Time to let the Big Clunking Fist do its work

The Observer's Andrew Rawnsley speculated at the weekend that the image of a "Big Clunking Fist" would not necessarily be helpful to Gordon Brown and Labour. I had thought about doing this line too, but having thought about it I decided I disagreed with it.

Labour has been pussy-footing around with the Boy Cameron for nearly a year now - and a Big Clunking Fist is exactly what is needed. Here's what I ending up saying in my Saturday column and Podcast.

"Mr Blair’s attempts to demonstrate that there is life in New Labour yet have again been overshadowed by further developments in the cash-for-peerages affair. Thursday’s confirmation that “significant and valuable material” had been uncovered makes it all-but-certain that the matter will be referred to the Crown Prosecution Service, meaning it cannot now possibly be resolved before Mr Blair leaves office.

"In the light of that, it is hard to avoid the conclusion that it would be in the Labour Party’s best interests if the change of leadership was to happen sooner rather than later. It’s time to let that big clunking fist – whoever it belongs to – get stuck in."

New Labour, New Media

Some fairly heavy shit on Guido's blog at the moment about the impact of new media on the relationship between politicians and the public, following some rather unwise comments by departing No 10 policy wonk Matthew Taylor.

Blaming the internet for fuelling the "crisis" between politicians and voters, Taylor said: "The big breakthrough, in terms of politics, on the web in the last few years [is] basically blogs which are, generally speaking, hostile and basically see their job as every day exposing how venal, stupid, and mendacious politicians are."

As usual, New Labour is trying to have it both ways. After all, as my old lobby colleague Nick Assinder has noted, the Government is currently playing about with new media like an excited child who has just discovered computer games.

Environment Sec David Miliband has his famous taxpayer-funded blog, the Downing Street website has its new e-petitions functionality and Mr Blair this week staged an online interview, mediated by the politically-balanced pairing of old leftie Will Hutton and youngish Tory Anne McElvoy.

I don't blame Downing St for trying to harness the power of Teh Interwebs, but surely they should not complain when the public, and specifically political bloggers, do the same.

Mind you, up against twisted genii like Tim Ireland who are prepared to do this sort of thing, you can maybe see why they are so afraid.

Time to bury Milton Keynes?

Given the intellectual and political triumph of free market economics in the 1980s, I was always rather surprised that the Thatcher Government allowed the last of the new towns to be called Milton Keynes as opposed to Milton Friedman. Maybe now that the great economist has died, someone will suggest renaming it in his honour.

It wouldn't be the first time. Until the 1970s Milton Keynes did not actually exist as a place, being then three separate villages called Wolverton, Stony Stratford and Great Linford. There's an old family picture somewhere of my uncle standing beside the village signpost before it was swallowed up by the sprawl.