±«Óãtv

Any chance of asking Paddy Ashdown to elaborate on his comment that the Irish referendum may be the beginning of the end of the EU as we know it, while he's on the programme.

with the departure of George Bush we are still to send troops to Aftghanistan. Why? The Russians had half a million troops and got out, we have eight thousand and the Taliban are getting stronger how can we justify this madness? The Irish say no along with the French and Dutch and yet to hear Milliband, Brown and Sarkosy it's as if none of this happened. Why should we listen to such myopic leaders. I hope Newsnight explores these failed politicians.

I see that Michael Crick is still working his story on Ms Spelman and her nanny. I am apolitical and have never before entered comment on a blog but I firmly believe this to be a witch-hunt that entirely deviod of any paractical checks and balances in its construction. There must be better things for you to direct Mr Crick to review. It was years ago, it's deminimis in scale, entirely understandable from the point of view of a working mother and Crick's perserverance here does no service to broadcasting. It makes me rather cross. And cross enough to reister to a blog site for the first time and take issue with this holier-than-thou campaign.

"Crick and the Nanny part 405 "thanks be Jeremy has come back to the fold - I like the Journo in Esquire who said "Jeremy can hold his own " a quote she gave when Jeremy was placed on top ten best dressed men,and just as well too as Marks and Spencer took no sympathy on his plight .

Any news on Peter Hain as yet ?

I have no evidence which might condradict Caroline Spelman's account but it didn't wholly convince me. However, I do agree that it isn't all that interesting or important.

I must admit that I'm not at all sure just why we are in Afghanistan, of course I know that Bushes poodle Blair did as he was told by his master.
However, I don't remember him making a convincing case to us the voters for doing it.
I'm fairly sure that the Afghani's had no intension of invading the UK.
We do know now that we invaded Iraq because of the supposed WMD, or maybe it was oil?
But why Afghanistan?

All deaths are regrettable but be reminded that most of the suicide bombers 9/11, 7/7 Madrid had training in or inspirations from Afghanistan and Pakistan under the tutorlage of the ttaliban. Withdrawing from Afganistan will be leaving them to carry on with being the sponsors of terror world wide. At that point the public will ask why did Britain leave when they knew the danger the Talibans and Osama possed.
the traversty is that Iraq got mixed up in all of this. But thats another story.

as far as you having military in iraq, Afghanistan the united states has lost more soldiers in both than anybody.its a commitment you take when you put on that uniform.to do what you have to to make your country safe.i dint like my country the usa to go fight a war we dont have nothing to do with but since 911 we have to protect our nation at all means availaby.so stop complaining your in a war and your loses soldiers usa lost over 4,000 and you see us crying about it huh. just at the toll its taking on us . us army ranger retired.

Re #2.
I hope so too leftie. Desperate Des Browne's claims about the prospects for long-term success against the Taliban, are too hilarious for words, witnessed by the recent shooting up of the quisling ''Govt's''
military jamboree, with Kar- zee running for his life, or the weekend's Taliban prison raid and mass prisoner break-out. Des is as ineffectual and deluded as his boss, who talks solemnly about his mission to see more girls receiving education in Afghanistan, when he has plenty on his hands trying to get British kids to attend school, and can't win votes from his own back-benchers without offering (ahem) concessions. Bring our precious lads and lasses home to top pay and living conditions with their families, and let them make our streets safe and our borders secure.

We send more troops because the EU allies, so called, are too cowardly to send theirs into a fighting zone. This EU that wants an EU military and an end to national ones.

When it counts you can not count on the EU.

Michael Crick, Rarely notice or bother about credits, but it seems this reporter has issues with the Conservative party, still according to the preamble here banging on over a ten year out of date non story. Also the previous page wittering on about Oxford educated people in the shadow cbinet.

Was he frightend by a canvaser for the Conservatives as a child! LOL

South Africa is interesting. Must drive the ±«Óãtv mad. Sensible normal feelings to flooding with immigrants which have undermined their own working chances and lives, but the ±«Óãtv unable to call it 'racist'!

It is called defending their nation, from invasion. Good luck to them.

We do not need to guess whose side the ±«Óãtv will be on do we?

That they need to ask what caused it, shows how little they understand there or resentments here.

WW1/2 casualties? Then again Afghanistan should be left alone as a Taliban state, see how they get on, any dissenters in this country to our western ways can be given a one way ticket to their little utopia. If it works a national state we can then follow them hahahahahahahah.

What does newsnight think about the research by the ±«Óãtv Trust regarding the lack of devolved politics on programmes such as newsnight?

Also for tuesday how about the threat of further strikes from petrol hauliers?

I find the comments of the part-time Secretary of Defence tonight totally ridiculous. How on earth he can have the audacity to ask Jeremy Paxman about the last time he "trained an army" when the part-time minister has never actually served in the forces a day in his life. ( or any members of the cabine for that matter )

How he actually found himself in the job of part-time Secretary of Defence when he has never served or have any experience of the forces is beyond me. But that is a debate for another day I imagine....

Oh dear, another pop at Ms Spelman. Any chance of Michael Cashman (Labour MEP) getting a mention? Thought not, he's homosexual and any attack on his dodgy finances might be viewed in the wrong light...
How about an update on Peter Hain (Labour cricket fan)? No?
How about an investigation into the ±«Óãtv's 'grant' from the EU? I'll bet that would be interesting too.

Re #12.
Absolutely agreed GSJ. Plus the crime-wave committed by Zimbabwean immigrants is a huge issue for South Africans. Now which other country does that sound like does that?

