tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881762807913180318.comments2024-01-23T16:53:02.428+00:00Mark ThompsonMark Thompsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00744387583593537268noreply@blogger.comBlogger4551125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881762807913180318.post-69009023753639545002018-02-01T21:22:21.854+00:002018-02-01T21:22:21.854+00:00I think you're right about this, but it's ...I think you're right about this, but it's worth noting that the Brexit vote wasn't just about economic issues. It was also about issues of sovereignty, democratic accountability and cultural identity. So, it's not just a question of GDP being an intangible "number in a spreadsheet". It's also that many people (on both sides) didn't make their choice purely on the basis of an economic calculation and would therefore be likely to think that hypothetical arguments about GDP are entirely secondary to their real concerns.AndrewZnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881762807913180318.post-67147477295843635972017-04-27T10:53:50.974+01:002017-04-27T10:53:50.974+01:00Many congrats, Mark!Many congrats, Mark!Stephen Tallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11720133001571029678noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881762807913180318.post-66798073063027102482017-03-30T00:40:15.433+01:002017-03-30T00:40:15.433+01:00I've just read your story and am sitting here ...I've just read your story and am sitting here with tears rolling down my face. I really don't know what to say. It's such a heartbreaking situation but I hope the time you both had with Olly has given you some memories and in time comfort.<br />Good luck in the marathon.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881762807913180318.post-37609680310604230482017-03-24T21:13:00.314+00:002017-03-24T21:13:00.314+00:00I remember following the progress of Olly through ...I remember following the progress of Olly through my friend, Llinos and I prayed he would get better. Thank you for sharing Olly's story. It's heartbreaking to read, knowing your gorgeous boy is no longer with you on earth. You can be sure he's so proud of you all and he'll know how loved and cherished he was and still is. Good luck with your marathon, my brother is running it for the first time this year too. I wish I could donate more x Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11761716868710141025noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881762807913180318.post-61779994516900525752017-03-24T17:33:09.687+00:002017-03-24T17:33:09.687+00:00What a lovely remembrance of a very lucky and beau...What a lovely remembrance of a very lucky and beautiful little boy. In your journey for answers, did anyone ever check him for the genetic condition primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD)? It mimics cystic fibrosis and is associated with respiratory disease from birth and 'situs' issues, including completely reversed internal organs or malrotation, orientation or placement of individual organs. Michele Manionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16925564693116819493noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881762807913180318.post-39431260496230197262017-03-24T08:25:26.555+00:002017-03-24T08:25:26.555+00:00Mark, I have just read your story and have tears r...Mark, I have just read your story and have tears running down my face. I had no idea. What a terrible ordeal for you both to have gone through, but the one thing you can cling on to is that you had that time with him, even if it was so short. Olly clearly loved you both like only a baby can and you did your best to give him a real quality of life. Much love. Iain D.Iain Dalehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03270146219458384372noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881762807913180318.post-61439772705927693532017-03-23T23:27:49.838+00:002017-03-23T23:27:49.838+00:00Mark, you and Nic are the most dedicated parents I... Mark, you and Nic are the most dedicated parents I have ever known, and I saw first hand the love and joy you brought to Olly's short, sweet life. How you both kept going under the massive strain I will never know - I would watch you both and feel humbled by your dedication and how you faced each hurdle with determination to do what was right and best for Olly, right to the end. Despite unthinkable problems your home was filled with love and laughter. At the funeral the nurses who attended told me they had never seen care like it, and nor had I. We are all wishing you every success in your marathon run, you've made amazing progress in your running so far and we know you will succeed. It's a great cause in memory of a beautiful boy we will always hold in our hearts and memory. Love, MumxMarie Thompsonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881762807913180318.post-52717198161996166012016-09-20T13:30:36.904+01:002016-09-20T13:30:36.904+01:00Excellent piece although arguably fisking Toynbee ...Excellent piece although arguably fisking Toynbee is akin to shooting fish in a barrel! I would give more credit than you have to the LibDems for keeping a fair dose of liberalism in the politics of leadership and I fear that the coalition was the last liberal government I will see in my lifetime (I am 50). Certainly Mother Theresa's lot are showing a very mean streak of liberalism in any form.