Gaza.........time to nail our colours to the mast

Bob Shaw has helpfully posted the Emergency Motion being submitted to conference on Gaza. It is an excellent motion and I trust it will engender an important debate. I am particularly pleased to see the reference to the European Association Agreement, an issue I raised with Ed Davey last week. Given his commitment to be guided by party policy I trust this motion will be resoundingly supported. I am only sorry that given it is an emergency motion it will have very little time for debate. If you are going to conference I hope you will take the time to attend the emergency debate and support this motion. Please don't wait for there to be the Holocaust forecast by Israeli Deputy Defence Minister, Matan Vilnai last week.

Gaza - the innocent victims of war

A couple of weeks ago I attended a meeting at Portcullis about Gaza and I have been remiss in not writing it up. There were a number of extremely moving speeches, foremost amongst them Manuel Hassassian, a man who doesn't pull his punches. He talked about the Palestinian people's continuing belief in peace - stating that the end of the occupation was the aim of their struggle - and the creation of an economically viable entity. He said "Our hopes are entangled with pessimism" the story is of more incursions, (including in the West Bank) and the building of more illegal settlements. There were appalling stories of killing, the total isolation of Gaza and what in Manuel's view, amounted to ethnic cleansing.

He talked about what was happening on the ground and the Annapolis Conference. But, as he rightly observed the sticking points are Jerusalem and the Right of Return. I was at a UN conference in Brussels last year where Danny Rubenstein (Haaretz) talked about the issue of the Right of Return being a red line for the Jewish state. They could not and would not agree, since that would spell the end of the Jewish state. (Incidentally he got a lot of criticism for having referred to the Israeli state as apartheid). Similarly, Palestinians do not want a Palestinian state without Jerusalem as its capital.

Manuel stressed that there must be an end to the occupation. He acknowledged the $7.4 billion pledges which the donor countries thought would promote economic development. But how would it ever be possible to develop the economy with 600 checkpoints when children can't reach school, or Jerusalem, or their villages, and with the total isolation of Gaza? He said that Israel is consistent, both Fatah and Hamas politicians are imprisoned. He regarded this as a systematic approach because they don't want democracy for Palestine.

He complained about the collective punishment that Israel, who never left Gaza, is imposing on the Gazans, they are effectively imprisoned. They are trying to put themselves on an equal footing, but just can't resist the superior power of Israel. He felt that any notion of the Israeli action being self-defence, was just hypocricy. Also that the European community could do more instead of bolstering the occupation.

Despite everything Manuel is still committed to a two state solution - with contiguity for a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders - that was the compromise. Instead the current process was resulting in a confiscation of 50% of the West Bank and the isolation of East Jerusalem from the West Bank.

Other speakers, such as Richard Burden MP reflected on the impact on ordinary Gazans of the current situation. The sanctions against them were indiscriminate and counter productive. The siege is resulting in a lack of power supply of 8 hours a day at least. And Gaza are dependent on Israel for power, of course they would be less dependent if their power station hadn't been bombed. The powercuts in hospitals were particularly devastating and the current situation couldn't go on. There should be a recognition of the root of the problem - it's the occupation stupid! Gaza is a prison without a roof. There is also the issue of water and the control of water. The occupation is about control. Control of water, power, access to goods. The people of Gaza want to know they have solidarity and support outside. Richard reiterated the view that until the occupation is ended there will be no progress. The current Israeli solution is not a solution at all.

Dr Daud Abdullah from the Muslim Council of Britain mentioned the natural gas in the waters of Gaza which they are unable to exploit. He wondered, if it were Israel under siege - how would the West react? He spoke movingly about the impact of the denial of medicine and food in Gaza, of candlelit wards with babies dying in incubators for lack of power, and reflected that Palestinians were being killed on a 55 to 1 ratio. There are daily tragedies where people can't get through checkpoints, like the 67 year old woman who could not get through for vital treatment. There was real concern that plans were already in place for an all out invasion of Gaza he urged that we shouldn't give legitimacy to further bloodletting we needed to give hope. In order for there to be true reconciliation there had to be a just settlement.

Angela Godfrey-Goldstein from ICAHD spoke about the fact that there was not a viable Palestinian state, the Israeli government were employing the practice of divide and rule. She reminded us that Britain bears some of the reponsibility and we should assume some leadership. Angela, an Israeli citizen said you don't let your friends drive drunk, Israel must be pressured to allow freedom of movement. IDF cannot be allowed to continue as they are and the EU Trade Association Agreement should be suspended. She described what was happening as apartheid and believed that sanctions must be threatened. Funding for Israel should be stopped or they will obliterate Gaza. She believed Israel was creating the ghetto that they feared. Hamas ceasefire offers had been rejected. She said that Israel had no respect for international law and were guilty of serious war crimes. She called for the British Government to have some moral courage and expressed her feeling that there was a crisis of leadership with no one to speak into the situation.

This was a couple of weeks ago and clearly things have moved on. The feared major invasion could be days away. What is happening in Gaza is a tragedy for Palestinian people, but is equally a tragedy for the people of Israel. There can be no progress on peace whilst the Israeli state continues to behave as a special case, relying on it's protector the US government to condone and turn a blind eye to its flouting of international law, the Geneva Convention and human rights. Like Angela, I long for the emergence of leadership, wherever it may come from and for a leader who has the metal to stand up to bullies, whoever they are. As a party we can begin to show some of that leadership, I trust we will.

Never Argue with a Woman!

I am sure like everyone. I get a lot of jokey emails from pals, but this one really appealed to me!

One morning, the husband returns the boat to their lakeside cottage after several hours of fishing and decides to take a nap.Although not familiar with the lake, his wife decides to take the boat out. She motors out a short distance, anchors, puts her feet up, and begins to read her book. The peace and solitude are magnificent. Along comes a Fish and Game Warden in his boat. He pulls up alongside the woman and says, "Good morning, Ma'am. What are you doing?" "Reading a book," she replies, (thinking, "Isn't that obvious?"). "You're in a Restricted Fishing Area," he informs her. "I'm sorry, officer, but I'm not fishing. I'm reading." "Yes, but I see you have all the equipment. For all I know you could start at any moment . I'll have to take you in and write you up." "If you do that, I'll have to charge you with sexual assault," says the woman. "But I haven't even touched you," says the Game Warden. "That's true, but you have all the equipment. For all I know you could start at any moment." "Have a nice day ma'am," and he left.

2 out of 3 support party position on in/out referendum

You can read all about it here. I am very happy about this and maybe I should eat my previous words on this subject? I am going to have a think about that and come back to you!

Up on the Roof with Ed Davey?

Last week, along with my fellow bloggers, I had the great treat of interviewing Ed Davey. Gavin, Milly, Meral and James and James have already blogged about it, but afraid I am late as ever, but not as late as Jonny it seems, so that makes me feel better!

Ed is such an asset to our party, although I have to admit I haven’t always thought that (!) coming as I do from a different wing of the party. But it has to be said he has been growing on me for some time, particularly as I have seen him in action in FPC and his actions last week in leading the walk out of the commons, has sent him into the upper echelons of my political heroes. I tried to get a badge for him with “My Hero” on, but unable to find one I had to settle for “I’m hot”……..which I trust he will wear at conference! I have to say that when I heard that there were protestors on the roof of the Commons, my first thought was ‘must be our Ed revolting again, Go Ed!’ sadly it wasn’t Ed, however I am sure we will see him there in due course!

So, although I have seen quite a lot of Ed over the last couple of years, what struck me about our interview was his huge energy and commitment to his new job. Foreign Affairs must surely be one of the most daunting tasks, you will be expected to have an in depth knowledge on what is going on in the world from the obvious to the obscure. Ed recognises he has a lot to learn, what he clearly brings that is fresh to the role is his incredible campaigning ability, this was evident in our interview.

My fellow bloggers have given a fantastic summary of what he said, so I am going to focus and comment on a couple of issues close to my heart.

Ed spoke very movingly about his values and the huge dilemma of judging whether peace or justice is more important. His conclusion, that there is often more justice from peace, struck a chord. His reflection that as a nation we had undermined our ability to argue due to having engaged in an illegal war was a powerful one.

