Tuesday 9th June 2009

Leading on from my post about Nick Griffin yesterday (sorry to sound like a broken record), I was glad to see him pelted with eggs by anti fascist protesters outside Westminster this afternoon.
This has been the big debate of the day; were the protesters right to deny Griffin the chance to conduct his press conference? Well, maybe his location for the press conference could've been better. The lawn outside Westminster is usually only used by the big political parties to speak to the press. His sheer arrogance is so apparent here by the fact that he thinks he and his fascist party are now the political mainstream, just because they now have two elected MEPs. If Griffin wants to preach his racial hate like Hitler he should've chosen a more private location.
And the protesters only threw eggs at him, not bricks or hand grenades. If I was there at that moment I would've happily joined the "Nazi scum off our streets" chanting. Well done to the anti fascist group who organised the protests. They weren't denying free speech like many people have suggested, they were stopping a fascist leader from preaching is immoral and socially unacceptable views.
Nick Griffin was on more4 news tonight being interviewed by Alex Thomson. He denied that he ever claimed that the Holocaust never happened on The Cook Report in 1997. Footage of The Cook Report all over YouTube suggests otherwise (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6X8QQwU00Jk).

I don't wish to spend any more time blogging on this scumbag, so will move swiftly on...

I'm still checking the Internet several times a day to see if the Matt Le Tissier backed Pinnacle group have successfully completed their takeover of Southampton Football Club. It will be difficult to relax until the deal is set in stone, but meetings last week between the prospective new board and current manager Mark Wotte suggest the Dutchman won't be in charge of the first team next season.
I would love to see Paul Tisdale become Saints manager, a young manager who has won back-to-back promotions with Exeter City and a former Saints player in the Premiership years. Of course, a return to St Marys for Gordon Strachan would be a dream come true, but we have to remain realistic. A few people have suggested Paul Ince should take charge next season, as he has a proven track record in the lower leagues with Maccesfield and MK Dons. However, I would be very skeptical of this appointment, as he may jump at the chance to move to a club in the divisions above, like did when in charge of both Maccesfield and MK Dons.
Just as long as Rupert Lowe doesn't ever return I'm optimistic the long road to recovery for Saints can begin from next season.

Off to watch Jack Dee Live at the Apollo now (its on Dave, I'm not actually going to the live event unfortunately), I seem to be on a roll with updates, three days in a row now, lets hope I can keep this run up!

Monday 8th June 2009

The European election results last night was a very sad day for British politics. I'm not talking about Labour's dismal, though somewhat expected, showing in the polls. Or the fact that only a third of the electorate in Britain turned out to vote. What makes last night's results so terrible is that Britain will be represented in Europe by two fascists of the British National Party.
I'm all for free speech, its the most important concept of a liberal society, but the BNP's view are simply racism disguised as politics. I understand voter's anger over the recent expenses scandal in Westminster, but there are alternatives to voting for a modern day Nazi party. Aside from the three main parties in Britain, ballot papers up and down the country included the Green party (which I voted for), the Christian People's Alliance, the Socialist Labour party, Libertas and many more. As much as I disagree with UKIP, even they would've been a better choice than the BNP.
What makes this whole ordeal worse is that Britain will be represented in Europe by perhaps the worst human being in the country, excluding murderers, rapists and paedophiles, Nick Griffin. If you thought your MP was bad, you should be lucky you haven't got this c**t (my apologies for lowering the tone, no other word describes Nick Griffin better) representing your constituency in Westminster. This is a man who claims the Holocaust never happened and has been arrested on suspicion of incitement to racial hatred, though unfortunately never convicted.
In Southampton in the early hours of this morning the results of the European election for the South East region were announced. When it was announced the BNP had amassed 101, 769 votes in this region there was huge uproar in the conference room of St Marys stadium, followed by a man shouting "f***ing fascists". I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who views the British National Party in this way and it was comforting to see anti racist protesters attempt to stop Nick Griffin from entering Manchester City Hall on television last night.
Hopefully the electorate will see the BNP for what they are and despite now having two MEPs it is only the minority who agree with their extreme right wing views. However its a shame that on the weekend in which commemorate the 65th anniversary of the D-Day landings against a fascist enemy it is a new, modern fascist, this time British enemy to equality and liberalism which will be celebrating election results.

