Never one to make excuses I take full responsibility for not achieving my goal of reaching the Top100 Conservative blogs list. I simply have not put enough effort into the blog during the year, I know that. The fact that I would rather look after my family in times of sickness is, I think something of a credit to human kindness, so perhaps I should’ve expected the absence of this blog in the list.

It’s odd because for so long now I have thought of Twitter as an extension to my blog when in reality my persona is on Twitter. What you read in my Tweets really is me. It is on twitter I live and breathe daily and it should be that the blog is an extension of Twitter. I can see now that I didn’t have my priorities round the wrong way but I believed that I did have.

This blog is not going anywhere and one day it may make that list but from today my priorities are being restated. I know I can do good with this blog and therefore it will continue to be satirical, truthful, blunt and sometimes downright good fun.

You see, during the General Election 2010 I was the 16th Most Influential Twitterer within the Political Arena. I was responsible for the 4th most used hashtag during the election #GE10. I was also responsible for #JohnPrescottsPhone so I know where my future lies, safely on Twitter with this blog right here to back my Tweets up when more than 140 characters is needed.

So, given that at January 1st this year I had less than 300 followers and that I set myself a target of 1000 by the night of #GE10 (achieved 36hrs early) I have now set myself the target of 1500 followers by the end of this month. This evening that meant 160 to go. It is a challenge and one that I am up for.

It is now my aim to concentrate ensuring the Twitter side of @Parlez_me_nTory reaches the maximum audience that it can. The first step is to increase the followers to 1500 once there the business plan will be written.

In 11 days time I embark on a year long course of study at the Royal Holloway University of London for my MSc in Information Security hoping to specialise in Information Crime but during that time and given moments of lucid study I shall be found amongst the pages of Twitter. I shall be out of my house at 5:30 daily not returning until 20:30 daily but I shall still be with you.

There is one other change that I have to announce and that is to enable me to fully concentrate on the Parlez_me_nTory I have to close my original Twitter account, the one that shares its name with this domain name @Wicksie Please do not follow this account if you are please feel free to unfollow with all haste. I wouldn’t wish the name to go to another user so when I work out how best to close but keep the name or account I shall.

I don’t wish to go the way of Mark Reckons who has closed his blog nor the way of Jack of Kent who has closed his Twitter account as I believe there is a way for both to exist in my circumstance.

So, all that is left for me to say at this point is IF you are NOT following me please consider doing so, IF you ARE following please consider spreading the word and IF you have BLOCKED me then you’re sadly missing out.

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.

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.

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 saddened by the lack of women and or ethnic minorities, more of the same

I was shocked by this claim. This is the first diverse Cabinet in 65 years in terms of spreading the base over more than 1 Political Party.

In addition to that, the Cabinet is made up of 24 posts. Of that, 2 posts (Dave and Nick) are already taken and they are already men so cannot go to any other candidate.

That leaves 22 posts, of that the LD have 4 more posts, the make up of the LD is such that not by any fault other than these candidates have won their seats there are no black or ethnic minority posts.

So, we are left with 18 posts of those 18 posts we have 4 women Cabinet Ministers and the Country’s first Muslim. Was this good enough? Who knows.

What I do know is that this is finally a break and a very welcome one from the Labour ethos whereby somebody gets a job by virtue of being a member of an ethnic minority or by virtue of being the lady in the room. This is the situation whereby a person gets a job by virtue of being the right candidate for the role and if that means it drops or raises the percentage of diversity within the Government then so be it.

Well, I don’t think we are even anywhere near to examining what went right or wrong, that should be a process we undertake as an ongoing task throughout the life of this Parliament and throughout the next 3 or 4 years.

Yesterday, Gordon Brown did something that finally made the nation proud, his very dignified exit from No10.

This is a very historic moment with the Conservatives working together with the Liberal Democrats and a fixed term Parliament. VERY historic.

What I do feel as my responsibility though and that of my fellow bloggers and tweeters is a duty to be honest. A duty to tell it like it is, warts and all.

PLEASE let’s not go the way of so many on the LEFT whilst they were crumbling and bury our heads in the sand. Stand up and say if you think something is wrong. Stand up and let the Government know if you feel they have fundamentally got an issue wrong or overlooked something.

We won the race in the bloggersphere hands down and that was partly due to our ability to be forward thinking and critical of the Government whilst still taking our own side to task. I put it to you this morning PLEASE DON’T STOP, DON’T LOSE THAT FREEDOM.

Stick to those principles and I am sure this Government will not just deliver but also return a majority Government within the full term of this Parliament.

Our Prime Minister

We, as you have worked our bollocks off and quite rightly the result is correct, Thank you Dave and thank you Samantha.

Labour could yet come out of this whole fiasco smelling of roses and still save Britain!

If Labour refuse to do a pact with the Liberal Democrats at the same time as the Conservatives refuse to do a pact with them this will put Nick The Arrogant squarely back in his place having missed the only boat they will ever be offered.

Labour have already set the ball rolling to replace their leader, if they allow a Conservative minority Government and assist by voting the Queen’s speech through they can, [almost] legitimately stand for Election in 10 months time on a mandate of CHANGE and FRESH FOCUS.

I personally think if that were the case the Conservatives would still be returned with a working majority and I am ready for that challenge.

Can we count on the Labour Party doing the right thing for the country?

When the next General Election is called, Labour will say look at us, we are progressive, we have worked with the Liberals for 4 months we have a new leader, a new focus and new energy to guide Britain through this rough time (forgetting they caused the rough time) then they will say look at them, the Tories, that Cameron he lost a General Election.

