We can still learn things from America.

The Washington Post has just recorded that Senate Democrats and Republicans broke a difficult stalemate last night and approved 96 to 2 expansive legislation to curtail the influence of lobbyists, tighten congressional ethics rules and prevent the spouses of senators from lobbying senators and their staffs.

We could perhaps consider following this example.

Mr Blair is right to call for a debate about the role the United Kingdom should play in the World. Whether the role he has been playing will be endorsed is another matter.

It is an obsession of Mr Blair and others who appear to believe that they have a unique and special role to play in the World and that we should "punch above our weight" in international affairs. It is this arrogance and the unwillingness to pursue our political objectives through multi-national organisations that has led in part to the debacle that is Iraq.

The empirical evidence is that there is no part of British life, with the possible exception of the BBC, where we can lay claim to being intrinsically better or more moral or intelligent than other nations whether it be in politic leadership, public services, architecture, sport or any other field of human activity. There is absolutely no evidence that somehow the United Kingdom is uniquely qualified to play a special role in the World. Neither do we have the economic strength to posture on the world stage as though it was still the days of Empire.

The problem is that whilst we continue to believe that somehow we are especially qualified to have the leadership role we dissipate our efforts to develop a decent and honest society in Britain from which lasting influence would emerge.

The debate when it is held will need to consider whether it is in our national interest to squander our resources in wars, independent nuclear deterrents and other follies de grandeur that arguably contribute nothing to the well-being or defence of our country.

There is alledgedly to be an announcement by Mr Bush later today that he will commit a further 20,000 troops to the debacle that is Iraq. This represents a fundemental change and is further evidence of his state of denial.

The change is that he will be doing something he has avoided since the invasion of Iraq in March 2003 by ordering his top military brass to take action they initially resisted and advised against.

I like old adages. The one that seems to be the most apposite to the reaction of Mr Bush to the civil war in Iraq is 'When you are in a hole first stop digging'.

The provision of a further 20,000 troops (when according to expert military opinion 50,000 would not effect an acceptable solution) is the reaction of some one who doesn't appear to recognise the depth and size of the hole he is in. Mr Bush is clearly in denial.

The continuing or increased presence of foreign troops in Iraq only serves to exacerbate the problem. It is in every ones interest that we withdraw. Once the Iraq Government has decided on the solution to the debacle (that Messrs Bush & Blair have to a large part created) it is to be hoped that the peaceful aid we provide over the next three years will at least equal the amount we have spent in the past three creating the problem.

The deplorable death of a child in Liverpool should cause us all to examine our attitude to dogs.

When I lived in Iceland the authorities and citizens had what I thought was an intelligent and appropriate attitude to the place of dogs in society. Dogs of any breed were not allowed in urban areas. They were confined to the countryside as work dogs who assisted shepherds in the control and movement of sheep.

Their exclusion from urban centres meant that there was no excrement on pavements or in parks or public open areas and there was no killing of children. As in so many other ways we can benefit from how other countries handle problems.

We really need to make our minds up whether children are more important than animals.

I have recently developed an interest in China and things Chinese. One of the books I wanted to read was entitled 'One billion shoppers' and Southampton Library did not have a copy. What they did however was to enquire of other Libraries whether they had the book.

Fife Council in Scotland had a copy, sent it to Southampton and I collected it from the Central Library in Southampton today. There was a small charge of £1.50 for this excellent service. If I had purchased a copy the cost would have been £20 plus postage and packing assuming it was still in print.

We are lucky to have such a fine Library Service in Southampton.

In November last year I visited my daughter in Hong Kong. She lives on Lantau Island at Discovery Bay where the authorities do not allow residents to run private motor cars. They are however allowed to get around in a golf cart.

I mentioned this over Christmas to an old friend in Wales who told me a friend of his also lived on Lantau. One day this friend had allegedly been at the well many times and crashed his conveyance. He was subsequently convicted of drink driving whilst in charge of a golf cart.

Must be a fairly unique criminal record!

There are interesting questions being asked of Mr Cameron on blogs by the Tory Party faithful.

