Debate Poll Results

The poll was open for just under an hour.

Q. Who Won Tonights Debate?

A.
David Cameron  - 71%
Nick Clegg - 29%
Gordon Brown - 0%

Total Responses - 18

Comments from the poll:

1. No-one they are all as bad as each other falling over themselves to tell us how they'll spend our cash without asking us whether we agree or not.

2. But God help us if that is the best of it. Cameron "won" it for me, but Clegg, allowed by Cameron to get away with some ridiculous assertions, will do so in the eyes of most people who now are not interested in politics. Tonight will not have helped
 
3. Cameron too careful.
Clegg was anti-tory.
Brown looked foolish.



My personal feeling was that Cameron just edged it; he was out in front for a bit then Brown turned on the Tory Cuts line and dragged Cameron into a bit of a slog which let Nick Clegg do well in the late questions.  Brown came over pretty bad, but I have never been a fan.  The big winner on the night was Clegg purely for getting the airtime and the big loser was Brown.

It was not as sterile as I had anticipated, and it might actually shift the polls - it definitely will if Brown is this bad in either or both of the future debates.

Cross-Posted

Debate Poll Results

Debate Poll

For blog readers.

Who Won Tonight's Debate?

Feel free to spread this.

Debate Poll

Gordon Brown has the last (insane) laugh

You may think you have seen this before, but take another look. The Red Rag version goes further than Saatchi and Saatchi and works better (in my humble opinion).

Gordon Brown has the last (insane) laugh

Union Cash And The Labour Party

Labour has made a big deal about the effect that Lord Ashcroft's cash has had on the Conservatives.  What they won't acknowledge in public is that they have numerous non-dom sources of cash themselves.  The Conservatives today published a paper about another source of cash funding their Labour campaign, that of cash from the Unite Union. The Conservatives are taking the fight to the Unions and to Charlie Whelan in particular.

The Paper does a good job in spelling out the financial and political influence the Union has over the Labour Party and even spells out where the two organisations have effective merged into one operation.  The underlying effect is that the Unite Union has a hand in running the country, and none of us voted for that!  They have taken advantage of the poor finances of the Labour Party and engineered themselves into positions of influence on public policy.  It is common knowledge that soon after Gordon Brown took over the Labour Party its finances (which he had managed) were in a dire state.  What is a little less known is that Unite saved the Labour Party from bankruptcy, and that Unite has spent £11m of its members money since Gordon Brown took over installing it's preferred candidates and buying influence with the Governing Party. 

If Gordon Brown is prepared to hand over (or hand back..) control of the Labour Party after he crippled them financially can we really trust his with our futures after he has crippled the country financially?

If you are interested, go read the report, it is a nice easy read yet is actually rather comprehensive given the depth of individual facts, quotes and donations listed. 


Total donations to Labour CLPs. Since Q3 2005, Unite has donated £460,561.81 to 148 Labour CLPs.
MP seats bankrolled by Unite (90 CLPs):

