Mandelson - Yesterday's Man

He has been brought down by dodgy mortgages, lies and sleaze yet managed to bounce back, but there is finally a weapon to bring Lord Mandelson down for good.

It's called Google.

TB couldn't work out why the hell Mandelson thought he could get away

with his dig at Nick Robinson

this morning. He tried to embarrass the BBC's Political Editor but this backfired spectacularly when within ten minutes Robinson came back on air to quote Hansard at Mandy leaving him utterly humiliated. Mandelson can't have realised Robinson would be able to do this that quickly and get back to him by the end of the interview slot.

This aside, Mandy's performance on Today was vintage. He dominated, didn't answer a single question and even managed to discuss Labour cuts without saying the C word. However he is clearly living in the past. There was a time when Mandelson and Campbell had the press by the balls and were able to spout lies and not strictly accurate one liners, knowing full well that if the hacks wanted to keep their access they wouldn't question it.

All very Tucker.

However those days are gone and it seems Mandelson hasn't yet knelt at the alter of Google. He hasn't yet realised that his bullshit will be called out instantly. People have information at their fingertips and are not afraid to use it. Mandelson isn't stupid. He knows full well that the Labour investment/Tory cuts line was tried and it failed, so his blatant attempt at rewriting history was not from memory lapse.

His game is up.

The Right to Bear Arms

Tom Harris MP

isn't too keen

on the idea of Americanising British politics. His ever vigilant right of centre commenters have jumped on this with an Monday morning

history lesson

. As ever these sort of arguments can be cleared up with a clip from Family Guy:



Nah just kidding, they were way sounder than that.

Back away from TB's paws though.

Three Words Cameron Must Say to the Unions

TB tends to let PT's

cartoons

speak for themselves, but this one hit a nerve. It has become clear that the TUC

have met

with Cameron twice in as many months. At their conference this weekend they have been spreading lies and fear in order to try get Brown to dance to their tune. Not only have these anti-democratic bully boys issued veiled threats to Labour about cutting funding, they have also, rather desperately,

threatened

a future Conservative government with the prospect of riots and organised civil disobedience. They can destroy Labour at the purse strings but they have nothing on the blues.

Britain has moved on from the days when it was strangled by the tyranny of the minority. The unions no longer have power over the government. If they want to resort to violence, let them. Retribution must be swift and quick. Zero tolerance.

The Conservatives have fought and won against the unions before over government spending and we will win again. They cannot be allowed to once again gain credibility and power over government decisions on the back of threats. Cameron must have three simple words for them...

Bring it on.

National Cupcake Week

"Cupcakes are a decadent, affordable, small piece of luxury, offering instant gratification in these dark and depressing times."

According to

The Independent

, the cup-cake industy is now worth £7.3 million. They are very much in vogue. Mummy Bear has been saying it was going to happen for years:

There was only one way to celebrate the first day of National Cupcake Week tomorrow.

"Hell hath no fury like a taxpayer ignored"

When

"two million"

people march on Washington, you would expect there to be some decent coverage around the world about it. While that estimation might be a little high, this was a real protest, borne out of anger and frustration not some nonsense lefty coalition of union idiots provided with placards masquerading as individuals:

"The demonstrators numbered well into the tens of thousands, though the police declined to provide an estimate of the size of the crowd. Many of the participants came on their own and weren't part of an organization or group. The magnitude of the rally took the authorities by surprise, with throngs of people streaming from the White House to Capitol Hill for more than three hours."

Predictably there is practically nothing from the British press about this, who despite being humiliated and mocked by Obama, remain mute as his administration's authority collapses before their eyes.



As you can see from this video the President's opponents and

some of the speakers

at the Washington protest have articulated and honed their message in the last few months. The chaos that the Republicans are in has given rise and prominence to the grassroots of the conservative movement instead. Their lines are most definitely applicable over here as well:

"You will not spend the money of our children and our grandchildren to feed an overstuffed government," Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.) said of the Obama administration, drawing raucous applause. "Our history is decorated by those who endured the burden of defending freedom," Price said. "Now a new generation of patriots has emerged. You are those patriots."

