As the blood boils, I write...

Have found the urge to blog on a few articles I've read recently... the last was yet another Daily Mail attempt to smear Harriet Harman. I go, therefore, from the ridiculous to the sublime. David Aaronovitch writes a superb piece in today's Times on Cameron's call for David Miliband to apologise for suggesting the views of Kaminski, one of the Conservatives' allies in their hideous EU grouping, were disgraceful.
They are disgraceful (see linked article). Miliband was right. He was right to say that they were repugnant views and he was right to call the Conservative leader on his alliance with such a man. I am sure there are many who find the views of Kaminski disgusting.

Though, I have to say I find David Cameron's request for an apology from Miliband chilling.

As Aaronovitch points out:

I find myself amazed by how Mr Cameron ever came to be in the position of demanding that a foreign secretary, descended from Polish Jews, should apologise for possibly offending the sensibilities of a foreign politician who vehemently opposed there being an apology for the massacre of Polish Jews. I think of all the things that Mr Cameron has got right in his leadership of the Conservatve Party and my mental jaw drops at the sheer wrongness of it.

This goes above the usual party political banter that I, and other activists indulge in frequently. This is not about Tory toffs or "Mr 10%", it goes further and I fear deeper. It is about David Cameron and the Conservative leadership showing themselves up for what they really are. Surrendering a place in the centre-right EPP grouping to join a fringe grouping of far right nationalists in order to placate the Euro-sceptic section of their party, and perhaps to secure UKIP/Tory floating voters. Many might say this was tactically quite clever.
But the move comes at a high price, one of political respectablity. And Cameron's call for Miliband to apologise should also prove costly. Aaronovitch suggests the Conservative leader should go to the theatre, I would suggest the drawing board, where first on the agenda should perhaps be an apology, of a different kind.

The raving FemiNazi is defeated...and a hideous excuse for murder is upheld

yet more vile spoutings from, as Stephen Fry beautifully referred to it, "the paper any self respecting person wouldn't be caught dead reading" on Harriet Harman's attempt to outlaw the defence of 'infidelity' in murder cases, i.e. a man (or woman, though the defence is overwhelmingly used by men in cases such as these) "potentially escaping with a charge of manslaughter if their wife was having an affair".

Let's just have a little nosey at the headline shall we...

Judges sink Harriet Harman's 'obnoxious' plan to strip men of infidelity murder defence

I struggle to breathe reading the headline through the rage, I really do. By the end of the article, I was in need of emergency resuscitation.

We are now all too familiar with this rag of a paper, disguising itself as journalism, beating Harriet Harman and her disgusting feminism down at every opportunity, just remember the LESSONS ABOUT WIFE BEATING AT THE AGE OF FIVE: IN THE WEEK HH TAKES CHARGE YET ANOTHER FEMINIST INITIATIVE gem we got from this rotten corrupt and morally defunct publication in August.

We've recently had a woman all us girlies can be proud of, no not Harriet who has fought for an equality bill which as Brown said at conference will "change this country for the better and forever", don't be ridiculous, I mean the passionate purveyor of female rights DM columnist Amanda Platell who probably sees her stints on Richard and Judy's sofa defending Kate Middleton's choice to "wait for Wills" as doing her bit for the struggle. She eloquently and poignantly suggests,

Feminist? Ms Harman is a zealot whom history will judge to have done more to hinder the progress of women in the 21st century than any Page 3 bimbo.

But we can easily dismiss that as, well, 'bitchy' tripe. It's when this publication, which I cannot bring myself to call a newspaper ventures into the realm of the real issue that I get scared. Harriet Harman was calling for a change. As she says herself, quoted in the piece -

'For centuries the law has allowed men to escape a murder charge in homicide cases by blaming the victim...Ending the provocation defence in cases of "infidelity" is an important law change and will end the culture of excuses.'

Yes, it has and yes it would. How can a law, which seems medieval in it's foundations, be upheld as a legitimate defence today? And how can a publication, along with a High Court judge (heaven knows, by the way...) chastise a minister for trying to put a stop to it?

I don't know... but yet again I find myself defending the easily defensible against the indefensible. If that makes sense... Nevertheless, Harriet, I ask you to wear this with pride -

A Labour Melting Pot...

What does a 'normal' Labour activist look like? Are they a plump, Northern, older man with thumping fists and a ever increasingly noticeable bald patch? Certainly, I've met many who fit that description. Where might they be from? Well, I've hastened a guess that they might be Northern, or Welsh perhaps? Maybe Liverpudlian? What do they do? Well they may well be retired, probably lived quite a difficult life, might well have joined a Union and become pretty active. They have probably been to getting on for fourty Labour Conferences and have seen many a leader come and go, been used to our criminally long spell in Opposition and welcomed (perhaps with some reservations) a New Labour party into government in 97 with a tear in their eye, and a smile of relief at the chance to change things. They may well have become disillusioned with some of the policy roads the Newer factions of the party have gone down in the past 12 years, but remain fundamentally convinced that Britain is better after, yes, Blair, Brown and most importantly, Labour.
They may look to the next election with a sinking feeling, that the dark days of opposition could be round the corner, this country that we can now feel proud to be part of, could once again slip into the hands of those that feel they were born into power to protect their right to it. Those who see the past 12 years as a temporary blip in the status quo of Britain, where Tories rule and Labour annoyingly rebel. Where people know their place, and know they'll stay there. The 'normal' Labour man I have been imagining may well be ready to give all he has to what will be the toughest fight our party has faced in twenty years. Thank God he is.

