Low Skullduggery

The Blair government was, of course, infamous for the way they timed the release of news they'd rather we didn't see.

While I'm all for giving Brown a chance to show that he really does intend to respect parliament and do things differently, the fact that over 100 ministerial statements have been released just before MPs break up for the summer is not exactly inspiring.

Still, it does give us a chance to see just how many minor celebrities Blair schmoozed last year. Richard Madeley, Fiona Phillips and June Sarpong, all notable for their *ahem* tough questioning of the PM when given exclusive access, were on the list. That must have been what Blair meant when he talked about politics being all about "the pursuit of noble causes".

I don't want to go on the cart

First of all, I'd like to offer an apology for going completely missing from the interwebs for the last wee while. It wasn't a planned absence and I'm slightly shocked to discover that it's been literally months since I last posted. Extra large apologies to those who've emailed or commented and not received replies during the hiatus. Also great big thanks to those who've offered kind words.

Without going into the gory details (which are neither particularly gory nor particularly interesting), let's just say that a combination of factors led to an overpowering case of Wonko the Sane syndrome.

Fortunately, or perhaps not, depending on your point of view, it does now appear to be passing. Proper posts on the way.

In the meantime, here's an article from the Gran:

The British government granted asylum to about 100 Iraqis between 2003 and 2005, but figures since then are unknown. It has refused to consider applications from among the 2 million Iraqis who have fled to Jordan, Syria and other neighbouring states.

And here's a related campaign to pressure the British government to offer asylum to Iraqis who have worked for the British government since the invasion and are now in grave danger as a result: We can't turn them away

The British Government response has come from the Home Office, which has suggested that Iraqis put at risk by their work for British troops ‘register with the UN refugee agency’.

It's a shameful state of affairs. The campaign aims to make sure that MPs are unable to avoid facing up to it.

Spread the word.

Update

My email is away. Moved house so I've got a new Liberal Democrat MP, one Robert Smith. (Not the one from The Cure unfortunately.) I'm told he's a decent chap.

You might also want to sign the petition set up by Davide.