The TUC are threatening

that there will be riots in the streets if government spending is cut here. TB isn't so sure.

At this rate it will be the other way round.

It was the Bear wot won it.

He's never one to blow his own trumpet too often, but TB did have to chuckle at this email he got from a Liberal Youth mole:

"This is a victory for people power - and TB's blog. By showing how messy these things can be in public, we've forced Elaine to give the members their forum back."

That's right, Liberal Youth Chairman Elaine Bagshaw is on the back foot and in full retreat. She has restored the Liberal Youth forums after her once loyal membership decided to show her just how unpleasant it could be to air their laundry in public. The number of people still giving their full backing is now minuscule. Even ultra-loyal Edwin Loo - London LY hack and devoted Bagshaw follower during her re-election has

broken cover

:

"Just to add to the controversy (I do love a good bitch-up)..If Elaine stands again I might just have to try and get her sectioned to save the party from another year of underwhelming crap. Same goes for Sara Scarlett although I'm quite sure she's having too much fun destroying everything from PPC's to Party Policies in her blue frock to take heed....

This pathetic navel-gazing is going to be the downfall of Liberal Youth. Most of the main party (Councillors, some legislators who will remain unnamed) agree off the record that this 'youth movement' has managed to degenerate into a useless, bureaucratic quagmire."

Ouch, well the forums are back so TB is expecting most of the dead-duck party bitching to return back there, but fear not yellow chums...

He'll be watching.

Quote of the Day:

So many gems from

Fraser Nelson's column

in the News of the World this week, but these ones really stuck out:

"It seems crazy apologising for the way gay computer pioneer Alan Turing was treated in 1954 — when Gordo was three years old. Our PM was 49 when he sold the nation’s gold reserves for $275 an ounce. It passed $1,000 last week. Where’s our apology for that?"

"Voting Tory, he will say, will “risk the recovery”. Britain is crawling out of recession, but it might not do if the Tories make lots of cuts. Brown will say that his “stimulus” (ie borrowing binge) will save us. And that if the Tories get in, then the rollercoaster lurches down again. Economists have a word for this theory — junk. Completely made up. There is not a shred of economic analysis behind it."

"It’s an act of vandalism — on the prospects for future generations. All because a PM could not bring himself to cut spending now. This is the real insanity. Throwing mobile phones around the room is the least of it."

Read the whole thing

here

. Talking of Turing, Brown has answered the fourth most popular petition on the No10 web...

Time to address the first?

Hermione H-C reports from the ECR meeting in Prague:

How did we ever live without the internet? It's sort of like that skirt I bought in Jack Wills in June: I can't fathom how I survived last summer without it, now that it's here. Anyway, like most good things, you don't appreciate it until it's gone. This week I have had a forced sojourn from the net – no facebook, no popbitch, no horoscopes... frankly, it's a good thing that Prague is a pretty little town; gave me something to look at when we weren't 'in session'. I would have used the laptops provided by the Parliament, but our Group Sec kept glaring at me every time I strayed from checking my office emails. I maintain it's Parliamentary business to look up tips for walking on those cobbled streets in five inch heels – as they said in the marketing lecture, we need to present an attractive image to the public at all times. Can a girl not get any sympathy here?

Anyhow, the Study Day sessions themselves were a resounding success – the group, you will be pleased to hear, is fully united. We are all very much in agreement that what we need is to be forward thinking. Different. That we need to actively expand, and to become THE voice of the centre right in Europe. We're going to fight the eurocrats on one flank, and push forward a new, common sense agenda on the other. Hurrah! Can't wait! All we need to do now is figure out how, but I'm sure that won't present any problems. The future's bright – the future's...uh... do we have a colour yet?

Spotted: Ford walking away from Helmer – he saying “I can show you numerous studies – there is no climate consensus!”, she saying “I don't want to hear it, Roger!” So possibly not 100% united on all issues quite yet.

