Norfolk Blogger

First it was the VCR, then CRT, now it's the CD

2009-11-21T18:50:00.003Z

Five of years ago we all marvelled at the pace of technology when it was announced that Currys would stop stocking video recorders.

Then manufacturers stopped producing cathode ray tube TVs.

Now one specialist manufacturer of audio equipment has announced it will stop making CD players, such is the dominance and better quality of digital music.

The fact that Blu-Ray players also play DVDs mean that DVDs still have some life left in them, but it does make me wonder what the next technology to be dropped will be.

Vince Cable in Total Politics

2009-11-21T17:15:00.002Z

Vince Cable has been interviewed by Iain Dale for this month's Total Politics magazine.

The full interview is available to read HERE.

I love his refreshing honesty in dealing with a question from Iain which seemed to imply that he was inconsistent. Vince, unlike most politicians, simply says that he was proved wrong by the extreme financial mess we were in and he changed his mind accordingly.

If only a few more politicians could be less entrenched.

Iain Dale : "In September 2008, you said the government must not compromise the independence of the Bank of England by telling it to slash interest rates. A month later, you urged the Chancellor to write to the Governor of the Bank demanding a large cut in interest rates. "

Vince Cable "Yes, that is true and like a lot of other people, I realised in the autumn of 2008 that we were on the verge of a completely catastrophic failure of the system - a once in a lifetime experience. The whole banking system was in danger of going down and this was a system for which the Bank of England had not been prepared. The mandate of the independent Bank of England, which I supported, was not just concerned with those issues, it was concerned with a broadly stable environment. I had supported the independence of the Bank of England and I still do and I think its role will be increasingly important in future years when we get a lot of inflationary pressure. But that moment in September and October when they had to do something dramatic and where their existing mandate was simply about responding to and anticipating inflation rates, this was not actually the primary concern. And I was certainly the first person out of the traps saying that, although it was a departure from the line I had been giving before. "

M&S vs Diet Coke

2009-11-19T18:31:00.002Z

Apparently the latest M&S Christmas ads are being complained about because they are sexist because Philip Glenister, very much in character as DCI Gene Hunt from Ashes to Ashes, says he wants as his Christmas present the girl from the ad who takes her clothes off.

Strange that those people who are complaining never moaned about women lusting after naked men in the Diet Coke ads from a few years back.

Question - What is the designation of an MPs first home ?

2009-11-18T20:30:00.003Z

Please send your comments in on this simple question.

Should an MP have their first home in the part of the world they represent in parliament (not necessarily in the constituency, but locally) or should their first home be in London (if they are not a London MP).

Then the logical second question is, is your first home where your children go to school ?

Please comment and let me know your views.

And the winner is ...

2009-11-17T20:35:00.002Z

Congratualtions to Norman Lamb MP, who responded to my blog posting about flu in less than an hour and a half.

Although I have known Norman for many years, I did not contact him personally about this and instead I sent an identical e-mail to both him and Andrew Lansley.

I hope too that Andrew Lansley will respond and take the issue up as I have been impressed with the work he has done on highlighting shortcomings in the government's flu vaccination programme.

The true cost of the Conservatives problems in South West Norfolk may not be known for some time yet

2009-11-17T20:09:00.003Z

The local news today has been full of the smiling face of Liz Truss in the wake of the confirmation of her selection as Tory candidate for South West Norfolk. Congratulations to her. However, depite the seemingly "resounding" victory she achieved, it seems there was a price in terms of how many people in South West Norfolk Conservatives feel further alienated from David Cameron and Mrs Truss, and also in financial terms.

It appears, from reading e-mails sent to me and from comments to my blog, that Mrs Truss appears to have won her victory very much on the back of a concerted campaign from Conservative Central Office. People have commented on being phoned several times from a phone bank (presumably in London), and a massive "Get Out The Vote" campaign also being run from CCO. This, of course, does not come without its costs. But what is the cost to Mrs Truss locally ?

