http://www.wikio.co.uk/blogs/politics Wikio Blogs - politics wikio wikio http://www.wikio.co.uk/discussion/671506 One day to go before the Glasgow East by-election (or The Westminster v Holyrood referendum as Salmond is labeling it) and some interesting figures in The Scotsman: IN NUMBERS LABOUR 250,000 leaflets handed out 0 visits by party leader 2,000 activists 111 miles walked by Margaret Curran, the party's candidate 3,000 posters put up on lamp posts 40,000 households visited 20,000 telephone calls made 14,000 hands shaken by Ms Curran SNP 560,000 leaflets handed out 10 visits by party leader 1,000+ activists 114 miles walked by John Mason, the party's candidate 5,000 posters put up on lampposts 40,000 households visited 60,000 telephone calls made 14,000 hands shaken by Mr Mason Now, I guess that some of those figures have been pulled out of the ether (hands shaken') but my main observation is that with apparently double the “activists”, Labour has handed out less than half the leaflets, put up two-thirds of the numbers of the posters and made less than a third of the phone-calls that their nationalist opponents have managed. That indicates a serious problem with organisation and/or motivation or...maybe someone, somewhere along the line is telling porkies.<br/><br/>Scotsman.com : Glasgow East: High risk for Salmond as he fronts bid to trigger 'earthquake' ...<br/>Three Thousand Versts of Loneliness : It's all about me! Alex Salmond wants a popularity contest in Glasgow East ...<br/><br/>blogs : News Scotsman,A Pint of Unionist Lite,Three Thousand Versts of Loneliness,Scotsman.com...<br/>(4 posts, last update: 23/07/2008 17:47) Wed, 23 Jul 2008 15:47:49 GMT http://www.wikio.co.uk/discussion/671506 A Pint of Unionist Lite 2008-07-23T15:47:49Z http://www.wikio.co.uk/discussion/671250 David Cameron on Monday night reflected on this time last year: "William Hague warned me that if he was smart, Gordon would go for a snap election in early October, just after the conferences - and that he would win....<br/><br/>ConservativeHome's ToryDiary : Information fundamentalism? ...<br/>Matt T : The Times today ...<br/><br/>blogs : ConservativeHome's ToryDiary,ConservativeHome,Matt T,Re-cycle of Life...<br/>(5 posts, last update: 23/07/2008 11:55) Wed, 23 Jul 2008 09:55:00 GMT http://www.wikio.co.uk/discussion/671250 ConservativeHome's ToryDiary 2008-07-23T09:55:00Z http://www.wikio.co.uk/discussion/671331 Chicken Yoghurt - Check on delivery: There's a small but significant difference between the transcript of the speech Gordon Brown made to the Knesset today and what he actually said... Is this how he plans to later get away with...<br/><br/>Chicken Yoghurt : Check on delivery ...<br/>British Blogs : Check on delivery ...<br/><br/>blogs : Bloggerheads,The Earth Times Online Newspaper,British Blogs,Chicken Yoghurt...<br/>(4 posts, last update: 23/07/2008 12:27) Wed, 23 Jul 2008 10:27:53 GMT http://www.wikio.co.uk/discussion/671331 Bloggerheads 2008-07-23T10:27:53Z http://www.wikio.co.uk/discussion/671295 TreeHugger reports that the huge London Array wind project is back on again, with buyers found for Shell's unwanted share. A few months ago, when Shell pulled out of the London Array, leaving its partners E.ON and Dong Energy in the lurch, the future of Britain’s and the world’s largest offshore windfarm was up in the air. Now it seems that the Array’s future is a bit more certain. German-based E.ON and Danish Dong Energy have agreed to buy Shell’s 33% stake in the 1 gigawatt project for an undisclosed sum, The Guardian reports. The two remaining backers will form a new 50-50 partnership to continue development of the wind farm located off the shore of Kent. There is little word on exactly how this new arrangement will change the production schedule for the Array, other than Paul Golby, chief executive of E.ON UK saying that project should remain on track to complete the first phase of development by the end of 2012. Further north, the Scotsman reports that a 584 MW wind farm is to be built in South Lanarkshire . ALEX