Liberal Burblings

Archive for June, 2008

Ben Brogan notes that Gordon Brown has bitten back at last, specifically concerning David Davis:

Turns out the hero of H&H wrote to the Prime Minister last week, as well as every Cabinet minister and even Keith Vaz, to challenge them to a debate on 42 days and the state of freedom in Britain. He suggested Labour MPs have been gagged on the PM’s orders, to stop them engaging with DD. Somewhat suprisingly, Mr Brown has written back with his own challenge to David Cameron:

“Dear David
As you know, Prime Ministers are available once a week at Question Time to debate all the issues of the day, and I was disappointed that you chose to step down as a Member of Parliament in advance of Question Time on Wednesday, 11 June rather than coming to the House to debate with me the issues around the use of CCTV and DNA evidence, and the measures we have taken to protect our national security.
Nevertheless, the leader of your party has the opportunity each week to ask six questions on those issues that caused you to leave his Shadow Cabinet. He has had two such opportunities to date, but he has yet to ask any such question. He has two further opportunities to raise these issues before the ‘by-election’ on July 10th, and I am sure that if he shares your strong feelings about them, he will not duck those opportunities.
Gordon Brown”

There are some interesting comments on the Heinz Deli Mayo saga from advertising professionals in the Guardian. One I liked was this one from Marco Rimini of Mindshare:

Of course the ad shouldn’t have been pulled. The point of the ad is to use shock to communicate. It’s bang on strategy. If it’s going to succeed in its objective then why withdraw it? The real issue is, is it a good strategy or a desperate one and should the ad have been approved in the first place?
Is anyone really surprised that there are enough homophobes to generate more than 200 complaints for an advertisement showing two men kissing? If they are, it’s doubtful they should be in marketing. This type of communication relies on shock – it’s the shock that sells. Withdrawing the ad makes me think that it’s just another example of the use of mainstream TV to generate publicity for an ad so it has a healthy afterlife on YouTube. It’s not really an ad targeting the mainstream through TV, but a viral ad using TV as a launch platform.

At a rough tot-up of the four versions of the ad which I can find on You Tube, well in excess of 600,000 people have watched the ad so far, so Rimini could well be right.

Conservative Home have published a fascinating guide on how to become a Conservative MP, garnered from submissions from 126 adopted candidates.

Some of the advice can be considered common to people aiming to be MPs from all parties, for example “Don’t leave first base without your family’s support”.

But some of the guidance has a distinctly Conservative flavour.

For example, “Prepare to lose a lot of money”. One adopted candidate writes:

Over the last ten years I’ve spent at least £100,000 getting to this point and I feel lucky. I will be an MP in the first Conservative government of the 21st century but many others have spent tens of thousands and have got nowhere.

Indeed, Conservative Home estimates that the average cost of becoming a Tory MP is £41,500. It seems that part of this money needs to be spent on buying vintage champagne for Conservative Central Office list-wallahs at conference – one candidate wrote:

I was told by a CCHQ employee that if I applied for the seat they would ensure I got an interview. We’ll manage the sift for you. It was a person I’d bought champagne at the last Party Conference. It was the best £35 I ever spent in my time in the party.

Also, forget working hard – it’s who you know that counts. One candidate says:

Seriously – do some homework – and be seen in the right places – by elections, various events that the area CCHQ staff are at…and the like…don’t bother doing 10,15, 20 years working your way up through the ranks gaining experience.

There are some other gems on this same subject:

Lick up to everyone in CCHQ who matters to get on the A list – get the fix in your favour and make sure you’re good on the night too.

Hold your nose while you’re on your way up. Say nice things to the CCO staff who will lose your CV or put it on the top of the pile. It’s nauseating but these people have so much power.Too much power.

This article by Jeremy Langmead (the editor of Esquire magazine) in this week’s Observer is worth a read. It is rather frivolous and anecdotal, but enjoyable none the less. He uses the phrase “Trojan horse” to describe David Cameron, which seems rather apposite.

I don’t often comment on Scots affairs, even though, as a Celt, I do feel a certain amount of affinity for those north of the border.

Bernard Salmon wrote an excellent post on the demise of “Bendy Wendy” and I also recommend this article by the BBC Scotland’s veteran political editor.

But the one opinion I wanted to express is this. Stuff those English numpties who are criticising Andy Murray. If he wins anything in tennis it will because he has real grit and isn’t a home counties nice boy. I am delighted that Andy Murray has failed to set alight those home counties twits who inhabited Henman Hill. The reason they are not delirious with hero worship is the very reason he has have a chance of succeeding in tennis.

Ben Brogan notes that Gordon Brown has bitten back at last, specifically concerning David Davis:

Turns out the hero of H&H wrote to the Prime Minister last week, as well as every Cabinet minister and even Keith Vaz, to challenge them to a debate on 42 days and the state of freedom in Britain. He suggested Labour MPs have been gagged on the PM’s orders, to stop them engaging with DD. Somewhat suprisingly, Mr Brown has written back with his own challenge to David Cameron:

“Dear David
As you know, Prime Ministers are available once a week at Question Time to debate all the issues of the day, and I was disappointed that you chose to step down as a Member of Parliament in advance of Question Time on Wednesday, 11 June rather than coming to the House to debate with me the issues around the use of CCTV and DNA evidence, and the measures we have taken to protect our national security.
Nevertheless, the leader of your party has the opportunity each week to ask six questions on those issues that caused you to leave his Shadow Cabinet. He has had two such opportunities to date, but he has yet to ask any such question. He has two further opportunities to raise these issues before the ‘by-election’ on July 10th, and I am sure that if he shares your strong feelings about them, he will not duck those opportunities.
Gordon Brown”