Being Himself

Multiple signs of concern among the top echelons of the Labour party about Gordon's performance. Jack Straw, Secretary of State for Justice, and arguably the safest pair of hands in the Labour high command, has admitted that David Cameron’s campaign is “resonating” with the public and warns that the government must “adapt” if it is to keep power.

Tessa Jowell, Olympics minister, has also called on the Prime Minister to be “authentic”, true to himself and to Labour’s values, saying that there is no quick fix to restore the government’s battered standing.

David Miliband has also put his own two pennyworth in, urging Gordon to counter the perception that he has "run out of steam" and "lost the will to fight".

Jowell's advice to Gordon is amazingly blunt. Conceding that Gordon is not the most attractive of personalities, she advises him to "be himself" and accept that people will not necessarily like him:

"What people want in modern leaders is to know them, not necessarily to like them, to feel that they want to go on holiday with them, but to know them, to know their frailties, their strengths, what they like about them, what they don't like about them, to understand their attitudes and core beliefs."

The problem with Gordon, however, is that he usually is "being himself" and it is all really pretty unattractive. Consider, for example, his New Year message to the British people. I won't cherrypick extracts, but will let you read it here. To say that it is wooden, turgid and boring is grossly to understate its awfulness. There is not a single shred of humanity in its whole 1,057 words. Nothing to inspire, nothing to motivate, nothing to enthuse. It is, as Tony Blair might have said, just clunking.

And it is that clunkiness that makes it extraordinary unlikely that Gordon will ever win the hearts of the people of this country, no matter how much Straw, Jowell and Miliband try to talk him up.

He is, after all, just being himself.

Nanny Knows Best

Drove on the motorway today and was a bit surprised to see one of the overhead electric signs flashing the solemn message: “Check your fuel level”.

I have become used to roadside signs displaying such worthy admonitions as: “Don't drink and drive” (indeed not!), “Wear your seat belt” (quite so!) and “Tiredness can kill – Take a Break” (right you are, guv'nor!).

But “Check your fuel level”? Isn't that something people should be expected to do as a matter of course? Do they really need to be reminded to do that? Can't they be trusted to think for themselves?

Why not put up a sign saying: “Don't be a plonker!” and be done with it?

I'll Drink to That

In a welcome display of common sense, Dr Andrew Wadge, chief scientist at the Food Standards Agency, has advised us all to dump the detox diets that are invariably promoted at this time of year.

Instead, Dr Wadge suggests that we should “drink a glass or two of water (tap is fine, cheaper and more sustainable than bottled); second, get a little exercise - maybe a walk in the park - and third, enjoy some nice home-cooked food.”

Dr Wadge goes on to say:

“There's a lot of nonsense talked about 'detoxing' and most people seem to forget that we are born with a built-in detox mechanism. It's called the liver.”

There’s no doubt that excessive drinking is a major public health concern in this country. A friend of mine has struggled heroically against his alcohol problem and, to his enormous credit, has overcome it. He has told me how bad it can get. It sounds awful. So moderation is a virtue we should all try to practise.

At the same time, most of us could do without the reams of detox advice that will undoubtedly fill the lifestyle columns of the Sunday supplements for the next couple of weeks. By and large, they won’t make us any healthier; they will, more likely, induce mild paranoia and a general lowering of happiness and self-esteem.

So congratulations to Dr Wadge for his plain speaking. I am more than happy to take his advice and will raise a glass or two of Dŵr Cymru’s finest to him first thing on New Year’s Day.

Brown Bottle?

If one thing is certain, it is that Gordon Brown will have spent much of his Christmas break pondering how to get his premiership back on track when Parliament returns in the new year.

Gordon will still be smarting from the serial humiliations of Northern Rock, HMRC, and Donorgate, so crushingly summed up by Vincent Cable as his transformation from Stalin to Mr. Bean. The last thing he needs is another banana skin, particularly when the Fabian Society (chairman, Ed Balls) says that the Conservatives are favourites to win the next general election, a state of affairs it attributes, at least in part, to the “inexplicable stupidity” of the government. Indeed, things are so bad, according to the Labourhome blog, that several MPs, including serving ministers and usually loyal backbenchers, are considering a coup if things don’t get better soon.

Against that background, Gordon will be giving careful consideration as to whether he wants to risk a showdown with his back benches on the issue of the detention of terrorist suspects without trial. According to the Guardian, only 36% of Labour MPs support extending detention beyond the current 28 days. Gordon will remember Tony Blair’s humiliation two years ago when there was a significant Labour rebellion over the proposed extension of detention to 90 days.

