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Tag Archives: David Cameron
What if the Brexit vote had never happened?
Cameron To "Step Down As PM in 2020"
Prime Minister, David Cameron today gave his strongest hint yet that he intends to step down as Prime Minister within two years of winning the forthcoming General Election. Speculation has been mounting that Mr. Cameron is close to announcing the date of the next election as May 22nd. This would coincide neatly with the forthcoming elections to the European Parliament.
The last General Election in May 2015, resulted in a surprise overall majority of 12 for the Conservatives. This has since fallen as a result of recent by-elections although Mr. Cameron has resisted calls to strike any sort of deal with either Tim Farron's Liberal Democrats or the similarly-sized Democratic Unionist Party.
Having entered Downing Street in June 2010, Mr Cameron is now the third longest serving Prime Minister since 1945, after Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair. At 52, he remains younger than Mrs Thatcher when she became Britain's first (and to date, only) woman prime minister in 1979.
According to a report in the London Evening Standard, Mr Cameron's cabinet colleagues, George Osborne, Boris Johnson, Theresa May and Michael Gove are expected to join the race to succeed him.
Labour's Jo Cox has been amongst those urging unity in her own party, ahead of the expected election announcement. UKIP has, meanwhile, renewed calls for a referendum on continued UK membership of the European Union. Opinion polls currently indicate support for a UK exit from the EU, but also that it is low on the list of voter priorities at this time, ranking way below concerns over the NHS and education.
Opponents of a vote suggest it would be a colossal waste of time, money and energy, inviting economic uncertainty, political uncertainty and disunity at a time of growing prosperity.
Meanwhile, in New York, maverick billionaire and 2016 Republican Party nominee, Donald J. Trump has announced plans to challenge President Hillary Clinton for the White House in 2020. Trump, who will be 74 by the time of next year's election has made repeated claims of foul play surrounding his 2016 defeat although no evidence has thus far emerged.
In 2017, Trump resumed his role on the US version of TV's 'The Apprentice'.
Posted in 2015 General Election, Brexit, Chris Hallam, ChrIs Hallam Freelance Writer chrishallam_@hotmail.com, Exeter freelancers, history, labour party, Lib Dems, politics, third party
Tagged alternative history, Boris Johnson, Brexit, chris hallam, Chris Hallam Freelance Writer chrishallam_@hotmail.com, David Cameron, Donald Trump, EU referendum, Europe, Hillary Clinton, UK politics
Book review: Punch & Judy Politics by Ayesha Hazarika and Tom Hamilton
Punch & Judy Politics: An Insiders' Guide To Prime Minister's Questions by Ayesha Hazarika and Tom Hamilton. Published by Biteback.
Iain Duncan Smith was terrible at it. William Hague was great at it, but it got him nowhere. Theresa May is not very good at it. Jeremy Corbyn is better although is a dull performer. Harold Wilson drank a bottle of whiskey, (sometimes two) to prepare for it. Margaret Thatcher had her notes for it, produced in large print. She felt wearing reading glasses would look like a sign of weakness.
It is, in fact, Thatcher who we have in many ways to thank for the ritual of Prime Minister's Questions in its current form. Although Prime Ministers have had a designated time slot for answering questions since the early 1960s, it was Thatcher who transformed it into a major event – or rather two events – by choosing to answer every question herself. It was also around this time – although through not her doing – that parliamentary proceedings began being broadcast on the radio from 1978 and then TV from 1989. The modern ritual of PMQs would not be the same without this.
On taking office, Tony Blair reduced the sessions from two to one a week. Some criticised him for this, suggesting it proved his "contempt for parliament" but in fact it seems like a very sensible move indeed. Thatcher reportedly spent eight hours a week just preparing for her two weekly sessions. Something had to give.
Ayesha Hazarika and Tom Hamilton are behind this well-researched and thorough guide and clearly know their stuff. Both have experience as political advisers and spent years briefing Gordon Brown and Ed Miliband behind the scenes for their own sessions with, as they admit, somewhat mixed results.
Prime Minster's Question Time a bizarre ritual, a genuine ordeal for the leaders on both sides and almost useless as a means to both ask and get an answer to a question, involving a lot of improvisation, preparation and second guessing. The sight of 600 paid representatives bawling and groaning at each other in a crowded chamber on a weekly basis, probably puts more people off politics than anything else.
It does serve a function though and as the book reminds us, has provided scenes of rare humour and drama. William Hague, though a largely unsuccessful Tory leader was a master of this strange art and like the late John Smith could often be very funny.
Even Hague, could come unstuck though, as he did filling in for David Cameron when Harriet Harman stood in for PM, Gordon Brown in 2008.
"You had to explain yesterday that you dress in accordance with wherever you go – you wear a helmet to a building site, you wear Indian clothes to Indian parts of your constituency," he began, then attempting a joke. "Presumably when you go to a cabinet meeting you dress as a clown."
Against all expectation, Harriet Harman then wiped the floor with him:
"If am looking for advice on what to wear or what not to wear, I think the very last person I would look to for advice is the man in a baseball cap," she said.
By common consent, PMQs is currently going through a dull patch. Jeremy Corbyn covered up his initial experience well by using questions from the general public. Today, he is much better and no longer resorts to this clever tactic. But he is not a spontaneous performer even as he consistently outperforms Theresa May.
It was David Cameron who called for "an end to Punch and Judy politics" when he became Tory leader in 2005. He was not the first or last leader to express such sentiments and was not referring to PMQs specifically anyway, a ritual which he generally proved pretty good at.
But a few years later, he admitted the folly of this pledge. For calm down, dear! He was the future once, his Day Mayor and your Night Mayor.
And Punch and Judy politics are here to stay.
That is that. The end.
