Liberal Vision

Lib Dem Measurement Fascist strikes again….

Greg Mulholland clearly has “Measurement Mania”.  Having sought to ban the word “regular” from our coffee shops last week, he has now gone on record welcoming the law requiring pubs to serve small (125ml) glasses of wine alongside larger measures.

EDM 737  27/01/10

“That this House welcomes the introduction of the law, within the Mandatory Code of Practice, requiring pubs, bars and other similar establishments to offer the choice of a 125ml measure of wine alongside larger measures; notes that this follows campaigning since the introduction of the Sale of Wine (Measures) Bill in 2008 and a campaign by the Good Pub Guide also supported by a number of other organisations; believes that obliging venues to offer 125ml size measures gives consumers greater choice by allowing them to order smaller as well as larger size glasses of wine; further believes that this will help standardise wine measures so that it would be better understood that 125ml is a small measure of wine, 175ml medium and 250ml large; further notes that this will mean people will have a better idea of how much they are drinking at any venue; further believes that this is a simple and effective method of increasing alcohol awareness amongst wine drinkers; further notes that this measure need not mean using 125ml sized glasses of wine but that this measure can be dispensed in a 175ml glass with a measure; and looks forward to the implementation of this policy so that consumers everywhere have real choice of wine glass measures everywhere they go”.

This statement refers to the Home Office Mandatory Code Of Practice for alcohol retailers which will, subject to Parliamentary timetable, introduce the following mandatory licensing conditions for pubs, clubs etc: Banning irresponsible promotions;Banning pouring drinks directly into the mouths of customers;Ensuring free tap water for customers; and Ensuring that all on trade premises offer small measures of beers, wine and spirits to customers.

The last of these measures – the one that Greg Mulholland commends to the House - will have no meaningful effect on drinking levels in this country nor on the takings or profits of the pubs. 

Even so it’s annoying and pretty absurd that yet again this Government is telling people its not their fault if they get rat-faced, but somehow the retailers. And I cant see for the life of me why the Home Office thinks that the minority of people hell-bent on going out on a Friday night with the sole aim of getting legless will somehow now desist because there is a mandated option of a small glass of wine on the menu. As for stopping drinks promotions in pubs, that will simply result in people drinking copious amounts away from the scrutiny of responsible landlords. Then go to the pub! The world has gone barking mad. 

Speaking of which, the bit that intrigues me in Greg Mulholland’s EDM is the bit  I highlighted in blue (above).Arrgh!!!  Does anyone know where,when and why an otherwise bright, sane Lib Dem MP turned into the Measurement Facist of old London Town?

Chris Huhne was talking last week about the swathes of needless legislation that has been introduced by this Government over the last decade when current laws exist already to deal with the issues raised? So. If it is true as the Home Office says “The majority of alcohol retailers behave responsibly, but a minorityconduct irresponsible promotions or practices – the mandatory code will stop these where they take place.“, then Councils already have the power they need to stop the irresponsible few – withdraw their licences. End of.. Why the need for MORE legislation? And why is Greg Mulholland praising something that Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary must surely condemn?

Methinks someone should take Greg to a quiet corner and give him a chill pill.

Tags: Chris Huhne, EDM, Greg Mulholland, Mandatory code of practice for alcohol retailers

This 45 year olds plan to avoid criminalisation

I am 45 and in a rapidly diminishing minority. I have not yet been criminalised. Surely it is now a matter of time before I slip up on a speed trap (I drive a Porsche), a wheelie bin infringement (not actually got to wheelie bins where I live) or get caught accidentally snapping a copper on my mobile phone .

I have come perilously close – I was stopped a while back on the M11 for eating tic tacs . The policeman is his unmarked police car was absolutely certain that I was “using a mobile phone whilst driving in the outside lane” – I am not sure what the outside lane had to do with it by the way but thats another matter. When I explained that what he saw was me necking a few tic tacs he was having none of it. Even when I brandished the box at him (hmm that was risky with hindsight). Fortunately for me my mobile was actually in my handbag in the boot of my car – so that would have been a pretty magnificent feat had I achieved it. Lucky escape.  

But I am quite clearly living on borrowed time – only a matter of time before some agency or other catches up with me.

