Backbench gain

 

Yes it's a loss for Labour's frontbench team. But it's a gain for the ranks of Labour backbenchers.

It's not a role that David Milliband knows well. I can commend to him a splendid 'How to be a Backbencher' book. Not only the best book on the subject - also the only one. It's a tad out of date but I cannot write a new one until I understand the IPSA rules. That will take some time. Welcome to the joys of the backbenches David.

 

Poll joy

Without a UK Leader Labour is doing splendidly in Wales.

The running poll on ITV Wales gives Ed Miliband a bouncing springboard. Labour were on a lowly 32% in the election in May. Now it's giant 44%. The gain is mainly the result of the collapsing LibDem from 20% to 11%. 

Looks good for the Welsh Assembly elections and the referendums next year. No wonder there is a new spring in the step of Welsh Labour.

 

           2007 Result    May 2010 Poll   June Poll  July Poll  Aug Poll  Sept Poll

Labour          32%      32%                  42%        40%         39%       44%

Plaid Cymru  22%      22%                  20%         22%        23%       19%

Conservative 22%      21%                  19%         20%        22%        22%

Liberal Dem  15%      20%                  12%         13%        10%        11%

Others             8%       5%                     6%          5%          6%          5%

 

 

Guide to leaks

There is surefire way to discover who is leaking to the press. First find who benefits from the leak and that's your culprit.

Honing my Sherlock Holmes skills I have a drawn up a shortlist of the likely guilty.

 

Strange, it has only one name on it.

 

Backbench loss

eThe Guardian tells this touching tale of a former greatly missed backbencher.

' Former MP Alan Simpson reminded Campaign's fringe meeting of the parable of the pastor and his ass.

"The pastor trained his ass to run, and the beast turned out to be a winner, coming in first at the local races. The Daily Mirror covered the story under the headline 'Pastor's ass out in front'. The bishop, angry and embarrassed by the headline, demanded the pastor put an end to it. The pastor withdrew the beast from any more races, leading to the headline in the Mail 'Bishop scratches pastor's ass'. The bishop was further enraged and sent Sister Mary in from the nunnery to get rid of the animal completely. She took it to the farmer and traded the beast for a tenner. The Sun reported 'Nun sells ass for £10'. Angrier still, the bishop demanded that Sister Mary stopped the story going any further. She bought the animal back from the farmer and let it go in the countryside. The Express reported 'My ass runs wild and free, says top nun'." Only the Times reported the bishop's death from a heart attack the next day, Simpson added. And the moral? "The more you worry about how the press defines your ass, the worse it gets." 

 

Comments

[Kay Tie]

"If the politicians and their parties would even look at the negative consequences from these legislative bombs for issues like freedom of speech,expression and privacy or even innovation, even just starting to question it would be start."

Huw is right. I must be insane. Because I agree with Huw above. Beep beep!

[D.G.]

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2010/09/28/councillor-who-twittered-on-scientology-cleared-of-wrongdoing-91466-27359840/

Happy news - turns out councillors are allowed to have opinions, and voice them too.

[HuwOS]

"Beginning of the end for the outdated media distribution model?"

Well more like the beginning of the end for fully legal and lawful blackmail of individuals.

But if it could get some political attention, then perhaps the various governments would not be so willing to pass utterly unbalanced legislation written by the publishing industries, like the DEA, ACTA or as envisaged in the Gallo report.

Politicians in general have failed to scrutinise or even question the validity of any of the claims made by the industries which they have then used to push for draconian and completely unacceptable legislation
If the politicians and their parties would even look at the negative consequences from these legislative bombs for issues like freedom of speech,expression and privacy or even innovation, even just starting to question it would be start.

[plashing vole]

Only one suspect? I'd have thought it could be Cameron and Fox acting in concert to protect traditional Tory interests and shift the cuts to the domestic sphere, Fox alone, or the armed services (who think that Defence ministers should be their puppets) - they've been leaking like sieves to the rightwing press, no doubt with the connivance of their friends in the arms trade.

[DG]

BBC have picked it up too

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11434809

Looks like they've finally got enough rope to hang themselves with. Beginning of the end for the outdated media distribution model?

[HuwOS]

Such a pity that you have little interest in the really big UK news this week Paul.
I know, I know, its nice you have a new leader and all but there are other things going on, other than opinion polls which, lets face it don't matter a hill of beans unless an election is in the near future.

ACS:LAW may well have fatally damaged the legal blackmail system that they and others have been running for the last two years.

The ISPs who have assisted them are becoming more and more exposed to their part in breaches of the DPA and despite the moderately large amount of money that both the ISPs and the various law firms involved have made, if justice follows they may find the entire abuse of the Norwich Pharmacal Orders that they have been involved in could well be the worst mistake that any of them could have made.

Even before the Anonymous DDOS attacks (not hacking btw) which took down their websites and people discovered the emails stored unsecured on their webserver, judges were already beginning (they have been very slow) to question the intentions behind the applications,
Chief Master Weingarten in particular who very recently queried another law firm looking for involved in the same business
"I can't understand why in these thousands -- hundreds of thousands -- [of letters sent out] no-one has been sued."
http://torrentfreak.com/judge-warns-of-end-to-file-sharing-cash-demands-100922

Data so far suggests that the shakedown letters these companies have been allowed to send out, get payments from about 10% of those targeted. But while those paying out are in the minority it has still meant hundreds of thousands of pounds for the law firms and the isps colluding with them.

(I accuse the ISPs of colluding as no order has been made against one large ISP, despite their size, apparently because they have always stated that they would challenge any attempt to get such an order.
The isps whose customers have been targeted have never chosen to challenge them at all, without challenge the judges have had no option but to grant them and it seems clear that these law firms were after the "easy pickings" and the isps felt no duty of care to their customers and quite liked the extra, free money it generated for them)

Well okay, perhaps it is only of interest to some, but it ought to be of interest to all as this is one more break in the dam.