Sunday 7th June 2009

Its been a disastrous week for Gordon Brown, but the worst may be yet to come, as tonight the results of the European election are announced, with Labour themselves expecting "terrible" results.
I think the real key moment this week was when Secretary of State for Work and Pensions James Purnell resigned. We had already seen Jacqui Smith and Hazel Blears step down from the Cabinet, but the feeling is they were pushed rather than jumped, after being implicated in the recent expenses controversy. It is true that Purnell was also involved in this expenses scandal, but so were most of the Cabinet, I'm sure Gordon Brown wouldn't have wanted a bright young Minister such as Purnell to step down.
The real dagger in the heart for Brown was James Purnell's resignation letter, printed on the front page of Friday's edition of The Times, in which he states he believes Brown's leadership "makes a Conservative victory more, not less likely."
Purnell then calls on Brown to resign as leader "to give our party a fighting chance of winning", a direct plea for our Prime Minister to step down from a now former member of his own Cabinet.
Whether we will have a new Labour leader in the next couple of months in hard to tell, but I would think with Brown's stubborn personality he'll want to fight on until next May and call a general election in which he'll have no chance of winning.
And I imagine after this week Tony Blair is sitting at home with a great big smile on his face.

4th June 2009

Hazel Blear's resignation from the Cabinet this week will come as a surprise to few after Gordon Brown singled out her expenses claims as "totally unacceptable", but now Blear's may have to give up her seat before the next general election for the good of her party.
Last night Channel 4 news went to her constituency in Salford and interviewed working men who had voted Labour their whole lives who said they wouldn't vote for Labour if Hazel Blears stood for re-election. With polls hinting at a possible hung parliament after the next general election, every seat may prove to be crucial, so the Salford Labour Party may have to ask Blears to step down if they wish to hold onto the seat.

Gordon Brown has come under great pressure, with backbenchers asking for a leadership contest, but is any one going to step up to the challenge. I believe Jack Straw and Alan Johnson are the only Cabinet members who could take on the role and this won't happen until Brown voluntarily stands down , as both have publicly supported his leadership recently.

The other big political story this week is the news that Jacqui Smith will quit the Cabinet. Sam Elliott has been reflecting on her tenure as Home Secretary at www.partlypoliticalbroadcast.co.uk.

Many apologies about not updating this in months, with no university to keep be busy over summer I have no excuses now, so will try harder!

2nd April 2009

We've been dreading it all season, but after the events of the last two days its finally happened; Saints have gone into administration. The man being brought in to run the club Mark Fry claims the club in serious jeopardy of folding before the end of the season. If this happens it will be a tragedy not just for the city of Southampton, but for English football in general.

No club deserves to cease to exist (not even Pompey) and Southampton FC have a great history, bringing much to the British game. Saints previous FA Cup winners, spent 27 consecutive years in top flight football before relegation in 2005 and are statistically the 12th best Premiership team since the league's rebranding in 1992. You also have to look at the players that have come through the youth ranks, names including Mick Channon, who scored 21 goal for England and Alan Shearer, one of the best players in the world in the 1990s. Not forgetting Matt Le Tissier of course, one of the most talented, loyal, professional players ever to grace the game and devoted his entire career to the club. I believe Theo Walcott will one day become one the best players in the world and if the lad does make it he has Southampton FC's excellent youth academy to thank.

Then theres the fans. I'm sure I won't be the only one shedding a few tears if the unthinkable does happen and Saints cease to exist. I know people who have supported the team for more than 50 years, attending The Dell then St Marys week in, week out and to take away their beloved club would take away a huge part of their lives. I wasn't at the FA Cup Final in 2003, when Saints narrowly lost to Arsenal, but anyone who made the trip to Cardiff will tell you how passionate the fans were that day and made a strong case for being among the best in the country.

As supporters we can do our bit. Now that Rupert Lowe has finally gone, I expect to see all these stay away fans make an appearance at St Marys on Saturday, we need to fill the ground if we're going to show potential investors we're worth investing in. And I hope it won't just be The Northam singing their hearts out for the lads, as it usually is, we need more involvement from The Chapel, The Kingsland and The Itchen to create a real atmosphere. Any Southampton fans reading this, I hope you will be singing When The Saints Go Marching In at St Marys on Saturday, giving your full support to the team. And on the very slight chance any millionaires looking to buy a football club are out there reading this, I beg you to invest in the Saints, we've got some tough times ahead, but if you save us now and we one day reach the top again, you will be deserving of a place in Saints folklore among the likes of Ted Bates, Lawrie Mac and Matt Le Tissier.

I have a lot more to say on this matter and will update again soon, but for now I'm off to watch The Inbetweeners.

Monday 30th March 2009

What is Madonna thinking? This weekend's news has been dominated by her sick publicity stunt of adopting four year old Mercy, a deprived child from Malawi in Africa. I could understand if Mercy was an orphan, but the fact that she is being looked after by her father and uncles and Madonna is taking her away from her family puts an immoral twist on this whole saga. If Madge wanted to adopt an African child then she should start looking by in an orphanage perhaps. The newspapers have described this as a "shopping trip to Africa" and this is exactly what it is. Angelina Jolie has recieved much media attention after adopting three children in recent years and Madonna is clearly hoping for the same kind of attention. She hardly spends any time looking after her first adopted child David, who no doubt spends most of his time in the care of nannies and this is just another photo opportunity for Madonna. Also, the adoption process is long and complicated and most people wishing to adopt will spend years on a waiting list, but Madonna being Madonna gets to bypass the queue and jump straight in. This is exploitation of children by celebrities at its very worse.

