Blogging for Backlash

Today is Blogging for Backlash day. This is being organised by Backlash the umbrella group which was set up " in an attempt to collate evidence for an informed debate on censorship of pornography, which the Government's tendentious and one sided consultation paper spectacularly failed to provide"

I have commented on this issue before back in August in a post entitled Banning violent pornography - should it be done? It does seem to me that this is an issue, no matter how hard it may be to do so, which we as Liberals should take a stance on. In my previous post I made clear that there were two important criteria to consider here. Firstly should we be banning anything particularly where it involves consensual activities? and secondly even if we were to ban such things would it solve the problem?

Backlash states on its website very clearly why it is opposed to the proposed law.

It is worth considering these points one by one

1) The Home Office admits in its consultation document that there is no evidence that demonstrates a link between the type of material under discussion and unlawful activity. We agree.

This proposed law is a knee jerk response to the very tragic murder of Liz Longhursts daughter. Will this law prevent violent murders such as that perpetuated upon Liz Longhursts daughter? I don't believe so. Neither did the Whiskey Priest in an excellent piece which can be found here where he said "Ban violent pornography and deaths won't suddenly stop, they might change in character, the people perpetrating them might use different methods, but they won't stop because it's not the pornography that is making them do it - it's something else. It's something that isn't present in the other people that watch violent pornography and don't go and murder people - and we should find out what that is and tackle it."

2) It does not propose to punish the acts themselves, but wishes to make the simple possession of images of certain sexual fantasies subject to a maximum term of 3 years imprisonment. It will deny people the right to make up their own minds about what is acceptable.

Absolutely - people should be able to make up their minds about what they wish to view and not view. The state can and should legislate against activities which are not consensual such as murder and rape or activities where it is reasonable to assume that not all parties can give their consent such as under age sex or bestiality. It is not reasonable to legislate against consensual activities.

3) What consenting adults look at or do in their own homes is not any concern of the State. These proposals would infringe the civil liberties and protected freedoms of law-abiding people.

See above

4) Law enforcement agencies around the world already have powers to prevent and punish actual crimes that have taken place through existing legislation. We condemn any acts where the participants did not give their consent. Viewers should not be penalised for looking at fantasy images of consenting actors.

Absolutely and we have to consider what it is we want our law enforcement agencies to do with their limited resources. Chase down people who have pictures of consensual activities or catch murderers, rapists and paedophiles. I know which one I would pick.

5) The consultation document suggests that banning the possession of such images might have an appreciable effect on supply or demand but fails to advance any arguments or evidence that this is so. We believe that the evidence is to the contrary. Imprisonment of those who look at such images will not remove the images from the internet nor protect children from them.

I am not sure about this one but I guess that like most things if you ban something you immediately create a market for it. Think prohibition in the United States or indeed drugs in the UK at present.

6) We believe that adults can make up their own minds about what they view in private, even if those things may be distasteful to others. Backlash urges anyone who thinks that it is not the business of the state to criminalise the possession of images that the government considers to be "abhorrent", to contact their MP, stating their objections to these proposals.

Seems fair to me and as Liberals we ought to be opposing this erosion of Liberty

Thai Prime Minister announces post coup cabinet

The interim Thai Prime Minister General Surayud Chulanont has announced his cabinet which has been approved by the King. The BBC News article can be found here

The full cabinet list is as follows

The full list of Surayud's Cabinet is:

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister: MR Pridiyathorn Devakula

Deputy Prime Minister and Industry Minister: Kosit Panpiemras

PM's Office Minister: Kunying Tipawadee Meksawan

PM's Office Minister: Thirapat Serirangsan

Defence Minister: Gen Boonrawd Somtat

Foreign Minister: Nitya Pibulsonggram

Deputy Foreign Minister: Saowanit Kongsiri

Tourism and Sports Minister: Suwit Yodmanee

Social Development and Human Security Minister: Paibool Watanasiritham

Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives Minister: Theera Sutabutr

Deputy Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives Minister: Rungruang Issararangkura

Transport Minister: Adm Thira Haocharoen

Deputy Transport Minister: Sansern Wongcha-um

Natural Resource and Environment Minister: Kasem Sanitwong na Ayutthaya

Information and Communication Technology Minister: Sitthichai Pokai-udom

Commerce Minister: Krirkkrai Jirapaet

Energy Minister: Piyasvasti Amranand

Interior Minister: Aree Wong-araya

Deputy Interior Minister: Banyat Chansena

Justice Minister: Charnchai Likitjitta

Labour Minister: Apai Chanthanajulaka

Culture Minister: Khunying Khaisri Sri-aroon

Science and Technology Minister: Prof Dr Yongyuth Yuthawongse

Education Minister: Wijit Srisa-arn

Public Health Minister: Doctor Mongkol Na Songkhla

Deputy Industry Minister: Piyabutr Cholwicharn

Labour support for a written constitution

Well at last some sense from the attorney general who says that a written constitution for the UK should be "seriously" considered. He went on to oppose Camerons suggestion of a Bill of Rights to replace the Human Rights Act. He now says there are strong reasons in principle to consider a written constitution. I agree with him although I am slightly puzzled as to why he has come out now and made this statement. Have I missed something?

Oxford East gained by Lib Dems

At least notionally we gain Oxford East after accounting for boundary changes according to the UKPollingReport. Unfortunately under the same boundary changes we lose Solihull and Somerton and Frome.

Better news when looking at the seats which are designated as new where we a predicted to pick up Chippenham, St Austell and Newquay and York Outer. However again there is some bad news as one of the abolished seats is Brent East currently held by Sarah Teather who has indicated she is going to contest Brent Central which has a notional Labour Majority of 18 percent

Meanwhile locally the changes for Newbury where David Rendel has been reselected appear to be make little difference with the Conservatives losing approximately 444 votes and the Liberal Democrats losing 402 votes.

Reading fans get an apology

Reading fans have at last got the apology from one national newspaper that they feel they deserve. Paul Wilson wrote his apology here in Sundays Observer.

He said "Get ready, Reading fans, here is the unreserved and really quite grovelsome apology to which you are unquestionably entitled. At the start of the season I rather flippantly predicted Reading would be the new Sunderland, prompting a rash of emails from indignant supporters who said Steve Coppell's side would do a lot better than that. In my defence I do think it is important not to sit on the fence in these matters: someone has to finish bottom of the table and it seemed to me that by spending relatively little and keeping their Championship-winning team Reading might be making the same mistake the previous champions did a year earlier."

He went on to say "I am willing to revise my calculations substantially and boldly state that a) Reading will pass Sunderland's total by the end of November (I would have said Bonfire Night, but they have some tough games in the next few weeks), b) they will not touch the bottom of the Premiership, and c) they will stay up."

Reading fans will be delighted with this well deserved apology and will doubtless be waiting for bated breath for a horde of leading journalists to queue up with similar apologies

Great Repeal Act

I realise I am a bit slow off the mark with this one but I was not at this years annual conference. Having listened to Nick Cleggs speech about the need for a Great Repeal Act I have to declare I am convinced. Nick Clegg had me worried during the leadership election. I was worried that one of the great hopes for the future leadership of our great party had sold out on the basis of allowing a temporary leader to hold the fort whilst a younger generation had the opportunity to come through. If anyone has any doubt about the potential that Nick Clegg has to lead this party in the future then they should listen to this speech now. Ok it will take 18 minutes out of your life but I promise it is worth it. Having watched his speech if you feel inspired to suggest some unnecessary laws which need to be repealed then please go here to make your suggestions.

Rebooting Thai democracy

It was great to see a thoughtful piece about the coup in Thailand from Paul Cheesman in this weeks Liberal Democrat News. I don't know if the article is available on the web (if anyone does know please let me know) so I will attempt to precis what he had to say here.

Paul Cheesman's Article

Many people believe that the coup has stunted democracy in Thailand. However, this is not the case, democracy in Thailand was stunted in 2001 when the first single party government took power.

Thai Rak Thai promised 45p healthcare for the poor, farmer debt suspension and a 14k per village capital fund. Much of this was not full funded or did not work but it was very popular with the poor and when Thai Rak Thai won its second term it all but wiped out the opposition

Thaksin used his position and wealth to obtain support from MPs and persuade three opposition parties to merge with Thai Rak Thai.

