House of Comments - Episode 81 - The Calculus of Differentiation

Episode 81 of the House of Comments podcast "The Calculus of Differentiation" is out. Myself and Emma are joined by Lib Dem blogger Jennie Rigg to discuss the Lib Dems on Free Schools and policy differentiation in general, Plebgategategate, rendition and Labour's pay day lender tax policy.

You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes here.

Other podcasting software e.g. for Android can be pointed here to subscribe.

You can download the mp3 for the latest episode directly from here.

Or you can listen to the embedded episode below here:

listen to ‘Episode 81 - The Calculus of Differentiation’ on Audioboo

Any feedback welcomed in the comments below.


PS: A big thanks to Audioboo for hosting the podcast for us. We would also like to thank Kevin MacLeod from Incompetech.com for our theme music.

Devil hangs up his horns

So Chris Mounsey AKA Devil's Kitchen has decided to delete his entire blog history and start again in a less vituperative style following yesterday's appearance on The Daily Politics where he was torn into by Andrew Neil for his blogging style. There is some further blog reaction here, here and here.

I can understand his decision. He mentions that his boss appeared to be none too pleased about the exposure he was getting following his appearance and of course he won't want to do anything to jeapordise his career.

At the same time I can't help feeling a little sad. Chris' blogging style was not to everyone's tastes but I used to enjoy reading his rants. He has described them as "cathartic" and I can understand why. I know that plenty of other people found them to be that too. I think we will all lose something as a result of his toning down.

Jennie Rigg is horrified by the whole episode (and other recent ones too, and the reaction of even some within the Lib Dems to similar episodes from our opponents) and what it says about who is and is not deemed acceptable for public life. In an excellent post today she points out what I have also said on occasion which is that we seem to be trying to get to a position where anyone with an even vaguely colourful personality is shunned. She then goes on to list various things that she has done in her past which the media and her opponents (she is standing in a council election at the moment) could use against her from her past. Well worth reading.

Coming back to Chris, I am sure the quality of his argument will remain and perhaps eventually this change will be seen as for the best. He points out that this was always going to happen eventually. I guess his point is that being an angry young man can only get you so far. I'm sad to concede that ultimately he is probably right, at least with the way our political life is structured at the moment.

Letter to myself at 16

I've seen a few of these so far and Jennie Rigg has tagged everyone who wants to be so I thought I'd have a crack myself...

Dear Mark,

I know things have been going quite well for you recently. You have just started at sixth-form college and have already made some good friends. However you will go through some difficulties over the next couple of years. Although it will be very hard, as you will find with all adversity it will ultimately make you a stronger and more resilient person.

Part of the fallout from this will be that you will think you don't want to go to university and instead will go and get a full-time job as a software engineer at the age of 17. Again, this is something you need to go through but rest assured you will go to university eventually and it will be one of the best things you ever do. You will meet people there who will still be some of your closest friends 19 years on (exactly as your mother and father predicted) and once you get a taste of independence there will be no going back!

On the subject of Mum and Dad, try to listen to them a bit more and be a bit fairer to them. They were right about education and only want what's best for you. In time they will become some of your closest confidants and they will support you unconditionally through thick and thin.

Try to spend as much time as you can with your grandparents. I'm sure you are mindful that they will not be around for ever but just try to bear this in mind when planning how to spend your time. They love the bones of you and at this stage in their lives they are largely living vicariously (look it up) through their children and grandchildren. This especially applies in a few years time when you will be living in Liverpool just a few miles away from them. You should make more of an effort at that point. It will not always be as easy to do so.

Don't worry too much about finding a girlfriend right now. There is a danger that you will get a bit obsessed with trying to find someone. Ironically, that will actually make it less likely to happen. You will have the odd girlfriend over the next few years (in some cases very odd!) but it will take time and more maturity from you before you are in a position to enter into a proper long-term relationship.

Try to get over your hangup about going to the Cinema, Theatre, music and comedy gigs etc. on your own. It will hold you back from doing what you really want to do unnecessarily.

Don't ever allow yourself to get bored. There is no need. There are a plethora of subjects to read up on and research. You already have interest in politics, comedy, Theatre/acting and various other areas. Join a library in every area you live in and make very good use of it.

Finally, try to stop worrying so much. You are on course to have a rich life with wonderful experiences and friends. You will be successful in a number of different areas. Try to channel that worry into more constructive things.

See you in 2009.

Mark.

PS: In 1994, you will come across something called the "Internet" for the first time. You will initially be frustrated at how difficult it is to find things on it but won't give it too much thought. Try and solve it yourself! You will definitely have the skills to be able to at that point. You will have 4 years before anyone else does it and founds what becomes one of the biggest companies in the world....