Mark Tami (Alyn and Deeside)
Sandra Osborne (Ayr Carrick and Cumnock)
Margaret Hodge MBE (Barking)
Eric Illsley (Barnsley Central)
John Mann (Bassetlaw)
Patrick Hall (Bedford)
Gisela Stuart (Birmingham Edgbaston)
Richard Burden (Birmingham Northfield)
Graham Stringer (Blackley and Broughton)
David Crausby (Bolton North East)
Terry Rooney (Bradford East)
Gerry Sutcliffe (Bradford South)
Madeleine Moon (Bridgend)
Dawn Primarolo (Bristol South)
Nick Palmer (Broxtowe)
Ivan Lewis (Bury South)
Wayne David (Caerphilly)
Lindsay Hoyle (Chorley)
Phil Hope (Corby)
Bob Ainsworth (Coventry North East)
Jim Cunningham (Coventry South)
Jon Cruddas (Dagenham and Rainham)
Andrew Gwynne (Denton and Reddish)
Margaret Beckett (Derby South)
Ed Miliband (Doncaster North)
Jim Knight (Dorset South)
Gwyn Prosser (Dover)
Ian Austin (Dudley North)
Andy Love (Edmonton)
Andrew Miller (Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Clive Efford (Eltham)
Maria Eagle (Garston and Halewood)
Vernon Coaker (Gedling)
Paul Clark (Gillingham and Rainham)
Ann McKechin (Glasgow North)
William Bain (Glasgow North East)
John Robertson (Glasgow North West)
Ian Davidson (Glasgow South West)
Parmjit Dhanda (Gloucester)
Anthony Wright (Great Yarmouth)
Linda Riordan (Halifax)
Bill Rammell (Harlow)
Tony McNulty (Harrow East)
Gareth Thomas (Harrow West)
Jim Dobbin (Heywood and Middleton)
Alan Johnson (Hull West and Hessle)
David Cairns (Inverclyde)
Emily Thornberry (Islington South and Finsbury)
Dr Roger Berry (Kingswood)
Gordon Brown (Kirkaldy and Cowdenbeath)
George Howarth (Knowsley)
Jimmy Hood (Lanark and Hamilton East)
Hilary Benn (Leeds Central)
George Mudie (Leeds East)
Fabian Hamilton (Leeds North East)
Michael Connarty (Linlithgow and Falkirk East)
Tony Lloyd (Manchester Central)
Dr Phyllis Starkey (Milton Keynes South)
Ed Balls (Morley and Outwood)
Dai Havard (Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney)
Paul Farrelly (Newcastle under Lyme)
Yvette Cooper (Normanton Pontefract and Castleford)
Sally Keeble (Northampton North)
Charles Clarke (Norwich South)
John Heppell (Nottingham East)
Douglas Alexander (Paisley and Renfrewshire South)
Linda Gilroy (Plymouth Sutton and Devonport)
Chris Bryant (Rhondda)
Kevin Barron (Rother Valley)
Phil Wilson (Sedgefield)
Dan Norris (Somerset North East)
Angela Smith (South Basildon and East Thurrock)
John Denham (Southampton Itchen)
Alan Whitehead (Southampton Test)
Dave Watts (St Helens North)
Shaun Woodward (St Helens South and Whiston)
Anne McGuire (Stirling)
Robert Flello (Stoke on Trent South)
Siân C. James (Swansea East)
Anne Snelgrove (Swindon South)
David Wright (Telford)
Angela Eagle (Wallasey)
John Spellar (Warley)
John Healey (Wentworth and Dearne)
Tom Watson (West Bromwich East)
Rob Marris (Wolverhampton South West)
Tony Cunningham (Workington)
Ian Lucas (Wrexham)
Paul Goggins (Wythenshawe and Sale East)
Albert Owen (Ynys Mon)

PPC seats bankrolled by Unite (58 CLPs):

