100 posts
How to become a British eurosceptic
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1. Don’t pretend to be sceptic in the true sense of the word. You hate the EU hence your are a sceptic. Don’t question this logic. The word “sceptic” sounds good because it shows that you can think things through. 2. Don&rsquo...
Week in Bloggingportal: Exercises in Democracy
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BY CC FutUndBeidl It may be a year until the European elections, but with Croatia joining the EU in July, Croats are heading to the polls today to elect their representatives to the European Parliament. It’s not been the bes...
On UKIP and legitimacy
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Alex Andreou has had a go at UKIP on the New Statesman website. It’s a detailed, but relatively standard, attempt to critique the party – that they have no coherent,...
A more democratic EU? Stop government secrecy!
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In UK Prime Minister David Cameron’s EU speech this week he talked of the need to increase the EU’s “democratic accountability”. One little known fact is that the most secretive and undemocratic piece of the EU is actually &ls...
"Why David Cameron is wrong on Europe" by Ed Miliband
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Tomorrow’s speech by David Cameron will define him as a weak Prime Minister, being driven by his party, not by the national economic interest. In October 2011, he opposed committing to an in/out referendum because of the uncertainty it would cr...
Reform!
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All three major parties and much of the media have reached a consensus that the EU needs reform. It is true that they disagree on the means to achieve this Continue reading →...
Pro-Europeans need a facelift
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One of the more encouraging developments of the past few weeks is that pro-Europeans seem to have woken from their decade-long slumber. Business groups are writing public letters, front pages Continue reading →...
Fresh Start – a manifesto to leave the EU
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Let’s not beat around the bush. The Fresh Start manifesto, launched with huge fanfare by Tory MPs yesterday, is a programme designed to force Britain out of the EU. The Continue reading →...
Katainen: “EU without Britain is fish without chips.”
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Finland's Jyrki Katainen, right, with Cameron during a visit to Downing Street last year. In the run up to Friday’s big speech by British prime minster David Cameron on his country’s future in the EU, some of the loudest voices of concern ha...
Britain would vote to stay in the EU
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Britain not likely to leave EU. Getty Images On a recent visit to Washington, a top British diplomat began his presentation to American colleagues by assuring them that there is no way that Britain will leave the EU. His declaration had the opposite...
It's precisely 40 years since we became members of the EEC. Knowing what we now know, would we have joined?
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It’s difficult, nowadays, to recall the sheer awfulness of political and economic life at the beginning of 1973. Inflation was above 8 per cent, unemployment at its highest level since the Great Depression. Trade union leaders were bigger household...
France vs. the Anglo-Saxons: Myth and Reality in 20 Graphs
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The “Anglo-Saxon” countries and France have for centuries looked upon one another as “the Other” they use to define their own self-image. Many of the posts on this blog have been committed to correcting the stereotypes that inevitably come fr...
The London 2012 Olympic legacy - what legacy?
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Despite the hype, it seems the British government might not be doing as much as it could to sustain the value of the Olympics – writes Lucy Lernelius-Tonks...
As Europe plots closer ties, Britain mulls split
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By DON MELVIN BRUSSELS — Goodbye Britain? For the European Union, a once-unthinkable question is looking more like a real possibility with each new grinding week of economic crisis. The reason is that bad times are forcing the 17 EU nations that us...
Nadine Dorries suspended from Tories over ‘I’m A Celebrity’
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Having apparently quit Britain to appear on I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here without notifying the Tory high command, it looks as though Nadine Dorries’ quest for fame may have just backfired: BREAKING Nadine Dorries is to be suspended...
Half time for the Coalition: see the stats in our infographic
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As today marks the half way point of this Parliament and therefore this Coalition Government, we thought we’d take a quick look at the stats – ups, downs and u-turns – to see how they’re getting on:...
I’m A Celebrity: Broadcasting laws will block Dorries’ abortion rants
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Ofcom rules will almost certainly foil Nadine Dorries’ plan to use I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here as a platform to promote her views on abortion. The Mid-Bedfordshire MP had claimed that the show will be a better forum than parliament to air...
Hypocrite Mensch criticises Dorries’ ‘I’m A Celebrity’ appearance
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Just when you thought Louise Mensch had expended her not inconsiderable reserves of hypocrisy, it turns out she has more in the tank. Having abandoned her constituents while she emigrates to America, Mensch has attacked Nadine Dorries for doing th...
Clegg’s instincts are right but his bid to assert himself just looks desperate
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Repatriation of powers from the European Union to Britain remains a thorn in David Cameron’s side. The movement for “Europe Light” initially dreamt up, I believe, by William Hague back in the mists of time, is really causing the Prime … C...
