Just because you murder someone, it doesn't mean your views are worth hearing

The front page of today's Guardian is the worst I have ever seen on any newspaper. Why the Guardian wants to turn itself into a propaganda sheet for a murderer, I cannot imagine.

When you are over the anger, two possible explanations suggest themselves.

One is that this is an example of the sort of self-hatred that Western liberals can fall prey to and that Christopher Hitchens used to complain. Hurt us because we deserve it, the paper thinks its readers will say.

The other is that we tend to assume that their must be something remarkable about someone who commits such a grotesque crime and that his view must therefore be listening to.

That is a fallacy, as Munira Mirza showed when writing of the videos the 'martyrdom videos' the 7/7 bombers left behind them:

What we see in these videos are not soldiers in a war, but self-righteous young men who believe that their own moral certainty absolves them of the need to explain themselves properly. 

Nobody elected Khan or Tanweer. As far as we know, they did not have relations with anyone in Palestine, Bosnia or Chechnya. Indeed, these two men did not even bother to ask their family, friends or neighbours what they thought. 

At the local mosque near where three of the bombers grew up, one of the committee members, Muhboob Hussein, reacted with anger to 7/7: ‘This is not Islam, this is not jihad, these people are not Muslim. This man [Khan] never came to our mosque....’ 

Obviously, Khan or Tanweer did not show much interest in trying to win people over to their worldview - they thought that ‘democratically elected governments’ had less claim to act on behalf of people than they did.

And we saw just the same contempt for democratic government from the idiot presented on the front page of today's Guardian.

When I blogged about Mirza's article at the time, someone left a comment reminding me of a prophetic piece by Ian Buruma that began:

Does masturbation lead to suicide bombing? One would think not. There is no more direct link to suicide bombing than there is to blindness or schizophrenia. But there may be a connection between sexual inadequacy or frustration and the pull towards violent extremism.

Almost as depressing as the Guardian front page was the discussion of the Woolwich murder on Newsnight yesterday evening. One participant, the impressive Maajid Nawaz, spoke of the need for a Western narrative to challenge the world-view of Islamism. But you only had to look at the people with him to see there was little chance we would hear it last night.

There was John Reid who, as a Communist while the Soviet Union was the greatest tyranny on this planet, never bought into the Western narrative in the first place and is now employed by the security industry - though Newsnight never reminds of us during his frequent appearances. And there was Alex Carlile, a Liberal Democrat who long ago threw in his lot with the most repressive elements of Labourism.

And, sure enough, both Reid and Carlile told us that the most important thing is that we give the state more power to inspect the affairs of law-abiding citizens and weaken the safeguards for those it accuses of crime.

If that is the first reaction of those we are supposed to regard as statesmen, then you can see how weak the West's belief in its own values has become.

Scarthin Books, Cromford

Scarthin Books is one of Britain's great bookshops, but only one of the many reasons for visiting Cromford in Derbyshire.

Enid Blyton wins Book Title of the Day

Giant badger 'causing hysteria' at Folkestone School for Girls

Kent Online wins our Headline of the Day.

Thanks to @ColinW on Twitter.

Tory deputy leader on Hinckley & Bosworth joins the Lib Dems

John Moore, deputy leader of the Conservative group on Hinckley & Bosworth Borough Council in Leicestershire, has left the Conservatives and joined the Liberal Democrats, reports the Hinckley & Bosworth Lib Dems site.

In a letter to Conservative officials he said: ""Over the last 12 or more months I have found it increasingly difficult to recognise, on a national basis, the Party I have supported for the last 50 years."

Lib Dem Council Leader Stuart Bray says, "We are delighted to welcome John to the Lib Dem Group. I have worked with him over the past 6 years on Burbage Parish Council and latterly the Borough Council and have always found him a man of great integrity who cares passionately about Burbage and the area as a whole. John is a great asset to our group on the Borough and Parish Councils."

This means the political make-up of the council now stands at 19 Liberal Democrats, 14 Conservatives (including one who is currently "suspended") and 1 Labour.

Lies on the London Underground

Mike Bell to fight Weston-Super-Mare for the Lib Dems

From the Bristol Post:

Weston-Super-Mare Liberal Democrats have selected local councillor and businessman Mike Bell as their new Prospective Parliamentary Candidate (PPC). 

Mike was the party's candidate at the last General Election in 2010, increasing the Lib Dem vote by nearly 3,000 ... 

Conservative John Penrose won the seat in 2010 with 23,356 votes, Mike Bell came second with 20,665.