Yesterday, on BBC Radio 4’s World at One, Tony McNulty, the Home Office minister, was still trying to bang the drum for a further extension to 42 days. That despite the fact that the former Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith, the former Lord Chancellor, Lord Falconer, and the Director of Public Prosecutions, Sir Ken Macdonald, have all said emphatically that they see no need to extend detention beyond 28 days. McNulty spoke without any conviction whatever; it was perfectly clear that not even he thought that the plan was a runner.

Gordon will well remember how solitary and beaten Tony Blair looked that night when he lost the vote in the Commoms. Bad enough for a prime minister nearing the end of his term of office, but disastrous for one fighting desperately to re-establish his authority at such an early stage in his tenure.

So what will the PM do? My feeling is that he will be reluctant to take the risk and will drop the proposal. That, of course, will lay him open to the charge of bottling it yet again, but better that than lose such a crucial vote at such a crucial time.

Adeste, Fideles - and the rest of you, too

“This is the most special, most wonderful day. So wonderful that it is regarded as special by those of all faiths and those of none.”

So said my parish priest, Fr Nigel Williams, in his Christmas Eucharist sermon this morning.

And it would appear that he is right. Britain’s arch-atheist, Professor Richard Dawkins, of The God Delusion fame, recently announced that he is a “cultural Christian” who enjoys “singing carols along with everybody else.”

I hope that the professor thoroughly enjoys his cultural Christmas Day.

Nadolig Llawen i Bawb!

A fruitless sortie to Conwy in the rain in an attempt to buy last-minute Christmas items was followed by a brief visit to the hell that was Tesco and an equally swift retreat. Returned, without the things I had gone out to buy and with a load of stuff I hadn’t, feeling rather like the “even better than that!” character from The Fast Show.

Home is a haven of warmth and Classic FM; wish I hadn’t gone out in the first place. Doubt I will be moving for the next 48 hours (church excepted).

If you are game enough to be reading this on Christmas Eve, please accept a virtual glass of mulled wine and a mince pie.

A very happy Christmas to you all.

Devolution Divisions

Labour MEP, Glenys Kinnock, has expressed severe reservations over her party’s decision to enter coalition with Plaid Cymru in the Welsh Assembly.

Quoted in today’s Western Mail, Lady Kinnock says:

“I have huge concerns about that. I’ve not made public statements of any kind but I do share deep unease about any kind of close governmental relationship with the nationalists in Wales.

“I come from North Wales, in a part of the country where the enemy are the nationalists and it is a very hard one for me and my family. And I know that in Neil’s old constituency there are deep misgivings amongst the political leadership there as well.”

Lady Kinnock’s concerns, from a Labour perspective, are entirely understandable. However, she has nobody but her own party leadership to blame for the current state of affairs. Which is what, fairly clearly, she is doing.

At the high tide of Labour popularity in 1997, it must have seemed to Tony Blair and his cabinet colleagues (including, it should be unnecessary to add, Gordon Brown) that Labour could create a permanent Welsh fiefdom in Cardiff as a bastion against a resurgent Conservative party. Whatever happens at Westminster, they must have thought, Labour will always hold Wales.

The stupid arrogance of that view has become all too clear in the succeeding years. Even in the first Assembly, Rhodri Morgan had to be propped up by the Lib Dems. Now, with Labour even less popular in Wales, it is Plaid Cymru who have been called to come to the aid of the party - which, mercifully for Labour, they have done with gratifying supineness.

Coalitions will, for the foreseeable future, always be the rule rather than the exception in Cardiff, given the unstable nature of the devolution settlement. To be fair to Neil Kinnock, he always warned against it. It is interesting, however, that his wife has chosen this particular juncture to add her voice to the debate.

Last surgery of 2007

The last surgery of the year today, at Ruthin, followed by a visit to a constituent at Llanrhydd.

Blogging may be light for the next day or two, while I take a short breather.

Of course, that depends very much on what happens politically. Watch this space.

Solstice Blues

Today is the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, and for many the gloomiest. For those who are afflicted with seasonal affective disorder, the 21st December must be what John McEnroe memorably called “the pits”.

