Ballots, Balls and Bikes

This blog is on the move

2007-11-16T17:56:00.000Z

to

http://ballotsballsandbikes.wordpress.com/

Not impressed - sculpture?

2007-11-08T11:50:00.000Z

Call me old fashioned but I am not impressed with this sculpture which was unveiled in Trafalgar Square yesterday on the fourth plinth. How this fits in to Trafalgar Square's environment is just beyond me. More details can be found here at the Fourth Plinth Website.

Dave Bassett replaces Gus Poyet

2007-11-01T11:36:00.000Z

Leeds have moved quickly to appoint a new assistant manager following Gus Poyet's move to Spurs. In comes Dave Bassett who has worked with Dennis Wise at previous clubs so hopefully this a shrewd move. According to the BBC Leeds are also looking to make a further appointment to the first team coaching staff within the next week.

Rubbish tax is rubbish - maybe

2007-10-31T12:11:00.000Z

The report in yesterdays Guardian stating that the Government has cleared up the rubbish tax confusion did not to my mind clear up the confusion

In the article itself it seemed that there were two very different steers emerging depending on which line you read. On the one hand "a Defra document published on the official Whitehall website revealed that the climate change bill would allow local authorities to charge for waste in a bid to boost recycling" and on the other "paper versions given to reporters and MPs stated that the bill would only give local councils the power to run pilot schemes to encourage recycling"

These two different slants would seem to propose very different ways of going about things.

The first implies that households will be charged for the amount of rubbish they throw away. This would seem to be on the basis that the amount of non recyclable rubbish can be weighed and a bill can be issued. I am absolutely convinced that this method will not be a great success and will in all likelihood lead to two unwanted outcomes - an increase in the amount of rubbish fly tipped or taken directly to the local municipal site and an increase in neighbour disputes caused by people putting their rubbish into other peoples bins.

The second implies some kind of scheme whereby those who recycle through kerbside collection facilities gain some kind of reward which is offset by those who refuse to use such facilities receiving some kind of charge. This seems to be a more positive way to go about things but we have to ensure that every household has the facilities to recycle and I suspect the administration of such schemes will be relatively expensive and open to challenge. If someone does not put out any recyclables then presumably their normal bins will need to be checked to see whether or not their waste contains recyclables. This may also prove unpopular as the thought of the local authority rooting through peoples bins may not go down very well.

If implemented sensibly by local authorities this may help, if not do not be surprised to see the amount of fly tipping on the increase

Personal advisers on commuting!

2007-10-30T12:55:00.000Z

Apparently the government in the form of Ruth Kelly is planning "a big increase in access to 'personal travel plans' after trials showed huge decreases in car travel for only a few million pounds of public spending. Under the scheme, households and other organisations are offered personal advice, including a home visit, during which an expert analyses what journeys are made by car and how some could be replaced by other means."

As an aim this is to be lauded although I somehow doubt the cost effectiveness and long term benefit of such a scheme without a real focus on and investment in tow other key factors.

Firstly money needs to be invested in good, clean, regular and reliable public transport. The example which I gave a month ago of our local station at Aldermaston is a good one. As I said then "On a Sunday as the trains wend their merry way from Newbury To Reading and back again try guessing how many trains stop at Aldermaston. Yes you guessed it a grand total of zero. Slow trains go up and down and stop elsewhere but not here." Just how much extra would it cost to get these trains to stop? Very little I suspect.

Secondly I suspect that a far greater return on investment could be achieved through working with employers to see how technology to could be best used to enable a significant number of employees to work from home for part or all of the week. Personal experience would seem to indicate that the worst times to travel on the motorway network in this country are Monday morning, Friday afternoon and Sunday evening. At least two of these three could be addressed through and increase in home working.

Into the playoff places

2007-10-29T21:37:00.000Z

Leeds are now sixth in the table after just thirteen games of the season and a mere four points off the top spot. Next weeks away trip to Carlisle should be interesting given the current state of the League Table although if Forest beat Oldham we could be back in seventh by then.

Today's Guardian had a great piece on Saturdays 4-2 demolition of Millwall.

The old adage of the home crowd being a 12th man does not do justice to
Leeds United's vehement support - 13th, 14th and 15th men should be added to
that cliche. This was Leeds' sixth home win out of seven, lifting them into the
play-off positions, and it is difficult to see how any team from League One will
emerge from this intimidating venue with three points

The attendance of 30,319 was the highest in the Football League this season
and the fourth highest in the country on Saturday, and it took the average at
Elland Road to over 27,000 - more than any Championship club and 6,000 more than Leeds themselves registered in the higher division last season. Only two other
teams in League One have an average attendance that stretches to five
figures

They may remain in denial over what happened last season and during the
summer - the tickets for Saturday's match said Football League Championship, the
"Real League Table" printed in the matchday programme has Leeds top of League
One by some distance, and No15 in the squad is listed as "Football League" - but
the points penalty is unlikely to matter at the end of the season.
I certainly hope they are right!

The full article can be found under the headline "Leeds's baying Colosseum revels in ruthless mauling of the Lions"

My vote goes to Nick Clegg

2007-10-24T16:01:00.000+01:00

So why am I backing Nick Clegg?

Well I suspect that this will be a two horse race with an extreme outside chance that it might just become a one horse race! I assumed that Steve Webb would also stand but he has now thrown his weight behind Nick Clegg.

Last time I gave my second preference to Chris Huhne and unlike previous leadership elections where there has always been one candidate (usually the winner) whom I would not give a preference to at all I would not have a problem if Chris was elected.

I don't believe that there are huge differences between the two likely candidates and I guess I reserve the right to change my mind if some really significant policy differences emerge.

For me the critical question is which of the two is more likely to be able to engage with and communicate to the electorate at large as opposed to just to friendly Liberal Democrat audiences? Who is most likely to speak in plain language? Who is most likely to understand the every day common issues which affect millions of people? Who is most likely to understand the issues which frustrate people and where we need to identify (and communicate) common sense (a particular bug bear of this blog at the moment) policies for the future.

Given that this is the critical issue for me there is only one answer - Nick Clegg.

Post Flooding Report - Phase 2 underway

2007-10-23T18:10:00.000+01:00

The next phase of the restoration of our house has begun. However this is just another way of saying more demolition has taken place as the floors and skirting boards come out.

The good news is that there is relatively little damp under the floor and so with a bit of luck the final stage of drying out may be shorter than expected. It also looks as if they may have to remove less plaster than was originally estimated. More than half the floor cam out today and the rest goes tomorrow.

This picture shows the bomb site that is now our hallway

This was a bedroom believe it or not

And this was a bathroom!

The death of Common Sense

2007-10-22T13:41:00.000+01:00

I was sent the following by friend and it precisely sums up the way I feel about modern life in the UK. Source unknown but this theme is one that The Liberal Democrats could do well to exploit. Most people know instinctively that the world has gone mad and common sense has been lost. We need to identify these issues and explain what we propose to do about it. That will be a great way to reconnect with the electorate

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years.

No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:

Knowing when to come in out of the rain;
Why the early bird gets the worm;
Life isn't always fair;
and Maybe it was my fault.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge).

His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6 -year- old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.

Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children. It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer Tylenol, sun lotion or a band-aid to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

Common Sense lost the will to live as the Ten Commandments became contraband; churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims.

Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.

Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust; his wife, Discretion; his daughter, Responsibility; and his son, Reason.

He is survived by his 3 stepbrothers; I Know My Rights, Someone Else Is To Blame, and I'm A Victim.

Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone. If you still remember him, pass this on. If not, join the majority and do nothing.

More lack of common sense

2007-10-16T14:43:00.000+01:00

I missed this story which surfaced about a month ago. How old does the gentleman above look to you? 52? 62? Well actually he is 72 but clearly over 21

According to the BBC "Supermarket staff refused to sell alcohol to a white-haired 72-year-old man - because he would not confirm he was over 21. Check-out staff at Morrisons in West Kirby, Wirral, demanded Tony Ralls prove he was old enough to buy his two bottles of Cabernet Sauvignon. Mr Ralls asked to see the manager who put the wine back on the shelf. The grandfather-of-three said he had refused to confirm he was over 21 as it was a "stupid question."

Mr Ralls, a retired insurance firm regional manager, said he expected the store manager to resolve the situation but he was disappointed. "I felt like saying 'What do I look like? Are you a fool?' "He picks up the wine and, in the manner of a child taking home his ball, says 'Well, we won't serve you'."

The pensioner abandoned his shopping on the conveyor belt and left the store - but not before demanding a complaints form and phone number for Morrisons' headquarters.

I realise that retailers have to be careful but somewhere along the line surely there should be an element of common sense in deciding whose age needs to be checked.

Ming quits

2007-10-15T18:33:00.000+01:00

According to Sky News Ming has quit as party leader. The announcement was made by Simon Hughes and Vince Cable. Vince takes over as acting leader pending the election of a new leader.

Good news indeed. Ming was always a great foreign affairs spokesman but never made his mark as leader. Let us hope that we can now elect a leader capable of connecting with the electorate without references to things such as the "motor car"!

Top half and unbeaten

2007-10-15T16:16:00.000+01:00

11 Games into the season and we are sitting in 12th place in the top half of the table and unbeaten so far. We are a mere 4 points off the playoff places and 6 points away from the automatic promotion spots. I have to say having seen the highlights of the 1-1 draw with Orient we are very lucky to be on 14 points although we missed a penalty they should certainly have won the game with a disallowed goal which clearly crossed the line. perhaps our luck has changed at last

Still minus 15

2007-09-29T15:50:00.000+01:00

According to the BBC "The Football Association has informed Leeds there will be no more action over the decision to dock them 15 points." I cannot understand why the FA refuse to act. We were rightly docked 10 points last season but as far as I can see there is absolutely no reason why we should have been docked 15 points this season.

Given the saga over West Ham and given the principles of natural justice it does not seem right that teams who we are competing with were able to act as judge and jury in this matter. As I understand it the FA has certain rules and principles which it is supposed to adhere to - clearly ensuring fair play is not one of them in this case.

Anyway as I write Leeds are 1-0 up against Gillingham approaching half time. Lets hope we can secure another three points.

Public Transport

2007-09-28T09:50:00.000+01:00

I guess this is another story about common sense or lack of it

The sort of issue that we need to tackle at a detailed level where the ordinary people of this country can see that what is happening does not make sense and yet nothing is done.

We live about ten minutes walk from Aldermaston station which is on the main line between Reading and Newbury. So far so good with six kids between us and four of them teenagers you would think that this would be a good thing - and so it is sometimes.

Last Saturday night one of them wanted to go to Reading for the evening. He can drive and has a car but being sensible decided that the combination of alcohol and driving would not be a good one. So he checked the train times from Aldermaston to Reading and walked to the station and waited.....................and waited......................and waited. No train so he walked home again and then went back to the Station. He checked the timetables at the station. Guess what there were two of them and they both showed different times for the next train!

Still no trains.

I drove him to Theale. Still no trains and a notice indicating that the line to Aldermaston was not running and no trains to Reading anytime soon. I have no idea why they had not thought to put signs up at Aldermaston Station nor why the two timetables showed different times nor why the internet timetable was not capable of indicating that this section of track did not have any actual trains running over it. Simple actions which would help the travelling public

Then we come to Sundays. On a Sunday as the train wend their merry way from Newbury To Reading and back again try guessing how many trains stop at Aldermaston. Yes you guessed it a grand total of zero. Slow trains go up and down and stop elsewhere but not here. So if you are a teenager and want to get around on a Sunday you will need a car and once you have got that car well it seems silly to use public transport doesn't it?

Post Flooding Report - Phase 1 complete

2007-09-27T14:52:00.000+01:00

It is fairly depressing to watch most of your home being broken up and put into a skip but that is what has been going on over the last week or so. After a long saga of inaction and many phone calls to the insurance company and their various agents we have finally seen some action. Most of the ground floor contents have been written off and broken up and put into a skip. We have had two of these big skips both of which were full.

We now have a pretty empty ground floor. All the contents that could be saved have been packed and sent for storage. We still have a table and chairs (although they too have been written off) and a serviceable kitchen. That is about it on the ground floor. Some rooms do not have power as yet but we do have five drying machines on site at last

Next step is for the builder to remove the wooden floors throughout the ground floor along with all the skirting and up to one metre of plaster but as yet we have no timescales for this.

Wags raise £105,000

2007-09-24T23:04:00.000+01:00

About a year ago I posted about the launch of the Royal Families charity.

The Wives and Girlfriends of the Reading Footballers got together under the banner of the Royal Families charity, which was set up by Amanda Hahnemann and Karen Murty (wives of goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann and captain Graeme Murty). They aimed to raise sixty thousand pounds throughout the season for local charities.

At the time this seemed like an extremely ambitious target but they smashed that target with some to spare.

Tonight they brought the 2006/07 season to a close and launched the fundraising for 2007/08.

In doing so they handed out £105,000 to local Berkshire charities. We hear so much negativity about footballers wives and girlfriends but these women are absolute stars and have set an example which Reading can be proud of and which many other clubs would do well to follow.

Out of the relegation zone

2007-09-23T13:01:00.000+01:00

Now we are out of the relegation zone properly following yesterdays 2-0 defeat of Swansea. That makes seven straight wins and equals our start to the 1973/74 season when we won the title! A repeat would do just nicely. Of course if the Football League had not docked us fifteen points we would already be five points clear at the top. Lets hope that when the FA consider this case that they either overrule the fifteen point deduction or at least send the case to an independent commission.

Common sense

2007-09-15T20:26:00.000+01:00

This story about pregnant women getting cash to have a good diet really got me thinking.

Where has all the common sense gone?

Nobody disputes that a healthy diet is a good thing for pregnant women. But just how is this grant of £120 supposed to achieve that. The women will receive the grant too late into pregnancy (some seven months in) to have the desired impact and there is no actual guarantee that the money will be spent on the healthy food it is paying for! In fact the money could be used to buy cigarettes, alcohol or drugs.

All this at an annual cost to the taxpayer of some £70 to £80m a year.

There are a number of issues where I think we should be making a very clear statement ahead of the next general election. These are not necessarily areas which need to be covered by heavy weight policy documents. A lot of what we want to do on the environment and many other issues is common sense but there are a number of smaller but meaningful issues which really resonate with the public and where we could make an impact

These are issues which for want of a better term are what I call common sense and fairness issues. Issues where the current government policy is either clearly barking mad, lacks commons sense or does not appear to be fair to people could yet prove to be a rich area for us to exploit.

Just as important as government policy is the reality on the ground. There may be areas where we would agree with the governments policy but where the practical implementation of the policy is not happening on the ground or where its implementation is not seen to be fair.

A list of common sense and fair pledges which resonate with the public could be very useful.

Lets start with abandoning this policy and saving the £70 to £80m.

Six out of Six

2007-09-15T00:18:00.001+01:00

Given the depressing start to this season things have not developed badly.

Ok there is still plenty of opportunity for things to get worse but six games, six wins, eighteen points and a goal difference of plus eleven is not to be sniffed at!

I know that most of the rest of league one have to play tomorrow but to be out of the relegation zone already is absolutely stunning. We are now six points from the playoff spots and ten points from the automatic promotions spots. If we had not been docked fifteen points we would be five points clear at the top of the league.

The season begins here

2007-09-08T18:24:00.000+01:00

The Football League docked Leeds United 15 points. I still cannot work out why they were docked any points let alone 15!

Anyway five games of the season have now elapsed. Five Games, Five Wins, Fifteen Points and we now stand on the grand total of zero after today's 2-0 win over Hartlepool. First target achieved and we are now three points from safety, nine points from the playoff spots and ten points from the automatic promotion spots with the best goal difference in the division. Had we not been docked points we would be two points clear at the top.