Re #11.
I don't know if Micael Crick has, as you put "issues with the Conservative Party" but surely everyone must have? A couple of mine are :- they're not conservative; they handed this country to Blair on a plate; they have no intention of securing us an EU referendum.....how long have we got?
Best from Grumpy Jon

A COUPLE OF OBSERVATIONS

Desperate Des (stolen from above - like it)
just dropped into the conversation, all casual like, that there might be MINERALS in Afghanistan - you never know your luck, like. Now was that a slip or just an even more fatuous remark than the one about training armies? i have no doubt he is an expert on minerals of at least two weeks.

Behind Paxo and Kofi, what appeared to be a length of paper, had "Africa" all the way down at about 1 foot (30 centimetre) intervals. When terrier Crick removes his little teeth from Spelman's ankle, might he give us a full rundown on that total waste of money? It has become de rigueur to put fatuous repeated slogans behind equally fatuous politicians on pathetic platforms, but THEY have massive war chests to expend in the name of party politics. When, however, the subject is impoverished, starving Africa, it becomes crass in the extreme.

At last, after a 3 week drought, Jeremy finally returns to our screens! And what a comeback too - first with Des Browne and the former British diplomat in Afganistan, on troop increases and the fact that there were only 600 trained Afghani solidiers. Jeremy also pointed out that opium production was at its highest and the Taliban has seized power in vast parts of Afghanistan.
Superb interview with Kofi Annan too - pointing out how natural minerals from various African countries were being stripped for aid, whereas other African nations were prospering. Oh and a huge congrats to Carrie Gracie and the crew for receiving a Peabody Award for their films on China (Whitehorse Village)!

afghanistan:

i think the price is worth paying for....because we the world are protecting the country from terrorist...

MP's NANNY


the problems with the whole idea, is the watching children is different then being a secretary.

ANNAN INTERVIEW
We interview former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on a new call for aid for Africa -

is the bbc going to provide a link to the video of the interview....

but should leaders on the continent do more to solve their own problems? i think they should be encourage to help out more.

SOUTH AFRICA


Thanks Orla Guerin for her special report....
Where does the blame lie: i don't know---but this situation can be corrected.

# 16

"How about an investigation into the ±«Óãtv's 'grant' from the EU?

I'll bet that would be interesting too."

Thats the second time I have heard this , whats the grant for ?

@ 24 and for other people:

Does the ±«Óãtv gets a "grant" from the EU?

What is the grant for?

When did this started?

*My personal views*

Afghanistan -

What about the poppy ?

If we do not get a serious answer to this poppy problem, this will not end.

The poppy is being used to fund our enemy .
The poppy is being used to destabilize Pakistan.

Personally I think we should buy all the poppy we can at over inflated prices , then burn it or something.
Then the southern Afghanistan rural economy would be dependent on us being there and the people would help us get rid of the trouble makers.
The normal drug dealers would not be able to compete on price and there revenue would dry up.

This would pump lots of cash into the rural communities at its grass roots level.

Then after the war it would be up to the Afghan Gov to get rid of it as a crop , slowly and sensitively.

Yes it might seem unpalatable or not very PC , but this war and the quicker we win this the less lives will be lost on all sides.

Just my views !

Really excellent edition except for the tedious nany story - enough already on that.

Video link to Anan interview as one contributor suggests seconded by me. Thanks for the South Africa and Afgahnistan pieces.

Could we have perhaps bottom right text cues or somethng of the sort to where locations are? For example Michael Crick finished his report standing in front of some building or other but where? Likewise the park where he did his interview. It's irritating sometimes not to know where you are.

*My personal views*

# 25

The first time I heard someone mention a EU grant(or was it loan ?) to the ±«Óãtv was in a debate in the House of Commons a month or two ago , sadly the MP did not explain what it was for.

Now I just read post 16 and he/she mentioned about it.

So I do not know anything about it,other than what I have read here (in port 16) and what the MP said in the House of Commons a month or two ago.

Sorry

But I would be interested to find out if its true or what its for ?

Oh dear ! Crick still trying to justify himself after his Spelman story got trashed.

If the new facts revealed on last night's Newsnight were 'new', in the sense that they have come to light since the story broke (sic), then that could have justified five minutes or so of Newsnight's valuable screening time.

But the facts weren't new. Indeed, the fact that the address on Caroline Spelman's election leaflet in 1997 was a location in the constituency, whereas her secretary/nanny lived at Ms Spelman's home 140 miles away, is manifestly not new. Nor is it important. Virtually every MP's election leaflet features a local, constituency address, whether that address is an office, qua office, or is merely an address to indicate a local connection. The legal point, here, is that the address of the publisher of an election leaflet must be the place where the publisher can be contacted, not where the candidate actually lives !

Indeed, the fact that Caroline Spelman did have secretarial assistance at her home, 140 miles away from her constituency for the first 18 months or so of her being a candidate and then MP, confirms rather than denies her account of the matter. For if it is the case that she was thrown into the seat at the last moment, due to the untimely death of her predecessor, then she would have needed someone 'at home' to act as a nanny/ secretary, precisely because Ms Spelman would have been travelling backwards and forwards at 240 miles per round trip !

Can I suggest that we wait for the Parliamentary Inquiry to take place before we have further comment.

I thought Jeremy went easy on Des Browne. This man can out argue anyone because he just doesn't address the question but Jeremy should have asked him why is us that seem to be most of the dying out there and the French, Italian and German seem to have walk-on parts. NuLabour are past masters at the art of 'I am just not going to answer your question' Jeremy should use his street fighter technique when confronted by these wily types. We want a more robust Jeremy but holidays take the edge of everyone.

When this Nannygate story proves to be as unfounded as Betsygate and unimportant as the 'cripple' story will you be giving him the sack?

Well done again Michael Crick re nannygate.

I am gald someone is trying to keep the politicians honest.