Tim Farron Is Not David Laws, but…
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David Laws, the Minister of State for Schools and the Cabinet Office, was billed to speak at a bangers-and-mash supper at the Clarendon Hotel in Blackheath this evening and Liberal Democrats from the three boroughs of Lewisham, Greenwich and Bromley...
Cameron still terrified of being branded Thatcher ‘Milk Snatcher’
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David Cameron is terrified of being labelled a ‘Milk Snatcher’, according to civil servants managing proposed nursery budget cuts. Whitehall mandarins have told parties to a consultation on the Nursery Milk Scheme that Number 10 are still despera...
If you don't vote in next week's police elections, don't complain afterwards
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It's almost as though the police elections are being kept secret. Polling day was decoupled from the May local elections, supposedly at the request of the Liberal Democrats, and will instead fall on a dark day in November. The candidates have been de...
Top Tory Brian Coleman pleads not guilty on high street assault charge
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Former London Assembly member Brian Coleman has pleaded not guilty to assault. Appearing at Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court, the former London Assembly member denied a charge relating to an alleged fracas with a female shopkeeper on 20 September. C...
Time to uncork the champagne: Orders for offshore wind turbines have come to a halt in the UK
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Time to uncork the champagne!: The Financial Times reports that orders for offshore wind turbines have come to an abrupt halt in the UK. This is seen as the first clear sign of a (most welcome) slowdown in renewable energy investment. ...
My London Euro-hustings Speech
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For the benefit of those who weren’t there but who have asked what I was going to say, this is the speech I gave at the European candidates’ selection hustings meeting in central London today: Good afternoon everyone. I know it can be qui...
Blackheath Fireworks
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Last night I joined Lewisham Liberal Democrats for a curry supper at the house of a couple of members before we all headed up to Blackheath Common where a throng of many thousands had gathered to watch the famous firework display. This year’s s...
Action Day with Marisha4Croydon
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London Liberal Democrats’ Team London descended on Thornton Heath today for an Action Day of leafleting, surveying and canvassing with Marisha Ray, the Party’s candidate in the Croydon North byelection. Some of the streets were very fami...
Denis MacShane and I never actually came to blows, but…
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I have a feeling that the market in Denis MacShane anecdotes has peaked, so I’m going to offload some stock. A few years ago, I was skiing with some Swiss and British MPs, including the Euro-fanatical Member for Rotherham. One afternoon, I foolishl...
Scrapbook’s top five: our most popular posts this week
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The most clicked stories of the week were: ‘Thatcher’s paedophile’: do Watson claims relate to close Maggie ally? Tory candidate makes sick Jimmy Savile child abuse joke on Twitter Tom Watson bombshell: paedo ring ‘linked to H...
Why I want to Be an MEP
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Today ballot papers started arriving at the homes of Liberal Democrat members in London so they can choose the order of the list of candidates for the European elections in 2014. There are nine candidates for eight places (a tenth, Elaine Bagshawe, h...
Health minister is too sexy for his shirt (and the local newspaper)
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With flu season nearly upon us, health minister Dan Poulter used the opportunity to expose his hairy man quilt to the world. The Tory MP for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich posed for a snap yesterday as he was given the jab in parliament by Dr Geor...
Acting on Denis MacShane expenses helps the Nazis, claims his friend
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Congratulations to soon-to-be-suspended-from-the-Commons Denis MacShane, who has found someone prepared to defend him in public. Step forward lawyer Mark Stephens, who told Radio 4′s World at One that action taken by Commons authorities over fa...
Blinded, half-paralysed man dies day after Atos stop his benefits
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Yet another disabled person has died after being declared “fit for work” by DWP contractor Atos, despite being struck down by a crippling illness. Brian McArdle died the day after his disability benefits were stopped, suffering a fatal heart atta...
BUILD’s Diwali Dinner
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Indians are London’s largest ethnic minority and immigrants of South Asian origin from the sub-Continent and East Africa have made a huge contribution to the British economy. But this evening, the second annual Diwali dinner put on by British...
Brian Coleman’s U-turn on his own ‘easycouncil’ outsourcing plan
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Scrapbook is concerned for the wellbeing of recently-suspended London Tory Brian Coleman, after he has made a volte face on a controversial plan to outsource local services in Barnet — a plan which he approved whilst serving on the council exe...
CC issues final merger procedural guidelines and consults on revised disclosure guidance
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The UK Competition Commission made public its final merger procedural guidelines and launched its consultation on its review of the existing Chairman’s Guidance on Disclosure of Information in Merger Inquiries and Market Investigations (see related...