Actually, Prague really is stunning. I was under the impression that all these ex-Communist countries were rife with 1960s style concrete blocks, but apparently the Czechs have been very busy for the last two decades. I was delighted to discover, for example, that Starbucks is pretty big here; haven't had a macciato since I was last on the Kings Road. Pointed out to my old school chum Fi that if the Communists had had their way, all these people would still be drinking bad coffee grown in Siberia or similar, and wearing clothing made by babuskas on the banks of the Volga. She scoffed and told me that Starbucks was the scourge of the devil. I do wish she'd get past her socialism phase – these things are fine when one's 15, but sooner or later you really do need to get over it.

Arrived back late last night to discover something of a furore developing: apparently the Greens want to boycott the Presidential vote in Straz next week. Something to do with not wanting to vote on the President until Lisbon has been decided by the Irish, because at that point the powers available to the President will be different to those he hold now. It's an interesting point, although the Greens do appear to think they run Parliament at the moment. Will let you know how it pans out in next week's session...

Read more from Hermione H-C

here

.

Tom Watson buying friends?

TB was perusing Facebook, when who should pop up? Yes none other than former

Minister for Digital Engagement

Tom Watson. His latest "digital engagement" seems to be attempting to buy friends on Facebook through paid advertising. How the mighty fall.

Support this poor lonely man by becoming his mate

here

. It says a lot about the extent of Labour's social networking skills when the man apparently leading the way, with his semi successful

blog

and

twitter following

, should have to resort to paying for supporters.

Which raises the question... how much did you spend Tom and where did the money come from?

Is Simon Lewis up to the job?

The Guardian

is reporting the chaos surrounding No10 communications and the lies they pumped out about a phone call between Obama and Gordon. Essentially the spin put out in the evening was directly contradicted by Simon Lewis - head spinner, and brother of the Telegraph editor Will, the next morning. What is possibly the cruelest thing a journo could suggest about No10 spokesman?

"It sounds pernickety, it might even sound rough – but unless Lewis insists on being in on those conversations with Obama and Brown, he's not in the loop."

Ouch! Malcolm Tucker would have replied with "I am the fucking loop"...

...but it seems Mr Lewis is no Malcolm Tucker.

Quote of the Day - Ed Vaizey

It seems Ed Vaizey is still rather chuffed with his poll posistion in TB's sexy politican list. According to this month's Tatler:

"I'm not a great one for winning awards... so you can imagine how chuffed I was to be voted Britain's sexiest male politician by, um, a website called Tory Bear. Now the word 'bear' has many connotations, but I am assured the list was compiled by a woman. It's a site for 'young people' so I assume Bear means something for them."

TB was wondering when someone was going to mention the bear thang.

Never Forget

Shock: NUS criticise Labour

In other news pigs have been seen flying, hell has frozen over and Labour are on course to win the next election.

What's Francis Maude up to?

Something tells TB that Francis Maude is circling for a kill. The ghosts of Wheelen, Draper and McBride will haunt Brown's government to the very end but it is a mystery to why Maude asked these specific two questions in the House yesterday:

"

Mr. Maude

: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change on what date he last met Mr. Damian McBride in the course of his official duties. [287404]

Joan Ruddock: There have been no such meetings."

And:

"

Mr. Maude

: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills when the Secretary of State last (a) met and (b) communicated with (i) Mr Derek Draper and (ii) Mr Charlie Whelan in the course of his official duties. [287350]

Mr. McFadden: My noble Friend the Secretary of State met Mr. Charlie Whelan on 15 January in the course of his official duties."

Nice dodge on the Draper question.

Bercow running scared?

First it was his own private spinner, now according to W4MP, John Bercow is looking for a caseworker for his Buckingham constituency. Nothing to do with the pending challenge by Nigel Farage though.Course not guv.

Tip of the cap to Dizzy for the spot. He has more details

here

.

Best date ever?

Hattie Garlick

is reporting that dinner with Sarah Palin is up for grabs on Ebay. TB isn't sure what is on the menu but would hope Sarah would have killed or caught it herself.

Bidding is

open

, can anyone front TB $40k?

Funny you should mention it...

Funny Tara Hamilton-Miller should mention tory karaoke in

The Telegraph today

. Just keep the late evening of the Monday of conference free. TB will post the full details tomorrow, but let's just say that MPs, bloggers, staffers and members of HM's Lobby Press are already signed up for a sing song...

