It has been a hot topic of conversation in Scotland over recent months that Alex Salmond has been saying he wants to be involved in debates in Scotland ahead of the general election. He has even threatened legal action if he is not allowed into the Prime Ministerial debates.
Well if looks like he has refused to answer a challenge from the Scottish leaders Labour's Iain Gray, Lib Dem Tavish Scott and Tory Annabel Goldie to a debate. Indeed let's also invite Patrick Harvie of the Greens and if Alex doesn't show empty seat him. I've since the first ramifications said there should be a Scottish wide debate instead or as well as one of the proposed debates. It is not a compromise but a recognition of the devolved nature of politics here in Scotland, an answer to the West Lothian Question as far as the debates issue is concerned. I'm sure a similar thing will occur in Northern Ireland and I'd wish it also happens in Wales. But Alex is letting his ego get the better of him.
He has stated his ambition of getting 20 seats in the General Election, but his super-ego is getting the better of him. He thinks as First Minister of a devolved Parliament he deserves equal billing with the Prime Ministerial contenders and at the same time thinks he above the opposition leaders in that devolved power. He is in the no mans land, not on the same stage as the others and with his one extra seat considers himself better than Grey and the rest.
Turning down this offer of a Scotland debate on terms of parity while seeking to set, control and bully the UK wide agenda (without consideration to other more nationwide parties) for his own self shows that the ego is what is ruling the SNP decisions on the debates issue.
Sunday, 11 October 2009
No Matter What: Stephen Gately 1976 - 2009
It is always a tragedy when somebody dies suddenly, when it happens to someone young who was looking forward to getting back to what made them famous even more so.
Last night Boyzone singer Stephen Gately who was on Majorca with his long time partner Andy Cowles, they had a civil partnership ceremony in 2006, went out for a few drinks. When he returned to his accommodation he fell asleep and never woke up. He's been born on St. Patrick's day in 1976 (he shared both my given names*, much as Morrissey also does, as a result).
Indeed his last Tweet on Tuesday said:
The band, who X-Factor contenders should remember made a drastic debut on the Gabriel Byrne's Late, Late Show on RTE, had six UK number one hits from 1994 - 2000. They were managed by Louis Walsh and were preparing for another tour after last year's successful comeback tour. Louis found out after last night's X-Factor and said:
After the band split Stephen had a short lived solo career, his first solo single New Beginning peaked at number 3 in the UK charts. The follow up I Believe which was inspired when he saw Billy Elliot and appeared on the film's soundtrack, peaked at the 'Stephen Glenn position' number 11. When the third solo single Stay only reached 13 Polydor dropped the artist.
While it may have been a disaster is let Stephen move into musical theatre from early 2003 he took on the lead in Andrew Lloyd-Weber and Tim Rice's Joesph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat. His next West End role was a shock for the sweet one out of Boyzone appearing as the child-catcher in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang in 2004. In 2006 he also appeared as the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz.
There does seem to be an obligatory Doctor Who reference in a lot of my tributes and this one is no exception. Stephen appeared as Tommy Tommorrow in the Doctor Who audio play Horror of Glam Rock in March 2007, alongside Paul McGann the 8th Doctor and Bernard Cribbens who recently played** on screen Wilfred Mott, the Doctor's companion Donna Noble's (Catherine Tate) grandfather .
He also appeared in the 2007 second series of Dancing on Ice where he skated with Candaian professional Kristina Lenko. Though she said she "did not feel safe" dancing with Stephen and they went out in 8th on 10 February. He also made his debut film role in Credo in 2008.
A sad loss at the age of only thirty three.
UPDATE: I'd forgotten how in 2001 the Lib Dems had used New Beginning as their campaign song, and it has subsequently been used at Conference many times. (Hat tip to Lib Dem Voice). See also Andrew Reeves.
Many tributes have been flooding in from around the world and the best place I can find to keep up with them is on Ronan Keating's official website.
Stephen Gately 17 March 1976 - 10 October 2009
*His full name was Stephen Patrick David Gately.