Meanwhile the off the pitch turmoil continues as Leeds United have been barred from full membership of the Football Association after being unable to prove all their non-football creditors have been paid. The good news is that according to the BBC "Leeds United will still be able to compete in all competitions, including the FA Cup. However, they will be unable to vote at any FA general meetings or receive FA Cup final tickets"

-9, -9, -9

2007-08-18T21:06:00.000+01:00

I feel a new chant coming on

-9, -9, -9
-9, -9, -9
-9, -9, -9
-9,
-9.

So having started the season on -15 points we have managed three straight wins (including two in the league) and now stand on the grand total of -9 points and only a mere 10 points from 20th and safety. Whatever the ins and the outs of the legal ownership shenanigans that have been going on the team are giving it their all on the pitch and long may it continue!

Meanwhile Ken Bates has sent me a letter (text below) - how kind of him to attempt to explain what has been going on. Far far better would be if he sorted out the problems that are currently preventing me from using the Leeds United web site to buy tickets so that I can go to games!

If you read the text of his letter below and have a better interpretation that "it is all someone elses fault" please do let me know.

Dear Leeds Club Member

I have delayed my usual pre season letter until the outcome of recent events was resolved.

I can understand if you feel frustrated by the lack of information coming out of the Club but negotiations on many fronts have been both delicate and confidential. Unfortunately information given to fans is picked up by the media and we are then at the mercy of individual media reporters and editors who sometimes interpret (or in some cases misinterpret) a story according to their views or prejudices.

Only now do I feel comfortable in informing you of the position and it will be a long letter because you should know of the many aspects of the recent past including many parties, plots, intrigue and much more.

THE ADMINISTRATION (CVA)

KPMG were advised throughout by Walker Morris the Leeds based Insolvency Lawyers as well as two Senior Barristers. In view of several press articles and comments by the Football League it is essential to state that all parties behaved properly at all times. The common desire was to save Leeds United and stop the taxman's attempt to close it.

In view of the behaviour of certain parties with hidden agendas, KPMG decided to invite fresh offers but at the end of the day the offer from the Forward Sports Fund ('FSF') was still the highest and best.

After the original creditors meeting there is a period of 28 days for anybody to object. The taxman objected at 3pm on the last day just before the court closed.

At the insistence of the League, KPMG tried very hard to meet the Taxman's objections and the negotiations were conducted at the highest level. The first demand/condition was that all monies from FSF to KPMG should be paid upfront. That was agreed. The second demand was that the Football Creditors should not get preference and be paid any more than anybody else. This was an impossible demand. If Leeds didn't pay the Football Creditors in full then the Club didn't get membership of the League. We were between the devil and the deep blue sea. Damned if we do, damned if we don't. The Taxman then proposed that a sum equal to that going to the Football Creditors be paid into the general pool for all Creditors putting them in a better position. FSF agreed. The Taxman then refused to withdraw their appeal and further stated officially that they would vote against any other proposal if Football Creditors were ever paid in full. Indeed they stated that they would oppose any further CVA when Football Clubs were involved. Clearly this is an impossible situation.

What really irks the Taxman is that until 2003 they got preferential treatment in any insolvency. Now they don't. That is not Leeds fault or that of the League.

Finally, we believe that the actions of the Taxman were illegal.

In the case of Wimbledon the very question of the Football Creditors was challenged in the High Court and the Taxman lost on Appeal.

Secondly, Newcastle United won in the High Court against the Taxman because of their refusal to allow VAT on Agents' fees as a deduction. Despite losing, the Taxman still submitted a huge claim for VAT on Agents' fees which was illegal. The Taxman is questioning the validity of some creditors' claims. They do not have clean hands in this matter. This dispute is not about Leeds United, it is about opposing the Football League's Rule that Football Creditors must be paid in full.

ALTERNATIVE BUYERS

At the time of buying the Club from the Administrators, FSF promised to talk to any other would be purchasers with a view to any possible cooperation. We did the best we could. This is a summary of what did or did not happen.

1. DUNCAN REVIE - Did not and has not made any offer at all. Neither has he contacted me or any other Director.

2. SO CALLED AMERICAN INVESTMENT FUND - One phone call and they have not been in contact since. Absolutely no discussion.

3. REDBUS - Mark Taylor, a lawyer, had one meeting and one phone call. No proposal.

4. SIMON MORRIS - He made contact through a middle man. We informed him to call us direct. We weren't prepared to negotiate through a third party. We haven't heard from him. In the newspaper it was reported that in buying Leeds it would be part of a £500/600 million pound development in the surrounding area. Unfortunately (for him) he doesn't own the land and Leeds citeh Council have put it out to possible public tender.

He also employed two PR companies to run a dirty tricks campaign against me which backfired. We obtained a background memo, a copy of which is enclosed. PROJECT PEACOCK is the code name for Leeds and PROJECT PILGRIM is the code name for Boston United. Gerald Krasner was the squirrel for Boston United and Morris hoped to get the Boston Club ground for redevelopment but he was unsuccessful.

Despite all the media speculation we knew of no other interested party.

MELVYN LEVI

Levi was a member of the Yorkshire Consortium (YC) who briefly owned Leeds United until it was sold to the FSF in January 2005.

For technical reasons, FSF acquired 50% of the Club at the time and had an option to buy the other 50% in June 2005. FSF exercised the option but Levi refused to sign over the shares.

All decisions by YC had to be unanimous, consequently Levi's actions blocked the deal. From that day to this Levi has worked in the background attempting to frustrate every effort to strengthen the Club's finances. We planned a rights issue to raise a further £5m for the Club but Levi frightened off the participants. Last October we agreed a deal with an Irish consortium who would put £10m of new capital into the Club and lend us the dublooons to buy back Elland Road and the training ground. Levi found out and rang the would be investors and put them off. This is well documented.

Then Weston (see later) got in on the act with Levi and they demanded 10% of the Club, £200,000 in cash and Directors' Box tickets for life in return for honouring the option. Levi has denied this but we have witness statements on file.

This is a brief summary of what has occurred but suffice to say Levi has been actively trying to frustrate all our efforts to strengthen the Club's financial position. He even went to court and obtained an injunction against Leeds printing a match programme. The Judge threw out his case after 40 minutes.

Robert Weston is the first husband of Levi's wife. Levi arranged with Weston (who lives in Jersey) to handle Leeds season ticket credit card transactions. For two years we have been trying to recover the £190,000 which Weston owes to Leeds. He has used every possible delaying tactic to avoid repaying the dublooons which he has acknowledged he owes. We have at last obtained judgment and should get the dublooons this month. Weston has been in jail for trying to pervert the course of justice.

Levi is a disgrace.

PLAYERS, BUYING AND SELLING

Player transactions are very complicated and when fans jump to conclusions they do not always know the full facts which, for important reasons, cannot be revealed at the time.

Let me take David Healy as an example. Healy's agent voted against the CVA. Healy had one year left on his contract which meant he could sign a pre contract in January and walk out next June on a free transfer. Everybody said we should get £3m+ for him but nobody offered it. He was a high earner and his agent wanted him away. Fulham's was the only genuine offer and we got £1m for him plus add-ons. He cost us £750k from nob end plus 20% of any profit. We still owed nob end £200k so of the £1m we actually got £750k net. We have already spent £500k on buying Casper and Hughes.

A year ago Danny Rose refused to go to Chelsea because he "loved Leeds". Last month his agent refused a new contract and Rose walked out. After a lot of haggling we got £750k plus add-ons of £250k. To buy or sell a player (a) he has to want the move (b) the other Club must be willing to do a deal and (c) we must afford him, otherwise we are back in a Ridsdale situation.

One example is of a young promising striker from the South. Free transfer and earning £600 a week. Deal done, except that his agent suddenly demanded £6,000 a week in wages. No deal.

I know it is frustrating sometimes for fans but we do not reveal our plans publicly, it just alerts the opposition.Rest assured, Wisey plans to recruit experienced but mainly younger players who are hungry for success and want to achieve things, not those looking to delay their retirement with no ambition other than to have another pay day.

THE WAY FORWARD

We now have a Club with no debt, the last legacy of the Ridsdale era is behind us.

We still have the consequences of the Krasner, Levi and Morris actions with us. They sold Elland Road for £8m. We have to buy it back at £15m meanwhile paying £1.1m a year in rent.

We have tightly controlled budgets and all the staff know that every penny counts.

We are willing to have discussions with any serious investor who has the Club's best interests at heart, rather than hoping to make a quick buck from the property.

We are preparing plans to develop Elland Road to enable non footballing income to come into the Club to strengthen our buying power on a permanent basis.

We will invest in our scouting and youth policies to continue Leeds' great history of developing home grown players.

The 15 point "sanction" is a scandal and a travesty of justice. We are appealing that decision to the Football Association but meanwhile will get on with the job of strengthening the team and getting back firstly to the Championship and then the Premiership.

Dennis, Gus and myself are here for the long haul. So the mindless minority who do their silly chants had better get used to it.

On a lighter note may I point out that under the Sex Discrimination Act demonstrations that invite men getting their shirts off is only legal if the Ladies do the same!

Finally, thank you all for the tremendous support throughout the difficult time. Fulham, Man City, Derby, Aston Villa and Middlesbrough have all been in our current position, look where they are now.

Marching on Together

Ken Bates
Chairman

We made it

2007-08-11T15:37:00.001+01:00

We made it to the start of the season although at the time of writing we are currently 1-0 to Tranmere. It has been a horrendous summer culminating in the Football Leagues decision to dock us 15 points. That decision was appealed but the Football League stood by their original decision and seem determined to screw Leeds over good and proper.

I cannot for the life of me see what rule has been broken let alone what rule has been broken that would lead to us being docked 15 points having already been docked 10 points last season we appear to have incurred a 25 point penalty. And to think that West Ham did not even lose 1 point and are still in the Premiership.

If there was a problem in leaving administration other than through a CVA then the League rules should say that. But they don't they say "except in exceptional circumstances" Obviously there were exceptional circumstances in that the Administrators determined that a CVA was not the best route. We do not have any say in this as I understand it they are just administering the insolvency laws of this country so why have we been docked 15 points? Where in the rules does it say that we have committed an offence let alone that we should be docked 15 points for it? Frankly it stinks!

Before the 15 point deduction I thought we would probably have a long hard fight against relegation given our inability to sign new players, the loss of existing players and the lack of a proper pre season with a full squad. The deduction of 15 points merely confirms this and increases the likelihood that we will be relegated again.

Still at least we have at last been able to sign some players including a goalkeeper. Casper Ankergren, Leon Constantine, Curtis Weston, Matt Heath, David Prutton, Rui Marques, Alan Thompson, Torre Andre Flo and Andy Hughes have all signed or rejoined having been on loan last season.

Of course there is still the question of the court case being taken by Her Majesty's Revenues and Customs which is scheduled for 3rd September. Presumably this could see us back in administration again with a further 10 point deduction.

Perhaps the saddest summary of all that has gone on over the last five years was published in todays Guardian entitled "Fans fight against the dying of the light as Leeds face up to life at a new low". It was all summed up in the following short extract from that article.

Elland Road is empty but for a handful of fans at the ticket office. Tony Doran is Leeds from top to bottom - Bremner shirt, Leeds tattoo on arm and shoulder, Leeds wallet, Leeds glasses case, Leeds earring. He wants to know what's happening with his season ticket. "I paid by credit card and the card's not gone through yet." At the club pub, Billy's Bar, and the souvenir shop only cash is accepted. The credit card companies are refusing to accept credit from Leeds.

What's the feeling like in the city? "Not good," he says. "We've never
been this low before. We'll be lucky to get 15,000 next season."

Doran is with his niece. I ask her if she has noticed a change in him.
"Yeah. He's not had a smile on his face for a year."

As the photographer takes his picture, a security man emerges and asks
what we are doing here. I'm talking to fans, I say. He makes a call to the
press officer, and says I have to leave.
"Can I speak to the press officer?"

"No, he won't talk to you. You have to leave. This is private property."

I feel angry, as Doran does. He has spent tens of thousands of pounds on his club over the years, and he would like to have his photograph taken inside Elland Road, but the club won't allow it. "Disgusting. They treat us like scum," he says.

That is what we end up with at the end of all this. Fans who feel they have been treated with disdain by the club, the chairman, the Football League and the administrators. Gates that are falling as the club tries to charge Premiership prices for Championship relegation football. A club that cannot tell them what has happened to their season ticket money and whether or not they will have a ticket for games this season. A club shop that will not take credit cards because nobody wants to deal with them. A club where the Press Officer will not even talk to a journalist who actually wrote a very sympathetic article and a club where a life long fan was turned away from providing the photo for the self same article!

8 Days to go

2007-08-03T11:34:00.000+01:00

We have eight days to go until the new season kicks off and the Football League are still refusing to release the golden share to Leeds. According to the BBC the Football League wants them to reconstitute a Company Voluntary Agreement before they will hand the share back. Surely if they went into administration and a CVA was constituted and they are now out of administration (at least according to KPMG) then reconstituting the CVA menas they are back in administration. Perhaps this is the cunning plan of the Football League so that they can dock a further 10 points!

Meanwhile according to the Daily Telegraph the Taxman's demands are deepening Leeds crisis. David Hartnett an official at HM Revenue and Customs has insisted that Leeds must pay the £7.7 million owed in tax and has also demanded that Bates must reveal the identity of the mysterious backers behind his new bid for the club. KPMG have stated that if HM Revenue and Customs demand full payment of their debt then any attempt to obtain a new CVA would fail. Added to which of course "Leeds' biggest creditor, Astor, whose owners are unknown as the company is registered in the British Virgin Islands, have indicated that they will only back Bates' bid."

20 questions for Ken

2007-07-28T23:42:00.000+01:00

Two great articles in The Guardian yesterday and today.

Todays article which can be found here details how Ken Bates won back control of Leeds without offering the largest bid.

Yesterdays article which can be found here details the impasse which the club now find itself in and poses 20 questions which need to be answered as follows :

1. Why did Leeds collapse into insolvency and administration in the first place, with debts of £35.5m, given that Ken Bates, and his solicitor and fellow Leeds United director Mark Taylor, had said during 2006-07 that the club would be in a dramatically better financial position once the season was over and the contracts of high-earning players would come to an end?

2. How did Leeds come to owe £17.7m to three offshore companies, Astor Investment Holdings (registered in the British Virgin Islands), Krato Trust (Nevis Island, the West Indies), and the owner of the club, Forward Sports Fund (the Cayman Islands), and how did the club spend that money? Why was KPMG in such a hurry to sell Leeds United immediately back to the new company, which is also owned

3. Why was KPMG in such a hurry to sell Leeds United immediately back to the new company, which is also owned by the Forward Sports Fund and chaired by Bates, for 1p in the pound, when the administrators of other clubs have spent months running clubs and publicly seeking the best possible deal for creditors?

4. Who are the owners or beneficiaries of the Forward Sports Fund, Astor Investment Holdings and Krato Trust, and why have they chosen to register their companies in offshore tax havens where they are not legally required to declare their identity?

5. If Leeds United's owners are the anonymous people behind the Forward Sports Fund, how can the Football League be satisfied they pass its "fit and proper person test"?

6. Why have Astor and Krato agreed to waive any repayment of their huge debts so long as the club was re-sold to Forward and Bates, arguing, according to Taylor, that they had faith in the management of the club?

7. Leeds United's 2006 accounts stated that Astor did have "an interest" in the Forward Sports Fund, then at the creditors meeting on June 1, Taylor stated that the interest had been severed last December. How was this done, why, and what evidence was given of it to KPMG?

8. Why was the previous connection between Astor and Forward not mentioned in KPMG's first report to creditors, nor any explanation given of how the connection had been severed?

9. The 2006 accounts also stated that Patrick Murrin, the former Guernsey accountant, Chelsea director and representative of the large, anonymous offshore shareholding in Chelsea during Bates' time in charge, had "an interest" in the Forward Sports Fund. What is Murrin's interest in Forward?

