A lovely story going the rounds is about a young attractive lady who attended last year's Tory Conference in Birmingham.

Ms Squire (for that was her name) of the Taxpayers Alliance was enjoying a round of evening receptions. At one, she was approached by a middle-aged delegate who told her: ‘You must come back to my room.’ Despite Ms Squire’s refusal, the man continued to press his case, eventually thrusting one of his room cards for the Birmingham Hyatt into her hand and saying: ‘Come to my room at 3.30am, when the parties are over, and I will give you the time of your life.’ Ms Squire accepted the key – but with no intention of taking him up on his offer.

She then went to another reception, where she was pestered by a second, younger man in similarly persistent terms. Exasperated, she eventually reached for the first man’s room card and smiled: ‘OK. Here is the key to my room. Come up at 3.30am and I’ll give you the time of your life.’

She was left in little doubt that her ploy to bring the two ardent men together had succeeded. She encountered one of them the following morning. He expressed his fury about his early-hours meeting. So Ms Squire might expect to be given a wide berth by her male fan club as the Tories meet in Manchester this week.

Last night Ms Squire refused to identify the delegates concerned or to comment on the story. A friend said: ‘A lady never tells.’

On the BBC Radio 4 program PM there has been a minor controversy involving Boris Johnson the London Mayor and the question of drinking and riding a bicycle.

On Lantau Island in Hong Kong private cars are banned and the usual method of conveyance on Lantau is by cycle, bus, taxi or golf buggy. A friend of a friend of mine allegedly has a conviction for being drunk in charge of one of the latter.

On Sunday we went to the Farmers Market at Winchester on the No 1 Bus Service from Southampton to Winchester courtesy of the free travel scheme offered to Pensioners. It is amazing how different the view sitting upstairs on a bus is to sitting in a car. When we arrived at the market there was no sign of a recession.

I had intended offering Maura lunch at a Winchester Restaurant. Instead we had a burger from the stand offering Water Buffalo Burgers and it was delicious. Subsequently we bought a special bread and some local cheese and enjoyed that at home.

There used to be a Farmers Market in Southampton but that seems to have disappeared. Pity.

I do like a good put down. For anyone who did not catch a recent letter in The Times I offer the following extract without comment.


"Sir, I was astounded to hear that Lord Myners is seeking God (report, Times Online, July 19). All the time I knew him at Marks & Spencer he seemed to think he was God.

Kevin Lomax
Former senior independent director of Marks & Spencer"

“I don’t care what the government does anymore. They can announce cuts, they can announce increases, they can set the whole thing to music and do a karaoke. I have completely lost faith, as has most of the country, in anything this government says. You can see it every week in PMQs when the Prime Minister stands up and says ‘black is white’.”

As a former member of the Labour Party (best part of forty years) and one whose instincts are still left of centre it gives me no satisfaction to endorse the comments above by the Leader of the Opposition. I am afraid that the Labour Party needs to clean out the stable occupied by the present MPs, reflect for a few years in opposition and come back with some sense of values other than self interest.

I have refrained from comment on the deplorable state of affairs about expenses claimed by Members of Parliament at Westminster. There is little I can add to the condemnation made by almost everyone who has an opinion and who has commented.

I am however also disgusted that the Speaker (it is said) appears to be making it a condition of his resignation that his son be selected by the Labour Party for the (currently) safe Glasgow seat the speaker currently represents. The Labour Party (or any other party for that matter) should not manipulate the system whereby a parliamentary seat is treated as part of some sort of fiefdom belonging to the present incumbent. There was a similar ploy recently in Hull for the seat to be vacated soon by John Presott. To the credit of the Labour Party members in that constituency the idea was rejected. I hope the Labour Party members in the Speaker's constituency will exercise similar sound judgement and the Labour Party machine will not be leaning on the local association to become party to such an arrangement.

That the Speaker will of course be 'rewarded' and take up a seat in the House of Lords is deplorable and to compound that calumny by manipulating the system to try and get the Speaker's son elected to the House of Commons would be a disgrace totally.

Mr Speaker is due to address parliament later today and one hopes he will retire immediately but I will not be rushing to the bookmakers.

Two days later -
For anticipating political events and betting advice I have awarded myself nul points.

Jack Kemp who at one time was a prospective United States Vice Presidential candidate and who served nine terms as a Congressman for Western New York, from 1971 to 1989 and who was Housing Secretary in the George H. W. Bush administration has died after a long battle with cancer.

He was fond of saying that President Kennedy in 1962 declared that

'It is a paradoxical truth that tax rates are too high today and tax revenues are too low and the soundest way to raise revenues in the long run is to cut tax rates now. The purpose of cutting taxes now is not to incur a budget deficit but to achieve the more prosperous, expanding economy which can bring a budget surplus.'

The idea is as relevant today as it was in 1962. A reduction in the basic rate of tax would benefit the less well off and give an economic stimulus to the ailing economy because the less well off would spend the tax reduction. The idea is not apparently attractive to either Mr Brown or Mr Darling or surprisingly Mr Cameron or Mr Osborne.

I have just been listening to some jazz on BBC and was struck by the insight in the lyrics of 'That's why the Lady is a Tramp'. I particularly liked the line 'She goes to Operas and stays awake'. I must have heard these particular lyrics a thousand times but cannot recall that particular line. Funny that!

Chancellor Alistair Darling is expected to announce some £15 billion of spending cuts over the next few years when he delivers his Budget statement this week. It is forecast that he will say the money can be found by making Whitehall more efficient and will announce that the Budget will reveal a public borrowing requirement potentially more than £160 billion.

When politicians are unable to match the expenditure with the income they always resort to mythical efficiency savings. It is a sure sign that they are unable to provide an answer to the problems they face.