Croydon North candidate raps: rhyming frenzy from UKIP’s McKenzie
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Winston McKenzie, standing for UKIP in the upcoming by election for Croydon North, doesn’t seem to have been knocked back by his 2005 rejection from the X-Factor though, as three years later he appears rapping about his electoral appeal. The...
How can John Hayes have a future in the energy department? | Caroline Lucas
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Cameron must confirm his support for renewables and do something about a minister who peddles anti-wind propagandaThe battle raging at the heart of the UK's energy and climate policy has taken another dramatic turn. The new Conservative energy minist...
The forthcoming referendum in Scotland
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David Cameron and Alex Salmond agreed earlier this month the terms for the referendum on Scottish independence to be held in the autumn of 2014. Federal Union has been asked what it thinks. It would be outside the scope of this website to take view...
Fireworks again? Chris Bryant and Cameron to clash again at PMQs
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Chris Bryant is number five on the order paper for today’s PMQs. Here’s what happened two weeks ago: The exchange should be one to watch … UPDATE: Bryant invoked William Hague’s assertion that a minister does have to answer q...
The good old days – when banking was simpler… for some
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Many argue that the banking system no longer has integrity and reminisce of past times when the banks were everyone’s old reliable; you pop into your local bank for some friendly advice and a cup of tea. Well, you could if you had sufficient funds...
Brian Coleman suspended by Tory Party ahead of assault trial
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The controversial London Conservative councillor Brian Coleman has had the party whip withdrawn, awaiting the result of his impending trial for assault. Coleman, who had been chairman of the London Fire Authority under Boris Johnson until he was ditc...
The tax avoidance questions asked by hypocrite ‘tax avoidance’ MP
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A government minister who attacked Ken Livingstone over his tax arrangements belongs to a firm engaging in, erm, tax breaks. Tory MP Stephen Hammond failed to declare his involvement in Harwood Film Partnership in the parliamentary register of membe...
Greece is not alone – tax evasion is a British problem too | Richard Murphy
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A Greek journalist has published the names of those with secret Swiss bank accounts. HMRC has its own list, but no one has come to court so farGreece is in a tax evasion crisis. Using a variety of sources I estimated earlier this year that 27.5% of i...
Tory tells chemo patient: stop “scaremongering” on cancer cuts
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A senior Tory councillor has accused a colleague undergoing chemotherapy of “scaremongering” over a decision to cut treatment that has “helped her to keep her alive”. At a council meeting in Thurrock, Labour councillor Diana Hale was seeking...
The UK‘s choice – Perseverance or Printing
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The UK economy grew by 1.0% in the third quarter, the fastest quarterly growth rate for five years. After several quarters of negative data and a slump into double-dip recession, this would appear, at first sight, to be very good news. Though the...
Glasgow's famine memorial stands for so much | Kevin McKenna
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The tribute to the Irish tragedy also stands for what we owe to immigrantsMy vision of what Scotland ought to look like, independent or not, does not make any outrageous demands. Well, perhaps just this: that one day we will be represented at an inte...
‘Banker-bashing is like child abuse’ says PM’s favourite entrepreneur
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A banker singled out by David Cameron for praise in his party conference speech has claimed that criticism of bankers is comparable to child abuse. made the bizarre and shocking comparison between the treatment of bankers after the financial crash,...
Scrapbook’s top five: our most popular posts this week
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The most clicked stories of the week were: David Cameron stole conference lines from comedy film Tom Watson bombshell: paedo ring ‘linked to Thatcher/Heath governments’ ‘Thatcher’s paedophile’: do Watson claims relate to...
Never mind the Tories – What will Labour do about Europe?
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Over on the Guardian's Comment is Free section, we argue:When talking to diplomats, policymakers and journalists from around the EU, by far the most common question I get is: "What do you think the Tories will do on Europe?" That question may soon h...
Guido: Tory MP defects to Labour
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In their focus on the outrageous train travel claims of a “Labour MP”, the Guido Fawkes blog seems to have missed out on a bigger exclusive: a shock defection of a PPS from Conservatives to Labour. News of his defection will probably come...
Nick Griffin’s latest bonkers claim: gay marriage kills children
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Asked about civil partnerships and gay marriage by Leeds Student, BNP leader Nick Griffin claims: “Civil partnerships are a way of sliding towards marriage for everyone through the backdoor. It undermines the institution of marriage, and as a...
The Scottish Play
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By Charles King Edinburgh’s Quest for Independence and the Future of Separatism. READ MORE...
Will Scotland break away from the Union with England in 2014?
