Michael Child recently posed the question on his Thanetonline blog about whether Thanet District Council was homophobic. Then David Davies MP commented that he considered the Conservative - Liberal Democrat coalition to be the “Brokeback Coalition”, referencing the iconic gay movie Brokeback Mountain. Alan Johnson MP commented on this that it was all a degree of trust, and that for some it was the “bareback coalition”.Here in Kent the Conservative Party has a long tradition of homophobia. It took a hard line on Section 28 that made it the backwoodsmen’s backwoods. Enough of these outdoor allusions!Things have got better. This has been due to the legislation and attitude of 13 years of Labour government. Some Thanet Conservative councillors such as Sandy Ezekiel, Chris Wells and...

Cap on skilled migrants is loose enough to allow the entrance of at least half of those currently applying, detailed policy revealsNearly half of the skilled migrants who come to Britain from outside Europe are to be exempted from the temporary cap on migration planned by the government, according to detailed proposals revealed today.The coalition's plan for an annual limit on immigration show that the "flexibility" demanded by the Liberal Democrats and businesses will mean that internal transfers of staff by mutinational companies – which make up 45% of the total covered – will initially be exempt.Other exemptions from the limit, to be imposed next month, will include ministers of religion and elite sports people – ruling out any restriction on the number of overseas players in the...

Investigation into human rights abuses promised by William Hague needs to be independent and must look at criminal responsibility, says organisationThe coalition government should "leave no stone unturned" in the search for the truth about the UK's complicity in foreign torture, the head of Amnesty International has said.An inquiry promised by William Hague, the foreign secretary, needs to be both independent and able to decide whether any individuals should be prosecuted, said Amnesty's interim secretary general, Claudio Cordone."We look forward to an inquiry that is truly independent and looks not only at potential criminal responsibility but also at Britain's co-operation agreements with the United States and other countries," said Cordone. "It should leave no stone unturned."Launching...

Original Home Page – And another very early post from this blog Current Latest Page All Contents of Site – Index Sign the Ban Blair-Baiting petition here. A recent comment – “Look what’s happened to Labour without Blair. You left wing ultra scum should be ashamed of yourselves letting the Tories back in!” Comment at end 18th May 2010 WANDER FREELY AMONG US BRITS, DEAR TERRORISTS WE WOULDN’T WANT ANYONE TO HURT YOU IN NASTY PAKISTAN A special immigration court said Abid Naseer was an al-Qaeda operative - but could not be deported because he faced torture or death back home in Pakistan. MI5 alleged Abid Naseer wrote coded e-mails to an al-Qaeda...

Steve Ladyman rightly identified Alan Johnson (pictured) as a man who could make an excellent Leader of the Labour Party. The quality of the man is shown in Alan's view of his propects of leading the Labour Party"There is a role for me to play but we need to come back and regroup, reform. That is a big job - for five years in Opposition and however long after that. It is a 13 or 14 year job and I just think my talents are best served supporting whoever gets that job rather than going for it myself. It's probably best if the baby boomers do something else, particularly as we have such an exceptional pool of talent there. I think David (Miliband) is the best."I hope all possible contenders will look at how they can serve the best interests of the Labour Party as Alan Johnson wisely has. As...

Gordon Brown resigned as Labour Party Leader within the last hour. It was the right thing to do. Harriet Harman, Alastair Darling, Alan Johnson and others have ruled themselves out as potential Leaders.Of those that who might stand and talking to people on the doorsteps, the person best placed to be the next Leader of the Labour Party is David Miliband. It will be interesting to see who...

Gordon Brown was always a party man at heart, and his decision to sacrifice himself in order to facilitate Labour's participation in a potential progressive coalition could yet go down as one of the great political game-changers in recent history.Where Purnell, Blears, Flint, Reid and Co have failed, Nick Clegg has finally succceded, but for once I share Alastair Campbell's view - that Mr Brown never intended to stay long once the election result had become clear, and that far from 'squatting' in No 10, he was simply carrying out his duty to his country - and his Queen - by ensuring the business of government was carried on.Against the odds, the prospect of a Lib-Lab dream team that can change this country for good is back in play, while the prospect of a 19th old Etonian Prime Minister...