What is surprising is that not only do the present administration resort to trying to find these mythical savings but we have similar promises from the present opposition that they will also discover this treasure trove when they become the Government

They say they will unearth this munificence that has eluded governments for decades. Some hope!

The item in the news that caught my attention the other day was headlined 'A glass of wine has as many calories as four fish fingers: Government to target drinkers in calorie counting campaign.'

I do wish that the 'I know what's best for you Brigade' would desist. They should leave us little old wine drinkers to our inoffensive and tax producing enjoyment. If they want to make a contribution to excessive drinking they might consider campaigning for the closure of the cheap booze bars in Parliament.

I offer the following from Mr Brown without comment

“I take full responsibility for what happens, that is why the person responsible went immediately.”

The G20 summit appears to have been a relative success. It will be interesting to see how Mr Brown's rating are affected. He has had on balance a good summit but will it have any long term effect on the prospects of the Labour Party winning the next election.

I suspect not.

Amongst all the incidents of misbehaviour of MPs there is a sense that not only have the Government allowed the situation to get out out of hand but they have also lost any sense of political judgement.

The Government have gone ahead with a modification of public service annual increases and agreed that MPs and the Armed Forces should have the full recommended increase. All that was required in the name of integrity and common sense was to declare that no one whether it be the banks controlled by the Government, Civil Servants or anyone in the public sector including MPs would receive a jot this year. The only exception would be the Armed Forces who have emerged as the one sector of British public life for whom we can have any respect. Will they ever learn?

The Prime Minister addressed the European Parliament this week and was subsequently savaged by Daniel Hannon a Tory MEP for the South East of England. It was a vitriolic and damming indictment of the PM and a video of Hannon's performance was carried widely in the blog sphere. The remarkable thing is that none of the traditional UK media carried the incident. I cannot believe if a member of say the Senate or House of Representatives was to commit a similar act when the President was visiting another country that it would go unnoticed and unreported. I cannot for the life of me understand the reluctance to report on, what by any standard, was a very newsworthy incident.

The world of finance continues it ostrich like course. It has just been announced that Insurance giant Legal & General is to half its dividend after plunging £1.13 billion into the red. What is remarkable is that a company continues to pay substantial dividends to shareholders when the company has lost money. It is surely a recipe for disaster.

We returned last Wednesday from a month in Hong Kong which included a four day visit to Beijing. A memorable trip and one we will never forget. I will probably bore people for years with my advocacy of China and how they are progressing by evolution and not revolution. For now suffice to say that we probably have much to learn from the Chinese.

The Local Government Association has advised Local Councils of 200 words that should not be used by councils in the interest of better communications and good English. I fear that many in local (and central) government will now be speechless.

I am off to Hong Kong tomorrow for a months stay with my youngest daughter. I enjoyed my last visit so much and I am really looking forward to this second visit. More racing at Happy Valley will be in order.

Another nail in the coffin of democracy as the system is brought into even greater disrepute. Well done Home Secretary you are a worthy member of the sleaze factory at Westminster.

Prince Charles was in the news last week voicing his opinions about slums. He of course is well qualified to do so given his great experience of living in them.

In the present world economic debacle everyone appears to advocate that we have to fund a recovery by throwing money we don't have at the problem. The only way we may be able to do this is by printing more money. I have wondered (although I have not so far blogged on the subject) whether this will inevitably lead to severe inflation down the line. It was interesting to come across a blog on the Financial Times that more or less addressed the same subject all be it more eloquently than I could do so.

Morgan Stanley’s Jocahcim Fels and Spyros Andreopoulos looked at the possibility of hyperinflation hitting the western shores of the UK, Europe and the US. They said one stark lesson from the ongoing financial and economic crisis is that so-called black swans — large-impact, hard-to-predict and seemingly rare events — can occur more frequently than generally believed. With policymakers around the world throwing massive conventional and unconventional monetary and fiscal stimuli at their economies they thought it is worth exploring the black swan event of very high inflation or even hyperinflation.

The risk of hyperinflation cannot be dismissed very easily any longer. The classification of hyperinflation is an episode where the inflation rate exceeds 50 per cent per month. In history this has occurred in the 1920s in Austria, Germany, Hungary, Poland and Russia. In 1923, for example, Germany experienced a 3.25m per cent inflation rate in a single month. Since the 1950s hyperinflation has been experienced in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Peru, Ukraine and Zimbabwe.

The root cause of hyperinflation is excessive money supply growth, usually caused by governments instructing their central banks to help finance expenditures through rapid money creation. It could possibly happen in Europe or the US under certain conditions.

Firstly, the rapid expansion of the monetary base by the Federal Reserve, The European Central Bank and the Bank of England would have to continue and feed into a more rapid and sustained expansion of money in the hands of the general public. Secondly, governments would have to face difficulties financing their bailout packages and funding their debt. Lastly, public confidence in the government’s ability to service debt without resorting to the printing press would have to disappear, as well as the government’s actual ability to withstand the pressure to do so in the first place.

And while all of the above is an extreme scenario the pundits Fels and Andreopoulus concluded that given the size of the current and prospective economic and financial problems, and given the size of the monetary and fiscal stimulus that central banks and governments are throwing at these problems, investors would be well advised not to ignore this tail risk, especially as markets are priced for the opposite outcome of lasting deflation in the next several years. Put differently, they believe that buying some insurance against the black swan event of high inflation or even hyperinflation makes sense and is relatively cheap currently. They add that when hyperinflation occurred in the eastern block countries towards the end of the communist era, most citizens hedged via significant purchases of black-market US dollars, the US dollar becoming the effective proxy store of value. This time round, that would not be an option.