Posted in book reviews, Chris Hallam, ChrIs Hallam Freelance Writer chrishallam_@hotmail.com, Conservative Party, Exeter freelancers, labour party, Lib Dems, politics
Tagged books, british politics, Chris Hallam Freelance Writer chrishallam_@hotmail.com, David Cameron, Jeremy Corbyn, prime ministers questions, published by BIteback, Theresa May, Tony Blair, William Hague
Book review: Things Can Only Get Worse? by John O'Farrell
Things Can Only Get Worse? Twenty Confusing Years In The Life Of A Labour Supporter by John O'Farrell, Published by: Doubleday
In 1998, John O'Farrell published, Things Can Only Get Better: Eighteen Miserable Years in the Life of a Labour Supporter, 1979-1997. It was an enjoyable and genuinely funny political memoir of O'Farrell's life from his teenage defeat as Labour candidate in his school's 1979 mock election to the happy ending of the New Labour landslide in 1997. Eighteen years is a long time: by 1997, O'Farrell was well into his thirties, balding, married with children and thanks to his work on the likes of Spitting Image and Radio 4's Weekending, an established comedy writer.
The book was a big hit. But now twenty years have passed again since Blair's first big win. The story of the two decades since as covered in this sequel is rather more complex.
On the one hand, New Labour won yet another landslide in 2001 and a third big win in 2005. The Tories have never really recovered from their 1997 trouncing, winning a majority in only one of the last six General Elections and even then a very small one (in 2015). And as O'Farrell says, things undeniably got better under Labour, with the government "writing off the debt of the world's poorest countries…transforming the NHS by trebling health spending and massively reducing waiting lists…the minimum wage, and pensioners getting free TV licences and the winter fuel allowance…peace in Northern Ireland… equality for the gay community…all the new schools…free entry to museums and galleries…" The list goes on (and on).
On the other hand, as O'Farrell admits, there are certainly grounds for pessimism too. O'Farrell often felt conflicted defending the Blair Government as a Guardian columnist in the early 2000s particularly after the build-up to the Iraq War. He had a bit of a laugh campaigning as the Labour candidate for the hopelessly Tory seat of Maidenhead in the 2001 second Labour landslide election running against a notably unimpressive Opposition frontbencher called Theresa May. But the disintegration of Labour under first Gordon Brown and then Ed Miliband was hardly a joy to behold, either for him or anyone else who backed Labour. O'Farrell's candidature in the 2013 Eastleigh by-election in which he came fourth, was less fun too with the Tory tabloids attacking him by using out of context quotes from his first book. By 2016, with O'Farrell despairing after a year of Jeremy Corbyn's leadership, the Brexit result and the election of Donald Trump, the celebrations of victory night in May 1997 start to seem like a very long time ago indeed.
Thankfully, O'Farrell is always a funny writer, remaining upbeat even when for others, things would only get bitter.
After all, even at their worst, Labour have never been as bad as the Tories. Yes, the Tories: a party who supported the Iraq War far more enthusiastically than Labour did (and indeed, whose support ensured it happened), a party who fiercely upheld Labour's spending plans in the early 2000s at the time (rightly) only to attack them endlessly (and wrongly) later, a party whose membership enthusiastically chose Jeffery Archer as its choice for London mayor in 2000 and Iain Duncan Smith as their party leader in 2001. The Conservatives were, are and will always be "the Silly Party."
This is an excellent book. And thanks to Theresa May's calamitous General Election miscalculation, it even has a happy ending.
Posted in 2005 General Election, 2010 General Election, 2015, 2015 General Election, book reviews, british comedy, Chris Hallam, ChrIs Hallam Freelance Writer chrishallam_@hotmail.com, comedy, Conservative Party, Exeter freelancers, humor, humour, Lib Dems, Paddy Ashdown, politics, PR, proportional representation], satire
Tagged books, chris hallam, Chris Hallam book review, Chris Hallam Freelance Writer chrishallam_@hotmail.com, Coalition, comedy, David Cameron, Donald Trump, Ed Miliband, Gordon Brown, humour, Iain Duncan Smith, Jeremy Corbyn, John Major, John O'Farrell, Labour, labour party, Michael Portillo, Nick Clegg, Nigel Farage, Politics, published by Doubleday, Theresa May, things can only get better, Tony Blair, William Hague
Book review: Kind of Blue by Ken Clarke
Published by: Macmillan, 2016
Ken Clarke sits today on the backbenches. He is seventy six years old and since the death of Gerald Kaufman last month is the Father of the House, having served as MP for Rushcliffe since entering the House of Commons as one of Edward Heath's new intake of fresh young Tories in June 1970. He can look back on almost a half century in parliament, one of only four men alive to have held two of the four great offices of state: he has been Home Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer. The other three men are Douglas Hurd, Gordon Brown and John Major.
But unlike the last two, Clarke was never Prime Minister. We all must wonder what might have been, as he surely does.
However, in many ways it's hard to see how this could have happened. In other ways, it seems bizarre that it didn't. Look at a list of recent Conservative leaders.The names that are there (Major, Hague, Duncan Smith, Howard) are almost as surprising as those who are not (Heseltine, Portillo, Clarke himself).
Although he is defensive about it in this readable autobiography, Clarke did not excel as either Secretary of State of Health or Education during the later Thatcher, early Major years. But neither of these were ever strong areas for the 1979-90 Tory government, or indeed any Tory government. Clarke was never truly a Thatcherite. But when Clarke became Home Secretary after the 1992 April election and then Chancellor following Norman Lamont's unceremonious departure in 1993, speculation mounted that the troubled Prime Minister John Major might have unwittingly appointed his own future successor to the Number Two job as Sir Anthony Eden and Harold Wilson (and indeed Thatcher) had before him.
Although inclined to gaffes before and since, Ken (previously "Kenneth") Clarke, known for his Hush Puppies, cigars and occasional pints of lager was a surprisingly competent Chancellor overseeing the UK's recovery from the early Nineties recession. "Go home," he once bellowed at an under-prepared Robert Maclennan of the SDP in the Commons, "lie down in a dark room and keep taking the pills." He was popular, well known and a big hitter. But like another clubbable former Tory Chancellor Reggie Maudling, he never got the top job.
