Paul Flynn - Read My Day

Black Monday:Golden Tuesday

It's all over then.

£billions of savings are not going down the pan. The economy is not collapsing into a tailspin. The Daily Mail's Black Monday never happened. All because the Chancellor and the Prime Minister calmly did a Roosevelt and and convinced a panic-prone nation that all they have to fear is fear itself.

One e-mailer yesterday demanded to know, who gave the PM the right to give taxpayers' money to a private company. He has not asked who gave the right to give every farmer £540 a year from the average family.

The answer is that when the country elected Labour, they gave the Government a vote of confidence that they will defend the economy.

This they have done brilliantly.

1979 is a bitter memory when Callaghan failed to go to the country and then overwhelmed by the winter of discontent. Who knows what stormy weather is ahead politically. Today's Guardian Poll taken at the height of the Northern Rock failure confirms who the Government trusts.

There is one conclusion to the question of when the election should be held. As soon as possible Gordon.

Two nations

Cardiff based poet Patrick McGuinness says that the majority of the people of Belgium would prefer to be another nationality.

It.s already three months since the election. Not only do they not have a Government but the two sides are not talking. Remember the fuss about the Welsh Assembly coalition birth pangs. In the past Belgium went for 18 years without a Government in the capital Brussels.

The 63% Dutch speaking population are more divided than ever from their French and German speaking minorities. The build-up for a separate independent Flanders looks irresistible. McGuinness was born and educated in Belgium. He says the first school lessons are how to lie in two languages.

Will the county Balkanise itself?

Golden Brown

18th Oct or Nov 8th?

Gordon Brown's apparent success in quelling the Northern Rock hysteria has prompted fever pitched excitement among Labour MPs.

Today I was with a group of seven of them and the hot topic was October 18th or November 8th for the General Election.

One of the group who is close to Gordon believes he will wait for two years. The others  are preparing to plunge into immediate frantic election mode. The thinking is this. Cameron and Menzies Campbell have had dreadful summers. Nothing has gone well for them: Labour has migrated to full occupation of the centre ground of politics where the great harvest of votes are waiting to be gleaned.  While we will not campaign on the slogan  Maggie, Maggie, Maggie, In, In, In, there is great satisfaction that Cameron has been fatally embarrassed by the queue of admiring Tory Brown groupies.  All the crises have enlarged Gordon Brown's stature; Foot and moth panic? Not a problem, Gordon quickly got it under control, unlike Tony Blair. Iraq? A calamity in decline. The run on Northern Rock?  Now a fading problem.

If his support continues to grow Gordon would be foolish not to seek the electoral mandate the Tories say he does not have. He has arranged to speak on the first day of the Labour Party conference. That has not happened before. Will his Monday message be  "GO HOME NOW, AND PREPARE FOR RE-ELECTION" ?

Wareing out?

Liverpool MP Bob Wareing  has been dumped by local party. He is blaming Labour's Top Brass for organising the coup.

That's not how it works Bob.  I, and about 40 other MPs, have challenged the Labour Leadership in the same way that Bob has. The party has not conspired against any of us. If they had it would have been counter productive.

The system is heavily weighted in favour of retiring MPs. Before a serious challenge can be made, half of the constituency's branches and affiliated bodies must ask for a full re-selection. Up to that point the sitting MP is the only candidate. If half the local members do not have full confidence in MP, that's a sad reflection on the work of the MP. It is an extremely rare event. There is a real question on how the MP has lost touch with his members.

In Newport West, I had privately decided before my re-selection that if half the branches were unhappy with me, I would have retired gracefully and gratefully. To my delight, the votes were unanimously in favour so I am definitely standing.

It's a temptation to see a conspiracy where none exists.  Come off it Bob. You have had a great run and you have been a good MP. Don't ruin it now by a hopeless challenge. Go with dignity. The alternative could be humiliation.

Keep your head

Jonathan Davies recalled some of his past rugby nightmares. He was talking before the match on Saturday.