Things came to a head when Thaksin sold the family company to a Singaporean company after a change in the foreign ownership rules and the sale was declared tax free by the Revenue Department. There was a public backlash with protests in the streets of Bangkok. The general election was called but this failed due to the boycott by the opposition parties. The Thaksin government was now a caretaker government but without even Parliament to keep it in check. This led to the coup which has been endorsed by the King and plans are in progress to hand over to a civilian government with further plans to draw up a constitution and hold further elections in October 2007

As Liberal Democrats we will naturally feel that a coup is undemocratic but in a young democracy like Thailand it has provided a good "reboot" where the computer is inoperative because the installed Anti-Virus program is, itself, totally infected.

My View

Much of Pauls article is true and makes sense in the context of Thailand. However, I still have a concern as to what Thaksin's opponents were opposed to. Sure some of what went on would not be tolerated in say the UK. Sure I agree that a new constitution is required with proper checks and balances to try and prevent such abuses from occurring again. However, I have this lingering suspicion that some of what his opponents were opposed to was to do with his policies and not to do with his abuse of his position. When the elections take place (hopefully next October) it is inconceivable that there will not be parties standing on a platform of Thaksinism given how popular those policies were with the majority. If that proves to be the case then I hope that the democratically elected government will be allowed to get on with the job of the implementing the policies on which they were elected.

Thailand - army agrees to talks with rebels in south

Lets hope this report is a positive step forward. Over the last few years there have been a series of attacks in the four southern most provinces and anything which might lead to a cessation of this carnage has to be welcomed. It appears that the initiative came from the rebel factions themselves. The history of the conflict in the south is as follows (taken from BBC online)

Members of Thailand's minority Muslim community - based almost exclusively in the country's southern provinces - have been at loggerheads with Bangkok for decades.

Thailand's Muslims often complain of discrimination and a lack of opportunities, a resentment which occasionally leads to clashes with the authorities.

But in January 2004, a wave of attacks sparked increased violence in the south, which has seem more than 800 people die since.

Analysts say police corruption, drug running and theft by local criminal gangs have often been responsible for the violence.

But there is an increasing suspicion that Islamic separatists - perhaps allied to international militant groups such as Jemaah Islamiah - are behind the attacks.

Thailand's Muslims are largely concentrated in the four southern provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani, Songhkla and Yala.

The area is less prosperous than central Thailand, and many of the region's inhabitants complain they are at a disadvantage compared to the country's Buddhist majority.

But those living in the region are also very different from the rest of the Thai population.
The southern provinces were originally part of the ancient Kingdom of Pattani, a semi-autonomous Malay region which adopted Islam in the mid-13th century.

Thailand annexed the region in 1902, but the people living there had - and still do have - far more in common with their neighbours in Malaysia. They speak Yawi, a Malay dialect, and most importantly they are Muslims, abiding by Islamic rules and restrictions.

Increasingly estranged from the Bangkok government, Muslim separatists began an insurgency in the 1970s. The violence eventually died down in the 1990s - but only after the government promised to channel more funds into the region and ensure the Muslim community an adequate political representation.

A raid on an army depot in January 2004 signalled a return to the violence. Four soldiers were killed and 400 guns, most of them M-16 rifles, were stolen from a store in Narathiwat province.
Since then there have been frequent incidents in which symbols of authority - including police officers, teachers and Buddhist monks - have been targeted by Muslim gunmen. The deadliest incident happened on 28 April, when hundreds of suspected Islamic militants launched a series of raids on security posts in the region. The day ended in the massacre of more than 100 of the poorly-armed militants, and there was international concern over the degree of force used by security personnel.

Another bloody incident took place in the southern district of Takbai in October. More than 80 people died after a protest turned violent, Seven were killed at the scene and 78 died in army custody from suffocation, after being loaded into army trucks.

The Thai government continues to insist that most of the attacks in the south can be attributed to local criminals. But it seems evident that organised Islamic separatist groups are playing at least a part in the violence.

There are a number of Muslim separatist groups known to operate in southern Thailand - including Pulo (the Pattani United Liberation Organisation), BRN (the Barisan Revolusi Nasional) and GMIP (Gerakan Mujahadeen Islam Pattani).

In the past, these groups have been linked to larger Islamic organisations such as Jemaah Islamiah - blamed for terrorist attacks across South East Asia - and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in the troubled Indonesian province of Aceh.

No group has categorically claimed responsibility for recent attacks, and it remains difficult to be certain who is ultimately behind the upsurge in violence.

First the Police now the Fire Brigade

Ok technically speaking that should be the other way around in that the story about the police officer refusing to guard the Israeli embassy was from today and this story on Spicy Cauldron about firefighters refusing to hand out leaflets at Gay Pride in Glasgow was from August.

Thanks to one of my readers for pointing out the story on Spicy Cauldron and its connection with the police officer story.

Is this becoming a trend in society? Where people are happy to take the money for doing the job but then want to pick and choose which bits of it they actually do. Of course it is sensible for employers to deploy their people according to those peoples aptitude and ability but in the end surely the employer has the right, and in the case of publicly paid for services a duty, to say to the employee these are your duties and I expect you to do them.

You cannot run a police force like this

I don't know who was responsible for the decision to allow a Muslim police officer to refuse to guard the Israeli embassy in London but you cannot run a police force like this. As I see it the officer is refusing to carry out the duties which he is being paid to do. I understand that he feels that was put in a moral dilemma but if we allow this to slide then where will this leave the police force? It will leave forces up and down the country in a position where they cannot rely on officers to do many types of duties because those officers may object to those duties on moral or other grounds. In other words officers can pick and choose the duties they are assigned to! I wonder what happens when the police are for sale and the officer decides he or she has a moral objection to the corporate sponsor and wearing the logo on his or her uniform.

Infamous Gaffes

A colleague pointed me in the direction of this great piece from BBC Online here. Brings back memories of all those gaffes most of which I recall from when they originally occurred.

Still I was amazed that Prince Phillips comments to a group of british students in China in 1986 didn't make this list. He famously told them "If you stay here much longer, you'll all be slitty-eyed".

I went in search of the details of this gaffe and was amazed to find a whole list of them on Wikipedia which I have reproduced below.

Speaking to a driving instructor in Scotland, he asked: "How do you keep the natives off the booze long enough to get them through the test?".

When visiting China in 1986 he told a group of British students, "If you stay here much longer, you'll all be slitty-eyed".

After accepting a gift from a Kenyan citizen he replied, "You are a woman, aren't you?"

"If it has four legs and is not a chair, has wings and is not an aeroplane, or swims and is not a submarine, the Cantonese will eat it." (1986)

"British women can't cook." (1966)

To a British student in Papua New Guinea "You managed not to get eaten then?"

Angering local residents in Lockerbie when on a visit to the town in 1993, the Prince said to a man who lived in a road where 11 people had been killed by wreckage from the Pan Am jumbo jet: "People usually say that after a fire it is water damage that is the worst. We are still trying to dry out Windsor Castle."

On a visit to the new Welsh Assembly in Cardiff he told a group of deaf children standing next to a Jamaican steel drum band, "Deaf? No wonder you are deaf standing so close to that racket."

He asked an Indigenous Australian, "Still throwing spears?" (2002)

When touring a dog training centre for the deaf and the blind, he is rumoured to have enquired whether they train eating dogs for the anorexic.

Said to a Briton in Budapest Hungary, "You can't have been here that long – you haven't got a pot belly." (1993)

To the President of Nigeria, who was dressed in traditional African robes, "You look like you're ready for bed!"

To Lord Taylor of Warwick, who is black: "And what exotic part of the world do you come from?" Lord Taylor: "I'm from Birmingham."

Seeing a shoddily installed fuse box in a high-tech Edinburgh factory, HRH remarked that it looked "like it was put in by an Indian".

During a Royal visit to China in 1986 he described Peking as "ghastly".

"Aren't most of you descended from pirates?" (in 1994, to an islander in the Cayman Islands)

At the height of the recession in 1981 he said: "Everybody was saying we must have more leisure. Now they are complaining they are unemployed."

Upon presenting a Duke of Edinburgh Award to a student, when informed that the young man was going to help out in Romania for six months, he asked if the student was going to help the Romanian orphans; upon being informed he was not, he said words to the effect of "Good, they [the Romanians] breed orphans over there."

At Salford University, he told a 13 year old aspiring astronaut: "Well, you'll never fly in it, you're too fat."