The issue is where and from whom are they getting their funding. The essential question appears to be

"Why are Juniper Trading Equities Limited based in Geneva but registered in the British Virgin Islands, Lanners Services Limited, registered in the British Virgin Islands, The 'Medlina Foundation' of Liechtenstein and Ironmade Limited all lending millions to the Conservative party."

Politics 2006.

It is an interesting time when Scarlett of the Dodgy Iraq Dossier is rewarded in the recent Honours list. At the same time the Prime Minister freeloads on a former arsonist and we are all party to the disgraceful murder of Saddam.

It can only get better in 2007. Or can it?

A New Star.

At a time when the French have sent off their own cosmic exploration rocket to find a new star the BBC have discovered their own.

The reporting of Kate Silverstone from Iraq has been relevant, objective and informative and has also highlighted the shabby treatment of those we expose to death in the cause of the political imperative of the present Government. The fact that serving soldiers need to go public, on the lack of resources available to those who offer the final sacrifice, emphasises the disgrace of how we treat our armed forces.

Honours in the United Kingdom.

A knighthood for Bono is a further example of the total irrelevance of the whole charade.

If we must endure the award of these meaningless baubles to mainly irrelevant people can we at least ensure that those rewarded reside in the United Kingdom for taxation purposes and that we do not make non-UK citizens part of the whole Gilbert and Sullivan experience.

Plain English.

It is the time of year for awards. The Plain English Campaign's Annual Foot in the mouth award was to The British supermodel, Naomi Campbell. She allegedly said in June "I love England, especially the food. There's nothing I like more than a lovely bowl of pasta."

There was also a Golden Ball Award to our near neighbours Eastleigh Borough Council for a Notice given under the Building Act 1984 -

'Hereby in accordance with the provision of the Building Act 1984, Section 32 declares that the said plans shall be of no effect and accordingly the said Act and the said Building Regulations shall as respects the proposed work have effect as if no plan had been deposited.'

Merry Christmas.

Independence in Politics.

The public dissatisfaction with all political parties is at an all time high. The great danger is that, because of the deception and outright dishonesty practised by the discredited traditional parties, democracy itself will fall into disrepute.

At one time many elected local government members were independent. Given the limited powers of local authorities today, where funding and what they can do is largely prescribed by Whitehall, it makes little sense for local Councils to be organized on party political lines. What is required are more independent Councillors. They would at least be free of the political machines and the whipping system that directs how they will vote on particular issues. Neither would they be subjected to pressure by the extremists who tend to run the local party political machines.

We are coming to the stage where nominations will soon be called for the May 2007 local government elections. There is an urgent need for an increase in the number of people willing to stand as Independents. Maybe then the electorate, given their present general dissatisfaction with politics, will be attracted back to voting. They will at least have the opportunity to elect a representative who is not a prisoner of the political machines and who is free to vote in the best interests of their constituents.

Poetry and Humour.

The problem with approaching middle age (!) is that sometimes I listen to Radio 5 in the early hours of the morning (circa 4 a.m.). Last night there was an item with Felix Dennis who has published his third books of poems. Poetry is not normally my bag but these poems are a beautiful commentary on contemporary life. The book is entitled 'When Jack Sued Jill - Nursery Rhymes for Modern Times'. I commended it to everyone. At the risk of being sued for breach of copyright I will nevertheless give a taster -

ASBO, ASBO, little law,
How we wonder what you're for.
Chavs and yobs who love to fight
Terrorise us every night,
Toothless, useless little law,
How we wonder what you're for!

There is more of this particular poem and many more but you should either buy the book (£9.99) or borrow a copy from our excellent Libraries.

Curiously enough in Waterstone's it is in the Humour Section and not the Poetry part. It should be in both.

I do not make New Year Resolutions since I go into a deep depression when they are broken. Nevertheless as this is 21 December 2006 I have promised myself that I will blog daily from now on. It seems to me that blogging is an acceptable form of talking to oneself.

