Introducing Police Bloggers

If you’ve not been living in a cave, you will be aware of the noises the British political elites have been making, aimed in the direction of bloggers. Happily tapping on my keyboard here in Prague, I feel as if I am well out of the firing range of the British government, but there are groups of bloggers who our authoritarian government really do appear to have in their sights. I’m talking in particular about public sector bloggers and especially police bloggers. If you think I’m exaggerating, take a look at this. Anyone who reads this blog will be aware law and order is a key interest of mine – it’s certainly of paramount importance to the electorate.

So I’ve decided to clear a section of my links bar for Police Bloggers. Unlike my other links sections which I have arranged in alphabetical order, I’ve decided to order these blogs in order of preference. Here’s my first top 5 with their own description in italics and my synopsis underneath.

1. Copper’s Blog

A Journey into the mad, mad world of the British underclass and the Public sector, where nothing is too insane for it to be written down and copied in triplicate. VIEWS EXPRESSED PROBABLY DON'T REFLECT OFFICIAL POLICY. "This blog will do more to put people off calling the police than anything, other than actually calling the police."

A proper blogger. Similar number of comments on his posts as Iain Dale. Your first stop for what’s really happening in the British police service.

2. Police Inspector Blog

You couldn’t make this up.

Classy. Well written and regular posts with a helicopter view. Also, links across the public services. A great resource.

3. PC South West

A Police officer who is being prevented from doing his job effectively by Political obstruction and home office bureaucracy. I hope to expose the shortfalls in the modern Police service that have been created by senior officers who have climbed into bed with the Politicians in order to further their own careers or future.

Doesn’t beat around the bush. Shining the light on the reality of modern day policing or lack of it.

4. Midlands PC

My ramblings on policing in the Midlands. Nothing herein is force policy blah blah blah. Although force policy changes so often, it might well be policy next week. Time to change our policies policy. Or something.

Posts are not that frequent, but tackle the topic in depth. Very interesting.

5. PC Bloggs

The police: upholding the law, protecting the weak and innocent, bringing the guilty to justice... or just a chaotic bunch of nincompoops? This blog makes no attempt to decide, but read on and maybe you can. The material in this blog in no way reflects official policy or opinion of any police force, it does however represent the official opinion of one very hacked off policewoman. Yes, I did say WOMAN.

Direct stuff. Opines on a range of subjects. More personal than some of the above.

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Well – that’s my starter for ten. Please share your thoughts on these and other police bloggers.

Important Update

As if to prove my point about those in authority, PC South West is considering whether to hang up his keyboard because of political concerns. Please visit his blog and provide a bit of support.

Equality Of Opportunity Or Equality Of Outcome Or Neither?

Equality of representation is big political news from A lists to All Women Shortlists. Croydonian and I decided to have a look at diversity tartan-style to see what we could learn.

The population of Scotland is expected to fall below 5 million, soon. 400,000 nearly 10% of the population are English-born. Recently, Gordon Brown lectured the Scottish Labour Party conference on how the economic futures of Scotland and the rest of the UK are inextricably linked. Before you nod off, what about the political futures?

How much of a say are English having in Scottish political affairs and vice-versa? Of 59 Scottish seats at Westminster, only two are held by English-born MPs schooled outside of Scotland. In both these cases (Malcolm Bruce and Mark Lazarawicz) they went to university north of the border.

What about where I'm from - Birmingham? Of the eleven MPs in Birmingham, just four were born in the West Midlands. That wouldn't happen in Scotland would it? The same number were born outside England including Labour MP, Scottish born and educated Steve McCabe. What are his links with Birmingham Hall Green, dare I ask? The proportion of Scots in the English population is much lower than the the proportion of Engish living in Scotland so I have to ask whether there is genuine equality of opportunity for English politicians. The Croydonian has also done some excellent research in his London backyard highlighting the similarly disproportionate representation of Scots in the capital. Time for some diversity training, I think?

No More Talk Of Slavery

With some people, it's pointless arguing. If you want to get into boring arguments about self-flagellating apologising for slavery, type slavery in the search all blogs box and take your pick.Here is a good one. I didn't open this Pandora's box - Blair did, with his expression of "deep sorrow". Another notable instance where he expressed "deep sorrow" was in the case of Dr David Kelly. It wasn't an admission of guilt then, and it isn't now. I have to say I enjoyed the following statement which provided yet another valid reason for the UK not to apologise, now.

