Today I undertook some serious spring cleaning which has involved moving the widgets (left hand side bar stuff) into a more agreeable order and removing the categories and placing them into a drop down menu. Part of the clean was to remove the R4 podcasts as they had very little outlinks.

One vital area of cleaning was the removal of the “RIGHT way to blog” blogroll. It has been replaced with Coalition, Opposition and Alternate and if you’re reading this and wish to be placed amongst the listed please let me know on @Parlez_me_nTory

One other area that changed today is that ALL new blog posts including this one are automatically pre-fixed with the Twitter hashtag of #BlogParlez – this will facilitate finding of all blog posts from within Twitter, this is something I believe that ALL bloggers should emulate for their readers benefit.

If you have any suggestions for further changes please get in touch as I would love to hear your views, thank you.

I received an amazing array of responses including “bringer of justice” – “open access” – “holder of integrity” – “freedom to intrude” – “to be corrosive”.

For myself, I was under the impression that to be a blogger it was about honesty and fairness, to rise above the gutter that the mainstream media inhabits so often.

I care not if you are reading this and thinking I am only writing this because William Hague is a Conservative, you’re wrong. This would have been written whoever the public figure was and my recent stance on Twitter would’ve remained the same that what Paul Staines has done has brought a bad stench on the world in which we bloggers inhabit.

I know not why Guido decided to go after Mr Hague and/or Mr Myers in such a fashion. I have shared my suspicion a number of times on Twitter and shall do so again in the next sentence.

I personally believe that Paul Staines was given a tip off from a past victim of his who is trying to ingratiate themselves with Guido. That tip off may have only been that the room was shared and an over eager imagination set to work.

I know not why I feel so strongly about this but perhaps it has something to do with the world that I feel so strongly about, the one with honesty and fairness has been badly sullied due to the actions of a once great activist.

I don’t have an issue with the premise of what Guido has done but I do have a major issue with the way in which he undertook his work, it is reminiscent of the gutter press at its very worst.

Perhaps he is obliged because he has column inches to fill, perhaps he is obliged because of the expectation that weighs on his shoulders, perhaps he’s stepped over the line of what it means to be a blogger?

“So Blair didn’t really want to ban fox hunting… I think for the next few days I may have to refrain commenting on any of this-safer.”

Realising just how poetic this was given the strength of arrogance of Dear Ellie and how much she has personally invested in the past leaders of the Labour Party I opted to RT this in the following tweet

“This is pure comic genius RT @BevaniteEllie: Blair didn’t really want to ban fox hunting…have to refrain commenting on any of this-safer”

Now, bearing in mind we are limited to 140 characters I have kept the true meaning of the original and commented accordingly.

This morning I arose to the following tweet at which, in truth I feel quite offended

“@Parlez_me_nTory That is not an RT. Observe Twettiquette or be judged, fool. @BevaniteEllie did not say that.”

Of course, for sanity purposes I checked what I had tweeted and you can see it above so I responded with the following

“RT @tenseMoo: @Parlez_me_nTory That is not an RT. Observe Twettiquette or be judged, fool. ..You are wrong, she did say it”

and…

“@tenseMoo check her timeline, twettiquette is if words removed for size add "…" – you will note fully observed, now please retract "fool"”

I shall not be holding my breath for too long as I am not really expecting an apology though for the sake of their own inner calm one does think that they should check before shooting off at a tweep.

The new arrival is a girl weighing in at 6lb 1oz born whilst the PM was on holiday in Cornwall.

Following the tragic past with the death of Ivan back in February 2009 the family’s spirits can once again be raised.

I, for one will certainly be toasting the safe arrival with a glass of Shiraz this evening.

This seemingly simple statement makes utter sense and is in fact what every constituent and party member from ALL sides wants.

Imagine a situation where Lib Dems and Conservatives join forces on the strength of 5 good years in government, quite simply Labour would not get a look in on anything more than a token vote (in all but the strongest of the core constituencies), so it goes without saying that ALL Labour voters would secretly welcome today’s statement from Mr Hughes. Okay, all Labour voters with the exception of John Prescott.