I would be surprised if solstice gloom was not penetrating the deepest recesses of 10 Downing Street this morning. Today’s Telegraph – YouGov poll puts Labour 12 points behind the Tories. As if that weren’t bad enough, Gordon Brown’s personal rating is at an all-time low, with 60 per cent “dissatisfied” with his performance as Prime Minister. David Cameron’s approval ratings, meanwhile, are at a record high, with 47 per cent saying he is “proving a good leader”.

According to Professor Anthony King, Gordon is “staring at election meltdown”. Not the happiest way for the PM to start his Christmas.

Before we Tories get too carried away, however, we should heed King’s cautionary note that:

“The Conservatives' lead does look commanding at the moment but no one can yet be sure whether the reversal in the two major parties' fortunes is a transient phenomenon or reflects a more fundamental change in political attitudes.

“After all, only 10 weeks ago Labour was almost as far ahead as the Conservatives are now.”

So perhaps it isn’t all doom and gloom for Gordon. After all, the big hope that the winter solstice brings is the prospect of longer days and the return of the light.

If winter comes, can spring be far behind?

Geography rather weak

From the Abergele Visitor (with grateful acknowledgments to Brian Christley).

Tectonic Plates

Labour politicians have a standard modus operandi that they employ when something goes badly wrong.

First, an inquiry is launched; the prime recent example, of course, is the affair of the Abrahams proxy donations. The calling of an inquiry buys time while the heat, they hope, goes out of the issue.

Second, they employ a turn of phrase along the lines of: “We must learn the lessons and move on.” This formula was used recently by Hilary Benn in the context of the foot and mouth fiasco.

Finally and as a last resort, they plead their own sincerity and probity as a matter that must be universally accepted beyond question. Today, at his press conference, Gordon Brown asserted: "I think people know that when a problem arises we will deal with it." The phrase was, essentially, a variant of the line used by Tony Blair when his own back was to the wall over the Ecclestone affair: "I think most people who have dealt with me think that I am a pretty straight sort of guy".

The whole process is intended to induce forgetfulness or, if that proves impossible, forgiveness. Indeed, Gordon Brown almost admitted that forgetfulness was the name of the game today. Questioned about the issue of political donations and the loss of personal data, Mr Brown said that "many of the things that have been written about for the last few weeks would be forgotten quickly."

The problem for Gordon Brown, and indeed for the Labour Party as a whole, is that the propensity of the electorate to forget is not as elastic as they would like. Indeed, given the extraordinary sequence of scandals that have flopped out over the last few months, the public have had no opportunity to forget. The bad news just keeps on coming.

If forgetfulness is impossible, then what of forgiveness? That, I think, is also looking pretty unlikely. The movements of the polls in recent weeks tend to indicate that a pretty decisive shift in public opinion is happening. The Sunday Times - YouGov poll this week, for example, not only gave the Conservatives a lead over Labour of 13%, but also showed Brown with a personal approval rating of minus 26%, against David Cameron’s plus 20%. By a margin of 45% to 12%, people thought Brown was less competent than Tony Blair had been, though by a small margin, 26% to 23%, they thought he was more honest and truthful.

Matters may, of course, improve for the Prime Minister. We do potentially have two and a half years and three budgets before the next general election. Things can, and do, change astonishingly quickly in politics.

But, at the risk of leading with my chin, I have to say, as dispassionately as I can, that I don’t think they will.

It was John Prescott who spoke of the movement of political tectonic plates, although he had in mind the shift of power from Blair to Brown. It may be, however, that Prescott unwittingly identified a more fundamental movement that occurs perhaps once every decade or two and last happened in the early 1990s: a cyclical shift in the balance of political sentiment.

If that is indeed what is happening, Gordon Brown will probably find that the process has a momentum all of its own and that the employment of textbook damage limitation, as prescribed by Alastair Campbell and Peter Mandelson, will prove, ultimately, futile.

Still Rocking

Yesterday the government announced that it has extended its guarantee of the Northern Rock's liabilities to cover any losses that financial institutions may sustain in their dealings with it.

The support so far extended to the bank amounts to £57 billion, or £1,800 per taxpayer.

Talk of nationalisation continues, but the fact is that the Rock is now de facto nationalised - a monumental failure on the part of the government, whose desperation to remove from TV screens the politically damaging sight of a run on a British bank has incurred its citizens with a financial liability almost the size of the annual Whitehall education budget.

Data Day

The Welsh Affairs Select Committee is occupying a considerable amount of its members' time these days, principally because of the considerable amount of Welsh legislation that is coming through.