10. The 2006 accounts stated that a company of which Murrin is a shareholder, Rivoli Limited, also registered in Nevis Island, had been paid £186,000 in "consultancy costs" during the year. What consultancy services did Murrin, and Rivoli Ltd, provide to Leeds United Football Club during 2005-06?

11. Why did KPMG allow Forward's and Bates' new company to receive the money for Leeds United season tickets - the company agreeing to refund the money if the club went bust - even though the company has not, still, been granted Football League membership, in apparent contravention of FA rules?

12. How has the money, around £4m, received from the 10,000 season tickets which the club say they have sold to their long-suffering fans, been used?

13. KPMG says it did "extensive work" to verify the claims of money owed to Leeds United creditors, while HM Revenue and Customs challenged the CVA, which narrowly approved the first sale, on the grounds of "material irregularities", arguing partly with the levels of debt claimed. So how much investigation did KPMG carry out into the club's debts?

14. Why did the club owe their own company Yorkshire Radio, of which Bates and Taylor are also directors, £480,000, and why was this debt first revealed only in the final voting at the creditors meeting, not in the initial statement of debts issued by KPMG?

15. When KPMG responded to HMRC's legal challenge to the CVA by announcing it was selling the club again, this time without going through a CVA, why did it give bidders less than three working days to make their offers, and no access to detailed financial information?

16. On what basis did Bates and Forward win the bid for the club the second time, and how did their offer beat those of other bidders, and why did KPMG agree to sell the club without being satisfied that the League would grant this company the "golden share" membership of the League?

17. Why has Forward's and Bates' new company not paid the players for the month of June?

18. What did KPMG actually sell to Forward's and Bates' new company if, as the League insists, players' registrations remain with the old company until any new company is awarded the "golden share"?

19. Why have Bates and Taylor apparently not yet obtained the permission of a court to act as directors of the new Leeds United Football Club Ltd, as required by s216 of the Insolvency Act, because both were directors of a company with the same name, which went into liquidation last year?

20. Why should the Football League make an exception for Leeds and grant Forward's and Bates' new company its "golden share" of membership despite the purchase not having been done via a CVA, given that the League has insisted on the CVA process for all 41 of its other clubs which have fallen into insolvency since 1992?

What a mess this whole process has become. How was Bates allowed to take control again given that there should have been some very serious questions about the fit and proper person test? Meanwhile long suffering Leeds fans wait to see whether or not they have a club that will be allowed to play in League 1 this season. Given how long this has dragged on I suspect that even if we are allowed to take part we will be facing another long hard battle against relegation.

Fans lay flowers at Elland Road

2007-07-22T22:57:00.000+01:00

Leeds fans have been laying flowers, scarves and shirts around Billy Bremner's statue at Elland Road as the chaos which surrounds the club continues. Players have apparently not yet been paid for June and there is no certainty as to whether or not the club will be granted the golden share for League One and so be allowed to start the season which begins on 11th August!

The fans are understandably frustrated at this latest twist in a saga which has frankly been running for five years. We are now waiting for the outcome of talks which are supposed to be taking place between the PFA, The Football League, KPMG and Leeds United. This is no doubt further complicated by the fact that Leeds United appears to currently go under two incarnations at present one the old club that went into administration and appears to hold the players registrations and the other Leeds United 2007 which claims to have bought the club through the administrators.

A wet weekend

2007-07-21T23:43:00.000+01:00

My blogging activity has been fairly quiet of late and I suspect it is likely to continue that way for some time now after a torrent of water passed through my house on Friday afternoon. Pictures below

Inside the house as the washing machine and freezer start to drown

The garden floats away

View from the front door

The adjacent railway line - hence all the problems between Reading and Newbury on Friday. Still only two rooms still have water above the floorboards (all the rooms still have plenty of water below the floorboards). The power is mostly ok and I have finally got an intenet connection. The insurers have been contacted and seem very efficient but I suspect the building work will take a very long time.

Commercial demands and our heritage

2007-07-17T15:08:00.000+01:00

I do not know how this abomination came about but I would suggest that someone needs to look at how they fulfil their role properly.

A giant doughnut-brandishing Homer Simpson has been painted onto the hillside above Cerne Abbas next to the giant. Apparently this is a publicity stunt to promote the Simpsons movie which is due to be released later this month.

Either the people who did this got permission in which case I would suggest that whoever granted permission should take a step back and think about how best to protect our heritage or they did not in which case they need to be caught and prosecuted.

From Wikipedia

The Cerne Abbas giant is a hill figure of a giant naked man on a hillside near the village of Cerne Abbas to the north of Dorchester in Dorset, England. The 55 metre (180 feet) high, 51 metres (167 feet) wide figure is carved into the side of a steep hill and is best viewed from the opposite side of the valley or from the air. The carving is formed by a trench 30cm (1 foot) wide and about the same depth which has been cut through the grass and earth into the underlying chalk. In his right hand the giant holds a knobbed club 36.5 metres (120 feet) long.

Sums it up

2007-07-12T09:36:00.000+01:00

Ken Bates has control of Leeds United again according to the BBC here and The Guardian here.

Apparently both Adam Pearson and Revenues and Customs are both still considering their positions so the possibility of further legal challenges cannot be ruled out!

Rumour, rumour, rumour

2007-07-11T00:21:00.000+01:00

Well deadline day has come and gone. Bids had to be in by 5pm in Monday and supposedly there should have been an announcement on Tuesday. KPMG have delayed and rumours abound. Ken Bates has a bid on the table. That is the one thing that is a racing certainty. Rumour has that there were two or three other bids. However it is not clear whether or not this is bids or bidders. Redbus plus Morris could be two bidders with one bid or two bidders with two bids. Pearson and Wilkinson are rumoured to be another bid.

The best rumour so far is that another consortium has put a bid in for Leeds and have promised to pay off all debts thereby removing the possibility of legal action and have also promised funds for the day to day running of the club. The suggestion is that they will provide £20m and an announcement will be made (possibly tomorrow) once KPMG has proof of funds. If so you heard it here first!!

Exits nerves shattered clutching straw firmly.

Deadline day

2007-07-09T09:46:00.000+01:00

A number of potential owners have until 5pm today to submit a bid for Leeds. As I understand it KPMG effectively have control of the club and will sell to the highest bidder today. Some of the potential bidders are complaining that they do not have access to all the information that they need to know in order to submit a bid. The Redbus Group have complained that they have “not been told what has been generated from season-ticket sales or from Kevin Nicholls's move to Preston North End.”

There are also rumours that Redbus might link up with the consortium led by Simon Morris to make a joint bid.

Another potential bidder to resurface is the former Hull City owners Peter Wilkinson and Adam Pearson ( a former Leeds United commercial director). They have disposed of their interest in Hull so might be interested in bidding for Leeds.

Ken Bates has resubmitted his original offer and is apparently threatening legal action if he is not in charge of the club at 5pm today. He was quoted as saying "Our bid is the original deal that was done in the meeting of creditors when we placed the Company Voluntary Agreement on June 1. We believe in fact our offer is valid. Therefore it should be the only one to be accepted. So there's a problem and a possibility that if the administrator goes down another route then there could be further legal battles."

Looks as if we are damned either way.

Either we are doomed to continue with Ken Bates under UK insolvency laws which clearly need a long hard look at and some reform or alternatively we face the possibility of a new consortium taking charge and having its hands tied whilst legal action continues in the courts.

Either way the chances of having a proper squad assembled and fit and ready for day one of the season have already gone by the board. I fully expect us to continue to struggle in League One at least initially and if things carry on in this manner off the pitch then a long hard relegation battle is not beyond the realms of possibility.

Will we survive??

2007-07-07T10:43:00.000+01:00

It is hard top take in the latest twists and turns in the saga of Leeds United. Revenue and Customs waited until the final hour before launching a challenge to Bates plan to take the club out of administration. This despite a last ditch effort by Bates to prevent a challenge by upping his offer from 1p in the pound to 8p in the pound.

The High Court case has apparently been adjourned until September and Leeds are supposed to kick off the season on 11th August and KPMG (the administrators) have said that unless the club was able to leave administration, the Football League may not let it start the season

It appears that the CVA has been cancelled hence the delay to the Customs and Revenue Court case. Therefore KPMG are now responsible for running the club until either a new owner can be found or the club is put into liquidation.

They have set a deadline of 5pm Monday for bidders to come forward. I assume this is so that they can present information to a Football League meeting convened for Wednesday of next week. Somehow I assume that Bates will still end up as the highest bidder or will to contest any outcome that does not end up with him in control of the club and if so the saga will end up back in court again!!

Constitution approved

2007-07-06T23:43:00.000+01:00

According to the BBC the Constitution Drafting Assembly has approved the final draft of Thailand's new constitution to go forward to a national referendum on 19th August. There will be huge campaigns on both sides to convince the electorate to vote yes or no. Former members of Thai Rak Thai see this as a backward step and as an anti Thaksin constitution.

The new 309 article charter limits the prime minister's term to eight years and makes it easier to launch impeachment proceedings. It will also prevent the Prime Minister from holding major stakes in media companies and extends financial disclosure rules to the entire Cabinet and Parliament.

Parliament itself will be slightly smaller. Seats in the House of Representatives are reduced from 500 to 480 and in the Senate from 200 to 150. However nearly half of the senate members will be appointed by a special committee rather than being elected!

The government appears to be threatening that there will be no elections unless the referendum approves the constitution (logical I guess). According to The Nation the Defence Minister Boonrawd Somtas said "The general election can take place only if the new constitution passes the referendum, otherwise political turmoil will never end."

The soap opera continues

2007-06-15T11:01:00.000+01:00

The soap opera that is Leeds United continues. I don't normally believe in politicians intervening in sporting matters and I would not normally be supportive of a Lib Dem MP who was critical of my own team. However, you can see here what I think of our insolvency laws and the current goings on at Elland Road.

Now Lib Dem MP Phil Willis has laid down an early day motion in the House of Commons which according to yesterdays Guardian "urges law-enforcement agencies to mount inquiries, calls for greater transparency in the ownership of football clubs and urges HM Revenue and Customs to challenge in court the conduct of the administrators of Leeds United."

Meanwhile according to the Guardian sportsblog "aggrieved creditors have 28 days to challenge a company voluntary arrangement which settles an administration, and several creditors of Leeds United are understood to be taking legal advice about whether to do so. Several avenues are being investigated, one of which is to contest the FA and League's football creditors policy, which requires all money owed to those in the game, including players and other clubs, to be paid in full, while at Leeds the other creditors, which include schools, hospitals, the police, ambulance service and St John Ambulance, are to be paid just 1p in the pound."

Leeds also escaped a potential 10 point deduction by going into administration before the final game of the season when it had become clear that they were almost certainly relegated in any case. The Football League has closed that particular loophole. From next season any club that goes into administration after the fourth Thursday in March will have their 10 point deduction suspended. If they are subsequently relegated then the points will be deducted from the start of next season. If they stay up then the 10 points will be taken off their final total for the current season as a consequence of which they may then be relegated.

Thaksin update

2007-06-14T09:23:00.000+01:00

The Thai authorities have frozen assets belonging to Thaksin Shinawatra. The committee which has been investigating claims of corruption has ordered accounts worth about £830m to be frozen.

It would appear from this report here that this action may have an impact on the proposed takeover of Manchester City. Thaksin's people were supposed to be performing due diligence on the proposed takeover but now Man City are asking questions about the impact of his assets in Thailand being frozen.

Now the military government have stated that Thaksin Shinawatra is free to return to Thailand in order to pursue a legal challenge against the freezing of his assets. Indeed the current Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont has said that he would personally guarantee Thaksin Shinawatra's safety if he did return to Thailand. Apparently he has been given sixty days in which to return and make a legal challenge for the return of his assets

This is an interesting development. He has been banned from all political activity for five years and his political party Thai Rak Thai has been dissolved. Until now the line taken by the military government is that they do not want him to return until after elections (originally scheduled for October) which are supposedly going to take place in December.

Now the government appears to be backing Thaksin Shinawatra into a corner – effectively forcing him to return to reclaim his assets. There are already demonstrations against the military government in general and the dissolution of Thai Rak Thai in particular. Thaksin’s presence in the country would seem to be likely to add to such demonstrations and increase the potential for serious civil disorder.

Being cynical one might think that the military government would have encouraged him to withdraw his assets from Thailand and then claimed this as evidence of “guilt”. Maybe they attempted to do this and he refused to be drawn into acting in this way.

Either way one has to conclude that the military government is deliberately attempting to bring matters to a head. Sadly I suspect that this means that the government feels that it now has sufficient control over the military units to ensure that it can crack down hard on demonstrations if it feels the need to do so!

Zero emission homes

2007-06-13T08:45:00.000+01:00

According to the BBC the first zero emission home has been unveiled. This two bedroom house (see above) is insulated to lose 60% less heat than a normal home. It also features solar panels, a biomass boiler and water efficiency devices such as rainwater harvesting.

According to the report "The home generates all its own energy - and when you're away on holiday can send electricity back to the National Grid. The company says its annual energy bill would be £31, as compared to £500 for the standard new home of this size."

This is all great news but I guess the important thing is how quickly this sort of design and technology get incorporated into all new homes.

A new twist to blue on blue

2007-06-12T08:55:00.000+01:00

According to The Guardian the US is currently arming Sunni dissidents in Iraq. Apparently "Arms, ammunition, body armour and other equipment, as well as cash, pick-up trucks and fuel, have already been handed over in return for promises to turn on al-Qaida and not attack US troops". Whether or not such promises extend to British troops is not clear and frankly from the tone of the article there seems to be a fair amount of scepticism as to whether or not the Sunni dissidents can be relied upon to hold to their promise. American forces already have quite a reputation for so called "Blue on Blue" incidents otherwise known as friendly fire - blue being the friendly forces and red being the enemy forces. I guess this will lead to cases of purple on blue where US forces will be killed and injured by enemy combatants firing bullets supplied by the US. And we wonder why we are so mired in Iraq!

Ban on political activities partially lifted

2007-06-05T07:53:00.000+01:00

According to the BBC the ban on political activities by parties in Thailand has been lifted.

Obviously this will not include Thai Rak Thai which has been dissolved by order of the Constitutional Tribunal.

However, according to the Bangkok Post this is only a partial lifting of the restrictions stating that "the cabinet agreed to partially lift the Council for Democratic Reform's Announcement No 15 and allow political parties to be meet and act, with immediate effect"

This addresses section 1 of Announcement number 15. However it does not address the issue of the setting up and registration of new political parties (section 2 of Announcement number 15) and given the dissolution of Thai Rak Thai there is likely to be significant demand for at least one new party. Apparently this will be addressed by the Council of State who are to look at a a bill to "modify section 2 of the announcement". The critical word here would seem to be modify. If there were to be no ban on new political parties then section 2 could just be lifted and the implication of the need to modify it is that this is not to be the case!

The madness of our insolvency laws

2007-06-04T19:15:00.000+01:00

So Ken Bates rules supreme at Elland Road once again. According to the BBC Ken Bates put the club into administration with debts of £35m. He needed 75% of creditors votes to buy the club back and after a recount got 75.2% of the creditors to back his plan which gives them just 1p in the £1. Superficially one might say all well and good but there are a lot of other factors at play here.

At the creditors meeting there were 6 bids in total 5 from UK bidders and one from the USA.

However two of the creditors (Astor Group and Krato Trust) would only support the Bates bid and held enough votes to defeat any other bid. Neither the administrators nor the solicitors know the identities of the beneficial owners of the Astor Group. Apparently Astor loaned the club £12.1m less than a couple of months ago shortly after they had served a final demand for £5m. This increased the debt and (coincidentally) increased their share in the voting process to such an extent that they would be in a position to dictate the eventual outcome

One of the bids would have returned 18p in the £ to creditors and yet a deal which returned only 1p in the £ was pushed through by groups which (allegedly) have no links to Bates!!

The law needs reforming so that the administrators make the decision about what represents the best deal for the creditors. It looks as if the system has been abused here and a lot of creditors are considerably worse off as a result.

