scene from west bromwich east

I’ve been testing the new iPhone application, hipstamatic. It takes beautiful, sixties style images.

KW:  Joining me now is the shadow schools secretary Michael Gove. Michael Gove I want to read you something: “The party’s unhealthy reliance on Ashcroft puts its entire electoral strategy at risk. Move over Jim Davidson, there’s an even more high-profile comedian backing the Tories. Let’s give a big welcome to the king of the one-liners, self-made millionaire, self-style [inaudible] Lord, I was just taking the Michael Ashcroft”. Michael Gove you wrote those words in 2000. Do you stand by them now? 

MG: I wrote those words when I was a columnist for the Times and I was paid to entertain… 

KW:  Were you not paid to tell the truth? 

MG:  Well I was paid to entertain and the column was designed to amuse and to provoke. The critical thing is that Lord Ashcroft has I think taken notice of what his critics have said, rather more substantial critics than me…

While I value my privacy, I do not want my affairs to distract from the general election campaign. I have therefore decided to release a copy of the letter which I wrote to William Hague, and to expand on what actually happened.

As the letter shows, the undertakings I gave were confirmed in a memorandum to William Hague dated 23rd March 2000. These were to “take up permanent residence in the UK again” by the end of that year. The other commitment in the memorandum was to resign as Belize’s permanent representative to the UN, which I did a week later.

In subsequent dialogue with the Government, it was officially confirmed that the interpretation in the first undertaking of the words “permanent residence” was to be that of “a long term resident” of the UK. I agreed to this and finally took up my seat in the House of Lords in October 2000. Throughout the last ten years, I have been declaring all my UK income to HM Revenue.

My precise tax status therefore is that of a “non-dom”. Two of Labour’s biggest donors – Lord Paul (recently made a privy councillor by the Prime Minister) and Sir Ronald Cohen, both long-term residents of the UK, are also “non-doms”.

As for the future, while the non-dom status will continue for many people in business or public life, David Cameron has said that anyone sitting in the legislature – Lords or Commons – must be treated as resident and domiciled in the UK for tax purposes. I agree with this change and expect to be sitting in the House of Lords for many years to come.

James Forsyth’s fascinating piece about the Tory ‘dead shark’ dilemma confirms to me that what we are witnessing is not, as some commentators would have us believe, a natural tightening in the polls before an election.

It’s more significant. It’s the consequence of short-termism, compromise and a failure to embed change in the Conservative Party.

Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and Peter Mandelson rediscovered social democracy for Labour. They struggled and won many battles in order to achieve this.

David Cameron has failed to redefine his party. He compromised with his right wing instead of taking them on. The nearer we are to the election, the more it shows.

If you look at the Times today, you can see where Conservative attempts to market the party as new and fresh comes unstuck when you look at the data. One in 16 new Tory candidates are related to past or present Tory MPs! Half of them were recruited from within the party machine, the lobbying industry, The City or the Bar.

Not for the first time in recent months, the media are behind the British Public in their thinking. The Sun front page accusing Gordon Brown of being the “Prime Monster” received almost universal ridicule in the thousands of conversations taking place in the social media space. Sure, the Tories score short-term hits with well-spun news pieces but they’re not telling the whole story. And voters sense this.

The truth is, people know that David Cameron failed to face down the Conservative right. A majority of the electorate may not be enamoured by the European Union but they know that the Tory position is so illogical that they look ridiculous in Germany, France, Spain and Italy.

And more importantly, they know that the Tories were all over the place on the economy. If you need reminding of their inconsistent position, here’s the Sun promoting George Osborne condemning the nationalisation of Bradford and Bingley.

They’ve not changed themselves enough and near an election, people are seeing this. I can’t find the story from this week that reflected the poll showing that a third of people say that they don’t know what the Tories stand for but it’s a dramatic statistic.

So  I think to open up an election with the message “Vote for Change” is extraordinarily naive. A third of voters don’t know what change they’ll be voting for. Worse, many people still think they offer the wrong kind of change. It’s a complacent message. It builds on the Tories’ hubristic belief that the election was gifted them last year. It lacks hope and optimism. It’s devoid of a future offer. They’ll regret it.

He spoofs Andrew Pierce and then gets written up in a number of national newspapers, including the Sun, which I notice does not appear to support Labour these days.

Being lobbied by people you revere, respect and admire is a tricky thing. I’ve just openend this letter from some big characters in my life. It shows how co-ordinated and determined the entertainment industry is:

Dear Mr Watson
 
The Digital Economy Bill
 
Britain is admired for its creativity and its sense of fair play. British musicians, singers, actors, writers and directors are known and loved around the world and create some of our greatest assets. Together they contribute more that 7% to the UK economy.
 
The Digital Economy Bill brings both of these together. It will ensure that British creators, entertainment companies and the 1.8 millioon people who work in and around the cultural sector are respected and rewarded in the future as they have been in the past., and that they are fairly paid when they put their work online.
 
Digital entertainment services are really beginning to take off: fans have never had so much choice as to how they enjoy their music, books, TV and films online. But for these new business models to develop, it is critical that more is done to prevent the illegal services providing easy access to free content.
 
We urge Parliament to pass this bill as a matter of urgency in order to secure the future of its creative talent and industries.
 
Sir Terry Pratchett OBE author
Simon Cowell
Paul Greengrass President Directors UK
Stephen Garrett Executive Chairman Kudos
Tim Bevan Co Chairman, Working Title Films

I used to get on well with James. He has a very dry humour that would often help us get through stressful days in the government whips office. Then I resigned in September 2006. Since then we’ve hardly shared a sentence, let alone a joke.  It’s a situation I regret.

When he resigned last year, I felt great empathy for James.  He wouldn’t have appreciated my thoughts at the time but it’s a very lonely thing when you voluntarily leave government, even when the exit is on good terms.  And James, like me, did not leave on good terms. He would have felt miserable and lonely. In the heat of the media crucible, colleagues use harsh language and say things they shouldn’t. Though you know it’s not really meant, it still hurts.

I felt the same for Siobhain McDonagh when she resigned in turbulent circumstances. Siobhain is Labour. Labour to her very core. You could see the agony on her face when she did TV interviews.

Back to James. He’ll be missed. I’m not surprised to see him depart Westminster whilst he’s still young enough to make a difference in his next endeavour.  I hope he does something dramatic and big in the arts. But whatever he chooses to do, I wish him well. And perhaps one day, we can share wry observations on the absurd aspects of politics and the media again.