Paul Flynn - Read My Day

Moonbat MP

'Luddite'  was the word used by Prof Nutt about the decision to sack him. This is hardly fair. After all the Luddites were ignorant and they had not been elected to run the country. Unlike our Government and Opposition spokespeople they had an excuse.

Science has never had its rightful place in parliament. A fine example was quoted by Ben Goldacre today in the Guardian. It was a comment by Bosworth MP David Tredinnick, He recently said,"In 2001, I raised in the house the influence of the moon, on the basis of the evidence then that at certain phases of the moon there are more accidents. Surgeons will not operate because blood clotting is not effective and the police have to put more people on the street."

Any attempts to challenge Tredinnick's ideas are based, he explains, on "superstition, ignorance and prejudice" by scientists who are "deeply prejudiced, and racially prejudiced, too, which is troubling."

He memorably suggested using alternative medicine to end the foot and mouth epidemic. His fellow Tories cast their eyes to heaven when he offers his 'medicine'. This week he asked me to sign an EDM. I refused because it is foolish and politically inept. Undeterred he raised his crusade on Thursday at Business Questions.

The area confined to use by MPs and their guests in the Commons Terrace cafeteria has recently been reduced. It was often underused while non-MPs were crowded into an adjacent area. Sensibly the space allocated to MPs has been reduced to benefit non-members. MPs grabbing more living space on top of the expenses scandal would not be welcomed by our voters.

Nor will his dingbat ideas on conducting surgical operations on the phases of the moon. I am falling into the first stages of despair on this irrational anti-scientific parliament.

Annual parliaments

The only one of the six points of the Chartists that has not been implemented is annual parliaments.

Not until today did I find out the reason why they were so keen on so many elections. The Newport based Chartist group Accent has reproduced  Chartist membership cards. In quaint but persuasive language they argued for 'ANNUAL PARLIAMENTS:  thus presenting the most effectual check to bribery and intimidation, since though a constituency might be bought once in seven years (even with a ballot), no purse could buy a constituency (under a system of universal suffrage) in each ensuing twelve-month, and since members, when elected for a year only, would not be able to defy and betray their constituents as now.'

They had not reckoned with a 'purse' as deep as Lord Ashcroft's. Another day-long day devoted to honouring the Chartists at Newport Riverfront theatre were roused by the inspired singing of Cor Cochion Caerdydd. Cardiff Reds Choir described themselves as revolutionaries. They have revived many old Chartist and Socialist Songs that have not been heard for generations.

The indefatigable Ray Davies was in splendid voice. Not bad for a 78 year old.

Fixed

The dangerous gap in the railing in the new Kingsway Park has been blocked. 

Thanks to my constituent Mrs Rowe, who reported the omission and car park manger Mr Hines who promptly corrected the problem.

Politics demeaned by Johnson

Groan.

 I thought it could not get worse, Prof Nutt is sacked, caught in possession of an intelligent idea. Science and evidence is secondary to prejudice and ignorance. Truth is subordinate to the need for political gratification.

On every drugs issue Prof Nutt has been right. The Government and Opposition have been wrong. Tobacco and alcohol are more toxic, addictive and poisonous than cannabis and ecstasy. Reclassifying magic mushroom in the same group as heroin and cocaine is an act of imbecility. Labour and Tory frontbenchers did that.

Facing down the tabloid evidence-free hysteria, the professor said smoking cannabis created only a "relatively small risk" of psychotic illness. Nothing in the Home Secretary's letter of dismissal questions the truth of the science.

This day should be marked in future as the Day of Coarse politics. Today,  Government dumped the truth in exchange for grubbing for redtop mindless approval. The greatness weakness in Government for the past 30 years is their addiction to the daily drip feed of adulation from the tabloids. This was an act of cowardice by a government led by a politician who wrote a book on political courage. Portugal bravely challenged drug fear and reduced their drugs deaths by 50%. Blair's strategy unit's conclusions were similar to Nutt's. Nothing was done. In 1971 the UK has fewer than a 1,000 drug addicts. 37 years of harsh prohibition has increased this to 300,000.

