Archive for April, 2008

VoteMatch

27 April, 2008 at 10:03 pm · Filed under Campaigns ·Tagged , , ,

Elections are all about voters making a choice and deciding who to support this time. So it’s ironic that for most political activists, this central decision barely impinges on all our campaigning; we know who we’re voting for, thank you very much.

So the 2nd choice in the London Mayoral election gives us committed Lib Dems a refreshing dilemma; obviously we hope Brian Paddick makes it into the last two. And with support like this and this (and even this) he could. But if he doesn’t, should we vote for Ken or Boris or waste our 2nd choice on a party that’s certain to get knocked out first – or not use the 2nd choice at all. Aha – but we fought for a fairer voting system; so it’s a bit sad not to use that 2nd vote now we’ve got it.

This is where VoteMatch comes in. It’s a handy website that asks you to react to various policy statements and then matches you against the Mayoral candidate closest to your views. You can even weight the answers so that if, for example, pigeons matter more to you than police, then that is reflected in the results.

I do have some quibbles with it. It feels a bit like those magazine quizzes where you express your preference on Italian vs sushi, and it announces that your ideal man is George Clooney. (By the way, it’s not me who needs to know: just tell George.)

More seriously, I think it’s got some of the policy a bit wrong, or interpreted it wrongly. One question asks if you agree that “the Congestion Charge should be the same for all cars regardless of their engine size or exhaust emissions”. Well, we have criticisms of Ken’s new policy of charging some gas guzzlers extra, while suddenly lifting the charge for lots of smaller cars which are not carbon neutral and will increase congestion. But we don’t want to introduce charges for the electric cars or emergency vehicles or taxis which go in free. So no, Lib Dems don’t think it should be the same for all; but VoteMatch seems to think we do.

And I was very disconcerted to find that by changing my answer to one or two questions, my result moved from Lindsay German to Boris Johnson. Or maybe that exposes some interesting overlaps in their agenda….

But overall, VoteMatch is a great way to engage people in thinking about the Mayoral election. And who knows, it might even help me choose that elusive 2nd preference.

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Fire and flood

27 April, 2008 at 9:32 pm · Filed under Campaigns ·Tagged , ,

Paddy Ashdown used to tell the story of how he visited a constituent whose home had been flooded. After having a cup of tea and listening to the long history of their case, Paddy realised he was desperate to go to the loo. Finally he asked if he could use their facilities, yanked the old-fashioned chain with relief – and pulled the cistern off the wall, flooding them again.

I’ve never had an experience quite like that. Or not until today. I was canvassing with one of our councillors, and we called on a lady who wanted to show us a problem in her flat. We duly went into the basement and were checking it out when suddenly the smoke alarm went off. There was a pan simmering on the gas hob, and the roll of kitchen towel nearby had gone up in flames. One damp tea towel and the fire was out; no damage done. In fact our host insisted she was delighted we’d called and we all had a nervous laugh about our memorable visit. She even took a Paddick poster. Well he does have a background in the emergency services….

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Stormy weather

24 April, 2008 at 1:13 pm · Filed under Health, Neighbourhood ·Tagged , ,


There’s a cracking thunderstorm over London at the moment. Which explains something about last night.

Around 5pm I started to feel quite headachey and became increasingly nauseous and light-headed. I sent my apologies to canvassing for once, took Syndol, sipped tea on the sofa, tried to watch the news but couldn’t – and ended up going to bed very early.

My Dad also gets sick headaches in the run up to a thunderstorm and I’m sure we’re not the only ones. But a bit like PMT, it’s only afterwards you realise why you felt so awful at the time….

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Toxic chickens

24 April, 2008 at 7:21 am · Filed under Language ·Tagged

There was a ‘toxic chicken’ alert on Radio 4 this morning. Bird flu? An environmental disaster?

No, it’s the striking phrase chosen by Robert Peston to describe the state of the economy; toxic chickens coming home to roost…

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BT blues

23 April, 2008 at 6:18 pm · Filed under Consumer ·Tagged , ,

Disaster struck at 2.20pm today when my broadband connection dropped out. This happens a couple of times a week, and it normally comes back straight away. But today after 15 minutes, and having rebooted the home hub, still no broadband. The wireless signal was fine; but the internet connection was down, on both laptops. So not a machine-specific problem, not a router problem. I ran BT’s diagnostics program; it confirmed it was time to call the BT Helpdesk, and gave me a code to quote to save time diagnosing the problem. So far, so good.

