A future fair for all

So, there is our election slogan; "A future fair for all", quite good I think. It was officially launched today with a very good speech by Gordon Brown in Nuneaton. He urged people to "take a second look at Labour and a long hard look at 'them' (assuming he is referring to the Tories...). I think that is exactly correct, the sooner people realise what the effect of a Tory government will be, the better; not just for Labour's election results but for the country in general. 

As Alastair Campbell said in his recent blog post, "The consistency of 'a future fair for all' is among its strengths. It underlines Labour's enduring values." I think Campbell hits the nail on the head there, fairness has always been a key component of the Labour Party line and is one of the main reasons I joined. It's also something we need to focus on in the run up to polling day, not just fairness, but the party's ethic and original beliefs that I think we've lost sight of. It is because of those beliefs that the public voted Labour in 1997 in the first place. 

I hope this can be the beginning of the most almighty Tory, pre-election demise. We can only hope.

Shame on Moir

The Press Complaints Commission has ruled in favour Jan Moir of the Daily Mail. The shamed journalist wrote a  repugnant and poorly timed piece just days after the sad death of popstar Stephen Gately in October last year.


After it's publication, the PPC received over 25,000 complaints including ones from Gately's partner, Andrew Cowles. But the commission still decided not to uphold any claims of wrongdoing on Moir's part and said that "should be slow to prevent columnists from expressing their views, however controversial they might be".


Morals; They are something that the PPC, Ofcom or indeed anyone rarely takes into consideration and they clearly did not come into play when the Commission made this awful decision. I'm sorry, but 25,000 people should not be quietened by a isolated panel of no doubt, Daily Mail readers (and Conservatives) which often, only speaks for the minority.


Bad decision. Shame on the PPC. Shame on Moir.

New season, new points and a Russian man...

An agreement has finally been reached on a new points system for the Formula One 2010 season which it is hoped will promote a 'race-to-win' attitude.
The new system will see places rewarded in a 25-18-15-12-10-8-6-4-2-1 sequence.
This will make the 2010 season somewhat more exciting, especially at Monaco, drivers will be forced to chase becuase of the big difference between points. This is just a small matter in comparison to all the things that are new for 2010.
The obvious case being Michael Schumacher's return with Mercedes, which is basically Brawn, which is basically Honda etc. Finally, the chance to see Lewis pitted against Schumi, possibly one of the up and coming greatest F1 drivers of all time versus the best driver in F1, ever! But, still, that's not all. Schumacher move to Merc along with fellow German Nico Rosberg creates a 'Team Germany' which will of course bring back memories of the Blitz when they face the 'Team Britain' McLaren pairing of Lewis and reigning world champion, Jenson Button. Oh, it's gonna be good..
However, I have gone through this post without mentioning the fact that there will be 26 drivers on the grid, god knows how they are going to fit them on the grid at Monaco, with the addition of three new teams and the loss of Toyota and any sign of corporate sponsor ship on the new Sauber car. Renault are in a similar position and after the cheating scandal of 2009, only fuel company Total feel the need to sponsor them; they've even handed a drive to some Russian bloke for 2010; Vitaly Petrov, who sounds remarkably like a player produced by the Chelsea academy....
Two 'nation' teams find themselves on the grid as well, Force India we know, but USF1, we do not. They have confirmed another unknown, Jose Maria Lopez as their first driver with a second yet to come and Force India have kept their 2009 line up in tact with the addition of Briton Paul di Resta as their reserve, so providing either Sutil or Liuzzi do shockingly bad, we may well see another British face on the tarmac this year.
Even though, I am now having my doubts, I had earlier predicted Felipe Massa to win the 2010 Championship with the Constructors also going to Ferrari. But with Lewis and Jenson, Schumacher and Alonso. It's going to be tight.

2010 Bahrain Grand Prix, 14th March 2010, Live on the BBC