 I am ashamed of this base decision. Politics is demeaned.

Criminals cured

Strictly in the line of duty, I dropped in on a Speed Choice workshop today..

The deal is to accept three penalty points for speeding or spend three hours of driver education. It cost £60 but is a bargain by avoiding the cost and misery of disqualification.

All the 13 'master criminals' in today's group had been clocked doing 37-38 mph in a 30 mph area. They were asked if they used a four letter word when that had heard the news. Did they say 'only' 38 mph? Probably most were resentful at the start of the session. Three hours later they were all determined to change their driving habits.

Two avuncular characters with a self-deprecating line in humour convincingly illustrated the difference in injuries to a pedestrian hit by a driver doing 30 mph and one doing 38. All the class felt uncomfortable after being caught in an act that could have made the difference between life and death.

There were none of the speed camera haters present. If they were they were silent. The figures for the reduction of 36% of fatalities at camera sites on roads and traffic lights was very convincing. 

Twenty years ago, twenty people were killed every day on the roads. Following the breathalysers, seat belts and speed cameras, the slaughter has dropped to seven a day.

There was a bit of role play is persuading groups to imagine that they were the guilty driver, the grieving relatives or the prosecutors. At the end of the three hours, the early resentment against forced indoctrination had disappeared. I look forward to statistics that, I am sure, will prove a sharp drop in future accidents by those who attend Speed Choice.

This cynic was  persuaded.

Worried Obama

President Obama is deeply troubled

He has changed the 18 year old policy of George Bush   and allowed the media to film the arrival home of America's dead from Afghanistan.  Even more significantly, he today greeted and saluted the fallen.

It has been the bloodiest month so far in the past eight years for US troops in Afghanistan - with at least 53 killed. On Monday, Mr Obama told troops at a Florida naval base he would not rush any decision about boosting the number of troops in Afghanistan. He said he would not risk their lives unless it was "absolutely necessary". 

Obama is a good politician and  keenly sensitive to the power of American public opinion. Previously Americans have been shielded from the bloody tragic futility of America's involvement in Afghanistan.

Will angry public opinion bring the USA to their senses and force a repeat of the Vietnam withdrawal?. If so, we will meekly follow. For the second time in a decade our conduct in war will be determined in Washington.

Advice blind

Why have advisory bodies, if the Government ignore them?

The row over the reclassification of cannabis has been re-ignited after the government's chief drug adviser accused ministers of "distorting" the evidence.

The head of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs accused ex-home secretary Jacqui Smith, of "devaluing" scientific research. The Home Office said : "Prof Nutt's views are his own." No, more than that, they are the views and evidence of science.

The professor is revealing on the  "skunk scare". He cited research which "estimates that, to prevent one episode of schizophrenia, we would need to stop about 5,000 men aged 20 to 25 years from ever using the drug".

He said skunk has been in wide usage for about 10 years but, he claims, there has been no upswing in schizophrenia.

Very convincing, except to this and the next Government hooked on immediate political gratification from evidence free polices.

I mentioned the Government's disdain for scientific advice in the Commons today. The Speaker's campaign for briefer, sharper more pithy questions is working. There were 28 MPs seeking to ask Business Questions. So short were the exchanges he called all of us in just over 40 minutes. That includes a response from Harriet Harman to all of them. As the 28th to be called, I was especillay grateful.

As the Speaker's greatest fan I asked  two more tweeter length questions today. 

Can we debate EDM 2180 and the conclusion of the Government's Sustainability Commission that the cost and problems of New Nuclear power far outweigh any benefits?.(132 characters)

"Shouldn't we have virement of subsidies from farmers whose income has increased to those who income has not as  the income of grain farmers  more than doubled from 2006-08?". (139)

It's an interesting exercise staying below 140 characters while still making the essential point. But I believe I have failed to count the spaces which I did not know is one of the tweeter rules. A new rule is enunciated - parliamentary tweets do not count spaces.