During a Royal visit to a Tamil Hindu temple in London, he asked a Hindu priest if he was related to the terrorist Tamil Tigers

Can anyone think of any other famous gaffes?

A tale of two Thais

Ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has resigned from his That Rak Thai party according to this report. It is apparent from that report and this report in The Nation that the Thai Rak Thai party is in the process of imploding with 62 former MP's having resigned already and I suspect that the announcement which is being mooted will confirm that the party is to fold.

Meanwhile many ordinary Thais living in rural Thailand clearly still retain their affection for Thaksin Shinawatra and his polices which improved the quality of their life so much and according to this report would vote for him if there was an election tomorrow.

This is where it gets interesting. Lets assume that the Thai Rak Thai party does indeed implode and / or it is banned from taking part in the next set of elections. Lets assume that a new constitution is drawn up and elections take place as promised in October 2007. Lets also assume that Thaksin Shinawatra does not return to Thailand and plays no part in these elections.

What then will happen to all those who were part of or supported Thai Rak Thai? The likelihood is that they will form a new party or parties to contest that election. The piece in The Nation referred to above already indicates the possibility that a party called Seri Thai will be formed from the rubble of Thai Rak Thai. Given the popularity of Thaksin Shinawatras policies it is likely that Thaksinism and Thaksinite policies will form a key part of at least one new party and if such a party can present itself as a credible potential government it is also likely that that party will win the election.

The problem with all this is that I suspect that in many ways this will bring us full circle and will present a dilemma for both the military and the urban (more wealthy) electorate. Was the problem really with Thaksin Shinawatra and the way in which he sold his families company or was the problem actually that a lot of the better off middle class were not very supportive of the money being spent on the rural poor?

Is autism a term of abuse?

Using the term "Autistic" as a term of political abuse is about as low as one can get.

Great quote in this piece from BBC online from the Lib Dems Norman Lamb MP who said: "This may have been a casual off-the-cuff remark from George Osborne, but that doesn't stop it being offensive. Opposition politicians have reason enough to criticise the Chancellor without having to descend to these ill-informed comments. This won't do much to help the attempts to portray the Conservatives as a caring, sharing, modern party."

Well said Norman. As for George Osborne instead of trying to wriggle out of it like a naughty schoolboy he should apologise - simple as that

Nice party turns upon itself

David Camerons strategy appears to be coming unglued already. As far as I can see his strategy to date has broadly been as follows:

1) Apologise for past Tory mistakes when they were the nasty party

2) Attempt to reposition the party as more Centrist Liberal Conservative / One Nation Tories

3) Convince people that they are now the nice party i.e. have a conscience and are worried about poverty etc

4) Don't talk about policies on the grounds that a) it is too far away from a General Election b) if you come up with policies now the other parties will pinch the good ones and c) if you policies are useless it gives plenty of time for people to work out that they are useless. At least that is what I understood Ann Widecombe to say last night.

However, there are still plenty of Tories who fundamentally believe that they must cut taxes come what may. According to the Guardian "The call for tax cuts came from party activists, backbench MPs, Tory donors and the chairman of the party's competitiveness commission, John Redwood" Ah yes John Redwood that reminds me (he is after all my MP) and doubtless many others of several very good reasons for not voting Tory. They clearly have a long way to go before they can present a united front to the public

The cartoon in the Guardian brilliantly illustrates the dilemma and the tension between the Cameron vision of the way forward and that espoused by some of his party members. To see the cartoon click here

Thailands new prime minister sworn in

As expected a retired General has been sworn in as Thailand's interim prime minister. General Surayud Chulanonts profile from the BBC online site is shown below.

At 62, Surayud Chulanont is an army veteran, and one of the few senior Thai figures who is respected by military and civilian leaders alike.

By choosing him as the country's new prime minister, Thailand's military generals also hope he will quieten fears from the international community, who see the former army chief as a safe pair of hands. They also hope his positive standing, both at home and abroad, will allay fears that the military is choosing one of its own to be the country's leader. They had promised to install a civilian prime minister as soon as possible after the 19 September coup.

After a military career spanning nearly 40 years, Gen Surayud is seen as both a skilful soldier and a tactful leader. He has also gained a reputation for being incorruptible - an important trait given the accusations of graft levelled at his predecessor, the ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

He fought Thai communist insurgents in the 1960s, and later fended off incursions from Burmese troops and ethnic Wa guerrillas.

He expressed his displeasure at the May 1992 uprising, in which many civilians were killed, and campaigned tirelessly for a more modern, accountable army.

Becoming a commander in 1997, he again prioritised the fight against corruption and rights violations - and was seen as a friend to Burmese refugees for the part he played in allowing them to seek refuge in Thailand.

In the late 1990s, Gen Surayud clashed with Mr Thaksin, who wanted to increase business ties with the Burmese military leaders. He was sidelined to the post of supreme commander, a ceremonial rather than influential position.

After leaving the army in 2003, the devout Buddhist spent time as a monk, before being appointed to the Privy Council and becoming a senior adviser to the king.

'Appropriate choice'

Ironically, one of the main legacies from his long military career is his attempt to distance the army from politics. He is seen as pivotal in changing the military from a self-serving, often corrupt, group of individuals into a modern, professional organisation.

In fact Time Magazine once described him as "perhaps the most important Thai military figure of the modern era". There were worries that giving the position of prime minister to a former general might fuel accusations that the coup leaders had no intention of giving up power, despite their promise to hand over a civilian government.

But the army does not appear to see Gen Surayud as military at all. One of the six most senior coup leaders, Gen Winai Pattariya, said recently: "We really consider that a retired general is a civilian."

Political leaders seem to agree. Korn Chatikavanij, deputy general secretary of the opposition Democrat Party, recently described Gen Surayud as an "appropriate" choice. "What is important is domestic reconciliation, and Gen Surayud is ideal for that," he told The Associated Press. In the past, the former general has denied any intention of entering the political arena.

I Smirt, You Stooze, They Krump

A new book is published tomorrow called "I Smirt, You Stooze, They Krump". According to the PR blub

"Smirt" apparently describes people who flirt while they smoke outside their office buildings or pubs

"Stooze" is a verb describing the practice of taking advantage of introductory interest free periods offered by credit card companies, to borrow money that is then invested elsewhere for profit.

and

"Krump" is to dance, sometimes wearing face paint, in a fast and aggressive style, mimicking a fight but remaining non-violent.

Anyone who wants to pick up a copy can see it here on Amazon

Another 3 points for Reading

This trip to Upton Park obviously came at the right time with West Ham struggling to find any sort of form. Reading smashed a goal in after two minutes and walked away with all three points taking them to thirteen in all and in seventh place in the Premiership just three points off the top. Reading fans will have been delighted after Alan Pardew ditched them a couple of years ago. According to my son who was at the game Pardew got some stick from the Reading fans but Tevez got even more with the fans singing "You are just a fat Maradona". Harsh - I am sure he and West Ham will come good at some point soon but meanwhile Reading have the three points in the bank.

Edited to add this link to the report in The Guardian

Not good,not good

Those wonderful signs and hopes of recovery which followed last weeks defeat of Birmingham has dissipated just as quickly as Leeds lost 4-2 this afternoon to West Brom. To add insult to injury West Brom were down to ten men after 32 minutes. Healy took the resulting penalty and missed and West Brom took advantage by taking the lead in the 40th minute. They then proceeded to bang in two more goals before Leeds fought back through a goal from Geoff Horsfield in the 82nd Minute with Stone adding a second in the 88th minute. West Brom added a fourth in the final minute to add to Leeds humiliation.

Thailand reshuffle

The BBC reports on the annual military reshuffle in Thailand here. It appears that officers who were believed to be allies of the former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra have been sidelined. Meanwhile a new Prime Minister has yet to be appointed although there is a strong hint that it will be a former army chief. Probably not the best to move to reassure people that there will be a swift return to democracy.