Would Gabby and Caroline like to join?

Congratulations to Elaine Bagshaw...

...On the twentieth resignation from her executive! In the two years the Liberal Youth Chairman has presided over the ridiculous organisation it seems no one, bar her most loyal apparatchiks, can stand her.

However do the membership even know about this? It happened last week, or does TB have to be their news wire now?

"Yeah, Dan Snowden resigned as VC Finance a while back. Not that anyone outside the exec has heard the news, because the silencing of the LY forums has made sure that things LY members ought to know aren't getting to them. Not through the usual channels, anyway. Elaine's clampdown on free speech could backfire horribly."

The plot thickens.

Politician of the Year?

There are mutterings afoot about why George Osborne was crowned politician of the year last night by GQ. While he may take a lot of mud from the likes of Mandy and the increasingly desperate reds, let's not forget the significance of Osborne to where the Conservatives are now.

Some people

may object to him being given the top crown but you nobody can deny the fact he gave the speech of the year last November:



Congratulations to George.

George Foulkes disgraces himself, again.

TB has apparently been the centre of a "defamation row" with Lord George Foulkes before. It's the first he has heard of it described as that, but then that isn't the only blatant inaccuracy in

this piece

from yesterday's Scotsman. See if you can spot the glaringly obvious first one. He is therefore going to tread very carefully with this one... but...

Some people just don't know when to stop. This bullying, authoritarian, expeneses apologist boozer should have drifted into obscurity years ago, instead every time he raises his ugly mug above the parapet, it is to hurl mud. If you think TB is being too harsh, read to the end of this piece. This massive scotch-soaked hypocrite had the audacity to come out with this gem:

“I think with any public expenditure, with taxpayers’ money being spent, the taxpayer should know what it is being spent on.”

Well yes, but wow, just wow - coming from the man who claims expenses both at Westminster and Holyrood - claiming some £45k to stay at a house he inherited and another £54k on top of that in Lord's expenses. Coming from teh man who, in the middle of the expenses scandal, attacked the a BBC news presenter saying she was paid "to come on TV and sneer at democracy and undermine democracy. The vast majority of MPs are being undermined by you". He wen on to accuse the Telegraph expose of being some sort of public school boy jape. The guy is a joke.

Jess The Dog

is very very angry, TB will let him take it from here:

The years of binge drinking - culminating in his arrest for drunken assault - must have really softened his brain.

The Telegraph reports

that the MoD has responded to Foulkes's pathetic attempt to smear General Sir Richard Dannatt. Foulkes submitted a series of Parliamentary Questions to dig out details of the generals use of helicopters and cost of entertaining and accommodation.

This backfired when General Dannatt released details of his own expenses independently, evidence of a far-from-lavish lifestyle and in fact commendable economy.

However, Foulkes is still trying to make mischief.

“I think in particular the use of helicopters for non-operational engagements was something that raised my eyebrows at a time when he has commented on the lack of helicopters in Afghanistan.”

What a load of absolute drivel. The helicopters used by Dannatt will be of a certain type and model (most likely Squirrels, used as training aircraft) also used by a range of senior officers, civil servants and VIPs including politicians. The helicopters that British troops need - to save lives that are being lost weekly - are medium to heavy lift helicopters, in particular the Chinook. Two Chinooks have been lost recently in Afghanistan - the airframes destroyed on the ground - so the need is even more urgent. Training and civilian helicopters are utterly useless for troop transport. There's also the small matter of the combat-ready aircrew to fly the aircraft (including the two loadmasters to get the troops and equipment on and off), the groundcrew to service the aircraft....all cut back over a decade of Labour underfunding and cutbacks.

Foulkes is beneath contempt - he is using the lives of dead soldiers to score a pathetic political point through an utterly misleading comparison, in order to further his own class war agenda and a Labour regime in terminal decline.

TB couldn't agree more. One day, and it's coming soon, this country will be rid of this bunch of dispicable smearing thugs and we can begin the long process of rebuilding a political system based on respect and adherence to the people who lay down their lives to defend it.

This Labour government, represented by Foulkes, is not worth one drop of soldiers blood.