PM won't serve a third term...he's got to win a second first!

A PUZZLING annoucement from the Prime Minister during an 'at home' interview with the BBC, he won't serve a third term at Number 10...

Puzzling because of it's timing, why on earth would you on the verge of the election campaign proper say you only want the job for one more term then you'll be off?

Puzzling because recent history shows PMs who set out their future plans tend to limp along until the end, see Tony Blair after he said in 2004 he wouldn't serve a full third term. He then faced mutiny and uncertainty regularly until he eventually departed in 2007.

Puzzling because the Conservatives love a good old bunfight over the leadership, a vote for the Tories in May will gurantee lots of jostling for position and in-fighting, particularly as Cameron named his chosen three; May, Osborne and Boris. Wonder what Sajid Javid and the other 'rising stars' think about his comments.

And puzzling because technically, the PM hasn't won an election yet, either in 2010 or the upcoming poll. His comments, however well intentioned, could be percieved as arrogance from a man who didn't win a majority in 2010.

Put simply the Conservatives are shooting themselves in the foot at every turn, every good sound bite and economic news they have is undone by strategic mistakes.

The Tories ought to be doing better, Labour are led by a man who simply hasn't sealed the deal with his core Labour vote let alone floating voters, the Lib Dems are near enough finished while the UKIP pint has been watered down in recent weeks.

It's as if the Tories don't understand that to obtain a majority Government they need to do better than 2010, a very hard challenge granted but the circumstances are there.

Cameron should have embarked on his 2010 'meet the people' strategy and debated Miliband head to head. Not doing so has render his 'weak' tag on Miliband virutally redundant.

Labour's task now is to weave a narrative which once again labels Cameron arrogant, point out he failed to win a majority in 2010 and question again why he won't debate his record.

If they are successful then Cameron will indeed not serve a third term, he won't get a second either!

Clarkson

JEREMY Clarkson has attracted more attention in the past week than the Islamic State, any of our politicians or the upcoming Budget.

Now what that says about our media remains to be seen but there has been a lot of talking about something where no one knows what ACTUALLY happened.

'Jezza punches producer' quickly turned into 'Jezza calls producer a effin this and that'.  

Two very different things, if he's punched Oisin Tymon then, as much of a fan of Top Gear and Clarkson as I am, I'm afraid it might have to be the end of the road for him.

If it's just a lot of shouting and swearing and loads of insults then surely things can be resolved. Almost every show on TV has probably seen heated rows at one point or another!

The problem in all this is the BBC itself. If we believe the media reports, Clarkson 'turned himself in' a week ago....one week! Ask yourself this if you'd been punched at work would you be happy if your boss waited a week before tackling it?

The BBC looked more concerned about cancelling Top Gear than actually looking into this and have now got themselves in an almighty mess.

The corporation thinks everything needs to be an inquiry, it doesn't. Take statements from everyone involved and who was there, build a timeline. 

Once the events of that night are clear, take the action needed. Simple

And on that bombshell it's time to end 

Bring em home!

REMEMBER the reason we've had so many Ashes series recently? It was to ensure we had 'proper' preparation for the Cricket World Cup.

Yes folks this is the result of 'proper preparation', batsman batting out of position, bowlers leaking runs and Sri Lanka chasing down 309 for the loss of just ONE wicket.

Forget Scotland, England have been an embarrassment at this World Cup, out batted, out fielded, out bowled and frankly outclassed.

Unbelievably despite making the same mistake at every World Cup since 1999, England are still playing one day cricket like we did in the 70s and 80s. Meanwhile the rest of the world learned from tournaments like the IPL and Big Bash.

So an English batsman will walk to the wicket and take a few balls to 'look at the bowling', when he reaches 10 not out off 20 balls, batsmen like Brendon McCullum and AB De Villiers are raising their bats for a 50 or getting very close.

This is despite having some power hitters like Moeen Ali, Alex Hales, Jos Buttler and Ravi Bopara in the line up, a line up which could also have had Kevin Pietersen had he not been sacked.