Salmond declared Scotland on the brink of a renewables revolution yesterday as he gave the go-ahead for the largest wind farm in Europe. The First Minister told the World Renewable Energy Congress in Glasgow the green light had been given to a 152-turbine project in South Lanarkshire. The chairman of the congress then hailed Mr Salmond as the "saint of renewable energy". Mr Salmond now expects Scotland to become the green-energy capital of Europe and a major exporter of renewable energy – a move that could bring billions of pounds into the economy. With plans lodged for hundreds more wind turbines, as well as Scotland's huge potential in wave, tidal, hydro and solar power, and biomass, he said approval for the Clyde wind farm "demonstrates that we are only at the start of the renewables revolution in Scotland". ... Mr Salmond's announcement was met with a round of applause by delegates from more than 80 countries. It means more than 4.5 gigawatts of renewable energy has been approved in Scotland, putting it just 400MW away from meeting its targets of generating 31 per cent of its electricity demand from renewable sources by 2011. Mr Salmond told the congress: "The initial target of 31 per cent will be exceeded long before 2011, and by 2011 we will be through that target by a very, very substantial margin." He was confident of meeting the target of producing 50 per cent of energy from renewables by 2020. He told The Scotsman: "I am even more confident about that than about the 2011 target. By 2020, we will be able to mobilise some of our gigantic stuff offshore." He predicted that, in the future, it will be offshore energy, such as wind, wave and tidal power, that will hold the most potential for Scotland. By about 2050, he forecast that offshore renewables would be able to generate 60GW of power – ten times the amount consumed in Scotland each year. This means Scotland has the potential to become a huge exporter of renewable energy. Mr Salmond wants to see a sub-sea "supergrid" connecting Scotland with the rest of Europe.<br/><br/>Scotsman.com : Wind farms: now we've got the biggest in Europe ...<br/>Science Pal : World’s Largest Offshore Wind Farm Back on Track ...<br/><br/>blogs : Science Pal,Treehugger,Peak Energy,Scotsman.com...<br/>(4 posts, last update: 23/07/2008 11:48) Wed, 23 Jul 2008 09:48:05 GMT http://www.wikio.co.uk/discussion/671295 Peak Energy 2008-07-23T09:48:05Z http://www.wikio.co.uk/discussion/670530 Tory blogger Iain Dale wants to do his annual ' which are the top political blogs ' competition again and is inviting submissions to through this post . He's asked us to link to it naturally, but this year I won't be submitting a list of my top blogs for two reasons.<br/><br/>The Devil's Kitchen : You see? I told you... ...<br/>Luke's Blog : Decide the Top 100 UK Political Blogs ...<br/><br/>blogs : Jo Christie-Smith,Liberal Conspiracy,Chris Paul: Labour of Love,Paul Linford,The Debatable Land...<br/>(11 posts, last update: 23/07/2008 12:59) Wed, 23 Jul 2008 10:59:02 GMT http://www.wikio.co.uk/discussion/670530 Liberal Conspiracy 2008-07-23T10:59:02Z http://www.wikio.co.uk/discussion/670821 Imagine, if you will, that a Conservative or Labour MP had uttered these words in the middle of an official parliamentary committee... There can be no viler act, apart from homosexuality and sodomy, than sexually abusing innocent children. There must be sufficient confidence that the community has the best possible protection against such perverts, and it is important that there be a mature public debate on the issues, but the security of our citizens must be our overriding priority. From Hansard Imagine further, that when asked about those remarks the MP "clarified" them in these terms... I cannot think of anything more sickening than a child being abused. It is comparable to the act of homosexuality. I think they are all comparable. I feel totally repulsed by both. The MP in question was not a Conservative or Labour MP, but leading DUP MP Iris Robinson, who also happens to be married to the leader of the