Idle speculation...

The case of little Alfie

the thirteen year old father shocked TB when he first he and about it. He was even more shocked when he saw a picture of the happy couple. To be honest little Alfie doesn't really look like he has it in him to be the father, he does after all look like a seven year old. The Sun would have paid this "couple" a hefty bit of cash for the exclusive access rights and pictures. The story has played throughout the weekend on TV, frontpages and caused a mild political storm. Something about the whole thing, apart from being a genuinely sad story, smelt fishy to TB. 

Is someone pulling the strings behind the scene? When fifteen year old Chantelle, herself a child, got pregnant, did someone spot an opportunity to make some cash? It now seems Chantelle has been a bit naughty according to

The News of the World

. Today two other lads have come forward saying they were having their wicked way with Chantelle at the same time as wee Alfie. 

Sadly in the current state of Brown's broken Britain, two fifteen year olds having a kid, while no less an awful case, wouldn't have got the attention the thirteen year old boy did. It was Alfie's dad who went to the papers. This is of course idle speculation but TB won't be surprised if

the DNA test comes back

showing Alfie is being used as a pawn in something much darker... and of course Max Clifford is involved.

How much money did Chantelle and Alfie's parents get for the exclusive and intense access from The Sun?

There are few things more irritating than a bad batch of Sunday newspapers... Luckily this week was quite the opposite. 

Here are TB's must reads:

The Sunday Times leader welcomes you to Broken Britain

.

James Dellingpole in the Telegraph has a message to the people of America

.

Liz Jones in the Mail has some empathy for Boris

. 

The Sunday Herald get the scoop on more Labour corruption 

... 

and the Mail has more.

Another week and another two barrels from Matthew d'Ancona in the Telegraph.

Was the 2005 election worth losing?

TB just spotted this very

interesting piece

from the Telegraph. TB isn't sure he agrees with exactly how Iain Martin imagines things playing out but fascinating none the less... 

"In the flat of No 10 in early 2009, the Prime Minister poured himself a drink and lay down on the sofa: what a horrific week. Could the economic data be any worse? Which bank would collapse next? What, thought Michael Howard, had he done to deserve this?

It had shocked pundits when the results came in on election night 2005. Yet, the only man not surprised that Tony Blair had been defeated was Howard, confident leader of the Conservative Party."

Things could have been very different.

Freak out your ex. Join the Conservatives.

The Canadian equivalent of our own Conservative youth movement is running an

excellent slogan campaign

at the moment:

TB wonders if it would work here...

Exclusive: Another Election Sucess!

A double whammy against Labour tonight as the excellent news is just breaking that Conservative Future queenbee Clare Hilley has been returned as a Councillor in

Waddon

by-election

tonight.

May Tory Bear be the first of many to say congratulations!

+++developing+++

UPDATE 23:45: Beat Labour by 240 votes... Proof that door knocking by CFers works. Go this weekend.

UPDATE: Friday 11am:

A good old fashioned fisk...

Donal Blaney

has a must read message to all those deluded student's occupying lecture theatres around the country tonight.

Labour wounded in the Heart of Mid-Lothian...

So there we have it... Iain Macwhirter and his broad church of backing from left and right, has stormed to victory. Edinburgh University's newest Rector was returned by more than 2 to 1 votes in favour. Lord Foulkes, who was dogged throughout the campaign by various scandals gave a graceful speech praising his opponent.  Despite similar manifestos it seems the Labour brand in Edinburgh has just been too tainted. 

Such was the scale of the vote, coupled with the anti-Labour air coming from the whole election, Tory Bear must pose the question, can Labour win anywhere in Edinburgh anymore? Iain Gray the Labour leader allegedy told a campaigner that this election wasn't about the students but about Labour party and it seems the students and staff of Edinburgh have spoken in no uncertain terms. There are some highly winnable seats in the city and the potential for some serious upsets.

Foulkes was synonymous with this Labour government. 

So is Alastair Darling in Edinburgh South West...

+++Pictures to follow+++

Edinburgh University Rector Election

MacWhirter has won - more to follow soon...

UPDATE: 20:30 Foulkes 2182, MacWhirter 4822

Which Labour MP has a tattoo on their bottom?