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14106405909275151119noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881762807913180318.post-58196486911738682842016-09-09T11:43:10.928+01:002016-09-09T11:43:10.928+01:00Polly's ability to re-write history is just pl...Polly's ability to re-write history is just plain insulting to the intelligence, but she does know how to pander to her ever dwindling audience <br /><br />The key point from 2010 is that if the Tories had formed a minority government, like Harold Wilson in 1974, they would have called an early election. And like then, the country would almost certainly have elected a Tory majority as people rowed back from their short dalliance with pluralism. At the very minimum I would have expected the Tories to have gained enough marginals, with a campaign as the largest party appealing for "strong government", to form a Tory minority government with a confidence and supply agreement with the DUP. More likely would have been an outright Tory majority.<br /><br />A "rainbow coalition" (which I've heard many Labour supporters even now still cling to as being a possibility) was doomed, as anyone who has worked as an elected politician knows. It relied on at least 4 parties with fundamental ideological differences agreeing 100% of the time. Anyone who has tried to get fellow party members to agree to something, let alone try to work with the intrinsically tribal Labour party, will understand why it was a non-starter.<br /><br />And this all ignores that Brown resigned BEFORE coalition negotiations were finished, which meant that if the Lib Dem/Conservative talks had broken down, the Tories would have formed a minority government as the largest party, daring the others to vote them down, and gone for an early September election when Labour would have had no leader in place.<br /><br />Where Polly is being doubly ingenious is her claims about the PR "prize". Say the Lib Dems had obtained a referendum on it, rather than an AV vote. Academic research from 2011 would suggest that that vote too would have been lost, so it's a complete red herring. She knows that. <br /><a rel="nofollow">http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/no-clear-evidence-of-public-support-for-pr/</a><br /><br />It's a shoddy article, but I expected nothing less from her. She's lost her mantle as the self-appointed heart and soul of the Labour party to the Seamus Milnes of this world and is now lashing out, like a drunk, at anyone and anything.Washttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08506032658589651155noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881762807913180318.post-69646143121003700642016-09-09T09:12:48.822+01:002016-09-09T09:12:48.822+01:00The Lib Dems did not accept the Tory view on auste...The Lib Dems did not accept the Tory view on austerity. The coalition austerity plans were far more in line with what Labour proposed.Iain Robertshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15422191567940230666noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881762807913180318.post-87119799171848064772016-09-09T09:12:18.511+01:002016-09-09T09:12:18.511+01:00Well said Mark. The one big chance for PR was 99 a...Well said Mark. The one big chance for PR was 99 and it was the traditional elements of Labour that killed it. If Labour really cared about preventing majority Tory governments they would have taken that chance, but instead they did what was in their selfish, narrow interests.<br /><br />What a different world we would have now if Labour had taken the one big chance of our lifetimes. It's gone now.chrisb46https://www.blogger.com/profile/09087298615601249326noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881762807913180318.post-31472230872708477412016-06-26T18:19:22.049+01:002016-06-26T18:19:22.049+01:00One problem with this ; I see your argument (and I...One problem with this ; I see your argument (and I agree that we need a competent opposition), but as one of the original £3 "Labour" voters, I don't think it made any difference. The whole associated thing made no difference. Corbyn would have won on just about any system other than a straight vote of the PLP.<br /><br />Those people are still there, and are possibly more entrenched than they were before.<br /><br />Paul Robsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12278875872815047472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881762807913180318.post-39004113312778965612016-06-26T15:38:47.798+01:002016-06-26T15:38:47.798+01:00Ridiculous. Labour are an unelectable shambles swa...Ridiculous. Labour are an unelectable shambles swamped by far left activists. Their only likely future is to split into two, the blairite centre and the far left socialists. Why in gods name would you think you could achieve anything with them while that's going on?<br /><br />Add to that if your idea of political activism is calling everyone who disagrees with you "racist", "xenophobic", and every other kind of *ist that comes to mind, then yes, the labour party is a home for you.<br /><br />It's a party that caters to the extreme left and sneers at everyone else. They epitomise the politics of hate and division.<br /><br />There is no logic in this at all.