I particularly wanted to get a feeling for Ed’s position on Israel/Palestine. His response was balanced and reflective. I had asked him about Nick’s challenge that as a party we needed to take more risks, and wondered what risks he thought we should be taking in the Middle East. He was calling for divestment in Sudan, would he do the same with regards to Israel? His view was that we must be even handed and not risk making the problem worse in a number of disputes. He talked about upholding Human Rights, so I felt I had to challenge him about the appalling human rights record of Israel, not just in relation to the Palestinian communities within the West Bank and Gaza, but also in relation to the treatment of the 20% Palestinian Israeli citizens. I wondered if we should support the UN call for the suspending the EU Association Agreement which puts a clear responsibility on Israel to uphold Human Rights. Ed said he would be guided by the policy passed at autumn conference, a policy that had the support of both Friends of Palestine and Friends of Israel. So was I happy with his response? I understood it, but I was disappointed. I think it is the approach which sees the Israel Palestine conflict as rather like naughty boys fighting who just need their heads banging together to get them to stop, that has held up the peace process. It is not that sort of problem and I say this as someone who for most of my life was a strong supporter of Israel, it was only after visiting the country that my own quite Zionist views were challenged. I have two metaphors which I believe sum up the situation. When people talk about compromise I would say, if you come into my home, take over, push me into the back bedroom and allow me only limited access to the kitchen and bathroom, is a compromise to allow me a little more access to the kitchen and bathroom and give me another bedroom? I don’t think so. And when people talk about the need for reconciliation (which I absolutely believe in and think can happen on a personal level to a limited degree) I would argue, if you are sitting on my head – I may need you to get off my head before I can be reconciled to you. If in the process of sitting on my head you blacked my eye and broke my nose, I may think I need an apology before I can be reconciled to you. And if in the process of me trying to get you to stop sitting on my head I kicked you where it hurts, I may also need to apologise to you too before we could be reconciled. The State of Israel has a right to exist, whatever the rights and wrongs of 1948, we are where we are and we have to live with the consequences. But the occupation is illegal, plain and simple! We don’t do Israel any favours by colluding and supporting the occupation because we are supporting injustice. We don’t do the Palestinian people any favours by supporting Hamas attacks on civilian targets. So, I would like us to take a much stronger line on this. If we allow Israel to get away with violations of human rights, international law and to breach the Geneva Convention, we have absolutely no moral authority to complain about any other nation doing the same.

Thanks to the questions of my fellow bloggers I felt we began to get a real feel for the measure of the man and what he will bring to his new role. He takes a particular interest in Sri Lanka (of interest to me as my children are half Sri Lankan) and clearly has wrestled with the issue of trying to bring peace to that troubled island. Another beautiful place, torn apart by conflict, another legacy, as my ex husband would see it, of the British ability to screw up! But he recognised the lessons that we have learnt from the Northern Ireland peace process and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa.

I was interested in the position he is taking in nuclear disarmament. Of course I do not agree with our current party policy on Trident (still trying to get it brought up again) but Ed is convinced that there is now more political will on this issue, particularly coming from the US in the likes of Henry Kissinger and George Shultz in an article published in the Wall Street Journal “A World Free of Nuclear Weapons”. This was also taken up my Barack Obama later last year. And of course Ed is also spearheading our campaign on Ballistic Missile Defence, something I expect him to do extremely effectively.

Ed Davey.........LoozMuze Top Gun!

From where I sit Ed Davey has not always been top of my political heroes list. Not because I don't like him, I think he is a darling, but because we don't always see eye to eye politically.

However.............he has now been elevated to LoozMuze Top Gun!!!!! Here is a man after my own heart, dissent.........don't we just love it?! I did consider Nick's decision to move him to Foreign Affairs to be inspired, that has just been confirmed. Hey, walkout today, occupation tomorrow............where do I sign up????

Tomorrow some of us bloggernistas will have the privilege of interviewing him, is that gonna be good or what?!

Obama, Clinton, Dems - Show Leadership!

Another interesting article from across the water by Kevin Martin:

I must confess a dirty little secret - I don’t care what presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama say they will do to end the U.S. occupation of Iraq if they become president next year. Thousands more Iraqis and hundreds more U.S. troops will be dead by then, and for what? I want to know what Senators Clinton and Obama are willing to do to end the war this year. Surely I’m not alone in this desire, am I?
While George Bush, aided and abetted by a supine Congress, does his best impersonation of an extremely unpopular yet omnipotent emperor, especially on Iraq and foreign policy, Obama and Clinton are far from powerless in their current positions. As Senators, they could lead a filibuster to end funding for Bush’s occupation of Iraq. This would show real leadership, and if they succeeded, two grateful nations would sing their praises for generations, regardless of whether either ever became president.

Even better would be for there to be no bill for them to have to filibuster. Obama, Clinton, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman John Murtha and other Democratic leaders should agree to simply not draft a bill to continue the war. They should tell Bush, “Sorry, the bank is closed; you’ll get no more of the taxpayers’ money to continue your quagmire” other than funds to safely and swiftly withdraw all of our troops and bases if money already appropriated needs to be augmented for this purpose (the merchants of death, I mean contractors, can pay their own way home from the windfall profits they’ve made in Iraq).

Furthermore, as a down-payment on the enormous debt we owe the people of Iraq and our veterans, the money that otherwise would go to continue the occupation (and Bush is expected to ask for well over $100 billion more for this year alone, on top of the more than $600 billion already spent over the last five years) should instead be appropriated for an interim United Nations or Arab League peacekeeping force (if the leaders of various Iraqi factions agree it is needed), reconstruction of Iraq’s devastated infrastructure and economy, and greatly enhanced health care and other benefits for our returning veterans. Besides being the right thing to do, peace is cheaper than war.

Unfortunately, it looks like a war funding bill will be put forward by the Democratic “leadership,” so we need senators to step up and lead a filibuster, which would require only 41 senators to sustain.

Many allegedly anti-war Democrats, including some who voted against the war (unlike Senator Clinton of course) in 2002, have voted to appropriate every penny for the war and occupation of Iraq, cowed by Bush , Cheney and the Republicans’ smear that they would be “abandoning the troops” if they vote against war funding.

My advice on dealing with this despicable political blackmail is to get over it. Senators, you know how to do photo ops - stand on a flag-draped stage in front of the Iwo Jima statue with leaders from Iraq Veterans Against the War, Veterans for Peace, Military Families Speak Out, the Appeal for Redress (comprised of active duty military personnel who oppose the war) and retired generals and military officials to announce you are ending funding for the occupation, and dare Bush, Cheney and the chicken hawks to call you abandoners of the troops. C’mon, you can do it!

My main purpose is to end the occupation of Iraq, not to get Democrats elected to the White House or Congress, but it’s no-brainingly obvious that in this case, with a historically unpopular president, a solid majority of the country against the war, and a presumptive Republican presidential nominee, John McCain, who thinks it would be fine if our troops remained in Iraq for 100 years (!), good policy is also good politics. Obama and Clinton should be tripping over each other running to the well of the Senate to announce they will filibuster to end funding for the war. The first to get there would doubtless become president in a landslide. It would be easy political ju jitsu –make Bush, McCain and others defend their indefensible desire to perpetuate an endless, bottomless (money-wise) occupation, instead of your having to defend doing the right thing, ending it.

Senators, get your act together. March 19 will mark the fifth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. The Iraqi people, our troops and their families can’t wait another year, or longer, to end this calamitous occupation. And seriously, wouldn’t you rather have this problem resolved before one of you becomes president?

Kevin Martin is executive director of Peace Action and Peace Action Education Fund , the United States' largest peace and disarmament organisation with over 100,000 members.

Sex, Halliburton and the State

One of the many email lists I subscribe to is After Downing Street, an organisation set up in response to the leaking of the Downing Street Memos, a story broken by my pal Mick Smith. Today I received this email from David Swanson of After Downing Street which I thought merited wider circulation:

On Wednesday, February 27th, from 8 to 9 p.m. ET I'll be interviewing live another female Halliburton employee who was subjected to an environment of constant sexual harassment in Iraq. Tracy Barker was sexually assaulted by Halliburton employees and - in one instance - by a U.S. State Department employee in Basra, Iraq. The State Department employee has confessed to part of what Barker alleges, but remains at the State Department, and has never been charged with any crime. You can listen to the live interview and call in with your questions on Wednesday at The People Speak Radio.

