Former Labour Equality Minister in Gingerphobic Attack

There was always one chant I always felt uncomfortable with in the stands at Scottish football stands. It was the one attacking the poor unfortunate ginger player on the opposition team, and how his natural colouring was unacceptable. The reason being that being in Scotland there were plenty of ginger fans in our own section, heck the majority of what are now my grey hairs on head or in beard once were ginger.

Therefore to stand at your parties Scottish conference and make a ginger gibe can't not have gone down too well, one of the people sat on the platform looks rather uncomfortable as she applauds, the former Women and Equalities Minister, for it is her. She went futher and called him a rodent. Actually seeing a beavers are rodents and stem the torrent of resources washing away maybe we should use that. Danny Alexander Chief Dambuilder to the Treasury.

There is one other thing, my Lib Dem colleagues in Scotland haven't mutated into Tories and more than they mutated in Labourites during eight years of coalition Government in Scotland. Harriet in Scotland the people understand coalition is the coming together for a common cause, it does not take away from either party what makes them fundamentally themselves.

When will Labour start to talk policy rather than hurl insults? If they want to win seats they have to say what they will do, rather than merely saying, "Oh no! You can't be doing that."

Grow up Labour. Get back into politics and out of the playground name calling.

Update: Here is the Twitter comeback from Danny Alexander:

"I am proud to be ginger and rodents do valuable work cleaning up mess others leave behind. Red squirrel deserves to survive, unlike Labour"

Fisking Harriet Harman

So today in (Deputy) Prime Minister's Questions Vince Cable stepped up to ask Harriet Harman about the widening inequality gap, which I'd picked up on earlier.

So in response Ms Harman said it had got wider under the Conservatives.

Well to be honest it did, but that is not the end of the story, it got even wider under Labour. Indeed the differential (equivalent to 100 times the wealth) between the top 10% of earners and the lowest 10% is greater than at any time since 1961.

One wonders just how Harriet can justify her statement that her Government have helped the poor when the opposite appears clear.

***Breaking News*** Nick Robinson Names Cabinet Names

Nick Robinson has just named the names of those in Cabinet that were standing by as Geoof Hoon and Patricia Hewitt too the heat for their letter.

Harriet Harman

David Miliband

Douglas AlexanderJack Straw Jim Murphy Bob Ainsworth The dirty half dozen who were waiting to pounce.

Was their intended successor a Miliband?

Nick Robinson said that you can expect their offices to be issuing denials immediately. At least a lot faster than the statements of support for the Prime Minister earlier in the day.

Remember, Remember the 4th of November

Remember when Parliament ran into the expenses crisis there was a hope, Sir Christopher Kelly's report.

All the party leaders have spoken in favour of accepting the recommendations Nick Clegg, David Cameron even Gordon Brown made a Commons statement stressing that all party's had agreed accept the further Kelly recommendations providing they 'meet the tests of increased transparency, accountability and reduced costs for the taxpayer'. However, now it appears that Harriet Harman is preparing to water the proposals down.

The areas they are looking to water down are some of the most abused and some of those where tough changes in the rules are most needed. The second homes profiteering, the employee of family members not all able to give the time they were paid for, the commutable second home claimants. The last of these is of course something that all the Greater London Lib Dem MPs have shown is not only doable but achievable. Like many other London employees even those that work long hours they know they can get home at the end of the day.

So why the stalling, why the change of tack. Are the proposals Harman is objecting to any less transparent, accountable or reducing tax payers expenses? The only one that may reduce costs is paying second home mortgage payments rather than rental value. However, when it comes to transparency and accountability even this scores high as it shows that MPs will not be profiting at tax payers expenses on their London, or elsewhere property portfolio.

Kelly reports officially on Wednesday, though there have been leaks, so I feel there may be a need for new verse coming along to a famous poem.

So remember, remember the fourth of November,
MPs expenses and plot.
I know of no reason,
Why Kelly's propositions,
Should not ahead as report'd.

More haste, More Dosh but less Transparency #MPsExpenses

Nick Clegg and the Lib Dems had urged Members of Parliament to take time to deal with the situation of expenses and public confidence before they returned to their constituencies for the summer recess. End result the new outcry over the subsistence allowance.

