How was 2010 then?

Pretty rubbish to be honest! Just taking a quick look at my "blogging resolutions" from last year makes me think I may give up resolutions.

I said I'd try to improve my use of twitter. Well, I'm still using it, find me here, and enjoy it in an unfocused sort of way - but God alone knows whether I'm using it "a bit more intelligently".

I also said I'd get back into more non-partisan blogging. I don't make any secret of being a Green Party member but I was very conscious that there was a big election coming up and it was going to be hard not to over blog on the Party. Certainly I managed to tone down the partisan-ness after the election.

My ideal would be for people new to the blog to be unaware, from the content, that I'm a Green Party member at all until they become regular readers... but this may well be an impossible dream (short of leaving the party, which seems a bit drastic). Generally I think I achieved this as long as you leave aside the fact that whether I was a member of a party or not I'd still be disgusted with the Lib Dems.

Blogging projects: I tried my hand at local blogging, not particularly satisfactorily, and although the Carnival of Socialism still walks among the living (Luna 17 will be hosting the next episode any time now!). My gut feeling is that the political blogosphere is going to undergo some radical changes over the next year and any new projects I'm part of (watch this space) are going to undergo a trial of fire I reckon.

The Best Blogging is toughening up and in the process the old style midnight underpants blogging is beginning to slip away. By the end of this year I think it will be hard to tell the difference between the biggest blogs and straight online publications with comment facilities. At least that's the way I see it.

I also wanted to host more interviews and guest posts which I have done. I've got a few plans for more collaborations, which is nice, although I wonder whether the tension between an individual blogging voice and an online publication with many voices works. Certainly group blogging is one way I think things are going (as well as hyper-local hyper-specific blogging).

At the end of the day I still just blog for the enjoyment of it and never check my stats or care about where I appear on any chart or table - blogging is not a competitive sport - although appreciation is always nice.

If I have any blogging resolutions for next year I think it is these;

1) Do more to continue help promote other bloggers.
2) Take part in more collaborations and group blogging.
3) Comment more on other blogs, and lastly,
4) If I give up blogging at the Daily (Maybe) this year, to make sure I don't leave myself with no online outlet once I've hung up my mouse.

Six on a Wednesday

• Bright Green are looking for nominations for their dick of the year. You can read my nomination of French President Sarkozy here.
  
  
• Up in Kirklees the Greens aren't just advocating decent public transport, they're actually running it!
  
  
• Charlie Pottins wishes a good class fighter farewell.
  
  
• Apparently 114 Labour MPs are going to campaigning against AV despite the fact that page 63 of their general election manifesto says that they support AV because they want to "ensure that every MP is supported by the majority of their constituents voting at each election". Jane expands on this and Sunny looks at the Labour reaction.
  
  
• New Zealand Greens call for troops to be withdrawn from Afghanistan after a bungled SAS raid kills two security guards in Kabul.
  
  
• False economy has a useful anti-cuts events/organisations listing. Use it!
  

Simon Hughes continues to disappoint

Lib Dem MP and deputy leader Simon Hughes has been appointed 'access to higher education Tsar' by the Coalition government.

Hilarious. This follows hot on the heels of his supposedly principled abstention on a bill that he had pledged to oppose.

According to the BBC "During the six-month term, Mr Hughes will go into schools to canvass the concerns of less financially well-off teenagers and devise with them publicity campaigns to persuade as many as possible to consider higher education."

Well, that sounds ace doesn't it? Mr Hughes is going to "devise" a PR campaign. It's brilliant having people with a social conscience in the government isn't it?

In April I was saying nice things about the man, but his refusal to act on his personal pledge and this new role in spinning the government's plans turn those words to ashes in my mouth.

My only wish is that every time Hughes decides to "go into schools" every kid who's had their EMA taken away from them looks him in the eye and dares him to say that they are better off.

In other news...

Here's some links to things well worth reading;

• An Israeli activist is given three months for taking part in a Tel Aviv Critical Mass.
  
  
• New (to these pages) blogs include Blurtmetry, What would Clement Do?, Keith Flett, and a whole 100 top tweeting bloggers over at Phil's.
  
  
• I thought this piece by anarchist Ian Bone was very interesting and fair on alternative leadership in the social movements, even if I don't 100% agree with it.
  
  
• Red Pepper say there is an alternative economic strategy, unlock the surplus.
  
  
• A thirty page essay by a 93 year old resistance heroine, Stéphane Hessel, has hit the best seller list in France. Why don't we publish more short essays here, hmmm?
  
  
• Don't forget you still have a little time left to vote for who you think was cat of the year. clearly fire-fighting cats are not popular at the moment.
  

Out with the old and in with the new

In the year that Dr Gius Balthar became the chancellor of the Exchequor and not-so-secretly undermined the economy creating vulnerabilities for the Cylons to exploit I thought I'd take a look forward to what we might expect for the 2011.

The first shock of the year comes when the planned statue of Tony Blair is scrapped. The Lib Dems hail yet another alteration to government policy when an enormous statue to Nick Clegg is erected standing astride Westminster bridge eating the dismembered body of a baby.

Simon Hughes declares this proves the party's critics wrong as the Tories were probably planning a statue of Darth Vader or something.

Next Vince Cable is awarded a special honour by his leader of a bright jewel embedded in the centre of his forehead. This not only shows the world how important the quick stepping Octogenarian is, it has the added facility of allowing Clegg the ability to monitor all his conversations with 'constituents' in order to 'help' him with any extra work load that may need taking off him.

The new year will not be free of scandals and mis-speaking moments either.

Green MP Caroline Lucas will be heard declaring that the next organisation to give her an award will be "awarded a knuckle sandwich" in return. When discussing the issue of her many awards, Lucas thought she was talking to a resident of Brighton Pavillion, who was in fact a staffer at The Pidgeon Fanciers' Gazette picking up their biggest scoop of the year.

Lucas was thought to be annoyed that people thought one token sane MP in the House of Commons was enough. "If I don't get some decent company in the voting lobby soon," she declared "I'm going postal. No, honestly, I am. Postal. You just watch."

Comeback of the year will go to David Laws who returned to frontbench politics in the Exchequer for several hours until it was revealed that he had been charging the taxpayer for wages for a member of staff who turned out to be his six month old love child. His insistence that the child, "Broken-No", was indeed doing light typing and answering the phone cut little ice with the public.

Promotion comes unexpectedly to Tory Nadine Dorries who's brief at the Ministry for Equality takes many campaigners by surprise. Her promise to re-inject religious values into politics and make the Taliban look like "rank amateurs" makes some on the government benches uneasy.

Michael Gove is finally sacked as education minister when he is found literally setting fire to a primary school.