Quite simply, those playing for England now do so in fear and are made to toe the party line, buy into the head coach's love of statistics and most importantly not have an opnion.

Never in the history of sport has a man been sacked for having an opinion, Kevin Pietersen did. In sport if you don't deliver your dropped, not banned from ever being selected again unless you have committed a crime against the law of the land or cheated using drugs et al.

The perpetrators? Paul Downton, Andy Flower and James Whittaker - MD, former coach and head selector. Men who want to change the very notion of sport and only have the 'right sort of people' playing for the country.

The problem is all successful teams have 'challenging' players within their midst. Shane Warne had an interesting life away from the cricket, did Australia ever drop him? Course not!

A clean slate is needed, we need to go back to picking the best players in an atmosphere where they can excel. Or what we called the 'Duncan Fletcher era'

As well as these awful men, Peter Moores also needs to be removed, how a man who wasn't deemed good enough for England head coach once actually has the job again is beyond me

In their place perhaps lets consider former England captains who went to the commentary box not executive box. Strauss for MD? Vaughan as coach and Hussain as chairman of selectors?

Think about it, former players driving the future of the English cricket team......awfully radical isn't it!

Or shall we leave it and let Bangladesh chase 300 next week and then lose by 100 runs to Afghanistan?

We can do better than this!

REVIEW: About Time we heard such great music

SIMON Bell's first release since 'Givin' It Plenty', the theme from No.1 Of The Secret Service in 1976 is entitled 'About Time', I wonder why it took so long.

This EP showcases the full range of his considerable vocal talent, from the deep, sorrowful and soul vocals to the high, punchy notes meaning About Time is a rollercoaster of human emotion.

The self-penned lyrics are emotive and strong and easily to pick up as Bell is a master of his craft and provides clear diction throughout.

About Time begins with 'Next To Me' a tale of love and loss, full of anger but also recrimination and loss, beautifully woven together with words and a fine sorrowful sound.

Play (If Life's a Game) is in a similar soulful vein and creates a very relaxed atmosphere which allows you as a music lover to take in the deep vocals.

Bell, together with producer Justin Whittingham, has put together a masterclass in EP recording, for as soon as you've relaxed into your chilled out zone, up comes Partner in Crime.

Within the first few chords, the atmosphere of the EP changes with a foot tapping, guitar heavy bouncy tune which fans of the Eagles might appreciate as the sound is quite similar.

For me Partner in Crime is the most addictive track on the EP, with just a few listens I was humming the tune when I finished the car journey.

To close a very fine EP, Bell wishes us a Happy New Year and returns to the sorrow and soulful sound which serves him well.

The track is very poignant and brings together nicely the mood around the change of year, one of celebration yes but also reflection and occasionally emotion.

Music can make you happy and make you sad, but it can also make you reflect and think.

About Time does that, based on this effort I reckon it's About Time we heard an album!

* About Time is available for download from iTunes, Amazon and all other music download sites.

General Election TV Debates – The Solution

This is less of a blog, more of an open letter to all the party leaders and to the broadcasters, a solution to your current ‘dilemma’ over the proposed debates.

STRUCTURE – one debate between David Cameron and Ed Miliband and one between Cameron, Miliband and Clegg. Instead of inviting just Farage to the last one, invite him, Natalie Bennett from the Greens and George Galloway from Respect. It’s not beyond podium builders to come up with seven platforms you know!

Every party which is represented in Westminster and could feasibly field candidates in every constituency across the UK would then have a platform.

SCOTLAND, WALES AND NI – For a party very keen to distance itself from the ‘Westminster elite’, the SNP has spent a lot of time demanding to be in the debates. Why? People in England cannot vote for them. Same with Plaid Cymru and the various Northern Ireland parties, should they have a platform? No.