Yesterday afternoon, we met to discuss the arcane delights of the draft Additional Learning Needs legislative competence order. Normally, I wouldn't complain about spending a couple of hours in the week before Christmas engaged in such a riveting pursuit. However, whilst we were debating our draft report, paragraph by paragraph, in the relatively intimate splendour of committee room 7 (the Liverpool room, I'm pleased to say), a whole lot more exciting stuff was going on in the bear pit of the Commons chamber.

First of all, Gordon Brown made a statement on the Lisbon Council and his somewhat shamefaced signature of the European Reform Treaty, which is set to exercise Parliament heavily in the early months of 2008.

Next in the queue was the hapless Alistair Darling, who endured yet another iteration of his very own Groundhog Day when he delivered his interim report on HMRC's loss of the child benefit database, and with it the personal details of almost half the British population.

Finally, Ruth Kelly appeared before the House, with her very own data scandal to report. It turns out that the Department of Transport has managed to lose the records of three million learner drivers which were stored, improbably enough, in a purportedly secure facility in the US state of Iowa. Apparently, her officials were aware of the loss as long ago as May, Ruth herself since the end of November. Presumably, the public announcement was delayed so as not to overburden the public with data loss news.

It is pretty clear that this government has a major problem managing data. It doesn't know how to handle it. Gordon must surely realise that, in the current climate, the electorate simply would not accept compulsory identity cards. There are strong rumours around Westminster that the project will soon be quietly shelved.

It must also be asked why confidential British data were being stored in a foreign jurisdiction, where different data protection laws prevail, and beyond the reach of the British courts. Last year, I tabled a series of Parliamentary questions on the storage of online computer data to a number of Whitehall departments. All denied that any data were stored in foreign jurisdictions. I must dust off the answers, to see whether any of them may have been less than totally frank.

Healthansafety Corner

I am very concerned indeed by this report on the BBC website that chief constable Richard Brunstrom tested the security of his own headquarters building, which is presently undergoing refurbishment, by scaling scaffolding and climbing in through a window.

According to the BBC:

“It is not known whether Mr Brunstrom was wearing any safety equipment as he climbed the scaffolding.

“It also remains unclear how many of the building's four storeys he scaled.”

It seems to me, at first sight, that there may well have been a serious breach of health and safety legislation on the chief’s part. No doubt he will ensure that the appropriate enquiries are made.

Police 2.5

Chief constable Richard Brunstrom has called the Home Office’s handling of the police pay issue “shabby and dishonourable”.

He is entirely right. Over the last few days, I have received dozens of letters and e-mails from serving officers outraged by the decision not to backdate the recently-awarded 2.5 per cent pay increase. This will have the effect of keeping the settlement within the Treasury-imposed limit of 2 per cent for public sector pay reviews. It is a cynical, devious manoeuvre.

The police are now to be balloted by their Federation on whether they want the right to strike. This is an appalling state of affairs, at which we should never have arrived. It is wholly attributable to Jacqui Smith’s bungling incompetence, so amply demonstrated in so many other respects over the last few weeks.

I doubt she will remain in office much longer.

Night Train to Colwyn

The journey home continues to be challenging.

Last night, the 7.38 from Euston – one of the faster scheduled services – was delayed for almost an hour south of Lichfield. I ultimately got home a quarter of an hour before midnight.

Also this hanging around is, of course, unbelievably boring, so I nodded off somewhere around Chester. In an encouraging manifestation of cross-party co-operation, Chris Ruane, MP for Vale of Clwyd, who was also on the train, woke me up at Rhyl. Otherwise, I might have carried on sleeping until Holyhead.

Stamp on them

I have received the following e-mail from my colleague Julian Brazier, MP for Canterbury, which I feel deserves wider publication:

"Royal Mail has traditionally alternated between sacred and secular designs for their Christmas stamps and this year it is the turn for a religious image.

"Royal Mail has issued two sets of designs this year. The main set of designs, available in all the main denominations is of angels, which is vaguely Christian but not explicitly so and certainly not specifically Christmassy. They have also issued a 'Madonna and Child' design for first and second class only. Post Office staff have been instructed to only sell this design if people specifically request it, but obviously people can't request it if they don't know it exists!

"If people don't buy these stamps, Royal Mail will claim there is no demand for religious Christmas stamps and not produce them in future. Please therefore ask for 'Madonna and Child' stamps when you do your Christmas posting and also tell your friends, contacts etc. to do the same."