Back from Amsterdam

We returned yesterday from Amsterdam having had a great week. The weather was brilliant and I had no real need for the coat I took with me. Here are some photos of Amsterdam showing Anne Franks house. Herengracht bridge, The Rijksmuseum and a canal view

© Pictures of Amsterdam courtesy of Amsterdam.info

Great day for Leeds and Reading

After sacking their manager on Wednesday Leeds showed what they were made of yesterday under acting manager John Carver beating table topping Birmingham 3-2. Yes the defence was clearly dodgy from the reports that I have read and some serious work will need to be done is this area but the Leeds spirit appears to have returned and they were playing more of an attacking game and getting the ball in the box more often. The Observer report can be found here

Meanwhile Reading entertained Manchester United in the League for the first time ever in their 135 year history. I am sure Alex Ferguson must have had this penciled in for three points. Reading fought hard from the off and were determined not to be outplayed. Manchester United probably had the best of the game just but they couldn't break Reading down. Reading took the lead early in the second half from what at the time seemed a slightly controversial penalty which Doyle dispatched for his third goal of the season. Not bad for 78,000 pounds from Cork City. Having seen it again on Match of the Day though it did look as if Neville deliberately handballed. Manchester United eventually went 4-2-4 and played well in patches with a lot of their attacks going through Ronaldo(who was booed every time he touched the ball). Ronaldo finally beat Murty and struck a beautiful shot across the face of the goal and into the far corner for the equaliser. Reading gritted their teeth and went slightly more defensive to hang on for the point.

The Observer report form the game can be found here

It was noticeable that Coppell was still trying to keep the players feet on the ground after the game saying "We had nothing to lose from today. I was thinking before the game that whatever happens we couldn't lose and to get a point is a small gift as well so we have got to be pleased with it. But I have said to the players we don't want the highlight of our season to be a Saturday evening in September. We have got a long way to go and we can't pat ourselves on the back."

Meanwhile Ferguson was quoted as saying "Last Sunday (when ManUnited lost to Arsenal) was a disappointing performance but not today." That alone shows how far Reading have come. They have already amassed ten points after six games. I don't want to tempt fate but it is interesting to note that no promoted club that has amassed at least ten points after ten games has ever been relegated.

King gives formal backing to coup

According to the BBC here the leaders of the military coup in Thailand have been given formal backing by King Bhumibol Adulyadej via a formal decree of assent. This confirms what was already apparent in that the coup leaders have at least the tacit consent of the King. Interesting that there were a couple of limited pro democracy protests in Bangkok which I would not have expected given the intervention by the King.

There was also an interesting piece on BBC online on Coup leaders' addiction to power. For what it is worth I think that the chances are that this time the military will stick to their word and hand power back once the constitution has been rewritten. Of course the rewriting of that constitution will be where the sticking points lie. Doubtless the generals will want a constitution which makes it difficult for the Thai Rak Thai party in general and Thaksin Shinawatra in particular to win the next set of elections

Lib Dem video now working

I have got the Lib Dem video working on my blog now. It is in the sidebar just below the Lib Dem Blogs Button. Easy to do and in my opinion looks great. Thanks to Martin Tod for doing this - anyone else who wants to put it on their site should click here for the instructions.

Companies catch on to bloggers

Great piece from Tuesdays Guardian which can be found here. Companies are beginning to realise the power that bloggers have and the speed with which "issues" can be common knowledge through the power of the internet. The piece also has some links to some of the interesting sites which focus their attention on the failings of one company

King supports coup leader

According to the BBC here King Bhumibol Adulyadej has given his backing to the coup leader General Sonthi Boonyaratglin. A statement attributed to him said he has appointed the General as head of a new executive body. The bad news is this means that the military coup will probably succeed. The good news is that it also probably means that the chances of the coup turning violent are greatly reduced.

On Monday I asked for Mr Blackwell to go and on Wednesday my wish is granted

Two days ago I blogged here asking for Kevin Blackwell to be sacked. And only this morning I was pondering here about how long it would be before Mr Blackwell was sacked. Thank you Mr Bates for realising the seriousness of the situation and acting. The official club statement is here. Now if I could just have the second part of my request fulfilled I would be delighted. Come on Mr Curbishley - rescue this great club.

New PM, New Constitution and New Elections for Thailand

That is the order in which events will follow at least according to General Sonthi Boonyaratglin who has told a news conference that new elections will take place in a year's time once a new constitution had been written and put in place. We will see. Thailand clearly needed to have its constitution amended having seen the chaos which followed the boycott of the last election by most of the opposition parties. It is certainly vital there are new democratic elections - these were scheduled to take place in October but will now be delayed. The only bit I have a problem with is the need for a new Prime Minister. It is clear that many people in Thailand object to Thaksin Shinawatra remaining as Prime Minister but this is not a justification for a military coup. If it was we could expect to see tanks outside 10 Downing Street imminently. Thaksin Shinawatra was elected by the people of Thailand and there are many people who wish to see him remain as Prime Minister despite his alleged failings. These people voted for him and his party and he achieved a significant majority mainly because the opposition parties refused to stand.

News from Brighton - where is it?

I am not sure why the news from the Liberal Democrat conference at Brighton seems so limited. Sure there is plenty of comment from Liberal Democrat Bloggers and if you want to keep track of what they are saying then you can click here. The BBC also has some limited coverage which can be seen here. What has really disappointed me is the coverage from the party itself. The news from the conference button which I display on this blog takes me here. Not very informative I am afraid especially with regard to what is going on, what is being said, what policies motions are being passed etc. Even clicking on the latest news link just takes one here which is also very thin on action from the conference. If we don't blow our own trumpet then we cannot complain when the media fails to report what is going on.

Thailand military coup update

The Thai military has declared today to be a national holiday and called top civil servants and foreign diplomats to a meeting at military headquarters to update them on the situation. Apparently they have declared "a holiday for government, banks and the stock exchange in order to quickly restore law and order," according to their statement.


As I said in my previous post the position of the King will be critical. Will he intervene and if so on which side? Sky News reported last night that the King never intervenes in Thai politics. This is not so. He very rarely intervenes but he did so back in April to get the constitutional court judges to meet to attempt to resolve the crisis.

The other issue which may be critical is the make up of the Thai Army. This is an area I have no knowledge of so if anyone can shed any light I would be most grateful. If the Thai army is structured like UK forces then it is possible that many units will be regional in origin. If so this may cause a divide within the army and units which are derived from rural areas may be opposed to the coup.

Meanwhile the Foreign Office has issued the following advice for travellers - "On 19 September 2006 the Thai Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, declared a state of emergency in Bangkok. There have been reports of tanks taking up positions around the Thai government headquarters in Bangkok and blocking traffic. The British Embassy in Bangkok is closely monitoring the situation. If you are currently in Bangkok, you should stay put and avoid moving around the city. If you intend to travel to, or are currently in Bangkok, you should monitor all available information on the local situation and keep in contact with your tour operator. You should also avoid any demonstrations and large crowds. Movements around government buildings and in public may be restricted until the situation becomes clearer" We are due to travel to Thailand in January but unless things take a significant turn for the worse we will still be going.

The latest from the BBC can be found here

and details of the coup leader can be found here

Some relief at last

Ok so it is only lowly Barnet but a 3-1 victory is a) a victory and b) a game in which Leeds managed to score a goal. Even better Ian Moore got himself on the scoresheet twice and one can hope that this will have given him some confidence. In the last game I saw against Wolves he looked as if he was capable of playing reasonably well but was just not putting the ball in the back of the net - bit of a problem for a striker! The crowd of only 7,000 odd will have been very disappointing to Ken Bates and I wonder how long it will be before he decides to make a change of manager particularly if the next few league games do not go too well. I hope they do go well. I really do, but I fear that Blackwell has lost the plot. It goes without saying that I would be delighted to be proved wrong.

Meanwhile Reading Reserves (with Coppell making 10 changes to the starting line up) were held 3-3 by Darlington and finally went through 4-3 on penalties

Coup in Thailand

See this link from the BBC. Martial Law has been imposed in Thailand and the Prime Ministers office has been surrounded by tanks.

All troops have been told to report to barracks and no troop movements are allowed unless they have been authorised by the coup leaders. The armed forces are claiming that the takeover is only temporary and that power will be handed back to the people. The army say that it is necessary because Thaksin Shinawatras government has divided the country and corruption is rife.

Elections were due later in the year following the failed elections earlier this year and the military appear to have taken the chance to act whilst Thaksin Shinawatra is out of the country at the United Nations in New York.

The military state that the Council of Political Reform has taken over with the King as head of state. The position of the king in all of this will be absolutely critical to the success or otherwise of the coup.

Sadly I predicted here that the military might take matters into their own hands. However, I also predicted that the stance of King Bhumibol would be critical and I stand by that judgement now.

Gordon Brown A-Z - brilliant

This piece in the Daily Telegraph on Saturday was highly amusing and very appropriate.