My own view is that there may of course be an upside in hyperinflation. Given the vast amounts that need to be borrowed now the effect of high inflation might be to minimise in relative terms the cost of the present borrowings. But I do not have an answer and what is really worrying is that neither does anyone else.

At a time when we are heading for a 1930's type depression I wondered about the relevance and priority of providing for single sex wards.

Certainly in an ideal world they are desirable but hospitals after all are primarily for the curing of diseases and the mending of bodies. If in the process of achieving these priority objectives it means that some lady has a fleeting view of a male arse then I see no great problem. Given the multiplicity of problems we as a nation face one wonders whether Mr Johnson might not have postponed his latest great initiative.

There are some politicians who increasingly irritate me. To the list that comprises Paddy Ashdown, David Owens, Norman Lamont and Dennis Skinner there is another applicant by the name of David Miliband. I am not quite sure why he is so irritating but it may be because he is well dressed, articulate, urbane, educated and invariably wrong. He is a disaster as Foreign Secretary and upsetting our relationship with India (following his disastrous spat with Putin) is a feat that few could have achieved.

It is almost six months since I last blogged and I had intended to forego the self indulgence. However we are in such a disasterous situation that I feel obliged to add my twopenny contribution.

There were not many interested in politics who were surprised by the disclosures in yesterday's Sunday Times. The Lords is an anocronism and their Lordships totally irrelevent to a modern democracy. The one thing they possible had going for them was that unlike those in the House of Commons they possible had some integrity. Yesterdays allegations and todays disclosure of the actual recordings of conversation suggests that we were were totally wrong to give them the benfit of the doubt that somehow they were different to their colleagues in the lower house.

They draw up to £325 per day for signing in and out and have the benefit of the best and cheapest dining facilities in central London.

It is of some interest to me at least that The USA has a population of just over 300 million people and 100 Senators in their Upper House. In the UK we have 740 Peers, when we have a population of just over 60 million. Using the US standard we should need 20, not 740, in a reformed House of Lords.

Not only are their Lordships an irrelevance and probably corrupt but there are far too many of them.

The excellent blog by Guy Fawkes has reported that no fewer than 472 BBC staff were hanging on the telephone 10 days ago to discuss its coverage of the upcoming US party conventions. Fawkes suggests that this happens because there is no serious budget control, no profit motive and unlimited access to funds courtesy of a feudal taxation system to the benefit of the broadcasting barons.

Like the millions squandered on the foul mouthed Ross this latest wastage of licence fees are the seeds for the eventual demise of the BBC. They are their own worst enemy and make it very difficult for traditional supporters of the BBC and public service media to continue their support and argue against the right wing views of the good Mr Fawkes.

I was involved in a discussion recently about red and grey squirrels and whether the latter as intruders should be culled. It seemed to me that the grey squirrel and its place in the UK is reminiscent and a metaphor for all the collective xenophobic instincts about Johnny Foreigner.

Just returned from a visit to Ireland to attend a wedding and stay with my in-laws. Thoroughly enjoyable few days particularly as my brother in law is recovering from a serious cancer. The wedding party at the bride's parents house was all I have come to expect in Ireland. Great hospitality - the mussels had been caught and cooked that day and the accompanying Chateauneuf Du Pape (I enjoy a good red wine with mussels) was superb. Ireland is beginning to have the economic jitters the UK is experiencing but it has not so far destroyed the Irish enthusiasm and ability to party.

The rate of inflation is expected to have risen above 3% when the figures for May are released by the Bank of England later today. This would force the Bank's Governor to write to the Chancellor explaining why the rate is above the target of 2%

The figure of 2% like many other targets of this Government is a figure plucked out of the deep blue sky. It is preposterous to think that if inflation in the rest of the world increases that somehow the United Kingdom will not be affected because the former Chancellor in his great wisdom has decreed that it should not rise above 2%. The consequential act of the Governor writing to the Chancellor is as meaningless as the subjects of King Canute explaining why the tide did not obey His Majesty's instruction.

What is required, and I have argued this since the figure of 2% was first introduced, is that the target should be the average inflation rate of a basket of similar currencies. It is madness to introduce measures to maintain a 2% rate when the rest of the world is inflating at a much greater level.

There was a letter in the Times this week pointing out that the USA has a population of just over 300 million people and 100 Senators in their Upper House. In the UK we have 740 Peers, when we have a population of just over 60 million. Using the US standard we should need 20, not 740, in a reformed House of Lords.

Yet another glaring example of our capacity to over govern and waste money.

A return to blogging after a less than totally successful sojourn in France and a longish period of helping (or as some might say hindering) the recovery of Maura from a bad fracture of the tibia and fibia which had to be reset on her return. We stayed at an old presbytery in the South West of France at a place called Bournac next to a Cemetery and I have in mind to write up my diary about the experience. It will be entitled 'The curse of Bournac'.

Leaving is not all sweet sorrow.

One of the immediately sad aspects of moving to France is that I have had to resign as Vice Chair of the Charity Age Concern Southampton, a Charity that campaigns on behalf of the elderly in this City. Of equal concern is that Maura will need to stop acting as a voluntary case worker for The Soldiers, Sailors and Air Force Association. They are a remarkable charity who provide real assistance to ex-members of the Services who need help. The Charity does a remarkable job for those who offer the final sacrifice and fall on hard times and who are neglected by our Government.

Most things so far on the downside but hopefully the benefits of moving will become apparent soon.

Iran, France and the Bomb.

Bernard Kouchner, the French Foreign Minister proposal to prepare for war is dangerous in the extreme. The threat to world peace may well be Monsieur Kouchner himself.

The five acknowledged nuclear powers who possess about 31,000 nuclear warheads are USA, Russia, China, France and the United Kingdom. India and Pakistan have not formally placed their nuclear arsenal on a delivery system and the position of Israel is unclear although it is generally believed that they should be included as possessing a capability (probably with US assistance) to deliver a nuclear weapon.