Home secretary admits yesterday's events damaged Labour but that focus will return to economy, where PM is strongestThe home secretary, Alan Johnson, today sought to draw a line under Gordon Brown's damaging description of a Labour supporter as "a bigoted woman", admitting the prime minister had made a "dreadful mistake" but insisting he would pull out all the stops in tonight's final leaders' debate.Johnson, who was doing the rounds of the news media this morning, acknowledged the damage done to Labour's election campaign by Brown's private comments about Giliian Duffy in Rochdale yesterday, which were caught on an open Sky microphone, but denied the party believed the issue of immigration to be "off-limits"."Bigoted, unreasonably prejudiced and intolerant certainly doesn't apply to Mrs...

From the Guardian: The government’s official drug advisers are to look at banning a synthetic chemical marketed as NRG-1 that they fear will become the next popular legal high when mephredone is banned in a fortnight. The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs is also to launch an urgent investigation into the whole range of legal highs now available in Britain. It will look at setting up an early warning system to identify new drugs that emerge on the market and quickly limit their spread.  The ACMD’s chair, Professor Les Iversen, has also made clear to the home secretary, Alan Johnson, that their recommendation to ban mephedrone, the imitation amphetamine, as a class B drug does not rest on its possible link to 25 deaths in England and Scotland.  In its report...

Alan Johnson got his way on mephedrone, but good drug policy depends on looking beyond the media-driven demand for actionWe have learned a number of things during recent days from the manoeuvrings over the classification of mephedrone. The home secretary, Alan Johnson, has proved that he can browbeat the Advisory Committee on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) into giving him the answer he was looking for. The uncharacteristic outburst by my old friend Les Iversen, the ACMD's interim chair – describing me as out of touch on the BBC and repeatedly claiming that mephedrone was already illegal – shows just how much pressure he has been under in recent days. There is now an even larger question mark over the capacity for the ACMD to operate independently and free from political interference. This...

Communities and local government select committee says Prevent programme has 'stigmatised and alienated' British MuslimsAn independent investigation should be held into allegations that a government programme aimed at preventing Muslims from being lured into violent extremism is being used to "spy" on them, a committee of MPs will say today.The programme, called Prevent, has been dogged by controversy and is criticised on several fronts in a report published today by the communities and local government select committee, which says the programme has "stigmatised and alienated" British Muslims.Last October the Guardian revealed Prevent was being used to gather intelligence about innocent people who are not suspected of terrorist involvement. The article was denounced as "wilfully...

Shilly-shallying about what to do about Chinese designer ‘plant food’ drug Methadrone/Mephedrone/MCat is another unwelcome example of how New Labour’s passive/aggressive approach towards protecting citizens’ rights does the reverse. It’s enough to drive a man to spliff. Last October, former NL drug czar, the (perhaps) aptly named Professor David Nutt resigned/was sacked from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) for stating that so-called Home Secretary Alan Johnson must have been on one if he thought that upgrading cannabis from class C to B was a good trip. I was not surprised when Johnson later confirmed that Prof. Nutt had indeed been sacked, because his ‘advice’ cut across government policy to attack soft targets, such as...

Campaign promoting key Labour promise – that local police spend 80% of their time on the beat – is censoredA Home Office advertising campaign that highlights one of Labour's key election policies on crime and policing is to be banned by the advertising industry watchdog, the Guardian has learned.The Advertising Standards Authority has told the Home Office that its television adverts highlighting the government's "policing pledge" that neighbourhood officers can now be expected to spend 80% of their time on the beat is to be banned with immediate effect.The ASA says in an adjudication to be published next week that the television ad breaches its "legal, decent, honest, truthful" code because it is misleading on at least three counts."The ad must not be broadcast again in its current...

It took me a while to work out what this Guardian piece about Government plans for the DNA database was getting at.That usually means the hack has approached the story from an obscure angle – one that wouldn’t naturally occur.In a typically engaging Guardian intro it reads…The Home Secretary Alan Johnson may sacrifice his controversial proposal for the police to store innocent people’s DNA for up to six years in order to get his crime and security bill on to the statute book before the general election.Use of the word ‘sacrifice’ suggests Johnson is giving up something he really wanted in order to pass the rest of the bill.Of course that is not the case. In fact currently the police can hold innocent people’s DNA forever and that is the way they, and the Government like...