The reason was simple: Europe. Clarke was and is a keen supporter of the EU. With so many of John Major's problems caused by his signing of the Maastricht Treaty, the increasingly Eurosceptic Tories were never likely to replace Major with him.
In 1997, following the colossal May 1st defeat, Clarke's path to leadership should have been clear. His main rivals Michaels Portillo and Heseltine were out of the race, Portillo having famously lost his Enfield seat, while Tarzan apparently had heart issues. Clarke was far more popular and well known than his main rival, the thirty six year old, much less experienced former Welsh secretary William Hague. Polls indicated that if party members had had a vote, Clarke would have won easily. But the increasingly eccentric parliamentary party was happy to take the increasingly elderly Lady Thatcher's advice. "Hague! Have you got that? H-A-G-U-E," the Baroness spelt out to reporters, having just privately been told of the correct spelling herself.
The result? Another massive defeat in 2001. This time, party members too followed the increasingly frail Thatcher's endorsement again choosing Iain Duncan Smith over Clarke. It was clearly an absurd decision from the outset. IDS was ditched in favour of an unelected Micheal Howard in 2003. Following the third consecutive Tory General Election defeat in 2005, Clarke, now ageing himself and harmed by his business dealings with Big Tobacco lost his third leadership bid to amongst others, a youthful David Cameron. A rare survivor of the Major era, Clarke served as Justice Secretary under the Coalition. In recent years, he has become increasingly gaffe prone. His wife Gillian died in 2015.
Although it is unlikely Ken Clarke could have overturned the massive Labour majorities won by Blair in 1997 and 2001, had he become leader instead of the pro-war Duncan Smith, it seems likely a Clarke led Tory Party would have opposed the Iraq War, voted with Labour rebels to prevent UK involvement and forced Blair's resignation. It was not to be. IDS's Tories misjudged the situation and slavishly backed the war.
As Clarke himself reflects in this readable but unsurprising autobiography, his long parliamentary career has almost exactly coincided with the period of British membership of what used to be called the Common Market.
Ken Clarke is undoubtedly one of the better more decent breed of Tories, a far better man than the Boris Johnsons, Michael Goves, Stewart Jacksons, Jeremy Hunts and George Osbornes of this world. Politically incorrect though he is, one suspects he is liked far more by many of those outside his own party than he is by many of those within it.
Posted in 2005 General Election, 2010 General Election, 2015 General Election, book reviews, Chris Hallam, ChrIs Hallam Freelance Writer chrishallam_@hotmail.com, Conservative Party, Exeter freelancers, politics
Tagged book review, books, British, chris hallam, Chris Hallam Freelance Writer chrishallam_@hotmail.com, David Cameron, election, John Major, Margaret Thatcher, Politics, Thatcher, Tories, Tory, UK, UK politics
Brexit: Ten Years On (2026)
It has now been a full decade since Britain voted 53 to 47 to leave the European Union.
Opinion polls now indicate that over 75% now regard this as a bad decision with many of the architects of Brexit such as the former Prime Minister Lord Cameron expressing regret at the move. It is unlikely Cameron's seven undistinguished years in Downing Street will be remembered for much else. Like Thatcher before him, his premiership both began and ended with severe economic recession.
The pound began dropping before the celebrations had even ended. Cameron and his Chancellor George Osborne were able to briefly use the cover of the mounting economic crisis to cling to power into the new year. He was assisted in this by the ructions in the Labour Party with Labour MPs using the excuse of the referendum defeat as an excuse to blame and overthrow their leader Jeremy Corbyn.
By 2017, unemployment was over two million (it has never been as low since) and both the facts that the country had a huge deficit and the Tories had a tiny majority suddenly became hugely relevant. As under John Major, the economy suffered both severe recession and Tory civil war. The Queen expressed concern. Cameron fell. For all his sub-Churchillian rhetoric, his gaffe-prone successor Boris Johnson proved no more able to cope with the slump than Cameron had. Nor could Chancellor Michael Gove.
Ten years on, unemployment is again back to 1980s levels, permanently over three million. Immigration has increased dramatically, the illusion that we could control our own borders on our own dramatically exposed as a pipe dream. UKIP, against expectation, remains strong although less strong than the resurgent pro-European Liberal Democrats. Any democratic gains achieved by Brexit seem to have passed most people by, unnoticed.
The newspapers, fierce cheerleaders for Brexit at the time now condemn it as an "historic mistake".
The Prime Minister, encouraged by the support of former US president Hillary Clinton, is thought to be contemplating a new bid to apply for EU membership as soon as soon as the coronation is over.
It is not known if this will be successful.
Posted in Chris Hallam, ChrIs Hallam Freelance Writer chrishallam_@hotmail.com, Exeter freelancers, politics, satire
Tagged Brexit, British, chris hallam, David Cameron, EU referendum, Europe, European Union, Eurosceptics, Hillary Clinton, Jeremy Corbyn, Michael Gove, Politics, predictions, recession, Tories
Five not so glorious years of Tory low achievement
The Tories have now been in power for five years and five months. This is a fair old time. What did our previous governments manage to accomplish by this point in their life span? Let's take a look…
The Attlee Government (1945-51)
(Elected: August 1945. In office for five years and five months by January 1951)
Had created the National Health Service.
Established the welfare state.
Had demobilised our wartime forces, secured full employment and was busy housing the nation.
Had nationalised a third of British industry.
Established the UK's post-war strategic position. Had joined NATO.
The Wilson Government (1964-70)
(Elected: October 1964. In office for five years and five months by March 1970).]
Had legalised homosexuality and abortion, liberalised divorce laws, abolished the death penalty, generated an education boom and created the Open University.
The Thatcher/Major Government (1979-97)
(Elected:May 1979. In office for five years and five months by October 1984).
Victory in the Falklands.