The seat had a Lib Dem MP (Brian Cotter) between 1997 and 2005.

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The View from the Hills offers 14 thoughts on British politics after three years of the Coalition.

"It was a gorgeously sunny and calm day yesterday afternoon on the south west coast of Wales. 13,000ft above sea level, somewhere above Swansea Airport, I was sitting hunched up in a 'plane, ready to free-fall back to Earth!" Read what happened next to Mark Cole - and he is quoted in the current Private Eye.

Ballots & Bullets finds that children with politically engaged parents are more likely to deviate from their parents’ political views.

Delia Smith is quite right to criticise TV cookery shows such as MasterChef for intimidating aspiring cooks, and to claim that Britain has lost its grip on home cooking, says Simon Titley on Liberator's blog.

"Euphemia Penman was a remarkable individual who rose to become one of the most respected managers in the emergent tram systems of late-Victorian London. In the period, given the social conventions of the time, this was without a doubt a remarkable feat for a woman." Read more about her on Turnip Rail.

Taxi has photographs of SS Ayrfield, which has become an abandoned floating forest in Homebush Bay, Sydney.

Woman trapped hand in drain cover searching for marble

Congratuations to the Stamford & Rutland Mercury on winning my Headline of the Day Award.

The Liberal Democrats won the Harborough constituency in the county elections

Lewis Baston has analysed this month's county elections results for the Fabian Society. He concludes that "these elections were not a vote of confidence in any party".

Because of the website it was written for it is chiefly concerned with the fortunes of the Labour Party, but it will still interest all politicos.

And I was particularly interested in this sentence:

The Lib Dems were ahead in some seats that were Tory in 2010, such as South East Cornwall, Oxford West & Abingdon, Winchester, St Albans, Watford and Harborough.

An explanation of the Liberal Democrat position on a European referendum

On looking through past posts on this blog I find that I provided just such an explanation as long ago as 2007 when Ming Campbell was still leader of the Liberal Democrats:

I have been asked – all polite and requesty – by Ming the Merciflold to explain to you our new polytito on the European Unibode. 

Though confdentimost, conference, if there’s a mercifold one in that marriage, it’s Elspeth. Indeedy-ho! 

Now historibold, which is of the oldest, we have the European wars. Schlesswig versy Holstein. Alsace versy Lorraine. And all huffalo dowder until the Congress of Viennit with the replay at Villy Park next Tuesday. 

In 1945 there is a new thorcus. All the natiomost of Europe join together in a peacy. 

And from this we have the joy of the Eurovision song contest. All boom and bangit with Sandy Shore, Cliff Richibold – there’s a falolloper – and the Bucksy Fizz. 

This, of course, is the home of the Norveige nul points – and sulky up the fijord ever since. 

Fundamold to this new Europe is the swap and trade it. At first we have it all back and forward across the borders with “please have your passy portit open for inspection”. 

And this is of a great waste of time, with estimate have it and 20 billion Euro a year – and that’s without the countit and the declimly point in the wrong place! 

Unfortumost – all shame and sobit – the Britly people are not keen and soldy. What they ask of the Britly passport? What of the pound and perch and of the Queen and reignit herself? 

Hear their cryimost: give me bendy bananas or death and end it! 

For this Ming has a new thorcus – ingenimost though it is. We have the referendium. 

A refererndium – moreover and extramost – not on the Constitutioner but on the whole goddam Euroimost shooting match. 

In or out, matey? That’s the question. We can’t shakeabout any longer, despite the poply song with the knees up and bunting. 

So how is run and work it, this referendium? All puzzlibod, I hear you. 

Here in Britly we have a tradition of the firsty past the post. Or as we say, the cross and stuffit. 

We Libby Dems have a prefer of the PR. And not only that, but the single and transfer it in the multimember too. 

Here we have the long ballot and the placey of the one with the favourite and two and threep – and add 07 if you want Brian to stay in the kitchy, indeedy ho! 

With the referendium the words on the bally paper – the precise and askit of the question – becomes of the importimost. 

And conference I can reveal to you – alone and exclusimost – the verbatim and word for word of it. 

And I quotey:

“Have you stopped beaty of the wife and stay in Europe. Or do you want to lose your job and employit with the folly of a no?” 

If we don’t mention of the bendy banana we’ll be home and squeakit with that one.

Tories begin defecting to Ukip over 'loons' slur

The Daily Telegraph wins my Headline of the Day Award - paywall or no paywall - and quite possibly my Headline of the Year Award too.

