The Branley Bunch in the White House

It looks like Allen Branley is trying to sell a line to voters in Westoe that he didn't lose his seat but is instead involved in some kind of crusading David Davis moment.

Chances are he would win a bye-election, and continue to mock democracy.

Word to Curly.

Killer costs

I've seen first hand the effects of an asthma attack - the desperate gasps for breath, the terror in the eyes. Asthma can be a killer, but fortunately one which can treated. So today's news that financial worries causes some people to think twice about using their preventers should be a warning for us all.

Many people who suffer long-term illnesses like diabetes receive free prescriptions, but most asthma sufferers have to pay. However, this inconsistent approach is unlikely to be resolved by this or the next government, given the huge numbers being bandied around about budget cuts. Some interesting chronic euphemismia from David Halpern (along with David Miliband one of Blair's Third Way architects) is worthy of note:

"Billions of public spending can be saved, for instance, if services for those with chronic conditions like diabetes are redesigned around self-care."

As we've seen today with the asthma study, self care begins to fail when cash becomes tight.

Both the Tories and Labour will choose to target cuts in areas which won't affect their vote negatively, aiming to keep the affluent and middle class South East voter happy. That means the disenfranchised who are less likely to vote or whose votes have little demographic influence, like those on low incomes, will be hit hardest. And with an NHS hemorrhaging cash as a result of the failure of the Tory and then Labour PFI con job, it's likely that healthcare will take a big hit.

Whilst business, like the banking and motoring industries are being feather-bedded, chances are that those hardest hit will be those who most need essential services like socialised healthcare.

Missing inaction

As Curly has already reported, it looks like Allen Branley has dropped off his electoral perch and stood down as a councillor. This came after criticism that Branley was visible by his absence.

Now Allen Branley has been cut from the list of South Tyneside councillors on the council website (despite his name is mentioned on a council press release about a surgery on Saturday) which supports Curly's hot news.

Cameron taking the PiS

There's an aphorism that says something like you are known by the friends you keep. Now that David Cameron has taken the Tories into a political bloc with Polish right wing party PiS and is wooing other East European parties, we are given an insight into what's really eant by 'compassionate Conservatism'.

Punkscience has already called shenanigans on Cameron's trustworthiness.

Now Cameron has got into bed with folks who are no strangers to homophobia, climate change denial, rabid nationalism, racism and religious fundamentalism.

These guys make the BNP look moderate.

Flying off the handle

Reactionaries of all colours will be spewing self righteous rage after it has been revealed that the Foreign Office has asked for tenders for a contract to provide charter flights for the Foreign Secretary. Some of the perennially offended will play the environment hypocrisy card, hand-wringing over the damage to David Miliband's climate karma by choosing to fly instead of sending a hemp-powered email. Others will agonise over the expenditure.

And as if by magic, Matthew Elliott of Tory black ops propaganda front group the TaxPayers' Alliance, said:

"David Miliband would do a better job if he remembered he is there to serve the people, not live a life of luxury at our expense."

This cynical approach illustrates the utterly partisan position of the Taxpayers Alliance. By the time such a contract comes on stream there's a fair chance that David Miliband may not be Foreign Secretary, either through reshuffle or change of government. Perhaps the Taxpayers Alliance think the Foreign Secretary would better represent our country by arriving on a cheapoflights.com flight after being packed in with drunken stag and hen bender tourists?

It's no fun working away from home and family for any length of time, and a job like Foreign Secretary will no doubt require a lot of hours in hotels, airports and on planes. No matter how luxurious the trolls at the Taxpayers Alliance think it is, being away from your family for extended periods can be soul crushing.

I'm no fan of David Miliband. His role so far as Foreign Secretary has proven to be one of ethical corruption and dishonesty. To be fair though, I doubt we have ever had an honest and moral Foreign Secretary, which suggests that the role could be something of a poisoned chalice.

But he's our Foreign Secretary with a job to do for a nation which has always punched above it's weight, no matter how much we disagree with his moral vacuum. I don't begrudge flying our representative around if it means he is fit to fight in the shark tank of foreign politics, and can quickly get back home to his family afterwards.

From the mouths of babes

Sixteen years ago this impassioned plea was made at the Rio Earth Summit. Judging by the G20, the leaders still aren't listening.

