The Monday Morning Blog: Leaders Labour Lost (and class warfare)

On Friday evening I went along to the Mayor's Reception at Gateshead Civic Centre. As usual, a good proportion of the people there were Labour party members though their ranks were depleted when compared with previous years. I wonder what caused that! There was one conversation I overheard which is, I suspect, typical of many that have taken place in Labour's fast declining membership in the North East.

Just over a week ago Labour's National Executive Committee stepped in to suspend 5 Labour councillors in County Durham, apparently over some bust up over the failure to get enough women candidates in the Easington area in the recent elections. Included amongst those suspended was Albert Nugent, the then Leader of the County Council. Cllr Nugent is unreconstructed Old Labour, a former miner who seems to have a bit of an unhealthy obsession with coal, as, alas, do many in the North East Labour party. The suspension was interestingly timed for it came the day before the Labour group were due to elect their leader, new group officers and generally share out cabinet places, committee chairs and other treats. So poor Cllr Nugent suddenly found himself locked out of power. The new Leader is ultra-New Labour. Listening to the conversation I heard on Friday and to other conversations by Labour, there is considerable unease about this intervention by Labour's central party bosses in the affairs of Labour's North East Jurassic Park where the dinosaurs have held sway since records began.

What was clearly a stitch up has caused much anger within the Labour party up here. Frankly, had I been in the Labour Party in Durham, I would have wanted rid of Albert Nugent. This coal obsessed dinosaur had been slated by the Audit Commission for his poor political leadership and his comments about his own colleagues (famously calling the "liars") didn't exactly strike me as the words of an inspirational and motivational leader. But instead of finally being allowed to self destruct, Labour's hamfisted intervention has created a bit of a hero (in local Labour eyes) which has masked his considerable failings as the Leader of a major council and of his own group.

There is a further issue arising out of this and also out of the departure of Blair. The language of "class warfare" is raising its very ugly head. I have heard much of this in relation to the sacking of Cllr Nugent. (It was an anti-working class move, it was claimed.) But I am increasingly seeing the language of class warfare where, for years it has been dead. The language of the "toffs" v the "working class" is spouted by many in Labour on a daily basis whereas under Blair, this would never have been heard except from those engaging in empty posturing (my local MP David Anderson springs to mind on this though his voting record in Parliament is one of absolute loyalty to the government.).

This atavistic language can be seen clearly in the Labour campaign in Crewe and Nantwich. Whilst it may be fair to point out that Labour's hamfisted income tax changes do not hurt the millionaire Tory candidate, the attempt to make the core Labour message a claim he is unable to represent the constituency because of his wealthy background is both absurd and frankly unbelievably hypocritical. Quite how Harriet Harman can go to the constituency and not blush when she sees her own party's literature deserves explanation. Her privileged background as the niece of an earl with a private education at an exclusive and exceptionally expensive private girls' school puts the Tory candidate's background into the shade. Yet here she is, deputy Labour Leader, elected by the Labour membership.

I wonder whether the disappearance of Blair marks the end of the New Labour project. Whilst Brown's policy position certainly appears to be to continue with the Blair reforms to public services, is something deeper afoot? Is it that Labour without Blair perceives a vacuum at the top? Do they feel that the purpose of Labour is no longer to be "New"? Is it the case that the ideological stuffing was knocked out of Labour under Blair and now that he has gone, no one any longer knows the purpose of Labour for the simple reason it no longer services any purpose? Could it be that Labour is simply reverting to its comfortable language of yesteryear as a comfort blanket or something to hide under after the decision to tax the poor whilst relieving the rich of inheritance tax, backing off making super rich non doms make a fair contribution and leaving the most wealthy on a rate of tax lower that the poorest? In other words are Labour trying to cover up tax policies which have benfitted the wealthy at the expense of the rest? Is shame driving Labour's posturing and language? I think so.

So watch out for more of this "class warfare" drivel. It did Labour no favours in the past but its re-emergence is a symptom of the malaise now infecting Labour.

And finally, let me bring you the shocking news from the train to London on which I am currently sitting. National Excess have not cancelled my train. I now believe in miracles!

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We have a new mayor

Full Council yesterday in Gateshead. We had had no indication before hand of who Labour were putting forward as mayor (all mayors in Gateshead - and deputy mayors - are Labour. They have never allowed anyone from the Lib Dems to hold the position. There are of course no Conservatives who could be offered it anyway.) So we found out in the meeting that the new mayor is Maureen Chaplin.

Maureen has been on the council for four years. I've had only one run in with her. She was once unhappy about a campaign I was running in her ward and so just before the start of a council meeting she walked over to me and told me just what she thought of my campaign. I have to admit that my estimation of Maureen went up considerably following her words with me. After all, she wanted to tell it straight, and that is what she did. And frankly we could do with a few more politicians like that. So Maureen, good luck. I'm sure you will do a fine job as mayor.

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Rain, rain go away

I am due at the Whickham May Fayre at midday. Currently it is raining heavily (I am in Rowlands Gill.) It could ease off a bit but I am not holding out any great hopes. Meanwhile we have quarter of a tonne of dried farmyard manure in the boot (thankfully in sealed plastic sacks). Somehow we have to get this onto the allotment this weekend.

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Brown uses GMTV to promote Crewe candidate - but what does she think of him?

Gordon Brown was on GMTV this morning doing his "I feel your pain" and "Believe me I am human, not a robot" turns. The usual unconvincing performance. No matter how much he tried to smile rather than snarl, he just does not convince anyone.

But what caught my attention was the discussion about the Crewe by-election. To give Brown his due, it was Penny the interviewer who raised the by-election by asking if he would be going there to campaign. The answer was no, but Brown then used the opportunity to name and praise Labour's candidate. Interview then over, and no mention by GMTV of the other candidates which begs various questions about compliance with the Representation of the People Act.

But it does come to something when the PM is on tv to discuss his legislative programme but then uses his appearance to talk up the chances of his candidate in a by-election.

Mind you, Brown's compliments to the hereditary Labour candidate for Crewe do not seem to be returned. A couple of days ago she was challenged repeatedly to say whether or not Brown was an asset. She repeatedly refused to answer. See the video here of her interview and judge for yourself: Is Brown an asset?

A little local success

Last year, the Labour councillors on the planning committee in Gateshead voted to reject an application to install a cash machine in our village post office in Sunniside. The argument adopted (paraphrased in my own style) was that putting such a facility onto a front street would bring traffic chaos and the entire ediface of western civilisation would collapse etc etc etc. I had handed in a petition of over 200 signatures in favour of the application. The rejection was met with stunned disbelief by residents of the village.

Well, I am pleased to say that Paul the postmaster phoned me this evening to say the appeal against the decision has been won.

The victory is all the more sweeter since the Labour party, in a fit of insanity, put a leaflet out in my ward in the run up to the election that never was, which laid into me and my colleagues for backing the application. It contained the usual drivel expected from Labour election leaflets in my ward. I shall be at full council on Friday and will be taking great pleasure in being magnanimous in victory over the person we knew wrote this leaflet.

Perhaps in the next leaflet he produces, in 2 years' time when the general election is likely to be held, he can explain why Labour took such an unreasonable position on our village post office. And perhaps an apology to residents, Paul the postmaster, and users of the branch would not go amiss. Don't hold your breath however.

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Stranger than fiction

The remarkable scene yesterday of an emergency budget being introduced at a time when there was no financial or economic emergency took some believing. This stuff is stranger than fiction. The only emergency was in Downing Street where Labour were in a state of complete panic about their vote meltdown.

No doubt there will be a bunch of deadwood Labour backbenchers who will claim credit for this monumental uturn (the same ones last year who were praising or voting for the budget, and who earlier this year voted for the Budget resolutions). The reality is that this was simply the action of a shattered government desperately trying to bail out guy they crowned unopposed as leader.

The actions of this past day have now shot to pieces the position of the government and completely undermined what credibility was left of Labour on the economy and finances. They have constantly claimed that tackling poverty is best done through their vastly complicated tax credit system. They have just gone against their own system. They constantly claim that they are prudent with the nations finances. That claim is now shot to bits. And they constantly attack the opposition parties for uncosted and unsustainable spending plans. Their credibility on such claims, not great before hand, is now gone altogether (though don't expect Labour to stop making such claims.)

We all await however the small print of the government's uturn. With Labour, we all know the devil is in the detail. What will happen to allowances next year is anyone's guess. One likely effect of the emergency budget however is further cuts in interest rates are less likely.

Black Wednesday finally shot to pieces the last Conservative government's credibility on the economy and the nations finances. Whilst crashing out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism was a solution to some of the problems caused by the preceding recession (though many of these problems were starting to be solved by a growing economy anyway), it was the decision by the government to reverse a major policy that completely undermined the Conservatives' credibility. Last year I felt the cancelled election had the equivalent effect on Labour in terms of credibility. So if last year saw Black Saturday for Labour, yesterday must be Black Tuesday. That leaves five days of the week for Labour to completely wreck everything else.

The rapid progression of Gordon Brown from Stalin, master of all he saw, to Mr Bean, (our never ending thanks to Vince Cable for this immaculately accurate but amusing comparison) is nearing completion. The story of Brown as Prime Minister is indeed stranger than fiction.
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For and against more regulation in the same speech - Cameron's latest say-anything-to-get-elected posture

I came across these interesting bits from a speech by David Cameron to the Council for the Protection of Rural England, made yesterday.

In it he makes the case for less regulation. And then he goes on to make the case for, errr....more regulation.

Here's what he said:

The third way in which our present regime has undermined social value is through over-regulation.

And then he went on to say:

But government is not only failing to impose sensible new regulations that would protect the countryside. They are even getting rid of existing ones.

