Council Elections and Conference

Thursday night and sadly the Greens didn't take control of Norwich Council. The Party won an additional seat taking them to 14, while Labour held 16. Nevertheless it's the largest green group of councillors in the country and Norwich as a city should be able to mount a campaign against the cuts that the Con Dem government will surely attempt to impose.

The day after the Green Party Conference began in Birmingham. It's the first conference since Caroline Lucas won the seat at Brighton Pavilion, and the importance of that fact was confirmed when she was interviewed on Radio 4 and 5 in the morning. BBC News carried a short soundbite from her at the conference, and the Guardian, Independent and Telegraph carried reports the next day.

Her speech focussed on welcoming those disillusioned with the three main parties, she ridiculed the choice put in front of Labour members in the current leadership contest. In fact she could have been speaking to me, since leaving Labour I've not felt compelled to return. I was energised by working for the Greens during the election campaign, but in truth the yawning gap between the level of debate at national level and the near moribund state of the local organisation deters me from involvement. I sense I have to resolve this in my own mind during the remainder of thw year.

The Boys of Summer are gone !

Wednesday 8th September at around 4.45pm, the rain began to fall over the Oval. Play had stopped for bad light some minutes before. Grey sky overhead indicated that the rain was not going to relent, and so I decided to make my way to the station.

For me the cricket season was over; there are two more days of the game remaining but work commitments will prevent me taking seat at the ground. I came to realise that next year , once I retire, I'll be able to watch much more cricket.

Sadly between now and then is a long winter. In November England will travel to Australia to defend the Ashes, and I should be able to watch a fair amount on TV, but cricket is all about being there. Warm days, warm beer and a pasty... until next April.

Back to Politics

After a fairly quiet month the chance to chew over a few political stories:
To start with the Labour leadership, there would have been a time I'dhave been waiting for the ballot paper to drop on the mat. Now I can look from the sidelines, and to quote Diane Abbott it does look like "four geeks in suits". Of course there's little to choose between them on policy, they all , bar Abbott, served Blair/Brown loyally. What should anyone make of apologies or regrets over Iraq or other contentious issues. It hasn't been a contest to light up the media, and it seems likely that it will be a shoot out between the Millibands ( son of Blair v son of Brown). Strangely in terms of fighting the coalition in Parliament , Balls has the right credentials, whether his close relationship with Brown has done for him is debatable.

Meanwhile in London , Labour members have to select a candidate to challenge Boris Johnson for the London Mayor post. While Ken Livingstone will be attacked by the Tory press he offers so much more than Oona King. king has always come over as a Blairite politician, and her defeat by Galloway in 2005 caused few tears to be shed. Ken in the last election benefitted from the 2nd preference votes of the Greens something that King could in no way guarantee. Ken Livingstone has a sound track record over more than 30 years for progressive causes, and in spite of a few indiscretions he is deserving of support.

This week should see the Bill introduced into Parliament that will ensure a national referendum next year on the electoral system. It will be FPTP or AV ? Therefore once again it has been left to Caroline Lucas to propose an amendment that give voters a wide choice than in her words " two types of vanilla". Between AV and FPTP it a tough call .

Finally on Thursday there are Council Elections in Norwich. Normally not the sort of issue to cause much of a stir, but there is a good chance that the Green party could finish up as the largest party in the City. More thoughts on this later in the week.

A change of plan

Last weekend I'd said I'd travel to Kettering to catch the Dons on Saturday, during the week circumstances changed and we decided to spend Saturday on the south coast. The attraction of a trip to brighton was the chance to watch Kevin Pietersen pull on a Surrey shirt and play for Surrey against Sussex in CB40 competition at Hove.

I must admit to be less than happy with the parking restrictions close to the Hove ground, but once in the ground, any annoyance soon vanished. On what I suspected would be the last Saturday of summer, the chance to spend the day sitting in the sunshine watching cricket could not be beaten. KP was soon at the wicket, and the ground was soon filled with more than 5000 spectators.