Not that there wasn't outcry over Gordon Brown's proposal when it was first muted, many MPs from all sides were pointing out that this would give more money with less accountability. The £25 pounds for each night spent away from their main home could amount to £9,000 without the need for a receipt to be shown. There are full time workers in the UK who are lucky to have that amount of money to spend on all their bills, food and getting to work after taxes.

The unreceipted claims for food under the old discredited system was £4,800, but at least was debated even if the Labour and Tory benches overwhelmingly supported it. This new subsistence allowance was rushed through in the final days of the Parliamentary session, without even full Parliamentary scrutiny or a vote. Instead it was passed by a small committee chaired by the speaker John Bercow and including Harriet Harman as Leader of the House and Alan Duncan from the Tory front bench.

All three had said that an expense system not backed by receipts was unacceptable yet what have they done? Almost doubled the unreceitable allowances to the within £1000 of the gross full time Minimum Wage for a adult working 35 hours per week.

This is a disgrace that should never have been allowed to happen. Nick had called on the House to get this sorted out in the open before returning to their constituencies. The people were calling out for this to be sorted and this should have been a priority and constituents would then have understood that they were determined to do something about it. However, with this news coming out just after the English schools have broken up for the summer and with MPs dispearsed makes bad reading and prolongs this distrust that the public has in politicians.

Master of the House?

I'd just like to draw your attention to this brilliant casting of 'One More Day' from Les Miserables by Political Dissuasion.

Footnote: I would have tagged more of the cast list but Blogger wouldn't let me, look for yourself.

Harriet's Heffalump Trap Hell

As if her comment to overwrite the European Convention on Human Rights to try and cease Sir Fred Goodwin's private property (his pension) off him. Saying they could retrospectively change contracts, which would be a real disincentive for foreign investors to invest in the UK. Harriet Harman was at it again in her personal vendetta to get at Sir Fred Goodwin.

She claimed during PMQs. while standing in for the act performing to US Congress in Joint Session later that Sir Fred's pension was for his work with the Prince's and not for Banking, but for his work for the Prince's trust.

Whoops! Even Downing Street said of his award when given "[Goodwin] undertook many challenging projects that benefited both his company and the Scottish economy as a whole."

Of course it was for Banking he'd just overseen a record £6.2bn profit for RBS back in 2004 when he was awarded it. However even at the time of this award it was noted:

"However, he also came in for criticism from unions who branded him a fat cat for accepting a £900,000 bonus on top of his annual salary of £1m."

Oops, obviously not Teflon Fred then.

However, the fact that she was being asked the question by Elfyn Llwyd should have made Harriet cautious if she did not know the answer. But she fell right into that Heffalump trap and had to apologise immediately after PMQs.

Not Just a Police State of the Future

Harriet Harman this morning on the Andrew Marr show said something which had far reaching ramifications. She said of Sir Fred Goodwin's pension:

"The prime minister has said that it is not acceptable and therefore it will not be accepted.

"And it might be enforceable in a court of law, this contract, but it is not enforceable in the court of public opinion and that is where the government steps in."

So be wary. This current Labour regime is eroding more and more into our civil liberties. They have already shown they see themselves as above the law when they invade Iraq on false pretences. Now they are seeking to overturn the law, their own ministerial approvals all for the sake of making up for a mistake that they have made in the past. So they are not just content with rewriting history they want to rewrite laws you may not have known you'd fallen foul of.

Equality and Maternity Leave - Victims of Recession

Plans announced the the Queen's speech to enhance maternity leave and toughen equality legislation are the latest victims of the recession if Lord Voldemort of Hartlepool and Foy has his way. The Business Minister sees these enhancements to the workplace as anti-business and therefore as part of the confidential memo calling on Minister to:

"advise on a moratorium on legislation and legislative announcements made but not yet implemented that will entail additional costs for businesses".

these measures have come under the Mandelson axe. However, these policies have been championed by Harriet Harman, the deputy Labour leader, who has rallied for a harder line against those who blame the recession to victimise those covered by such legislation longer.

However, it shows a rift in the cabinet and Labour party over just how to deal with the downturn in the economy. Jon Cruddas said:

"If the most progressive of our policies are the first to go under the hatchet, that will cause deep unease across the party. Genuflecting to the free market got us into this mess and the solution is not more of the same. There is now a deepening ideological divide about what to do next."