Tonight it's Labour MP and blogger Tom Harris's Birthday. Iain Dale is

twittering

that he turned down the invitation to join him and fifteen other Labour MPs for a Chinese and karaoke. Tom might have banned cameras from the event tonight but that hasn't stopped all sorts of gossip emerging from these shindigs in the past.

Last time this crew got together, another blogging Labour MP Kerry McCarthy

noted

that one of the MPs had drunkenly admitted to having a Labour rose tattooed on their left butt cheek. Just yesterday Tom was doing the increasingly irritating 25 random things meme that has been doing the rounds, but chose to

add some more facts.

Such as the fact he got his one and only tattoo after becoming a Labour MP...

And he doesn't deny it is indeed a Labour rose tattooed on this left buttock.

Move along people, nothing to see here.

So the police

won't be investigating

the dodgy Lords for their blatent corruption. Once again Tory Bear wonders how this would have played out if the Met weren't as bent a nine bob note and under the thumb of the corrupt Home Secretary.

The whole thing stinks.

Nothing a bit of tear gas wouldn't sort out...

Thirty students have occupied a lecture theatre in Edinburgh, in yet another ridiculous sit in for Gaza. The conflict is over and it seems to TB that these unwashed barbarians are just looking to cause trouble.

Their blog

makes for hilarious reading, especially the spirit of '68 and creative space bits.

Lock them in there, cut the power, cut the food supply... They'll soon be begging to be let out.

Rector race polls open.

So polling day has arrived... Tory Bear was there to see the two candidates go head to head at the hustings last night and even asked the odd awkward question. It was clear to see that Foulkes had been answering awkward questions for 30 odd years though as he was able to bat them away with his famous folksy charm... he even gave a ringing endorsement to this blog and claims the fact he reads it proves he has plenty of spare time to be Rector.

Macwhirter, more used to asking the questions, held his own against the standard plants designed to unsettle him and gave a strong performance. Though no doubt Galloway would have livened the evening up no end, it was an interesting debate none the less.

And now it's over to the staff and students to decide. The result expected for 9pm tomorrow night.

TB is off to the bookies...

Too close for comfort?

Lots of you will have seen this clip...



but not like this.

Hat-Tip -

The Alternative Conservative

Second Wave...

Tory Bear's little friend isn't letting this one go...

Guess whose side the beeb is on...

Funny that the BBC only

picked up

the fact that the Home Secretary had been reported, after the call for an inquiry was dismissed.

Well watch this space Jacqui - the fun is only just beginning.

Slander is ok, but putting it in writing is where the real fun's at.

After the events of Friday night and Saturday morning - you know who you are, Tory Bear is going to tread carefully with this one.

TB isn't putting anything into writing but read

this article

, and this post from last week.

...and then read

this

.

Mr Mundell's mishap...

There are very few worse ways to begin an election campaign than high on morphine. Instead of handing in his nomination papers,

EUSA

Presidential candidate

Oliver Mundell

spent the morning in hospital having reconstructive surgery performed on his foot...

Having done what many a student before him had succeeded at, mainly climbing a iron fence at 4am to get to a fresh square full of snow, Mr Mundell instead pierced his foot and is now set to be campaigning for the next month from the confines of a wheelchair...

Could it make the ultimate battle bus though?

"Real people"

A comment from one of Tory Bear's lectures today really reminded him of how bad the lefty bias amongst most of those teaching at British universities really is. While discussing Proposition 0 in California - making English the only language on ballot papers - the lecturer actually said:

"...and it wasn't the right wing conservatives calling for the measure, it was the real people, the liberal people."

The real people!? WTF?

Casting some light on the matter...

Things aren't looking good for Jacqui Smith - an official complaint has been made by a little friend of Tory Bear's to the Parliamentary Standards Commission. Although you wouldn't know it from the BBC, luckily Sky have been running the story this afternoon and it looks like the papers are

getting involved

.

Almost as satisfying as sticking it to the Home Secretary is causing

Derek Draper

to have a hissy fit.

What larks.

Rules of Political Life #106 - Never ever sing.

Questions are often raised about the mental state of the Prime Minister, but now TB has to wonder about his enemy - Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond. Video footage of him singing a duet with uber-nationalist folk singer Sandi Thom has emerged and it's painful to say the least:



What on earth was going through a) his head, and b) the heads of his massive media and spin team when they allowed this to happen.

TB can't make it to the end of the song.