Burn Jack Straw

The other day I met a Californian gal who runs a blog called Bohemian Highway from out of Prague. The blog is part personal part ethereal, but her latest entry caught my attention. It focused on burning a Jack Straw man - not the kindest way to welcome him back to Cabinet is it? To summarise.

1. Gather dried brush and leaves to make a Jack Straw man

2. Little slips of paper, with our worst fears written on them, are tied to its frame.

3. Finally, when the sky turns dark, light the Jack Straw guy. Crank the music up.

Do you reckon this will catch on? Does anyone have any other rituals that they find therapeutic?

Congratulations to Rachel Joyce

Splendid news has come in overnight. Fellow blogger and occasional commenter at this site Rachel Joyce has been selected as the Conservative PPC for Harrow West. Married mother of two Rachel has worked as a doctor in the NHS for over 20 years and has cut back her medical work to devote some of her time to helping the Conservative Party.

Given her blog tag line of "evidence-based common sense politics", you won't be surprised to learn that I like both the emphasis and content of her politics. At least as importantly, for a seat like Harrow West (target no 179) is a winning vision. Similarly to Keely Rogers Birmingham Northfield PPC (target 197) ,who I have now had the pleasure to meet briefly, Rachel has palpably got the right attitude in spades. Congratulations and best of luck, Rachel.

Cabinet Highlights

Do you laugh or cry? The only members of the Cabinet to stay in post are Des Browne and Tessa Jowell.

Tessa

Having demonstrated beyond doubt that she is utterly incompetent at this element of her previous role at the Department of Culture, Media & Sport, it would have made sense to keep her a million miles away from the Olympics. Instead, Tessa has been installed as Olympics Minister! Getting the class dunce to focus on their weak areas is one thing. I call doing the same with running the country wilful negligence.

Des

But surely the most astonishing move of the Brown reshuffle was reserved for Des Browne.

From provincial solicitor to hopelessly out-of-touch Defence Minister, he was on the receiving end of the most damning criticism I have ever read from a predecessor for his inept and damaging handling of the Iranian hostages. Not only has he kept his job, but he has had Scotland added to his brief. I don't know who's going to be more offended - our armed forces or the Scots. The thinking behind this is unfathomable to me. I know that Brown has had problems with the SNP, but surely decaring war on them is a step too far.

Update

There's talk of military coups over at the ARRSE military web forum.

Look Mum - I'm A Published Author

<----THE BIG RED BOOK OF NEW LABOUR SLEAZE---- >

Brown Crown Drown

Questions over his own legitimacy and calls for an EU referendum will hit Gordon Brown as soon as he is crowned PM. This story looks likely to add to his woes. US investigators have been weighing up whether to investigate BAE under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act for some time. Their decision to go ahead has hit the share price immediately as can be seen by the graphic. That's £1.6bn that's been knocked off the share price since last night.

Here are several reasons why this development can damage the government.


1. It will return the focus to the Attorney General's role in the decision to halt the SFO investigation. On the same theme, it looks like Lord Goldsmith should have a tricky last day at work tomorrow.

2. Has the potential to jog memories about the 2003 Extradition Act.

3. Given that BAE are likely to argue that they were merely a contractor it is plausible that it will be the British government that will be asked to reveal information that they have previously kept hidden.

If there are no skeletons are hidden, there is no reason why Brown shouldn't co-operate with the US anti-corruption investigators? On the other hand wouldn't it be embarassing if British officials were extradited to face trial in the US on corruption charges. More fascinating comment and discussion here.

Blair and Goldsmith's departures leave Brown horribly exposed - drowning?

More On Harriet Harman

Congratulations to Harriet Harman on winning the Deputy Leadership contest with a barn-storming 18.95% of the vote. It appears that most pundits misjudged how second and third choices would affect the result. When I call her mediocre yesterday, I was being very charitable. Check out her the conclusion to her latest blog entry.

Harriet is asserting that four journos have set out her political agenda more clearly than she could!!! So, don't bother with Harriet's blog - its most worrying feature is that it is actually written by Harriet according to its webmaster. Go straight to the vague and vacuous delphic pronouncements from the name-checked scribes.

