Ewan Watt

Coulson controversy

2009-07-10T00:02:00.001Z

I'VE BEEN watching the Coulson controversy from afar and I'm slightly perplexed by the number of individuals calling for him to resign.

Is he not quitting before the next election anyway?

Spooky stuff

2009-07-09T17:17:00.003Z

I'M SURE another regime in the 1930s used similar language:

In an astonishing admission, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg says she was under the impression that legalizing abortion with the 1973 Roe. v. Wade case would eliminate undesirable members of the populace, or as she put it "populations that we don't want to have too many of."

As you know, I oppose abortion, but I generally support the choice of the individual. I've heard many arguments in favour of abortion, but never this.

Will be interesting to hear what Ginsburg's supporters say.

The price of oil

2009-07-08T23:08:00.003Z

HAVING JUST watched some Fox News coverage I was stunned to see that Gordon Brown and Nicolas Sarkozy are proposing plans to "control" the price of oil.

I wonder what the North Sea oil industry will feel about that? As if Brown hasn't done enough to destroy it.

Nationwide to offer 125% mortgage

2009-07-08T23:02:00.003Z

JUST A couple of weeks back I was blogging about the most dangerous politician in America and his attempts to restart the sub-prime mortgage market.

Well, it looks like Nationwide are coming up with proposals for a 125% mortgage, although only to existing customers.

My Independence Day

2009-07-07T03:59:00.002Z

I HAD a cracking 'July 4th' attending a wedding in Newport Beach, California.

Delighted with the Lions' score... if not a little frustrated about what may have been.

Just in case any reader(s) plan to go to California, I must recommend the Nixon Library. Whether you admire the man or not, it is an exceptional experience.

A question for Palin

2009-07-07T03:52:00.002Z

AS MANY of you will know, I was never one of those individuals who decided to flog Sarah Palin when the going got tough.

However, her decision to resign is a little baffling (sorry for the belated post, I needed time to emigrate).

If I had one question for the outgoing Governor it would be this: if you are resigning this post to fight all of these "frivolous" cases, then what would you have done if you had won the Vice Presidency?

Lack of blogging

2009-07-01T21:37:00.002Z

DEAR ALL,

I do apologise for the lack of blogging. I've been sunning it up in California (the nice Republican part) for a little under a week and will hopefully resume blogging both on this page and over at YPNation.

One thing I did want to raise is how the BBC has to have advertising on its website outside of the UK. It seems to work pretty well here - perhaps something it can try out in the UK?

Nevertheless, it's a little amusing to see how much space LonelyPlanet gets. When it's a business owned by the BBC, does it really count as advertising?

Off now to the Nixon library...

More nonsense from Johann Hari

2009-06-26T09:27:00.003Z

I'VE NOT had a good ol' rant against Johann Hari for a while.

After reading his article in today's Independent, I thought I'd give it a go.

Another David Cameron policy has been proved to be based on false right-wing myths in the past month – but who has told you about it? Who knows that his set-piece proposal for fixing Britain has just been shown to make things worse?

You know the script. David Cameron says "the only way to mend Britain's broken society" is to "mend the institution of marriage" by handing £40 a week to married couples. This Married Couple's Allowance would, he says, discourage them from splitting up.
Set aside the question of whether any couple would actually take a £40-a-week bribe to stay together. The logic behind the policy itself is based on a plausible-sounding reading of the facts.

No, no, no.

As much as I oppose this policy, Hari has - not for the first time - failed to grasp what the Tories are looking to achieve.

Rather than attempting to incentivise unhappy couples to stay together, Cameron will remove the 'incentives' that keep them from marrying in the first place. Both the tax and benefits system are weighted against married couples, thus punishing people who decide to get married. This is what Cameron is seeking to change.

Jeesh...

Déjà vu

2009-06-24T16:27:00.001Z

YES, CONGRESSMAN Barney Frank has decided to share yet more economic wisdom with us all:

Two U.S. Democratic lawmakers want Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to relax recently tightened standards for mortgages on new condominiums, saying they could threaten the viability of some developments and slow the housing-market recovery, the Wall Street Journal said.
In March, Fannie Mae said it would no longer guarantee mortgages on condos in buildings where fewer than 70 percent of the units have been sold, up from 51 percent, the paper said. Freddie Mac is due to implement similar policies next month, the paper said.

