They Blog For You

Arising from the dross and trivia of the national newspapers today are some beacons of truth. Julian Glover in the Guardian says the unsayable. "Afghanistan is already yesterday's war, though it is still to be tomorrow's defeat".  The Independent escapes from the current events of the day, to remind us of a [...]

Total of British soldiers killed in Afghanistan = 363    The calamity deepens but hope is on the way. It's nearly a month since the carefully varnished flow of half-truths were emitted from Fukushima. The Japanese nuclear company TEPCO fell into the auto-pilot of 'reassure at all times' mode. All bad news was announced [...]

  The Speaker allowed me a bit of licence today. There was an emergency question on the sacking of service personnel. My Question sought to raise the National Audit Office's report of last week on  the failures of supplies to be delivered on time. What Hansard does not report is [...]

Sombre news from the forgotten war in Afghanistan. Ten years of vast sacrifices in blood and treasure have achieved nothing. A mob is so anti-Western that peacemakers have been lynched. The Afghan Police were impotent spectators. Perhaps this will expose the foolish optimism of Liam Fox. He still believes that an [...]

  One day in parliament Paul Flynn (Newport West) (Lab): To underline his claim that prisons are well run, will the right hon. and learned Gentleman remind the House of the precise number of prisons that are free of the use of illegal drugs? Mr Clarke: I would not like to guarantee that [...]

Commenting on the publication of the National Audit Office’s report into how the Ministry of Defence manages the delivery of equipment to military operations, South Norfolk MP Richard Bacon, a member of the Commons public accounts committee, said: “ The Ministry of Defence has had problems with the [...]

               I stand accused of being unclear on public spending. Let me try again. The quicker the government can cotnrol the excess of spending over income, the quicker the economy will perform better.               I do not set out alternative spending targets or numbers to the Chacenllor, as experience has taught me [...]

Total of British Soldiers killed in Afghanistan = 362   Today I've discovered a new heroine. I was chairing this morning's session of a Westminster Education Forum conference on scientific research. It was held in the swish location of Over-seas House in St James's Street London. The first of six speakers in my [...]

This morning, on BBC Breakfast, Armed Forces Minister Nick Harvey gave a revealing interview . He speculated that ground troops may be used in Libya and that they may be there for some time: Mr Harvey was also questioned on whether there would be a ground force entering Libya, and whether [...]

Total of British soldiers killed in Afghanistan = 360 Wreckage, despair and tears today from the screaming nuclear nightmare of Fukushima. The bleak hopelessness of the courageous repair work is apparent. The hope today of a fresh electricity supply to power the cooling system appears to have come to nothing. Elevating the [...]

  Mayor Boris appears to be getting his way in wiping Brian Haw's peace protest from the face of Parliament Square. He has been there for ten years.  On many winter nights I have admired his fortitude as I went home to a warm bed while he continued his protest regardless [...]

A thousand Saudi troops march into Bahrain and this intrusion into the sovereignty of another nation is met by a deafening silence in the Weatern madia.   Imagine what the reaction woul dhave been if a thousand Syrian troops had marched into neighbouring Lebanon at the first sign of trouble to protect [...]

                 It now appears that the armies in Middle Eastern countries determine the future of governments. Brave popular uprisings have forced governments out in Tunisia and Egypt, where the armies declined to support the incumbents. In Libya it looks as if the rebels are now losing, as the dictator seems [...]

Total of British soldiers killed in Afghanistan = 359   Lobbyists attack lobbyists. The house journal of lobbyists describe the lobbying body UKPAC to present a weak register. On a very busy day, I called into their woefully unimpressive presentation. I'm glad I did.  The Public Affairs Journal report:   "The register launched on 1 March [...]

Ridicule was called for today against gross ministerial incompetence.  I reminded Foreign Secretary William Hague of the Tories addiction to vain- glorious posturing.  ‘Does he recall the day when Minister Heseltine clad in a camouflage jacket and supported by 1500 soldiers and police landed by helicopter at Molesworth Peace Camp on a [...]

  The truth is slowly emerging. The British House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee has found that the objective of achieving security for the United Kingdom was attained “some time ago”, as al-Qaida had been significantly weakened in Afghanistan; and that the British military presence in that country has far exceeded the [...]

Total of British soldiers killed in Afghanistan = 356   A bad day to announce bad news. But still Defence Minister Liam Fox forced out some ‘cautious optimism.’ He always does. Our brave British soldiers have been dying for ten years, a longer period than the First World War and the Second World [...]

Total of British soldiers killed in Afghanistan = 354   Sometimes it is possible to be too cautious. When throwing away £1.2 billion of swine flu vaccine is an example.. A hearing organised by the EPP group was held in the European Parliament today.  All points of view were represented from the splendid [...]

There is poison conflation of arguments that has created folly. On Thursday parliament will vote against votes for prisoners. It’s at best pointless and at worst damaging to persecuted people across Europe. There was a meeting  in the Commons to discuss the issue tonight. It was not a public meeting so [...]

 Total of British soldiers killed in Afghanistan = 352 What will David Cameron blame for his downfall when he writes his autobiography? Privatising the NHS is his main mortal sin so far. Even though almost no group that is knowledgeable about health supports hawking off the most profitable bits to the highest [...]