Dave, pack up your things and prepare to move into No10, the Conservatives need to move to form a minority Government in the face of the underhandedness by Nick The Arrogant who clearly cannot be trusted.

None of this is reality but it is what will become Labour reality if this all pans out. Whatever happens this is a VERY bad day for democracy in this country.

Yes, the Conservative Party gained a majority but not a working overall majority. There are polls and arguments going on in every Party at every level as to why each Party failed to do better, this should be apparent more in the Lib Dems than any other Party but it is not, at least not just yet.

Labour claim they want AV but only because it favours them. Lib Dems claim they want PR but only because it favours them. We, are content with FPTP but it does not favour us, if we change boundaries and make each constituency the same size then that will favour us. but, we are where we are and it is sadly FPTP that got us in this position.

Now then, the Lib Dems had a crap night on Thursday there are no two ways about it but they had a great morning on Friday because it allows them to hide their dreadful performance at #ge10.

It is now the Lib Dems who hold the card, not much of one but just enough to determine who may or who may not lead the next Government. But all of a sudden Nick Clegg has become rather arrogant.

He is almost holding the British electorate to ransom, pretending to scrutinise what is on offer from both the Conservatives and Labour Parties. He talks of a deal in the coming days, he talks of needing further details yet he talks of doing what is right for the nation.

I want a Conservative Government but I don’t want the David Cameron to sell the Party down the line and I don’t believe he will. What I don’t want is some arrogant jumped up two-bit player getting off telling journalists, MP’s and the electorate that he is taking his time.

Nick, either step up to the mantel, make that statement and right now I don’t care if you go Lab/Lib or Con/Lib, I want a Conservative Government but I don’t want one so badly as to have to bow to you.

We,ve already said
Goodbye
Since you gotta go, oh you’d better
Go now go now, go now (Go now)
Before you see me cry
I don’t want you to tell me just what you intend to do now
‘Cause how many times do I have to tell you darlin’, darlin’
I’m still in love with you now
Whoa-oh-oh-oh

We’ve already said
So long
I don’t wanna see you go, oh you’d better
Go now go now, go now (Go now)
Don’t you even try
Tellin’ me that you really don’t want it to end this way
‘Cause darlin’, darlin’, can’t you see I want you to stay
Yeah, yeah

Since you gotta go, oh you’d better
Go now go now, go now (Go now)
Before you see me cry
I don’t want you to tell me just what you intend to do now
‘Cause how many times do I have to tell you darlin’, darlin’
I’m still in love still in love with you now
Whoa-oh-oh-oh
I don’t wanna see you go but darlin’, you better go now

We have canvassed, canvassed and then canvassed some more, delivered, delivered and then delivered until the letterboxes made our fingers bleeds. Today was always going to be one last final push and what a day it has been.

At every turn of almost every corner within Frome I have seen a Lib Dem foot soldier reminding me why we are going at this constituency so very strong and so very hard, no chance to rest, no desire to rest only a desire to see what is right for this constituency and what is (at least in my opinion) right for this country, a Conservative Government.

I reside in #somertonandfrome the 5th largest constituency in the country some 900 square miles. We are currently represented in Parliament by David Heath (Lib Dem), the problem we have is that he has in the words of many town folk done an “ok” job, not spectacular, not great but just “ok”. Trouble is though, that is all that is needed to allow an incumbent to achieve success in such a tight marginal.

Tonight, or rather at 3am when the count is announced in Yeovil we require a swing of just 0.56% to turn blue. We are only 814 votes behind, again though, we are hampered. The Labour vote in Frome is non-existent and the local candidate has all but ordered his following to vote Lib Dem, so that’s another potential 5000 votes and that would surely throw us back again.

I am very proud of my PPC Annunziata Rees-Mogg and as she can attest I am fiercely loyal but always play with a straight bat, I hate underhandedness, I hate spiteful politics, I despise playground politics (something I hope my twitter following will also attest to).

Annunziata has done a wonderful job on the campaign and in truth she’s got much better legs than David Heath. I know just how much effort this lady has put into her constituency and CCHQ should be very proud of her too and should the results go the right way this lady will make a first rate MP.

I just wish to register my gratitude to the Conservative Party both locally and nationally for a first rate, totally clean and extremely positive campaign in the face of much adversity.

If the country ends up with a hung Parliament it will be just like Suggs and Madness sang, tomorrow’s just another day. However, should the Conservatives gain a working majority then it will be very much a Nina Simone moment

Its a new dawn, its a new day, its a new life for me
yeah, its a new dawn its a new day its a new life for me ooooooooh
AND I’M FEELING GOOD

Whichever colour you have fought for in #ge10 providing you have fought fair you have my appreciation and respect.

Finally, please spare a thought for Nigel Farage and his family and that of the pilot.

This is one activist who will now be sitting with some good Shiraz, a curry and the prospect of an all-nighter in front of the news.

Tomorrow is the time where the power of independent thought could throw this wannabe Labour leader on the Political scrapheap for good. Britain, do the RIGHT thing.

This is not a blog post contributed by some fanatical (can’t see the wood for the trees) grass rootist, this is not an anti-Government or anti-Labour rant, no, this is the genuine, honest account of a hard working, take nothing for nothing British worker who has seen good times and bad times. A contribution by a man who has never earned over £12k in any given year in his entire life, owns his own home, has never sat back and demanded that society owes him or his family anything yet who has everything he needs.

This is a contribution that I am proud to host this morning as I truly believe it shows how so many people on the streets of Britain are thinking and feeling this morning. If you enjoy this contribution (whether you feel you agree or not please consider using one of the “share this” buttons at the foot of the post, if you only use Twitter there is one specifically for that too).