Ronald Hughes (Aberconwy)
New candidate tba (Ashfield)**
Alan Strickland (Berwick upon Tweed)
Ian Saunders (Beverley and Holderness)
Jack Dromey (Birmingham Erdington)
New candidate tba (Birmingham Selly Oak)**
New candidate tba (Blackpool North and Cleveleys)**
Nancy Platts (Brighton Pavillion)
Julie Cooper (Burnley)
Maryam Khan (Bury North)
Stephenie Booth (Calder Valley)
Jude Robinson (Camborne and Redruth)
Jenny Rathbone (Cardiff Central)
Ivan Henderson (Clacton)
Debbie Abrahams (Colne Valley)
Gregg McClymont (Cumbernauld Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch
West)
Chris Williamson (Derby North)
Michael Edwards (Derbyshire South)
New candidate tba (Dunbartonshire West)**
Pat Glass (Durham North West)
Grahame Morris (Easington)
Leo Barraghclough (Eastleigh)
Sheila Gilmore (Edinburgh East)
New candidate tba (Edinburgh South)**
Ian Boulton (Filton and Bradley Stoke)
Alison Moore (Finchley and Golders Green)
Ian Mearns (Gateshead)
Daniel Marten (Haltemprice and Howden)
Phillippa Roberts (Hereford and South Herefordshire)
Karen Jennings (Hornsey and Wood Green)
Bridget Phillipson (Houghton and Sunderland South)
Mike Robb (Inverness Nairn Badenoch and Strathspey)
Mark Chiverton (Isle of Wight)
Clive Grunshaw (Lancaster and Fleetwood)
Rachel Reeves (Leeds West)
Liz Kendall (Leicester West)
Yvonne Fovargue (Makerfield)
New candidate tba (Middlesbrough South and Cleveland
East)**
Andrew Pakes (Milton Keynes North)
Chi Onwurah (Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
John Cook (Norwich North)
Jayne Innes (Nuneaton)
Anneliese Dodds (Reading East)
Naz Sarkar (Reading West)
Simon Danczuk (Rochdale)
New candidate tba (Rutherglen and Hamilton West)**
Paul Blomfield (Sheffield Central)
Valerie Shawcross AM CBE (Southwark North and
Bermondsey)
New candidate tba (Stalybridge and Hyde)**
Chuka Umunna (Streatham)
Julie Elliott (Sunderland Central)
Geraint Davies (Swansea West)
Victor Agarwal (Swindon North)
Carl Morris (Thurrock)
Stella Creasy (Walthamstow)
New candidate tba (Weaver Vale)**
Lisa Nandy (Wigan)
Andrew Judge (Wimbledon)

**Denotes where a new candidate has not yet been
announced.

Note:
In this [the source] document, Labour MP CLPs are defined as those
where the current Labour MP is standing for re-election
this year.
PPC CLPs are referred to as those where the current
Labour MP is not standing for re-election or where there
is no Labour incumbent.



Cross-posted.

Union Cash And The Labour Party

Carry on Gordo!

This is a very funny post from Lobbydog which draws on that great line from Carry on Cleo: "Infamy, infamy - they've all got it in for me!"

Wonderful mental of picture of Ed Miliband in Harriet Harman's wig and mascara!

Carry on Gordo!

No hope for this dope

...fetch a rope.

No hope for this dope

Save Our Gordon

Join the Facebook Campaign and show your support for a landslide defeat for Labour, demand that the Labour Party unites behind Gordon Brown.

We the people demand the right to humiliate the Prime Mentalist at the ballot box.

h/t Guido Fawkes campaign creator

From The Red Rag

Save Our Gordon

The special relationship............over!!

I wrote this piece here several months ago.

Subrosa wrote this piece here this very morning!!

Looks like the pidgeons are finally coming home to roost.

The special relationship............over!!

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween.

Starring:

Alistair Darling as Dr Frankenstein
Gordon Brown as Frankenstein's Monster
Bob 'Wiggy' Ainsworth as The WigWolf
Harriet Harman as a bloodless Ghoul
and Peter Mandelson as Count Dracula Prince of Darkness

From The Red Rag

Happy Halloween

Quote Of The Day

"Let’s be honest: five more years of Brown is about as attractive a proposition as a handjob from Edward Scissorhands."

Morris Dancer, of PoliticalBetting.com

Quote Of The Day

Hope Not Dope

Here's a good slogan (and window poster) for the General Election, thanks to Curly…

Hope Not Dope

Last Minute Advice To Gordon Before The Speech

1.  Empty bladder before you go on stage

2. blow nose, ensure you have tissues... just in case.

3. add a line about your immediate resignation.

4... erm, that's all I have got.

Last Minute Advice To Gordon Before The Speech

Charles Clarke's Red Herring

Just watched Charles Clarke's appearance on Newsnight and I was struck by the one thing: Charles Clarke is more concerned about the survival of the Labour party than what is right or wrong for our country.

Yes, his thoughts on Gordon Brown are quite damaging and, in a way, are quite welcome. BUT, if you read his interview in the Evening Standard and/or listen to his interview on Newsnight, at no point did he state that Gordon Brown's leadership is damaging the well-being of the country. Instead, his whole focus is on the damage that will be inflicted on the Labour party at the next election (if we get one!) if Brown continues in his puppet role.

