Ha ha ha

We can't keep treating party leaders like football managers | John Harris:

"...his less than loyal 'enforcer', Alan Johnson, [who] has lately been in the unique position of being inside the tent, pissing in..."

Ha ha ha.

It's 7:84, or 1918, all over again

Why Britain must close the great pay divide | Business | The Observer: "Today, with the return of big City bonuses, I very much suspect [the share of wealth taken by the richest 1% of people in Britain] will be back up to 18%. We should have a national day of mourning when we return to a level of inequality last experienced at about the time of armistice day in November 1918."

And then a social revolution.

Rudimentary game theory trumps nuclear deterrence

A nuclear deterrent based on agreement with the French? That's disarmament | Marina Hyde | Comment is free | The Guardian:

Trident sub: pic at www.greenpeace.org.uk

"Only last week, a Times editorial blathered on about the desirability of Nato maintaining a so-called second centre of nuclear decision-making, prompting a letter from (Air Commodore Alastair) Mackie, which crisply debunked the notion that this set-up would present a nuclear-armed evildoer with a strategic dilemma.

'Not so,' he countered. 'It would simply ensure that the opponent's opening gambit would be to obliterate the shortest side of the triangle – ourselves.'

By spelling out this rudimentary piece of game theory, Mackie's argument ought to silence even those who decline to see the fatuity of prioritising Trident over body armour, when today's typical conflict will have been started by us and fought against an enemy whose arsenal of AK-47s/simple explosive devices/£1.99 boxcutters you would hesitate to deem state of the art. As Field Marshal Lord Bramall put it last year, nuclear weapons have proved 'completely useless as a deterrent to the threats and scale of violence we currently, or are likely to, face – particularly international terrorism; and the more you analyse them the more unusable they appear.'"

Check the rest of Marina's article here at the Grauniad.:
www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/oct/01/nuclear-deterrent-sarkozy-cameron 

She's quite disarming.

More evidence that Tony Blair is a very bad man

Blair's case for Iraq invasion was self-serving, lawyers tell Chilcot inquiry | UK news | The Guardian:
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 30 September 2010 18.30 BST

The Blair government undermined the UN, bowed to US political pressure and relied on self-serving arguments to justify its decision to invade Iraq, according to evidence to the Chilcot inquiry by international lawyers.

A key theme of the evidence, yet to be published, is that the government weakened the UN, damaging the country's reputation in the process – arguments made by Ed Miliband in his inaugural speech to the Labour conference.

See the whole piece at Grauniad:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/sep/30/iraq-war-inquiry

Ed buries Blair (not literally, unfortunately :-)

BBC News - Iraq war was wrong, says Labour leader Ed Miliband: "'We were wrong, wrong to take Britain to war, and we need to be honest about that.'"

At last. Well said Ed.

Better Ed than dead

http://www.guardian.co.uk/discussion/comment-permalink/7786088

John Harris on election of Ed Miliband as Labour leader.

26 September 2010 12:23PM

Morning all.
Here is why this is a good thing, though let's not make the 1997/2007 mistake and get far too carried away. On the social circuit last night, a former Labour insider and left social democrat said this to me: "What this boils down to is the fact that our politics now has a chance." To make the point for the 1000th time, though David Miliband is not an accredited Blairite, he was the candidate of NuLab continuity, with big guns and huge money behind him. If he'd won, labour ditching the essential thinking of the 1990s would have been a forlorn hope. With Ed, it is already happening.
A Labour leader made a speech yesterday that contained a promising passage about the inequality gap. On Andrew Marr this morning, he talked about the downsides of flexible Labour markets. Through the campaign, he has been going on and on about his party's lamentable record in Civil Liberties. He gets the Iraq issue. Etc. Etc.: all this is progress.
And yes, he may have problems convincing ordinary Joes that he is a rounded human being resident in the same universe as them. But that applies to just all of our professionalised political class, and it seems to me that he has a much softer, empathetic disposition than his brother. Or George Osborne. Or Nick Clegg. Or David Cameron, come to think of it.
Among his first priorities - partic. given the closeness of the result and the good showing by Ed Balls - should be to present a collegiate front and talk a lot about the opposition as a team. Self-evidently, he's not of the Thatcher/Blair leadership school, and nor should he be: if he presents a more team-based front, it'll also provide a nice contrast to the two-headed Cam/Clegg monster Labour now faces (while I'm here, he should make Balls chancellor).
Oh, and on this lurch left/Middle England stuff... I wrote about that yesterday, and it sounds just as specious twittering from TVs and radios today, Respect to MissGlenghis above for making a similar point: our politics is crippled by rhetoric that thinks W11 and "Middle England" are interchangeable - and if Ed M keeps on about the "squeezed Middle" he can expose that con (Dem!) trick for what it is.
So there you are: I'm (very guardedly) optimistic. Now shoot me.

