Eric Pickles and why there is still hope

Eric Pickles sent me an email today, which was nice of him. It contained a video of the plump one telling viewers why the next election is harder than it might appear.

The line that the Tories have to do better than at any election since 1931 has been doing the rounds for some weeks now and in this video Pickles does a good job to refresh the Conservative Party's challenge at the next election and it does give me a certain amount of optimism that the Tories might yet fail.

Speaking from his 'war room' - a name surely picked to bring echoes of Winston Churchill planning the fightback during WWII - he starts by saying 'Hello chums'. Oh, if only he knew.

He says the Tories need to win 117 seats, not achieved since 1931, and need a bigger swing than Thatcher in 1979. The Tories will need a 'double digit lead in vote share over the Labour Party'. The Tories will need seats not held since 1987 like Pendle and Ipswich, seats not held since 1983 like Dewsbury, and even 1959 like Carlisle.

Listening to all this certainly puts hope in my heart that the Tories might fail at the next election. Complacency, hubris and arrogance, as well as their ragbag of chaotic policies, might yet defeat them.

So there is hope but my God it is pretty slim and I can't really see the Tories throwing it away. Gordon Brown's premiership has often been incompetent, frequently dithering and weak but I shudder at the thought of a Tory administration and the damage it could do.

Royals not as bad as Tories

A Labour candidate's career appears to be over before it has really begun. Peter White, who is due to stand in Havering at the next local elections, described the monarch as 'vermin' and a 'parasite'.

Writing on the Facebook page of Tory MP Andrew Rosindell, Mr White said: 'What is the point of celebrating the Diamond Jubilee of someone who is born into a position of privilege and milks this country for everything she can, she has more front than Margate asking for extra money from the civil list.

'Maybe she should sell a couple of her properties. Maybe if she wants Buckingham Palace to be maintained from public funds she should open it to the public. Don't get me wrong I have no problem with a public holiday but lets have one that means something, rather than vermin.'

Holding a republican point of view is perfectly acceptable and I share some such sentiments, but expressing them in this uncivil, manner is deeply unwise. News reaches me that he has been summoned before a meeting with key party members and could well be deselected.

One thing the Royals can hold on to, though, is that they are not as bad as Tories. 'Vermin' they maybe but Nye Bevan famously described Tories as 'lower than vermin' - a phrase which sums up the party perfectly.

Quote of the week - Turnip Tories on women

Ahead of tonight's meeting in Norfolk where Liz Truss could be deselected as Conservative PPC, let us remind ourselves what the delightful Sir Jeremy Bagge said in The Sunday Telegraph yesterday regarding the role of women in society.

Let's remember that the paper tells us that he 'repeatedly says he has nothing against women'.

'Sorry, no, I have never said I'm anti-women. I have got absolutely nothing against women.

'Who cooks my lunch? Who cooks my dinner? How did my wonderful three children appear? Women, you can't do without them. My god, take my wife.'

And what does she do for a living?

'What does she do? She looks after me. Looks after the children. Runs the house.'

That's all perfectly clear then. Women know your place.

Chemicals are turning boys into softies

The Daily Mail features a classic splash today, with the headline ‘Chemicals in plastic ‘change the way boys play’ shouting from the front pages.

The first paragraph features a perfect example of the fear-instilling reporting for which the paper is justifiably renown. ‘Chemicals used in plastics are “feminizing” the brains of babyboys, a disturbing study shows,’ it yells.

‘Those exposed to high doses in the womb are less likely to play with “male” toys such as cars. They are also less willing to join “rough and tumble” games.’

I don't want to come across as Daily Mail obsessed - I promise you I'm not - but the piece was an extremely entertaining piece of sexist scaremongering.

According to the article household objects such as soft shoe soles, flooring, furniture, luggage, traffic cones, buoys, swimming pool covers (you do wonder how many homes have all of these items) contain phthalates, a chemical which apparently mimics the female sex hormone oestrogen. While it is not said, the glaring implication from the story is ‘look this is why there are so many softy, feminists in today’s society’. If we got rid of all this plastic stuff, throw away those buoys clogging up the living room, and get outside and indulge in some manly ‘rough and tumble’ Britain would return to the traditional values that made it ‘Great’. The research is actually tiny. Only the play of 145 pre-school children were examined. Hardly a convincing survey by the University of Rochester Medical School.

But to be fair to the Daily Mail they do make a stab of writing a balanced article and include a quotation from Tim Edgar, from the European Council of Plasticisers and Intermediates. This, obviously, needs to be taken guardedly as he has a vested interest, representing plastic manufacturers. Here is what he said:

‘We need to get some scientific experts to look at this study in more detail before we can make a proper judgment.’

‘However, given the simple approach of the research and the relatively small sample of children, I think these results need to be treated with extreme caution. I don’t think anyone should jump to such conclusions without some much more sophisticated research being carried out.’

Quite a measured response really. In contrast, this is what Elizabeth Salter-Green, the director of the chemicals campaign group CHEM said.

‘These results are extremely worrying. This feminising capacity of phthalates makes them true “gender benders”. Clearly the boys who have been studied are still young, but reduced masculine play at this age may lead to other “feminised development” in later life.

‘This cannot be good news for their long-term health and development, or that of our society in general.’

What a palpable load of clap-trap. I don’t deliberately want to sound like a namby-pamby, leftie feminist. Be reassured I enjoyed plenty of ‘rough and tumble’ games as a child, with a healthy quantity of toy guns and soldiers, but our problems in society would be significantly reduced if more men were ‘feminised’. It seems perfectly obvious to me that the continued dominance of men in society does society no end of harm. Similarly, across the world aid agencies are well aware their work will progress further if women are empowered, rather than handing all aid monies over to men.

This predictable article is infused with huge amounts of chauvinism aimed squarely at its conservative, traditional, middle England, little-England, readership. To be fair on Mail readers many of their comments are quite sensible and make the point that the Mail’s reporting of medical issues is pretty poor – just remember the MMR scare stories whose damage continues to this day. But there are a few corkers. Here’s a couple:

‘anyone with half a brain realised a decade ago that household chemicals cause cell damage. - lesk, voting BNP in Devon, 16/11/2009 10:05
All ties in with the Leftist-PC policy of emasculation of indigenous males.
Hence Beckham with his sari skirt, alice-bands etc as an icon. - O. Cromwell, Shrewsbury

All in all, it makes me proud to call myself a feminist.

Daily Mail Downfall

A bit of light relief. I know it follows in a long line of Downfall spoofs but normally they seem to come a right-wing perspective. So, to quote Monty Python, now for something completely different.