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Renewing participatory democracy Multiple Differential Uncertainty
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Week 04 First Anniversary Hit Count My first-year tally of hits was 2,720 at the witching hour yesterday at 1.00 pm - total "actual" hits were 7,134, but my Counter program rejects multiple contacts on the same day, recording them as one-hit only - the E-record also shows that 6% were inadvertent hits from my own browser, in spite of my care with the self-disabling button - and so the real first-year hit-count was - 2,559 ... and I am quite proud of that figure - many thanks for your support and interest - what will 2003 bring?
University Fees
UK socialists are in disarray. The emergence of a well-paid political salariat has generated a new gulf between its leaders (i.e. all salaried politicians) and rank-and-file members. And the Labour Party is splintering, demoralised by disregard. The fissures are between the leaders (the salariat, the apparat) and the Party’s foot-soldiers, its paying members.
Let us choose
Commentator John Lloyd, writing
in the NewStatesman, contends that
"the challenge for those who wish to retain a
liberal polity... is to frame policies that will undercut the appeal of the
populist right". Without that, the I agree. But I see a paradox.. For I am convinced that is from egalitarian socialist analysis that future political "liberal" advances will come. It would indeed be a paradox that the most powerful engine of socialist egalitarianism turned out to be the human rights movement itself.... What do you think? back to top 
Lord Irvine is surprised, by the difficulties of Lords Reform, Stage Two. He should not be. The problem is politically irresoluble, because the question itself is irretrievably flawed. The Second Chamber should simply be abolished. Scotland enacts primary legislation for Scotland, without a "revising" Chamber.
Decennial Census growing discontent The case mounts, against our 200-year old ten-year Census process. The latest problem is that many local authorities refuse to accept the accuracy of the 2001 figures, which seem to declare massive reductions in our city populations. And any rational migration management policy demands first-class, accurate, settlement figures - both at local and national level. Last May, a Commons Select Committee called for radical Census reform, and I argued that we should adopt the French practice, of holding a 10% sample Census every year, see Managing Migration.
Other recent topics And read my own Big Theory itself, at Six years on... The timescale refers back to January 1997, when the Blair Government had not yet been elected - that was month when I first complained, writing in Tribune, that the planned Blair Project was too timid for me, too  For aficionados of the Constitution - I have dusted own my city-region proposals of 1996 - we are still woefully failing to mobilise the vitality, the cultural and economic strength of our great cities - see Building a Better Britain. And our political salariat continues to ignore the huge democratic potential of effective neighbourhood government...Diary 2002 Now up to date! I have re-structured my Diary to give you a day-to-day means of looking back, throughout the year just click through Follow my August 2002 Russian Tour Diary, now unfolding in splendid technicolor - capacity problems have so far limited the scale of how much I can E-publish, but there is still plenty to read - St Petersburg Novgorod Moscow Tallinn (2)
Week 04
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Beware Blunkett 
I have pulled no punches, in my criticism of the Home Secretary David Blunkett Blunkett should go October 2002. I have shown you the paucity of his entry in Who's Who. He is woefully ill-equipped for his high Office. He is a Little Englander, without cosmopolitan perceptions. He is by nature authoritarian, without wider perceptions of a liberal polity. He is a bully, without political subtlety. His style is confrontational, his language intemperate. His latest attack on his own civil servants, for mishandling his new "induction hotel" project, is inept. His own character, and his language, are inflaming UK racism, not calming or countering these nasty trends.
Parish Perfect I am a parish councillor - except that in Wales, our having never had a complete set of Anglican "parishes" like England, these councils were re-designed and re-named community councils by the Tory Government of 1972. But both parish and community councils are facing civil disobedience... London Imperfect The Olympics-for-London battle is hotting-up, with everyone taking sides. Ken Livingstone is busy writing the shortest political suicide note in history, by imposing a seven-year long "Supplementary Olympic Tax" on all London's Council Tax bills, by way of precept. My own concern is that the City simply does not have the managerial coherence or competence to handle the project. And this week, I am joined by none other than Andrew Rawnsley... My Great- prizefighter A New-Year family clear-out unearthed a 1962 BBC report of one Abraham Cann, Devon prize wrestler, of 1826 - definitely an ancestor of mine..
"Politics" attracts With the political interests of the young said to be declining, and with the year-on-year growth in undergraduate recruitment limited this year to less than 3%, how do you explain the 14% increase in those wanting to study politics - see full report in The Guardian.When is Ken Livingstone faces a fundamental challenge to the legality London's Congestion Charge. Several parties (including trade unions) have launched an action to challenge the Charge, on the ground that it constitutes a high-rate tax, and that the required statutory procedures have not been observed.
Ohne Mich* "We are the ally of the US," said the Prime minister, addressing UK ambassadors gathered in London, "not because they are powerful, but because we share their values". Well, Tony, you can count me out.
Sales are The Germans are po-faced, about Sales and special promotions. The strict accuracy of posters and slogans is taken very seriously, and commercial laws still constrain retailers' freedom-to-sell. When I last tackled this subject, in January last year, some readers took me task Germans are funny. But the Germans are at it again. The German Consumer Affairs Minister Renate Kunast (a Green Party member), is threatening to legislate to control an outburst of sales mania in Germany - o dear o dear o dear.. BIG FOOD Scandal easily passes us by, unnoticed. The Chief Executive of the Big Food Group, Bill Grimsey, angered last week by adverse City commentaries on Big Food shares, held a special management briefing for City analysts. But he threw out the most critical financial analyst, closing the meeting to him. And the exclusion was routinely reported, by The Guardian. But the real scandal is that Grimsey was legally entitled to do that. All company affairs are legally private matters, and secrecy can be manipulated by the management. That is the Big Issue, and should be addressed by radical company law reform. Open Corporate Corruption Corporate corruption is usually open and legal. Managers systematically plunder the companies in their care, quite legally. But it is never easy for outsiders to see, to understand what is going on. Consider the awful case of Brian Gilbertson and the Australian company BHP Billiton... Special Footnote I love the online newspapers, which are my access to the world - share them with me - click through to their Homepages from here -
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 Footnote to history, and to my
fascination with stamps - I found these stamps, on a New Year clear-out of
an old cupboard, strangely moving.. |
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New
The
dismal story of the Government compromise on University fees is a telling
one.
Having allowed the issue to creep up on them, and to now to require an "urgent"
solution, they have minimised Treasury commitments by placing the full burden
of additional funding upon the shoulders of students themselves. Poor students will effectively face a life-time of income-tax bills
higher
than their fellow graduates from wealthier families. This is a seedy,
pragmatic and 
I have two personal contributions to make to the Safeway saga,
derived from my years spent building stores for Sainsburys, in competition
with Safeway (1987/94). I was a Director of Sainsburys' property arm. And
I am absolutely convinced that I am right. That is why you should read what
I have to say.