No geek
is an island

One of the pleasures of working in Westminster, for a politico-geek, is seeing our parliamentarians out and about in almost a natural habitat - collecting their dry cleaning, being interviewed on College Green, or just marching purposefully towards an important meeting.

Our office is close to John Reid’s London pied-à-terre, but it was only a couple of days ago, as I headed towards the office carrying a guily bacon roll, that I first saw him close up as he passed in the opposite direction, mobile phone clutched to his ear.

He seemed calm and relaxed, which must mean that everything is going swimmingly at the Home Office. Remember him proudly announcing that he would work 18 hours a day to sort of the foreign prisoners farce? I guess that must be all sorted now. Hang on, Home Office Watch will know:

Remember the foreign offences scandal? 27,500 files, detailing serious offences committed by British citizens abroad, were “lost” in the Home Office. Tackling that backlog and getting the offences noted on the Police National Computer was clearly the top priority. Such a high priority in fact that John Reid promised it would be completed in three months. His statement is here.

Three months was up, well, ages ago quite frankly, but not a peep from Dr Reid. Could they have missed a deadline? The Home Office? Surely not.

The Government not crowing about an achievement? Doesn’t seem the most obvious explanation…

Went to see the Oscar-winning film The Lives of Others the other night and was very impressed. It’s a film about the Stasi, the East German secret police, and a cautionary tale to anyone who believes in a surveillance society and a “If you’ve got nothing to hide” attitude. Having not studied mid-20th century history, the story of East Germany is still one I’m not hugely familiar with, so the story, about a Stasi agent who becomes obsessed with one investigation, was an eye-opener.

The lead, Ulrich Mühe, reminded me of Kevin Spacey in Se7en. I agree with Bernard’s review (which I also recommend), including his reflection that the end is a little on the long side but worth it. Go and see it now.

At dinner at a pleasant French restaurant last night, we discovered that we all had, by some coincidence, watched Tony Blackburn’s 1970s video selections on TMF (free-to-air digital music channel) at the weekend.

This led to the curious suggestion that 70s popsters Baccara - of Yes Sir, I Can Boogie fame - might actually be the Cheeky Girls back in time. (Or mad, or in a coma.)

Thanks to YouTube, you can decide for yourself:

To the New Ambassadors Theatre last night to see Whipping It Up, a comedy about Conservative Party whips written by Steve Thompson.

The play was pretty funny - the first half slightly more so than the second - with a few jokes that had we Lib Dems in the back row laughing particularly knowingly at. Robert Bathurst (from Steven Moffat’s Joking Apart) and Richard Wilson (from Steven Moffat’s Doctor Who and the Empty Child) deservedly took top billing in the cast of six. I noticed that the role of the junior whip - played by an understudy - was usually played by Lee Ross, from EastEnders, The Catherine Tate Show and Steven Moffat’s Press Gang.

The play is set a few months into a Cameron government with a small majority, and I’d recommend it, especially to politicos.

On Thursday evening, I took a brisk walk from work over the river and down to the Elephant & Castle for the first parliamentary selection meeting I’ve been to. The subject of the meeting was the re-adoption (or otherwise) of Simon Hughes MP as the prospective parliamentary candidate for the area.

Simon was on good form, speaking first and then answering questions. In the end, the vote was for reselection with no votes against - so despite it being a secret ballot, you can pretty much work out how I voted.

It was also the first party event I’ve been to in Southwark. Went along to the pub afterwards and had a pleasant evening with a group of local councillors and activists, who were all very friendly. Looking forward to Bermondsey and Old Southwark Liberal Drinks in a couple of weeks.

Some weekend silliness: a video I made last Saturday. Facebook friends may already have seen it.