March 6, 2006
by Nosemonkey
12 Comments
Bugger bugger bugger bugger bugger. My passport ran out three weeks ago. Due to being an ill-organised bastard I forgot to send off the renewal forms. And today, biometric passports start to be introduced. You know what? Fuck that for … Continue reading
March 5, 2006
by Nosemonkey
8 Comments
It’s three years to the day since I started this place going, but I have precisely nothing profound or interesting to add to this post from August, celebrating a solid year of blogging. So have a random collection of vaguely … Continue reading
March 4, 2006
by Nosemonkey
9 Comments
The first thing I thought when I heard Tessa Jowell has split from her husband? PR stunt. Does that make me a bad person, or simply say something really rather nasty about this government? Sunday Update: Official denials that it … Continue reading
March 3, 2006
by Nosemonkey
3 Comments
How long can they keep the pressure up on Tessa Jowell before it starts to look personally vindictive? How long before she does a Cherie Blair style emotional press conference, with the hint of a tear in her eye and … Continue reading
March 2, 2006
by Nosemonkey
5 Comments
Yet more proof that you can’t believe the polls… 57% is a landslide in a thee-way race, second choice votes not withstanding. Huhne and Hughes evidently didn’t have a chance. Now can we finally get some kind of standardised form … Continue reading
March 2, 2006
by Nosemonkey
1 Comment
Well, if Tony Blair says she did nothing wrong then I for one am convinced that Tessa Jowell is an ideal person to have in the Cabinet. Then again, having Blair’s “full confidence” didn’t do Mandelson or Blunkett much good…
March 2, 2006
by Nosemonkey
Comments Off on £430 million
£430 million and the roof’s still dodgy. Nice work, Scottish devolution types… For future reference, I did woodwork at school for a bit – I could probably knock you up a functional debating chamber for, ooohhh… Let’s say £50k. (Note: … Continue reading
March 2, 2006
by Nosemonkey
8 Comments
Piss off, chum – if you hadn’t done such a half-arsed job of drawing up a draft constitution for the EU we wouldn’t be in this mess. Yep, the chap who headed up the Convention on the Future of Europe … Continue reading
March 1, 2006
by Nosemonkey
5 Comments
(Or, On democracy, faction and the future of party) The House of Lords is great: “Elections are still vitally important in holding decision-makers accountable, but that does not mean that every political institution should be elected. We need the addition … Continue reading
February 27, 2006
by Nosemonkey
8 Comments
Depressing reading – the latest polling figures on public support for ID cards. 52% still in favour; 60% agree that if you’ve got nothing to hide you’ve got nothing to fear. More promisingly, 63% reject the suggestion that they could … Continue reading
February 25, 2006
by Nosemonkey
2 Comments
Has Tony Blair been getting ideas from Russia? “The social custom keeping communities in Russia together � krugovaia poruka, or ‘joint responsibility’ � has been used by the authorities as a means of control since Tsarism. In the Soviet period, … Continue reading
February 22, 2006
by Nosemonkey
9 Comments
Banality slips beneath the radar so much more easily than excitement. Call something “The Religious Hatred Bill”, people sit up and take notice. Call it “Administrative” “Legislative” or “Regulatory” something or other, no one notices for hell, and you can … Continue reading
February 16, 2006
by Nosemonkey
Comments Off on Berlusconi + Mussolini, sitting in a tree…
A day after the good mini-Mussolini bit the dust, Silvio Berlusconi is seemingly making his fascistic, dictatorial aspirations clear as he announces his hope to team up with Il Duce’s daughter Alessandra, leader of a group of batty far-right loons … Continue reading
January 25, 2006
by Nosemonkey
1 Comment
Potentially dangerous populist nonsense being approved shortly before a potentially dangerous populist Prime Minister gets embroiled in an election campaign he’s trying to delay while battling (electrical) power crises (prompting only semi-joking suggestions that Russia is trying to help influence … Continue reading