So for all those who reading this who think Clarke has done a good thing today by attacking Brown, I would say you must look at the real message he is sending out. It is a message of self-interest, of maintaining the Labour machine that has done so much damage to our country. Clarke isn't manouvering against Brown out of any interest in the country's future. He's not doing it out of any sense of guilt, or sense of duty to the public. No, Clarke's betrayal of the British people is worse than that. It an exercise in damage limitation and nothing more.

Charles Clarke is trying to breathe life into the NuLab corpse, and for that reason alone he has shown himself to be as much a traitor to the British people as Brown himself. Don't be fooled!

Cross-posted

Charles Clarke's Red Herring

Another Fine Mess Gordon

The Attorney General Baroness Scotland has today been fined £5,000 for her employment of an illegal immigrant who overstayed on a student visa by five years.

The fine was for failing to keep copies of documents that The Baroness claims she checked to validate that the worker was legally entitled to work in the UK. No further action from the UK Border Agency or from The Prime Minister will follow.

The law that has been broken was advised upon by the Attorney General during its conception, as the AG acts as lawyer to the Government. In it, specific provisions were worded to ensure that employers keep copies of documents as failure to produce any documentation would not be a defence against the specific law. It is a long held standing in English Law that Ignorance of the law is not a defence against it, and all judges are held to apply this principle. There is no specific need to word such a provision really unless specific onus is required – so entrenched is the notion to law.

As such, to have an Attorney General now who advised and helped frame a law which included a provision that the onus of proof falls to the accused and that only the production of evidence showing pro-forma checks were made (in this case, photocopies of documents) to then fall foul of that law is breathtakingly incompetent for somebody of the Attorney Generals position. It is the Attorney General equivalent of wile e coyote strapping himself to an Acme missile in the pursuit of a blue feathered dinner only to go and blow himself up – Perhaps even more incompetent than that.

The whole situation has all of the hallmarks of a whitewash about it.

I say Whitewash because a £5,000 fine does not begin to resolve this little problem and yet again I think Gordon Brown has staggeringly underestimated the knock on effect this is going to have; yet seems to be a player in getting into the rush to investigation, fine, slap on the wrist, move along now, la la la we don’t care, we’re not listening chain of events that has come to pass in under a week.

I am upset, and I think you are too.

Firstly, The Attorney Generals position is just the latest of high offices in our Kingdom that has been besmirched by the appointment to that office of somebody capable of causing exceptional embarrassment to that post. It is just however the latest in a long line of appointments under this Labour Government; the frequency of scandals seems to have increased two-fold since Gordon Browns coronation. By simply flying off to the US to play World Statesman and by failing to sack Baroness Scotland, Brown has again, for the umpteenth time shown himself to be indecisive and completely unable to provide a Government of any talents, let alone of “all talents”. With crystal clarity the public gaze upon a man who yet again put his own and his party’s perceptions ahead of doing the right thing and acting in the best interests of this country. The moment the fine was issued the Prime Minister should have implemented the change, to which he would have already had lined up – that is what a leader would have done.

Secondly, the hiring of illegal immigrants is a known and frequently used tactic of employers to avoid paying minimum wage to employees. The minimum wage is the crown jewel in 12 years of Labour government, perhaps the only initative left that retains broad popularity and reminds all of us of the promise that we all felt of what was to come. There has been no word however if the Baroness was avoiding paying her worker minimum wage, which would be another offence, both under the law and in terms of holding a grand position within a government, no matter how discredited, to whom not only brought in the legislation for that minimum wage, but have and will rely upon its fair introduction as a campaigning point. Could Labour even mention minimum wage if their own AG was found to have ignored it?

It adds to the feeling over cover up that we are not informed one way or the other; could the Baroness still find herself in an embarrassing position on this?