The Prime Minister had forgiven his previous bulldozing of a secondary school but was visibly shaking on a TV interview as he reminded viewers "That this school is in Surrey. Surrey!"

David Miliband makes a surprise return to politics as a government adviser on Afghanistan. David will say that "Given the rank corruption, treachery and poor leadership we have seen, Afghanistan will make a refreshing change from UK politics."

In international news Sarah Palin will launch a new Crusade to the holy land. A five thousand strong volunteer army joins her in storming Graceland, handing over the running of its gift shop to Halliburton. Sadly Palin was injured in a friendly fire incident when a stray bullet hit her in the head.

Doctors say that had the bullet hit her "three feet lower, it would have gone straight through her brain."

My last prediction is that the coalition breaks up and an early general election is called. The surprise winner by a landslide is a newly formed party "Just dance" which was put together by party leader and founding member Lady Gaga in response to the deep cynicism of politics.

"Politicians are always wearing a poker face and claim there is nothing else I can say while hiding their true motives. To them it is a game that they love, but this love game leaves most of us cold rather than chillin. With my experience with the paparazzi I can end this bad romance of a media manipulated political game. When I am Prime Minister anyone will be able to pick up the telephone and speak to me direct, even Alejandro."

Sadly, this all turned out to be bollocks.

Merry Christmas you lot!

Oldham and Saddleworth Candidates announced

The vile Phil Woolas (Labour) has long gone, but who will replace him? The candidates have been announced for the Oldham and Saddleworth by-election. I make that one woman and nine men;

Debbie Abrahams (Labour)
Kashif Ali (Conservative)
Peter Allen (Green Party)
Derek Adams (British National Party)
Paul Nuttall (UK Independence Party)
Elwyn Watkins (Liberal Democrats)
David Bishop (Bus-Pass Elvis Party)
The Flying Brick (Monster Raving Loony Party)
Loz Kaye (Pirate Party of the United Kingdom)
Stephen Morris (English Democrats)

The by-election will take place on the 13th of Jan 2011.

According to wikipedia the May results were as follows;

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Phil Woolas	14,186	31.9	−10.7
	Liberal Democrat	Elwyn Watkins	14,083	31.6	−0.5
	Conservative	Kashif Ali	11,773	26.4	+8.7
	BNP	Alwyn Stott	2,546	5.7	+0.8
	UKIP	David Bentley	1,720	3.9	+1.8
	Christian	Gulzar Nazir	212	0.5	N/A

Which means only the Tories and Lib Dems are standing the candidates they stood in May. A Lib Dem win seems unlikely given the current circumstances so I guess that makes it a straight Tory - Labour fight for the seat.

Any predictions for placing the parties? Anyone want to predict that the Lib Dems come lower than third place - and if so who would beat them?

Tommy Sheridan: hubris and perjury

Tommy Sheridan has been convicted of perjury and in January he is likely to be sentenced to a prison term. This should make no one on the left happy, nobody joyous, nobody smug - indeed it should make all of us on the left very angry that it was ever allowed to get this far.

Cicero said that “Time destroys the speculation of men, but it confirms nature” and what could be more fitting to describe the long and drawn out series of court cases begun not by the police, not by Sheridan's "enemies" on the left or by MI5 but by the Scottish socialist politician Tommy Sheridan himself?

Dave Osler has the tone about right I think when he rightly points to the service Sheridan had done to the left over the years prior to these events but that he then pulled down those achievements around himself over some (largely true) tabloid allegations that he could have simply brushed aside.

That he was a victim of internal rivalries is fanciful. The SSP was at a high point, with six MSPs, the best known of which was Sheridan, when the saga began. To claim that internal foes manouvered him into taking up a court case, when they were openly calling on him not to pursue it, and then lied in court to destroy him, regardless of the catastrophic effect such a course of action would have on their party just goes beyond credible. That he turned allies into enemies through his decsion is beyond question.

To say that Sheridan's decision to try to force fellow party members to lie for him in court about his sexual life was misjudged would be to put it mildly. To say his refusal to back down when they made it clear they would not perjure themselves for his personal ego was suicidal would be spot on. He made a terrible error of judgment that dragged his family, his friends, his colleagues and himself through an extraordinary and damaging process. He is the victim of his own mistakes.

As Sheridan was using the courts to make two hundred thousand pounds in libel damages from the News of the World, he was also using the tabloid press to attack his comrades on the left, using ludicrous accusations like 'scabs' for their refusal to lie. A scab is someone who crosses a democratically agreed picket line, who works during a strike, undermining it, not someone who fights to protect the reputation of a socialist party against the personal ego of one man.

The implication that socialists should tell lies to protect 'one of their own' when the case was neither political nor an attempt to bring that socialist down is wrong headed in my view. The left has to be honest with itself and with others, to do otherwise is to become morally bankrupt and unsupportable. However the lines were drawn up and the feud was as public as it was bitter with bad behaviour on both 'sides'.

The libel case raised the question that someone had to be lying and all sides of the case were investigated. Eventually the roles were reversed and it was Sheridan who was in the dock. Bizarrely in his five hour summing up Sheridan even described systematic lying as part of his political tradition. He claimed that the old Militant tendancy that he was trained in would use a "defiance strategy" of dishonesty and conspiracies against their enemies. I think that says more about Sheridan than it does the socialists with whom he once held common cause and I'm convinced that had I been on the jury the length and tone of his summing up as well as this admission of the willingness to lie to achieve his ends would have weighed heavily against him.

If this case had gone the other way, it would have been other socialists facing a jail sentence. I'm glad that they are spared this hardship, even if I'm not happy that Sheridan is not. The fact is that Sheridan made it inevitable that someone on the left would go to jail, and there's no reason to think that given that facts it should have been anyone other than the man himself.

That there is a legacy of bitterness on the Scottish hard-left is undeniable. This article by SSY shows both the power of the arguments against Sheridan's suicidal course of action and how emotionally damaging the last years have been. That some of Sheridan's former comrades made mistakes is undeniable, but the fact remains all of them, to a man and woman, had tried to stop the first idiotic case from ever getting off the ground. Once it had begun, everyone's course was set.

However, the left is not there to simply serve itself and the left is far more than those who are members of hard-line parties. The civil war in the Scottish left, in those corners where it still persists, should end, but the truth is that for many it was never more than a distraction from the good work that they continued to crack on with, either because they had never been involved in the SSP or because they did not let the feud pull them down. Those who are unable to move on from this dark period will need no help from opponents in disappearing into obscurity.

The anti-war, anti-privatisation party I'll be supporting in May's elections will be the Scottish Greens, of course, but I wish all of those on the Scottish left inside and outside the SSP all the best. This has been a difficult time, but it is a period that is over and a new chapter is begining.

