spectacular own goal? I think not

Cllr Richard Willis and others are describing Mr Salter's juvenile remarks about the Pope, calling him a "bloke in a dress", as a "spectacular own goal" and other less polite epithets. Not so, I fancy. They cannot or will not see that Salter regretted his decision to stand down almost as soon as he had made it. He decided to do it because he thought the seat would be lost, then realised it might not be with the right kind of work, tried to have the decision reversed and had no success, so now is determined to see that the seat is so comprehensively lost that his tenure of it will be looked back upon as some kind of golden age. This is why he and Cllr Page supported the embarrassing Nasty Naz, having failed to get any support for the dead-head from Southampton Salter thought would be compliant and too dull to get any interest from the constituents. Now Salter is doing his best to embarrass the party in any way he can. Hence the "bloke in a dress" remark. Remember after all that Salter is also a vice-chair of the national Labour Party, he tells us.

and while we're on the subject of the dirty media

I do not think the subject of the destruction of human life and happiness by the lying filth who pass themselves off as journalists (eh, Mr Murrill of the Reading Evening Post?) has been better written about than here by the late Heinrich Boll, which I have just read in English translation on the recommendation of a colleague who is a German scholar. Although my progress in German has not been very fast lately I have made a pledge to myself to have read it in German by this time next year. The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum was published in 1975. Not much published then stands up to today's reading. Hein?

two MPs to face fraud charges

as is well known and is reported here and was second item on France 2 this morning, whose report was complete with picture of bath plug, at the cheapness of which the newscaster marvelled. But of course the rules allowed MPs to get away with this kind of thing for a long time. And nothing is said about claims between 1997 and 2001 which were against all the rules, lenient as they were, such as the claims made by Mr Salter for four years, for a non-existent London property. None of the print or broadcast media will reproduce this, although journalists have said to me that they know it is true. Bloggers are not exempt from the laws of libel however, so the only reason I have not been sued must be that it is true. 40K. At least. Criminal fraud.

f'''king hell

we did not know this man who only daytime TV knew

watch these two clips

here

and tell me what you think

it's still going on

Anne Moffat MP, pictured after a GC meeting. It is indeed still going on, as the East Lothian print media inform us. Not clear to me from the article whether former whip Jim Murphy MP is being accused of being behind the attempted deselection of Anne Moffat MP or whether he has been trying to stop it. Those in the know in Scottish Labour (sooner them than me) will know exactly who has been talking to the papers. It does however remind of the some of the uglier scenes at the Reading General Committees, with similarly shouting men at the front of the room insisting on silence while they slag off anyone female who behaves in a way that differentiates her from a doormat. In Reading of course there was another MP in the room joining enthusiastically in the boys' chorus. The police were never called to the Reading meetings, unlike the East Lothian one reported on, and there were times I wished they had been. Certainly the violent behaviour by Basher McKenzie at a different meeting warranted it. Scottish Labour and the national party are on trial here. If they cannot do the right thing then they deserve oblivion. I thank my correspondent for sending me the link to the article. That correspondent also says in their message to me:

Obviously, it's a long way from Reading, and I don't have any background information, but some of the facts in the story have a strange resonance, don't they?

Also, the MP in Portsmouth North (Mrs McCarthy Fry) is being opposed by an RMT Union funded opponent (Mick Tosh, a Trotskyist) standing as "Trade Unionists Socialist Challenge" or TUSC, on the basis that she does not show sufficient support for working class issues. She has been a Unite member all her working life, she says.

It looks like the Peoples Party still hasn't qute got hold of the idea of strong independently minded women representing them. I wonder if Daisy Benson would ever have been selected as a Parliamentary Candidate if she had remained a member of the Labour Party?

