Paul Flynn - Read My Day

Pickles eats personally not ministerially

 

Had a topical question in the Commons today. Few things are more interesting than Pickles' eating habits.

 

T4. [77122] Paul Flynn (Newport West) (Lab): Even though a five-star dinner at the Savoy, which was paid for by the lobbyist Bell Pottinger, had in attendance at least one firm that had an application in with the Secretary of State’s Department, he says that he has no reason to register it in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests because that day he was eating not as a Minister but as a private person. If we are to have a robust, transparent system of lobbying, does he not think that that loophole needs to be closed, so that we do not have to guess on which days Members are eating privately and on which they are eating ministerially?

Mr Speaker: Order. I wanted to hear the question, but the registration of Members’ interests is undertaken by Members in their capacity as Members, rather than as Ministers. I suspect that there will be a correspondence or exchange subsequently, but that is my understanding of the position.

 

Paul Flynn (Newport West) (Lab): On a point of order, Mr Speaker. May I make it clear that the topical question that I asked earlier about the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government was about the ministerial code, which was altered last year, and which

“obliges ministers to declare all hospitality accepted in a ‘ministerial capacity’ and all meetings with external organisations”?

If that means that a Minister can decide, on an unknown basis, whether he is meeting someone in a ministerial or a personal capacity, it makes a nonsense of that alleged improvement.

Mr Speaker: I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his point of order, and let me level with him: when he asked his question in DCLG questions, it was not clear to me—perhaps it should have been; perhaps the fault was mine—that the question was framed around the Minister acting in his ministerial capacity, with reference to the relevance of the ministerial code. It was because I thought as I did at the time that I ruled as I did. However, since then the hon. Gentleman has come along with, from my point of view, further and better information. I am grateful to him for explaining the point, and I hope he will accept my response in the spirit in which it is intended. It is always a dangerous enterprise to joust with somebody who has written a book about how to be a Back Bencher.

Sadiq Khan (Tooting) (Lab): And a good one as well.

Mr Speaker: Yes, and a good one as well, as the right hon. Member for Tooting (Sadiq Khan) helpfully points out, albeit from a sedentary position.

 

No Subsidy?

Paul Flynn (Newport West) (Lab): Given that cost is the main criterion, why have the Government not reconsidered the costs of nuclear power, which are ballooning? Is it not true that the coalition has been taken over by the bad science loonies of global warming denial?

Gregory Barker: That is absolute rubbish. There is no subsidy for nuclear power.

 

Simon Hoggart reported;

The question of his eating habits came up again later and raised an intriguing metaphysical question. Labour's Paul Flynn pointed out that he had enjoyed a "five-star" dinner at the Savoy in London, paid for by lobbying group Bell Pottinger. Yet he had not entered this in the register of members' interests, on the grounds that he was "not eating as a minister, but was eating as a private person".

Mr Flynn wanted this loophole closed so that we could always know when Mr Pickles was eating privately, and when he was eating in his ministerial capacity – which is quite a capacity.

The secretary of state did not reply but waved his arms furiously.

I suspected this was the thin man who is supposed to be inside every fat man, waving to get out. Either way, we have no idea of how differently you eat privately or publicly. Or both in the same meal?

The lobster and Montrachet would be private, the bread and soda water public. And such a successful automaton obviously needs constant refuelling, possibly at someone's expense.

DAILY MIRROR reports;

 

Tory MP Eric Pickles failed to declare luxury Savoy dinner with lobbyists

By Mirror.co.uk 31/10/2011

 

Luxury dinner: Tory Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles

TORY Minister Eric Pickles should have declared a luxury Savoy dinner he enjoyed with lobbyists, MPs were told today.

The Local Government Secretary dined with staff from public relations firm Bell Pottinger, but failed to report the meal because he claimed he was eating privately.

The decision was today criticised in the House of Commons by Labour MP Paul Flynn (Newport West).

Advertisement >>

Speaking at Local Government questions, Mr Flynn said: "Even though a five-star dinner at the Savoy, which was paid for the lobbyist Bell Pottinger and had in attendance at least one firm which made an application to his department, the Secretary of State says he has no reason to register that in the Members' Interests because that day he was not eating as a minister, he was eating as a private person.