"Blair's article is taking a backward step from Britain's official position in 1807 when it abolished the trade and expressed regret for what had happened," said Kofi Mawuli Klu of rights group Rendezvous of Victory.

You mean, we already apologised. Anyway, I'm going to try to be positive. Rather than identifying points of difference, can I ask what issues represent common ground that Brits regardless of race can agree upon?

Darfur

Please watch this, the most recent Darfur video and check out WebCameron for related stuff. Some facts to ponder on.

- There are 2 million displaced people in Sudan due to this government-backed ethnic cleansing
- There are just 5000 African Union troops policing an area the size of France

I put it as strongly as this - the West's failure to act in Darfur makes it almost immoral to support their other ventures. Hotel Rwanda is one of my favourite films. Groundhog Day isn't - a combination of both is unfolding.

Czech Young Conservatives

The following short article by yours truly is on Czech Young Conservatives is on Conservative Home today.

"The dominant party on the right of Czech politics is the ODS. In July 2006 the ODS leader Mirek Topolanek agreed to tie up with the Conservative Party to form a new reform grouping in the European Parliament in 2009. The ODS is by reputation the party of the cities and the educated middle classes, but is also the largest party in terms of overall support. Margaret Thatcher is a great heroine to most ODS activists and politicians who are in the round fairly Euro-sceptic. Only last week, ODS member President Klaus described himself as “deeply frustrated with the EU”.

The young conservative wing of ODS is called Mladi Konzervativci and was established in 1991. Its members number 500 across 35 branches. In a country of nine million these are hardly stratospheric numbers, but I am told they are growing. It is estimated the membership is 80% male. Interestingly, the overwhelming majority of members are either at high school or university.

Nevertheless, the recent story of ODS’s youth wing is not without its controversy. One activist described how, from his perspective, his interest in discussing policies and attending conferences placed him within a minority amongst the membership. Rather than being a radical and challenging voice, it is felt by some that the movement is controlled to some extent by party loyalists establishing a pliant political power base. Recently a maverick branch of Young ODS based in Prague was disbanded by the leadership in a storm of acrimony. These youngsters, some of whom I was introduced to at the “Czech & Slovak Right-Wing Weekend Conference” still remain active in politics, but are not affiliated to their natural party following these clashes.

It’s a personal view but based on my reading of the attitudes and values of young Czechs, there is a bright future for the right. However, this must be set against the overall political landscape. Since the heady days when democracy was restored following the fall of Communism, Czech voters express a growing political cynicism as evidenced by falling voter turnouts. One can’t help but feel that the young are particularly likely to feel powerless and disengaged in this climate. What will be fascinating to watch is whether the type of free-thinking and radical debate traditionally associated with youth can occur within the existing party organizations or whether other levers will be used by the young to have their voices heard."

Tabloid Power

I do not profess to be an expert on child protection or managing sex offenders, but when the Association of Chief Police Officers' spokesman on these matters speaks out I'm listening. In today's Sunday Times he suggests that sex offenders who prey on pubescent under 16s should be treated differently to those preying on pre-pubescents/ This view chimes - it seems crazy that this isn't already the case. But I found this the most worrying quote ;

"The last three years has been a litany of abandonment of any real strategic design in the Home Office for the management of sex offenders in favour of trying to find out what one particular tabloid newspaper wants,"

I've said it before and I'll say it again as long as I see it from this shower. Across the board, NuLabour's agenda is determined by the tabloids - even on these most sensitive issues. Marked by incompetence in delivery, under Labour we are repeatedly served up with a damaging cocktail of right-wing rhetoric coupled with left-wing implementation.

Casino Royale - Cultural Observations

Saw Casino Royale in a packed cinema studio this week and thought I would share a few random thoughts with my readers. Firstly, I found myself glancing at my watch for the last third of the film. I think I could have left after 90 minutes quite happily.

Secondly, I'd like to say that the world's newest state of Montenegro came out of the film smelling of roses. In the film, I noted the most picturesque spots in the beautiful historic Bohemian towns of Cesky Krumlov and Karlovy Vary were depicted as Montenegro. I have attached pics of these towns that were taken from very similar spots to some in the film including at the bottom of the post the Grand Hotel Pupp in Karlovy Vary which was used for the hotel scenes and is one of the venues used at the wonderful Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.