DUP and the First Minister of Northern Ireland, Peter Robinson. If Mrs Robinson had been an English MP, for one of the main political parties the London based media would have, by now, hung her out to dry. She would also have been disowned by her party. I did an interview on this for BBC Radio Ulster this morning. Strangely Mrs Robinson did not appear to defend herself, neither did anyone else from the DUP. During the interview Mrs Robinson released a statement to further "clarify" her remarks. Apparently she didn't really mean it. Let me fisk her remarks. My comments in italics. The remarks in the Grand Committee report do not accurately reflect my views. Strange you should have been so definitive in your comments then. While I will be seeking to check the Committee recording, what I clearly intended to say was that child abuse was worse even than homosexuality and sodomy. Worse EVEN? I should think so seeing as though homosexuality is actually legal in this country. While I have strong views on homosexual activity based on the Scriptures, it can in no way be equated with child abuse. Good, we're making progress of sorts. If that had been the impression I created at the Committee, I would have expected other Committee members to correct me immediately. They were probably in shock. At no point have I set out to suggest homosexuality was worse than child sex abuse. Er, yes you did. Both in the debate and in the Belfast Telegraph this morning. See above. There can be no comparison between the two. My entire contribution at that Committee meeting was about highlighting the gravity of sex offences and indeed calling for stronger sentences. Pity you didn't draft your speech more carefully then, isn't it, love? Whenever I see a statement from a politician which contains the words "What I meant to say..." I can see that they have been leant on. In this case probably over the breakfast table. Mrs Robinson has form on this issue. A few weeks ago she said that homosexuals should receive psychological counselling in order to be cured of their condition. I have to say that it's not me who needs to see a psychiatrist. It's a free country and I fully defend Mrs Robinson's right to come out with such bigoted, ill judged claptrap. But by doing so she just reinforces existing prejudices among certain people who then feel expressing them in a violent way is somehow acceptable and can be defended because of the "scriptures". Not long ago a gay man in Belfast was beaten to death in a violent, homophobic attack. While I am sure Mrs Robinson, being a good Christian, would never condone any form of homophobic attack, she should not be surprised if her remarks give succour to those who perpetrate them.<br/><br/>Cranmer : Iris Robinson – anti-gay or pro-God? ...<br/>Lynne's Parliament and Haringey dia : Iris Robinson, again ...<br/><br/>blogs : PinkNews.co.uk,Iain Dale's Diary,Ex-Gay Watch,Labourhome,Queerty...<br/>(9 posts, last update: 22/07/2008 20:26) Tue, 22 Jul 2008 18:26:24 GMT http://www.wikio.co.uk/discussion/670821 Iain Dale's Diary 2008-07-22T18:26:24Z http://www.wikio.co.uk/discussion/670147 There’s a smell of the 1970s about the Work and Pensions Secretary James Purnell. It’s the sideburns and the ties. It’s the barely supressed contempt for the idle, the scroungers, the dossers. You could drape a camel coat around his shoulders and bingo! he’s a coldly brutal boss of a struggling First Division football team [...]<br/><br/>Lenin's Tomb : Why don't they simply bring back the workhouses? ...<br/>Liberal Conspiracy : Why is New Labour stigmatising poor people? ...<br/><br/>blogs : Liberal Conspiracy,Nick Robinson's Newslog,donpaskini,UK Commentators,Lenin's Tomb...