Both Johann Hari and Jackie Ashley (horrendous article) take a wild swipe at John Prescott and Alan Johnson's closeness to him. Whilst Johann seems to think that Harriet's policies will mean mothers magically spending more time with kids (presumably by regulating their jobs out of existence) Jackie is pushing for the government to encourage more 24/7 workplaces which sounds pretty close to hell.

The main thrust of Polly Toynbee's article is Harriet's mission to add more costs and regulation onto private businesses and a vague targetting of the "filthy rich". I have to admit I almost warmed to Harriet in reading Rachel Sylvester's piece. I hope Harriet follows through on her stated opposition to grace and favour houses.

The fact that Harriet is particularly attuned to "women's" issues such as child-care, maternity leave and domestic violence is fine and could be used by Labour to electoral advantage. The problem is her "solutions" whack other groups namely men, businesses and the taxpayer and usually do not even effectively tackle the issue at hand.

Harperson Wins

Labour doesn't just tolerate mediocrity, they promote it!

What Now For The Conservative Party?

It was reported today that the Conservatives fell behind Labour in one deeply unrepresentative poll. As other Conservative should be, I am prepared for further ups and downs before the next General Election. The last few months have been shadow-boxing. Strategically, what would you do over the next few months if you were able to influence the Conservative Party? Here's my top 5.

• Focus on Brown's illegitimacy at every turn. The electorate shouldn't be able to forget how he came to power. Eventually, he will lose his cool.
• Campaign for an EU referendum*. At the least election all three parties made a manifesto commitment to grant the British people a referendum on constitutional changes in the EU. Played well, this story can run and run.
• Go hard on English votes for English issues. Making a deal with Alex Salmond and the SNP for them to back this campaign would be an astute move.
• Give a greater say to the party grassroots. Giving members a say in MEP selections would be a start.
• Spend time attacking Labour rather than Conservative "past" . Fight as a team and on all policy fronts. In the last few days I've seen Andrew Lansley, David Davis and William Hague all over the media. Where were they over the last six months?

* An expert wonk should be working on preparing some killer wording for a relevant 10 Downing Street petition.

Goldsmith Goes

I am delighted at the news that Lord Goldsmith is to step down next week. I hope that he had no involvement in the "cash for peerages" investigation, but thanks nonetheless to those who signed this 10 Downing Street petition. In my opinion, he should have left a long time ago, but his compromised position stems from institutional weaknesses that still need to be tackled.

The notion that investigations or prosecutions can be stopped "in the public interest" is questionable, (I support the idea that rule of law should operate without fear or favour) but this power certainly shouldn't be concentrated in an individual who sits at the Cabinet table.

Where's Our Referendum?

Just got this in my inbox from the wonderful Roger Helmer MEP. The image is part of a democratic campaign that he is launching this week. "When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty" Thomas Jefferson

Blogpower Awards Online

Below is a picture of "me" at the venue of the Blogpower awards ceremony. These awards will be taking place in Second Life. The time is 2pm British time on Sunday 1 July. Any online and offline friends are welcome to attend. If you don't have a Second Life account, please register and set one up entirely free of charge. Once you're set up, you can teleport to the location using this link. Our generous host, Tom Paine has more on his blog.

Although I don't plan to spend much time on Second Life before the awards (so apologies in advance if I appear a little clumsy there), I shall certainly be in attendance. I've done a bit of exploring. Despite finding myself alone when I visited them, I found the architectural areas the most interesting. Second Life provides us with the opportunity to "visit" and even furnish a building before it's actually built and surely has the potential to be an incredible marketing tool for real life property developments - especially overseas ones. A few of the clubs I visited look like fun, too. Does anybody have any more Second Life suggestions?

Nadine Invites Me To Take Another Bite Out Of Brown

Over a week ago Matt Wardman tagged me with a Brown meme.

1st Generation

I completed the meme and tagged eight people from across the political blogosphere.