Today was bitterly cold and maybe the beginning of a hard winter promised earlier this year. As I did not have a proper winter hat (the umpteenth having been left somewhere) I ventured out in one of those terrible tea pot warmers the younger generation wear. When I passed the local beat bobbies they remarked that the hat would keep me warm but hoped I was not going out to do a bit of mugging. I said not today as I was concentrating on doing a bit of nicking. None of this was true of course but in considering such a dialogue I feel I am in touch with contemporary life.

The terrible performance last week of the Blair Government is the final straw. The practice of spinning and burying bad news is obvious and apparent to everyone. It has contributed so significantly to the general distrust that everyone has for politicians yet they appear to be the only ones who do not hoist in the fact. The reappearance of Mandelson to hasten the death of Blair's premiership seems most appropriate.

I fear my earlier suggestion (that we should consider the 12-1 odds that Blair would be gone by the end of the year) will be a lost bet. The sooner he goes the better but given his messianic beliefs he will of course hang on causing further and greater damage to the interests of the Labour Party and the Country.

Iraq.

We now know there is not to be an enquiry about Iraq at the moment. The day however is not far away when there will be. There has already been a suggestion that the membership of any enquiry should be Privy Councillors and/or other Members of that ill defined Club called 'The Great and the Good'. The membership is likely to be decided by those with a vested interest in the outcome.

I am reminded of the words of a former colleague who said " Bill, the thing to remember about the Great and the Good is that in most cases they are neither". There may be exceptions but we need to evolve a system that enquiries are left to those best able to conduct them. Given the independence of the Judiciary in this country I hope that Membership of any Enquiry will be restricted to Judges and leave other members of the Great and the Good to continue to slumber on the Benches of the outdated second Chamber. The choice of the actual members of the enquiry should not be in the gift of the ruling party but should be left to the Chief Justice.

Mr Blair's departure.

The present odds on offer are

Jan - May 2007 5/4
June - Dec 2007 5/4
2006 - 12/1

The Republicans may loose both The Senate and The House of Representitives next month. Such losses would really make Mr Bush a lame duck President. It would also introduce an open season on Mr Blair. To this add the imminent approach of Inspector Plod and the running for cover of Mr Levy and the position of Mr Blair is even more vunerable.

The present odds of 12/1 for Mr Blair to depart this year begins to look attractive. I would not suggest we all put our mortgage or even our savings on this outcome but it might be worth venturing next months beer money.

United Nations & The Middle East.

It is interesting that Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the United Nations, on his Middle-East Tour is not only visiting Lebanon and Israel but also Iran and Syria.

Could it be that he read my earlier blog of 6th August 2006, published incidently as a Letter to the Editor of The Times.

Perhaps not!

Great pity though that Mr Blair and Dr Rice have not taken the advice although whether either of them would be welcome in any part of the Middle East is debateable.

Nuclear Weapons in the Middle East.

If we are concerned, as we should be, about a nuclear holocaust in the Middle East we should be concerned that at the moment the only nuclear power in the region is Israel. The probability that Iran will develop a nuclear arsenal should be of less concern.

In the decades following World War II the doctrine of mutual destruction of each other by the main nuclear powers ensured that such weapons were not used. In deed the only time they have been used is when the United States was the only nation who possessed them.

If there is any logic in that history the development of a nuclear weapon by Iran is likely to ensure that they are not used rather than present an additional threat to peace in the area.

The alternative is to persuade Israel to give up her nuclear weapons. It is only those who believe in Father Christmas who would argue that they are not possessed by Israel.

The Middle East Chaos.

There is a lot of activity at the moment at the United Nations to get agreement on a form of words that is supposedly the first step to stopping the chaos. The agreement between the United States and France may be forthcoming and other nations may row in behind this agreement. We will then end up with a piece of paper to odd to the pile of many other resolutions ignored by every side going back over fifty years.

The major player in the Middle East is Iran and how we can expect to arrive at some sort of peace without involving it and, to a lesser extent, Syria beggars belief. The tragedy will continue until we stop this simplistic talk of an 'axis of evil', imposing democracy whether people want it or not and engage realistically with those who are the major players. When we see Mr Blair and Dr Rice jetting off to Tehran and Damascus we can then realistically hope that a solution might, just might, be possible.