In a letter to the CEO's of both companies, Representatives Barney Frank, the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, and Anthony Weiner warned that a 70 percent sales threshold "may be too onerous" and could lead condo buyers to shun new developments, according to the paper.

The legislators asked the companies to "make appropriate adjustments" to their underwriting standards for condos, the paper added.

Call me crazy - but have we not been here before?

Trident

2009-06-23T14:10:00.003Z

HAVING READ a few blogs in the last couple of weeks (here, here, and here) about the future of Trident, I thought I'd put a few words down for YPNation on the matter.

Enjoy.

I'm a little perplexed...

2009-06-23T13:25:00.003Z

JUST SPOTTED Iain Dale having a good old diatribe against David Aaronovitch. However, I'm a little confused...

In his blog Dale remarks:

He seemed particularly upset by my appearances on the TV talking about the Labour Party. "He knows nothing about the Labour Party and he's always wrong," he moaned. Was it me or Aaronovitch who predicted Hazel Blears' resignation before the Euro elections? Just askin'.

So, I thought I'd check to see if Dale did make such a prediction:

I could never have predicted that Hazel Blears would resign from the Cabinet the day before an important set of elections.

Hmmm...

Worth a chuckle

2009-06-19T13:14:00.000Z

I ENJOYED this little nugget from George Will:

Ironies abound. The February expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program is supposed to be financed by increased tobacco taxes, so this health care depends on an ample and renewable supply of smokers. State governments, increasingly addicted to tobacco tax revenues, face delicate price calculations: They want to raise their regressive tobacco taxes (smokers are disproportionately low income and poorly educated) to just below where smokers are driven to quit.

Quite.

Ewan Watt at YPNation

2009-06-18T12:45:00.000Z

JUST IN case any of you are interested, I have started to blog over at YPNation.

Enjoy.

Tina Brown speaking nonsense...

2009-06-18T12:41:00.003Z

FROM THE Daily Beast:

Letterman’s joke may not have been his finest hour, but at least he swiftly apologized. Meanwhile, the nation’s hockey mom scores another goal for intellectual dishonesty.

Swiftly apologised? You sure about that? What I saw was a smug has-been TV show host make what looked like a series of mini-gags rather than an apology. I believe his "swift" apology what early this week, only after a sponsor had pulled out of the show and protesters took up residence outside the studio. Obviously doesn't take a lot to please Ms Brown with an apology, does it?

Quite amusing for someone to make that statement and then accuse someone else of intellectual dishonesty.

A few thoughts on interest rate cuts...

2009-06-15T08:22:00.003Z

I'M A great fan of John Redwood's blog, perhaps one of the few sound minds on financial matters in Westminster.

There is, however, one issue I'd like to raise:

UK consumption will be affected by the future increases in interest rates which will be necessary to create more normal banking and monetary conditions,and to curb future inflation. A lot of present spending on goods and services by individuals has been made possible by substantial mortgage interest rate cuts. There is still a pressing need for many people and companies to repay debt, against the background of weak banks and the need to calm down after the credit binge of 2003-7.

Absolutely, point taken. However, is it not true that mortgage rate cuts have not been filtering through to consumers in the first place? After all, at present, a number of Northern Rock customers are actually paying higher interest rates on their mortgages.

Given our ongoing problems in the banking sector, it wouldn't surprise me if millions of other bank customers were facing the same problems. Simply put, the banks can't afford to pass on interest rate cuts. In addition, the cost of lending for banks is actually getting more and more expensive as government debt soars.

That's what you get with Labour governments.

Great job BBC

2009-06-09T07:49:00.002Z

I'M NOT too surprised that the BBC should continue to act as a mere press release facility for the Obama administration, but this is just ridiculous.

US President Barack Obama has said his $787bn stimulus package will deliver more than 600,000 jobs this summer.
The pledge comes as an increase in federal spending for key stimulus components, like hiring new teachers, is about to begin.
"We have a long way to go on our road to recovery but we are going the right way," Mr Obama said.
He has said that 150,000 jobs have been saved by his plan, a claim derided by critics of the stimulus.

