Song and Dance

Why do all British political parties make such a song and dance about electing a new leader?

I have a problem with Ken Clarke. I'm not a Tory, but I want to see Blair ousted, and I have no wish to see Brown replace him. The only people that can do that are the Tories. The thing is, Clarke agrees with Blair on the two most contraversial issues, Europe and Iraq, and he's right on the left of the party. Since Blair is the most right-wing Labour leader in history, they look like the same men in different ties. Of course, if Clarke wins the leadership contest he won't stand against Blair in an election, he'll stand against Brown probably, who is far more left wing. Clarke did say something sensible about Brown this morning on the Today programme however. He says that Brown will be even more autocratic than Blair and that makes him dangerous. I think he's right.

Here's the thing though, everyone hates Blair. Evn his own party are claiming that they won the last election despite Blair rather than because of him. That means the strongest weapon the opposition has is anti-Blair feeling, and they're not exactly cashing in on that with Ken Clarke are they? I decided I want David Davies to win. He's a right winger, Euro-skeptic, younger than Clarke, ex SAS part timer.

I wondered how long it would be after the death of Ronnie Barker before the BBC ran a news story about his son being wanted for child porn offences. Sure enough, it happened today. It's funny how this story stayed so quiet. I found out about it months ago by accident. The BBC ran a story about Adam Barker not showing up for his hearing after being bailed in June 2004, click here. It didn't mention that he was anything to do with Ronnie Barker. I found out from the imdb entry for Adam Barker, when I was trying to find out who the hell he was. Anyway, it now seems he can't turn up for his father's funeral for fear of being arested.

A new survey out today seems to suggest that Britain has the worst shoplifting problem in Europe, equal to about 1.59% of retail turnover. The most commonly stolen items are apparently razor blades. Who the hell wants to steal razor blades? I don't remember the last time I saw a razor that takes real razor blades and they only cost a few pennies anyway.