Vote for sex

2007-06-03T11:33:00.000+01:00

I guess this is one of my favourite political slogans ever. I would not normally promote a campaign by a Tory candidate but this one by Mr Forse who is standing for a seat on New Forest District Council is certainly causing a stir Apparently this is a delayed poll from the May elections caused by the death of one of the candidates. The strap line across the bottom of his leaflets as shown in the picture above (VOTE FORSE X) has and probably will continue to be misinterpreted! Full story here on Sky News.

Thai Rak Thai dissolved

2007-05-30T18:40:00.000+01:00

The Constitutional Tribunal has banned Thaksin Shinawatra and 110 other Thai Rak Thai officials from political office for five years. They have also ordered the party to be dissolved after it was found guilty of violating electoral laws. Apparently thousands of troops are on the streets of Bangkok in case of unrest and one former Thai Rak Thai deputy had threatened to mobilise thousands of protesters.

The caretaker leader of Thai Rak Thai Chaturon Chaisang said last night that the verdict was "highly unexpected", and expressed his worry over "setbacks" towards the development of democracy in Thailand. He called upon the party's 14 million supporters to respect the verdicts, and not protest.

However, according to The Nation he then vowed to fight on and said that "the verdicts proved that he who controlled the state power could make anything right". He said "the public would not accept the verdicts". "This is not acceptable. The country is now ruled under dictatorship."

According to the report in The Nation he continued his verbal attacks before his speech was take over by a newscaster!!

State censorship will not solve this problem. Even if Thai Rak Thai is successfully and peacefully disbanded the ideas that were central to the philosophy of Thai Rak Thai will find a home in another (probably new) party and I suspect that this is the real problem which will not go away when and if further elections are held.

B52 sabotagers acquitted

2007-05-23T08:27:00.000+01:00

Fascinating that two men who broke into an RAF base to sabotage US B-52 bombers by clogging their engines with nuts and bolts were acquitted after arguing that they were acting to prevent war crimes in Iraq despite the judge instructing the jury to ignore the wider issues relating to Britain's decision to go to war.

According to The Guardian here the two men argued that they were attempting to disable the B52 bombers in order to prevent them from taking part in attacks on Iraq and in order to prevent war crimes and loss of life and property in Iraq. Specifically they argued that war crimes would be committed because the B52s carried cluster weapons which would scatter unexploded bomblets which would kill and injure civilians. They also argued that the aircraft were carrying bombs tipped with depleted uranium that would spread radioactivity.

This seems to be a fascinating precedent and I wonder where this will leave future legal actions against say protesters at Aldermaston or those who wish to clamber all over coal fired power stations to prevent global warming?

The death of a grand old lady

2007-05-21T08:23:00.000+01:00

A sad day today as the Cutty Sark (one of the most famous landmarks in London) goes up in flames. I remember visiting the Cutty Sark as a small child and being totally in awe of this vast ship - it must have seemed a lot bigger to a small child I guess but it is a sad day to hear the BBC Radio commentator referring to a charred and burnt out hulk. I suspect the Heritage Lottery Fund (or whatever they are called this week) will be receiving an application for funds to restore this grand old lady.

According to the official Cutty Sark Website which can be found here.

She is the most famous ship in the world
She is the epitome of the great age of sail
She is the only surviving extreme clipper, and the only tea clipper still in existence.
Most of her hull fabric survives from her original construction and she is the best example of a merchant composite construction vessel.
She has captured the imagination of millions of people, 15 million of whom have come on board to learn the stories she has to tell.
She was preserved in Greenwich partly as a memorial to the men of the merchant navy, particularly those who lost their lives in the world wars.
She is one of the great sights of London.

Statement of Significance

She is the world’s sole surviving extreme clipper, a type of vessel that was the highest development of the fast commercial sailing ship, with the majority of her hull fabric surviving from her original construction.
She is internationally appreciated for her beauty and is one of the most famous ships in the world.
Her fine lines – a considerable part of her appeal – are defined by her frames which form part of the vessel’s composite construction; a construction technique of which she is the best surviving example and of which she is of exceptional quality.
She has captured the imagination of millions of people, 15 million of whom have come on board to learn the stories she has to tell.
She is a gateway to the World Heritage Site at Greenwich and is a key asset to both the World Heritage Site and the Borough of Greenwich.
As a tea clipper, she is tangible evidence of the importance of tea in 19th century trade and cultural life.

A bad week

2007-05-06T20:06:00.000+01:00

On so many fronts the last week has not been good news.

The local election results were not good across the country although undoubtedly they varied a lot from area to area. Some areas posted good or steady results whilst other lost ground.

I have been helping in West Berkshire and Portsmouth. The results in West Berkshire were disappointing although we retained control of both Newbury and Thatcham Town Councils. Better news in Portsmouth where we gained one and lost one and where our leader Gerald Vernon-Jackson held his seat after a very strong and determined effort by the Tories to oust him.

If a week is a long time in politics then a week is a very long time in Football - particularly if you are a Leeds fan. Just over a week ago Leeds were 1-0 up against Ipswich and heading towards 48 points and the possibility of today's game against Derby being a meaningful encounter. Then Ipswich equalised and a pitch invasion and FA investigation followed.

In the immediate aftermath it became obvious that we were effectively relegated to league one baring some form of miracle today. Last Monday Ken Bates told Yorkshire Radio that support shown for Leeds over the last 48 hours was "beyond my wildest expectations". By Friday Leeds had called in the administrators, suffered a ten point reduction and been formally relegated to League One.

Meanwhile there is a rumour a minute as to what the future of the club will be in terms of new owners. Apparently Mr Bates wants to buy the club back from the administrators and has set up a new company called something like Leeds United 2007 for the express purpose of doing so! I am not sure where the fit and proper person test fits into all of this but perhaps it should!

Apparently Gary Kelly and an Irish consortium are interested in purchasing the club. So are some Russians. Oh and some Americans as well. And a consortium headed up by Duncan Revie the son of the former Leeds United manager Don Revie. Also according to the BBC The Leeds United's Supporters Trust says it is in a position to make a proposal to buy the club. These are just the rumours I have heard and doubtless there are many more to come

The only positive point to emerge from this whole debacle is the fact that at least the ten point deduction applied to the current season and not the next one.

I suspect that we are in for a long summer whilst the long suffering fans wait for a whole host of issues to be resolved. Even if we have new owners we have no clue as to who the manager will be and which players will be leaving and which players will be arriving. Either way I expect wholesale changes to the team before we begin life in League One

The fat lady has sung

2007-04-30T08:20:00.000+01:00

At least barring some miracle whereby Leeds win by about 5 clear goals at Derby and Hull lose by a similar margin. Failing that Leeds will begin next season in League 1 (or Division 3 to the rest of us). Leeds have never been outside the top two tiers of English football and to think a few years ago we were playing in the Champions League semi final. Yes Mr Ridsdale we lived the dream and look where we are now. To be fair there are plenty of others along the way who need to take some responsibility for the situation we now find ourselves in given that as recently as a year ago we were in the play off final and within 90 minutes of a return to the Premiership

I will try to get back to more regular blogging following the local elections next Thursday but no promises as life has been somewhat frantic to say the least.

Interesting reason for standing

2007-04-24T16:00:00.000+01:00

I would not have thought this worth blogging about normally were it not for the reason that this lady gave for standing. West Berkshire has not normally had the BNP contesting seats but this time two BNP candidates have put up in Thatcham North. Then the Newbury Weekly News published this article outlining why one of the candidates had decided to stand for the BNP.

Apparently she "decided that enough was enough recently when her grandson came home from school after a citizenship lesson and said that he was learning about other religions."

I guess I always thought that that was what schools were for - education about things that our kids would not know about otherwise.

I tried to follow her line of reasoning to its logical conclusion.

Languages - French, German, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Mandarin will no longer be on the syllabus - English only please.

History - well ok providing it is only British history

Geography - ditto

Politics - ditto

Art - ditto

Home Economics might survive I guess just so long as there are no foreign foods or recipes on the Food and Nutrition part!

I assume that Maths, IT, the Sciences and Design Technology would survive, but Latin and Greek and their associated history will I assume be just that - History

Leeds update

2007-04-14T11:20:00.000+01:00

Ahead of today's vital clash with Burnley comes news that David Healy has been appointed as the Leeds United captain until the end of the season following the suspension of Jonathan Douglas.

That news was immediately followed by speculation that Fulhams new manager Lawrie Sanchez has put David Healy at the top of his list of transfer targets after the job he has done for him in the Northern Ireland team. If we stay up I hope that we manage to keep him and learn how to make the best use of his undoubted skills. If we go down then I am sure he will depart and it is just a question of how large a fee we can get for him.

First it was Royal Bank now it is HSBC

2007-04-13T12:43:00.000+01:00

What is it with the banks in this country. It used to be that banks treated their staff and customers with respect and courtesy. Not any more it seems.

A couple of weeks ago the Royal Bank of Scotland threatened its staff with disciplinary action if they did not have their primary bank account with the Royal Bank of Scotland. I followed this up with my local branch who had not heard the story and attempted valiantly to get me a response from their headquarters. The kept me in touch and promised a written response from their headquarters. Sadly to date I have not received any communication explaining their position. Two fingers to me I guess my accounts and business are not worth keeping!

So should I move my account elsewhere?

Well I am seriously considering it despite the inconvenience involved but I won't be going to HSBC. According to yesterdays Guardian one of their branches has now decided that only customers with £50,000 or more in savings, a hefty mortgage or a salary of at least £75,000 are to be allowed to talk to staff. If you do not meet this criteria and want to be served personally or make an inquiry then you will have to go to another branch.

Banks seem to have lost the concept of customer service and perhaps they are also losing site of one of the basic economic equations involved in Banking. There are some who have money and leave it in the bank, there are some who need money and borrow it from the bank, the difference between the two interest rates covers the banks costs and provides its profit!

Swiss man pardoned

2007-04-12T12:36:00.000+01:00

This guy is very lucky. On the 29th March I blogged about the Swiss man who had been sentenced to ten years in prison for insulting the King of Thailand. At the time I said that whilst ten years seemed an extremely stiff sentence the main problem was that he had lived in Thailand for 10 years and so he could hardly fail to know the situation with regard to insulting the King.

Today come news that the King has pardoned him. According to the BBC "Now he has received a royal pardon, Mr Jufer is expected to be deported as soon as possible"

The story of 2 2-1's

2007-04-07T17:51:00.000+01:00

The most important 2-1 was the win for Leeds to day at Elland Road. The first of what I feel are three must win home games until the end of the season. Peter Halmosi gave Plymouth the lead in the first half and David Healy levelled just before the break with Michalik scoring the winner when he headed in from Alan Thompson's free-kick.

Most importantly Leeds are out of the bottom three for the first time since November!!!

We are Leeds, We are Leeds
We are Leeds
We are Leeds, We are Leeds
We are Lee-eeds
We are Leeds, We are Leeds
We are Leeds
We are Lee-eeds
WE ARE LEEDS

Something from the Colchester game (preferably three points) would be nice.

Oh and Reading undeservedly lost to Liverpool. 1-1 would have been a fairer result.

You tube censored in Thailand

2007-04-05T10:45:00.000+01:00

This comes back to the issue of respect for the king and the laws in Thailand with regard to respect for the monarchy. The Thai government has banned access to the You Tube site after a 44 second film showing graffiti over the king's face was aired. The Thai government asked Google to remove it and they refused. However, a government minister has said that access within Thailand would be reinstated once the film had been removed.

BBC Sport Championship Predictor

2007-04-04T14:50:00.000+01:00

The BBC Sports site has a predictor which can be used to enter ones predictions for each of the remaining games in the season to see how the table will end up. As last night saw two of our fellow relegation contenders both win I thought I would give this a go.

The result was as follows

17 Burnley P 46 GD -8 Pts 49
18 QPR P 46 GD -16 Pts 49
19 Barnsley P 46 GD -26 Pts 49
20 Leicester P 46 GD -15 Pts 48
21 Leeds P 46 GD -26 Pts 48
22 Hull P 46 GD -17 Pts 47
23 Southend P 46 GD -26 Pts 42
24 Luton P 46 GD -26 Pts 40

All this confirms is that it will be very close and that the three remaining home games will be critical to our survival.

10 things your boss hates about you

2007-04-03T08:37:00.000+01:00

From yesterdays Guardian:

1. Lateness

Everyone has days when the bus breaks down, the washing machine packs up, or the alarm doesn't go off. The problem is that some people have those days Monday through Friday. But what really cheeses off your boss is your lame excuse. "It shows you don't care," says Louis Halpern, CEO at advertising agency Halpern Cowan. "Why they can't just tell you that they find it hard to get out of bed and be done with it I don't know. It really makes me furious."

2. Lack of initiative

"Don't ask me if you should buy lunch for the client, if the client is coming at noon," said one infuriated manager. "Call up the client and ask if they want lunch." Actually that's not quite what he said: there was a lot more swearing in the original version. Managers absolutely hate being bothered by stuff that really, if you thought about it for even a second, you could work out for yourself. They also hate constant updates and being CCd in on everything. They pay you to do a job - get on with it...

3. Too much initiative

... unless you're an idiot. A marketing manager for a large educational charity reports that if there's one thing worse than lack of initiative, it's completely ignoring instructions to go off and do something else instead. She recently found herself on stage, ready to announce the winner of an award. When the person responsible for counting the votes turned up, he showed off a new, whizzy and completely redundant colour-coded method for counting the votes. Unfortunately, devising the new programme meant he hadn't actually had time to ... count the votes.

4. Bitching and whining

So Julie from third floor might not have said hello to you this morning, and that might well be because she's an unfriendly cow, but in the context of say, the war in Iraq, does it really merit a four-hour disquisition? Your boss doesn't think so. On the other hand, while bitching is bad, whining is worse. "What really annoys me is when we buy new equipment or take everyone out, and all I hear the next day is 'We should have bought a bigger TV' or 'We could have gone to a nicer restaurant'" says Halpern. "And that's when we've spent £5,000."

5. Disloyalty

Although none of the managers came out and said that they hated their staff for talking over them in meetings, pointing out their errors in public, or preventing the bonus-related project coming in on time, Mann says it's a major issue. "People used to close ranks, but it doesn't happen quite as much as it used to," she says. "Managers usually feel obliged to look after their staff, but if their staff don't feel the same way, the lack of loyalty is always a problem for the boss."

6. Lack of passion. Or interest

It might come as a surprise to you, but your boss has a life outside work. They too find it hard to get up in the morning. And they find the managing director's speeches as boring as you do. But they have to stay motivated, because they are the boss. So, when you fall asleep in meetings, can't remember the names of your accounts and tell them it doesn't matter whether the email goes today or tomorrow, it reminds them that they don't really give a toss either, but that it's their job to make themselves, and you, care. Then they get really, really irritated.

7. Trying to be their best friend

They don't want to go down the pub with you, they don't want to hear about what you really think of their boss, and they most certainly don't want to know what happened between you and Andy in the loos last Friday. They like you, but they know from bitter experience that if they show too much interest, you'll start treating them like a friend and refuse to take orders.

8. Petty lying

Saying that you missed the call because your mobile has run out of power. That you didn't get the email. That you've sent the report but there must be a technical glitch. That the meeting has run over and it's not worth you coming back to the office. That you've lost two big taxi receipts. That you're working from home today. That you have to go to a funeral, the dentist, the doctor, your mum's house, your best friend's cousin's wedding. Whatever. The biggest insult is that you think they believe you.

9. Childishness

I'm paraphrasing, but the key message here is: "I'm not your mum. Don't email me about the brand of toilet paper in the loo. Don't leave the kitchen in a mess. Don't ask me for a new biro. I'm not going to clean up after you and I don't care about this crap." You get the idea.

10. Wanting their job

They spend all their time and energy trying to protect you from the higher-uppers, you spend all your energy complaining about them. And then, on top of that, you want their job? Unforgivable.

