New Year's Resolutions

Among the standard resolutions that nobody keeps (drink less, etc), I have decided to set myself one brand new and achievable goal ...

I intend to complete the Great Manchester Run in May.

This will mean I will have to train for the event between now and then, but it is a date to train for and get and keep me fit at the same time. It is a 10km run, so My target time is 1 hour and 15 minutes (to be revised in either direction when I start training and find out what I can do)!

Therefore, in addition to my usual posts, I'll be writing about my training on this very blog. It might even be interesting!

All messages of support will be gratefully received.

JR

Merry Christmas

Hello blog fans.

Wishing you a very merry and peaceful Christmas and hope you get all the presents you want.

See you in the new year.

JR

Spanish Lottery Fever

In Spain there is a lottery every Christmas were the jackpot is over two billion pounds! Quite a handy win when the world is facing recession! But the best thing about the lottery has to be the name ... El Gordo, or the fat one!

What a metaphor for our very own Gordo, not least because of his sizeable frame. He's taking an almighty gamble with our public finances by trying to borrow his way out of economic problems. There's no doubt that if it comes off then the winnings will be seizable, but the odds of winning anything are small.

Mathematicians say the probability of breaking even on the Spanish lottery is less than 6%. The UK taxpayer's odds are probably even lower.

JR

BBC Bias? You must be watching ITV!

One thing that many political commentators, from the right and centre right, will talk about on their blogs and articles, is the persevered bias from the BBC against the Conservative Party. What a load of rubbish. Perhaps there was ten or twenty years ago, but no more.

Robert Peston (the BBC's business editor) surely isn't doing the government any good with his gloomy, to say the least, predictions for the country's economy; but the proof that the BBC is probably the least biased media organization on the planet, has to be the BBC's Political Editor, Nick Robinson.

The man was president of Oxford University Conservative Association, and national chairman of the Young Conservatives, for goodness sake! Whilst he doesn't always talk up the Tories policies, he's not the advocate for the Government that the right-wing blogs will have you believe; or indeed the flood of comments he gets on every single post.

When he says something nice about the Conservatives, hardly anyone who leaves a comment points that out, whilst even a hint over whether Labour have got something right is slammed so heavily, I wonder if the readers take lessons off Student Respect on how to ignore what everyone's saying!

If you want bias then try reading the Daily Mail ... oh wait, they probably already do!

JR

If the Tories Lose the Next Election ...

... should David Cameron still lead the party?

I think the answer has to be, overwhelmingly, yes!

• He's certainly young enough.
• He's a positive and recognised face in Britain.
• He would have lost the election because of the extraordinary circumstances, not because he's unelectable.
• There's no way Gordon would be able to use the line "it's no time for a novice".
• It's Labour that will have to bring in the tax increases that they've already announced in the Pre-Budget Report.
• A fifth term for Labour would be almost out of the question.

... will Labour have a majority?

They might, but it will probably only come in the following circumstances;

• The polls need to turn to a Labour lead straight after the new year (i.e. before the recession hits home and while the public are still optimistic about the Labour measures intended to soften the blow).
• An election is called for late February / early March.
• Labour has a good campaign (and the Conservatives and the Lib Dems have a bad one).
• There is next to no tactical voting in marginal constituencies.
• Mandleson doesn't have another cock-up and has to resign from the government ... again!

... will the Lib Dems get into Government?

Clegg's superiority complex will get in the way. He's already hinted that he won't work with either the Tories or Labour, so he looks to have put his party on the shelf.

... and the parliament is hung, when will the next election be?

Taking into account the Lib Dems' position above, probably within 12 months!

JR

Prank Phone Calls

Odd and yet strangely amusing, I received an abusive prank phone call on my mobile this evening. The conversation went something like this;

ME: Hello.
CALLER: Is that Andy Hartley?
ME: Yes it is.
CALLER: I'm the membership officer for the British National Party and I was going to ask you to join but you're a c•••. Bye.

Which bears a striking resemblance to the content of a call received this evening by Tom Redford (the Officer Without Portfolio of MMUnion) which he describes in his blog. The times of the calls are similar.

I wonder who else has received an unexpected and anonymous phone call tonight.

JR

I am 1!

It's the first birthday of this blog!

Over the last twelve months I've commented on many things, but this blog has rapidly morphed into a political viewpoint of sorts. Many of my posts concentrated on normal British politics, but I've also commented on the US elections and student politics, interspersed with a few personal events and stories.

Thanks for dropping by, I hope you will continue to read my thoughts in the future.

JR

Advanced Politics #375: How To Upstage the Queen

Simple - Announce the most the most newsworthy part of legislation yourself, and after the Queen's had her go! I am talking, of course, about Gordon Brown's mortgage relief plan which could benefit (according to government sources) up to 9,000 home owners.

On the face of it the plan looks to be a good idea, and last night it was reported that a number of mortgage lenders, including the Nationwide, RBS and Northern Rock (representing over 70% of the market), had signed up to the scheme. This morning, however, the BBC were saying that only the Nationwide were fully convinced and other lenders were only luke warm about the whole thing. Had they read the detail and were less than impressed about it?

Also today, the Tories are saying that the details are vauge and they can't tell how many people will benefit from the plans. I wonder if the plan is that great after all!

Next week's lesson (#376) will be on how to make a hopeless posistion look good to the media!

JR