Scrappage deal for MPs

Only a few months ago I discovered the existence of the MPs Resettlement Allowance. It's a scrappage inducement to encourage clapped-out MPs to retire and be replaced by new models.

Being in mid-career these consideration did not interest me. I was aware that cash was available for MPs to run down their offices when they lost elections. I look up 'Resettlement Allowance' in the Green Book. It can pay out a maximum of £62,000. In my case it would be £30.000. That's generous compare with redundancy payments available to other workers.  Kelly's proposal is to replace the allowance with about two months pay. That seems about right.

The headlines speak of angry MPs who plan to make a stand against Kelly's plan. That would be foolish.  the public have made up their minds that all MPs are greedy crooks. Any debate or dissent is doomed. Rather Like the Polish calvary charging Panzer tanks. The fragile horses of truth would be crushed  by the mighty forces of prejudice. There is a great deal of rough justice in Kelly's sledgehammer, but resistance is futile.

There is justified public disgust at the excesses of some MPs. We have all benefited from a generous system that we should have reformed. Time for all to grin, accept Kelly's medicine and pay up.

Hockey Stick

One of my correspondents has been got at by critics of the hockey stick graph. When global warming deniers swarmed this site, the ‘hockey stick graph’ was their major obsession.

The end of the hockey stick illustrates the sharp rise in global warming in our times. The "hockey stick" graph was the result of the first comprehensive attempt to reconstruct the average northern hemisphere temperature over the past 1000 years, based on numerous indicators of past temperatures, such as tree rings. It shows temperatures holding fairly steady until the last part of the 20th century and then suddenly shooting up

There had been some criticism of the methodology employed in the graph. Gleefully the GW-deniers cult devotees seized on this to claim that GW was a hoax.

Of course this is unscientific and irrational. The fears on GW rest on the conclusion of thousands of studies. New Scientist returns to the hockey stick issue a year ago. The magazine has a great reputation for their objectivity. Their conclusion is the hockey stick graph is valid. Independent evidence, from ice cores and sea sediments for instance, suggest the last time the planet approached this degree of warmth was during the interglacial period preceding the last ice age over 100,000 years ago. It might even be hotter now than it has been for at least a million years.

Further back in the past, though, it certainly has been hotter - and the world has been a very different place. The crucial point is that our modern civilization has been built on the basis of the prevailing climate and sea levels. As these change, it will cause major problems. This is so much more important than the irrational views of right wing conspiracy theorists who swarmed in here to mouth their ignorance.

In fact, later studies support the key conclusion: the world is warmer now than it has been for at least 1000 years.

Viet Ghosts

Barack Obama is haunted by the ghosts of Vietnam.

22 body-bags in two days. 55 US servicemen killed this month — the war is suddenly coming home to America, in body-bags.

The first senior official has resigned in protest over a war that may be unwinnable. “I fail to see the value in the continued US casualties or expenditures . . . in what is, truly, a civil war,” declared Matthew Hoh, the decorated former Marine who resigned from the US Foreign Service this week. This is very reminiscent of what Senator Kerry said in 1971.' Who will be the last soldier to die for a mistake?'

Pound wise

My friend MP Stephen Pound told me today of an interesting headline when scourge of MPs Legg was asked to chair a committee on weapons procurement. It read, 'Legg heads arms body.'

Coarse politics

Number of American dead in Afghanistan in the past two days = 22

It's nonsense politics but inevitable.

The sum of money involved was a mere £20 million in a budget of three and a half thousand million. The purpose of the 'cut' was to provide more cash for the regular army. It was the idea of the military chiefs not the  Government.   The Tories leapt on this rickety bandwagon. They claimed that the Government was letting down the territorial army. Utterly untrue, irresponsible dishonest politics. Huge increases in military spending has been made in all recent years. Even though the charge is a lie, it is repeated by the tabloids and believed. 

