Pride and Poetry

This year’s London Pride was certainly the most enjoyable I remember: perfect weather for the march, excellent stewarding and a really great atmosphere amongst both the participants and the crowds. The Liberal Democrats made a bigger splash than ever before, with a striking banner, a balloon-festooned, disco-music blaring, Union Flag-topped Mini driven by Hackney South and Shoreditch PPC Dave Raval and borough-specific placards for other LibDem participants to hold aloft as they walked. Very positive response from the punters. I don’t know what the speeches and entertainment in Trafalgar Square were like afterwards, as along wih many of the other marchers, I retired to a local hostelry to rehydrate.

In the evening, I went to Jeremy Trafford’s literary salon in Earls’ Court to hear Lord Gawain Douglas give a reading with interlocking textual commentary of his book of poetry, Fortuna (Alma Books, £9.99). I first met Gawain many years ago at an Oscar Wilde Society dinner, but unlike the Irish playwright, who followed the then traditional path of writing poetry in the spingtime of his life, Gawain came to the ‘highest art’ in the late summer of his. The result is not just mature but finely honed and some of his generally short poems are as pregnant with suggested meaning as a Zen-inspired Japanese haiku. I far prefer his work (as well as his personality) to that of his great uncle, Oscar Wilde’s nemesis Lord Alfred ‘Bosie’ Douglas. Most poets are rubbish at reading their own work and usually should not be let within a million miles of it. But Gawain, as I discovered this evening, is an exception: his performance was brilliant, giving added value to the text and much for one to ponder on a still almost midsummer’s night.

Link: www.pridelondon.org and www.almabooks.co.uk

ALDE’s New Euro-parliamentary Leader

The ALDE (Liberal) Group in the new European Parliament has chosen the Flemish Liberal and former Prime Minister of Belgium, Guy Verhofstadt, to be its new leader. He takes over from the British (South West England) Liberal Democrat MEP Graham Watson, who has meanwhile thrown his hat into the ring to try to be the new President of the parliament. Under Graham’s stewardship, ALDE grew to just over 100 members within the previous, larger, parliament. The British were the biggest national contingent in ALDE then, but they were overtaken by the Germans this time as a result of the FDP’s impressive surge in last month’s elections. As the Germans seem to be getting the leadership of the other major party groupings in the European Parliament, however, it is probably as well that they didn’t get handed ALDE as well.

Besides, Guy Verhofstadt is a sizeable and experienced political figure in his own right, even if his last attempts at forming a government in Belgium came to naught. In the 1980s, when he was a very young star in the Flemish political firmament, he became known as ‘Baby Thatcher’ for his economic liberalism, but he has softened since then, reportedly under the influence of his brother Dirk, who is a social liberal political philosopher. Guy Verhofstadt has spoken at Liberal Democrat Conference in the UK and even if he probably still would not figure in most Brits’ list of Ten Famous Belgians, his new role will undoubtedly raise his profile more even in this blinkered island nation. His commitment to the European project is without doubt. Following his election as ALDE group leader, he declared, ‘Europe is not the problem but the solution to the problems we are facing at the moment. We need more, not less Europe.’

Link: www.alde.eu

LibDems Trounce Tories in Sutton

Gerry Jerome has made a welcome return to Sutton (London borough) council with a convincing win yesterday over the Tories in Nonsuch ward, seizing back a seat the Conservatives won in 2006. Full results:

Gerry Jerome (LD)                         1665

Georg Braun (Con)                          1329

Peter North (BNP)                           211

Marcus Papadopoulos  (Lab)      88

I don’t know who to feel more sorry for: David Cameron or Gordon Brown!

Link: www.sutton.gov.uk

Simon Hughes’s Notting Hill Set

Some time back someone suggested — not entirely tongue-in-cheek — that I should do the equivalent of an Egon Ronay guide to Liberal Democrat social events in London, as I go to so many. Or maybe a ’Jonathan’s Diary’ social event review column for Lib Dem News, though the editor of that august journal (wickedly dubbed Pravda by some of its readers) correctly pointed out that this might cause mayhem amongst rival parties’ catering committees. Anyway, that is a long  preamble to a short report of this evening’s balmy annual summer party in a Notting Hill garden with a sumptuous buffet provided by members. Simon Hughes MP, who came on to the event from the 4th July (sic) reception at the American Embassy, was the entertainment between courses. Untypically, he had only three points to enumerate. First the economy (which Labour has brought into a pretty fine pickle), secondly the environment (we only six or seven years to save it) and thirdly the importance of ongoing campaigning — most pressingly in the Colville ward by-election on 22 July, in which the LibDem candidate is Carol Caruana — but also in the run-up to next May’s probably joint general and London local elections. Fundraising social events will be crucial in the interim, as the party relies so heavily on the money local associations raise for its campaigning. Which is why I spend quite a bit of time encouraging others to ‘eat for victory’!