Squeaky bum time

2007-04-02T09:48:00.000+01:00

As Sir Alex Ferguson has been known to say it has reached that time of the season that is "Squeaky Bum Time". Life is certainly hotting up at the wrong end of the Championship.

A few days ago I would have said Leeds were down. I am pretty sure not many would have predicted the result on Friday when Leeds beat Preston 2-1. They must be beginning to think we are a bogey team after we dumped them out of the playoffs last season. And what a weekend for the other results. Luton drew, Southend Lost, QPR Lost, Barnsley Lost and Burnley Drew. Leeds are off the bottom for the first time in god knows how long!

So what about the run in? Realistically it is still any three from the bottom six

19 Burnley 38 -5 42
20 Barnsley 40 -25 41
21 QPR 39 -15 40
22 Southend 40 -23 39
23 Leeds 40 -24 39
24 Luton 40 -20 37

Burnley are really struggling and could get sucked in although there goal difference and a few draws may save them. Barnsley still have to play Birmingham, Crystal Palace and West Brom. QPR and Southend both look in big trouble. Luton do as well although whether the new manager syndrome will help them will have to be seen.

Leeds appear to be finding form just when we need it. There are some big players yet to come back. The recent form has shown a real improvement. Critical will be the three remaining home games against Plymouth, Burnley and Ipswich - win all those (a big ask I know) and we are in with a good shout of staying up, anything from the other games is a bonus although Derby away as the final game is not good news.

10 Years

2007-03-29T11:32:00.000+01:00

I have blogged about this before (see Do not insult the King of Thailand). At the time I thought that the Swiss man who insulted the king by defacing his picture could face up to 15 years in jail. It transpires that the maximum sentence is in fact 75 years. He has just been sentenced to 20 years in prison reduced to 10 for confessing. A very high price to pay for something which I guess we would assume one could do without it being an imprisonable offence. The only problem is that he had lived in Thailand for 10 years so he could hardly fail to know the situation with regard to insulting the King

Coppell signs

2007-03-27T09:17:00.000+01:00

According to the Guardian this morning Steve Coppell has signed a new contract with Reading. He is unusual in the footballing world in that he will normally only sign a one year contract. The fact that he has this time around agreed to sign a two year contract is a testament to what Coppell has built at Reading (as their most successful manager ever) and I assume to the working relationship which he has with John Madejski. This guy is already a Reading legend and I expect to see more boring "feet on the ground" interviews over the next two seasons alongside the success that Reading fans have now become accustomed to.

Could Miliband beat Brown?

2007-03-25T13:53:00.000+01:00

I think he could - if and obviously only if he has the guts to stand. I will admit that I have a vested interest in this as I placed a bet of £20 at odds of about 11.5 to 1 on Betfair some time ago. Is it possible that I could make money on all three leadership elections since the last general election? I had a bet on Cameron very soon after polling day and made over £100. I made some poor choices on the Lib Dem leadership election but once it became clear which way the wind was blowing I was able to turn a potential £25 loss into a £9 gain.

So will Miliband run or not? According to this piece in this mornings Observer he could be persuaded to run by Tony Blair. I cannot see what the downside would be for him running. He may feel that he has an agreement with Brown but if he has ambitions of his own then he may be far better to run now. If he fails to run and Brown becomes Prime Minister and loses the subsequent General Election, Labour could be out of power for a decade or more and Milibands chance could have gone forever. If he runs I think he has a good chance of winning particularly given Browns poll ratings head to head with Cameron and even if he does not win I think he will make a good showing and Brown will not be able to exclude him from the Cabinet which is where he is now!

Royal Bank of Scotland threatens staff

2007-03-24T11:20:00.000Z

The Royal Bank of Scotland Group has threatened its staff with disciplinary action if they do not have their primary bank account with the Royal Bank of Scotland.

Apparently this affects some 14,000 of their staff and the union is taking legal advice. I cannot believe that such a term in a persons employment contract could be legal. If it is then a whole host of people in different lines of employment could find themselves under similar threat. Perhaps employees of the BBC should be banned from watching ITV or Sky. Employees at the Newbury Weekly News would not be allowed to purchase the Guardian. Employees at Tescos could not shop elsewhere. BT employees should be prevented from having a Vodafone mobile.

I understand that this behaviour is considered ok in the US where I read of a case of a guy who was sacked from a sports vehicle retailer for owning a Harley Davidson because they sold a different brand of motorcycle. Do we want to go down this road in the UK? I sincerely hope not.

As I understand it most banks offer their staff preferential rate on a whole host of financial products. Perhaps the bank might be better off writing to the 14,000 employees and reminding them of the benefits or perks of banking with the Royal Bank of Scotland as a member of staff instead of threatening them. I have contacted my local branch and complained about the way in which they are treating their staff and I hope many others will do the same

Wikileaks

2007-03-23T08:58:00.000Z

Has anyone come across the Wikileaks site?

According to their FAQ they estimate that they will go live in March 2007. Should be interesting as they claim that they have received over 1.2 million documents so far!

According to their blurb on the home page they are "developing an uncensorable Wikipedia for untraceable mass document leaking and analysis. Our primary interests are oppressive regimes in Asia, the former Soviet bloc, Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East, but we also expect to be of assistance to those in the west who wish to reveal unethical behavior in their own governments and corporations. We aim for maximum political impact; this means our interface is identical to Wikipedia and usable by non-technical people."

£10 Prize

2007-03-22T07:55:00.000Z

I am offering a £10 donation to the local Liberal Democrat party that comes up with the most witty or amusing reason as to why I should transfer my membership to their local party.

Why should I do this you ask?

About 5 years ago I moved house. My new home was approximately 100 yard across the border in the Wokingham Constituency. I asked to remain a member of Newbury local party. So far so good. Now there have been a huge number of boundary changes and so all members have been relocated to their geographically correct local party. Mind you I only found out about this anecdotally.

I found this approach a little strange given that I had previously made a direct request to remain part of Newbury and I raised a thread on Lib Dem Voice to ask about the issue. It transpires that the English Party took a decision to revert every member to the local party where they reside. All previous opt-outs, forms signed, etc became invalid. I was also told that I could get a form and then get the executive of the Newbury local party to agree to re-accept me.

I then wondered whether or not this meant that I could in effect apply to any local party. I was directed to the Q&A which comes with the form and states as follows

"Q9. Can someone join a local party that they have never been a member of before and for which they have no qualifying address? A. Only with the approval of the executive of the local party they wish to join and the executive of the regional party containing that local party."

As it appears (that with their agreement) I can join any local party I decide to have a bit of fun and offer a donation to the wittiest reason as to why I should join a particular local party

I am now extending this competition via this blog.

Local parties who have made bids so far funny or otherwise (either on Lib Dem Voice or directly) are as follows :

Ayrshire & Arran
Lincoln
Portsmouth
Reading East
Wokingham

150 to be prosecuted

2007-03-21T07:52:00.000Z

According to the Bangkok Post Thaksin Shinawatra is amongst 150 people who are facing the prospect of prosecution for corruption. The Assets Scrutiny Committee has produced a list which includes the Thaksin cabinet which approved the digit lottery in July 2003 and current and former senior government officials.

Home Office Watch

2007-03-19T11:48:00.000Z

I just got around to looking at this site. Home Office Watch is a Liberal Democrat site and is being run by the Liberal Democrat Home Affairs Team.

Latest quote from the site is as follows :

Mr. Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what databases are controlled by his Department and its agencies; and what percentage of the data in each database he estimates is inaccurate or out of date.

John Reid: The information requested is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

as they go on to say

So: they don’t really know how many databases they have, and they don’t really know how accurate they are. And they expect us to trust them to run the National Identity Register, potentially the most complex citizen database in the world?

Thanks, but no thanks.

The real nasty party

2007-03-18T15:11:00.000Z

Hat tip to Ryan Cullen for pointing out an interview by Nick Griffin in the Lincolnshire Echo.

Some selective points from this interview will suffice to illustrate why this man and his party should be opposed at all costs. VK is the journalist and NG is Nick Griffin

Transport

VK: Our problem in Lincoln is mostly car traffic, because we don't have big lorries travelling through the city. So, have you got any ideas for reducing rush hour congestion?

NG: On policies like that, once you get into the minute detail, there has to be a fair degree of consensus between the parties. You can have minor tweaking, such as allowing more flexi-time - which would at least help. But then you come back to the big, overall picture, which is where we become politically incorrect, and that's that the native population of these islands, the Scots, Irish and Welsh, is in slow decline.

Foreign footballers

VK: When you said about people in need, what about footballers? Lincoln is obviously quite a proud footballing city. There would be a huge number of Lincoln City fans, and Boston United fans, asked to vote for a BNP candidate in Lincoln City Council. But obviously foreign players are quite a big part of that. Would they be allowed over to work?

NG: BNP policy would go far further than that. We wouldn't allow any football team to have anyone who wasn't born, or hadn't been living for a period of time, in their own area. So Manchester United couldn't come here and steal really good players. We'd totally localise football. Big money has ruined football.

Mosques

VK: I did want to ask you about that. The local BNP group have called a meeting because a church in Lincoln is being converted into a mosque. Do you have a particular opinion on that? Why are the BNP involved?

NG: We have a particular opinion on it, for a number of reasons. Firstly, everywhere this is done in the country it acts as a magnet and a boost to further Islamification. Secondly. no-one locally ever wants these things. But they are bulldozed through by the local council and so on, but that's not local democracy. The wishes of local people should be paramount in decisions such as this.

VK: How do you know people living in Boultham Park Road don't want the mosque there? Instead of a derelict church building?

NG: Because we know from good experience, and the petitions we have had up and down the county. It’s an extremely hot issue. People simply do not want mosques in their area.

VK: Are you convinced that is all people?

NG: Yes, yes. The only person that wants a mosque is sometimes a vicar, whose church is totally empty - who thinks its just another version of God and it would do rather nicely if it became a mosque. No ordinary people want mosques in their own areas. Partly because it's just a symbol of something very strange and very foreign. Secondly, they have read enough of the tabloid newspapers to have an idea of what Islam is about, and to have grave concerns about it. And they see it as part of a creeping colonisation of their area. The natural reaction of a non-brainwashed population is to react against colonisation.

VK: You talk about brainwashing, but do you think the people who are opposed to Islam might only be thinking about extremists? Rather than realising that the majority of Muslims practice in a peaceful way?

Muslims don't understand Koran

NG: The majority of Muslims follow the Koran. They practice in a peaceful way until there is enough of them to get their way by force. And then they switch to using force. It's in the Koran. It's nothing extreme. It's simply what the Koran tells you to do. And what historically they do do.

VK: Just to be completely clear, you think all Muslims practice in a peaceful way until they are strong enough together to turn to extremism?

NG: The majority of Muslims don't really understand what's in the Koran. Traditionally it's in Arabic. None of them read Arabic. And most of them don't have any translation, they don't actually know what is in it. But once they do know what is in it, knowing perfectly well the theories in the Koran, which repeatedly tell Muslims that it's their job to Islamify the world. They do it by persuasion if they can, by force if they can't. But they don't start to use force until they get to ten per cent of the population. At which stage they are encouraged by Allah to use force to impose their views and their religion on their non-Muslim neighbours. It's just in the Koran. It's just the nature of the beast.

VK: So you think the conversion of a derelict church is imposing Islam on people who live in Lincoln? Even though we are talking about a corrugated iron, listed, building that can't be pulled down, but has fallen into disrepair? Which is now going to be used, once again, for worship. Which was its original purpose?

NG: No, it's original purpose was to be used for Christian worship, not to be used for the Islamification of another part of this country.

VK: If everybody who lives in that street goes to that meeting and says, yes, they are fully behind the conversion of that building - will you then change your mind?

NG: No, we will continue to oppose it, if we had councillors elected. We would continue to oppose it. But, obviously, if they turn out to be the only place in Britain where the natives actually welcome this thing, well, that would be odd. But we will respect their wishes and carry on trying to persuade them they are wrong.

Homosexuality

VK: Do you have a particular perspective on homosexuality? We have a thriving gay community in Lincoln.

NG: Our position on homosexuality is that it is something that happens, it's not the norm for society. We believe in a stronger Clause 28 so we will put homosexuality back in the closet. What people do in their own homes, and so on, is entirely their own affair. We've got no problem or interest in that. But it shouldn't be presented as normal. It shouldn't be taught to children in schools, particularly primary school children, which is the latest insanity. The homosexual community, well, they can either vote for us or not, but in the end, the present legal system in this country won't last for much longer. They will have a choice between our position of pushing them gently but firmly back in the closet or the fundamentalist Islamic position which is to stone them to death. In the end they will have a choice like that.

Perverse and repulsive

VK: I have a quote here. I don't know if it is rightly attributed to you. It was written in 1999 and I'm sure you have had it quoted back at you many times: 'TV footage of dozens of gay demonstrators flaunting their perversions in front of the world's journalists showed just why so many people find these creatures repulsive.' Is that rightly attributed?

NG: It's an accurate quote, yes.

VK: It's an accurate quote?

NG: Yes

VK: Do you still stand by those terms? The gay community would probably be unimpressed.

NG: Well, as I say, we respect their right to do whatever they want and they must also respect the fact that there are millions of ordinary people, particularly people with young kids and so on, who find what they do, when they do it in public, repulsive.

Civil partnerships

VK: What do you think about civil partnerships?

NG: I think they are entirely wrong. They undermine the value of marriage and marriage is the best way to bring up kids. One man, one woman, bringing up children. Married couples stay together longer because they have more commitment. Since that is good for society, things which are divided are bad for society, so civil partnerships are something we put in the politically correct litter bin with the rest of it.

VK: But if you take away civil partnerships, it doesn't mean gay people will get married? They won't suddenly stop being gay?

NG: No, but it's also a matter of tax and so on. The tax breaks should be for married, heterosexual couples - not for anybody else.

VK: But gay people still have to pay the same taxes as everybody else so why shouldn't they have the same benefit?

NG: Because they are not the ones rearing kids. They are not the ones helping to bring on the next generation. They are not the ones making the sacrifice for the next generation. For the next generation to be at it should rely, or be able to rely, on decent, stable family backgrounds. We have to discriminate in favour of the family and that means discriminating against people such homosexual couples who are ruining families.

Gay adoption

VK: But what do you think about homosexual adoption?

NG: It shouldn't be allowed.

VK: What about the 4,000 children who are waiting to be adopted in this country? Some of them will never be adopted.

NG: There's an enormous shortage of kids for adoption in this country, such that people are having to go to third world nurseries for kids.

VK; There is not a shortage of kids for adoption. NG: There is. VK: There are 4,000 children awaiting adoption. The British Association for Fostering and Adoption has been pleading for more people to adopt British children, because so many people think it is easier to adopt abroad. There is a shortage of people willing to adopt children. There will be some children who won't be adopted. Now, do you think it is better for them to be adopted by gay couples, or be left on the waiting list, which would be the case?

NG: They are better on the waiting list than being adopted by a gay couple.

At this point the tape ends. Nick Griffin then expresses his view that gay adoption is also wrong because incidences of paedophilia are more common among gay people. They are less likely to be prosecuted, he says, because of political correctness. The fact that paedophilia is more common among gay people is a scientific, not a criminal? Fact he says, but he honestly cannot remember where he heard it.

Leeds attempt to put together buy back for Elland Road

2007-03-16T09:23:00.000Z

Apparently Leeds are attempting to persuade Leeds City Council to help them buy back Elland Road and the Thorp Arch training ground. They are currently paying £1.5m a year in rent to some British Virgin Islands company called Teak Commercial. Ownership of this company is not known.

There is a buy back option for £13m on the stadium and £5m on Thorp Arch. The club have approached the city council asking them to provide a mortgage so that both properties can be repurchased. The Council would then take a charge over the properties and the club would then be able to proceed with some further redevelopment activities at the Elland Road site.

