I warned you. If people did not get off their couches to protest government policy to fight terrorism, it would eventually be used on upright citizens.

Well, plans developed to counter terrorism are now going to be used to snoop on every phone call made and every e-mail sent in the UK. Your private correspondence will be read and examined by not only the Home Office, but councils and even the Post Office (though the reason for this defeats me).

You can read the full story here: http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/218052/government-proposes-email-and-internet-tracking.html

If this is confirmed, I will encrypting all my e-mail - and they can try to prosecute me for protecting my privacy. Then maybe I’ll emigrate to Cuba or China, where I’ll have more human rights.

When oh when are we going to have an election?

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Wake up Europe! The soviet beast is not dead after all. 

This week’s events have shown two things:

1. Russia is slipping back into the USSR mode minus the communist baggage. Now that Putin has effectively rid himself of all anti-government press and allowed only pro-Putin companies to survive, he now has a free hand to pursue his totalitarian dream. How better to test the will of the international community than attack a defenceless country like Georgia.
2. Europe is emasculated because of its reliance on Russian gas and dares not voice its dismay against what is, for all intents and purposes, blatant invasion.

What worries me the most is that this is a replay of Hitler’s ploy to attack a small neighbouring country under the fiction of defence. In WWII no-one said anything for fear of antagonising a powerful neighbour. This time Russia has attacked a small neighbouring country under the fiction of defending ethnic Russians. Now, no-one is saying ANYTHING for fear of antagonising a powerful neighbour. Erm - parallels anyone?

It is true that in the 1930s we did not have a security council, however, I’m forced to conclude that in 2008 we don’t have one either. Russia is a permanent vetoing member of the security council, so no matter what people say, it counts for zilch.

There is something else at stake. Georgia is the only way to bypass Russian control of the vast Azerbaijani oil and gas fields. If Russia deposes the current pro-western, pro NATO, pro EU government, the result will be total Russian domination of EU energy for at least the next 10 years. Don’t think that Russia will sit on its hands during the time it takes for Europe to sort out alternatives. We are definitely in the firing line here.

Where are our leaders in all this? Completely absent! Except for the French president making token visits to Georgia and now Russia, where he will say nothing, other EU leaders have remained shamefully silent.

For us in the UK, Brown’s silence is just pathetic. He probably hasn’t noticed. And if he has, he’s probably agonising over what to do - a bit like everything else. But back to my original point…

We are in serious danger of letting the Russia get out of hand. If NATO and the EU have any guts, they will immediately make sure that Georgia becomes a fast track member of both organisations. Yes, it will irritate that gnome of the Kremlin (Putin), but it will send a message that we will not allow Russia to bully Georgia nor will we allow our dependence on gas to give him Carte Blanche to do what he likes on this continent. World wars have been fought for less. The sooner we stop Russia’s domination dreams the better. 

Today the president of Georgia intimated that he would welcome EU peacekeepers. He said it in a way which left no doubt as to whether he thought this would be likely. However, The EU countries should move tanks into Georgia and SAM missile sites into the region. That way the new bully-boy of the world will think twice before sending fighters to bomb the Georgian capital.

In WW2 we were late in entering the war and paid for it. This time we can defend not only Georgia’s independence, but our own too.

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Following the referendum over the “EU Reform Treaty” (aka EU Constitution) in Ireland - the one we were promised - Labour should rethink and allow the UK people to have a say. Former Labour Europe Minister Denis MacShane said that although he though the treaty was “dead”, he added “I personally think that a vote in a foreign country should not determine the democratic decisions taken in the British Parliament”. He’s absolutely right. A British vote should determine democratic decisions in Britain. It is, however unlikely to happen, and our shitty government will ratify this shitty treaty.

While Mr. Barosso (European Commission President) is sounding increasingly shrill, calling for the remaining 13 countries to ratify, but with three countries now having defeated EU proposals it is clear that there is a widening gap between Europe’s population and their leaders.

Isn’t it time for a rethink?

