The Bewilderness

Harman's Headlines

Macavity's absence is not unusual. Another of his psychological oddities surfacing in public behaviour. All of these are drivers towards defeat. At a conversation over Breakfast, what would be the post-electoral shape of the Labour party. Given three trends:

the attenuation of its electoral base in the white working class;

the financing of its activities by a trade union movement located in the public sector;

a need to draw divisions with the Tories by an artificial class conflict rooted in the New Left and legislating for social engineering by equality of outcomes.

The "New Left" Labour Party, dominated by public sector professionals is the most likely rump at the next election: an extension of the Brown regime, rather than a reaction to it. Its likely leader: Harriet Harman: and the headlines peddled:

Harmanisation, Harmany and so on and so forth.

My favourite will be the headline if she leads Labour to electoral defeat in 2015;

Out of Harm's Way

Nanny will save poor babies from yucky choices

If you are rich enough, you will be able to circumvent the prohibition and obtain the right to select the sex of your child. The Human Fertilisation and Embryological Authority bans the practice here, though their grounds are weak:

Britain’s Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority remains cautious, citing public opposition to sex selection. “In the US there is no official regulator to monitor clinics and no legal obligation to offer the counselling that is an important part of treatment,” a spokesman said. “Those who choose to go overseas for their treatment should make themselves aware of the laws and consider what impact there may be on any child that is subsequently born.”

Public opposition is cited, alongside a nannyish presumption of in loco parentis. Public opposition is not a sufficient reason for curbing reproductive freedoms and gives a veto to lobbies who invoke the 'yuck' factor. The HFEA model of regulation never succeeded and medical practices should be allowed, except in cases of safety.

If Parliament wishes to outlaw a reproductive technology,then let it do so: otherwise, the presumption of freedom should prevail.

Dannatt's role reversal and Labour's betrayal

The problem for Labour is that whenever they gain traction against the Tories, they are undone by their own failures. Just as it seemed that they may have mastered the narrative, strolls a smear story like no other: playing the man, as the ball has already been kicked off the pitch. Given the low-level of trust on defence, why did they think that smearing General Dannatt, a man who speaks up for Tommy Atkins, was a good idea

Perhaps there is anger at the usurpation of Labour's role. These politicians live in the Great War, believing that the officer corps sends soldiers to die and the politicians are there to protect the common poor bloody infantry. Except that the generals are perceived as the protectors and they are the donkeys. They prefer to shut the voice up that reminds them of their failure to live up to their supposed ideals.

But it won't hide the contempt that Labour felt towards the army and the needless deaths that resulted from the Ministry of Defence bottom-feeders that leapt upon that set of attitudes.

Who watches the soldiers?

Some say that admitting a problem is the first step to curing it. Unlikely, that this government will admit to Dannatt's claims:

"They are a major tactical battle that we have got to win and we need to roll out more equipment so that we have permanent 24/7 surveillance over the most difficult areas and so we can target the Taliban as they are laying these things."...

The general was referring to Britain’s Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition, and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) programme, a network of planes and unmanned drones that collect images and listen in on enemy forces.

Such surveillance is required to curb and roll-back the infiltration of IEDs.This claim sounds more authentic than the arbitrary focus on helicopters heard earlier this summer. In true Labour fashion: a system of surveillance that is now being starved of funds and subject to cancellations, all for the want of a Eurofighter.

.

Burnham positioning for power

Why is the Times providing a platform for Labour now, with a non-existent row over the NHS? As a non-story, it lost its legs over the weekend and has had no impact upon the public mood, unless you count a flurry of tweets. Nevertheless, Andy Burnham, Health Secretary, has tried to stoke the fire by calling on David Cameron to ban all critics of the NHS from the Tory Party Conference.

Set up an obvious and foolish trap. When Cameron ignores it, use this 'fact' to display your cunning and berate the Tory leader for not defending the NHS by closing down debate about it. This does not count as an "August godsend" for Labour.

It does display the paucity of tactical ability on their side. If this is the level of low cunning that they can muster, then they are truly heading for defeat. As an exercise in political stupidity, it cannot be bettered. At a time when your activists are demoralised, and the lack of debate within your party has contributed to your demise, is it creative to try and get the Leader of the Opposition to act in the same way as yourselves.

Labour's secret weapon: call on David Cameron to act like New Labour...

Mystic Meg and Bollocks Bob: Old Brown's Almanack

Bob Ainsworth has done little to bolster confidence in New Labour's handling of this war. One of the issues that plagued our Iraqi deployment was a continual emphasis upon the number of troops and their entry or withdrawal from the theatre of war. This was used to little effect by Gordon Brown. To say that any Minister is not aware of the importance attached to this issue is wrong. If they are, then they are too stupid to stay. If they are not, then this a cynical attempt to mislead the public's perception of a troubled period for our soldiers.

