Iain said "[n]ow watch them appear on blog after blog after blog..." And who am I to disappoint? So here I am, Warholized:

Do they, really?

The penultimate sentence in a post on the new Times blog, Red Box, on Nick Clegg's first PMQs as Lib Dem leader, reads:

Iain Dale picks up on this and asks:
Well, I'm not a Lib Dem, but I think I can answer it anyway. Ignoring the fact that this is a media report of an unattributed and non-quoted remark.

Whilst ID cards are undoubtedly an issue - one which Nick Clegg has spoken on quite a bit and even declared that he would take part in a campaign of civil disobedience against them and even go to court. What is being said here by these "Lib Dem strategists" is more that ID cards are not the most pressing issue that most people could come up with.

Yes, it is a very important issue, but for the large majority of non-political active people, it really isn't there number 1 priority right now. When it comes closer to fruition, then yes it will be an truly important issue for all freedom-loving people in Britain, but right now, more people are likely to be interested in their winter fuel bills.

When it comes down to it, ID cards won't be the most important issue for the majority of people until the axe is hanging right over their heads. However it is, and will remain, an important one - but just number 1. A simple fact of human nature.

Via Iain Dale and ConservativeHome, a Sunday Telegraph poll puts the Conservatives on their highest ICM poll since 1992:

Conservative: 43%
Labour: 36%
LibDems: 14%

From lows to highs, eh! Just a few weeks ago, we were trailing by eleven points, and now we're leading by seven! Hopefully this high will last longer than Brown's momentary lead and be able to be built on to ensure that we win the next general election - whenever Gordon Brown decides to call it.

Some thought that Brown's eleven point lead meant an end to Cameron and the Conservatives as a whole. How wrong they were! But recent polls do show that they are pretty volatile at the moment - except for the Lib Dems who are constantly trailing in the low double figures. Thus it seems that Brown's indecision over calling an election and his recent policy plagiarism have marred him in the electorate's eyes.

We can but hope this this isn't just a blip in the polls, but a sign that the Conservatives are properly back on top properly and for good.

Image: ConservativeHome

The top 500 political blogs in the UK.


54 in the Top 100 Centre-Right blogs and 135 in the top 500 Political Blogs. I'm happy with that!

There isn't long until the 2007 edition of Iain Dale's Guide To Political Blogging In The UK is published, of which I have just pre-ordered my copy. We were all invited to submit our top twenty blogs, and made sure that I did submit my top twenty.

Matt Wardman has designed the sidebar buttons for those who are lucky enough to get into the top lists.

In the book there will be:

• Articles by thirty leading bloggers and commentators
• Profiles of more than fifty leading blogs
• A directory of 1,200 political blogs
• The best 500 political blogs in the UK
• The top 100 Conservative blogs
• The top 100 Labour blogs
• The top 100 Lib Dem blogs
• The top 100 non-aligned blogs
• The top 30 MP blogs
• The top 60 media blogs
• The top 30 councillor blogs

And lots, lots, more...

Iain Dale says "Here's a Green Idea: Why Not Ban Plastic Bags?"

In reply I'm just going to pretty much repeat the arguments of a post I wrote on this issue before.

Should we have to pay to use plastic bags from a supermarket? Should we bollocks. Plastic bags are the last thing made of old recycled plastic. It usually isn't of good enough quality to be used for anything else - plastic bags is the end of the life of the plastic.

Providing incentives for re-using and/or recycling plastic bags is a good idea. But also one that is already pretty much in use in many supermarkets, though not to as large an extent as it could be. Banning them is never going to work, and really works against the green principle in the end. Plastic bags are used by many people for many things - bin-liners and the like - and thus many do get re-used. The plastic used to make plastic bags is at the end of it's lifespan. It cannot be used for making anything else any more, so they make bags from it - and plastic bags can only be made into other plastic bags.

Rather than penalising those who want to use the plastic bags to carry their shopping, reward those who re-use and recycle them at the shop. The carrot and not the stick is far more useful in this case. It is more the other plastic waste that needs to be reduced rather than plastic bags, so that we don't end up with so much plastic that is only fit to become plastic bags.

On 18 Doughty Street tonight, Iain Dale is re-launching Vox Politix tonight at 10pm with a "new look". One of the new segments is Top Ten, where they are looking for our suggestions. Tonight's Top Ten will be:

Deliberately inflammatory and excessively OTT, so I'll do the same. It should bring up some fun suggestions...

Here are a few of mine:

1. Aren't dinosaurs supposed to be extinct?

2. "Green" stuff is high priority nowadays, right? Let's reduce the methane production by cutting out the bullshit he's producing.

3. Well, you can't cure stupid...

4. He needs to be put out of his misery.

5. Why waste a bullet? Rope can be re-used.

6. Why not?

And I'm out of ideas at the moment. Please feel free to suggest some in the comments!

I wrote a post on the issue that caused this question here.

This is my list of my top 20 blogs for Iain Dale's 2007 Guide to Political Blogging in the UK. My criteria for selecting these blogs is very simple: those I enjoy most. The list below is my top 20 UK political blogs, in alphabetical order:

A Conservative's Blog
Benedict Brogan's political blog
Caroline Hunt
ConservativeHome
Devil's Kitchen
Dizzy Thinks
Educational Conscription
Ellee Seymour
Iain Dale's Diary
The Last Ditch
Liberty's Requiem
mediocracy
Mr Eugenides
Norfolk Blogger
The Regalis Blog
Sinclair's Musings
The Spectator Coffeehouse Blog
Theo Spark
Tory Radio
The Wardman Wire

If you want to submit your top 20, email Iain: iain AT iaindale DOT com. Please feel free to submit me as one of your top 20! ;-)