Neither would the Conservatives welcome a pact with the Lib Dems at #GE15, much as we needed and still need a good strength from the Lib Dems to form and subsequently run the coalition (don’t forget we could have gone for a minority Government but bitter MP’s would have scuppered that at every opportunity).

I reside and vote in the constituency of Somerton and Frome something like the 5th largest in the country. I am a member of the Frome Conservative committee and a member of the constituency’s Executive committee and I can assure you that every single member is hell bent on removing David Heath at the earliest opportunity.

This constituency has been Lib Dem since 1997 and it always a 2 horse race; we shall give no quarter.

What followed was something that can only be described as ludicrous. My wife could not get an appointment to see a Dr unless she booked one with 14 days notice. My child could not be seen by a Dr on the premises because there was an A&E within 15 miles of the practice.

The receptionist then set about trying to suggest she knew what the prognosis was without any further explanation. We had already consulted 2 pharmacists who although coming to the same conclusion cannot prescribe without authority yet a nurse who might see us as 2pm today can prescribe. That alone is a ridiculous situation to find ourselves in.

Why is it so difficult to get an appointment to see a Dr in your own medical practice? What is the point of belonging to a medical practice when you cannot ever see a Dr and will only ever get directed to A&E?

When Labour allowed GP’s to rewrite their own contract did they oversee the right to remove themselves from frontline patient services?

After tonight’s programme my respect, albeit not a high level of respect for Lord Adonis has all but evaporated, he struck me as desperate on every level. Though having met Sir Gus O’Donnell in the past I was, as always rather impressed by his cool headed attitude.

I was in absolute awe of the candid access Nick Robinson had during the 5 days, from the screenshot of David Cameron’s laptop as he telephoned Nick Clegg whilst trying to form the coalition to the admissions of some of the ministers (not always to their benefit).

What came through from the LibDem side was to me that it is clear who doesn’t sit comfortably with the coalition but the vast majority do, at least currently they do, and there are some Labour representatives that don’t even think they did a thing wrong. It is obvious that something had to give and both parties did what was right to get the deal done, to put Britain back on the road to recovery, to stop the rot.

What else came through is that Ed Balls didn’t come across very well at all, that is not just from a Tory point of view, it makes it look very clear as though it was all the fault of Ed. Quite simply it won’t do his leadership bid any good whatsoever.

I am saddened that Gordon did not speak, was not interviewed, you could almost see the tears in Peter Mandelson’s eyes in that photo just before leaving. I do not know why he did not appear but can only assume it was his own choice.

One thing is very certain, politics in Britain has changed forever as a result of these 5 days as has access to the details that we will from now on demand of our media representatives.

Kudos to Nick Robinson for he has done something very special here and for the record Paul Waugh from the Evening Standard, this program was #worththelicencefeealone. We have all been a part of history.

Update on Legal Case: Application to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR)

Following the announcement from the Supreme Court that it would not be accepting the application made by Northern Rock shareholders to appeal the earlier decision of the High Court, the legal case continues to make its way into the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, although it could take up to 3 years for the case to be heard and a decision known.

The submission of the Small Shareholders case has now been presented to the ECHR in Strasbourg in a document totaling some 90 pages. This is a complex document detailing the legal case which argues against the Government’s Compensation Order. That Order laid down specific instructions to the Independent Valuer which dictated terms that were artificial and meant he had to assume circumstances that were non-existent.

These brought about the announcement earlier this year from Andrew Caldwell that no compensation is payable to the former shareholders of Northern Rock.

We will continue to support the small shareholders, headed by lead plaintiff Dennis Grainger, who are now to progress their case to Strasbourg, arguing the case “afresh” (as opposed to an appeal), in a court where the judges have historically had no compunction in making EU-member governments such as ours accountable for the violations of the human rights of EU citizens.

This action is being taken as we believe this to be the last step required to overturn the Governments Compensation Order and therefore the Independent Valuers claim that your Northern Rock shares were worth nothing at the time of nationalisation.

The Group believes that they were worth between 350p and 650p per share, these figures being based on the offers made to the Government from Lloyds, Virgin, Olivant and the Northern Rock Management Team prior to nationalisation, and also the inherent true net asset values, where market value convention would suggest at least 125% of said net assets.