At the same link, you'll find the audio file of a recent interview I conducted with Jamie Leigh Jones, a victim of gang rape by employees of the Halliburton corporation in Iraq. Jones has become the best known of what appears to be a lengthy list of Halliburton employees subjected to sexual assault. U.S. contractors in Iraq cannot be prosecuted under Iraqi law and simply are not prosecuted under U.S. law.An ABC News 20/20 report last December focused largely on Jones' story, and Jones also testified before Congress that month. But if you watch the 20/20 report through to the end you'll see a second story as well, that of Tracy Barker. Barker has brought charges against Halliburton/KBR claiming that she was sexually assaulted, harassed, and falsely imprisoned while working at Camp Hope in Basra, Iraq. Barker is a military wife and mother of 3 who worked for Halliburton's KBR subsidiary as an administrative assistant in Iraq while her husband served in the U.S. military. According to ABC News, Barker claims that State Department employee Ali Mokhtare attempted to rape her.

"Mokhtare denied that he had attempted to rape her, but admitted that he had gone too far with Tracy, and signed a statement to that effect, which ABC News has obtained. In the document, Mokhtare states he 'admitted that he pulled her vest and shirt' and that he asked Barker, 'What do you have behind there?' He also says that he 'made a mistake and it was stupid,' according to the document. Despite his admission, Mokhtare, a U.S. citizen, still works at the State Department today....
"Mokhtare was a diplomatic official in Basra who first came to Iraq as a Farsi translator interviewing detainees. The U.S. Diplomatic Security Service investigated the allegations against Mokhtare and presented the case to the Justice Department for prosecution, but 'the case was declined for prosecution' states the document. Furthermore, investigators requested that the State Department suspend Mokhtare's security clearance, but according to a handwritten note at the bottom of the document, that request was denied."
Following the incident, Barker says, Halliburton confined her to a living container where she was constantly watched, including when she used the bathroom. Food was brought to her as if she was a prisoner, and she was denied medical attention and any outside communications. Barker says she was forced several days later to wear the same clothing she'd worn the night of the assault (ordinary pants and a long-sleeved shirt) and paraded through a crowded dining area apparently to humiliate her. This was part of the official investigation, aimed at determining whether she was sexually provocative. At this point she was still be refused medical attention.
Eventually, Barker says, she was able to use a cellphone belonging to National Guardsman Kevin Rodgers. Barker’s husband, 1st Sergeant Galen Barker, says that his wife contacted him through Rodgers. He then tried unsuccessfully to get to Kuwait so that he could rescue his wife from Iraq. Barker continued to be held against her will by Halliburton, and the State Department continued to stall her release. She was eventually rescued by Dr. David Pakkal of the State Department who took her to Kuwait.
When she returned home, Barker spoke out about what she had been through and began pursuing justice through U.S. courts. She says she was the first victim to do so. Several months after returning home, in July of 2005, Barker started receiving phone calls from other Halliburton employees who also alleged sexual harassment and rape while in Iraq. Barker learned that a State Department investigator and a Halliburton employee had given her home phone number out to gang rape victims because they thought Barker could help them.
Barker says the State Department offered her $3,500 in cash to drop certain charges, but she refused.
Halliburton has requested private arbitration instead of facing a civil suit and claims that this is required by Barker's employment contract. A judge ruled this month in favor of arbitration, arguing that sexual harassment, including assault, is a reality in today's workplace. Barker's attorney Stewart Hoffer is in the process of appealing this order.
Barker was invited to testify before Congress on December 19, 2007, by Congressman Bob Etheridge. Barker’s newborn twins were fighting for their lives, but Barker made the trip to Washington, only to be denied the opportunity to testify. Barker was permitted only to submit to the House Judiciary Committee a statement from Letty Surman, Barker's human resources manager at Halliburton/KBR and an eyewitness to some of her ordeals. Surman's affidavit detailed Barker’s workplace experience and described the men who assaulted Barker.
Barker has created the Tracy K. Barker Foundation to help other women who have also been victimized while working overseas.

Simon Hughes - 25 years.............and counting!

Yesterday marked the 25th anniversary of the Bermondsey by election and Simon Hughes' historic victory. Of course that by election has always been mired in controversy, a controversy re-kindled 2 years ago when Simon was "outed" during the leadership election. However, there has also been a lot of tosh chatted about what actually happened, the focus, perhaps because it was Simon who won, being on "The Straight Choice" leaflet (a phrase that still appears on election leaflets of all shades). What gets completely forgotten is the smear campaign conducted by the Labour Party. So I found this Time Out article refreshingly balanced.

So, the outcome for us as a party has been to have had one of the most dedicated and hard working MPs serving not only his constituents but also his party. Yesterday was no different. Simon arrived at the EMLD AGM having just been to a Fair Trade event, to inspire and encourage those of us who were there to continue the struggle for a truly representative party.

Simon is someone who is always prepared to put his head above the parapet on behalf of others, to be a voice for the voiceless and a tireless campaigner against injustice of all kinds. After 25 years service he is still one of our party's greatest assets, here's to the next 25 years!!!

Male Chauvinist Piggery?

I read Bob Shaw's piece with interest......I started to leave a comment and then felt a blog coming on! OK, I admit it, I am a weak little woman......all 5 feet of me - I have never been strong and I have never been tall! Plus, I am left handed which of course makes me sinister too. In reading Bob's piece I was reminded of the time I went to a meeting with a bunch of Unison members I was due to be representing. There was clearly some dissent in the ranks and the woman who had invited me in had been concerned. At the end of the meeting she said "When you walked in and I saw the size of you my heart sank, but you've been brilliant!" Hmmmm, yes of course, my ability to represent members and deal with dissent, is directly related to my size. But that story for me illustrates what we all do to a greater or lesser degree, make, often subconscious, judgements about people and their ability/lack of it based on their gender, ethnicity, sexuality, disability, age, accent, height, clothes sense (or lack of), body language........... It seeps in all over the place, the former we have legislation to try and mitigate, the latter, none.

The issue Bob had taken up was to do with Brian Paddick's idea to have women friendly carriages on the tube. As someone who regularly takes the tube late at night I feel perfectly safe since there are usually lots of people around - I am more nervous waiting on deserted train stations like West Hampstead late at night. But as Nich Starling has pointed out in a comment on Bob's piece, it is actually men, and young men in particular, who are more at risk of crime than women. However, if I was attacked by a strong man I wouldn't have much of a chance...........if I was attacked by a strong woman I wouldn't have much of a chance either!

So, Bob is concerned that he may be seen as a male chauvinist. I don't think so. A male chauvinist is someone who wants to treat women differently because he sees them as inferior. Bob wants to treat women the same because he sees them as equal. (If I have misrepresented you Bob please let me know!) This is why we are continuing to have this difficult debate within the party. Where I part company with Bob is that his position doesn't take account of the historical context which has meant we do not have a level playing field, for all sorts of reasons. For anyone to be able to compete they need to have had the same opportunities. This clearly has not been the case. It is not that long ago when I was in the army, that I would have had to leave had I got pregnant, and was not allowed to go on a Chinese language course for fear I might get pregnant! And not that long before that women teachers had to stop teaching if they got married. We still have a long way to go and part of redressing the balance, not only for women but for others who are discriminated against, has surely to include some forms of positive action.

Oooh 'eck Looz Muze (SHOCKING!) Nuze!!!!

Today I got a surprise pressie, dropped into my inbox from an unlikely source. No...........it wasn't a belated Valentine............it was a message from James Graham to inform me that along with fellow women bloggers Meral Ece, Alix Mortimer, Charlotte Gore and Lynne Featherstone, I had been nominated for the Gender Balance Best Lib Dem Blog! Now, included in the message was a request for me to add the button to my blog with a link to the Gender Balance Campaign - this I am unable to do, so this is the temporary compromise until I find out what I need to do.


Whilst I know I have a few fans, I also have a lot of detractors. There was a little chatter and speculation when I wasn't in the shortlist for last year's blog awards, was it because I was a tad off message? Was it because I had been a weeny bit challenging about Ming's performance? Actually I was quite clear, it was a) because I wasn't good enough and b) because I was the archetypal intermittent blogger!


Then, last month I discovered I was number 7 on the list of most "popular" bloggers for last year. This caused me to revise my understanding of the word "popular" given that it is very clear many of my dear readers do so as an alternative to wearing a hair shirt!