I particularly liked -

C is for Chinese Whispers.

People sometimes suggest I don't know how to have fun. But my colleagues and I regularly enjoy a relaxing game of Chinese whispers. It keeps us all highly amused. I might begin a round by saying: "Tony Blair's adored" and it'll somehow end up in the press – don't ask me how – as "Tony Blair's a fraud".

D is for Disco Dancing.

The electorate has probably come to think of me as someone who is stuck behind his desk all day, doing a tremendous amount of hard work on behalf of this country. But I fully understand that people also want to know what makes me tick.
My departmental press officer was kind enough to remind me that I thoroughly enjoy disco dancing in the style of John Travolta. During my busy working life, I make a point of setting aside five or 10 minutes in every hour to jive to one of the great tracks on the Saturday Night Fever album.

and

M is for Musical Chairs.

A great favourite of myself and my good friend Tony. He has decided, of his own accord, and I fully agree with his decision, which was his alone, to retire from the game as early as possible next year. If, for any reason he decides not to, we will be forced to remove his chair from under him, for his own good.

Blackwell out - Please

Leeds have now plummeted from mid table to 23rd within the space of a couple of weeks. We do not seem to be able to hit a barn door and the players appear to have lost all faith and confidence in their manager. I know that removing Kevin Blackwell will not provide an instant fix and certainly I can understand that Bates will not want to find himself funding another ex managers wages. But if Blackwell has really lost the dressing room he should go and soon. Mr Curbishley would be my favoured replacement.

Gobsmacked to be in at number 20!!

I have been away for a couple of days and just got back to discover that Iain Dale has done a list of the top 100 Lib Dem Bloggers and I am in at number 20!. The piece on his blog can be found here.

I am extremely flattered especially as my blog frequently consists of ranting about football or drooling over motorbikes with occasional forays into politics in Thailand and other sundry issues.

This is part of his production of a guide to Political Blogging in the UK which will contain details of 400 political blogs and will be published next week.

Cheers Iain - made my day

Not looking good

The calls for Blackwell to depart will increase following last nights 3-0 surrender to Sunderland. For the official site report click here. Where has the spirit of the team gone since last season. Think back to the Southampton match where we came back from 3-0 down to win 4-3. That battling spirit seems to have disappeared even though in some games there have been some positive signs. Reports from the game on WACCOE seem to indicate that some of the players may have given and that they have certainly given up listening to the manager.

Royals get another 3 points - 6 from 4 now

I would say that this comes into the category of a good start to the season for Premiership new boys Reading. They beat Manchester City 1-0 last night at the Madejski Stadium. They now have 6 points from their first four games and sit in eigth place.

They travel to Sheffield United on Saturday and will be hopeful of getting at least a point.

City may be a little disappointed to leave with nothing to show for their efforts but they just did not have their shooting boots on. Meanwhile Reading battled hard and fought together a unit without ever really showing their creativity and flair - there is still much better to come from them.

Ivar Ingimarsson scored the only goal and was nearly knocked out in the process. City had Dabo sent off late on for using his elbow against Sidwell.

A good nights work and 15% of the way to the 40 points mark

No points but no debt either

The least said about Sundays 1-0 defeat to Wolves the better really - I would have thought that a draw would have been a fair result but yet again a late goal conceded has cost us dearly. On a brighter note is this piece from BBC Online stating that Leeds may be debt free (well almost debt free) by the end of the season. From a club that owed well over £100 million only just over two years ago that is no mean achievement. Whatever people think of Mr Bates they should take their hat off to him on this front at least. However on the pitch things are not going too well although from what I have seen so far this seasons there is a fair amount of potential there. Low gates will not help either with yesterday seeing a mere 16,268 at Elland Road. Bates may be starting to worry about attendances - his pricing policy has not helped but the results are not helping either and the pressure on Blackwell must be growing.

The legacy of 11th September 2001

The bitter legacy of 9/11 as published here in todays Independent just about sums it up. I make no apologies for repeating it in full below - makes you think doesn't it?

• 2,973 Total number of people killed (excluding the 19 hijackers) in the September 11, 2001 attacks
• 72,000 Estimated number of civilians killed worldwide since September 11, 2001 as a result of the war on terror
• 2 Number of years since US intelligence had any credible lead to Osama bin Laden's whereabouts
• 2,932 Total number of US servicemen and women killed in Afghanistan and Iraq since September 2001
• 1,248 Number of published books relating to the September 11 attacks
• $119m Ticket sales for anti-Bush documentary Fahrenheit 9/11
• $40bn Airline industry losses since September 2001
• 2009 Date when the official memorial will open at the World Trade Centre site
• 0 Hours of intelligence training provided to new FBI agents before 9/11. Now they get 24.
• 91 per cent Terror cases from FBI and others that US Justice Dept declined to prosecute in first eight months of 2006
• 11 Weeks the 9/11 commission's final report was top of New York Times' non-fiction best-seller list
• 117 Number of UK service personnel killed in Iraq since invasion
• 40 Number of UK personnel killed in Afghanistan since invasion
• 7 per cent People in UK who think US-led war on terror is being won, according to YouGov
• 1 Those charged in US with a crime in connection with 9/11
• 455 Number of detainees at Guantanamo Bay
• 77 per cent Percentage of people in the UK who believe Tony Blair's Middle East policy has made Britain a terrorist target (YouGov)
• 4,000 Number of UK troops left in Iraq after British-controlled provinceshanded back to Baghdad
• 18 The number of times that undercover investigators with fake IDs have breezed through US border checkpoints in a test by the Government Accountability Office
• $8bn The amount the US will spend this year on hunting Bin Laden and other terrorists

Are we sending the right message

Apparently we are urging people to think red and vote yellow according to this piece in The Times - but are we really sending the correct message? According to this piece Sir Menzies ensured that the policy review was refocused to make tackling poverty and unfairness core policy themes. An aim which I would entirely support. However, at the same time we have proposals from the tax commission going to the annual conference which drop the commitment to a 50p rate of tax. I understand the argument that there are better and fairer ways technically of making the wealthier pay more. What concerns me is whether or not we will be able to sell that on the doorstep having made a commitment to redistribution and then promptly given up the 50p rate

Hats off to the youth of today.

Some criticise the youth of today but in my experience there are a lot of very good young people out there who are willing to put something back into society.

Take Alex Tucker for instance. This young man lives just down the road from me. His grandmother died not long ago and was looked after by The Duchess of Kent Hospice which is run by The Duchess of Kent House Trust. He decided that he wanted to give something back to the charity and so he organised a Charity Football Match which took place yesterday at Padworth Village Hall.

He set this up in his own time. The players were sponsored and there was a barbecue and a raffle at the village hall for the spectators. This household had a vested interest as we directly or indirectly supplied four of the players in the yellow team and scored 5 goals as the yellow team ran out 8-1 winners.

It looks like the event has raised approximately £1,000 the Duchess of Kent House Trust. Well done Alex.

Final few from the Super Rally

Just three more photos from the Super Rally 2003

Main square in Ceske Budejovice during the Super Rally 2003

This is the main square which was packed with bikes during the weekend of the rally.

Looks like the trigger has finally been pulled

The trigger has finally been pulled on the assassination/starting gun and the in fighting within the Labour Party of the last few days, weeks and dare one say years had finally exploded.

Blair has been forced into making a statement later on today on his timetable for departure after seven junior members of the government resigned having signed a letter calling on Blair to go.

Speculation is rife in the media as to what he will actually say.

Will he go now? And if he does will this leave Brown with blood on his hands? Remember Heseltine never inherited the Tory crown.

Will he go in March as some suggest and bequeath the new leader a honeymoon period which may help Labour in next Mays elections?

Will he wait until May when he has been in office for 10 years?

Or will he as his friends seem to be saying stay on until July or possibly even later.

Today will be fascinating to see what Blair has to say about the timetable for his departure. But the following days and weeks will be just as fascinating as we all watch to see whether or not Blair can stick (or will be allowed to stick) to the timetable he has outlined.

Unless he plans to go by Christmas and says so publicly the danger for the Labour Party is that the internecine warfare will continue as the factions fight over both the timing off Blairs departure and the future direction of the party under the next leader.

Meanwhile don't expect to see much sign of sensible government over the coming months.