Widespread privatisation programme (for good or ill)
Right to buy scheme.
Dramatic monetarist economic reforms.
Winning battle with trade unions.
The Blair/Brown Government (1997-2010)
Good Friday Agreement: created a lasting peace in Northern Ireland.
Introduced a minimum wage. Abolished fox hunting, Equality reforms introduced,
Humanitarian intervention in Kosovo.
House of Lords reform. Devolution in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland,
The Cameron Government (2010-?)
Er…um…er…anyone?
Tagged 2015, British, chris hallam, Conservatives, David Cameron, Tories, Tory failure, UK politics
Book review: I Never Promised You A Rose Garden by John Crace
If, as is often said, a week is a long time in politics, then ten months must be a lifetime. For back in November 2010, when this humorous book was published, Ed Miiband was not just the unshaven backbencher he is today, but a party leader widely reckoned to have a real shot at being Prime Minister. What's more, the Tories, then in something called "a coalition" with a party, apparently the third party in Britain back then, called the Liberal Democrats, were looking quite vulnerable. Many still had high hopes for Nigel Farage and UKIP back then too. They don't now. Fewer expected the post-referendum SNP surge to last, perhaps not even their new leader elected in that month, Nicola Sturgeon. What's more such luminaries as Douglas Alexander, David Laws, Vince Cable, Charles Kennedy, Danny Alexander and Ed Balls were all still members of parliament. The last figure, indeed, had reasonable hopes of becoming Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Jeremy Corbyn? He is not mentioned here at all.
How times have changed! This is not to criticise this funny, informative and still highly enjoyable book. Guardian writer John Crace must have known this book would always have a brief shelf life but this is still well worth a read. Crace is funniest in constructing imaginary conversations between political figures and is refreshingly even handed. He is as harsh on Miliband's automaton type ways as he is on Cameron's gaffes (why on Earth did he appoint Andy Coulson? What on Earth was Andrew Lansley's health care reforms supposed to be about? Why do Michael Gove and Iain Duncan Smith have to exist?).
I Never Promised You A Rose Garden: A Short Guide to Modern Politics, the Coalition and the General Election. Published by: Corgi, 2014 by John Crace
Posted in 2015 General Election, book reviews, Chris Hallam, ChrIs Hallam Freelance Writer chrishallam_@hotmail.com, comedy, Exeter freelancers, humour, politics
Tagged 2014, 2015 general election, book review, british politics, chris hallam, Coalition, Conservatives, David Cameron, Ed Miliband, funny, John Crace, Labour, Nick Clegg, published by Corgi
Book review: Five Year Mission: The Labour Party under Ed Miliband by Tim Bale
Five Year Mission: The Labour Party under Ed Miliband by Tim Bale
The Miliband years are never likely to be viewed with much nostalgia by Labour supporters.
The rot began early with the reaction of David Miliband's supporters to their candidate's surprise defeat by his younger brother Ed in September 2010:
"Rather than pulling themselves together or else walking away and sulking in silence, they would begin badmouthing 'the wrong brother', telling anyone who would listen, that his victory was illegitimate, that it had been won only by cosying up to the unions and telling the party what it wanted to hear, and that Labour had made a terrible mistake…"
Thus the legend of the "wrong Miliband" was born. David's reputation became grossly overinflated. most commonly by the Tory newspapers who would undoubtedly have savaged him every day had he become leader.
As Tim Bale notes in this excellent account of Ed Miliband's leadership "anyone who thinks David Miliband would have proved a model of decisiveness and a master of political timing probably did not work very closely with him in the Brown government."
Nor did it seem to matter that Ed had been elected wholly legitimately, David suffering from an arrogant tendency not to take his brother seriously. The next five years would be a struggle. Ed Miliband's spell as Opposition leader was probably the most difficult since Iain Duncan Smith's disastrous tenure a decade before.
It certainly wasn't all bad: Ed enjoyed successes during the phone hacking scandal and in the battle of energy prices. He also fought a generally good election campaign (although this book stops before then). Before the exit poll on election night, Cameron and his entourage were gloomy, almost universally anticipating some form of defeat.
But Miliband undoubtedly failed to convince the public he was up to the job of national leadership. This was partly the fault of the hostile media but he must take a fair amount of the blame for this failure himself.
His worst failing was his almost total failure to defend the generally good record of the Blair-Brown years. As Bale notes:
"…it is certainly true that Brown, with the help of his Chancellor, Alistair Darling, actually handled the truly terrifying possibilities thrown up by the global financial meltdown as well as – maybe even better than – any other world leader".
But Miliband, keen to distance himself from the past allowed the reputation of one of the most successful governments since the war to be wrecked.
The Labour Party will live with the consequences of this for some time to come.
Published by: Oxford University Press
Posted in 2010 General Election, 2015, 2015 General Election, book reviews, Brexit, Chris Hallam, ChrIs Hallam Freelance Writer chrishallam_@hotmail.com, Conservative Party, Exeter freelancers, history, labour party, political book, politics, Tony Blair
Tagged 2015, book review, chris hallam, David Cameron, David Miliband, defeat, Ed Miliband, election, Gordon Brown, Labour, Miliband, Politics, socialist, Tories, Tory, UK politics
Exeter, May 6th 2010
A few things changed in the next few years. I moved inevitably from my late twenties into my early thirties. My social life in Exeter prospered. Despite not knowing anyone in Devon at all on my arrival, I soon met loads of people through both my shared house band my job at DVD Monthly magazine. The job was very enjoyable too. I am a huge film buff and got to see tons of films and even got to interview a fair few stars.
2007 was the year Tony Blair (still then viewed as a very successful Prime Minister) bid the nation a fond farewell as leader and I left the magazine for a less glamorous but theoretically more secure job on the local paper. Still more crucially, that was also the year I met the love of my life Nicky. We moved into a small rented house in Exeter together just before the 2010 General Election.