Mr Ainsworth was accused of "false optimism" when he suggested Afghan troops could take the lead in operations in as little as a year. "I genuinely believe that in the next year or so, we will be able to show a degree of progress," he told the BBC. "It won't be a situation where we'll be able to pull back. But we will increasingly see the Afghan national army taking the front. We will be more in a mentoring and training situation, supporting them, giving them the steel, capability and the knowledge to be able to do the job. But they will be taking the lead."

Even this distracts and detracts from the debate that we need to have: why are we there and what are our aims?

The "honest politics" coalition

The anti-sleaze reaction was bound to shift from inchoate rage to an institutionalised expression over the summer. The English are nothing, if not clubbable, especially when focused on some moral outrage. Alan Duncan, for his faux pas, has become the latest target.

Mr Duncan, the shadow leader of the House who has represented the Leicestershire constituency of Rutland and Melton since 1992, is the main target of the “honest politics” alliance forged by Mr Bell and Mr Waite.

The ex-journalist said that up to 30 anti-sleaze candidates would be standing at the general election, with a shared cause of bringing "honesty" to the House of Commons.

“The common platform would be a return to honest politics,” he said. “That’s the thing that would unite everybody. Rutland and Melton has become vulnerable.”

Whilst the "honest politics" coalition wishes to remain a focus of public anger and avoid media belittlement, they reduce their chances of success by a lack of publicity. By next summer, they will require celebrities in order to draw attention to themselves in constituencies, as the pus they wish to lance will have been drawn.

Unpleasant symmetries

There is an unwanted symmetry about 2001, the date that we entered Afghanistan, and 201, the number of soldiers that have died on this misadventure. How can we accept the assurances of this government when we are provided with the same puerile hypocrisy with which they treat all other subjects:

A total of nine UK personnel have died this month as troops attempt to shore up security ahead of August elections. Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth has warned more lives will be lost, but said leaving was not an option.

Leaving is always an option. An option that Canada has decided to exercise. There is no evidence that our presence or absence in Afghanistan detracts from our national security. If our government were seen to be more competent and vigilant in combatting Islamofascism, we may accept their word. As it is, their record on immigration and attacking the cultural roots of jihadism is poor.

We know leaving is an option, but we receive an unpleasant symmetry, a reminder of the price Great Britain has paid for Labour's war. Our soldiers will not be rewarded but the husband of Labour's deputy leader will be....

Jack Dromey, deputy general secretary of the Unite union, is "very likely" to be chosen as Labour's candidate for Leyton and Wanstead, according to senior party sources.

Unpleasant symmetries

There is an unwanted symmetry about 2001, the date that we entered Afghanistan, and 201, the number of soldiers that have died on this misadventure. How can we accept the assurances of this government when we are provided with the same puerile hypocrisy with which they treat all other subjects:

A total of nine UK personnel have died this month as troops attempt to shore up security ahead of August elections. Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth has warned more lives will be lost, but said leaving was not an option.

Leaving is always an option. An option that Canada has decided to exercise. There is no evidence that our presence or absence in Afghanistan detracts from our national security. If our government were seen to be more competent and vigilant in combatting Islamofascism, we may accept their word. As it is, their record on immigration and attacking the cultural roots of jihadism is poor.

We know leaving is an option, but we receive an unpleasant symmetry, a reminder of the price Great Britain has paid for Labour's war. Our soldiers will not be rewarded but the husband of Labour's deputy leader will be....

Jack Dromey, deputy general secretary of the Unite union, is "very likely" to be chosen as Labour's candidate for Leyton and Wanstead, according to senior party sources.

Informers wanted to demoralise Britain

Old Holborn considers the new disposition of the state and highlights, in that Hayekian warning, of the extension of the state through arbitrary fines and the presumption of guilt. What is forgotten is that the agents of the state are still few and far between: without the ballast of a mass party to back them up, they remain an irritant, rather than a overarching totalitarianism. One can live without hearing or seeing these actions in person.

Nevertheless, state functionaries will wish to find 'efficient' ways of exercising their power. The database state is meant to replace the mass party as a vehicle for co-ordinating and controlling all activities. Yet, some means of identifying and punishing perpetrators is still required, as technology is still insufficient to achieve this goal. Hence, the rise in channels for informing and denouncing those who dissent.

After all, East Germany required ten percent of the population...