Troops dying for phony war

Many British soldiers have lost their lives in Afghanistan. Osama Bin Laden hasn't been caught, and now the Afghan people are again to be made subject to oppressive theocratic laws to bolster Karzai's position. It looks increasingly like the Taliban never really left.

If we're not helping, what are we doing there?

Speaking of local-ish MPs

It's been awhile since I've been actively involved with Friends of the Earth, but I still get mail.

Friends of the Earth have run several campaigns, where constituents fill out postcards to send to their local MP on eco issues from the Climate Change Bill to the Marine Bill, to a call for a moratorium on biofuels. It can be hard work for the FOE volunteers to encourage people to get sign up but they do, in all weathers. So far it's proved a successful campaign technique.

Unfortunately, not all MPs are that interested in their constituents' concerns. Step forward Hexham's Tory MP Peter Atkinson. After several such campaigns 'Postcard Pete' wrote to Friends of the Earth asking them to stick their postcards where the ballot box don't shine, and instead has asked FOE to send Atkinson's constituents a letter he has drafted.

The letter, instead of directly addressing the concerns of the campaign just spews standard Tory greenwash.

Such arrogance is breathtaking.

It's difficult to imagine clearer evidence for the often heard accusation that many politicos only care about your opinion at election time.

Then I suppose since he's leaving the job at the end of this term, why should he care what his constituents think?

Tory rottweilers

Today seems to have been a day for Guardian commentators to take apart the dishonest and the dodgy. Polly Toynbee, who I normally can't stand, has done a reasonable job of lifting the stone to uncover the Taxpayers' Alliance. The group is used by the Tories as a kind of off-balance-sheet PR group to bash the civil service or just moan about anything where tax is spent on stuff they don't like.

Often, their claims are repeated in the news media and on blogs without the kind of intelligent skepticism that should be employed with such narrowly focussed special interest groups. Their tactics closely follows those used by similar groups linked with the Republicans in the US. Their purpose is to generate media outrage and provide an opportunity for Tory spokesbods to get their mugs on the telly.

Whilst they rightly challenge public sector profligacy, they are relatively silent when it comes to tax evasion. Don't want to get off message with those donors do they?

It's no surprise that the Taxpayers' Alliance has aligned itself with fundamentalist road group the Association of British Drivers. The ABD, another group not unfamiliar with getting itself in the press, is pretty much against anything they consider to be anti driver. The ABD has bought into the religion of climate change denial and rabidly challenges any road safety initiatives which could slow down drivers.

Like the Taxpayers' Alliance, the ABD is named so as to give the impression that they represent a body of society, when in reality they have no such remit. Like the Alliance, their press releases are treated with undeserved reverence and unquestioned trust by the media.

Lobby groups like these are formed, or used by, political interests to build an angry and outraged consensus. They offer simple messages which are easily picked up and cut and pasted into articles, where real context, too complex to fit into the average news story, is lost.

Perhaps many journalists and bloggers don't want to, don't have the ability or don't have the space, to critically examine the output of these groups to an adequate extent. Or perhaps they are so blinded by political allegiances that such material, no matter how badly manipulated, is too good to waste.

Troops come home

And they still haven't found WMD. No doubt more vote winners are on their way. I smell and election coming... unless Brown plans to just move them to Afghanistan.

Opening shots

After her letter in the Gazette last night, it looks like Tory Karen Allen is positioning herself as Tory candidate for South Shields (or elsewhere in Tyneside) for the next general election.

The letter is the usual Tory tosh - build more roads, Labour useless, yada yada yada. She earnestly even tries the jobs joker card while blissfully forgetting which party ruthlessly destroyed the region's industries.

It's interesting that in the letter she gives her address as The Kingsway. Although being Shields born, her blog gives her location as Stepney Green in London. A Lloyds broker presumably working in London, why would she mislead readers about her home address, if not to give the impression of being a local? Is she ashamed to use her London address? And why didn't she mention she is a Tory?

Pitifully, despite this looking like a first move to gain local exposure and garner notice from local Tories, she doesn't really say much different from Hepburn and Miliband; there is little ideological difference between the Labour and the Tories. In fact there is nothing of substance. Even the 'give a man a fish' proverb is just space filling, devoid of any context.

