Leaving for Tokyo first thing in the morning. I’m back in the UK on the 11th, and have no idea how often I’ll be able to post while I’m away. In the meantime, check out another new find, Rachel from … Continue reading →

As expected, negotiations over farming subsidies have gone all to hell, US trade representative Rob Portman stating that “The responsibility at this point lies squarely with the EU” – which is partly right, but a tad unfair really – the … Continue reading →

Tory leadership – members’ voting preferences via the ever top-notch Polling Report: “Cameron has a dominant position – asked which candidate they thought would be best at attracting new members, best for party unity, best at opposing Brown and Blair … Continue reading →

Has Hungary developed a Bird Flu vaccine effective against H5N1 in both birds and humans? Nothing in the UK press about this that I can see so far, but Le Monde and Le Figaro both have stories on it, as … Continue reading →

Notice to friends/relatives who I know read this: no worries – absolutely fine, just a tad bemused and pissed off. Especially as when my dear grandmother warned me to “be careful after dark” on the phone the other day I … Continue reading →

Enter, stage right, accusations of giving in to terror and yet more misunderstandings of the nature of the Spanish vote in the elections which followed the Madrid bombings. Though it must be said, issuing arrest orders for foreign soldiers over … Continue reading →

“I will pledge �10 to a cash prize fund to be awarded to the person who proves Tony Blair is a liar and prompts that PM’s removal or resignation as a result, but only if 100,000 other people will too.” … Continue reading →

This may not be a showtrial in the Stalinist sense – Saddam is, after all, guilty of the crimes of which he is going to be convicted. It is, however, a trial purely for show. But the people it’s trying … Continue reading →

Last night the government won their ID card vote by just 25 votes. The House of Commons has 636 sitting MPs (not including the 5 non-voting Sinn Fein members, obviously or the Speaker and Deputy Speakers). In the vote, 309 … Continue reading →

Another of the 20th century greats has gone. An interview from 1996 with “the father of glasnost and perestroika”, one of the first to publicly break with the party and point the way to the Soviet path to the end … Continue reading →

Hmmm… Mandelson? The Mittal Polish steel contracts affair? Paul Drayson’s government contracts and peerage following his donations to the Labour party? Birmingham postal vote fraud? Allegations of bribery? Ex-Transport Minister Stephen Byers “accidentally misleading” parliament? Capita’s no-bid contracts? High-profile gambling … Continue reading →

The Tories have become a bunch of scaremongering big-government fuckwits – and that is why they will lose the next election whoever wins the leaderhip ballot. “Minister for Bird Flu”? Fucking morons! Note to Tories – the thing that separates … Continue reading →

Charles Clarke confirms that ID cards will be a massive waste of both time and money – well, what else can he mean by guaranteeing that the personal details contained on ID cards won’t go beyond those currently held on … Continue reading →

Aaaaaaw! “A police dog has been forced to quit his job, because he’s too nice… He tried to make friends with people he should have been catching, and in one case, decided to lie down for a bit of a … Continue reading →