Dines Days

Cameron must calm down the abuse - and then sort out Osborne

graham.dines@eadt.co.uk — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 09:00:00 GMT

I HAVE opined elsewhere my belief that Gordon Brown lost the election last Monday when his relaunch was soured by his constant refusal to admit that if Labour wins ther next election, it will have to cut back on public expenditure.

Alongside this, however, are my doubts over David Cameron's increasingly personal attacks on Brown which could turn the public off the Conservatives. Cameron is becoming nasty, a trait which is surely not what was taught at Eton. Brown berates Cameron for "crude" politics after Commons exchanges in which the Tory leader accused the Prime Minister of deceit over public spending and later mocked Brown's inaability to have "an honest conversation" with the voters over the inevitability of deep public spending cuts after the election.

Brown said during his tour of northern England yesterday: "I think if someone is called dishonest, there is an assumption that there is some wilful desire to mislead and there is some corruption involved, and I don't think that is the case.''

"There is a crudity developed in the language that people use in politics that people are now accepting as almost everyday language, to accuse people of this or that.I think people have to think twice before they make accusations. I do not make personal attacks on people. I have tried to avoid doing that during my political career. But equally, I understand that the language of politics can sometimes descend into people making quite crude accusations.''

Cameron should change tack or he could blow the election. And while he's about it, let's hear some policy initiatives from the opposition.

And for good measure, he should start being concerned about George Osborne. I've never shared the almost hysterical adulation that the Tory modernisers have for Osborne. Now his expense claims are being investigated. He may be right when he complains that it is dirty tricks and that he's done nothing wrong. It could even be the revenge of Peter Mandelson for Osborne's inept attempts to stir up a rift between Brown and Mandy by leaking details of Mandy's badmouthing of Brown match on a yacht in Corfu.

I can't believe that multi-millionnaire Osborne was on the make over his expenses. Cameron should not be afraid of dumping Osborne if the police investigations looks if it is sirring murky waters. You only have to go to order-order so see the level of contempt in which Osborne is held.

Stonewall remembered

graham.dines@eadt.co.uk — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 10:14:00 GMT

THIS is the Stonewall Inn in New York City, scene of rioting 40 years ago which marked the beginning of the Gay Pride movement. In London on Saturday, out and proud people who are gay, lesbian, bi-sexual and trans-sexual as well as those who support them such as the Prime Minister's wife Sarah, will march through the city on their way to a rally at Trafalgar Square.

The Stonewall Riots (watch on YouTube) were a series of spontaneous, violent demonstrations against a police raid that took place in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn. It is the defining event that marked the start of the gay rights movement in the United States and around the world. In Britain, the main gay campaigning groups is called Stonewall.

Very few establishments welcomed openly gay people in the 1950s and 1960s. Those that did were often bars, although bar owners and managers were rarely gay. The Stonewall Inn, at the time, was owned by the Mafia, and catered to an assortment of patrons, but was popular with drag queens, the transgender community, hustlers and effeminate young men who were all discriminated against in the macho city.

In the past 40 years in Britain, gay relationships have been legalised and the age of consent reduced from 21 to 18 and now to 16, which is the age of consent for heterosexual relationships. London, Brighton, Manchester, Leeds, and Edinburgh have large gay communities - but homophobia still disfigures' sections of society even though Britain is more tolerant than a decade ago.

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber warned today that there was still a "long way'' to go before social attitudes caught up with changes in the law. Mr Barber, addressing the TUC's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) conference in London, said there had been "genuine progress'' in the past year, including tackling bullying in schools and colleges and moves to place a duty on public bodies to promote equality.

But he is right to point that there remains a stigma. "You don't have to look far for the evidence from the casual chants on football terraces to the overt discrimination still experienced by the LGBT community, despite legal advances. Most disturbingly of all, the violent hate crimes that are still being perpetrated against LGBT people, and gay men in particular.''

