Mandy Investigates

TB has to wonder what the point of some research positions at universities are. Leeds University have really taken the biscuit with this one though. For a cheeky £30k you can spend a year

researching

"The rise and regulation of lap dancing and the place of sexual labour and consumption in the night time economy.":

"You will work on an ESRC funded study on the rise and regulation of lap dancing and the place of sexual labour and consumption in the night time economy. The post will involve qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis. It is based in Leeds, although some travel to other cities may be necessary."

Are the hookers of Leeds not quite up to scratch then?

A spectacular waste of money made only worse when you realise it is in fact taxpayer funded. The ESRC

get funding

from the Department of Business Innovation and Skills to the tune of two hundred million quid a year.

Which begs the question why is the BIS Secretary Lord Mandelson so interested in researching the "night time economy" to put it gently?

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

Dave went to Afghanistan last week so Gordon followed over the weekend. Who do you reckon the more competent wartime leader would be? There is apparently some footage of soldiers refusing to shake Brown's hand while he was out there.

TB will try track it down today.

Berlusconi - The Punch Footage

The moment someone punched Rolling Stone Magazine's Rockstar of the Year has found its way onto youtube:



John Prescott has been asked to hand himself in for questioning.

H/T:

SNP TV

Most Unparliamentary Language

A little late to this one but it is hilarious:



Nick Clegg looked like he was close to going down this route at the last PMQs...

Quote of the Day

Alistair Darling reminds me of one of those kidnapped Colombian judges in sweat-drenched polyester shirts, who are forced to record messages of support for their captors, but try desperately to signal to the camera that they are doing so under duress. With every blink, every hesitant reply, every furrowing of his brow, even his hint in yesterday's Daily Telegraph that the hugely expensive ID card scheme may be scrapped, the wretched Chancellor seems to be saying: I know, I know, I want to bring down the public debt, too. But my captor, Gordo el Furioso – he will not let me!

-Matthew d'Ancona

His whole column is as ever

well worth a read

, not sure about the headline though. As is Patrick Hennessy's scoop

also in the Telegraph

. Labour have some bloody cheek if they want to whack the Tories for putting up VAT - something Darling is calling for - especially given the fact they will be pounding everyone who earns over 20k with yet another rise in National Insurance - a tax on the jobs and incomes of middle Britain, to paraphrase.

Angry Dave is Back

And rightly so:



Come January we need more of this anger and passion - every day.

Cripes!

Britain doesn't do political dynasties like the US does, the drab and painfully dorky Milband brothers are no Bush family. But perhaps there is a decent one in the making finally - congratulations to

Jo Johnson

who, in a marathon slog, has been selected to defend Orpington. TB must admit he wasn't familiar with many of the details, but this Financial Times journo seems to have all the flare and intellectual fire power of his older brother. He imagines those more vile elements of the left-wing media will be digging and trawling for anything that can be chucked at him this weekend.

Hope is beginning to fade for their father Stanley getting a winnable seat - rumour has it that those at the top don't wish to give Boris and easily accessible route back into the Commons at the drop of a hat in eight years, if you believe conspiracy theories.

However a Johnson in the Commons again can never fail to liven things up.

Is Heather Brooke Jessica Rabbit?

Could have fooled TB.

POETS Day Special

Apologies for the less than prolific blogging this week. TB has been rather busy with all sorts. For that Friday feeling he thought he would leave you with this great spot by

Keep Right Online

:

It's as powerful and accurate as when it was first used in 1978.

Sarkastic

TB can't embed the video due to the luddites at the BBC trying to sell embedding rights, however

check out

Brown's presser with Sarkozy this morning. Look at when conversation turned to how Darling didn't fall out with Brown in the run up to the PBR and Brown definitely, DEFINITELY, did not overrule his Chancellor or interfere with the report (stop laughing at the back.) Brown talks about his "deficit reduction plan" - what does Sarko do? Well he cracks up and starts smirking and laughing, catching the eye of the odd journalist.

Thank you Gordon, you are making this country a joke on the international stage. Just yesterday

Der Speigal declared

Britain was an economic "mini-power" and now it seems France agrees. When heads of state can't even keep a straight face when dealing Brown it's time for Labour to take a deep breath and really consider what is best in the interests of this country rather than their dying party.

What an embarrassment. When you have Sarkozy, a man who has to stand on a box to reach a microphone, you know you are in real trouble.

Caesar Brownus

There were smirks and chuckles on the blue pews at last night's Parliamentary Carol Service. Dave was doing a reading and on PBR day, who couldn't but laugh at the gem he was given in Luke 2: 1-7:

"And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed."

UPDATE: March Election? Lotta continua!

Intriguing snippit for those who are looking for tell tale signs of a March election date. Young Labour Chairperson Sam Tarry has written to all the members telling them to keep certain weekends free for campaigning and activism:

Hey Comrades!

With a General Election only a few months away it is more important then ever that Young Labour and Labour Students are organised and working together to fight for Labour victories across the country.

As part of our BIG Campaign please keep the following days free:

1. Saturday 19th December 2009
2. Saturday 16th January 2010
3. Saturday 6th February 2010
4. Saturday 6th March 2010

Please join the BIG Campaign group to keep updated on the marginal seat campaign days where you are - sign up right now:

https://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=194186788537&ref=nf&v=info

Each campaign will include a short training session in which activists will have the opportunity to learn about the seat and what to expect on the doorstep, and the basics of Labour campaigning if you’ve never done it before. Furthermore, light refreshments, lunch and an afternoon social of some sort will be arranged for each campaign to show our appreciation for all your help.

https://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=194186788537&ref=nf&v=info

I look forward to meeting many of you on the campaign trail - and if you want me to come to visit your Young Labour group, Labour Club, or BIG campaign day then dont hesitate to drop me a line.