You can see the full speech, if you really want to, at Cameron speech.

The Monday morning blog no. 2: the battle of the autobiographies

"War!? I must write my memoirs." So went the classic line from the Goon Show. The moment war was declared, there was a rush by the generals to go into print. It feels like we have had a similar experience over the weekend.

With Labour now falling apart at the seams, it appears to be first choice of the ancien regime to join the internal Labour war by lobbing a grenade at the embattled Prime Minister. Prescott, Levy and Mrs Blair are all on a roll with claims in their autobiographies about how bad Brown was under Blair. It all adds weight to the genuine belief that Brown is not up to the job of Prime Minister. Indeed, he is so bad that he has succeeded in making that fake, Cameron, look like PM material.

The battle of the autobiographies is just a sideshow carried out before these three reach the end of their shelf life. Who will be interested in them in a year's time? Get the cash rolling in now by getting their side of the story into print before people think they are very old news.

So it all adds to Brown's woes. But as I have said before, don't get carried away with the idea that Brown will be got rid of in coming months. To do that, Labour needs an alternative leader and at the moment such a person does not exist. And removing a prime minister after less than a year in office will make Labour look more of a laughing stock than they currently are.

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The Monday morning blog no. 1: another National Express cancellation

I have just arrived at Newcastle Central Station to find my train to London is, yet again, cancelled by National Excess. This has been caused by a "train failure". Should this be a National Express company failure? I have had more cancellations of my train since National Excess took over the East Coast line 6 months ago than I had in the whole of the 8 years before then.

It means there will be a battle on the next train to get a seat. It also means a much longer journey. The next service takes nearly half an hour longer to get to London.

I wouldn't put National Excess in charge of a Hornby trainset, never mind a real one.

The next train has now arrived. To make matters worse, we are being told that the train I have just got onto was actually my service but it is being converted to the much slower next service. And we are now being told that the reason for the cancellation of my service is a "set shortage" - that is technical, gobshite talk for not having enough trains. Quite how we are supposed to encourage more people to travel by train rather than by car with such a crap train operator running one of the main services is beyond me.

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Are the Lib Dems set to take control of Northumberland County Council?

I interviewed Jeff Reid, new Leader of the Lib Dem group on Northumberland County Council on Sunday. The Lib Dems are now the largest group and Jeff discusses possible ways forward for the Council, suggesting a "partnership of the willing" for the coming year.

How about this for a Labour meltdown

I stumbled across this whilst looking for something else but I feel it should be shared more widely with the world.

These were the voted cast on 1st May in Bywell ward of Northumberland:

• Ind 599
• Lib Dem 506
• Con 463
• Lab 94

At first sight, you would think this was a no hope ward for Labour. Actually, you would be wrong to think that. This was a ward Labour were defending. The independent who won was actually the former Labour councillor who went Independent when Labour imposed an all women shortlist on his ward. Since he had testicles rather than ovaries, he got the chop. Labour imported a female candidate from 23 miles away. The independent won and the Labour candidate, as you can see from the result, barely registered.

Labour got only 6% in a ward they were defending. Is that a record?

Labour have lost control of County Durham

Labour's suicide mission knows no bounds. Their National Executive Committee have just suspended 5 Durham County Councillors from the Easington area apparently in some spat over women candidates (Labour in Easington only put up 4 women candidates for 24 seats). But what has been missed by the BBC in reporting this is that the suspensions have now stripped Labour of their majority on Durham County. Previously with a lead of 8 over the opposition, they are now in a minority of 2.

Make a note of this everyone - for Labour had held Durham County Council since 1919.

Adding to their self-inflicted woes is the position of one of the suspended councillors, Alan Napier. He is Leader of Easington District Council. By the looks of it, not for much longer. As a suspendee (is there such a word?) he is no longer eligible to serve in a Labour administration, never mind as Leader. Mind you, his successor as Leader of Easington will be the equivalent of a new captain being appointed to the Titanic after the ship had struck the iceberg but before she finally went down - Easington Council has one year left before it is abolished. Councillor Napier was also thought of as a likely deputy leader of the new unitary Durham County. Not any more.

And then there is the case of Albert Nugent, leader of the County Council until yesterday. He is one of the suspended Gang of Five. The suspension of this Old Labour party boss was perfectly timed for his New Labour opponents. University lecturer Simon Henig, who my spies tell me is New Labour to the core, is now the new Leader - the election by the Labour group was yesterday and dear old Albert was, alas, no longer entitled to stand or even attend the group meeting.

So interesting times ahead in the former Labour fortress of Durham County. The outer walls of the defences have been breached (mainly by the Lib Dems) and the defending Labour guards have turned their weapons on each other. Thanks guys.

Interviewing in Morpeth

I am up in Morpeth, outside County Hall, having just done an interview for the next members' video newsletter in the North East with Jeff Reid. Jeff is the new Leader of the Northumberland County Council. We are now the largest group and Labour are now in third place. The elections gave the Lab Cons 17 seats each but a couple of indies have joined the Con group therefore making Labour the third party.

With 26 seats, we are 8 short of taking control. So discussions will need to take place as to who does what.

Anyway, the Labour group must have just finished a meeting as their councillors are just leaving County Hall. Jeff is off for a quick word.....

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The wrong seat from National Excess

Well, here I am, sitting on the National Excess service to Newcastle and as usual, the seat I booked is not the one reserved for me. Quite why they bother with the section on their website that allows you to book a particular type of seat is beyond me. It never seems to work.

And another thing. The journey time from Kings Cross to London has been increased by 20 min.

Okay, rant over!

The exciting news from back home is that our tomatoes, peppers, gherkins and various other seeds are now sprouting. Well, it just doesn't get more exciting than that! Trouble is, we now need to build a greenhouse. We do actually have one ready to put up. It's like a large Meccano set for adults (I wonder, do they still make Meccano?) Anyway getting the ground ready for it will be the key job for the weekend.

Mind you, it's not all fun playing with big boys' construction kits over the next two days. I am also heading up to Morpeth on Sunday to interview Jeff Reid, new leader of our vastly enlarged group on Northumberland County Council. There is a reasonable expectation he will become the new Council leader - we are the largest group and Labour carelessly lost half their councillors in the recent local elections. (For Labour it was a combination of meltdown, self detonation, suicide and having Comrade Brown as leader! Seems like a winning combination to me - certainly helped us to win plebty of seats!)

Jeff will be interviewed for the video newsletter I produce for members in the region. It's all very experimental at the moment. I will also interview Jeff for North East Democrat, which I edit. I am hoping to get the next edition emailed out to members this coming week. So at some point I had better get round to writing it!

I do of course have other things to do touching on other constituencies. No, I am not going to tell you which ones. I'll keep our opponents, many of whom are avid readers of this blog, guessing.


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Remember Labour's attack on Vince Cable over spending on bee research?

Do you remember the Labour document "100 spending commitments the Liberal Democrats can't fund because their sums don't add up"?

It was popular reading for Labour hacks in 2005. It was packed full of barrel bottom scraping ideas on how Labour could incorrectly paint the Lib Dems as having spending commitments but no explanation as to how we would pay for them.

Number 94 was the one that got the most attention due to the stupidity of the claims Labour tried to hook onto it. Apparently, Labour suggested, the entire economic ediface of the country was at risk because Vince Cable had the following "spending commitment" on his personal website:

"Bees. Twickenham has one of the best bee keeping centres in the country. Many local people support it. Benefits from bees' natural pollination activities are enormous, worth billions of pounds. There is however negligible research into damaging diseases and I have pressed the ministry of agriculture for a bigger research commitment."

Yes, the nation's finances were going to be underminded by investing in bee research!

I have revived memories of this long forgotten Labour work of drivel because I spotted that Blaydon Labour MP David Anderson is making a fuss about the lack of research in, errrrr....bee research.

Here are his recent Parliamentary questions on the subject:

• To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what research his Department has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on the emergence of an Asian variation of the bee pathogen Nosema ceranae.
• To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps his Department has taken to investigate the reasons for unexplained losses of queens from bee hives.
• To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what funding his Department plans to provide for bee inspectors in (a) 2008-09, (b) 2009-10 and (c) 2010-11.

Rather helpfully, the minister replied with answers suggesting cash was being spent on research into the little honey makers. And presumably, the nation's finances are about to collapse as a result.

Interesting to note that New Labour Queen Bee Blair is no longer in the hive. Could this spell the end of them?

Is tactical voting working against Labour?

The Conservatives have made great claims about their decision to hold their spring conference in Gateshead. It was a sign, they suggested, of their revival at least of interest in the North East. This explanation was trotted out by Conservatives last week on tv whilst commenting on the local elections generally. The equivalent would be Labour claiming a revival in the South every time they hold a conference in Bournemouth.

I don't doubt for a moment that the Conservatives want to do well generally in the North East. And their decision to hold their conference here was welcome. After all, visitors to the region briing money and that means more cash circulating in our local economy. Indeed, Mr Cameron, come here again and keep spending your money.

But the political benefits for the Tories in Gateshead and Newcastle were zilch. The Conservatives made no progress at all on the two local authorities. In many places they struggled to get into third place ahead of the BNP. 1992 was the last time a Conservative topped the poll in any ward in Newcastle or Gateshead. The seats they won in that year can barely see the Conservative now, they are so far behind.

My own ward shows just how far the Conservatives have declined. Twenty five years ago it was very strongly Conservative. Last week, they achieved second place for the first time in 16 years but given we had 68% and a 1500 majority, their success was more a measure of Labour's meltdown (Labour got their worst vote ever in the ward last week). The Conservatives don't have a grassroots organisation that can even get out a leaflet, never mind the vote.