If comments I have received are anything to go by, there a a good number of Tories in South West Norfolk who feel absolutely disgusted by the methods and tactics of the Tory party in London who have in effect forced an A lister with no local roots on to them, in great part by intimidating locals by saying that they would in effect impose another candidate on South West Norfolk if they dared deselect Mrs Truss.

One wonders what a good candidate with strong local credentials might be able to achieve in South West Norfolk if they chose to stand as an independent if Mrs Truss's party fail to back her with the delivering and canvassing required at the next general election. The so called "Neanderthals" and "turnip Taliban" might just choose to send the Tory party a message in response to the barbs the Conseravatives have thrown at the good people of Norfolk.

The truth about the Swine Flu Vaccine - Asthmatics are NOT a priority

2009-11-17T18:58:00.004Z

The government, and that idiot Liam Donaldson perpetually peddle the lie that "People with health conditions such as asthma are considered a priority and will get their swine flu vaccinations as a matter of priority". The fact is, they are not.

The department the Department of Health uses to define an asthmatic is that they are someone with "a chronic respiratory disease that requires repeated or continuous use of inhaled or systemic steroids". the fact is that many tens of thousands of people in this country (possibly more) use non steroid based inhalers. This is being used by GPs as a justification not to give Swine Flu jabs to people who are asthmatic. Even those people who use asthma inhalers and those where the doctors own records indicate that the person is an asthmatic.

The problem is that for many young children, and those who are not able to take a steroid based inhaler, even though they are actually asthmatic, they will not being given the swine flu vaccine.

So what is being done about this ? I shall be emailing both Andrew Lansley and Norman Lamb, the Tory and Lib Dem health spokesmen and I will see who takes this issue up. It seems that thousands of people in an "at risk" group are being ignored because of a loophole which the government knows exists.

Liz Truss selection confirmed

2009-11-16T21:26:00.002Z

Liz Truss has won her selection confirmation in South West Norfolk.

As for the Tories, their attacks on Norfolk people as "Turnip Taliban", and worse, I predict will come back to haunt them in Norfolk in future years.

Whilst the wind is with Cameron, he might get away with it, but in the long term, we Norfolk people will not let the Tories forget that using stereotypical attacks against people from Norfolk like some poor comic will not win us round at the ballot box.

Iain Dale endorsement

2009-11-16T21:15:00.003Z

My wife came home from work today having been told by a number of her work colleagues that someone had written something nice about me in the Eastern Daily Press last Saturday.

Not buying a daily newspaper and usually reading the EDP at work, I don't often see the Saturday edition, so I phoned my parents and was surprised to read that Iain Dale was talking about the ongoing problems the Lib Dems and Tories are having in the Broadland constituency.

The are Lib Dems having to reselect in the wake of April Pond switching to Norwich North during the recent by-election. But the Tories too have potential problems if, as is rumoured, Keith Simpson is "kicked upstairs" to the House of Lords and Cameron tries to insert an A lister from London (as has happened in South West Norfolk), Broadland is a very interesting seat to live in.

The Lib Dems ought to be able to win this seat within two elections and if the right candidate is chosen, perhaps sooner, so it was nice to hear that the "one credible candidate the Lib Dems could choose" is, erm, well, me, or so says Iain in his EDP column.

Thanks Iain for the kind words but no thanks. Politics is a dirty business these days and the thought of spending four days a week away from my family in London is not an option I would look forward to.

Still, I really appreciate the compliment.

Let's give Simon Cowell some credit

2009-11-15T20:06:00.002Z

After all the slagging off of Simon Cowell this week, let's at least give him some credit.

It takes an enormous amount of hard work to take a group of largely talented people, give them an all time classic song, and yet still produce a a cover version of that song which genuinely is appalling.

Still, Simon Cowell has managed to achieve this through his release of the X Factor contestants cover version of Bohemian Rhapsody.

Political Opportunist Of The year Award Goes To ...