Finally, this contribution is unedited in any way save for one small spelling error as I feel I at least owe that much to the contributing author, my father, Alan Wicks.

My life as a Tory

My introduction to politics came when I was fairly young, my parents (in particular my Mother) were staunch Conservatives, as a result of which, when I was about 10/11 years old I would be found outside the polling station at election time “telling” for the Tories (Although Tories was considered a bit of an insult then when it was really known then as the Conservative and Unionist Party).

I would be “telling” from the opening of the polls, which in those days was much earlier, before heading off to school. After school on Polling Day I would go with my Parents to the Party Committee Rooms at the bottom of our road to help record those voters we knew had voted and chase up those who had still to vote.

These were days when everyone knew very few people who owned a motor vehicle, but those supporters and activists who did own a car would volunteer to drive the elderly and infirm to the polling stations to cast their vote. Although young, I can still remember attending the “Count” at Hornsey Town Hall and cheering the result when our candidate won.

The first Election I can really remember was when Sir David Gammon was up against the Labour Candidate R.A.Pestell, in 1952 when Sir David won with a vote of 36,417 vs 25,643, Out of an electorate of 75,131 there was an 82.6% turnout (unlike the apathy of today) giving Sir David a majority of 17.36% (OK, I do not remember the figures which I have obtained today from the internet, but I do remember him winning).

I can recall him coming into the committee rooms whilst I was there and coming over to speak with me, being the youngest person there.

When Sir David died he was succeeded in his post by his wife Lady Muriel Gammon.

I always voted Conservative for the rest of my life when I voted in a General Election or ByElection, but not always did I manage to get to the polling stations. When Margaret Thatcher became PM I was obviously very happy and expected good things for the future, and in general I was not dissapointed, I agreed with most of her policies but must admit to being disappointed that she was not able to implement all of them.

I still feel that the Principles behind the “Poll tax” was a lot fairer than either the previous “Rates” or current “Council Tax”, something I know will probably upset a lot of people, even fellow Tories, but there again, I am talking about “principles” behind the concept which was not necessarily recognized by everyone.

By the time Tony Blair and New Labour won the right to govern I must admit to being secretely a little relieved because there had been so much infighting within the Tory Party and so much reported sleaze that I felt it was good that they would have a short period to regroup, fully expecting Labour to fail within a couple of years, therefore giving us a chance to regain power.

Blair’s claim of an open government, no sleaze etc sounded good, but it soon become obvious that sleaze is only something that is practiced by the ruling party, at least, it is normally only the ruling party that gets the stick for it, if it is the Opposition party it tends to be overlooked, unless there is a pending election.

Anyway, I was getting more and more frustrated with the way Labour was completely changing our lives, controlling everything we do and making more and more things illegal, without even properly consulting with us that I was absolutely overjoyed when I discovered that my youngest son had applied to CCHQ to become a PPC.

I had never to my knowledge pressurised him in any direction regarding Politics or Religion, I believed my kids should follow their heart and I would support them in their beliefs, even if it differed with my own, it at least meant they were making sensible judgements of their own and not being pressurised into their opinions.

We had never, as far as I can remember had any serious political discussions so I was extremely supportive of his ambitions.

I was disapointed when he was turned down due to the volume of applicants on this occasion, and slightly relieved at the same time when I realised what it could cost him financialy at this particular time in his life, but I know he is determined and he is planning on following his heart and applying again in the future and he will have my 100% support.

I said earlier that I had always voted Tory in major elections, though I must admit on a couple of local elections I have voted Independent rather than follow the party line if I knew the Independent candidate and believed they would be the best person for the job irrespective of my Conservative beliefs.

I have also worked with the Liberals (pre LibDem days) in a local dispute, something I started and they tried to jump in, I was happy for their support, but they certainly did not ask for or gain any voting support from me.

I firmly believe that this country is now in a terrible state and that we desperately need a change for the future and that the Tories are the only Party that can give us this.

OK, I know there is going to be a long period of real Pain in order to recover our position in the world, but there is at last a chance of a light at the end of the tunnel, when Britain can once again be great, we can be proud of our once great nation and we can prosper, our kids will once again be properly educated, our businesses will prosper, bringing employment opportunities to nearly everyone and our streets will be safe to walk once more.

And finally, when we hear someone say “Trust me, I am a politician” we can believe and trust in them.

That said, however, it is Friday and you can damn well wait until tomorrow unless I feel benevolent….it’s great to be back.

Work still progresses on this issue and here is an update:

Northern Rock Valuer’s Final Assessment Notice
You will no doubt now be aware that on the 30th of March, Andrew Caldwell announced his unsurprising decision to value our former shareholding in Northern Rock as worthless.

In his Final Assessment Notice, he quotes the artificial valuation assumptions on which he is bound by law to base his valuation. He is not bound though by moral or professional standards to accept such terms but has chosen to accept them nonetheless.

This latest statement is no different to that given by him in December 2009 where Mr Caldwell requested representations to be made to him, representations on behalf of well over 130,000 small shareholders that appear to have fallen on deaf ears.

As invited by Mr Caldwell, we will be seeking reconsideration of the nil valuation with the hope that such requests receive the required consideration although it would seem that, as long as the Governments artificial terms of reference are allowed to stand in law, Mr Caldwell having accepted the appointment of valuer, may have no choice but to choose law over moral obligation.

You can also take action to further represent your views to Mr Caldwell, which we have detailed below.

