Liberal Burblings

Archive for August, 2010

That was twenty years ago. I actually went out to buy a scurrilous, small circulation rag to read about the alleged “story”. Lawyers were apparently working shifts on Saturday nights then, ready to fend off the News of the Screws, should they attempt to publish the “story”.

Now it seems a Cabinet Minister is similarly having to ready the lawyers. No prizes for guessing who the cabinet minister in question is. You could get the answer with about 10 seconds of googling. 

Is the dead tree press getting desperate?

We have no right to know about this sort of thing unless it is both a) true and b) involves some real form of public interest criteria, such as expense irregularities.

Well, I’m sure many will continue to watch episodes via cable, but “Last of the Summer Wine” and “Heartbeat” have their last episodes aired this Sunday (I am only 98% sure in the case of Heartbeat but if it isn’t this Sunday it will be soon after). [UPDATE: I stand corrected it's episode 22/24 tonight, Sunday August 29th, so two more to go.]

I don’t know what Yorkshire is going to do without these two giants displaying their wonderful county. Summer Wine has been going for 37 years and about 300 episodes. Heartbeat has been going for 18 years and about 400+ episodes.

I can’t say I am a Summer Wine fan, but we have been glued to Heartbeat since it started with “Wicksie” as the copper.

I’m sure Summer Wine will get most of the publicity for ending, but Heartbeat has a special place in our family’s heart. It’s been the unassuming, entertaining, amusing, endearing heart of our Sunday evenings for many years. So here’s my little tribute to it.

Bob Katter of the Three Haystack Amigos - Big tent or Big hat?

Well, that’s the way I read the situation in Australia. The (Non)Liberals have 72, so do Labour. There’s one Green and the three ”Haystack Amigos” (Independents). There’s one seat left to declare, which is too close to call.

So, assuming the worst case for Gillard – i.e. that she loses the last seat to declare – she’ll still be equal with the Liberals when you count in the Green, who will align with her.

So it’s down to the Three Haystack Amigos, one of whom, Bob Katter (see photo above), often wears a hat almost as big as those worn by the original “Three Amigos”. They’ve clubbed together (which means they are probably not technically independent) and come up with seven demands for coalition talks with the two big parties.

Number one on their list is access to confidential Treasury documents. Labour, under Gillard, say they can have that. The Liberals say “no” and loudly criticise Gillard for conceding this.

So that’s that then. Game, set and executive jet to Gillard. It might seem.

But, then again:

a) there will no doubt be more surprises

and

b) goodness only knows how long Gillard will survive by the strength of three rural independents.

The whole thing is hilarious.

…And to think that Kevin Rudd was riding high only a few months ago!

Nick Clegg writes an excellent article in today’s FT but I think he ought to quit while he’s behind in this debate with the IFS. (The article is here and requires free registration to read) He makes two important points:

If fairness was a simple matter of benefits and taxes, it would be easy to achieve.

…A bit of an own goal, that. If it’s so easy, why didn’t you achieve it in the first budget then ?!

Imagine a workless couple living on £5,000 a year in benefits, currently categorised in the bottom decile. If we increase their benefits by £5 a week, they are £5 a week better off. In the language of the IFS, this counts as fairness, because overall the bottom decile has a little more money, and clearly it is a good thing that the couple have an extra £260 a year.

But imagine the government helps that couple find work. Now they have a shared income of £20,000 a year and fit into the fourth decile. This, in IFS-speak, is not fairness, because the government has not changed anyone’s taxes or benefits.

While this is fine as it stands, the problem with this line of argument is that I am not aware that legions of people on £5,000 a year have found jobs since May 6th, and it seems that their chances of finding work with this government are going to be less than they were on May 4th, given that, with the Osborne cuts “medicine” in progress, it seems unavoidable that public sector workers will be made unemployed in droves and hiring rates slashed.

So yes, this second Clegg point is a fair one, but there is no evidence that we are seeing, or have any reason to expect, squadrons of bottom decile people suddenly finding work. Quite the opposite. It seems likely that their ranks will be considerably swollen with redundant public service workers axed by Osborne.

So, Nick Clegg’s second point is completely redundant. The whole edifice of his defence is hollow.

This is an absolute classic! Unbelievable! A candidate for the mayoralty of Providence, Rhode Island – Chris Young – is given the solid gold opportunity of a couple of minutes on local television.

Let’s just say, charitably, that he didn’t do his chances of election much good with this appearance…

It’s a great delight that the Cameron family have put the wonderful community of St Endellion, Cornwall well and truly on the map, by giving their daughter the third name of “Endellion”.

After a long stint at Bude, Cornwall, our much loved priest, Canon Walter Prest went to be priest at St Endellion. It’s got a wonderful church and holds famous annual music festivals.

And of course, we ought to remember the words of Sir John Betjeman:

St. Endellion! St. Endellion! The name is like a ring of bells. I travelled late one summer evening to Cornwall in a motor car. The road was growing familiar, Delabole, with its slate quarry past, then Pendoggett.  Gateways in the high fern-stuffed hedges showed sudden glimpses of the sea.  Port Isaac Bay with its sweep of shadowy cliffs stretched all along to Tintagel.  The wrinkled Atlantic Ocean had the evening light upon it.  The stone and granite manor house of Tresungers with its tower and battlements was tucked away out of the wind on the slope of a valley and there, on the top of the hill was the old church of Saint Endellion.