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It has been a long-standing feat in the UK to hear parliamentarians talk about a Scottish independence. For decades Scotland was considered too poor to attempt to break out of the Union with England but due to resource richness and an SNP landslide w...
The Tory-led Coalition goes against Tory MEPs on food labelling
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The British government today went against their own Tory MEPs and decided to recommend the ‘traffic light’ system for food labelling to retailers and manufacturers in the UK. It is tragic and to our great shame that obesity rates are &#...
Euro-Separatism II: Scotland the Brave?
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Haggis, kilts and bagpipes. Scotland, much like Belgium, fills our collective imagination with clichés although modern Scottish nationalism emphasizes its progressive and pluralistic values. With a referendum on independence scheduled for Fall 2014,...
Gareth Epps on Fairer Tax
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The Liberal Democrats are currently carrying out a consultation on tax and admirably it really is a consultation, in that views are being sought not only at the national level (for example at last month’s Federal Conference in Brighton) but al...
The BBC at its worst…and best
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Tonight at 10.35 something extraordinary will happen: a TV programme will call into question the competence and integrity of its own Chief Editor. BBC Panorama will air the fact that BBC Newsnight journalists (notably reporter Liz MacKean) do not ac...
Oil seed rape loses its glow
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Fewer oil seed rape fields may be seen in Britain following adjustments to EU policy. It's quite a complex story, but there are two big lessons to be learnt from it. First, individual planting decisions on farms are directly affected by the EU poli...
Brian Coleman charged with assault
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Notorious Conservative Brian Coleman has been charged with assault after a confrontation with a shopkeeper on September 20. The Barnet councillor, who was previously appointed as the boss of the London Fire Authority by Boris Johnson, was allegedly...
David Cameron stole conference lines from comedy film
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There seems to be an uncanny similarity between Cameron’s speech to the Tory Party Conference and lines from the film Mike Bassett: England Manager...
Wondering whether to vote in the police elections? Listen to Ian Blair
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Ian Blair’s hostility to democracy is no longer disguised. The former Met Commissioner is telling us to boycott next month’s shrieval elections. Like many senior coppers, he resents the notion of constabularies being overseen by elected represent...
Christopher Booker: Cameron's deluded wind energy policy driving millions into fuel poverty
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Christopher Booker at his best, in the Telegraph:What Mr Cameron clearly hasn’t realised is that the main reason why our energy companies need to charge us ever more for electricity lies in his own Government’s deluded policies. He and his collea...
Red against Feds
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I thought the Andrew Mitchell affair was a storm in a teacup, and was thoroughly irritated that it has been the lead item on the news for the last few weeks, displaced only by Jimmy Savile. Chris Mullin’s take on it is that the real story is...
London LibDem Conference
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London Liberal Democrats descended on Croydon today for our autumn conference, which also featured a Question and Answer session with nine of the ten shortlisted London Euro-candidates. The full hustings will be at Friends House, Euston Road, on Sun...
Scrapbook’s top five: our most popular posts this week
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The most clicked stories of the week were: Is this the man from Auntie? Another BBC presenter accused of abuse Nick Griffin tweets gay couple’s address, incites homophobic mob Tory candidate makes sick Jimmy Savile child abuse joke on Twitter E...
Andrew Mitchell quits, admits to swearing (and lying in PMQs heckle)
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In his resignation letter, the Tory chief whip denies using the word ‘pleb’ but does admit to swearing — which means he lied in Parliament when heckling Ed Miliband on Wednesday. The former Rugby and Cambridge student claims his par...
Revealed: Bristol's capital city competitors for the @EU_GreenCapital 2015 title
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The capital of the West Country, Bristol, will face competition from the capital cities of Brussels, Dublin and Ljubljana for the 2015 European Green Capital award as the list of eight applicant cities was revealed by the European Commission today.
George Osborne demands free first class train ticket
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Picture: ITV News George Osborne was embroiled in a PR disaster this evening when he sat in a first class train despite only having a standard ticket. When questioned by the ticket collector he tried to blag his way out of paying for an upgrade. Howe...
Are UKIP wrong about the CAP?
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Stuart Agnew MEP, the UKIP agricultural spokesman, has said the EU 'has become far too big to have a CAP.' There are certainly those who think that the EU is too geographically diverse to have a 'one size fits all' policy, although in practice it is...
Spectator’s Forsyth asks Scrapbook to join his circular firing squad
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Scrapbook’s coverage of Charles Moore’s piece on Jimmy Savile has upset the Spectator’s political editor James Forsyth, who accuses us of taking his friend out of context: Why I think the attack by @psbook on Charles Moore over...