Link: http://kensingtonandchelsealibdems.org.uk

Chris Huhne’s Crystal Ball

Labour could be heading for its worst general election defeat since 1931, according to Eastleigh MP and Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary Chris Huhne, who was speaking at the annual dinner of Barnet LibDems at the National Liberal Club this evening. That election took place during the worst economic crisis previous to the one we are now in. Ramsay MacDonald’s government had proved unable to agree on how to get Britain out of the Great Depression, with a result that on Tuesday (sic) 27 October, 1931, the British electorate not only threw out Labour; it reduced the party to just 52 seats in the House of Commons — fewer than the Liberal Democrats have today. The Conservatives under Stanley Baldwin won by a landslide in seats, if not exactly in voters, though this was, interestingly, the last British general election at which the winning party garnered more than 50 per cent of the votes.

Does Gordon Brown have nighmares about being MacDonald Mark II, one wonders? Or is he too thick-skinned for that? From the bags under his eyes it would appear that he isn’t getting enough sleep, poor man, whatever the reason. But of course, Gordon Brown’s big worry is that Labour MPs will have another go at trying to get him out, possibly around the autumn party conference, in the hope that any other leader would lessen the number of likely losses next year. Chris believes — as I do — that Alan Johnson is the most likely victor in such a situation (David Miliband having funked it, not once but twice). The good thing about that is that Johnson favours a half-way decent form of proportional representation. Actually leading the Labour Party to victory in 2010 might be beyond the capabilities of any man (or woman), however. But David Cameron is not convincing enough to do a Stanley Baldwin and too many of his closest colleagues have emerged really badly from the Daily Telegraph expenses exposés. So, Labour is indeed likely to slump badly at the general election — but the beneficiaries won’t just be the Tories. LibDems can expect to pick up seats from Labour, not least in the North of England and probably a few in London too.

Link: www.barnetlibdems.org.uk

Ashdown’s Law

Sweltering temperatures did not deter the expectant crowd that attended the second Tim Garden memorial lecture, delivered this evening at Chatham House by Lord (Paddy) Ashdown, following wine and twiglets in the RIIA’s St James’s town house. The basement lecture hall itself — though windowless — is actually one of the few places in the capital that has functioning air-conditioning, so those who had survived the reception were given a chance to recover and be entertained at the same time. Paddy was on fine form, declaring that three factors have fundamentally altered the world we live in today: (1) the pattern of world power has shifted, from a monopolar, US-dominated reality to a multipolar situation in which new superpowers such as China, India and Brazil are rightly asserting their importance; (2) there has been a horizontal shift of power away from nation states and their governments to non-state actors, NGOs, communities and individuals; and (3) globalisation means everything connects with everything else. He also propounded an Ashdown’s Law: that one can only achieve results if you work with other people. None of this may sound very profound, perhaps, but he expressed it beautifully and the gist was all very sound.

However, Baroness (Shirley) Williams stumped Paddy with a two-pronged question — the latter part about global elites — during the question time, prompting him to suggest that she should be invited to give the Tim Garden lecture next year. Liberal International British Group, which sponsors the event, could certainly do worse, though there is no reason now that the event seems to have become an instant institution why LIBG shouldn’t look abroad for future speakers as well.

Link: www.libg.org.uk  and www.chathamhouse.org.uk

Kurdistan: The Other Iraq

This evening, David Anderson MP hosted a reception on the terrace of the House of Commons in honour of the High Representative of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in the United Kingdom, Bayan Rahman (who worked formerly for the Financial Times, before assuming her diplomatic function). There was a good turnout by members of both Houses of Parliament, including several with longstanding connections with Iraq and the neigbouring region, such as (Baroness) Emma Nicholson and Anne Clwyd MP. But the star turn was the Minister for Natural Resources in the KRG, Dr Ashti Hawrami, who had two good items of news for those present. First, as Kurdistan is now responsible for producing approximately half of Iraq’s oil, it is a key component in the country’s security and prosperity. Second, despite the ongoing ‘Kurdish question’ in Turkey, the KRG has maintained rather good relations with Turkey — which is extremely important for regional stability.