FARCing hell is other people

Ingrid Betancourt: I still have nightmares | World news | The Guardian: "What I saw in the jungle was that we were able to forgive those guys who could kill us, but we could not forgive the person who was suffering with us"

That's a scary and  fascinating observation.

No mandate for cuts

Cameron's Mr Nice act still fools some, but the pain is a wake-up call | Polly Toynbee | Comment is free | The Guardian: "Cameron didn't win at all – and that will matter more each day in 2011, the bitterest year of cuts ever known. He has no mandate for the profound changes that he promises will affect 'our whole way of life'"

Stoneist, but not marxist?

Oliver Stone and the politics of film-making | Film | The Observer: "What would your father have made of the Wall Street of the last few years? I ask. 'Look, he was pissed off when we left the gold standard in '73, although'73 is actually very interesting. It's a really crucial year, because the income of the average working man flattened out in '73 and never went up in spending ability. But meanwhile the productivity of America went up like this. Where did that money go? It went to CEOs and stock holders. It went to the banks.'"

De-composer

David Cope: 'You pushed the button and out came hundreds and thousands of sonatas' | Technology | The Observer: "He realised that what made a composer properly understandable, properly 'affecting', was in part the fact of mortality. Composers had to die, and the ending made sense of what had gone before. With this in mind, Cope unplugged Emmy six years ago; her work – which he limited to 11,000 chosen pieces, was done. Emmy – housed on an ancient Power Mac 7500 (discontinued in 1996) now sits idle in the corner of his office. Cope has subsequently been at work, nurturing Emmy's 'daughter', Emily Howell, (the first name from her mother, the second from the Christian name of Cope's own father) with whom he has a far more 'equal' relationship."

Further and faster than Blair

NHS plan puts government on collision course with unions and doctors | Society | The Guardian: "Professor Chris Ham, chief executive of health thinktank the King's Fund, said it was still an open question whether Lansley's plan to force change on the NHS and the unions when there is no new money would work. 'I think it will be an incredibly hard sell to ask the unions and staff to give up pay and conditions with nothing in return. We are moving away from a traditional NHS approach to one of choice, competition and diversity of suppliers. Andrew Lansley is taking Tony Blair's approach further and faster than anyone suspected.'"

But hopefully not, at least, in Scotland... ??? Yet?

Declaration of war. Will we fight?

David Cameron warns public sector over Budget cuts

BBC News - David Cameron warns public sector over Budget cuts:

Page last updated at 02:59 GMT, Saturday, 19 June 2010 03:59 UK

Prime Minister David Cameron has said the budget deficit will not be dealt with by "just hitting either the rich or the welfare scrounger".

Speaking in the Times ahead of next week's emergency Budget, Mr Cameron signalled that public sector pay and pensions would have to be restrained.
Prime Minister David Cameron has said the budget deficit will not be dealt with by 'just hitting either the rich or the welfare scrounger'.
Speaking in the Times ahead of next week's emergency Budget, Mr Cameron signalled that public sector pay and pensions would have to be restrained."

...

Mr Cameron said next week's Budget is when "the rubber really hits the road".
According to BBC political correspondent Gary O'Donoghue, this is a clear indication, if one was needed, that the coalition is planning to cut hard and raise taxes.
Mr Cameron acknowledges there are no easy ways to cut the deficit but says it has to happen for the good of the country.
He also insisted there was no agenda against public sector workers.

There is no animus against people because they work in the public sector

David Cameron

"There are three large items of spending that you can't ignore and those are public sector pay, public sector pensions and benefits," he said.
"We revere and want to stand up for people working in the public sector. They do an incredibly important job.
"There is no animus against people because they work in the public sector. It is just a question of how do we best deal with this budget deficit in a way that is fair.
"There is no way of dealing with an 11% budget deficit just by hitting either the rich or the welfare scrounger."
Mr Cameron also lashed out at some unions, asking "what planet are they on?" after some union leaders vowed to oppose any cuts.

...