<br/>(10 posts, last update: 23/07/2008 09:16) Wed, 23 Jul 2008 07:16:00 GMT http://www.wikio.co.uk/discussion/670147 Chicken Yoghurt 2008-07-23T07:16:00Z http://www.wikio.co.uk/discussion/670133 The spin from Downing Street is that an aide was the "victim of honeytrap operation by Chinese agents." The incident occurred in Shanghai on the second day of the China tour. That night a crowd of Downing Street staffers and Lobby hacks went to a packed hotel disco, Michael Jacobs was approached by an attractive Chinese woman. The couple fooled around on the dance-floor and later disappeared together back to his hotel room to further Anglo-Sino relations. Anyone who has spent time in Asia will laugh at the honey-trap-spy media spin, far more likely that it was just a good time girl who pinched his Blackberry and wallet. Why on earth would Chinese intelligence agents care what Michael Jacobs, the right-on former secretary-general of the Fabians, hero of Hampstead, fully paid-up Guardianista and now Gordon's environmental adviser, had on his Blackberry? Laughable. Why are the newspapers being so coy about reporting the name? After all, Guido understands that the political editors of the Sun (George Pascoe-Watson), Mail (Ben Brogan) and Telegraph (Andrew Porter) were at the same disco. "What goes on tour stays on tour", eh boys?<br/><br/>Planet Intertwingly : The Case of the Stolen Blackberry and the Awesome Chinese Hacking Skills ...<br/>Marc Ambinder : Beware The Beijing Honeytrap ...<br/><br/>blogs : Heresy Corner,An Englishman's Castle,Times Online,Privacy Digest,Marc Ambinder...<br/>(18 posts, last update: 22/07/2008 22:46) Tue, 22 Jul 2008 20:46:24 GMT http://www.wikio.co.uk/discussion/670133 Guy Fawkes' blog 2008-07-22T20:46:24Z http://www.wikio.co.uk/discussion/670098 Take Part & Win £100 worth of Political Books! In early September TOTAL POLITICS , in association with APCO WORLDWIDE will publish the 2008-9 Guide to Political Blogging in the UK . It will contain articles on blogging by some of Britain's leading bloggers, together with a directory of UK political blogs, and a series of Top 20s and Top 10s. The book will be available at the Green Party, TUC, Labour, LibDem and Tory Conferences, where TOTAL POLITICS will have exhibition stands. We're asking for your votes to decide the Top 100 UK Political Blogs. Simply email your Top Ten (ranked from 1 to 10) to toptenblogs@totalpolitics.com . If you have a blog, please encourage your readers to do the same. I'll then compile the Top 100 from those that you send in. Just order them from 1 to 10. Your top blog gets 10 points and your tenth gets 1 point. The deadline for submitting your Top 10 is Friday August 15th . Please type Top 10 in the subject line. Or you can of course leave your Top 10 in the Comments on this post. Once all the entries are in a lucky dip draw will take place and the winner will be sent £100 worth of political DVDs! The rules are simple: 1. Please only vote once 2. Only blogs based in the UK or run by UK residents are eligible 3. Votes must be cast before Friday 15 August 4. Blogs chosen must be listed in the Total Politics Blog Directory . 5. You must send a list of TEN blogs, ranked. Any entry containing fewer than ten blogs will not count. So, once again, the email address to send your TOP TEN BLOGS to is... toptenblogs@totalpolitics.com <br/><br/>Bob Piper : Why I won't be voting in Iain Dale's poll of top bloggers ...<br/>The Devil's Kitchen : The Top Blogs 2007–2008 ...<br/><br/>blogs : The Daily (Maybe),Re-cycle of Life,Guerrilla Welsh-Fare,The Devil's Kitchen,The Cynical Dragon...<br/>(35 posts, last update: 22/07/2008 21:31) Tue, 22 Jul 2008 19:31:00 GMT http://www.wikio.co.uk/discussion/670098 Iain Dale's Diary 2008-07-22T19:31:00Z http://www.wikio.co.uk/discussion/670044 Wat Tyler of Burning our Money has a must read post on the British Crime Survey, and why crime really is going up.<br/><br/>The Diary of Chris K : Crime down - ZOMG CONSPIRCY ...<br/>Chris Paul: Labour of Love : Hellfire and Damnation: Dale Crime Wave Continues ...<br/><br/>blogs : Chris Paul: Labour of Love,Iain Dale's Diary,The Diary of Chris K...<br/>(3 posts, last update: 19/07/2008 13:39) Sat, 19 Jul 2008 11:39:00 GMT http://www.wikio.co.uk/discussion/670044 Iain Dale's Diary 2008-07-19T11:39:00Z http://www.wikio.co.uk/discussion/669981 Tomorrow's Independent on Sunday is carrying a ComRes poll with these figures: Con 45% (+1), Lab 24% (-2) and LibDem 16% (-1). Interestingly the Greens are up 3% to 5%, although Others are down 2% to 9%. John Rentoul also...