So I was genuinely delighted that I was regarded as worthy enough to end up in the top 5 for the Gender Balance Award. I said at the time that the existence of the award is an admission of failure not success, but "If we can encourage more diversity in political debate through this award then I fail to see how this is a bad thing." We have seen many more women enter the blogosphere over the last year which is great, but we are still outnumbered in blog entries and blogs at around 8 to 1.


So, many thanks to those of you who were kind enough to nominate me, I am really thrilled that my ramblings have on occasions touched a chord and I hope will play a part in encouraging other women to see that you don't have to be a Polly Toynbee or Jackie Ashley to express an opinion!

Stable Cable's Able

There is no doubt, Northern Rock was a crisis waiting to happen. As was noted in a really great profile of Vince by Michael White in today's Guardian, it is he who has been warning for years of the consequences of overindebtedness.

"When Northern Rock went belly up and went to the Bank of England for help in September, Cable immediately urged nationalisation as the course for the Treasury to adopt.
Voters may not notice the nuances, though some will remember that puritan Cable had been warning against Britain's growing personal credit card debt for several years. Now Cable's early call on the Rock had been vindicated, in sharp contrast to the havering of the Conservatives. Cameron and Osborne are clever too - and have more of a political future - but they lack experience and judgment. On the Northern Wreck, Dave'n'George have been all over the shop. Osborne's attack on Monday missed its target, and Cameron has been awkward too."

At a time when a beleaguered Brown bleats wanely on about his legacy of stability, it seems to me that all he does is draw attention to the understated brilliance of Vince Cable; a fact that has not gone unnoticed in the media.

It is clear that there is a continued nervousness in the financial markets. We are looking at legislation with application beyond Northern Rock. How many banks will the government be prepared to nationalise before the country itself is bankrupt I wonder? We are already looking at a commitment in the region of £100 billion for one bank. Don't get me wrong, I fully support the nationalisation, it is our money after all. But, where will it all end? Somewhere, sometime we need to fez up and recognise the rod we have built for our own backs with our obsession with house prices. We need a local tax system that takes the heat out of the market. For those of us who already own our own homes we can sit back smugly and baulk at any legislation that may lessen the value of our homes. For those who don't, in particular young people with no prospect of parental support, owning their own home is completely out of their reach. More worrying is for those who think they can do it, encouraged by irresponsible lending (the nonsense of 125% mortgages for example) they have been lead into a nightmare, often left with not only broken dreams but broken lives and broken families too. Northern Rock is a wake up call. Vince is no longer a lone voice calling in the wilderness. Let's hope his warning was not heeded too late.

My evening with a Lib Dem, a Tory and a Socialist.......

I am feeling particularly ecumenical today. Yesterday evening started with a meeting with Lynne Featherstone to talk about youth policy. This is a subject very close to my heart and as fellow FPCers will know I was disappointed it was not prioritised. In December I met with Annette Brooke and Stephen Williams to discuss how we could take forward developing a policy on the back of a spokesperson's paper. Since then of course Nick Clegg passed responsibility for youth to Lynne. Anyhow, I was impressed by Lynne's approach - looking to get something out quickly - with a strong campaigning element, and having a long term objective to develop a more detailed youth policy over the coming year. You only have to look at the UK Youth Parliament Manifesto to see how closely our policies chime with the aspirations of young people.

Then I called one of my "Tory Boys" who works in Westminster to see if he was free, he was. Whilst waiting I spotted dear Norman Lamb. I asked him for a favour - I was amused today to get an email from him promising to help if I promised not to cause trouble at conference! Moi??? Always impeccably behaved -n'est pas?!

Peter Hand is a councillor on both the borough and county councils. At other times he moonlights in Nadine Dorries' office (sorry Peter!). So it was interesting to catch up on both borough and county "news", having been a councillor for the former and an employee of the latter. I was amused to hear that he and fellow Tory boy Andrew McConnell were in deep dooda having failed to turn up at the budget meeting. Apparently they, along with 6 other Tory no shows, had a "super bug"............but they were spotted in the champagne bar at St Pancras!

Then it was off to a meeting about the situation in Gaza chaired by one of the few remaining "socialists" in parliament, Jeremy Corbyn. I have a lot of respect for Jeremy, he is a good friend of the beleaguered Palestinian people. But I still cannot fathom why he, and others like John McDonnell, didn't resign the whip over Iraq. I will say more about that meeting later, suffice to say that I questioned the fact that yet again the only parliamentarians on the platform were Labour MPs.

Northern Rock - Time for Brown to fez up and ask Vince to be his Chancellor!

Sorry to go all military again, but, when you are in a war you need to assess the situation quickly, decide how and where to deploy your resources, and get on with it. This clearly hasn't happened in the Northern Rock debacle. Dithering has been the order of the day and much misery has been the result. I don't work for Northern Rock, I can't imagine what it must feel like to be one of their employees at the moment. I do work for the FSA (though not as a regulator) so I have a little insight into the wider impact.

Vince is a wise and canny man, he understands economics in a way very few others in parliament do, and yet, presumably due to the political imperative to keep face, his prophetic voice has been deliberately ignored. This is not and should not, be about political point scoring, but it is sadly ironic that the government has ended up doing what Vince advised from the beginning. Last year Brown attempted to divide and rule by throwing out his favours to a few potentially compliant Lib Dems, his "Big Tent" - if he is serious about consensus politics and using the talents of all for the benefit of the nation, I would suggest maybe now is a good time to offer Vince the position of Chancellor......one thing is for sure, the incumbent has clearly demonstrated his incompetence!

What was all that about jumping into bed with Cameron?

Having been away for a few days I missed all the chatter about Nick Clegg allegedly threatening to do the unthinkable and jump into bed with the Tories. But the subject came up this morning when Simon Hughes was being interviewed by Steve Richards on GMTV. He made it quite clear that we would be looking at which party was adopting Lib Dem policies and would decide on a vote by vote basis unless we secured agreement on PR. I am still nervous about what this may mean, it has to be said.

Simon, as ever, was as powerful an advocate for liberal democracy as we have........just a pity it was at such an ungodly hour! I would have missed it but for having been up since 3am due to what has now been diagnosed as a frozen shoulder........sympathy vote please!

David Heath.........Hero or Villian?

I have been reading the blogs on the David Heath situation with interest. To some a hero, to others a villian.

Whilst I have read and inwardly digested the wise words of various of my esteemed fellow bloggers, my position remains the same. As a party we supported a referendum on the constitution. I know that many fellow Lib Dems thought we were foolish to do this to start with, however, we are where we are. To attempt to take the moral highground on this by arguing that the Treaty is not the Constitution shows a complete disconnect with the electorate. Frankly, I don't give a fig for whether this is a Tory position or not, I don't make my judgements on whether on some occasions they accord with my opponents, but on what I personally believe is right. To the vast majority of people who can't be arsed to read either the failed Constitution or the new Treaty, the message they are getting is loud and clear. The Treaty reforms the existing treaties in a way that means 95% of the failed Constitution remains. Semantic points ain't gonna cut the mustard and we are in danger of looking foolish.

Another issue, one close to my heart, is that this u-turn on policy has never been debated at conference. It is an example of the leadership making policy on the hoof and then using emotional blackmail to try and get the parliamentary party and the membership's support. This is one of the outstanding legacies of Ming's cosy relationship with Brown and I am sorry Nick finds himself saddled with it.

An in/out referendum may have some merits, but it misses the point. So, David Heath? I actually think he is right. If we had clear party policy on this position I may think he should bite his tongue and take the whip, but we don't, he is a champion for those of us who have not had a chance to get our voices heard and he deserves our admiration and gratitude not our criticism.

Multi-culturalism, the latest Moral Panic?

I have just read Paul Walter's excellent post on multi-culturalism. Paul hits the nail on the head "Oh dear. "Multi-culturalism" is another one of those code phrases. It means 29 different things to different people and to a large number it means "too many foreigners". Just like the word "immigration". Absolutely! It is one of those words that we all decode in our heads according to our own beliefs and values.

My take is to look at what may be the opposite to "multi-culturalism", "mono-culturalism". How boring is that? My only reference point for mono-culturalism is the United States, aaah yes, the kind of mono-culturalism that expresses itself in the dark corners of Abu Ghraib, or the quiet streets of Fallujah. The Royal United Services Institute report, that has lead to this issue being raised suggests deference to multi-culturalism is to blame for the terrorist threat. This morning, one of their spokespeople on Today suggested that we had the evidence in the 7/7 bombings. But he failed to explain this logic in relation to 9/11. There was also a suggestion that immigrant Muslim communities were at fault for not integrating. Well, integration is a two way street.