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881762807913180318.post-29352404859712535542016-05-09T08:15:40.383+01:002016-05-09T08:15:40.383+01:00This thing about stable government....just why did...This thing about stable government....just why did we need it? The traditional response to national crisis has been coalition. The obvious coalition was labour-conservative if there truly was a crisis, but there was not one. Liberals would have been better advised to vote on an issue by issue basis as matters arose and distance themselves from the government. Both in terms of the national outcome, and also in terms of their own credibility. <br /><br />Truth is, a likely outcome of such an approach would have been a new election. And every party was afraid of coming off worse. Nothing which happened was about national interest. Dannynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881762807913180318.post-137484131046129332016-04-06T10:01:46.875+01:002016-04-06T10:01:46.875+01:00You do understand that Blairmore Holdings wasn'...You do understand that Blairmore Holdings wasn't a UK registered company? And that the reason for flying out to board meetings outside the UK was entirely to ensure it was not considered a UK company? And that non-UK companies are by definition outside the UK's tax jurisdiction? We can't just go around demanding to tax every company in the world. <br /><br />What very few people seem to understand (or care to want to understand) is that money that people make when working outside the UK is outside the UK's tax jurisdiction. And in this day and age of globalisation, internet commerce etc, there are more and more people who will have at some point in their lives worked outside the UK, and amassed considerable wealth while doing so. They are perfectly entitled to leave that money outside the UK and the UK cannot tax it. Thus there are perfectly legitimate reasons for people to have foreign registered companies and bank accounts in places like Guernsey etc. The mere existence of these entities does not 'prove' tax evasion any more than having a stack of £20 notes under your mattress does.Sobershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11407417389022146963noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881762807913180318.post-17171284929086384002015-12-24T22:38:25.991+00:002015-12-24T22:38:25.991+00:00I agree with much of your analysis but, if you rea...I agree with much of your analysis but, if you really are still a fellow traveller then maybe you should think about rejoining the party - whatever faults it may have it is still the natural home for liberalsBob Whearcroftnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881762807913180318.post-91092479661248100462015-11-11T13:54:51.436+00:002015-11-11T13:54:51.436+00:00On the morality of eating meat issue, you raised t...On the morality of eating meat issue, you raised the issue of whether there would still be millions of cows existing if we didn't farm to eat them but I thought rather quickly dismissed that. <br /><br />But then you presented a utilitarian argument about how long a cow would live if it lived out its life. And you were trying to balance years of cow happiness against human happiness.<br /><br />But if we didn't eat cows, with the best will in the world we'd have very many fewer cows, not least because it we're to grow a whole lot more veg and grain we'd need the land currently grazed by the cattle herd. (Not that humans competing for land with other large mammals has a good record, of course.)<br /><br /><br />So the two arguments ought to be linked. There are currently 10 million cows in the UK, about 2 million of them are dairy cows. Beef cows are sent to slaughter after about 2 years; dairy cows after about 5.<br /><br />So that's 26 million "cow-years" of just being alive. <br /><br />The natural lifespan of a cow being 20-25 years, that would be the equivalent of having slightly more than a million "wild" cows.<br /><br />(I'll not try to judge "cow happiness" – it's not all one-sided: fewer than 20% of British cows are intensively farmed and domestication provides benefits too, e.g. available food, protection from predators, and (BSE and foot and mouth outbreaks aside) disease control.)<br /><br /><br />So the question is would (or even could) we allow a million cows to roam the UK in the wild (or as pets)?<br /><br />Well, apparently there are already about 2 million deer living wild in the UK (let's just ignore whether deer and wild cows would be in competition for food), so in the end I have to concede it's not impossible.<br /><br /><br /><br />We could eat less meat and farm better, though. George Monbiot has an interesting article on this:<br />http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/sep/06/meat-production-veganism-deforestation<br />Millennium Domehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08430269096817934037noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881762807913180318.post-79787126482999310872015-08-31T18:30:28.032+01:002015-08-31T18:30:28.032+01:00'Renages' should be 'reneges'.'Renages' should be 'reneges'.rob's unclehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03001074396029714388noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881762807913180318.post-44852158409533763092015-08-28T07:21:28.198+01:002015-08-28T07:21:28.198+01:00Duncan Greenland CBE: Has donated a total of £316,...Duncan Greenland CBE: Has donated a total of £316,858.95 to the LibDems since 2004, £31,000 of which went to Clegg’s constituency.