Readers Requests: short story edition

Occasionally I open the blog up for requests from the readers. Last time I wrote half a dozen posts on a variety of subjects and left one unwritten. Well, actually it's a half written screed on animal rights and I'll try to get it sorted before 2010 runs dry.

It's that time again, but this time there'll be a twist. In a radical departure for this blog I'm going to write a short story. Don't worry, I wont make a habit of it, but I like to push the boundaries occasionally.

So what I want from you are suggestions for characters, plot, setting, or objects to include - whatever takes your fancy. Leave them in the comments if you please.

Try not to get too detailed as I'm writing the story, not you, but we'll call it a joint collaberation if you want some of the no doubt copious reflected glory. I don't guarentee to include everything, but I will use your suggestions as inspiration.

Who knows how this will end up, it's a bit of risk to be honest, but if it's a dog's breakfast at least it's only one post and we can all move along, passing over the disaster both calmly and with decorum.

Last minute gift ideas

You've stocked up on winter socks, chocolate money and novelty jumpers for the family but, horror of horrors you've forgetten Aunty Doris! What to do? Well, here's a few last minute suggestions that may, or may well not, be handy;

• My friend Reuben is an extremely talented musician, a kind of Leonard Cohen who can both sing and play. His band The Statues has produced a rather good album Ashes At The Dawn which you can sample then order on online (for cd or download).
  
  
• Corny perhaps but Oxfam are selling you the opportunity to help some of the most vulnerable people on the planet and provide gifts for your loved ones at the same time. According to their 'best buys' section chickens are currently the top Xmas gift right now.
  
  
• I like stationery, but I'm not geeky about it, so it was news to me that you can get an environmentally friendly stapler of all things. What home is complete without a staple-less Eco-stapler or a Water Powered Clock? Well, most of them probably, but it tickled me.
  
  
• Have you ever thought of buying a press officer for Christmas? No? Well the Scottish Green Party have a very special offer for you.

Anyway, enough of this consumerism, but I hope that helps.

Winter Lights

I was pleasantly surprised to find out that there is one bizarre passion that both the British and French share at Christmas time, and that's the noble breed who cover their houses with wasteful, gaudy Christmas lights. Père Noel climbing into a chimney seems to be a favourite round here.

The fine example of the tradition pictured right is taken from the local (Autun) paper but it does bring up that perennial 'eco-question' which is; what should those who are for a more environmentally sustainable society say about this kind of flagrant and wanton waste?

Well, I suppose we could say that people should do something more environmentally friendly to celebrate the season - plant some lovely trees or make decorations out of recycled tat, but somehow that all feels a bit too worthy.

I mean if people want to do those things please do, I'm sure it will give pleasure to all, but let's not se them to claim individual moral high grounds instead of trying to develop a social conscience.

What I like about this sort of tradition is that it feels like a genuine expression of fun, aimed at giving the community a sense of shared warmth. It feels like people trying to make a contribution to their area, and an alloyed positive one. There's no TV station, national newspaper or radio station telling people they have to do this, in fact this kind of behaviour is often mocked, it's more grassroots than that I think.

It's about people using their part of public space. At least I think it is.

I understand that some people are uncomfortable with the consumerist, meaningless consumption side of these displays, and I'm not claiming they're anti-capitalist or politically charged, but it seems to me that we need to keep it in perspective. In terms of household energy use at this time of year heating makes up the vast majority of the consumption. Christmas lights are a tiny fraction of the total (although those houses that go bonkers certainly notice the effect on their bills).

If we want to bring down energy use then insulation and home improvements are still the easy ways to make the big gains, and that's about improving the quality of our lives, not lecturing people to cut back. Even if we seriously tried to end these lights displays we'd be making next to no difference on December's national energy use. Social attitudes changes *can* make a big difference - but not this one.

Perhaps these displays encourage people to think of themselves as part of a community in a way that telling people to stop enjoying their holidays might not. If we're to save ourselves (and it is an 'if' I think) it will be through the understanding that we're more than just a collection of individuals buying this and watching that, and expressions of love like these light displays help us do just that.

A few bits and bobs

• I have absolutely no idea what to say about this but Scottish Socialist Youth have spotted a potential Christmas Number One in Ireland.
  
  
• Bob asked me to write about influential leftists a long, long time ago... that post is still half written. Meanwhile he's moved on to influential left ideas.
  
  
• River's Edge, which is currently one of my favourite reads, has an open letter to the head of Liverpool council from the ex-Labour councils who were surcharged in the eighties. It's a worthwhile read on alternative strategies to cuts.
  
  
• Practically Insurgent takes a new look at austerity and debt.
  
  
• Lancaster Unity says that immigration does not cause unemployment.
  
  
• Raincoat Optimism notes that Berlusconi is blaming English anarchists for recent protests in Italy. If only the anarchists were that influential.
  

Don't forget Bradley Manning

Adrian has reminded me to do something I've been meaning todo for a bit now - remind people about one of wikileaks sources who is getting no celebrity backing, no big cash support payouts for his legal defense and no real media attention. It's time that the world remembered Bradley Manning who is being held in a cage by an unaccountable a vicious regime.

Bradley Manning is accused of leaking military secrets to the public. While headlines around the world are full of Wikileaks, Bradley Manning has been in prison for over 200 days.

Exposing war crimes is not a crime. The authorities have imprisoned a suspected whistle blower, and left those who committed war crimes go free.

See: Website here; Facebook here

You can donate to his legal fund appeal at his website, something that he urgently needs you to do.

French cuisine (chapter one)

As you know I'm in France. I like the various similarities and uncertainties that go with being on unfamiliar terrain. Without wanting to get too Pulp Fiction about it, it really is the little differences that get you. One of the things I've been hankering after for a while was a chance to sample the French version of our English national dish - the kebab. I finally got my chance and was not disappointed.

The shop itself was bathed in frenetic disco lights and pop music even though it was still early afternoon. It was also packed with French/Turkish people, which would be unusual in England. The menus were in both French and pigeon English, confirming my opinion that the English abroad are creatures of habit, and I'm one of their kind - although I'm pretty certain they didn't really sell 'frozen bread' at 25 cents.

So, to select a kebab. Almost every alternative came with the option of additional cheese. That threw me a bit, but it turned out I needn't have worried as this was a huge slab of fried cheese that was to be slapped straight on top of whatever you'd ordered. A vital component of your daily salt and fat requirements no doubt.

I also saw with interest that a chips in pitta, or chip butty to you and me, was simply called a 'Belgian'. Combined with their delightful buns this must make Belgium a nation of admirably simple tastes.