It is not all bad news for the Conservatives in the North East. As I have said previously, had I been in Sunderland or North Tyneside, I would have been pleased last week had I been a Conservative. North Tyneside contains Tynemouth constituency which was Conservative for nearly 40 years until the 1997 election when it went into the Labour fold. Labour's hold on the seat is looking decidedly butter-fingered at the moment.

In the North East outside those two areas, the Conservative story was one of very limited growth whilst it was the Lib Dems who made the surge forward on the big authorities of Northumberland, Newcastle and County Durham. In Northumberland, the Conservatives hold Hexham and once held Berwick (they have aspirations to win back Alan Beith's seat though their performance last week suggests they will need to keep dreaming.) Yet the Tories had a net gain of only three seats and lost their leader to the Lib Dems in the process.

Down in Durham, the Conservatives did grow from 2 to 10, though the figures are inflated as the authority was doubled in size. The Lib Dems had 5 members on the old, smaller authority. We have 27 on the new enlarged one. Clearly we were the beneficiaries.

Yet there may be straws in the wind that could be telling the story about where politics is going in Britain. In Sunderland and North Tyneside, the Tories did well but we were thin on the ground. In Newcastle and Gateshead, the Tories were thin on the ground but we did well. Cross one authority border to the next and the challengers to Labour are different.

Then go to South Tyneside where both Lib Dems and Conservatives are weak. The challengers there are independents.

Back in the 1990s at aconstituency level, the Conservatives were crushed by a huge pincer movement from tactical voting. This boosted Labour's majority to a far higher level than would otherwise be the case. On a constituency by constituency basis, the party seen as most likely to beat the Tories was the one that benefitted disproportionately in that constituency.

Could the same now be happening to Labour? Could it be that the tide that swept Labour into power with such a huge majority over the past decade or so is about to go into reverse? It is probably too early to tell but if it is the case, Labour are in deep, deep trouble.

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21 years as a councillor

It was 21 years ago today, at the tender age of 23, that I was first elected as a councillor in Gateshead. I gained the seat from the Conservatives who have since all but disappeared from Gateshead. I was the 4th member of the group. Now we are 24.

It is amusing in a sense to look back on that campaign. All three parties turned up at the count thinking they had won. The remaining Tory councillor in the ward came over to me when I arrived at the count and told me he was wishing me a "good second place." I wished him the same. Labour were as arrogant as ever, believing they were the people's natural choice, though the people had different views on the matter.

In the end, I was elected with a majority of 850 over the Conservatives and 1100 over Labour. Last week, my colleague Councillor Alan Ord was elected with a majority of about 1500 and 70% of the vote.

After 21 years, however, I am still amongst the younger of the councillors on the authority!

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Comical Ali appointed as Labour spin doctor

Former Iraqi propaganda chief Comical Ali has been signed up as spin doctor for the Labour party. Or so you would think if you read the unbelievable claims from Reading Labour party who, according to their website, gave the Tories a "bloody nose" in the local elections. For the uninitiated, Labour lost control of Reading council on Thursday last week, losing three seats to the Tories. And rather carelessly, they lost the seat held by their leader to the Lib Dems. (Meanwhile, as of today Labour have lost another seat there as one of their own band has decided to go independent.)

Spin doctor Comical Ali then goes on to claim, "Labour's results in Reading show our strength locally in that Reading Labour Party has once again bucked the national trend."

I've heard of triumphalism in success, but triumphalism in defeat is a new one on me.

You can imagine this spin doctor's other claims: "Livingstone triumphs over Johnson", "Labour landslide in local elections", "Brown voted best PM ever", ad nauseum etc.

For a bit of enjoyment, visit the site of Reading Labour and have a good chuckle: http://www.readinglabour.org.uk/

The Tuesday morning blog: jam today in Cowley St

Well, here I am on the platform at Newcastle Central, waiting for the 7.40am train to Newcastle. After two weeks at home, I am having to head back to Cowley St to earn my living. I hear on the grapevine that there is a severe jam famine in Lib Dem HQ. The jam tap has, of course, been cut off for the past two weeks but travelling with me to London is a bag of goodies for the starving undernourished workers of Cowley St. Or rather, a bag of homemade jams and a large tin of posh tea. The latter is courtesy of my father who bought a load of Ringtons special edition teas and then passed some of them to me. Given they have sat in the cupboard for ages, we have decided to donate them to a needy cause in the form of Cowley St. So here we have it, unlike Gordon Brown and Labour, it's jam (and tea) today from the Lib Dems!

Train now approaching the platform. Over and out.
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Gateshead local election results May 2008

This is the final video produced about the local elections. In this one, Peter Maughan discusses the election results in Gateshead with a focus on Blaydon constituency.

Could a Lab/Con coalition take over in Northumberland?

Labour lost over 20 seats in Northumberland last week. From having a clear majority, they came out of the elections with 17 seats, having endured a sort of electoral liposuction that left them considerably slimmed down. The Conservatives fared better though compared to the rest of the country, their performance was not fantastic. They went from 14 to 17 seats but their leader lost to a 20 year old Lib Dem in Alan Beith's constituency. The Lib Dems increased their seats from 14 to 26.

This electoral arithmetic leaves unanswered who will run Northumberland. No party has a majority and deals will have to be struck to create an administration with a majority. The question is who will strike what with who?

Perhaps we should look to Castle Morpeth, one of the Northumberland district councils about to be abolished, to get a clue as to possible outcomes. In the town hall in Morpeth, Tories and Labour cobbled together a power sharing scheme last year that was designed to shut the Lib Dems out of power. In one other place in the North East, the Tories have jumped into bed with Labour - in Stockton where the Tories prop up the minority Labour administration. So Lab/Con co-operation (collusion?) is not unknown in the North East.

That is their right so if their aim is to put together a power sharing deal in Northumberland they are entitled to do just that. And I have heard on the grapevine of communications having taken place between the two parties. What I don't know is what was discussed. We await the outcome....

Monday morning blog - believe this rebellion when it happens

Yet another Monday morning when I have the joy of being at home rather than on a train to London! And I'm blogging a bit later than usual for two reasons: I slept in (come on, give me a break - it's a bank holiday) and I've just been down to Dunston in Gateshead to shoot my 4th and final election results video.

For the subject of this Monday Morning Blog I have taken the issue of another, yes another, threatened rebellion on the 10p rate by Labour backbenchers. Haven't we all been here before? Wasn't it just a couple of weeks ago when the last so-called rebellion caved in after Brown offered a nebulous plan for jam sometime tomorrow. The so-called plan was, of course, simply a ploy to make it look as though something has been offered by the government. No details, no explanation as to how the package would be financed or how it would work. Labour backbenchers were then only too happy to abandon the rebellion, if indeed, "rebellion" is the right word.

Now we are told that there could be another rebellion in the offing as Labour backbenchers are demanding details of the package. Frankly, it's a bit late for that. Surely they should have been asking about the details when the so-called concessions were first offered, rather than taking two weeks to wake up to the fact that they have been duped. (Mind you, most Labour MPs took nearly a year to start making a fuss about the abolition of the 10p rate - so they are not exactly fast off the mark.)

It seems as though Labour backbenchers can be taken in by a bit of spin. The rest of the country however is not so easily fooled.

Explaining the secrets of the success of the biggest Lib Dem council group in the UK

The Lib Dem group in Newcastle upon Tyne, with 49 members, is now the biggest Lib Dem council group in the UK. John Shipley, Leader of the group, explains how this was achieved. And Parliamentary candidate for Newcastle North, Ron Beadle, explains what the election results mean for his constituency.

From third to first party in Northumberland - interview

This is the next interview about the local elections we produced for the forthcoming email newsletter to Lib Dem members in the North East. Councillor Neil Bradbury explains the increase in the Lib Dem seats and the Labour wipeout in most of Northumberland. Neil was himself elected on Thursday and is also one of the Lib Dem Euro candidates for the North East.

From 5 to 27 councillors in Durham

On the new unitary County Council of Durham, the Lib Dems went from 5 to 27 seats in the local elections on Thursday. In this interview, Carol Woods, prospective parliamentary candidate for City of Durham, explains why the Lib Dems did so well.

We are largest party in Northumberland

Labour have gone into meltdown in Northumberland. Results have just come through and we have gone from third to first place. We are short of a majority, on 26 seats. Labour, previously with a comfortable majority, have collapsed to 17, the same as the Conservatives. So on the big, new authorities, the Lib Dems have done well. In the North East.
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How things have worked out in the North East

Durham County at the moment tops our success story list. We have gone from 4 to 27 councillors. Part of the increase can be explained by the doubling of the size of the council, so in theory the baseline was 8. Not a bad rise. No one ever thought Labour would lose control, but they came very close. A handful of byelections over the coming years could finish Labour control.

Lib Dem controlled Newcastle is also on our success list. 4 gains from Labour and one loss in Wingrove. This loss was sort of expected. The ward already has two Labour cllrs and we have not been ablee to issue a knock out blow on them. But after 4 years in power, to make a good set of gains must be good news. Our people are telling me this is the largest we have been on Newcastle, and is now the largest Lib Dem group in the country.

In Gateshead, overall, one seat changed hands. Lib Dems gained Winlaton and High Spen from Labour. The balance on Gateshead is now 41 Lab, 24 Lib Dems and one independent Liberal.

No Conservatives elected in Newcastle or Gateshead. However, Conservatives have made some strong gains in Sunderland and have picked up three seats in North Tyneside and therefore have a majority on the council. However, this is a bit academic. The non Labour parties still don't have enough to block the Labour elected Mayor.

Still, if I were a Conservative in Sunderland or North Tyneside, I would feel rather chuffed! But if I were a Conservative in Newcastle or Gateshead, I would still feel I were in the middle of an arid desert. Mind you, were I a Lib Dem in Sunderland, with our single seat, I would feel I was in a desert.