Lord Huron: The Man Who Lives Forever

Lord Huron, says Wikipeida, are an American indie folk band based in Los Angeles. Their debut album, Lonesome Dreams, was released in 2012 and this is the opening track being performed at a Seattle radio station. I like the guitars entwining with the Eastern percussion.

The Lynton & Barnstaple Railway: "Perchance it is not dead, but sleepeth..."

The narrow-gauge Lynton & Barnstaple Railway opened in May 1898. It was taken over by the Southern Railway in 1922 and closed in 1935.

This video shows Lyd, a replica of one of the locomotives that worked the line, running on the small stretch of the line that has been opened near Woody Bay.

There are plans to reopen the line from there to Lynton and eventually to Barnstaple as well. You can read about them on the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway website.

Nigel Farage's difficulties in Scotland

I know this blog is chiefly concerned with Shropshire and railways and photographs of churches, but if you look hard enough there are some quite prophetic political posts here too.

Back in February I pointed out that UKIP's policy platform consist of a ragbag of issues designed to reflect the worldview of angry white men of a certain age.

I then went on to say:

But there is another issue that appeals to this demographic. 

Unionism used to be the Conservatives' trump card. It won them a majority of Scottish MPs in the 1950s, which is something that it is near impossible to believe now. 

Not only is Unionism less effective as a policy: the Conservatives are not that keen on it any more ... 

And if you ask an angry white man of a certain age what he thinks of the Union he will most likely tell you (if he lives in Southern England, as so many of them do) that he is fed up with paying for services in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales that are better than the ones he can use himself. 

If the Scots want independence, he will likely continue, let them have it and see how much they enjoy paying the full cost of those services themselves. 

Which makes me wonder how long the UK will stay in UKIP. Their target voters are not keen on it at all.

Billesdon Coplow

"Billesdon Coplow is a wooded knoll, 625 ft. high, and is a conspicuous landmark in east Leicestershire," says the Victoria County History. "To the south it is visible for 20 miles."

There is something the split in its centre that has always reminded me of a freshly baked loaf. And on Saturday, as I was trudging across the fields from Barkby to Beeby, it was certainly conspicuous to the South East, though not half as close as the zoom lens makes it appear.

Today's Commons debate on mental health

Last year the Commons held an historic backbench debate on mental health. Historic not just because it tackled what was once almost a taboo subject, but also because a number of MPs spoke about their own mental health problems.

The two most prominent were Charles Walker and Kevan Jones - so much so that in today's debate Jones said that they had become "the Eric and Ernie of the mental health conference circuit". (He added: "I leave it to you, Madam Deputy Speaker, and the House to discern which of us is Eric and which is Ernie.")

Today Charles Walker again made a significant contribution:

I remain terribly concerned about psychosis and schizophrenia. I mentioned a few minutes ago that anyone with a diagnosis of psychosis or schizophrenia is likely to be unemployed. If one is not unemployed at the time, one will end up unemployed. Life expectancy, which has already been mentioned today, can be up to 20 years shorter than for someone who does not have that diagnosis. That is not acceptable in a civilised society and should not be tolerated. I have spoken about this before in an Adjournment debate and I want to revisit it because it is so important. 

My concern, having talked to people who care for loved ones with schizophrenia—sons, daughters, mothers or fathers - is that sometimes the NHS is more interested in managing the illness than with the overall health needs of the patient. Symptoms are managed down so that patients do not make a nuisance of themselves and take up time, but when one stands back and looks at them, they are desperately unhappy. It does not matter if they are smoking 70 or 80 cigarettes a day, because they are not making a nuisance of themselves. It does not matter if they weigh 20 to 25 stone, because they are not making a nuisance of themselves. It does matter, however, because that patient is slowly killing himself or herself and we have to address that.

Four Lib Dem MPs in top 14 of private members' bills ballot

Most of the publicity about today's private members bills' ballot has concerned James Wharton and his intention to promote the Conservative Party's Euro referendum bill.

But you may be interested to learn that four Liberal Democrat MPs came in the top 14 of the ballot:

9. Sir Robert Smith (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine)
11. Mike Crockart (Edinburgh West)
13. Mark Williams (Ceredigion)
14. Sir Malcom Bruce (Gordon)

Even Sir Robert is probably just too low in the list to have a realistic chance of getting a bill all the way to the statute book, but who knows?

Leicester summer season to celebrate Richard III

News reaches me from Leicester City Council of plans for a summer season of Richard III-themed events and activities in the city:

Leicester's Guildhall, which is home to the current exhibition Richard III: Leicester's Search for a King, will host talks from some of the key archaeologists and researchers involved in the astonishing discovery of King Richard's body. 

