Sunday 23 November 2008

Trouble in Somerset

The Politics Show (South West bit) had an intriguing item on Tory MP Ian Liddell-Grainger and his attacks on Lib Dem controlled Somerset County Council on his website. I couldn't find the bits on his site that they featured in the show (cackling laughter, pictures of pants on fire, quite bizarre - the Lib Dems have accused him of being a cyber-bully, which is.... very Lib Dem) but the site is still worth a look. It somehow manages to be pretty good and give the impression he's barking mad at the same time. He even includes electoral registration forms for would-be voters to download. But then again, he probably doesn't have many immigrants in his patch, so I suppose that's OK, isn't it? (Sarcasm alert for new readers - apparently I have committed a heinous crime in suggesting I want more constituents to register to vote, and it was suggested that it was in fact a criminal offence for an MP to concern herself with such business).

And check out Mogg the Blog; what is it with these Tory MPs and their cats? (Ann Widdecombe's another one).

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

You couldn't make Ian Lidell-Grainger up. I'm a big fan especially of his work on on South West One.

Bristol Dave said...

Ditto here. I saw the piece on Lidell-Grainger and was pleased to see it getting more widespread attention - especially with, as BB says, South West One, who are at best extremely dodgy and at worst completely corrupt.

I'm currently trying to find out what plans they have for bringing Bristol City Council on board as I'm sure will happen. Sources in Somerset who currently work for South West One claim that future IT infrastructure plans - network and servers etc - suggest that they are fully expecting BCC to join Somerset, Taunton Dean, and Avon & Somerset Police in an "integrated shared-services solution".

More info on my blog as I get it.

Anonymous said...

Bristol City Council have signed a Shared Framework Agreement with South West One already. This basically allows them to join the project at any time without having to undertake a procurement process. Handy or wot?

SW1 have also now got octenegarian Merchant Venturer and Bristol yes-man Jay Tidmarsh on board as "independent" Chair - to ensure proper oversight you understand.

Charlie Darwin said...

To see the videos you need to go on You Tube and search "Alan Jones Somerset County Chief" or similar. Fortunately for Somerset County Council they believe that they only have one detractor. Unfortunately they have a proven track record of self-delusion. There are in fact many blogs and videos, and judging from the different styles exhibited, many people contribute to them. Most of these blogs are NOT Political. As for Ian Liddell Grainger, he seems mad a hatter, but Somerset needs him. Just for a start he is the only "SomerBlogger" who dares to use his own name. In fact, if I lived in his area I would be sorely tempted to break the habit of a lifetime and vote Tory!

Charlie Darwin said...

If anyone is still interested ... YouTube has now been "got to" and every single one of the videos (not just Liddell Grainger's) has been removed. It is a pity because although some were "over the top", a lot were genuinely amusing.