Street fighter...

Always one for some banter, TB is looking forward to battling with NUS President Wes Streeting, who has just set up his own

personal blog

. As it is not written in any official capacity, it seems that Mr Streeting is a genuine Labour apologist, and doesn't just defend Gordon as part of his official role.

As witty as it has been, TB was finding it harder and harder to fit his rage at some of Wes Streeting's recent twitterings into 140 characters.

So let the real fun and games begin.

In case anyone cared...

They range from tens of thousands to just hundreds, but if anyone was interested, check out torybear.com's 25 top referring sites. Obviously incoming traffic from google or direct has not been included:

1.

order-order.com

2.

facebook.com 

3.

telegraph.co.uk

4.

twitter.com

5.

iaindale.blogspot.com

6.

dizzythinks.net

7.

guardian.co.uk

8.

blog.dorries.org

9.

conservativehome.com

10.

politicalbetting.com

11.

forum.liberalyouth.org

12.

housepricecrash.co.uk

13.

obotheclown.blogspot.com

14.

newerlabour.blogspot.com

15.

snptacticalvoting.blogspot.com

16.

irfanahmed.org

17.

opinionandreason.com

18.

ybf.org.uk

19.

arrse.co.uk

20.

devilskitchen.me.uk

21.

theyoungconservative.com

22.

grumpyoldtwat.blogspot.com

23.

yousufhamid.com

24. 

ruaraidhdobson.wordpress.com

25.

howarddenton.blogspot.com

TB reads most of those sites, check them out.

The day Twitter got fitter.

Look who's

joined Twitter

. TB wishes British female politicians looked like Sarah.

Especially given who is dominating the news cycle this weekend.

How will this play out?

Most of this post is taken from a comment that Tory Bear left over at

Pooran Ponders

. It's definitely one to keep an eye on. Although TB often disagrees with a lot of what Neil Pooran, a student journo to whom TB became a bit of a rent-a-quote in the last year, argues, his blog is well written and often very witty.

Mr Pooran

pondered

;

"If you'd only read the headlines today you'd have thought that Hazel Blears had stormed into Gordon Brown's office, grabbed him by the tie and repeatedly banged his head against his desk while screaming about 'lamentable failures' as shocked No. 10 cleaning staff look on in horror."

This may be true, but it's a slow news weekend. Also interesting to note that it has only been those formerly close to the Blarite wing that have actually written such articles. Byers and Clarke are the ones pulling the strings on this. They already have an "operation" up and running, (ie a lot of chat of BlackBerry Messenger.) The Hazel piece didn't have to say much, it was like throwing a steak into a bear pit. The media jumped on it and it was deliberately dropped into a slow news weekend so it would run and run, circa "Smear-gate". They are shaking the branch and waiting to see who will fall out of the tree and join their little camp.

Straight after the June election thumping, they will present Gordon with a letter signed by the very people they are recruiting now...

Quote of the Day:

"...if Harriet Harman gets her way and I’m replaced on Top Gear by a Somalian lesbian,"

Ah

Jeremy Clarkson

.

This is really cool...

Anyone who has ever been to

George Sq

will like this one.

And then he was gone...

Every mention of Derek Draper has now been removed from

LabourList

. There

used to be

a link to his personal blog and his email address, but no more.

A lady reader got in touch to say that this week's

Woman's Own

magazine, a publication not normally on TB's radar, did a rather messy hatchet job on how furious Kate Garraway is with her keyboard plotting husband.

Sadly it is not online but it makes for a brutal read...

"A resignation statement is heard in silence and without interruption."

So

Hazel Blears

has dipped the knife in. It seems to be the New Labour style to write an article in a Sunday paper with what you actually want to say, swiftly followed by a Pyongyang style "I support the dear leader 100% etc" While some will never forgive him for what

he did

, at least Geoffrey Howe had the balls to put his money where his mouth is and resign before twisting the blade. Gordon Brown has his problems, as we all know, but it must not be forgotten that the problems of this government go far deeper than No10. Labour is rotten from the core, from the grassroots scandals of vote rigging, to the crooked union seed money, to the parliamentary party with their noses in the trough, and cabinet ministers way out of their depth. The ferrets are only focused on surviving the fight in the sack than actually running the country.

Are there any noble beasts left in Labour? Who will it be that will have the guts to actually resign rather than run late night meetings, secret briefings, all the while swearing blind loyalty to their deluded and drowning leader.

Yes TB is looking at you Mr Johnson, Clarke, Harman, Blears, Straw, Miliband x2 and Purnell.

TB is enjoying living it up in the

Dakota

, if you are passing through Edinburgh don't stay anywhere else. So after a steak the size of his head last night, a lazy Sunday morning with the papers is a million miles away from the library.

And what a week it's been, TB wouldn't like to be anywhere near Gordon this morning...

• Charles Clarke sticks the knife into Balls and co in the Mail.

• The Mail also reveals Gordon's tantrum with TV interviewers... he really is losing it.

• The NOTW reports of Miliband's plan for a plane.

• Jacqui Smith is a lying cow according to The Times. She's spying on us after all.

• The Times is also reporting Gordon's next U-turn.

• Fraser Nelson is on form in his NOTW column.