I am picking up rumours of Lib Dem gains in Northumberland from Lab and Cons but I can't confirm this yet and we may have made some losses to independents. However, our people there are suggesting that overall we are up, Labour will lose control and generally Lib Dems are feeling positive.

And finally, just a thank you to all the political opponents of mine who told me at the count that they read my blog. I may have things to say about your parties occasionally but glad you like to read what I have to say!!!

And another "And finally" - message from my Labour friends in London is that Johnson has got it.

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Don't you just love those early morning deliveries?

Seasoned Lib Dem campaigners are used to starting election days in the early hours. Sleepy-eyed, we crawl out of bed whilst the rest of the world is sensibly snuggled up under a duvet. Complete with lists of streets and bundles of leaflets, we attempt to put "Good Morning" leaflets through doors without rattling letterboxes, slamming garden gates and waking up dogs. And once done, we get back home, grab a cup of tea, and put on the television to endure a few minutes of Lorraine Kelly interviewing Rick Astley on GMTV. It just doesn't get better than that!

I would have watched real news if I could get it on the tv but we had a Sky box installed on Monday, with the result that we cannot get any satellite channels at all. This was not quite what we had in mind when we decided to get the box put in. The man with the toolkit is coming out tomorrow to fix it.

I had the experience yesterday of my colleagues inflicting on me the worst delivery round they could lay their hands on. Mind you, I had it coming! It was my idea to put a target leaflet out in a particular ward in Gateshead (no I won't say which one as a significant number of readers of this blog are local political opponents).

Target leaflets are sometimes not always loved by those who have to deliver them as they have to ensure the right leaflet goes through the right door. Finding the right door in always the problem. It is amazing how many people don't have house numbers clearly displayed (or displayed at all) and how many streets are not signposted. Colleagues gave me an estate where the streets were back to front, merged into each other in an unexplained fashion and where house numbers were generally lacking. Thanks guys. It only took me 2 hours to deliver. But think of all that healthy exercise I got by repeatedly walking up and down the same street looking for those handfull of houses that just don't seem to exist!

Anyway, I am about to start my next bit of polling day work. And I will leave opponents guessing as to what it is.....

Parliamentary Office used as Labour HQ

Just passed on to me from the Blaydon ward in Blaydon constituency in Gateshead is a letter from the Labour Party Councillors of the ward sent to various residents. It would be understandable if residents were forgiven for thinking this letter did not come from Labour. After all, this letter is stating that they are opposed to the abolition of the 10p rate and the word "Labour" only appears in a tiny logo hidden away at the bottom of the page. Clearly this is a party that dares not speak its name!

But what caught my attention was the imprint which shows the address of the agent is the Parliamentary constituency office of David Anderson, the Dare Not Speak Its Name Party MP for Blaydon. I may helpfully have to copy the letter for the Parliamentary authorities to read and digest.....

Monday morning blog - terrorism laws to tackle dog fouling

This week's Monday Morning Blog is not being written on the train to London but instead comes live from my office at home in Sunniside, Gateshead! I am home this week because of a certain event taking place on Thursday! Meanwhile I am brushing up on my knowledge of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act as I am due to do a BBC Look North interview on it at midday.

I was phoned yesterday by The Journal to give some comments on the use of the Act by local councils. Councils in the North East have used the Act 419 times in the past year to carry out surveillance of residents. This is the highest number in the country.

I am not going to be critical of individual councils for using the powers that law has given them. It is the law itself that is at fault. Whilst the power to bug premises, intercept and read emails and listen in to phone calls should be available to the police and security services to tackle terrorism and serious crime, the Act was never intended when first passed to be used to spy on families to see if they live in a school catchment area or to tackle dog fouling.

However, in 2003, David Blunkett expanded the number of authorities and public bodies able to use the powers from the original 9 to 792, including all councils. So having given anti-terrorism powers to local government to tackle low level crime, it is hardly surprising that some have opted to exercise their acquired rights.

This is a slippery slope and it is changing our country to one where surveillance, covert intrusion and denial of privacy is part of the culture of society. Whilst we are a long way off from a Stasi style form of monitoring under which all private activities are open to monitoring by the authorities, the powers to allow that are already in place. We need to look again at how they are used and return to the original intention that they are there to tackle terrorism and serious crime, rather than to police school catchment areas or monitor those allowing dog fouling to take place.

Leafletting and allotment before the rain

David and I delivered a couple of patches in Whickham and Sunniside this morning where we don't have people to delivery for us as part of our network. We got around the lot in just over an hour. There was an attempt at rain but nothing serious.

So we were free then to hit the allotment! We had someone in a couple of weeks ago to rotovate it. Cheating I know but we would never have had time to dig over the whole site ourselves. So with the ground ready, we already have the spuds planted (done last week) and now have the onions, cranberries and rhubarb planted as well. Rhubard is of course a very important crop for Cowley St. Colleagues kill for rhubard and ginger jam. Take a jar into HQ and generally they are scraping the last bit out by the end of the day!

We don't have a mains water supply so we are dependent on bringing in water in carriers (often my recycled bath water!) or simply waiting for the rain to fall. It seemed as though the skies were waiting for the planting to finish. I got back to the house, went into my office to do some work for the election campaign, and we were then hit by a biblical style downpour. Seems as though the timing was spot on!

On both sides of the North/South divide (at the same time)

I see David Anderson, Labour MP for Blaydon, is calling on the government to move more government jobs out of London and the South East to the North.

Moves to increase the number and quality of jobs in the region are indeed welcome. No argument there! But the problem for Mr Anderson is that we have yet another example of inconsistency in what he says, to add to his already huge mountain of inconsistent and contradictory statements.

Just a few months ago he was arguing the exact opposite of what he was earlier this week - that jobs should remain in London and not be moved to the North.

Mr Anderson backed a Parliamentary motion on 9th July 2007 which called on the Health and Safety Executive, a government body, to drop plans to move jobs from London to the North. The motion he backed claimed, “that up to 80 per cent. of its staff will not be prepared to relocate” and that the moving of jobs to the North “will result in a massive loss of expertise.”

The motion he supported concluded with the demand that this government body “reconsider its decision.”

Were government ministers to listen to Mr Anderson on the location of government jobs (and many other issues!), they could be forgiven for being rather confused by his conflicting demands.

Perhaps Mr Anderson would like to explain why he is arging for 2 very opposing policies? Is he trying to be on both sides of the North South divide at the same time?

Lib Dems - middle of the road (literally)

I have just been on the Lib Dems' Fickr site (http://www.flickr.com/photos/libdems) and saw that an embarrassingly large number of the photos on it were taken by a certain JW. It did remind me however that on Tuesday I had to crawl out of bed at a deeply unwelcome time of the morning to get to Waterloo Bridge to do the photos of London Mayoral candidate Brian Paddick leading a demonstration in favour of the cross Thames tram link.

One of the photos I took was on the front page of yesterday's Lib Dem News. However, this one just invites the comment about Lib Dems being middle of the road! And frankly, given I had to keep running out into the road and dodging the traffic to get the photos, being on the island in the middle of the road was probably the safest place to be!

I wasn't the only photographer checking for on coming traffic as this photo shows!

Just as I predicted: rebellion goes with a fizzle rather than a bang

I predicted just a few days ago that the Labour so-called rebellion over the doubling of the 10p income tax rate would fizzle out. Great predictions of our time and this one was pretty accurate! Also coming true is my prediction that a minor concession would be made, and would be spun for as much as they could get away with.

Nebulous promises of jam tomorrow have been made by Brown and Darling. It is totally unclear how jam tomorrow will be spread. Put your bets on some kind of complicated tax credit system under which claimants will have to apply for a rebate rather than receive it automatically. Indeed, expect jam tomorrow with very few being able to reach the jam pot.

All those spineless backbenchers however have been rushing to abandon their "rebellion" and climb back on board the Brown train. That's precisely what you would expect from them: all talk and no action. Meanwhile, within a few days, watch as those same backbenchers vote for a second time for the doubling of the 10p rate. (They voted for it first time on 18th March).

And so to other business. I am now on the train heading to Newcastle. And as so often happens, National Excess has given me a completely different type of seat to the one I booked. To add insult to injury, the person sitting next to me is stuffing food down his throat whilst bellowing down the phone. And he seems to be going through the entire phone directory as well. I've heard more of his personal details that I ever would want to know. He is trying to get people to come to the station to pick him up. Yet he has had no takers!

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The Monday morning blog: baseball caps, dark glasses and videos

The Labour leaflet arrived through me door yesterday morning. I caught a glimpse of the person delivering it but didn't recognise him immediately. Hardly surprising as he was buried under dark glasses and a baseball cap. It was only when he came down the other side of the street that I recognised him under his cloak of anonimity. He was last year's Labour candidate. He has abandoned all hope of being elected so is not standing this year. Also, I suspect he wasn't inclined to stand again following the rather ridiculous leaflet that was put out in his name in the run up to the election that never was. Turns out the person who was actually responsible for it has a long record of campaigns that have flopped badly.

I have only spoken to him once (four years ago when he was candidate and at the count - he didn't make it to the count last year) but he seems a pleasant bloke. It's just a pity for him that he got dragged into this saga by the actions of someone else.

I did, believe it or not, do something non political yesterday! I had lunch with a group of historian friends in Tynemouth (and a quick wander around the book fayre - one book bought by David for himself on crossbows (don't ask!) and one he bought for me after spotting me looking at it on historical maps of Europe. I did actually have an ulterior motive for meeting up with my historian mates. I am planning to make a number of local history videos this year and I am lining up Frank Manders and Norman McCord to appear in them. Frank is an expert on the history of Gateshead, the region's cinemas, the bridges across the Tyne and many other issues. Professor McCord was one of my lecturers from my old days as an undergraduate at Newcastle University twenty years ago. He specialised in social history (he is retired now) but is a widely respected expert on the history of the North East. He also discovered the Watergate Roman site next to Whickham.