Gay equality is one of the real pluses of which Labour can be proud to have introduced. It won't be threatened by a future Tory government because both David Cameron and Boris Johnson have assiduously courted the gay community to such an extent that gay people are expected to turn out in force to vote Conservative at the next election.

Now that's what I call progress.

PMQs: Clegg 8, Cameron 4, Brown 2

graham.dines@eadt.co.uk — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 11:38:00 GMT

ANOTHER bruising Prime Minister's Question. Cameron was right to continue attacking Brown's ridiculous assertion that Labour will increase spending, even though the Treasury has rubbished this, but Cameron must stop the almost vicious personal attacks against Brown.

I hope that one day Cameron doesn't blurt out: "can't the Prime minister see that . . . "

Brown picked on a Cameron remark to suggest that the Tories are the party of unemployment. Cameron was merely pointing out that unemployment will rise - under either government - and the dole money has to be factored into public expenditure.

Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg blasted Brown and Cameron of engaging in a "bogus debate" about public spending. He accused the Prime Minister of "living in complete denial'' about long-term savings which will be needed to balance the nation's books and claimed Cameron wants to cut spending now which would be "economic madness''.

Clegg tried to move on by calling on Brown not to sign this summer the contracts for the submarines to replace the Vanguard class trident nuclear vessels. Clegg believes the Trident replacement should be scrapped. Sorry to disagree Nick.

Denis McShane, who represents the Euro Tendency on the Labour benches, said the Tories were consorting with homophobes and weirdos in their new grouping in Brussels. Brown against slammed Cameron for isolating the Tories.On this point at least, Brown is right.

Despite my fundamental disagreement with Clegg on nuclear weapons, I think his two questions were worthy of someone who believes it's time for a serious debate on public spending. I give Clegg 8, Cameron 4 - it's about time he changed the music - and Brown 2.

Until the Prime Minister publicly admits whatever person in the UK knows about public spending - a 0% increase in his own words - he will continue to stagnate in the polls.

Nick Clegg's bizarre desperation in Norwich

graham.dines@eadt.co.uk — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 10:22:00 GMT

THE Liberal Democrats are normally well organised for by-elections. Not this time.

For the Norwich North contest caused by the resignation of Labour's Ian Gibson, Nick Clegg has been humiliatingly caught out hawking around the candidature. He's asked Martin Bell - Independent MP in Tatton (1197-2001), a failed Independent candidate in Brentwood & Ongar (2001), a failed Independent MEP candidate for the East of England (2004), and backer of the Greens in Europe (2009).

Next up was Peter Franzen, the retiring Editor of the Eastern Daily Press - sister paper of the EADT - but he's given Clegg the bum's rush. So with no aspiring Lib Dem MP in Norwich, Clegg has drafted in April Pond, who is/was the parliamentary candidate for the new Norfolk seat of Broadland. Presumably Broadland Lib Dems will have to find a candidate.

Norwich North is a seat the Lib Dems cannot win. It's a straight fight between Labour and the Tories, and the Greens are likely to put in a strong run, pushing the Lib Dems into fourth place. The by-election should be called for July 23 but it could be delayed until October, to avoid more embarrassment for Gordon Brown ahead of the critical Labour Party conference.

Labour chooses its candidate this Sunday but at this stage, it looks like a Tory victory in the by-election.

Gummer's charity gesture an example to other MPs

graham.dines@eadt.co.uk — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 08:12:00 GMT

THE parliamentary expenses scandal shows no sign of calming down. Although Labour and the Tories are desperately trying to put a lid on it because they are both culpable and fear a voter backlash whenever the General Election is called, the media are not going to let it rest.

David Cameron must be apoplectic at the antics of his MPs, and especially the grandees who take used taxpayers cash to enhance their already grand country houses which they have designated as their second home. He can't attack Labour snouts because his own guys are beyond the Pale.

