"The long term impact of the Internet" - how Lady Dame Jane Pauline Neville Jones' Fan club got to think about it

The Ditchley Foundation is one of those curious, reserved bodies that have much influence but who remain little known and their purpose even less understood - although they have a very elegant, clear, well illustrated and informative website.

Founded and funded by the donations of Sir David Wills and based at Ditchley Park in north Oxfordshire which he acquired in 1953. It , "organises private and highly focussed conferences of senior international experts to address issues of transatlantic and indeed global interest."
For readers here , one of the most interesting this year was held the weekend of June 1st - 3rd on the subject of , "The long-term impact of the internet" which was chaired by Mr Tim Gardam.

"Ditchley’s style and programme provide an opportunity for brainstorming unique in international affairs. Small invited groups of about 40 distinguished men and women are brought together from senior levels in the worlds of politics, business and industry, academic life, the civil service, the armed forces and the media. Conference subjects are carefully chosen in response to new international challenges arising from issues of concern to democratic societies. Conferences stress open, informal discussions that reflect personal thinking and take place under strict rules of confidentiality." says the website.

It would be fascinating to know who attended and what was said at that particular secluded chat. Mr Tim Gardam is of course Principal of St. Annes College, Oxford. A product of Westminster School, Gonville and Caius (Double first) BBC, inventor of Newsnight and Timewatch, and also once a Director Channel 4 who undertook for Tessa Jowell a study of digital TV in Britain.

The Foundation has a list of Governors constituting both the great and the good and many members of the Lady Dame Jane Pauline Neville-Jones Fan club - indeed, surprise, surprise she is one of the Governors. As is Sir Rodric Braithwaite , GCMG once our Ambasador in Moscow whose dulcet tones we so frequently hear on the BBC along with Ms. doe eyed ex Home Office, Director of Liberty Sami Chakrabarti, Oxford know all quasi historian Tim Garton Ash, Peter Hennessy, Peter Mandelson, the mysterious Dr Matt Ridley, Sir Crispin Tickell, Baroness Warnock, and that ever present psephologist Sir Bob Worcester.

..and it seemed like only yesterday that Clarence Mitchell of The Media Monitoring Unit (MMU), part of the Cabinet Office's Central Office of Information (COI), is considering how to add blogs and forum entries into its regular summaries of public policy coverage that are distributed to government ministers.

Hang on it was yesterday ...Government blog "monitoring" - first step to regulation, censorship ...

Now there is a coincidence.

You may be wondering what the picture of Clementine Churchill is doing here - well Winston Churchill when wartime PM used Dytchley as an alternative to Chequers in the war and the Dytchley website has some fascinating pictures of the GOM. This is the caption to the one above...

Clementine Churchill and Viscountess Cranborne in the Library. Viscount Cranborne was the Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs 1940-42, and both he and his father, the Marquis of Salisbury, were allies of Churchill and staunch defenders of white-dominated administrations within the Empire.

David Davis - Another silly conspiracy theory from Lord Patel

There are many observers, players, commentators, on the Westminster scene puzzled by ;
1. David Davis MP's resignation
2. The response of David Cameron in actively campaigning for and with him
3. The muted response from his Party
4. The total and rapid unwillingness of the Labour Party to field a candidate
5. The total and rapid unwillingness of the Liberal Party to field a candidate
6. The curious case of Shami Chakrabarti very publicly swinging the non - political Liberty behind David Davis's campaign
7. The curious and shadowy role of an expensive and very well connected PR company, Fleishman-Hillard in so swiftly erecting David Davis's website (not to mention the source of funds to do it etc.,)
7 (a) The clumsy attempt to conceal the role of Fleishman-Hillard
8. The extraordinary coverage that the BBC gave to David Davis across the spectrum, Radio 5 Live phone in (1.5 hr), You and Yours (1 hr), Womans Hour (20 mins), Question Time (1 hr), Any Questions (1 hr) (plus repeat and Any Answers), Newsnight ...not to mention endless news items covering the election without any opposing or dissenting views
9. The role of the new Total Politics magazine that has so mysteriously appeared, fully financed by unknown sources, and with the ubiquitous help of Shami Chakrabarti OBE CBE , Governer of the Ditchley Foundation along with Lady Dame Jane Baroness Pauline Neville Jones.

There was however, a curiously congruent and interlocking series of events also going on, which received virtually no coverage and certainly no discussion....Criminal Evidence (Witness Anonymity) Bill.

June 18th The Lords Davis ruling on anonymous witnesses published (but of course known of within Government circles)
June 18th - Also the day when David Davis applies for the Chiltern Hundreds

June 21st (Saturday) war criminal Jack Straw announces he is going to rush through legislation to allow anonymous witnesses

June 23rd Judge Paget halts trial using anonymous witnesses

On BBC June 24th Commissioner Bob Quick, for example, called the ruling “catastrophic” and criticised the criminal justice system for “too much principle and not enough pragmatism”. (This was the guy who with Sir Ian Blair couldn't remember how any terrorist plots there were when asked by MP's. see Counter terrorism Bill ..and the Old Bill... Fiction is stronger than the truth )

June 26th “Chaos as Law Lords ruin trials” (The Sun, 25 June); “Anarchyis unleashed” (The Sun, 25 June); and “Terrorists, murderers and other violent criminals will escape justice unless emergency laws are passed within weeks” (Daily Mail, 26 June).“Britain could witness unrestrained violence like the slaughter in Zimbabwe” ( Sun 25 June). (All these quoted in Liberty brief Page 4 - "Thankfully" says Liberty n contrast to the Press "Thankfully, the response of Government and opposition parties to the decision did not follow suit. It was, in contrast measured and informed."