Initial indications are that the council has rebuffed this initial approach although the door may be open for further discussion particularly as some of the rumours suggest that the sum asked for was in the region of £25m some £7m more than the cost of the buy back.

The council may also come under pressure as a similar deal was done in December 2005 when councillors agreed a £9m loan to Yorkshire County Cricket Club to enable it to purchase its Headingley stadium!

The Americanisation of football

2007-03-15T08:47:00.000Z

Or should that be the Americanization of soccer?

Apparently The Football League is to consider a proposal to scrap draws and decide drawn matches by a penalty shoot out. The team that wins the shoot out would then receive two points and the team that loses the shoot out would receive one point.

Frankly I think this is barking mad. A draw can be a perfectly fair result of a hard fought match between two teams – to award an extra point based on a shoot out seems to be pandering to the concept that there has to be a winner of every match. Obviously in a cup competition only one team can proceed to the next round but in a league competition a draw is fine – the winner will eventually become clear at the end of the season.

For once I agree with Arsene Wenger who was quoted as saying "The draw is part of the culture of the game and I would not like that to disappear."

Banned blog

2007-03-14T07:08:00.000Z

Apparently my blog is banned in China. I have not a clue why that should be as I cannot recall blogging about China at all except for one piece about the Great Wall of China

Hat tip to Peter Black for the link.

If anyone wants to see whether or not their own site is banned in China then go to the greatwallofchina.org. They have opened a website in China and route your url request on greatfirewallofchina.org through to their server in China. The server in China opens the url and the result is sent back.

Death by Indifference!

2007-03-13T07:45:00.000Z

According to The Guardian yesterday and also according to the BBC online a campaign by Mencap on the issue of neglect of patients with a learning disability has forced the health secretary Patricia Hewitt to agree to an independent inquiry. The Mencap report (Death by Indifference) highlights six cases where people with learning disabilities were allowed to die because of a lack of proper care.

Mencap is also seeking confirmation that the long promised confidential inquiry into premature deaths of people with a learning disability will be carried out although I have seen nothing in the statements from the government to indicate that they have agreed to proceed with this.

According to the Guardian "Patricia Hewitt, the health secretary, said she was shocked by the evidence that patients who had speech difficulties were denied appropriate pain relief and left to die unnecessarily"

Frankly I am shocked that she is shocked.

The evidence that there is a very real problem which needs to be tackled urgently has been out there for some considerable time.

I wrote a piece on this blog (People with learning disabilities abused by NHS) back in July 2006. That piece was specifically triggered by a report by the Healthcare Commission and Commission for Social Care Inspection there was "widespread institutional abuse of 200 people with learning disabilities living at a treatment centre in Falmouth and in 46 houses around Cornwall". This was reported on in detail at the time in the Guardian here.

I also highlighted two cases that I knew of :

(1) In Reading a cancer patient with a learning disability was left in severe pain for days on end because the staff at the hospital could not work out how to deal with her or communicate with her.

(2) In Dartford a patient was repeatedly denied the physiotherapy which she needed because she had autism. The same patient ended up staying in hospital for the best part of three months whilst Social Services and the Health Authority argued over who was to provide funding for aspects of her treatment. By the time she was discharged she could no longer walk and indeed still cannot walk - all because she did not get the treatment she needed when she needed it.

The Mencap report also mentions the Cornwall case and another one in Sutton & Merton and goes on to highlight the fact that in September 2006 the Disability Rights Commission conducted a formal investigation into physical health inequalities experienced by people with learning disabilities . The investigation showed that people with a learning disability were less likely to receive the healthcare they need.

The Mencap report also highlights that in 2001 the Valuing People report acknowledged that ‘health outcomes for people with learning disabilities fall short when compared with outcomes for the non-disabled population’, and identified solutions – including the need for a confidential inquiry in to premature deaths, annual health checks and staff training. The White Paper ‘Our health, Our care, Our say’ admitted that people with learning disabilities face inequalities and that ‘the NHS has historically not served such people well’.
So Patricia Hewitt why are you shocked?

This cannot be news to you and if it is then you should be looking for alternative employment.

Why has it taken so long for the government to wake up to the fact that there is a very real problem faced by those with a learning disability who try to access the NHS services which we all take for granted?

If this was happening in Romania or Panorama did an investigative piece on it there would be a national outcry.

So lets have these inquiries and let us make sure that the lessons are learnt and applied across the NHS as whole. However, Patricia Hewitt should send out and immediate message to the whole of the NHS that this sort of treatment is not acceptable and that the government expects to deliver the same standard of care to all patients regardless of whether or not they have a particular disability.

Wonderful site called Chairmans Comment

2007-03-12T10:35:00.000Z

There is a wonderful site called "Chairmans Comment" which is subtitled "The senile ramblings of Ken Bates" The site posts up the utterances of Chairman Ken particularly as printed in the Leeds match day programme. The latest offering is reproduced below. If anyone can actually understand what the message is other than "we are screwed" then please do let me know.

The Forward Sports Fund is a fund incorporated in the Cayman Islands.

The Fund’s UK representative is Ken Bates but the Fund is administered from Switzerland.

In January 2005, Mr Bates was approached by Leslie Grayling and John Owen and was informed that Adulant Force Limited, the ultimate holding company of Leeds United Association Football Club Limited was within days of going into liquidation.The Revenue was owed £1.2m that had to be paid by January 12.

It was agreed between Bates, Grayling and Owen that a New Co (LUFC) would be set up to acquire Adulant Force Ltd. FSF would hold 51 per cent of the equity of LUFC, with Grayling/Owen holding 26 per cent. The remainder of the equity (21 per cent) would be placed with investors to be introduced by Grayling / Owen. To date, no investors have been introduced.

Bates’ lawyer Mark Taylor, Gerald Krasner and Melvyn Levi of ‘the Yorkshire Consortium’ met on 17 January 2005 at Mark Taylor’s offices in London. The initial proposal was that LUFC would buy the whole of Adulant Force Limited for a nominal consideration but would make up to £5m available for future working capital for LUAFC, including the payment of the Revenue which was fundamental.

It was discovered that a change of control prior to May 2005 would trigger a payment of £5m by LUAFC to the Trustees of a bond previously issued by Leeds United plc. The requirement to make such payment would scupper the deal and so it was agreed that:
i) LUFC would purchase 50 per cent of Adulant Forces
ii) LUFC would purchase 50 per cent of LUAFC
iii) LUFC would gain board control of both Adulant Force and LUAFC
iv) LUFC would be granted a call option over the remaining 50 per cent of Adulant Force)

LUFC would procure a loan of £5m available to LUAFC.

There were loans due from Adulant Force Ltd to members of the Consortium as follows: Levi and Simon Morris were both paid sums in excess of £200,000 with the balance of the loans being discharged by the issue of secured loan notes. Loan notes were issued to Morris for in excess of £2m and Levi for £1,439,734. A loan note was also issued to David Richmond, who did not receive any payment on completion.

Since issue, the notes in favour of Morris and Richmond have been redeemed.

The 50 per cent shareholding in Adulant Force Limited was acquired for £81,000 in cash and £2m unsecured loan notes payable to £1m two years after issue and to £1m when the Club returns to the Premier League.

LUFC, via Mr Bates, took control of the Board on 21 January 2005. It was apparent from the outset that further injections of loans/equity would be required. Many millions of pounds were immediately made available to LUAFC by discounting future receipts such as Premier League revenues and transfer fee entitlement, Cash flows showed that the Club would need cash injections of £4.4m by August 2005 and a further £2.5m by September 2005.

In May 2005, LUFC exercised the call option in respect of the remaining 50 per cent of Adulant Force Limited. Melvyn Levi claimed that the option had been incorrectly exercised.

As a result of the failure of the Yorkshire Consortium to complete the option both Grayling and Owen refused to support the rights issue though both said they would have done if the option had been completed.

In such circumstances FSF felt unable to take up its rights. The Yorkshire Consortium has now received advice from leading counsel, which advises that the Trustees should not have opposed the exercise of the option. Despite this advice, no move was made by the Trustees to complete the option.

The real reason why the consortium refused to honour its obligations arises out of a dispute between Mr Levi and Mr Bates. He led most of the negotiations with Bates. During negotiations it was suggested that Levi may retain his position as a director of the club following the “Bates” takeover. However, the whole board felt his behaviour was such that he was an inappropriate person to have on the board.

Negotiations took place but at this time Robert Weston appeared on the scene. It appears that Weston may have acted as banker to Levi although Levi always claimed the funds invested in Leeds were his own.Weston saw the option as a way to gain advantage from Leeds. He made various demands but ended up demanding a payment of £250,000 plus 10 per cent of LUAFC to complete the option.

Without the injection of funds that were to be raised by the rights issue, LUAFC would have a negative balance of £2.453m as at the end of September.LUFC had no funds and Adulant Force’s only asset was its shares in LUAFC.

In the circumstances, the board of LUAFC decided to approach FSF to invite them to invest directly in the Club. FSF had already lent LUAFC £4.4m. It therefore had a major interest in seeing the Company survive. FSF offered to subscribe for 2.5m shares at a par (one pound each) and convert £2.m of FSF’s loan to equity.

The directors of all the Companies involved genuinely believe that the placing of the shares was the only realistic way to raise the required funding. If the YC had not delayed the completion of the option the LUFC rights issue could have been completed which would have raised more than adequate funds, to provide for both LUAFC and LUFC and a direct placing with FSF would not have been necessary.

The Advice of Leading Counsel was taken and he confirmed that the Directors had acted correctly.The issue of shares to FSF has diluted the shareholdings of LUFC and Adulant Force to about 6 per cent. That 3 per cent holding was the only asset of LUFC and it had no prospect of raising funds elsewhere.

The name of the Company was changed to Roman’s Heavies (RHL) on 2 December 2005 and Mr Bates and Jayne McGuinness resigned in the Spring of 2006.

Taylor met with insolvency practitioners to decide the best way to liquidate RHL. The liquidation was made when Levi presented his own petition to wind up the Company.The Company went into liquidation on 23 August 2006 with Astor its biggest creditor

The Official Receiver investigated the insolvency and said there was nothing adverse to report to the DTL.BKL were appointed as liquidators and are close to finalising the liquidation.It must be stressed that if the consortium had honoured the option then the rights issue would have proceeded. In trying to be greedy the consortium shot themselves in the foot.

Leeds win

2007-03-11T09:23:00.000Z

It has been a long time since I have been able to use those two words together. This follows yesterdays 1-0 victory over Luton and was precisely one month since they had last registered three points. Sadly, fate conspired against them and Southend and Hull both won. The good news was that Luton were dragged into the relegation zone as a result of this result. I wonder if Kevin Nickolls is so keen to rejoin Luton now? Also Barnsley lost and QPR only picked up a point so the bottom of the table has tightened up again with six teams split by four points.

Fascinating piece in the Observer which hardly mentions the football but has some great quotes a few of which are worth repeating here

"If you closed your eyes just for a moment and forgot all about the reality of the league table, the financial meltdown, the off-field bickering, life at Elland Road did not look as crummy as all that. An angelic looking blonde girl with pig tails played tag with her Leeds-shirted brother around Billy Bremner's statue. The queue to get into the club shop that has a sale on was healthy. A couple merrily scoffed their pre-match chips underneath the bronze plaque commemorating Bremner, Don Revie, and the FA Cup won by the old team of legend. There was, believe it or not, a buzz around the place."

"Considering this season has been the story of 42 players, three managers, one volatile chairman, thousands of lost supporters and endless tales of woe, is it any wonder the club sit bottom of the table?"

Sorry I make it four managers but only just!

"Think about it for a moment. Some 42 players have pulled on the shirt for Leeds this season. That is almost enough for four separate teams. There has been a constant stream of loaned journeymen, the latest being yesterday's debutant, Lubomir Michalik, the Slovak who joined from Bolton. It is hardly the blueprint for success. Leeds haven't won successive league games all season."

"Surveying the wreckage of this ailing club, it pays to look at the bigger picture and remind yourself not just that it is six years since they were in the semi-finals of the Champions League with a team of internationals. But also, Leeds have won the English title more recently than Liverpool. Leeds were the team to last conquer the game in this country with an English manager in Howard Wilkinson."

"Now there are nine games to go. Nine games to somehow avoid the drop and prevent the worst nightmare in the history of Leeds United. They have never before sunk as low as English football's third tier. It starts for them at Leicester on Tuesday, followed by a trip on Saturday to Southend, who are one place and one point above them."

The rest of the season promises to be very stressful whatever the eventual outcome. Now would be a very good time to string together back to back wins for the first time and given the position of next Saturdays opponents three in a row would be even better.

Reports from the BBC here and the report from The Observer is here

Romans at Silbury

2007-03-10T11:07:00.000Z

According to the BBC here evidence has been found of a Roman settlement at Silbury Hill in Wiltshire.

The 130ft Neolithic mound near Avebury is thought to have been created some 5,o00 ago. Experts are carrying out a project to stabilise the hill and during this work evidence has been found that leads English Heritage to believe that there was a Roman community at Silbury Hill about 2,000 years ago.

Picture by NVM Digital.

The great global warming swindle?

2007-03-09T11:18:00.000Z

Did anyone see the program "The Great Global Warming Swindle" on Channel 4 last night? I did not but listening to the radio this morning I wish I had. It seems to run counter to everything we have been led to believe about global warming and in particular the causes.

I have had a look at their website and if I understand what they are saying correctly then there would appear to be a fundamental dispute about the facts with regard to the warmest periods in the history of our planet. If you believe Al Gore then we are already in uncharted territory, if you believe the makers of this film then we have been here before and we are not the cause of the problem. Indeed they seem to be saying that natural events such as volcanic eruptions and solar activity.

Food for thought but even if you accept that global warming is not man made we cannot continue to abuse the planet in the way in which we currently do and we cannot continue to use up the natural resources of the planet at such a rate without paying the price in the future.

Update : for a great precis of the programme see Tom Papworth on Liberal Polemic

Common sense prevails

2007-03-08T08:43:00.000Z

So the House of Commons has finally voted in favour of reforming the upper chamber. The 80% elected 20% appointed option was the one that was expected to come out on top so I was delighted that whereas that option got a majority of 38 the option of 100% elected got an even bigger majority of 113.

The only thing that stuns me is that in this day and age 224 Member of Parliament could oppose the concept of a wholly elected chamber in the first place. Does anyone know where we can see a list of who voted against?

In some parts of the world I should imagine we must be a bit of a laughing stock but at least at long last this is a step in the right direction. MP’s also voted for the remaining 92 hereditary peers to be removed. Another no brainer. As far as I can tell they were not offered a vote on the retention of Bishops and Archbishops but they too should be removed from the second chamber.

I assume that the government will now push forward with this option. There is obviously a long way to go yet.

Doubtless the Lords will reject these proposals out of hand.

The major political parties need to get together and agree the details of how a wholly elected second chamber might work. This needs to address the mechanics of electing a second chamber and just as importantly what the role and powers of that second chamber should be. Proposals then need to be included in election manifestos for the next general election thereby weakening the ability of the Lords to oppose such proposals.

Before we get too excited it looks like it could be at least 2010 or 2011 before the Lords is finally killed off and replaced with an elected chamber.

Oh the joys of living in a modern democracy

The state of the NHS

2007-03-05T07:49:00.000Z

More stories about the problems in the Health Service. Whoever takes over from Tony Blair is going to have their work cut out turning the situation round and convincing the public that they are serious about improving and protecting the NHS before the next general election.

This story from last weeks New Statesman is about West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust which is apparently one of the most indebted in the country and as part of its cost cutting measures it has decided to abolish antenatal classes.

First they told partners that they would no longer be able to attend the classes and now pregnant women themselves have been told that the service has been removed. Apparently teenage mothers and women expecting twins will continue to be provided with a preparatory course.