Visitors will also be able to relive the nail-biting televised press conference at which the discovery was confirmed, as well as savouring the two Channel 4 documentaries following the dig, at special screenings in the Guildhall. 

Younger visitors can make the most of a programme of half-term holiday activities, including making medieval helmets, swords, shields and clay castles. 

A specially-commissioned play will explore the rise and fall of Richard III in "Now is the Winter of our Discontent", while heritage re-enactment group Conflict 1485 Bosworth will thrill visitors with examples of the armour, weaponry and soldiers which would have fought at Bosworth Field itself. 

In the nearby cathedral, a series of Dean's Discussions will see some of the key academics and specialists in the discovery and identification of Richard's remains talking about their painstaking work. 

Bosworth Battlefield Heritage Centre and Country Park will host a series of guided walks and exhibitions over the summer, and Blue Badge guides will take visitors on walks through Leicester's most historic places. 

The University of Leicester will also open its doors for a day of Richard III-themed activities, ranging from lectures, displays and workshops, through to face-painting and magic shows for younger visitors. 

Events will culminate in August with a series of activities marking the anniversary of King Richard's death and burial. These include an annual battlefield re-enactment, family events in the cathedral grounds and a commemorative evensong concert at Leicester Cathedral on August 22 - the anniversary of the battle.

It all sounds great. Why not bring your nephews?

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"The Conservative party today is a puritanical beast, railing against the iniquities of the world but struggling to find solutions. Like 16th-century puritans, today’s Tories take comfort in purity and isolation and want nothing to do with the murky waters of compromise politics." Giles Marshall asks how many Conservatives truly want to resist UKIP on the Tory Reform Group's Egremont blog.

"Childhood trauma and abuse is the smoking of psychiatry. As a risk factor for mental illness it is comparable to how smoking a pack of cigarettes per day increases the risk of lung cancer and heart disease." So says psychiatrist Simon Hatcher in a guest post on The Mental Elf.

Stephen Tall enjoys "This House" at the National Theatre.

"An important clue to understanding what went wrong can found in the reaction of the museum and its architect to Wednesday’s decision. In a series of angry statements the blame was pinned on ‘naive’ councillors and rabid conservationists. There was no soul-searching, no self-analysis, no sense of mea culpa."  Campaign to Save the Marquis analyses its unexpected victory over developers in Hoxton.

Gabriel Byng argues on Huffington Post that the sale of Britain's churches should cause an international outcry.

Ken Loach's "The Spirit of '45" bad history and worse politics, says David Hayes on Inside Story.

Stiperstones and Corndon Hill Country Landscape Partnership

Good news from the Shropshire Hills AONB website:

The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) has confirmed a grant of £1.35 million to the Stiperstones and Corndon Hill Country Landscape Partnership Scheme, which aims to safeguard the special qualities of the countryside. This is excellent news for the local area and for everyone, including the many volunteers, who helped to prepare the bid over the last twelve months. 

The Scheme, which will cover an area of just under 200sq km defined by a rich industrial heritage as well as earlier prehistoric and medieval history, aims to conserve and restore historic and wildlife sites, help communities take part and learn about the landscape and its heritage, and improve access and training opportunities in local heritage skills.

My photograph, taken at The Bog, shows Corndon Hill over the border in Wales.

The Village Sleeps Again (1962)

It's a while since we have had a Look at Life film, so hear is The Village Sleeps Again from 1962 on the building of bypasses.

As it turns out, the film is more about towns than villages and is notable for the cavalier attitude displayed towards urban clearance, the half-timbered house in Exeter and its mouse apart.

But there is some appealing footage of Markyate in Hertfordshire and Stilton in Huntingdonshire (as it then was) towards the end.

Sir Edward Garnier tries to shut down fake Twitter account

Harborough's own Sir Edward Garnier QC MP is trying to get Twitter to close a fake account being run in his name.

The existence of such a report must be irritating and could be politically damaging, though the most striking thing about @EdwardGarnier is how very dull it is. There is some justice in the MP's suggestion, quoted in the Leicester Mercury, that the hoaxer should "get a life and go and do something useful instead".

But I was disappointed by some other words of his quoted in the article:

"I have never had a Twitter account and have no intention of having one."

Why not? It's a great way of keeping in touch with constituents, explaining what you do as an MP and tapping into others' expertise.

Later. This tweeter, however, does not pretend to be Sir Edward.

Does the UK suffer by not taking part in Eurovision semi finals?

