clawsfour

Raising the Standard

With 1 day to go The Boris Evening Standard finally has something else to say.

Here.

The scalper scalped

The Bitteratti is rather exposed in this excellent article - "The man who wants Ken's scalp" - in today's G2 by Decca Aitkinhead.
A string of his own words show Gilligan to be exactly the bitter, hypocritical, self-obsessed person he appears to be when reading any of his pieces.
Decca Aitkenhead doesn't have to pursue any of the forensic journalism which Gilligan claims for himself. She just has to let him talk.
I particlualry like this defence of the Tory candidate, where Gilligan tries to say it's OK to want Ken defeated because Boris will be OK:

"Johnson has come round to the idea that, you know, he is, erm ... There's a strong argument for saying we've seen this in the past, that actually the best people - the best people to sort something out - are people who were previously perceived as hostile to the problem which they have to address. That has happened in the past."

But the real damage comes, as it will to Gilligan, in the end.

Decca reports:

He (Gilligan) has described the mayoral campaign as "the second biggest story of his life", after Hutton. For a journalist who swears by the impartiality of his investigations, it is interesting that he finds himself once again locked in mortal combat with a senior Labour politician. "This is just me, doing my job," he insists.

Is he sure it has nothing to do with revenge, I wonder?

"What would I take revenge on Ken Livingstone for?" he says, and I'm not sure why he looks baffled. As he says himself, he considers the mayoral election a "surrogate" for national politics - and after Hutton, he would have good reason to feel vengeful towards the party that cost him so much. "That's not," he says, "the reason." For the only time during the interview, he looks properly annoyed.

The final question I would like answered is, exactly how much guilt does Gilligan feel personally for the death of Hutton. And how much of that guilt is he trying to relieve himself of by transferring it to the Labour Party. And is that the real reason for the vehemence and bitterness of his attacks.

What do we want - postal votes. When do we want them - NOW.

Libby Purves in today's Times shouts "Abolish postal voting on demand - now."

She, along with other commentators who know a little (but not enough) of her subject, makes several errors of fact - but more serious errors of judgment.

She makes several assertions about postal voting on demand, in particular than postal voting on demand makes postal voting inherently more open to fraud.

Libby Purves draws an obvious but wrong conclusion.

Postal votes are easier to apply for. There have been 42 cases of electoral fraud in the last seven years. Ergo - postal voting on demand is the reason that there is fraud.

This ignores three important facts.

It's nearly over...

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKRJVBqvd04&hl=en]

I think I meant stick two fingers up to Boris, not stick two fingers up Boris.

Stayin' alive

West Brom 1 - 1 Saints

One of the few matches this season when pretty much everyone on the pitch gave more than 80 per cent, and some gave 10 per cent. Great goal with three young strikers on the pitch. Pity two of them are allegedly quicker lifting mobile phones from staff handbags (according to CCTV images only of course).

So still a chance. We need to get more points on Saturday than Leicester, or to win while Sheffield Wednesday lose. So not impossible, but a good deal more difficult than some childish postings on the Southampton blogs have been saying.

Anyhow thanks to the Canaries fan - see earlier post - for their support, and here's to next season with Lowe and Hoddle reunited.

 

Why more people should support the Saints

A well reasoned and thoughtful article here from a Norwich City supporter (not that I'm suggesting they would be usually mutually incompatible). He/she basically says if Saints win, the final day of the season will have many more exciting matches being played out in the Championship. And that will be better for the neutrals as well as fans of particular clubs.

At the end of the day, I don't really care. We'll take the support where we can get it. And I promise to cheer on the Canaries for at least one game next season.

C'mon you reds.

 

Can you trust the vote?

I'm the first to criticise people who get involved in election fraud. It can be relatively easy to do - although much, much more difficult on a scale that would actually influence the result of an election - and it does strike at the heart of democracy.

But democracy also has to be founded on a certain degree of trust. Trust in the people you elect, trust in the system, and trust in your fellow electors.

Today's story running on the BBC and elsewhere from the Joseph Rowntree Trust once again gives the impression of wide-scale fraud as a direct result of making it easier for people to vote. As I said, I am vehemently opposed to any electoral fraud, whenever, however and whoever involved. But let's keep it in some proportion.

Seven days is a long time in....

Once again it's a massive week. Who will win? It could be make or break for the man at the top. And there is the previous incumbent sniping from the wings.

Some say everything depends on this one contest.

So c'mon you reds - let's just beat West Brom on Monday.

Oh and Ken better win too.

We only sing when we're whining, sing when we're whining...

You know that bit from the 97 election coverage when Michael Portillo is making his speech after losing and says, "It's been a truly awful night for the Conservatives."

Well, it's been a truly awful afternoon for Southampton football club - and we weren't even playing.

Just heard the results after sticking out some leaflets, and it appears we need to either A) beat West Brom away on Monday, who now still need points to ensure promotion after today's results; or B) hope Stoke beat Leicester while we beat Sheffield United who need to win to get into the play-offs.

It's a long time since Southampton have been in Division 3 (or Div 1 as its called these days - that's inflation for you) so it will be a nice change. And Rupert Lowe as Chairman again. Hmmm.

It's about time Sue Nye took some time off from being Gordon Brown's gatekeeper and told her husband and Saints fan, Gavyn Davies, to use his business expertise (and cash) to lead a consortium to Saint's rescue.

Please.

Times, they are a changin'

You don't need to read too much of the Times' endorsement of Boris to come across this choice paragraph.

There is plainly an element of risk in backing Mr Johnson. Newspapers have fretted about endorsing him precisely because journalists know Mr Johnson, a fellow journalist, so well and they know he has a history of letting people down.

The Thunderer has apparently taken leave of its senses.