He recalled a chilling threat from a Yahoo of an opponent who had only one tooth that decorate his hideous features. At the scrum he growled to Jonathan "If you come round the blind side, Ill rip your f***ing head off!" Unperturbed Jonathan prepared to put the ball into the scrum. "I warned you," said Caliban, "If you come round the blind side, Ill rip your f***ing head off." Jonathan appealed to the referee. "Did you hear that Ref?" The Ref nodded. "Well what are you going to do about it?."

"Nothing," said the ref, " but if i were you, I wouldn't go around the blind side."

Silent Stalin

Stalinist slip back

Unnoticed, one country in Europe is collapsing back into the worst excesses of Stalinism.

Belorus has lost many of its freedoms. Led by an intellectually challenged Marxist groupie the country has already closed its main university because education challenged the rush back to the past. On my recent visit to Lithuania, I was reminded the horror that is growing a short distance from their capital. While all other former Communist eastern European Countries have made progress to freedom, democracy and prosperity; Belorus is moving in the opposite direction. Elections since 2000 have routinely been declared as failing to be free, fair and transparent. The Presidential election on 19 March 2006 was characterised by massive fraud and intimidation of the opposition. High profile political opponents have been arbitrarily arrested on a regular basis and with an easy use of violence which is alarming. Alexander Kozulin (a presidential candidate) was arrested after leading demonstrators on a march to the detention centre where those arrested after the election were being held. He was subsequently sentenced to five and a half years in a trial which was clearly politically motivated and unfair.

The opposition was prevented from campaigning by registration problems, and an inability to print campaign materials or hold meetings with their constituents. The President has rigged a referendum to stay in power and people are still disappearing. Journalists and diplomats being murdered, but with no suspects apprehended and in some cases no investigation taking place. There is oppression of many groups, including the Roma.

Trade Unions also face major difficulties - an ILO Commission of Inquiry has concluded that many of the basic civil liberties of trade union members and leaders in Belarus have been seriously infringed. There are persistent accounts of harassment of NGOs, the independent media, opposition political parties, educational institutions, religious organisations, and trade unions.

Independent press is almost non existent after state owned monopoly printers and distributors terminated the contract of the last remaining independent daily newspaper, Narodnaya Volya. In 2006 the postal service refused to deliver independent newspapers. All electronic media is owned by the state.

The powers of the authorities to arrest and detain people have increased following the adoption at the end of 2005 of legislation amending the Belarusian Criminal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code. The legislation is aimed at toughening punishments for “activities directed against people and public security' and goes against many of Belarus’ human rights commitments.  This is just a small taste of the increasingly strict regime in Belarus. Amnesty, UK, EU, the European Commission, ILO, have all condemned these actions.

Bid pen: bid prydferth

Mike German seems to have lost the will to lead. He will absent himself from this week's Lib Dem love-in while his five fellow AMs all seem to fancy someone else as a new Leader in Wales.

The ancient Welsh proverb is Bid Pen: Bid Pont. Let him who wishes to be a Leader, be a bridge. That is in order to let the followers walk over him.Not so now. Robin Cook confessed he was not pretty enough to be party leader. It's now Bid pen: bid prydferth, let him who wishes to lead, be beautiful. There the Lid Dem's have a headache. Only one them is prettier than Robin Cook. But Kirsty needs the nomination of one other Lib Dem AM. As they all appear to hate each other with turbo charged venom, probably no-one can be found to nominate anyone else.

The main contender is Peter Black who is, to put it delicately, no Brad Pitt. Mike German is probably safe. Congratulations Mike! Keep doing exactly what you have done in the past. That will keep all non-Lib Dems happy;

Vultures Rock

The vultures are circling  over what some see as  the limping wildebeest of the economy.

Cameron's attack on the credit gluttony of society is a laughable ploy from the mastermind of Black Wednesday.Ever the Daily Mail has recalled that  David's advice to his hapless chancellor cost the taxpayer  up to nearly £4 billion.
But panic is infectious. It's irresponsible of Cameron to seek political advantage out of situation in which fear in the only enemy. Northern Rock will be rescued and emerged under a different name - wiser but poorer.It could well benefit Newport.We have little of no Northern Rock presence in our southern location.But we do have 1300 jobs in the trusted brand  leader of Lloyd's-TSB.