<br/><br/>Chris Paul: Labour of Love : ComRes for Indy: Worst Poll Ever ... Since 2003 ...<br/>politicalbetting.com : Are we going to see a record Labour deficit? ...<br/><br/>blogs : Chris Paul: Labour of Love,politicalbetting.com,ConservativeHome's ToryDiary,Bob Piper...<br/>(5 posts, last update: 19/07/2008 19:32) Sat, 19 Jul 2008 17:32:27 GMT http://www.wikio.co.uk/discussion/669981 ConservativeHome's ToryDiary 2008-07-19T17:32:27Z http://www.wikio.co.uk/discussion/669952 I was surprised to read that Monty Python's movie "The Life of Brian" is still BANNED in the Welsh town of Aberystwyth some 30 years after it was first released. I always have enjoyed this movie and although I am of a Christian persuasion, I saw NO harm in it and thought it made a lot of excellent points about NOT following false prophets, for example. Plus some great gags. Now comes the news that the actress who played Brian's girlfriend in the movie , Sue Jones-Davies, has been made Mayor of the town and is trying to overturn a near 30-year ban! What an irony! I wish her well and hope that Aberystwyth moves into the modern era..<br/><br/>timrollpickering : Welease this film! ...<br/>Of course, I could be wrong... : wales - the land that time forgot ...<br/><br/>blogs : timrollpickering,Of course, I could be wrong...,Reflection:Representation:Review,Tangled Blog,Media News...<br/>(5 posts, last update: 19/07/2008 15:23) Sat, 19 Jul 2008 13:23:00 GMT http://www.wikio.co.uk/discussion/669952 Tangled Blog 2008-07-19T13:23:00Z http://www.wikio.co.uk/discussion/669931 Public service broadcaster, the BBC, has this. What more do we, Labour Party loyalists, need for the weekend? Cheer up, Gordon.<br/><br/>Not a sheep : Reasons to be cheerful ...<br/>theRatandMouse : Friday afternoon linkage - reasons to be cheerful ...<br/><br/>blogs : Not a sheep,theRatandMouse,The Wardman Wire,Peter Kenyon...<br/>(4 posts, last update: 19/07/2008 01:06) Fri, 18 Jul 2008 23:06:28 GMT http://www.wikio.co.uk/discussion/669931 Peter Kenyon 2008-07-18T23:06:28Z http://www.wikio.co.uk/discussion/669868 Anna Jane Clare meant to post about Henry James, but ended up devoting most of her post to how the feral underclass is created (NSFW warning: may contain swearing). Lynne Featherstone has been on t’wireless. Love and Garbage has less a post and more a treatise bemoaning the MSM’s failure to examine Cameron, especially his speeches to [...]<br/><br/>Chicken Yoghurt : UK arms industry: loitering with intent ...<br/>Obsolete : Investigative blogging, the Tories and watching the ministerial written statements. ...<br/><br/>blogs : Liberal Conspiracy,Bloggerheads,Obsolete,Chicken Yoghurt...<br/>(5 posts, last update: 19/07/2008 00:49) Fri, 18 Jul 2008 22:49:00 GMT http://www.wikio.co.uk/discussion/669868 Liberal Conspiracy 2008-07-18T22:49:00Z http://www.wikio.co.uk/discussion/669862 The British Ministry of Defence has just admitted that more than 100 USB memory sticks, some containing secret information, have been lost or stolen since 2004. The department also admitted that more than 650 laptops had been stolen over the past four years - nearly double the figure previously claimed! You may recall that back in January the Ministry of Defence revealed that one of its laptops - containing the private details of 600,000 people - was stolen from a car! This is serial and systemic incompetence and heads must roll. However we live in a public sector culture of non responsibility and so this bungling goes on and on and yet the MOD states is it "generally fit for purpose" Surreal .<br/><br/>newsjiffy : MOD loses 100 memory sticks in four years ...<br/>The anger of a Quiet Man : Losing it ...<br/><br/>blogs : The Guardian,Times Online,Liverpool Echo.co.uk ,The Independent,http://www.iwr.co.uk/...<br/>(15 posts, last update: 19/07/2008 15:43) Sat, 19 Jul 2008 13:43:00 GMT http://www.wikio.co.uk/discussion/669862 Tangled Blog 2008-07-19T13:43:00Z