Christmas in London

The temperature in central London this morning is -2° centigrade. As I walk down Victoria Street on my way to work, I pass a number of homeless men lying in the doorways of office blocks, using opened-out cardboard boxes as meagre insulation against the cold of the pavement. They are covered in heaps of clothing, but must still feel frozen stiff. They are the relatively lucky ones, because they haven’t been moved on by the police.

Just around the corner from where I live, there is a Salvation Army hostel. About 4.00 pm, a queue starts to form outside. By 6.00 pm, there are usually at least a couple of dozen waiting for a bed for the night. Not all will be lucky.

Most of these men seem to be east Europeans. They can be seen all over London. There is one group that congregates in the lee of Westminster cathedral, huddled near the warmth of a kitchen extractor fan. They don’t bother passers-by, but talk among themselves in low voices, drinking cheap lager and stamping their feet against the cold.

London’s local authorities are trying to deal with the problem, but it is an enormous task. The accession into the EU of eastern European countries has led to a huge influx of people seeking work in Britain. Many have been successful, but many, like the men I see on the streets, have been disappointed. Women have arrived, too, and the fate of many of them has been bleak indeed.

Whatever one’s views of the EU, it is impossible not to feel the most profound pity for those who have come to this country expecting a better life, only to find themselves cold, hungry and lonely on the streets of London. They all have their own stories, but collectively they are the casualties of the biggest wave of immigration that this country has ever experienced.

To all those who work with the homeless we should give our deepest thanks. You may want to visit the Crisis website to see what they are doing this Christmas.

And when you see the Salvation Army band playing carols on the streets over the next few days, please try to give them a coin or two. Theirs is the most practical expression of Christian charity that I know.

A Grand Debate

The delayed Welsh Grand Committee debate on the Queen’s Speech took place today. A fair number of members were in attendance, but the edge had been taken off the debate by the lapse of time since the Speech itself.

There was considerable discussion on the arcane issue of pre-legislative scrutiny of legislative competence orders. Most Members from both sides of the House expressed the view that if the Welsh Assembly thought the orders should go through on the nod, it could think again.

Lembit Öpik made a brief, but interesting contribution, when he suggested in an intervention that roads in rural Powys could be improved by building “semi-dual carriageways”.

I’ve got news for you, Lembit: we’ve got them already. They’re called single carriageways.

Rockin' Robins

Speaking of football, let us not forget Wrexham FC, the only North Wales team in the Football League.

Wrexham have always been a community-spirited club, as evidenced by the following press release received from the Farmers’ Union of Wales:

A joint message from the Farmers’ Union of Wales (FUW) and Wrexham Football Club urging fans to buy Welsh Lamb will be read out at half time during the Dragons match against Brentford at the Racecourse Ground on Saturday (December 15, 2007).

The message will also be printed in the match programme and posted on the club’s official website (http://www.wrexhamafc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/Home/). The club have already supported the ongoing Hybu Cig Cymru campaign titled "Buy Welsh Lamb".

FUW County Executive Officer for Denbigh and Flint Gareth Wyn Jones, who contacted Wrexham club officials with the idea of putting out the message, said: "We are extremely grateful to staff, officials, players and coaching staff of Wrexham FC for their kind support in enabling us to get this very important message out to their supporters.

"The Welsh farming community appreciates the support and assistance in ensuring the message to buy Welsh Lamb is heard loud and clear.

"Due to the foot and mouth outbreak the Welsh agriculture has suffered huge financial losses arising from lost exports to both EU and third world countries, disruption to the normal movement of animals and to market transactions involving breeding, store and slaughter animals.

"All this has had an adverse impact on cash flow, profitability and investment on thousands of livestock farms in Wales on top of the effects of substantially higher feed prices on profitability."

Wrexham Team Manager Brian Little said: "We are only too pleased to support this message as we know the difficulties the farming industry in Wales has faced in recent months.

"The lamb produced in Wales is of a standard not equalled anywhere in the world and that’s why my players and I encourage everyone to support Welsh farmers and buy locally produced lamb."

The full message, which is also included in the match programme, reads: "The Farmers’ Union of Wales and Wrexham Football Club are today asking you all to support the Welsh agricultural industry and insist on buying locally produced lamb.

"The agricultural industry in recent months has faced enormous difficulties following the aftermath of the foot and mouth disease including an export ban and movement restrictions imposed upon them.

