Shane Greer

Both politics and blogging have been a bit light today (although in fairness the latter is nobodies fault but my own). The LibDems however have used the lull to kick-off their re-launch; and let’s be fair that’s exactly what it is. Forced into a corner by the rise of two-party politics and with their its against the wall the cuddly party has come out kicking, and in particular kicking in the direction of the Conservatives.

But whilst to some the howls of Nick Clegg might sound shrill when compared to the meaty conflict between Brown and Cameron, it would be a mistake to discount the remarks as merely the last desperate flinches of a dying animal. Make no mistake, Clegg is gearing up for the political fight of his and his party’s life - the fight to remain relevant in British politics.

The battleground for this fight will surprise many, but considered fully this particular theatre of political war may very well provide the LibDems with a very realistic hope of success.

Where is the battleground? Henley.

And make no mistake, the LibDems can win there; it just depends on how you define victory.

For what it’s worth though the film was awful, really awful.  Really, really awful. 

Seriously, who thought mixing aliens and Indiana Jones was a good idea!? 

…Edward Timpson will be sitting behind David Cameron during PMQs tomorrow? 

Hmm…

It’s a sign of the times, or perhaps more accurately a sign of the degree to which the Party’s image has changed, that the Conservatives have today been able to propose boot camps for the unemployed.  Imagine if such an announcement had been made this time last year; something tells me Labour would have been quick to attack the Conservatives, claiming such a policy would amount to effective slave Labour. 

Today though Labour had very little to say other than to dispute the number of people they’ve apparently helped into work. 

The political agenda is now very much in David Cameron’s hands. 

I’ll be on Sky News this evening between 7.30 and 8 discussing some of the more interesting stories on the web today.  Later in the show though I’ll be discussing Gordon Brown’s predicament with Mike Smithson of Political Betting. 

The question is how would I rate Gordon’s chances on a scale of zero to ten?  Hmm…

In my weekly piece for the Telegraph’s Brassneck blog I analyse David Cameron’s use of his tax speech to communicate multiple messages to distinct groups:

"The current stage in project Cameron of course affords him with the opportunity to convince those within the party who remain sceptical; those who see clear commitments to specific tax cuts as the only way to win a conservative victory at the next election (because it’s worked so well in the last couple).  But in attempting to convince the doubters Cameron is forced to walk a perilous tightrope; a tightrope below which there is no safety net.  To fall would mean undoing all the work which has come before this point.

To walk this tightrope Cameron has employed one of the oldest tools in the political workshop: saying different things to different people, using exactly the same words." 

You can read the whole piece here. 

Last night’s result in Crewe and Nantwich was nothing short of astonishing, a 17.6% swing giving a Conservative majority of 7,860. And let’s not forget that in the past few days subtle rumblings were starting to appear from the Labour camp that anything less than a 3,000 majority for the Conservatives would be a disaster.

I wonder what’s going through Gordon Brown’s mind this morning…?

Apparently the government is wasting a tremendous amount of money on office space every year (a whopping £325).  Most interesting though it appears the treasury is the biggest offender, with each member of staff being allocated between 13.3 to 21.9 square metres of space (isn’t that bigger than a lot of people’s accommodation in London?).  Are we surprised by this revelation?  No, or at least we shouldn’t be. 

But what to do about the problem?  The recommendation is, surprise surprise, that more positions in the civil service should be moved out of London (to Labour marginals by any chance?).  But to accept this recommendation in its entirety would mean accepting that the current level of staffing in the civil service is acceptable and indeed necessary. 

The reality of course is that present staffing levels are far from acceptable, with too many people doing non-jobs (just ask anyone you know who works in the civil service; although make sure you have a bit of time because the tales of waste and inefficiency tend to go on for quite a while). 

So certainly, let’s reduce the amount of office space in London and move staff outside the capital, but let’s also give some serious thought to what jobs are actually needed in the civil service. 

Phil Hendren of Dizzy Thinks has a piece in today’s Times comment section on the government’s proposed uber-Orwellian database.  Needless to say it’s fantastic, and if you haven’t read it already you really should.  Phil has an incredibly forensic mind and through Dizzy Thinks he’s managed time and time again to take the government to task over IT failures both big and small. 

Something tells me this is just the first of many appearances for Phil in the MSM. 

I’ve had a few emails from readers asking why I’ve been neglecting the blog recently, and the truth is I’ve been unbelievably busy the last couple of weeks.  I’ve decided however to re-jig my morning routine a bit to get the blog back up to full speed, so expect things to get back to normal very soon. 

A nation rejoices.