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Diary: Trouble behind the curtains in Green-land as members protest at EU selection Diary: Trouble behind the curtains in Green-land as members protest at EU selection
(4 months later)
• Cold realities afflict the Greens as critics from without and within attack the party for mooted pay cuts at its flagship Brighton council. But that isn't the only problem for the hierarchy and the activists. Behind the scenes there has been fear and loathing over the process used to select candidates in London for the next European elections. It triggered an investigation and a report of more than 50 pages: where we see allegations of candidates being given an unfair advantage, with minorities especially disadvantaged; complaints improperly investigated; abuse of position; and inadequate monitoring procedures. "It is clear from the allegations and the deliberations the selection process was in a number of ways flawed," says the confidential report. Decisions made by officials and candidates were "ill-advised", creating "a wholly unsatisfactory situation from all sides". Some allegations are upheld, others not so; but it looks bad, with the object of one complaint subjected to "a form of 'mob justice'" and something resembling a "show trial". No wonder it was confidential.• Cold realities afflict the Greens as critics from without and within attack the party for mooted pay cuts at its flagship Brighton council. But that isn't the only problem for the hierarchy and the activists. Behind the scenes there has been fear and loathing over the process used to select candidates in London for the next European elections. It triggered an investigation and a report of more than 50 pages: where we see allegations of candidates being given an unfair advantage, with minorities especially disadvantaged; complaints improperly investigated; abuse of position; and inadequate monitoring procedures. "It is clear from the allegations and the deliberations the selection process was in a number of ways flawed," says the confidential report. Decisions made by officials and candidates were "ill-advised", creating "a wholly unsatisfactory situation from all sides". Some allegations are upheld, others not so; but it looks bad, with the object of one complaint subjected to "a form of 'mob justice'" and something resembling a "show trial". No wonder it was confidential.
• Great excitement at the Google Big Tent thinkathon in Watford yesterday, where Ed Miliband, rising to the challenge we set him this week, did indeed give his tax-avoiding hosts a good verbal thrashing. A good day for him, then. Not so good for others around him. Poor Jon Snow, armed with an iPad, was left to ask tweeted audience questions in a discussion about robots, but after 10 minutes it failed and he had to summon assistance to get it reprogrammed. And then came the digital version of the Gerald Ratner moment. You will recall how the jewellery boss self-harmed spectacularly by declaring that some of his company's products were "crap". Here his successor in the keynote act of self-immolation was Matt Atkinson, digital marketing head at Tesco. Asked if the store might employ "robots on the shop floor", he commented: "Some people would say we already do." Matt might want to shop in Sainsbury's for a while.• Great excitement at the Google Big Tent thinkathon in Watford yesterday, where Ed Miliband, rising to the challenge we set him this week, did indeed give his tax-avoiding hosts a good verbal thrashing. A good day for him, then. Not so good for others around him. Poor Jon Snow, armed with an iPad, was left to ask tweeted audience questions in a discussion about robots, but after 10 minutes it failed and he had to summon assistance to get it reprogrammed. And then came the digital version of the Gerald Ratner moment. You will recall how the jewellery boss self-harmed spectacularly by declaring that some of his company's products were "crap". Here his successor in the keynote act of self-immolation was Matt Atkinson, digital marketing head at Tesco. Asked if the store might employ "robots on the shop floor", he commented: "Some people would say we already do." Matt might want to shop in Sainsbury's for a while.
• Congratulations to David Osland, who was a senior Met commander at the time of the Stephen Lawrence murder. Played a blinder, but even so found himself criticised by Sir William Macpherson's report. Osland took a very particular view of it all, warning his boss, the Met commissioner, in 1993 that "our patience is wearing thin on 3 Area, not only with the Lawrence family and their representatives but also with self-appointed media commentators". And when a botched review exonerated the Met, Osland told the Croydon Advertiser that police officers who felt maligned by Neville Lawrence's criticisms should sue. Now retired, but ever the public servant, Osland becomes the ethics committee chair on Tory-led Croydon council. Can't keep a good man down.• Congratulations to David Osland, who was a senior Met commander at the time of the Stephen Lawrence murder. Played a blinder, but even so found himself criticised by Sir William Macpherson's report. Osland took a very particular view of it all, warning his boss, the Met commissioner, in 1993 that "our patience is wearing thin on 3 Area, not only with the Lawrence family and their representatives but also with self-appointed media commentators". And when a botched review exonerated the Met, Osland told the Croydon Advertiser that police officers who felt maligned by Neville Lawrence's criticisms should sue. Now retired, but ever the public servant, Osland becomes the ethics committee chair on Tory-led Croydon council. Can't keep a good man down.
• Horror in Oklahoma, and many ask: why does it happen? And that's where the US tele-evangelist and would-be presidential candidate Pat Robertson comes in. He blames the tornado on the people of Oklahoma for not praying hard enough. He, by contrast, once claimed to have diverted a storm from hitting his television station by the power of prayer. But then, he also blamed 9/11 on gays taking over the country. Seems a bit hard on Oklahomans. They regard themselves as being the buckle of the Bible belt.• Horror in Oklahoma, and many ask: why does it happen? And that's where the US tele-evangelist and would-be presidential candidate Pat Robertson comes in. He blames the tornado on the people of Oklahoma for not praying hard enough. He, by contrast, once claimed to have diverted a storm from hitting his television station by the power of prayer. But then, he also blamed 9/11 on gays taking over the country. Seems a bit hard on Oklahomans. They regard themselves as being the buckle of the Bible belt.
• After more than 50 years on the calm and then the wilder shores of rock'n'roll, and a more recent stint in the UK flogging insurance on the telly, Iggy Pop has a clear idea of his market. He tells Classic Rock: "People have their lives and they're busy, so why should they know about me? But luckily there are still lots of people who aren't busy. Maybe they're lazy, maybe they're on drugs, maybe they're perverts, maybe they're misfits. Those are my people. Those are the people that are really going to have time to say 'I think I'll listen to Iggy Pop'." Isn't knowledge of self a marvellous thing?• After more than 50 years on the calm and then the wilder shores of rock'n'roll, and a more recent stint in the UK flogging insurance on the telly, Iggy Pop has a clear idea of his market. He tells Classic Rock: "People have their lives and they're busy, so why should they know about me? But luckily there are still lots of people who aren't busy. Maybe they're lazy, maybe they're on drugs, maybe they're perverts, maybe they're misfits. Those are my people. Those are the people that are really going to have time to say 'I think I'll listen to Iggy Pop'." Isn't knowledge of self a marvellous thing?
• Finally, writing in Tuesday's Evening Standard, an observation from the London mayor, Boris Johnson. "Londoners are living longer and producing more children," he said. Maybe it's because he's a Londoner.• Finally, writing in Tuesday's Evening Standard, an observation from the London mayor, Boris Johnson. "Londoners are living longer and producing more children," he said. Maybe it's because he's a Londoner.
Twitter: @hugh_muirTwitter: @hugh_muir
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