Does anyone else think that this is disgusting?

At 1501 today:

The EU’s energy chief Guenther Oettinger has said that in the coming hours “there could be further catastrophic events, which could pose a threat to the lives of people on the island”. He told the European Parliament the Fukushima nuclear site was “effectively out of control”. “The cooling systems did not work, and as a result we are somewhere between a disaster and a major disaster.”

This quote caused a large movement on the markets as the ‘effectively out of control’ was rebroadcast by multiple media sources without any context about what he was talking about.

At 1645 today:

A spokeswoman for EU Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger has clarified his earlier remarks that “further catastrophic events” were expected. “He just wanted to share his concern and that he was really touched by all the images of people and the victims,” said Marlene Holzner. “In this sense, he said that according to we have seen in the media, it seems that in the nuclear power plants at the moment we do not have technical control.”

So, basically it was rubbish.

UPDATE 2011-03-17: Tim Worstall has commented on this as well.

Does anyone else think that this is disgusting?

At 1501 today:

The EU’s energy chief Guenther Oettinger has said that in the coming hours “there could be further catastrophic events, which could pose a threat to the lives of people on the island”. He told the European Parliament the Fukushima nuclear site was “effectively out of control”. “The cooling systems did not work, and as a result we are somewhere between a disaster and a major disaster.”

This quote caused a large movement on the markets as the ‘effectively out of control’ was rebroadcast by multiple media sources without any context about what he was talking about.

At 1645 today:

A spokeswoman for EU Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger has clarified his earlier remarks that “further catastrophic events” were expected. “He just wanted to share his concern and that he was really touched by all the images of people and the victims,” said Marlene Holzner. “In this sense, he said that according to we have seen in the media, it seems that in the nuclear power plants at the moment we do not have technical control.”

So, basically it was rubbish.

UPDATE 2011-03-17: Tim Worstall has commented on this as well.

Many others have written and created more than I can right now so here’s a collection of the posts that say what I want to say but better:

• Skeptobot: The Digital Economy Bill passed: The internet watched live as a handful of MPs ignored democracy in their attempts to control that which they don’t understand.
• Adam Liversage, Head of the BPI caught bang to rights abusing copyright
• Steve Lawson: My letter to the Musicians Union About the Digital Economy Bill
• Fiona MacTaggart MP: a barnstorming speech
• They Work for the BPI
• A comic sharing my reaction on twitter
• Lets thank the 32 MPs who voted against the bill
• William Heath’s first thoughts on the passing of the bill
• Reading Type: Apathy and ignorance from dying UK Parliament
• BPI Boycott: List of Shame. They also have a list of record companies to boycott and those that are safe if you are that way inclined.
• panGloss: Last night: the DEB passes in the Commons
• The Telegraph / Emma Barnett: Digital Economy Bill: ‘a bad day for democracy’
• The Metro: Digital Economy Bill passes as critics warn of ‘catastrophic disaster’
• Left Foot Forward: Digital Economy Act puts UK on endangered list
• TechCrunch: Doublethink – The Digital Economy Bill against the digital economy
• The Next Web: UK’s Digital Economy Bill approved. Democracy fails, social media wins
• Future Identity: Putting DE Bill in Perspective
• out-law.com: Digital Economy Bill passed by House of Commons
• GeekLawyer: The Digital Enterprise Bill: the next Dangerous Dogs Act
• The Times / Struan Robertson: The legislative farce of the Digital Economy Act
• Comment Is Free / Felix Cohen: Copyright law must be simplified
• Guardian / John Naughton: Shame Peter Mandelson didn’t download some common sense
• Cameron Neylon: A letter to my MP
• Guardian / Dan Sabbagh: Digital Economy Act likely to increase households targeted for piracy
• ComputerworldUK / Glyn Moody: Digital Economy Act: Built on Sand
• Guardian / Cory Doctorow: Digital Economy Act: This means war

I’m sure there will be more as the day goes on.

Finally, comments from me: suffice to say, I am very disappointed with the result and disgusted with Parliament. In particular I’d like to single out Ed Vaisey and his colleague Adam Afriyie for using the debate to score political points and not actually debate the bill. It was an example of the ‘change’ and ‘hope’ the Conservative Party offers. It was repellent. The bill was opposed from all sides of the house and then forced through by a three line whip and a compliant front bench from both the major parties. The stench that has dogged this last parliament just got more foul and does not bode well for the next. We need to seriously examine how our parliament works and how we can improve it. Whipping should be one of the first things we look at.