This activist, and those like him, are a fundamentally important part of our party. They're it's soul to an extent. But I completely reject that they are the only 'type' of activist or MP that our party can have to remain 'real socialists', to remain faithful to the cause of the working classes, to remain the party of the less fortunate. I have been attacked on, our old fave, Twitter for being a spoilt little daddy's girl (as I've vented my spleen on here before about) and a traitor to the working classes my party should represent because I tweeted that I'd had some cocktails. I'm sick of writing posts about myself but give me a moment to just respond...I'm not rich. I'm not spoilt. My mum and dad were both brought up in council houses, one in South London, the other North. My dad's parents were Irish immigrants and my mum's mum was a single parent who had her at 18, raised her well but struggled. I've never been spoilt and my family have never been well-off. I've had the benefit of an extraordinary (free, but Catholic) education which I am hugely grateful for, but to some extent resent. The point of this is that none of it really matters. Or shouldn't do anyway.

As I've said before, Tony Benn has hardly had a tough life, but he's one of our greatest fighters for the rights of those less fortunate. Nye Bevan was the son of a struggling miner raised in a community which knew little else but socialism, yet said himself when he became a minister that he openly indulged in the finer things in life, whilst struggling for a better 'lot' for his people, and for a health service in place of fear. Both men have done extraordinary things, from polar opposite backgrounds. Where Nye's achievement is probably more extraordinary, the politics of Tony Benn is impressive and inspiring considering his background of privilege.

In short, it's about where we as political voices, small like mine or loud and powerful like Nye's or Tony's, are aiming for, not where we've come from. Labour are proud to be a party who have stood up for women's rights, stood up for worker's rights, stood up for those who couldn't stand up for themselves.
Bevan once said, "when I listen to the cacophony of harsh voices trying to intimidate, I close my eyes and listen to the silent voices of the poor", this is what we as a party should forever be trying to do, irrespective of the background, age or gender of our representatives, but acutely mindful, always, of those we represent.

as an aside, someone has just brought my attention to this on Polly Toynbee which I think exemplifies my point nicely.

Why I'm Labour ...

And because I cannot believe I hadn't put this up on here before now... If you haven't seen it, please watch. Please...

Compassionate Conservatism... unless you're foxy...

A letter from Hilary Benn MP...

The ban on fox-hunting – that Labour Party members from across the country worked so hard to achieve – is under threat.

Yesterday, at a time when our Labour Government is focused on tackling the recession and securing our economic recovery, the Tory spokesman on Animal Welfare re-affirmed that the Tory Party, if elected, would set aside Government time for a vote to repeal the ban.

And make no mistake - David Cameron and members of his top team have made it very clear that their intention is to see the return of the cruel spectacle of foxes being torn to pieces in Britain’s countryside.

So I need your help. Please sign up now to Back the Ban.

We need to make sure that as many people as possible know that a consequence of voting for the Conservatives at the next election will be an end to the ban on fox-hunting with dogs.

I’m going to be campaigning alongside animal welfare organisations on this in the coming weeks and months and it will help a lot to know if you’ll support our campaign.

Sign up now to pledge your support for my campaign.

Once you’ve signed up I’ll be in touch by email next week to let you know exactly how you can help.

Together we can make sure that as many people as possible know that a Conservative Government would mean an end to the ban so many people worked so hard to introduce.

Thank you

Hilary Benn

Collectivity Mr Cameron? You can keep it...

I am going absolutely stir crazy tonight. This will probably not be the night that you read this, as I have absolutely no way of knowing how to get one of the freaking 17 wifi connections that I can see on my screen, to give me a connection to the (Geordie Big Brother accent >>) outside world.

I have had no news (that is worth hearing about), no television (that is worth watching), I have missed Tory Party conference (ok, maybe not a bad thing for my mental health, but I could really do with knowing my enemy - I did hear that they outlined a policy or two this week. Holy shit.) I also missed the Paxo/Boris already legendary tête-à-tête (it’s happening already…poncy frenchisms are sneaking their poncy way into my writing)…Honestly though, if Ann Widdecomb had defected to the Labour Party, Dennis Skinner to the Liberals and, I don’t know, a sanctimonious lefty LD to the Tories, I wouldn’t have a clue.

If all that has happened in the past few days, then you won’t believe me, but I really didn’t know.

I did get the Guardian the day before yesterday. It analysed Osborne’s speech, which apparently repeated Cameron’s new mantra of “we’re all in this together”. For once, I agree with him. We are all in this together. All in this crap created by the “crème de la crème” of society – those you, sir, squirm at taxing for fear they’ll pee off. You should be absolutely ashamed of yourself and your party’s rotten values.