For years the United Kingdom subscribed to the theory that the best deterrent was the threat of mutual destruction. Since Iran is the most important country in the Middle East and since Israel is considered to have a capability with US assistance to deliver a nuclear weapon the logic would appear to be that even if Iran eventually possesses a bomb it would be a contribution to peace rather than war in the area.

Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad.
Euripides (484 BC - 406 BC)

I wonder whether insanity is approaching. Let me explain.

I am 73 settled in Southampton but have decided to move to France for an indefinite period or indefinitely. Moving house is said to be one of the most stressful thing one can do. To move to a country where you have an inadequate knowledge of their language and customs and at an age many would consider advanced may well be bordering on insanity. We shall see.

The first step was to give notice to terminate my tenancy which I have done with a little sadness and reluctance. But to go for the each way bet and retain my flat does not appeal.

How to Speak Your Mind Aussie Style.

As those who know me are aware I am a great fan of Australia having spent the best part of six years there. I like their style, values and honesty and in particular their unequivocal political honesty.

There was an interview with Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer. He was asked what he thought about the handful of protesters outside the GNAT’s conference.
He said "Well they are from the Socialist Alliance. These people are losers, you know. They lost the Soviet Union and they lost the Cold war. Yes I thought about them. It was raining and I thought the harder it rains the wetter they’ll get".

There are many in the Labour Party, including me, who will subscribe to the sentiment.

Guns.

The Government's plans for 'drop-off zones' for illegally held guns is at best a pathetic response to the problem. It does nothing to address and correct the core problem of why some children and youths feel obliged to carry such weapons and why they are so alienated from the rest of us.

For at least two decades successive governments have been warned about the inevitability of a breakdown in society if no action was taken to stop the increasing number of young people being shunted in to an expanding underclass and little or nothing has been done about it.

What is needed is action to create a more egalitarian and equal society. The disgrace of the very rich being allowed to live and work here when they are non-resident for taxation purposes would be a useful start. Immediate investment in education to bring our state schools up to the standard of public schools is an absolute priority. We need to stop fiddling with exams and other aspects of the education system. What is required is real investment to ensure that the school environment and facilities match the best available in public schools, that Headmasters are free to run their schools without interference, that class sizes are reduced by at least half and that salaries are such that they attract the best of talent into the teaching profession.

Perhaps if these and other measures were taken now to attack the basic problem we could anticipate a more decent society in ten-twenty years time.

Favourite Jokes

On Radio 4 the great and very funny Barry Cryer was asked what was his favourite joke. He had no hesitation in relating that whilst driving in the countryside he ran over a cockerel. Mortified he went to see the farmer's wife and explained what had happened and offered to replace the deceased bird.

The farmers wife looked at him curiously and said "What ever grabs you - the chickens are in the third building on the left."

There is a new book by Lord David Owen entitled the Hubris Syndrome. I have not yet read it but my understanding from listening to various radio interviews is that Lord Owen claims that both Mrs Thatcher and Mr Blair were in Hubris prior to their Nemesis.

I have never been a great fan of Lord Owen but in life it is difficult to get everything wrong. I suspect, in terms of Hubris and Nemesis and the two former Prime Ministers' that Lord Owen is correct.

That said it maybe worthwhile repeating the circumstances and consequences of Dr Owens appointment as Foreign Secretary. I was a member of Her Majesty's Diplomatic Service at the time. Dr Owen, as he then was, was plucked from relative obscurity (No. 17) in Jim Callaghan's Cabinet and was made Foreign Secretary (At least No. 3). The promotion surprised many at the time and put Dr Owen in Mr Callaghan's debt. The opportunity for repayment came quickly although contrived and Peter Jay, son of Labour politician Douglas Jay and husband of Callaghan's daughter Margaret, was appointed to Washington as HM Ambassador by Dr Owen. Part of the rather disastrous appointment was that Peter Ramsbottom who was a very talented and a highly respected member of that body of gypsies that comprise the Diplomatic Service was moved on to the pleasant but much less regarded post of Governor of Bermuda.

The Jays were remembered in Washington by their sexual activities rather that their contribution to Anglo/American relationships. Peter put the Nanny in the family way and Mrs Jay had a fairly well publicised affair with Carl Bernstein. He was of course one of the journalists who broke the Watergate story through the columns of The Washington Times.

But everybody prospers in one way or the other. Peter Jay later became an advisor to the repugnant Robert Maxwell and Baroness Jay became leader of the Labour Party in the House of Lords.

A new Administrative Capital for the United Kingdom

The recent floods emphasise the unsuitability of the present plans to build thousands of new homes in the South East and calls for a new United Kingdom strategy on development and particularly housing.

The South East based on London is the administrative, financial, commercial, tourist and artistic capital of the United Kingdom and has to provide housing, infrastructure, commercial accommodation and services for all these activities. There is nothing Government can do about where the various sectors of the economy locate (nor should it be allowed to) except it can do something about London and the South East being the administrative capital of the United Kingdom.

The problem of overcrowding and excessive demands for accommodation and services in London and the South East requires a radical decision that would move Whitehall, Parliament and the Royal Households to the provinces. London would remain the centre of the other activities. The parsimonious movement of a small amount of Government Offices and Agencies to the provinces is gesture politics and does nothing substantial to resolve the central problem.

What is required (and it is a fundamental and absolute requirement) is the wholesale removal of Central Government, its appendages and paraphernalia to a location (or locations) outside the South East. Such a relocation would at a stroke radically diminish the demand for property and services in London and the South East.