We will however maintain updates on the Northern Rock page of the UKSA website as further action is taken, information gained and decisions heard. This web page can be found at:www.uksa.org.uk/NorthernRock.htm

Note that as this will be a lengthy process, you may receive less frequent newsletters in future from us.

Support, funding and donations
The Northern Rock Shareholders Action Group wants to raise £30,000 to fund the legal action being taken which now sees the submission being made to the European Court of Human Rights.

In addition to the fighting fund target, the Group needs to cover all the costs of contacting shareholders and to pay for office staff time to facilitate the campaign. The office facilities are made available by the UK Shareholders’ Association (UKSA) – a voluntary body funded by its members’ subscriptions – but UKSA does not have the funds to support the campaign financially. For effective collective action, please give generously.

Thank you to all those supporters who have donated to support this campaign. More than sixteen thousand supporters have now generously donated, and we are very grateful for their financial help that not only helps fight the legal battle but also covers some of the costs of keeping you informed of progress.

There are many former shareholders that we haven’t yet been able to reach. To this end, we would ask that you forward on this update to any friends, family and work colleagues who you feel may have an interest in the case or may know someone who would.

Whilst the Government has significant resources to defend our case against them, we are operating on a voluntary basis and still need donations and financial support to continue the fight on your behalf and any donations are gratefully received.

Donations can be made directly to UKSA at the following link:

http://www.uksapay.org.uk/donation.cfm

Further Action Being Taken
In the interests of maintaining communications with the new Conservative/ Liberal Democrat Government and in alliance with its pledge of fairness for all, this Committee has prepared a submission, with significant input from committee member Pradeep Chand.

The basis of this letter which is intended primarily for Chancellor, George Osborne and Treasury Select Committee Chairman, Andrew Tyrie, sets out our beliefs:

Our Appeal – Fair Value, Going Concern
The Legacy of Regulatory Failure and Value Destruction by Labour
The Contradictions and Blatant Discrimination of Labour Policy
Valuation and Compensation
Proposals for Resolution

This letter can be read in full at:www.uksa.org.uk/NorthernRock.htm entitled “UKSA Open Letter to Chancellor and TSC”
Please advise address changes
Please advise any postal or email address changes to UKSA3@btconnect.com (telephone 0208-468-1027). It is particularly important to do so for email address changes otherwise we may lose touch with you altogether. And please include some other identification such as your postal post code and your name so we can identify you in our database when sending us such communications.

On-going Chairmanship
Chris Hulme and Shum Ghumman are continuing to act as co-chairman of this action group and their contact details are:

Shum Ghumman Chris Hulme

T: 07872 617 737 T: 07775 794 291

On behalf Northern Rock Shareholders Action Group

Email: uksa3@btconnect.com

Web: www.uksa.org.uk

Note that all previous “Update” notes on Northern Rock that we have issued are present on the following web site page:
www.uksa.org.uk/NorthernRock.htm .

PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS EMAIL TO NOTIFY CHANGES OF EMAIL OR POSTAL ADDRESSES OR FOR ROUTINE INQUIRIES. THOSE SHOULD BE SENT TO: uksa3@btconnect.com, Tel: 020-8468-1027

Today I spent a little time exploring a piece of software that I have had for rather a long time and never actually opened. I was scared of it, I didn’t know how to use it and was quite content that one day I would wake with renewed vigor and it would all jump out of the box and explain itself to me. Well, that day was today.

In truth it didn’t take much working out but it allowed me to explore an idea that has been floating around my head for a while. What you are about to watch is only 57 seconds in length and does not feature all the “stars” that you would expect to see but it is a clue to what I was thinking (it is only a draft so it is patchy in places).

So, the question begs, do you want to work with this, expand on this, recreate this?

This is clearly going to take some time to complete and if you have that time then great. The seed of the idea is there, why not use it, there are many of you out there that can do a much better job than this, but for a first attempt I am rather pleased.

The tune is perfect, the lyrics lend themselves so much to pretty much whatever angle you wish to take them so why not have a little fun.