Thirdly, when will it all end? I seem to repeat myself on this point over and over here on my blog (and VOTR) but for every single scandal, even today, Labour follows the same instincts, the same alienating formula of self preservation. Try to change the story, deny, attack others… get found out, try to hold on to high paying, high powered position… blame the Tories, stuff the voters, stuff doing “the right thing”, quick, get Rosa, Kevin and Polly to write about how nice we are and how the Tories will starve your babies to feed their butlers…. Anyone remember what the story was, no? Great, pass the expense forms.

This brings us onto the next point. Brown is trying to draw a line under this, but the Sunday Times has already revealed that Wile e coyote, er sorry, Baroness Scotland, has claimed £170,000 for an allowance paid to Lords who love outside of London, whilst living in Chiswick, which is in, er, London. I am guessing the Baroness did not photocopy those claim forms either before submitting them. Again, ignorance cannot be a defence against fraudulent claims. The Government should either swiftly investigate and publish the relevant paperwork or call the Serious Fraud Squad – which conveniently Baroness Scotland should have the phone number for given that in her role as Attorney General she has supervisory power over it. And of course, nobody bats an eyelid that someone with supervisory powers over the Serious Fraud Squad could be involved in a massive fraud themselves... that is just modern Britain.

Perhaps Gordon Brown could clear up whether he thinks this series of events have come about because the Attorney General is a crook, or because she is grossly incompetent, or is ita bit of both? If he could elaborate on that, whilst explaining why she still has a job I think a lot of people would be much clearer.

With Brown in charge there is no one to push these lunatics over, because he’s one of them. They will cling on, and he will until next year as clearly too many of Labour Parliamentary presence have too much to lose if Brown goes. They are fighting to save each other and their own jobs now. They’re alright, but what about the rest of us who live here?

When Labour polls in the mid twenty percent range I find it hard to believe there are still people in this country that can abide by such loose and questionable behaviour in our governing officials.

If Brown had of sacked the Baroness he would have legitimately got a bump in the polls for doing the right thing, and more than that for being seen to act decisively. This would have sent a warning to rebels ahead of the Conference, and may have wiped away some of the questions about a change of leadership. With a conference platform and feeling bold, Gordon Brown could have used the conference to spell out difference in Labour and Conservative policy and cuts – he could have regained at least some of the agenda and perhaps even put dents in Conservative plans for their conference. He would have acted positive and perhaps got a positive result.

Instead… well, you know the rest.

Cross-Posted

Another Fine Mess Gordon

Predictions:

Prediction 1.

This Friday night Derren Brown will amaze and entertain a watching nation as he demonstrates how he has the ability to manipulate the subconscious minds of millions of people through a television broadcast.

Prediction 2.

On Saturday morning, Gordon Brown will invite Derren Brown into his "Government Of All Talents"

Predictions:

An Analysis of Labour Government Policy

REST OF THE WORLD VERSION:

The squirrel works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building and improving his house and laying up supplies for the winter.

The grasshopper thinks he's a fool, and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. Come winter, the squirrel is warm and well fed.

The shivering grasshopper has no food or shelter, so he dies out in the cold.

THE END

------------------------------------------------------------------------

LABOUR GOVERNMENT THE UK VERSION

The squirrel works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks he's a fool, and laughs and dances and plays the summer away.

Come winter, the squirrel is warm and well fed.

A social worker finds the shivering grasshopper, calls a press conference and demands to know why the squirrel should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others less fortunate, like the grasshopper, are cold and starving.

The BBC shows up to provide live coverage of the shivering grasshopper; with cuts to a video of the squirrel in his comfortable warm home with a table laden with food.

The British press inform people that they should be ashamed that in a country of such wealth, this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so, while others have plenty.

The Labour Party, Greenpeace, Animal Rights and The Grasshopper Council of GB demonstrate in front of the squirrel's house. The BBC, interrupting a cultural festival special from Notting Hill with breaking news, broadcasts a multi-cultural choir singing 'We shall overcome'.

Ken Livingstone rants in an interview with Trevor McDonald that the squirrel got rich off the backs of grasshoppers, and calls for an immediate tax hike on the squirrel to make him pay his 'fair share' and increases the charge for squirrels to enter inner London .