2nd Generation

Whereas the Labour bloggers I tagged entered the water quietly, Lib Dem activist James Graham caused a fair old splash as his tag was taken up with gusto by fellow Lib Dems. On the right, Arleen at the Regalis blog took up the challenge with a post dripping with disdain. I'd like to note that Arleen is the only person I know who makes Iain Dale appear disengaged from facebook.

3rd Generation

Anyway, from there, my old blogging buddy Benedict White focused on tax, spending and the welfare system.

4th Generation

Iain Dale put in a good word for his little chipmunk.

5th Generation

Nadine Dorries MP called for Hazel to be sacked.

6th Generation

And so the meme loops back to me. For the short-term prospects of the country, for once in his life I'd like to see Brown being straightforward and not being a control freak. In terms of helping the Tories get back in for a better future, he's doing just fine. I'm not tagging anybody, but I'd like to remind Paul Burgin and West Brom Blogger to take up my previous tag.

Another Female Labour MP To Step Down

I have previously reported on the travails of Blair's babes and discussed the wider question of how female-friendly the culture is at the House Of Commons. Blogging councillor Julian Mott reports that his local MP Janet Dean who has represented Burton since 1997 is to stand down at the end of this Parliament. Janet is a bit of a rarity in as much as she has a picture of Tony Blair on her homepage (see right).

Janet was selected as a result of an all-woman shortlist selection process. I'm not sure how or whether this impacts on the selection process this time around.

Cameron At His Best

When Cameron took the party reins he devolved responsibility for preparing party proposals on a number of important issues to experienced colleagues many of whom had been under-valued for years. One such initiative is the Democracy Taskforce report which Ken Clarke has overseen and recently launched.

I particularly like the plans to elect Select Committee chairmen and the ability for 10 Downing Street petitions to force issues onto the Parliamentary agenda. A chat between Ken & Dave is up on WebCameron and if you want extended highlights you can go to youtube. If Ken's proposals go through, I might even be interested in becoming an MP - one day.

Rolling Blog News

Tim Montgomerie is the founder of Conservative Home and is, in my opinion, a bit of a legend. It's only two years ago that he got the customary welcome from a less distinguished Tim when he started blogging. This evidence suggests that his site's pledge to provide grass-roots Conservatives with a platform for their views is being fulfilled. Tim is a man who has earnt the right to be taken seriously in political circles.

I believe that democracy and open debate are paramount to Tim's ethos and I admit that I like the fact that a former CCO insider told me that Tim causes a lot of trouble. Tim has recently penned a recent article for the Spectator with the extravagant headline "The next general election will be won and lost on the internet".

Although I don't have such a clear vision of the future impact of internet-related political engagement as Tim, it's clear that political parties would benefit from thinking harder about how the internet can be used. A recent 18 Doughty Street show with Julian Glover (Grauniad) and Steve Richards (Indy) was interesting because they both seemed to agree that the Conservatives press team's focus was hopelessly misdirected away from leading bloggers. Which brings me on to the subtext to Tim's article.

I am happy to be corrected, but whilst the piece is ostensibly directed at all political parties it looks like the intended target is Cameron - and was more than just a spot of advice. His article is not quite in the use me or lose me category, but it was certainly a shot across the bows. Now I don't know whether Team Cameron are upset with Tim, but it can come across like that - and that concerns me.

Frankly, it is not easy or advisable to marginalise someone in Tim's position. For a start he absolutely relishes the fact that he operates outside the constraints of party politics - indeed his desire to discuss taboo issues is a key factor for his success. Further, given that Tim is someone seeking party democracy and a set of policies underpinned by truth, logic and principle, I am sure I will not be alone in being wary of the motives of his critics.

Getting our internet strategy right presents tremendous opportunities which unfortunately appears to be a task marked as important but not urgent. The party badly needs to wake up. Tim is a friend and a highly talented resource, not a competitor. Listen to him. At last year's party conference, Eric Schmidt the CEO of google was on the main stage whilst Tim was on the fringes. What chance that we'll see Tim on the main stage in Blackpool?