The amount is piddling but the potential political damage is vast. I was among those who told my whips that I was not going to vote for this act of political self-harm.

Whichever party wines the election, cuts will be made. If every proposed is opposed as fiercely as this one, good Government will be paralysed. Both parties are mesmerised by the prospect of the General Election next May. They are incapable of taking serious decisions.

Perhaps an election will give them back their backbones. It cannot come soon enough for me.

Kelly bore

The leaks from Kelly are the expected obvious ones. They should be accepted without quibbles. Public opinion is so poisoned that they will insist on their pound of flesh. It's easy for me to say that.  My claim for a second London home has been plummeting for the past two years. Since July I have claimed nothing.

When Kelly appeared before the PASC select committee the Tory Ian Lidell Granger told he was a 'very boring man.' Perhaps he remembers that.

I gave detailed evidence to the committee, especially on the revolving door for formers ministers. When the full report is published, I hope Kelly has gone beyond the obvious and comes up with a few imaginative reforms.

Yes for Wales

There are fascinating results to a poll on whether Wales wants a proper parliament.

A majority of voters would vote yes in a referendum on extra powers for the Welsh Assembly - but only by a small majority .42% said they would vote yes and 37% would vote no.

But  when asked whether Wales should have the same powers as the Scottish Parliament, 63% were in favour and just 28% were opposed.

this is the key to victory for devolution referendum. Why should Wales have a half a parliament when Scotland has a full one? This is potent plea that appeals to the nation's innate sense of fair play.

A report by the All Wales Convention is due on 18 November. It promises surprises. In 1953 I marched through the streets of Cardiff with a Labour banner calling for a 'Senedd i Gymru. That's a parliament for Wales , not a half a Parliament. It did not say 'Elcos for the people'. The present arrangement is working in a creaking fashion. But it is cumbersome.

Sooner that we expect Wales will have its own full Senedd.

Afghan end game?

Total of British Soldiers killed in Afghanistan = 223

It could be the tipping point for Obama. He has promised American soldiers that he will not send them to die in vain. He is too intelligent to believe that the Afghan War is winnable.

Today, At least 14 Americans have been killed in a series of air crashes in Afghanistan. Four US soldiers died and two were hurt when two helicopters collided mid-air in the south, In a separate helicopter crash seven US soldiers and three US civilians died.

The Taliban said it was behind the second  crash. Understandably the Americans are reluctant to believe that the Taliban is involved. Helicopters   have presented as the superior invulnerable piece of equipment to out run the Taliban. Americans control the air. The Taliban hold the ground. 

If the Taliban militants had shot down the US helicopter the war could be ending. It was the Surface to Air missiles of the Mujahaddin that finally demoralised the Russians.  The Vietnam war ended because of the American public would not tolerate the futile deaths of their young soldiers. Fourteen body bags will soon arrive on American shores.

Obama will be troubled by this record number of deaths in a day. The American people be restless. Britain is blindly following the American lead. Obama has already procrastinated on the supply of more American troops. If helicopters are vulnerable to small arm fire or SAMs Obama will defy the Generals. 

It could be the beginning of the end.

 

 

Having a laugh

 

Stirring up racial hatred is a bit of a joke to Councillor Peter Davies. He published an e-mail suggesting that the EDL racist march should give  a 'last Hurrah!'  at the church which has been converted into a mosque. Now he says this was 'light hearted'. 

 

All his inflammatory claims were found to be false. To the embarrassment of his own colleagues he failed to turn up to the Planning Committee  which heard evidence that there was no truth in what he had said. No councillor of any party supported his views. There is nothing trivial or light hearted about provoking the dragon of racial hatred. Councillor Davies gave ammunition to avowed racists.

 

Diverse Newport political, Christian,  Muslim and Jewish groups stood in harmony in a vigil last Friday. It was an act of  positive  witness to the cause of inter-community solidarity. Great things have been happening in Newport over the past 50 years in building mutual respect. Nothing will stop that.