"The lamb our farmers in Wales produce is produced to an extremely high standard, not matched anywhere in the world. Therefore, please support your local farmers by buying Welsh Lamb.

"Your support would be very much appreciated, thank you for your attention."

Well done the Dragons – or the Robins, as a lot of us still call them.

YNWA

Wonderful result for Liverpool against Marseille last night, which saw the Reds through to the last 16 of the Champions League.

Earlier in the season, I hoped to be able to make the journey to the Stade Vélodrome for what was clearly going to be a special night. As it turned out, I spent the evening preparing for today's Welsh Grand Committee debate, while my son kept me informed of the game's progress with text messages, which came with remarkable frequency.

Liverpool almost invariably rise to the challenge in European games, most notably, in recent years, in the 2005 final. It is a pity that they seem unable to show the sort of consistency they need to win the Premiership, last week's embarrassing display against Reading being a case in point.

The Telegraph carries an evocative report of last night's match by the peerless Henry Winter, easily my favourite football writer. I particularly enjoyed the following, which captures perfectly the wit and spirit of the world's finest supporters:

'The Mistral that swept into this ancient port last night originated on the Mersey. "Aux Armes" chanted the defiant locals. "Au Revoir" retorted the visitors.'

Wish I'd been there.

Brain Racking

The Welsh neurosurgery issue (see this blog passim) rumbles on, now spreading as far afield as Aberdeen.

According to the Aberdeen Evening Express, Professor James Steers, the man chosen by Welsh health minister Edwina Hart to chair the inquiry into neurosurgery services in Wales, has been at the forefront of a campaign to centralise neurosurgery in Scotland, which could lead to the downgrading or closure of Aberdeen’s neurosurgery unit.

Ironically, if a similar approach were to be adopted in Wales, it would probably result in the closure of the Morriston unit – the very consequence Mrs Hart has been anxious to avoid.

The question is: in those circumstances, what would happen to North Wales’s relationship with Walton?

Top Brass

Two days, two carol services. Yesterday, the Townswomen’s Guild at St Paul’s, today the Pensarn Family Church.

Today’s service was enhanced by the presence of the Colwyn Bay based Beulah Brass Band. I love the sound of a brass band, and not only because my brother-in-law is a professional tuba player.

A brass band is melodious, uplifting and thoroughly British. Indeed, there is no more British sound. I intend to take a brass band CD with me to my desert island.

No Defence

Readers will recall that the excuse of Peter Watt, the former general secretary of the Labour party, for accepting donations from proxies for David Abrahams, when he was aware of the true identity of the donor, was that “unbeknown to me, there were additional reporting requirements.”

Well, it is trite law that ignorance is no defence. However, how ignorant was Mr Watt? According to the BBC, the Labour party was “paid £183,000 in public money to help officials understand new funding rules shortly before it accepted secret donations.”

The question must therefore be asked: what happened to that money? Because, if Mr Watt’s ignorance is anything to go by, it clearly wasn’t used for the educational purposes for which it was intended.

Collarless

The Archbishop of York – a charismatic man for whom I have the utmost respect – has just cut up his clerical collar on the Andrew Marr programme and announced that he will not wear another until Robert Mugabe has been removed from power in Zimbabwe.

I am, on the whole, not too keen on gesture politics; walking down the corridors of the Palace of Westminster, it is noticeable that most of my colleagues of all parties habitually wear a lapel badge in support of this good cause or a ribbon in support of that. Generally speaking, I tend only to sport a poppy in my buttonhole during the first two weeks of November. And poppies are different, anyway.

However, the stock-in-trade of the Christian religion is symbolism; it is the way it delivers its message. Dr Sentamu’s symbolic act this morning was a dramatic and powerful one. I wonder how many of his colleagues will follow suit?

Talk Clwyd West

If you haven’t visited Talk Clwyd West yet, give it a try. It is less than two weeks old, and already is stimulating lively debate.

The quality of the debate is pretty good, too. Take a look at these contributions on the HMRC fiasco from David Curtis, Victor Lindsay and Ian Walker.

The Curse of Kinnocchio

Speaking of Labour’s problems, those of a superstitious turn of mind may be wondering whether there is some other, more otherworldly, cause of the party’s rapid decline in fortune, rather than the accepted view that it is simply years of cock-up, deviousness and incompetence coming home to roost.

Such individuals will undoubtedly seek to lay the blame at the door of none other than “Lord” Neil Kinnock, surely the most accident-prone leader of any major party in living memory.

