The PM Disappears After Afghan Criticism - Again

What a difference a day makes in politics. Yesterday there was an air of "mission accomplished" surrounding the release of Stephen Farrell, an Anglo-Irish journalist with the New York Times, from four days of captivity with the Taliban. However, the battle for Mr Farrell's release came at a price, four fatalities including a British Serviceman and an Afghan journalist. The Prime Minister was quick to release a statement, full of platitudes and stoic references claiming, in essence, that no one will be left behind. No one.

However, as more facts emerge today from Mr Farrell's ordeal, including his blog account, the clear delineation of Mr Brown's statement begin to blur. The successful attempt to free Mr Farrell was, in fact, the second attempt and the decision to send in the troops was made by the Foreign Secretary David Miliband and Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth. A purely political decision...

In addition, there is growing unrest in Afghanistan concerning the conduct of the British troops who attempted the rescue, there are many claims of racism and inconsideration of the Afghan people. It has also emerged that the local Afghan authorities were in the process of negotiations with the Taliban, and are increasing frustrated with NATO's brash tactics.

It is obvious that both David Miliband and Bob Ainsworth driving motivation was the safe release of Mr Farrell. But also a defining factor that led them into ordering a fatal rescue attempt was that if Mr Farrell had appeared in the future, still a captive, in a orange jumpsuit surrounded by the Taliban or Al Qaeda. They knew that the war would be a lot harder to justify to a impatient public...

There is a familiar pattern emerging here - when there is a possibility to bask in the reflected glory of a sports team, Gordon Brown is incredibly quick to respond, however, any criticism that requires an immediate response there is tumble weed rolling outside 10 Downing Street.

Fool Me Twice, Shame on Me...

In many respects the housing crisis was a significant contributing factor in the recent recession; the over inflated price of property was considered an investment rather than a short fall in supply, which led to many people feeling pressured into burdening themselves with an unrealistic mortgage just to get on the property ladder before it was to late. It is well documented that these toxic debts on both sides of the Atlantic were partly responsible for the near collapse of the financial sector.

It has seemed for many years that the simple concepts of supply and demand did not apply within the housing sector, with property being considered a guaranteed investment that would return 5% a year. But as population increases at a higher rate than housing capacity, the property price will inevitably rise and demand will consequently outstrip supply. It seems a logical argument, it obeys all the economic laws by which our economy is determined, so why has it been ignored for so long...

It is due in part to the trust Margaret Thatcher placed in the marketplace to reach equilibrium and to the culture of home ownership that she encouraged. This has been further reinforced by the considerable amount of vacuous property programmes on TV that facilitated the myth that property prices do not obey the laws of economics. It is these programmes that would have claimed that Newton's Apple did not obey the laws of physics and therefore was of higher value than other fruit.

Therefore, it is unforgivable that governments, both Conservative and Labour, has consistently ignored demands for more new homes to be built. Also, there is a perverse sense of relief that is expressed by many that house prices are increasing again after the credit crunch.

It is an economic imperative that the government begin to increase the stock of new build houses in the UK if another recession is to be avoided in the near future. The 2,000 new council houses announced today is a small start, but more needs to be done to encourage private and public investors in the housing market.

Cameron has gone a Courtin'

Whether it is the frivolity of summer still lingering in the air or a concerted effort, but David Cameron's first major speech after the summer recess was insightful in a number of respects. The speech itself was not incendiary or that demanding of its audience; in fact it was a pretty unspectacular opening gambit to the new parliamentary session. However, the speech shows a new target audience and tactic for the Leader of the Opposition.

The speech centred around the necessity for spending cuts and fiscal prudence, but rather than discuss any number of viable and significant spending efficiencies, Mr Cameron chose to target the 'bourgeois' MPs (it is ironic given it is only weeks after Alan Duncan's Oliver Twist impersonation) with a tabloid centric attack. Giving the newspapers an easy headline and easier target is nothing new for any politician, but the time and the style of the new attack is significant.

It signals David Cameron's attempt to court the tabloid audience in the election year with a performance that would not have been out of place at last month's Edinburgh's Fringe Festival. It is also significant that Mr Cameron has chosen a policy area that is the responsibility of the House of Commons instead of a government policy, in this respect David Cameron should share in some of the criticism that he has apportion.