"If we are to have a robust, transparent system of lobbying, do you think this loophole has to be closed so we don't have to guess on which day Members are eating privately and which days ministerially?"

Speaker John Bercow intervened before Mr Pickles could defend himself, telling Mr Flynn: "The Register of Members' Interests is undertaken by Members in their capacity as Members rather than as ministers."

But Mr Flynn said that as he was raising a matter about the Ministerial Code, he could ask the question to Mr Pickles.

Mr Bercow did not apologise for his intervention but acknowledged that Mr Flynn was allowed ask the Communities Secretary about his Savoy dinner.

Read more: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/2011/10/31/tory-mp-eric-pickles-failed-to-declare-luxury-savoy-dinner-with-lobbyists-115875-23528474/#ixzz1cR84Ipwq

 The Times

Ann Trenaman

October 31 2011 9:25PM

After Fox-gate, I bring you Dinner-gate. Or, perhaps, more pleasing to say, Dinner-plate-gate. Maybe we should make that dinners given that this story involves Eric Pickles, who is, even his enemies would attest, a man of many meals.

The Communities Secretary was answering departmental questions in the Commons yesterday and, as so often when he is in the Chamber, the subject of food kept popping up like, well, toast. This is a man who takes food so seriously that his weekly bin collection policy was devised around a citizen’s right to have the remnants of their chicken tikka masala (“the nations’s favourite dish”) collected weekly without fear of odours.

I understand that Mr Pickles is quite sensitive about his weight (think Santa Claus with a Yorkshire accent) but he does rather ham (sorry) it up. Thus yesterday, on a question about business rates, Mr Pickles randomly mentioned Spudulike shops. The moment he said “spud”, MPs began to smile. Spud-like Mr Pickles, chins cascading, smiled right back, eyes twinkling.

It came as no surprise that Mr Pickles had visited the Norfolk Food Fair and had, apparently, been very keen on the pies. At mention of the word “pies”, everyone looked at Mr Pickles, who put both of his thumbs up and rotated round, showing off. Someone else mentioned pies and that brought more thumbs (Mr Pickles is pie-eyed about pies, of that I can be sure).

But then came what seemed a rather sinister twist. Paul Flynn, a fearless and obstreperous (and slim) Labour backbencher, arose to note that Mr Pickles, earlier this year, had eaten a “five-star dinner” at the Savoy. The entire Chamber went still as MPs salivated. The dinner was paid for by the lobbyist Bell Pottinger, said Mr Flynn, and at least one other diner was from a company that had made an application to Mr Pickles’ department.

MPs were beyond pie-eyed now, so to speak: the words “Savoy” and “not paid” have that effect on them. Mr Pickles was staring at Mr Flynn, eyes beedy, leaning forward which, given that he is spud-shaped, made him seem precariously close to (jam) roly-polying.

“The Secretary of State says he has no reason to register that in the Members’ Interests because that day he was not eating as a minister, he was eating as a private person,” scoffed Mr Flynn.

“If we are to have a robust, transparent system of lobbying, do you think this loophole has to be closed so we don’t have to guess on which day Members are eating privately and which days ministerially?”

Wow. I love the idea that Mr Pickles can “eat in a private capacity”. Mr Pickles pointed his finger at Mr Flynn and began to mutter. Was that was a private finger or a public finger? Also, can dinner with Bell Pottinger — the crème de la crème of lobbyists — really ever be such a private affair?

We never did find out, as Mr Speaker intervened, but I suspect Dinner-gate isn’t over yet. What about just desserts? Are they private, or public? We should be told.

 

 

 

Tories climate change deniers rule

 

Woorying news.

Following a leaked document on Friday, it appears that George Osborne wishes to immediately kill the successfully growing solar industry, without proper consultation and without understanding the facts.  It may be presented to Parliament on Monday. The anti-renewable lobbyists – oil, gas and nuclear giants are poise to rubbish solar power.  This may result in 25,000 semi-skilled and skilled jobs being placed at serious risk before Christmas.

The facts are

·        More energy from the sun hits the earth every minute than is required by the whole world each year

·        Its clean, safe and easy to harness and very popular with the public

·        The industry has been encouraged to invest with the promise of a Feed in Tariff fixed until 31st March 2012 and with an initial expectation that rates would be cut 9% at that time. With no warning, George Osborne is threatening to cut tariffs by 53% + in six weeks time. This will result in mass redundancy and the destruction of this Government’s green pretentions, and months of planning and investment in stock, infrastructure and training written off by UK industry.

