This isn't meant to be weekly, but........

This has been a busy, busy week and I apologise for not writing more regularly.

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It will be interesting to see what kind of education system I will inherit as mayor, Labour's education white paper seems all over the place. Read here for more details.

Another thing that I will fight for is for more of Lewisham's tax to be spent on Lewisham and Lewisham people. At the moment London and the South East are bankrolling large parts of the UK, have a look at this.

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This election is going to be much more interesting than any for a long time here, it is clear that a lot of Labour councillors don't expect to hold their seats. This exodus speaks volumes.

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What part of no do big yellow not understand?

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There more that comes out about the decisions relating to Ladywell pool and the new school the more I despair. Read more.

Beginning of the end or end of the beginning?

Another turbulent week.

Tony Blair has suffered his first defeat in the House of Commons. I was going to say that the Government has suffered a defeat but the reports suggest that it was Tony that forced through the 90 day detention against the wishes of the cabinet. The style of coverage show quite a degree of variety from the Telegraph to the Sun.

I am pleased to see that Dominic Grieve had a large to play in stopping Labour taking away more of our civil liberties.

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It also seems to be that there are two types of terrorists. 1. The type of terrorist that we want to placate, e.g. republican terrorists. 2. A whole religion who we want to turn into terrorists by locking them up for three months without charge.

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Its good to see a local lad doing really well in a national swimming competition. St Joseph's is just up the road from me at hasn't got a great academic record so it is great to hear some good news coming from there. Lets hope that there is still a swimming pool around next year for another generation of Olympiads.

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Today I attended the service of remembrance at the Lewisham war memorial. It is the first time that I have attended a memorial service out of uniform, it was all I could do not to salute.

Fireworks

After the initial shock of loud bangs at bedtime Freddy is now in love with fireworks. The display on Blackheath was fantastic and Freddy hasn't stopped talking about it. Rosie on the other hand has had a nightmare time, she has been trembling uncontrollably for the last two nights, thankfully it is only once a year.

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It seems that I am not the only one who doesn't think that Blunkett's actions were "above reproach", Sir Alistair Graham thinks so too. Sir John Major goes further by blaming the whole Labour party culture.

Could Tessa Jowell be next?

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It is essential that British soldiers are held to account when they break the law, indeed I feel that it is right they they should be punished more severely than civilians when found guilty of an offence.

When unfounded and spurious allegations are thrown at our soldiers it both demoralises them and weakens our ability to bring any true criminals to justice these two articles make interesting reading. One from Rod Liddle and one from Mark Townsend.

What a week

The really big news is clearly the second resignation of David Blunkett. December last year seems such a short time ago and it is clear that Blunkett learned nothing about the importance of integrity in the intervening months. More that this is the huge question mark that currently hangs over Tony Blair. He did the same thing with Peter Mandelson and it is clear that he puts his favourites ahead the good of the country.

For the full list of the political dearly departed click here.

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Two articles here and here show what most people now understand, that despite all the promises, Labour is squeezing more and more tax out of us.

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The head to head with David and David, hosted by David, made interesting viewing, I wonder if the leader of the Labour party will be willing to do a live debate ahead of the next General Election?

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Second hand trousers anyone?