Lord Bonkers' Diary: Expelled from China

Liberator 328 will be on sale from the magazine's stall at the Liberal Democrat Conference in Bournemouth. But Lord Bonkers has insisted that I make his Diary available to people who are not attending. "I feel I owe it to my public," he remarked.

So here goes.

Monday

At last the journalists are leaving me in peace after my deportation from China over my part in a demonstration in favour of Tibetan independence. I have to confess that the account of events which has gained currency is not strictly correct.

I yield to no one in my admiration of the Dalai Lama – among his many other good qualities, he is as jolly a fellow as ever danced on a table in the Bonkers’ Arms – but the placard which I was carrying when the local rozzers apprehended me did not say “Free Tibet” but “Free to Bet”: I was hoping to encourage the worthy Chinamen to wager on the outcome of such events as the rhythmic gymnastics and the Greco-Roman wrestling. Unfortunately, the authorities took a dim view of this and I was on a seaplane home before my feet had touched the ground.

Despite this, I retain my admiration of Chinese culture – and of Chinese food in particular. When I mentioned this to the arresting officer, he asked what my favourite dish was. “Number twenty-six,” I replied.

Kirsty Williams is the bookies' favourite

I am not sure how much is being wagered on the contest, but WalesOnline reports that Kirsty Williams is the odds-on favourite to become the new leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats.

She is quoted at 1/2, Jenny Randerson at 6/4 and Eleanor Burnham at 8/1.

But "betting expert" Carl Williams says:

“While Kirsty Williams has to be the favourite at the moment, it would be foolish to write off Jenny Randerson, who if she stands would be a very strong candidate.”

Andrew Adonis and Kingham Hill School

Having welcomed the idea a couple of years ago, I can only welcome the announcement that more children "in danger ... of being taken into care", as the BBC nicely puts it, will be offered places at boarding schools funded by the state.

Indeed, it is a shame to learn from The Times that only 15 children have been given places in those two years.

But what really interests me here is the career of the minister who made announcement, Andrew Adonis.

He is almost unique in the modern Labour Party in coming from a poor background (which does not stop him being a hate figure for many on the left). Even that tribune of the people John Spellar turns out to have been educated a leading public school - Dulwich College. (Something he shares with Raymond Chandler, P. G. Wodehouse and Bob Monkhouse.)

According to Wikipedia, Adonis (originally named Andreas) is the son of a Greek Cypriot father and an English mother. His mother left the family when he was a toddler and he was placed in care shortly afterwards and lived in a council children's home until the age of 11.

Aged 11, he was sent to Kingham Hill School in Oxfordshire. As he writes on the school's website (Plymouth is the name of a house at the school):

arrived at Plymouth in April 1974 after an extremely unsettled few years in a children's home. It was one of the first times I had seen the English countryside, and the first time in England I had been so far from London. It was also mid-way through the school year. So all in all, it was a shock to the system, and to begin with an unhappy experience.

But Plymouth and KHS soon came to supply all I lacked in life outside: stability, friends, values and a sense of self-worth and self-belief.

Looking at the accompanying photograph, Kingham has clear similarities with the Bonkers' Home for Well-Behaved Orphans, but Adonis goes on to say: "I could write so much more of these seven years, but suffice it to say that they pretty well made me what I am today."

I doubt that Adonis would be a minister today if he had continued living in Her Majesty's Children's Homes.

Another former pupil of Kingham Hill School is the Irish political journalist Bruce Arnold. He wrote a series of four novels in the 1970s and 1980s - the Coppinger novels - about the school, beginning with "A Singer at the Wedding". I read them many years ago and recall reading an extract from the first novel in The Times when I was at school myself.

Siobhain McDonagh and Progress Magazine: Labour unrest grows

The BBC reports:

A junior member of the government has been sacked after breaking ranks to call for a challenge to Prime Minister Gordon Brown as Labour leader.

Assistant whip Siobhain McDonagh said she wanted a debate about the party's future and a "huge number" of other Labour MPs also wanted a contest.