In other news, I see a pattern emerging with female New Labour cabinet members being embarassed by their husbands. In 2006, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport at the time Tessa Jowell was heavily scrutinised by the press after her estranged husband David Mills was investigated for tax fraud in Italy. This incident put great pressure on Tessa Jowell and threatened to ruin her political career. Now, three years later, home secretary Jacqui Smith has been embarassed by her husband after he watched pornographic films and claimed them on her expenses. I think Deputy Leader of the Labour Party Hariett Harman needs to make sure her husband stays out of trouble if she wants to live up to her ambitions of one day becoming leader of the party, as we've seen all too clearly how these New Labour husbands can so easily publicly humilate their wives.

I was pleased to see Wayne Rooney score twice in England's 4-0 win over Slovakia on Saturday. It looks as though he's finally starting to fill his potential on the international stage. When young Wayne announced himself to the world at Euro 2004, there was a real sense of optimism that he was the future of the England game and the World Cup in South Africa next year may be his chance to prove his worth, providing he stays injury free. On his day, Rooney is undoubtedly one of the best players in the world, but he needs to perform well in an England shirt against the biggest teams on the biggest stage, so next year is his big opportunity to prove to everyone he is world class. After what we saw from Rooney on Saturday, lets hope for more of the same.

Thursday 26th March 2009

I'm always being told that the internet is the future of journalism and events this week have provided strong evidence to support this. Conservative Member of European Parliament Daniel Hannan launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Gordon Brown, pinning blame on him for the current economic troubles. The three minute Strasbourg speech, in which Brown was present, was initially not reported by the BBC, ITV or Sky, but became a massive hit on YouTube within hours. It just goes to show how the internet has changed news.

The speech itself was interesting. Of course its going to be critical as Hannan is a Conservative, but he really goes all out in attacking Brown and his government and this is definately a news worthy story. The last line ,"you are the devalued Prime Minister of a devalued government" may have been taken from John Smith's attack against John Major in 1992, but perhaps it is suited to the current situation and while everyone may not agree with Hannan's views his public speaking skills can't be criticised. Daniel Hannan represents the South-East in the European Parliament and this will definately influence the very few voters, myself included, who will turn out for in the European elections in June.

My local MP in Newbury Richard Benyon recently raised a very good point in his blog regarding the RBS business going on at the moment.
"I am cynical enough to see the dead hand of spin doctors in this. Sir Fred’s behaviour gave the press a classic hate figure for the country to vilify while with less coverage, the Government announced another £25 billion of support for his erstwhile employers."
Sir Fred Goodwin has certainly been on the recieving end of much hatred in recent weeks and its clear to see now that the government welcome the change in direction of hatred and blame. "Fred the Shred" has taken Gordon Brown's place as scapegoat for now, but I wonder how long it will be before this changes.

Thats all from me for now, I shall try to update over the weekend.

Monday 23rd March 2009

Another quick update, want to write more now, but haven't got much time.

I'm starting to wonder if Southampton FC are destined to go down to League One, as its starting to look that way following Saturday's 1-1 draw at Blackpool. It may be good to pick up an an away point, but we conceded a very soft penalty early on which I know many referees wouldn't have given a second glance, then hit the post with the last kick of the game. Thats a third draw in a row for Saints now, three games unbeaten, but I can't help but think how much comfortable things would be if those draws were wins. Seven games left until the end of the season now, I think we need to win at least three of those games to be in with a chance of surviving.

Next up is Charlton at home on April 4th, which on paper looks like an easy three points, as they are, after all, the only team below Saints the table. However, lets not take that for granted, as this season most were expecting Saints to beat Blackpool, Nottingham Forest and Doncaster Rovers at home, but all three of those games ended in defeat. In my opinion, the game against Charlton is huge and one that has to be won.

Afraid thats all for now, want to write some more, but have to get to lectures and then take on the quiz at the SU this evening. Lets hope for some luck in that tonight, lots of questions on Sport and Politics would be very helpful...

Sunday 22nd March 2009

I read recently that the credit crunch has meant Portsmouth FC have had to shelve their plans for a brand new 36,000 stadium. Putting aside the Portsmouth/ Southampton rivalry, surely the credit crunch has helped Pompey; building a new stadium would put even more financial strain on owner Alexandre Gaydamak and the club is clearly in decline (unless they can get investment and fast) so is there any point having a brand new stadium when they won't be filling it playing in The Championship? Look what happened here in Southampton, when the club moved from The Dell to St Marys, then found themselves relegated a couple of seasons later and as a result there are 15,000 empty seats week in week out. If Pompey get the investment they need, then fair enough, the "bike-shed" has to be replaced, but its no good counting your chickens before they hatch, as, like most clubs at the moment, the future looks uncertain. And why the club and fans feel the need to move to a bigger ground when Fratton Park doesn't even sell out (unless the big four/ AC Milan play there) is beyond me!