• As is Matthew d'Ancona in the Telegraph.

• As is Jeremy Clarkson in The Times - very funny.

• Two actors chat about playing Tony Blair in the Times.

• And finally, an interesting development involving Tracy Emin and Tory arts policy. Great news.

As Scotland was mentioned...

One of the most irritating things on the doorstop in Scotland or in debate with any other party up here, is when the Thatcher hated Scotland blah blah poll tax etc arguement is employed. Instead of listening to what the Tories have say, this ridiculous attack is used. Yes Lord Foulkes TB is looking at you...

If you read one article today let it be this

fantastic piece

of mythbusting from ConHome.

TB-lite.

The sun is shining, Brown is toast and Mummy and Daddy Bear have come to Scotland to visit TB...

Go outside and play in the sunshine.

Stat Porn - April 2009

TB is very chuffed with his traffic, which has been increasing steadily in the last three months. April saw his best month yet with 90,090 pageviews off 65,326 uniques. The McBride weekend was pretty special, and it seems that the Researcher Totty Watch has been emailed around a lot.

Thank you all and keep reading!

Tom Harris take 2.0

Tom Harris

said on the Daily Politics

today

:

"My advice to Number 10 would be broaden your circle of advisors. Consult a wider group of people, particularly on new media."

Hmm that hasn't worked too well so far... Watson? Sion Simons? Draper?

Is Mr Harris pitching for the job?

Happy Birthday BoJo

City Hall has been free of the left's tyranny for one year today. Whilst his critics have tried as hard as they can to make a fuss, Boris has had a good year. The Dispatches attempt at a hatchet job made for compelling TV drama given the fact that it contained nothing of substance.

Boris hasn't been a puppet to CCHQ and has taken some bold and much needed moves whether it be an amnesty for illegal immigrants in the capital - against the Tory grassroots, or his passionate and honest rejection of the new 50p tax rate - against the Tory leadership. Boris is his own guy and that's why he is most successful when left to get on with things in his own way.

Roll on year two.

Wounder...

TB just had to turn down a ticket to a dinner in Glasgow tomorrow night with Margaret Thatcher.

Arrrgh!

Question Time Chat Test

+++EUSA rejects Daily Mail Ban+++

Good news from Edinburgh University Student's Association, the Committee of Management have rejected the ridiculous attempt to ban the Daily Mail from outlets.

Well done to

Stuart MacLennan

. There are still some good people left in the Labour Party and that shouldn't be forgotten. Stuart lead the campaign against the illiebral and naive moves from the deluded executive.

Phew.

UPDATE 18.33: The vote was 6 in Favour, 9 Against. Six too many.

Brown humiliation goes global.

This was

in Sri Lanka's Daily Mirror:

Gordon Brown suffers humiliating defeat

U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown lost a vote in the Parliament his party controls, over his decision to deny a brigade of Nepalese soldiers residency rights, adding to a week of setbacks. This is the first time a British Prime Minister has lost an opposition day debate in the Commons in 30 years.

The 267 to 246 vote, which is not binding on the government, concerns Gurkhas, British Army veterans who have been fighting for the right to come to Britain. Brown said the right of automatic residence should be restricted to those who quit the service after 1997.

The vote late yesterday came after the prime minister was forced to back down over reform of the system of lawmakers’ expenses, scrap plans for a government database tracking electronic communications and scale back plans to build bigger jails. It underscored Brown’s declining popularity as the recession deepens ahead of a vote he must call by June.

“It is not just that Brown has lost control of the party,” said Mark Wickham-Jones, professor of politics at Bristol University. “It’s that individual members of Parliament are starting to be more assertive in the run-up to the election when they have their own constituencies to consider.”

Brown has a majority of 63, meaning he should be able to win any vote if he maintains party discipline. Yesterday, 27 lawmakers from his Labour Party joined opposition Conservatives and Liberal Democrats in voting for a motion backing the rights of Gurkhas who retired before 1997.

This government is an embarassment. Just go Gordon.

Hat-Tip: TB's good buddy in Sri Lanka Muheed Jeeran.

Is Lord Baldamort crackers too?

It seems that

cappuccino loving

bunker loiterer Liam Bryne is losing it a bit:

Liam Byrne, Cabinet Office Minister
BBC News

Mr Byrne said that we had seen “the smack of firm government” on the expenses issue, arguing that MPs had been galvanised into action on reform as a result of the Prime Minister’s proposals via YouTube last week.

He claimed “we have had the smack of firm government” on expenses reform, saying “Gordon asked the House to focus on it, and the House was galvanised to action”.

He added the government were trying to establish, “a robust cross party consensus about getting change to happen”, and noted that there was consensus on swathes of the Prime Minister’s proposals on reform.

He said that the government were happy to refer issues wherever there was no consensus to Sir Christopher Kelly.

That's not quite what happened now is it? Either he's lying through his teeth or he is completely deluded.

Either way the end is nigh...

What's in store?

Brogan

in the Mail Telegraph:

"William Hague, we know, presented Sir Peter Ricketts at the Foreign Office with a series of clear requests that left little doubt about what's in store. The head of the diplomatic service was asked to prepare a Bill for a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty that must be ready for publication within days of the Tories taking over"

Sound.