BBC News - David Cameron warns public sector over Budget cuts:

Suicide is painless, pay rises hurt... for investors

BBC News - Foxconn gives workers second pay rise:

"Increasing pay is just one method to make sure workers are more 'stable and comfortable'.

Foxconn has also employed psychiatrists and installed safety nets on buildings.

While the pay rise is good for workers, investors took a different view.

The company's shares fell sharply on the Taiwan stock market following the announcement of the second pay rise.

Trading in the company's shares on the Hong Kong Exchange was suspended on Monday."

So just how much is an iPhone worth?

Suicide right on stage.. roll up, roll up

Susan Boyle: What happened to the dream? | Music | The Observer: "What isn't in doubt is that vulnerable people are being put at risk, for the most egregious of reasons: our amusement and Simon Cowell's and ITV's profit margins. There seems to be no mechanism in place to stop them. When I ask Phillip Hodson what can be done, he says: 'Somebody needs to die. Basically, there needs to be a Baby P.'

Andrew McCulloch, chief executive of the Mental Health Foundation, tells me that's just a matter of time. 'If enough people are subjected to enough stress, then that is a statistical proposition.'"

One Laws for the rich

David Laws could not continue to wield the axe on spending | editorial | Comment is free | The Observer: "The chief secretary to the Treasury might have been motivated by complex psychological processes, but he cannot have been ignorant of the rules – and he broke them"

WTF. Complex psychological process goes like this, then: I don't want to get found out so I'll lie. Oh, poor me, I got found out lying.

Here's my real story:

Laws outed! Hypocrite revealed as secret banker

Gay Tory minister David Laws was today sensationally revealed to be a very rich banker.

Laws said his relationship with money was "intensely personal". He claimed that he and his money lived "separate social lives" to everyone else.

One Laws for the rich
The millionaire bankist said he kept quiet during the election about his intention to cut public spending by billions of pounds and make lots of poor people even poorer in order to protect his banker pals who caused the financial crisis because it was "not in the public interest".

The long death of Woody Allen

BBC News - Woody Allen's woes over ageing and death in latest film You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger:

"'There are some great scenes between Sir Anthony, who has a mid-life crisis in the film, and Lucy Punch in the role of his much younger new girlfriend,' Allen says."

Looks like it's past time to stop making movies, Woody.

Tax exile

BBC News - Sir Mick Jagger goes back to Exile:

"It was a bumpy period, historically. There was a war going on, the Nixon thing was happening. Tax was through the roof. It was very difficult. The end of the '60s felt very strained."

Gotta love old street-fightin tax-exile tory Mick... no?

Out and vote - Labour.

Goodbye Gordon Brown turns into the I'm Not Dead Yet tour for Labour | Politics | The Guardian:

"'There is an anti-Conservative majority in this country,' Brown says. 'This is not a Conservative moment.'"

But when is? >>> Get out and vote Labour!

Electoral reform essential but no panacea

If Brown's gaffe locks Labour in third, all progressives lose | Seumas Milne | Comment is free | The Guardian:
"The existing system, which depended on a now stifled internal democracy in the main parties, has been breaking down for years. Eventual electoral reform of some kind looks increasingly probable, even if it is unlikely to be the political and social panacea some on the centre-left seem to believe. Judging from experience elsewhere, it could just as easily entrench a new bloc of Liberal Democrats, New Labour and Cameron-style Tories as deliver the genuine political choices and pluralism they want.

But what is absolutely clear is that the only way they are going to get it is through a Labour-Liberal Democrat administration. It's not just that David Cameron has set his face against holding a referendum on the subject; it is increasingly doubtful that he could get his MPs to vote for one even if he conceded it as the only way to get the keys to No 10."

Scale and duration of bank-bailout cuts becomes clearer

Financial watchdog: hospitals and schools must face cuts - Herald Scotland | News | Politics:

"In a stark warning to MSPs, Audit Scotland says the ring-fencing of specific areas – which is promised by most parties in the election – is a “missed opportunity” to reform services and will only worsen the depth of cuts elsewhere.

Its warning, in written evidence to the Finance Committee at Holyrood, is echoed by the leading independent experts in the field.

The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy says “radical thinking” is vital as public spending is slashed in the wake of the banking crisis, with some services “almost certainly being restricted or even withdrawn”.

The body suggests the Government may have to focus on delivering “guaranteed minimum core” services, with charges for additional “options”.

