Somewhere in between

There is going to be a gap in my blog I'm afraid.

"Yes", you point out, "it started a week ago...". Well, so it did, Dear Reader. It's just that (as well as minor details like a gig at the Albert Hall tomorrow) I have something really major that has cropped up and I have to deal with it. And given that I need to work - well I need to keep getting paid, and intend to honour all my commitments to various choirs and causes if at all possible, something has to give.

And that something is the blog.

I very much hope that before the end of the month normal service can be resumed. And what is happening might give me a few new things to talk about - if I can - not sure. But for now I'm going to tie off a few posts from the year where I have left things hanging with some bullets below - and say auf wiedersehen.

1. I'm still not eating meat. Had a bit of fish, especially at the start, but that's reducing now. Don't feel much different physically (but feeling no worse is good) but feel happy that this is right for me now.
2. I blogged earlier on this year about dieting. That did not go well, until the last couple of weeks, which have seen a bit of a change, so I'l have to hold that one for now and see. 
3. Cigarettes. Clearly good to have stopped, but I still want one. If you're offering?
4. So glad to see the UKIP bandwagon has at least stopped speeding up following the by-election result. I do feel sorry for the Libdems, because I don't think they really had a choice about the coalition, but there you go. I'm sure Nick Clegg will relish his peerage in May 2015.
5. Not exactly a Green breakthrough - but not a collapse either. 3 MEPs (up from 2)
6. Three months until Kate Bush (in tribute to whom this post was named)!
7. Before that, Chas 'n' Dave on 21st June! 
8. I have lost count of the times and ways in which music has kept me sane, who I want to be etc. It matters.

Making plans for dealing with Nigel

I write this on a train from Edinburgh back to Kings Cross after a fabulous weekend with Voxcetera.

A good concert, a spot of clubbing, climbing Arthur's Seat in a hailstorm, and even a bit of culture. As I travel back the sun is shining and it feels that all is right with the world. 

Ah, yes, the European election. The cloud on my otherwise perfect horizon. The smug, Farage-shaped cloud. I do not understand why people have voted for UKIP because there is no chance I would ever do it. So I do not feel what those people feel.

As such, my "Why?" has to be speculation. But the lack of facts should never get in the way of a good blog, so here goes.

I don't think that the UKIP vote is borne of racism. Not for the vast majority. UKIP's best performances have not been in the area with the highest migration. London has performed much more as you would expect, with a drift to the official opposition.

And if a racially stronger policy was popular, we would not be celebrating the removal of the two BNP MEPs this morning, having lost 80% of their 2009 vote.

But I suspect the *fear* that jobs might be under threat to a surge of immigrants, no matter how far-fetched that actually is, is an issue. And the retired Colonels of Tunbridge Wells have always responded well to any call to raise the drawbridge.

More of an issue in my mind is that people do not see any real difference between the three major parties. There are no radical differences between them. If you want difference you either look to the Greens, or to Nige. And the Greens have done OK. Well, even. But they've never threatened a break through. Last time - in fact in my memory *every* other time there has been an alternative with the LibDems. Now they are part of government, so that one comes out. And their only chosen point of difference was Europe, more specifically the EU.

Ah yes, the EU. UKIP's rallying post. Author, if you believe Nige, of every problem this country has. The LibDems have struggled to say why the EU benefits us, just as both Con and Lab hint at the need to renegotiate treaties - which must mean they aren't the laws we should have. 

The first purpose of European union, back in the 50s, was to ensure coal and steel production was centrally controlled - with more than an eye on controlling rearmament. The Federalist goal has grown from there, and is still close to the heart of some Europeans, but of very few Brits. But Britain is a trading nation, and the Common Market was a serious attraction to us. Easier trade, breaking down of barriers, bigger markets - all good stuff. People don't see that in the EU. They see bureaucracy, and inefficiency, and perhaps corruption. 

Farage has played his hand on this well. Some of his claims are better supported than others. And of course no one significant* has left the EU, so we can't say that the world would end. He is saying "things are crap - do this and they will get better". 

