BBC says Tories 'shopped' on crime con...

Delighted to hear the Conservative con on violent crime figures exposed on BBC Radio 4's Today programme this morning.

As I posted last week HERE, David Cameron's 'Broken Britain' campaign relies heavily on them being able to prove violent crime is rising...when he knows that in fact the reverse is the truth.

This morning, the BBC put Mark Easton - their journalist who first publicised the Tory con - head to head with Cameron's spokesman on crime, Chris Grayling.

Grayling had sent out spurious statistics to local Conservative parties across the country encouraging them to claim violent crime had risen since 1997.

Mark Easton explained that the Tories had ignored official clear warnings that the figures they were sending out could not be compared due to major improvements in recording violent crime.

The Conservative spokesman tried to move the debate onto his promise to make collection of crime figures independent of Government.

Mark Easton point out that the British Crime Survey, which has been around for 30 years, IS independent of Government and shows that in recnet years violent crime has been halved - down a full 50 per cent.

The Today presented challenged Mr Grayling: "Now that you have been shopped, will you send out a note to local Conservative parties instructing them not to use these figures...?"

No, of course not.

If they did that, the entire 'Britain is Broken' scare-mongering would be shown for what it is - a Tory con.

Pratt of the Day...

'There are 1,500 films out there this year alone, that's 1,500 stories: You do the maths.'

Some Posing Pratt waxing lyrical (ie, talking nonsense) this morning on BBC Radio Four about the Oscars/Grammies/Tonies/WhoCares...

President Bush made President Obama possible...

President Bush's greatest legacy is that he has made Barack Obama possible.

Labour Minister Ben Bradshaw, speaking on BBC Radio Four's Any Questions.

Radio 4 focus on Lincs child care cases...

News that the findings of a Lincolnshire County Council review into a case of serious child abuse may not be made public made the national news last night.

I was interviewed live by Eddie Mair (below, right) on the BBC Radio Four 'PM' programme at 5.45 last night, following my call earlier in the day to the Leader of Lincolnshire County Council to show political leadership by intervening in the case. I was responding to disturbing revelations in yesterday's Lincolnshire Echo that any failings which may have happened would be kept secret.

Sadly, the Council declined to take part in the Radio 4 programme, so we still don't know if Council Leader Martin Hill will involve himself in the case to ensure that the findings of the review are made public.

It was last June that a court was told that a young Lincoln mother left her two year old baby barricaded in her kitchen when she went out partying for a weekend.

The toddler was discovered by neighbours three days later in a flooded kitchen, covered in his own excrement and rummaged through rubbish bags for food 'like a dog'. The mother was jailed for 18 months and a County Council review ordered after it was revealed that the toddler had been removed from the 'at risk' register.

Clearly, it was the mother not the social workers or any other professional was responsible for what was described in court as the most serious case of child neglect ever seen by Lincolnshire Police...

But I also strongly believe that the people of Lincolnshire have a right to know what lessons can be learned from such cases, and what action is taken to protect children and minimise the chances of such abuse happening again.

In my view, the Council's statement in yesterday's Lincolnshire Echo that the findings may not be published do nothing to enhance public confidence in our local child care services.

The national spotlight is already on frontline services in Lincolnshire following the shocking case of the 'British Fritzl' who repeatedly raped his two daughters, leaving them pregnant 19 times. We'll have to wait for the outcome of the Serious Case Review into that case.

I understand there are another THREE ongoing serious case reviews involving child protection services in Lincolnshire - the case of the neglected toddler was not considered serious enough to warrant a 'serious case review' and instead a 'management review' was ordered.

But whatever the review is called, I would have thought Councillor Hill would want to avoid a public relations car-crash by giving assurances that the findings will be made public - and any lessons learned.

If you want a listen to the BBC Radio Four interview, it's HERE. Move the timer across to 45 minutes 30 seconds into the programme for the start of the interview.

Shock. Horror: I agree with Amanda Platell...well, almost!

I've seldom agreed with a word uttered by ex-Conservative press officer Amanda Platell...But I have to admit that her offering on the Derek Conway scandal in today's Daily Mail is spot on...well, almost.

Here it is in full:

More than a decade ago, when I was managing a national newspaper, I discovered an employee was stealing thousands by paying family members for work they had never done.

He was sent to jail for two years - quite rightly. So I simply cannot see why Derek Conway isn't facing jail after diverting tens of thousands of taxpayers' money to his family. Full marks to David Cameron for swiftly sacking him, but what an outrage that Conway is continuing as an MP, on his £240,000 package, for another two years.