2009-11-15T19:43:00.001Z

The MEP for the North West who thinks it appropriate to stand for the UK Parliament in a London Borough.

Stand up and collect your prize Nick Griffin.

Cameron and the Camera Man

2009-11-13T21:10:00.002Z

It seems a very odd world that when Gordon Brown tries to do the right thing and write a person handwritten letter to a mother of a soldier killed in Afghanistan, he is castigated. And when he further goes out of his way to phone her, he receives more bile from the Murdoch Press. Yet when David Cameron takes his own personal cameraman to a war memorial in order to gain extra publicity shots, he seems to get off with none of the major media organisations taking up the story.

Biased BBC ? I should say !

Forget Performance Related Pay in the MOD, all Performance Related Pay Is Flawed Anyway

2009-11-13T20:55:00.003Z

The was a lot of fuss yesterday about Performance Related Pay (PRP) in the Ministry of Defence yesterday, but little discussion of the reason it was introduced and the very fact that virtually all PRP is flawed.

Looking in to the details of the MOD PRP system, it appears that staff were effectively robbed of the pay increase they might have expected in the past with the promise of a performance based system that was designed not improve performance but instead, like all PRP system, was designed to save money.

When I worked at worked at Norwich Union in a team of 10 people, we were sold the idea of PRP being introduced that would "reward people for their efforts". When you looked at the system itself, it was nothing of the sort.

Of the ten people in a team, only a maximum of two could receive the top rating of "1", a further two could receive a "2" and three people could receive a "3", meaning that three people had to fight it out to get the remaining two "4 ratings, leaving one more person to get "5". Put simply, you were not and could not be rated on your performance because you were forced in to bands. if everyone in the team did the same work and every worked to the best of the abilities, one of those outstanding people would still have received the lowest rating of "5" whilst his or her colleagues, doing exactly the same work to the same standard could receive the top rating of "1".

In short, PRP is not a means of rewarding people for the work they have done. It is a means of paying people different salaries for doing the same job.

I know of a Council, for example, that allows its HR department to choose which council department should receive the highest "one off" performance bonus each year and, surprise surprise, the HR department wins the award almost every year.

So let's not criticise staff in the MOD for getting PRP. Let's castigate those morons who thought PRP should be introduced in the first place.

What is the Tories obsession with sex ?

2009-11-08T20:01:00.003Z

The furore over the possible deselection of South West Norfolk Tory PPC Liz Truss is ongoing, with various newspapers now covering the story in some detail. The problem is, whenever they need a comment on the issue, they turn to the usual suspects in the Tory blogosphere, Iain Dale, and ConHome . And sadly every single time they seem to turn the issue to one of sex rather than one of trust. It seems the Tory blogosphere is obsessed with talking about sex.

The one thing they have missed is that South West Norfolk Tories are not going on about sex at all, and it seems odd for me, a Lib Dem who has campaigned in South West Norfolk against the Tories there to be defending them whilst the Metropolitan Tory blogs sling mud and barbs at Norfolk using the sort of stereotypical rubbish that anyone who really knew the county would know to avoid. Indeed some of the insults might easily be used by other political parties to highlight just what the Tories really think of Norfolk people.

The Telegraph did a piece on the Liz Truss story which went under the headline "Having an is no barrier to being an MP", says Shadow Womens minister. I agree, and I am sure that South West Norfolk Tories would agree also. The fact is though that it is an issue of trust because she did not share this information with the local Tory Party at the meeting.

It seems clear from virtually everything I have read that locals in South Norfolk are not talking about "the sex" or "the marital affair", but are instead deeply upset that they were treated like fools who could not be trusted to make sensible judgement based on being given the full facts. It might have been any issue, one not involving sex, it might have been a failed business, a scurrilous comment or a failed marriage, quite frankly it did not matter what the issue was. It was the fact that nobody bothered to tell the members first. If the local members are not told who the candidates are in advance (which I gather they were not), they couldn't look people up on Google. But should they be expected to ? Should you have to believe that candidates might keep potentially embarrassing information from you just because you don't have the ability to come already briefed to the selection meeting ?