My only request is that if you use the idea then at least please link back to here so that I can see how clever you are and hopefully garner some tips for my future use. Thank you and hopefully you will enjoy…

Whilst content to write the post I thought it would carry much more weight and heartfelt concern if it came straight from the heart and therefore this post is courtesy of Carolyn Webster whom I am sure you will agree feels very passionately about this subject.

NHS Wales. In the care of whom?

I have pretty much relied on the NHS for my children.

One child was referred to Great Ormond Street hospital at 3 months old, she’s fine now. The other child will need the NHS for the rest of his life. His condition is not life limiting.

The medical staff and therapists in the NHS who have played such a vital role will continue to play that part for the rest of his, hopefully, long life.

It is due to this absolute dependency of the NHS that when I read an article posted by Aberdareonline posted WAG must not put NHS managers before nurses I was horrified.

To make mattes worse this information has barely received any media attention.

In Wales, the control over the NHS is devolved to the Welsh Assembly Government (WAG).

This means that out of our budget managed by the Labour/Plaid Administration (yes, Labour still hold a little power somewhere), not only do we get free prescriptions, but it seems that we can now afford to maintain a policy that protects the jobs and salaries of the Chief Executives and other directors of former NHS Wales Trusts (all previous trusts were amalgamated to form 11 trusts).

In the real world, there would have been a round of redundancies, and redundancy payments, a bit of Gardening Leave, maybe a leaving do. But no, these non-job holders get to keep their jobs and salaries for 10 years.

This is despite a WAG annual operating framework where Local Health Boards are instructed to make a 3% reduction of the workforce of those above a band 5 salary scale post every year for the next 3 years. Basically this directive means that over the next 3 years, 2000 nursing and midwifery posts are threatened.

But meanwhile those Chief Executives, whose roles were in effect made redundant are safe for another 10 years.

So, Senior Management. Which of you will step forward to help my son speak?

Which one of you will care for him after another medical procedure?

Which one will hold my hand as I cry at another hurdle faced by my son?

Come on. Who cares?

If you don’t know why I do this then read carefully.

Are you still clogging up the Twitter servers with #ff recommendations? Still shouting at the WhaleFail when as a result of your overuse of the #followfriday hashtag it appears all too often?

Why not think outside the box, harness the power of individual thought and step outside?

Henceforth from this moment explanations as to why a recommendation is made will not accompany a Political Tweep nor a SmileMaker Tweep as I believe they speak for themselves.

1. Politics (10)
Pam_Nash
AliBulger
DeclanLyons
ToryDoc
JonBoyes
SamCEllis
Firebird2110
LadyHaylon
SensibleCharity
ELJMayes

2. Smile Makers (5)
TheKeithChegwin
CaroleHarry
ChaosAltar
PPWFC_MGraham
DaveMBruce

3. Humour (1)
Kelsey_Grammer has long been a favourite of mine and I only discovered his Twitter presence 10 days ago

4. Newly Discovered Tweeps (2)
RAFairman a decent man doing a decent job
PearlyDean makes his debut today as I found him via RAFairman

5. Because I Want To (1)
GaryMurning / check Gary’s blog and I have promised to buy his book

Got anything to say about why I issue these blog posts on a Friday? Do get in touch. Want to feature in next week’s blog post? Do interact.

Oh and have a great weekend.

There are times when one loses the inspiration to blog and times when one has nothing but a lack of time to cram the posts in, given that I am now applying for my Masters the time may become less it may remain static, who’s to know?

Anyway, Iain Dale wants you to vote so vote you must. Please click through on the image below and read the fine print regarding your votes, the rules are simple.

1. You must vote for your ten favourite blogs and ranks them from 1 (your favourite) to 10 (your tenth favourite).
2. Your votes must be ranked from 1 to 10. Any votes which do not have rankings will not be counted.
3. You MUST include at least FIVE blogs in your list, but please list ten if you can. If you include fewer than five, your vote will not count.
4. Email your vote to toptenblogs@totalpolitics.com
5. Only vote once.
6. Only blogs based in the UK, run by UK residents or based on UK politics are eligible. No blog will be excluded from voting.
7. Anonymous votes left in the comments will not count. You must give a name
8. All votes must be received by midnight on 31 July 2010. Any votes received after that date will not count.