Whilst I would love to visit this new and tiny state, initial browsing of Montenegro doesn't indicate it would be easy to locate similarly opulent surroundings as those depicted in Casino Royale.

The final point of interest is what got the laughs. As some of the audience were howling with laughter at some of the pre-film ads, it's fair to suggest that the theatre was packing an uncharacteristically bubbly Prague crowd. In the first scene of the movie - shot in a film noir style - we were introduced to an office in Prague, Czech Republic which received a ripple of sardonic laughter. The silhouette from the Prague office was a high-rise skyline which is certainly not the Prague of today. Ho hum.

An early line that raised the roof was when Judi Dench said talking about 007 embarassing the service "in the past, he would have had the good sense to defect - Christ I miss the Cold War". I wander if that got the same reaction in the West.

And the bit that got the biggest laugh was when Bond said Guten Tag to the fat German tourists whose car he had just totalled - the Czechs loved that.

Personally, I liked the humanity and fallibility of James Craig's Bond, but I don't think this film will go down as a all-time great, mainly because it dragged. Maybe the next one?

Velvet Revolution

Velvet as in bloodless and revolution as in.. oh forget it.

Friday was a National Holiday in Czech to commemorate the anniversary of the Velvet Revolution in Prague. I feel a bit weird banging on about it, now, though. There is a great risk of sounding patronising, as Madonna did when she recently played a gig here and told the audience how great it was that they were (finally) free. Czech today has a booming economy with 7% GDP growth pa and Prague has an unemployment rate well below 3%. In a recent survey, just 15% of Czechs said life was easier under Communism.

Of course the other most notable date in post-Communist times was in 1993 when Czechoslovakia became Czech and Slovakia. This was known as the Velvet Divorce. In an innovative move the leading commercial TV stations in Czech and Slovakia had an inaugural "Test The Nations" quiz show on tonight. As with the UK version, a variety of groups are represented, police, teachers, school caretakers, "manual workers" and blondes, but from both nations. Slovakia edged it and the teachers did the best of all the professions. I suspect the ratings will be high in both countries for this unique show.

Milton Friedman RIP

Legendary economist Milton Friedman died aged 94 today. I have a great deal of respect for his free thinking and fearless challenge to the orthodox view.

Milton was born in Brooklyn and died in San Francisco. He is survived by his wife and two children. A nice round-up of the tributes here

Best quotes

"The government solution to a problem is usually as bad as the problem" and one for Iain Dale

"Many people want the government to protect the consumer. A much more urgent problem is to protect the consumer from the government".

The Others

An interesting discussion developed at Iain Dale's place the other day following this post. In a nutshell, there was widespread condemnation of the lack of differentiation between the three mainstream parties and many predictions of further rises in the number of people voting for "other parties". So, here's the figures for other parties excluding NI in recent elections.

1992 - 436,207 VOTES 1.3% of the overall vote
1997 - 1,361,701 VOTES 4.3% (mainly the REFERENDUM PARTY)
2001 - 1,000,223 VOTES 3.9%
2005 - 1,519,372 VOTES 5.6%
2009 - ???

Source - British Political Facts Since 1979 Butler & Butler
NB - the number of typos in Butlers' election tables was beyond embarassing - e.g UKIP had 491 MPs elected in 2005 according to them.

Predictions for 2009? and is this trend a result of the increasing focus of the mainstream parties on the marginals/floating voters or are there other factors at play?

More Than Daily & More Than A Pundit

The author of the Daily Pundit is doing a marvellous job. He has become a prolific blogger and is drawing attention to all manner of corruption, media bias and PC madness. He has a brilliant nose for the brown stuff and I like the way he manages to join the dots when he gets an issue between his teeth. Never overlong his posts rarely miss the mark and although his humour can vary from sledge-hammer to bone dry, he's the blogger most likely to get me laughing. DP has also introduced a professional template and some excellent features (especially his blog round-up). Checking in to the DP is an excellent part of my daily routine. I recommend you make it yours.

DP I salute you.

Czech & Slovak Right Wingers Weekend

Well we made it back to Prague, today. The dashing Peter Martinovic (pictured) made us feel very welcome at the Czech and Slovak Right Wingers Weekend despite all the other organisational duties he took on. After all his hard working organising and moderating the conference he'll probably be in a recovery phase for a few days. Peter introduced me to Robert Kotzian (pictured) who is a mayor in Brno, the Czech Republic's second city and is an authority on Czech Young Conservatives having been an active one since 1998 (more on that in a future post).