So, do you** face a UKIP government in a year? Of course not. Will they fall back to a level of irrelevance as the Greens did after their big vote in the 1989 Euros? Perhaps, though not that far. Will they, horror of horrors, have enough seats to keep a Tory government in power at a disproportionate price? Yes, they might. But we have to find a way of engaging the UKIP voter with full-spectrum politics, and even more so the people who don't bother voting. And if we are serious about the EU we have to show the British people why it's a good thing. 

* Sorry Greenland, we love you, but you don't give me a working comparator here.

** I say you! because if it happens I'm off

Dancing the Night Away

I am sitting in a hotel in Leith, on a day when the title of the song and film can only be presumed to be ironic. If I stand on the table and peer out to the right I can just see the former-Royal Yacht Britannia sitting there attracting tourists.

Yesterday Voxcetera (the chamber choir I sing with) did a concert in Edinburgh with a local choir - Rudsambee (it's based on the Gaelic for 'anything at all'). They did the first half, with a programme ranging wildly in language - Welsh, Irish, Hungarian, Polish, and even a little English. And we debuted our  new Poulenc 8 French Folk songs, and ran some Britten too.

The audience seemed to love what we did; the Poulenc will be honed to perfection by the time we do it in London in October. And as for Britten's AMDG - which sets the poetry of Manley Hopkins to a range of accompaniments? It gets better and better I think. There were definitely a couple of moments last night where it took life beyond anything it has done before. In a good way, too.

A contrast. Two pretty accomplished choirs, but with a very different schtick. I think we blend better, and do stuff that is musically braver than them, but they interact better with the audience. Food for thought on where we might go next.

Of course, where I went next, post gig, was clubbing. Until 3:30 this morning. In a very pleasant establishment (no irony at all here) called the Jam House, with a live band and a good set of tunes - ancient and modern. But writing a blog at 9:30 (breakfast already done) reminds me of the benefits of not drinking. It is easy to have fun and dance the night away sober. Today, despite being from Edinburgh, I shall be doing the tourist thing

Some of you will be expecting comments on the election. Full thoughts can await the outcome of the Euro poll. In terms of the locals, Labour did well in London, but not nearly as well as they should have. Wandsworth remains Tory, but a little less so, with my ward having not split two Lab and one Tory. The greens have done well and UKIP has not, in London anyway - where in their own words the population is young, educated and culturally diverse. Spin that statement round and see what you could get as a UKIP strapline.

Elsewhere UKIP has done quite well, but I don't think it is all at the Tories expense, and you wonder how that will translate to a general election. One surefire prediction though. We are destined for an autumn of speculation about the Labour leadership. For me, Miliband looks finished. He doesn't attract outside the core, and doesn't seem to do well in it either. I'm imagining hushed discussions in corridors by friends of Yvette C and Andy Burnham.

Oh, and another prediction. Journalists everywhere will have been dispatched to dig up dirt on every councillor elected under the UKIP banner. They have a tough life, do journalists in these straitened times, so help them out. If you have taken coke with a new UKIP councillor, or helped him catalogue his Nazi memorabilia, do give The Mirror a ring and point them in the right direction.

UKIP Twitter storm

An impromptu blog.

As I sat and simmered at the antics of Farage on Question Time, I came across a piece on a Green Party local Twitter feed which I forwarded on.

Normal Twitterage follows - and then I wake this morning to dozens of Retweets, and the first "replies" from the UKIPs.

People of Britain. Do you think that David Cameron's changes to the NHS are a good thing? Are they just a start but you'd like more please.

Nuttall's blog contains (as at now) this

Which links to this report, by these people - the "leading provider of independent health care services in the UK".

They are not advocating Privatisation. Let's be clear about that. They certainly say they are not. But they are advocating a greater use of private resources in Healthcare, through Partnership and for example:

• allowing transfer of NHS staff to the private sector
• charging for missed appointments
• tax relief on private medical insurance
• "allowing people to top up and buy extra services if they so choose" this is a direct quote.

This blog is not saying that there is anything wrong with these aims. Whether from a member of the European Parliament or from the "leading provider of independent health care services in the UK".

