Talking Politics

Buried as item 5 or 6 on yesterday’s news was the story about the collapse of talks on the future of party funding. Stemming from the cash for honours scandal and the ever increasing costs of electioneering, the talks were designed to increase transparency and accountability. Both great virtues, both lacking from the public perception of politics.

It is a real shame that the parties have (again) put short-term gain before the public interest, and the talks have collapsed. How refreshing would it have been to have had a good news political story where transparency and accountability triumphed over party political interest. All the parties are now spinning their way out of the problem, and the blame game has begun.

Whatever the truth about whose responsibility the break-down in communications was, the victim is democracy, and the costs - financial and democratic - will be borne by the electorate. Whether they know it, or indeed care, is a whole other issue.

Education, Education, Education

Gordon Brown delivered a speech on education today, at Greenwich university. Brown said that 670 schools in England were failing to provide an acceptable level of education. One in five secondary schools will be closed or taken over unless examination results improve. This could involve transforming the schools into privately sponsored academies. Brown also urged parents to take a bigger role in their children's school lives.

It is interesting that this speech comes at a time when indpendent schools are also coming under the spotlight for their charity status.

Lib Dems Leadership Race

So it is time to say goodbye to Sir Menzies Campbell as leader of the Liberal Democrats. Menzies said questions about his leadership were "getting in the way of further progress by the party". This has raised questions as to how much pressure, if any, he was put under to resign. Since he became leader Sir Menzies, 66, has repeatedly had to defend himself against accusations that he was too old to lead the party.

Simon Hughes said the party owed Sir Menzies "a huge debt of gratitude". Gordon Brown paid tribute to Sir Menzies as a "man of great stature and integrity who has served his party and country with distinction". David Cameron said he was a "fine public servant".

The important thing for the Lib Dems now is to look the future, and the new leader they will elect. Mr Hughes, who has twice stood for the leadership, will not stand again. 2 confirmed candidates are environment spokesman Chris Huhne and bookies' favourite, home affairs spokesman Nick Clegg. Mr Huhne, who was runner up to Sir Menzies in last year's leadership election, said he had decided to run after consulting friends and family. Huhne said that he would be campaigning for a "fairer, greener society where we put people in charge''.

Nick Clegg has promised to bring "ambition, verve and self-confidence" to the party. He said third place in the next general election would be "not good enough". He has called for a national anti-terror police force and annual government targets on carbon emissions.

Birmingham Yardley MP John Hemming is also considering a run as a potential "dark horse'' candidate.

Nominations for Lib Dem leader close on 31 October, with ballot papers being sent to the party's 68,000 members on 21 November. The result will be announced during the week starting on 17 December.

Sir Menzies Campbell resigned after only 19 months in the job. It is clear that the party need to think very carefully about who they appoint as their next leader, we will let you know what we think as the race continues!

Ofcom Discussions

In the Ofcom Annual Lecture, delivered last week, Ofcom Chief Executive Ed Richards said: “In terms of the DDR [Digital Dividend Review], we have yet to reach a conclusion, although, to date, we have not been persuaded of the argument that the best way to maximise the social and economic benefit of the released spectrum is simply to gift some or all of the released spectrum to broadcasters.”

Richards stressed that Ofcom was continuing to work with broadcasters to ensure that the spectrum was used in the most efficient manner possible. He talked of the possibility of HD services on Freeview, using existing capacity, towards the end of 2009. (for more see here)

We will keep an eye out for more information on the DDR and let you know what we think!

Big Fat Politics Blog

We have recently been reading Newsnight’s online offering, especially their Big Fat Politics Blog.

Some of the recent topics people have been discussing on this blog have included the Prime Minister and his rugby prowess, and comments on the election fever.

According to their ‘Guide to Posting Comments’, Talk about Newsnight is a blog which aims to bring the programme team closer to its audience by providing an insight into the production process and offering a platform for review, analysis and debate of the subjects Newsnight covers.

Olympics and Inclusion

This year’s Labour Party Conference had many interesting fringe events and a couple I found particularly interesting.

I agree totally with Tessa Jowell who spoke at the fringe event on the 2012 Olympics. She said that she was tired of hearing people criticizing how it is being handled, instead, she felt that Britain should be proud and be praising this phenomenal event, the preparation for which we have never seen the like before. It is going to change the landscape of the East End forever, most likely for the better providing housing, jobs and facilities that will bring long-term benefits certainly to London, but hopefully to the whole of Britain. So come on let’s stop being ‘glass half- empty’ and let’s start ‘celebrating’ the fact that we’ve won the right to hold the next Olympics here and the phenomenal opportunities it will bring both immediately and for the long-term.

The future of digital inclusion

On another note, I attended another interesting fringe, hosted by EDS, on digital inclusion and the information gap. Working with MPs Sarah Hamilton-Fairley and Alun Michael, they have developed a product, StartHere, designed specifically for those who are not currently digitally included. How great it is to see technology being used to benefit people who are not IT literate but who have day-to-day life problems and needs that IT can help with. My understanding from the fringe is that it provides easy access to valuable resources in Britain that people otherwise wouldn’t know anything about. A simple solution that with one press of a button can provide information and access to the police, legal support, education, medical information, the list goes on. All of which will be accessed on a system supplied in the middle of our high streets, local libraries or cinemas.

Sue Grant

Conservatives Fight Back

At the Conservative Party Conference, Cameron has been trying to persuade Britain that his party represented "the real change" (see here for more), and environment, as usual, is a key issue. An article in the Financial Times (1st October) discusses the environmental plans in the draft manifesto. The article states that manifesto policies have been accelerated due to the prospect of a snap Autumn election. A key theme that the tories would use to fight the election is making Britain safer from the threat of climate change. New green taxes would include a new aviation tax which would help to fund the removal of stamp duty for first time house buyers, and provide extra help through the tax system for couples. So it seems that these green taxes are not being used for environmental purposes, such as investing in green technology, but rather to allow tax benefits elsewhere.

Also, the more radical proposals from the Quality of Life Document, such as a tax on out-of-town supermarket shopping have been ditched.

This all leaves us wondering how much environmental change can we really expect?