There is intelligent speculation that the Newport firm could absorb the crumbling Northern Rock. The terms could be very advantageous to Lloyd's TSB and the Newport economy. Like the British Economy it's sound and remote from the bilious excesses of the American rush to borrow.

Nation's heartbeat inspires

Identity

The Hill of the Crosses is an exhilarating sight. It was the inspiration of Britain' splendid Ambassador to Lithuania Colin Roberts to take our MPs delegation to this sacred  place. It is at the heartbeat of Lithuanian resistance to the Soviet Union.

It's awe-inspiring. Legend has it that there was an apparition of saint here in the seventeenth century. It became a venue for pilgrimage especially during the dreary years of Soviet domination. The Red Army were irritated by this expression of the Catholic religion that they sought to suppress. On several occasions the crosses were bulldozed. Each time the crosses rapidly reappeared.

Kristin Grazyte of the Lithuanian Parliament proudly guided our delegation (see Baltic Bliss yesterday) and the ambassador  through the maze of crosses. She was our splendid adviser and interpreter. There must be at least a million cruxifixes  there. Some pocket size and others immense.

The pilgrims still flocked there to add their crosses as statements of Lithuanian nationalism or to record the births, baptisms and confirmations of their children. The story of Lithuania's long struggle towards nationhood is a remarkable one of persistent striving to assert the identity of their language and nation.

Here is the spiritual capital of the nation.

Prohibitionist rant
The Independent newspaper today  fell into tabloid habits.

It feels like treachery from a well loved friend. They have established a unique record as brave innovators in news values and resistance to political warmongers.

Today they tortuously defend the current irrational hysteria against cannabis. Yes we all know, and always have known it's a dangerous drug that can increase the symptoms of mental illness. They are pressing for change in the drugs' classification.

They produce no new facts. All is based on subjective fear-mongering largely by bigots with malign agendas. They recklessly repeat the canards of the prohibitionists on the claim recent increased strength and use of cannabis and parrot the misleading '40%' tabloid myth on mental health problems.

Will they explain to their readers the minute  differences in the penalties of Class B and C ? Do they really believe that the police, courts and prisons will return to the futility of persecuting millions of people for a victimless crime of using their drug of choice?

This campaign is unworthy of the country's best campaigning newspaper. Nowhere do they tackle  the question on why cannabis crime,  use and harm  is greatest in the countries that have the the harshest prohibition. How will more severe laws improve anything?

Baltic Bliss

Marvellous Lithuania

I was there twice before in  the wonderful, terrible, hopeful and terrifying days of 1990 and 1991. The three Baltic States were teetering on the threshold of new independence. No one knew what the  outcome would be . If the Red Army had attacked it could have been three Ulsters, Vietnams, or Chechnyas.

Now the the best dreams have been realised. They  are three self confident nations part of the EU and  NATO. Links with Russai and the Commonwealth of Independent States  have gone and they are strengthening ties with the west. 

The visit was a unique delight because my companions were three of the least megalomaniac of all MPs, (left to right in the picture Mike Weir  (SNP Angus), Judy Mallaber (Lab Amber Valley) and Roger Berry (Lab Kingswood Bristol).) All are models of serious, sincere MPs blessed with good sense and humour. That's probably why you have never heard of them.

The 1990 delegation was pictured in the same spot in Vilnius. The other MPs were Mark Wolfson (Tory) and David Owen. He was a megalomaniac of Olympic status and possibly about to follow the leader of the 1991 delegation Quentin Davies into Labour. This visit was designed to convince Lithuania of the urgency of tackling climate. More soon on the our fascinating discoveries.

Wonder Mayor.

Alan Morris is shaping up to be a remarkable Mayor of Newport.

He made the best speech I have heard from a mayor in 30 years. His passion and pride in the city was strident and abundant. Yes, other mayors have praised charities and their work. Alan,  bravely, went further.

He pleaded for an end to the nonsense of sneering at those who work for childrens' groups such as the Scouts. Our cynical society treats them as a bit odd or something worse. They are the real heroes he said - the ones who devote so some much energy and time to helping youngsters to achieve. Proof of their work was evident in a greatly enjoyed performance of singing by Newport Scouts and Guides.