It is shameful, Mr Cameron, that we are all in this mess together, we shouldn’t be.

Here comes my Toynbeeite tirade… Those who had played big boy monopoly with money they didn’t have, should frankly go straight to jail, should not pass go and should definitely not collect £200. We know they took the risk, leaving us to pay for it. But instead, we pick up a spade and start shovelling our way out of this mess, because that’s what we do in a crisis, band together -it’s admirable- it demonstrates the socialist tendencies which brought about the NHS, but this time, it should not be asked of us.

The “age of austerity” which hurtles round the corner – at increased speed and ferocity each time the Tory lead increases – is upon us.

I reject that collective age of austerity.

I reject the notion that collective restraint is the answer to this problem. Those at the top have behaved morally reprehensibly and do not deserve to be there (if they ever did) still. We must redefine the priorities of our society. Tax those who have benefitted (and many who have created the hole we find ourselves in) to pay for the backlash from a long period of unprecedented growth.

Do not make the next generation pay through reduced funding in education. Do not make the sick pay, cutting investment when the NHS is finally a service we can love. Do not make those who could not afford a crisis, shell out for one they had no part in creating.

It is unfair. It is unjust and it is cowardly.

Why don’t we ask these questions of our politicians, of all colours, Mr Marr and co? Instead of speculation on the potential reasoning behind a certain someone’s intolerance to Rioja and Roquefort.

The weird world of Labour conference...

They called it the "Fightback Conference", and fight back we did...

Labour Conference 2009 was my first, hopefully of many, and against sky high expectations, it did not dissappoint. I have come away thinking that I'd quite like to live in a mini community where only Labourites would be allowed in...we'd debate, drink and boogie our lives away. It would be amazing, but isolationist, separatist and wrong - so I suppose a week a year will have to suffice.

Here's some snippets of the most eventful evenings of conference... will do a more in-depth analysis of conference outcomes later. Maybe.

My conference experience started (after a lost key incident ,which we'll not go into) with John Prescott's Tweet4Victory session (see my last blog), his "Stop Complaining, Start Campaigning" mantra was perfect to kick off a week that would be packed full of positivity, fighting spirit and a clear determination to not let this country slip into Tory hands without a fight. Last year, our party was divided and unsure, yet the feeling of Lab09 (as I'll call it) could not have been more different. Charles Clarke and his like were shunned to back tables in bars and essentially ignored. On this first night, I was introduced to Sarah Brown who was, as expected, lovelier than lovely, and also to Harriet Harman. On meeting HH, if my memory serves me correctly, I said "I love you so much, I think I might be sick". Well done Ellie, good first impression.

The second night, was perhaps one of the strangest I've had (well, until the Wednesday) when Douglas Alexander (yes the Secretary of State for International Development??!!) introduced me to Polly Toynbee. So, I met my hero, and yes, I was shaking. Especially when she seemed quite excited by my twitter name... I have to say I did suggest her latest article, in which she wrote Gordon's speech for him, would have been improved upon by cutting out the small insignificant paragraph where he'd resign...

A tweet up (left, with Ed Balls, Kerry McCarthy, Tom Watson, Andrew Gwynne and others) would follow, (I'm not sure about the chronology of these events, it was an eventful week) with Labour's prolific tweeters and our Tsar. Was lovely to put some faces to tweople. It however was rather odd when Ed Balls came over and declared "so who's BevaniteEllie then?" ... the power of twitter, eh?!

After a pretty hilarious Labour sing-a-long by the piano of the Grand Hotel, with Ben Bradshaw, who's jacket was NOT on my chair...along came the final evening. An evening which will be forever locked in my memory...which I am not sure is a good thing or not.

Here's what happened...So Kerry, Sophie, Rhiannon and I arrive at the Labour Staff party in the Lo Lounge, all seems normal. We meet some people who work for South West Labour, who we know and get chatting. It's quite quiet at this point. As the place starts filling up we grab a table near the dancefloor. On comes a song (which might have been D:Ream) and I think I see two people who look a lot like Neil and Glenys Kinnock having a boogie. I go closer, yep, it really is them.. The guy who delivered one of the greatest speeches in our political history ("I warn you" one) is dancing, rather energetically, in front of me. This is like a very strange dream ...
The place is boiling. Really, ridiculously hot. On comes "It's raining men" and just at the crucial moment after "for the first time in history....It's gonna start raining men...." Mandy bounds in, right on cue and busts some pretty impressive and rather daring moves. Picture the scene, the Kinnocks boogying to my left, Mandy to my right (how apt) and then Ed Balls in front about to join the spectacle. At this point I did actually put down the wine and pinch myself. If this wasn't weird enough, "Mickey" comes on, and a rather sweaty, but energetic, Mandy comes over. I am now dancing with Peter Mandelson (HE HAS POWER) to Mickey, at Labour Conference.

....All I could think? I'm telling one of the most prolific politicians in the country to 'spin'. And spin he did.