I now tag Constantly Furious, Darrell Goodliffe and Skipper.

House of Comments podcast - Episode 4

The latest "House of Comments" podcast with myself and Stuart Sharpe of the Sharpe's Opinion political blog is now live. The website for the podcasts is here and the fourth episode which we recorded on Monday is available to download via this page here (raw mp3 file here if you prefer). You can subscribe to the podcast via iTunes here.

The format as usual is to invite one or two other political bloggers each week and discuss a few of the stories that are making waves in the blogosphere.

This week, we were joined by Jennie Rigg of the Lib Dem Miss S B blog, and Matt Wardman, editor of the cross-party Wardman Wire. We discussed Labour funding, Twitter/social networking, Watford Council child safety concerns and asked should we be paying MPs more. I have some quite firm views on this last one!

STV is the one for me

Since I posted this yesterday I have been further deliberating on the merits of just focusing on debating the principle of proportional representation as opposed to specifically pushing for Single Transferable Vote (STV).

There have been others posting about this subject and I had a lively debate with Jennie Rigg on her blog yesterday too. I seem to be in a minority in what I suggested yesterday and most Lib Dem bloggers seem to think that it is vitally important to push for STV. As I mentioned previously my problem is that I have a lot of trouble trying to get my non-politically minded friends to even listen to me about this, let alone properly engage with what I am saying. I distinctly recall spending 10 minutes a couple of years ago explaining the First Past the Post system, its advantages and drawbacks, and why I thought STV was better. The person concerned is University educated and very intelligent but a few months later she asked me "What was that about again?". She couldn't remember what I had said. I think the problem is that some of the arguments are fairly arcane to all but the politically obsessed.

However the more I have been thinking about it, the more I am persuaded that specifically arguing for STV is the way forward. I have come across too many examples in comments on blogs, twitter and in the MSM making criticisms of "PR" that just do not apply to STV (mainly it puts all the power in the hands of the parties whereas STV does the exact opposite). In some cases I suspect people who have a partisan stake in the existing system are deliberately obfuscating the issue (as David Cameron did in yesterday's Guardian) but I am sure there are many who just do not know what STV is and genuinely think that all PR systems require party lists.

So I am coming on board the STV train. That doesn't mean that I will not still be behind Alan Johnson's calls for a referendum but whenever I mention it I will point out that the PR system I favour is STV. The Referendum 2010 campaign is also calling for one but they are remaining generic for now.

The debate is only just starting and we need to be ready to rebut all the canards and nonsense that will be thrown at us. It is clear to me now that all Cameron was doing yesterday was trying to hijack the reform debate so he can neutralise the threats to his personal and parties ambitions. That's fair enough as it is his job but we should go for him now and should not allow him to paint himself as the change needed. He isn't. Lib Dems are the true reforming progressives and people need to understand that if they really want to change the political system in this country, the quickest way to achieve it is to back us.

Debating different forms of PR

I am conflicted at the moment.

Jennie Rigg and Mark Valladares have both pointed out that Alan Johnson's favoured form of electoral reform to be put to a referendum at the time of the next election is not the best form of PR. Mr Johnson favours the AV+ system as recommended by the Jenkins Comission in 1998.

They both point out problems with AV+. Jennie mentions that it does not remove safe seats which is true, some will remain although I believe there will be less of them and at least each candidate has to get 50% of the vote. Mark points out that it is likely the top up lists used for this system will have the problems always associated with party lists. They both say that STV is the way forward.

The reason I am conflicted on this (and hence why I mentioned Mr Johnson's idea this morning without unpacking the specifics of the PR system he suggests) is because I fear there is a risk that this golden opportunity could degenerate into a debate between different PR systems which will just confuse and turn off non-political people (i.e. 90-odd percent of the country).

I also favour STV and am on the record numerous times on this blog advocating it. However, if it came to a choice between retaining FPTP or going for AV+, I would go for AV+. I think it is right that others are raising this question and I can understand where he is coming from when Mark says:

Amidst the sea of people applauding Alan Johnson for proposing a revisit of the recommendations of the Jenkins Commission, I feel the need for a raft for those who wish to blow a raspberry.

However, I have waited so long for an opportunity like this that I would rather stick to the principle of arguing for PR now rather than get drawn into the details. Once the political momentum is with a referendum and it looks like it is going to happen then I think that is the time for the merits of AV+ vs STV to be debated more. We don't all need to sign up right now to a specific system.

The Referendum 2010 campaign is taking this approach and it is worth taking a look at what they are saying. It is similar to Mr Johnson but they just talk about PR in a generic sense.