I know a little about this having spent a good deal of my working life working within the Muslim community. I also know from personal experience how difficult integration is, I was estranged from most of my family for many years because I married an Asian. I also witnessed the discrimination he suffered, for example when he was looking to buy a house in Luton the estate agents only ever sent him houses in Bury Park, the Asian area of town. When we were looking to buy a house in Stockport, if I went to estate agents on my own I would be told about areas which were very nice, no foreigners............I used to enjoy going back in and introducing my husband! So, as I say, to crack this nut we need a little more honesty about the underlying racism that still impacts upon our ability to truly build community cohesion. We cannot insist that people adhere to this or that culture, that way lies facism. And yet, to hear some of the commentators one would be forgiven for thinking it was just a question of Mr Brown announcing that from now on we were to be a mono-culture nation and that would do it!

So, let's have some honesty. It is not multi-culturalism (the existence of a number of cultures?) that is the issue, it is the nervousness about Muslims who appear to live in closed communities, with an idea that out of them springs an anti-western anti-Christian discourse that feeds the minds of the young who then become suicide bombers. But, we have one important missing factor. The young people who get radicalised are often on the surface very well integrated, or, if not, they are estranged from their own community as well. So, what are we saying? As a former youth worker I am well versed in the idea of "moral panic" - it seems to me this is exactly what we are witnessing. A notion that distorts and exaggerates reality, fuelled by a sensationalist media. Yes, there are young people, disaffected and angry, driven to become involved with terrorism, but I think that has more to do with the idealism of youth, the power of a strong religious belief and, dare I say it?, frustration at our foreign policy. It has little or nothing to do with a notion of "multi-culturalism". This nonsense would be amusing if it were not so dangerous. All the time we are being deflected by a misplaced moral panic about multiculturalism we are unlikely to begin to even scratch the surface of a solution.

The scandal of ill-equipped troops - blood on Brown's hands?

Whatever our feelings about the various conflicts our troops are engaged in around the world, I think there is one thing we all ought to agree on. If we are to ask our young men and women to put their lives on the line in pursuit of our national political objectives, the least they should expect is that we honour our duty of care.

The news today that a coroner has criticised the MOD for failure to provide troops with basic equipment is inexcusable. James Phillippson was killed in a firefight with Taleban, part of a troop with 3 or 4 kits between 30 men. Mr Walker, assistant coroner for Oxfordshire, said: "They (the soldiers) were defeated not by the terrorists but by the lack of basic equipment."
He said sending troops into a combat zone without basic kit was "unforgivable and inexcusable" and "a breach of trust between the soldiers and those who govern them".

I can't imagine the anger James Phillippson's family must feel. His father commented that the real blame lay with the Treasury and then Chancellor Gordon Brown, for starving the troops of cash. It is surely time to withdraw from Afghanistan where we are now clearly seen as being part of the problem not the solution. But in the meantime, let's ensure that pressure is put on this government to honour the military covenant.

My Valentine!

Last week my daughter asked if I was doing anything this evening, my reply? Well, apart from fending off the queue of handsome young men knocking on my door to take me for dinner...........nothing?! Valentine's Day must be a little like Christmas Day for those without family or friends to celebrate with. On every other day of the year us "singles" get along just fine, but on Valentine's day we are made to feel like specimens from the planet Zog. Even Women's Hour, that champion of women's rights, talks to you as if you must be in a relationship, anticipating that romantic candlelit meal in an overcrowded overpriced local hostelry......bovvered.......??? Moi???!!!

It has to be said, I did get a kindofa Valentine's card, from someone probably well known to a few older members of our party....... (at this point I could give a huge clue with reference to the Glee Club............but I won't!) but well.........

So I have just listened to the awesome "Down the Line", followed by the unmissable speed dating on the Archers (who is that continuity announcer reflecting "I wonder if we have set a new world record for gooseberries listening in?"), followed, at some point, by Question Time. Romantic Dinner? Question Time with Melanie Phillips?......There's no contest really, is there?!

You've been Quango'd!

The news today that quangoes are totally unrepresentative of Britain comes as no surprise. The BBC reported the results of a NLGN survey that found four London Boroughs - Camden, Islington, Westminster and Kensington and Chelsea - control 15% of the quango membership in England. The report draws the conclusion - “Looking at England as a whole, within each region there are clear concentrations of power, postcodes which are clearly more likely to produce the ‘great and good’ for seats on quango Boards. We suspect that the poorer the area you live in, the less likely you are to climb to the heights of quango board membership.”

Of course, the focus of this report is on geography - nothing about diversity in terms of gender or ethnicity for instance. Now, I am sure that would produce even more shocking results. Only this week I was chatting to a friend who had been on a PCT in one of the most ethnically diverse areas of London, where there was now no BME representation whatsoever. What contributes to this perpetuation of inequity? I was thinking aloud on Saturday, as a guest of Epping Forest Lib Dems, about whether the fact that we had never had a revolution in this country contributed to the malaise that leads to a continuation of the concentration of power with the "great and good" elite? (It's OK, the only revolution I am advocating is one that revolutionises our political system!)

At the moment our policy for localism has been considering part of the picture, but the whole system of unelected unaccountable quangoism merits our further attention. Nick Clegg has rightly been drawing attention to the "broken" nature of our political system, at the moment it seems to me our approach to mending it is a tad piecemeal. Let's look at what our ideal system looks like, at a macro and micro level. Of course, one of the most powerful ways to achieve a more representative legislature is PR, but what about all the other decision making, at a national, local and individual level? Are there decisions which can only be taken by a quango? What are they and why? If we end up with a more politicised system, what checks and balances are needed?

If it does nothing else this report should spur us all to action, the tragedy is that, as the saying goes, if we always do what we have always done, we will always get what we have always got!

Nick - There is no shame in admitting you got it wrong

One of Nick Clegg's USPs as far as I am concerned is his transparent honesty. Now is the time for him to demonstrate this by knocking this referendum bunkum on the head once and for all. From where i sit he was bounced into this position by his predecessor. If we can't understand the reality that our apparent U turn on a referendum on the constitution/treaty looks like that to our electorate we understand jack (!) Whatever our position on the need or not for a referendum, we committed to it, we were prepared to argue our case. I hope Nick will reflect, will demonstrate his undoubted metal, show he has listened to the party and more importantly the country and show we can be trusted to keep our promises. As a champion for people to have more control over the decisions that impact upon their lives, he has little choice.

Where's God?

I am at Belfast Aldergrove waiting for my flight home......sadly I had logged it in my brain as being at 5.40 when it was 7.40. Hey ho, it was ever thus! But recalling my journey over here yesterday. I was sat in a row with a mother and her small boy. I am not sure if it was his first time of flying but as we climbed above the clouds he turned to his mother and asked "Where's God?". She didn't reply, so he asked "Is he invisible?" "Yes" says she. I couldn't help reflecting on how the conversation may have continued had Laurence Boyce been sat in the same row!

On arrival I had a surprise, bumping into Chris White. I don't know about you but it always seems really strange seeing people out of context, doesn't it? He was en route to Derry for a conference, but told me he about his blog which I am just on my way to have a look at.

BME Shortlists - the same as Criminal Shortlists?

There are days when I think something I have heard takes the biscuit. Today was one such day. Today reminded me why, whilst I may have my own pet Tory boys, whilst I have the greatest respect for many individually decent Tories, the fact that their party not only tolerates, but nurtures, the most despicable racist, homophobic, sexist views, fills me with dread and horror.

Keith Vaz had proposed an amendment to the Race Relations Act to allow for BME shortlists. Now, there is a debate to be had about that, even in our liberal party, but the approach taken by one of the Tory opponents not only defied reason but for me reinforces what a mountain we still have to climb if we are to truly "Reflect Britain". Philip Davies MP for Shipley (I had never heard of him before either) said........yes really, I couldn't believe my ears either so I have cut and pasted from Hansard

"I believe in equality. Surely true equality should mean selecting people on merit, irrespective of their racial background. Selection meetings should be colour blind and people should not think, “Shall I pick this person simply because of their colour?” I believe in equality of opportunity, but I do not share the right hon. Gentleman’s desire for equality of outcome.
The right hon. Gentleman talked of a Parliament “that mirrors the society it represents.” I hope that he understands what that means. Part of our society is made up of dangerous criminals. Is he arguing that a proportion of Members of Parliament should be dangerous criminals? The Bill constitutes a slippery slope."