The conference side of things contained a few surprises. The first thing I should mention is that despite the name of the conference, there was a large mix of delegates from a variety of parties and publications. Both centrists and right-wingers from the Slovakian Christians Democrat Party (KDH) were on the main stage as were politicians from the SDKU from Slovakia and ODS from the Czech Republic. Another interesting thing was that the main panel in one debate included magazine directors, writers and publishers.

Another thing Westerners might find surprising was to meet groups of young right-wingers with no specific party affilliation. For example, I enjoyed
spending time with Robert (an ambitious student), Richard (an IT systems consultant) and Petra (who had just started her own advertising agency) all from Bratislava. They were clearly economic liberals and generally right-wing, but did not give themselves a party label. There was a similar group from Prague.

By the time we arrived in Modra last night the night had drawn in, but today we managed to catch a Slovak Autumn on its last legs - which was wonderful. We took a few pictures, but here's one of woodland and above is a rainbow further on in our drive home.

Danny The Champion

We have been informed first-hand that the Labour Party have come back to Danny Dewsbury in a favourable way with respect to his period of employment with them. As such our campaign ends in success. The £385 our cross-party group raised to cover the National Minimum Wage for his time in the employ of the Labour Party will not need to be paid to Danny. We can assume that he is reaching a settlement which exceeds this with Labour and hopefully this covers the £145 of expenses that have not yet been reimbursed to him.


This confirms our belief that we were right all along to take Danny's case up and press for his fair treatment by the Labour Party. On a day when the TUC called for a Low Pay Commission probe into the employment of young workers on unpaid internships, Labour undoubtedly felt shamed into acting to correct this manifest piece of exploitation. As a group we might feel entitled to crow, but I for one am applauding the Labour's party's decision to make a u-turn and this is the best way for this episode to end. Once the letter to Hazel Blear was in the public domain, there was no way that Labour could talk about workers' rights, social justice or student debt without being hypocrites.

This Internet campaign waged by a small number of cross-party politicos with a common sense of right and wrong is an example of how direct action can work to help the "little man" in a way unimaginable just a few years ago. We may be back, one day.

Danny, have a beer on us. I'll be having a few in Prague tonight. One last message - if you hit any snags, you know where we are.

PS - All you guys visiting without posting, you can post now. I promise not to beg for any money off you.

London & Prague

I found it amusing when Labour bloggers got animated about Short resigning after campaigning on the 2005 manifesto. Other than delivering some watered-down education reforms with Tory support, where can Labour even claim to have made good on their 2005 manifesto? If delivery on a manifesto is the benchmark for staying in post, the lot of them should resign.

All we’ve had from Labour since 2005 is knee-jerks, (anything re criminal justice – the latest being flag-burning laws) spin, (I’m thinking about the reshuffle, Labour’s 50 Achievements I could go on), soap opera, (Brown, Blair, Simon, Watson, DPM race etc etc) u-turns (police mergers and re faith schools being the biggest ones) and more than a whiff of favouritism across the board (Supercasinos, hospital closures). In fact is there anything, they’re doing right?

However, I can’t deny that there has been plenty to blog about from London.

At the other end of the spectrum is Prague. I started blogging at the end of July. At that time, the results of the June election had led to a stalemate where neither right nor left could command sufficient support to form a government. Today, getting on for six months after the election, we’re in just the same situation as when I blogged on August 15. I’m sick of Czech politics. Nothing ever happens.

Four - The Timeline Behind The Story

Developments on the Daniel Dewsbury story have happened overnight. I am personally pretty busy on today. You can expect an update over at Conservative Home some point today. Still no Labour response to our question, so for now the visuals continue.

Meanwhile, here's a rundown of the timeline. The episode runs over four calendar months, not the greatest if you are a student.

AUGUST

Thurs 17 Aug - Started filming under the guidance of Emmet Regan (Hazel Blears' assistant)
Wed 30 Aug - Finished filming

SEPTEMBER

Thurs 7 Sept - Danny started to take advice re applicability of NMW
Tues 12 Sept - Editing completed

From then onwards - Emmet Regan stopped returning Danny’s emails/calls.