·        Technology advances will facilitate ‘grid parity’ in as little as 5 years if the industry is allowed to develop economies of scale

·        The Feed in Tariff is not paid for by the Government, it is paid by Electricity Companies and passed on to consumers.

·        Current Feed in Tariff  take up will result in the average electricity bill increases of 0.2% - £1 per household per annum (source Ernst & Young report)

·        Other technologies (i.e. Nuclear) obtain government support that impacts the tax payer considerably more. (New nuclear capacity will cost consumers £44 per year – The Guardian)

·        Micro generation gives the grid resilience against  large scale power shortages caused by, for example, natural disasters like Japan’s Fukushima, and again provides no risk to communities and the economy

·        25,000 jobs are supported, many semi-skilled, more than the Nuclear industry and this is set to double in the next 12 months

Prepare for this mindless onslaught on the one of the most benign promising sources of energy by this ignorant Government.

Nadine silent sensation.

The splendid Holly Watt of the Telegraph is a regular reader of this blog and my tweets. She followed up a recent blog and produced a rare coup - a subject on which amazing Tory MP Nadine Dorries has no views.  Sensational! I look forward to reading the paper she has written about her hosts. It appears to be secret at the moment for reasons of reticence or embarrassment. In the last war there was a poster which asked "Is your journey really necessary?".

The biggest fact that the naive trio found on this jaunt is their own ineptitude.

Conservative MP take five-star junket to Equatorial Guinea

Conservative MPs enjoyed a five-star trip to Equatorial Guinea over the summer paid for by its dictatorial regime.

By Holly Watt, Whitehall Editor

 

Nadine Dorries, Steve Baker and Caroline Nokes stayed at the Sofitel Sipopo in the capital, Malabo.

The hotel features an 18-hole golf course and a spa. The cost of the visit was almost £25,000 and they flew business class to the oil-rich African country.

The group travelled with the Triarius Foundation, which is based in Malta and promotes West African and Islamic states.

It was given a grant by the Equatorial Guinean government to fund the trip and subsequently produced a report on the visit which dismissed the nation’s human rights violations as “trivial”.

The conclusions will raise concerns about the independence of the MPs’ visit to the country, which was the subject of the unsuccessful coup led by the British mercenary Simon Mann in 2004.

The Labour MP Paul Flynn said the trip was “unbelievable” and that the MPs should have informed themselves about the regime of President Teodoro Obiang.

“It is monstrous naivety not to make a few basic enquiries about a regime run by someone whose human rights record appears to be half way between Adolf Hitler and Attila the Hun,” said Mr Flynn.

“Five minutes of research should have informed these MPs that this was not a regime with which our parliamentarians should be associating. One would have thought that recent events in Libya would remind MPs that cosying up to corrupt dictators is unwise.”

President Obiang has been in power since 1979 and is accused of torturing his opponents.

Seventy per cent of the nation’s 680,000 people live in poverty, and tens of thousands have no access to electricity or clean water, according to the African Development Bank.

However, the Triarius report states that while Equatorial Guinea has been criticised for the suppression of freedom of speech, most of the criticism is “trivial” and has come from “self-interested, unrepresentative, and unaccountable pressure groups whose business models require them to generate indignation and concern among those from whom they rely for funding”.

The findings contrast with a recent report by Amnesty International, which concluded: “Press freedom remained severely restricted with most media outlets controlled by the state.”

The charity also stated that “soldiers and police officers tortured and ill-treated detainees and others with impunity ”.

In August last year, four men were executed for allegedly trying to assassinate the president after a trial which was widely condemned internationally.

The Triarius report claimed the four men were given a “public trial” in which standards were “superior” to the “extra-judicial killings ... routinely carried out by US authorities”.

This week the US accused the president’s son, Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, of spending $100 million of his country’s money on luxuries including a private jet and a home in Malibu.

Mrs Dorries declined to comment on the Triarius report and said she had written a separate paper. Mr Baker said: “I received a call from Nadine Dorries asking me if I wanted to join the delegation and I thought it would be useful to get an idea of how Equatorial Guinea worked and see if I could do some good. Quite honestly, I wish I hadn’t gone. The country is governed extremely badly.”