It is interesting that many countries (USA, Australia, Canada, Brazil and others) now have a commercial capital and an administrative capital and there is absolutely no reason why the United Kingdom should not follow their example.

The Brown/Miliband School of Diplomacy.

The current calculated attempt to portray the United Kingdom as a strong resolute international player has a price. It may go down well at home initially but the damage to United States and Russian relations will come at an increased cost. There is an old Irish saying about asked for directions. And that is "I wouldn't have started from here in the first place". In the arena of international diplomacy we need not have been where we are in these important relationships and we should now back off and mend our fences.

Our most important ally whether we like it or not is the United States. We enjoy many benefits and I fail to see why Malloch Brown and Alexander were let off the leash and allowed to stray into areas for which they hold no direct responsibility. Malloch Brown is supposed to be concentrating on Africa, Asia and the reform of the United Nations whilst Alexander should have enough on his plate as International Development Secretary. Their outbursts were undoubtedly cleared with the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary and the judgement to go ahead is open to serious challenge. It is not in our national interest to needlessly exacerbate our relations with the US.

With Russia we have refused to give up their citizens and we knew well that the Russian constitution would not permit the extradition of Mr Lugovoi the ex-KGB operative. What therefore was the point (other than projecting strength at home) of blustering and fuming and expelling four of their diplomats. The self interest of the United Kingdom demands we repair the damage done by the escalation of the problem. Russia has the oil and gas we need and the business opportunities for our companies. We need Russia more than they need us.

Yorkshire Floods.

As a Cumbrian by birth I am not a natural ally of Yorkshire. But the situation in Hull and other parts of Yorkshire calls for a suspension of any lack of empathy and the adoption of a pragmatic programme of assistance to those who have lost everything. Government assistance will essentially repair the infrastructure of roads,schools etc, and whilst nobody has said so, those who have lost everything and are not insured will in the end be left to their own devices unless extraordinary measures are taken.

What is required is the establishment of a National Fund similar to funds that have been established for other disasters both nationally and internationally. There is a significant silence from those Charities who are normally at the forefront of calls for money when disasters strike. The Government could assist by, in addition to the programmes announced by Mr Brown, establish an Independent Recovery Fund and by making the first contribution of say £100 million. They could also offer to make any substantial contribution of over £100,000 from companies and rich individuals deductible for taxation purposes. The fund would need to be administered quickly and effectively and a decision about who or whom should do so would be for urgent consideration

Manners and young women.

I was minding my own business and totally sober in the middle of the day walking along the pavement from Bedford Place to Above Bar when I was insulted.

I was on the pavement and a car emerged and stopped from a private parking situation on the east side of London Road. I acknowledged the courtesy, although it was my right of way as a pedestrian on a pavement, by raising my hand. The gesture I suspect was misunderstood because the driver of the car who was a woman of about thirty summers, fat and not very good looking wound down her window and shouted at me 'You f---ing stupid old bastard'.

My legitimacy is not debatable although my lack of intelligence is open to question. But what upset me was the reference to me being old. I am only 73 for God's sake.

Taxation and the Rule of Law

There are certain ideas and proposed practices that should be killed at birth. Such a proposal is the one from the Inland Revenue that they should be given powers to raid bank accounts without first getting a court order.

The proposal from the Inland Revenue that they should be given such powers is put forward at the same time as the National Audit Office have found that, in the year to April, mistakes by officials at HM Revenue & Customs resulted in taxpayers making £157 million of overpayments and £125 million of underpayments.

We thus have the juxtaposition of one million people taxed wrongly according to the National Audit Office and a proposal that the error prone Revenue, who have overseen the million mistakes, should be given powers to raid bank accounts without first getting a court order.

There needs to be new more effective taxation laws to pursue those who choose not to pay taxes (and of equal importance those who are non resident for taxation purposes but whose main business is in the UK) but the present Revenue proposals are not the way.

Prime Minister

When Mr Brown took over as Prime Minister I had one or two doubts but he has made a brilliant beginning. His handling of the terrorist incidents had been appropriate and assuring but the part that gives me hope is that he clearly believes in the separation of powers and that those in the gift of the Prime Minister need to be curbed. He has intimated that he will give up the exercise of the Queens prerogative on the subjects of public appointments, ratifying treaties, appointment of Bishops and the power to declare war without consulting MPs. Hopefully a proper democratic reform of the House of Lords will follow.

The only fly in the ointment of these constitutional changes is that the bus is being driven by Jack Straw. Given his past pathetic performance in the democratic reform of the House of Lords one worries.

The former unlamented Deputy Prime Minister.

On another blog, albeit with Tory sympathies, there is a report that recently Mr Prescott was seen strutting into a parliamentary party dinner with a cabal of confidantes. Seconds later Mr P re-emerged in full tantrum with his confidantes in hot (though somewhat bothered) pursuit. Mr P was allegedly heard to complain "Not one of them stood up when I entered the room! I was deputy prime minister only four hours ago!"

If that were true then it is the final comment on how power corrupts and how self important people given positions of authority loose all sense of perspective.

Weather.

It has been reported that this is probably the wettest June on record. It can only be a matter of time before hose pipe bans and drought warnings are issued.

Harriet Harman.

I was as amazed as a lot of other people were when Mrs H became Deputy Leader of the Labour Party. I thought that Alan Johnson was home and hosed. Wrong again. After recovering from the shock my subsequent judgement was one of horror. The Labour Party have only themselves to blame but the country deserves better.

But let the last words go to a mighty Labour backbencher Gwyneth Dunwoody. Her view of Harriet Harman? "She is one of certain women who are of the opinion that they have a God-given right to be amongst the chosen."

However HH has been appointed Labour Party Chairman and it seems unlikely that she will also get a Cabinet job. That may be the only good thing to come out of the election.

The Change.