According to the New Statesman "The West Hertfordshire Trust, which runs four hospitals, says the removal of antenatal classes is only a temporary suspension. " Oh good so long as those women can hang on for a few months longer they should be fine!

Not fit to wear the shirt

2007-03-04T15:11:00.000Z

It is tempting to argue that most if not all of the Leeds players are not fit to wear the shirt but whilst it would be tempting to do so I for one will not do that whilst they continue to strive to avoid relegation.

Yesterday they went down 3-2 to Sheffield Wednesday through some pathetic defending but at least they had the spirit to keep on battling and fought back from 3-0 down.

I feel sorry for Dennis Wise what with players who tell the opposition what your team is going to be and Captains who don't want to play for the club. He wants everyone to get behind the players and would rather they had a go at him than at the players and was quoted as saying "They have got to be disappointed with the position we're in, but have a go at me, don't put my players under more pressure."

Fair enough but why should we lay off Nicholls? He is clearly not fit to wear the shirt. Billy Bremner must be turning in his grave to see a Captain of this great club give up in such an obvious way in the middle of a relegation battle. He signed a contract, he accepted the captaincy and he should be leading the fight. Instead of which he has asked to leave Elland Road and return to Luton. Still at least we now know that he won't lead the fight or can't lead the fight. He didn't even have the bottle to put in the request himself before anyone else got involved. Dennis Wise had already had a phone call from Newell the day before.

Best idea from the message boards on this topic is as follows : If we go down then Dennis Wise should name Nicholls in the last team of the season, at home. Then let the Elland Road crowd deal with him. The Romans had the right idea!

Freedom of Information under threat

2007-03-03T18:54:00.000Z

I must have missed this but the government has made proposals to make it easier for public authorities to refuse Freedom of Information requests on cost grounds. The effect of these proposals would be to severely restrict the amount of information that could be obtained under the Act.

I only realised this when reading this weeks edition of the New Statesman. The opening lines of their leader article this week read as follows "Information is power, and any government's attitude about sharing information with the people actually says a great deal about how it views power itself, and how it views the relationship between itself and the people who elected it." These words were spoken by Tony Blair back in 1996 when in opposition.

If what he said was true then why now is his government seeking to backtrack on its commitment to freedom of information and seeking to restrict the publics right to freedom of information granted under the Freedom of Information Act passed by his own government? If you want to read more about the issues go here to the Campaign for Freedom of Information.

Amnesty Appeal

2007-02-27T07:31:00.000Z

Amnesty International have raised the case of Shi Tao, a chinese journalist and are appealing for his release. He was arrested in 2004 and sentenced to 10 years in prison for sending an email to a pro-democracy website in the US about press restrictions around the anniversary of the crackdown on peaceful protests in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

In the UK we often take the right to blog for granted. But supposing a post on this blog or any other landed you in prison? In China, internet sites are blocked, chat rooms are monitored and journalists and bloggers can be arrested.

If you want to do something to help him then click here and see the details of his case and what you can do to help.

If you would like to join Amnesty International then click here.

No points and rumours continue

2007-02-26T07:52:00.000Z

Once again Leeds picked up no points from Saturdays game although at least they only lost 1-0. We are firmly rooted to the bottom of the table and whereas a week ago three points would have lifted us out of the relegation zone we now need at least 5. Realistically it is still three from the bottom six to go down although I suppose one or two above that could get dragged in if they hit a really bad run of form.

Meanwhile behind the scenes the rumours continue especially if you are a keen reader of WACCOE.

Someone who claims that they used to work for Ken Bates has posted to the board claiming that the long term future is not with Ken Bates. Apparently Dennis Wise has no term on his contract and the gentleman's agreement is that he will stay whilst Ken Bates is in charge. Also according to them seventy percent of the squad are out of contract in the summer. Finally they reiterate a previous rumour that Peter Wilkinson is going to buy Leeds United.

Whether this will come to pass remains to be seen but I am sure that Ken Bates will want his pound of flesh before he walks away. there are all sorts of plans in the pipeline for the land surrounding Elland Road and I am sure that Bates has his eye on some of the huge profits that could be made from this redevelopment!

One place the star wars system cannot be based

2007-02-24T14:25:00.000Z

This is Greenham Common that well known former military airbase and probably the most famous site for the US Cruise Missiles and the protests that were associated with them.

According to the Guardian today the US is revamping and relaunching its Star Wars program designed to create a missile shield around the US (and possibly) its allies. Mr Blair in his wisdom is begging Mr Bush to allow the UK to be part of this scheme and to be allowed to station some of the missiles here. According to the Guardian "such a scheme would be controversial and raise the spectre of a return to Greenham Common-style mass peace protest."

Almost certainly but not at Greenham Common Mr Blair.

The runway has gone, the military hardware has gone, the fuel tanks are out, the fencing is down and the public are back where they belong - on the Common. The Common is slowly being restored to its former state with grazing cattle and public access. There is no airbase left for you to station your missiles on.

The picture above was taken on one of the work parties carried out by the Greenham and Crookham Common Conservation Volunteers a local group who are doing a huge amount of work to help with the restoration of the common.

People of Reading to boycott Daily Mirror

2007-02-23T12:51:00.000Z

This follows an outrageous piece of journalism (not sure if this is a fair description) in Wednesdays edition of the Daily Mirror by a gentleman called Oliver Holt who describes himself as a Sports Journalist.

The piece he wrote was entitled Reading have put the Berks into Berkshire

He started off like this

"SO READING'S season is a fairy tale is it? Excuse me for a second while I decide whether to giggle or gag. Okay, that wasn't too hard. I'll gag. Because I don't see any fairy story at Reading. I don't see romance, either. I'll be honest. I don't like the club. I don't like what it stands for."

Not likely to go down too well with the punters in Berkshire for a start. However, I think it is fair to say that as far as most neutrals are concerned Reading have proved to be the surprise package in the Premiership this season despite being tipped to go back down straight away and probably in last place at that. Reading have never been in the top flight of English football, have been in existence since 1871 and are currently the oldest team in the Premiership but Mr Holt cannot see the romance in that despite them making it into the Premiership with a record number of points last season.

"That starts at the top with a self-satisfied poster boy of conspicuous consumption and Tory donor, chairman John Madejski. I don't think you should ever, ever trust a man whose eyebrows meet in the middle, or a bloke who is complicit in having a stadium named after him. What a joke that is."

His eyebrows don't meet in the middle and if John Madejski wants to name the stadium after himself having paid for it to be built he can. Most people in Reading think John Madejski should be Sir John Madejski and not be being vilified by somebody not worth to scrap the mud from his boots.

"No doubt the board begged and pleaded with him to allow them to recognise his outstanding contribution to Berkshire life. No doubt it was absolutely none of his doing. But I don't care how much money he's poured into the club"

I doubt it - he basically is the board with I believe one other director. You see Mr Holt he owns Reading Football Club and has built the club up carefully brick by brick. I realise that this is an alien concept to someone who supports Chelsea where the owner has been able to subsidise the Club to the tune of £500m. John Madejski's vision has always been of a club which is able to stand on its own two feet!

I don't care whether Reading finish sixth. You know what, even if they overtake Chelsea and Man United, romp the title and win the FA Cup as well, my abiding memory of their debut Premiership season will always be Stephen Hunt kneeing Petr Cech in the head.

Never mind that this was an accidental collision, never mind the pure and utter rubbish spouted by the Chelsea manager after the event and which continued even when the facts that were produced by the Berkshire Ambulance Service contradicted the line he wanted to take. Don't let the facts get in the way of a good story or a shoddy and cheap piece of "journalism"

Then there's Whispering Steve Coppell, another soul bursting with romance.
That's why he blew the chance to get his side into the quarter-finals of the FA Cup on Saturday when he played his second team at Old Trafford. There's more joie de vivre in a door mat at a funeral home than there is in the laughing boy in charge of Reading.

You know Mr Holt you may have a point about the public face which Steve Coppell presents to the media. However, I don't know a single Reading fan who has a problem with this. Do you know why Mr Holt? Because it works!! Steve Coppell is the most successful manager in Readings history. As for the changes to the side for the game against Manchester United why is that a problem. The so called big boys make loads of changes but that is ok because it is called squad rotation. Reading make changes and they are accused of putting out their reserves. Oh and come to think of it how many teams have got anything out of a game at Old Trafford this season?

Please Mr Holt do your job properly in future. As far as most Reading fans are concerned they do not want to see you or your newspaper in Reading again.

Worlds largest wave farm

2007-02-22T10:24:00.000Z

Scottish ministers have announced funding for what has been described as the world's biggest wave energy farm. Apparently the Pelamis device (shown above) has been tested at the European Marine Energy Centre on Orkney and Scottish Power wants to commission four more at the same site. Scottish Power say this could create enough power for 2,000 homes.

According to the Lib Dem Deputy First Minister Nicol Stephen "This will be the world's biggest commercial wave project - significantly bigger than the major Portuguese scheme". He went on to say "Scotland has the potential to generate a quarter of Europe's marine energy and kick-starting the sector is vital if we are to create a significant industry based in Scotland and meet our long-term renewables targets."

How should we react?

2007-02-21T07:45:00.000Z

The opinion poll in yesterdays Guardian puts the Tories on 40%, Labour on 31% and the Lib Dems on 19%. Even more interestingly they then go on to examine the state of the polls if the name specific leaders and give figures of 42% for the Tories under Cameron, 29% for Labour under Brown and 17% for the Lib Dems under Campbell. So does this mean anything and should we be worried?

42% is heading towards the sort of figure that the Tories were getting in General elections during the eighties and early nineties when they were polling around 45 – 46%. 29% is (according to the Guardian) the sort of poll rating that Labour were achieving under Michael Foot in the early eighties. 17% is historically not a bad figure for the Liberal Democrats although recently we have done better. Our figures tend to rise during election periods as we get more coverage and between elections we struggle to be heard.

The political landscape at present is extremely unusual. Blair is damaged goods and is limping on until some as yet unknown date – probably after the local elections on May 3rd but who knows. Brown has his agreement and is biding his time and whilst he may be making plans for his post Blair regime he is unable to go public with anything as yet.

Most worrying for the Liberal Democrats is that we have been unable to exploit this situation. Part of this is undoubtedly down to the normal difficulty we have as the third party in gaining media attention for what we are saying but the opinion poll hints at the fact that for us Ming Campbell is not a positive. This is important because whereas Brown cannot act publicly as Leader Campbell already is Leader.

The Tories are not surprisingly exploiting this vacuum on the British political stage. At present Cameron is in effect getting a free run and not surprisingly his opinion poll ratings have risen accordingly.

The political landscape in the UK will look very different in about six months time if and when Brown walks through the door of number 10. The stage will be his and pretty much his alone for some time and we can fully expect him to hit the ground running having had so much time to prepare for the transition.

A number of high profile announcements will attempt to reposition Brown and the Labour government. Expect a quick exit from Iraq (at least quicker than todays likely announcement) and a complete repositioning of our foreign policy possibly along the lines of “an ethical foreign policy” but with a different strap line. He may also attempt to do something about the lingering problems in the NHS. Whether or not this re-branding will succeed only time will tell but the opinion polls will look significantly different for a while.

The key question is how the Liberal Democrats in general and Ming Campbell in particular can best attempt to exploit the current vacuum – that is the bit we should be worrying about.

My suggestion for what it is worth is as follows.

Set up a group to identify and review likely Brown initiatives which he may wish to launch in the early days of his administration.

Focus in on those that he will need to push if he is to succeed in re-branding the Labour government and disassociating itself from Blair.

Find those that match with our own policies and principles and focus all our fire power on pushing for these things to be done.

In other words show leadership and steal Browns thunder before he gets to Number 10!

Great Wall

2007-02-20T08:56:00.000Z

According to the BBC researchers are to carry out the first detailed survey of the Great Wall of China to establish just how long it is. I walked an extremely small section many years ago and it is a very impressive structure.

It amazes me that we do not know how long the wall is - we only have an estimate of approximately 3,100 miles. The study will go on for four years and will check the exact route of the wall as well as its length.

Windpower milestone

2007-02-19T08:30:00.000Z

The UK has become only the seventh nation in the world to have more than two gigawatts of operational wind power capacity. This milestone was passed when the Braes O'Doune wind farm, near Stirling, began producing electricity.

The government has set a target for 10% of electricity to be generated from renewable sources by 2010 and 20% by 2020 but surely we could do better than that given the amount of wind we get. No doubt someone will tell me that it is the wrong type of wind but when you realise that Germany has more than 20GW of wind energy capacity, 10 times as much as the UK you have to think we could do a lot more

Reading surprise again

2007-02-18T13:34:00.000Z

Reading went to Old Trafford yesterday with their reserve team and I guess most people would assume that their FA Cup adventure would come to a halt at that point. But no Reading battled and fought as they always do despite going 1-0 down and being a little fortunate to not concede further goals and instead got an equaliser themselves through a fantastic header from Brynjar Gunnarsson. I was slightly disappointed to see Manchester United officials complaining about the need for a replay in amongst their busy schedule. Two answers to that one (and to Arsene Wenger who made the same complaint): a)win the game first time and b) don't insult other clubs by making such comments when your playing and financial resources are much greater.

Watercress prevents cancer

2007-02-17T10:45:00.000Z

This story from Fridays Guardian is good news indeed particularly for someone who absolutely loves Watercress. I always knew that Watercress was a good source of iron but the article reveals a lot more. Apparently Watercress "contains more iron than spinach, more vitamin C than oranges and more calcium than milk"

More importantly the study "suggested that eating 85g of watercress a day could inhibit the growth of cancer cells and even kill them. Scientists at Ulster University found that the watercress reduced the damage caused by cancer cells to white blood cells by 22.9%. Watercress also raised levels of antioxidants which absorb so-called "free radicals", molecules which some experts believe damage the body's tissues.

A bag a day please - yum!

Coppell is top

2007-02-16T10:01:00.000Z

The League Managers Association has published its Managers Performance Table for the 3rd quarter of the season up to the 12th February and Steve Coppell is top! Not surprising given the performance of Reading this season and the lions share of credit has to go to him for the way in which he has built a team out of players who by and large did not cost much and have not achieved much prior to their time at Reading.

Greenpeace victory on nuclear power

2007-02-15T12:03:00.000Z

Apparently Greenpeace has won its High Court bid to make the government rethink its programme to build a new generation of nuclear power stations. The judge ruled that the consultation process before making the decision last year had been "seriously flawed" and "procedurally unfair".

Greenpeace complained that there had been a failure to present clear proposals and information on key issues, such as disposal of radioactive waste and building costs.

The Trade and Industry Secretary contested the judicial review but Mr Justice Sullivan took a different view. He said "something has gone clearly and radically wrong" He went on to say that "the consultation document contained no actual proposals and the information given to consultees had been wholly insufficient for them to make an intelligent response" and that"the information given on waste had been not merely inadequate but also misleading".

Of course the DTI say (correctly) that this is about the process of consultation and not about the principle of Nuclear Power. The point they omit to make is that of course with full, correct and accurate information the consultation paper might have led both the consultees and the DTI itself to a different conclusion!

Sort it out

2007-02-15T07:40:00.000Z

This is becoming a complete and utter farce from a so called professional football club. Apparently the Leeds Chief Executive Shaun Harvey has stated that the club do not know which player leaked team news to Crystal Palace before Saturday's league game. Shaun Harvey said "While we know it happened, we do not know which Leeds United player it was. There are people at the club who know but they have not told us as yet."

He needs to have a word with Ken Bates pretty smartish and ensure that Dennis Wise informs him who the culprit is so that the appropriate disciplinary action can be undertaken. What is more this all needs to be done and an announcement about who the culprit is needs to be made before Leeds face Cardiff on Saturday.

Yes we got a great result against Crystal Palace last Saturday and Dennis Wise probable used this incident to engineer some of the required team spirit but this incident could backfire if it is not resolved quickly. The team must all be looking at each other wondering who it is and meanwhile some of the players are picking up a lot of stick on the message boards.