Halftime team talk
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Halfway through the Coalition’s allotted five years, political pundits and anoraks are spending far too much time speculating on when or why it will collapse. Will Vince Cable finally give Nick Clegg his marching orders – or vice-versa? Will th...
Ben Needham's disappearance is a matter for Greek police | Martin Kettle
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South Yorkshire police's decision to send officers to the island of Kos is astonishing at a time when services are being cutWhat could possibly explain why a squad of British police officers want to leave wet and windy Yorkshire in October and spend...
The crazy world of George Galloway
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(or: The Strange Case Of The Sleeping Policeman) Pure comedy gold from Georgie Galloway and his Respect posse: Helen Pidd The Guardian, Thursday 18 October 2012 22.10 BST Above: any suggestions as to why he hired this woman in the first place? From...
UKIP MEP can’t tell the difference between Grimsby and Brussels
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Godfrey Bloom, MEP for the Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire region, has tweeted a video of himself captioned “Here I am in Grimsby”. Except he’s not, he’s in Brussels, standing slap bang in the middle of European Parliament. &...
Tech boom in London is a matter of time
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When it comes to floating technology businesses, the UK is lagging way behind the US. This year, only three tech companies have successfully attempted an IPO in London, the largest of which has a market cap of £40m. This compares unfavourably to...
If MPs have good defences, they shouldn’t keep them secret
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MPs accused of abusing expense rules? Check. Speaker trying to keep key information secret? Check. Daily Telegraph spilling the beans? Check. You could be forgiven for thinking you’ve slipped into a passing timestream and been wafted back to the pa...
Home of gay couple under police protection after Nick Griffin tweets
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Home of couple targeted is being watched by police Griffin under investigation by Cambridgeshire Police One of couple tells BBC that BNP leader is “an idiot” The home of a gay couple targeted by Nick Griffin online is now being watched b...
A Mail cover up? Website deletes story criticising Cameron’s mate
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A story from the Daily Mail, criticising an embarrassing gaffe by a close friend of David Cameron in the House of Lords, has mysteriously vanished from the website and wasn’t included in the paper – despite it being covered by almost all...
William Wallace’s World View
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‘We in Britain are stuck in the narrative of June 1940,’ (Lord) William Wallace declared at a meeting of Putney Liberal Democrats this evening. ‘At the Remembrance Day celebrations, for example, there is a “we are in it alone...
After 20 October, organise!
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By Maria Exall (CWU, TUC General Council, Chair of TUC LGBT Committee), in a personal capacity: Click on the above for the official demo site The TUC has called its second mass demonstration in two years against the Coalition Government’s cuts agen...
Nick Griffin tweets gay couple’s address, incites homophobic mob
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UPDATE: Cambridgeshire Police have told Scrapbook they are “aware of the incident” involving Griffin’s tweets. We’re trying to find out more right now. UPDATE:Nick Griffin’s Twitter account has now been suspended BNP lea...
Margaret Thatcher’s biographer says Savile should keep knighthood
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Writing in this week’s Spectator, Margaret Thatcher’s biographer and former Daily Telegraph editor and Policy Exchange chairman Charles Moore has said: “Isn’t there a single, solitary person who will maintain that Savile devot...
Minister’s local chairman quits in protest at ‘out of touch’ govt
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A key ally of Nick Clegg’s former PPS — health minister Norman Lamb — has resigned from the Lib Dems, issuing a scathing attack on their MPs in national coalition with the Tories. Norfolk county councillor Graham Jones said that h...
Vanishing Vince: BIS secretary misses votes on his own anti-equalities bill
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The Business Secretary, Vince Cable, has missed a whole series of votes on his own bill. Could it have anything to do with it being regressive and unpopular with his own party’s grassroots? The Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill, currently going...
Dead man walking? Mitchell staggers on after 1922 meeting
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A Tory backbencher has described Andrew Mitchell as “effectively castrated” after a bruising PMQs and meeting of the 1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers yesterday. But the “f***ing plebs” MP lived to offend another day after...
"The British Labour Party needs to be more Pro-European" by Hadleigh Roberts
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Here is the video and text of my speech to the Labour Party Conference in Manchester on the subject of Europe: Our party needs to be more pro-European, and our party needs to be more proud to be pro-European. It is foolish to think that Britain is no...
Stephen Williams at the Orpington Liberal Club
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As Chairman of the LibDems’ Finance and Business Committee in parliament, Stephen Williams, MP for Bristol West, has a platform to talk about economic issues without having the constraints of being a government minister. At an Orpington Liberal...