Progress was made on discussing possible videos. No doubt there will be more on this later this year.

Well, I am now on the train heading to London. It arrived back to front at Newcastle, went out backwards with the result we are now going forwards and left 10 min late. But at least it wasn't cancelled!

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The rebellion that will fizzle out

Heading to London today will be the nation's Labour MPs ready, it is claimed, to do battle on the budget which the government has made clear it will not change. One reason for refusing to change it is the simple fact that it is now in operation. Political journalists have focused entirely on the Finance Bill which is coming up for debate this week. They have overlooked the budget resolutions which were passed by Parliament last month. As these were voted through (by Labour MPs many of whom are now complaining about what they voted for), the Finance Bill is simply to give legislative effect to a change that has already been implemented. In other words, the Finance Bill is a rubber stamp for the already agreed and implemented budget. The loss of the bill, or the passage of amendments hostile to it, will simply be a vote of no confidence in the government. I somehow doubt that Labour MPs will opt to be turkeys voting for an early Xmas by precipitating a collapse of the government and a possible general election. And as I have said on a number of occasions recently, backbench Labour MPs like to posture against the government (typically by signing early day motions) but then vote for the measure they claim to oppose.

So expect lots of talk of rebellion this week, particularly from journalists, and then watch as the government spins some utterly insignificant concession - such as "looking at" concerns about the low paid at some nebulous date in the future - and then watch as the budget legislation is passed and the government survives to die another day.

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The catch up

Sitting in the hairdresser's shop in Newcastle as I am now, having my natural highlights removed, reminds me of being on the train. It is a time to do some reading (still plodding through Peter Hennessey's 'Having it so Good') and to write more blog posts.

I managed to miss a few things off the blog through the week. One of them was to say that I had completed the next edition of 'North East Democrat'. I emailed it out to members in the region on Wednesday. I reused a couple of stories in the Democrat that had first appeared on my blog. The main one was the story of Labour MP for Gateshead East, Sharon Hodgson, calling for free healthy school meals living rather uncomfortably with her demand for cheap cola and junk food for kids when they go to the cimema. We're still waiting for an explanation as to how she can attack parents who feed their kids unhealthy diets whilst making it easier to feed kids junk food when at the Odeon.

Wednesday evening also saw Richard acting out a role in Animal Rescue when he turned up on the doorstep at midnight with a hedgehog. He was on his was back to the flat when he rescued the hedgehog from being attacked by a fox in the street. We released it into the garden and fed it a sachet of cat food - whiskas with all the trimmings. Given the garden in London is full of snails, there's probably plenty for it to eat naturally. As for our cat Jess, she took revenge on us for using her food by catching a mouse in the garden and then leaving the half eaten remains in the bath, ready for us to find in the morning. I took a photo of Richard and his new hedgehog friend. It will appear shortly on the blog. Fortunately it didn't occur to me to take a photo of the half eaten mouse.

Meanwhile, back up here in Gateshead, we went potato and onion planting this morning on the allotment, after delivering a few hundred focuses. Alas, technology interrupted my agricultural pursuits. The phone rang a number of times and I got tied up in conversations about leaflets. So, I still have about 50 onion plants to put in the ground. Given I have promised colleagues in Cowley Street some culinary delights made from home grown food, I realise I have to get the planting job finished. The Cowley St Catering Corp has a reputation to keep up!

Anyway, off for my blue rinse in a moment!

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Resignation unlikely

I noticed this afternoon that Blaydon Labour MP David Anderson was saying on the BBC website that he was not resigning over the doubling of the 10p income tax rate. The headline seemed to give the opposite impression, suggesting the PPSs were considering packing in their unpaid position. Mr Anderson's resignation would, after all, be odd, given that he has voted for the budget resolutions that brought in the change.

To be fair to Mr Anderson, he did highlight the impact of the scrapping of the 10p rate when he spoke in last year's budget debate. He even pointed out that it was the Lib Dems who had raised the damaging impact on low income earners. So resigning after having voted for the changes, even if he had to do it through gritted teeth, would achieve nothing.

Yet as I said in my earlier blog today, the government can push through unreasonable policies against vocal opposition from Labour backbenchers, knowing that with the vast majority of Labour MPs, there is a great deal of talk but little action to inflict changes on the government's programme. There are the usual suspects who make the effort to vote against but the typical tale to tell about Labour MPs is one of slavish support for the government, as long as they have the opportunity to posture against the government. And it is that that irritates me so much.

Mr Anderson has repeatedly attacked the government but has never once voted against it (and to give him his due he turns out for most Parliamentary votes). Putting aside the anti-government noises to which he is prone, he is one of many backbenchers on whom the government can rely to get its legislation passed. My advice to him would be to do one of two things: either turn his words into actions by voting against the things he opposes in public (and I accept that means resigning as PPS) or stay as a loyalist but argue the case for, rather than against, what he has voted to implement in Parliament.

Your trouble Mr Anderson, is that, at the moment, you are trying to have it both ways.

Anyway, enough politics for the moment. Having just paid an arm and a leg for a cup of tea on the train, I want to spend the rest of the journey home (I'm on the train heading for Newcastle) sipping my drink and reading the book I brought along for the journey (Peter Hennessey's 'Having it so Good'.) The 1950s is after the period I researched for my doctorate. So it's still unfamiliar territory to me. But history is one of the loves of my life so I expect to be totally engrossed by the time I get home!

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Labour Council Leader calls Labour councillors "liars"

Councillor Albert Nugent, leader of Durham County Council, doesn't seem to be having a good time at the moment. First he was slated by the Audit Commission which announced, "There are significant weaknesses in the political leadership provided by the Leader of Council and the Cabinet.” The Commission then helpfully added, “There is limited visible political leadership in key priority areas such as economic development. Politicians are not consistently challenging in holding officers to account.”

Such damning comments must have sent Cllr Nugent's nerves jangling. And so, at a recent cabinet meeting, the last before the elections on 1st May, he comes out all guns blazing. But his target appears to be very much his own side.

Cllr Nugent launched an attack on the "lies, lies, lies" of Labour councillors. “I have come into County Hall on many mornings to find my own party colleagues conniving with the opposition to get rid of me," he said. "I have survived votes of no confidence from my own party members and I have had to listen to lies, lies, lies being told about me."

The press were there to pick up this amazing tirade and thanks go to The Newcastle Journal for bringing us this story.

Labour backbenchers are like spineless jellies

Well, she didn't resign after all. Angela Smith MP is staying in place. She is so like all those Labour backbenchers, spineless jellies who make a great deal of noise about how dreadful the government is yet when it comes to doing anything that will really change what the government is doing, they bottle it.

Take for example, all those Labour MPs signing EDMs opposing the doubling of the 10p income tax rate. The talk in the press this week is of "rebellion". Believe it when it happens! Those spineless backbenchers will vote the way they are told to. The vast majority of them always do so. They are voting fodder and Brown knows it. So he won't make any significant concessions because he knows he can get away with forcing through the doubling of the 10p rate. He may spin a few lines that are designed to look as if he has changed his policy but the substance won't be there.

So as a general rule with the Labour party, expect whinging and whining from the backbenchers but apart from the usual suspects, don't expect them to force a change in what the government is doing.

There is one exception. I accept that matters are a little different on the 42 day detention issue. Opposition in Labour's ranks has a harder core on this issue. But even there, many Labour backbenchers will be looking for an opportunity to climb back on board the Brown government train and will use some ultra-minor concession as the ticket to climb aboard. That is likely to explain why the government continues to pursue this astonishing legislative change. Experience tells ministers that backbenchers can often bottle it when it comes to a vote.

The Brown government may well be a mess, congested by indecision with a Prime Minister who is totally inappropriate for the job. But even though the talk in the media is of changing the man at the top, the ability of Brown to stay in office at least until the general election is enhanced by the spineless jellies who are the Labour backbenchers.

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The Brown coronation has gone horribly wrong

It has taken a year to get the first Labour resignation over the axing of the 10p rate. Angela Smith has resigned as PPS to Yvette Cooper, even though she voted for the budget resolutions last month and was part of the Treasury team that introduced this measure. That aside, it does show the developing mire into which Labour are sinking. Labour were supposed to be saved by the coronation of Brown. But it went horribly wrong very quickly. Brown's inappropriateness for the top job was masked in the first few weeks of his premiership because of the terror, FM etc crises. He was praised for his handling but frankly, any other PM would have responded in the same way which, in effect, was to let the authorities get on and deal with the issues at hand.

But the election that never was was a turning point. It has been downhill ever since, and given that Labour were already down hill, that was quite an achievement.

Put yourself in the position of those Labour members who believed replacing Blair with Brown would solve all their problems. How depressed must they feel now?

I don't count on opponents to self destruct. They normally step back just in time from the precipice. But a party that has been in power for a long time under a dominant leader may be prone to internal ructions once the dominant leader had left the scene. That happened to the Tories after Thatcher left. Is the same happening to Labour now that Blair has gone? May be too early to say but all the symptoms are there.

The Tories managed to hold together long enough after Thatcher left to win (but only just) the 1992 election. There is a slightly different feel now with Labour. They seem to have gone along the same track much more quickly. After less than a year in office, the talk is very much about getting rid of Brown. We have seen the distraction caused in the Lib Dems when the agenda is dominated, rightly or wrongly, by questions about the leadership of the party. The Tories had it with Duncan Smith as well.