And 12 Labour MPs have signed an article in the Conference issue of Progress Magazine - full text here - making a coded attack on Gordon Brown's leadership:

We need to explain what we're going to do about the things that affect people day to day: inflation and interest rates, household bills and mortgages. Harold Wilson talked about the 'pound in your pocket' and Margaret Thatcher likened the economy to a household budget - derided by the pundits, but understood by the public.

The Bank of England's control mechanisms, that have served us well for a decade, have lost credibility and impact. People can see that the Bank's Consumer Prices Index inflation measure does not tally with what is happening to their household bills, and that the Bank's interest rate does not equate to what is happening to their mortgages.

We need to explain what is happening and show how a progressive Labour government can intervene in the public interest.

The 12 MPs signing it are Janet Anderson, Karen Buck, Patricia Hewitt, George Howarth, Eric Joyce, Sally Keeble, Stephen Ladyman, Martin Linton, Shona McIsaac, Margaret Moran, Tom Levitt and Paddy Tipping.

Thanks to Guido Fawkes.

Review: The Crunch by Alex Brummer

This review appears in today's Liberal Democrat News.

The Crunch: The Scandal of Northern Rock and the Escalating Credit Crisis
Alex Brummer
Random House Business Books, 2008, £11.99

One of the abiding memories of last year’s Liberal Democrat Conference is the long patient queue outside the Northern Rock branch in North Street. What we were seeing in Brighton was something no living Briton had experienced outside Mary Poppins: a run on a bank.

This lively and approachable book will help you understand how it came about. It has many villains. Among them are the board of Northern Rock (which included Gordon Brown‘s favourite banker Derek Wanless), Alistair Darling, Mervyn King, the Financial Services Authority and the City’s bonus culture.

But it does have a hero. At this year’s Royal Bank of Scotland AGM - a stormy event held in Edinburgh in April - a private shareholder called John Steen addressed the board of directors. "You guys are paid as though you are superhuman," he said, "and it’s very clear that you’re not." He was loudly applauded.

Politicians, you come to realise, don’t create a successful economy: they ride the wave when it is doing well and take the blame when it is doing badly. And this book suggests that is true of managers too.

Take the board and senior management of Northern Rock, the local building society that overreached itself by trying to become a major bank. No one challenged the chief executive Adam Applegarth as he ran the company into the ground: any rival ideas were rejected by those close to him because "Adam wouldn’t like it". And when the business began to collapse around them, several key people went on sick leave and never came back.

The Financial Services Authority - the brainchild of Gordon Brown and Ed Balls - failed to check Applegarth’s excesses. That said, there is something pathetic about the way managers blame the regulators for failing to save them from their own greed and stupidity.

Brummer widens his narrative to take in the subprime mortgage crisis in America, which lay at the heart of Northern Rock’s problems. He paints vivid portraits of many of the main players and explains the technicalities clearly. As a guide to our current troubles, this book is hard to beat.

Jonathan Calder

Lib Dem leaders must get their act together on taxation

Yesterday afternoon Danny Alexander had an article on Liberal Democrat Voice explaining the party's taxation policy.

He wrote:

"Liberal Democrats will end about £20bn of this wasteful government spending – this is the “spending review” process Vince Cable’s team has been leading. We don’t yet know the final outcome of this review – but I can guarantee it won’t involve trimming investment in frontline services.

"Much of the money we identify with this spending review will be reallocated to our own priorities for additional spending. The manifesto group, which I lead, is busy identifying those spending priorities, like the pupil premium to bring investment in the poorest children up to private school levels.

"But if there is money to spare, as Nick Clegg said this weekend, we will channel the vast bulk of it into going further with our tax cuts for low and middle income families. Sadly, some may have to go to filling up the black hole in the government finances that Labour’s economic mismanagement has created, but the vast majority of the 'spare' money will go straight back to ordinary people and families."

