2 Big Stories

Bloody betrayal raises fresh doubts about Britain’s campaign in Afghanistan

The Times carries the story most papers are leading with this morning.

The killing of five British soldiers by an Afghan policeman raised fresh doubts yesterday about Britain’s mission in Helmand.

Senior political, diplomatic and military figures warned that public support for the British presence was in danger of collapse without a clear and freshly defined strategy.

Meanwhile, the Guardian has one of the more startling headlines I’ve read recently:

France: ‘Autistic Tories have castrated UK in Europe’

Sacré bleu!

Speaking to the Guardian, Pierre Lellouche, France’s Europe minister, described as “pathetic” the Tories’ EU plans announced today, warning they would not succeed “for a minute”.

Giving vent to frustration across the EU, which has so far only been expressed in private, Lellouche – who said he was reflecting Nicolas Sarkozy’s “sadness and regret” – accused William Hague, the shadow foreign secretary, of a “bizarre autism” in their discussions.

Quel horreur! Mind you, I see Charlotte Gore’s point when she tweets: “a French Minister slagging off the Tories? Guardian Reader’s letters to Bush voters springs to mind.” Still – there’s a solution, since the Independent is currently running a story that says cannabis cures autism.

2 Must-Read Blog Posts

What are other Liberal Democrat bloggers saying? Here’s are two posts that have caught the eye from the Liberal Democrat Blogs aggregator:

• Caron’s Musings: Jenny Willott lives on state pension for a week

An interesting social experiment being carried out by a Lib Dem MP – and if it hadn’t been for Caron, I’d not have realised it was going on.

I guess the other thing to think about is that Jenny is getting the full State Pension whereas many women don’t qualify for even that paltry amount because they either worked part time, took time out to have children or look after elderly relatives. Some may have been badly advised decades ago and made decisions that it is now impossible to rectify because nobody will take responsiblity for the mistake.

• James Graham: Cameron’s Lisbon pledge is “grammar streaming” all over again

I think Cameron will be a disastrous Prime Minister if he gets the chance: another Tony Blair but without the steel. His photo in the Guardian yesterday summed it up perfectly, something which Alastair Campbell has been mercilessly taking the mickey out of. It really is the most excrutiating photo of Cameron since That Bullingdon group shot. Here is a man who clearly puts more thought into his image than into his policies. The result is that both end up pretty laughable.

Spotted any other great posts in the last day from blogs that aren’t on the aggregator? Do post up a comment sharing them with us all.

2 Big Stories

And it’s good news for Burnley Liberal Democrats as sub-editors across the spectrum studiously avoid the headline “The Fall of the House of Ussher“

Miss Ussher said that she was leaving the Government “with the greatest regret” but would remain as MP for Burnley until the coming election, when she will stand down from Parliament “for family reasons”.

Burnley PPC Gordon Birtwhistle, who has steered the party through taking outright control of the borough council last year, and gaining five of the six county council seats in the constituency just two weeks ago, has called on Kitty Ussher to resign her seat immediately. As if Norwich isn’t enough.

And secondly Iran, where unrest continues following the disputed election result. The word is fleeting out through tweets and social media, with some striking photos gracing the newspaper front pages. If you’re wondering why people are turning their twitter profile photos green, this story is the reason.

Reformists fear the regime is trying to weaken protests by silencing their leading voices and Mr Atrianfar’s arrest signals that people with powerful connections are not immune. The intelligence ministry said 26 alleged “masterminds” of the post-election unrest had been detained yesterday alone.

2 must read blog posts

Jam-maker Jonathan Wallace is joining the exodus and leaving Cowley Street with the aim of becoming self-sufficient in Gateshead. Seriously folks, what’s with all the leaving at the moment? Pack, Wallace, Crozier… Comrades, we’re so close – one last push and we’ll be in power, so why leave now?

And my second link goes to Costigan Quist, who’s masterly take-down of the Digital Britain report focussed on exactly the bits of it that annoyed me when I heard about them on the radio, and thus saved me from having to write anything of the sort.