The menu all seemed very familiar, despite a little light renaming going on, and I plumped for a 'kefte' - large spicy balls of lamb. After some haggling I managed to negotiate garlic sauce, which is apparently known as blanc.

The first thing of note was that the salad was tucked into the bottom of the bread with meat on-top. So while UK kebabs are designed so they can be mainly eaten out of the pitta their French counterparts are designed to be less messy eaten sandwich-style out of a fluffier, more delicate pitta.

My companion had the civilised version, ie vegetarian and with a plate, while I had paper, tray and very moist, tasty spiced meat. It was interesting to see that the salad came with a very French style dressing, even with its blob of blanc on the side.

Despite being denied the pleasure of picking apart the kebab with my bare hands I have to say my kefte was absolutely delicious and extremely filling. I could have done without the disco lighting but the kebabistas were fun and the whole experience well worth while. If you're ever near Dijon station make sure you stop by for, at the very least, a Belgian.

Guest post: Islamophobia and the French Left

Recently, 12 activists in the French New Anti-Capitalist Party, including Ilham Moussaid - whose candidacy for the regional elections caused controversy both within and without the party on the basis that she wears a hijab – resigned from the NPA. John Mullen, a member of the NPA in the Paris region, spoke to the Australian left organisation Socialist Alternative about the issue of Islamophobia in France, and the debates within the NPA that led to these resignations. He's kindly allowed me to repost the discussion here.

First of all, John, could you elaborate on what caused these members to resign and the contours of the debates within the NPA about the rights of its Muslim membership?

Ilham was chosen as one of a list of candidates in the regional elections last year. This decision was made in the region - the NPA is very much a federal organization. The NPA was attacked from all sides for giving in to Islamicists, fundamentalists and for abandoning secularism. The national spokesperson Olivier Besancenot defended Ilham’s right to be a candidate, but a vocal minority inside the NPA is hostile to having members with a hijab.

For the upcoming conference, this minority has put forward a motion that hijab wearers can’t be candidates for the party. A counter-motion defends equal rights for all members to apply to be a candidate, and a third motion suggests a dreadful compromise (that hijab wearers can be candidates if approved by special commissions).

The group of comrades of which Ilham is part, near Avignon, have been running dynamic local campaigns on different issues, including the question of Islamophobia. A campaign against them inside the party has worn them out and rather than fight at the conference, they have chosen to continue their activism outside the party - it’s very sad. The very real, and slowly growing support they have had from a minority of comrades around the country has not been enough to keep them in our party.

One of the things Moussaid stated on her resignation was, "We need to concentrate on what unites us, on the fight for equality between men and women, and not to say we should all dress the same way, that you can't wear a headscarf because otherwise you're not a feminist.” What do you say to the argument so often employed in these debates, that wearing the hijab is, ‘an assault on feminism’?

The majority of the Left in France believe that the hijab is an assault on women’s rights, and this position quickly moves into the prejudice that Muslim women in France are more oppressed than non-Muslim women, that the experience of women in –say- Saudi Arabia is merely an extreme case of an oppression which is inherent in Islam, and other such ideas. Muslim and Arab men are then presented as the major source of women’s oppression and contrasted with the progressive white values of Republican France. So opposition to religious practices on the basis of progressive values can easily turn into a thinly disguised form of racism – and often does.

In fact, if Muslim women in France suffer oppression, get mostly low-paid jobs and bad housing, this is not usually because of their husbands and big brothers, but because capitalism wants cheap labour, and treating ethnic minorities badly is good for profits.

Pieces of clothing have symbolic meanings in all cultures. In many cultures, women must cover their breasts, men must not wear dresses. In Sikh culture men must not cut their hair. And in many Muslim cultures women must cover their hair. When French Muslim women cover their hair to please their God, they are not saying “treat me as an inferior”.

There is another point : in France, where anti-Arab and anti-muslim racism is at a high level (which has a lot to fo with France’s imperial past and neo-colonial present), wearing the hijab is about showing you are proud to be a Muslim, (and often proud to be an Arab) in a fairly hostile situation. Tragically the opinion of the women who wear the hijab, or the niqab, is practically never asked. “Enlightened” left antisexists speak for them and tell them how they should dress. It’s an old colonial tradition, telling oppressed groups what is good for them.

The right-wing Sarkozy Government, with the support of the Socialist Party, recently banned the wearing of the hijab in state schools and the public service, and the full veil is now illegal in the streets. How is this issue exploited by France’s politicians and how prevalent is racist abuse of Muslims in France today?

A few months ago, researchers sent out to French companies applications for jobs accompanied by CVs. They wanted to compare how a young black Catholic woman fared in comparison with a young black Muslim woman. The CVs were identical except for first names and a mention of their religion (one said she was active with a Catholic organization, the other with a Muslim one).

The “Catholic” black woman got asked to an interview 21% of the time. The “Muslim” Black woman got asked to an interview 8% of the time. That’s how bad it is. The mainstream press covered this story, the Left press almost totally ignored it. That’s how bad it is.

Meanwhile racist grafitti on mosques, and desecration of Muslim graves are becoming more common – there have been at least twenty cases of vandalizing Muslim graves this year. A mosque and a halal butchers were shot at earlier this year – 32 bullet holes were left in the mosque walls. And a number of veiled women have been attacked in the streets.

The recent law to ban women who wear the “full veil” from leaving their homes was initially a proposal of a Communist MP! And the law in 2004, banning high school students from wearing a hijab was initiated by a campaign against two young Muslim women in which Trotskyist teachers were very active! Two months ago, when the Senate was debating the law against the “full veil”, a group of Muslims and left wing supporters organized a rally outside.

We got sixty activists there : not many, but in the French context quite an achievement. Almost all of the left organizations ignored it. The NPA leadership decided to “support” the rally … seven hours before it was due to start, although it had been planned for weeks. Internal division paralyzes the NPA and many other organizations on anything to do with Islamophobia.

We understand the issue of the hijab will be debated at the NPA’s upcoming conference. How do you think socialists should respond to Islamophobia in society?

The radical Left should launch an active and dynamic campaign against Islamophobia, and not just “debate “ the issue. This means allying itself with Muslim organizations. This is a very obvious point, but highly controversial on the French Left. In Britain, the biggest Trade Union confederation, the TUC, has run a joint campaign against Islamophobia along with Muslim organizations. Islamophobia is tremendously useful to Sarkozy to divide us, to point the finger at the Muslims as a threat to “our culture” in order to divert our attention from the real enemy.

Islamophobia is a gigantic blind spot of the French Left. The NPA is better than the other organizations of the radical Left, (which is not hard). The upcoming “Conference against the Islamic domination” in December, run by groups which came from the Left but have ended up on the far right, will see sections of the NPA mobilizing against it. And at the party conference we have a good chance of winning the demand for equal rights for Muslim party members.

