Tim Rice backs UKIP

Leading Richmond Park Tory (oh and Oscar winning musician) Sir Tim Rice has left the Conservatives and is backing UKIP - according to this report from the Daily Mail.

Given Zac Goldsmith's apparently genetically driven anti Europeanism, the fact even he can't keep his local Tory Europhobes on board doesn't bode well for the Tory party's ability to win the Euro elections later this year - even in a Conservative association as financially well endowed as Richmond Park...

In praise of police commissioners

Durham's Labour Police and Crime Commissioner, Ron Hogg, has called for a rethink on drug policy, calling for Danish style shooting galleries where intravenous drug users can access clean needles and medical advice while feeding there habit.  The Beeb's report claims 'Results published in the Lancet showed that prescribing pharmaceutical heroin in this way can reduce the use of street drugs and associated levels of crime.'

Meanwhile, the previous week Christopher Salmon, Dyfed/Powys's commissioner attacked the culture of the police that saw them trying to frame former Tory Chief Whip, Andrew Mitchell.  In an attack reported by the Daily Mail he said: ‘The culture around police forces is too closed, too defensive, too politicised and, in some cases, feral.'

This sort of debate on drugs policy and call to account for overblown and unaccountable elements of the constabulary was almost entirely missing from the debate on crime and policing (or was easily dismissed by the vested interests at the Home Office and their media friends) before the election of police commissioners.

Now there is an influential cadre of local people - with a democratic mandate - who are able to move on the debate from the old, sterile race to be seen to be the toughest on crime - regardless of its effectiveness.  That's a good thing which I hope will lead to more of them questioning how we are currently policed and for the Lib Dems to actually take these elections seriously because - like elected Mayors - they are almost certainly here to stay.

Daily Mail headline generator devises 'alternative Queen's speech'

Con Home (who else) has published the full list of 43 bills submitted by swivel-eyed right wing Tory MPs Peter 'Sven' Bone, Christopher Chope, Philip Hollobone and David Nuttall.

Three of the bills failed to get on the order paper - but the remaining 40 form the so-called 'Alternative Queen's Speech.' And they manage to combine kneejerk reaction, right wing stereo typing, little England paranoia and downright nutiness - but all somehow strangely familiar. 

Then I realised why - they had clearly been drawn up using the Daily Mail random headline generator...

Trump makes fool of himself over Obama tweets

It was bad night for US conservatives with the comfortable reelection of Barack Obama - with or without Florida.

Obama's success clearly got to follicularly challenged right wing tycoon Donald Trump - the man whose pastimes include bullying Scottish pensioners.

According to the Daily Mail Trump tweeted that Obama's reelection was a 'disgusting injustice' and claimed the world was 'laughing at us'.  No Donald they are laughing at you:

Making sick jokes should not be a criminal offence

A 19 year old has been jailed for drunkenly posting some sick jokes on the internet about April Jones. 

Matthew Woods is currently serving three months at her majesty's pleasure for being stupid, insensitive and crass - convicted for sending 'grossly offensive public electronic communication' under some bizarre clause of New Labour's Communications Act 2003. 

My problem with this sort of law beloved by the Daily Mail and authoritarian Labour Home Secretaries is that it relies on generalised terms such as 'grossly offensive' which are purely subjective - one person's offence is another person's humour.

In a liberal democracy the state is not there to bolster the will of the majority - it is there to protect the minority - however unpopular and however moronic. 

It's time for the Lib Dems (at least) to take a stand on issues like this.  There is a whole raft of mainly useless Labour crime legislation - made in haste to play to the tabloid gallery - that simply criminalises people for their views.  They should be repealed and the Lib Dems should lead the charge.

How the Mail reports Mo Farrar's gold...

...thanks to twitter I came across a sneak preview of tomorrow's Mail's report of a great night of athletics at the Olympics...

Daily Mail finds an interesting new group to hate

Another interesting image spotted in Edinburgh at the weekend. Denouncing Scotland's historic national language may not be the best policy for a newspaper supposedly committed to the union...

Paper aeroplanes predate human flight

Workers renovating a 14th century former chapel in Barnstaple, North Devon, have uncovered a squadron of paper aeroplanes that are likely to predate the Wright brothers first powered flight.

The Daily Mail carries the story...

Amanda Knox freed

The news that Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito have won their appeal and will go free is a partial victory for justice.

Partial because the family of Meredith Kercher are still seeking justice and resolution for her loss. Hopefully the outcome means the Italian authorities will now properly investigate her murder.

A feature of the orginal trial and the appeal was the lurid denigration of Amanda Knox. And with her freedom you would expect it to end and a fairer picture of the young woman to emerge. But not from the Daily Mail who appear to think she is still guilty as Liberal England reports...