to create dissension in the Tory ranks. Mandelson and co. may be banking on a reaction from rank-and-file Conservatives to the obligatory defence by Cameron of homosexual rights.

More splits in the anti-conservative vote in Norwich North

I turned to Craig Murray's blog to see what his reaction, as a former insider, was to the announcement that United Kingdom foreign aid was to be "rebranded". Instead, I find that he is yet another candidate in the by-election on July 23rd caused by the resignation of Dr Ian Gibson. As a very credible contender, no doubt fighting on a platform of human rights and for honesty in government, he is bound to take votes away from the Liberal Democrat candidate, April Pond. No doubt the Greens, with whom Joanna Lumley has associated herself, and who are strong in Norwich, will also suffer. Many people who saw the Gurkha campaign as a test of both Labour and Conservative policy and were inspired by Lumley, would be attracted by the Greens.

Murray has a perfect right to stand. In an ideal world, there would be a proportional vote in Norwich North, so that the final decision would reflect the true feelings of the electors about the state of Westminster politics - and the state of the economy, for which both Thatcher-Major and Blair-Brown share responsibility. As it is, Tweedledum and Tweedledee have been given a boost.

He is not going to win this month, but I do hope that he will find a constituency at the general election where he will be embraced - or at least given a free run - by the local Liberal Democrat party. He shares so much of our philosophy and he has so much to offer the House of Commons.

That ginger tom from next-door

I am still waiting for that well-known cat lover Peter Black to comment on the Question Time team being upstaged by a cat, so I shall provide the link myself.

Update 2009/7/4: it is now on the premier blogspot in South Wales West as http://peterblack.blogspot.com/2009/07/gwylliaid-cochion-storm-bbc.html.

Labour running out of Royal Mail excuses

The legislative log-jam has already been exposed as a spurious excuse for shelving Labour's plans to privatise Royal Mail. Now, the reason put forward is that “Market conditions have made it impossible to find a partner on terms that would make it value for money to the taxpayer” (see Liberal Voice).

But, as Robert Peston pointed out on BBC yesterday, conditions for attracting private capital were more difficult when the idea was first floated than now.

Diageo closing distillery

The multi-national drinks company has announced that it is closing its whisky distillery at Port Dundas in Glasgow. As this mini-history makes clear, this is a grain distillery, a sign that the market for blended whiskies is either static or declining.

Where there is law, there is jugaad

From the India Uncut blog:

Nepal has ordered its customs officials to wear pocketless pants, with a view to discouraging bribes. You know what’s gonna happen now, don’t you? The sales of underwear with inbuilt pockets will go up! Where there is law, there is jugaad.

Senior customs official to his deputy: Is that a bulge in your pants or are you just happy to see me?

(Punya Mishra explains: Jugaad is a Hindi word which does not have a straight forward equivalent in English. [...] the closest [...] would be “situational or indigenous creativity,” the ability to make do creatively with the tools/resources one has at hand.)

Could there be a Unison/Labour falling-out?

A little bird tells me that Unison, the Trade Union conglomerate which organises council workers among others, and which is a major contributor to Labour, is funding the stock-transfer "No" campaign in Neath Port Talbot. Unison's national policy is to reject Large-Scale Voluntary Transfer (LSVT), but some local official representatives have taken a more objective approach. I am told that this led to clashes in Wrexham, where the local branch supported the council, while the national organisation campaigned for the (successful) "No" vote.

I'm not sure where the Neath branch of Unison stands, but I do know that some staff members have objected to being unpaid propagandists for a "Yes" vote. If they have come out against Labour-controlled Neath Port Talbot CBS, at least they will demonstrate consistency, regardless of party allegiances - Unison in Swansea helped defeat the Liberal Democrat-led City Council when it mounted a LSVT vote.

As to Welsh Unison/Labour links, the Web one appears to be broken. ;-)