But tragically, the conference will debate almost exclusively about the rights of Muslim members of the NPA. Only a few isolated voices are calling for an active NPA campaign against Islamophobia. This is a tragedy. In the mass strike campaign to defend pensions, these last few months in France, NPA activists everywhere played an excellent role, in the forefront of building the strikes and building unity between different sections of the working class and different generations.

It is a party with tremendous positive potential. But old French traditions of left wingers mocking or hating those who believe in God, and more recent trends towards demonizing Muslims since 9/11 and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan seem to be blinding comrades and they are falling for old divide and rule tactics. Progress is slow, but this question will have to be faced. We have to actively fight Islamophobia both because of how hard it makes life for many of our Muslim sisters and brother, but also because working class rebellion is made harder every time workers believe that “Muslim threats to our culture” are what we need to be fighting, not the capitalists.

Some links

I'm currently on my way to France for festivities. While I'm away yo might like to check out some of these;

• I've just found this blogger: poor but positive.
  
  
• I've never linked to this blogger: Kate Harding.
  
  
• Interesting US website trying to bring some transparency to the aid budget.
  
  
• You need reasons to be cheerful? Mark Steel has them.
  
  
• A small piece of good news on abortion rights in Ireland.
  
  
• James at Better Nation wants to blame everyone on student fees. Quite right.
  

Books for Christmas

I was asked to do something on 'books for socialists', and I'd like to, but that sort of thing takes me a very long time and I'm never happy with the result because you're bound to miss something or other.

However, as a prequel to that as yet unwritten post I thought I'd highlight a few books slightly off the beaten track that are well worth a read.


My first pick is The Poison King: The Life and Legend of Mithradates by Adrienne Mayor.

I have a semi-secret obsession with the history of the Roman Empire and in particular its dissenters and opponents. Mithradates was arguably Rome's greatest enemy who not only relied upon the wealth and size of his own Empire against Rome he also used propaganda, insurrection and ideas of liberation.

Mithradates was at the height of his power during the most turbulent of times in Roman history with revolution in Spain, a mighty civil war with it's Italian allies and then, famously, the Spartacus revolt - all of whom were either directly funded or abetted by Mithradates and found his presence an inspiration.

Indeed many of Mithradates' top military advisers were Romans and the anti-Roman uprisings in the East saw the Poison King as a liberating force against imperialism itself. This book is a brilliant account of the man, the politics of the time and the unprecedented decades of opposition to Roman rule that Mithradates provided.


Next up I'm choosing Delusions of Gender: The Real Science Behind Sex Differences by Cordelia Fine

Fine's book is a exceptionally well researched book examining how science has been put to work trying to justify existing gender divisions in society. It's thoroughness is extra-ordinary, but for all the rigour I found Fine's book surprisingly readable.

For those who have a liking for Ben Goldacre's pursuit of 'Bad Science' Fine's book should feel like familiar terrain. How a combination of lazy journalists, biased funding and wrong headed thinking allows it become a 'scientific fact' that woman are genetically predisposed for ironing, low pay and doing the washing up.

For those, like me, who are interested in the subject of gender it's a vital tool in understanding the ins and outs of how the scientific explanations for gender difference are often fatally flawed.


Next we have Tiny Acts of Rebellion: 97 Almost-Legal Ways To Stick It To The Man by Rich Fulcher (of the Mighty Boosh)

You've got to have a bit of light relief at this time of year, but why not combine the chuckling with this little handbook of the social civil war.

There's nothing I like better than surreal, highly negative, ways of gaining your revenge upon the class enemy and, while Fulcher's book may not stand up to a rigorous Marxist analysis, it certainly makes a very valid contribution to the world.

Talking of humorous books anyone that would like to donate to this blogger a seasonal gift of Stewart Lee's How I Escaped My Certain Fate it would be most appreciated.


For a bit of a change of pace You Cannot Be Serious!: The 101 Most Infuriating Things in Sport by Matthew Norman looks extremely interesting.

Any hate list where Hitler comes in at place 99 does make you curious what on Earth could fill the first 98 places in front of the most evil man of the twentieth century.

There's nothing more delightful than reading the pet hates of an obsessive in any field - sport in particular. You can read the authors explanation here of why he wrote the book, but I think that he's found an acceptable outlet for making barely concealed political points by writing about sport is wonderful.


Lastly I think it would be remiss of me to miss out two of the most talked about economics books of the year. Jilted Generation: How Britain Has Bankrupted Its Youth by Ed Howker and Shiv Malik and The Spirit Level: Why Equality is Better for Everyone by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett

The Spirit Level in particular has been extremely successful at popularising the economic case for social justice, or is that the social case for economic justice? Probably the latter. Both books are free of the outdated and dogmatic language that so often holds the left back, but are rooted in a very serious left economic analysis.

One of the things I particularly like about these books, apart from the fact that lots of people have read them, is that they have provided such accessible and modern accounts of why we can't aim to just get back to business as normal. That there has to be a fundamental shift in how we view the economy and what it's for.


Obviously this is not an attempt to define a book of the year, in fact it basically reflects the kind of things that gets onto my reading list. But they all come highly recommended from me anyway. Feel free to suggest your own, or tell us what you'll be reading this Winterval.

Selection

• River's Edge has an excellent editing of the Carnival of Socialism.
  
  
• An excellent piece in the Guardian on the naval serviceman refusing to fight in Afghanistan.
  
  
• The Coalition are planning to abolish the detention of children. Now please.
  
  
• AVPS asks us to remember our posties this Christmas.
  
  
• Kevin highlights how the Telegraph misled the public over a death in custody.
  
  
• The Weekly Worker has an illuminating review of a Christmas Carol.
  
  "Dickens - and his protagonist, Scrooge - has to confront a contradiction here, between Christian religiosity as a bulwark of the existing social relations of industrial exploitation and impersonal finance, and Christianity as an embodiment of shared, communal life."

Readers' Poll: Cat of the Year 2010

It's forever a temptation to turn the Daily (Maybe) into a purely cat blog. Cats purring, cats jumping, cats looking at owner ruefully... you know, that sort of thing. Perhaps I'll take a leaf out of Iain Dale's book and stop being a blogger, apart from the occasional blog post, that is.

You're stuck with things as they are at the moment I'm afraid. However, as a concession to that alternative world I thought I'd run a poll on CAT OF THE YEAR. You can vote for one of the following seven short listed cats in the side bar to the right;

Pepper the fire-fighting cat

Pepper saved the family home from certain doom. Seeing the kitchen ablaze Pepper raced to a window and opened it, letting out the smoke and alerting the neighbours in the process. Pepper's owners were very grateful as it meant the fire was caught just in time.