So "much of the money" saved will be reallocated to Liberal Democrat spending priorities. If there is money to spare after that, "the vast bulk of it" will be used to pay for tax cuts for low and middle income families, though some may have to be used to repair government finances.

How, then, to explain Nick Clegg's interview with ePolitix this morning?

There he says:

"If you ask a young family struggling to put food on the table, pay for the full tank of petrol, pay for their heating bill whether they want a bit of money back to see them through the looming recession or they want it to disappear into the coffers in Whitehall, I think it is obvious what the answer would be."

This seems to equate all public spending with making money "disappear into the coffers in Whitehall". Surely the young family will want to know what their taxes are being spent on before they judge whether or not they want their money back? Such a family, for instance, decide that taxation to fund improved local schools is a very good thing.

Clegg is also quoted as saying:

"Our tax proposal is very much on the side of the people, as opposed to simply giving more money to the centralised New Labour system, and I think that is exactly where our party should be and it is very much in line with our longstanding principles of fairness and also the belief that central government doesn't necessarily know best,"

But we are in favour of a decentralised system. Some cities and counties may choose to spend more on their schools than central government does at present. There is no guarantee that a decentralised system will mean lower taxes. The whole point of it is to give people the right to vary spending to meet local needs and priorities.

I am a great believer that government tries to do too much and is too intrusive, but there is no logical reason why someone like me should not support higher spending on the things the state should be doing and can do well. Of course, higher spending is not always the answer, but Clegg is too dismissive of it in this interview.

But the most important thing here is that Alexander and Clegg appear to be saying radically different things here. If we go into the next general election like this, we will be torn to shreds.

Incidentally, where is Vince Cable in all this? Shouldn't he be speaking for the party on taxation and spending?

What's your favourite blog post of the week?

Let me know - by sending the link to britblog [at] gmail [dot] com before Sunday lunchtime - and I shall include it in the next Britblog Roundup.

A slightly embarrassed blogger asks: Can I nominate something from my own blog?

Liberal England replies. By all means.

Charlies Whelan: Still spinning for Brown

The Mole (The First Post's "Westminster insider") suggests that Gordon Brown's former spin doctor Charlie Whelan, now political director of the super union, Unite, is still active on his behalf:

Whelan's loyalty to his old boss is undiminished. Working behind the scenes and in union gatherings, his blokish charm has been much employed rubbishing anyone who suggests a change of leader would help Labour avoid disaster at the next general election disaster.

If you think Whelan is a bit too gor blimey to be true, you are right. In his 2004 biography of Brown, Tom Bower described him thus:

Born in Peckham in 1955, Whelan would above all be obedient and loyal to Brown's cause. "Able but very lazy," was his headmaster's conclusion after the young Whelan failed one examination. In the hope of solving the problem, his parents sent him to a fee-paying boarding school in Surrey. He secured an unimpressive degree in politics at the City of London Polytechnic. 

When he started his first job as a foreign exchange dealer in the City, he spoke in a home counties accent. One year later, employed as a researcher by the AEUW, he spoke like a Cockney.

Mat's musical meme

Mat Bowles suggets a "silly meme": Choose a singer/band/group — answer using only titles of songs by that singer/band/group.

Just to prove it can be done...

1. Are you male or female? I'm a Man
2. Describe yourself. I'm Blue
3. What do people feel when they're around you? It's Gonna Work Out Fine
4. How would you describe your previous relationship? Mean Woman Blues
5. Describe your current relationship? Strong Love
6. Where would you want to be now? Kansas City
7. How do you feel about love? It Hurts Me So
8. What's your life like? Every Little Bit Hurts
9. What would you ask for if you only had one wish? Gimme Some Lovin'
10. Say something wise. Keep on Running

Scottish Lib Dems say local income tax must be local

The Herald reports:

The Liberal Democrats are to lay strict conditions on any deal with the SNP on local income tax, insisting that variation by local councils be written into legislation.

