HERE WE GO AGAIN

TODAY, the Labour Party announced that Ken Livingstone is to be their candidate for the London mayoral elections in 2012.

Livingstone, who served two terms in office between 2000 and 2008 won 68.8% of the votes, defeating his rival, the former MP Oona King. It seems that Labour and London cannot shake off Mr Livingstone, having served as the first Mayor and previously as leader of the Greater London Council in the eighties he just keeps coming back.

So expect a rematch of the 2008 elections as Ken and Boris fight for City Hall, again. In his acceptance speech Ken stated; "everywhere you look Boris has broken promises and taken his axe to services Londoners rely on". Livingstone attacked Johnson for the cuts that are to hit Londoners in the year ahead. Mr Johnson did not comment on the event but a deputy said; “choosing to exhume Ken Livingstone is a very odd decision”. Unfortunately, we probably have two years of this tit for tat and Livingstone’s criticisms of Boris to look forward to, even if he does promises an ideological rather then personality contest.

Tomorrow is an even bigger day for the Labour Party, as they announce the results of their leadership contest. Rumours suggest that Ed Miliband will beat his older brother (and front runner for most of the campaign) David. Whoever wins, the party hopes to heal the deep wounds left by Gordon Brown’s defeat at the elections as they try and form a credible opposition to the coalition government.

STALKBOOK

LAST week Facebook launched, Places, a new application on its site that allows users to post their location in their status updates.

For a start do I, or anybody for that fact, really care if an old school ‘friend’ (who hasn’t spoken to me for years and I haven’t ‘liked’ or commented on any picture update or comment related to them) has just gone to Pret for lunch? The answer is probably no.

Places may have its merits for those out there who are inclined to stalk people in a professional way. It will no doubt make their lives easier. Besides this is it just a case of putting out yet more personal information on the net.

We very rarely think about the information or private data we post or publish on the Internet. It is undeletable, once released into the World Wide Web it is there forever. Facebook status updates and pointless tweets will be floating around cyberspace long after we die.

As we share more of our life online it’s important to remember that anyone out there could be reading.

FEELING REFRESHED?

HELLO to all slice of Pie readers out there. I have to admit that it has been a bit quiet on the blog post front for a few months. But I’m pleased to say the quiet spell is over.

Hold on to your laptops, or whatever Internet browsing device you use, take a deep breath from the shock of a blog entry, and expect to be checking back here a lot more often.

As you’ll probably notice, the blog has had a bit of a refresh too. With its new shiny design it should be a bit clearer and easier to read from. It is also possible for you to spread the word to anyone in the world at the touch of a button. At the bottom of each entry you will see logos for Facebook, Twitter, and other sites that allow you to share blog entries with others. And for that added user interaction, you can now rate each blog entry as well.

I hope you enjoy the changes.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES

THE party political conference season has kicked off with the Liberal Democrats in Liverpool, and this year the news media are now paying attention to what is going on.

It’s funny to think that a year ago most people had not heard of the Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg. It was laughable when in his conference speech last year he talked about a dream team Liberal Democrat Cabinet in government. Who would have thought that a year later Clegg would be the Deputy Prime Minister, with a handful of Lib Dem MPs joining him at the Conservative Liberal Democrat coalition cabinet table.

Now with a hand in power, and at a time when the coalition Government is having to make tough decisions, over the next few years Lib Dems will have to be involved in key decisions which often go against their party’s beliefs.

In his speech Clegg urged conference to ‘hold our nerve’ to serve a full five years in government and the British public to ‘stick with us’ through the cuts the coalition will have to make to slash the budget deficit. The Liberal Democrats may be putting on a brave face now but when the coalition Government start to make budget cuts will there still be an appetite for the LibCon team? How much will change by time Clegg makes his conference speech next year?

PUTTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT

YESTERDAY, the Foreign Secretary, William Hague was forced to make a very personal statement regarding his private life after one of his aids quit amid “malicious” rumours of a relationship between the pair.

