No geek
is an island

I’ve barely been back in Leeds and it’s time to head off again. I’m returning to Hartlepool this evening as the by-election reaches its climax.

Blogging has been light, but I have a good excuse: my mobile phone, provider of my home internet connection, was stolen at the weekend. Spending half an hour at Lewisham police station at 4am on Sunday morning was, of course, joyous. As well as the ability to telephone, text message and web browse, I’ve also lost my radio, alarm clock and mobile blogging tool.

Still, it’s an excuse to get a nice upgrade. I’m thinking of a Nokia 6600. I’d like to be able to watch videos but still need infrared. It will be a shame to lose the radio and torch though.

…you brush your fingers through your hair and break a nail.

I’m so tired.

Got to bed around half four last night only to have to be up bright and early this morning to speak in a debate (including writing the speech). That did go well despite my hangover.

On Tuesday, I did a fringe panel as a contributor - first time for me. I talked about the other parties’ higher education funding policies, identifying their pros and cons and outlining some of the best arguments to use when debating them.

I was also roped into doing a panel debate on Five Live. Loads of contributors but, because I was speaking as a LibDem and it was about us, I was able to say more than the previous time I was on a similar panel debate when I manated a couple of sentences. I was in a BBC booth in Bournemouth with John Pienaar, who was pleasant about my performance. I’ll check when I get back to Leeds whether it’s available on the Five Live website.

Jody’s speaking just before 4pm before she shoots back up to Hartlepool. I’ll definitely be in the hall for that. Oh, and I must mention that The Keetch touched my back the other day. The backache has now subsided. Coincidence, or something else?

The media have been describing the mood here in Bournemouth as “upbeat”, presumably because that’s what our press release said. But it’s absolutely true. Everyone here is really positive about our recent poll ratings and potential for next year’s expected General Election.

Last night’s LDYS Race Night went very well, thanks in particular to our hosts Baroness Scott and Lembit Öpik. I went to an excellent fringe on party funding from the New Politics Network this lunchtime, and tonight it’s the Association of London Government disco.

Government: So, BBC, why didn’t you let us know there was going to be a protest in the Commons?

BBC: We didn’t want to report a single, unverified source.

Armed guards will be protecting our MPs today, following yesterday’s invasion of the House of Commons by pro-hunt protesters. Would it have made a difference yesterday? Probably not. The armed guards at Buckingham Palace didn’t shoot Batman. Determined protesters like those seen yesterday are not going to be put off getting in to the Commons.

Naturally, the protest should have been condemned.

So where were the security systems that should have stopped them?

The public entrance
The protesters seem to have accessed Parliament through the St Stephen’s entrance. They passed through the security system there. That means they were unarmed. No guns, no bombs, no knives. So why should we have needed machine gun wielding policemen to stop them?

They got in with a forged invitation from MPs. Perhaps appointments should be checked with MPs’ offices in future?

Accessing the “private” areas
We are told that the protesters got through a security door because the swipe card system wasn’t working. The answer to this isn’t too beef up security, it’s to make sure that the security systems that exist are actually switched on!

Help from inside?
There is talk of help being given from someone inside the Palace precinct - The Guardian reports suggestions that a Tory MP’s researcher may have been involved. And this is the real problem with any increase in security: if you’ve got inside help, or a Parliamentary pass yourself, you’re going to be able to get in. The best plan for al-Qaeda if they want to blow up Parliament (and I’m not trying to provide tips here) is for one of their number to get elected as an MP.

All that said, it probably is for the best that armed guards - who were already present in the precinct - should protect the Commons. The nonsense of a Deputy Serjeant-at-Arms with a sword and tails has been rightly condemned. But if we call for it now, it should not be a direct result of the recent protest - which may have ended an unnecessarily shooting - but because through this protest we’ve learnt with some surprise that it wasn’t already the case.

Meanwhile, Peter Tatchell made a rather stupid point on Newsnight last night: he tried to argue that proportional representation (which I’m all for if by STV) would give those who feel disaffected any unrepresented in the Commons a voice rather than having to resort to direct action. He obviously hasn’t noticed that the Tories, who nearly all oppose the ban, have plenty of MPs. Indeed, it was their spokesman who was interupted by the protesters. He also talked about how he’d campaigned for the rights of minorities against a prejudiced majority - before decrying hunting as disgusting without a hint of irony.