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The other night, I witnessed something that was truly inspiring. 5 young musicians (Piano, Guitar, Flute, Percussion and Trombone) all fought it out to become the prestigious BBC Young Musician of 2008. I enjoyed all their performances, but one really did stand out, and that was the youngest, Peter Moore, a mere 12 years old, who played two outstanding pieces.

The first was Sandstrom’s “Sång Til Lotta”. This is a difficult contemporary piece to get right as it relies on a deep empathy with this haunting melody. Most (even professional) musicians fall down because they can’t feel it. When he started playing, I was holding my breath it was so achingly beautiful. The tone, the feeling, and his simple presentational style showed no sign of nerves, just a matter of fact: “I play. This is what I do. This is me”. I can’t get this performance out of my head

The second piece was the 3rd movement from the concerto played in full the night before. Peter had chosen the technically devilish Trombone Concerto from the French composer Henri Tomasi.

Both of these performances can be seen on YouTube, or just run a search on Peter Moore, Trombone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBFWLRbkUGY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tl5eBZugpk

Well done Peter. You have given inspiration to thousands of kids who will be working to emulate this great achievement. To the runners up, you all have a great future ahead of you. Keep up the good work.

A final comment: Far better we focus on our young achievers than constantly whinge about yobs. Ignore the yobs and celebrate the not inconsiderable achievements of our young talent in whatever field they may be.

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Having just passed my A motorbike license (that’s the full motorbike license for those not in the know) I have been shocked at the comments of my friends.

“Are you mad?” is the most common.

I agree that there is more risk than in a car, but then again, the most difficult issue of riding is making sure rubbish car drivers (some of those) or suicidal bicycle riders (loads of those) don’t kill you.

Another comment is that [motor]bike riders are nuts and ride far to fast. My experience so far is that there are some, but they don’t last long. The biggest problem are car drivers who don’t seem to know or understand the highway code. No entry signs, bus lanes, red lights are all there to be ignored, obviously. Pushbike riders are worse. I live on a one way residential street and I see at least one bicycle rider breaking the law every day.

Worse, many car drivers seem to think that tearing down a one way residential street where kids play (not forgetting the primary school) at 50mph is quite ok.

I’ve met a whole bunch of really nice people who just want to ride a very economical form of transport the safest way possible. There’s a real interest in safety and many take advanced courses after their test. I wish I could say the same about other road users.

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As I watch the Olympic flame make its way through London the focus is not on the flame, but on the protests.

Although China wants the Olympics to be non-political, it’s clear that their shameful actions in Tibet over the last 58 years are finally coming home to roost. China has been systematically destroying Tibetan culture by moving as many Han Chinese into the area and systematically making it as difficult as possible for the Tibetans to exercise their human right to promote and further their heritage.

Politicians and BBC commentators are falling over themselves to stress that it is a celebration of the Olympic ideal as opposed to condoning China. However, I can’t help wondering why they are proceeding with this relay as no-one can actually see the flame or the person carrying it. Anyone who tries to catch a glimpse is jumped on by the police and forcibly pushed back to where nothing is visible at all.

In fact, the police seem to be more reminiscent of the brutal People’s Army than our bobbies, but one good thing has come out of this: The Free Tibet movement has achieved a level of visibility which was nearly unhoped for 3 months ago. The Chinese government has not been able to promote their image of a progressive and civilised China and this is only the beginning. Tibet, not China will be the overriding message of the 2008 Olympics.

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To all of you who read these entries, may I wish you all the best for 2008.

Thank you for reading.

To those few who posted comments, thank you also. You keep me on my toes!

• Rendition 

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With the government’s self destruction continuing, Gordon Brown must be happy he’ll get a few days off. My advice: take the days. Don’t work. Let your ministers do something too.

His last interview with Alistair Darling was weird. It was hard to tell which one was chancellor. The news that the tax payer was to fully guarantee Northern Rock’s institutional investors to the tune of £100bn (yes, that’s BILLION) couldn’t have endeared him to anyone but his most stalwart supporters.