Party finance spokesman Jeremy Purvis told The Herald ahead of a negotiating meeting today: "Any bill brought forward has to include, on the face of the bill, the ability of councils to vary the rate."

Purvis is right. As Simon Jenkins said in the Guardian the other day:

Salmond is about to achieve what Nigel Lawson, Kenneth Clarke and Gordon Brown failed to do: kill off a chunk of British local government and render local authorities mere delegates of central power. He wishes to concentrate control in his office and ensure that Scotland's counties, boroughs and communities have no say over their services or spending priorities.

In short, said Jenkins, he is Thatcher in a kilt.

The Liberal Democrats must stop Salmond doing this. We must not become so wedded to our policy goal of scrapping the Council that we forget our deeper belief in local democracy.

It is a question of remembering why you are in politics.

Telford park row: Council backs down

From the Shropshire Star:

Telford & Wrekin council boss Andrew Eade today stepped into the patrols in the park row and admitted: “We made a mistake and I’m sorry.”

The council leader stressed that there was no question of adults being stopped and quizzed just because they were in the Town Park without children.

Councillor Eade spoke out after council sports and recreation manager David Ottley caused a row by revealing in a letter that childless adults could be stopped by wardens and asked to explain what they were doing in the park.

But Mr Eade said this afternoon the letter “incorrectly stated the situation”.

I would be inclined to believe that the whole thing had been exagerrated if it weren't for the newspapers video, which I posted yesterday.

Telford & Wrekin Council Watch also defends the Star:

They have also accused the Shropshire Star of exaggerating the story, I and others firmly believe that the Shropshire Star have covered this crazy issue very thoroughly and fairly, including video evidence of the councils attempt to enforce a police state.

Remember:

When they came for the penguins,
I did not speak out;
I was not a penguin.

The Friends of Raymond

No, it's not a euphemism.

In the brief middle-class period of my childhood I had a bedroom that overlooked the canal in Boxmoor. And one of my strongest memories of those days - it can only date from 1969 and 1970 - is the Fellows, Morton & Clayton narrowboats that still carried cargo along the Grand Union. I now know that they were bringing coal from Leicestershire mines in the Ashby Canal down to London.

The first sign that they were coming was the thump thump thump of their diesel engines, which was could be heard well before they emerged from the mist. And the boat that I remember most of all is Raymond. I last saw her moored up at Braunston in the late 1970s.

You can read the boat's history on a website devoted to her:

Raymond was launched in 1958 and was mainly used to carry coal from the Midlands to London. She was initially towed by the motor Roger and later by Nutfield.

Throughout their working life they were operated by Arthur and Rose Bray and her son Ernie Kendal.

One of the more famous jobs was carrying coal from Atherstone to the Kearley & Tonge jam factory at Southall, known as the "Jam 'Ole Run".

Trade ceased in 1970 but the Brays continued to live aboard until, in 1980, they sold Raymond to Jim & Doris Collins who lived aboard until 1993. She was then taken to Runcorn where it was expected that she would be restored. However, she fell further into disrepair and sank.

But that was not the end of the story:

In 1996 she was acquired by the "Friends of Raymond" and in April 1997 was refloated and towed to the Black Country Living Museum at Dudley where decisions could be better made about how to proceed with the restoration.

As the Friends of Raymond website says:

By December 1999 (less than two years later) restoration work was under way and by the start of July 2000 Raymond was back in Braunston and moored just a few yards from where she had been built in 1958.

You can find out more about the boat and join the Friends of Raymond on its website.

Henry Graham White MP

At work yesterday I was editing an article about John Graham-White, who was one of the founders of clinical psychology in the National Health Service.

It turned out that his father was Henry Graham White, who was Liberal MP for Birkenhead East 1922-4 and 1929-45.

I have not come across Henry before, but you can see some pictures of him on the National Portrait Gallery site.

The good, the great and Lembit Opik

Nick Clegg will face imprisonment rather than carry an identity card. Lembit Opik chooses a different cause over which to defy the law.