I phoned BT, identified my home number, name, address etc. Then offered to give them the problem code from the diagnostics program. No, they didn’t want the code. I explained the problem. We then went through all the diagnostics again; reboot the home hub, reboot the laptop, try with and without the ethernet cable, try a different website, etc. Had I installed any new firewall or virus-checking software? No; I explained that the problem was not PC specific since both machines affected. Given the wireless signal was strong, could it be a broadband service problem, I suggested? No, probably a browser problem. Or new hardware. Could I run my laptop in safe mode instead? It could be the weather? Me: Have you had other calls from my area? BT: No. So unlikely to be the weather then…. Had I installed halogen lights recently? I kid you not. And so on… After about 90 minutes of this, the Helpdesk admitted defeat. They had no idea what the problem was but suggested I call the BT engineers: did I want the number?

OK, I said. Armed myself with a fresh cuppa, then phoned the new number. Did I have an account? Yes, gave my BT account details. No, did I have a BT home IT support account? This is a chargeable service, starting at £9.99 a month for a minimum of 3 months. Now, bear in mind that I’ve been offline for nearly 2 hours and I’m already paying for my Broadband, I thought this was pretty outrageous. “Look”, I said, “could you just check that my broadband service is working OK from your end. Without charging me £30.” Yes, they can do a line test free. The phone went dead. I went to get another cuppa. And lo, the broadband was back.

Yes I’m delighted it’s working, and yes I’m grateful that they did the line test. Although it could of course have been the weather….

But some questions for BT before I forget all about this and get on with life:

- why give a diagnostics code then have the Helpdesk ignore it?
- why insist on going through irrelevant basic tests without at least first listening to the customer’s description of the problem?
- why not include a line test among the Helpdesk options?
- why refer me to a chargeable service without warning that it’s chargeable?
- in fact, why attempt to charge at all for fixing the service that the customer is already paying for?

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Justice for Daniel?

22 April, 2008 at 10:28 pm · Filed under Campaigns ·Tagged , ,


I remember the headlines from 21 years ago; a private investigator found dead in a pub car park, an axe in his head, murky stories of drugs, hitmen and corrupt police. It sounded more like something from a thriller than the evening news. The awful death, and the mystery since, were all most people knew of Daniel Morgan. Yet he was also a much-loved son, brother and father. And Daniel’s family have never given up on getting his killers caught.

To quote Met Assistant Commissioner John Yates, “The one consistent theme throughout has been the astonishing determination of the Morgan family to ensure that those responsible are brought to justice.”

Daniel’s brother, Alastair Morgan, is an Islington resident. As part of his campaign, Alastair contacted me in the run-up to the 2005 General Election; he wanted to know that I would take up the case if elected, as indeed I would have been happy to do.

The Lib Dem MP Roger Williams, who represents Daniel’s mother, raised the case in Parliament; he tabled an EDM and sponsored a debate, in which the former Islington South & Finsbury MP Chris Smith also took part.

After four failed police investigations, they demanded an independent judicial inquiry to try and resolve the case. All the Home Office could offer was tea and sympathy.

Now, a fifth investigation has finally led to some arrests. Let’s hope it also leads to justice for Daniel, and vindication for his family.

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Suck it and see

21 April, 2008 at 8:59 pm · Filed under Consumer, Family & friends ·Tagged


Working from home suits me, but one of the things you miss are the goodies people bring in – especially as I still get the circular emails announcing them.

Today’s treat was ‘gourmet lollipops’ from See’s Candies, courtesy of Judith, one of our US colleagues. And for once I was in the office to try one.

My butterscotch toffee lollipop had a wonderful caramel scent and burnt sugar taste. Only one problem. The toffee is a generous-sized cube and rock hard.

What is the office etiquette for these things? Hold it in your left hand while doing one finger typing? Stick it in your mouth and hope the phone doesn’t ring? Find a toffee-proof surface to put it down?

Anyway they are delicious sweets, and if you want to test your own toffee eating technique, you can get hold of them here.

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Something in the air

18 April, 2008 at 10:27 pm · Filed under Neighbourhood


As a politician, you worry about putting your foot in it. This morning, out delivering, I thought I’d done just that.

There was a definite pong. I stopped and sniffed, checked my shoes anxiously, and wondered if maybe Islington’s greenspace team had splashed out on some manure.

Tonight on the news, all was revealed. UKIP will be delighted…..

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More blues for Brown

17 April, 2008 at 9:56 pm · Filed under Campaigns ·Tagged ,

With friends like this, it’s not a great week for the Prime Minister.

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Proofreading, procrastination and Proverbs…

14 April, 2008 at 5:35 pm · Filed under Church & faith

A rare evening off the campaign trail tonight, as I’m putting the finishing touches to the church Annual Report. This is really just an editing job, as the real work is done by the many contributors; but I find it a hard one to finish off. Somehow cleaning the sink is suddenly attractive.

The publication deadline is looming, the auditor has finally signed off the accounts, so it’s now or never. Even my Bible quote for the day is weighing in: “The hand of the diligent will rule, but the slothful will be put to forced labour. Proverbs 12:24″. Ok, Ok, I can take a hint….

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