Of course maybe just maybe Dennis Wise has a plan and will unveil the player to his team mates just before handing in his team sheet on Saturday hoping to inspire them to another three points. If he does everyone will be happy.

Points total update

2007-02-14T08:37:00.000Z

Some small signs for optimism despite the ongoing saga over who revealed the team lineup to Crystal Palace the day before the game.

When we were on 24 points with 18 games to go I calculated we needed 1.55 points per game to reach 52 points (the highest total required in the last 10 years). Now on 3o points that is down to 1.46 points per game.

The performance level required for the remainder of the season when we were on 24 points was somewhere between the sixth and seventh placed teams at the time. The performance level now required on 30 points is somewhere between the tenth and eleventh placed teams

The future of the British nuclear deterrent

2007-02-13T07:46:00.000Z

The government claims it is undergoing a period of debate and consultation ahead of a final decision although it is starkly clear that the decision to develop a new generation of weapons has already been taken. That much was clear nearly a year ago when The Sunday Times ran a piece entitled Revealed: UK develops secret nuclear warhead. I blogged about this at the time and my main concern was that the debate should take place in the open and parliament should have the final say on whether or not we want a replacement and if so what form that should take, when it should be developed by and what budget should be allocated to it. To be already spending money on a replacement weapons system without parliamentary approval was and is quite simply wrong.

The Liberal Democrats will be deciding their policy on this issue at their Spring conference in Harrogate on Saturday 3rd March. The motion can be found here.

In a nutshell the Lib Dem motion notes the Labour governments position namely to retain a nuclear deterrent, extend the life of Trident and reduce the number of warheads by 20% and commence procurement for a new class of submarine. The motion then goes on to propose that the Liberal Democrat policy should be as follows :

a) Britain should now begin a major reduction of its nuclear arsenal by approximately 50%, retaining no more than 100 warheads; with each Trident submarine carrying no more than 24 warheads when on deterrence patrol;

(b) The current Trident nuclear system should be maintained and its operational life extended;

(c) A final decision on whether and, if so, how to procure any successor system be taken at the point when the significant capital spending would begin to be incurred on a three boat replacement.

An amendment is to be tabled along the lines of conference resolves that the UK should not procure a successor nuclear weapons system to the current Trident system.

I hope that the amendment is passed and that we make a clear stand on what is the correct way forward for the UK. Why do I feel like this?

1. From a moral standpoint I do not see how we can justify the possession or usage of nuclear weapons let alone the design and production of a whole new system and the submarines which act as a delivery platform.

2. As I understand it the development and production of a new system would break our obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty for a start.

3. Were we ever to use nuclear weapons there would be disastrous consequences for the local population and the environment in the affected region. Not forgetting of course the continuing environmental impacts of the current weapons system just through the work going on to maintain the system in a safe state.

4. The governments own scientific advisor has stated that the greatest threat that the UK faces is global warming - perhaps we would be better employed spending our time and money on tackling this issue

5. The biggest threat to our security would seem to come from terrorism within our borders. The possession of nuclear weapons will not help us protect the security of our own people against this threat one jot. According to No New Trident one retired general has summarised Trident as: "useless, expensive and dangerous". The defence of the UK actually requires more and better equipped infantry and air and naval transport. Trident is a poor use of scarce resources needed elsewhere for our national security.

6. There seems to be a general consensus that we could not use our nuclear weapons without the consent of the United States - if this is so then we do not have an independent nuclear deterrent so why have one and pay for one if we have to ask someone else for permission too use it?

7. The potential cost of this new system is colossal. The figures I have seen quoted range from £65bn to £75bn depending on the option selected. The reality of what it will eventually cost is I suspect likely to be much greater than these figures given the propensity for such schemes to experience time and cost overruns. Indeed CND quote another figure - the savings which could be achieved if the UK were to spend at the EU average for military spending would equate to £8.5 bn per year (over 25 years that is £212.5bn)

If we accept that we should not have them and are obligated not to design and produce new systems then it seems far more sensible to scrap the system and have a genuine debate about the best way to spend the consequential savings. Some could doubtless go on conventional forces and security measures but I would prefer to see most of this money being invested in protecting us from the greatest threat we face - global warming. It depends on what figure you believe for the cost of a Trident replacement but a couple of ideas of how this money could be spent were given recently in The Ecologist :

Nine million homes in the UK need cavity wall insulation. Providing this would cost £16bn and would save 6.5 million tonnes of C02 emissions per annum
25,000 onshore or 8,000 offshore turbines would generate 33% of the UK energy needs and would cost £75bn. I guess that if the government invested in this then the government would reap the income from the sale of the resulting electricity so providing further funds for other projects.

This is to say nothing of the many other issues which face the UK and desperately need tackling.

The NHS needs fixing once and for all, clearly some more money is required given the shortfalls but more importantly would be some form of cross party consensus which would take the NHS away from being a political football and towards being a stable organisation which can deliver a consistently high standard of health care and drugs throughout the UK.

The waste we generate and how we deal with it is a huge problem and we are only scratching at the surface of what needs to be done to invest in systems to deal with the waste as well as the requirement to ensure that we produce as little as possible in the first place.

Public Transport need some serious investment - it is just not acceptable to have stations (as we do) with no service whatsoever on a Sunday. More houses have been built near our station in recent years and even more are going up now. Wonderful until the occupants discover that the service is somewhat infrequent at the best of times and non existent on a Sunday and they will have to use a car anyway

If you want to read more about the issues go to No New Trident here or click on the button on my side bar.

Is this what we are going to do with our nuclear waste?

2007-02-12T07:23:00.000Z

According to the BBC scientists have backed the government's plan to store the UK's nuclear waste deep underground.

David Miliband told the House of Commons back in October that we were to bury our nuclear waste so I guess it is handy that this report supports the governments policy.

The policy announcement last year was not unexpected and was in line with the Committee on Radioactive Waste Managements report a summary of which can be found here. In summary the report states that :

Geological disposal is the preferred long term solution
Interim storage arrangements will have a vital role to play in the mean time
A new approach to implementation is required which should be based on the willingness of local communities to participate.

Professor Charles Curtis, president of The Geological Society of London, presenting the latest report, said "After a long period without waste policy, the UK finally has a way to go forward. We concur the safest and most secure way to go is deep geological depositories, and we see no insurmountable scientific and technological barriers to this."

Apparently between one-third and two-thirds of the UK have a suitable geological make-up for deep nuclear waste burial. It is also likely that the approval, design and construction of such a facility will take up to 40 years to achieve!

There are as I see it a number of problems with the way forward as proposed.

Firstly, the government has to identify and acquire a suitable site. The search for such a site in itself will be mired in political difficulty. The government will not want to look at any sites near to any marginal Labour seats for a start. The uproar amongst the local community eventually chosen to site this repository is likely to be significant.

Secondly, the scientists may be convinced about the viability of such a storage facility but I guess the great British public may take some further convincing. I sat on the Atomic Weapons Establishment Local Liaison Committee for a number of years and this issue was discussed at length on several occasions. My only conclusion was that this stuff was best off contained in specially constructed stores above ground where the state and condition of the drums could be easily monitored and where any faulty packages could easily be retrieved and repackaged.

Thirdly, even if one agreed with the long term disposal option the government needs to address the second point made by the Committee on Radioactive Waste Management namely that Interim storage arrangements will have a vital role to play. If it is going to take up to 40 years to implement the long term strategy then they had better put a bit more thought and effort into the medium term strategy.

Of course the problem might not be quite so big if we were not proposing to replace Trident with yet another Nuclear weapons System about which I propose to write more soon.

Leeds player stitches Leeds up

2007-02-11T10:18:00.000Z

According to Dennis Wise he found out at 1pm yesterday that one of the Leeds United players had given details of the team selection to Crystal Palace. On the various fan sites the rumours on the message boards would tend to indicate that the front runners are Thompson, Derry and Sullivan.

I sure hope it is not Thompson who has been playing well and seems unlikely to have a motive for such a thing having not long ago arrived at the club. Apparently he picked up a late injury and hence did not play today.

Sullivan is rumoured to be upset at being dropped to the bench. But if it was him then I cannot believe that he would have been on the bench yesterday afternoon.

Derry apparently has links to Palace having played for them and may have been upset at not being in the team.

Other names in the frame include Carole, Crainey, Elliot, Stack and even Gary Kelly. I hope for the sake of all the innocent parties getting dragged into this that Leeds United name the player and soon.

It is possible that Crystal Palace may come out of this with some credit as rumour is that it was Taylor who tipped Wise off about what had happened. Having said that knowing the team line up the day before did not help as Palace lost 2-1 thanks to goals from Matt Heath and Robbie Blake. More importantly the bottom of the table is now tightening up and it looks like three from six to go down with just three points separating the bottom six.

Meanwhile Reading march on with a place in Europe starting to look a possibility as Reading beat Villa 2-0 and move onto 43 points. They are the form team in the Premiership with 16 points from the last 6 games.

Oxfam - pot calls kettle black

2007-02-10T09:44:00.000Z

Don't get me wrong I think that Oxfam do a lot of good work but I think they need to make sure that their own house is in order before they have a go at others.

They have taken the EU to task for bank charges incurred in transferring money to the Palestinians. More than €3m (£2m) of EU aid for Palestinians was spent on bank charges last year in an effort to bypass the Hamas-run government, Oxfam said yesterday. The money was spent between August and December under the temporary international mechanism, a system run by the European commission that delivers directly to Palestinians and avoids supporting the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority.

Oxfam described the mechanism as an "aid fiasco" and said it should be scrapped. But the EC said it was the "most direct and most efficient" means of delivery.

Fair enough you might think except for the fact that there was a piece on the BBC back in June 2005 stating that Oxfam had paid $1m to the Sri Lankan government to allow its vehicles into the country to help with the relief effort after the Tsunami! That's another Aid Fiasco that should be scrapped.

Waitrose and packaging

2007-02-09T11:01:00.000Z

Why is there a picture of a lasagne on my blog you may ask?

Well I have just had some home shopping delivered from Waitrose.

In the shopping (as ordered) were two Waitrose Lasagnes (see above)

I was absolutely stunned by the amount of packaging involved - each Lasagne is contained in a foil tray with a film of plastic over the top. That is then sheathed in a cardboard cover with the cooking instructions on it. But the piece de resistance was the individual cardboard box that each of the two Lasagnes was contained in. Why oh why in this day and age is this level of packaging considered to be necessary?

I went to the environmental bit of the John Lewis website here and it says very clearly "we regularly review our business practices and performance to identify how we can improve our energy efficiency, minimise packaging and reduce air emissions, waste disposal, water usage and the impacts of our transport operations."

Well John Lewis / Waitrose you claim to minimise packaging but the evidence says otherwise. I have emailed them so we will see what of response I get.

Leeds for sale again?

2007-02-09T09:12:00.000Z

Rumours are circulating about the future ownership of Leeds United – again!

The current one circulating is that Peter Wilkinson currently owner of Hull City and said to be worth approximately £400m (although according to the 2005 Rich list he was worth £269m) is to buy the club off Ken Bates. There was supposed to be a big announcement in January according to Uncle Ken but it never came so maybe this is what it was and negotiations are still ongoing.

Wilkinson is said to be Leeds through and through and he lives in Ilkley. He was quoted in an article on Real Business Online as saying “I am never, ever buying Leeds United.”

However back in 2003 he told the Yorkshire Evening Post "I'm heartbroken at what's happened to this football club. I've lived through hell for the past three years watching what's gone on at Elland Road. I've watched Leeds for 40 years and I hate seeing them where they are now. I've watched the club destroyed. It's desperately sad when you see Leeds are at the bottom of the league.”

Deja Vue – only we are now bottom of a different league

This guy is an astute businessman and would I feel be good news for the club - Just for good measure it is also rumoured that the new manager will be Paul Jewell.

Climate change concerts

2007-02-08T11:46:00.000Z

According to the FT today a series of concerts "bigger than Live Aid" is being planned for July, in a bid to put the subject of climate change before an audience of a global audience of 2 billion.

The event, scheduled for July 7, will feature co-ordinated film, music and television events in seven cities including London, Washington DC, Shanghai, Rio de Janeiro, Cape Town and Kyoto.

It is understood that former US vice-president Al Gore, whose movie An Inconvenient Truth brought climate change to cinema audiences last year, will announce the event tomorrow in London.

Straw man

2007-02-08T07:22:00.000Z

Jack Straw has published his proposals for reform of the House of Lords but I have some serious concerns about what the government are proposing.

Their proposals are summarised on the BBC site as follows:

A 'hybrid' of elected and appointed peers
Reduce size of House from 746 to 540 members
End hereditary and life peerages over time
Elected peers to be voted in at same time as Euro elections
Maximum time in office of 15 years for elected and appointed peers
Appointees a mixture of party politicians and non-party figures
Lords may be renamed - possibly 'The Reformed Chamber'
Anglican bishops and archbishops to keep seats

In contrast with this Liberal Democrat policy is that:

The majority of the House of Lords should be elected, with no more than 20% appointed by an Independent Appointments Commission.
There should be no additional political appointees.
No more hereditaries and no more life peers created. Hereditaries should cease to serve at the date of the first elections.
Members should be elected under a system that gives voters real choice (such as the Single Transferable Vote).
Members should serve for three fixed 4 year terms, i.e 12 years non-renewable.
The Reformed Lords (and Commons) should retain its powers of scrutiny over the government.

I support 4, 5 and 6 but quite frankly in a modern democracy the first three are too weak. One hundred percent of the members of the second chamber should be elected. There should be no appointed members whatsoever. Aside from the lack of democracy involved in appointed members it would also help to avoid so many of the questions about cash or loans for peerages. Hereditary and life peers should lose their seats immediately and there should be no places for bishops and archbishops. If they want to take part then they can stand and get elected like everyone else.

Is this what I will be riding in 20 years time?

2007-02-07T08:20:00.000Z

I sincerely hope not. This is the world's first purpose built hydrogen powered motorbike which is designed by Intelligent Energy. It may be environmentally friendly but I would certainly dispute that it is likely to be fun as they claim. Apparently the only noise is from the tyres - not much use to a Harley loving nut like me then. And probably not very safe if people cannot hear you coming at all.

According to the BBC there is some good news in that there are some downsides to this technology :

Producing hydrogen isn't that green. At present, the bulk of it comes from using up fossil fuels. The whole process isn't as polluting as producing oil but it still has an impact.
Hydrogen is easy to buy (apparently) and costs about the same as petrol, but virtually no petrol stations sell it.
The bike will cost you upwards of £6,000. For a bike with a top speed of 50. For that you could buy a proper bike such as a Sportster and still have change

If anyone is interested the bike also has its own site which can be found here at envbike.com

CNS criticise Thaksin for remarks

2007-02-06T08:42:00.000Z

The chief of the Council for National Security (CNS) Sonthi Boonyaratglin has gone on record to say that "the final chapter is near" for ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. He claims the people will judge him for his remarks concerning His Majesty the King. The comments were mad in an interview in Time magazine's February 12 issue that Sonthi says implied His Majesty the King backed the September 19 coup.

Thaksin was quoted as saying. "It was the same with Thailand's 17 other coups. First, the people are shocked. Then they start to voice their concerns. And then they start to accept it, especially after it's endorsed by His Majesty the King, "They're very disciplined. They obey. But they are watching what the new rulers are doing and when they will return democracy to the people. People's tolerance is limited.

I think these comments can be interpreted two ways. Either you can interpret it as direct criticism of the King and an implication that he was behind the coup or you can interpret it as a statement of what actually happened (the coup happened and then the King endorsed it).

How the general population perceive this interview will be absolutely critical to Thaksins future.

Good news - Lib Dem Feed now working

2007-02-05T22:46:00.000Z

I still have not changed the code on the blog other than to add the No New Trident Button and lo and behold the Lib Dem Feed has started working again all by itself. Brilliant