Looking at her blog, the Gazette letter was originally posted as a blog entry back in November. It looks like the blog is going to be used as a campaign tool, given that despite blogging since 2006, she only started blogging (ie giving a shit) about North East issues last month. Expect more.

Oddly, the South Shields Conservative website doesn't mention Karen Allen or her letter, and other bloggers haven't picked it up either.

Gordon's class bribe

It may be satire, but there's more truth in this twisted insight than anything that will be reported in the mainstream press.

Kind heart and Kerr nets coverage

Councillor Alan Kerr must have taken a leaf out of David Miliband's PR book.

There's nothing like a bit of modest charity to help your media profile. Well done Alan!

Dumb luck

Mark Steel is cool. Intelligent. Funny. No, I don't want to have his babies but I almost laughed my latte over myself when I read this over breakfast this morning:

...the Republicans have had the worst campaign that could ever be possible. The candidate looked like there couldn't possibly be anyone in the country more idiotic, but he scoured the continent, found someone who was and made her his deputy.

And this:

One reason why it remains closer than it should be is obvious. Before the election's over, there'll be at least one Republican supporter on Fox News who'll say, "I think that one of the areas in which McCain scores heavily over his opponent is he's proved himself far more adept and capable, over the years, at being white. And for all Senator Obama's flair and charisma this is a skill he clearly lacks."

Although on reflection, I think this comes under the "Many a truth spoken in jest" category.

Through luck, stupid voters and theft, the dumb-looking Repub guy won the last two elections. The evil bastards could win it again.

Land of the free

I don't usually really fuss much over US elections, although a chance that Palin could literally be a heartbeat away from the presidency is a bit of a worry. In practice there'll be little policy wise between the two main candidates. The Obama-McCain business bailout pact is an example.

Despite this there's great excitement in the US when the televised debates start. Such is the strong partisan element of US politics. But voters get to watch debates between two candidates among whose top corporate contributors are the financial institutions who have screwed the banking system.

It's pure theatre.

US voters don't get to see the third or fourth parties in the debate. This is because the televised debates are stitched up by and between the Republicans and Democrats not to allow any third parties into the game. The debates are structured beforehand and subjects decided upon to leave the viewer with little more than a press conference with rehearsed spin and catchy sound bites.

Such manipulation is as cynical and undemocratic as Putin's fiddling of the Russian presidential elections, where opponents to his heir were refused coverage or given airtime when no-one was watching.

The United States claims to export democracy. In the US presidential elections, democratic choice is a fiction.

Holy cow

What a fun way to say thanks.

"by sacrificing more than 200 goats and four buffaloes"

Apparently it's okay because it's an "an age-old practice".

And these medieval fuckers have nuclear weapons.

Cheeky blighter 2: behind the boss' back

The government is battling to keep to its CO2 reduction target to 60% (of 1990 CO2 levels) by 2050, whilst campaign groups like Friends of the Earth responded to the science and moved on from the 60% figure and are pushing for a more realistic 80% reduction by 2050 through their Big Ask campaign. When the Climate Change Bill eventually hits the books, we may be looking at something more like 100%.

The Climate Bill was taken up by South Shields MP David Miliband during his tenure as Secretary of State for the Environment, and could possibly be the only concrete contribution this government has made towards battling with climate change. Since the Bill started discussions, the government has dragged its feet over key issues, including the 2050 target, annual targets, ministerial accountability and 'carbon budget' reporting.

But in South Africa, David Miliband agreed to a target "in the range of 80% to 95% by 2050". He definitely played a blinder.

I find it hard to say this.

I like it.

Cheeky blighter 1: the cost of democracy

You've got to hand it to Ahmed Khan. Not many folk have the cojones to write a letter to the Gazette moaning about local election candidates using the letters page of the Gazette to offer their thanks to voters, and then himself use the letters page to offer those very same thanks.

But not only did he do this, he also took the opportunity to big himself up about his newsletters.

Talk about political opportunism.

It's an odd move which whilst mildly amusing to many will alienate some, particularly when some of his Alliance colleagues have used the 'letter in the Gazette' method of communication in the past. It's as if he's intentionally trying to bait his opponents into the open, daring them to publicly respond.

If you took his PR bullying seriously, you may interpret a suggestion that he thinks that every electoral candidate should have the cash resources that he so obviously enjoys. The implication is that if you can't afford to print thousands of thank you letters, you don't care.