Only the day before Mr Caldwell’s statement, the Chancellor stated that Northern Rock had enough Capital: the Special Liquidity Scheme announced only weeks after Nationalisation of Northern Rock would have provided the liquidity required to continue as a “Going Concern”. This key assumption required to arrive at a fair value was not allowed under the Compensation Scheme Valuation Order.

With over £500 Billion available under the Special Liquidity Scheme and Inter Bank guarantees from April 2008 Northern Rock would have continued as a solvent, liquid, profitable entity, therefore supporting the small shareholders claim that their Human Rights have been violated firstly by the Compensation Order and finally now by Mr Caldwell’s report.

Did investors have the correct information on which to base their decisions?
Only two weeks after Andrew Caldwell valued the former shareholding in Northern Rock as worthless, the small shareholders now find the information on which they based their investment decisions was flawed.

The FSA announced their fines of Mr Barclay and Mr Baker for their part in manipulating figures on the performance of Northern Rock’s mortgage book but as yet we have to hear the involvement of Mr Applegarth. So far, Mr Applegarth has been legally gagged and prevented from commenting, but did he and his fellow Directors also know about this manipulation or were Mr Barclay and Mr Baker really alone in this decision-making?

Where were the regulators in analysing their information? Or have we forgotten the regulators involvement, or lack of, in the lead up to the financial crisis. Or the legislators, including Gordon Brown, who as Chancellor changed the limits applicable to the borrowing capacities of banks and building societies 12 years ago.

Where ‘fairness’ now appears to be a political buzzword in campaigning, the small shareholders would like to see evidence of fairness in practice, not just in a manifesto for votes.

It would seem that the government would lay the blame solely at the door of ‘greedy bankers’. Whilst this may be true in part, the outgoing Government bred the said greed in pedigree conditions.

These latest fines fully vindicate the small shareholders claims of ill treatment not only by the governance and regulatory framework but also by the institutions in which they invested. Such governance turned a blind eye and failed miserably to protect the rights of investors large and small.

What action can you take?
As with his December statement, Mr Caldwell has invited former shareholders to make share their views and thoughts through written representations to him on why he should reconsider this assessment.

To reiterate from our last update, it is important to recognise that this news completely vindicates our assertion that the terms of the compensation order were manifestly unfair, and the fact that this valuation has finally been released will remove much of the uncertainty that the government and its lawyers have hidden behind in their (now demonstrably false) allegations that the terms of their compensation order adequately allow for the payment of fair compensation to shareholders.

To this end, former shareholders should write to Mr Caldwell as he has invited them to do so, by the 5th of May 2010. Former shareholders should also make representations to their MPs who sanctioned the legislation that brought about the demise of our assets.

To assist, we have prepared template letters for the valuer. Please feel free to edit this template and include your own thoughts, comments, frustrations and anger in your own letters.

The template can be found on the website at: www.uksa.org.uk/valuerletter

Your letters can be also be emailed to Mr Caldwell at:

northern.rock@bdo.co.uk

You can locate the contact details for your MP at: http://findyourmp.parliament.uk/
Update on legal case: Application to 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.

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.

But this sheet of paper amongst thousands of others caught my eye, it was a sheet of paper that I had once held tightly and vowed to keep hence it was now back in my possession.

The content of this piece of paper was not written by me nor about me but written by my father Alan Wicks about his father and read aloud on the day they said goodbye and it is without his prior permission that I write this but I believe this post requires no permission because it allows the good man that it describes to live on.

Charles Frederick Wicks
Known simply as FRED

Most people would talk about their childhood memories of their father but my earliest memories of my father was at about four and half years old, I can remember this man in army uniform cleaning his kit in the back garden with a rifle leaning up against the fence.

For the first four and a half years of my life my mother had to be both mother and father to me because dad had been called up to serve during the second world war and was not able to return home.

However, when he was finally allowed home he made up for lost time and became the finest father a boy could have.

I am sure that as a child I must have been a real pain in the neck, but I honestly can never remember him losing his temper, though he somehow had the knack of making me feel guilty and therefore sorry for my misdemeanour’s without much physical punishment.

He taught me the lessons of trust, honesty, care for others, temperate behaviour and the ethics of working for what I wanted. He was also a real gentleman and was respected as such for the whole of his life.

Although born and bred in London Fred has always had a yearning for Sawtry, the place where his mother was born, where he spent parts of his childhood, where he spent his honeymoon at the beginning of a marriage that lasted for 66 very happy years and where he always intended to retire and in fact did just that and spent his last years in a village that he not only loved but also felt he belonged in.

This is a good place to record the Gratitude of my mother, my sister, myself and our children and their children, to the wonderful friends and neighbours who have been so helpful and supportive during Dad’s recent illness, I could mention many names, but I won’t embarrass anyone, they know who they are, who have gone more than one step beyond what you could expect, and we would all like to express our grateful thanks to you all, our friends, the citizens of Sawtry.

At this point, if I had a drink in my hand I would propose a toast to “Fred, the man I am proud to have called Father”.

Sadly, the mother and sister Alan refers to are no longer with us but once again, the memories live on and live strong.

I told you, Dad, that what I found was personal and something you should be proud of.

I made comment that I would seek to report this infringement by 11th March. It is perhaps encouraging that today (2 days before the deadline) I have received the following via e-mail:

—–Original Message—–
From: Ed Balls
Sent: 09 March 2010 11:11
To: Gary Stuart Wicks
Subject: RE: Feedback from Ed’s Website

Dear Gary,

Thanks for your email. We are currently reviewing the site content, and will update it where appropriate.