The New York Times is also guilty of this, but none of the media appears to be asking the very straightforward question: how can you work out how many jobs you've saved? William McGurn has a cracking piece on this very subject:

Mr. Obama's comments yesterday are a perfect illustration of just such a claim. In the months since Congress approved the stimulus, our economy has lost nearly 1.6 million jobs and unemployment has hit 9.4%. Invoke the magic words, however, and -- presto! -- you have the president claiming he has "saved or created" 150,000 jobs. It all makes for a much nicer spin, and helps you forget this is the same team that only a few months ago promised us that passing the stimulus would prevent unemployment from rising over 8%.

It's not only former Bush staffers such as Messrs. Fratto and Mankiw who have noted the political convenience here. During a March hearing of the Senate Finance Committee, Chairman Max Baucus challenged Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on the formula.

"You created a situation where you cannot be wrong," said the Montana Democrat. "If the economy loses two million jobs over the next few years, you can say yes, but it would've lost 5.5 million jobs. If we create a million jobs, you can say, well, it would have lost 2.5 million jobs. You've given yourself complete leverage where you cannot be wrong, because you can take any scenario and make yourself look correct."

Now had this been Bush, I'm sure the BBC would have gone through these figures with a fine toothcomb.

Hutton's resignation: The spin from Number 10

2009-06-08T07:49:00.002Z

CRACKING STUFF from Bruce Anderson today in The Independent.

One thing I'll question though:

The resignation of the Defence Secretary, John Hutton, helps to explain why this has become such a rotten government. Mr Hutton had become browned off with serving in it. He is 54, a little old to relish the endless frustrations of long years in Opposition. So he tells us that he is leaving politics to spend more time with his family.
All well and good, except that he is Defence Secretary. Doesn't he know there's a war on? A soldier serving in Afghanistan would have great difficulty in obtaining compassionate leave. Thousands of military wives and children would love it if Daddy could spend more time with his family. But these soldiers and their families know their duty. It is contemptible than the man in charge does not know his. John Hutton could have announced that he was standing down at the next election. In the meantime, he should have stayed at his post. Because he deserted it, we now have the fourth Defence Secretary in four years. That is no way to treat the armed forces. The veterans were right to boo Gordon Brown.
The only excuse to be made for Mr Hutton is that ministers in this government have never been encouraged to take themselves seriously. A Defence Secretary will enjoy all the prestige of that great office. For anyone with a feel for history – which John Hutton has – it must be a wonderful appointment. But the glamour soon wears off if you are never allowed to take a decision. The Admirals and Generals may be respectful, but the hapless minister will still sense their frustration.

Although one could still argue that it's a dereliction of duty, I don't think Hutton resigned for "family reasons". In fact, when Hutton made his initial statement he said absolutely nothing about his family, only noting that he wouldn't go into the details for his resignation. It was Number 10 that claimed he was leaving "to spend more time with his family".

Why do I raise this point? Because if you want really piss off the armed forces, you claim that someone left "to spend more time with their family", a novelty many individuals in the armed forces don't have.

Basically, it was Number 10 getting the last word in. After all, Hutton's hardly been Brown's greatest admirer.

The Political Brain

2009-06-07T16:11:00.003Z

THE POLITICAL Brain, a book by Drew Westen, has been getting a lot coverage today because it was the topic of discussion in an email exchange between Lord Mandelson and Derek Draper.

The book discusses how the most successful politicians are those who can win over their electorate through emotions, contrasted to those who are less successful who resort to rational arguments.

Guido et al appear to be strongly recommending the book just now. I read it last summer, and personally, thought it was crap.

Written by a Democrat who clearly has a chip on his shoulder, it utterly fails to discuss the point at hand. Sure, some of it is fascinating, notably how the brain responds to political messages. However, this part only comprises of the first few pages.

However, given Westen's clear partisan bias he puts his argument across with an ideological tinge. Personally, I felt this detracted a lot from the book. One minute he's criticising the Republicans for "unfairly" using emotions to win over voters, then he argues that his party should be doing the exact same thing. In sum, he's blinded by party loyalty, particularly when he discusses the Bush Vs Gore Supreme Court decision.

Ends up the book is not about the political brain, but a partisan polemic on how the Democrats can win the next election.

Hutton resigns

2009-06-05T09:46:00.001Z

THE DEFENCE Secretary has quit, just hours after stating:

Defence secretary John Hutton quickly issued a statement last night saying Mr Purnell had made the "wrong decision". Foreign secretary David Miliband said he did not share Mr Purnell's judgment.

That didn't last long.

Remember this?

