Slugger O'Toole

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Latest comments from PJM (see all)

PJM has commented 24 times (0 in the last month).

1. Comment on Cameron’s People Power has appeal
   on 14 April 2010 at 4:56 pm

   Cynic2, That’s a good example of where these ideas can contribute. I was thinking of Cameron’s beloved Free Schools which would require serious new investment.
   What I am afraid of is that the Tories just see them as a face saving device for cuts. I think most people would agree that over centralisation has undermined a lot of Labour’s public sector reforms so I’d like to see some of what the Tories promise put into action but I think their case is pretty poorly thought out at the moment. Done properly it has potential but their use of the US as a model is not encouraging.

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2. Comment on Cameron’s People Power has appeal
   on 14 April 2010 at 1:45 am

   The manifesto seems to adopt California as its model – not the dynamic knowledge economy part but the weird gold-rush era constitution that has all but paralysed the state for most of the last decade. Localism has certain consequences that Cameron needs to address:

   1) local provision means uneven provision. Some areas will be better run and funded or will face less severe problems. The result is always a postcode lottery.

   2) Localism means diverging standards and rules: will Cameron accept the consequences if the electorate reject a council tax proposal and the council slashes spending as a result? Will he allow local schools to teach creationism or radical sex ed.? Will members of these local groups include radical Muslim associations at one extreme or BNP groups at the other?

   3) Direct democracy carries the risk of demagogory: if 5% of the electorate can re-run a democratic election that empowers not just the the good citizens but also the racists and cranks.

   4) These proposal won’t work on the cheap. Real choice only exists if there is an oversupply of resources, otherwise you simply delegate the system of rationing.

   Tony Blair discovered in London, Wales and Scotland that once you delegate power it is hard to exert control. If Cameron is serious about this project he needs to accept that.

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3. Comment on What do you think of the campaign so far?
   on 10 April 2010 at 9:39 pm

   FitzJH, That is certainly true – and I’m sure no-one in Labour really wants the job of balancing the books either – but I also remember a real sense in 2002 and 2005 that if the Tories won civilisation would end with Hague or Howard in charge. I’m sure Conservatives felt the same in 1983 and 1987. That sense just isn’t there anymore. I really hate what the Tories stand for and I don’t expect them to be good but I can’t pretend that they are as bad as five years ago, or that I am enthusiastic about putting Labour back.

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4. Comment on What do you think of the campaign so far?
   on 10 April 2010 at 8:28 pm

   A surprisingly conventional election so far: lots of ‘issues of the day’, set piece interviews and so on. No sign of the ‘twitter’ election we were promised.

   The Labour party look like they are resigned to their fate. Very poor energy level and no fresh ideas (and I am a LP supporter).I wonder how many think that, given that they have to lose eventually, Cameron may be the first Tory they can afford to lose to as he won’t completely destroy the country?

   Locally, you wouldn’t know there was an election on in S. Belfast. No DUP or Alliance posters up and very few CUNF, SDLP, SF or Green. So much for a hotly contested constituency.

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5. Comment on How do you solve a problem like…Messi?
   on 9 April 2010 at 9:47 pm

   - “What about leading the line”: Messi plays behind the line so this is tricky but he does use his touch to play others in.
   - “working the back four”: Barca press harder that any team in Europe and Messi is always the first line of defence.
   - “finding the hole..filling the hole”: That’s what he has done all year
   - “finding space”: Best in the world at that
   - “losing his marker”: if anyone could mark him this would be important
   - “running the channels”: two of his goals v. arsenal came from doing this.
   - “holding the ball up”: he usually does this on the wing or in the hole but yes he does it very well.

   If you actually watched Barca play regularly you’d have seen him do all of the above.
   As for needing to do it on the international stage: that is as much up to Maradona as Messi. Messi was doing fine for Argentina before Maradona’s amatuer turn began. Hopefully he will get a chance to shine in the summer.
   BTW remember that Cryuff, Best, Puskas and Di Stefano never won world cups so don’t put international football on too high a pedestal.

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6. Comment on South Antrim report: The most marginal of them all?
   on 9 April 2010 at 1:59 am

   While I’ve often seen Paxman and Humphreys make themselves look good, I’ve rarely seen them actually get anything out of an interview. The Patterson and May debacles came about because they had to say something coherent and couldn’t just get into a slagging match with the interviewer.

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7. Comment on South Antrim report: The most marginal of them all?
   on 8 April 2010 at 11:31 pm

   Theresa May just self destructed on Radio Ulster during a visit to S. Antrim. Clearly didn’t know about the candidate dispute and had to be prompted as to where the CUNF were running women after she specifically said she had come on air to talk about women candidates. After Patterson’s performances it reflects badly on the Tories’ committment to the link up.

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8. Comment on Predicting the nationalist contest
   on 6 April 2010 at 10:34 pm

   As a Lo voter at Assembly time I would love to vote for her but in a first past the post system, I have to vote negatively to keep out the parties I really hate (DUP in S Belfast). If the election is close I will probably have to vote SDLP even though I can’t stand McDonnell. If it isn’t I will defintitely vote for Lo. Still undecided and may yet vote Lo just to give two fingers to the tribal parties. I suspect many Alliance voters find themselves in this boat.

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9. Comment on What Peter might learn from Martin and Gerry…
   on 6 April 2010 at 10:24 pm

   To expand on Neil’s post. All of us who opposed SF and supported the GFA did so accepting that it meant that IRA leaders would be in government. I am annoyed that Adams treats us like fools but had I wanted him to be tried for war crimes I would have had to oppose the agreement. OTOH, I also (as a non-Unionist) had to accept that Robinson could be in government regardless of his past attitude to my country.

   The GFA does not affect the proper conduct of politicians or their fitness to govern. Having seen down south what government by people who are too close to developers I don’t want the same up here and oppose Robinson for that reason. One is a question of the old dispensation but the Robinson scandal affects the new one instead.

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10. Comment on Lessons from Ireland
    on 5 April 2010 at 9:37 pm

    There are a lot of problems with this article. Even if one accepts that a small, open economy is comparable to a large G7 one the situations are only superficially similar.
    The deficits are similar only after the Irish cutbacks. The Irish collapse in tax revenues (casued by the ending of the property bubble) is what caused the deflationary policy, that collapse is continuing despite the fact that the Irish have raised taxes significantly.
    The results of these policies is that UK unemployment is 7.8%, Ireland is 13.4%. Ireland is still in negative growth, the UK is early in a recovery.The UK recession was shallower and shorter,partly as a result of the Keynesian measures taken.
    The Irish banking crisis is also a more significant drain on the exchequer than the UK equivalent.

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