'Dogbo' control order on the cards as government backtracks over plan to make owner-insurance compulsoryMinisters were accused of making a "dog's dinner" of proposals for cracking down on dangerous canines after a U-turn on plans for compulsory insurance for the animals, which have now been dropped barely a week after they were published.Proposals for more than 5 million dog owners to be forced to buy third-party insurance against the risk of their pet attacking someone were launched last week, as part of a package of measures by environment secretary, Hilary Benn, and the home secretary, Alan Johnson.They were included in proposed changes to the Dangerous Dogs Act aimed at tackling the growing problem of some breeds being used as weapons on inner-city estates. But they provoked an angry...

This new campaign video shown at Home Secretary Alan Johnson’s press conference on crime yesterday left me livid.It actually seems to suggest that only criminals would disagree with the DNA database – the one that holds data on 850,000 innocent people.“Do we honestly need a whole database just so the police can see if someone’s dandruff matches their cigarette butt,” says the thief in the video, as if it were the best argument that opponents of the database have come up with.It certainly was not the argument that convinced the European Court of Human Rights to rule that the kind of DNA database the Government was creating was "a disproportionate interference" in people's lives and that it couldn't be "regarded as necessary in a democratic...

Original Home Page Current Latest Page All Contents of Site – Index All Links to ‘The Trial of Tony Blair’ posts Sign the Ban Blair-Baiting petition here. “He’s not a war criminal. He’s not evil. He didn’t lie. He didn’t sell out Britain or commit treason. He wasn’t Bush’s poodle. He hasn’t got blood on his hands. The anti-war nutters must not be allowed to damage Blair’s reputation further. He was a great PM, a great statesman and a great leader.” Comment at end Ban Blair-Baiting 26th February, 2010 Brown: “We Do Not Torture” Got it? Good. Now kindly put a sock in it, Chakrabarti, Clegg and mates. We KNOW who is protecting our country’s security, liberty and democracy and it ain’t YOU. Article follows: ‘GORDON Brown today...

Original Home Page Current Latest Page All Contents of Site – Index All Links to ‘The Trial of Tony Blair’ posts Sign the Ban Blair-Baiting petition here. “He’s not a war criminal. He’s not evil. He didn’t lie. He didn’t sell out Britain or commit treason. He wasn’t Bush’s poodle. He hasn’t got blood on his hands. The anti-war nutters must not be allowed to damage Blair’s reputation further. He was a great PM, a great statesman and a great leader.” Comment at end Ban Blair-Baiting 25th February, 2010 In the middle of the coup, the former welfare minister Frank Field went to No 10 to plead with Blair not to give way to Brown. “You can’t go yet. You can’t let Mrs Rochester out of the attic,” he said. Rawnsley writes: “Blair roared...

Yesterday evening I was honoured to be Thanet Labour Group’s representative at Chinese for Labour’s slightly belated Chinese New Year celebration. Compered by the inimitable Simon Fanshawe, who kindly posed mid quip to catch his best side in the photo shown. Simon kept the evening flowing, but also took the opportunity to celebrate Labour’s achievement on lesbian and gay rights. Pointing out several people present with civil partnerships, he said this had only happened because over three terms of Labour government there had been a confidence and commitment to equal rights for everybody in our community. David Cameron of course opposed gay rights. He now supports them. Has he genuinely changed his mind, or is he just expressing a view that he thinks will win him more votes? Home...

So the Labour Home Secretary Alan Johnson has said that, "Liberal Democrat Conference is a Hippy Commune". So when was he last at a hippy commune?I have to say it must be one of the most expensive hippy communes going, hotel prices are steep, maybe we should set up a yurt village in the Bullring in a few weeks. Hotel bar tabs are nowhere were as hippyesque as homemade alcoholic Dandelion...