Lotta continua!

Sam Tarry
National Chair of Young Labour

Intriguing how they are only up until March.

UPDATE 14.05: Ever sharp

Dizzy

has given the Lotta Continua reference a good nod. Tarry has some

dubious heroes

:

Lotta Continua (the struggle continues, or continuous struggle) was a far left extra-parliamentary organization in Italy. It was founded in autumn 1969 by a split in the student-worker movement of Turin, which had started militant activity at the universities and factories such as Fiat. The first issue of Lotta Continua 's eponymous newspaper was published in November 1969, and publication continued until 1982, while the organization disbanded in 1976.

On March 2, 1972 Maurizio Pedrazzini, an activist of Lotta Continua, was arrested near the home of Franco Servello, a member of the right-wing party MSI, after his gun accidentally discharged and someone called the police.

On May 17, 1972, the Milan police commissioner Luigi Calabresi, was killed. Adriano Sofri and Giorgio Pietrostefani, former leaders of Lotta Continua, were condemned to heavy prison sentences for organizing, and Ovidio Bompressi and Leonardo Marino for carrying out the murder, after legal proceeding which were regarded as controversial.

On October 1, 1977, during a protest march in Turin, activists attacked a bar with Molotov cocktails. Roberto Crescenzio, a 23-year old student, died of burns sustained in this attack. Lotta Continua militants were accused of committing this attack, but were eventually cleared in court.

Nice.

Odious Chump

TB had to chuckle at this copy of the Standard that was spotted by a reader on the tube last night:

Have you seen this man?

For Whom the Bell Tolls

Turncoat scum Quentin Davies is today's biggest laughing stock. Via Paul Waugh we learn that he put in a £20k claim for repairs to his bell tower.

Cambridge Update

Interesting stirrings still coming out of Cambridge, again concerning their upcoming open primary. As TB reported the other day there has been uproar about the short-list and two further developments have left some members of the association baffled. Firstly surely the point of an open primary is to engage with as many people in the constituency as possible. If you really wanted to get the maximum number of people to attend why is it being held early on a Saturday morning? Unless of course you only want those most devoted members to put in an appearance, those loyal to one candidate...

Secondly and less significantly. Why the hell is the old Sir Michael White chairing a Tory meeting?

Instant-Osborne

A great show by Osborne today. What is it about PBR days that bring out the best in him? If you don't like stories about twitter look away not. TB noted the speculation about Osborne joining the other day. TB can now confirm that it is indeed his own Twitter account that he used to follow people rather than actually tweeting anything. Would have been interesting to see who else was on the following list before it got rumbled!

There is an intriguing development though this afternoon. A helpful squatter has saved

@georgeosborne

for awhile now:

TB understands that Osborne's people have acquired to login details...

Who Needs Political TV Ads

The ban on political parties buying advertising on television is ridiculous. It does force a certain creativity though:

Anyone know how much that would have cost CCHQ?

PBR Warm Up

Apologies for the lack of blogging today, super busy in Copenhagen, what with the champagne receptions caviar, and of course the

spectacular leak

. Back now and ready for another round of parties. Off to the Policy Exchange drinks and then Mr Isaby's birthday... TB will report back tomorrow.

Tomorrow is the Pre-Budget Report. It could well end up being a pretty shitty day for the Conservatives if Brown get's his way and twists Darling's arm. Expect tax rises to pre-Thatcher levels. As TB's lunch partner said today "It will be as if she never happened." The shudder was involuntary.

The Conservatives were out of the starting blocks in response to last years PBR extremely quickly, aided in no small way by a barnstorming performance at the dispatch box by George Osborne. As a little warm up to what we can hopefully expect again tomorrow TB thought he would leave you with his own response to last year's PBR:



Another performance like that and TB will be getting his box of tunes out again.

Well at Least He Didn't Cry

Extremely busy day for TB so imagine blogging will be light. Off to Copenhagen...

He thought he would leave you with

Al Gore's poem

that has been written for the most important meeting of mankind ever:

One thin September soon
A floating continent disappears
In midnight sun
Vapors rise as
Fever settles on an acid sea
Neptune's bones dissolve
Snow glides from the mountain
Ice fathers floods for a season
A hard rain comes quickly
Then dirt is parched
Kindling is placed in the forest
For the lightning's celebration
Unknown creatures
Take their leave, unmourned
Horsemen ready their stirrups
Passion seeks heroes and friends
The bell of the city
On the hill is rung
The shepherd cries
The hour of choosing has arrived
Here are your tools

Someone pass a revolver.

Down With the Kids - Fail.

The Downing Street website proudly proclaims:

"Government to “harness power of technology”

The Prime Minister has said the Government will use technology to further improve front line services. During a podcast released today, Gordon Brown said that technology will allow hospitals, schools and police forces, to secure better value for money."

Well well, who is this inspiring wonder who will lead us on this journey?

Oh dear, harnessing the power of technology? You mean like wind up clocks, a lamp and a piece of paper? It's a revolution!

Brown has attempted to shamelessly rip off Cameron's plans for google government and openness and transparency throughout Whitehall online. Isaby shows the the writing on the wall

here

:

Cameron said on December 6th 2005:

"There is such a thing as society, it's just not the same thing as the state. "

Brown said today:

"I have always said that there is such a thing as society and always said also that this is not the same thing as the state"

This is why the Tories have been so cautious in their release of policy. Every firm commitment of what they want to do is hoovered up and churned out by this dying, incompetent, exhausted bunch of charlatans.

And that includes a promise to raise the IHT thresholds.