The Tories are about to unveil what action Cameron and the Conservatives' Compliance Unit have decided to do about the repayment of expenses. It seems a pot has been set aside at Central Office and MPs will be told to hand back cash voluntarily. If not, expect constituency chairmen to get telephone calls from Cameron telling to deselect MPs who have misbehaved.

Labour so far has been the toughest on expenses, deselecting a number of MPs. This morning's revelations that a health minister used her expenses for private medical treatment will no doubt lead to her hasty exit.

Tory grandees are unhappy with Cameron's holier than thou approach. They think he is using the expenses outrage to get rid of those who don't endorse the modernising regime and replace them with the rising star of "A" list. But is that a bad thing?

John Gummer is repaying £11,500 of his second home allowance and giving the same amount to charity. The Suffolk Coastal MP's claims may be funny - ridding the lawns of moles and the trees of birds' nests - but they are not on the fraudulent scale of other MPs. Giving money to charity puts him on the side of the angels so expect him to still be representing Suffolk Coastal for another five years.

Cameron wrongfoots himself

graham.dines@eadt.co.uk — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 11:25:00 GMT

GORDON Brown was his usual evasive self at PMQ's this afternoon, but David Carmeron had a terrible time. Neither of them will own up to the fact that from 2011, spending cuts will have to be made in the public services otherwise this country will go bust.

They don't want to admit it because they think it will be unpopular with the electorate. But the simple truth is that voters know we cannot carry on spending our way out of recession and that priorities will have to be listed.

Brown kept repeating that Labour was the party of the many and the Conservatives were the party of the view, saying Labour will spend more and the Tories will spend less. Cameron says Brown sounds more and more desperate - whether you look at capital and current expenditure there are planned cuts once debt payments are taken into account.

Brown stuck to the line that the Tories would cut spending by 10% and voters would have had the choice between Tory cuts and Labour investment. That's been discredited by commentators of left and right - Labour will have to make cuts.

Cameron was thrown completely off balance when he admitted the recession was taking place across Europe. Until now, he's said the recession was a result of Brown's policies. To the jeers of Labour MPs who cried "more, more," Cameron tried to regain his compsoure but failed completely.

A slight points win for Brown.

University Tories scrape the racism barrel

graham.dines@eadt.co.uk — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 10:03:00 GMT

WHEN will they ever learn? Two Tories have been suspended from the party following allegations of racism at Oxford University's Conservative Association after a contest for junior officer positions in the branch.

On the day the BNP's Nick Griffin was elected to the European Parliament, the 700 members of OUCA met to elect some new officers. Nick Gallagher, the current publications officer, was allegedly asked to tell the most racist joke he knew and name his least favourite minority,

He reportedly said: "What do you say when you see a television moving around in the dark? Put it down, you n*****, or I'll shoot you."

Among the jokes bandied around during what was alleged to have been an alcohol-fuelled meeting was a remark about a black person hanging in a family tree.

I suspect many, if not most of us, have heard racist, sexist, and homophobic jokes. Put on the spot to tell one, perhaps the candidates should have taken the moral high ground and refused. Just why did the university Tories think it clever to ask would-be officers to repeat the jokes?

A spokesman for OUCA said: "People who behave in this disgusting and reprehensible way have no place in the Conservative Party." Very moral sounding, but about whom is he complaining? - the jokers or the persons who made him them tell the jokes as part of a selection process.

Democracy gave us the BNP

graham.dines@eadt.co.uk — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 14:19:00 GMT

THE outcome of the European poll should be to celebrate the triumph of democracy. Yes, the turnout was low, but in a democratic society, people have the right not to vote and given the monkey business at Westminster in recent weeks, who could argue that Labour's traditional supporters should be out and proud about Gordon Brown.

A low turnout combined with a peculiar system of proportional representation throws up the prospect of minor parties doing well. The UK Independence Party regards itself as a mainstream party and on the strength of the vote it garnered in the European elections, it is difficult to disagree with them.

