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If we had FPTP for the Speaker’s position

By Julian Harris
June 22nd, 2009 at 6:49 pm | Comments Off on If we had FPTP for the Speaker’s position | Posted in Uncategorized

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A brief observation for our passing Tories:

If we had First Past The Post for this election, Bercow would have already won (!)

Ooomph!








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Finally, LibDem MPs have some real power at Westminster

By Mark Littlewood
June 22nd, 2009 at 5:22 pm | Comments Off on Finally, LibDem MPs have some real power at Westminster | Posted in UK Politics

On the basis of the first round results, it would appear that the identity of the next Speaker depends on how the LibDem MPs split between Bercow and Young in the later rounds (assuming most of them voted for Alan Beith in the first round).

Power at last – let’s hope it’s used wisely…

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Speaker 1st round…preserve us from Bercow…

By Mark Littlewood
June 22nd, 2009 at 5:09 pm | 4 Comments | Posted in UK Politics

The winning post is 296.

Beckett 74, Beith 55 , Bercow 179, Cormack 13 , Dhanda 26 , Haselhurst 66 , Lord 9, Shepherd 15, Widdecombe 44, Young 112, Spoilt ballots 1

Please can every right-thinking MP now switch their vote to George Young? It’s now a staright race between him and Bercow (although Beckett, Beith, Haselhurst and Widdecombe have not been formally eliminated)

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New Tory European group risks being held to ransom

By Mark Littlewood
June 22nd, 2009 at 2:47 pm | 1 Comment | Posted in EU Politics

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Cameron’s Tories have found a collection of people to sit with in the European Parliament, but will now be in a group that is smaller – and considerably more marginalised – than the ALDE group headed up by LibDem MEP Graham Watson.

There are two hurdles in forming a recognised group in the European Parliament – to have at least 25 MEPs and to have representation in seven member states. The first of these is simplicity for the Conservatives (they have 26 MEPs of their own), but they have limped over the second hurdle. Other than the Polish Law and Justice Party and the Czech Civic Democrats, the five other parties will be represented by only one MEP each –  from Belgium, the Netherlands, Latvia, Hungary and Finland. It would only require two of these MEPs to walk out for the Conservatives to  lose their group status.

Expect the small parties to use this leverage to maximum political effect – which will involve the various lone MEPs from the Latvian National Independence Movement, the Hungarian Democratic Forum, the Finnish Centre Party, the Dutch Christian Union and the Flemish Lijst Dedecker having their whims and fancies continually indulged by the British Tory block. The Conservatives may well find they have less room for maneouvre then they would have if they’d stayed in the EPP.

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Over 100 hours of glorious television proving two key points

By Mark Littlewood
June 22nd, 2009 at 12:11 pm | 11 Comments | Posted in Culture

the-shieldthe-wireLiberal Vision doesn’t do commerical advertising (yet), but if we did, we’d offer a huge discount to promote these two top quality products.

Arguably the best television drama productions of the last few years, The Wire and The Shield are both ultra-gritty, unalloyed cop dramas exposing the catastrophic levels of bureaurcratic corruption in a largely futile battle against violent crime.

The Wire follows – across its five seasons – the drugs war in the public  housing projects of Baltimore, the corruption of the trade unions, the catastrophes of the state eduction system, the sleaze in the mayor’s office and the changing role of a cynical media.

The 88-episode Shield focuses on renegade cop Vic Mackey, whose gang-busting Strike Team causes as many problems as it solves in the social abomination that is the Farmington district of Los Angeles.

Having now watched both series – practically back-to-back – I was left with two abiding impressions. Firstly, the war on drugs is not just a collosal waste of money, it is crushingly counter-productive, embedding a multi-billion pound industry in the hands of murderous gang warlords and effectively destroying the rule of law in a raft of deprived areas.

Secondly, commerical American television is now producing drama that surpasses the tamer and less imaginative output that is increasingly the fare of the state-financed BBC. In fact, if you refuse to pay your licence fee this year, you can just about afford to buy the full box sets of The Wire and The Shield from Amazon.

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