Bel is thinking

According to the Daily Telegraph, Gordon Brown has appointed his eighth spin doctor of the year.

I wonder if Gordon Brown remembers the following words; he uttered them during PMQs on 11 July 2007, in reference to David Cameron:

“He can go for his PR—I will go for being PM, and we will get on with the job.”

Just to refresh his his memory, the Hansard transcript is here.

On the news that the Government faces a revolt on the 10p tax issue, a ‘Treasury source’ attempts to explain that compensation for those hardest hit may not be that straightforward.

Saith he:

“The Chancellor hasn’t any money,” … “There is no secret stash up his sleeve.”

Isn’t that part of the problem? The idea that the money belongs to the Chancellor in the first place, and if ‘his’ stash is running out, then ‘he’ can’t help.

Only when they grasp that the money belongs to the taxpayer will we begin to see any real change. For starters, if they recognised that basic fact (i.e that our money is our own), they wouldn’t take so much of it from the poor, and then force them to jump through hoops in order to get it back in the form of ‘credits’.

I must say, I’m rather surprised by the less than sympathetic response to John Prescott’s revelation that he has been suffering from bulimia for many a long year (see, for example, here and here).

Could it be that one man can inspire such loathing that even the revelation of his deep suffering fails to invoke the normal human sympathy people take for granted?

Or could it be that it is not so much Prescott that is loathed, but rather all that he stood for in his time in office? Perhaps Prescott is a convenient focus for the anger and helplessness people feel as a result of the policies of his Government?

Whatever the answer, sympathy for Prescott appears to be a rare thing today. I hope, for his sake, that he doesn’t read those comments.

Beginning to stir from my long blogging slumber. And a deep slumber it has been. Nothing seemed to rouse me, not even the increasingly desperate state of affairs currently obtaining in the United Kingdom. However, the time approaches for me to return, even if gradually, to the world of political blogging.

First things first, I have upgraded this blog to Wordpress 2.5. After reading of Tyger’s upgrade experiences, I decided not to attempt it myself. Justin of Webbleyou kindly sorted it out for me. He has helped me out on numerous Wordpress matters in the past, and I am really grateful to him. I don’t know what it is with me and Wordpress. I can take anything Movable Type throws at me, installation, upgrade, you name it. The same goes for Joomla!. But the very thought of upgrading a Wordpress blog, and I want to lie down and take my vitamins. So thanks, Justin.

I hope you’ve all been doing fine. More later, definitely.