But lets have some openness UKIP. Is this party policy? If not, where does Mr Nuttall stand? If so, should this not merit a bit more of the debate? After all, at this rate, the Romanian's coming over here won't have a free NHS service to use. Perhaps that's the point.

corrected 13:05pm for fairly obvious typo. Blog in haste, correct at leisure! Sorry.

It isn't easy...

You may have guessed from past posts that I am not UKIP's greatest fan. You may also have guessed that I find professional politicians to be a depressing bunch; self-serving, dogmatic, inflexible etc. Hey some of us write blogs to utilise those parts of our character, rather than being paid by the public to do it.

And, yes, I accept there are some very decent, able and well meaning individuals in the wide political landscape (I include unions, campaigners and pressure groups here), even if their half-life in parliament seems a little shorter than you would wish.

But I felt the need to say a bit more, lest you view me as some sort of messianic Russell Brand-like figure, leading you in a Hamleinian Pied-Piperesque progress away from the Victorian voting booths (you see Russell - it's easy to use big words and tautology).

It is important that we all vote. I'm not one for mandatory voting like they have in Australia, because I don't like compulsion (dangerously libertarian argument there). But I think that the right to moan about it comes with the obligation to do something about it.

If you think a party represents a majority of your views across the spectrum (and the rest isn't egregiously nasty) then it may make sense to vote for them in everything. (If 'your' party represents all your views 100%, then you are either Vladimir Putin or you haven't really thought at all.)

But there is no reason why you have to sign up on the list for life. Different parties may appeal differently for different things.

 Let me give the example of me. It's a London-centric example, but if you don't like that, wait for a local sheep to write a blog and read that instead.

In an electoral cycle, I get to vote for:

• The UK parliament (once every five years or less)
• Wandsworth Council (once every four years)
• The Mayor of London (every four)
• The London Assembly (every four)
• The European Parliament (every five)

Take the Mayor of London. (Please, take him.) OK, take the election. The last two have really been a straight choice between a newt-fancying Evening Standard hating, Blur-song-narrating* leftie, and a Bullingdon, blond, cycling lothario. (Check for libel). A vote for the Libdems, or the Greens is a waste. My choice is, depending on your view and you can guess mine, either the candidate I like more, or the one I hate less. Ken or Boris, Boris or Ken. If I don't vote for my 'favourite' then I've increased the chances of the other winning.

Pretty much the same goes for my UK constituency - Labour - not safe but not marginal. Tories closish second, everyone else - don't bother.

But then look at Europe. All of London is one constituency, with 8 seats. Elected by Party List Vote (d'Hondt system if you care, which you don't). This basically means that you need to get one eight of the votes to get a seat. So if the Tories got 25% straight off and Labour got 37.5%, they would get 2 and three respectively. You then redistribute surpluses, eliminate the hindmost and reallocate quotas until you get to 8 elected. (I used to be a Students Union vote counter you know.)

So for, say, the BNP to get a seat they perhaps only need to get 12.5% to get a seat straight off, but can end up getting a seat with perhaps 8%. So your vote really can make a difference for smaller parties.

Which would allow you to vote with my conscience rather than using the Least-worst option discussed above.

This is a long post already. Next time, I'll extend this thinking to local elections, and might even discuss how I am thinking of voting (though there is a huge clue in this post for those who look). And if you put BNP? in the comments, f*ck off now.

*Ernold Same on the Great Escape

How do you sleep?

You may not have heard of Yashika Bageerathi. She is the girl that was deported to Mauritius yesterday. As a nineteen year old, despite the fact that her mother and family are in the UK, she can apparently look after herself, and so, even though she was six weeks away from her A-level exams, she was flown out of Heathrow last night by Air Mauritius.

There are so many ways to attack this, because it is a shameful act. We could have let her stay and finish the courses that our taxes have been paying for her to do. Then, assess her as an adult on that basis.

Or we could say that this is a nineteen year old girl who was given asylum in this country because of an abusive family in Mauritius is now being sent back to the same country without her mother. And that is simply wrong. Having admitted this family, we owe them a duty – one we have breached.

And as human beings, do we not have compassion? If any of you don’t feel at least a slight tug of unfairness when you read this then please close the blog now. Following the lead of Jonny Marr*, I forbid you to read it.