According to the latest estimates, Scotland is facing real-terms cuts of 3%-4% each year until 2013-14, against average real terms increases of 5% a year in the first decade of devolution.

Around a third of Scotland’s £34 billion budget goes on health and another third on council services, including around £4.5bn on education. Wage costs account for 50% of the spending, so deep cuts will inevitably mean job losses.

Chancellor Alistair Darling has warned that the measures needed to cut the UK’s £1 trillion national debt will be “tougher and deeper” than under Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s.

However, in the election campaign, parties are promising to exempt swathes of public spending. Only the Liberal Democrats’ Treasury spokesman, Vince Cable, has said no area is sacrosanct.

Labour says it will “protect frontline spending on childcare, schools, the NHS and policing”, while the Conservatives have promised to ring-fence spending on overseas aid and the NHS.

The SNP is campaigning to “protect frontline services”, but is coy on detail.

Audit Scotland says public bodies “have difficult decisions to make” and “future reductions in public spending will be very challenging”, with the least painful efficiency savings already made.

Asked by MSPs if any area should be ring-fenced, the watchdog said: “Excluding any specific sector, policy area or services from the requirement to deliver services more efficiently represents a missed opportunity and could significantly increase the pressure for other spending areas to find savings.”

Audit Scotland also stressed that efficiencies alone cannot cover the cuts required, and said a sense of “urgency and realism” was required.

In a separate committee report, the Centre for Public Policy for Regions (CPPR) at Glasgow University has warned that the coming years will be difficult for Scottish politics.

“A Parliament that has not been used to real terms cuts in budgets, but rather to relatively large year-on-year increases, now faces one of the most sever fiscal contractions in modern history. Furthermore, this downturn in funding prospects will be long-lasting.”

It says strong leadership is needed “to make the unpalatable seem inevitable” and reduce the risk of “social unrest”."

Malcolm Tucker's "rising tide of yellow piss"

The yellow surge could soak us all | Malcolm Tucker | Comment is free | The Guardian

"I know there's a view that Clegg winning is OK for us. And I was fine with Peter running Spin Alley. You need control. You can't just have a bunch of cabinet ministers bouncing around the room like bollocks in a tumble drier. And journalists like Peter. People feel they know where they are with a sociopath. But the thing about promoting the Yellow Surge is that although a tidal wave of piss obviously sounds very attractive, everyone can get soaked. It's all a great laugh when the Tories are seeing their cocks cut off into their pints of cider in the West Country. Not so funny when we get kicked in the bollocks in the Ribble."

But of course Peter's done his polling analysis and his futurology. That's why he's relaxed, perhaps not intensely, about the Lib Dem "surge". It looks like the Tories lose say 2 for 1 Labour on % points if the Lib Dems rise, and possible even more in seats. Makes it ever harder for the Tories to even be the biggest party, never mind win a majority.

And curiously, if the Clegg rise was sustained - of which there is no guarantee - Labour could end up with a smaller share of the vote of all 3 but the largest share of seats. Then we'd be not just in AV-referendum territory, but the LibDems would want to push for further more proportional PR. That's going to be an interesting game of brinkpersonship. And the outcome of the following election if held on a new voting system - whether some form of AV or STV - which may be comparatively soon, will be even more interesting.

Even if the LibDems cool down again, it is a strong possibility, even probability, that this election will deliver a decisive hung parliament which then implements electoral reform, which ultimately could keep the Tories out of power more or less permanently. No bad thing in itself. Would this be the end of New labour too? and would it have been a success in its own terms?

Interesting times.

Brown admits "mistake over bank regulation"

BBC News - Brown admits he made a mistake over bank regulation:

"In the 1990s, the banks, they all came to us and said, 'Look, we don't want to be regulated, we want to be free of regulation'."

"All the complaints I was getting from people was, 'Look you're regulating them too much'. And actually the truth is that globally and nationally we should have been regulating them more," he added.

"So I've learnt from that. So you don't listen to the industry when they say, 'This is good for us'. You've got to talk about the whole public interest.'"


Ah well, lesson learned, eh? But "All the complaints from people"?

Step outside posh boy

The rooshians are coming

BBC News - RAF spots Russian jets near Western Isles:

A RAF Tornado below one of the TU-160s

"Two Russian bombers were intercepted by RAF fighter jets near Stornoway on the Western Isles, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has revealed.

The Tupolev TU-160 aircraft were shadowed by two F3 Tornados scrambled from RAF Leuchars in Fife in the early hours of 10 March."

hahahahaha.