I'm slightly concerned Pepper's heroic actions essentially involved running away and not much else but the fire crew commander heaped praise on the cat saying ‘If he hadn't done that, the fire would have developed quite a lot.’

Oscar the medicinal cat

Forget the lady and the lamp now we have Oscar the medicinal cat. The Telegraph describes Oscar as "five and generally unsociable" with an unusual talent - spotting the shadow of the grim reaper. Nurses began to rely on Oscar to know which soul to prepare for their coming end.

We hear of an occasion "When nurses once placed the cat on the bed of a patient they thought close to death, Oscar "charged out" and went to sit beside someone in another room. The cat's judgement was better than that of the nurses: the second patient died that evening, while the first lived for two more days. "

You can't doubt his commitment "He'll slip out for two minutes, grab some kibble and then he's back at the patient's side. It's like he's literally on a vigil." Although his owner "Dr Dosa offers no solid scientific explanation for Oscar's behaviour." No?

Giuly, the fattest of cats

There are a number of things that are every cat's specialist subject. Sleeping, knowing when it's half an hour before breakfast and wearing an excessive layer of extra winter padding. On this score Giuly is a princess among felines.

Giuly is one of those cats that knows they truly are the center of this most comfortable of worlds and is surely an inspiration to cats the length and breadth of the nation, if not the world.

Casper the public transport cat

Casper hit the headlines last year for his penchant for taking the bus home after a hard days "mousing". Sadly, Casper was killed in a hit and run earlier this year but right until the end his commitment to public transport and free loading was undimmed.

Casper was a regular on the number 3 Devon and Cornwall First Direct. A company spokeswoman said "Casper touched many people's lives and clearly had a very exciting life - travelling around Plymouth and who knows where else. I suspect he's now exploring heaven and is telling all the other cats up there about the many adventures he had."

Bob the streetwise cat

Bob was found one day by Big Issue seller James Bowen having been attacked by another animal. James nursed Bob back to health before allowing the free spirit to go his own way. But Bob had grown attached to his new human and decided to stay. He even helps James sell his Big Issues outside Angel tube station.

Bob must be the envy of the town strays because he's become a local celebrity and is possibly the only cat in London to have been awarded an honorary Oyster card. He certainly seems a happy chap.

Blackie the oldest cat

Blackie, shown here with young'uns Scarlett and Tom Harris, has lived to the grand old age of 24. The Mail says she's 'going strong' which is possibly a slight exaggeration to my mind.

Her carer Quentin Shaw says 'She doesn’t hunt now, she can’t see in the dark and if you try to brush her she usually falls over, but she’s very determined and still going strong.’ which I think is very, very funny.

Described as having a lot of attitude as well as a hefty snore Blackie deserves her place among the cat of the year short list if anyone does.

Alfie the resurrection cat

Alfie looks like your common or garden ginger Tom, but you'd be wrong to think it because he is Alfie the resurrection cat! Not only was Alfie knocked don by a car his human friend Angelo Petrillo actually buried him in the back garden. Wracked with grief Angelo and family then moved home.

Bizarrely eight months later they received a phone call from their ex-neighbour because Alfie had been spotted trying to get into his old home and "had remained outside all night, meowing pitifully."

Leaving aside the fact that the neighbours didn't take Alfie in and give him some warm milk and a tin of tuna but just left him outside (!) Alfie is indeed a miracle cat having come back from the dead.

Take yourself to the poll on the right hand side bar to vote for the cat you think should be 2010's CAT OF THE YEAR.

Education and inequality

Camden Green Natalie Bennett talks about education, inequality and why the students are right to protest.



I reckon I'm gradually getting better at this camera boy / editing business.

Northern Ireland Green Party Leadership Hustings

The Green Party in Northern part of Ireland has a foot in two camps. It's officially part of the Irish Green Party but it also has to deal with the UK government so it has a relationship to the Scottish, English and Welsh Green Parties too. At their recent conference they made a number of decisions, like opposing AV in the coming referendum, and adopting a new leadership structure.

They are currently conducting their first leadership election and the two candidates, Steven Agnew and Cllr Cadogan Enright, have very kindly agreed to take time out of their busy schedules to let me interview them. I've saved one question for a post of its own, look out for that!


Could you tell me something about yourself outside of the Green Party?

Steven Agnew: I have a two year old son and he is my best escape from politics. He’s an absolute dream. He smiles a lot and cries little. If I don’t have another child it will be because I know I can’t get this lucky twice. He has slept through the night since he was four moths old (apart from when he was teething) and he still sleeps from 7pm until 8am. I suspect that every parent reading this now hates me.

Before being a parent and getting into politics full time I went to a lot of gigs. I still do when I can but am now much more choosy about which gigs I go to. I like either heavy, punk influenced guitar music or stripped down singer/songwriters, particularly Elliott Smith and Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy.

I also starred in an independent film called “I Wanted to Talk to You Last Night” made by my good friend Michael MacBroom. During the summer I played a cameo role in his second film “Endless Life” which will hopefully get some kind of release next year. I have also sang onstage with a few local bands, but I would neither consider myself a singer or an actor.


Cadogan Enright: I am married 30 years and have 5 children between 27 and 4 years of age. My wife Brenda has stood for election for the Green Party in Belfast, as has one of my sons Peter in the Republic. My father had a British Military background, and my mother a Bio-Chemist daughter of an Irish Cabinet Minister of very long standing who had led the war of Independence. After 1 year of primary school in Belfast, I was raised in Africa in the 1960’s by my Irish / British parents and we only returned to NI in 1972 following the Biafran War and a brief sojourn in London.

I left school in 1974 and worked mostly in England until 1977. I got a mature students grant (I totally support the students rebellion - in my day you got a grant that you could live on and your fees were paid) and studied in Derry City and Dublin Computer science and Commerce. Subsequently worked in the Republic, France, NI, Russia (back in the USSR), Britain, USA, Germany, Russia (post coup) mostly developing computer software and re-organising companies to make them more competitive. Qualified as an Accountant along the way.

I spent 10 years reorganising business systems in major multinationals from the mid-90's like Diageo, Cadbury Schweppes, Elan, Aerospace etc and set up my own business in Dublin which was finally killed off by the Irish credit crunch in 2008. We moved home to NI in 2003 and currently run a "Fairtrade and Local Café" in Market Street in Downpatrick where I am a Green Councillor.


Please describe your political experience or history to date.

Steven Agnew: I joined the Green Party in 2003 after meeting then leader John Barry at a protest march against the invasion of Iraq. I would not have considered myself to be interested in the politics of Northern Ireland which was limited to the arena of ‘the trouble’. I was interested in human rights, animal rights and social justice issues such as homelessness. These issues did not seem to fit into the political discourse in Northern Ireland. John seemed to be able to articulate my interests into a coherent political philosophy and soon. I was campaigning for him in North Down where four years later we would get our first seat in the Assembly. I hope to retain that seat next year.