2009-06-05T09:33:00.001Z

LITTLE OVER a year ago Martink Kettle stated:

Labour have hit rock bottom and things can't get any worse.

Oh really?

James Purnell? Selfless?

2009-06-05T09:19:00.002Z

I THINK it's amusing to hear all of these news commentators and Labour Party backbenchers citing how "selfless" James Purnell is because he resigned and called for the Prime Minister to quit.

Seriously? Give me a break.

Purnell has quit because he doesn't want to run for re-election, defending a 8,300 majority with the stigma of being part of the government. It will also help if he's perceived as knifing the most unpopular Prime Minister in decades instead of being a local MP who has flipped his property and avoided paying capital gains tax.

Obama in Dategate

2009-06-03T13:24:00.002Z

THERE APPEARS to be a little issue in the United States surrounding Barack and Michelle Obama's date night in New York City:

Rather than taking the normal presidential Boeing 747 from Washington and back, the couple opted to fly in a Gulfstream jet, requiring two other small planes to follow, carrying staff and the media retinue.
From JFK airport the Obamas and their entourage were flown by helicopters from the Marine One fleet to a helipad in Manhattan, before they were whisked to dinner at Blue Hill, a West Village restaurant with its own farm in upstate New York, which is at the forefront of a trend for eating locally grown produce. The President and First Lady, sharply dressed for a night on the town, then headed to the Belasco Theatre for Joe Turner's Come and Gone, a play about black America in the early 1900s, with residents of a boarding house recalling their migration from the sharecropping farms of the South to the industrialised North.

Although I do love having a pop at politicians for wasting taxpayers money, I do think that one issue has gone unnoticed. I'm sure a lot of the cost here concerns security.

And let's be honest, America hardly has a sterling record when it comes to divisive Presidents from Illinois attending the theatre do they? I don't think you can put a price on security here.

You heard it here first

2009-06-03T10:20:00.003Z

IT'S NOT very often I can claim "a scoop".

However, yesterday in response to the news surrounding Jacqui Smith's departure Guido asked:

Sky News got the scoop, but who leaked it first and why? Brown central arguably would rather have not have this come out until the weekend. Home Office sources were also very much caught wrong-footed. Are we just at the rolling cock-up stage of government? It is hard to see who on the government side benefits from leaking this now apart from a deliberate Machiavellian internal saboteur. Someone with skills in the dark arts of spin who might have decided it is time, for the sake of the survival of his beloved New Labour, to bring down the curtain on Gordon Brown. Jacqui exiting in a messy way puts the reshuffle speculation front and centre and adds to the sense of Brown’s government on the verge of collapse on the very eve of an election. It takes a crisis to precipitate a solution.

Was it the same person who leaked the idea that Balls could go to No 11?

I made the point that it was unlikely to be an individual who cared about "his" New Labour Party:

Hazel Blears? She was Brown's first scapegoat on the expenses issue and probably expected to be reshuffled after Thursday's bloodbath. She's also a close friend of Smith.

Now Guido's asking if Hazel was in fact the individual leaking all the stories about the impending cabinet departures.

Oh well, you heard it here first!

Jacqui heads for the door

2009-06-02T14:52:00.002Z

SO, AFTER months of pressure it looks like Jacqui Smith will resign. Guido has this to say:

Sky News got the scoop, but who leaked it first and why? Brown central arguably would rather have not have this come out until the weekend. Home Office sources were also very much caught wrong-footed. Are we just at the rolling cock-up stage of government? It is hard to see who on the government side benefits from leaking this now apart from a deliberate Machiavellian internal saboteur. Someone with skills in the dark arts of spin who might have decided it is time, for the sake of the survival of his beloved New Labour, to bring down the curtain on Gordon Brown. Jacqui exiting in a messy way puts the reshuffle speculation front and centre and adds to the sense of Brown’s government on the verge of collapse on the very eve of an election. It takes a crisis to precipitate a solution.

Was it the same person who leaked the idea that Balls could go to No 11?

Hazel Blears? She was Brown's first scapegoat on the expenses issue and probably expected to be reshuffled after Thursday's bloodbath. She's also a close friend of Smith.

Why, thank you...

2009-06-01T12:59:00.002Z

GIVEN THAT my readership is around -3, I was delighted to receive these kind words (ok, word) from Mark Wadsworth.