Now, I take issue with people who talk about being "colour blind", apologies to those who have heard this tale before, but I always remember attending a youth work conference where the perennial debate about who was more oppressed took place. This issue came up. One of the white women said to her black friend that whenever she walked into a room she didn't notice the colour of her skin, her friend replied "No, but I do."

So, if a man who represents a predominantly white constituency close to Bradford, but still responsible for representing some ethnic minority families, doesn't get the difference between ethnicity and criminality, heaven help us all! MR DAVIES.............INCASE YOU HADN'T NOTICED..........YOU DIDN'T CHOOSE THE COLOUR OF YOUR SKIN, OR THE IMPACT IT HAD ON YOUR LIFE CHANCES...........IF YOU ARE A CRIMINAL, YOU MAY HAVE HAD A MODICUM OF CHOICE IN BECOMING ONE.......GET THE DIFFERENCE???? ANYONE CHECK WHETHER YOU WERE THE BEST CANDIDATE FOR THE JOB???!

Caroline Flint - Let's chuck our children out on the streets why don't we?

This morning I am back in spitting blood mode. The news that Caroline Flint has come up with a novel idea of throwing people out of their homes if they don't look for work has left me dumbfounded. Clearly the New Labour strategy for taking on the Tories is to be even more Tory, playing to the Daily Mail/Express gallery. So why do I think she is wrong?

Now I am not defending those who just don't want to work, but firstly, those on "Job Seekers Allowance" are already supposed to be seeking work, the clue is in the name, if the DWP are failing, despite all their investment in various schemes to get people back into work, that is the problem they need to fix.

Secondly and far more importantly, how does making a family homeless help them to become gainfully employed? How does it contribute to the life chances of their children who are already facing an uphill battle to compete with their more affluent peers?

And thirdly, how does this square with the government's alleged commitment to ending child poverty?

My wonderful life!

One of the problems I have with blogging or writing letters to the press, is that I need to be wound up and sent off spinning. This is why I have been uncharacteristically sparse over the past few weeks, unbelievable as it may seem, if I don't have anything to say.............I find it hard to say it! (OK Mr/s anonymous I am sure you will disagree!). I have even managed to get a couple of letters in the Telegraph (one about Iraq the other about the outing of Simon Hughes), both written when I was spitting blood and deciding the best bet was to attack the "enemy" (what is the point of preaching to the converted?)..........so I have been reflecting on the fact that my web-log is more of a vehicle for venting my spleen than recording my life. This is rather unbalanced, although I suppose the problem is, very few people, save my family and closest friends, would be that interested in how I spend my days.............

But, I do do things other than politics, honest! This weekend I.............went shopping(!), and..........had coffee with one of my Tory boys Andrew McConnell, always a golden opportunity to catch up with the Bedford Borough gossip. It's very odd, having sat on the council for 5 years, not to be involved anymore. Then out with another pal, deputy ed of our local rag Beds on Sunday, Liz O'Reilly. A lovely meal in Cellar V (somewhere I didn't even know existed) followed by a live band in the Kings Arms.

Next weekend I am off to Venice for a Mums and Sons break with a friend from work. Apart from the odd weekend at my friend's on Exmoor, this is the first holiday I have had with Ravi for 7 years, so I am really looking forward to it.

There, I do do normal too...........it's just it's not really that interesting!:-)

Crunching Credit - why is Vince Cable still a voice crying in the wilderness?

Vince Cable has been warning for many years about spiralling debt in this country. But, rather like Noah, his words have, until now, fallen on stony ground. The stoniest ground it seems to me being in parts of the financial services industry, closely followed by the opposition parties. Now we are all paying the price for this palpable neglect, but none more so than those who face the threat of the repossession of their homes.

With my work hat on I addressed a very well attended conference on debt in Norwich on Friday. I shared a platform with, amongst others, Charles Clarke and our own Norman Lamb. Whilst it is encouraging that concern about over indebtedness is shared by all political parties, there are clearly political decisions which could have and should have been taken earlier.

At Federal Conference in 2005, Vince said "The economy has become seriously unbalanced. Its growth has not been driven by investment or by overcoming Britain's long-standing weaknesses in investment and productivity, particularly skills. Instead, there has been a binge of debt-financed consumer spending. British families have acquired unprecedented levels of personal debt, in relation to their income. I warned, over three years ago, about the dangers of unsustainable personal debt. It is now much worse. I fear that the rising personal bankruptcies and repossessions are the first signs of bigger problems to come and personal debt - Gordon Brown's legacy to millions of Britain's families - will hang like a millstone around the neck of the British people for years to come."

The tragedy is that this is people's lives and futures we are talking about and I have a particular concern for our young people. They are growing up in a very different landscape from that a generation ago. I know I sound like a granny (well I am one!) but, I remember the days when HP was a dirty word, if you wanted something you saved for it, as a teenager the challenge was to look as if you had spent as little as possible on your clothes, and if they came from Oxfam, or you had tie-dyed your own t-shirt.......well that was the height of cool! Now it is the £100+ Nike trainers that give you street cred. In my day..........I got a grant (!) I occupied the admin block to protest against overseas student fees, never imagining that had I wanted to study now I would have had to borrow huge amounts in order to afford to do so. When I started work final salary pension schemes were the norm. I bought my first house 23 years ago for £16,000 - the same house now would be worth about 10 times that, but if I was earning commensurately now, I would be on around £140,000 a year! In fact, the job I had then is now paid at about £24,000 a year.

Last week the FSA issued a stark warning about the potential for 1 million home repossessions in the next 18 months. This is truly shocking and taking place in a choppy sea where the loan consolidation and debt management sharks are circling, often resulting in people getting into more debt. Turn on commercial radio or TV any day of the week and these firms will be targeting the most vulnerable. I was surprised when working at home on Thursday to receive two automated calls, one offering me a "free" cruise in the Caribbean (I'm used to those), the other asking if I was in debt and needed help. Sadly, excellent debt advice services such as those offered by Citizen's Advice and the Consumer Credit Counselling Service, don't have the resources to advertise their free services.

So now we see the closing of the stable gate approach - Egg withdrawing credit cards and credit allegedly becoming harder to obtain. But, I have no doubt we will still have the situation which recently happened to a friend of mine, receiving two letters from her bank on the same day. One threatening legal action because she hadn't repaid a loan, the other offering her further credit!

The Tories, not known for their love of regulation, shout loudly but offer not a jot of an idea of how to tackle the problem. So, what should we be doing? Firstly, get the regulation right; secondly legislate for an upper limit on interest charges(some doorstep lenders charge in excess of 400% APR); thirdly explore the scheme suggested by Vince of a shared ownership solution for those in danger of losing their homes through repossession, fourthly (yes it's that old chestnut) taking up Nick Clegg's call for risky radicalism..........revisit Land Value Tax.

There are other measures which will contribute, the Thoreson Review will report later this year on the establishment of a Generic Financial Advice service. Also the inclusion of Financial Literacy on the school curriculum from 2008, although this should be statutory. The work the FSA are doing through the Financial Capability Strategy is already having an impact, but that is long term, it is not just about people having the right information and skills, it is also about behaviour and attitudes, as no doubt those who work on the Teenage Pregnancy Strategy are well aware, this takes time!

This will be a miserable year for many of our fellow citizens, we must ensure that as a party our voice is heard above the din and that Vince Cable is seen as the person most able to manage our economy, maybe I am biased, but I have absolutely no confidence in Alistair Darling and the thought of George Osborne holding the purse strings makes me want to go and hide behind the sofa!

Tony Blair - President of Europe? Heaven help us!

I suppose, given there is no vacancy for pope, it is the next best option in his undoubted drive for world domination! Particularly worrying is his declared desire for an EU President to have more powers over foreign affairs.........I find myself taking back that sigh of relief when he stood down as PM. With the potential for the last vestiges of the neo-cons being swept away in less than a year as Bush vacates the White House, it is really scary to think that their influence may continue through their compliant lapdog taking on this key role in Europe.