In 2007 I stood as a poster candidate in East Belfast but it was in 2009 when I stood for the Party in the European elections that my political career really took off. A strong media campaign coupled with the message that the Greens were big players in Europe led to the Party getting its biggest vote to date in a Northern Ireland election. Along with the election of Brian Wilson as MLA, this campaign gave the Green Party the credibility that it been previously lacking.

In May of this year I stood in North Down in the general election. It was a tough campaign and I learned the importance of having a good campaign team around you, something I had during the European elections but lacked for this one. I now have a very strong team in place for the Assembly and local government elections next year and am raring to go.


Cadogan Enright: I joined the Greens on the 1990’s in Dublin in Fingal – Trevor Sargent’s constituency – Trevor has a great leadership style of permitting and facilitating people to become involved. I worked on policy documents like energy Download, building control, water (with my wife), economics, Northern Ireland, planning etc etc. I was also involved in Trevor’s election campaigns and helping greens get elected at local Government level. We moved to NI and in 2003/4 I set up the Green Party in South Down (see downgreens.com). I was election agent for our 3 successful council candidates in 2005 and for our successful Regional (MLA) candidate Brian Wilson in 2007.

I have been on the NEC in Ireland for many years, being nominated initially by Fingal and representing NI since the NI party merged with the Irish party in October 2006. I stood in this years Westminster Elections and am standing next May in the Local and MLA elections.

We have copied the Fingal approach to party organisation in my local party, and as Chair I have tried to emulate Trevor Sargent's approach locally. We travel down to Fingal for elections in the Republic, and they travel up for elections here. This connection probably explains why our local party is the only one really thriving to date in NI – but we have promising signs now in Antrim and other areas developing.


What do you think the priorities of the Greens should be in the coming years?

Steven Agnew: In Northern Ireland the first task is to increase our number of councillors, retain our Assembly seat, and hopefully gain one or two more. If we do that we will have cemented our place in Northern Ireland politics but should we lose our Assembly seat and fail to gain any others we will struggle to make any impact for many years to come.

In terms of our message I think it is important that we use this election to put to bed the myth that the Green Party is a single issue party and assert are credentials as a party of the left fighting for social justice.

While it is our responsibility to keep climate change on the agenda now that all other parties have abandoned it in the midst of the economic crisis, we must address the people’s concerns about job insecurity and show how Green Party policies really will help improve their lives.


Cadogan Enright: I had fond hopes during the 1990’s that the need for a Green Party would disappear during my political lifetime and felt fairly sure up until five years ago that our policies would be subsumed by the other parties in countries across Europe and that, in particular, the influence of the EU would steam-roller resistance.

I now feel that the maxim “think global act local” is the way for the long haul, trying to win dozens of small victories locally which others can use as a precedent. E.G. beach by-laws minerstown, Greens announce victory at tyrella beach, Greens welcome news on strangford seals, massive fish kill quoile, Annalong river scandal, Lough

I feel the policy we developed in 2005 in NI of attracting independents, and adding our vote to them to get elected was a waste of time and 20:20 vision. We were never able to integrate the independents and are now paying the price of not developing our own candidates and local parties properly on NI, something I have been trying to ensure we do in my own area where we have a slate of political virgins stepping up to the plate next May who have been campaigning actively for several years as you can see from my website.

Following our election success in 2007, I argued strongly that our priority needed to be the building up of the party around the province. I felt that an over-concentration of our resources in staff at our Stormont-financed offices would mean nothing if we came to the next elections and found ourselves with no organization in the vast majority of constituencies around the province. Sadly, this is the situation where we now find ourselves in today. Employing even a part-time organizer could have transformed the party over these last few years.


Could you outline what lessons Greens should learn internationally from the experience of the Irish Greens in government?

Steven Agnew: I am proud of the achievements of the Irish Greens in government. There is no doubt that the current Irish government is unpopular, but we knew our vote when we went into government with Fianna Fail, a party whose policies we had opposed for many years.

We were a party with six TDs in government with a party with over seventy yet we managed to secure the Civil Partnership Act despite much opposition. We increased investment in renewable energy and electric vehicles, and we extended the broadband network to many rural communities. One of our major achievements was the reform of the planning system which had allowed the building of what are now ghost villages during the housing boom. The Green Party has ensured that the type of irresponsible rezoning that was one of the major causes of Ireland’s economic crash will not happen again. We get very little credit for this as few recognise its importance.

But there are lessons to be learned. In the first year we were seen as too cosy in our relationship with Fianna Fail. I remember when Bertie Ahern announced his resignation; Green Party Leader John Gormley was at his side. This literal closeness suggested that the Greens were all too comfortable in government with Fianna Fail. I think Nick Clegg is making the same mistake, although in his case I believe that his and Cameron’s ideologies are not that dissimilar. We changed tact somewhat after the first year and Dan Boyle, the Party’s Chair, became the voice of protest at the senior Party level.

Any party going into government as a junior partner will find it difficult. The question every member has to ask themselves is “is it more important that the Party stick to its principles or is it worth making compromises if we can make a real difference to people’s lives?”. I believe the compromises were worth it, though no member is happy with the ECB/IMF imposed budget that has just been announced.


Cadogan Enright: On the positive side, making a clear list of the deliverables and making program-managers responsible for their delivery during the course of the government was a good idea.

However it is clear that our Fianna Fail partners managed to long-finger a lot of our important legislation and we should not have let them. EG Incineration Aarhus convention, Party Political Funding Reform. We are still awaiting the publication Climate Change Bill and it will be pretty scandalous if it does not get passed before the Government falls in February or March. FF have allowed us to get issues that they see as “damaging” – only damaging to their supporters though – not to ours! Hunting, animal welfare and Lesbian and Gay Partnerships being legally recognised.

I also feel that there was a long list of “no-cost” items in our programme for Government that could have been delivered given the lack of interest in FF is such items – competition between Mobile Phone companies North and South – feasibility studies for reactivating railways severed by the partition of Ireland, failure of the banks in the RoI and NI to compete effectively driving up costs and other regulatory style issues. Even simple issues like making Irish Language TV available in NI as per the peace agreement took way too long – and even now is only promised when digital takes over from Terrestrial TV.

The purchase of the NI Grid by the RoI was a big gain, enabling the Grid to be re-engineered to accommodate much higher levels of renewables and greater links to Britain and the rest of Europe.