So I would stress to those metropolitan Tories from outside of Norfolk. Get over the affair and start dealing with the issue of trust, and whilst you are at it, stop labelling and attacking people in Norfolk. If that's what you think of us all, you certainly don't deserve our votes.

Update : Ironically, I was also phoned today about whether I was interested in being the Lib Dem candidate in South West Norfolk. Sadly, I am too busy, but it appears that my views are closer to a lot of those in the Tory Party in SW Norfolk than many would have thought.

Liz Truss - Can the Tory blogging mafia spin their way through this one ?

2009-11-07T11:38:00.004Z

As one commenter to my blog wrote

"Yesterday's headlines were "Liz Truss Comes out Fighting" (Iain Dale) and "Liz Truss Wins Over local paper" (Con Home).

They should have waited a day for Saturday's EDP !

I think this finally does for Liz. Even Iain Dale cannot spin this one."

What the Tory spinners failed to notice (from only looking at the online editions of the EDP) was that there was also a column in yesterdays EDP which absolutely castigated Liz Truss and those who from on high in the Tory Party, and outside of Norfolk, were dictating what they should and should not think. This article was totally overlooked by Iain Dale and Con Home.

The inconsistencies too in Liz Truss' story about when she became a Tory (at university she claimed) when everywhere else it says she was a Lib Dem at university and that she left the Lib Dems after leaving University did not add up.

Then we turn to today's EDP front page which leads on the headline that Elizabeth Truss is accused of "more hypocrisy and deceit as new revelations emerge".

Now come on Iain and Con Home. Spin your way through this.

The fact is that Iain and Con Home still don't get it. Whilst for many people the issue might be the affair she had, the truth is for the majority of people it is an issue of trust. And what is clear is that in the current political climate, being able to trust your candidate and MP is vital. Clearly people in SW Norfolk Tories have lost trust in Lizz Truss.

UPDATE - For those incapable of reading, can I refer them to the final paragraph and get over the issue of her marital infidelity. That, in itself, is not the issue. The issue is clearly one of trust and honesty, and this is where Mrs Truss appears to have her problems.

Tories absolutely 100% spot on over swine flu

2009-11-05T17:52:00.002Z

At last one of the opposition political parties has broken the cosy consensus over swine flu and dared to question the way the vaccination programme is being handled in the UK.

Andrew Lansley has questioned why, in the light of evidence from the US, all those under the age of 24 are not being targetted with the vaccine, and further evidence on the BBC website would back up that view.

It is clear that those with underlying medical conditions are more at risk than other groups, but in particular those under the age of five are at just as big a risk as many people with underlying medical conditions. Currently 81% of under fives admitted to hospital for swine flu have no underlying medical condidtions. As the evidence shows, this age group, who are also twice as likely to need medical care and an intensive care bed, are being largely ignored by the government.

Despite government claims that under fives with medical conditions such as asthma are being targeted for the vaccine, I know that many children with asthma, using inhalers BUT who ahve not been officially diagnosed because many children under the age of three are not "officially" asthmatic until further test are undergone when they have "developed", will NOT GET THE VACCINE ! This is another one of the little lies this government and Sir Liam Donaldson have peddled in order to maintain that they know what they are doing.

I hope the Tories go further in asking the government why doctors surgeries have not even been told when they can expect the vaccine (meaning they cannot even start the process of booking appointments), and why it is that all doctors surgeries, irrespective of size and the number of patients they have, will all get 500 vaccines delivered. Surely any idiot could work out that larger doctors surgeries require more vaccine than smaller ones ? Apparently not, as it seem Sir Liam Donaldson really is as stupid a man as you can find. Remember it was Sir Liam Donaldson who said in September that we were "tantalisingly close to beating swine flu", and before that in early Ausgst he said we would be vaccinating by the end of August. Worse still he was saying in June we might have vaccines by late July. Oh dear !