Sun 24 - Wed 27 Sept - 5 of Danny’s films used at Labour conference
Thurs 28 Sept - Danny posted video to Youtube

OCTOBER

Tues 17 Oct - Letter sent to Labour from lawyer
Tues 31 Oct - Danny received the cheque for £250 with no covering letter

NOVEMBER

Fri 3 Nov - Campaign to renumerate Danny starts.
Tues 7 Nov - Letter sent to Hazel Blears and her assistant Emmet Regan
Mon 12 Nov - Deadline for Labour to undertake to renumerate Danny properly

Free Big-Name Political Event In Prague - This Small Name Will Be There

An event on the future of the European Union hosted by

The Center for Economics and Politics (CZ)
The European Foundation (UK) &
The Foundation for Economic Education (USA)

The Future of the European Union - Where do we go now?

Monday, 13th November 2006 at the Hotel Intercontinental Praha 1
from 2:00pm to 8:15pm

14:30 – 14:40 Welcome Address from President Václav Klaus
14:40 – 15:10 Keynote speech by Jan Zahradil MEP
15:10 – 16:40 Panel 1: Foreign Affairs
Speakers: Professor John Gillingham (USA), Lord David Howell (UK)
16:40 – 17:00 coffee break
17:00 – 18:30 Panel 2: Democracy & Accountability
Speakers: Bill Cash MP (UK), Karl-Albrecht Schachtschneider (Germany), Alain Bournazel (France)
18:30 - 18:45 coffee break
18:45 – 20:15 Panel 3: Economic Realities
Speakers: Ronald Stewart-Brown (UK), Richard Ebeling (USA), Wilhelm Hankel (Germany)

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NB - Zahradil is the head of the ODS group of Czech MEPs. He did a conference speech at Tory conference. It wasn't a highlight.

Grandstanding About Farepak

Ian McCartney is calling the collapse of Farepak a national emergency. In my book, an emergency is a new and pressing problem. Farepak’s listed parents’ shares were suspended in mid-August. That was the earthquake – this is the tsunami. Where were you in August, Mr McCartney? What have you done in the meantime?

Some commentators have pointed out Farepak’s latest reported profits of £1.2m suggesting that this, in itself, proves some sort of fraud. This is commercial illiteracy. Farepak was a subsidiary of European Homes Retail. Being a subsidiary means you do as your parent says and that includes sending the profits/cash upstairs. This would particularly be the case where the parent was in financial trouble. Farepak was a piggy bank.

Nevertheless, this is serious. Reports suggest between £27m and £40m (vague aren't they) of customers' money is tied up with Farepak. Suggests to me a strong case for the company to be regulated by the FSA - hello? McCartney has suggested MPs give up a day’s pay to help affected consumers. If I were an affected customer I might reply thanks for that drop in the ocean. Why not pay their balances in full? Also, didn't this happen under your watch, McCartney, not the opposition's? This is merely grandstanding. The blame game has started - the bank, the directors, retail bodies, trade associations, you, me, we're all to blame. How about the government?

Labour/Mc Cartney – get your own house in order first – Danny Dewsbury.

Five Days To Go

No word yet. The media industry is notorious for its exploitation of workers. It must be something to do with the "glamour" of the industry. You can't imagine Labour seeking the services of a non-supporter to audit accounts for free or fix a computer for free... or maybe you can? As part of investigating Danny's case I have come across an online resource called The TV Watercooler for people at every level from runner to producer in the media world. It has some very active messageboards and it is run by admins well-versed in advising on worker exploitation issues.

Frankly if someone isn't going to get paid for producing a series of films for the governing party, the media industry might as well pack up and go home. Later in the week, I would like to present a quote from a professional film company for Danny's assignment for comparison purposes. Any media professionals, feel free to make your suggestion for 6 days of work across the country plus 3 days of editing plus providing all the equipment for this.

We have yet to turn the screw on the Labour Party. They received the e-mails yesterday and the letters should have landed on their mat this morning. Further details will be revealed as the deadline approaches... or they can pay up.

Six Days To Go

No word from Ms Blears or the Labour Party. Guidance on the National Minimum Wage here.

Last Chance For Labour To Meet Obligations To Student Worker

TODAY THE FOLLOWING LETTER HAS BEEN SENT AND E-MAILED TO HAZEL BLEARS AND HER ASSISTANT EMMET REGAN. PLEASE READ AND COMMENT.