Alan has already impressed with pithy punchy speeches at all the events I have attended with him. It's going to be a great mayoral year.

Don't call us - we won't call you.

Have Plaid Cymru lost their marbles?  They have asked the Prime Minister to phone them. They are trying to lure Gordon into a pre-election deal which for inexplicable reasons they think is tempting.

They are willing to trade their mass MP representation to shore up a Labour Government next time round. If their hold their strength they have 3 votes to add to the Labour pile of a very likely 300 plus. Rarely do parties have to rely on majorities so minute that 3 votes would help. It happened very briefly at the end of the 74-79 Government but the serious pact then was with the Lib -Dems.

A betting person would guess that the  likelihood of  the need for a deal with a party with less than half a per cent of the total MPs at 50 to 1. Gordon is not a betting man but he can count. He knows that half a per cent does not a firm Government make. The Plaid proposal is not worth a nanosecond of his time and certainly not the physical effort of lifting up a phone.

Try a stunt that makes some sense next time, Plaid.

Nostradamus strikes again

Again?

On my website in 2001 I wrote "There is a worse nightmare.

Foot and mouth could be eliminated after immense human and animal suffering and expense. Then, in a year or two it could spontaneously reappear. Or it might be introduced accidentally or deliberately by a malign individual or movement."

Following the outbreak of Foot and Mouth in Surrey it seems that this is a nightmare come true. The images of dead animals and distraught farmers are more restrained this time. So far the disease has been limited to a small area of the country, though the confirmation of further cases is a serious concern. This may because of the seemingly accidental unleashing of the virus. It is not always a pleasure to be prescient, however I did suggest an alternative to the mass culls.

"Would we have another cull? There is an alternative. Vaccination may be better value. Countries where foot and mouth is endemic have thriving meat industries."  Once this most recent outbreak is contained it is time to ask that question again.

Greetings from Lithuania past.

I had more entertaining memories of a visit to Lithunia with the Inter-Parliametary Union when I found a very old video from 1994 on my old website (http://old.paulflynnmp.co.uk/videoShow.jsp?id=41). Apart from the slightly dated clothes and hair styles (and younger faces) it was informative to relive the explanations of individual expertise on distilleries, vodka and shipping!

On a more serious note the video shows a Lithuania moving from the communist regime towards democracy. The Parliament was a great source of pride. The weather seems to be grey, and in parts wet, perhaps what you would expect from a stereotyped view of life so recently removed from behind the iron curtain. However the video shows only a tiny part of a very beautiful country and certainly does not do it justice. Watch this space for photos that show the glorious weather and fantastic scenery of the country. 

Quentin the Barbarian and other tales

Lithuanian trip

Visiting Lithuania again as a member of the All-Party Parliamentary Group has been an enlightening experience. The country is warm, welcoming, and beautiful. I have been several times to Lithuania on similar visits. The last time that I was there included the September 28, 1994, the day that the M/S Estonia sank.  That was an extremely tragic time. However, one of my more amusing memories of past trips involved Quentin Davis MP. 

I once named him as the perpetrator of the most heroic act I have ever witnessed. It was in a Baltic state in 1990. We were on delegation funded by the unconventional diplomacy fund – something I have never heard of before or since. Demonstrators had been shot a fortnight earlier at the television studios by the Red Army. We visited the radio station where the expelled staff was protesting by fasting in a caravan.We chatted to them. Then Quentin decided to confront the Russian who were blocking the entrance to the radio station with their armoured personnel carriers. He crossed a chain barrier in the road marked ‘Don’t Cross’ in Lithuanian and Russian. Scottish MP Margaret Ewing and I meekly followed. He spoke fluent Russian. He harangued the squaddie with the question; ‘What are you doing here?’ A bit taken aback the squaddie said he was guarding the radio station. ‘Guarding against what?’ Quentin  demanded.’ Against thieves’ said the soldier. Quentin bounced back ‘You’re the thieves; you have stolen the radio workers’ equipment.’ The squaddie was not amused. ‘I’d love to go home,’ he said’ I’m from a warm country.  Do you think I want to be in Vilnius in January? ' At this point we all noticed that we were unlikley to build international understand with the soldier, who was waving his Kalaskinov at us and suggesting it would good idea if we went home. We beat a dignified retreat.

