tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45427288234890531362011-07-07T23:54:36.905+01:00Klaus Westwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02101905844121946730noreply@blogger.comBlogger131100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4542728823489053136.post-26935394660075513462010-02-22T16:10:00.001Z2010-02-22T16:10:47.367Z

Its always heart warming to see how David Miliband responds to the PM's travails with such heartwarming and unequivocal support:Did he say something along the lines of "these allegations are a pathetic attempt to undermine the credibility of our wonderful PM"? No. He said: "There is so much uncertainty about the allegations and whether they were made."Sure Gordon is delighted to have you on his

Klaus Westwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02101905844121946730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4542728823489053136.post-18928316553242629982010-02-17T08:05:00.000Z2010-02-17T08:05:37.992Z

<!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Tahoma; panose-1:2 11 6 4 3 5 4 4 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:1627421319 -2147483648 8 0 66047 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size

Klaus Westwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02101905844121946730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4542728823489053136.post-74386773428914117322009-05-18T16:56:00.001+01:002009-05-18T17:01:43.622+01:00

It is often said that a people get the government they deserve (perhaps originally from de Tocqueville, but who knows). Well, this Parliament has the Speaker it deserves. The MPs themselves have twice voted Mr Martin to office, and in the words of Ming Campbell on Martin’s re-election in 2005, "We are delighted to join in the unanimous endorsement of your continuing responsibility to preside over

Klaus Westwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02101905844121946730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4542728823489053136.post-44957633452424959172009-05-15T18:40:00.003+01:002010-02-11T14:59:58.195Z

Following up my previous post, I see that Tim Montgomerie and James Bethell have started an important new website. I think it needs as much publicity as it can get, so share it around: http://www.nothingbritish.com

Klaus Westwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02101905844121946730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4542728823489053136.post-53732639129926269922009-05-15T13:20:00.001+01:002009-05-15T13:20:29.671+01:00

A poll by the BBC’s Daily Politics show has reported that some 65% of respondents want a General Election now, in the wake of the expenses row. While I appreciate the attraction of allowing the electorate to throw out as many of the current incumbents as possible – clearing out the House and ushering in a new era of responsible representatives less interested in feathering their own nests – I

Klaus Westwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02101905844121946730noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4542728823489053136.post-18248516515810756852009-05-14T18:06:00.001+01:002009-05-14T18:06:00.544+01:00

So, as the dust finally starts to settle following the Telegraph’s expose-a-thon, there’s one unanswered point arising from the expenses scandal which really stands out for me. Why was it ever considered reasonable to give MPs a food allowance? There are clearly myriad questions arising over the content of the Green Book, many stemming from the fact that the allowance/expense system was a

Klaus Westwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02101905844121946730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4542728823489053136.post-1264902650470643892009-05-14T09:00:00.002+01:002010-02-11T14:44:02.021Z

Why has more not been made of Phil Woolas’ conduct over the whole expenses affair. Personally I believe that the public’s furore should be directed at those MP’s who have sought to gain significant benefit from the system, primarily those who have flipped their second home designation for no other reason than to claim public funds for expenditure the rest of us would have to stump up ourselves (

Klaus Westwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02101905844121946730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4542728823489053136.post-34284919035644480172009-04-29T10:13:00.001+01:002009-04-29T10:21:00.849+01:00

No, not his erstwhile colleague on the Tory benches, Nicholas Soames, but the real thing! This is the latest e-mail missive from CCHQ, and I was amused by his allusion in the first paragraph to “your chums”. I can hear Pickles using the phrase, actually, but I’m not quite sure what to make of it – folksy northern charm or old-school Tory recidivism. Either way, it doesn’t ring true with the new,

Klaus Westwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02101905844121946730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4542728823489053136.post-17180353829480968522009-04-27T14:56:00.001+01:002009-04-29T08:28:23.118+01:00

Peter Wilby’s piece in the New Statesman caught my eye this week. Among his various  meanderings, he suggests that large swathes of the political elite have privately come to the view that hard drugs should be legalised – a view they’re unwilling to air in public. I’ve long agreed with them, if indeed his assertion is true, and its only the thought of actually administering “the handover” that

Klaus Westwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02101905844121946730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4542728823489053136.post-9428605132321981482009-04-25T13:30:00.001+01:002009-04-25T13:30:30.329+01:00

It’s got to be one of the most irritating aspects of listening to radio (as opposed to enjoying one’s own music collection, in whichever format its held). A few days ago Christian O’Connell on Virgin…sorry, Absolute…puts on Sultan of Swings by Dire Straits. A great tune by (in my opinion) a hit and miss band. Now, this tune plays at a total of around 5 minutes 50 seconds, a fact that the radio

Klaus Westwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02101905844121946730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4542728823489053136.post-54715003354853999802009-04-24T10:18:00.001+01:002009-04-24T10:19:21.159+01:00

God I’m getting increasingly fed up with the City. As the son of a banker, and with numerous friends employed (still) by financial institutions (Jeez, even Lady Westwood works for a hedge fund), I might be expected to sympathise with our poor capitalist compadres who continue to be the focus of such ire. But this line being trotted out about the loss of talent that will result from a 50% tax rise

Klaus Westwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02101905844121946730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4542728823489053136.post-9102264732342000452009-04-23T17:29:00.001+01:002009-04-24T07:25:33.686+01:00

Interesting post from Iain Dale today (guess what, it concerns one of his apparently endless media appointments with Sky News…) Its not the point about the banking bail-out that interests me, but the Labour Party candidate for Leeds West, Rachel Reeves, who seems to have rather jumped the gun in making references to “my constituency” and “my constituents”, despite the fact the seat is currently

Klaus Westwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02101905844121946730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4542728823489053136.post-37655638732491917762009-04-20T16:42:00.000+01:002009-04-20T20:53:23.142+01:00

Having hesitated for some time, I’ve finally decided  to begin publishing my own blog. There are several reasons for naming my blog "Ludi Plebeii", Plebeian Games, not least because I think it has a good ring to it. The classical pedigree of the name has some vague notions of the type of blog I hope it will become - a popular forum for debate, reflecting the democratic and pluralist nature

Klaus Westwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02101905844121946730noreply@blogger.com0