Goodbye Mr Blair. Welcome Mr Brown.

The demonic Donald Rumsfeld.

The Irish in many ways have a softer and more subtle way of saying things. The alternative word in England for excrement sounds to me rather crude and offensive but if like the Irish you add an 'e' to the word it becomes shite an altogether more softer and attractive expletive.

The word came to mind when I was reading 'Rumsfeld - An American Disaster' by Andrew Cockburn. Rumsfeld has to be the greatest shite of the last decade. If anyone thought Bush was bad be grateful that Rumsfeld did not rise higher in the game of politics.

The documentation of the activities of Rumsfeld is also an expose of the pernicious US system of lobbying and political contributions for favours past and future. It is an area that should cause increasing concern in this country and which calls for absolute transparency. The present checks and balances in our system are totally inadequate.

Mrs Bedonebyasyoudid (aka Mr Anthony Blair)

An amazing rant by Mr Blair about the feral press.

If it is true that people get the government they deserve then it is an absolute truth that governments get the press they deserve.

One can have little sympathy for the Prime Minister. He sowed and then he reaped.

Paris Hilton, Cash for Honours and Justice.

The return of Ms Hilton to the pokey gives the clear message that in America celebrities are subject to the normal rules of justice. I hope we in the UK will follow this example set by the American Judicial system when it comes to prosecuting and sentencing in our Cash for Honours scandal.

Education and Grammar Schools

When I was (until recently) a member of the Labour Party there were times when many of us marvelled at the infinite capacity we appeared to have of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. It is now clear that we did not have a monopoly of this particular commodity.

The Tory Party have got themselves into a right tizz-waz over Grammar Schools. Ironically there was no need to do so since the real issue is not whether you select and stream pupils or what you call the school. Selection and streaming happens whether children go to Grammar Schools or Comprehensives. The real necessity in State Education is to bring all schools up to the standard enjoyed by pupils in private education. This demands investment to improve the school environment, a policy of not trying to micro manage schools, restoring the authority of the Headmaster and a reduction in the size of classes by approximately fifty per cent.

The arguments should be about how we best achieve the improvement.

The Blair World Tour.

The tour continues but I fail to see what it has achieved for Mr Blair or of more importance this country and its taxpayers.

It is the final act of vanity on what for me has been a decade of missed opportunities and misjudgements. It seems inevitable that power after a number of years corrupts to the point of clinical madness and total self delusion

I can see little difference in this respect between the final acts of Mrs Thatcher and Mr Blair.

As expected (see earlier post) President Bush plans to name Robert B. Zoellick, a career diplomat and trade negotiator, to head the World Bank, seeking to dispatch the leadership crisis that has gripped the institution under Paul D. Wolfowitz.

An unknown faceless bureaucrat is an infinite improvement on Monsieur Wolfowitz and is likely to cause less damage to the third world poor.

There was an article in today's Telegraph about phrases that like really bug us all.

There were also readers views on the most annoying phrases. Many readers shared frustrations over the misuse of "forensic" and "literally", while management jargon such as "downsizing", "brainstorming" and "thinking outside the box" also received plenty of nominations.

There is now A Daily Telegraph Infuriating Phrasebook. Amongst the references are

"It's not rocket science".

"Up close and personal".

"To die for".

"Pushing the envelope".

"Only £1,999.99".

Different words annoy different people. My own pet hates are "holistic" and "you know" after every statement.

Humour and Pigs.

As they say humour is a funny thing. I don't know why certain things appeal and others appall. I did however like the anecdote on Radio 5 last night. A truck driver was going merrily about his driving and was passed by a lady driver coming from the opposite direction. As she passed she pulled down her window and shouted 'Pig'. The driver replied 'Bitch' and continued his journey. Two hundred yards further on at a bend in the road he was derailed by a pig on the road.

Education and Mr Johnson

The suggestion by Mr Johson, a contender in the Labour Party Deputy Leadership stakes, that public schools should lend teachers and facilities to the state sector in return for charitable status misses the point.

Mr Johnson's contribution puts the onus on public schools to improve state education and like so many earlier interventions in Education is at best irrelevant. The responsibility for the state education sector rests unequivocally with the Government of the day. Instead of avoiding this responsibility they should be properly funding state education so that class sizes and the school environment matched that in public schools.

A political tale of Poetic Justice or was it Revenge.

At one time Nora Goss was a Labour Party Councillor and became under the Labour Administration of the day Mayor of Southampton. Subsequently there was parting of the ways and Councillor Goss joined the Liberal Democratic Party. Thereafter she was nominated by the Lib Dems for a further stint as Mayor but the Labour Party were having none of this and vetoed her appointment

Earlier this month the result of the local elections for Southampton City Council resulted in The Conservative Party obtaining the same number of seats as Labour and the decision on who should be the ruling party depended on the minority Liberal Democratic members. They decided to sit on their hands except for Mrs Goss who broke ranks and voted for the Conservatives. There must have been some consternation in Labour ranks but revenge disguised as political justice is sweet particularly when one has to wait some years to administer the act.

I am ashamed to note that in spite of previous promises my last blog was on 3 April 2007. I have been away on holiday a couple of times, the last occasion being best part of a month in Ireland, but there is no excuse for my indolence.

Of more importance is the speculation that Prime Minster Blair may be the replacement for Paul Wolfowitz as President of the World Bank. I think not. Ever since the inception of the World Bank the United States have been the major shareholder and have always nominated a United States citizen for the post of President. The most famous previous President(1968-1981) was Robert Strange McNamara. It is fanciful to suggest that US policy will change now.

In any case and even though the position carries a substantial salary and perks it would presumably not be attractive to Mr Blair given the millions he can now earn doing less onerous things such as speaking on the US circuit.