I wonder if any members of the group will be minded to repeat similar feats this time?

Stamp issues (still)?

  Steve McQueen, a Turner prize winner, offered his portraits of more than 100 dead troops - commissioned by the Imperial War Museum to form a record of the conflict - for use on the stamps. He was backed by most of the families of the soldiers.

However, he was rebuffed for reasons that he described last night as “rubbish”. The Royal Mail claimed it normally took two or three years to produce a range of stamps. But McQueen has pointed to the fact that it took only two months to produce an issue featuring Diana, Princess of Wales after her death.

  This year its commemorative stamps have included a seaside donkey, Harry Potter book covers, a moon jellyfish and Beatles album covers. British Army uniforms will be featured this autumn.

McQueen said he will invite Gordon Brown to an exhibition of the pictures that will open at the museum on September 25 and will ask him to put pressure on the Royal Mail. “The stamps would be a very public way of commemorating the lives of the people who served their country but then, sadly, were killed,” McQueen said. The issue is becoming a cause celebre both for McQueen and the soldiers’ families. Roger Bacon, whose son Major Matthew Bacon was killed in Basra two years ago, said he was “very supportive” of the artist’s stand.

The commemoration issue follows calls for a medal to recognise the bravery of those killed or injured in Iraq and Afghanistan. Brown said last week he was sympathetic to the idea.

If you see something, Say something

Vicious Circle?

Ex Councillor Leighton David recently visited New York where his daughter had worked for a summer camp.  His eldest son is a local bobby. One complaint that the police make is that everyone complains that the Police never respond to calls but when challenged they say they did not bother to call  because the Police never turn up.

The Police have to prioritise their responses and often cannot turn up when requested. They also tend not to let people know when they have attended which adds to the public disaffection. They still need the information however to operate effectively so rely on  getting the information

Nearly everywhere in New York Leighton saw the following posters on Buses, trains and Metro carriages. If you See Something, Say Something.

Perhaps we should adopt this attitude

Arthurian appeal

A new scholarly report of King Arthur’s appeal as a tourist attraction had given a great boost to Caerleon Claims. The old town of Caerleon has long been associated with the story of King Arthur. Geoffrey of Monmouth wrote his History of the Kings of Britain around 1140 and this became one of the most important books of the middle ages. The book, supposed to have been based on an earlier history, is the main source of all the later Arthurian legends.

King Arthur ranges far and wide over Britain but for several years he is supposed to have held court at Caerleon.

The story of King Arthur's Round Table appeared in a work by the chronicler Wace dating from 1155. It is tempting to see the remains of the Roman amphitheatre in Caerleon as a prototype Round Table. In the sixth century, Caerleon would still have been one of the wonders of Britain. The amphitheatre (built to hold an audience of up to 6,000 people) would have been a very impressive ruin and a tangible link with the dimly remembered, comparative security of Roman times.

The likelihood of Caerleon being used as a royal court in the wake of the departure of the Romans from Britain around 410 A.D. is very high when the facts are taken into account.  The characteristics of the Round Table are found in Caerleon's amphitheatre “called King Arthur's Round Table by local inhabitants.” (Wickham, 2002, p 361 ).  The amphitheatre at Caerleon is commonly referred to as “Arthur's Round Table,” (Jeffries, 1845, p 489 ).  The round amphitheatre at Caerleon is considered to be the round shaped meeting place used by King Arthur and his people that became known as the Round Table.  The practice would have developed from the bardic Gorsedd.  The Round Table is said to have been in Camelot.

The probability of Caerleon Upon Usk being King Arthur's main administration centre and royal court in the early medieval period is supported by physical geographical evidence, documented evidence and probability.  The location due to northern, eastern and southern hostile infiltration during the turn of the sixth century ideally situates Caerleon as Arthur's court.  The physical aspects of the site and geographical location were ideal in relation to travel and defence.  The accumulation of the indigenous British population in Siluria and evidence of a highly advanced culture in religion and education suggests that Glamorgan probably became the centre of Romano- Celtic culture and administration.  Wales became “one of the great international centres of Celtic Christianity” around this time period. (Morris, 1991, p 138 ).  The fortress of Caerleon was the largest stone built citadel for the Arthurian time period in Glamorgan.  The citadel at Caerleon was probably used as the main Romano- Celtic administrative centre until the forced retreat to the nearby hills onset by Saxon siege technology.  The written documentation identifies Caerleon as King Arthur's court.  The overall evidence in relation to probability would suggest that Caerleon is the most probable location for King Arthur's “main” court that became known as Camelot.

