Last night's by-elections were a disaster for Tony Blair's New Labour party.

In Bromley and Chislehurst - a Tory stronghold that Labour never expected to win - Labour didn't just lose but were humiliated. They were relegated to fourth place behind UKIP.

In Blaenau Gwent Labour lost twice. The Independent candidates won the by-elections for both Westminster and the Welsh Assembly. This is a disaster for Blair as Blaenau Gwent is a traditional Labour stronghold that they expected to win back.

I'd like to think that this result shows the voters are fed up of Blair's attacks on civil liberties and our way of life. The reality is probably more related to local issues. Whatever the reason, Blair's little remaining authority has now been depleted still further.

Blair is a dead duck Prime Minister and the best thing he could do for Britain would be to quack off.

Tags: blair blaenau gwent bromley by-election chislehurst labour politics tony blair uk

Tony Blair has given one of his tub thumping law 'n' order speeches calling for a "debate about the nature of liberty", a "rebalancing" of the criminal justice system and a "complete change of mindset" in which we "re-assess" what respect for civil liberties means. This, of course, means yet more authoritarian measures to curtail our liberty.

The very words Blair uses show why he is so dangerous. He simply doesn't understand freedom - he even, without any apparent irony, tries to claim George Orwell for his side!

Freedom isn't something governments can "redefine" when it gets in their way. Liberty isn't some sliding scale to be fiddled with. It's certainly not a bargaining chip to be traded in to placate the tabloids. Our freedoms are the basis of our society and the first job of any government must be to protect them.

Of course this isn't a perfect world. In reality we need to curtail some freedoms for society to work. I accept that. However such occasions should be seen as rare, unfortunate exceptions. We must start from the basis that civil liberties should never be restricted unless it is absolutely necessary. Then such restrictions should be kept to the absolute minimum and require the strictest justification. Removal of basic rights should be seen as a last option - not a first choice.

Blair's speech is not only wrong in principle it is dangerous in specifics. It includes a call for more "summary powers" - further erosion of the right to a fair trial. He also argues in favour of forcing suspects to prove that they came by their assets legally - totally reversing the burden of proof and the assumption of innocence. He even takes issue with those who object to "curbing any of the procedures and rights used by defence lawyers" - why not just do away completely with the bothersome business of a trial?

Blair doesn't even mention the right to privacy or the balance of power between the individual and the state, both of which he is attacking with his ID Card proposals.

It's very easy to say: "But it'll never affect me". Until it does. In years to come you or your children could be saying: "And when they came for me, there was no one left to speak out for me."


Tony Blair is far more dangerous than any terrorist.


Tags: blair freedom law politics tony blair uk

It's being reported that terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is dead. He was killed in targeted a US air strike.

Killing is always wrong. Always. I've never supported the death penalty even for a bastard like al-Zarqawi. I certainly don't support pre-emptive killing without any form of trial. It may be justice but it's not civilised. And the worst thing of all is that, however targeted the strike, some innocent people are likely to have been killed.

All that said, I'm glad he's dead. Very glad. May he rot in hell like the cowardly dog he was.

Obviously I'm disappointed with myself for feeling that way, but there it is. I'd rather he'd been tried and left to spend the rest of his natural life in jail. But his death is the next best thing. Good riddance, even if it does go against my principles to think that way.

The real sadness is that this probably won't help the situation in Iraq. Al-Zarqawi had little local support. Many people believe that he was basically just a murderous thug with far less influence than claimed. So we're not likely to see an end to the violence and killing.

If anything, al-Zarqawi's death is simply going to increase the cycle of violence.

But I still can't help being happy about it.

Tags: zarqawi al-zarqawi Iraq

Just because something involves recycling it isn't necessarily good. Last week there were reports of a proposal to use recycled tyres to produce new road surfaces.

The idea is that the old tyres can produce an effective road covering to be applied over disused old railway lines, many of which were cut by Beeching. Doing this would recycle millions of old tyres that would otherwise be burned, buried, etc.

Full marks for the recycling - but a big "doh" for laying new roads.

Any environmental advantage from the (one off) gain of recycling is going to be more than offset by the (continuing) pollution created by more traffic. New roads only solve congestion in the short term; in the long term they just encourage more traffic until they themselves are full.

To be fair, the scheme's proponents do suggest that trams could also run on the new roads along with the cars. But since it looks like there'd be no room for overtaking or dedicated lanes, these "trams" would be little more than small buses. Cars are clearly the intended way forward for this plan.

These old lines do have huge potential - not as roads but as cycle tracks, tram lines or even new rail links. That's what was done with the Croydon tram scheme. Old railway lines were used for much of the tramway and it worked superbly.

Imagine how much the public transport system could be improved with another 9,000 miles of rail and tram lines, footpaths and cycle tracks. Now that would be a "green" approach. And, of course, the irony of using old car tyres to lay new tram and cycle ways would be delicious.

Whilst the old rail lines remain there is still a chance to undo some of the butchery of the Beeching era. Turning the lines into yet more roads will destroy that opportunity for ever.