Normally, I don’t repost articles verbatim but this time the essence is too strong to avoid an error creeping in. The following is from James Kirkup and Andrew Porter over at the Telegraph.

David Cameron will use the threat of cuts to public-sector pensions as a bargaining tool to counter trade union unrest over massive reductions in spending.

The Prime Minister’s advisers believe that widespread industrial action can be avoided if public sector workers are offered a deal over pensions.

The Coalition this week set out plans to cut almost £100 billion from public spending over five years, freezing pay for millions of public sector staff and sacking thousands of others. Unions have warned of coordinated strikes and other protests to resist the cuts, which experts have predicted could result in 700,000 people losing their jobs.

Adding to union anger, the Government is also seeking to cut the cost of what Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, has called “gold-plated” public sector pensions.

Some senior figures, however, believe that the prospect of a deal on pensions could be used to lessen union opposition to spending cuts elsewhere. One idea is to give the unions seats on a review of public sector pensions led by John Hutton, the former Labour Cabinet minister. With official figures showing that the cost of funding state pensions will more than double to £9.4 billion in five years, public-sector employees could be asked to pay higher contributions for the same level of retirement income.

Richard Balfe, Mr Cameron’s trade union “envoy”, suggested that pensions could be used as a “lollipop” to soften union anger.

He told The Daily Telegraph: “Public-sector pensions are like lollipops for kids. You decide what sort of lollipop you’re going to give, and then you work out how you are going to pay for it. It’s perfectly possible to maintain public-sector pensions at their current level, if you make some fairly modest alterations to employee contributions.”

He added: “Public-sector pensions will clearly be a very significant issue in the wider relationship between the Government and the unions. I hope they can be persuaded of that.”

Mr Balfe, a former Labour MEP, said that most trade union leaders would take a “pragmatic” view of the spending cuts, but warned that some would be more confrontational than others. The Public and Commercial Services Union would be the most militant, he predicted.

“They represent a lot of civil servants who are going to lose their jobs,” he said.

“There probably will be trouble in the heartlands like Newcastle where all the benefits staff are. But this is a dispute that has to be won.”

The Government’s political strategy emerged as the Prime Minister conceded his “radical” plans to slash spending and shake up the public sector could anger voters and cost him the next general election.

Speaking in Toronto at a G8 summit, Mr Cameron said he was prepared to be a one-term prime minister rather than back down on his wider agenda of shrinking the state and decentralising government power.

Criticising Labour under Tony Blair for playing safe, Mr Cameron said: “I would rather have five reforming years as Prime Minister than 10 wasted years like Blair. I want this to be a radical reforming Government.” Mr Cameron said he was determined to enact the agenda he has developed with Nick Clegg, his Liberal Democrat deputy.

“There are a lot of plans coming out between now and the summer and the reform agenda will be running through almost everything we do going forward,”

Make of that what you will though won’t Nick Clegg look a bit silly having made the “Gold-Plated” statement?

Either way, it is so refreshing to have a PM who is out for the country however short or long term instead of out for himself and cronies?

You can read the original article here.

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It’s that time of the week again and after the week Twitter has had it is clear there is not enough capacity on those Twitter servers, therefore we should all being doing our very best to help them out.

Hence, if you read this post last week or this post today from @SpiderPlant88 aka Lisa, then you will understand the path and stance that I am taking.

BTW, Lisa’s addition is a good route to take and demonstrates how we can all have the power of individual thought!

If you wish me to follow you on Twitter the best way is to engage me in conversation or debate, I like reasoned people from all sides. I will not follow people simply because they follow me but again, simple interaction may be all that is required. After all, that is the big idea behind Twitter.

Similarly I will not issue a #ff simply on the basis that I was issued one by a Tweep but I am extremely grateful for all and every single #ff or #followfriday I receive. Once you understand my stance and rationale you will agree, I am sure that being selective will enhance the whole experience.

New rules:

1. Politics (as this is the reason for my existence on Twitter) will have 10 nominations per week, no more, no less. They will be a mix of Coalition, Opposition, Libertarian, Independent.

2. Smile Makers will have 5 nominations

3. Humour will have a single nomination

4. Newly Discovered Tweeps will have 2 nominations

5. Because I Want To will have a single nomination.

Once more into the breach…..