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Office of Hazel Blears MP
Chair of the Labour Party and Minister without Portfolio
70 Whitehall
LONDON
SW1A 2NS

7 November 2006

Re: Mr Danny Dewsbury Employment - URGENT

Dear Ms Blears,

We are writing to you in respect of your engagement of Mr Danny Dewsbury as a film producer and cameraman in the weeks leading up to your Autumn 2006 Party Conference. As Danny had an interest in working in the media, he responded to your advertisement for this role, and it is reported that he liaised with your special assistant, Mr Emmet Regan. It is also reported that Danny incurred various expenses on his six days of site work with you, including £395 of travel expenses. We understand that even after a letter was sent to you by a lawyer, £145 of these expenses still have not been reimbursed to Danny by you. We urge you to settle this liability as soon as possible.

The remainder of this letter concerns the nature of the relationship between The Labour Party and Danny, which we assert constitutes an employer/employee relationship, and places on you various obligations that you must discharge.

The Nature Of The Relationship: Employment Not Voluntary Work

Based on information we have received, Danny might have expected to be shadowing an experienced film crew to pick up new skills. Instead, it appears that the role assigned to him was to act as a professional film producer, cameraman and editor gathering and editing footage which was used at your Party Conference. We understand that five of the seven films he made were in fact used.

Having read the 1998 National Minimum Wages Act introduced by your government and considered guidance from HM Revenue and Customs, it appears to us that Danny’s relationship with you constituted employment, not voluntary work. Specifically:

1. Volunteers should be free to nominate the hours that they work. In contrast, Party workers gave Danny a schedule of work, and he was expected to present himself at a variety of locations at allotted times.
2. Volunteers should not be under the direction of the employer. In contrast, Danny has made it clear that he was working under the direction of Emmett Regan, your special assistant.
3. Volunteers should not perform work that is normally performed by paid employees. In contrast, Danny’s work was not similar to any of the examples of voluntary work listed on your official website (such as delivering literature) . His was a professional role dependent on his personal skills. This type of role would normally be performed by a paid employee or contractor.

The Applicability Of The National Minimum Wage

We have already made the case that Danny should be considered to have been an employee; therefore, the National Minimum Wage should apply. Although Danny may have signed as a volunteer, this is irrelevant, according to Paul Sellers, the TUC's national minimum wage adviser, “…it is not possible to sign away the employer's duty to pay workers the minimum wage.” In addition, Chapter 28 of the National Minimum Wages Act 1998 presumes that an individual qualifies for protection unless otherwise proven:

“28. - (1) Where in any civil proceedings any question arises as to whether an individual qualifies or qualified at any time for the national minimum wage, it shall be presumed that the individual qualifies or, as the case may be, qualified at that time for the national minimum wage unless the contrary is established.”

As such, we have been persuaded that Danny qualifies for the National Minimum Wage, which at the time of the filming for workers aged 22 and over was £5.05 per hour. Danny worked 76 hours comprising six days of filming and three days of editing. As such we believe that Danny is entitled to a minimum of £385 from The Labour Party.

Engaging A Professional Cameraman/Film Producer

Of course the market rate for employing a professional cameraman or film producer far exceeds the minimum wage, as it reflects their personal skills, experience and training.

BECTU is an independent union for those working in broadcasting, film, theatre, entertainment, leisure, interactive media and allied areas who are primarily based in the United Kingdom. We have enclosed their recommended rate card for crew used on commercial productions (see Appendix 1). This obviously excludes equipment costs which may be up to £500 a day according to Simply Communicate, a website supporting internal communication professionals .

Honouring An Ethical Obligation

Considering the facts of the case and Danny’s situation as a highly indebted student, we consider that the Labour Party has at a minimum an ethical obligation to Danny to pay him a “fair wage for a fair day’s work”. We would like you to acknowledge this obligation and pay Danny for his work forthwith. Should you decline to undertake to remunerate Danny for his work by Monday 13th November, the signatories to this letter will pay Danny £385 to cover National Minimum Wage obligations. As of Tuesday 7th November, our signatories include unaffiliated UK voters and supporters of both the Liberal Democrat Party and the Conservative Party. Please feel free to visit www.praguetory.blogspot.com/2006/11/labour-party-rogue-employer.html and http://www.pledgebank.com/itisonlyfair for more information.