As The Guardian reports: The political storm over allegations of MI5 complicity in torture escalated tonight after Alan Johnson, the home secretary, accused the media of publishing “groundless accusations” and commentators of spreading “ludicrous lies” about the Security Service. As defence lawyers prepared to challenge the government’s success in suppressing severe criticism of MI5 officers made by one of Britain’s most senior judges, the Liberal Democrat leader, Nick Clegg, pointed the finger at the “very top of government” saying senior ministers had probably known about claims of Britain’s involvement in torture but failed to take action to stop it. Here’s Nick’s statement in full: David Miliband and Alan Johnson’s...

Home secretary blasts Lib Dems and media after Guardian revealed how government suppressed scathing court rulingThe political storm over allegations of MI5 complicity in torture escalated tonight after Alan Johnson, the home secretary, accused the media of publishing "groundless accusations" and commentators of spreading "ludicrous lies" about the Security Service.As defence lawyers prepared to challenge the government's success in suppressing severe criticism of MI5 officers made by one of Britain's most senior judges, the Liberal Democrat leader, Nick Clegg, pointed the finger at the "very top of government" saying senior ministers had probably known about claims of Britain's involvement in torture but failed to take action to stop it.The home secretary's intervention came as Kim...

There is always a tension between the desire to restrict immigration and the economic imperative to recruit more international students to study in the UK. Yesterday's announcement by Alan Johnson of his plans to introduce further restrictions on overseas students, with shrieks of 'not enough' from his Conservative shadow, is in severe danger of reducing our competitiveness in a market where Britain is already fighting to retain market share.To be fair, much of what Johnson proposed is sensible enough. A clampdown on those with poor English or those bringing dependents in for short courses seems unarguable. But, the severe tightening in student working hours is already being misreported in the Indian press (it applies apparently only to sub-degree courses though this was not made clear...

Home Office to cut number of visas and those offered them will have to speak passable EnglishThe number of student visas could be cut by tens of thousands under new rules making it harder for people to enter the UK, the home secretary, Alan Johnson, announced today.Those seeking to study in the country will have to speak passable English, while students enrolling on short courses are banned from bringing dependants.The new rules, which do not require legislation, come into effect immediately. The changes follow criticism of the government's point-based system, that was introduced last year.Prospective students will have to speak English to a level just below GCSE standard, treating English as a foreign language, rather than the beginner level as at present. In a move designed to protect...

Dear Alan Johnson, I’m sure you consider yesterday’s announcement regarding sex offenders to be a fantastic success, given that the press lapped it up and the Conservatives were forced to fall into line. The plan is to let families ask police if someone with access to their child has convictions or has been previously suspected of abuse, following the trials of such a scheme in Southampton, Warwickshire, north Cambridgeshire and Stockton-on-Tees.  One can see why the media loved it, but that doesn’t mean it is all good news. “Sarah’s Law” was proposed after the kidnap and murder of 8-year-old Sarah Payne by Roy Whiting, a convicted sex offender, 10 years ago.  Her mother, Sara, a child protection campaigner, told the News of the World: “In...

Home secretary plans national launch of powers enabling parents to check whether child carers are convicted sex offendersThe Conservatives today backed plans by the home secretary, Alan Johnson, for a national roll-out of powers allowing parents to check whether those who regularly care for their children are convicted sex offenders.The decision followed a pilot scheme in four police areas – Cambridgeshire, Hampshire, Cleveland and Warwickshire – which gave parents and carers controlled access to the sex offenders register.At least one police force, Avon and Somerset, refused to take part in the pilot.The decision was announced by Johnson in the News of the World, which has campaigned for what it calls "Sarah's law" – the publication of the names and addresses of convicted sex...

Home Secretary says threat has increased but there is no evidence to suggest an attack is imminentThe threat of international terrorism to the UK was raised from substantial to the second highest level of severe last night, meaning an attack is "highly likely".Alan Johnson, the home secretary, said there was no intelligence to suggest an attack was imminent.The escalation reversed a decision in July to downgrade the likelihood of a terror attack from "severe" to "substantial".Johnson said the change was not ­specifically linked to the increased threat from international terrorism following the failed Detroit plane bombing on Christmas Day or to any other incident.He said the Joint Terrorism ­Analysis Centre (Jtac), a unit within MI5, had taken the ­decision based on a broad range of...