Pietersen's innings of 116 had a good collection of boundaries including four 6s. Assisted by Jason Roy ( a real prospect) Surrey reached 240. Sussex started well , then struggled as wickets fell and the boundaries dried up. That Sussex scored 14 runs in the last over, meant the game was tied. However in a week when the allegations against several pakistan players has damaged the game, this game showed its inner strength. Pietersen's century, some excellent outfielding, the reception that the crowd gave to Kirtley as he left the field in his last game for Sussex, these were what will live in my memory.

After the game e walked down to the sea, went for a short walk along the promenade, bedecked with beach huts. Hove often seen as Brighton's less exciting partner, seemed very attractive if hilly.

As for the Dons they won 2-1 away and regained top spot in the Blue Square Conference.

A Journey but not one I'd care to take.

Yesterday saw the publication of Tony Blair's autobiography " A Journey". I'd made up my mind that there was no way I wanted to buy the book, even though the profits are now going to a charity. Nevertheless with Blair prominent on the front pages of most papers the book was inescapable.

Last evening Blair was interviewed by Andrew Marr for BBC2. Marr for ever the professional took Blair through his relationship with Brown, the War in Iraq, and a short analysis of the Peace Process in N.Ireland (which I'm sure history will judge as his greatest achievement).

There was nothing left to be gleamed about Iraq, although I doubt if anyone expected to hear him say he got it wrong. It was all a mistake etc.

Perhaps what was more revealing was his belief that Labour lost the 2010 election, not so much because of Brown's leadership but because it deviated from the New Labour plan. His recipe for revival was more public sector reform, frankly when commentators said that Cameron was the natural successor to Blair, I sense they were right. Blair claimed to be a progressive and denied vigourously that he was a Conservative. However what was clear is that Blair left the Centre-Left of politics long ago.

Significantly the media is hinting that David Milliband has asked Blair not to back him for the Labour Party leadership, his support could just be the kiss of death. Blair himself feels that he was liked by the public rather than the Party. Frankly it's not surprising, he stripped any vestige of socialism out of Labour, his social policies although an advance on the past, could arguably have been pursued by any liberal politician. What separates Blair from the left of centre is his view that the role of the State should be restricted and reduced. On last nights performance Blair could fit snugly alongside the Con Dem coalition.... as part of a much wider consensus on the centre right.

It's not cricket

The allegations against 4 Pakistan players places a dark cloud over the entire game. Whether a few no balls here and there influences the outcome of the game or not is not the point. The issue is that the sport becomes corrupted. Its easy to understand the temptation for Pakistani cricketers who earn a fraction of what their counterparts here, in Australia or of course the IPL earn, however that can not excuse the deed. One can only hope that the ICC respond swiftly and decisively.

Meanwhile Kevin Pietersen has been dropped from the 50 over and T20 series against Pakistan. His form has been poor by his own extremely high standards this summer , but at first glance it seems strange to omit him from the forms of the game where he has traditionally excelled. On the plus side the fact that he is turning out for Surrey on loan till the end of the season is an exciting development, that will hopefully bring a few more spectators to the Oval.

A New Start

Its September 1st and it seems like a fresh start. On a personal level last night I wrote my letter of resignation from work, there can't be many people who give a year's notice, but I have my reasons, not least my lack of trust in the Government and my belief that they will attack public sector pensions sooner rather than later.

As part of the fresh start I wrote myself a list of things I wanted to do over the next twelve months. I'm working part time now so I've enrolled at the gym so that I can dovetail my working hours with trips to get some exercise. We went and bought the bike I chose yesterday. At the moment I'm a bit like a kid with a new toy, but I want to get out and about round here and leave the car at home. Finally I'm keen to find time to pick up the guitar I bought some years ago, I always said it was a retirement project.

I'll still be at work most days but now the die is set, my mind is made up with very few reservations.