Poisoning the well - by Richard... Sunday, October 23, 2011

Poisoning the well - by Richard... Sunday, October 23, 2011

Warner awakes, with this: "On Europe, as on most other issues, you could not put a cigarette paper between the main parties. The new politics is no longer a contest between rival party ideologies but between the political class and the public it despises".

What he is describing, of course, is the "above the line" phenomenon that we wrote about at the beginning of this month. It is fascinating to see that different people, entirely independently, are coming to the same conclusion.

And, talking of conclusions, Autonomous Mind looks at the forthcoming referendum debate and concludes that the renegotiation option is poisoning the well – behaviour common to retreating armies. (unashamedly, I have borrowed his pic).

Typical of the genre is Bernard Jenkin in the Failygraph, yet another MP bleating about the government taking back power from Brussels. Whether intentional or not, he and the likes of George Eustice will ensure that the debate goes nowhere. By Wednesday, the issue will be yesterday's news, parked, and forgotten ... which was perhaps the intention all along.

Unsurprisingly, d'Ancona notes that Eustice – once Cameron's press secretary – "has earned the discreet gratitude of No 10" for his handling of the issue and is now the one rebel who's still got a good chance of promotion. Poisoning wells, therefore, has its reward. Expect Eustice to be a PPS within six months and a junior minister before the end of The Boy's reign. He has served his master well.

This England of ours - by Richard...

There is no dispute over the basic facts of this first story. The police admit them. Essentially, four constables attended a private address, ostensibly to remove a 14-year-old girl from her own mother, asserting that she was in danger of "significant harm".

When the girl did not want to go with the police, they restrained her, handcuffed her, and then forcibly removed her. They then charged her with "assault" - interviewing her without a parent or guardian present, in contravention of the rules – and locked her in a cell for 12 hours.

This is England, our England – one of windmills, bobbies on bicycles, rank bloody stupidity, indifference and state violence. If I thought armed revolution was the answer, I'd be advocating it. But we're going to have to play it a bit more canny than that.

However, if there are any happy souls out there who don't think we have a problem, I really would like to share the substances they are on – just for the next week or so.