So well done to Andrew Lansley, who has put the Lib Dems to shame in the silence that they have shown over this issue.

The cosy consensus would have had us believe that because things are not as bad as they might have been over swine flu that they government have done well. In truth, they have shown a massive degree if complacency and Sir liam Donaldson has shown himself to be a prize fool.

NatWest/RBS double talk

2009-11-02T20:54:00.003Z

For months RBS, owners of NatWest, have been selling NatWest to the public as the bank that has more staff, more branches open, the most helpful staff and cares most about customers.

Today we read that NatWest are to shed up to one third of their staff.

It's investment banking that made the losses at RBS/NatWest, but it is the staff in wholesale banking who lost their jobs. What's more is it is customers, ordinary people like you and me who suffer and get worse service and less branches.

Isn't that an odd sort of logic ?

What are you saying Mr Dale ?

2009-10-31T09:56:00.005Z

Iain Dale has printed his Eastern Daily Press column today on his blog and makes a rather astonishing parallel between the Liz Truss situation in South West Norfolk and that of a gay man.

Quoting Iain directly he says

" I wrote on my blog that the social outlook of those Tories who sought to deselect Liz Truss over her past affair with an MP was ‘neanderthal’. It’s the same social outlook which caused a few – and I emphasise, a few – North Norfolk Tories to swallow hard when I, a gay man, was selected as the candidate there in 2003."

Now I find this analogy rather odd and also rather disrespectful.

What Iain is saying is that there is a direct link, an equation, which puts as equal the peoples perceptions of gay people with person who breaks their marriage vows and has a long term affair with another married person. Am I the only person who finds this odd ?

My own views on gay people is not any different from my opinions towards heterosexual people. I have many gay friends, indeed my very best friend has recently announced his intention to marry (and I mean marry because they are going to Canada to do it) his male partner next year. Yet Iain Dale seems to be saying that the social outlook that people have towards a person who cares not one jot about her marriage vows, her promise to her partner and the vows her lover made to his wife is equal to the social values of someone who dislikes gay people. I disagree.

I am not a great fan of those people who think that marriage vows are something that can be ignored. It is a solemn promise to act in a way that is wholly loyal to your partner. It is not to be taken lightly. People are perfectly entitled to view people who break these vows with suspicion, as someone who may not keep to their word, and as someone who puts themselves selfishly above others. However, if you view someone who is gay with the same suspicion simply because they are gay, then this is wholly wrong.

For Iain Dale to equate the two is absolutely wrong. He may feel as a gay man he can get away with it. But I know many people who feel that the equation between a gay man and a marriage cheat is unfair.

Someone being gay is not an issue and should never be. Someone who breaks vows and solemn promises is, for many a real and justified position to take. When the issue of trsut is so important at the moment when talking about politicians, anything that causes people to lose trust is a justified position.

A week with the Tories - What does it tell us about them ?

2009-10-30T16:26:00.000Z

It is fascinating how the Conservative party has tried to paint itself in David Cameron's image as something new and shiny that should be trusted at a time when politicians cannot be trusted to tell the truth. However, the last seven days tell us just how much of this image is wrong.

Let's start in Norfolk. In South West Norfolk the Tories were selecting a new candidate to stand in the safe Tory seat of South West Norfolk. Their selection effectively decides who will be the next MP in this seat. Now David Cameron likes to tell us how the Conservative Party has changed, how it is opening itself up, how it is letting the electorate make real decisions. He trumpets the so called "open primary" as a sign that the Tory Party is opening itself up. However, these open primaries are being used almost exclusively in seat where the sitting MP has stood down directly because of s scandal over expenses, meaning the "open primary" can help cleanse the Tory party's reputation in that area or alternatively they are being held in marginal seats where the use of the primary can win over a few more wavering voters.