That the arch Neo-Con Wolfowitz has been ousted from the World Bank should however be celebrated. His economic philosophy, if followed, would have heaped more misery on the poorest in the Third World. He was of course the architect of the disaster that is Iraq and one can only hope that he is not allowed back into any position of influence to bring further disaster to the World.

There is currently something of a debate about childbirth and the relative merits of having it at home or in hospital.

Some years ago there was a campaign to popularise having the birth in hospital. One of the posters at that time emphasised that the first three minutes of childbirth are the most dangerous of life.

Someone added to the poster that the last three minutes were a bit dodgy too.

The division of the Home Office into two parts is the sort of simplistic solution beloved of politicians and bureaucrats. In itself it will achieve nothing, zilch, Nada.

If for instance we wish to improve security we need to further increase the resources for the security services and ensure they are properly supervised and not by a comfortable committee of the so called 'Great and the Good'. Whether the Security Services report to the new Department to be run by Mr Reid or to Mr Reid in his present guise is immaterial totally. Ministers and bureaucrats do not provide the safety we desire. Those working in the Security Services do whoever is their political master.

Have we seen this week the beginning of the end for Gordon Brown's attempt to be the next Prime Minister? The flashy Budget Speech has clearly backfired. It was the sort of silly presentation that one would have expected from Mandelson and one criticises Brown's judgement (again) on such a silly attempt to strengthen his image. It assumed that every one else was stupid and would not see through the subterfuge. But probably of more damage is the film sequence, now on a lot of webs, of him picking his nose in public. When things start to go wrong things start to go wrong.

Against this background we have the developing Iran crisis and do not forget that the recent Lebanon/Israeli conflagration started with the capture of two Israeli soldiers. Clearly Mr Blair regrets his commitment to resign sometime soon and a fully blown up crisis could give him the opportunity to say that it would be irresponsible of him to resign at a time of crisis for the country. Stranger things have happened!

Writing to The Times is an ego trip satisfied when they publish. Like many I tend to rant and get things of my chest by the mere act of writing. There is no real expectation that amongst the many letters they receive they will publish mine. They used to do so over the last twenty years but I had assumed that they were no longer interested in my wisdom (?) and I was therefore surprised when they published my views on public schools and education.

The thrust of what I wanted to say was my immediately previous blog which was improved by a little sub-editing and appeared in the edition of 9 March alongside one from a Headmaster.

The point I was trying to make, I suppose, was that the politics of envy contributes nothing while the politics of aspiration just might.

Most governments show signs of madness in their final days and the Blair government is no exception. The attack on the public schools and the abolition of their charitable status is yet another example of insanity both politically and financially.

The proposal is no vote winner amongst those who support is essential in future elections. In addition the consequence of abolishing the charitable status of public schools will be to put up the cost of public schooling. This will make it available only to the more serious rich, force some parents to return to state education for their children at considerable cost to the taxpayer and exacerbate the problem of large class sizes.

If the Blair Government had been seriously interested in improving the quality of state education they should not be vindictive towards public schooling but instead make the state schools comparable to public schools. They could over the last ten years have improved the salaries and status of teachers, stopped interfering in the ability of teachers to teach and Headmasters providing a disciplined environment. In addition they could have ensured that class sizes were reduced by at least a half to bring state schools into line with the best of public schools and provided additional decent playing fields.

If they had done these things there would be no necessity in most cases for parents to send their children to public schools.

The debate about reform of the House of Lords may come to a conclusion this week. Or there again it may not.

It seems to me that democracy is a bit like virginity. Either you have it or you don't. The only way the Lords will attain credibility is if it is elected on a democratic basis, like all other second chambers in the developed world.

The call for a fully elected second chamber will not go away if yet again we fudge the issue.

i have just listened on Channel 4 to Lord Levy's Rabbi defending the good Lord. When any of us have to resort to our local Priest or whatever to go public in our defence creates more problems than it solves.

The problem with public figures is that they do not have a capabilty to say nothing.

Now that the Honours for Cash fiasco is developing it is clear that the public defence of Lord Levy comes from his own solicitors and not from No 10 Downing Street.

If the good Lord is left out to dry it will be interesting to see how he reacts.

It was my birthday yesterday and Maura treated me to lunch. We set out for a very nice Pub outside Winchester. On the way there we were about to pass Lainston House where Maura had dined frequently but as far as I can remember I had not eaten before. On a whim, not normally associated with those in their 73rd year, we aborted on the pub and went to the country hotel.

There are certain things in life that distinguish excellence and most of them were evident in this superb hotel. The set lunch was magnificent and I had a couple of glasses of the very drinkable House Cabernet. The service was friendly and first class without being unctuous.

A strong recommend to the many who enjoy the good things in life.

The future King continues to amaze me. He is the classic example of those who have an opinion about everything and a detailed knowledge of little.

I wonder how many times he has been in a McDonalds and how often he has eaten their new menu. That his opinions are probably not based on any personal evidence does not surprise.

That he has been conning the grocery buying public for a long time is another matter. He would be much better employed doing something about the overpriced and ordinary Royal Duchy grocery products to which he lends his name.

I often think how ridiculous middle aged and old men look when they wear wigs. They are only surpassed by people like the pseud and poser extraordinary Bernard Ingram who dye their hair. I suppose it reflects the search for eternal youth and a non acceptance of the inevitability in life of death and taxation.

It is generally better not to be mealy mouthed about important issues. We should not therefore disguise the fact that we are cutting and running from Iraq.

There is a sound argument that the least worst option is that both we and the United States should exit the scene. To the extent that we went in together it would have been more dignified and would have secured our important relationship with the United States if we had exited in tandem.

