Archives for October 2010

On the day of the Spending Review the apple of the week (pictured here) is totally in tune with the times.

It's the British Spartan.

Tasting notes are provided that also live up to the political temperature:

The skin is smooth and bright crimson in colour - but it can quickly become discoloured by a natural bluish bloom.

And the price? - a cost-cutting 35p...

But how much of that is taxpayers' subsidy?

• Bookmark with:
• del.icio.us |
• Digg |
• Reddit
• - What's this?

Along with his axe, George Osborne brought some other tools today. A sharp stick, to keep prodding for efficiency, and a spade. Labour would say he'll need that to dig himself out of the mess if the economy falters, but he had another plan in mind - digging for growth.

A clear majority of his statement was about the places he will protect, or even invest.

The mentions of road schemes at Weymouth and Hindhead refer of course to projects started under Labour - it would be even more difficult to save money from those now than the aircraft carriers.

Another growth plan was for flood protection - 145,000 homes will surely include major schemes on the South coast.

Weymouth and Southampton have to fight out who gets the port facilities for the offshore wind which is approved - Eastleigh's MP Chris Huhne has battled well - his climate change department loses just 5%, and sees a large increase in some capital spending.

Raising the cap on regulated rail fares by 3% will hit many commuters in the South who rely on the cheap tickets.

The money to refurbish 600 schools will come the way of the South of England - we missed out on the previous Building Schools for the Future programe.

Osborne promised to limit cuts to Fire and Rescue Services, in return for substantial operational reform. Sussex, and under Chief Officer John Bonney, Hampshire, have been cutting numbers on tenders, but this will go further still.

There are still questions.

Plans for a super prison are now deferred. Legal aid bill and courts shut - what effect will that have on crime?

On housing the detail on the New Homes Bonus will be critical - will it persuade Southern Councils and residents to allow development?

On welfare we must look at the detail again - do the changes allow someone to live in high cost areas?

What do YOU think?

• Bookmark with:
• del.icio.us |
• Digg |
• Reddit
• - What's this?

But now the Conservatives are in government the number of people who wanted to hear the new PM's first speech meant that we all had to apply for tickets.

I was one of the lucky ones to hear the speech first hand. It's well worth while - mainly to see the reaction in the hall, something that TV doesn't faithfully convey.

The audience went strangely quiet during the Big Society section. I thought it looked good on paper, but it certainly failed to stir this crowd.

Let's see whether they can explain it better out in the real world.

• Bookmark with:
• del.icio.us |
• Digg |
• Reddit
• - What's this?

In 2005 the Conservative leader Michael Howard was accused of running a dog-whistle campaign. Issues like immigration, crime and Europe that got attention simply by being raised. A sharp peeep that got the core support dashing to his side. Or that was the plan.

The approach was largely discredited, but at a fringe meeting last night I was struck by how Conservatives react with the alacrity of a doberman on heat when they get the faintest scent of a policy they like.

The fringe was animal related: the RSPCA Beer and curry reception. They queued around the block for a free supper, in fact people were turned away, so you get an idea of the appetites in the room.

Before the poppadoms were shared out they had to listen to the speeches, and there was a huge cheer for one idea: the suggestion that dog licences should be brought back.

It's a long running, and rather forlorn campaign now. But something resonated.

Was it the echo of a bygone time, when a little old lady would queue at the Post Office for the warm comfort of knowing her dachsund was legal?

Or perhaps the implicit crack down on hooded council estate yobs, no doubt using their mastiff for part-time fighting, when it wasn't dirtying the local park.

Whatever the reason the Agriculture Minister (their minister, of course) looked rather startled.

And when Jim Paice took the microphone he quickly tried to put things straight.

"We are not a government that reaches automatically for regulation to change things. Regulation reaches all those doing the job properly before it reaches the small minority of offenders."

It was a rebuke to the audience, and there was more.

He could not back the dog licence call, or anything that added to legislation without good cause. Rather than the collar and lead - he preferred a nudging stick.

"We want farmers to raise welfare standards voluntarily, and we believe they can be trusted to do so. We are not talking about lowering standards. It is in the coalition agreement that we will aim for the highest possible welfare standards."

At the mention of the C word there was some restlessness. Perhaps the room would rise up, demanding the return of dog licences, a cap on the number of poodles allowed into the country, criminals forced to pay back the community with dog-walking...

So Paice played his ace. "We must improve food labelling. People buying British must know they are buying British."

That did it. Job done. The crowd were once again soppy labradors rolling around and waiting for their tummies to be tickled some more.

• Bookmark with:
• del.icio.us |
• Digg |
• Reddit
• - What's this?

Take a look at the wordcount here.

The old hands are leaving the shadow cabinet... a quarter of the MPs are newly elected, they're changing the guard. There's been a complete revamp of the music played in the hall. Just as David Cameron brought in The Killers' track Mr Brightside and transformed the mood, now Ed chose the Kings of Leon's Use Somebody as he left the stage.

He delivered his speech in front of a gaggle of teenagers... a backdrop of shy young girls and boys who would struggle to do anything useful with a razor.

I suppose he gained gravitas by comparison but the question left in my mind is how much of this is about the next election and how much just planting seeds for the future.

Danger in success

The Southampton Shadow Cabinet Minister John Denham is clear that there's a danger for Labour in too much early success. In his opinion a rise in the opinion polls, success in local elections, spells trouble ahead.

"What we've got to know is that we won't come back just because the coalition becomes unpopular. We're going to have a lead in opinion polls soon, but it's only when people start to say we want you back, we think you've changed, you understand what it was that led us not to vote for you, that we will get back."

Denham backed Ed Miliband and says he understands the South in the same way that Tony Blair did.

And in a speech to Southern region supporters Miliband identified three areas where Labour needed a new agenda to win back Southern voters.

The first two were straightforward. He saw the cost of housing and problems of transport as important areas.

Critical point

His last point may be the critical one, though. He argued that Labour would always struggle against a Tory tradition, in the same way that Labour enjoys the benefits of a tradition of voting in the North.

In his speech today the new Labour leader offered a more consensual politics - agreeing with Ken Clark on sentencing, with Theresa May on repealing terror laws.

He also promised to end tribalism within his party, but it must also be his hope that a new generation of voters will be less tribal, and in the South of England, more ready to give his party a chance.

• Bookmark with:
• del.icio.us |
• Digg |
• Reddit
• - What's this?