That Broon meme

With thanks to James Graham for 'tagging' me (why is the 'blogosphere' so afflicted with such infantilising terms?):

2 things of which Gordon Brown should be proud.

1. Giving independence to the Bank of England.
2. Having been on watch during a broadly benign economic cycle.

2 things for which he should apologise.

1. Bank-rolling the Iraq war without a murmur of dissent.
2. An obsession with centralization, targets and complexity which has undermined public services and made the lives of the poor much harder.

2 things that he should do immediately when he becomes PM.

1. Introduce fair votes for all local and national elections in the UK.
2. Scrap ID Cards, and strengthen Freedom of Information.

2 things he should do while he is PM.

1. Oversee a comprehensive decentralization to local communities of power over public services and the taxation necessary to pay for them.
2. Vigorously oppose protectionist interests wherever they exist, and unashamedly press for free and fair world trade as the best means of lifting the poorest out of poverty.

My turn to tag: Jonathan Calder, Cicero, Alex Wilcock, Andy Mayer, David Rundle, and Liberal Review.

Uphill, done Dale

Who can refuse once tagged by Iain Dale? Okay, let’s leave that question hanging... in the meantime here’s my list of:

Top 10 things I would never do

10. listen to the weather forecast and remember anything about it 5 minutes later;
9. wear white socks;
8. return a library book on time;
7. watch any programme involving Robert Kilroy-Slick (unless he’s being mocked);
6. look forward to turning 30;
5. I would never do without my wi-fi broadband;
4. listen to Quote Unquote;
3. eat an olive (despite friends’ insistence that I must like them really);
2. swear in front of my parents;
1. speak ill of a fellow liberal.

Number 11 of course is: inflict this meme on anyone else. But if you’re feeling short of blogging inspiration - or, like Iain, haven’t fulfilled your statutory five blog posts before lunchtime - then go the heck for it.

PS: was just tooo hectic to blog on Monday, partly ‘cos I dashed down to London to guest again on Iain’s Vox Politix show on 18 Doughty Street, alongside Devil’s Kitchen (Chris Mounsey), Ross Clark and Ashley Crossley.

If you missed it because you were otherwise occupied - as if - you can Watch Again by clicking here, and choosing the show labelled ‘Local Government Finance (20/11/2006)’. Even if I have been credited as Stephen Toole… (I’ve been called worse.)