UKIP is not a far right party, no matter what Gordon Brown and David Cameron might argue. It is not far-right to oppose the EU - there are plenty of silent Labour supporters who think European integration has gone too far. Because the UKIP holds views unfashionable to the British establishment, it is viewed as little more than pond life.

But lurking in the bottom of the pond are the trolls of the British National Party, who have have roared into European representation in the North West and Yorkshire & Humberside regions.

Democracy is democracy. People up north voted BNP and as much as it grieves the Holland Park chatterers, people have been attracted to its message. Personally I find Holocaust Denials utterly repugnant, and I suspect many of the folk who voted BNP didn't realise that is one of the planks of Nick Griffin's message.

If the main parties will not address the real issues which worry people - immigration and jobs - then it is no wonder that the BNP prospers. We live in a democracy and people are entitled to vote for whom they like. The BNP is not proscribed and is free to stand in any election.

This combination of democracy and freedom has sent two BNP candidates to Europe. But like the Greens and UKIP, the BNP is nowhere near winning a House of Commons seat under our first-past-the-post system. Voting in UK parliamentary and council elections favours the big parties - yes that's unfair, but change it and listen to the howls of protest from the Polly Toynbee's of this world when the BNP, UKIP, and the Greens cash in.

Reshuffle early news

graham.dines@eadt.co.uk — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 09:21:00 GMT

GORDON Brown has started shoring up his sinking administration with a Cabinet reshuffle currently underway. With the overnight results for county councils showing the predicted Labour meltdown, Brown has moved Alan Johnson to the Home Office from the Department of Health.

Alistair Darling and David Milband are staying as Chancellor and Foresign Secretary. It is believed they threatened to quit the Cabinet if they had not been left in post. Jack Straw will remain Justice Secretary

Key Brown ally Jim Murphy stays as Scottish Secretary and John Hutton is standing down as Defence Secretary and retire from the Commons at the next general election.

It is understood that Yvette Cooper, wife of Ed Balls and one of Brown's closest supporters, will be moved from her current job as Financial Secretary to the Treasury. Darling's stubbornness has stoped Balls from taking over as Chancellor.

Johnson moving to the Home Office will go a long way to restoring the battered reputation of the UK's ministry of the interior and is seen as a signal that it is time for Labour to close ranks behind Brown, despite the party's historic low standing in the polls.

If Brown falls, Labour can't escape going to the people

graham.dines@eadt.co.uk — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 14:23:00 GMT

LABOUR might kid itself that by ditching Gordon Brown, it can cling on to power and, as we don't have a written constitution, there is nothing to stop the party of government having three leaders within the space of one parliament, but . . .

Should Brown fall, there is little doubt that Labour would be morally bankrupt if it did not call an immediate election. The British people are not fools. Another Labour leader would have one self-serving purpose - to improve Labour's chances of winning an election. Not what is best for the country, but what is best for its MPs.

Alan Johnson, or whoever else is dragooned into the role of taking over a divided and tired Labour Party, will have to go to the country, if not immediately then by mid October at the very latest.

The role of the monarch will be crucial. Her Majesty is unlikely to refuse to allow a Brown replacement to kiss hands on appointment as PM, but she could very well let it be known she expects the people to be given their say at the earliest possible opportunity.

So, who still wants to be PM?

Porngate Jacqui quits

graham.dines@eadt.co.uk — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 13:03:00 GMT

IF everyone was forced to resign their jobs when their partners were caught watching "adult" movies - let's not be demure, pornography is a better title - then industry and commerce in Britain would grind to a halt.

Many would agrue that watching pornography is a harmless piece of fun. What makes Jacqui Smith's situation different is that the bill for the downloads from Virgin Media were passed on to the taxpayers as a second homes expense. And Ms Smith is the executive's guardian of public morals - whatever the strength of the films, they certainly compromised any crackdown the Home Office and the police want to carry out against the peddlars of the vilest forms of porn such as children, animals, enforced sex, rape against both sexes, and bodily functions.