** Not his first on screen role in the series.
Last night Boyzone singer Stephen Gately who was on Majorca with his long time partner Andy Cowles, they had a civil partnership ceremony in 2006, went out for a few drinks. When he returned to his accommodation he fell asleep and never woke up. He's been born on St. Patrick's day in 1976 (he shared both my given names*, much as Morrissey also does, as a result).
Indeed his last Tweet on Tuesday said:
The book was his children's fantasy novel The Tree of Seasons which was due to be released for Christmas, this year
"still busy - lots going on. Focussing on finishing my book next so may be quiet here."
The band, who X-Factor contenders should remember made a drastic debut on the Gabriel Byrne's Late, Late Show on RTE, had six UK number one hits from 1994 - 2000. They were managed by Louis Walsh and were preparing for another tour after last year's successful comeback tour. Louis found out after last night's X-Factor and said:
"We're all absolutely devastated."I'm in complete shock. I was only with him on Monday at an awards ceremony. We don't know much about what's happened yet.
"I only heard after The X Factor and we will rally around each other this week. He was a great man."
In 1999 Stephen took the brave step at the time of coming out as gay, a former member of the bands security detail were possibly about to out the story. It wasn't the done thing for members of boybands popular with screaming teenagers to remove that curtain of possible romance from their fans, even long term girlfriends were hidden. However, later he said he was glad that he would no longer have to hide his love for then boyfriend of four years Eloy de Jong of the Dutch boyband Caught in the Act. But it didn't take away from the lustre of little Stephen or the adoration of the band or him. After the band had reformed their second new single Better contained a scene on romantic couples including two men embracing as a nod to Stephen and his sexuality.
After the band split Stephen had a short lived solo career, his first solo single New Beginning peaked at number 3 in the UK charts. The follow up I Believe which was inspired when he saw Billy Elliot and appeared on the film's soundtrack, peaked at the 'Stephen Glenn position' number 11. When the third solo single Stay only reached 13 Polydor dropped the artist.
While it may have been a disaster is let Stephen move into musical theatre from early 2003 he took on the lead in Andrew Lloyd-Weber and Tim Rice's Joesph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat. His next West End role was a shock for the sweet one out of Boyzone appearing as the child-catcher in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang in 2004. In 2006 he also appeared as the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz.
There does seem to be an obligatory Doctor Who reference in a lot of my tributes and this one is no exception. Stephen appeared as Tommy Tommorrow in the Doctor Who audio play Horror of Glam Rock in March 2007, alongside Paul McGann the 8th Doctor and Bernard Cribbens who recently played** on screen Wilfred Mott, the Doctor's companion Donna Noble's (Catherine Tate) grandfather .
He also appeared in the 2007 second series of Dancing on Ice where he skated with Candaian professional Kristina Lenko. Though she said she "did not feel safe" dancing with Stephen and they went out in 8th on 10 February. He also made his debut film role in Credo in 2008.
A sad loss at the age of only thirty three.
UPDATE: I'd forgotten how in 2001 the Lib Dems had used New Beginning as their campaign song, and it has subsequently been used at Conference many times. (Hat tip to Lib Dem Voice). See also Andrew Reeves.
Many tributes have been flooding in from around the world and the best place I can find to keep up with them is on Ronan Keating's official website.
Stephen Gately 17 March 1976 - 10 October 2009
*His full name was Stephen Patrick David Gately.
** Not his first on screen role in the series.
Saturday, 10 October 2009
We Don't Need Another Overpromising Chancellor
Don't get me wrong I'm all for an aspiring Chancellor seeking economic advice from Economists, after all my degree is in economics so I know the importance of gauging other's opinions. Also I did say earlier this week that George Osborne,
"Like any mediocre student...went to the library and looked up what the master [Vince Cable] had written, taken some key points out of it, tried to pass it off as his own work, but fell short as the whole thing doesn't fit right together."
So the fact that he had also read and used figures from a National Institute of Economic and Social Research paper in preparation for his big keynote speech would be good news. Shouldn't it? Well no apparently he misunderstood that as well to the tune of £3bn or a period of 5 years out.