So this is what we have become. A nation that will separate a 19 year-old schoolgirl from her mother, and is prepared to jeopardise her academic future if nothing else, so that we can be seen to be tough on immigration.

This country may or may not have an immigration problem. That’s not the subject of today’s sermon blog. But if we do, it is principally a problem with unskilled migrants who are state dependent, or are here illegally. And how does deporting a seemingly intelligent schoolgirl deal with this?

Ah well, it will go down well with the voters of middle England who might have been thinking about defecting to UKIP, and hide behind their net curtains in fear of the forthcoming Romanian hordes.

So Mr Cameron, and Mrs May - because whatever you say about courts and process you could have stopped this – I hope you slept well last night. Knowing where your loved ones are and that they are safe. Because I am guessing that Yashika Bageerathi’s mum didn’t.

*when David Cameron appeared on Desert Island Discs, he named a Smiths song as one of his choices. Jonny Marr was incensed, and tweeted that Cameron was “forbidden” from liking the Smiths – I think on the grounds of being a complete t**t.

Oh Well

The dog ate it. I was ill. The wi-fi was down.

None of those are true. I must admit I thought it had been two weeks since I wrote a blog. It's been four. That is really slack. And I don't have a great excuse, I just haven't got around to it. Sorry!

What have I missed? Well, some of you may have missed my Voxcetera concert which played to a packed St Sepulchre in London last week. It was fabulous to do, and I think those attending enjoyed it too. For the first time we really took ownership of some tricky Britten and, having now heard a recording, made it sound really good. Plus of course there are those spine-tingling moments - like the way the D minor fortissimo chord towards the end of the Esenvalds piece just hung in the air and never seemed to die away.

Back to earth with a bump, I watched "Mr Toad and the Sell-Out" on BBC last night (aka the Lib Dem and UKIP debate). Clegg is Mister Political Expediency - and has been so often that he's probably retained the trophy by now. But Farage - dear God help us. In the same way as creationism got clever by evolving (maybe a bad choice of word there) into intelligent design, UKIP is just a more respectable "we hate Jonny-foreigner" party isn't it.

Watching the debate over a grotty internet link and Twitter makes one smugly complacent that no-one's falling for that old shit again. But I fear that's not the case. UKIP is generally picking up support across the spectrum, from those who are disenchanted with the political class and with, generally "Them". It's Farage's affable pub-bore facade that makes him so credible with so many. They are going to do well in the Euro elections - it's not a question of whether they beat the Lib Dems for 3rd place. I'm afraid they will do a lot better than that. That is just so embarrassing. Farage is a French M. Le Ros-bif  caricature. And Stew Lee's brilliant dissection of UKIP a couple of weeks ago doesn't counter it - UKIP voter's aren't watching stuff like that.

In case you hadn't noticed, alongside getting fit, my 'don't get political' and 'don't get sweary' New Year's resolutions have gone by the board. If you keep coming back to the blog for its gentle humour and flights of fancy, you may be disappointed (though I've not written for four weeks, so on reflection probably no more than you have been already).

Anyway, back to work... more soon

Perchance to Dream

Miserably failed to post a blog yesterday. In fairness I have slept very little the last three nights, and I don't know why. Don't think there is anything on my mind.

I have these episodes about once a year - where for a week or two I can only get about 3 hours a night. Usually no reason, and they go as quickly as they come. As I get older I find it harder to deal with them though - I feel like death warmed up today. This is a pity because I am off this evening for a weekend of singing with Voxcetera - doing the groundwork for our concert on 20th March at St Sepulchre. I will get a lot more out of it if I am not yawning through it.

Plus got invited to do quite a bit of other singing stuff from March through to June yesterday. Have to see if the diary can take it!

Am not going to talk about last night's Question Time - with Dorries and some bloke called Nuttall from UKIP it was always going to be heavy on the irritation front. (I thought @fleetstreetfox was excellent though.) But staying tuned in for This Week only to find that the guest was Katie Hopkins was just too much to bear.

So, I will try to blog when mobile later while travelling; if not - well I will write them anyway - may just have to wait until Monday to post. Hope your weekend is as good as mine promises to be.