The first Eurovision semi final takes place this evening. As one of the major contributors to the European Broadcasting Union the United Kingdom is guaranteed a place in the final, but do we miss out by not taking part it the semis?

A paper presented at the Annual Conference of the British Psychological Society last month suggest we do, if only to a small extent.

Diarmuid Verrier from Sheffield Hallam University found that taking part in the semi-final stage of the contest can result in an entrant moving up the leaderboard by one place.

He pointed out all of the winners since 2004 - barring Germany - have appeared in the semi-finals, which indicates 'mere exposure' to something they have seen previously can result in more positive feelings towards it.

"Although political voting and, hopefully, a decent tune will always play a part in how Eurovision contests are decided, this research suggests a third influence in the contest," he added.

However, political voting probably plays a larger part in the final outcome, which is also bad news for the UK. As Terry Wogan once put it: "We've invaded too many countries and everyone hates us."

Jo Grimond and the Soviet invasion of Shetland

Chris Glew on Estonian World tells the story of Erich Teayn, a crewman on a Soviet factory ship who, on the night of 25 June 1958, commandeered a motor boat and made his bid for freedom in the West by landing on Shetland:

He had realised that his journey wouldn’t be easy and might even be dangerous, but he hadn’t counted on 30 of his Russian crew-mates giving chase, hoping to foil his escape. In choosing a faster boat, he managed to land slightly ahead of his pursuers, on the ragged coast near the small village of Walls, West Shetland. 

Teayn spent five hours trekking through bare and treeless terrain in the late daylight with the Russian crew scouring the area, looking for any trace of their former colleague. He eventually stumbled upon the cottage of a local crofter, David Fraser and his son.

The Soviets searched the island seeking Teayn and passed within 50 yards of the cottage where he was hiding:

he two police sergeants arrested Teayn under the Aliens Act (he was an illegal immigrant, after all) and took him back to Lerwick, where he was placed in custody. 

The next day, the three senior Russian commanders of the fishing fleet landed in Lerwick to demand Teayn’s transfer to their custody. The Provost and senior police officer were both on leave and despite their apparent politeness and friendly manner, the police refused them all access to Teayn.

The affair was raised in the Commons by Jo Grimond, the local MP and leader of the Liberal Party. And Erich Teayn was last heard of living with an Estonian family in Shipley and looking for work.

Rain stops play at Barkby

My favourite book at the moment - Country House Cricket Grounds of Leicestershire and Rutland by E.E. Snow - records that cricket has been played at Barkby Hall since at least 1846 and that the ground is still under the patronage of the Pochin family.

This probably explains the appealing mixture of the modern - the electronic scoreboard - and the quaint - two trees standing in the field of play.

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"The big questions I'd like to hear answers to from people in politics and/or the media is what the point of such strange venues is and whose idea was it to 'neutralise' the political speech - politicians, their advisors or the media? I'd also quite like to know why a supermarket chain (Morrisons) has become the venue of choice for leading Conservative politicians." Max Atkinson mourns the further decline of political oratory in Britain.

Disgruntled Radical has some good arguments against a referendum on our membership of the European Union.

"We need to say to people, 'Use Facebook yes… Try all of the channels of communication available to you, but it’s good old-fashioned communication on the doorstep that voters value the most'." Polichic... explains why Facebook won't win you an election.

Commander Chris Hadfield proves he is the coolest astronaut ever by singing David Bowie's "Space Oddity" in space, says blastr.

Days after Hitler’s suicide a group of American soldiers, French prisoners and German soldiers defended an Austrian castle against an SS division - the only time Germans and Allies fought together in World War II. Andrew Roberts tells the story for The Daily Beast.

Richly Evocative enjoys the Parkland Walk, which occupies the trackbed of the old line from Finsbury Park to Highgate.

Conservative backbenchers are scribbling on the constitution

I have just watched Jacob Rees-Mogg trying to defend the absurdity of Conservative backbenchers voting to amend their own government's Queen's speech.

But then respect for the constitution, which used to be a hallmark of Conservatism, has pretty much been thrown out of the window. Forget Burke and representative democracy: the reaction of modern Conservative MPs when they find themselves part of a minority in the Commons, is to demand a referendum.

The latest example, reports the Guardian, is over the Coalition's plans to bring in equal marriage.

Political Animal reminded us on Twitter earlier today that Margaret Thatcher once quoted with approval Clement Attlee's argument that the referendums "a device of dictators and demagogues". He was right and so was she.

Tory backbenchers opposed AV and the reform of the Lords (even though the latter was in their own manifesto), but they are quite ready to trash the constitution if they think it is to their advantage.