Derek Conway, Simon Hughes, silk sheets and criminal damage.........

There has been a fair bit of commentary on the Conway affair, go Duncan Borrowman! It seems clear, as the BBC have observed, that this will open a can of worms, or maybe Pandora's Box......



The house has just debated the issue. George Young, chair of the Standards Committee opened the debate by explaining the unanimous decision of his committee. He commented on the belief in some quarters that perhaps they had not been hard enough, but reflected that "reputational consequences can be fatal". The conclusion of the committee was that Freddie had done some work for his father, but there was no independent evidence of this resulting in any output (hmmm, I am sure Freddie is in good company with a number of his father's fellow MPs!). So the unanimous recommendation was that he should re-emburse the house appropriately and be suspended for10 days. They had taken the view that it was not appropriate to refer the matter to the police, that the issue of the employment of family members was a debate for another day, as were steps to address the reputational damage inflicted by this case.

I was, as you may expect, particularly impressed with Simon Hughes' contribution to the debate. Some practical suggestions re MPs receipting their expenditure, spot checks and in particular calling for employment legislation to apply to parliamentary posts. It beggars belief that the mother of our legislation sits outside of said legislation when it applies to itself, not just in this respect.

There are clearly some dodgy practices going on in the hallowed halls, not just in the office of Mr Conway, I was interested to hear from a colleague who used to deal with MPs' expenses of the case of Alan Clarke's need for silk sheets to be included as a legitimate expense (hmmmm, let's not go there!) and of the unnamed MP whose son was charged with criminal damage. Strangely paying his fine was also regarded as a legitimate expense.

Let us hope this sorry tale leads to more transparency and accountability in the hallowed halls......and best of all, it may also lead to the election of our very own DB MP!

"Gaza:Lift the Blockade" The Relief Convoy on its way

I have just received this moving report about the relief convoy yesterday:

"The initiative for the large action that took place today (26.1.08) started when the well-know psychiatrist, Dr. Eyad al-Sarraj, the human-rights activist from Gaza, met in the Gush Shalom office with a small group of Israeli peace activists, in order to tell them about the desperate situation in the strip. It was decided on the spot to organize in Israel a relief convoy for the Gaza Strip people, and to fight by all political and juridical means for the right to get it in. It was agreed that two parallel protest rallies would be held simultaneously on the two sides of the wall.
26 Israeli peace groups joined the initiative, under the single slogan: "Gaza: Lift the siege!" Many activists from different organizations worked day and night. Gush Shalom prepared a special poster and started a fund-raising campaign among its sympathizers. Hundreds of cheques came pouring in from Israel and a dozen other countries, enabling the Gush to carry alone the full costs of the supplies. Many added words of thanks for the opportunity given them to express their opinion this way and join the struggle.
Warm thanks to all of them!
In consultation with Dr. al-Sarraj it was decided to buy not only five tons of essential foodstuffs - flour, sugar, rice, oil, salt, beans and lentils - but also water distillers. "The water in the Gaza Strip is undrinkable," al-Sarraj reported, "therefore there is an urgent need for distillers."
The weather forecasts promised rain and thunderstorms all over the country. In spite of this, old and young peace activists came to the starting points in six towns. As requested by the organizers, hundreds of families came in their private cars. Together with the people who came by bus, their number reached about two thousand.
"In the night we were woken up by strong thunderbolts. It started to rain cats and dogs, and we were very worried: who is going to get up early on Shabbat morning in such stormy weather in order to participate in an open-air protest rally and carry sacks of food?" recounted one of the organizers.
Ya'akov Manor had the idea to ask the demonstrators to bring private relief parcels and to add personal letters "from family to family". The response was beyond all expectations. Families brought not only food and mineral water, but also blankets, warm clothing and many other useful articles, even electrical stoves. The parcels were fastened to the tops of the cars or put in the baggage holds of the buses. They added up to two tons.
When the demonstrators assembled in the towns - Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa, Nazareth and others - a slight rain was falling. But all who hoped for a brightening up were soon disappointed: during the drive to the Erez border crossing, a very heavy rain started to pour down, making it almost impossible to see the road, and slowed down the huge convoy towards the Gaza strip extremely difficult.
About half of the protesters were Jewish, the other half Arab. The rally was conducted the same way: Side by side with the Jewish speakers - Uri Avnery, Nurit Peled-Elhanan, Professor Jeff Halper and former minister Shulamit Aloni (who was ill and sent a written speech, read by Teddy Katz), speeches were made by advocate Fatmeh al-Ijou, and MKs Izzam Mahul and Jamal Zahalke.
At the height of the rally, the moderator, Huloud al-Badawi, called Dr. Sarraj by cellular phone. He was participating at the parallel rally in Gaza and his words were conveyed by loudspeaker. They amounted to a stirring call to the Israeli peace camp to support the Palestinians in their struggle against the blockade.
A sensation was caused by a young woman from Sderot, Shir Shusdig, who called out: "For seven years I am suffering from the Qassams in Kibbutz Zikim and Sderot. I know that the people on the other side are also suffering very much. That's why I am here!"
Jeff Halper mentioned that demonstrations of solidarity with the people of Gaza were taking place in dozens of cities around the world. Advocate al-Ijou pointed out that the Attorney General had asserted in a Supreme Court hearing that the blockade on Gaza was similar to the boycott against the former apartheid regime in South Africa. "This is absurd when it comes from a government which is building apartheid roads all over the West Bank!"
Miraculously, the rain stopped just before the rally, and started again a few minutes after it was finished.
Since the Israeli army has not allowed the relief supplies into the Gaza strip, they were stored in a neighboring kibbutz. If the military will not permit their transfer to Gaza in the next two days, we shall apply to the High Court of Justice and start a legal fight until we succeed.
Uri Avnery's speech at the rally:
Three days ago, a wall fell here“ Just as the Berlin Wall fell, Just as the apartheid wall will fall, And just as all walls and fences in this country will come down.
But the inhuman blockade That has been imposed on a million and a half human beings in Gaza by our government by our army, In our name “ This siege is continuing in its full cruelty. We, Israelis from various political camps, have come to bring basic supplies and to say to the Israeli public and to the whole world: We will not participate in crime! We are ashamed of the blockade!"
Our hearts are with our Palestinian brothers Who are at this moment demonstrating with us on the other side of the fence “ Don't lose faith that one day we will meet together in this place without fences, without walls, without violence, without fighting, the sons of two peoples living next to each other in peace, in friendship, in partnership.
Our hearts are with our brothers, the residents of Sderot“ The threat of Qassams must stop! It won't stop by a policy of an eye for an eye, or a hundred eyes for one eye, Or a thousand eyes for one eye, because that only leaves us all blind. It will end when we speak to the other side “ Yes, yes, even with Hamas! And we'll together create a total and mutual ceasefire without Qassams, without murderous incursions, without mortars, without extrajudicial assassinations, without blockade, without starvation.
This is our call, this is our demand: Set up an immediate ceasefire! Open the crossings immediately! Make peace with all parts of the Palestinian people! MAKE PEACE!"

Video (in Hebrew only) here.

Gaza.........Where will you be tomorrow?

There are times when I find it almost impossible to listen to the news from Gaza. This has been one such week - I find myself feeling so impotent, so easily distracted by other cares, so weak and powerless. I want to shout and scream and jump on the next plane to Ben Gurion - but what would that achieve? So, tomorrow, those of us who give a xxxx
can at least join others in Whitehall to make our views and our voices heard.

Anyone who can make it - 4pm opposite Downing Street. I hope to see you there.

OK.......What was that about a referendum?

Yes, I admit it, I have been too busy/too lazy, to blog over the last few days. So, having just returned from my highlight of the year - Burns Supper in Edinburgh with Young Scot, fellow blogger Alex Cole-Hamilton and our own MSP Robert Brown on my table - I thought I should maybe have a wee comment on the referendum debate.

I am not a policywonka (honest! ask them.........they will agree.......) I do not inhabit the Westminster bubble. But, it has to be said, I am at a complete loss to understand our U turn on the referendum. OK..........so maybe a treaty doesn't equal a constitution........quite. But, somehow, somewhere, in the black hole which is Westminster, those who have crossed the events horizon have lost all contact with the reality of this nation's relationship with Europe. Bleating on about a referendum about whether we should be in or out, just doesn't cut the mustard. We said we would have a referendum on the constitution..........we a have a "treaty" a rose that by any other name would be a .................yes, you guessed it, constitution! Whether I personally agree with the idea of spending oodles of tax payers money on a referendum is frankly beside the point. We said we would do it. We are falling in with the Brown smoke and mirrors. We look foolish and worse, dishonest.