Þ A former Labour MP accused of fiddling her parliamentary expenses will stand trial next April. Margaret Moran, 56, who represented Luton South, faces 21 charges and allegedly claimed £80,000 and “flipped” her second home. She was not at yesterday’s hearing in London.

 

Fukushima fall-out

Tokyo Electric Power has asked for approximately 900 billion yen ($12 billion) from the Japanese government-sponsored bailout body.  This will be the first instalment of tax payer-funded assistance to pay for compensation from the crisis at its Fukushima nuclear plant.

The UK Government rushed out its Report on the Fukushima disaster, preventing Dr Weightman from looking at the costs which is making nuclear power unaffordable and uninsurable throughout the planet. The Government prematurely judged the consequences of the Fukushima in order to shore-up collapsing public and investor confidence.

The effects of the disaster in Japan are still being revealed.  Today a preliminary report into Fukushima has found that twice as much radioactive caesium was released into the atmosphere than first thought. The levels of caesium-137 reached 40% of the total from Chernobyl.

A study by the Norwegian Institute for Air Research, said the Japanese government's estimate came only from data in Japan and would have missed emissions blown out to sea. The report says about a fifth of the caesium fell on land in Japan, while most of the rest fell into the Pacific Ocean. About 2% came down on land outside Japan.

Caesium 137 is dangerous because it can last for decades in the environment, releasing cancer causing radiation.  The journal Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics posted the report online for comment but the study is still under formal review by experts in the field and has not been accepted for publication.

Last summer the Japanese government estimated that the 11 March Fukushima accident released 15,000 terabecquerels of caesium. The terabecquerel is a radiation measurement. The new report estimates about 36,000 terabecquerels through to 20 April. That is about 42% of the estimated release from Chernobyl.

An official at Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said it could not offer any comment on the study because it had not reviewed the contents. Many parents of small children in Tokyo worry about the discovery of radiation hotspots even though government officials say they don't pose a health risk. The previous prime minister, Naoto Kan, has said the most contaminated areas inside the evacuation zone could be uninhabitable for decades.

Yesterday about 200 women from Fukushima began a 3 day sit-in outside the Tokyo office of Japan’s Ministry of Economy.  They are calling for the evacuation of children from areas with high radiation levels and the permanent shut down of nuclear reactors in Japan currently switched off.

Greenpeace report,

"Their peaceful protest is a powerful - almost radical – act in a country where standing up for something can often mean ostracism from one’s community. These are not women who regularly participate in civil protest. These are mothers who fear for their children’s safety and future. These are grandmothers separated from their families. The fact that they have put their own lives and families on hold for these three days reflects the harrowing situation these women and their families have found themselves in since the nuclear disaster.

"The responsibilities of these women have only grown since the nuclear meltdown completely disrupted their lives. One of the women protesting, Ms. Saeko Uno, fled Fukushima with her 4-year daughter just hours after the earthquake struck Japan on March 11. She is now living in another city, but her husband can’t give up his job in Fukushima and has to commute back and forth between the two cities. She is frustrated by the separation that has been forced on her family by the disaster. Ms. Uno came to the protest to tell the world that Fukushima doesn’t need nuclear power. In Fukushima, many victims of nuclear radiation are not recognised by the government as having an official right to evacuate the area. This injustice is another issue that has brought Ms. Uno and dozens of other women to Tokyo to protest.

"The women come from all backgrounds. They are young and old (including an 86-year-old woman), teachers and farmers. During the sit-in they will knit a long woolen chain together, a symbol for them of connecting themselves in one circle. They are calling on women from all over Japan and the rest of the world to join them, beginning on October 30th. Some of the women have been protesting against the Fukushima nuclear plant for years – long before the earthquake and tsunami. Others have joined the cause after the radiation began to affect their families, their children. Most of all, Ms. Uno explains, they want to connect with each other and - amongst the despair that has brought them together – find hope.

Lobbyists bewitched Labour.

Next Wednesday I have a 90 minutes debate on Lobbying in Parliament.

The Labour Minister who spurned the PASC report on lobbying in 2009 has confessed all. The Government was got at - by lobbyists. Spinwatch are convinced that the Coalition's delay in introducing the compulsory register is because they have been intensively lobbied too. Then there's the fascinating new revelations on Atlantic Bridge. Can't wait to hear what I will say.