In the meantime, things had started to go less well for everyone thanks to the global economic slump which began in 2008. I myself lost my job on the vulnerable property section of the paper at the end of 2008 (the DVD magazine went under after nine years at almost exactly the same time) and I would be either unemployed or in slightly unsuitable temporary non-journalism jobs for the next two years or so. At the time of the 2010 election, I was working at a solicitor's in Taunton. The other employees (mostly trainee solicitors) were all very nice (I had got the job through one of them, an ex-housemate) but I was ill suited to the work and the car share arrangement to work from Exeter to Taunton each day was awkward, particularly as I didn't have a car and could not drive.
My hours were long and although I knew the job would be ending soon, I felt slightly as if I was missing the election. Exeter had an excellent Labour MP called Ben Bradshaw. He had served in the Brown government and had been an MP since 1997 but in 2010 was looking quite vulnerable. I wanted to help more.
For Labour were clearly heading for defeat nationwide, of that there was little doubt. History will probably judge Gordon Brown kinder than we do. He stopped Britain from entering the Euro and later probably prevented the recession from becoming a full blown depression. The global slump had nothing to do with government overspending. Virtually nobody claimed this at the time simply because it was self evidently not true. Government spending did not seriously escalate until the banks needed bailing out, something the Tories supported at this point. Indeed, the chief Tory complaint at this time was that the markets were overregulated: the exact opposite of the truth.
Brown, was, however, temperamentally unsuited too leadership in some ways and though very much a Tony Blair wannabe, the new young Tory leader David Cameron did at least look the part.
Nicky and I did our bit; Nicky holding some Labour balloons for Ben Bradshaw (who thankfully retained his seat) even though she actually ended up voting Liberal Democrat. We also both went to see Lord Prescott speaking in the street in Exeter during a campaign visit.
Perhaps this election is too recent to view with any real historical perspective. But to summarise in case you've forgotten:
Nick Clegg, the previously unknown Lib Dem leader blew everyone away during the TV debates and briefly, amazing as it now seems, became the most popular leader since Churchill. Yet on election night, the Lib Dems in fact did only about as well as normal. Cleggmania now seems like a myth.
The good news, however, was that the people hadn't forgotten how bad the Tories were and they fell well short of real power, yet again. They hadn't managed to secure a majority since 1992. Thank God (2017: no longer true. Will do a follow-up piece soon).
The subsequent Tory-Lib Dem coalition was a surprise but there didn't seem much point Labour clinging onto power. We had clearly lost. But this was new uncharted territory.
Tagged 2010, Ben Bradshaw, chris hallam, Cleggmania, Coalition, Conservatives, David Cameron, David Laws, Exeter, General Election, global economic slump, Gordon Brown, Hung Parliament, Labour, Liberal Democrats, Nick Clegg, Tory, TV debates, UK politics
Top 10 David Cameron cock ups
Cast iron guarantee
As Opposition leader in 2009, Cameron said this of the Lisbon Treaty:
Today, I will give this cast-iron guarantee: If I become PM a Conservative government will hold a referendum on any EU treaty that emerges from these negotiations. No treaty should be ratified without consulting the British people in a referendum.
The treaty was ratified. Cameron became Prime Minister in 2010. There has never been a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. Voters should perhaps treat any future election promises from Mr Cameron with caution.
Election loss
Many Tories have never forgiven Cameron for failing to win the 2010 election.
In 2010, Cameron made a "no ifs, no buts" election pledge to bring net migration – the difference between those arriving and those leaving the UK – to below 100,000. The figure for the year up to September 2014 was 298,000 – some 54,000 higher than when he took over.
Queen gaffes
Cameron apologised last year after joking that the Queen "purred" down the phone to him. He had to apologise again soon after for revealing indiscreetly that he had corrected the Queen over the identity of a portrait,
Despite denying any such plans during the 2010 election, a major "reorganisation" was announced by Health Secretary Andrew Lansley soon after the Coalition came to power. A humiliating failure, the plans were sidelined two costly years later
Andy Coulson
Cameron was warned by figures as diverse as Lord Ashdown and even the Palace, not to appoint Coulson, as his communications director. Coulson had already been sacked as editor of the news of the world under suspicion of phone hijacking. Coulson inevitably resigned from Downing Street too and was ultimately imprisoned. Cameron has also been close to former Sun editor Rebekah Brooks who he once leant a horse and initially defended his friend Jeremy Clarkson during his recent controversy. By any measure, Cameron's judgement on these matters has been awful.
Syria/Europe defeats
Cameron's leadership has also witnessed numerous u-turns on everything from the selling off of national parks to a proposed "pasty tax".
Cameron claimed Britain had been a "proud ally" of the US in 1940. The US did not enter the war until December 1941.
Debate cowardice
Cameron's desperate attempts to avoid having a head to head TV debate with Ed Miliband made Cameron a national laughing stock earlier this year.
Third term
Cameron inadvertently kicked off a possible post-election leadership contest when instead of merely stating that winning the 2015 election was his immediate priority at the moment, he inadvertently answered an innocent question by completely ruling out a third term completely. Cameron then compounded the error by naming George Osborne, Boris Johnson and Theresa May as possible successors.
This change of leadership may happen sooner than he thinks.
Posted in 2015 General Election, Chris Hallam, ChrIs Hallam Freelance Writer chrishallam_@hotmail.com, comedy
Tagged Conservatives, David Cameron, Tories, UK, UK politics
10 reasons why the last Labour Government was great
The Blair-Brown government achieved a lot of good, so why are Labour politicians so afraid of defending it in public? Here are ten reasons why it was a success…
A lasting peace in Northern Ireland
By 1997, the peace process began under John Major had stalled, partly because the Tories were reliant on the Ulster Unionists to prop up the Tories in parliament during the Major Government's final days. It took a new government, a new Prime Minister (Tony Blair) and a dynamic new Northern Ireland Secretary (the late Mo Mowlam) to deliver the Good Friday Agreement and the enduring peace which continues to this day. Blair and Mowlam succeeded where thirty years of previous governments had failed.