• Threat raised from 'substantial' to 'severe'• Home secretary says no attack is imminent The threat of international terrorism to the UK was raised from substantial to the second highest level of severe last night, meaning an attack is "highly likely".Alan Johnson, the home secretary, said there was no intelligence to suggest an attack was imminent.The escalation reversed a decision in July to downgrade the likelihood of a terror attack from "severe" to "substantial".Johnson said the change was not ­specifically linked to the increased threat from international terrorism following the failed Detroit plane bombing on Christmas Day or to any other incident.He said the Joint Terrorism ­Analysis Centre (Jtac), a unit within MI5, had taken the ­decision based on a broad range of...

More New Labour drivel. This time from John Denham (pictured above), the Communities Secretary, who says in a speech that although racism still exists, New Labour’s policies of promoting race equality in the last decade have helped to create a society that is more comfortable with diversity than ever before. So as usual, our chattering class multi-culturalist politicians miss the point completely. Race isn’t the issue – people don’t give a toss about colour. But religion most certainly is a growing issue. And despite what misguided cretins like Mr Denham say, burying brave British soldiers who are fighting a “diverse” creed in Afghanistan isn’t “comfortable” – and the next time some rabid Brit-born Islamic fundamentalist...

Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair hoped right until the eve of the invasion of Iraq that the crisis over Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction could be resolved peacefully, former New Labour spin doctor Alastair Campbell (pictured above) said today.  Giving evidence to the Iraq inquiry, Mr Campbell said Mr Blair’s “instinct” had always been that Britain should join the Americans if it came to unilateral military action.  However, he insisted that right up to the House of Commons vote on March 18 2003, Mr Blair had held out the hope Saddam Hussein could be disarmed through the United Nations. Now far be it for this humble blog to gainsay pearls of wisdom from Mr Campbell – but I seem to recall – and so do most others –  that when...

Original Home Page All Contents of Site – Index All Links to ‘The Trial of Tony Blair’ posts Sign the Ban Blair-baiting petition here. Most recent sig comment: “The Best PM this Country had. Shame on the media.” Comment at end 10th January, 2010 Anjem Choudary outside Parliament, London. Over this building he aims to hoist the flag of Islam. Forestalling reports that this “march” was about to be banned by Home Secretary Alan Johnson as early as Monday, Anjem Choudary has decided to dump the idea of marching though Wootton Bassett. This is the small market town in England where the war dead are repatriated. This crazy idea from Islam4UK was meant to draw attention to the war dead in Afghanistan … further the cause of the Islamification of this country. A...

Original Home Page All Contents of Site – Index All Links to ‘The Trial of Tony Blair’ posts Sign the Ban Blair-baiting petition here. Most recent sig comment: “The Best PM this Country had. Shame on the media.” Comment at end 8th January, 2010 RECRUITED IN LONDON, SAYS YEMEN This claim is disputed by the British government, of course. But it should hardly surprise us, if true.  I mentioned this possibility here at this blog. We have known this has been going on for years in our universities, and in particular in our “bogus” colleges. In fact it was only due to this man’s attempt to come back to Britain to join such a fake establishment that the government prevented his entry. Somehow or other though, for some reason or other, they forgot to explain to our...

Fierce condemnation as last-ditch attempt to prevent death of Akmal Shaikh, 53, failsChina was this morning condemned for its human rights record after a British man who, his supporters say, had mental health problems, was executed for smuggling drugs.Akmal Shaikh, 53, was shot dead by a firing squad at 10.30am local time (2.30am British time) after frantic last-minute pleas for clemency by the Foreign Office failed.Britain had demonstrated its anger with Beijing over the treatment of Shaikh, who had smuggled 4kg (8.8lb) of heroin into China, when it summoned the Chinese ambassador for a diplomatic dressing down at the Foreign Office.In what was described as a "full and frank exchange of views", the Foreign Office minister Ivan Lewis asked Fu Ying for clemency and outlined Britain's...

Fears raised that country is becoming stronghold for new generation of al-Qaida-inspired fightersA number of Britons have travelled to Yemen to train at secret terrorist camps, counter-terrorism officials revealed today, raising fears that the country is becoming a stronghold for a new generation of al-Qaida-inspired fighters.Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, whose failed attempt to blow up Northwest Airlines flight 253 is the focus of an urgent global investigation, claimed he was trained in Yemen and that senior al-Qaida operatives in that country supplied the device used in the plot.Tonight senior UK counter-terrorism officials said MI5 was aware of several British nationals and British residents who had trained at camps in Yemen's "ungoverned spaces" in the last year.Security officials in...

