"New ID cards for foreigners unveiled"

Underneath the print version of this article is a classic anecdote:

Anti-ID activist Phil Booth was denied the chance to debate the merits of ID cards at the Labour Party conference - because he did not have the right ID. He had travelled from the south coast to Manchester for the fringe meeting. 'How the hell do they expect to it for 60 million people', Mr Booth fumed.

Fun on-line poll - results

In his speech at the Nulab conference, The Goblin King claimed - without the slightest shred of evidence, of course - that "Some people have been asking why I haven't served my children up for spreads in the papers."

In the spirit of Carrie in Sex And The City, I set up an online poll to establish whether this was true. The responses to the question "Have you been asking why Gordon Brown doesn't offer up his children for spreads in the papers?" were as follows:

"Yes" - 6 (3%)
"No" - 58 (29%)
"I couldn't care less about his stupid children, the man is responsible for ruining the country, FFS" - 143 (69%)

So there we have it. Another Big Fat Lie from Mr Shit.

Back and bloggin'

Internet access in the hotel cost £3 for half an hour and the connection was a bit on the slo-o-ow side hence no posts for last three days.

Although I genuinely dislike public speaking and had to re-write the final draft of the speech in the last hour before we were due to go on following the umpteenth change of mind, I must say it seems to have gone down well - at least a dozen people came up to thank me for explaining why the current system is so awful and how a CBI-style scheme would be infinitely preferable.

I even allowed myself an unscripted flourish at the end - rather than just leave it hanging in the air, I said something along the lines of "Yes - there will be winners and losers from the changes we are proposing, but the Welfare State is like a big ship that has been heading in the wrong direction for thirty years. It might take ten years for our system to end the culture of welfare dependency but the sooner we start the better."

I wasn't counting but I am sure that I got a fair few rounds of applause during a ten minute speech.

My Labour Conference Speech (excerpt)

"We will empower local communities, in partnership with voluntary organisations and businesses. We will engage in a dialogue with all stakeholders, with patients and parents and children, to ensure that people needs are being met and people are achieving their full potential. The British people's talents must not be allowed to go to waste. Our Citizen's Juries will help us reach out to the voters and show that their concerns are our concerns. Britain must have an education and a health system that is fit for the 21st century and beyond to help us meet the challenges of globalisation and climate change and enable to to integrate more fully with the dynamic economies of the European Union and beyond, not forgetting our historic ties with the Commonwealth and North America. Every member of the public must be able to feel safe in his or her own home. By ensuring local accountability and responsibility, we will ensure that victims of crime are given the reassurance they need by police officers in their own local community"

There, that only took me about 5 minutes!