The economy…stupid!
There are countless Tory myths about the last government's economic record. Did Labour overspending cause the slump? Clearly not, there was a severe recession throughout the western world: Britain would have been hit anyway. Only the effort to bail out the banks (supported by the Tories) once the slump was in progress put the economy in debt. Should Labour have regulated the markets more tightly? Yes, but again the Tories at the time were arguing for LESS regulation of the markets not more. Did Brown's actions prevent a recession becoming a depression? Undoubtedly yes. Brown stopped the UK entering the Euro as Chancellor and as PM, his quantative easing policy was widely credited with saving the global banking system. Historians are likely to judge Labour well for dodging the recession which hit many countries at the start of the century and coping well with the global deluge when it came. Should Labour have prepared a "rainy day fund" to prepare the economy during the boom times? In retrospect, yes. Has any other government ever done this? No!
Tough on crime…
The crime rate fell by 44% between 1997 and 2010. Will this continue under Cameron with police numbers being slashed? It seems doubtful. Even Cameron in 201 admitted crime had fallen under Labour making a mockery of his "broken Britain" slogan.
Labour saved the NHS
A disaster area in 1997, Labour bailed the NHS out, leaving it in a good state and with record user approval ratings by 2010. Once again, the Tories have squandered this inheritance and the NHS is in crisis again.
Education, education, education
The period saw huge strides in education. By any measure, standards rose dramatically.
A minimum wage
Fiercely opposed by the Tories at the time on the grounds that it would lead to mass unemployment (wrong!), the minimum wage introduced by Labour is now universally accepted by everyone. The living wage promoted by Ed Miliband is the next step.
Things did get better
Homelessness fell dramatically (under both Thatcher, Major and Cameron it rose dramatically). Civil partnerships were introduced. The House of Lords was reformed. Devolution was introduced for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The gay age of consent was equalised. Britain got better.
Less social division
Labour were never affected by the endless wrangling over the EU that has blighted both of the last Tory Governments. Nor did the government actively seek to turn the public against itself as the Tories have with the public and private sectors.
What will Cameron be remembered for?
Compare his achievements with those listed above. What springs to mind? Austerity. The Bedroom Tax. Gay marriage – a real achievement but only accomplished with Labour's help. The massive rise in student tuition fees. Cameron's record has been abysmal.
Win. win, win
If Labour were so bad in office, why did the public elect them three times? The Tories were hated in 1997, leading to the biggest majority achieved by either party being won by Labour (179). After four years in power, the people wanted more. Labour's 167 seat majority in 2001 was second only to their 1997 one in post-war scale. Neither Attlee or Thatcher ever won such big majorities. In 2005, their majority fell to 66. Even then, this was a big majority, the eighth largest win of the 19 elections held since 1945. No disgrace at all. Even in 2010 under the unpopular Gordon Brown and during a major slump, Labour still did well enough to deny the Tories a majority.
It is a record to be proud of. Labour should not shy away from defending it.
Posted in 2015 General Election, Chris Hallam, ChrIs Hallam Freelance Writer chrishallam_@hotmail.com, Exeter freelancers
Tagged 1997, 2015, Attlee, blair, British, british politics, chris hallam, David Cameron, Gordon Brown, minimum wage, Mo Mowlam, northern ireland, Tony Blair
The Tories: A poem
We're the Tories; hear us sing!
Blame Labour for everything.
The last thing we'd do is confess,
That we're to blame for this whole mess!
Ten years past, our chief complaint,
Was that the markets faced constraint,
We'd have made the markets stronger,
The recession harsher, deeper, longer.
Never mind the crash elsewhere,
It's easier to blame Brown and Blair.
Our public services are now a mess,
We're iffy about the NHS,
Shall we "reorganise" it again? Well, we may,
But we won't say a thing about that before May,
The press is safe from real reform,
While Rupert's Sun keeps us all warm,
"Vote Tory" stories every day and
Silly pictures of Ed Miliband.
Frankly, we'll do what it takes to win,
Even invite old UKIP in,
We'll attack the scroungers, play the race card,
Kick the weakest good and hard,
Our leader Cameron's liberal underneath,
A bit like Major or Ted Heath,
But like them he's weak, you'll see what we mean,
He'll even sacrifice the European dream.
So if you don't care about the national health,
Care only really about yourself.
We really are the party for you!
(Though we've not won since 1992).
Don't get us wrong: we love the UK,
We just wish all the people would go away.
Tagged 2015 general election, anti-tory, british politics, cameron, chris hallam, comedy, Conservative Party, David Cameron, Edward Heath, EU, European Union, funny, humour, i hate the tories, John Major, Margaret Thatcher, NHS, poem, poetry, Politics, Satire, Tories, Tory, UK politics
Is it 1992 all over again?
It is General Election year and the Labour leader remains unpopular. After years of attacks from the Tory press, he was lucky to survive a direct challenge to his leadership before Christmas, when many suggested an older man should replace him as leader. Despite this and some evidence of economic recovery, Labour remain narrowly ahead in the opinion polls. A Labour-led hung parliament is seen by many as the most likely outcome in the General Election.
Ed Miliband in 2015? Or Neil Kinnock in 1992? The older John Smith was the potential older alternative leader in 1991, Alan Johnson last year. The parallels are uncanny and not encouraging to Labour who, of course, ultimately suffered a shock defeat to John Major's Tories in April 1992.
But, let's not get carried away. There are numerous differences…
Labour actually seem less confident now than Kinnock's party were then. This makes a repeat of complacent gestures like the overblown Sheffield Rally unlikely.
Despite this and their quite small lead, the electoral arithmetic favours Labour far more. The Tories need to win by over 10% to win a majority. Labour only need 2%.
David Cameron is not John Major: It is also true Ed Miliband is not Neil Kinnock. Kinnock was slightly more popular than Miliband but had already suffered defeat in 1987. But Major, though ultimately weak, was untested and novel in 1992. Cameron has been Tory leader for over nine years.