You will have read by now of Lembit's Segway ride at Westminster. His two companions, both Tory peers, are worthy of notice.

Earl Attlee is the grandson of the Labour prime minister. The Earl of Liverpool is a kinsman, but apparently not a direct descendant, of the 19th century prime minister.

Telford park story reaches national press

The story about Telford & Wrekin Council questioning people without children in the town's main park has begun to reach the national press - try the Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail.

And this video from the Shropshire Star shows the policy in action...

Government interference undermines public faith in education

The Independent reports a speech given by Simon Lebus, chief executive of Cambridge Assessment, to an international conference in the city:

Mr Lebus said that, as a result of politicians becoming involved in the design of qualifications, "we have seen the Government ordering the use of calculators in and out of the exams system seven times in the last decade, the introduction and removal of coursework and political engagement at the level of the Secretary of State in the highly technical question of how to set the grade boundary for the new A* at A-level being introduced this month".

As he went on to say:

"This interference is counterproductive. It harms public confidence and means that people do not believe politicians' annual protestations that things are getting better since the claim is impossible to verify with the education and qualification system in a ferment of perpetual change."

The result is increased demand for international qualifications such as the International Baccalaureate, the IGCSE – built along the lines of the old O-level and now being taken by scores of independent schools – and the Pre-U, because they have not been subject to political interference.

Telford Park: Some blogosphere reaction

The story about single people being stopped and asked why they are in Telford Central Park has not made the national press yet. Perhaps now you see why I prefer to get my news from the Shropshire Star.

But several bloggers have picked it up:

• Borrow a Child to go to Telford Town Park (telford-live.com)
• Telford tries its hand at facism (Wonko's World)
• Guilty Until Proven Innocent In Telford... (Why England Needs a Parliament)

Nick Clegg backs co-payments in the NHS

This morning's issue of The Times says Nick Clegg is to set out why he believes patients should be allowed to pay privately for drugs to top up their NHS care. Note the way that newspapers now report news before it has happened.

Anyway, Nick is quoted as follows:

“We cannot continue to deny people the right to top up their care, particularly where they are following their clinician’s advice. An extra week of life may not count for much on a bureaucrat’s chart. But if you’re saying goodbye for ever to your children, it couldn’t matter more.”

A bit melodramatic, perhaps, but I think Nick is right.

I wrote about this issue at the end of last year, saying:

There has always been a side of Labour that loves the NHS because it makes people queue and wait. If the wealthy get away with having a better life for most of the time, socialists can at least take their revenge on them when they are ill.

Maybe that was a bit melodramatic too, but the post does remember the foxhunting Labour MP Reggie Paget.

"Vulcan" by Chris Wood

The Esoteric Recordings website announces:

October will see the release of an album which has been many months in preparation, Chris Wood’s “Vulcan”.

I’m sure some of you will be aware of Chris’ work as a member of the legendary band Traffic. “Vulcan” is essentially the “lost” solo album recorded by Chris following the demise of Traffic in 1974.

The idea for “Vulcan” was formulated prior to Traffic’s final tour and the record was assembled slowly over the next few years with contributions from Steve Winwood and members of The Wailers. Sadly Chris never saw the album completed and following his untimely passing in 1983 the tapes remained in the possession of his family.

Now, thanks to the full involvement and assistance of Chris’ sister Sefanie and long-time Traffic fan Dan Ropek, “Vulcan” has been assembled and sees the light of day this Autumn. It is a project which all of us at Esoteric feel honoured to have been a part of.

I don't know what "Vulcan" will prove to be like, but you can read more about Chris Wood and hear him play on "Freedom Rider" .

Britblog Roundup 186

Philobiblon is back from the Green Party Conference to bring you a selection of the best in British blogging from the past week.

The next Roundup will be hosted here on Liberal England. So if you see a posting on a British blog this week that you think should appear, please send the link to britblog [at] gmail [dot] com before Sunday lunchtime.

And, yes, you can nominate a posting from our own blog.