The previous chancellor promised he's done away with boom and bust. We now say, 'huh?'. Our current chancellor Alistair Darling has mispromised recovery and misrepresented respected economic sources in his budgets. A fact that Darling failed to understand his own incompetencies when he condemned Osborne by saying he:
"has overclaimed comes as no surprise at all. He has shown a shocking lack of judgment through this crisis. His erroneous claims on what he would raise from his pension cuts are just another example."We don't need another chancellor who is that fictional with the fact, but that is how it is shaping up. At the start of the week of Conservative Party conference we were promised by Dave on the Andrew Marr show that they would be straight talking, and we certainly got austerity, doom, gloom and reality biting home. But have we been oversold the hope? Has Osbourne really promised 5 years quicker to deal with something than is achievable?
If he has he has taken the decision that it fits into the election cycle pattern rather than reality. Not everything is achievable in the 4-5 years that most UK Governments are elected into, that is a reality that we need to wake up to. Politicians can't promise the world and expect to deliver it in one term, if that is not doable.
Osbourne tried to wiggle out of the £3bn difference in claiming that he was accounting for inflation to come up with his 10 year hence figure. However, the NIESR said:
So not £10bn in today's money (£13bn with 'inflation') by 2020 as George promised and tried to argue away.
"There is no way of knowing how much it will save except in today's money.. The general principle behind raising the retiring age to 66 is sound. Indeed there is a good case for a rise earlier than the Conservatives are proposing. As we understand it, the full benefits of the package that the Conservatives are proposing will not be realised until after 2020. In 2016 it will only raise £4bn, rising to £10bn in 2023, with the full effect coming in 14 years' time."
What they can promise is to sort out the system to make the improvement possible. The current chancellor in his last budget overpromised on the recovery the country would rebound with, as figures since have proven. The man who may be next has misrepresented and overpromised another think tank.
We don't want, need nor deserve chancellors who look at economic advise a guideline figure and then try and improve on that. What we do need is someone in charge of our economy who understands economics the principles and mechanics behind what advise is given, not someone playing bridge or poker and merely upping the bidding. Vince Cable shines in that respect above both Darling and Osborne, he knows the issues, understands the theory and reasons the best and doable solutions. If you want straight talking he's the man.
Friday, 9 October 2009
Women Bishops But Not Fully Empowered
On a chess board the two Bishops are dressed in the same colour, start from roughly the same place, seem to have the same focus, but they never meet. The reason is of course that one uses the white square and the other's the black. The King and Queen, between them have the same basic move but the King can only move one square in any direction and the Queen can go as far as she pleases.
The Church of England is planning to legislate so that female bishops will be more like a hamstrung King that a fully fledged Bishop when their ascent to the Bishop's seats comes to be some point after 2014. For yes there are moves afoot to replace a stained glass ceiling in the way of those female vicars that are good enough for being a full participant in the House of Bishops. The Church of England has been listening to submissions from many opposed to the ordination of woman bishops and looking for the need of their special care when the inevitable comes to pass.
Ruth McCurry chairs a group supporting the ordination of woman bishops and sees worrying signs of what is happening:
The Church of England is planning to legislate so that female bishops will be more like a hamstrung King that a fully fledged Bishop when their ascent to the Bishop's seats comes to be some point after 2014. For yes there are moves afoot to replace a stained glass ceiling in the way of those female vicars that are good enough for being a full participant in the House of Bishops. The Church of England has been listening to submissions from many opposed to the ordination of woman bishops and looking for the need of their special care when the inevitable comes to pass.
Ruth McCurry chairs a group supporting the ordination of woman bishops and sees worrying signs of what is happening:
"You will have a group of people who don't recognise each other as bishops. What kind of church do they think they're in when they are not in communion with each other? You are legislating this schism into existence and you are creating a two-tier church, a category of second-class bishops. People could refuse to receive communion from Rowan [Williams, the archbishop of Canterbury] if he were to ever ordain a woman as a bishop."Unfortunately I have come to terms with the fact that you cannot have women bishops without discrimination, lots of men will be discriminated against too, and this poor committee is trying to find an elusive formula that will keep everyone happy. They can't."