In response to pressure from the media, the Government drafts the Economic Equity and Grasshopper anti Discrimination Act, retroactive to the beginning of the summer.

The squirrel's taxes are reassessed. He is taken to court and fined for failing to hire grasshoppers as builders for the work he was doing on his home and an additional fine for contempt when he told the court the grasshopper did not want to work. The grasshopper is provided with a council house, financial aid to furnish it and an account with a local taxi firm to ensure he can be socially mobile. The squirrel's food is seized and re distributed to the more needy members of society, in this case the grasshopper.

Without enough money to buy more food, to pay the fine and his newly imposed retroactive taxes, the squirrel has to downsize and start building a new home. The local authority takes over his old home and utilises it as a temporary home for asylum seeking cats who had hijacked a plane to get to Britain as they had to share their country of origin with mice. On arrival they tried to blow up the airport because of Britain 's apparent love of dogs.

The cats had been arrested for the international offence of hijacking and attempted bombing but were immediately released because the police fed them pilchards instead of salmon whilst in custody. Initial moves to return them to their own country were abandoned, because it was feared they would face death by the mice. The cats devise and start a scam to obtain money from people's credit cards.

A Panorama special shows the grasshopper finishing up the last of the squirrel's food, though spring is still months away, while the council house he is in, crumbles around him because he hasn't bothered to maintain the house. He is shown to be taking drugs. Inadequate government funding is blamed for the grasshoppers' drug 'illness'.

The cats seek recompense in the British courts for their treatment since arrival in UK .

The grasshopper gets arrested for stabbing an old dog during a burglary to get money for his drugs habit. He is imprisoned but released immediately because he has been in custody for a few weeks. He is placed in the care of the probation service to monitor and supervise him.. Within a few weeks he has killed a guinea pig in a botched robbery.

A commission of enquiry, that will eventually cost £10,000,000 and state the obvious, is set up. Additional money is put into funding a drug rehabilitation scheme for
grasshoppers and legal aid for lawyers representing asylum seekers is increased. The government praises the asylum-seeking cats for enriching Britain 's multicultural diversity, and dogs are criticised by the government for failing to befriend the cats.

The grasshopper dies of a drug overdose. The usual sections of the press blame it on the obvious failure of government to address the root causes of despair arising from social inequity and his traumatic experience of prison. They call for the resignation of a government minister.

The cats are paid a million pounds each because their rights were infringed when the government failed to inform them there were mice in the United Kingdom .

The squirrel, the dogs and the victims of the hijacking, the bombing, the burglaries and robberies have to pay an additional percentage on their credit cards to cover losses. Their taxes are increased to pay for law and order, and they are told that they will have to work beyond 65 because of a shortfall in government funds.

THE END

Cross posted from The Last of the Few Blog

An Analysis of Labour Government Policy

Megrahi Decison #2

The Libyan government made a surprise announcement that it would give up WMD programme. This was such a surprise it surprised most commentators, who did not believe Libya had a credible WMD programme.

This was towards the end of 2003. Bush and Blair were delighted with this Christmas present.

In March 2007, three years later, Libya signed an oil deal with BP, brokered by Blair.

In May 2007, three years since the WMD announcment and two months since the BP deal, Blair signed a Memorandum of Understanding regarding the Prisoner Transfer Agreement (PTA) with Libya. The understanding at the time between the Westminster and Scottish governments was that this would not include anyone convicted of the Lockerbie bombing.

In December 2007, three years since the WMD announcement and nine months since the signing of the BP oil deal, the Justice Secretary Jack Straw changed his position on the PTA, stating that "the wider negotiations with the Libyans are reaching a critical stage and, in view of the overwhelming interests for the United Kingdom I have agreed that in this instance the PTA should be in the standard form and not mention any individual."

In December 2007, three years since the WMD announcement, nine months since the oil deal, and the same month as Jack Straw changed his position on the PTA, the BP oil deal was ratified by the Libyan General Peoples' Committee.

