Who’s platform?

I agree that it achieves nothing to censor Nick Griffin and the BNP. Banning his party from question time would have been counter productive, making them cause celebres. I don’t believe that anyone watching will get the idea that the BNP have any ideas worth voting for unless they already had racist views.

I keep hearing though that the way to defeat the BNP is to engage with them. Must I? I want to see fewer people voting BNP sure, but I don’t want to have to listen to Griffin’s bilge. Sorry that’s how I feel.

I’m not boycotting Question Time in disgust at the BBC, I just don’t want to hear that idiot speak.

It may seem undemocratic, or prejudiced, but freedom of speach does not mean people have to listen. Even if it would be productive for them to do so.

Number Crunching

Dave Cameron claims he can save £13 billion by raising men’s pension age.

Only problem is: the numbers don’t add up.

Steve Webb has gone through the figures.

Mr Pot MP?

There’s been so much in my head over the past few months I’ve wanted to blog about. Facebook and twitter have taken care of much of the personal stuff, that I’ve ground to a halt.

Do I blog philosophically about the gap between expectations of school leavers and cultural expectations of knowledge of science, maths and technology in adults? Do I talk about attitudes to environmental issues? Do I blog about the worrying trend for rational, evidence based argument to be treated with suspicion?

And then… Nigel Farage announces he’s stepping down as UKIP leader to symbolically stand against John Bercow. I do hope that more than a politically motivated minority are boggling at this idea.

Transparently Farage is trying to take advantage of the general feeling of rage against MPs to opportunistically go up against the speaker, labelling Bercow as representative of the mainstream that every one is fed up with. Even accepting that the expelled Tom Wise is not representative of the party group, the idea that UKIP are somehow more honourable than the three major parties and the two nationalist ones is a bit of a joke to my mind.

Farage has been a bit vague as to what precisely it is that Bercow is doing wrong as speaker. On the Today programme expenses weren’t mentioned even. This sleight of hand can’t surely take many people in, blind anti-MP rage or not.

Danniel Hannan

OK it’s a bit cheap but “eccentric” conservative MEP Danniel Hannan has form.

Here he is on Iceland back in 2004 before, er, you know.

Hat tip to Mark C.

It’s been said elsewhere I’m sure…

But if Michael Howard is the answer- what on earth is the question?

If any of you are haing difficulty telling one tory from another, there’s an interview in this article that should refresh your memory.