The Lib Dem leadership contest nominations closed today without John Hemming, MP for Yardley and leader of the Lib Dem group, throwing his hat in. Rumours abounded on the political blogs that he was gaging support for a potential leadership bid eventually dropping the idea for lack of support. Some local enemies supported his bid, hoping that it would get him out of Brum (a bit like Big Brother rid Labour of a certain Mr Galloway), but the threat of Sarah Teather was clearly too big.
It is a pity, as I think I am correct in saying he would have been the first Brummie Prime Minister since Neville Chamberlain - if he had successfully won the leadership of a party that was electable.
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
Sunday, January 22, 2006
Footbal Fun 'n' Games
Birmingham's thumping 5-0 victory over the Portsmouth Pirates yesterday has brought back my love of football. There is just a chance we might stay up although it may unfortunately be at the expense of our neighbours West Brom, who gifted division whipping boys Sunderland a win increasing the Mackems points tally by a third - now they are halfway to breaking their record low points tally of 18.
Meanwhile in t'North of t'city Aston Villa have been having all kinds of fun and games. A consortium of Irish businessmen are in negotiations with Deadly Doug in a takeover bid (he must be going soft in his old age) but the funniest news came from the News of the World last week when fake sheik Mazhar Mahmood convinced England boss Sven Goran-Eriksson he was planning a takeover of the Second City sleeping giants, encouraging him to join him in a bid and getting him to admit he has the relationship with Mr Beckham to bring the England captain to the Midlands.
Meanwhile current manager O'Leary is fuming, claiming he has always given full support to the quiet Swede and that the England manager should not be commenting on joining clubs where there is already a manager. Perhaps if he'd been doing a better job as Villa manager, there wouldn't be so much speculation about his job?
Gotta love the Villains.
Meanwhile in t'North of t'city Aston Villa have been having all kinds of fun and games. A consortium of Irish businessmen are in negotiations with Deadly Doug in a takeover bid (he must be going soft in his old age) but the funniest news came from the News of the World last week when fake sheik Mazhar Mahmood convinced England boss Sven Goran-Eriksson he was planning a takeover of the Second City sleeping giants, encouraging him to join him in a bid and getting him to admit he has the relationship with Mr Beckham to bring the England captain to the Midlands.
Meanwhile current manager O'Leary is fuming, claiming he has always given full support to the quiet Swede and that the England manager should not be commenting on joining clubs where there is already a manager. Perhaps if he'd been doing a better job as Villa manager, there wouldn't be so much speculation about his job?
Gotta love the Villains.
PRoB Blogs Faster
The People's Republic has entered the Broadband age.
Expect quicker revolutionary blogging.
Expect quicker revolutionary blogging.
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
Liverpool 5 London 0
Despite their amazing feat of winning the Champions League, the People's Republic were as surprised as everyone else that Liverpool FC failed to receive a single gong in the New Year's Honours List. Later the Government said that they will get some on one of the Queen's Birthdays (probably the official one), but they had too many sporting honours to give in the New Year with the Ashes win and the successful London Olympic bid.
Now the People's Republic would be the first to defend the honours given to our heroic cricketers; but why did the successful London Olympic bidders get preference over those who one of the greatest comebacks in football history? Liverpool have a history of not being honoured despite being successful - neither the great Bob or Bill were knighted. Manchester United got plenty of honours after their 1999 win. I suspect if a London club had won (and let's remember that a London club has never won Europe's premier football prize), OBE's, MBE's and Knighthoods would have abounded.
The honours system has been a joke for years and this sums it up. It's not who you are, it's how close you are to the London establishment.
The People's Republic salutes the Reds. After all, if you are overlooked by the honours system in this country you have probably done something worthwhile.
Now the People's Republic would be the first to defend the honours given to our heroic cricketers; but why did the successful London Olympic bidders get preference over those who one of the greatest comebacks in football history? Liverpool have a history of not being honoured despite being successful - neither the great Bob or Bill were knighted. Manchester United got plenty of honours after their 1999 win. I suspect if a London club had won (and let's remember that a London club has never won Europe's premier football prize), OBE's, MBE's and Knighthoods would have abounded.
The honours system has been a joke for years and this sums it up. It's not who you are, it's how close you are to the London establishment.
The People's Republic salutes the Reds. After all, if you are overlooked by the honours system in this country you have probably done something worthwhile.
Sunday, January 15, 2006
London: "Lucky" Again?
Doesn't time fly! One minute you are lounging around during the Christmas holidays and before you know it you're halfway through January and well into the New Year. This is the first post of 2006 and although it probably won't be the last, although I am unsure how often I am going to blog in the New Year.
Over the Christmas period we heard allegations that London only won the 2012 Olympic bid by mistake after a delegate failed to vote for Greece in the crucial third round. This would explain why an inferior bid won, and also is true to form for London as it often has a worse bid and ends up winning (e.g. the Millennium celebrations, and the National Stadium). This time however it appears to be down to sheer dumb luck rather than fiddling the vote, which the city is used to doing.
Speaking of the national stadium, there are fears it won't be ready for the Cup final and reports of the Australian developers losing large amounts of money. Again, not surprising given an inferior bid won.
Over the Christmas period we heard allegations that London only won the 2012 Olympic bid by mistake after a delegate failed to vote for Greece in the crucial third round. This would explain why an inferior bid won, and also is true to form for London as it often has a worse bid and ends up winning (e.g. the Millennium celebrations, and the National Stadium). This time however it appears to be down to sheer dumb luck rather than fiddling the vote, which the city is used to doing.
Speaking of the national stadium, there are fears it won't be ready for the Cup final and reports of the Australian developers losing large amounts of money. Again, not surprising given an inferior bid won.
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