Politics (10)
If you are easily offended then why not run the gauntlet with @OboTheClown a pure Libertarian

Here’s a bit of a ménage à trois and really rather entertaining in the Political sphere @Political_Fun @James_Monk and @CateyMaxx

We have lacked something since Lady Thatcher left office so thankfully we now have @LadyHaylon

An everpresent and intellectually astute Tweep @eljmayes

Whatever the reason some people are just on the wrong side of the house, (IMO) but that doesn’t make them bad people, in fact, it is a good thing and promotes healthy debate hence one of my favourite Opposition Tweeps is the very lovely @Tchee

It should be noted that there are amongst others quite a number of nice Opposition members ;o) and this week I shall include both @SamCellis and @MattJNewman in those ranks who are always civil and utterly friendly

Last but most certainly not least this week in this bracket we have @AliBulger who desperately needs a lock on his Political chambers!

Smile Makers (5)
The sole reason I started this blog and still my favourite Yorkshire lass @CaroleHarry

Following a brief recollection of Floyd’s Brick in the wall this morning I have to thank @PhilipCMeyer (who’s planning his “field” trip to Pilton) for uplifting my mind today

You can choose your friends but not your family, sometimes that’s a good thing as you may not choose the right family. I am proud to nominate my father @WicksieSnr in this bracket this week following his 50th Wedding Anniversary last Saturday

A few months ago I was surprised to find myself enjoying BBC Question Time with Richard Madeley as a guest. I’ve always quite liked Richard but I was impressed at how “on the ball” he was in his perception of current affairs and Politics hence he is a firm follow that I recommend to you via @richardm56 in the knowledge he will at some stage share a nugget of wisdom that will make you smile

Whilst This Tweep could fit into a number of other areas within this post @NeilWigg is safely in the smile maker bracket today as his honesty and refreshing Tweets help amongst the mud slinging that sadly goes on within Twitter

Humour (1)
Without a shadow of a doubt you will smile at least once a day courtesy of @TheKeithChegwin (yes, it really is Cheggers)

Newly Discovered Tweeps (2)
Some rather entertaining discussions this week regarding The Chicken Song with @CarolynAWebster

Following an incredible F1 race in Canada and an exchange of “related” topics I am pleased to be following @bnzss though it should be noted he “could” fit into the Political arena under Libertarian

Because I Want To (1)
In my past life I interviewed an incredibly intelligent and fascinating man, the man who brings science down to the human level; the first man since Johnny Ball to do that. It is no surprise that @slsingh is also an incredibly talented author

Didn’t feature this week? Please don’t be offended, it is always going to be hard selecting only 19 recommendations but interact and you never know what’s around the corner…

I am guessing that you are reading this because you are already a member of Twitter and therefore I don’t need to explain what #ff or #followfrriday is and if you don’t you should probably read this blog post.

So, who have I chosen for this weeks suggestions as my #ff/#followfriday’s?

To note, Coalition Tweeps probably won’t feature within this first post as it will take time to add the majority of those so those will retain the existing method at least for this week.

Also, there are a huge number of Tweeps that have interacted yet it is very difficult to determine “where they sit” Politically hence they have been left off at least for now.

Well, as stated in my previous blog I shall identify

those that I have discussed with during the previous week, debating partners, considered intelligentsia of the political world (whatever flavour)

Generally I wake early of a morn and share my good cheer with my timeline, occasionally some fellow Tweeps report back, those that bother at such an ungodly hour deserve a mention: @d_kitchenham

Those that need a lift this week include: @lmlc

My Labour Tweeps this week: @SamCellis @Tchee @Neilwigg @thedancingflea @DarrellGoodliff

Generous to a fault this week: @sensiblecharity

My smilemakers: @dolbsterpoet

Lastly, I offer @WicksieSnr who I shall be spending time with this weekend at his 50th Wedding Anniversary.

Not happy? What? Were you expecting the masses of recommendations that you see every week from most Tweeps? May I refer you to the first line of this post again?

This is the first in my singlehanded attempt to change the way in which Twitter is hijacked every 7 days.