Bad Night for Labour and Conservatives

Three by election results last night. Two in the traditional Labour heartland that returned Nye Bevan and Michael Foot but held by independents, one in the old Tory stomping ground of Harold MacMillan.

In the end Labour failed to regain either the Westminster or Cardiff seat of Blaenau Gwent from the Independents standing on the lagacy of Peter Law. In Bromley and Chislehurst they sank to fourth behind UKIP.

As for David Cameron he can also not be sitting to comfortable today he say a 5 figure reduced to 641 after a recount in what was the 17th safest Conservative seat only 13 months ago.

So far in this Parliament we have had two Westminster by-elections in Labour seats, one in a Lib Dem seat, one in a Tory seat and one in an Independent but formerly strong Labour seat. The results make interesting reading only in Lib Dem Cheadle has the holding party increased their majority and share of the vote. Labour lost vote share and were worried of losing Livingston, which they did in Dunfermline and West Fife and failed to win back Blaenau Gwent. The Tories failed to make any impression in any of these since a slight increase in their vote share at Cheadle.

In fact considering the spread of these constituencies. Three in traditional Labour heartlands and the Tories claiming two of them as their birthright the number of votes won make very interesting reading. Labour have won 36,633 votes to the Tories 33,265 however the Liberal Democrats have taken 48,811 votes in these five by elections. So it just begs the rhetorical question who do the electorate see as the real opposition to Labour.

Almost a Year Since Gleneagles...

...how is Tony Blair Getting on.

Well Save the Children have unearthed this memo.

So still a lot to do on making healthcare free in Africa.

HIV treatment target of 2010 needs some work on if this is going to be acheived.

Although debt in the 28 poorest countries of the world has almost now be cancelled.

Tony cannot be losing his direction or purpose as some of his own people are saying. There is still work to be done on the promises he made us last year. If he really wants to make poverty history he should be doing more about it.

Vote Neill and You May Have to Vote Again Later

This morning the Bromley Times carried a warning for voters in today's by-election. The front page story says that if the Conservative candidate Bob Neill is elected in today's election the people of Bromley and Chislehurst may find themselves returning to a poll if another election is called due to irregularities on his nomination papers.

The message could be summed up as Vote Blue, Vote Again.

In the Name of the Father

The latest critic of Gordon Brown's decision to seek out a replacement for Trident comes from the Moderator of the Church of Scotland. The Right Rev Alan McDonald says that he doubts that Mr Brown's father, the late Rev Dr John Brown, whose name Gordon invoked on the eve of Veteren's Day in his address at St Bryce Kirk, would have agreed.

The Moderator said that as for the actual view of Rev Brown he can not be sure but he stated the Church of Scotland has been opposed to nuclear weapons for 25 years. He went on to say in a cutting remark:

"The Chancellor is due great credit for his part in the Make Poverty History Campaign.

"However, what is the point of making poverty history if you then effectively target the poor, and everybody else in the world, with nuclear weapons?

"And ... how much aid for the developing world could you buy with £25 billion? How many lives could be saved?"

Last night a spokesman for the Chancellor was saying that 'the fullest possible debate' would take place on this matter before a decision is made. So in that case what exactly was meant by the Chancellors statement last Wednesday?

It's About Fairness Not Higher Taxes Bristow

Bristow Muldoon MSP is to start leafletting homes in Livingston with lies about the effects on local people of replacing the council tax.

He is citing figures in the leaflet which do not add Council Tax unto Income Tax figures for the current situation. Therefore scewing the results which will erronerously show an increase in income tax as one of Labour's many stealth taxes, which would be replaced by a local income tax, has not been taken into consideration.

Maybe Mr Muldoon would care to enlighten the electorate what the changes in the average tax budget for all taxes income, council, fuel, VAT etc have been under Labour to the average household instead of grabbing unto one headline tax while ignoring the rest. The Lib Dem's Tax policy is to bring about fairer taxes to the average and less well off members of our society something that Labour have been failing to do in the 9 years they have controlled Westminster.

I look forward to seeing a copy of this leaflet and will let you know just how average Mr Muldoon is going to say an average household is. His colleague in Westminster Jim Divine, used an example of a couple in the top 30% of earners during last year's by-election.

A-Lististo Spokesperson Fails to Secure Seat

Anne McIntosh MP for the Vale of York, which is disappearing under boundary changes, and Tory spokeperson on Work and Pension has failed in her bid to gain selection for Selby. In another blow for Chameleon Dave's A-Lististos not even potential Government ministers, who already have Parliamentary experience, can fend off local candidates such as Nigel Adams.

Cameron Fails to Impress Former Tutor

After listening to the end of Italy vs Australia on the way home I stayed tuned to Radio 5 while I got in some shopping on the way home. When who should they bring on to join the condemnation of Chameleon Dave's UK Bill of rights but his old tutor from Oxford, Professor Vernon Bogdanor.

Now it may have been a number of years since the Tory leader faced this particular Oxford Don in a tutorial but the comments on this evening's news was a vertitable ripping apart of sub-standard undergraduate work not even fit of a potential future Prime Minister. Cameron was accused of not understanding the German example he was citing to model his plan on. Far from it circumventing the European Convention of Human Rights Professor Bogdanor told Radio Five listeners, deprived of Wimbledon coverage, that the German courts actually had the right to throw out laws that contravened the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), whereas our own courts could only say that Parlilament should re-address such an issue. He also said that having a Bill of Rights alongside the ECHR would only cause confusion as British citizens would still be European Citizens no matter what Dave was planning to do.

It made great radio to hear the man, who is cited as calling David Cameron "one of the ablest" students he had taught, tear a chunk out of his latest plans. It very much was like those shamefully pulling apart of substandard work that all Univeristy students witness at some point in their academic career, and they just hope that they are never on the recieving end.