Huge thanks to all those such as Tom Watson who risked their future by breaking the whip and voted against the bill and actually represented their constituents rather than the interests of large lobbying organisations. It’s hard for MPs to break a three line whip in particular so they should be praised through the roof. Thanks should also go to all of the Liberal Democrats who voted against for whatever reason. The way the ‘game’ is played meant that it looked like they wouldn’t at some points so it was a big relief to see it happen. They have all given us a base that means that…

…the fight continues.

It’s been quiet around here I know, but here for the record is the contents of the letter than I sent to my MP, Jim Fitzpatrick today:

Dear Jim,

I apologise up front if this email comes over as sounding frustrated but last night spoke for itself.

The Digital Economy Bill Debate last night was, frankly, embarrassing for Parliament. This is an issue of confidence in our democratic process for a lot of people. Some stats from http://debillitated.heroku.com/

Out of 646 MPs only 40 turned up and only 10 stayed for the whole debate.

In contrast there were 5251 individuals discussing it on twitter, with 16180 tweets published. At peak it was one of the top 10 topics globally and has 20x more tweets/minute than any tweets to do with the UK election. People do care about this and to see the scorn that parliament is treating this issue is damning.

Some quotes from the debate last night to save you looking it up in Hansard:

Austin Mitchell said:

“What would a delay of another three months or so in order to discuss the Bill properly and give it full consideration do? There would be no danger in taking such an approach. A delay of three months would not produce the collapse of the creative industries, which has been held up as the threat hanging over us. This needs to be settled and discussed by the Commons through its full procedures; this should not be a rushed Bill, carried on the basis of the half attention of a discredited, dying and distracted Parliament.”

John Redwood said:

“It is a disgrace that the House is not treated with courtesy by the Government. It is quite wrong that a Bill of such importance and magnitude was not tabled earlier. It is quite wrong that there is an attempt to rush through all parts of the Bill without proper scrutiny and debate.”

John Grogan observed:

“I looked at all the Bills that received a Second Reading after a Prime Minister had gone to the palace-I went back as far as 1987… I managed to find the Diplomatic and Consular Premises Bill in 1987, the Architects Bill in 1997, the Lieutenancies Bill in 1997 and the International Organisations Bill in 2005. What they all shared in common was that there was no dispute between hon. Members in respect of them. It really is shameful that we are proceeding in this way.”

Tom Watson said:

“It is a very great pity that the Bill cannot be tested in Committee in the light of some of those questions. As a twice ex-Whip, I am rather embarrassed by the fact that the Bill is being railroaded through in the wash-up. Frankly, there has been a squalid deal between the three Front Benches, and they should be ashamed of themselves. The people who care about this Bill-and there are many out there-will see that for what it is.”

Please, take the time to vote against this horrendously badly draughted bill, or at least push to have it delayed for full scrutiny in the next Parliament. If you feel you can’t do that then please talk to the whips about it to explain that there is a significant groundswell of opinion about this and that it very much is a voting issue.

What happened to the Court of Public Opinion that Harriet Harman relied on so much over Fred Goodwin? Doesn’t it matter now? Does the lobbying and discredited statistics of the BPI matter more?

I have also signed the open letter here which you may find a worthwhile read: http://nevali.net/post/501647501/an-open-letter-to-sion-simon-pete-wishart-david

I will be publishing this letter on my blog at http://toblog.bryans.org/.

Many thanks once again for taking the time to read this, I do appreciate it.

Best wishes,

Toby

UPDATE 2010-04-07 11:20: Jim Fitzpatrick’s reply:

Like many MPs Toby, I was watching much of the debate in my office here at Westminster until the close. The debate resumes today and I will update you with the outcome. It will be interesting to see what changes are made today but there is a lot of consensus that much of the Bill is needed as I read in Hansard from some of the speeches I missed. I’ll let you know the outcome,

Best Wishes, Jim

UPDATE 2010-04-07 11:40: My reply to Jim Fitzpatrick:

Jim,

Thank you for your reply as always.