Super Rally 2003 show bikes

Some old bikes at the show at the Super Rally 2003

Alternative work experience scheme - suggestions wanted

I did like this post from Peter Black about government ministers going out into the community and doing real jobs to re-engage with real working people. This got me thinking as to what jobs we could send various ministers to do so as to best deploy their talents or so as to help educate them about the realities of life. Perhaps Margaret Becket could become a Caravan Salesperson or Tessa Jowell could spend some time as a Tax Inspector

If anyone has some other suggestions do please post them here.

Knight in shining armour

A very old picture from The Super Rally 2003 which was held in the southern Czech town of Ceske Budejovice on the old military airfield. This guy was amazing bombing around the airfield in a full suit of armour!! It was the first rally we went to and I came across the photos and thought that some of them would be worth putting up here. Admittedly we cheated as the Fatboy went on a van but we did have an excuse as were taking a whole load of stuff for my step son and his wife (who happens to be from Ceske Budejovice). It is a beautiful part of the world and I can recommend a visit. Anyone who want to know more about Ceske Budejovice should click here for photos or here and here for more general tourist information. I may post some more pictures from the rally later on.

Ferrets in a sack

It certainly makes great entertainment as we watch the Labour party self destruct from within. According to the BBC piece here the rift within the Labour Party is deepening as Blair refuses to say when he will go and a number of MP's are openly talking about getting enough signatures to trigger a leadership election. I guess that view would be supported by Peter Black who writes here about the unrest amongst Labour Party MP's and AM's in Wales. Meanwhile Ed Balls has gone public in today's Observer and dismissed calls for a wide ranging policy debate before Blair departs. Doubtless he wishes his lord and master to take office unencumbered by any nuisance policy decisions. One particular bit had me rolling in the aisles when he says "Today's Labour party, by contrast, is not ideologically split or fundamentally divided on principles." Hmm I think not Mr Balls - tell that to the "Old Labour" MPs', Councillors and activists who know that they sold their soul for a chance at power and are now very unhappy with what they got. Finally The Observer Leader here says that Blair must stay on the grounds that this will allow a proper contest to ensue. I must admit to mixed feelings - the longer he stays the more damage the Labour Party will do to itself - on the other hand the sooner he goes the more likely it is that Brown is installed as the next PM. I may be wrong but I think Brown will find it very hard to disassociate himself from the current government and consequently I think he will find it harder to achieve a Labour majority at the next general election

Final shot from Bisley

I couldn't resist this shot of one womans tank from the Harley Davidson rally at Bisley. Apparently these were her grandchildren. What great artwork - a lot of time and effort has gone into this machine.


This won a prize at Bisley for the best bike from a member of Ladies of Harley

Today is Blog Day

At least according to Agent Mancuso. So I will take the opportunity to squeeze under the wire

My five in alphabetical order are..............

1. Life at the Edge

2. Rachel from North London

3. Stranger in a strange land

4. The Policemans Blog

5. Worldwide Sawdust

Banning violent pornography - should it be done?

A difficult issue to address. The understandable campaign by Liz Longhurst, following the death of her daughter, to make the possession of violent porn a crime appears to have been successful according to this piece from the BBC.

The questions which arise from this issue seem to me to be twofold. Firstly from a liberal perspective should we be banning people from viewing this sort of material in the first place and secondly will this ban stop the sort of terrible events which happened to Liz Longhursts daughter from happening to someone else?

On the first score my instinct is always against the banning of anything. Yes if we know that something will definitely have an adverse affect on others then it should be made illegal. Murder or violent assaults on others clearly fall into this category. However, watching violent pornography does not fall into this category. If this was made consensually then who has been harmed? It may not be everybody's cup of tea but if all involved are acting with consent then to my mind there is no issue. It may be good populist politics to ban this sort of thing but it does not make much sense and it does not make good reading to see Liberal Democrat MP's rushing out to support and the ban as Sandra Gidley did here. To quote her "You cannot look at this sort of material and not be affected" Hmmm. Well I assume that a fair number of people do look at this stuff or it would not be there. So I also assume that she believes that these people are likely to rush out and commit violent murders? To think I campaigned to get her elected in the first place.

This brings me on to the second point and perhaps the more fundamental one. Will this law prevent violent murders such as that perpetuated upon Liz Longhursts daughter? I don't believe so and I cannot put it better than by quoting the piece that Gavin wrote on The Whiskey Priest. He wrote "Ban violent pornography and deaths won't suddenly stop, they might change in character, the people perpetrating them might use different methods, but they won't stop because it's not the pornography that is making them do it - it's something else. It's something that isn't present in the other people that watch violent pornography and don't go and murder people - and we should find out what that is and tackle it." Absolutely - lets find out what the key to this is and try to tackle rather then implementing knee jerk laws. That would be a far better way of reducing violent murders in the future. Otherwise we might as well start down a long road of banning things because they might cause someone to commit murder. Alcohol anyone?

Two more bikes

One of these was an F1 Schumacher special

Another couple of bikes

One nice and one well lets say "different but not to my taste". Thats what makes these machines such fun. Every Harley is different and each one makes a unique statement. You never see a Harley which has been kept as it was when brand new.

So now the police are for sale

This piece in yesterdays Guardian suggests that the police are now for sale. Well at least the saddlecloths and horse boxes of the police horses in Nottinghamshire are. This strikes me as being the edge of what may turn out to be a very long and slippery slope. What next I ask myself? Sponsors logos on the chest and backs of the local bobby on the beat, branded police cars or logos on truncheons and riot shields. How long will it be before someone suggests that the police have backpedalled on an investigation into an alleged crime because it is alleged that it was committed by their biggest sponsor?. This is an idea that should be kicked into the long grass very smartly by the local police authority.

Politically incorrect alphabet

Somebody sent me this link to a website of someone who has created a website with a politically incorrect alphabet.

The guy who designed the alphabet wrote the following "Lacking any tact or decency, I therefore determined to create an alphabet using only subjects that, while they might have been unremarked a few decades ago, are now outside acceptable usage. But only just. And then it was my intention to illustrate these in a 'modern' style, something along the lines of Dick Bruna's Miffy (OK, Miffy is 50, but still looks fresh). "

Well it amused me.

Leeds beat Wednesday

At least one reader of this blog will be delighted that the mighty Leeds took all three points from this game despite their normal hatred of us. Leeds may have felt a bit lucky in the early stages as Lewis was pulled down on the edge of the box when through. Leeds got a free kick but amazingly the Wednesday player wasn't even booked. I thought Leeds had a penalty later on the first half when Healy was hauled down in the box but the ref (Steve Bennett) wasn't giving anything. In general he did not have a good game as a few moments later he gave a free kick to Leeds that clearly should have been given to Wednesday. Honours even at the end of the first half although I think in all honesty Wednesday shaded it.

Second half and Leeds came out flying. For the first fifteen minutes they were all over Wednesday and put them under tremendous pressure. Derry nearly scored but might have been offside anyway. In the 67th minute the Wednesday keeper brought down Healy on the edge of the box and Steve Bennett awarded a penalty which Healy calmly slotted into the corner. Both sides had a couple of chances but the for the last ten minutes or so Wednesday were really pressurising Leeds and given our habit of conceding late goals recently I was getting nervous. Thankfully the defence hung on to secure all three points. There were a lot of positives to take from Leeds play during this game especially with so many players still out. The defence looked good except for Crainey and the midfield did well going forward - we just need to get a few more players in the box on the end of those attacks

Meanwhile yesterday Reading appeared to struggle to find their normal attacking verve against a physically strong Wigan. If anything it sounded as if they did better once Hunt and Oster (normally second choices) had come on for Seol and Convey. Reading went down 1-0 although they could have snatched a point at the end through Leroy Lita.

Another bike at Bisley

Another bike from the SOFER Rally at Bisley

Lord Clement-Jones raises autism issues

You can see what he had to say about Autism during the debate on Autism in the House of Lords here. Much of what he had to say makes sense. The numbers of cases of Autism have soared in recent years. Whether this is because the number of people with Autism has soared or whether it is because the diagnosis has improved or a combination of the two is difficult to say.

What is clear is that resources are needed to help people with Autism and other Learning Disabilities and their families and carers. Without that money it is difficult for those with such difficulties to lead a fulfilled life and in many cases it proves impossible for the family to keep the child at home leaving the state to pick up an even larger bill eventually.