Best wishes,

Kate

Kate Williams

Office of Ed Balls MP

________________________________

From: Gary Stuart Wicks [mailto:xxxxxxx@gmail.com]
Sent: Fri 26/02/2010 08:18
To: Ed Balls
Subject: Feedback from Ed’s Website

This mail comes from the http://www.edballs.co.uk/index.jsp?t=contactEd page of the website.

Name: Gary Stuart Wicks
Email: xxxxxxx@gmail.com
Telephone No.:
Comments: Good morning.

Last evening whilst viewing your Website I noticed a number of discrepancies within your Privacy Policy and, I believe a number of areas whereby your site breaches the Data Protection Act 1998.

I took the liberty of writing a blog post to highlight the said discrepancies and areas I believe that may cause you problems.

It is extremely important that ALL (especially Government) websites, businesses and those gathering personal data do so with a full commitment to the DPA and that they fully understand their legal obligations.

This is not a partisan witch hunt but the beginning of research to discover how many government affiliated sites fail to meet their own legislation in an endeavour to bring EVERYBODY up to the same standard.

My blog post that relates to this issue can be located at the following URL:

http://www.wicksie.com/blunder/ed-balls-mp-plagiarised-his-mates-homework/

You will notice the 14 day deadline prior to any action being taken such as reporting the issue to the DPA and the ICO to facilitate your work to correct this “oversight”

If you wish to contact me with regards this issue then please do so via the address given or comment directly on the blog post.

I look forward to a swift resolution of these breaches.

Best regards
Gary Stuart Wicks

It would seem we have a partial success on our hands for common sense and more importantly for what is RIGHT.

I am not counting my chickens just yet but rest assured I shall continue to monitor the situation and report back accordingly.

I do cede that Ed’s office has taken the first positive step to rectification of this matter.

Dear Sir John,

Since Gordon Brown’s session last Friday (5 March 2010) two former Chiefs of the Defence Staff (Admiral Lord Boyce and General Lord Guthrie) and a former Chief of the General Staff ( General Sir Richard Dannatt), all highly respected men of great integrity, have made public statements completely contrary to, and directly challenging, what Gordon Brown said during his session regarding resourcing and equipping our Armed Forces.

‘There is a strong case for you to recall Gordon Brown for further testimony in front of your inquiry after the upcoming General Election.

‘I fully understand why you do not want your inquiry to be involved with party politics but I do think that it is important to get the truth in this matter even if this cannot happen until after the election.

Yours Sincerely
Dr Liam Fox MP
Shadow Secretary of State for Defence

The case for seeking this clarification?

Lord Guthrie

‘The military wanted to do many things but because of his attitude they were unable to fund properly the Strategic Defence Review (1998) which the Cabinet had approved, especially at a time when other departments were being showered with money.

The Ministry of Defence received the bare minimum from the chancellor, who wanted to give the military as little as he could get away with. The increases that we had in budget were small and did not take into account the above-inflation cost rises of defence….He ‘cannot get away with saying, “I gave them everything they asked for.” That is simply disingenuous’ (The Daily Telegraph, 6 March 2010).

Lord Boyce

‘He’s dissembling, he’s being disingenuous. It’s just not the case that the Ministry of Defence was given everything it needed. There may have been a 1.5 per cent increase in the defence budget but the MoD was starved of funds’ (The Times, 6 March 2010).

General Dannatt

‘In front of Chilcot, he did not address the issue of the underlying underfunding of defence that has been endemic since the Strategic Defence Review of 1997/98.

Implementation of that otherwise excellent Review was hobbled from the start by the Treasury under Gordon Brown not only not fully funding the outcome of the Review, but imposing a three per cent year on year efficiency savings target. To that deficient baseline needs to be added the reopening of the MoD’s budget in 2003, a re-examination of the rules and the effective removal of a £1 billion year on year – what Sir Kevin Tebbit referred to as “guillotining” of the defence budget… Furthermore, despite the Government increasing the headline figure of the defence budget on an annual basis, the uplift to match general inflation was below that of defence inflation, which habitually runs at several percentage points higher.

So the net effect over recent years has been that the real value – the purchasing power – of the defence budget has decreased every year, and the pressure on the MoD and the Armed Forces has increased’ …no amount of rewriting history can compensate for the years when he neither understood defence properly nor was persuaded to pay for it fully’ (The Sunday Telegraph, 7 March 2010).

Seem pretty clear to me!

It’s not a riveting read to be honest so I do these things so that you don’t have to and if you wish to buy me a beer sometime for that gesture then I shall be most grateful. Anyway, I digress…

Whilst considering Ed’s arrogance and his outright refusal to answer any of my 42 questions I have posed him on Twitter I decided to visit his Privacy Policy to see how “robust” [his favourite word of late] it actually was. What I found is below:

Privacy Policy

IP addresses and log file data

The Labour Party site does not automatically capture or store personal information, other than logging the user’s IP Address or the location of your computer or network on the Internet, for systems administration and troubleshooting purposes. (If you are connected to the Internet you have an IP address, for example an IP address might read “154.198.99.9″). We also use IP addresses in the aggregate to track which pages people visit in order to improve the quality of the site.

Data collection and use

You may be asked for personal information if you complete one of the forms on this site. Please see below the information we ask for and what this information is used for.

In each case we will only use the information about you for the purpose for which you provide it. The Labour Party does not sell or disclose this information to outside organisations or individuals, nor transfer it outside the United Kingdom. You may remove or change your details at any time. You have right of access to your personal information held on our files by written request to the data protection officer (address below) and on payment of an administration fee.