I can't and won't defend our position - it was never debated at conference - none of us has had a say, but worse we have been prepared to tease the electorate by giving them the false impression that they would have a say. Maybe there is a good argument for such a U-turn. Maybe, but if so, I certainly haven't yet heard it.

Nick Clegg - "Fire starter comes of age"

A good interview in my "trade" mag, Children and Young People Now. I particularly like Nick's commitment to address the "Cinderella Service" status of youth work and mental health professions.

Is Clegg already turning our fortunes round?

A very interesting and encouraging piece from Mike Smithson on Political Betting.

Nick Clegg - Spoiling for a fight?

One of the problems of taking a day off to prepare food for Yas's party tomorrow............is that the temptation is to be distracted. Today's temptation arrived courtesy of James Graham. His suggestion that Nick Clegg is spoiling for a fight with the activists, deserves some closer analysis.

Let me be clear, I may have been one of Nick's more vocal supporters, but that doesn't mean that a) I will keep my mouth shut if I think he is picking a fight b) Keep my mouth shut if I disagree with any of his policy positions. So, as you can imagine, I was somewhat exercised by James' piece. But I am at a loss to find evidence for James' assertions. Firstly that "Nick Clegg had a chance to spell out his vision for public service reform during his leadership election campaign; he bottled it." James, did you miss his speech to the SMF? I quote:

"What does this shift – from a top-down to a bottom up approach – mean in education?
It means offering parents more options – ending the state’s near monopoly in the provision of free education and allowing new providers to enter the system and new schools to open.

But for this to happen, two conditions must be in place. The first is that all schools be brought under local democratic oversight. The second – that there should be no further moves towards selection.

And as we liberalise the supply side, so we will have to transform the role of Local Education Authorities – getting them focused on meeting, rather than managing, demand; and on extending, rather than resisting, diversity.

Can’t get the schooling you need round the corner? No problem, your LEA will help you find a good school somewhere else.

Can’t reach that school? Don’t worry, your LEA will provide transport to get you there.
Can’t get a place in a good school anywhere within traveling distance? Fine. Your LEA will help you start up a new school or encourage others to do so."

Now, firstly, he makes it clear he wants local democratic control. Secondly he wants parents to have more of a say and thirdly he wants more diversity. On the first point I am with him, On the second and third I want to know a lot more about what parental control and that "diversity" looks like, I have a feeling it may be an area of conflict for me personally. If he wants to push that point and have the debate in the party that would be a good thing. I think choice is often a case of King's New Clothes. For someone to get their first choice means someone else doesn't. Actually my contention is that people are far more interested in accessibility and quality than choice. There is also an important community dimension, do I really want to bus my child miles across a city to get to a "good" school, or worse, away from my closest school which is "good" to a "poor" school because there was no space left. Lets be really radical and risky and say we are aiming for every school to be a good school!

On the "spinning" about bloody minded activists, I can't see that this is more than an attempt by a journalist to "sex-up" the story. We know only too well that the only tale in town is when there is conflict. A couple of the reasons I was happy to back Nick, despite knowing I would probably end up on the opposite side of some of the public service debates, were his honesty and ability to listen. Everything I know about him flies in the face of the image of a man who is deliberately picking a fight. James, you may prove me wrong, but at the moment I am relying on the evidence to hand, not the lazy journalism of a hack!

Why Clegg will wipe the floor with Brown and Cameron

Today was going to be a big day whether we liked it or not. The temptation for Nick may have been to try and go for the killer comment, the knock out blow, the hilarious put down. Instead he played it straight down the line. I have to confess to being a tad nervous for him, but even if he was nervous it didn't show. He has grown immeasurably in stature in the few short weeks, punctuated by Christmas, since he was elected. Those of us who met with him on the day he was elected saw that.

So, having the blessing of perpetual (silent) Sky News to watch while we wait for the lifts at work, I had to content myself with watching PMQs and attempting to lipread. But, before I got to hear Nick's questions, I got to see his body language. It was clear that he was in control but not "stiff", confident but not cocky, brimming with enthusiasm and energy, underpinned with the concern and compassion that clearly informs his politics.

As Nick himself has acknowledged, to expect him to be able to adopt PMQs and make it his own every week when the cards are stacked against the third party, is unrealistic. What is realistic is to expect him to go into the PMQ ring, fully prepared, anticipating the elephant traps, but acknowledging the limitations of what is a sorry excuse for an effective holding to account of the executive. Today he demonstrated that he has the potential to wipe the floor with Brown and Cameron. He can puncture Cameron's shallow vacuousness and expose Brown's bumbling ineptitude. His is a star on the rise, in the midst of burnt out meteorites and empty black holes! Who was it who said "Things can only get better"?!

An Awesome New Addition to the LibDem Blogosphere

Not only did I drop my mobile down the loo and "mislay" my Blackberry, my Internet connection also went down (start the year as you mean to go on eh?). So I have just picked up a message from Neil Stockley to alert me to his new blog.

Here is a man who will banish us all to the shade..........I am not worthy! Neil produced an exceptional paper for FPC on the Lib Dem narrative. As some long suffering readers will know this is something I am really interested in, we talk about it all the time, but we still haven't quite bottomed it out. Neil's new blog highlights just how a powerful narrative really connects with the electorate, as in the US at the moment. A must read!

Nick Clegg's first big test this week

Well, Nick Clegg will spend his 41st birthday on Monday preparing for his first big test. The timely intervention of Christmas has given him a little respite and opportunity to recharge his batteries. No doubt he has been working out his formidable intellect, practising his jokes, limbering up for the anticipated challenges. Many will be watching closely, will he glide through this close examination with the kind of ease I demonstrated on the ice skating ring last night? Will he demonstrate his prowess as a giant among men and women? Will he stamp his authority with indelible ink in such a way that witnesses will leave in awe and amazement that we have elected such a leader? Will his name become a byword for a Colossus among politicians? So, only 3 days to go and we will know. Yes 3 days................it was FPC I was thinking about!

Rail Services - Who still thinks privatisation was such a great idea?

Having just read Lib Dem PCU table of fare rises I note that Bedford remains one of the most expensive places to commute from at 35p per mile. Basildon is the cheapest at 19p per mile. Is it time to move to Basildon I wonder? Alternatively I could move over to Sandy (where I spent many happy years working) where the cost is just 24p per mile. Just a thought. I don't bother buying a season ticket as I am not in work all the time, but I am guessing my weekly fare tomorrow will be over £100. So much for encouraging the use of public transport. Hate to start on an economic liberal v social liberal debate so early in the year, but it seems to me totally absurd that we have created a false market which costs us as consumers more, pours millions into the coffers of the likes of Richard Branson, offers us little or no choice and certainly no voice in influencing services. A bit like the nonsense of the idea of choice in education, choice in public transport appears to owe more to your ability to choose where you live.

Rant over. But this is something I hope we will have the courage to tackle with our transport policy, go Norman Baker!

Nick Clegg on Today

Good to wake up to the dulcet tones of Mr Clegg on Today this morning, starting as he means to go on and speaking with wisdom and authority about the situation in Kenya and Pakistan.

Looz Muze and the Number Crunching Mystery!

I have just had the shock of my life reading LibDemBlogs Number Crunching (2007) to discover I made it to number 7 of the most popular blogs, hard on the heels (well maybe soft on the heels) of ubiqutous bloggers Paul Walter and Nich Starling and sadly the only woman in the top 10. However, with the emergence of the likes of Alix, Jo and Charlotte to name but three, I expect this to be very different next year.

Finding myself as the seventh most popular Lib Dem blogger is even more of a shock given my sloppy and inconsistent approach to blogging...........I am not sure how I should take it, especially given some of the anonymous comments left on my blog, some people clearly only read it as a form of self flagellation!

Anyway, Granny intends to make the most of the moment.............whilst listening to the wonderful Vaughan Williams on Classic FM (thoroughly recommended) and eagerly anticipating a dollop of pure escapism with Sense and Sensibility later this evening.