There is a paper trail providing ample evidence that the return of the Lockerbie bomber was linked to the agreement and the ratification of the BP deal. I wonder how much Blair has made personally out of this.....there are really no words to describe the character of such a man...or of those who have followed his lead regardless of the loss of 270 lives: Straw, Mandelson, Rammell, Brown.

Incidentally, I don't believe that Megrahi committed the crime, and this is the view widely held in Libya. I believe he was going to be transferred and his terminal illness was most convenient for the Westminster government - who could pass the buck to the Scottish government and avoid any repercussions - and for the Scottish government, who sidestepped an appeal which probably would have succeeded. The unspoken reason that underpins Megrahi's release is the doubt surrounding his conviction. They nearly got away with it. Should have kept the Americans onside to avoid a backlash, that was the major blunder.

(first posted on Jess The Dog's Blog)

Megrahi Decison #2

Megrahi Decision

Subrosa makes a point on her blog re the article in the Times today were a former diplomat to Libya, Oliver Miles seems to think "something fishy" going on around the al-Megrahi release.

I agree with points made but also I feel another point or 2 is also linked into the mix here.

These are reported also in todays Times and consist of

1. WPV Yvonne Fletcher
2. Attempted assassination on Gaddaffi in 1996 supposedly by MI6.

WPC Fletcher was shot in 1984, during a demonstration outside the Libyan Embassy, the bullet almost certainly havng been fired from the first floor of the building. Her killer was thought to have been smuggled out of the country after the shooting. As Libya shed its pariah status, Metropolitan Police officers investigating the case visited Tripoli in 2004, 2006 and 2007, but without obvious success.

The assassination attempt occurred in 1996 when Colonel Gaddafi’s motorcade was attacked in the town of Sirte. He survived but six bystanders were killed.

The now ex-M15 officer and disgraced and proven a liar Mr David Shayler, later claimed that MI6 had paid the so-called Islamic Fighting Group £100,000 to carry out the attack.

Last night Whitehall sources denied the two investigations were linked and insisted that the traffic was all one way, with the Metropolitan Police seeking Libya’s assistance in bringing WPC Fletcher’s killer to justice.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office said it had assured Colonel Gaddafi that there was no British plot to assassinate him, and that Mr Shayler’s allegations had been thoroughly investigated and discounted.

“There’s this case and another case when somebody tried to assassinate the leader. These two cases are linked together,” Mohammed Siala, a member of Libya’s Cabinet, replied when asked yesterday if Libya would show WPC Fletcher’s family the compassion that was shown to the Lockerbie bomber by surrendering her killer.

Mr Siala’s comments will stir even more feelings around not only the release of al-Megrahi but also around the whole British governments handling of the entire Libyian issue and its lack of communication from the start and also apparent sleeze, the hand of Mandleson in Corfu, Gordon Brown silence, hurried release of transcript docs and oil contracts amongst other issues.
A dirty little subject which is not going away in a hurry.

Megrahi Decision

Make the most of this summer

..while it lasts. Thanks to John B for his suggestion for a fundraising party in aid of the Sunlight Centre for Open Politics. John thought a Pimps and Ho's theme would be apt and I have to agree with him. Arrange your local party, charge a couple of quid or have a whip round, then make your donation online, simple. Gordon will be keeping an eye on the sausages ;-) and Alistair will be using his 'flipping' expertise on the burgers.

As promised John, here is your invitation postcard. good luck with the fundraising.

From The Red Rag

Make the most of this summer

Outrage as mandelson medical records leaked

There was outrage in Westminster last night as confidential medical records relating to Peter Mandelson's recent prostate surgery were leaked to the media. The documents which have been seen in full by The Red Rag include graphic images of what doctors described as a parasitic growth that was removed from Mr Mandelson's prostate.

Doctor's were awaiting biopsy results to determine if the growth was malignant. However, one of the surgeons involved in the operation privately confirmed "I have rarely seen such obvious malignancy.

From The Red Rag

Outrage as mandelson medical records leaked