Sure, attendance is decreasing almost by the week at St Marys, but Portsmouth fans can't turn around and mock this. Ten years ago this month, when Portsmouth were in the second tier of English football, 13,337 turned up to watch them lose at home to Barnsley. In comparison, Saints 0-0 draw at home to QPR last week was watched by 18,691, 5,000 more than our friends up the road when they were going through similar difficult times. I would also like to point out that when Pompey played Blackburn in a League Cup game in 2000 less then 3,000 fans turned up to Fratton Park. I just wonder how many of these plastic fans who jumped on the bandwagon when Pompey got promoted in 2003 will still watch their beloved team if they 're playing Championship football next year.

I think the chant "Where were you when you were s**t?" is aptly applied to Portsmouth FC.
I would love to write more, but have to get ready to go out, getting back on the Karaoke tonight, will update again soon.

Wednesday 18th March 2009

Its been six months since I last updated this blog, but after finding out people actually read this blog (thank you Sam, Danilo and Chris) I thought its about time I pulled my finger out and wrote something here.

The last six months have seen some tough times for my beloved Southampton FC. It's looking increasingly likely we'll soon be playing League One football and there really hasn't been much to shout about this season. Three home victories all season says it all and even though I'm an optimist I can't realistically see Saints staying in The Championship (though who knows, great escapes do happen). Today I wish to write about a certain Mr Lowe and why he needs to go.

When will he realise that no one wants his pompus, arrogant attitude at our club? Southampton haven't been in English football's third tier in 50 years and if they do go down at the end of this season Rupert Lowe should do the right thing and step down, but of course, he won't. He's done nothing but divide the fans, something I'm sure anyone who was at Saints vs Doncaster in January will agree with when supporters in all four stands in St Marys started fighting with each other as well as stewards.

There are are football club chairmen (and women) who love football and care about their club, for example John Madjeski at Reading and Delia Smith at Norwich. Its very clear that Rupert Lowe isn't one of these and sees SFC as simply a business venture. Ok, so previous chairman Leon Crouch didn't do a fantastic job at running the club before, but at least this man cares about the club and has often been seen at away games this season (apparently he bought a round for 10 fans in the pub at Doncaster away). I believe that one day, albeit in the distant future, Saints will play top flight football and the sooner Lowe and his cronies go the sooner this will happen.

Mark Wotte hasn't done a terrible job since becoming manager in January, but I can't warm to him for the simple reason he doesn't have a good rapport with the fans and is merely a puppet for Lowe. He showed shocking ignorance a few weeks ago when he said the recent protest marches were "just a bunch of kids". How does he know this? Did he see them? Having been to both protest marches I can say that out of the 500ish that marched each time only 10% were "kids". Mark Wotte should concentrate on the football side, which is what we're all trying to do until the end of the season. At the moment all we can do is get behind the team for the 90 minutes then concentrate on getting these mugs out after the game.

Moving away from Saints now and onto Politics. Like Southampton FC, the economy has significantly worsened since I last wrote here. Figures released today show unemployment figures rising above the 2 million mark for the first time in 12 years and its hard to predict when things will get better. I've been very critical on Gordon Brown and his Government in the past, but will bite my tongue now and not say too much about their latest schemes just in case I'm left eating my words. However, after watching "The Prince of Darkness" Lord Mandelson on Sky News this morning claim "no job centres will be closing", when 3 in London have closed I can't help but feel New Labour are up to their old spin tricks again.

I enjoyed watching the recent Channel Four Political Awards, hosted by Jon Snow and available to watch on 4OD. Vince Cable deserves an honorable mention for picking up the Opposition Politican of the Year award. The crown jewel of the Lib-Dem front bench is one of the few whose reputation has improved rather than been tarnished in this time of economic crisis and with his accuarate prediction of doom and gloom made a couple of years ago if there was to be a coalition Government sometime soon he would have to be Chancellor of the Exchequer.

I was also pleased to see John Prescott pick up the Politics in the Media award for his entertaining documentary The Class System and Me. He seemed to enjoy talking to youngsters who thought they weren't working class because they don't work and watching the man bust his moves on the dance floor is a great comic spectacle. Whether you love or loathe him, few could argue that "Two Jags" puts the entertainment into politics.

Thats all for me for now, need to go for a swim then grab an all day breakfast sandwich, will update again soon.