We look forward to your response by Monday 13th November.

Yours sincerely

Duncan Borrowman, Sam Coates, Croydonian, Dizzy, Alex Foster, Grace Goodlad, Guthrum, King Lear, Tom Paine, Praguetory, Rigger Mortice, Ellee Seymour,

Go Go Go - Labour, you have until Monday to respond

Labour is a rogue employer - please follow the progress of the campaign from this post upwards.

Update - I have mothballed a few posts and updated my profile to focus on this campaign.

Reality Re Income Inequality

Back to discussion of real political issues

Introduction – UK plc and Poverty

Poverty is a bad thing, but I perceive poverty in absolute not relative terms.

To me, taking people out of poverty doesn’t necessarily mean reducing the percentage of the population who live on less than some arbitrary percentage of the average. The traditional Left-wing view and current received wisdom suggests that unequal outcomes are caused by injustices in the society, such as variable educational standards, -isms and lack of work opportunities in certain areas. Labour’s solutions have been as follows –

1. Bolstering the welfare state to the extent that many working at or just above the National Minimum Wage are financially better off not working at all
2. Focused public spending/assistance in all areas of government massively tilted towards poorer or regeneration areas
3. Positive discrimination in public sector recruitment and beyond

Yet inequality between the richest and poorest has increased further under Labour’s tenure. Also, related to point one above, for all the talk of labour shortages, there are estimated to be 8 million economically inactive British adults of working age which is an unintended, but predictable consequence of these "anti-poverty" policies. It is time policy-makers faced a few home truths re trends in income. Firstly societal injustices are not the main driver for divergent outcomes.

What Really Affects Incomes In The Modern World

Look at any developed country and its economic development has involved an evolution from agriculture to industry to services. Chronologically, the economic value of IQ becomes ever more important. I fear that attempts to level economic outcomes such as those undertaken by Labour are destined to fail in this modern world because of the real and increasing economic premium attached to labour being able to handle concepts, manipulate ideas and master IT.
Not only is IQ becoming more crucial to economic success but observable phenomena such as assortative mating for IQ (that Western partners’ IQs are shown to be positively correlated) are likely to lead to an increasing spread of IQs within populations. Furthermore, placing an artificial cap on the economic success of high performers, whether through high taxes or discrimination is likely to reduce intellectual capacity within a society as a whole as these individuals are usually internationally mobile. I bet there are a disproportionate number of highly intelligent people in Monaco, Dubai and other countries where economic success is applauded and encouraged.

So What Next?

I don’t think GDP is the be-all and end-all, but it is difficult to sell the message that relative inequalities will inevitably rise. Unless my logic can be faulted, let’s work with the reality that relative inequality will continue to increase and attempts to prevent this trend are futile and damaging. From that position it is important to re-educate people on what to expect from the state to do for you (not as much). I would like to see a government place absolute poverty at the heart of social policy. No person should not have a roof over their head, lack the means to put food on the table or be unable to access basic healthcare, but that’s all folks.

Political leadership is required in this area. Unfortunately, I can’t think of any modern-day politicians who have the balls to articulate the above. Can you?

Next Steps On The Danny Dewsbury Scandal

My bank manager and I are grateful for the initial response to this post. Some people have been asking about the next steps.

I intend to keep the request open until midday Tuesday.

At this stage, I will draft a letter to the Labour Party providing them with a final opportunity to pay the aggrieved film-maker his dues. I suggest that we give the Labour Party until Friday morning to respond to this request. Should they fail again, I propose that we track Danny Dewsbury down and present him with a cheque - maybe Danny would like to put this event on film for posterity.

Should it come to such a pass, myself, Dizzy and Croydonian will set up a system of payment.

List of contributors to date in order of when they pledged.

Praguetory
Croydonian
Guthrum
Blogger Rigger Mortice
Sam Coates at Conservative Home
Dizzy
King Lear
Ellee Seymour
Tom Paine (I have linked to your excellent blog)
Andrew Kennedy

I hope this helps. Any suggestions on the contents of the letter to the Labour Party gratefully received.

Labour Party - Rogue Employer

As previously blogged by Croydonian here and Iain Dale here, the Labour Party offered a work experience placement to an aspiring film-maker to assist with a film of the Cabinet for their party conference. 22 year-old Danny Dewsbury , (who has £13k of student debt) was keen to get this opportunity to add to his cv and was promised expenses. Not only have the Labour party only paid £250 of the £395 of expenses that Danny incurred (after receiving a letter from a lawyer), but the nature of the role that he took, was very much more than a work experience or shadowing role.

