February 2010 Archives

Speaking today in his latest video webcast, David Cameron says:

Britain has been crying out for a modern alternative to this government that's failed so badly ... We have answered that call.

Now, the first part may be true, but the opinion polls tell one of two stories. They either tell us that the British public want change, but aren't prepared to vote Tory, so are sticking with Labour, or they are telling us that the British public want change, but haven't twigged that the Tories have answered that call.

The award for this weekend's most blatant PR stunt surely has to go to the National Bullying Helpline.

Within hours of extracts from Andrew Rawnsley's book being published in the Sunday papers, the National Bullying Helpline was weighing in to add weight to the claims that Gordon Brown was prone to bullying behaviour.

It's boss - Christine Pratt - told the BBC the charity had received several calls from the PM's office in recent years.

A CHAP rang up Stephen Nolan on Five Live this morning to congratulate him on his interview with Sir Nicholas Winterton. "Radio Gold, mate," he said. "You should get a Sony, or whatever they are called, for that."

The caller is right, I suspect. Inviting Sir Nicholas - who was the dubious honour of being criticsed for alleged abuse of the allowances system prior to the expenses scandal - to discuss the Falklands and ending up with a row over whether MPs should travel first class is some going.

Sir Nicholas insisted MPs should be allowed to travel first class so they can work in peace. A reasonable enough argument, but only if assume that people who sit in standard can never do any work.

IT'S been a weekend of admissions. There's the admission that health spokesmen from the three main parties met in secret to try and reach consensus on elderly care, only for the Tories to destroy progress for the common good by accusing Labour of dreaming up a 'death tax.'

Gordon Brown on Piers Morgan contained plenty of admissions - and allowed the public to see a side of Brown which many claimed existed, but is rarely seen in public.

And then there's the BNP admitting non-whites now. The best Nick Griffin could come up with was "Well, at least they can't accuse us of being racist anymore." The fact the party's main policies revolve around blaming the country's ills on foreigners suggests that while the admissions policy may have changed, but the racist tone of the party hasn't.

But perhaps the memorable admission of the weekend came from a woman who has made a fortune out of political admissions: Edwina Currie. Almost as sure as eggs are eggs, Edwina pops up on one of the weekend political shows to add her views on something. This weekend it was about policy over personality, and Currie was asked why the much-mocked recent David Cameron poster didn't include any policies.

To all those politicians flocking toward the bright lights of the rolling news cameras this weekend to condemn the three MPs charged with theft and who are now looking to hide behind parliamentary privilege, ask yourselves this:

Why are these three gents in a position to do this in the first place?

Amid all the talk of a 'new politics' (copyright Gordon Brown) and the need for a transparent system (c/o David Cameron) there appears to have been little interest in dealing with the whole issue of parliamentary privilege.

TO ME, the one constant throughout Tony Blair's reign at Number 10 was that nothing was ever as it seemed.

That's not to say nothing positive came from Blair's time in charge - it did. It's just that Labour always seemed determined to put a shinier gloss on even the most positive of upbeat stories.

He was often accused of being false, and of trying to be everything to everyone - ironically, both allegations now put at the feet of David Cameron.