 

 

 

Great  pictures

 

Evocative and beautiful pictures of the Vigil and Demo

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/photo-wales-spain-kfb/

Beyond a joke

Now is the time to count the cost of yesterday's Newport anti-racist demonstration. There are well-earned congratulations to everyone. The Police were prepared. They behaved with common sense and good humour. 'Kettling' is not a word known in Wales. The demonstrators were diverse but they followed police advice and cooled the few inflammatory minor incidents. It was model behaviour from police and demonstrators.

There are other costs. The rumoured number of police on the streets, at the railway station and standing by was 300. The hospital's A&E was reorganised to accept dozens of causalities. The police helicopter flew over the square.  The police had no choice but to err on the side of caution in the provision of an overwhelming police presence. Passions were running very high. A clash would have certainly resulted in many injuries.

There is still no apology from Councillor Peter Davies who started the whole scare. He is a member of the Newport Tory-LibDem coalition. He embarrassed his fellow cabinet members by announcing a plan to sell the city's beloved Mansion House. Public outrage put a stop to that.

His wild irresponsible comments on race relations in Newport were reported on the EDL's website to justify a demonstration in the city.  Davies was called on to apologise and take the heat out of the situation. He refused. He issued another provocative statement suggesting the EDL's march should parade in the street where the mosque is situated for a 'last hurrah.' 

The cost of yesterday will be at least £100,000.  What will Peter Davies do next to embarrass the city?

 

 

In every way, he is beyond a joke.

Musical MP

One of South Wales politicians with a great future is the quiet understated Kevin Brennan. 

He worked as Rhodri Morgan's assistant and an adviser to the Welsh Assembly Government. In parliament he has maintained his integrity while quietly succeeding in two weighty ministerial roles.

Yesterday he celebrated his 50th birthday at the Wharf Hotel in Cardiff Bay. We were grandly entertained by MP4. This group of musical MPs made a record that 'sold by the dozens.' 

Kevin has a long parliamentary career ahead of him.

 His political savvy is combined with a rare wit and intelligence. His performances at the Despatch Box and before Select Committees are assured and thoughtful. Never once has his political antennae led him astray. He will play a major role. in the future of Wales.

Happy Birthday, Kevin.

Copenhagen

This week will be parliament's build-up to Copenhagen. 
The roof protest caught the attention of the country and MPs. Unfortunately it was eclipsed by the concentration on Legg's letters on the same day.

 

That must not happen again. Copenhagen is a great opportunity to change the world's policies. An imaginative idea of reducing our carbon footprints is the advice to 'eat our dogs'. Their lifetime of food burdens the planet as severely as running a 4*4.  Our companion pets will be the last sacrifices we will make.

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Racists day off

We were all there in John Frost Square. So were hundreds of police and the police helicopter. But where was the English / Welsh Defence League?

Apart from a few individuals, there was no sign of the threatened demo by the racists. The anti-racists turned up in great numbers. There were speakers, including Labour's John Griffiths and Plaid's Leanne Wood thumping out the Newport Unity message. 

The side of the square allocated to the EDL remained almost deserted. The anti-demo demo continued from eleven o'clock until three. There were frequent rumours that the fascists were on their way. Early 'intelligence' spoke of 200 on the London train at ten o'clock. At one o'clock there were reports of a dozen football hooligans getting tanked up in city centre pubs.

I saw at most two racists demonstrators in the square. There were no banners, chanting or 'sieg heil' salutes. It seems likely that this minute EDL group are weak and ineffectual.

This was another happy, extraordinary  successful expression on anti-racist passion by a cross section of Newportonians. There were hundreds of church people, mosque congregations and lively alert youth from across the political spectrum.

The Cor Cochion Caerdydd (Cardiff Red Choir) were there in impressive voice. A drum band kept up the high spirits in spite of the rain.

Many of the demonstrators  are supporters of competing left-wing groups. It was exhilarating to have so many united in a single expression of anger against the racists threat.