Great lives

Heroes

A triple blow of deaths in the last 24 hours.

Anita Ruddock was a rumbustious joy. Her combination of devotion to human rights and entrepreneurial skills was unique. My own memories of her is in work for Amnesty International. She bravely led on these vital issue regardless of the possible damage to her business. She proved that a new enterprise could be brilliantly successful even when the motivation is principle and conscience. She was 20 years ahead of public opinion on the environment, animal welfare and drugs law reform.

Mostyn Phillips was a shining example of the South Wales generation who were the first of their working class families to go to university in the early 50s. He was successful trade union leader and he had political aspirations. A gifted inspiring teacher, there is little tangible to prove the value of  his life's work in Blaenau Gwent. The treasured legacy is his influence on generations of local schoolchildren.

Tasker Watkins V.C. had an incredible life and a Midas touch in three careers. His citation for his bravery in the last war reads like an implausible 'Boys' Own Paper" heroics. For years he was the eminence grise of the courts and the supreme authority on Welsh rugby. His was a dream life.  It's an indictment of the media that so little material exists of interviews with him. There is a mass of   archive material on an endless list of  vacuous 'celebrities' such as Lembit Opik, Jade Goody, Paris Hilton. I can think of no film or sound records that do justice to the wonderful Welshman or will provide a portiat of his personality.

Shared Home
Great news for Newport!

The damage of our collapsing industrial base has been  rescued by hundreds of jobs at Quinn Radiator and an injection of some 4,000 civil service jobs. The local economy is fizzing.

But an entirely new area of work is in the Government's move to shared services. Already the shared administration services of Britain's 140 prisons are concentrated in Newport. Now the Home Office has decided to join them in the same great building. It will create a single shared services for both organisations.

This news comes after the Newport operation was the runner up in a European award. It was judged by experts across for the world for the quality of the effective start up strategy and implementation. See the video on Newport TV name Prisons Break for Newport.

Many congratulations to Steve Hodgson and his staff. This is a triumph. Newport is grateful to you.

Idealism marching.

Deja promenade

Precious memories were stirred this morning at the crack of dawn. A small group of marchers  left Newport on their way to London. They will have marched 1,000 miles when they arrive on October 2nd.

I had a chance to remind them a similar group that I welcomed to the Tredegar Park in Newport in August 1981. It was a steaming hot afternoon and I commandeered a bus to take them to John Frost Square for a rally.

They too had high ambitions. The Greenham Common camp, that resulted from the march,  lasted for 19 years. Today’s marchers  are campaigning for a strong Climate Change Bill and they are part of Christian Aid.

It was an exhilarating experience meeting another generation of idealistic people of all ages. They have had some publicity. With luck it will multiply as they reach their destination in London.

Ambition kills
Another guts-churning bleat of hypocrisy from the politically ambitious General  Petraeus. He reported that the surge is working. That is a surprise.  70% of Iraqis believe security has deteriorated in the area covered by the surge.

Part of the pleasure of 24 hour news for we political nerds was the testimony of  House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Tom Lantos. This venerable Democrat said President Bush's policies in Iraq had "created a fiasco". He called for  a dramatic change of course, and said the US needed to get out of Iraq immediately.

The Lantos speech was detailed and a cogently argued demolition of Bush’s delusions. Petraeus’s was a cunningly crafted public relations exercise in deception. What a tragedy that thousands of lives of brave warriors and innocent civilians hang on the outcome of a battle for careers and political advantage.

Taid pride

I try to avoid excessive personal self-indulgence on this blog but I cannot resist sharing this picture with you .

Abigail Sarah Flynn is a day old and happens to be the most beautiful child that has ever seen the light of day. But you expected that.