Meanwhile there is today's news:

Labour MP Tom Watson has told how he was 'persuaded' by the public affairs industry not to introduce a statutory register of lobbyists in the last parliament.

Watson was Cabinet Office minister from 2008 to 2009, under Gordon Brown's premiership.

In this role, he oversaw the government's response to the 2009 public administration select committee report which called for all meetings between MPs and lobbyists to be detailed in a new register.

Labour held back from implementing a statutory register of lobbyists, but the policy was included in the 2010 coalition agreement and there have been renewed calls for a compulsory register in recent weeks.

Speaking this week, Watson explained why he failed to back a statutory scheme for lobbyists. He said he had wanted to get a definition in law of commercial lobbyists that would not result in 'huge regulation' on charities and trade unions.

Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, he added: 'It was very, very, difficult to get right. We were persuaded by the industry that they would set up their own code and we'd put them on a final warning. I think they've probably missed it now and we need a statutory register ... as quickly as possible.'

His comments come as the Commons public administration select committee prepares to launch a fresh inquiry into 'the Government's progress on the establishment of a statutory register of lobbyists'.

Legislation for a statutory register of lobbyists is due to be introduced in 2012, following a consultation paper to be published 'quite soon', according to the Prime Minister's spokesman.

Cabinet Office sources have said the consultation is likely to recommend the definition of lobbyists as being 'those who in a professional capacity work to influence, or work to advise, those who wish to influence the institutions of government in the UK'.

 

Shoots of new sleaze?

 

Sleaze has gone. But the green shoots of possible new sleaze may be sprouting. Why three Tory MPs embarked on a trip to  Equatorial Guinea in a fearless search for facts is a mystery. A journalist Ian Birell from the Observer went along to report this unwise jaunt.  He notes that the three MPs had not bothered to inform themselves that their hosts were among the world’s most corrupt governments. Nadine gushed about the- great privilege of being the first parliamentray delegation to visit the county. No-one else had been foolish enough to accept an invitation. She would have been less thrilled is she had read beforehand that the President seized power from his uncle in 1979. He was a sorcerer who collected human skulls. A third of the population fled the country. President Obiang followed his uncle and created a one party brutal state. He is now lauded on state radio as a god in ‘permanent contact with the Almighty’ who ‘can decide to kill without having to go to hell.’  While, I am sure that the three Tory MPs did not act improperly in any way their behaviour was very odd. The questions they asked would have been sensible for a free democracy. They were laughingly meaningless in a violent police state.  One of the MPs was offered £20,000 to organise a similar delegation of MPs for a second visit, the reporter claims. Nadine started to smell a rat when she noticed that a handbag used by one of the local MPs was a Hermes – worth about £15,000.  Equatorial Guinea is overflowing with super-rich oil revenues. They have new roads, mansions and hospitals. All are out of bounds to their abused citizens. I am sure that none of the three MPs will try to promote the interests of this country in the Commons and no future delegation will visit. But there is a trend for all-Party Commons groups to become  mouthpieces for lobbying. The odious regime of Azerbaijan is being promoted by the Chair of the Azerbaijan Group. A debate was arranged and questions were asked that promoted the advantages of trade with the country. Now Commons rules force the registration of not only interests but also money received. These recorded by Mark Field are eye-popping. The hourly rate is good.

Mark Field Part of current Declaration of Interests.

Member of the Advisory Board of The European Azerbaijan Society, advising on cultural, economic, diplomatic and political issues in the South Caucasus region. (£5,001-£10,000)

* Payment of £1,000 gross for work done in April/May 2011. Hours: 6 hrs. (Registered 1 June 2011)

Payment of £500 gross for work done in June 2011. Hours: 3 hrs. (Registered 5 July 2011)

Payment of £500 gross for work done in July 2011. Hours: 2 hrs. (Registered 1 August 2011)

Payment of £500 gross for work done in August 2011. Hours: 2 hrs. (Registered 7 September 2011)

Payment of £500 gross for work done in September 2011. Hours: 3 hrs. (Registered 10 October 2011)

Ritalin rules

Pat McFadden had a debate on Ritalin. He asked for an inquiry into its growing use. I intervened on him with a point I have made before.