It was alleged in the blogosphere, that the 25-year-old Christopher Myers, was under-qualified for his role and had only reached the position due to an improper relationship. It was stated that the pair had shared hotel rooms whilst on the campaign trail.

Hague felt obliged to make information about his wife, Ffion and his struggle to start a family public to dispel the rumours. For the first time he told of the multiple miscarriages his wife Ffion had suffered, including one this summer which the couple were still grieving from.

It’s a classic case of a story forced to the top of the national news pile by non-entity bloggers and wannabe citizen journalists for the wrong reasons. Yes we should probe into the ‘qualifications’ of Mr Myers and if he was experienced enough for his role. But should it have been done in such a mucky, smeary way across the Internet?

On a less serious note with regards to the hotel room sharing between Hague and Myers, shouldn’t we be commending the pair for saving money? Maybe it was just another one of Mr Cameron’s cost cutting measures?

THE FINAL HOURS OF NEW LABOUR

WE COULD, be hours away from a new Prime Minister and new Government.

In the Cabinet Office on Whitehall, Liberal Democrats and Conservatives are still negotiating an agreement for governing the country. Just a few meters away in Downing Street it is believed that Gordon Brown is preparing to resign as Prime Minister.

It is believed that Brown is in his office at Number 10 with his wife Sarah. Having spoken to Tony Blair on the phone he is waiting with Peter Mandelson, Alistair Campbell, Ed Miliband, Ed balls and Douglas Alexander, as the last rights are said for New Labour. His aid, Sue Nye – made infamous from the bigot-gate affaire in the election campaign – is there too. Gordon is most probably blaming her for the mess of the election results, possibly throwing around a few bits of stationary too.

WHEN and IF an agreement has been reached by the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats, Gordon will make his way over to the Palace to advise the Queen to call David Cameron to form a new government. Of course Cameron and Clegg will need to get agreement from their parties but we are CLOSE to having a new government.

BREAKING: is Gordon packing his bags?

WITH a deal between Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats moving ever closer, as talks take place in the Cabinet Office, it seems as though Brown will have to leave sooner rather then later.

There are reports that large travel holdalls are being packed into cars at the back of Downing Street, suggesting that Brown could be getting ready to move within the next few hours.

Negations between Labour and the Lib Dems are officially over and a number of Labour MPs have been expressing views that it is time to call it quits. Gordon Brown has already called Cabinet ministers for another meeting today. An announcement from the Conservatives is expected soon.

DEAL OR NO DEAL?

TODAY is ‘make your mind up time’ for Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats. There is mounting pressure for a clear decision about which party the Liberal Democrats are going to back to form a new government.

After three days of negotiations, talks and party meetings (some negotiations more secret then others) there is a growing census that a conclusion will need to be reached in a matter of hours rather then days.

This morning Nick Clegg said that talks had come to a “critical and final stage” as Cameron spoke of the country’s need to have the “strong, stable government that it badly needs and badly needs quickly”.

So which party will Clegg get into bed with?

Obviously, considering the parliamentary maths, the most stable government would probably be a Lib-Conservative government. But with such varying stances on a number of key issues and a number of right wing Tories opposed to a referendum to change the voting system (which is a key sticking point for Clegg) there could be problems. To make matters worse. A number of backbenchers feel they cannot trust Clegg and the Liberals for conducting secret talks with Labour whilst trying to negotiate a Conservative agreement.

On the other hand, a so called ‘rainbow coalition’ with Labour would have to involve members of national parties from Scotland and Wales. They could make unrealistic demands concerning forthcoming cuts; it’s not the best recipe for a string, stable government. There are also doubts within the Labour party about forming a ‘losers coalition’ with key members expressing views that more time in office for Labour could be very damaging.

Whatever happens, a decision needs to be made very soon, the question is what will that decision be?