Site registration and email service (to receive Ed Balls newsletter)

When you register onto the site or subscribe for Labour eNews we ask you for contact information (such as your name and e-mail address), geographic information (such as your postcode and constituency), and other details about you and your interests. This is used to help us provide you with information to match your interests. We may also use it to alert you of campaigns you may be interested in and events happening in your area.

You can remove your name at any time from our e-mail subscription list by sending an unsubscribe request.

If you are registered onto the site, you can edit your registration and enews subscription details at any time through your personal on-line form. If you have not registered on the site and you wish to change your contact email address you need to unsubscribe from our mailing list and sign up again using your new information. If you are registered on the site as a member and you use the site to change your registration details (eg. address or email address) this information may also be used to update your membership record on the Party’s membership database to ensure it is up-to-date and accurate.

Cookie

A cookie is a tiny text file that is stored on your computer. We may use cookies in order to tailor your experience on our site according to the preferences you have specified. However we will only access the information that we stored in your cookie file. We will not access any information stored in a cookie by other websites. Our cookies do not contain any personally identifiable information.

Information on children

We do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from children under the age of 16 without permission.

Links to other sites

Our site contains links to other sites and servers. The Labour Party is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of such websites.

How we protect your information

Our website has security measures in place to protect against the loss, misuse or alteration of the information under our control. Our server is located in a locked, secure environment.

Choice/unsubscribe

We provide you the opportunity to opt-out of receiving communications from us easily and promptly. Our unsubscribe requests are processed weekly.

Correcting your information

If you need to correct the information you provided us with when you subscibed to our e-mail list, you can do so through your personal form provided on-line. If you need to change your e-mail address, you can unsubscribe from our mailing lists and sign up again using your new information. Or if you have registered with a username and password you may change your details at any time via the login page without needing to re-register.

Contacting us about privacy

If you have any questions about our privacy policy, the information we have collected from you online, the practices of this site or your interaction with this website, send an email to: ed@edballs.com or telephone us on 01924 898158.

You can also contact us at the address displayed on every page of this site.

We will continue to evaluate our efforts to protect your information and will update our privacy policy whenever necessary.

I won’t blame you for not bothering to read that but I shall pull out a few snippets for your delectation:

IP addresses and log file data
The Labour Party site does not automatically capture or store personal information

The Labour Party does not sell or disclose this information to outside organisations or individuals, nor transfer it outside the United Kingdom

When you register onto the site or subscribe for Labour eNews

We may also use it to alert you of campaigns you may be interested in and events happening in your area.[what Normanton???Come on Ed]

If you are registered on the site as a member and you use the site to change your registration details (eg. address or email address) this information may also be used to update your membership record on the Party’s membership database to ensure it is up-to-date and accurate.

Links to other sites
Our site contains links to other sites and servers. The Labour Party is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of such websites.

Our server is located in a locked, secure environment.[no Ed, it isn't!]

In case you haven’t understand from the above Ed is either pretending to be the Labour Party as a whole or he has stolen the Privacy Policy from the Labour Party Website.

Is he equal to the Party? He may think he is…

I have reproduced the LabourParty.org.uk original Privacy Policy below so you can compare for yourself.

IP addresses and log file data
The Labour Party site does not automatically capture or store personal information, other than logging the user’s IP Address or the location of your computer or network on the Internet, for systems administration and troubleshooting purposes. (If you are connected to the Internet you have an IP address, for example an IP address might read “154.198.99.9″). We also use IP addresses in the aggregate to track which pages people visit in order to improve the quality of the site.

Data collection and use
You may be asked for personal information if you complete one of the forms on this site. Please see below the information we ask for and what this information is used for.

In each case we will only use the information about you for the purpose for which you provide it. The Labour Party does not sell or disclose this information to outside organisations or individuals, nor transfer it outside the United Kingdom. You may remove or change your details at any time. You have right of access to your personal information held on our files by written request to the data protection officer (address below) and on payment of an administration fee.

Site registration and email service
When you register onto the site or subscribe to our emails, we ask you for contact information (such as your name and e-mail address), geographic information (such as your postcode and constituency), and other details about you and your interests. This is used to help us provide you with information to match your interests. We may also use it to alert you of campaigns you may be interested in and events happening in your area.

Joining the Party and renewing your membership online
We collect the required information in order to check you meet the conditions of and help you fulfil the opportunities provided by membership of the Labour Party. At your option, we ask for additional information such as gender, date of birth and trade union membership to help us provide a better membership service to you.

To volunteer (pledge your support)
We ask for your contact details, postcode and information on the type of volunteer work you are interested in. This information helps us identify suitable volunteer opportunities for you within the Party. Your details will be forwarded to the appropriate local or regional party officer who can then contact you.

Donating to the Party
The information we ask for is used to process your donation and, if you donate more than £200, to check that you are on the electoral register. If you donate more than £1,000 to a Labour Party unit (eg. Constituency Labour Party) or more than £5,000 to the Labour Party nationally in the course of a calendar year, your name and the amount of your donation will be reported to the Electoral Commission for publication on their public register of donations to the Labour Party. Donation Information will be stored on our membership database and used to keep you informed of Labour news, campaign and other opportunities to support the Party.

Cookie
A cookie is a tiny text file that is stored on your computer. We may use cookies in order to tailor your experience on our site according to the preferences you have specified. However we will only access the information that we stored in your cookie file. We will not access any information stored in a cookie by other websites. Our cookies do not contain any personally identifiable information.

Information on children

The Labour Party does not process any personal details from individuals under the age of 15 without parent/guardian consent. Details of under 16s are processed for membership purposes only.