Too early to say whether Brown will be dumped and as he is the occupant of Downing St, and there is no obvious successor, removing him will not be easy for Labour. Time will tell how events turn out, but what is currently happening is clearly not what Labour had in mind when they knifed Blair.

I wrote this for my private diary but thought I would share it now.

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Labour MP resigns as PPS over 10p rate (having voted for it)

Angela Smith, Labour MP for Sheffield Hillsborough has announced she is to resign as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Yvette Cooper over the scrapping of the 10p income tax starter rate. At last, a Labour MP who is standing by her principles!

Good for you Angela!

But hold on just a minute. Weren't you the same Angela Smith MP who voted for the budget resolutions last month that introduced the actual change? Oh dear, I do believe you are.

But perhaps that was all a big mistake, and she voted for the loss of the 10p rate without noticing it! An easy mistake for a Labour MP to make!

Perhaps she was just too busy as the sidekick of a high flying minister. Perhaps she was engrossed in the policies put forward by that minister to pay much attention to Treasury issues. So, let's see, PPS to Yvette Cooper, Chief Secretary to the ... errr, well the Treasury actually.

So, she was part of the ministerial team that implemented this change and then she voted for it. Now she's resigned from her unpaid position as PPS because she is opposing the tax increase she herself has just voted for.

In a sense you have to credit Labour MPs with their ability to turn sanctimonious hypocrisy into an art form.

Editorial conferences in Sainsburys

I left Cowley St tonight at 9pm and headed up to Victoria Street. For most of the route I was on the phone to Jane Smithard, chair of the editorial board of Parliamentary Campaigner, as we decided the issues to be included in the next edition. I was still on the phone as I wandered around Sainsburys trying to find something for dinner that was vaguely vegan. So between discussions on the failure of Gordon Brown, the impact of the loss of the 10p income tax rate and the closure of post offices, we also had a discussion about the contents of by shopping basket. In the end, I didn't take Jane's advice to go for an American Hot pizza (cheese topping falls at the no-diary-products-through-the-week hurdle) but ended up with two bagels, some potatos and a box of eggs (not vegan but less damaging to produce than milk products). The phone conversation ended by the time I got to the cash till. I had eaten one of the bagels by the time I got to Victoria and the other one before I got on the train.

At least however the change in my diet is having a positive effect. I have lost a small amount of weight. Well, okay, a tiny slither and my belt is still feeling the strain, just a tiny bit less than a few weeks ago! As for my carbon footprint, hopefully that is pinching a bit as well.

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Popping pills or a balanced diet?

There was an article on GMTV this morning pointing out that people taking vitamin pills may actually be shortening their life rather than prolonging it. Vitamin pills always strike me as being a bizarre way to keep healthy. Why not try a balanced, healthy diet with fresh fruit and vegetables? So much easier and sensible. And by the looks of it, it will prolong your life, unlike vitamin pills. What a world we live in when people compensate for a poor diet by eating something that makes the diet and lifestyle worse!

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The monday morning blog: shock as National Express hasn't cancelled my train (and other things)

Well, here I am sitting on the train at Newcastle Central, waiting to head for London. And amazingly, my train hasn't been cancelled! So no gripe (yet) about National Express.

So how was your weekend? Seemed like a typical election weekend for me: writing, printing and delivering Focuses, and still no sign at all of any activity whatsoever from Labour or Tories in my own ward. The Tories are too dead in the water here to get anything out in my ward. Labour will try and get one leaflet out, if last year is anything to go by. It looks likely to be a joint leaflet with the two neighbouring ward (all Lib Dem held) - we have had copies from my mother's ward (she is up for election in Whickham North). The only mention of the three Labour candidates in the leaflet is a reference to them as the "editors". The rest of it is about a former Labour candidate who stood 5 times in the Whickham wards in recent years (and lost badly each time). Three of them saw his vote go into serious decline. He has since gone off elsewhere to get elected. The fact that Labour's leaflet is about a former candidate who was a flop and a failure says a great deal about the state of the Labour party on my home patch.


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Proud to be...a political traveller

Councillor Ian Proud of Newcastle City Council, has, shall we say, a colourful history. He started off many years ago as a Labour councillor. Then he defected to the Lib Dems. Not content there, he decided to return to the Labour fold, though by then, Labour's ranks on the City Council were somewhat depleted. But Labour's welcome did not last long. Mumbling of discontent about his performance meant Cllr Proud took up only a short term tenancy in the Labour Party. Rumours have it that an attempt to switch back to the Lib Dems would not have succeeded and so, Cllr Proud went Independent (that's all the rage at the moment across the border in Northumberland).

Now, Cllr Proud has defected again. This time he has appeared in UKIP. He is due for re-election in May and is standing under his new colours. Do not expect a UKIP breakthrough in Newcastle!

Bets however are being taken as to where Mr Proud will turn up next.....

Those two Labour hypocrites at it again

David Anderson and David Clelland, endured by Gateshead as two of the Labour MPs for the borough, are at it again. They have just put in new entries for the Westminster Hypocrite of the Year Awards 2008. Both have put in the same entry, demanding a "rethink" on the doubling of the 10p income tax starter rate.

This duo of Tweedledumb and Tweedledumber voted for this very same tax rise just 3 weeks ago. Mr Anderson even signed two Parliamentary motions expressing concern about the impact of the change, before he voted for the change he so heavily criticises. So at least he was fully aware of what he was voting for.

Both have had a year to "rethink" the change and persuade the government to abandon it. I don't know whether either is capable of "thinking" or "rethinking" an issue of this nature but it does strike me as odd that they demand a rethink from their own beloved government after they have helped that very same government get through the measure they now want rethought, and having done so in the full knowledge of the impact. Makes you think, doesn't it!?

The gang of four becomes the gang of five

I blogged yesterday about the Gang of Four high ranking Labour councillors who have failed to get selected for the new Northumberland county council. The Four had decided to stand as independents. Well, I got the figures wrong. My apologies to Bill Garrett, Labour councillor in Prudhoe for the past 34 years. Seems as though I missed him off the list of those who have put their Labour membership cards through the shredder to stand as independents. So now there are five in the gang.

Cllr Garrett is standing against Tony Reid, current Labour deputy leader of Northumberland. Cllr Garrett is a rather long standing Labour member. He is also a member of the same family at Ted Garrett who was, for many years, Labour MP for Wallsend, until Steven Byers came along.

What a mess!

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And now the Conservatives implode in Northumberland

Anything you can do, we can do better. That seems to be the new catchphrase for the Tories in Northumberland as they attempt to outdo Labour in losing councillors, bloodletting and general mayhem. I blogged earlier about the Labour meltdown in the county as the knives came to save local government careers from disappearing down a plughole, caused by the abolition of the district councils. Well, the Tories are catching up in the chaos stakes.

Step forward Tory Councillors Alex Kerr, Bill Purdue and Ray Thompson from Tynedale. I say Tory. Actually I mean ex Tory as of the close of nominations. They are standing against official Tories for the new unitary Northumberland county council. Somehow, they didn't get the nominations from their mates down at the Conservative club. So this mini army of defecting Tory councillors joins Tynedale Tory Leader on the political battlefield as independents (see my earlier blog about the decision of Tory Leader of Tynedale Council to go independent).

What a mess! I bet the Tories aren't so in favour of spectator bloodsports now!

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Tory Council leader resigns and goes independent

It seems as though it isn't just the Labour party who are making a hash of the local elections for the new, all powerful Northumberland unitary council. I am pleased to bring you news of a big falling out in Tory ranks on Tynedale Council, one of the authorities about to be axed under Labour's abolition of local government policy.

Michael Walton, leader of the Conservatives on Conservative controlled Tynedale, has gone independent. “I just want the chance to represent my people," he told the local newspaper. (Presumably his people no longer includes Conservative people!)

Councillor Walton will have an official Conservative standing against him in the elections on 1st May.

More news of the self destructive tendencies of the Con Labs in Northumberland to follow shortly......

Labour implodes in Northumberland

Let’s face it, it was always going to be a bloodbath for Labour in Northumberland. I guess the Labour party bosses probably thought the best way to get rid of all their crusty old Labour dinosaurs in local government in the North East was to abolish their councils. It’s the sort of democracy that appeals to New Labour.

Northumberland is undergoing a massive reorganisations. Facing the chop are 6 district councils, all of which have lost out to Northumberland County Council which has successfully launched a hostile takeover bid. The County is Labour controlled but due to the reorganisation, it is having to hold elections a year early.

So the area is going from having over 300 councillors (mainly Labour) to 67. Labour knives have been out big style as the residents of the Labour Jurassic Park go head to head for what few seats are available.

An additional bomb that has detonated within the Labour party has been the introduction of all women shortlists. Some senior councillors have been handbagged by the lack of the appropriate genetalia.

So victims of Labour’s self-imposed downsizing include Bill Ashbridge, councillor for 25 years and former chair of social services; David Montgomery, chairman of the Blyth Valley area committee; Ivan Hayes, member of the council executive and Paul Kelly, former Labour group whip.

In an attempt to continue enjoying life on the council, this “Gang of Four” have decided to go independent and are standing against official Labour candidates.

“The Labour Party has abandoned me. I have been forced to go Independent because the people in my division deserve better than having an inexperienced and unknowledgeable candidate,” said Councillor Kelly. His Labour opponent is Mary Pidcock, a councillor on soon-to-disappear Blyth Valley Council. She lives only 23 miles from the ward she hopes to represent on the county.

Apparently, Labour have a big shindig planned for County Hall in Morpeth, paid for from a fund all Labour group members have paid into (we use our money to pay for Focus leaflets). It’s a big bash to say goodbye. The Gang of Four alas were not welcome and were politely advised to stay away.