Readers will recall that Kinnock’s tenure at the helm of Labour was heralded by the delightful “falling in the sea” moment, swiftly followed by an ill-judged appearance with Glenys at the première of “Absolute Beginners”. He was unparalleled fodder for the cameramen.

In 1992, Kinnock and Labour were riding high in the polls, seemingly certain to win the general election. On April Fool’s day, 1992, Kinnock snatched defeat from the jaws of victory when he regaled the now-notorious Sheffield rally (all brass bands and American-style razzmatazz), with a verbose and meandering address that commenced with the bizarre and meaningless mantra: “Well, all right! Well, all right!”

The great British public immediately came to the correct conclusion that Kinnock was a smug, erratic buffoon and decided to give the Tories a whirl for another five years.

Of course, Kinnock in due course went to Europe, where one might have expected and hoped he would linger in merited obscurity. However, in September, 2007, up he popped again at the Labour party conference. Asked why he wanted Labour to secure a fourth term victory, Kinnock replied, “I want to do that to grind the bastards into the dust.”

When he uttered that pronouncement, Labour were 11 points ahead of the Conservatives in the polls. Seven days later, they were seven points behind.

Some might attribute the sudden and dramatic reversal in the party’s fortunes to the excellence of the Conservative party conference. Others might put it down simply to the curse of Kinnocchio.

Since it is the season of mirth and frivolity, I have posted, for the amusement of my readers, a couple of clips showing Kinnock at the height of his powers.

Well, all right!

Kinnock has a paddle

But still no paddle

If there is one man in Britain to whom Gordon Brown should be grateful above all others, it must surely be John Darwin, routinely referred to as the “canoe man”.

For a start, Darwin’s extraordinary story has afforded him some relief by knocking Labour’s problems, temporarily at least, off the front pages.

Secondly, Gordon may choose to regard it as a parable of hope, illustrating, as it does, that sometimes – just sometimes – it is possible to come back from the dead.

Healthansafety Corner

Not even the festive season is safe from the excesses of the healthansafety industry.

According to today’s Telegraph, in a report that will no doubt warm the cockles of Mark Tami’s heart, panto performers in this year’s Babes in the Wood production at Gorleston Pavilion Theatre, near Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, have been banned from throwing sweets into the audience, for fear of being sued for negligence if a child is hit on the head.

Instead, “confectionery will now be dropped into the front row and passed around by ushers, ending the tradition of children catching the treats.”

No donkey derby and now no chance of catching a Curly-Wurly at the panto. What a dismal, joyless world we are creating for our children.

Rearward Locution

Quite a lot of controversy has been caused by the suggestion of Carmarthenshire MP Adam Price that basic training for Welsh recruits into the Army should be delivered in Welsh. Similar controversy has been caused by my reaction to the proposal.

According to Adam, “If people are prepared to die for their country, then they should be allowed to speak Welsh.”

Adam suggests that introducing basic technical training for new recruits in Welsh as well as into English “is simply bringing the Army into line with police forces and the fire service in Wales.”

There is, however, a significant difference between the role of the Army and that of the police and fire service. I believe that it is very desirable that the police, who are in contact with the public on a daily basis, should be able to speak Welsh and I fully support chief constable Richard Brunstrom in his efforts to make the language more widely spoken.

However, I also believe that to use any other language than English for Army training would be dangerous, just as it would be for air traffic control purposes. Soldiers, it should be unnecessary to point out (except to Adam Price), engage in probably the most hazardous occupation of all. On the battlefield, a soldier’s life will depend upon understanding commands as quickly as possible. All training, therefore, should be delivered in a language that everyone understands. In this country, and, indeed, in NATO as a whole, that language is English.

I was quoted in yesterday’s Daily Post as saying that Adam Price’s suggestion was “dangerous and silly”. I anticipated howls of outrage from nationalist elements and I have not been disappointed.

However, my stance has been supported by the Daily Post itself, whose editorial yesterday was headed “Silly? That ain’t the half of it…”

Naturally, the Post's leader writer has been similarly panned by nationalist bloggers.

More importantly, however, I received a telephone call yesterday from a Welsh-speaking TA officer with years of service in the Royal Welch Fusiliers, who told me that I had been entirely right to say what I did.

“That Adam Price, he’s talking out of the back of his head,” he said.

Actually, being a soldier, he put it slightly differently, but I’m sure you get the drift.