1st Rave

Attended my first rave last night well a Techno party in a pub in Dereham and it was quite an eye opener.

Since 1993 I have been going to nightclubbing off and one thing that struck me last night was how friendly people were without the large amount of booze being drunk that you get in nightclubs with the aggro and aggression that goes with it.

A drug called MDMA which I guess the new version of ecstasy seems to be the drug of choice and very popular.

Maybe I am weird but I no not get the point of going out and getting wreaked when partying any drug be MDMA or booze true I did have a pint of larger shandy during my nightout but that was enough to ensure I had a good night.

Drug use should be a personal choice the state's policy of prohibition of certain drugs has spectacular failure the system of licencing we have in UK works OK for Alcohol users.

Of course where some individuals get into health related problems through excessive drug use then the state has a duty of care to help those people.

For example when people go into a pub and buy a pint of beer they know what they are getting and that a pint is a pint and not an 8th of a pint and of a certain quality.

Given the vast amounts money that are wasted on enforcement of prohibition of drugs and the potential for Government to gain tax revenues the current UK drugs policy is quite simply a no brainier.

British GP

The British GP was without doubt a very exciting race but the internal going ons at the Red Bull between drivers Mark Webber and Seb Vettel make for a challenge for Team Principal Christian Horner.

Having two people of simular ability but different personalities can cause strains in any teams witness Tony Blair and Gordon Brown for example.

Mark Webber's comment on the radio at the end of the race "not bad for a No 2 driver" was very telling hopefully both drivers will now be very commited to get results at the upcoming races, without hopefully taking each other off the track as happened at Turkey.

The one rule in motorsport is above all do not take out your team mate.

With Germany being the home race for Vettel the pressure will be really on should be a very tight race indeed.

The Budget

Well its budget day today and its an opportunity for me to share some pre budget predictions.

Income Tax allowances up by £1,000
Duty of Fuel up 2p per litre
VAT up by 2.5%
Beer Duty up by 2p per pint
Duty on Spirits up by 10p per litre
Tobacco duty up 5p
Vehical Excise Duty up £20
Capital Gains Tax up
Social Benefits ie Old Age Pensions, Job Seekers Allowance frozen ie real terms cut
Capital programmes ie like the A14 improvements deffered
Public sector pay frozen ie real terms cut

Charles Clarke and the NEC Elections

It was interesting to read in today's EDP an article about Charles Clarke the former Labour MP for Norwich South who for I have actively campaigned for over the years.

Charles is totally right in his view that the Labour Party must learn quickly the lessons for the defeat if it is to avoid 20 years in opposition as happened after the Labour Government of 1974-79 suffered defeat.

With hindsight when Charles called for Gordon Brown to stand down after Labour disasterous European Election campaign it was probably the right call.

However it would have taken a very special leader to halt the slide as the mood of the country was that it was time for a change even if it did not know what type of change it wanted.

UK politics could over the next few years be very different if plans to reduce the number of MP's from 650 to 450 go ahead along with the introduction of Proportional Representation through the alternative vote system it is possible that we might never see a Labour Government again with an overall majority.

I am pleased to see a friend of mine for my time on the Labour East Regional Board and fellow former Labour Parliamentary Candidate Julian Ware-Lane running for the election to the Labour Party National Executive Committee.

Two Chief Secretaries and more questions

Its been a rather interesting 48 hours at the Treasury firstly it turned out that David Laws had paid his partner £40k of taxpayers money he was not entitled to and now his replacement Danny Alexander seems to have dodged Capital Gains Tax.

It was dodging of Capital Gains Tax that resulted in Hazel Blears resigning from the Cabinet and Ian Gibson giving up his Norwich North seat.

If Nick Clegg and Dave Cameron are serious about restoring the public's faith in politics its hard to see how Danny Alexander can remain in the Cabinet.

With the standard's of MP's exected to be so high at the moment it looks like we will be seeing lots more politians running into scandals in the coming months and years.

UK now under Con Dem

7 years ago I took the decision to resign from the Liberal Democrats as the left of Centre Party that I joined in 1990 which was so opposed to the Tories had changed into a Centre Right Tory lite Party.

Today the Lib Dems now prop up the Tory Administration in the UK Government not really a great surprise as telling the Lib Dems apart from the Tory Party for the past few years has been increasingly hard.

Will be interesting to see how many Lib Dems now cross the floor and join the Labour Party.

Looking at a post from well known Lib Dem activist and Blogger Nick Starling it might be sooner then you think.

www.norfolkblogger.blogspot.com

Press Release London Marathon

John Cowan Labour Parliamentary Candidate for South East Cambridgeshire today wished good luck to people from South East Cambridgeshire taking part in the Virgin Active London Marathon.

Running is a great way of keeping healthy and avoiding the problems associated with obiesity.