Instead, why not have country specific debates. I mean wasn’t the whole point of the Scottish devolution vote to ensure the Scottish voice was heard. Why not have a debate between the SNP, Scottish Labour, Scottish Conservatives and Scottish Liberal Democrats? Sky ran one the last time and it proved very successful.

Surely the voters in those countries want to know what the various parties are going to do for the country if returned to Westminster? It’s not about exclusion it’s about issues that matter to those in the respective countries are addressed.

AND IF THEY DON’T AGREE – empty chair them, this applies to the PM if he is indeed ‘chicken’ but also call Miliband’s bluff as well. Quite simply if an invited guest doesn’t turn up, leave the podium empty and let the British public draw their own conclusions.

Simple? Yeah pretty much, so is there any chance you lot can get on and sort it out because frankly there are one or two hugely more important issues affecting us at the moment!

Je Suis Charlie....we are all united

LAST week's horrific events in Paris were meant to cause division, anger and recriminations and perhaps even conflict.

Instead it provoked quiet outrage, with Parisians being joined by people from across the world to express their revultion at the vile acts committed in the name of the Prophet.

As well as the condemnation from all races, creeds and colours it's important to again these murderers are not 'Islamic terrorists' they are 'terrorists'.

I grew up with the news often dominated by vile atrocities committed by the IRA both in Ireland and on the mainland.

Were they 'Irish terrorists'? No, just terrorists. The brave 'Not in Our Name' protests showed the actions of the IRA and later the 'Real IRA' were not the actions of Ireland.

These vile butchers want to be portrayed as 'Islamic Terrorists' because it aids their cause to provoke a split and see Christian and Jew battle Islam in another 'Holy War'.

But the column inches and tweets by Muslims of all ages, status and gender since the attack show how outraged many are about attacks in the Prophet's name.

Single handedly these savages have outraged the West and much of the Islamic world, further denting their and ISIS hopes of provoking some sort of holy war.

For as long as we, the peace loving, tolerant and understanding members of society stand together, the forces of evil will never win.

These savages and those who continue to join them aren't fighting in anyone's name, least of all the Prophet. Would any god truly condone the beheading of a man who brought aid to Syrian refugees, many of them children, as was the case with Alan Henning? Of course not

When history reflects on the tragic events of January 7 and the subsequent days, I hope it will remember those who perished and the united front against terrorism.

These butchers will just be a foot note, just the way it should be.

Hello 2015 and thanks for the memories 2014

I KNOW, a year in review post five days after it finished, I’ve been busy!

2014 was a wonderful year as I became a dad for the first time to baby Jacob although I question how he already is five months old, where does the time go.

I feel truly humbled to have been blessed with a child and that Pam enjoyed a relatively healthy pregnancy and suffered little ill effects in the aftermath.

We didn’t have the birth we wanted but the greatest gift for any man is to bring his wife and child home, both healthy and happy if a little bewildered by the whole thing!

It’s a gift I cherish and am thankful for each day and I am humbled to see my wonderful wife evolve from the kind-hearted person she has always been to the natural mother. I know I am biased but I truly believe she was born to be a mother, I am just thankful I played my part in helping her achieve her destiny.

Also in 2014 I saw good friends become parents, some for the first time in dramatic circumstances and others for the second time, their lives made complete by the welcome arrival of another little bundle.

Family members have made decisions about their futures and some dear friends have bounced back from the abyss in style and are now looking down the road to a brighter tomorrow.

I still miss those we have lost but cherish the fact my immediate family all have their health, all apart from my dear mum.

Dementia is sadly a permanent resident but the fight in her heart remains, she has never been beaten by anything in her life and dementia, you’ve picked a tough cookie this time.

The mum I know is long gone, but her courage and her will to keep going sustains me and my dad. To anyone coping with dementia I say don’t focus on the present, treasure the memories.

So what of 2015? What are you bringing to the party? You’ve got a lot to live up to!

Whatever you have to offer, I will attack every day the same and to everyone reading this may I wish you all a happy, healthy and prosperous 2015.