Ignorance is the spur

One passer-by explained his bigoted views to a small group of us in the Square. He is a sixty three years and believes that all immigration should stop because 'it's our country'.

He stood up to a fair amount of derision. Among the many advantages of migration I pointed out to him was the variety of food that we have now compared with that of our childhoods. He said he has never eaten a curry. What bleak narrow lives these people live.

 His accent was not Newportonian and he explained that he lives in Llanelli Hill. That's a rural hamlet near Abergavenny. Its ethnic minority population is nil. In the recent European election, the highest vote for the BNP was in Blaenau Gwent. That the constituency with the lowest percentage of black people.

The seeds of racial intolerance spring from ignorance-plus a faith in the tabloid press. The Llanelli Hill man confessed that he is a Daily Express reader. He has not had much luck in life. Happily most of the people in the square this afternoon have had the luck to have been raised in cosmopolitan Newport.

Hazard

I had a friendly chat with the manager of the new Kingsway Car Park about the child-sized gap in his railings. 

There is an opening from the car park that leads to a dangerous ledge that is not child-proof.

Work is in progress to make it safe. He is grateful to my constituent who passed on the warning.

EDL/WDL unites city

An extraordinary unique vigil took place in Newport tonight.

 Nothing like it has ever happened before. Following an inflammatory untrue statement by a local Tory Councillor, the English Defence League planned a demonstration tomorrow. If they turn up they will be outnumbered by local people of all races. There was  full turn-out of the city's AMs and MPs, (L to R) Jessica Morden MP, Rosemary Butler AM, PF and John Griffiths AM at the vigil tonight.

The congregation of St Mary's Roman Catholic Church processed  down Stow Hill with candles to join the vigil against racism. Speakers from the Christian, Muslim and Jewish communities delivered the same message of solidarity, harmony and tolerance. It was a wonderfully bracing feel-good repudiation of the mean-minded racism. 

The racists'

 hope to plant division here is finished. This was an eloquent powerful riposte. Perhaps the racists should visit Newport Schools. At Assembly prayers, half the children joined their hands in the Christians way. The rest cup them in the Muslim tradition. Most importantly, they are saying the same prayer.

It was good to see Patrick Drewett there in conversation with former Rogerstone candidate Jayne Bryant. At a recent  meeting Patrick firmly nailed Conservative Councillor Peter Davies for his untrue remark that a Christian Church was in danger of 'desecration.'  This was repeated on racist blogs and Councillor Davies has still not apologised or withdrawn his words that he knows to be untrue. Councillor Davies was not at the vigil last night but many other members of  Newport's cabinet were. How much longer can they tolerate the excesses of Peter Davies as a fellow Cabinet Member? He is an unguided missile that threatens racial harmony. All those who attended this vigil firmly rejected his views. Many were church leaders. There will be a clear message from them in the coming weeks.

Among the distinguished people who attended the vigil were Bishop Dominic of Monmouth, Canon Mark Soady of Newport Cathedral and human rights campaigner Ingrid Wilson.

There was great turn-out from Newport's churches,  mosques, politicians and the general public. 

The Reverend Aled Edwards of Cytun  inspired with a rousing call for unity. Newportonian Lily Freckleton of Caribbean origin sang beautifully.

Newport reasserted its proud reputation as a harmonious city of immigrants. An ugly threat from the EDL/WDL has brought the city together in an uplifting celebration. Racial relations here are already a great success. The bonds of friendship and mutual respect were strengthened tonight.

Adderchog Casnewydd.

Traffic jammed

An hour is a generous amount of time to allow to drive from Newport to Cardiff - even allowing for the perpetual roadworks, Not today.  I missed my broadcast on  Dau o'r Bae a Welsh language discussion programme. I heard the trailer to the programme at 12.00 o'clock announcing my name as a guest. The programme got the message that I was delayed in traffic. 

My car did not moved an inch on the A48 from time the programme started at 1.15 p.m.  until if finished at 2.00 p.m..