Really, what on earth did they think they were doing?

BBC News - Ex-ministers in 'cash for influence' row under fire:

"Labour MP Stephen Byers was recorded as saying he would work for up to £5,000 a day and was like a 'cab for hire' in the Sunday Times and Channel 4 probe.

Patricia Hewitt allegedly said she would need up to £3,000. Both MPs firmly deny any wrongdoing.

Chancellor Alistair Darling says what happened was 'ridiculous'.

...

Questioned about the newspaper's claims by the BBC's Andrew Marr, Mr Darling said:
"The best answer when you get a call like that is to put the receiver back down again. It's obvious.There are rules about serving MPs - we've said that we're going to have to, I think, get a statutory-backed code of conduct to deal with former ministers. But really, what on earth did they think they were doing?""

Just touting for business, I suppose, Alistair.
Ha ha ha. Fail.

Gotcha! More very bad men, and women too

Labour takes on lobbying after MPs caught in sting over cash for influence | Politics | guardian.co.uk:

"Stephen Byers, the former cabinet minister and arch-Blairite, (who) was filmed describing himself as a 'bit like a sort of cab for hire'. He offered to trade Westminster contacts for £3,000 to £5,000 a day.



Others who were targeted in the undercover operation included former cabinet ministers Geoff Hoon and Patricia Hewitt. Margaret Moran, the Labour MP for Luton, was also involved.

Labour tried to limit the damage last night by saying some MPs were 'mortified' by how stupid they had been.

...

The chancellor, Alistair Darling, said it was 'ridiculous' that the MPs had been caught out in the sting. He told BBC1's Andrew Marr show: 'The best answer when you get a call like that is to put the receiver back down again. It's obvious."

In other words, don't get caught.
Ah, too late. What a pity. Never mind.
We're well rid of these chiselling Blairites.

A very bad man

Tony Blair got cash for deal with South Korean oil firm | Politics | guardian.co.uk:



"Tony Blair has received cash from a South Korean oil firm in a deal kept secret until the business appointments watchdog intervened"

Come on you Tucker!

Malcolm Tucker's election briefing | Comment is free | The Guardian:

"Clegg the kingmaker. Yeah, right. This guy couldn't make a king out of a two-piece Duplo 'Make a King' kit without putting the arse on the head."

Rofl. Quality.

Death = religion, life = art, cinema's half dead

Peter Greenaway's pact with death | Film | The Guardian:



"Greenaway is no longer interested in cinema per se – it's a half-dead medium wasted by taking its cues from books, 'telling bedtime stories for adults. Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings are illustrated books. Not cinema. I want to be a prime creator. As every self-regarding artist should do.'"

Bust the union, or bust

BA strike plan is classic union-busting technique | Business | guardian.co.uk:

Gregor Gall makes this astute point in the Guardian, about the aims of Willie Walsh (below) and the directors of BA:



"You'd think in the case of something close to mutually assured destruction, BA would seize upon the opportunity to avoid a damaging strike, especially when it's making huge losses.

Yet, here's the rub. Yes, BA will lose £100m in the strike, but the prize for it is much bigger. That prize is the decimation of Unite as a serious force in BA."

Flattery? Getting you nowhere, Stephanomics

BBC - Stephanomics: Not lagging, but not leading either

But note how much public sector jobs growth continues to flatter the figures.

The number of public sector workers grew by 7,000 between September and December, while the private sector workforce shrank by 61,000 over the period.

With job losses already being announced in town halls, we cannot expect that to last.

Yeah, "flatter the figures".
More like "keeping the actual economy afloat", Steph.

No cuts. Take it off the bankers.

Smartest guy

Jim O'Neill faces red card from Goldman Sachs | Business | guardian.co.uk

Jim O'Neill, Goldman Sachs' chief economist, is part of a group seeking to wrest control of Manchester United from the Glazer family Photograph: PR handout

Today, O'Neill is regarded as one of the world's leading commentators on global economics, having devised the acronym Bric in 2001 to underline the shift of economic power from the west to Brazil, Russia, India and China – a trend that defines modern, international economics.

Clearly a genius, then.