What is less clear is whether or not pots of money for people with specific difficulties such as Autism should be ring fenced in the way in which Lord Clement-Jones suggests. If resources for those with Autism are to be ring fenced then what about those with Williams Syndrome, Fragile X, Downs or Foetal Alcohol Syndrome (considered to be the largest single cause of Learning Disability). This would lead us to a world where different departments and budgets would be desperately being spent to ensure that the budget was retained whilst generic services would probably suffer as a result and some who need a service would fail to receive it because it had already been spent on someone who needed it less but was covered by a ring fenced pot.

Thai PM alleges assassination attempt

According to the BBC the Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has alleged that there was a plot to kill him. Police found a car with bomb making materials near to his house and he alleges that this was part of a plot by Thai military officers to kill him. Apparently a former army officer has been arrested and the PM has sacked the head of Thailand's main counter-insurgency operation.

Meanwhile his opponents are suggesting that there was no such plot and that this was an attempt to gain sympathy and to divert attention away from his problems.

Thailand goes to the polls again on October 15th and I am hoping that there is a fair election with a peaceful outcome which is accepted by everybody. This latest incident does not augur well though and the danger is that if Thai Rak Thai and the opposition parties are still at loggerheads after the next election the military may decide to take matters into their own hands. At that point I suspect that the stance of King Bhumibol will be critical.

Battle of Hastings anyone?

These pictures were taken at the South of England Rally which was held at Bisley earlier this month. We went along on our two Fatboys and had a great time. This bike must I presume belong to someone from 1066 Chapter. More photos to follow.

Lib Dem buttons added

That was really easy and looks (I think) very professional. I have added the buttons to my site by inserting some simple code. If any other members or supporters wnat to do the same then just go here

Leeds reject Royals

The bid by Reading for Kilgallon has been a big talking point in our household with a Leeds fan (me) and a Reading fan (my son). I go to watch Reading with my son and although I would be extremely reluctant to let him go from Leeds for as little as the rumoured bid of around 1.3m I think I would also be reluctant to see him join Reading. I am not convinced that he is a Premiership class defender of the quality that Reading will need if they are to progress. I guess the fact that they are bidding for him is indicative of the difficulty that they are having in strengthening their squad. Now if Reading would like to up their bid to say 3.5m then maybe Leeds should let him go!

So is he banned or isn't he?

Peter Ridsdale may or may not have been banned from Elland Road. The Leeds United official site is silent on this one. The report from the BBC appears to imply that Ridsdale thinks he has been banned for life whereas Bates says he has not been banned. On a personal level I do not care that much whether Ridsdale is allowed in or not. Of far more interest is how he is allowed to play an ongoing role in the running of a Football Club.

Readings barnstorming start - Leeds lose

Leeds sadly lost to another late goal when Cardiff scored in the 84th minute. Judging by the reports I have read so far Leeds did not play well and lacked creativity and pace on the counter attack. Unless things start to improve particularly in the points department the calls for Blackwell to go will increase and he could yet be one of the first managerial casualties of the season.

Meanwhile I went to the Reading game with my Reading supporting to son to watch their first ever match in the top flight after 135 years. Reading started a little nervously and made quite a few mistakes in the opening period. Their passing wasn't quite up to it and often a Reading player would get the ball and dwell on it too long looking for options before being dispossessed by Middlesbrough. Downing opened the scoring for Middlesbrough after 11 minutes with the Reading defence clearly at fault. Middlesbrough doubled their lead 10 minutes later after Hahnemann spilled the ball to Yakubu who promptly stuck it in the net.

At this point the home fans were beginning to fear a cricket score and were praying that the final scoreline would not be too embarrassing. However, it was at this point that the Reading team stopped being nervous now that they had nothing to lose and started to play with some grit and determination. Slowly some confidence returned and Reading started to look dangerous. Kitson scored a scrappy goal and the self belief continued to flow back. The second goal by Sidwell was real class and more the sort of thing Reading fans had become used to last season. Lita scored a third early on in the second half and the come back was complete. Middlesbrough were unlucky not to equalise when Viduka had a goal ruled offside. Reading continued to have the better of the exchanges and played out the half with some confidence.

There is a long way to go and I am sure that watching Reading will have lots of ups and downs this season but the opener will have given the players the confidence that they can compete in the Premier League. My biggest concern would be the depth of the squad with Kitson injured today and looking likely to be out for a few weeks at least

Joining in on Visited Countries

A couple of people on Lib Dem Blogs have had a go at this so I thought I would join in.



create your own visited country map
or check our Venice travel guide

Prescott, Prescott and more Prescott

What a busy day for Prescott fans

First it is reported that he thinks President Bush's foreign policy is "crap"

I agree with him on this although it appears that he omitted to mention that our foreign policy as the 51st state is almost identical. Oh well open mouth, insert foot business as usual from John Prescott.

In the same article it is reported that "he called the US President a cowboy with his Stetson on". Oh well I guess it takes one to know one. It was only a few weeks ago that he was fantasising about being a cowboy himself!

Then it is reported that following a freedom of information request "the Cabinet Office has refused to say how often the Cabinet committees chaired by John Prescott have met"

Tricky one this. Damned if you do and damned if you don't I suspect.

Finally it is reported that a TV Drama is to depict John Prescott's fall from grace

Surely this cannot be a TV Drama? A comedy yes, but a TV drama? I think not.

Loss of community spirit?

This survey was conducted by ICM and commissioned by Community Service Volunteers (CSV) for Make a Difference Day. They highlight certain findings which they believe could be in part addressed through volunteering in general and through Make a Difference day in particular.

I am not sure that I entirely agree with the headline in the Guardian piece which exclaims "Report reveals loss of community spirit" I think that this can be read in a more positive light in that people are concerned about these issues. It seems to me that it is not good that there is dwindling support for young people or a lack of dignity for the elderly but it is positive that "40% of the population say they are concerned about dwindling support and guidance for young people growing up and 25% say they are concerned about older people losing their dignity."

This survey certainly provides some useful hooks for Liberal Democrat policies.

Instant Justice = No Justice

So here we go again. Further plans to undermine the concepts of fairness and justice which we rightly hold so dear. We have already seen some small steps in this direction with the powers the police already have. Now they are proposing that this should be taken further with more powers to dispense instant justice. The end result of all this is that the police become prosecutor, judge, jury and executioner all in one. This is not good for justice and in the long run this will not be good for the police.

There is a trend developing here where the debate starts over the principle as a result of which the proposals (say detention without charge) get watered down. Nonetheless the principle becomes established. Later on the government comes back with further proposals and the debate gets sucked into the detail rather than the principle. The ninety day detention is probably going to be back on the agenda after recent events and we will end up seeing the debate conducted over the detail of whether or not it should be ninety days rather than over the principle of whether or not we should be detaining people without charging them. I hope our parliamentary team will be focused on bringing the debate around to the principles

Government booze stash

According to Don Foster the government has a "hospitality" stash of booze which contains some 35,000 bottles of wine, beer and spirits worth some £647,000! Quite what they need such a large amount of alcohol for I do not know. I always find the local shops, supermarkets and off licenses well stocked with such items. We could have a brilliant party with that lot and so could they always assuming of course that they know how to organise a p*** up in a brewery

Disappointing but signs of promise

Leeds threw away three possible points this afternoon at Crystal Palace. However despite the loss there were some very positive signs. Leeds went down to 10 men after 15 minutes when Horsfield was sent off but held on until the 91st minute when Morrison score for Palace. For much of the game Leeds looked comfortable on the ball particularly in the last 30 minutes of the first half when some good chances when begging. The struggled more in the second half but still looked worthy of a point and Westlake and Stone were brilliant

1 Point gained 2 lost

I guess four points from six at the start of the season is not to be sniffed at especially given the disrupted pre-season and late signings at the back end of last week. Some poor defending allowed QPR to snatch a point. Oh well early days I guess

A small step in the right direction

At long last some commonsense prevails and the Ordnance Survey is going to put details of security sensitive sites on the map. This is an issue which has always seemed barking mad and slightly offensive to those of who live near to nuclear sites such as the Atomic Weapons base at Aldermaston. To look at the map and see green fields where patently a large military industrial complex sits has always been at odds with reality.

I used to sit on the Atomic Weapons Base Local Liaison Committee in my days as a councillor and raised this very issue on a couple of occasions. I was told initially that it could not be done for reasons of national security. I then produced a map of the base (kindly sent to me by some anonymous party) and asked whether or not the Committee could instead be supplied with an up to date version of my map. Queue apoplectic fits on behalf of the AWE Staff who wanted to know where this classified map had come from?