So is the Church of England really legislating itself into a schism? Quite possibly. However, other denominations have not just had the equivalent of women bishops but some have even had female leaders. Moderators of the General Assembly here in Scotland and the like. The fact that some in the Church of England are still so pent up on the gender of someone rather than their ability to perform the duties is a travesty in the 21st Century. Without women priests there would be a lot of vacate parishes, or overstretched male vicars covering extra flocks. To deny them the same career track as their male counterparts, or deny them part of the duties upon promotion, is something that the Church leadership should not allow.
Having brought female vicars into being the Church must recognise that the cream will rise to the top. As in all walks of live and must be allowed to do so unhindered and unfettered.
Thursday, 8 October 2009
There Must Have Been Wastage in Tory PPC's Glass
On The Daily Politics today Andrew Neill asked Lord Tam Strathclyde the leader in the Lords if Eric Pickles had restricted Tory PPCs to one unit of alcohol a night. You can watch the exchange here on BBC iPlayer.
Now of course one unit isn't very much. Indeed it isn't even a full drink. So what could they have drunk.
A half pint 284ml of beer under 3.5% abv would have been fine. But in Manchester the Cream of the City ie Boddingtons t osatisfy most would have to be drunk from a can of 3.8% abv, but don't drink all the 330ml can. The draft is 4.1% so just over a unit, but the pub ale is 4.8%.
Those looking to take on the Lib Dems in the South West would have been denied their cider. Regular cider at 5% is about 1.4 units a half pint.
A weak wine of 8% served in a 125ml glass would be one unit but most wines are more like 12% bars and hotels sell in 175 or 250 ml glasses. so 12% in the 250 ml comes in at 2.4 units a shot oops.
As for an alcopop at 1.4 to 1.5 units per bottle again best to avoid.
As for that glass of champagne that David Cameron drank, hope he left a third of it, at 1.5 units a glass he's have been over his limit and Eric will have had to have words.
So a single of spirits it is then. A 25ml measure of spirits would be fine one unit exactly, just check you weren't being served the increasingly popular large single measure of 35 ml.
So after carefully drinking their unit and leaving their unemptied glass to one side there really must have been a lot of spare alcohol sitting around in glasses in Manchester.
Maybe after all the orange juice Tory PPC's must have been quaffing they really were as clean cut as the High School Musical kids and for a grand finale really did fill the basketball court to sing "We're All in This Together".
Now of course one unit isn't very much. Indeed it isn't even a full drink. So what could they have drunk.
A half pint 284ml of beer under 3.5% abv would have been fine. But in Manchester the Cream of the City ie Boddingtons t osatisfy most would have to be drunk from a can of 3.8% abv, but don't drink all the 330ml can. The draft is 4.1% so just over a unit, but the pub ale is 4.8%.
Those looking to take on the Lib Dems in the South West would have been denied their cider. Regular cider at 5% is about 1.4 units a half pint.
A weak wine of 8% served in a 125ml glass would be one unit but most wines are more like 12% bars and hotels sell in 175 or 250 ml glasses. so 12% in the 250 ml comes in at 2.4 units a shot oops.
As for an alcopop at 1.4 to 1.5 units per bottle again best to avoid.
As for that glass of champagne that David Cameron drank, hope he left a third of it, at 1.5 units a glass he's have been over his limit and Eric will have had to have words.
So a single of spirits it is then. A 25ml measure of spirits would be fine one unit exactly, just check you weren't being served the increasingly popular large single measure of 35 ml.
So after carefully drinking their unit and leaving their unemptied glass to one side there really must have been a lot of spare alcohol sitting around in glasses in Manchester.
Maybe after all the orange juice Tory PPC's must have been quaffing they really were as clean cut as the High School Musical kids and for a grand finale really did fill the basketball court to sing "We're All in This Together".
Time to Review Stance on Referendum
Way back in 2006 I first blogged that the Lib Dems should call a referendum on independence to call the SNP's bluff. Last year in March I questioned whether my party had an approved policy on the issue that the MSPs and leadership decided we shouldn't enter in talks with them over after the 2007 election.