Links to other sites
Our site contains links to other sites and servers. The Labour Party is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of such websites.

How we protect your information
Our website has security measures in place to protect against the loss, misuse or alteration of the information under our control. Our server is located in a locked, secure environment, with a guard posted 24 hours a day. When you contribute online, we use a secure server to protect your credit card number and other personal information during transmission. The details are transmitted through Thawte to ensure absolute security.

Choice/unsubscribe
We provide you the opportunity to opt-out of receiving communications from us easily and promptly. Our unsubscribe requests are processed weekly.

Correcting your information
If you need to correct the information you provided us with when you subscibed to our e-mail list, you can do so through your personal form provided on-line. If you need to change your e-mail address, you can unsubscribe from our mailing lists and sign up again using your new information. Or if you have registered with a username and password you may change your details at any time via the login page without needing to re-register.

Contacting us about privacy
If you have any questions about our privacy policy, the information we have collected from you online, the practices of this site or your interaction with this website, please contacy us by clicking here or telephone our call centre on 08705 900200.

You can also contact us at the address below:
E-campaigns team
Labour Party
39 Victoria Street
London
SW1H 0HA

Our data protection officer can be contacted at the following address:
Melanie Onn
Labour Party
39 Victoria Street
London
SW1H 0HA

We will continue to evaluate our efforts to protect your information and will update our privacy policy whenever necessary

Quite simply Ed Balls has stolen this text and used it on his own site.

Even if he attempts to claim he had permission to use this then it shows that anybody who has given information such as e-mails etc via edballs.co.uk has no legal assurance that their information will be held and used correctly.

I put it to you, Ed Balls, Sir that you MUST change your Privacy Policy to correctly reflect the Website content you present.

Your failure to do this in a timely fashion (and I suggest that timely fashion is 14 days from today so I am putting a deadline of 11th March 2010) will result in both you and your Website administrator being reported to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) under a breach of the Data Protection Act (DPA).

I welcome your suggestions as to how you propose to do this.

—–
UPDATE: After writing this last night I was amazed when I logged into Twitter this morning to find a number of people seemingly unaware of how important this little find is and how little awareness of the Data Protection Act there is out there and what you can expect of how your data is held and used.

The “Tweets” that awaited me this morning ranged from “when will you get a life” through “a moment to tedium” to “get back to fighting the good fight on the issues that matter” and “absolutely spot on, but what does the DPA do”.

Well, as for fighting the good fight and getting onto the issues that matter, this does matter, this matters a great deal. There are millions of businessmen and women, businesses, civil servants and the like out there slushing around on a daily basis having to ensure their wares meet the regulations set out within the DPA and further constraints set out by the ICO so why not expect that a Crown Minister complies with the law of the land?

If you have given your details via the Ed Balls Website I repeat you have no assurance of how that data is treated, the DPA exists to protect you and your data.

The Privacy Policy on the site is misleading and incorrect. I am prepared to bet good money on the fact that Ed Balls uses a standard commercial host and to make the statements he is making I would like very real proof of evidence, or at least I would had I been churlish enough to give my data over to his site.

I have contacted Ed Balls via his Website to inform him of his non-compliance and await a reply.

It all started by me Tweeting a few very valid comments about DAVID WRIGHT then I got a message via Twitter stating that I had been “unfollowed” by a Labour supporter because of my “#fauxoutrage” over Mr Wright.

I put it to the chap that it was not a faux outrage and I was personally offended that I had been called a Scum Sucking Pig [David Wright later confirmed he "meant" the Tory party not its supporters were Scum Sucking Pigs....but he didn't really mean that as he didn't really send the Tweet did he!]

Anyway, the chap decided not to accept that I or other members of the Party could be offended and attempted to turn it on his head and started to go headlong into a monologue of how David Cameron had lied about his vote on gay adoption. I told the chap that if he had lied then that was wrong but that the subject did not affect me personally and so therefore I do not have enough knowledge of the subject and therefore cannot comment further. He continued…

Even engaging with other members of the Tory party via Twitter to continue his insistence that this was all somehow Cameron’s fault. He refused to accept that I was genuinely outraged and accused me of not caring over an issue because it did not personally affect me.

I invited the individual to grow up and stop cheapening the debate with false words attributed to me and further invited him to refollow me as and when he sees fit. I received no apology and I don’t expect this to be anytime soon. Which is a shame because despite his constant “labour are never wrong” attitude he is on the whole an “ok” follow providing you can see through some of his daft debating points.

Anyway, the point of this blog is not meant to be a discussion of yesterday but to make a plea to the little people of Twitter/Blogosphere and the big people of Twitter/Blogosphere whatever their Political belief.

That plea is: If you have a PPC in your constituency you wish them to enter politics with enthusiasm and belief, you wish them to represent you to the best of their ability, you expect them to sometimes vote against their party, not in protest but because they genuinely believe in something. You expect them to have the power of individual thought. The same goes for a sitting MP, you expect them to have the power of individual thought.

Dear voter, please afford the PPC, the MP and the whole of the Twitter world/Blogosphere the power of your individual thought. If you wish to spout a party line without your own thoughts then there are plenty of places for that, the hustings even, your own rallies perhaps. But when you are attempting to engage with others of the same and differing persuasions why not try expressing your own thoughts. Try it, see how it goes, you never know you may actually like being an individual that stands out from your crowd.

Oh, and to make yesterday even weirder I predicted Man Utd would win 2-3 when they were already 1-0 down!

This, in my opinion is the most descriptive set of words ever compiled to discuss the dreadful subject that is Gordon Brown and the effect he has had on Britain.