It is reported today that Parliamentary answers show the number of first-time entrants to the criminal justice system who are over 50 increased by 46.3 per cent between 2000/01 and 2007/08, from 16,400 to 24,000. In the 40-49 age group, the leap was 57.4 per cent, with 32,900 previously law-abiding people being criminalised. The increases in the middle-aged groups far outstripped the general picture. In the population as a whole, there was a rise of just 18.6 per cent.

There we all were worrying about drunken teenagers littering our streets on a Friday night, looking at us in a menacing way, and its the parents that are the real criminals! 

But seriously, as Chris Huhne  so rightly said “Labour have criminalised a generation and treated tens of thousands of law-abiding middle-aged and elderly citizens like villains.” And all in the name of “targets”. May that word be banned from the lexicon of the next government.

The only group of over 40′s that seem to be able to avoid criminalisation are those residing in the House of Commons and House of Lords (after the last election the average age of an MP was 50) . They appear to be able to cheat, lie and thieve to their hearts content, and when they get caught, say sorry and at worst pay back a small proportion of what they took. And of course that is not forgetting war criminals. You may be prosecuted for not wearing a seatbelt – but are made president of Europe no less if take your country into an illegal war.

So, as I do not see a peerage coming my way anytime soon,  there would appear to be only one option left open to me. I must stand as an MP at the next general election. That way I might, just might, escape the increasingly long arm of the law.  

Tags: Chris Huhne, criminalisation, over 40's

Breaking news: Wilders has UK ban overturned

Courtesy of the BBC – Dutch right-winger Geert Wilders has successfully appealed against the ban imposed on him entering the UK.

I’m sure you all recall the situation: upon trying to enter the country in February, our ever illiberal Home Office chucked him on a flight back to the Netherlands.

At the time Chris Huhne, disappointingly, endorsed the government’s decision.

Not all of us were impressed.

Tags: Chris Huhne, geert wilders

Chris Huhne and Norman Lamb lead LibDem calls for Speaker to quit

Chris Huhne (on Newnsight) and Norman Lamb have now both come out calling for the Speaker to go – with Norman making it plain that he will back Douglas Carswell’s motion.

Michael Martin’s days are surely numbered.

It’s important for the LibDems to steal a march on the Tories here, and for Nick Clegg to endorse and reinforce  the calls of his two frontbench spokesmen.

Another Julian H augmentation: Betty Boothroyd is, allegedly, “just appalled at the way Martin has behaved”. This comes via the Daily Mail via Bernard Salmon’s Sound of Gunfire blog. Which reminds me that Bernard is an enlightened Wenger sympathiser, and I will therefore add him to our links. Done.

Tags: Chris Huhne, Michael Martin, Norman Lamb

When will the LibDems follow Carswell’s lead?

Douglas Carswell, the outspoken, media-savvy, maverick Tory MP for Harwich is leading the campaign to remove Michael Martin as Speaker by tabling a motion of no confidence.. Unlike most backbenchers, he is increasingly unlikely to have the words “little known” prefixed to his name when mentioned in the national media. (I described him as such on Radio 5 yesterday, but having looked up his recent mentions in the press, I was wrong to do so)

David Cameron has, rather shame-facedly, said that the Speaker retains his support.

Nick Clegg has said nothing so far that I’ve seen, but surely it’s time for the LibDems to lend their full weight to this move.

Getting the tone and message right is vital, of course. If the public interpret the move as MPs shifting the blame for the present political crisis entirely on to the Speaker’s shoulders, it will backfire badly.

But, surely, no one can believe that Michael Martin can remain as Speaker of the House of Commons if Westminster is serious about cleaning up its act.

Seize the initiave, Nick, and call on Martin to go.

Update from Julian H: as some of you may have seen, Lib Dem EU Parliamentary candidate (for London) Jonathan Fryer has called for Speaker Martin to go. Click here for details on Jonathan’s blog. Meanwhile, Peter Black AM doesn’t sound too impressed, either.

Update: Chris Huhne calls on Speaker to go. Surely, Nick now needs to follow suit?

Tags: Chris Huhne, Douglas Carswell, Michael Martin, Nick Clegg