REMEMBER WHEN LABOUR GOT THE BLAME FOR ALL THE IMMIGRATION?

Well, yes, you probably do.

Because we heard over and over again how they let anyone and everyone in in the hopes that they would all be poor and vote Labour.

Well it seems, according to ex Liberal Democrat Minister David Laws, (as revealed in his book) that the Tories aren't any different. The Foreign Secretary suggested a Schengen visa. And Cameron said he would fire anyone who leaked it. 

But Mr Laws is no longer fireable... and in any case, he is a Liberal Democrat and this can only do the Tories harm, so it's win win for him: sells the book and gives the Tories some grief.

Thinks: "Will I *dob the Tories in to the press, or...will I dob them in by writing a book?"

The Home Office, whose priorities are set by ministers, seem not to be overly interested in migration. No wonder they make such a mess of it.

Not been a good week for the Tories. First we find that while they have been blaming the EU for not standing against Chinese steel imports, the truth of the matter is that they have been blocking German, French and Italian efforts to curb the influx in order not to upset the Chinese. Embarrassing.

Now we find that they didn't make immigration a priority and wanted to be in Schengen, despite making it an election promise to drastically reduce the number of immigrants.

Seems to me you can't much trust them.

* For non-Scots readers, the verb 'to dob in' means 'to inform on'.

LIBERAL DEMOCRAT CONFERENCE IN GLASGOW

The Liberals have held their conference in Glasgow. It may or may not still be going on.

They talked about what they would do if they were in government. Danny Alexander took of his glasses and his tie and rolled up his sleeve to make his speech. Someone suggested he is making a play for the leadership. 

Wouldn't that be rather foolish given that opinion polls show that he is unlikely to retain his seat at the election?

In other news it has been unseasonably warm in September.

I don't have any time at all for someone who collects £40,000 worth of Housing Benefit by lying that they are living alone, when they are living with a partner. The money doesn't grow on trees. We have to pay taxes for it.

What I fail to understand is why one benefit cheat gets 6 months' prison and a criminal record for dishonesty which will make any future employment very difficult to obtain...and the other one gets to keep a £66,000 a year job, only losing his Cabinet Minister Salary for 18 months, gets no criminal record and spends not one micro second in the clink.

Fair? Decent? 

Class ridden?

Can anyone explain?

SOME MORE OF MY .............

It appears that Monsieur Strauss-Kahn’s alleged victim lives in an apartment block where property is rented to people who are HIV+ or have AIDS. If he did have sexual relations with her, his term in a New York jail may be the least of his worries. How the mighty CAN fall within a very short period in the USA. One minute this man holds a very senior position in a worldwide organisation, and is likely to contest the next election for President of France; the next he is in the pokey with the possibility of AIDS hanging over him. Just shows you, doesn’t it.

Talking of perverts (this time not sexual), old Chris Huhne is helping Kent police with their inquiries into an alleged attempt to pervert the course of justice, over the matter of who was driving a car when it was clocked speeding. Whose coat’s on a shoogly peg?

Pegs don’t get too much more shoogly than the one that David Laws’ coat is currently on. Labour’s Tom Docherty has complained to the Metropolitan Police that if one of his constituents wrongly claimed £56,000 in housing allowance, he would be expecting more than a 7 day suspension from his work and a request to pay it back. No matter what the reason for the fraud. Right with you there Mr Docherty. I'm very happy to see that someone had the guts to make a complaint. The government or Commons authorities weren't about to.

I’m also very happy that two men have been charged with the murder of Stephen Lawrence. Filthy scum that can murder a young man only because of the colour of his skin, a man worth 100 of them, should rot in hell, never mind go to prison. If they are guilty I hope they find themselves n a cell block almost entirely populated by BIG black men. That would be such a comfort to me. The murder and the incompetence of the Met ruined the lives of the Lawrences and, despite their difficulties they have acted with decency and decorum. Let’s hope that this trial will bring some sort of peace to them. It's the very best of news.

So of course is the fact that Big Eck is officially First Minister Elect and only awaiting the Queen’s nod, which, unless she has a soft spot for Iain Gray (as if) she is bound to give. Tomorrow the Cabinet will be announced. I wondering what he can change, or should change and frankly I’m not seeing anything. They have all performed exceptionally well. They will, I suppose, need a Constitutional Affairs minister, given the changes they are hoping to achieve, and maybe that should be at Cabinet level to give it gravitas. He has consistently promised that he will govern with as much consensus as possible and today’s speech suggested the same. However, a government with a majority can and sometimes will have to vote its business through. That’s what the people wanted.

Talking of which, Willie Rennie seems to have understood very little of what the people said to the Liberals at the election. He is right in there behind Clegg, his ex-boss, and Michael Moore, another old boss. The drubbing that you got, Willie, was about the fact that you are in bed with David Cameron. Sticking with the coalition now is really rather like finding something that makes you vomit, and ordering another helping. Plain daft.

Michael Moore New Scottish Secretary

Scotland has a new Secretary of State in Michael Moore, after Danny Alexander was promoted to fill the shoes of David Laws. That must make Danny’s tenure as Governor of Scotland one of the shortest in history. So how does this fit in with the respect agenda for the Celtic fringe? Seems to be musical chairs at the Scotland Office and now we have to get used to a whole new SOS and clearly not the coalition’s first choice for the post. So we have to make do with second best again.

Moore, the Lib Dem MP for Berwickshire, Roxburghshire and Selkirk, was last night appointed Scottish Secretary, meaning that the former Tory shadow Scottish secretary David Mundell has once again been overlooked as Scotland's man in the Cabinet. Mundell, MP for Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale, remains stuck as a junior minister in the Scotland Office, having been leapfrogged by Moore, who was plucked from relative obscurity. Mundell said of the promotion: "There are a fixed number of Lib Dem positions in the Cabinet, so it was always going to be that way. David and Michael are in neighbouring constituencies, so they will work well together."


David Cameron apparently led the tributes to David Laws after his hardly surprising resignations last night. Tributes? He was only Chief Secretary for three weeks and made one speech. Obviously no honeymoon for the coalition.

There seems to be a lot of sympathy about for Laws but at the end of the day he is a rich man, and if he had not wanted his sexuality to be revealed it might have been a good idea not to have lied about his renting a room. He could easily have done that by simply not claiming the rent back from the taxpayer. I think it is terrible that people feel the need to hide their sexuality in this way, but if you are going to be the custodian of public financial prudence perhaps it might be a good idea to check your own personal one first.