Such a view is not unexpected, or inconsistent. Khan has already tried to claim the moral high ground from those who would receive reasonable recompense for their responsibilities as a councillor. His 2007 election material employed innuendo and untruth about the financial motivations of his electoral opponents for the Beacon and Bents ward.

Khan is no stranger to Gazette publicity. When the Pier's 'Dolly Plaque' was stolen, Khan offered a cash reward, "no questions asked", for its return. He may not have bought the plaque back, but I'm sure it didn't hurt his electoral chances. Add to this the legal bill for his failed legal challenge to last year's election result and it starts to look like Khan's road to election success was a very expensive business.

Since the Branleys have also publicly forgone councillors' expenses, there's a feeling that the leadership of the Alliance party has a rather paternalistic attitude that implies that only those rich enough to stand as councillor should do so.

The suggestion that democracy is the plaything of the well off is extremely disquieting.


However, I agree with Khan on the need to stay involved in local issues, whether you're standing for election or not. If you're interested in what happens in your town or local area you've got to stay connected. His "they suddenly reappear as if by magic" high horse surely applies to his Alliance colleagues as much as any other council hopeful.

Only last year, two unpaid volunteers from South Tyneside Friends of the Earth were putting the last nails into the coffin of the Fellgate business park plan at the Local Development Framework inquiry. Lined up against them for South Tyneside Council was a barrister and a host of council planning professionals. It was a very empty hall, with only two people turning up to offer encouragement for the FOE Fellgate challengers. George Waddle, Steve Harrison and Geraldine White were nowhere to be seen.

I'm sure that Alliance councillors provide a great service to their wards, and given such a rousing letter from Mr Khan, I really do hope that the Alliance will stop sleeping and missing things like the LDF, and see the bigger picture and start to really get involved.

Slip of the tongue

No, not the mediocre Whitesnake album, but Councillor Jane Branley's description of her faux pas in the describing the Alliance. She said:

"I'll say once again that we are are not a party."

Well, it's not the first time the Branley tongue has slipped. During the election, Branley presented an election statement for the Gazette on behalf of the Alliance where she referred to herself as:

"leader of the largest minority party which are the independents on South Tyneside Council"

It's a pity the Gazette missed this and failed to call her on it. But of course,

"I'll say once again that we are are not a party."

But really, what is the Alliance so scared of? As local bloggers and David Potts have pointed out, the Alliance is to all intents and purposes a political party. The key difference is that in their current non-status, their funding, advertising and spending slips into a grey area of regulatory scrutiny, when real parties (which includes the Progressives) are fully exposed to electoral checks. That should give any voter some cause for concern.

David Potts makes a fair comment - why don't they register as a party? But instead of a clear explanation of why they shy away from registering, the Alliance goes straight on the attack. And not just one, but two Alliance councillors sick em. Hardly being open and honest with the electorate are they?

Perhaps the Alliance should register themselves with the Electoral Commission before someone else does. It shouldn't be too difficult for a former Alliance member to register himself as such under Electoral Commission regulations.

But let's not forget that another independent grouping who enjoyed the Gazette party political broadcast, the 'Real Independents'. They've been left out of this debate. Perhaps they should show a fine example and their moral superiority and register themselves? I hope Cllr Potts does the right thing and calls them to task too.


In the article, I also found Mrs Branley's description of the Alliance party rather interesting:

"like-minded individuals who've come together to organise politically against the Labour group that has dominated local politics for decades"

Hold on, if I remember correctly, Mrs Branley and her husband Allan are both former Labour councillors. Also, Geraldine White, the new councillor for Fellgate who cruised in on an anti-Labour ticket, was herself a Labour councillor. She also enjoyed the dizzy height of Chairman of South Shields Labour Party at the same time the council was devising the plans to concrete over the Fellgate green belt.

So they, and their supporters and families, helped Labour dominate local politics. Funny old world, isn't it?


Ironic quote of the day goes to opportunist politician Ahmed Khan for this beauty:

"This is typical of an opportunist politician like David Potts."

It's the way he tells 'em!

Deja vu

The previous post stirred some memories...

Dead-end legal action; scrounging to pay the costs; petition padding.

It sounds all so familiar...