Thus Jacqui Smith becomes the most senior politician brought down by the expenses outrage. Expect Chancellor Alistair Darling and Hazel Blears to follow, and perhaps Geoff Hoon. For any other government, the scandal would rock it to the foundations, but of course Gordon Brown doesn't see it that way because he's the best person to lead us through the recession.

Susan Boyle, the BNP and a distraught Gordon Bown

graham.dines@eadt.co.uk — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 09:17:00 GMT

SO Susan Boyle has been carted off to the funny farm to sort out her emotional problems. It was easily forecast. She's lived sheltered from the outside world all her life, living in one unfashionable town, never been married and was plucked from this cosy environment to be propelled onto the world stage as a singing sensation. She couldn't cope.

Her fellow Scot Gordon Brown is also on the brink. He's in denial about the expenses scandal engulfing his ministers, unable to see that the one law for the Cabinet and another for others MPs is simply unsustainable. Brown doesn't seem able to deal with the harsh reality that all politicans are now seen as vacillating and fickle, detested by the citizens to such as extent that many thousands are queuing up to put their cross beside the British National Party. Just wait for all the hand wringing if MPs' greed gives the BNP credibility.

I can quite easily see Brown cracking up. He's said to have an uncontrollable temper when he's in the deepest recesses of Downing Street, which is not good for someone running the country and with the nuclear button never far away from wherever he goes. His television appearances over the weekend were nothing more than a self-serving attempt to kid people he's always been in favour of reform, but that he's always been blocked by the bastards running the other parties. It was a great display of "I, I, I" but which will have fooled nobody.

Trying to blame others for your own shortcomings is the easy way out. So is encouraging others to rally to your support. Both Susan Boyle and Gordon Brown have been found wanting. Nobody dragooned Boyle to appear on Britain's Got Talent; Brown positively pleaded to be made Prime Minister.

Do you hear the people sing?

Britain's got talent - but they're not politicians

graham.dines@eadt.co.uk — Fri, 29 May 2009 14:02:00 GMT

IF only politics was as simple as Britain's Got Talent. Voting from the comfort of your home having seen and listened to all the candidates.

When we vote at elections, we might know the name of the sitting MP - although in some constituencies, honourable members are hardly visible - but we have no idea about the candidates trying to take their place and we have to accept them at face value. Let's hope the expenses row will change all that.

Let there be open primaries so that the people who really matter - the humble voters - can take part in what is laughingly described as the democratic process.

The British are largely uninformed about politics. This has allowed people to get elected who have taken the taxpayers for a ride. Any number of apologies just won't do - we need to restore our belief in parliament and the more we become part of the selection and re-selection process, the quicker that restoration will be.

Clegg's bold shopping list

graham.dines@eadt.co.uk — Thu, 28 May 2009 09:38:00 GMT

PERHAPS I've been less than fair to Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg.

I don't demur from my original opinion that he's a poor imitation of David Cameron, but he is emerging from the expenses scandal with his party's reputation barely dented even though there have been some outrageous claims by Lib Dem MPs.

He seems to capture the public mood in a way that David Cameron kind of does and Gordon Brown certainly doesn't. Cameron understands the public anger and Brown doesn't, but Clegg believes the only way to keep parliament on track is to introduce a recall mechanism by which constituents can hold their MPs to account and explain their actions.

Overnight Clegg said MPs should be barred from taking their summer break until the constitutional crisis sparked by the expenses row is resolved. "Let us bar the gates of Westminster and stop MPs leaving for their summer holidays until this crisis has been sorted out, and every nook and cranny of our political system reformed."

Quite right. How can MPs even contemplate taking a 12 week summer recess while there still public outcry over the expenses regime many of them have been milking.

Clegg wants fixed parliamentary terms of four years from 2010, make ministers subject to confirmation hearings, and lay the ground for a referendum on proportional representation - to be held on day 100 after the next election.

It's a bold shopping list. The big hurdle he faces is to convince the voters to back him at the next election, and that will be tough.