Danny was the sole film-maker, cameraman and editor on this party project. He was expected to and did supply his own camera equipment and was directed to turn up at different locations throughout the country to film different members of the Cabinet. Danny, who is not a Labour member was engaged to provide a professional service to the Labour party. This was real work. Take a look at this video and decide for yourself.



According to this Grauniad article, government guidance suggests that the HMRC would consider Danny's arrangement with the Labour Party to be employment, and as such the Labour Party are bound by minimum wage legislation. For further reading here is a link to the National Minimum Wages Act 1998. Chapter 28 of this act is interesting as it states that, if challenged, the burden of proof re status does lie on the "employer".

"28. - (1) Where in any civil proceedings any question arises as to whether an individual qualifies or qualified at any time for the national minimum wage, it shall be presumed that the individual qualifies or, as the case may be, qualified at that time for the national minimum wage unless the contrary is established."

Clearly, Labour are contractually obliged to refund his expenses, but myself and certain other Conservative activists have considered the situation and have decided that we are prepared to meet the Labour Party's ethical obligation and to renumerate Danny for his six days site work and three days of editing. The national minimum wage for workers aged 22 and over is £5.05 per hour. I’m estimating that Danny worked 76 hours in over these nine days (Danny let me know if it was more) and so we will be raising a sum of £385. Please let me know if you would like to make a contribution and/or support this gesture against this rogue employer. I will bankroll the difference between what others manage to raise and what Danny is entitled to.

If the Labour Party continue to defend their position on this I for one will be persuaded that they are not just financially bankrupt but morally bankrupt, too.

Note Re Internships

I must draw a distinction between volunteers seeking an unpaid internship with a political party or an MP and Danny’s project. Whilst the legal position is also grey re interns, it is a commonplace arrangement where both parties go into the arrangement with full information. In Danny’s case, I am afraid the circumstances described suggest he was deliberately duped by his temporary employer.

Czechs & Slovaks

The nation of Czechoslovakia was created in 1918 overthrowing the Austro-Hungarian domination. Czechoslovakia was occupied and effectively wiped off the map during World War 2, but re-emerged as a sovereign state in its aftermath. The state remained intact until it partitioned into the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic on 1 January 1993. Cynics might suggest that the momentum for the change came from leading Czech and Slovak politicians. Disgracefully, despite widespread support for a referendum, the public were not given a say in this carving up. As I have intimated in the past my girlfriend is Slovak.

A major difference between Czechs and Slovaks is the level of religiosity. The 2001 census in the Czech Republic reported that 59% of the country are atheists or non-organised believers. On the other hand, Slovakia is one of the most religious countries in Europe. Close to 70% of Slovaks are Catholic and there are significant other religious minorities (Greek Orthodox, Lutherans). I know of a Slovak village of 60 inhabitants which has its own church. I know a Czech village of about 1,000 people with its own brothel. Yesterday was All Saints Day and we attended a mass at a chapel in the side of St Thomas’ church(pictured). Nice church, isn’t it? It's 800 years old. Despite yesterday's service being in Czech the majority of attendees were foreign. How do I know? Well, Czechs and Slovaks typically take Communion directly into their mouths whereas others tend to use their hands to accept the bread.

Becoming Registered To Vote From Abroad

Last Friday I had a meal with the Chairman of Prague Conservatives James Woolf. James is a long-standing resident of Prague and a big mover and shaker in Czech business circles. Based on our chat, I reckon that if he had the time or inclination he could put together a "Big Red Book Of Czech Sleaze" to put the "Little Red Book Of Labour Sleaze" into the shade.

I'm weighing up what role I should take in the Czech branch. Social secretary and membership co-ordinator match my interests.

We discussed the low numbers of expats registered to vote and agreed that one of the most important roles of our branch is to boost these numbers. Anyway, even though I may well be in the UK by the time the next election comes around, I've decided to make a move and register, so that I can help others if they are struggling. Please see this link in my sidebar for government guidance. I'll let you know how I get on, later.

Flying the Union Jack

From a Tory-leaning friend in Prague



I wander whether Labour are preparing any laws to deal with jokes such as these?