If he had even a sliver of integrity, he would stand down immediately. But, of course, that might jeopardise his gold-plated pension.

Is it any wonder politicians have never been held in such contempt?

I agree with almost every word - except Amanda's 'full marks to David Cameron for swiftly sacking' Derek Conway.

Amanda conveniently doesn't mention the fact that on the day we learned that Derek Conway had paid his son £40,000 in public money for doing virtually nothing, David Cameron responded by making it clear he would NOT remove the Tory whip from Conway.

Cameron flip-flopped the following day - only after the damaging media headlines. And only after multi-millionaire Tory donor Stuart Wheeler went on the BBC Today programme demanding that Cameron take tougher action against Conway.

I've just listened to the Saturday version of Radio Four's Any Questions. Former broadcaster John Tusa made an excellent point on the Conway scandal along these lines:

If he's wrongly paid over £80,000 in public funds to members of his family for doing nothing, how come he's been ordered to pay back just £13,000?

Why indeed...?

79-year-old LibDem Lord says Ming, 66, is too old...!

LibDem knives are going public to topple Ming Campbell now there's no prospect of a General Election until 2009. And leading the charge of the back-stabbers today is former Lincoln MP Dick Taverne.

Baron Taverne of Pimlico as he now prefers to be known, was on BBC's World at One programme to be first in the queue to call on Ming to do the decent thing.

With LibDem poll ratings down to as low as 11 per cent, Lord Taverne told unless Ming was replaced as Leader, the LibDems would go "down the drain" at the next election.

He also complains that "no-one takes any notice of us" with Ming as Leader.

LibDems were desperate for an early election. hoping they could replace Ming following the result. As predicted, as soon as Gordon Brown made it clear there would be no early election, the LibDem knives have appeared.

Lord Taverne was the first LibDem I've heard publicly say that Ming was too old to be Leader. He said the Libs needed someone with more "energy" and when asked if he meant a younger Leader was needed, he replied: "Yes".

A bit rich coming from a peer who will be celebrating his 79th birthday this week!

Ming's age - a mere 66 - is not and should not be the problem. It his lack of judgement and lack of ability to lead that's the problem.

Meanwhile, LibDem Deputy Leader Vince Cable hardly helped Ming's predicament by confirming that his position was "under discussion".

Ming's dilemma reminds me of what Councillor Jim Speechley said when he was finally forced to fall on his sword as Tory Leader of Lincolnshire County Council:

The Opposition may be facing me across the Chamber, but my real enemies are behind me...

Tory MP attacks 'bonkers' Tory tax plans...

Another Tory has attacked Tory tax proposals HERE and HERE as 'bonkers'. David Wilshire told BBC Radio Four that the Tory plans to tackle environmental issues don't make economic sense, will cost jobs and will not cut a single mile of air travel.

Amid a backlash from business leaders and his own MPs, Tory Leader David Cameron has distanced himself from proposals by senior Tories to tax supermarket shoppers for parking, but has said most of the proposals will find their way into the Tory manifesto.

UPDATED: Tory plan for tax on supermarket shopping...

"If the answer is new taxes we’re asking the wrong question…half-baked proposals…telling people we are taking away their plasma TVs and charging them to park at the supermarket..."

Who’s leading the attack on the latest Conservative proposals?

Step forward Conservative MEP for the East Midlands, Roger Helmer who ridiculed the plans announced earlier today. Interviewed on BBC Radio 4’s World at One, Roger Helmer said most Conservatives he’s spoken to were horrified at the plans which have been largely endorsed by David Cameron.

UPDATE:
From today's Daily Mail:

Their document may have many virtues, but these will be obliterated by one much leaked notion that shoppers at supermarkets and DIY stores might have to pay parking charges under a Tory administration.

The thinking, which most of us would probably endorse, is to encourage shoppers to use High Street shops, some of which are threatened by the supermarkets.

The trouble is that this suggestion would penalise ordinary families who have little or no choice but to use supermarkets.

Many of these people are struggling to make ends meet, and the last thing they want is to have to pay for parking on top of everything else.

Isn't it ludicrous that Mr Goldsmith, who inherited a vast fortune from his billionaire adventurer father and who has probably seldom ever been to a supermarket, should conceive of a poll tax on ordinary people who have to shop?

The article goes on to say the idea is "dumb politics".