We shouldn't mourn Virgin trains

For some sort of unknown reason there appears to be a lot of sympathy for Richard Branson and his Virgin group for losing out on the West Coast rail franchise.  But I for one don't share it.

Virgin trains were one of the first rail franchises and were responsible for changing the travelling experience for the worse for the majority of rail passengers.  Out went buffet cars, dining cars and tables in standard class.  In came the shop, airline style food and aircraft seating.  Dining cars became just another first class carriage because it allowed them to cram the maximum number of fare paying passengers into a fixed formation train.

And as a result all the other rail franchises eventually followed the Virgin model - ending last May when East Coast finally succumbed.  And the UK's railways are much the worse for it as a result.

Remembering Sid Waddell

The sad news that commentator Sid Waddell has died is a double blow - for the world of darts and for fans of the English language. 

Waddell was a fine commentator - probably the last in the BBC tradition of professional enthusiasts whose commentaries oozed with knowledge, research and analysis.  The late great Bill McLaren was another.

Sadly we won't see the likes of Waddell or McLaren again as the BBC seem now to prefer ex players whose only contribution to commentary is to open their mouths to show their ignorance and prejudices - Mark Lawrenson being a prime example.

Anyway here's Waddell helping out with adult literacy and numeracy in his native Newcastle.

Friday favourite 71

With the House of Lords looking certain to remain unelected this week's Friday favourite could only feature one artist - the only Lord who has sought a public mandate and according to Wikipedia has gained 15,657 votes in his political career.

It is, of course the late lamented Lord Sutch.  Sutch has been arguably more successful than the Liberal Democrats in changing the UK - his campaigns (once considered 'loony') have included votes for 18 year olds and all day pub opening.  I've met him twice before his tragic suicide and all I can say is if only Nick Clegg had his mojo...

Lib Dems should rethink Lords reform...

Now that any prospect of democratising the House of Lords has disappeared for the foreseeable future - thanks to a combination of out of touch Tory backswoodsmen and Lib Dem peers like the increasingly confused David Steel and the smugly authoritarian Alex Carlile, the Liberal Democrats should have a complete rethink on their approach to the Lords.

It is clear that there will always be - despite manifesto commitments to the contrary - a blocking minority in the Commons to any reform that gives the Lords the legitimacy of a public mandate.  And there is always going to be opposition from the less than noble Lords who see it as a comfortable rest home for the terminally self interested former politicians who make up the vast majority of its membership.

Given these constraints there seems to be only one way of getting rid of the democratic excrescence that means that laws are made by people - however worthy - who are unelected.  That is to call for the abolition of the Lords.

The Lib Dems should now propose a unicameral Parliament instead of trying to reform an unreformable Lords.  It kills stone dead the two arguments that caused this attempt at reform to be dropped - the primacy of the Commons and opposition to the proposed electoral system. 

No Lords means no elections and the Commons remains prime.  It also ends the sinecures for people like Steel and Carlile - allowing them to dissappear into the obscurity they deserve.

Beeb highlights Help for Heroes failings

Newsnight tonight carried a report highlighting criticisms from disabled veterans about their treatment (or lack thereof) from the military and the seeming waste of money by charity Help for Heroes on glamourous infrastructure projects.

It also made the point that Help for Heroes remit is dealing with serving military personel - not those who have been disabled out of the forces who have been left at the mercy of the NHS.  So there is clearly a gap into which military veterans fall into - which ought to be resolved as soon as possible.

But one has to wonder if the MoD are the right people to do it?  Recent news reports give the impression they seem somewhat lacksadaisical when dealing with the remains of fallen soldiers and this article from Defence Report suggests they are keen to cover up the extent of injuries at Camp Bastion.

The party should listen to Judy Steel (not her husband)...

The excellent Andrew Page's Scottish Liberal blog reports more indescretion by Judy Steel - following from the revelation she had a pink jaguar tattooed on her shoulder for her 70th birthday.  This time she declares she will be voting 'Yes' in the referendum on Scottish independence in 2014 - unlike her husband.