Foot note to history

Labour's Foot mythology has finally run out of time | Seumas Milne | Comment is free | The Guardian

it was not the manifesto or even Foot that gave Labour its worst election result since 1931. Two other factors were far more important. The first was the Falklands war, which transformed Thatcher's poll ratings on a wave of jingoism (and was unwisely given unqualified support by Foot). The second was the schism in Labour and the breakaway of part of its leadership to form the media-feted Social Democratic party, which split the anti-Conservative vote and kept Britain's most socially destructive postwar prime minister in power for the rest of the decade.

We're still paying for that.

How odd. Labour might win. Hahahaha :-)

Gordon Brown on course to win election - Times Online

GORDON BROWN is on course to remain prime minister after the general election as a new Sunday Times poll reveals that Labour is now just two points behind the Tories.

The YouGov survey places David Cameron’s Conservatives on 37%, as against 35% for Labour — the closest gap between the parties in more than two years.

Oh dear. Poor old Tories. And poor old Rawnsley. His 'book' seems to have had the effect of boosting Brown. How odd... hahahaha.

Speaking profit unto Tory

BBC to close two radio stations and halve web output after Tory pressure | Media | The Guardian

The report has been drawn up by ­senior BBC executive John Tate, a former head of the Conservative policy unit who ­co-wrote the Tory party's 2005 manifesto with David Cameron.

A political decision - ringing clarity on free personal care

BBC News - Today - Free personal care 'is affordable'

An emergency conference on social care for the elderly is to take place today, chaired by Health Secretary for England Andy Burnham. The Conservatives, who broke off from private cross party discussions last week, are not expected to attend.

The conference will examine Scotland's social care system which boasts cross party support.

Prof Allyson Pollock, director of the Centre for international Public Health Policy at Edinburgh University, explains what can be learnt from Scotland's approach to social care.

Well said by Prof P and well worth 4 minutes of your time.

Branson weighs in

Sir Richard Branson supports David Cameron on cuts to speed recovery | News

“I believe the UK's record budget deficit does pose a serious risk to our recovery.

“It would be damaging if we lost the confidence of the markets through delayed action and saw interest rates have to go up steeply.”

He added: “We are going to have to cut our spending and I agree with the 20 leading economists who said we need to start this year. The next government, whatever party that is, must set out a plan to reduce the bulk of the deficit over a Parliament by cutting wasteful spending and must not put off those tough decisions to next year.

“These factors threaten to undermine the confidence of international and UK business, UK consumers and the global financial markets. That could cost jobs and reduce investment in Britain.

“We must send a clear signal that we have the issues in hand and a clear strategy for UK plc.”

Hahahahahahaha

Turmoil at MySpace blamed on News Corporation | Technology | guardian.co.uk

"He absolutely has no idea," he said. "If people really quite understood how little feeling he has for this business, they would fall down laughing – or crying."

ROFL.

My Queen and I

Alexander McQueen: A genius is lost – and darkness has won | Life and style | The Guardian

He loved to describe himself as an anarchist, but when he received his CBE he told his parents that he locked eyes with the Queen and that it was like falling in love.

The bumster genius.

Low wage employers are the fraudsters

Why does Britain find social democracy so hard? | Deborah Orr | Comment is free | The Guardian

The "benefit trap" has a vice-like grip, and it exists because greedy scroungers come in lots of forms – most perniciously, in the form of people who insist on their right to offer the lowest possible payment for an honest day's work, even – especially – when they pride themselves above all else on their ability to "create wealth".

"Sure footed" Labour beats "charismatic" SNP in latest Scottish poll

SNP frozen out by a winter of discontent - Herald Scotland | Comment | Herald View

In a poll across Scotland, taken before the eruption last week of the SNP cash-for-access row, Labour has leapfrogged the Nationalists for the first time since the previous Holyrood elections.

....

While there is little change in the standing of the other parties, this snapshot shows Labour up five points to 37% at the expense of the SNP, which drops five to 35%. This is all the more surprising when the performance of Labour leader at Holyrood, Iain Gray, though sure-footed, has been lacking in charisma.

NB this is for Scottish Parliament constituencies. The SP regional preferences are Labour 37 SNP 30 (down from a peak of 40 in 2008). For Westminster elections the figures are Labour 42 SNP 26.

Oh dear. Poor old criminal Ali...

BBC News - Alastair Campbell in emotional defence of Blair on Iraq

Alastair Campbell: "I've been through a lot on this...I'm a bit upset"

Alastair Campbell has emotionally denied Tony Blair misled Parliament over the intelligence in the run-up to the 2003 Iraq war.

Mr Campbell had to take a moment to compose himself after being asked the question on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show.