As one anonymous Labour member said, “none of us expects the so-called Gang of Four to attend the party. They have turned their backs on the Labour Party for personal gain and I’m sure some people would walk out tomorrow night if they turned up.”

Quite how the 4 indies would be greeted were they to turn up would probably be too shocking to write about on even this blog!

So with the blood sport season having started early, watch out for a difficult day for Labour on 1st May in Northumberland.

I feel like I've run a 4 minute mile!

You know what it's like, sitting in Cowley St and writing a focus leaflet. Having sifted through the planning applications for some column fillers, I spot it is 8pm. I need to catch the 8.35pm train at Victoria. But there's still time to finish typesetting the Focus.

But time flies and suddenly you notice it is 8.20. Finishing touches are quickly added to the Focus and it is emailed to Gateshead. I have 10 minutes to run from Cowley St through the pedestrians and traffic to Victoria. I managed it in seven! I managed to catch the train. Now I am knackered! Feels like I've run a 4 minute mile!

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Tory candidate quits to spend more time with his kitchen

If you can't stand the heat - get into the kitchen! That, at least, seems to be the way one Tory candidate in Newcastle has rewritten that old proverb. Brian Moore, Tory candidate for Gosforth East, one of the very, very, very few Newcastle wards where the Conservatives stand a chance of more than one in a million of winning (generous estimates put their chances at about 2 in a million), has packed up his election lunch box and quit as a candidate.

The call of the kitchen was just too great. Mr Moore is to star in a Channel 4 cookery programme called "Come Dine With Me", in which 4 contestants each have to cook a meal and host a dinner party for the other 3. It sounds like Big Brother with cake.

Alas, poor Mr Moore's career as an aspiring celebrity chef has crashed headlong into his barely existent political career. Makers of the programme want to transmit this culinary delight on 17th April, right in the middle of the election campaign. This slight problem with Representation of the People Act could have seen the programme laid to rest on the chopping board of Channel 4, especially since Mr Moore used the programme to say what he would do if he were to be mayor of Newcastle (he probably wouldn't have much to do as most people would probably evacuate the city in a state of shock were Mr Moore to reach such giddy heights - still, there's all those mayoral receptions he could cater for!)

So, Mr Moore kindly gave up the role of candidate to keep on the role of cook so the programme is going ahead.

Each contestant has to rate the others and my spies in Newcastle tell me that a large number of Lib Dem campaigners have their videos already set to record at 8pm on 17th April to see how Mr Moore can take unadulterated criticism from his cookery competitors.

Mr Moore is rather well known amongst Newcastle Lib Dems. For a few years in the 1990s he was a Lib Dem councillor. He quit the council and shortly afterwards in a downwardly mobile career move, he defected to the Conservatives. The final collapse of the Conservatives in Newcastle seemed to coincide with Mr Moore's arrival amongst their depleted ranks.

Quite what Mr Moore cooks up is a closely guarded secret. Rumours however are circulating that 'Ego Surprise Pudding' has caused a certain amount of indigestion with competitors.

Mr Moore claims in our regional newspaper, Evening Chronicle, that "he was confident he could win" in East Gosforth, despite the towering Lib Dem majority there. This perhaps gives a clue as to what he has cooked up for his competitors. Apparently grilled pig wings are quite a delicacy.....

Councillor defects to Lib Dems

News just arrived from Derwentside in Co Durham. Bob Cook, Independent Councillor for Burnopfield has joined the Liberal Democrats. Derwentside Council is being scrapped next year and elections are now taking place to the new, unitary Durham County Council. Bob is standing as a Lib Dem in the ward on the county.

Though I am in Gateshead, Bob's Burnopfield ward borders Whickham South and Sunniside, which I represent.

Tory collapse continues

The Conservatives nationally made great play of the fact they came to Gateshead to hold their spring conference in March. We were told this was a clear indication of Conservative revival on Tyneside and a commitment to making sure the party of Mr Cameron is back on the political radar screens of North East voters.

This upbeat message flowed out of an interview Cameron did with our regional paper, the Evening Chronicle, on 14th March: "He [Cameron] refused to make any forecasts about the party’s election prospects, but said it is making progress in Sunderland and North Tyneside and should be winning seats in Newcastle and Gateshead, both Tory-free zones."

The last time the Conservatives won a seat in Gateshead was in 1992 when they held Low Fell ward. This final Tory seat went Lib Dem in 1996 (the Lib Dems had already won the other 2 seats in the ward).

So a come back for the Cameroonies in Gateshead should start in Low Fell. It seems that the Conservatives have overlooked one small problem: without a candidate for people to vote for, recovery can prove rather challenging!

Low Fell has a double vacancy. Charles Jevon, our councillor in Low Fell for the past 14 years, is retiring. Frank Hindle, who first won the seat in 1991, is due for re-election and is standing again. So two seats....but only one Tory candidate.

Not exactly evidence of a Tory recovery! My prediction: after 1st May there will still be no Tory Councillors in Gateshead or Newcastle.

The Monday Morning Blog - believe it when it arrives

It's Monday morning and as you would expect, I am at Newcastle Station waiting for the train to London. The past three weeks have seen my train cancelled. All looks okay at the moment but I did say that in my post last week only to find my train was cancelled as it arrived in the station. So I will believe my train has arrived when it gets here, I'm on it and we are leaving the station.

With snow having fallen, train companies do have an off-the-shelf excuse for delays and cancellations. But it is only a light sprinkling up here on Tyneside for a snow storm, a rather disappointing and half hearted attempt at a late winter. Mind you, it was useful that what snow did fall came down after Saturday afternoon - for that was when I was out delivering focus leaflets. We had a meeting last night in my house and found that others had not been so fortunate with their delivery timing.

Breaking news: my train has arrived, I am on board, we are leaving. It's a miracle!

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Last year's Labour candidate in my ward gives up

In my 21 years as a councillor for Whickham South and Sunniside in Gateshead, I have seen the Conservatives completely collapse here (I gained by seat from the Conservatives in 1987). And no serious campaign has ever been run by the Labour party in that time to try to win here.

Last year, as is usual, the Conservatives put out no leaflets at all. Labour managed one leaflet, and nothing more. Previous years, they had managed more than that.

Labour's candidate from the past three elections appears now to have given up, though I am not surprised. I did predict it in previous blog posts. Last year, Labour had an interesting head banging episode after they published a leaflet in my ward in the run up to the election-that-never-was which simply made up stories about the Lib Dems. Bizarrely it also laid into the local post office.

The name of the Labour candidate was all over the leaflet as editor. The problem for him was that he had had no involvement whatsoever in putting it together. He wrote back to tell me as much after we wrote to him. We heard on the grapevine that the person who had put the leaflet together received a visit from someone connected with the local Labour party who was, (we'll put it politely) distinctly unimpressed by the content of the leaflet and the use of other people's names without their permission! The real editor was (we'll put it politely) suitably chastised.

Seems as though the candidate and non-editor of the leaflet, having been asked publicly to withdraw the (we'll put it politely) inaccurate and misleading claims made in his name (we politely asked him to do this by post and for good measure printed the fact we had done this on 4,000 Focus leaflets), has now made way for someone else to lead the Labour charge into my ward.

As for the real author of the leaflet that caused the bust up within Labour last year, I must thank this person for the entertainment value provided and for helping to assist (albeit unintentionally) the cause of the Liberal Democrats from within the Labour party! May we have more like this person!!

Get Focus delivered in time for Dr Who

I'm not sure what happened to the snow predicted for today but other than some rather very short lived feeble attempts to shower us with the odd flake, the adverse weather conditions have not shown up. So I headed off to a couple of our target wards this morning and took the photos for the next Focus for Teams area.

I made the error whilst in our office early this afternoon of offering to deliver two patches in one of our target wards. 400 of the Focuses I had put together through the week and had just helped to print were handed over to me, along with delivery lists. Since I wanted a break from leaflets, I called home first for some lunch and ended up watching a Columbo film on one of those film channels for which I seem to pay an excessive sum of money. The result was I only got out to deliver the two patches I had to do at 4pm. This was a dangerously narrow window of delivery opportunity given that Dr Who started at 6.20pm.

So I rushed round the two patches with the 400 leaflets I had and got interrupted by one phone call from Peter Maughan, our Blaydon candidate, who wanted a story in a Focus leaflet about Xmas lights being refused by the council for one of the villages in the west of Gateshead and by a text from David reminding me that Dr Who was starting.

When trying to deliver in a hurry, it is interesting to note that garden gates always seem to be of factory gate proportions and letter boxes always feel that bit more difficult to get the Focus through. Nevertheless, I got back to the house, all leaflets delivered, with 2 minutes to spare. Life would not have been worth living had I missed the start of Dr Who!

Snow go tomorrow

Today weatherwise has been pleasant. Warm temperatures and the odd bit of enjoyable sun. Tomorrow however it is all expected to change. Snow is on the way. I'm doing photos tomorrow morning. Hopefully the snow will hold off for that. Tomorrow afternoon, I am helping to deliver the leaflet for which we are taking the photos tomorrow morning. Snow and leafletting do not mix well. The annoying thing is that earlier this week, I put my coat away for the summer. I didn't think to bring it to Cowley St today. And since I am on the train now to Newcastle from London, I am not exactly in a position to go back and get it. I will have to dig out an old one when I get home. Or borrow one of David's.
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PMQs - verdict on Harman: make her into kindling

Okay, maybe at times I am a bit biased against LabCons but even the most devoted of Harman admirers must be sharpening their knives after her atrociously bad performance at Prime Minister's Questions today. No wonder she needs to go around with a knife proof shirt on.

