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If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
Let's be honest. Burma isn't the first country that comes to mind when one talks about open government. Yet despite its ongoing challenges, Burma has made huge strides towards reform and openness in the past few years.
The Tory-led government have broken their promise to deliver a more efficient and effective government. Time after time they have got the figures wrong, from the economy to their ICT strategy they have failed in basic arithmetic. The Tories evidently need a refresher course in adding and subtraction.
Despite a challenging fiscal situation, the current government has committed over a billion dollars of new funding to an office set up to promote cyber security. Like our American counterparts, we recognise that strong policy in this area is both a national security priority.
So what is Gov.uk? It is a single government domain and is the amalgamation of Directgov and Business Link (and very soon some of the hundreds of departmental sites that are not only sapping scarce government resources but also making it too hard for the user to find what they want).
This conference has surely been the conference of old Conservative values and a message to the country: we are still Conservative and we are still ready to fight!
Twelve months ago, the UK was one of eight national governments that founded the Open Government Partnership, a powerful new international organisation dedicated to the promotion of transparency and openness. Today, the UK is taking over as leading co-chair of the partnership, which now includes 57 member states or a third of the world's population.
Beneath the blue silk ties, Savile Row suits and faux bonhomie, tribal hatreds threaten to consume sections of the leadership of the Conservative party. Flashes of the venom occasionally spill over into the public domain.
Excuse after excuse, blunder after blunder from this irresponsible and incompetent Tory-led government. We have a part-time prime minister with a part-time Parliament who gives tax cuts to millionaires whist the millions pay more.
Francis Maude, the Minister for the Cabinet Office, is encouraging London's top financial firms to consider allowing their employees to work remotely during the Olympic Games, to alleviate potential transport problems and to ensure that London's businesses continue to function effectively throughout the summer.
Ever since Cameron won the party leadership over David Davis in 2005, he has tried vigorously to press home the point that in the eyes of so many people across the United Kingdom The Tory Party was the symbol of Mass Unemployment, Disregard for the vulnerable and strained relationships with ethnic minorities.
Talks resume this week between the fuel distributors and Unite the Union to avoid a petrol delivery strike. I bet Francis Maude can hardly suppress his anxiety as the prospect of a REAL strike actually gets closer.
Both of the main party leaders may be tempted to follow Millicent Martin's Saturday night injunction on the BBC almost half a century ago: "That was the week that was; it's over, let it go". However, just as David Frost and his colleagues went on to ignore their programme's opening line and dissect what happened, so shall I.
Why oh why didn't I panic buy? I watch Britain's Got Talent! I know who Gazza is! Hell, I may never have made a purchase from Greggs but I've eaten a pasty in my time!
I have killed a man. I am not proud of this fact. But I had no choice. He looked at my jerry can.
We've got a senior government minister suggesting Britons turn their homes into potential deathtraps; we've got police being called in to break up fights in long queues at petrol stations. You might think Britain has a problem. And you'd be right.
British politics at the moment is in a complete state of disarray. I often don't know whether to collapse laughing or cry endlessly whilst ripping my hair out.