Ultimately, the combination of UKIP and Coalition politics, in fact, means Labour's chances this year are better than they have been in a decade.
Tagged chris hallam, David Cameron, Ed Miliband, John Major, Labour, Neil Kinnock, Paddy Ashdown, The Sun, Tories, UK, UK politics, UKIP
Book review: Sex, Lies & The Ballot Box
Sex, Lies & The Ballot Box: 50 Things You Need To Know About British Elections
Edited by: Philip Cowley and Robert Ford
Published by Biteback Books
People who vote Tory are rubbish at sex. Okay, perhaps that's not fair. But they are worse than at sex than normal people are. Sorry if that offends anyone, but it's apparently true. If this troubles you, perhaps defecting to UKIP might help? Or marry someone else.
That's actually the only real revelation about sex contained within this book of fifty short political essays about elections and the imminent 2015 General Election penned by the leading political academics throughout the land.
The title was worth a try though. After all, one suspects simply calling it 50 Things You Need To Know About British Elections might not have attracted fewer readers.
Which would be a shame as the book does address important, interesting if non-sexy questions:
Does canvassing for votes actually make any difference to an election result at all? Why is Wales traditionally so anti-Conservative? Why are there still so few women MPs? Are ethnic minorities really more likely to support Labour? And who lost their party the most support: Blair or Brown?
This is an interesting book then and a useful one. Just don't go in expecting there to be lots of sex. There isn't.
Tagged 2014, 2015 general election result, blair, book review, Boris Johnson, British, British General Elections, chris hallam, David Cameron, election, Gordon Brown, humour, Labour, more sex, opinion polls, Philip Cowley, Politics, published by BIteback, Robert Ford, sex, Tories, Tories are bad at sex
Why Labour must unite
There is no point pretending this has been an easy week for Labour. The Lib Dems may be quailing in the face of electoral Armageddon while many Tories still resent Cameron for both failing to win in 2010 and probably leading them to defeat now.
But it is Ed Miliband and Labour who have been making headlines this week.
Is this fair?
Ed Miliband has never had tremendously high personal ratings. Until this year, however, few people had a good answer as to why this was. Miliband's stance on press and energy reform were well received.
There have been gaffes in recent months though, notably missing mention of the deficit from the conference speech. Holding a copy of The Sun in public was also an error as was the decision to allow himself to be photographed eating. Miliband looks no weirder eating than anyone else. But the press are not Labour's friend. Pictures can always be selected to look bad. Nobody looks good when they are half blinking.
Does any of this really matter? Well, no. They are presentation issues essentially.
Would David Miliband now be going through the same ordeal were he now leader? There is no doubt. Look at the fuss that was made over him holding a banana in public (not even really a gaffe).
Unlike the Tories, Labour have a number of potential future leaders lined up: Andy Burnham, Chuka Umunna. Yvette Cooper.
But this isn't the time.
Let us remember:
Ed Miliband is substantially older and more experienced than Caneron and Clegg were in 2010. Miliband has cabinet experience. They did not.
Ed Miliband has adopted a respectable policy on press reform rather than Cameron's cowardly dishonorable one. Unfortunately, this is why the press hate him more than most other Labour leaders.
Cameron has proven extremely gaffe-prone appointing Andy Coulson despite a rising tide of evidence against him, introducing the absurd bedroom tax and u-turning on everything from the pasty tax to the privatisation of national parks.
The Tories simply cannot be trusted on the NHS. Labour can.
Britain needs to stay in the EU. Only Labour can ensure this.
And Labour are, despite everything, still set to win, probably with an overall majority.
The party must remain united in these crucial last six months.
Tagged 2014, 2015 general election, Andy Burnham, British, chris hallam, Chuka Umunna, David Cameron, Ed Miliband, election, Labour, labour party, Miliband, NHS, Nick Clegg, socialist, Tories, Tory press, UK, Vote Labour, Yvette Cooper
What Cameron says…and what he means
Here are some extracts from David Cameron's party conference speech. The true meanings are underneath…
I am so proud to stand here today as Prime Minister of four nations in one United Kingdom.
Phew! That Scottish vote was a bit of a close one eh?
(We want) a Britain that everyone is proud to call home is a Britain where hard work is really rewarded.
Basically, if you can't get a job or are not earning enough, it's your fault not ours.
There's no reward without effort; no wealth without work; no success without sacrifice…and we credit the British people with knowing these things too.
We won't be able to deliver on most of the promises in this speech until 2018. The deficit's still bloody huge you know.
You know – when Britain is getting back to work, it can only mean one thing…the Conservatives are back in Government.
Please forget all about the massive unemployment under Thatcher and Major. That won't happen again. Probably.
And look at the results: 800,000 fewer people on the main out-of-work benefits.
Er…yes. A lot of them stopped being sick at the same time! Nothing to do with IDS cutting everything. Honest.
(Labour) have opposed every change to welfare we've made – and I expect they'll oppose this too.
Because they disagree with them.
They sit there pontificating about poverty – yet they're the ones who left a generation to rot on welfare.
They have a far better record on reducing poverty than we have though (Note: DON'T MENTION THIS)
Under Labour, unemployment rose.
It was actually much lower on average under Blair than it ever was under Thatcher, Major or (so far) me. (Note: DON'T READ ALOUD).
Those exclusive zero hours contracts that left people unable to build decent lives for themselves – we will scrap them.
Whoops! Not sure why we didn't do this before really. We've only been in power since 2010.
So this Party doesn't do the politics of envy and class warfare…
Apart from this bit…
Tristram Hunt, their Shadow Education Secretary – like me – had one of the best educations money can buy. But guess what? He won't allow it for your children. He went to an independent school that wasn't set up by a local authority…
…but no, he doesn't want charities and parents to set up schools for your children.