Great questions to which the answer is No.

a straw man

Rob White and the Green Party, campaigning for Park ward as they consistently and energetically do, have been highlighting the development plans for the Alfred Sutton playing fields, as well they might, and they have succeeded in bringing out into the open the secret and corrupt ways of the leadership of the Reading Labour Group. Basher McKenzie, who wonders aloud on his website why people keep trying to run him over, (probably because one violent thug the less keeps the population safer, eh Basher?), thinks he will gain some electoral advantage in Park ward (though putting on your side bar "Where is Park Ward?" is not the best idea Basher) by rubbishing the Greens instead of campaigning positively on practical policies. With this in view he "publishes" a letter from Cllr Tony Page, as follows: ( a little light fisking is irresistible here)

Reply to Mr White from Cllr Page
I thank Mr White for his petition but very much regret the mischief-making and scaremongering agenda oh no you've rumbled us we were trying to keep that secret that lay behind this petition. There is no threat whatsoever to the playing fields. we have always been at war with EurasiaThe Site Allocations Document is now known as the Sites and Detailed Policies Document, so now we've changed its name that's all right then and the draft document is to be discussed at this meeting. which we had to be dragged kicking and screaming into doing The Thames Valley University playing fields are not included in the Sites and Detailed Policies Document, and there is therefore no need to remove them. oh yes they are, read the document and see below The existing built form of the TVU site, along with the areas used for parking, are included as an allocation primarily for education. Should it not be required for education then the policy does allow for residential see? and there are no plans to build any more schools in that area, but it is clear, and explicitly stated on page 94 of the latest document we hoped you wouldn't read that far that this would not include the adjacent playing fields.The whole Crescent Road campus, including the playing fields, was included as a candidate site in an earlier consultation version of the Site Allocations Document in 2008 we had it down to build on all along, you bastards, you spotted it, as it had been nominated for development by the University a big boy did it and ran away – not the Council. so who gives planning permission then? The Council consulted on all of the approximately 100 sites that had been nominated for development, as it is required to do. and the Greens have been responding, which we have decided to call "scaremongering"The document explicitly stated on several occasions that the Council did not necessarily endorse any sites. The playing fields are among a number of sites consulted on in 2008 that are not included in the current draft document. no - now we have been rumbled we are simply going to hem it in with car parking and prevent public access until in due course there is residential development on the site and the by-then-disused playing fields are covered with condoms and needles and sold off to another developer.

Well done boys. Nice try, better luck next time.

In the name of God, go.

proud to be friends

from the Observer, very good to read this, the words of the democratically elected president of Iraq, Jalal Talabani

The Iraqi people now have the right to build their own freedom and are deeply grateful to British prime ministers Sir John Major, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, for their assistance.

At the time, I and other leaders of the Iraqi opposition asked Mr Blair's government to help the Iraqi people get rid of the dictatorship. And we praise the bravery and sacrifice of British troops.

We suffered under Saddam Hussein in ways that too many in the international community seem to have forgotten. His regime was a republic of fear, which slaughtered Iraqis on an industrial scale and attacked our neighbours. We are fortunate he has gone and that we have a chance to rebuild our society.

Iraq is one of the historical founts of modern civilisation. Our tragedy is that Saddam pillaged our potential for his own purposes.

Now that he is gone we have a great opportunity to overcome our isolation from decades of modernity and to rebuild our links with the international community. Our second parliamentary elections, on 7 March, will provide an opportunity to consolidate our growing democracy and further isolate those who use the bomb and the gun against the will of our own people.

We, as a people, have a great regard for and affection towards the British and we are seeking deep, broad and long-term relationships with your politicians, academics, sporting groups and businesses.

We are a potentially rich country but our legacy is a poor one. We value the ability of British business to unlock our resources through increased investment and by trading with us. Iraq is becoming increasingly open to commerce, which is a means of giving our people the better way of life that they seek and deserve.

It would also be in Britain's interest to continue its relationship with us. We are proud to be your friends and hope that you will always be our friends, working together for the common good of humanity.

The author is the first non-Arab president of Iraq and founder of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan

So there we have it. The Iraqi opposition asked for help and got it. And the Guardian readers are very cross that they did. But this bloke - who is he, just a brown-skin bloke from somewhere foreign, probably doesn't even read the Guardian and has never heard of Yasmin Alibhai-Brown.