So the ideological battle between traditional and new Labour may also be raising its head in the midst of this crisis. At a time when the polls are not favourable to Labour inner party struggles may also been seen as a means to move on. However, there is a task at hand and it seems that there are two roads diverging in the Westminster village. It all depends which is the road Labour will travel by.

Watch Out Gordon We're Coming to Get You

Gordon Brown may be taking a vacation but everyone seems out to get him just now.

First David Miliband calls on his colleagues in an article in the Grauniad to offer the electorate real change. Many in the Main Stream Media see it as the opening salvo in a leadership bid from the one many see as Brown's likely successor. He talks about the need for change, "a new phase", that the summer shouldn't be about introspection. Saying:

"The odds are against us, no question. But I still believe we can win the next
election."

Then sets out an agenda of what has been done wrong and what should be done better. Finishing off with a rallying cry of sorts:

"New Labour won three elections by offering real change, not just in policy but in the way we do politics. We must do so again. So let's stop feeling sorry for ourselves, enjoy a break, and then find the confidence to make our case afresh."

The speculation of course is just was does he imply by afresh?

Meanwhile Deputy Prime Minister, Harriet Harman, is denying claims that she too is preparing a leadership challenge. Looks like the knives may well be being looked at in the draw if not yet getting sharpened in the Labour camp.

Then you have Nick Clegg stating that there is no such thing as a safe Labour seat and redirecting Lib Dem attention and funding to focus on the 50 most vulnerable Labour seats at the nest General Election. He says:

"And at the next general election, they will lose in their heartlands to the
Liberal Democrats. A Labour vote is now a wasted vote."

It is a shift from 2005 when the party looked at the vulnerability of Tory seats such as those of David Davis and Theresa May but reflects the gains on councils and control taken in some traditionally Labour dominated areas. With all the uncertainty over what Labour's next roll of the dice may be he warns.

"You never know how quickly things will change. Gordon Brown may find the
guts to call the general election we should have had last year.

"He
may be replaced with yet another unelected Labour prime minister.

"We've
got to be ready for anything. Britain needs a break from Labour.

"Britain needs a young party with fresh ideas for today's families -
that's us. So let's make it happen."

So after having one by election taking us into the traditional slow period for politics it looks like we may well have an interesting summer season ahead of us long before the resort towns hold the party conferences in September.

Charles Kennedy on Question Time

It is always tough for the party representative to go on Question Time the day that the autumn conference finishes. Usually this is because the events of the week are fresh in the audiences mind and any faux pas made by or at conference is liable to be held up to ridicule.

This year the choice of Charles Kennedy to be our representative made it a matter of waiting for the ineffitable question and seeing how it was handled. The question came in the form:

What does the future hold for a political party when the ex-leader outshines the present leader at party conference?

The wording allowed Charles to attempt to side step the issue by mentioning that he did not think that Paddy Ashdown's comments about his own speech would have ramifications on Ming's leadership. He also turned the question over to next week in waiting to see if the leader in waiting might outshine the leader at Labour's Conference.

David Dimbleby however would not let Charles get away with saying anything is possible in politics and wanted a yes or no answer as to whether he would like to be leader again. Problem is David as Charles is well aware a lot of things can happen in politics. Though I hope the party never can again fit all its MPs into one London Cab nothing is beyond the realms of possibility. After all Alex Salmond seems to revel in a recurring role as leader of the SNP. William Hague has turned down his lucarative private income to resume a seat on the Tory front bench.

Both Hague and Kennedy may have a long time to go in Westminster, who can say what will happen. After all the last time all three main parties changed their leaders in one parliament was 1974-79, Callaghan replaced Wilson, Thatcher usurped Heath and David Steel took over from Jo Grimmond. So we live in interesting times.

One that was heartening/discouraging (depending on you take of it) was Harriet Harman lazy approach to preparing for the first QT of the session. Knowing that CK was going to be on she admitted not listening to Ming's speech, surely she must have guessed at the question that would come. SHe also seemed ill at ease and unprepared for the questions on John Reid and Foreign policy, or maybe that was just because even she didn't believe the answers she ended up spurting out.