<br /><br />Richard Duncalf OBE: Donated £216,000 to the party since 2007, including an individual £10,000 donation to Clegg.<br /><br />Sir Anthony Ullman: Given the party £108,000 in total, including £30,000 directly to Clegg four days before he visited Ullmann’s firm in 2013.<br /><br />Ian Wright CBE: Given £32,807.79 in addition to £9,000 to Clegg directly.<br />Tom Meinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11556288544174140300noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881762807913180318.post-17792159846013239492015-08-13T23:18:51.350+01:002015-08-13T23:18:51.350+01:00Metatone, was your comment for me or the OP? If i...Metatone, was your comment for me or the OP? If it was for the OP, the point was that they shouldn't be excluding supporters on the basis of something they haven't defined. It makes it easy for them to move the goal posts to suit their own agenda.<br /><br />If it was for me, It is indeed equally true of all parties, I just didn't state it as I was referring specifically to Mark Steel's exclusion and the hypocrisy of Labour complaining we 'left' them when they were the ones who left us. I've never been a member or supporter of the other two parties, so for me personally it's not an issue.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881762807913180318.post-53095002157962470132015-08-13T20:07:55.315+01:002015-08-13T20:07:55.315+01:00I don't disagree about Labour - but it's w...I don't disagree about Labour - but it's worth retaining the understanding that this is equally true of the Tories and the Lib Dems. Modern life has been very unkind to political philosophies...Metatonenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881762807913180318.post-72746825050913385202015-08-13T19:27:11.657+01:002015-08-13T19:27:11.657+01:00Mark left the SWP ages ago. I left the SWP in Jan...Mark left the SWP ages ago. I left the SWP in January 2012 due to the Comrade Delta fiasco and I know for a fact that he left at least two years before me. It could be even longer. The problem is that many of us went to parties like the SWP and Left Unity because the Labour party left us, not the other way round. They were the ones who moved to the right and they have the nerve to criticise our values. We are the ones loyal to Labour, just not the corrupt version of it that's currently masquerading as the Labour Party. Never in my worst nightmares did I think that a Labour MP would say they didn't want votes from those claiming benefits or a leader who proclaiming himself the Champion of Moderate Tories. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881762807913180318.post-50050202771445648702015-07-30T13:28:34.884+01:002015-07-30T13:28:34.884+01:00"Just because people vote for 'No to Aust..."Just because people vote for 'No to Austerity', I'm afraid that it does not change the basic laws of economics, if you spend more than you earn it will eventually lead to disaster."<br /><br />As the Greek electorate is discovering.Jimnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881762807913180318.post-52442370714524486922015-07-30T07:58:14.356+01:002015-07-30T07:58:14.356+01:00People will always vote with their pocket in mind....People will always vote with their pocket in mind. The public sector will always vote labour and small and medium business owners will vote conservative.<br />Just because people vote for 'No to Austerity', I'm afraid that it does not change the basic laws of economics, if you spend more than you earn it will eventually lead to disaster.Tom Meinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11556288544174140300noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3881762807913180318.post-19337001801768940402015-07-29T17:51:55.793+01:002015-07-29T17:51:55.793+01:00The political laws of gravity have not changed. Pe...The political laws of gravity have not changed. People vote with their self interest at heart, and in a (slowly) growing economy people don't want to rock the boat. They want stability, they want assurance. The last thing floating voters will vote for is someone who represents radical change. We've just seen that less than 3 months ago, you can't have forgotten already. People looked at Milliband, and Cameron, and decided 'steady as she goes'. You really need your head examining if you think those same people will look at JC in 4 years time and say 'Yes, lets throw everything up in the air and give the bonkers guy a go.' Just not going to happen.<br /><br />What you are seeing is that yes, within the tiny tiny bubble of the Labour movement (relative to the population) JC is more popular than the other nonentities they have to choose from. That says zero about the popularity of JC to the wider voter. We are seeing 'Jez-mania' within a tiny section of society, NOT the wider voter base. If Labour think that their flirtation with JC will transfer to electoral success when faced with a Tory party machine pointing out every little bonkers outburst by him and his supporters over the years, then they are in for a even bigger disappointment than they got in May. <br /><br />Ask yourself this - who would George Osborne (or whoever is Tory leader into the next election) least prefer to face JC, or say Liz Kendall? JC with all the pictures of him and his Islamic terrorist mates, and being best buddies with the leaders of that Socialism nirvana Venezuela, or LK being all soft focus and reassuring to the middle classes in swing seats?Jimnoreply@blogger.com