It is of course her husband - David Steel - who has disloyally and foolishly lead the opposition to Nick Clegg's Lords reform proposals from the red benches and provided succour to the 91 Tory backswoodsmen in the Commons whose intransigence appears to have scuppered the whole reform agenda.  And it doesn't take a huge amount of imagination to work out what the still radical Judy might think about that.

The fact that influential Scottish liberals - like Judy Steel and Andrew Page are prepared publicly break ranks over the constitutional conservatism of the Scottish Lib Dems is a good sign.  Shortly after the annihilation of the party in last year's Scottish general election I wrote:

"...Michael Moore again allows the party to be seen to be on the wrong side of the debate and trying to illiberally block the expression of the will of the Scottish people.

The way back for the party in Scotland can only be by steering a distinct liberal path that recognises the liberal elements in the nationalists (and the easy willingness of both parties voters to interchange their votes at Holyrood/Westminster levels). Aligning the party with the forces of constitutional conservatism was the wrong decision in 2007 and is even more so now." 

At the moment the party has nothing distinctive to say on the big constitutional issue and is seen as an ajunct of the Tories on the economic ones - a recipe for disaster in 2015.  So a more organised campaign by Scottish liberal home rulers for a yes vote - as Andrew is trying to create - will only be a good thing for the party north of the border. 

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...

Friday favourite 70

The news that the century old Liberal goal of democratising the House of Lords is to be dropped due to Tory intransigence, will put more pressure on an already strained relationship between the governing parties.  But it would be foolish to end the coalition over this issue - however important it is to constitutional reformers.

Hopefully the Liberal Democrats will use the leverage that this Tory breaking of the coalition agreement gives them to promote some popular and more meaningful liberal reforms.  But given their track record in government I fear they wont.

Which reminded me of one of the finest lines in Blackadder, where Melchett's driver - Bob Parkhurst (who is a woman in disguise) says she/he 'wanted to see how a war was fought - so badly'.  The Liberal Democrats have wanted to see what it's like to be in government - so badly - and as Blackadder responds they 'have come to the right place'.  Anyway here's Blackadder Goes Forth - Major Star...

Lib Dem membership slumps

Mark Pack reports the Liberal Democrats membership has slumped to less than 50,000.  Twenty years ago it was 100,000 - I remember the press release of Paddy Ashdown announcing in the run up to the 1992 general election the landmark recruit conveniently in the key seat of Bath.  Which entirely coincidently was won a few weeks later by Don Foster - defeating then Tory Chairman Chris Patten.

There is no gloss that can be put on this - and Mark's valient attempt to deflect attention onto the Tories is a misplaced attempt at loyalty that cannot be allowed to lead to complacency. 

These figures add to the growing body of evidence that the party is dying on its feet.  Over the last two years its councillor base has been hollowed out, it has all but dissapeared in Scotland and the northern cities, it has started spending more than it receives in income and its poll ratings still face south. 

Yet the party at Westminster appears to be unconcerned by this collapse.  I wrote on 7 May the party faces a fight for its very existence.  Sadly it is now clear it is a fight it faces with hugely depleted troops. 

One has to wonder at what point do the powers that be at Westminster wake up?

London 2012 - when did medal become a verb?

Kingston proved an excellent backdrop to the Olympic road cycling and the crowds have thronged to see the top professionals and especially the UK riders.

Sadly my photography skills are such I managed to miss the UK contingent at both the road race and time trials as these snaps show...

...but my enjoyment of the TV coverage of the games has been somewhat spoilt by the British team (or 'Team GB' as I suppose we must call them) constantly referring to 'medalled' or 'medal' in the form of a verb - as in 'we expect them to medal at this race'.  It's not as if adding a mere four letters eg 'get a' is asking them to expend any extra energy.  Medal is not a verb and it's far better for sportspeople to do their talking on the track rather than give traction to an ugly an incorrect use of the English language.