The lyrics to “Death on two legs” follows as does a “soundtrack” video.

Watch and READ: For those ex-military, WATCH AND READ

Death on two legs

You suck my blood like a leech
You break the law and you preach
Screw my brain till it hurts
You’ve taken all my money
And you want more
Misguided old mule with your pig headed rules
With your narrow minded cronies
Who are fools of the first division
Death on two legs
You’re tearing me apart
Death on two legs
You’ve never had a heart of your own
Kill joy bad guy big talking small fry
You’re just an old barrow boy
Have you found a new toy to replace me?
Can you face me?
But now you can kiss my ass goodbye
Feel good are you satisfied?
Do you feel like suicide?
(i think you should)
Is your conscience all right
Does it plague you at night?
Do you feel good feel good?

You talk like a big business tycoon
You’re just a hot air balloon
So no one gives you a damn
You’re just an overgrown schoolboy
Let me tan your hide
A dog with disease
You’re the king of the ‘sleaze’
Put your money where your mouth is
Mister know-all
Was the fin on your back
Part of the deal? (shark)
Death on two legs
You’re tearing me apart
Death on two legs
You’ve never had a heart (you never did) of your own
(right from the start)
Insane you should be put inside
You’re a sewer rat decaying in a cesspool of pride
Should be made unemployed
Then make yourself null and void
Make me feel good i feel good

Do you agree? Do you have a better alternative?

With respect and gratitude to the late, great Douglas Adams.

MANAGEMENT CONSULTANT:
Um listen, if we could, er, for a moment move on to the subject of fiscal policy –

FORD:
”Fiscal Policy”?!

MANAGEMENT CONSULTANT:
Yes.

FORD:
How can you have money if none of you actually produce anything? It doesn’t grow on trees you know!

MANAGEMENT CONSULTANT:
You know If you would allow me to continue!

CAPTAIN:
Yes let him to continue.

MANAGEMENT CONSULTANT:
Since we decided a few weeks ago to adopt leaves as legal tender, we have, of course all become immensely rich.

FORD:
No really? Really?

CROWD MEMBERS:
Yes, very good move…

MANAGEMENT CONSULTANT:
But, we have also run into a small inflation problem on account of the high level of leaf availability. Which means that I gather the current going rate has something like three major deciduous forests buying one ship’s peanut. So, um, in order to obviate this problem and effectively revalue the leaf, we are about to embark on an extensive defoliation campaign, and um, burn down all the forests. I think that’s a sensible move don’t you?

MARKETING GIRL:
That makes economic sense.

[Murmurs of agreement from crowd]

FORD:
[Yells] You’re absolutely barmy! You’ve a bunch of raving nutters!

MARKETING GIRL:
Well is it – perhaps – in order to inquire what you have been doing all this time, huh?

CROWD MEMBERS:
Yes!

MARKETING GIRL:
Yes, you and that other interloper have been missing for months.

FORD:
Well, with respect love, we have been travelling around trying to find out about this planet.

MARKETING GIRL:
Well, that doesn’t sound very productive. I mean I’ve looked –

FORD:
Well I have got news, I have got news for you. It doesn’t matter a pair feted dingo’s kidneys what you all choose to do from now on. Burn down the forests, anything. It won’t make a scrap of difference. Two-million years you’ve got, and that’s it. At the end of that, your race will be dead, gone, and good-riddance to you. Remember that. Two. Million. Years.

CAPTAIN:
Ah. It’s time for another bath. Hmph. Pass me the sponge somebody will you?

We all know it is General Election year #GE10 and the most likely date is 6th May, following a Budget full of empty promises of investment, prosperity and pay later schemes. But there is currently an election looming far sooner and far more meaningful for the Labour Party and potentially the country.

It is clearly understood that any leader of the Labour Party other than Gordon Brown following a coup would be able to narrow the Poll gap between themselves and the Conservative Party as the incumbent would inevitably enjoy the honeymoon period and the ‘bounce’ that goes with a personality change.

For months it was assumed that 26th March would be #GE10 thereby allowing the Government to avoid announcing any form of Budget but that would simply not allow enough time for the new leader to make the role his/her own.

Following a pre-Christmas party hosted by Charles Clarke the former Home Secretary and one of the most vocal anti-Brown campaigners it seems one output was to brief a series of coordinated press releases slamming the leadership of Gordon Brown and stating how better off the party and the country would be without him at the helm.

Briefings: Charles Clarke, Barry Sheerman, Greg Pope, Polly Toynbee

…the list of those present includes Parmjit Dhanda, Malcolm Wicks and Meg Munn

So then, who is the in the driving seat and who is set to star in the shake-up of the Labour party?

Or, are we to face yet another failed coup from a bunch of snipers who haven’t got the courage to do anything other than moan about how bad a Conservative Government would be for Britain?

We already know that Harriet Harman is to head up Gordon Brown and the PLP’s #GE10 campaign which sidelines Lord Mandelson (a very risky strategy indeed), but was this appointment simply to the *Fearless Five striking first?

*Fearless Five are a group of rebels led by Jack Straw, the others are Deputy Labour leader Harriet Harman, Chancellor Alistair Darling, Foreign Secretary David Miliband and Home Secretary Alan Johnson.

One also has to wonder how much Sarah Brown will be used throughout #GE10 as already she has persuaded an ex-colleague from the PR field, Helen Scott Lidgett to join her in the depths of the bunker.

Today, Gordon Brown will give a speech that will be full of empty promises and scorn on the Tories but will it be enough to stave the assassins from his door?