I’ve been meaning to write an inconsequential reply to Labour MP turned ex-blogger Tom Harris about party conferences. He writes in last week’s Telegraph about how party conference is “not for him” and that as a phenomenon they’re largely useless nowadays anyway.
He does make some useful points. Conference really is for the most committed of political bods. Given the huge prices charged for visitors’ passes (delegates are funded by their constituency parties/associations), you might say party conference is the province of them with more money than sense. You can’t disagree with him about the huge travel and accommodation costs. The Tories were right to have their annual gathering in a central(ish) location this year. Labour’s decision to hold conference on the south coast however wasn’t the most sensible for folk who already have to travel some distance for a middle (with a small m) England venue. What about MPs getting a further three weeks away from Parliament as conference season rolls around – can that be justified? Continue reading
Nominations closed today in the contest for Leader and Deputy Leader of Scottish Labour, with three valid candidates for each contest Johann Lamont is narrowly ahead in nominations for the Leadership and both she and Davidson have also got the backing of the GMB, although Anas Sarwar is well ahead in nominations for the deputy position.
What happened in Oslo was horrific beyond belief. On that, there is agreement across all the political divides. However,when it comes to the cause and the consequences, there is little agreement. For many, Tom Harris MP has epitomised the crassness of the right-wing response to the tragedy. As the events unfolded, he waded in with a silly tweet assuming that the perpetrators were Al-Qaeda — something he has, today, at least 