Provocatively one of the subjects was the £millions of pounds that the Welsh Assembly Government gives  the so-called sport of rallying. It's a GB rally of  Hooray-Henrys over-revving their  way into a wild jaunt over public and forest roads. It starts in  Cardiff Bay, uses vast quantities of fuel  driving to the finishing line, of course at the same spot where they started  in Cardiff Bay. Abject self-indulgent futility. Why subsidise a crime against the environment ? 

Another subject due for discussion was the obscenity of a man having 20,000 calories of food shovelled down him every day. He has ate himself into a crippled caricature of a human being costing the NHS a fortune. His ambition is to be the fattest person in the world. Applying the rules of care and compassion in this situation distorts priorities.

What a comment on our mad world. Poverty and starvation is rampant in the  developing world. Yet the grotesque over-indulgence of our world is encouraged.

Cascading tots?

Make a stand against racism

Anti-racism Vigil tonight

Service in St Mary's 6.00 to 7.00

Westgate Square 7.00-8.00

Demo

John Frost Square

Tomorrow from 11.00 am

Take all complaints seriously is a good rule for MPs.

I did not know what to make of a phone message I had on a Sunday on a journey  to Strasbourg recently. A constituent said there was a dangerous gap in the railings at a the new multi-storey Newport Car Park. 'A small child could fall through.' I was mildly sceptical. Surely with our health and safety fanaticism, this was not possible?

The image of small children cascading to the deaths from the car park haunted me. I unloaded my worry first thing on Monday morning to the car park management. The problem took some finding and I went back to the complainant for more details.

Yesterday I heard that the danger area has been found. The area is now barricaded off and repairs will be started shortly. Thanks to my complainant. It's likely she averted a tragedy. 

Boring please

The favourite to follow Rhodri Morgan as First Minster in Wales was welcomed to the Commons yesterday.

He has support from the majority of Welsh MPs as the 'tidy' candidate' with an all-Wales appeal.

 Anglesey's Albert Owen and I were there from the North West and South East and Nick Ainger from the South West and Mark Tami from the North East. All compass points filled.

I am treading softly. If wounds are inflicted by aggressive campaigning, they may take long to heal afterwards. There are three good candidates of talent and virtue. In spite of the nagging of the Western Mail, no stitch-up is possible this time. Edwina Hart has five nominations from MPs, Huw Lewis Four and Carwyn Jones fourteen.

Let's have a deeply boring election, then peace ever after.

Tweeting rules

Another day. Another tweeter question. It was Business Questions.  I was also helpful to Harriet Harman.

Tory Shadow Leader of the house George Young had a mini-tantrum. He  demanded,  'When will the Government  respond to the PASC report on lobbying?'

'Yesterday' I helpfully and audibly heckled. By the time Harriet replied she had the agenda for today's meeting of PASC in her hand. The Government's response was number one item on the agenda.

My tweeter question today was

"221 British dead, yet this House has never voted on the Afghan War. Isn't time we did?.

The Speaker beamed. It was the only question asked that was within Tweeter rules. He and I have a dream. One day...all oral questions will be like this.

Regular correspondent and 'Cortes is innocent,OK?' enthusiast KayTie asks what reply I had to my twitter question yesterday. I'm afraid it lived down to her expectations.

Paul Flynn (Newport, West) (Lab): Why should our brave soldiers be asked to put their lives at risk to re-elect the corrupt thief Karzai?

The Prime Minister: I do not accept what my hon. Friend is saying. We have an electoral process in Afghanistan that has revealed that, where there is fraud and where there has been malpractice, there has to be a new election. We have an election process in Afghanistan that, despite the fact that the Taliban insurgency tried to prevent an election from taking place, had millions of people voting. Our job is to help the infant Afghan democracy, and that is what we will continue to do. I think that hon. Members will have seen, from the comments by President Obama and all the European leaders yesterday, that we are determined to do what we can to support the security during that election period, and to make sure that, by training the Afghan forces themselves, our troops can eventually come home.

Total number of British soldiers killed in Afghanistan = 222