Lib Dem shadow home secretary Chris Huhne today tackled Alan Johnson on his decision not to block the extradition of computer hacker Gary McKinnon, who has Asperger’s, to the USA. (LDV has previously covered the story here). Their exchange in the Commons today is recorded below, and you can read the whole Hansard debate here: Chris Huhne (Eastleigh) (LD): The Home Secretary is, in my view, a very brave man to hold out his judgment of the medical condition—and of the worsening of the medical condition—of Gary McKinnon against such overwhelming evidence as we have heard from the hon. Member for Enfield, Southgate (Mr. Burrowes). Gary McKinnon is a vulnerable British citizen who has become more vulnerable and whose interests are being ignored in favour of an unequal treaty with the...

• Home secretary says hacker's fate is 'heavy burden'• Timeline: Gary McKinnon's fight against extraditionHome secretary Alan Johnson has defended his decision not to step into the case of Pentagon hacker Gary McKinnon, who faces extradition to the United States for breaking into US government computers eight years ago.McKinnon, 43, is due to be extradited to Virginia amid allegations that he caused hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of damage to US government computers - but campaigners say he should be tried in the UK.Last week Johnson said he did not have the power to intervene, and today reiterated his reasoning after McKinnon's MP, David Burrowes, tabled an urgent question in parliament."I'm the only person who can make this decision and I have to make it on the basis...

Residents who want £30 card can enrol at offices in city centre and at airportIdentity cards will be available to people living in Manchester from today.The scheme's launch was overshadowed by the revelation that the cards are only available to people who already have a passport or whose passport expired this year.Anyone else wanting a £30 card will first have to sign up for a passport at a cost of £77.50.Phil Booth, from the campaign group NO2ID, said: "The government claims that ID cards are a handy alternative to a passport are bogus."You have to have one already, so you will pay another £30 and set yourself up for a lifetime of fees, penalties and compliance."Once you are on the database, you will be obliged to update Whitehall's register on you for the rest of your life."A Home...

Social scientists now need to take a leaf out of David Nutt's book, and speak out on bad policies – yet recognise politics is an artThe latest culture clash between politics and science sent a spasm of anger and alarm through every academic discipline. The sacking of Professor David Nutt as head of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs was a salutary warning to scientists that they risk being trampled underfoot when they take even unpaid government posts. Speaking truth to power is dangerous, so now they await the chief scientific adviser's imminent report on advisers' freedom to speak their mind.Remember how Sir David King, Tony Blair's chief scientific adviser, was forced to eat his words when he rightly called climate change a greater threat than terrorism. The sorry tale of...

Computer hacker Gary McKinnon said to be at serious risk of suicide after home secretary allows his extradition to the USThe mother of computer hacker Gary McKinnon has criticised the home secretary's decision to extradite her son to the US as "disgusting".McKinnon, who has Asperger's syndrome, is said to be at serious risk of suicide after Alan Johnson rejected a last-ditch attempt to prevent his extradition.In a letter today the home secretary ordered McKinnon's removal to the US on charges of breaching US military and Nasa computers, despite claims by his lawyers that extradition would make the 43-year-old's death "virtually certain"."The secretary of state is of the firm view that McKinnon's extradition would not be incompatible with his [human] rights," said the letter, dated 26...

Lib Dem shadow home secretary Chris Huhne has slammed the decision of Labour’s Alan Johnson to refuse to block the extradition of Gary McKinnon – the self-confessed computer hacker with Asperger’s – to the US on medical grounds. It is appalling that this Government places a higher value on a deeply unfair extradition agreement than it does on the welfare of a British citizen. Alan Johnson has shamefully turned down the opportunity to demonstrate his faith in British justice and save a vulnerable man from a lifetime in prison or worse. “The Home Secretary must now step in and ensure that this sorry saga is ended once and for all by trying Gary McKinnon in this country. The Home Secretary should stop being an American poodle and start being a British bulldog.”...