Well following the debate in Bournemouth where our MEP in Scotland and a leading PPC said it was time to have that referendum, the party is going to look at the situation. Yeah at the Scottish conference on October 30 there will be a closed session at which this issue will be discussed. Having been of the same opinion for over 3 years on the public record I'm sure it will come as no surprise to my readers to hear that I am happy that the party are going to discuss this issue.
Alex Salmond has scathingly said our 'position on a referendum is built on shifting sands', not so Alex we merely having officially revisited our position for quite some time. Many of us who are in the party are trying to remember when the matter was last discussed, either formally or informally at Scottish Party level. This discussion later this month is just a step on the way to opening that debate and answer that question within the party. The leader Tavish Scott has requested the consultation of the members, possibly in light of some soundings he has already received, and Ross Finnie will be carrying out this review.
If we do consider the referendum is the way forward to get on with politics as normal, the Nats can be assured we'll come out fighting, so their smiles may be only short lived. Of course if we back the referendum motion us plus the Nats comes to 63 two short of the majority they require, add in the two Greens and Margo MacDonald and there may be a vote in favour.
Oh dear, then the SNP would have to stop playing the victim and actually enact one of their key pledges and have to do something.
UPDATE: I notice that Richard Thomson is accusing us of being 'all over the place on tax, all over the place on spending, and now, all over the place on Scotland’s future'.
For starters we have been consistently seeking a fairer tax system when those that can afford it pay more. The resultant spending from that shift was also to help those who are worse off. What did happened is while there agreement in principle over a Local Income Tax there was a disagreement on implementation which the largest party unilaterally felt had to be set centrally, not making it a local tax but a Scottish Income Tax and then took any possibility of a deal off the table, again unilaterally.
As for being all over the place on Scotland's future, as I stated above we have not discussed it in well over a decade as people who have been in the Scottish party longer than my 8 years do not recall such a debate. We also know what we want for Scotland's future as Richard pointed out that is a Federalism within the UK. How we move towards that and more powers may well have been changed, but our goal is still the same as many in the party wanted back in the time of Gladstone before there even was an SNP. I'd hardly call a consistant stance of over a century on home rule a stance on Scotland that is all over the place.
Well following the debate in Bournemouth where our MEP in Scotland and a leading PPC said it was time to have that referendum, the party is going to look at the situation. Yeah at the Scottish conference on October 30 there will be a closed session at which this issue will be discussed. Having been of the same opinion for over 3 years on the public record I'm sure it will come as no surprise to my readers to hear that I am happy that the party are going to discuss this issue.
Alex Salmond has scathingly said our 'position on a referendum is built on shifting sands', not so Alex we merely having officially revisited our position for quite some time. Many of us who are in the party are trying to remember when the matter was last discussed, either formally or informally at Scottish Party level. This discussion later this month is just a step on the way to opening that debate and answer that question within the party. The leader Tavish Scott has requested the consultation of the members, possibly in light of some soundings he has already received, and Ross Finnie will be carrying out this review.
If we do consider the referendum is the way forward to get on with politics as normal, the Nats can be assured we'll come out fighting, so their smiles may be only short lived. Of course if we back the referendum motion us plus the Nats comes to 63 two short of the majority they require, add in the two Greens and Margo MacDonald and there may be a vote in favour.
Oh dear, then the SNP would have to stop playing the victim and actually enact one of their key pledges and have to do something.
UPDATE: I notice that Richard Thomson is accusing us of being 'all over the place on tax, all over the place on spending, and now, all over the place on Scotland’s future'.
For starters we have been consistently seeking a fairer tax system when those that can afford it pay more. The resultant spending from that shift was also to help those who are worse off. What did happened is while there agreement in principle over a Local Income Tax there was a disagreement on implementation which the largest party unilaterally felt had to be set centrally, not making it a local tax but a Scottish Income Tax and then took any possibility of a deal off the table, again unilaterally.
As for being all over the place on Scotland's future, as I stated above we have not discussed it in well over a decade as people who have been in the Scottish party longer than my 8 years do not recall such a debate. We also know what we want for Scotland's future as Richard pointed out that is a Federalism within the UK. How we move towards that and more powers may well have been changed, but our goal is still the same as many in the party wanted back in the time of Gladstone before there even was an SNP. I'd hardly call a consistant stance of over a century on home rule a stance on Scotland that is all over the place.