Kurdistan likes to present itself as ‘the other Iraq’, and with some justification. A tremendous amount of economic and social development has been taking place in the region and it has its doors open for foreign investment. Indeed, a two-day trade and investment summit on the Kurdistan region is scheduled to be held in London on 9 and 10 September, at which Dr Hawrami will be joined by several of his ministerial coleagues, as well as high level speakers from the British side, including (in principle) the Foreign Secretary, David Miliband.

Links: www.krg.org and www.krgsummit.com

Paul Burstow Whips up Support

The LibDem Chief Whip and and MP for Sutton and Cheam, Paul Burstow, was in upbeat mood at the annual summer party of Holborn and St Pancras Liberal Democrats this afternoon, saying that although we had failed to gain the second Euro-seat in London, the party’s performance in target and held Westminster parliamentary seats at the European elections had been encouraging. In Sutton borough there was actually a small swing from the Tories to the LibDems, which bodes well in the super-marginal Nonsuch ward by-election this coming Thursday, in which Gerry Jerome is the candidate. Obviously, when the general election comes round, the LibDems will be fighting hard to hold on to seats where Tories are the main challengers — in London’s case, basically in the ‘golden croissant’ of the boroughs of Kingston, Richmond and Sutton — while hoping to make some gains from Labour, including in Camden. By then the message might have got across to the electorate that in the recent (indeed, ongoing) expenses revelations, LibDems have fared pretty well. As Paul pointed out, not a single London LibDem MP has claimed a second home allowance, and none has been guilty of ‘flipping’ homes or claiming for phantom mortgages. The Conservatives, in contrast, might well find themselves hard pushed to justify their record. Over half of all Tory MPs have so far had to ‘own up’ to some excess or misdemeanour and pay some money back.

Link: www.paulburstow.org.uk

Cloning Is the Only Solution

It was frustrating to have to leave the Gladstone Club’s summer Pimms and canapé party on the terrace of the National Liberal Club just as the guest speaker, Michael Crick, was about to perorate. It would have been interesting to hear his take on recent events at Westminster, without the editorial control of BBC2’s Newsnight. But I had agreed at short notice to meet and talk with a group of opposition MPs from Turkey over a dinner in Wapping, organised by the London-based weekly newspaper for the Turkish community in Europe,  Avrupa. There are said to be up to 300,000 Turkish nationals in London — half of them registered with the Turkish consulate — living, working or studying here, not to mention all the additional Turkish Cypriots. So there is a big community in London with whom Turkish politicians can engage, as well as promoting — or not — their country’s accession to the European Union. Moreover, whatever the politicians’ political colour, they are keen for Britain and Europe as a whole to have a fuller and more accurate picture of realities in Turkey.

The rich cultural diversity of London is one the capital’s greatest assets. But it also means that there is so much going on that is impossible to keep tabs on every community, or even to attend all the functions and conferences one gets invited to as a journalist and/or a politician. I often feel torn in different directions, so I think cloning may be the only answer.

Link: www.avrupagazete.com and http://gladstoneclub.org

Filling in the LibDem Black Holes

If Enfield Liberal Democrats can fill a French restaurant in Palmers Green for their annual dinner, how come they can’t win a single council seat? That was the core message — though not in quite such blunt terms — from this evening’s after-dinner speaker, Lynne Featherstone, MP for nearby Hornsey and Wood Green. Of course, Enfield is not alone among the LibDems’ ‘nuls points’ London boroughs to nonetheless put on brilliant and enjoyable social events — and in some cases, even to have quite sizable memberships — yet not manage to make a political breakthrough in recent times. The key to success, Lynne argued from her own experience in Haringey, is to target one ward, as she and her colleagues did in Muswell Hill, then move forward step by step. In Haringey’s case this has meant that the party has come from nowhere to being in spitting distance of taking control of the council next year, having already catapulted Lynne into Parliament in 2005.

How many of the local parties in the LibDems’ London black holes can seize this challenge and run with it? Kensington and Chelsea is having a good crack at it with the current council by-election campaign in Colville ward. And one of the secondary aims of the European election campaign in London earlier this month was to enable the weaker local parties to build up target wards. Breakthroughs in 2010 would not just be a cause of celebration for Liberal Democrats in the boroughs concerned. They would also strengthen the chances of the party in city-wide elections that are carried out under proportional representation. That should mean a rise in 2012 from the current three list members on the GLA and, with sufficient effort, seizing in 2014 the so-far elusive second London LibDem Euro-seat.

http://enfieldlibdems.org.uk