The tabloid audience is not the usual target of the Conservative Party, most Tories would rather keep them at arms length, but political will is determined by political necessity and in election year every voter counts. It will be interesting to see if David Cameron pursues the tabloids with as much vigour as Tony Blair did.

On the positive side, the newly announced Conservative plan would shave a massive 0.002% off the national debt.

Review of Summer 2009

As the party political conference seasons creaks into life and party faithful get one last jolly before winter, it is important to review the summer and the issues that will no doubt dominate the news agenda until the end of September.

Labour – The Labour Party, and more specifically Gordon Brown, could not wait for the Parliamentary recess at the beginning of July. At the end of the last parliamentary session the Prime Minister and the whole of the Labour Party were close to cracking; Mr Brown must have been hoping that the magical powers of the summer time would heal some very deep and self inflicted wounds.

Instead the recess has reinforced the popular perception of the stricken Prime Minister, that of a weak leader that reacts only when constantly pursued and too often is seen to be behind the events instead of ahead of them. The failure of Mr Brown to envisage the public furore concern the release of Abdulbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi, is more the rule than the exception. Heavy is the head that wears the crown.

The only event which may have given the Prime Minister a wry smile was seeing Hazel Blears’ car vandalised. It might only be a small victory, but a victory nevertheless.

Conservative – A summer of missed opportunities has plagued the Conservative Party. Just as the Labour Party were dominating the headlines for all the wrong reasons, the Tories would march straight into the spotlight of public scrutiny with a series of incredibly ill judged gaffes.

David Cameron has worked hard to altered the public image of the Conservative Party; gone is the party divide over Europe, gone is the idea that the NHS is too big and needs to stripped back and gone is the public perception of wealth businessmen out of touch with reality. No, not really, Mr Cameron just hid them all along.

However, David Cameron, unlike the Prime Minister, reacted quickly and affirmatively to reassure the public that these MPs and MEPs are just mavericks and in no way representative of the Conservative Party. It is comforting to know that the party that is likely to be asked to form the next government is a party of mavericks and loose cannons.

Liberal Democrats – If the summer was a series of missed opportunities for the Conservative party, it was a summer of increasing toil for the Lib Dems. As much as Nick Clegg tried, the media coverage was sparse and inconsequential mainly due to the main party’s domination of the airwaves.

If the Lib Dems are to capitalise on the gains made due to the Credit Crunch, Nick Clegg must handover more of the limelight to Vince Cable and attack the apparent weaknesses of any future incarnation of the FSA. With both other main parties lacking the public’s support over economic matters, the Lib Dems could make highly significant inroads.

SNP – Whether through design or default, the SNP have dominated not just the local and national debate, but have demanded a fair portion of international attention over the summer. Regardless of the rights or the wrongs of the compassionate release of Abdulbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi, the SNP have attempted to assert the concept of an independent Scotland with the claims that Scotland is ready to make the “tough” choices.

It is still unclear whether the decision of Kenny MacAskill was political or independent; what is clear is the success of the SNP to keep the debate concerning Scottish independence firmly in the public gaze.

Man Bites Dog - The Summer of Silliness '09

Traditionally the summer news correspondents have been typified by the cliché of “silly season”, cyclical news reports to maintain readership have been commonplace for many years. The news daily’s reproducing gossip and rumour as fact has been a staple of media output in the summer months since the mass media was created.

There is no better example than last bastions of truth and exposition the Daily Mail and Daily Express as the purveyors of this silly season. These papers have single-handedly keep the public “informed” about the latest conspiracies concern the death of Lady Diana for nearly twelve years. Using trite stories, with sensational headlines and the overuse of the phrases such as “a source close to…” or “an insider revealed…”, the summer was a time of lazy journalism and even lazier readers.

However, this year has been slightly unusual in many respects; there has been a feast of news issues that have dominated the media over the summer - Afghanistan, Libya, the NHS, MPs living in poverty, the FSA and possibly the end of the recession. The media has avoided the temptation of heavily relying upon emotional stories to sell papers; instead they have preferred to report the news – now that really is a silly season.

The Return of Hogarth's Happy Hour

Hogarth's Happy Hour has returned after a summer recess...