Nick Robinson Doesn't Quite Get It
In his latest blog piece the BBC political editor Nick Robinson says:
For starters was he at Bournemouth where the one party that does have debates on policy still, well, debated? For seconds I'm not sure about the other parties but at the Lib Dem conference it was a key time for training and other opportunities. This was the last full week before the general election ahead that all the party will be gathered for so long in one place. I'd be shocked if the other parties didn't also have some training for candidates, agents, councillors, activists etc going on along side the main event.
So yeah there is a pre-packed, made-for-TV, corporate-away-day-style element to party conferences, but when the inevitable is just around a corner, a General Election there are other things just as pressing for the typical conference attendee.
Of course Nick is quite right that the main stage at the Labour and Conservative conferences does lack the drama of actually debating something, anything of substance. The Liberal Democrats though can still be seat of your pants stuff as someone else lays into another element of the party, or the leadership. Or if somebody suddenly turns out to have changed their view on nuclear power, or Europe or heaven forbid the type of electoral reform we need. It gets all the more interesting if speaker after speaker from the Policy Committee speaks against parts of their own motion, then you know that something is afoot.
But then the BBC called that wrong. When they see real debate they call it division. You see the BBC really want to have the stage-managed, pre-packed, made-for-TV, corporate-away-day-style presentations that Nick complains about. They then know what is going on in the main hall and can wander off elsewhere and try and trip up PPCs (although the Tories will keep stoom), create their own news, try to find a leadership battle (lacking in Brighton to their dismay), or whatever. The problem with the Lib Dems is that we could through a spanner in the works with their careful planning. Andrew Neil, Nick Robinson et al, may be away looking for something to do when a vote goes unexpectedly (for the media) in the hall, the body politic has spoken.
Jennie wrote at the time of our conference that the media didn't get Lib Dem conference. Now we have Nick Robinson complaining, yet compalining about just what they didn't understand at the Lib Dem conference as being missing. Looks like facts can really never get in the way of a good BBC moan.
"Another half-empty conference hall this morning. It's been like that most days at all the major party conferences. Thousands of people there but few of them willing to sit through the pre-packed, made-for-TV, corporate-away-day-style presentations that the parties have substituted for what we used to call debates."
For starters was he at Bournemouth where the one party that does have debates on policy still, well, debated? For seconds I'm not sure about the other parties but at the Lib Dem conference it was a key time for training and other opportunities. This was the last full week before the general election ahead that all the party will be gathered for so long in one place. I'd be shocked if the other parties didn't also have some training for candidates, agents, councillors, activists etc going on along side the main event.
So yeah there is a pre-packed, made-for-TV, corporate-away-day-style element to party conferences, but when the inevitable is just around a corner, a General Election there are other things just as pressing for the typical conference attendee.
Of course Nick is quite right that the main stage at the Labour and Conservative conferences does lack the drama of actually debating something, anything of substance. The Liberal Democrats though can still be seat of your pants stuff as someone else lays into another element of the party, or the leadership. Or if somebody suddenly turns out to have changed their view on nuclear power, or Europe or heaven forbid the type of electoral reform we need. It gets all the more interesting if speaker after speaker from the Policy Committee speaks against parts of their own motion, then you know that something is afoot.
But then the BBC called that wrong. When they see real debate they call it division. You see the BBC really want to have the stage-managed, pre-packed, made-for-TV, corporate-away-day-style presentations that Nick complains about. They then know what is going on in the main hall and can wander off elsewhere and try and trip up PPCs (although the Tories will keep stoom), create their own news, try to find a leadership battle (lacking in Brighton to their dismay), or whatever. The problem with the Lib Dems is that we could through a spanner in the works with their careful planning. Andrew Neil, Nick Robinson et al, may be away looking for something to do when a vote goes unexpectedly (for the media) in the hall, the body politic has spoken.
Jennie wrote at the time of our conference that the media didn't get Lib Dem conference. Now we have Nick Robinson complaining, yet compalining about just what they didn't understand at the Lib Dem conference as being missing. Looks like facts can really never get in the way of a good BBC moan.
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