Unfortunately the statistics that the pro consensus are based on are incorrect or based on a flawed basis:

The entertainment industry as a whole has seen record revenues. The period from January until October 2009 saw record singles sales within the UK, according to the British Phonographic Industry. So much so that the number of singles sold in that period was nearly three times the number sold for the whole of 2002. The statistics presented to Parliament are a simplistic measure of losses, based upon estimates of file-sharing supplied by the British Phonographic Industry (themselves extrapolated from a survey of a small group of people, and was widely debunked in June 2009). Indeed, the sectors of industry which the referenced report claims could suffer three hundred thousand job losses in the UK employs only marginally more than that to begin with. Is it really the case that legitimate sales will cease altogether, despite rising steadily for the past ten years?

I should also note that the consensus on the pro side consisted of the same number of the consensus against in the debate.

There are an awful lot of creative people who do not want this bill. It is only the large companies that have not moved quickly with technology that want it. As always increased regulation will only serve to shore up the market incumbants and make it more difficult for independents and new startups to enter the industry. I consider this a bad thing. Do you? This will also apply to the ISPs that the burden of cost will fall on for the (technological unfeasable) measures the bill forces on them.

Please, at the least, ask your whips to drop clause 11 to 18 which are by far the most damaging clauses in this bill.

Many thanks again for reading,

Best wishes,

Toby

UPDATE 2010-04-07 14:28: Jim Fitzpatrick’s reply:

Thanks Toby, I’ll let you know what happens,
Jim

UPDATE 2010-04-08 12:16: Jim Fitzpatrick was one of the Ayes.

A quick, but important, post. First a quote from Barack Obama, today:

“And those of us who manage the public’s dollars will be held to account – to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day – because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.”

Whilst this was said, our MPs here in the UK are pushing to hide the details of their expenses (that is: the money that we let them spend) from us, eroding even more the trust between the government and its owners and continuing the chipping away of democracy in the UK.

If you are a member of facebook then please join this group. Either way have a read of this and follow their helpful three step plan.

I’ve written to my MP. Have you?

UPDATE 2009-01-21 13:20: Good news from The Open Rights Group: the amendments have been killed.

Today is Open Rights Group’s third birthday. Most of you who read this will know that I care greatly (often to the point of apoplexy) about digital rights and personal privacy. ORG can somehow take all my pent up rage and manages to channel it into civil discourse and lobbying. This is important, both for my stress levels and for the nation as a whole.

As part of the celebrations they have published their 2008 Annual Report and for a slightly more casual approach this blog entry. Please have a read and if you aren’t already a member and have even the vaguest unease at the way our government is encroaching into ownership (and ongoing losses) of our personal data and online lives then give them your support.

Happy Third Birthday ORG!

According to The Register :

Identity checks will normally rely on the biometric data held on cards and passports rather than the National Identity Register

HA HA HA HA HA HA.

Noooo, that’s not going to be open to huge abuse. Not at all.

I predict a FAIL.

Can we please stop wasting much needed cash on this mess now?

The editor of CityA.M., Allister Heath, is right on the money this morning in his editorial. They need to fix their site so with a bit of googling it can be found. I recommend you all read it in its entirety but here is the most important part of it:

The role of US politicians in creating this crisis has been scandalously under-reported: well-meaning, progressive policies to increase home ownership rates, especially among the poor, were the second most important reason for the credit crunch (the first was excessively loose monetary policy by central banks).

As Russell Roberts of George Mason University has shown, the rot started in 1992. Congress convinced Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the quasi-government agencies that underpin the US mortgage market, to boost their purchases of mortgages going to low income Americans.

I would add that Gordon Brown is complicit in our economic downfall as well with his constant bolstering of the property market in the UK. His initiatives such as key worker loans and buy-to-let mortgages are market manipulation. Whether he introduced these misguided policies out of the goodness of his heart or with an eye on political endorsements from the Daily Mail “house prices are everything” crowd I’ll leave as an exercise for the reader…

UPDATE: 16:40 Eric Falkenstein makes a similar point.

UPDATE: 2008-10-20 15:00 The Washington Post agrees.

…please stop trying to shore up the property market. Don’t you realise that your previous form on this is one of the reasons that we’re here in the first place?

It would be much appreciated by all of us with an eye on the long term.

Thank you.

I’ve been quiet recently; many apologies to my few readers. Something which I feel is worth passing on has made me temporarily break cover. Via Sackerson (his followup is worth reading too) comes" this entry":http://lilith-stuff.blogspot.com/2008/06/mama-mia.html which I can’t add to as Sackerson has covered it all. It just makes me feel very very sad about the state of politics in this country.