 

Paul Flynn(Newport West) (Lab): Had the young Mozart been on Ritalin and the young Beethoven been on anti-depressants, we would probably never have heard of them. Does my right hon. Friend agree that trying to drug children into conformity and uniformity is the enemy of creativity?

Mr McFadden: My hon. Friend makes an eloquent point. I do not take the view that the drugs cannot work. I am not qualified to say that, but there are serious questions to be asked about the growth in their use.

 

Had the Tory backbench MPs yesterday been on Ritalin they would have all obeyed Cameron's whip.

 

The tweets have it

Exchange of tweets this morning on the theme of the day.

 

Paulflynnmp Paul Flynn

Tories flaunt their divisions and expose their neo-con, foaming at the mouth. weirdoes in an act of self-destruction. Ineptocracy is here!

PhilipDaviesMP Philip Davies

 So are you trying to claim that no Labour MPs will be voting for the motion today Paul? Would you like a wager on that. 

Paulflynnmp Paul Flynn

 No. But we have fewer recessionists, impossibilists or little Englanders. A futile crisis entirely of your own creation.

PhilipDaviesMP Philip Davies

 On the contrary, you are outdated little Europeans - we see our future prosperity trading with countries much further afield

 Paulflynnmp Nothing will change after today's hari-kiri by political incompetents who teased with false e-petitions' promise of action.

PhilipDaviesMP 

Nothing will change only if MPs vote down the motion against the wishes of the public. 

@Paulflynnmp

The role of Parliament is not to slavishly FOLLOW media inflamed public opinion but to LEAD on basis of rational evidence.

 

Building the Ineptocracy

Stupid, incompetent or both?

On the day the Tories exulted in the miracle promise of their new shiny e-petitions. One was with Priti Patel on the Jeremy Vine show. Hard to believe but Priti said that e-petitions would lead to things like referendums on capital punishment and withdrawing from the EU. She had a reputation for being intelligent which she effectively destroyed.

Why did she not understand that Cameron's e-petitions stunt is a tease? No Government would be stupid enough to hold referendums on either subject. It would not matter how many signatures were added to e-petitions, the Government will do what thay want. Cameron has made it clear that they would rat on any promise of action after an e-petition decision.

Yesterday,  Priti Patel accused the Government of attempting to “close down the debate” on Britain's relationship with the European Union. You bet. Whatever gave her the idea that the Tory is susceptible to open debate. This is politics - not a debating society.

Reneging on the implied promise of the e-petitions will only increase cynicism of politics and politicians. on the same day of my interview with Priti I did one on Channel Four with Guido Fawkes. He was bright-eyed in his faith that e-petitions would be respected. Not a chance.

A Con

 This is what I said in January.

The Tories have re-packaged a failed idea and 

proudly promised that e-petitions will build a 

path to a new democracy. Tony Blair fell for the 

same superficially attractive myth. Enthusiasm for hi- 

tech solutions is in inverse ratio to understanding of 

new technology.  Tony’s knowledge of the Internet is on 

a protozoan scale. He embraced e-petitions as glittering, 

epoch-making weapon of mass communication. In the 

Brave New World of mass e-discourse fresh ideas would 

bubble up from the proletarian masses to be embraced 

by a listening Government. It flopped – of course. 

 

The Downing Street site was deluged by the obsessions of the 

blogosphere.  The anxieties of the deluded dominated. The views of the 

sensible elderly or poor were under-represented.   The favourable early 

publicity for Blair’s project faded. He hand handed his opponents a new 

stick for beating the Government. 

 

More than 70,000 supported the one word suggestion that Gordon 

Brown should “resign”. Almost 50,000 signed up to the idea that TV 

presenter Jeremy Clarkson should become prime minister. In the last 

census 400,000 people gave their religion as Jedi and name Darth Vader 

as their religious leader. ‘The force’ was also hyperactive in e petitioning. 

The new Cameronian ‘false gold’ offers a parliamentary debate for 

petitions of more than 100,000 signatures. Even more enticing is the 

possibility of a bill drafted to match the public’s demand. 

One the day when the Tories spun this story one blogger claimed that 

he could raise 100,000 signatures demanding the public executions of 

David Cameron and Nick Clegg.  He may be right. Somehow I cannot see 

 

or Parliament would comply. Disappointment is guaranteed. 