In South West Norfolk there was no open primary. David Cameron's pledges about opening up democracy, how the Tory party was changing, and how local people could be allowed to make real decisions went out of the window. The sham of what David Cameron says, and how the Tories really act was shown for all to see.

Then we saw just how hypocritical the Tory Party really is in the wake of the selection of Elizabeth Truss as their candidate. Despite "openness" being their new watchword, the closed meeting of Tory members was not briefed on who had made the shortlist meaning that local Tories did not have a chance to find out the full details on who the candidates were. Then, upon being selected, it was revealed that their chosen candidate had had an 18 month affair with a married Tory MP, which she failed to mention at the meeting, the Tory Party showed itself to be as hypocritical as any party could be.

The leadership, ignoring their pledge towards openness, said that it was in the public domain and the candidate had their full support. The local party, feeling they had been lied to, referred her selection back to the Tory Party members in South West Norfolk and, as yet, we are not to know whether she will or will not be the Tory candidate.

In short this whole affair tells us that openness and honesty cuts only one way with the Tories. It is used to whitewash the Tories words. I don't much care if the Tory had an affair or not. It is her business. However, if you are claiming to be honest and open, you have to be exactly that and not expect people to have to look up your past on the internet.

Then switching from the East to the West, we have the example of the Tories in Cornwall and their "honesty" and "openness" when campaigning. Last week, Caroline Righton, the Conservative candidate in Newquay and St Austell misrepresented her Lib Dem opponent to electors. You can find chapter and verse on it all HERE.

Now everyone makes a mistake, and Caroline Righton appears to have made a big mistake in smearing her opponent. The deliberate insertion of a swear word in to a statement made by the Lib Dem candidate is childish. The forwarding of this false statement to electors is blatant low level dirty campaigning. But it could all be settled of Caroline Righton simply issued an apology, contacted those people who received her false information to make sure they understood it was an error and she apologised, and perhaps she could also have the guts to speak to the press and explain to them what she did without refusing to comment on what she has done.

The question is though, why a someone who uses the Tory mantra of fighting a positive and honest campaign can justify to herself telling untruths, peddling muck about her opponent and then refusing to apologise unless the simple truth is that the "positive and honest" campaign is just a means to an end. In fact the aim is not to be truthful, honest or positive, but instead to appear to be so in order to win at any cost.

Moving back from the West towards the Midlands, we read about two Tory councillors caught being unpleasant about fellow councillors in the Cotswolds. Two Tory councillors referred to Lib Dem councillors as "morons" on an internet forum. Did they apologise ? Did they offer an excuse ? No. Instead they claimed that one of their Facebook friends must be a Lib Dem sympathiser, and then ranted that it showed how "low the Lib Dems would go". So no apology, not reason given. Their abuse is forgotten in their foaming at the mouth to attack the Lib Dems again.

Finally we move back towards London for our geographical tour of the Tories behaviour. Watford Tories have returned to their usual form in spreading lies and innuendo about the actions of the Lib Dems in Watford. Before we start, let's remember that it was the former Watford Tory candidate who was found guilty of running a hate campaign against the Lib Dems in Watford just a few months ago, so you might have imagined the Tories would show more care and sensitivity when campaigning in Watford. But apparently not. The Tory headlines read "Lib Dems ban parents from playgrounds". The truth, as you can read HERE is completely different. That doesn't stop the Tories in Watford from blathering about this as a case of "political correctness gone mad". Sadly, it appears that child protection issues are something, even in the wake of the Baby Peter case that the Tories still feel they can make political capital from.

So aside from worrying parents, from stirring up distrust of the council, telling lies about the Lib Dems and seeking to undermine measures to protect children, what have the Tories achieved ? Well they have gained publicity for their candidate. Their "To hell with the truth and honesty" view to politics knows no shame.

So what do we learn about the Tories from this week ?

They tell lies. They don't apologise. They mislead people. They will refuse to comment when pressed on their smears. They know no boundaries and will use issues of child protection as a means of gaining votes, and actually honest, truthful and positive campaigning are just words.

