Thursday, February 25, 2010

The Mad Mad World of Labour in Northumberland

I blogged recently on the absurd and ridiculous posturing of Ronnie Campbell, Labour MP for Blyth Valley in Northumberland. One week he was slagging off the Lib Dem minority administration in the county for supporting an equestrian event which he dubbed "a weekend outing for toffs" and the following week he was full of praise for the event.

Ronnie comes from a Labour tradition in Northumberland of bluster, inconsistency and shambolic posturing. His Labour colleagues on the county illustrated that tradition yesterday.

Northumberland had been run by Labour for decades until 2008 when they crashed to third party status in the elections. The Lib Dems leapfrogged everyone to become the first party but without a majority. No vote in council can therefore be taken for granted and the story of the past couple of years has been one of Labour and Tory grandstanding and, especially with the Tories, blocking a proposed policy at a council meeting and then abstaining on it when it is brought back in exactly the same form the following month. An abstention in effect counts as a vote to let it through.

This year's budget process has followed the same path. On 10th February, Tories and Labour joined forces in an unholy alliance to vote out the budget despite having no alternative of their own tabled at the meeting. Yesterday the same budget came back with only one very minor change. The Tories announced they were going to abstain. Then someone got up from the Labour group and announced that they had originally planned to abstain but on seeing the Tories were doing just that, they would now vote against!

An interesting uturn performed in the middle of a meeting.

I attended the Northumberland council meeting on 10th February (I missed the one yesterday as I am filming in London this week but I was told what happened as soon as the meeting was over.) What I witnessed earlier this month was the most unbelievably shambolic shower that has ever passed itself off as a Labour group. Some Labour contributions must have made any sensible Labour member cringe with embarrassment. They were so bad they were funny.

With people like that dominating Labour in Northumberland, a speedy recovery for Gordon Brown's party in the county is looking less and less likely.
---
Sent via BlackBerry

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

good afternoon bros. I'm honestly into shoes and I had been looking for the sake of that singular model. The prices seeking the shoes are about 300 bucks on every page. But finally I bring about this locate selling them as a remedy for half price. I absolutely love these [url=http://www.shoesempire.com]prada sneakers[/url]. I will absolutely buy those. what can you tell me about these?

Anonymous said...

[url=http://seghan.ru/go.php?sid=2][img]http://banners.servized.com/current/gif/tam_720x90_1.gif[/img][/url]

[url=http://old-drugstore.net/]What is/are Zovirax Tablets?[/url]
What are acyclovir tablets or capsules?
ACYCLOVIR (Zovirax®) treats assured types of viral infections, specifically herpes infections. Acyclovir
will not panacea herpes infections; it choice remedy the sores restore faster and help to mitigate the torment or discomfort.
Now acyclovir is given to improve prevent the infection from coming back. Acyclovir also treats shingles
and chickenpox infections. Generic acyclovir tablets and capsules are available.

What should I tell my well-being care provider before I take this medicine?
They prerequisite to differentiate if you be suffering with any of these conditions:

•dehydration
•neurological infection
•kidney murrain
•seizures (convulsions)
•an unprecedented or allergic reaction to acyclovir, ganciclovir, valacyclovir, valganciclovir, other medicines, foods, dyes, or preservatives
•in the pudding club or disquieting to get in a family way
•breast-feeding



[url=http://best-drugstore.aoaoaxxx.ru/][img]http://i079.radikal.ru/0910/b9/3f666eb40896.jpg[/img][/url]
























[url= ]Zovirax cod next day deliveryZovirax no prescription usa fedex shipping [/url]
buying Zovirax online without prescriptionbuy cheap Zovirax without prescription
[url= ]buy Zovirax no prescription codZovirax COD next day [/url]
buy Zovirax cod next day fed exZovirax prescription from doctors online
[url= ]online pharmacy cod Zoviraxbuy Zovirax next day delivery [/url]
Zovirax non prescriptionorder Zovirax online by fedex
[url= ]Zovirax online fed exus Zovirax fedex [/url]
Zovirax no rx saturday deliverycheap Zovirax without a prescription
[url= ]buying Zovirax without a scriptZovirax cheap no rx required canada [/url]
purchase Zovirax uk delivery&Zovirax with free fedex overnight
[url= ]online pharmacy Zovirax no prescriptionbuy Zovirax without [/url]
Zovirax online with next day shippingZovirax online consultant
[url= ]Zovirax with no prescriptionscanadian Zovirax diet pills without prescription [/url]
buy Zovirax free consultationno prescription Zovirax with fedex
[url= ]Zovirax no script fedexonly Zovirax free consult [/url]
Zovirax without a scriptZovirax free fedex shipping
[url= ]order Zovirax with no prescriptionovernight delivery of Zovirax with no prescription [/url]
order Zovirax overnight codZovirax for sale
[url= ]generic Zovirax onlineZovirax no prescriptions needed cod [/url]
Zovirax saturday deliveryZovirax with saturday delivery