Monday 28th September 2009

Labour this week hope to convince the electorate they should stay in power with their annual party conference in Brighton.
The big issue so far has been about Gordon Brown's health, with Andrew Marr 'intrusively' quizzing the Prime Minister about whether he has been on prescribed medication to help with the pressures of the job. Once again a row has erupted between Labour and the BBC (remember The Hutton Report), but this time I'm going to have to take the side of the politicians. It appears the rumours of the PM using painkillers circulated from an Internet blog, which isn't the most trustworthy source of information. I'm sure if I had enough people reading this blog I could make up some crazy rumour which I could convince the world to be true. If this blog is the only source of information the BBC had on Brown's health, then perhaps it wasn't a very suitable subject area for Andrew Marr's interview yesterday.
Lord Mandelson has slammed the rumours as mere "right wing smears and slurs" and not for the first time in recent weeks I find myself agreeing with 'The Prince of Darkness' (see blog entry 17th September), as there appears to be no concrete proof. You never no, these "slurs" may work in Brown's favour, as I think he does need to show he has a human side to relate to voters.
Key individuals involved with Labour, including John Prescott, have expressed concerns over the defeatist attitude within the party, but this week is a chance to inject some much needed confidence.
I'm one of the many who need to be convinced to vote Labour and as well as the autumn conference, the election manifesto could persuade potential voters to mark a cross next to their party come the general election. Environment Secretary Ed Miliband is the man who has the job of manifesto coordinator, an "impossible task", according to the BBC. Mr Miliband follows me on twitter, so on the very slight chance he's reading this (I don't expect him to be, he is after all, a very busy man), all the best, if you're manifesto appears to me the most appealing then you may have my vote. A year ago I had no intention of voting Labour, but after much pondering and influence from my left wing friends every day there is more and more chance I will vote for them on election day.

Going back to the issue of BNP leader Nick Griffin appearing on Question Time (see blog entry 7th September), I'm pleased to see Justice Secretary Jack Straw has announced he will appear alongside Griffin on the BBC panel show. Surely Straw is a much more able and intelligent debater than this fascist and will show him up to be the lightweight amateur that he is. I hope to see some other capable debaters from the the Conservative and Lib Dem frontbenches join Straw in the argument against fascism. As long as the anti fascist protesters don't grab the headlines then on 22 October Griffin will be exposed as an idiot for everyone to see.