I pissing love the House of Lords sometimes: “The amendment to be debated today will tap into cross-chamber insistence that resisting calls for estimates of the full costs of such a massive initiative not only prevents proper scrutiny but aborts … Continue reading →

This. (Oh, and a vaguely-related note to all those “patriots” blathering on about the national flag: it’s only the Union Jack at sea, idiots – the reason no one flies the Union Jack outside their homes in this country is … Continue reading →

The government planning to spy on Members of Parliament? Why doesn’t that surprise me? Anger… Rising… Again…

This may be worth a look – though not on a Saturday evening, so I haven’t read it myself yet: former New Statesman editor John Lloyd on his pet topic of anti-Americanism (my own views on which can be found … Continue reading →

Tony Blair as UN Secretary General? A man with no concept of international law – or even the legal system of his own country? Wouldn’t that be rather like putting Mr Stabby in charge of the knife drawer? Oh well, … Continue reading →

Menzies Campbell: “I will take the party left of Labour” – yeah, like THAT’s hard… The difficulty, old boy, is in making your party electable. Which it never really has been – and that’s coming from someone who has voted … Continue reading →

It’s just like that episode of Spooks with Giles from Buffy… (Or something entirely innocent, who knows?)

So it looks like the EU constitution has turned into one of the undead, roughly raised from its shallow grave to parade around the continent once more and scare the crap out of everyone. From the manner of its rising … Continue reading →

Right, that’s it – no more slagging off Galloway for being on Big Brother for me. Him getting locked up for a reality TV show and not being able to attend to his Commons duties is one thing, but once … Continue reading →

The EU budget deal’s screwed again: “”In its current form, the parliament would have to reject the common position of the council, as it does not secure a budget guaranteeing prosperity, security and solidarity for European citizens.� So, that would … Continue reading →

Chris Who-hne?

It’s been a few years since I read it, but Blair evoking Leviathan (from his perpective as effective sovereign) would tend to suggest that he wants absolute power over every aspect of society. There is, however, a qualifier in Hobbes … Continue reading →

Mark Mardell’s latest Europe diary is up at the Beeb, along with a glimpse of the Austrian presidency’s barcode-like logo (which I’d have thought would have been more suited to Blair, but still…)

If one belives the government’s own statistics (the recording methods for most of which have been changed since Labour came to office to make them look successful for electioneering purposes increase accuracy), since a peak in 1995, crime in this … Continue reading →