The criticism of “control freak” and “Stalin” seem to be borne out. The reason he’s a poor leader and increasingly seen as a “Mr. Bean” character is that he can’t seem to delegate or empower his cabinet. His insistence of going to a select committee instead of the European summit to sign the latest treaty showed him in a poor light. Nationally and internationally he is rapidly losing what credibility he had when he took power.

Christmas also seems to bring out the loonies! Either we get councils cancelling Christmas because it may “offend people” (which people, you may ask and do we care?) or in this case a head teacher excluding a young primary school boy from his class Christmas party because his parents had removed him from RE lessons. His reasoning: if you’re not religious, you can’t attend the party. Needless to say the boy was extremely upset at this cruel decision. Maybe the head teacher should reconsider his position as someone whose life is looking after the welfare of children. Read the full story here.’

What is it about Christmas that makes people lose all sense of perspective? Why is there such a huge problem with people enjoying the festivities and accepting them for what they are: a celebration of the birth of Christ? So what if you’re not religious? So what if you are? So what if you are of a different religion. Quite frankly all the people who worry about whether children should or should not attend parties, should or should not overtly celebrate Christmas, whether some people are going to be offended or not, obviously don’t have enough to do ad should be given more meaningful work.

An interesting development: The Queen, who gave her first Christmas message on television 50 years ago, is now launching a YouTube channel. Good luck to her in this new venture into cyberspace.

To all readers, Christian or not, I wish you all a very Happy Christmas and a prosperous and peaceful 2008. If this offends you, well then look at my face! Bothered? Nah!

Yours, Rendition.

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Someone on the BBC the other day compared the regular disasters in the Labour Party as an advent calendar from hell, where every day, you open a window on yet another major screw-up.

Even the BBC - who is desperately trying to find anyone who will stand up for Labour to come and defend them on air - is having difficulty staying faithful for fear of appearing biased (!). The best one was on Radio 4 late last week, when a programme on these events dragged up some occupational psychologist to say that these things were normal in a “new team”. The problem is that this is not a new team (something the interviewer carefully chose not to mention). This is a team that has been running the country for 10 years. At least the general public are most unhappy and are saying so in the polls. The “Question Time” audience in York were even applauding UKIP’s Nigel Farage MEP which shows the current public anger at the government.

However, a week is a long time in politics, and public memory at these disasters will be very short-lived if Brown and his government can get the current criminal investigation out of the way before Christmas, and get a grip. The new year may yet hold some cheer if they finally agree to include Trade Unions in the proposed political party funding cap (not before time, I say).

Gordon’s New Resolution: Fire any senior ministers who cause more embarrassment!

Which means, possibly, that Harriet and Peter (Hain) may be joining Alistair in an early retirement . In more honourable times, all three would no longer be in government, but in this age of spin and avoidance of responsibility, we will probably have to wait until the next reshuffle.

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That’s what I say to my wife when things get on top of her. After all, we’re in a partnership and are meant to give each other emotional support. It’s a relationship forged on equality and respect, likely to run for the duration.

I’m afraid that this is not quite as true for Alistair Darling. This blog entry was supposed to be about the Northern Rock catastrophe and the fact that Darling caved in to Brown by prematurely jumping into the fray. After all, something like this in the Labour heartlands would have been a disaster with an election looming.

Since I started writing this entry, an extra horror has been visited on the public. It is inconceivable to me that there was not more security surrounding some of the most sensitive data in HMRC (the UK equivalent of IRS).

I agree with George Osbourne when, at this stage, we’re not worried about vision or grand plans. We’re just interested in a fair amount competence - something sadly lacking.

Because our current PM was Chancellor for 10 years, most of this is his fault. Under any circumstances I would be predicting the fall of the government. Because this government has been completely shameless (e.g. cash for honours) I’m giving Darling until the end of the week where the stress will mean he will want to spend more time with his family. The PM will have to find another whipping boy!

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