Clearly as a member of the NEC during I carry collective responsibility here, and I particularly regret the vote to support the rescue of the Irish Banks. Even if we had left Anglo Irish bank out on the basis that it borrowed abroad, lent abroad and had no infrastructural benefit to the Irish Economy the IMF rescue and the damage to the economy in the Republic would have occurred.

The terms agreed with the EU central bank clearly favour big German bond-holders who lent to Anglo. An average borrowing rate of 5.8 to 6% was an insult given that Ireland is paying it to the very German banks that lent to Anglo. Clearly with the EU central bank rate at 1% Ireland's borrowing rate should have been no more that 3%. That being said the manufacturing and exporting base of the Irish Economy is hale and hearty so all is not lost.

I also regret our inability in Government to throw our weight about on issues that cropped up after we went into Government. For instance the Irish Government is clearly either breaking or about to break the Bern Convention on the Badger Cull issue. Our Minister could quite simply rule the application for a new cull licence out or order based on International Law – there are some things you don’t need to tip-toe around the civil service on. See here.

stay tuned for part two...

Ethical Christmas ideas

I usually celebrate Winterval by reading Mao Tse Tung's juvenile poetry and then contemplating the considerable harm that the bourgeois family structure does to children, especially at this time of year. But there was a time before I was a card carrying member of the loony left so I understand the need for gift ideas for those family and friends who are still plagued with the false consciousness we know as 'Christmas Cheer';

Cards

You will need cards for workmates, pals and distant relatives. Why not combine your best wishes with ideological purity? Friends of the Earth have some lovely cards, as does Red Pepper.


Wrapping up warm

Over at Philosophy Football there is a right-on shirt for every occasion. There's even lefty mugs and the like, each with a revolutionary quote or football related aphorism.


Liar, Liar

When I first heard there was another campaign to get a political song to number one I was in two minds. Rage Against the Machine was a tried and tested beautiful song of fury and it was bliss itself when it got the top slot last year. Liar, Liar was created especially for the task and so I put off listening to it, assuming it was overly worthy and low on dancability.

However, when I heard it at the demo on Thursday, blasting out from a double-decker bus hired for the occasion I was pleasantly surprised. It's rather good. In which case, why not purchase a copy of Liar, Lair and help get it to Christmas Number One this year.

Details to buy at Lib Con, and you can preview the video here.


Adopt an activist

You've sponsored all the donkeys and you're stuck for what to sponsor next? People and Planet are encouraging people to adopt an activist. Yes, you too can have a flag swinging, Royal prodding student activist of your own. The perfect gift for the lonely socialist in your life.


Bits and bobs

The Guardian answers your Christmas tree questions, and don't forget ethical decorations. The Mail recommends eco-lights and booze. The Telegraph has fifty tips - fifty! Talking of publications you could subscribe someone to the Ecologist for a year and get free stuff.

Then again Lush can supply you with a retro Christmas package, for those who like their Christmases untainted by neo-liberalism or liberal guilt. Another smelly might be soapnuts, which are the ridiculously green alternative to washing powder.

Alternatively if you only buy from collectives, rather than companies then Who made your pants is for you.

Anyway, hope some of that helps!

The Tuition Fees Consistency Awards

Simply out of interest I thought I'd compare and contrast those MPs who voted on the original Higher Education Bill that brought in Tuition Fees in 2004 and last week's vote on raising those fees. I wanted to find out which MPs were actually consistent on the issue.

The first list is easy. Of everyone who voted for tuition fees in 2004 not a single MP voted for the rise in 2010. There is not a single MP who has been a consistent advocate of the current policy on tuition fees.

The second list is made up of the Labour 2004 'rebels', the Lib Dem and Tory 2010 'rebels' as well as SNP/Plaid. This list does not contain abstainers only people who voted against tuition fees both times.

Ms Annette Brooke	Mid Dorset and North Poole	Ldem
Mr Menzies Campbell	North East Fife	Ldem
Mr Andrew George	St Ives	Ldem
Mr Mike Hancock	Portsmouth South	Ldem
Mr Charles Kennedy	Ross, Skye and Inverness West	Ldem
Mr John Pugh	Southport	Ldem
Mr Alan Reid	Argyll and Bute	Ldem
Mr Bob Russell	Colchester	Ldem
Mr Adrian Sanders	Torbay	Ldem
Mr Roger Williams	Brecon and Radnorshire	Ldem
Miss Diane Abbott	Hackney North and Stoke Newington	Labour.
Mr Martin Caton	Gower	Labour.
Mr Jeremy Corbyn	Islington North	Labour.
Mr David Crausby	Bolton North East	Labour.
Mr Jon Cruddas	Dagenham	Labour.
Mr John Cryer	Hornchurch	Labour.
Mr Ian Davidson	Glasgow Pollok	Labour.
Mr Jim Dobbin	Heywood and Middleton	Labour.
Mr Frank Dobson	Holborn and St Pancras	Labour.
Mr Paul Farrelly	Newcastle-under-Lyme	Labour.
Mr Paul Flynn	Newport West	Labour.
Mr Roger Godsiff	Birmingham, Sparkbrook and Small Heath	Labour.
Mr Dai Havard	Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney	Labour.
Ms Kate Hoey	Vauxhall	Labour.
Mr Kelvin Hopkins	Luton North	Labour.
Mr Eric Illsley	Barnsley Central	Labour.
Ms Glenda Jackson	Hampstead and Highgate	Labour.
Mr Tony Lloyd	Manchester Central	Labour.
Mr Ian Lucas	Wrexham	Labour.
Mr John McDonnell	Hayes and Harlington	Labour.
Mr Michael Meacher	Oldham West and Royton	Labour.
Mr George Mudie	Leeds East	Labour.
Mr Albert Owen	Ynys Môn	Labour.
Mr Dennis Skinner	Bolsover	Labour.
Mr Jon Trickett	Hemsworth	Labour.
Mr Elfyn Llwyd	Meirionnydd Nant Conwy	PC
Mr Hywel Williams	Caernarfon	PC
Mr Angus Robertson	Moray	SNP.
Mr Michael Weir	Angus	SNP.
Mr Pete Wishart	North Tayside	SNP.
David Davis	Haltemprice and Howden	Tory
Julian Lewis	New Forest East	Tory

That's ten Lib Dems, twenty four Labour, two Tories, two Plaid and three SNP MPs. Forty one MPs in total. Obviously this list excludes those MPs who weren't MPs in both 2004 and 2010. Well done all of them for being consistent on this issue.

I should point out there is not a logical inconsistency in voting for introducing fees and opposing tripling them, although some might argue that the first allowed the second. I think there is a problem though in voting against introducing them and then being in favour of their increase, as we have seen many Lib Dems and Tories do - but there are too many of them to bother listing.