That we are both not on the same bicycle has more to do with Mr Blair's obsession with his legacy than the political and military requirements of the situation. The myth that we have built up the Iraqi capability and can now exit with honour should be identified and derided for the spin that it is.

The dog days of the Blair administration drag on. The man is clearly so like Mrs Thatcher in the dog days of her time that it is embarrassing to those of us who supported him in the early days. One can only continue to hope that in the interest of the country, its people and the Labour Party that he goes today.

I am due a rant. Increasingly politicians (It was Douglas Alexander this weekend) are heard to say that taking no action is not an option. The proposition is ridiculous - in many cases taking no action is often the least worst option in difficult situations. One only has to look back at the mass of legislation passed over recent years that have either made things worse or have the contrary effect to that intended.

There is an old adage that says 'if in doubt do nowt'.

I find it faintly encouraging, when watching the introductions to the England v. Spain game, that national football teams clearly do not know the words of their national anthems.

Many years ago someone said that nationalism was the last refuge of scoundrels. Whilst subscribing to that opinion it is good that the national teams, maybe unconsciously, are subscribing to that point of view.

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.

What happened to Britain’s role in the world?

There is currently a series of letters in the Times about this. It is an obsession of the British that they must have such a role and that in Foreign Affairs "We should punch above our weight". It is at the core of our mediocrity as a people and as a Nation.

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 than other nations whether it be in 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.

The problem is that whilst we continue to believe that we have and that somehow we have an entitlement to a seat at the top table we continue to dissipate our efforts to develop a decent and honest society in Britain, squander our resources in wars, independent nuclear deterrents and other follies de grandeur.

In the meantime Mr Blair gets on another aeroplane and we have the ridiculous media managed spectacle of him and Mr Bush marching purposely at a press conference and failing miserably to demonstrate that somehow Britain by definition has to be part of an alliance that has the answer to problems we in part created by our arrogance.

Citizenship and Tax avoidance.

There was an interesting article in today's Mail about super commuters who make their millions in London but reside for taxation purposes in Monaco. Sir Philip Green, Sir Stelious Haji-Ioaannou were mentioned.

It has always seemed to me outrageous that anyone should enjoy the benefits of UK citiizenship and not pay the entrance price to the club. Not residence for taxation purposes should preclude such people from participation and let us not have the hoary arguement that they created jobs. Certainly jobs were created but they fail to mention they also benefitted substantially from these jobs. The difference is that those working in the jobs paid taxation whereas the founders wwho enjoyed the main benefits did not.

It is also interesting that two of the best known non residents have knighthoods. That is bad enough but of more interest would be a list of the Members of the House of Lords who are non-resident and what their involvement with political parties was prior to their enoblement.

I must ask Guido to consider investigating.

Appropriate Sentencing.

Yesterday an elderly woman was given three months in prison for refusing to pay £800 Council Tax.


The juxtaposition of this and another item in today's Times highlights the conflict about appropriate sentences. "Council Tax rebel jailed for three months for owing £800" and "Judges threaten to quit over attacks on their lenient sentencing".
There was nothing lenient or appropriate about the three months given to Mrs Rooney. The criticism in this particular case should be the lack of perspective and over reaction in such a savage and inappropriate sentence. There were a number of options. If this was Mrs Rooney's first offence an absolute discharge could have been considered. At the very least the sentence should have been a suspended one.


It is little wonder that the jails in the United Kingdom are filled to overflowing when such ridiculous and excessive judgements are made.

Membership of Political Parties.

The extent to which Leaders of the main political parties should pay attention to the views of their members is debateable. The membership (for instance) of the Labour Party is less than 200,000 where as there are about 44,000,000 registered voters in the United Kingdom. That is to say members of the Labour Party represent less than half of one percent of those registered to vote at a General Election. The position in the other main parties is no better.



Accordingly the strategy of Leaders paying lip service to the dinosaurs in their respective parties is understandable. To have any hope of winning policies should be attractive to the majority 99 per cent of the registered voters.

The uncouth and vulgar Jonathen Ross.

Although a committed anti- Thatcherite I was appalled by the latest obscenities about Mrs Thatcher by Jonathen Ross when he interviewed David Cameron. Ross is the unfunny man of TV and should be sacked. The saving of 18 Million pounds he is to be paid could be used to reduce the licence fee. Clearly the BBC have more money than they can sensibly use.

- Bill Kearns, Southampton, England

Honours in the United Kingdom.

If we must endure the largely meaningless award of honours can we at least ensure that those rewarded reside in the United Kingdom for taxation purposes.

A new Administrative Capital for the United Kingdom.

The present water shortage and the government plans to make it worse by building thousands of new homes in the South East calls for a new United Kingdom strategy.

The South East based on London is the administrative, financial, commercial, tourist and artistic capital of the United Kingdom and has to provide housing, commercial accommodation and services for all these activities. There is nothing Government can do about the latter activities (nor should it be allowed to) but it can do something about London and the South East being the administrative capital of the United Kingdom.

The problem of overcrowding and excessive demands for accommodation and services in London and the South East requires a radical decision that would move Whitehall, Parliament and the Royal Households to the provinces. London would remain the centre of the other activities. The parsimonious movement of a small amount of Government Offices and Agencies to the provinces is gesture politics and does nothing substantial to resolve the central problem.

What is required (and it is a fundamental and absolute requirement) is the wholesale removal of Central Government, its appendages and paraphernalia to a location (or locations) outside the South East. Such a relocation would at a stroke radically diminish the demand for property and services in London and the South East.

It is interesting that many countries (USA, Australia, Canada, Brazil and others) now have a commercial capital and an administrative capital and there is absolutely no reason why the United Kingdom should not follow their example.

Will it happen? I suspect not. Not until the problem has become even worse than it is at the moment and no doubt more expensive to solve.