 

An E-petition is a solution whose time has already gone. But the problem 

of defective democracy remains. The gulf between electors and elected 

is a powerful perception. The tabloid-fuelled canard is that all politicians 

are cretins who need a dose of commonsense to solve all the problems 

of the planet. In the simple world of one issue answers the one-cell brain 

rules. 

 

The only change that possibly resulted from Blair e-petitions was the 

rejection of road pricing. 1,800,000 signatures clamoured for no new 

road taxes. If they had been asked if they wanted less congestion, fewer 

accidents, safer roads the signatories would have agreed with those 

consequences that road pricing would create. 

 

When the Public Administration Committee investigated this subject 

some contradictory results emerged. In Florida there was a powerful 

majority demand for new educational facilities. But there was an equally 

powerful refusal to increase taxes to pay for it. They squared the circle by 

a sales tax that conned tourists into paying for new schools. 

 

 

One beneficial vox pop was in Oregon where the unrepresented 

demand for euthanasia was expressed in a majority vote referendum. 

The state complied. A second referendum confirmed by a larger majority 

proved that the public is more progressive than the politicians. Oregon 

is leading the world with their progressive policies buttressed by the 

support of three quarters of their voters.  In the UK I long for parliament 

to catch up with public opinion and science on reforms of the drugs 

laws. Even better would be a measure of the public’s opposition to the 

futile slaughter that results from our presence in Afghanistan. 

Foolishly the Tories put this piece of vacuous populism into their 

manifesto so they have to go through the motions. I am sure that House 

Leader George Young is wearily resigned to wandering down this 

parliamentary cul-de-sac.  There has been serious progress in opening 

up the parliamentary agenda through the Backbench Committee that 

has new control over some parliamentary time. 

 

 

 

Jailed blogger freed

 

It was a real pleasure to meet Emin Milli in parliament this week. I have campaigned against his arrest in July 2009 by the security forces of the Azerbaijan Government. Their alleged crime was mocking the oppressive government.

 

 

Emin shook me warmly be the hand and thanksed me . He told me he read this account of my EDM when he was in prison:

 

"A group of UK politicians is demanding the immediate release of the Azerbaijani bloggers arrested in Baku last week. In the equivalent of an MPs’ petition, 17 politicians condemn what they say is a "rapidly deteriorating human rights situation" in Azerbaijan. The MPs want the British government to put pressure on President Aliev to release the two and end the "prosecution of independent media and opposition activists."

In the motion, Labour MP Paul Flynn says the MPs condemn “the attacks and imprisonment of youth activists in Azerbaijan on 10 July 2009.”

He and the 17 other MPs are calling on the UK government to demand their immediate release.

 

They also call for the end to what they say is the “prosecution of independent media and opposition activists.”

The two, Adnan Hajizada and Emin Milli, are described as youth movement leaders, civil society activists and citizen journalists.

According to reports on several blogs, Facebook and postings on Twitter, the charges against the two could result in their imprisonment for up to two and a half years.

 

Updates on Twitter

 

It’s reported that the two men were beaten and then arrested in a Baku restaurant.

Ali S. Novruzov a blogging researcher based in Baku who also writes for Global Voices Online and the FrontLine Club blog says the two months of pre-trial detention is the maximum period that they could have been held for.

Novruzov writes that during the two months the investigation has to be concluded and their case brought before the judge.

If the investigation is not concluded, their detention period can be extended for additional two months.

"While detained, they won’t be able to receive any guests, instead of their lawyers.

"They will be held in a new detention center in a town of Kurdokhani, a small town in an hour’s drive from Baku," he writes.

Campaigners are calling for supporters of the two to write to the US Embassy in Baku to try to get help for the two detained bloggers.

An online video petition has been set up demanding the release of the two.

 

The UK MPs who signed the motion are: Paul Flynn, Lynne Jones, Bob Russell, Andrew Dismore, David Taylor, Martin Caton, Gordon Prentice, Alan Simpson, Kelvin Hopkins, Jeremy Corbyn, Ann Cryer, Mark Durkan, Andrew George, Alasdair McDonnell, Ronnie Campbell, Clive Efford, Rudi Vis, and Dai Davies.