The shame of football

Tonight the last Barcelona derby played in the Olympic stadium of Montjuic, home of RCD Espanyol for the past four seasons, has brought shame to more than one FC Barcelona player, among them some well known former Arsenal superstar with a love for arrogance.
I don’t want to bore you with the details of one of [...]

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Obama v McCain debate: an analysis

Yesterday I struggled to stay up to watch the first US presidential debate on CNN (unlike in 2004 BBC 1 wasn’t showing it) but I managed to watch it all and certainly wasn’t too impressed. Both candidates stuck to their messages and there was little interaction between them, more than a dialogue it was a [...]

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Key week ahead for Labour

A Guardian-ICM poll today puts Labour up three points just 9 behind the Tories in the narrowest lead for Cameron since April. This is obviously good news, it means Brown has managed with his conference speech to crawl out of the hole of being seen as a lame duck PM.
The Tories are preparing for what [...]

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Tighten your belt Her Majesty

According to the Indy the Government has denied the Queen an increase on the amount of public money provided for the financing of both her official duties, the so called Civil List, and the maintenance of the different royal palaces. The Queen’s advisers asked for an increase on the existing £7.9 million Civil List or [...]

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Loved it!

Great, great speech from Gordon Brown today. Certainly the best Brown performance I’ve seen. He was at ease delivering the speech. In the personal touches he was warm but not cheesy (unlike last year), in the big picture/vision section he was firm and inspiring, in the policy sections specific and comprehensive and in the politics [...]

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Comparison of the day

Brilliant post from Dizzy here.
UPDATE: Minutes to go to Brown’s speech, one can feel the pressure of so much momentum building up

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Labour Party Conference 2008: fringe blog special

Back in London after earning a quick buck giving a lecture in my hometown’s university and bringing back some nice food and wine. The starting date for my new job has been postponed until the end of conference season which means I get a chance of lying in my sofa and watching the full coverage [...]

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Saramago’s new blog

Jose Saramago, the Portuguese writer and Nobel Prize winner, has started his very own blog. This is extremely exciting not just because he’s obviously an extremely gifted writer but because he’s an extremely lucid analyst on everyday socio-political issues.
You can read the blog here.

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On Brown’s conference speech

In today’s Guardian Jackie Ashley has written an article in which in one paragraph she summarsies my views on the upcoming Labour conference and the future of Gordon Brown. Ashley says:
‘A fresh, self-critical but confident and rousing performance by Brown at the conference could still regain the initiative. It would have to be accompanied by [...]

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Total Politics blogging guide out (for free)

If anyone is interested in reading about the state of the British blogosphere without spending any money or getting the guide for free at any of the parties’ conferences, just click here to get a pdf copy of the guide for free. Enjoy!

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