June 26th the Government makes routine sotto voce outline the plans for legislation with dates for debate in Commons on 8th July and Lords on 10th July (Bill published July 3rd). This after cross party "consultation".

26th June East Riding of Yorkshire council announced the long, long , varied and entertaining list of accepted candidates and date of election to be 2 weeks on Thursday 10th July.

So the Bill is to be debated (?) 8/9/10th July which means press comment could be 9th/10th/11th but curiously enough they were busy looking at Gemma Garretts teeth and tits and Elvis and the Cow girl.

Of course David Davis gets his seat back, without actually having said a fucking thing, except a few mildly critical remarks about useless CCTV pictures, and DNA databases. But he and Shami had very effectively hi-jacked the so called debate on "civil liberties" - and she hen goes on to pat herself and David on the back (see top).

Debate on the Criminal Evidence (Witness Anonymity) Bill, somehow, slips by and " 42 days or not 42 days " has monopolised any concern about stealing fundamental liberties and freedoms and the proper conduct of trials. Psyops success, in fucking spades.

What about dear sweet, doe eyed, scarf adjusting, Shami Chakrabarti offering TLC to DD in late at night , heart to heart's on the cellphone? The ex Home Office lawyer whose non-political Liberty winds up supporting a politician's election, one who agrees to 28 days and the loss of habeas corpus.

Shami Chakrabarti the ex Home Office lawyer who leads the non-political Liberty but ends up helping edit Total Politics ?

Shami Chakrabarti the ex Home Office lawyer who leads the non-political Liberty who provided a brief for the Government which agrees in principle to the Criminal Evidence (Witness Anonymity) Bill.

Shami Chakrabarti the ex Home Office lawyer who leads the non-political Liberty who provided a brief for the Government written by Jago Russell & Michael Spencer which agrees in principle to the Criminal Evidence (Witness Anonymity) Bill.

Prior to his post at Liberty, Jago Russell worked as a legal specialist in parliament where he advised select committees on a range of matters including counter-terrorism laws and corporate accountability. He has particular expertise in international and comparative human rights law, the UK government’s anti-terrorism policy, constitutional and criminal justice issues and has written and spoken on these and other matters for parliamentary and wider audiences.

Nu Labour has an eye for colourful ladies they can promote Baronesses, Vadera, Amos, Scotland .... arise Baroness Shami Chakrabarti of the Pashminas .... you have earned it.... and who knows maybe to join her soulmate and phone-sex pal David will reluctantly pass on his seat at the next election to a Tory hopeful and pass onwards and upwards as Baron Davis of the Blinding Diversion

Of course Liberty will need a new leader ... someone with the right ideas.. step forward Jago Russell.

PS : Here's a nice summertime job for a media studies student .. and god knows there are plenty of them... A good detailed annotated Timeline, fleshed out with details of all press coverage / comment , of the above.

How Lord Patel forecast the industrial slump 2 years ago based on new car registrations

Click on image to enlarge ....
We posted this modest little note Friday, March 30, 2007 UK : Number of vehicles up , new ones down

Which we tagged (very presciently) "Straws in the wind"

The total number of motor vehicles licensed at the end of 2006 was 1.4 % up on the end of 2005 at 33.4 million.

The number of vehicles registered for the first time during 2006 was 3.6 % down on 2005 (cars of all types -4.2%)

With the exception of taxis there were decreases in first time registrations for all body types. Full DVLA annual statistics

Today we discover that

Just 61,404 cars were manufactured last month, 58.7 % down on January 2008. Construction of commercial vehicles slumped by an even larger 59.9 %.

Almost all the cars made over the month - 83.5 % - were allocated for export as UK demand tails off, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.

We are continually told that "no-one could have foreseen" the credit crisis ... it was staring them in the face and any motor trader would have told you so.

Here is another forecast - the UK will lose 50% at leat of it's car manufacturing capacity in the next 6 months... and it will never return.

UPDATE : 9.30 GMT : Geordie lady calls up and reminds us that old horny baldy, Adam "Shagger"Applegarth was exchanging body fluids with that lovely lady from Buy to Let and simultaneously divesting not only of all his clothes (ugh) but also of all his Northern Rock shares in 2006 and Jan 2007 at the very top f the market .... so he plainly new something .. so we aren't so clever.

Wonder what the £300K per Annum Ex (very) Non Executive Chairman of NR Eton / Cambridge educated Lord Matt Ridley Esq., (He was Chairman of the curious political "think" tank , Ditchley Foundation - now followed by John Major ex MP . List of Governors makes interesting reading - inc. Ms Shami CHAKRABARTI, CBE. Director of Liberty these days) who is as silent as the grave these days;
1. Was doing with his shares at the time
2. Thinks of Shagger' business / private life
3. Is looking for a job