A short apology to Lib Dem Voice

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Averse to the Right apologises
For ignoring Obama, and war in Goma:
The launch of the site has been delayed
By the path of Hurricane Paloma!

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Staying with my in-laws in the Cayman Islands, we had a rather close call with the record-breaking storm, Hurricane Paloma. The satellite pics looked scary, but Paloma took a last minute turn to the right (or left, if you were looking up at it!), and in the end, after an anxious few hours, there was very little damage near us (just off South Sound Road, Grand Cayman). If it had gone west of the island, the anti-clockwise rotation of the hurricane might have brought us a hefty southerly wind, driving in a storm surge. This could have spelled trouble, as we were in a ground floor apartment 100 yards from the sea..... As it was, we got northerly winds because it passed east of us.

Cayman Brac and Little Cayman were nearer to the path of the storm and were badly affected, as was Cuba. But the worst thing for us – apart from a day or two indoors without water and electricity - was the apparantly permanent loss of the wireless internet connection.

This meant that I decided to wait till we got back to the UK to launch this site properly. Thanks to Lib Dem Voice for their help in this, and I feel fortunate to be able to apologise to them for the delay.... Personally speaking, it was certainly the closest call I have ever had with the Power of Mother Nature.

However, the weather was quite nice for the rest of our holiday! And I gather that my in-laws are moving to Abu Dhabi early next year....

Georgie Osborne's Pudding and Pie

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Georgie Osborne’s pudding and pie's
Dished up by Rothschild’s serving guys;
But Georgie needs to buy the vote:
They visit Deripaska’s boat.

Feldman joins him to promote
‘A big donation’, quote-unquote.
Oleg’s passport isn’t right,
So Feldman flies the usual kite:
‘A firm he owns could hide the gift,
(And Georgie sees no need for thrift!)’

Georgie Osborne, sailing by,
Kissed the Rich but made them cry;
When the Rich write to ‘The Times’,
Georgie Osborne guiltless mimes…

Georgie Osborne’s pudding and pie’s
Served by the Rich; He scarce denies!

(But Machiavelli was also there,
And Georgie never got his share.)

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George Osborne, Conservative party Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, has already been criticised by opposition commentators over his response to the financial crisis. But it is his dealings with his (former?) sponsor, Bullingdon chum, and hedge fund tycoon Nat Rothschild, regarding a alleged donation sought from a Russian billionaire, Oleg Deripaska, which has really got the media talking about him. George has, of course, denied ever asking for money, but as one comment on The Times website put it: 'The Tories must think we were born yesterday!' Intriguingly, 'Machiavelli' was also there enjoying the pudding and pie on Deripaska's superyacht, and George's inept attempt to smear a Government (i.e. Labour) Minister and recent European Union Trade Commissioner by making public the Minister's dealings with the Russian has clearly angered Rothschild to the extent that he made public Osborne's attempts to get some Deripaska cash for the Tories, with the stern admonition that the donor community would prefer to keep such things private in future. (You bet they would! Otherwise we might as well just tax the rich properly and have public funding of political parties......) Andrew Feldman is the Chief Executive of the Conservative Party, and a key fundraiser for the party. But as far as the left is concerned, maybe it's all enough to make Martin Bell want to stand for Tatton again!

I know a man called Andrew Gilligan

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I know a man called Andrew Gilligan
Read that dossier and saw spin, again
Found a boffin who thought it thin-igan
Good old Andrew Gilligan.

Begin again:

I know a man called Andrew Gilligan
Exposed boffin’s wagging chin-igan,
Made one claim which proved too thin-igan
Poor old Andrew Gilligan

Begin again:

I know a man called Andrew Gilligan
He defied New Labour’s will again
Alastair Campbell made a din, again
Poor old Andrew Gilligan

Begin again:

I know a man called Andrew Gilligan
Hutton gave him quite a grill-igan
Made him swallow bitter pill-igan
Poor old Andrew Gilligan

Begin again:

I know a man called Andrew Gilligan
The government only seemed to win again
But the secret’s out, and’ll never be in again

Good old Andrew Gilligan!

On to pastures new, Mr Gilligan! Begin again!

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Andrew Gilligan was the BBC reporter who interviewd Government scientist Dr David Kelly about the Government dossier detailing the reasons for going to war with Iraq in 2003. He alleged that an unnamed member of the intelligence community (later revealed to be Kelly) had said that many intelligence officers were unhappy that the case for war had been 'sexed up', especially by the prominent inclusion of a flimsy claim that Iraq could launch weapons of mass destruction within 45 minutes. This so angered the Government - and especially Blair's media chief Alistair Campbell - that extreme pressure was exerted on the BBC to retract and on the MOD to discover the name of Gilligan's informant. Kelly denied saying exactly what Gilligan had reported, and later appeared to have committed suicide as a result of the pressure (though Norman Baker MP believes he was murdered). The Government asked Lord Brian Hutton to hold an inquiry. In a report seen by many as a whitewash, Hutton found that Gilligan had exaggerated, that the dossier had been approved by the head of the intelligence services, and Kelly had committed suicide. Gilligan was forced to resign from the BBC, though noted pointedly that journalists were being held to higher standards than for example, Government dossiers. Those BBC top brass who had defended him also resigned. No public inquest has ever been held into Dr Kelly's death. Mr Gilligan is unrelated to Michael Finnegan. I wrote the rhyme in 2004, when he resigned. But I noticed his name on the credits of a Dispatches programme trashing British Airways on Channel 4 the other day and, writing for the London Standard, he helped to scupper Ken Livingstone's chances of a third term as London Mayor, so clearly he is not unemployable, post-BBC.