Yet more drivel!

Britain's Got Talent. More tosh but tosh with a cruel edge to it. Putting no hopers on TV really is the pits. Why I am watching it? 'Cos I'm at my mum's and she has the remote control!

Drivel drivel, drivel!

Have caught a few minutes of an awful programme - Over the Rainbow. What absolute tosh. No more on it from me.

We live in interesting times...........if you support the Lib Dems!

Both the TV news and the paper press are full of the way in which the fortunes of the Lib Dems have changed in the aftermath of the first debate. Nick Clegg is the new political pin-up boy, with poor old Gordon being relegated to third position. The polls are fairly variable but the trend is clear - Lib Dem gain at the expense of Labour. What will it mean for the rest of the campaigning? Clearly both Labour and the Tories will take the Lib Dem threat more seriously and will start shooting at them with whatever ammunition they will be able to trawl up. There's a long time to go to May 6th and if Nick Clegg performs less well in the remaining debates, all of this excitement might very well make no discernible difference when voters are in the booth. Which other party stands to lose the most from the Lib Dem 'bounce'? If I were David Cameron, I'd be concerned that the floating voters might see the Lib Dems as a reasonable home for their votes and cause me problems in the marginals. If I were Gordon Brown, I'd be thinking the same. There's no question that Labour are not popular, but then neither are the Tories. Perhaps those who would have put a peg on their nose Eand voted Tory will now feel that they can vote Lib Dem peg-free!

Election Debate #1

I managed to watch most of the first debate between the leaders of the three main parties last night. Political history was being made, or so we were told. Unfortunately, although it may have met this criterion, it was not a vehicle for incisive presentation of policies or for finding out anything really new. Upon reflection, that is a very personal view and probably does not apply to everyone who watched it. I regard myself as reasonably politically informed and, perhaps, the less informed would have learnt something about Nick Clegg. Given his normally low profile, it may have come as a surprise to many that he was quite sensible. The common wisdom seems to be that Clegg 'won' the debate. I agree with that and, although Gordon didn't do too badly, his seriousness is a definate handicap. It will be interesting to see how he performs in the rest of the series.

Amnesty AGM 2010

A very full and very interesting day at the Amnesty 2010 AGM. Wide ranging sessions with good debate - all conducted in a spirit of cooperation. It really is good to see so many young people, not just university students but also pupils from Years 10 -13. And they weren't just listening, they were taking a full part in all the activities. Too much detail to go into here and it's sufficient to say that the Amnesty candle is burning bright.

The day finished with an activity outdoors (and the weather was kind) protesting against Shell's activities in the Niger Delta. Accompanied by Nigerian drummers and a display of torches. I found it all rather poignant - 600 people in the middle of the UK united in solidarity trying to help fellow human beings in another continent.

Two posts on one day!

Another post on April 9th but this time from Warwick University. Typical student accommodation but not too bad. The AI conference really starts in ernest tomorrow. Today's events were really just for information rather than knowledge.
A different crowd to the Spring Harvest attendees at Minehead. The AI lot are, in the main, a lot more casual and there are no families around. Human Rights activism is definately an adult pastime. There is a very good spread of ages, with many students from school groups. It's great to see them getting involved. More on the AGM in later posts but now I'm going to read the formal papers for tomorrow's sessions.

Nothing to report.......

...............but trying to get back into the habit of posting to the blog more regularly. Still at Spring Harvest in Minehead but due to depart for the Amnesty AGM at Warwick University soon. Should be a 3 hour drive and I'll have my i-pod to keep me company on the way!
Electioneering is well underway and I really will have to mention this at some stage. But not today.
The sun is shining and I think we can safely assume that winter is behind us.

Who'd have thought it? Me at Spring Harvest!

Gosh, has it really been almost 6 weeks since I posted a blog? Double gosh, am I really sending this post from Butlin's at Minehead? Jan and I are attending Spring Harvest - me physically rather than spiritually. Jan both! It will be interesting to observe what happens.