I pointed out that given the leaks from inside the base of radioactivity and documents and the name of the adjacent village (Aldermaston) it would not take a rocket scientist to locate the base. Several years later it was conceded that it would not be a problem to apply to have Aldermaston put back on the map. Finally some action appears to have been taken - It is not absolutely clear from the article in the Guardian but it looks as if the Weapons Base at Aldermaston will be restored to Ordnance Survey maps and at last I may be able to obtain a reasonably accurate map of the local area.

Great - the season is underway and 3 points in the bag

Excellent start to the season after last seasons disappointing trip to Cardiff. I must admit I was nervous about this one - expecting Norwich to be stronger than last season and thought that a hard fought draw might be a possible outcome. Still this win sets us off on the right foot for a long hard season ahead. It is good to see some activity on the transfer front despite the fiasco with Livermore with three more players arriving in the last couple of days. According to the preview on Leeds United Life this win keeps a great run of opening day results going - "Our last opening day defeat was the 5-2 loss, away at Newcastle, on 19 August 1989, the year we won the old Division Two title. Since then, we have won nine and drawn seven and yet nine of those sixteen games were played away. This will be our eighth successive home game on opening day and we are looking for our sixth win in that time."

Hospital fined for treating patients!!

So basically the hospital in question had spare capacity and got on and treated the patients that were waiting. Brilliant you would think what a good idea.........but oh no hang on a minute loads of these patients they treated were seen earlier than the 122 days they were supposed to wait so there is no way the PCT's are going to pay up. So patients get treated quickly without having to wait 122 days (4 months) and the PCT's who are short of cash in the mad world that is the NHS these days weasel out of paying. It is good to know that all these reforms are working so sensibly!!

Mad goings on at Elland Road

21st July - David Livermore signs for Leeds from Millwall for £400,000

1st August - David Livermore joins Hull for an undisclosed fee

Well he obviously impressed in training then!! The official line from the club is "At the time of signing David, Kevin Nicholls and another potential midfield target weren't available to us. We then managed to acquire Kevin and things have now opened up on another target. With everyone fit, David is unlikely to play - so when the opportunity came up for him to talk to Hull, we gave him that choice."

This is so bizarre it beggars belief and doesn't bode well for the coming season which kicks off on Saturday. The clubs line on the acquisition of Kevin Nicholls might hold some water if it were not for the announcement on the official site the same day (yesterday) that Nicholls earlier injury was being described by the manager as "serious" see link here.

And why the undisclosed fee lets hope it is because Hull don't want to admit that they have paid more than £400k for a player who cost Leeds that amount less than two weeks ago. The alternative is that Leeds have made a loss on the player.

Roll on Saturday - but I fear a long hard season ahead

Election Commissioners Jailed

Thailands election commissioners have been found guilty of allowing unqualified candidates to stand in last Aprils elections and have been sentenced to four years in prison. They will appeal against their sentences. However, I guess that this will resolve the impasse caused by the refusal of most of the Election Commissioners to stand down and is another step towards (hopefully) successful elections in October

So now we can fly flags legally!!

I must admit I missed this one as I wasn't aware that it was illegal to fly a flag in the first place. All this probably fits in with the politically correct barking mad world in which we currently live. See also my post during the world cup on this sort of nonsense.

I was probably too closely involved in watching the world cup to notice that someone was being threatened with prosecution for displaying the national flag.

Anyway hats off to Yvette Cooper for displaying some common sense - a trait which is all too frequently missing from many government departments.

Sadly we won't be allowed to display our flags until April 2007 - I may just reinstate the flag on this blog as presumably that won't require planning permission.

15th October it is

At last a date has been set for the rerun of Thailands elections. I hope that the pending court cases can be resolved as quickly as possible to give a clear run in to the new elections. Then lets hope that all the parties participate in the elections and that everyone accepts the results

Thai Rak Thai and opposition face fraud trial

Thai Rak Thai and the Democrats will face court in the fraud trila relating to Aprils elections. However, according to this piece from the BBC it is thought unlikely that Thailands main parties will be dissolved. These issues clearly need to be resolved a.s.a.p so that there is some certainty in the run up to the new elections in October

This is a monster!

Now I know that I like big bikes. My Harley Davidson Fatboy has a 1450 cc engine. I always fancied a go on a Triumph Rocket which has a 2294 cc engine.

But this beastie from Boss Hoss is just unbelieveable!!

It has an 8200 cc engine!! Oh and you can get them in the UK now from here. Now where did I put that spare £42,000?

Do we want to encourage Volunteers and Volunteering?

My attention was drawn to the issue of just what those on benefits can or cannot do vis-a-vis volunteering by John Hemmings post. He is concerned about the issue of expenses for those on benefits who are volunteering and specifically the statement that those on benefits "won't be able to claim for buying lunch" because "the amount of Income Support or Job Seekers allowance you get is already meant to cover the cost of your basic needs including lunch".

I start off from a very simplistic view of the world in that I believe that volunteering is a good thing. One charity I have been involved with in the past could not deliver anywhere near the level of services it does without the help of all the wonderful volunteers who give up their time. For many volunteers the act of volunteering also has a beneficial impact on their own development at the same time as assisting the charity. I know of volunteers who have developed so far that they have gone on to full time paid employment in the same charity.

So it now appears that if you give a volunteer expenses to cover the cost of their lunch that money will be deducted from their benefits. This is mad given that they may incur additional costs through purchasing lunch where they are volunteering rather than making themselves something at home. Of course charities can presumably get round this by providing food and drink for their volunteers instead of paying expenses but that of course assumes that they have already got the volunteer through the door. Alternatively of course they may have decided not to wade through the 49 page document from the DWP and may have given up on the idea of volunteering completely!!

Thailand is the most risky place for holidaymakers

I found this statistic from Norwich Union somewhat at odds with my own personal experiences in Thailand. Maybe I have just been luck and admittedly I am only one person whereas their report was based on some 60,000 claims. I have always found Thailand to be a safe and happy place. Apparently British holiday makers are most likely to suffer "food poisoning, theft, traffic accidents or the loss of belongings" when visiting Thailand. The traffic accidents I can believe although I have seen countries where the problem is worse. As for the rest - well I have seen no great evidence of theft being a problem and the food is wonderful. It certainly won't stop me going again. In fact the flights are already booked!

People with learning disabilities abused by NHS

According to the 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". Some of the abuse described in this report is horrific but sadly in my personal experience (I was until recently a director of West Berkshire Mencap) these are not isolated incidents.

The NHS in other parts of the country has very real problems in dealing with people with learning disabilities. These problems may not be on the same scale as the proactive abuse described in the report but the impact of not doing something can be almost as devastating.

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.

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. This cannot be a cost effective way of dealing with someone. Never mind the basic considerations of treating someone with respect and dignity and the long term implications for this persons quality of life!

My impression is that it is all too difficult for some medical practitioners. Don't get me wrong there are clearly some very good doctors and nurses out there as well but in a lot of areas there is significant work to be done if the NHS is deliver an equitable service to all its patients. Education and training will have a role to play as will the nominated advocates who are supposed to be in place at each Hospital. However, what is needed more than anything else is a sea change in attitudes so that those with Learning Disabilities are treated with the respect and dignity that any other member of the community would expect.

Congratulations are due to the local Mencap for getting a proper investigation into the problems in Cornwall.

The rest of the NHS across the country will need to have long hard look at itself and start treating people with learning disabilities with some respect especially as according to the BBC article "Checks will now be carried out on all services in England."

Thailand and Football!

This was too good an opportunity to miss. A chance to blog about two of my favourite things...Thailand and Football. It seems that the problem of absenteeism has spread even to the Buddhist monks in Thailand even though they are not taking part in the world cup. According to this piece from the BBC the monks "have to be awake at 5am every morning to collect alms from the local community. Because of the six-hour time difference between Germany and Thailand, many matches do not start until the early hours of the morning, and since the World Cup began there have been reports of monks sleeping in, leaving local Buddhists waiting in vain with their morning offerings."

Normal service may now be resumed - slowly

After an appropriate period of mourning the St Georges Flag has now been removed from my blog and normal service may now slowly resume. I will probably still watch the semis and the final though. Then a few days off before pre season begins in earnest.