More on Tories telling fibs in Cornwall

2009-10-29T22:41:00.001Z

More articles can be found about the Caroline Righton "fibbing" story HERE

Iain Dale gets his facts completely wrong - Slight "Googling" hypocrisy ?

2009-10-29T17:50:00.000Z

Iain Dale appears to have some egg on his face for reporting a story from The Metro without bothering to do a Google search and checking if the facts are correct.

This seems odd because Iain and other Tory bloggers were suggesting the other day that South West Norfolk Tories should have done a Google search about her sexual misdemeanours before selecting her. It's a shame therefore that Iain didn't bother to do a Google search before implying things about the Lib Dems that are not true.

Then again, this appears to be the Tory policy these days !

That's the kiss of death for Blair's ambitions

2009-10-29T16:46:00.004Z

Gordon Brown today spoke up on behalf of Tony Blair becoming the first President of the EU. Brown called Blair and "excellent candidate" and spoke highly of Blair's qualities. There is only one problem. An endorsement from Gordon Brown is like a reverse form of the Midas touch for everything Gordon Brown touches turns in to excrement, not gold.

Such is the contempt in which Gordon Brown is held by the public these days, should he endorse beer, chocolate or sex then it is likely that beer sales would fall, women would stop thinking about chocolate and the birth rate would drop dramatically.

Green Party in "Do as we say, not as we do" shocker

2009-10-29T09:54:00.000Z

Actually the title of this post is supposed to be sarcastic. We already have a Green candidate who stood in the Norwich North by-election whose carbon footprint is higher than I will achieve in a lifetime whilst the Greens voting record on Norwich City Council shows a level of inconsistency even the government would find hard to match.

So we shouldn't be surprised in the least to read that the Green Party leader does not follow her own advice when it comes to preventing energy and heat loss.

That said, the story is in the Daily Scum, so it probably isn't true.

Caroline Righton - Hypocrite, liar or fool ? Perhaps all three given what she has been doing in Newquay and St Austell

2009-10-29T08:18:00.005Z

A week after Tory candidate for Newquay and St Austell misrepresented her Lib Dem opponent, she has still done nothing in the way of an apology or even explained why she chose to mislead people about her ability to check the facts.

One has to wonder what the Conservative voters in Newquay and St Austell will think of her particularly given her recent pledge to 'fight a positive and honesty campaign'. David Cameron is, of course, totally silent on the issue. Mr Cameron is quick to talk about honest and decency in politics but in this case does not seem to practise what he preaches.

Caroline Righton might do well to remember in 2005 Iain Dale was caught out misleading the electorate about his Lib Dem opponent Norman Lamb in North Norfolk. We all know what happened then. The Conservative Partyin Newquay and St Austell would do well to note this.

The truth is that a quick apology by Caroline Righton would have buried this as an issue, and with her refusing to comment on it for the local press, meaning the spineless local press have pulled two stories on this issue (they won't print without a statement from both sides), Caroline Righton, a former BBC and TVam journalist obviously knew the rules the press followed and assumed it would go away. She does not realise that the blogosphere does not work like that.

Update - Mark Pack reports that the Lib Dems have written to David Cameron about this. It does, of course, put "Dave" in an awkward position. He cannot back one of his candidates when she is lying but likewise his failure to respond would be seen as a refusal to back her actions. Interesting.

Update 2 - A member of Caroline Righton's staff has also been caught out trying to blank her wikipedia entry. Question ? What has she got to hide ?

Latest - Elizabeth Truss forced to explain herself to South West Norfolk Conservative members

2009-10-27T22:30:00.003Z

Following on from the story yesterday about Elizabeth Truss, the newly selected Tory candidate for South West Norfolk, the BBC are reporting the the executive committee of South West Norfolk Conservative association have met tonight and asked her to return to speak to all party members at a special AGM to be held at the weekend.

The executive could have rubber stamped her appointment but have chosen not to do so.