She was so wooden and scripted she made Brown look and sound positively glamorous. She didn't even try to hide the fact she was reading prepared answers to prepared questions from the ranks of Labour's backbenchers.

Vince and Hague smashed her to pieces. She's good for nothing other than kindling. Think of all that dosh that was poured into the Labour deputy leadership campaign and this is what they got. Money certainly didn't buy quality for the Labour Party!

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Seeing my garden for the first time in 6 months

It was a strange feeling, leaving Cowley St last night when it was still daylight. A combination of the clocks going forward an hour and leaving before 7pm for the first time in ages (I was feeling knackered so left early to have an early night.)

So I got to see my London back garden for the first time in about 6 months last night. I am at home in Gateshead over the weekends and on my days off so in the winter, I just don't get to see the garden. (It will be a few weeks before I see it again as leaving Cowley St so early is something of an unusual occurrence!)

Mind you, what I saw didn't look too bad. Trouble is, leave it a few weeks and it will be a jungle!

I spoke too early about my train

My train was cancelled after all! The problem was I only found this out when the train I was supposed to be on actually turned up. I got on board and then it was announced this was the later train to London. There has been a "set swap" which appears to suggest that the train I am on is supposed to be the one I booked on. The "set swap" means that the seat reservations are no longer valid. I had to find the train guard to find out what had happened and what to do about tickets. It would have been nice if we had been told all this before we got onto the train instead of finding out our train had been cancelled after getting on board. So, three weeks in a row my train has been cancelled. Please bring back GNER. National Express appear unable to organise a piss up in a brewery. I wouldn't put them in charge of a model train set.

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Monday morning blog - the anonymous bar of chocolate

When we got back from Worksop yesterday, we found the usual array of newspapers and letters through the door. But also put through the door was a bar of organic chocolate. No explanation as to who it is from or why we have been given it. I am intrigued. If anyone can throw some light on this kind act of generosity, please get in touch!

It being Monday morning, I am of course now at Newcastle Central Station, waiting for my train. The fact it hasn't been cancelled must be regarded as something of a minor miracle!

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The BNP have moved Big Ben

One of my colleagues on Gateshead Council got his hands on a copy today of a glossy mailing posted out by the BNP to people who, it can only be summised, were regarded by the BNP as supporters. Complete with begging letter was a magazine, issue 1 of "Hope and Glory".

When I looked at it, something did not appear to be quite right on the front page which was filled by a hugh picture of the Houses of Parliament. And then it struck me, Big Ben had been moved and airbrushed into a different place. For some reason it is now where the St Stephen's entrance is.

Quite why the BNP should wish to redesign one of our great British buildings in this way is not clear.

Thumbing through the pages reveals no surprises. The usual BNP rants about foreigners, asylum seekers and immigrants. And an awful lot about Nick Griffin, the BNP chairman. The sheer weight of promotion of the chairman would almost suggest that he had been having difficulties within his party recently!

The back page is devoted to BNP must-have mercandise from "Excalibur". Indeed, Chairman Nick in one of his articles writes, "A big restocking is now under way at Excalibur, which aims to provide a much bigger selection of attractive gifts showcasing our wonderful Celtic, Anglo-Saxon and Norse heritage..."

Mmmmm, now let me just consider this a moment...... I seem to recall from my study of history that the Anglo-Saxons and Norsemen (better known as the Vikings) were all immigrants who forcibly made their way into Britannia. Interesting to know that BNP are exhibiting a significant degree of inconsistency on immigration!

Or perhaps this is all a bluff to make the great British public think the BNP actually like immigration and that the nation can benefit from the movement of people to our shores who can bring skills and new cultures. Or perhaps the BNP has a secret policy to remove all immigrants and their descendents. Quite where all the Anglo-Saxons and Norsemen (and women) will go is not clear!

What a small world

I turn up at a place I have never been to before, Worksop, to the 50th birthday of someone I have not met before, in a room where the only person I know is David, and one of the first people I speak to is a Lib Dem councillor! Cllr Lindsley from Buckinghamshire County Council is mother of Louise Bloom, whose partner is Keith House who I do know. (Keith is Leader of Eastleigh and big knob in Chris Huhne's constituency.) What a small world!

It is now that time in the evening when the disco is playing the hits of the 60s. Groovy man!

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Challenging Labour MP to public debate

Dave Anderson, Labour MP for Blaydon, the constituency in which my ward is located on Tyneside, voted with the government last week to continue closing post offices. Mr Anderson has signed reams of early day motions protesting about the impact of government policy on post offices, EDMs that have highlighted the importance of post offices to communities.

Mr Anderson was selected on a platform of hostility to New Labour in 2004 when he was chosen by the union dominated Labour machine as their candidate for Blaydon. But since his election in 2005 he has willingly taken on the role of New Labour bag carrier and apologist for the government. Okay, a few times he loves to whinge, whine and blubber about how dreadful is the government. But you can count on the fingers of no hands at all the number of times he has actually made a genuine attempt to stop the government doing something he claims to be against by voting against the government. In other words, this MP, despite his posturing, has never once voted against the government.

The guy who postured that he would be his own guy and hold the government to account turns out not to be his own guy after all.

So it is time to hold him to account. Peter Maughan, our Blaydon candidate, has challenged him to a public debate in front of his constituents about the future of Post Offices. It is time for him to explain to people here why he says one thing and does another.

The chances are he will bottle out of taking up the challenge. So come on David, prove me wrong. Come along and tell your constituents why you have voted to close their post offices.

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Off to Worksop in the rain

We have just left the house and are heading to Worksop in the pouring rain. And for what reason I hear you not ask? It is a 50th birthday celebration. Not mine! That is still many, many years away (well actually not that many actually!) The person in question is called Alison and was a student with David some decades ago at Newcastle Poly, since reborn as Northumbria University.

I am heading there armed with camera. Talking of which, I went to the Friends of Whickham Library Garden meeting this morning where members asked me to take photos of the garden to use in promotional material. And afterwards I went to the Whickham Community Fayre and took more photos, including of the (Labour) mayor opening it. I have a new photo printer so I think to test it I will run off a couple of pics of the mayor. Sorry to use you as a guinea pig Mr Mayor but needs must! You will of course be able to keep the prints.

Anyway, I will be reporting live from Worksop sometime soon. Bet you can't wait (not)!

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Fascinating things to do on a train

I am currently on the train heading home though it was very nearly a minor miracle that I caught the train. My tube got stuck for ages at Oxford Circus, then at Warren St, and then between Euston and KX. But fortunately I caught the train with a minute or two to spare. I am currently watching one of those David Attenborough programmes about life in very odd places - this one is about life in caves. It is playing on the laptop of the person sitting in front of me. I can see the screen over her shoulder. Very interesting!

It reminds me that I have booked my next foreign venture for the purpose of shooting video and taking photos later this year. Heading off to Thailand and Jordan. Watch out for some new additions to my YouTube channel in the months to come!

To offset the carbon, I have 12 sycamore seedlings sprouting in pots in the garden in London which have so far survived the squirrels. I have some acorns etc at the house in Sunniside ready to plant as well.

That Attenborough programme has now finished and the laptop owner is now using it to play chess. I think it is time to catch up on some lost sleep from Wednesday. Update on Richard: he is taking painkillers and won't let me put the photo I took of him at the hospital with his black eye on the blog!

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A black eye and a sore head

Following on from my previous blog written in the hospital, I can now report that Richard's re-enactment of Casualty resulted in a seriously bad black eye and a lump on the head. This was followed by a 4am discharge from hospital.

Having failed to catch up on lost sleep I am now heading in to Cowley St where no doubt I will be working even later than normal tonight.

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Sitting in the hospital A&E

I got a call at midnight. A friend had fallen and bashed his head. So I had to get a taxi over to Lewisham Hospital. He of course is unconscious and I am currently surrounded by machines going ping with lots of cables dangling from them. Human bodies are now like electrical appliances. They can just be plugged in to be recharged or kept ticking over. The doctor says he will be okay. I think I will try to have a snooze for a while.
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On a tropical island far far away

In December I visited an island called Anjouan which I reckon must be the remotest part of the planet I have so far visited. Tucked away in the Indian Ocean, it has only 2,000 visitors a year.

Anjouan is part of the Comorro Islands which were granted independence from France in 1975 (one island, Mayotte, which I also visited, decided to stay French). Since independence, the Comorros have experienced 19 coups and attempted coups. There was talk of one when we were sailing to Anjouan, though at that point it didn't happen.

However, for the past few weeks, Anjouan has been under the control of a rebel leader. The other islands in the group however have launched an invasion, backed by Tanzanian troops. The rebellion has now been crushed.

This has barely been reported in the UK media but I know about it because over the weekend I was contacted by an American media company who wanted to use my videos I shot when I was on the island. At that point it wasn't a war zone, just a tropical paradise.

So here are the videos:
A visit to Anjouan
A welcome in Anjouan
Dolphins in Anjouan

Whickham School update

Latest news: whilst the school is open for teaching, problems have been found with the power supplies to the smaller blocks. As a result, years 7 and 8 are not required to attend school for the rest of this week.
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My weekly gripe about National Express

I got to Newcastle Central at 7am to catch the 7.20am train to London and for the second week running, my train has been cancelled. Last week's excuse was that the train had broken down. This week's is they "don't have a set". I know what they don't have - an ability to run a bloody train service. It seems barking mad to let a company run train services when they can't even lay their hands on some trains.

There will of course be a race to get the only spare seats on the next train. Bring back GNER, all is forgiven.

To keep warm on the otherwise frozen platform at Newcastle Central, I have invaded the Pumpkin cafe and am heating myself up on a cappaccino. The battle for the train seats starts soon so I might as well be in a good state for it.

Oh well, once more untoo the breach...
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