Liberal Burblings

Archive for December, 2009

We went to Newbury’s new Vue cinema for the second time yesterday. It was great to see the lobby full to bursting as people queued up to get into (I think) Avatar and Sherlock Holmes. We saw Sherlock Holmes amongst a full house for that screen.

It’s a great film. Beautiful to look at, some superb music, action packed, fast moving, with the usual Holmes intrigue and a very exciting ending.

Robert Downey Junior is superb (and even his English accent seems convincing) and it’s great to see a shedload of brilliant performances from British actors such as Jude Law (as Watson), Mark Strong, Eddie Marsan and arch-luvvie James Fox.

Rotten Tomatoes has the full SP here.

Nothing that is morally wrong can be politically right.

Today is the 200th anniversary of the birth of William Gladstone, arguably the best peacetime Prime Minister this country has ever had. Here he is on YouTube:

I have invested a great deal of time and swear words in creating my first Twibbon for Akmal Shaikh (believe me, I did try to make it transparent. Lord did I try! But as he’s only got a few hours to be reprieved, I don’t think it’s asking too much for people to give over their Twitter icon for a few hours to his cause).

Please take a few seconds to watch the short You Tube video below. Please email Gordon Brown and the Chinese Ambassador to the UK, asking for clemency. Details are here on the Reprieve website.

David Cameron’s media release cardex system has spun round to “cuddle up to the LibDems” again.

On the BBC News he said that politicians should work together and then contradicted himself in the same breath by saying that a hung parliament must be avoided at all costs, so that there is ‘decisive, strong government’.

Hello?

Working together = hung parliament or “no overall control” as it is known in many very well working councils across the country.

“Strong, decisive government” = Not working together.

He said: “There are many things on which Conservatives and Liberal Democrats agree”.

Round spherical objects. Name one, smart alec.

The release notes seemed to have mentioned “green policies and decentralisation” as examples of areas of common ground.

Green policies? That presumably refers to things like his husky photo-opportunity. If you look at the policies I am still to see anything solid from the Tories which resembles a green tax plan, for instance.

Decentralisation? It would be wonderful to hear of any policies in this area from the Tories. The last Tory government tended to centralise with rate-capping and the council tax introduction.

David Cameron seems to be seriously bricking it about the slenderness of his lead.

In his New Year’s message he calls for “new politics”. That would be the “end of Punch and Judy politics” he called for four years ago would it (then turned out to be the best beach pupeteer in the trade)?

photo credit: Greg75

More news of the horrific injustice being meted out by China on North Londoner Akmal Shaikh. They haven’t even told him he is going to be excuted in two days time! This case really is an outrage!

Well, you could knock me down with a feather. A double page op-ed piece singing the praises of Gladstone in your actual Daily Mail today (three days before the bi-centenary of the man’s birth).  

And, as if that wasn’t enough, on Tuesday, the Telegraph were singing the great man’s praises as well: ”How the great Mr Gladstone saved our fallen country – Two hundred years ago, a leader was born who puts today’s politicians to shame, says Simon Heffer”.

Our cup runneth over!

Heffer’s piece includes this dubious praise:

…in the 300 and more years between Cromwell and Mrs Thatcher, he was the finest political leader this country had.

He goes on:

Carlyle, as Gladstone was embarking on his public life, dismissed democracy as “despair of finding any heroes to govern us”. Yet, in just a few years, it found Gladstone.

Both Heffer and Dominic Sandbrook (the author of the Mail piece) allude to Gladstone’s great popularity amongst the people. Indeed, one of my favourite pieces in Roy Jenkins’ excellent biography of Gladstone is the story of when he visited Gateshead (in 1862 when he was Chancellor of the Exchequer) and was paraded to the populace on a steamboat which had, check this out, a swimming guard of honour! A swimming guard of honour! Imagine what strong swimmers they would have had to have been to keep up with the boat! Gladstone recorded in his diary:

Reached Gateshead at 12, after an Address and reply embarked in the midst of the most striking scene which was prolonged and brightened as we went down the river at the head of a fleet of some 25 steamers amidst the roar of guns and with the banks lined and dotted above and below with great multitudes of people.

It is very difficult indeed to imagine Alistair Darling receiving such adulation.