What a horrendous public school toff eh? But er, yes. We Tories hate all that class envy stuff. Ahem.
We are going to balance the books by 2018, and start putting aside money for the future. To do it we'll need to find £25 billion worth of savings in the first two years of the next Parliament.
Yes. We said it would be cleared by this year. That didn't happen. Whoops!
We need tax cuts for hardworking people.
Again, not the lazy ones!
No income tax if you are on Minimum Wage.
Yes. That same minimum wage that we fiercely opposed in the first place.
(Labour) were the people who left Britain with the biggest peacetime deficit in history who gave us the deepest recession since the war…
Hmmm. Actually a world recession. Which would have probably been a depression if we'd been in power. Phew! Thank God we weren't eh?
We know Labour's real problem on education.
Please forget about Michael Gove. He's gone now.
Our young people must know this is a country where if you put in, you will get out.
If not, you can just GET OUT!
I want a country where young people aren't endlessly thinking: 'what can I say in 140 characters?' but 'what does my character say about me?'
I had to have this joke explained to me.
That's why I'm so proud of National Citizen Service.
Sounds a bit like National Service doesn't it? That's the closest you're going to get to us reintroducing that I'm afraid.
From Labour last week, we heard the same old rubbish about the Conservatives and the NHS. Spreading complete and utter lies.
Such as that we might suddenly try to massively restructure it without warning. Like we did after the last election? That sort of thing.
The next Conservative Government will protect the NHS budget and continue to invest more.
Please try to forget Thatcher technically did the same and yet still managed to wreck it.
Because we know this truth…you can only have a strong NHS if you have a strong economy.
We haven't really had both since Tony Blair was in (Note: DON'T SAY THIS BIT)
…and let's hear it for… our crime-busting Home Secretary, Theresa May.
I'm not worried about her anymore. Boris is the real threat.
I'm the first Prime Minister to veto a Treaty…the first Prime Minister to cut the European budget…
Bet you thought that was Maggie eh? See. I may not have won any General Elections yet but I'm still better than she was.
And now – they want to give prisoners the vote. I'm sorry, I just don't agree.
Sorry Andy Coulson. Perhaps I'll buy you a meal when you get out eh? I'm sure I can fix you up with something somewhere.
If you vote UKIP – that's really a vote for Labour.
Please. Nobody else defect. Seriously now.
Here's a thought…on 7th May you could go to bed with Nigel Farage, and wake up with Ed Miliband.
A little joke for the homophobes there! Hope that makes up for the gay marriage thing. Sorry about that.
We're at a moment where all the hard work is finally paying of…and the light is coming up after some long dark days.
The power companies can do what they jolly well like.
(Let's not be) falling back into the shadows when we could be striding into the sun.
Hopefully with the backing of The Sun! Right Rupert?
Tagged 2014, chris hallam, comedy, Conservative Conference speech, David Cameron, humour, Margaret Thatcher, Politics, Thatcher, Tories, Tory, UK
Ten reasons why the last Labour Government was great
1. Labour saved the NHS.
The NHS was a disaster area in 1997, underfunded, depressed and blighted by huge waiting lists. Under Labour, the NHS was literally restored to health. Patent satisfaction levels had both witnessed dramatic improvements as had levels of national health h generally. The tragedy is that even since 2010, the Coalition has pushed the NHS once again on the path to destruction.
2. Peace in Northern Ireland.
Thanks to the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, Northern Ireland has enjoyed a general enduring peace in the last fifteen years. After getting nowhere at all under Mrs Thatcher and fatally stalling over Tory support for the Ulster Unionists keeping his John Major's government in power, Tony Blair and the late Mo Mowlam ultimately achieved one of the finest achievements of post-war British politics.
3. Crime fell by 44%.
Between 1997 and 2010. This, after disastrous rises in the crime rate under Thatcher and Major. Today, thanks to Cameron's cutbacks, police numbers are again under threat.
4. The minimum wage was introduced.
In the face of fierce opposition from the Tories, who falsely claimed it would lead to rising unemployment.
5. Education, education, education.
Dramatic improvements were achieved here., for example, those with five good GCSEs rose from 45% to 76% (grade inflation doesn't explain such a surge).
6. Equality legislation.
Civil partnerships were introduced, the gay age of consent was lowered to 16, homosexuality was legalised in the armed forces and the ludicrous Section 28 legislation banning the teaching of "gay propaganda" in schools introduced by the Thatcher Government was finally abolished.
7. Devolution.
Devolution was introduced to Scotland and Wales.
8. Other reforms.
Smoking was banned in public places. Fox hunting was abolished.
9. The slump would have happened anyway.
The 2008 global recession occurred throughout the world and would certainly have occurred to some extent whatever the British government had been doing. Before 2007, Britain had enjoyed a decade of prosperity under Labour even avoiding totally the recession which hit so many western countries after 2001. Labour did not spend recklessly. Gordon Brown as Chancellor was generally criticised more for being too prudent than anything else). The Tories, fatally argued that the markets were OVER-regulated at the time. Brown's fast action in introducing quantitative easing probably saving the global banking system and preventing a recession becoming a depression. This while, as late as 2007, David Cameron himself argued "our hugely sophisticated financial markets match funds with ideas better than ever before" and claimed that "the world economy is more stable than for a generation".
Perhaps we should all be grateful the Tories were not in power in 2007.
10. If it was bad, why was the government so popular?
Labour won the biggest majority achieved by any post-war political party in 1997 (179) achieving the second biggest margin of victory in terms of share of the vote between the first and second party. Labour remained ahead in the polls for virtually all its first term until it achieved the second biggest majority achieved by any party since 1945 in 2001 (166), still a bigger win than any achieved by Thatcher. Clearly people at the time liked Labour in power and wanted them to stay. Even after the controversies over Iraq, Labour's third win in 2005 was still a considerable victory. And finally in 2010, Labour only narrowly lost power, denying the Tories outright victory.
Clearly, Labour must have been doing something right.
Posted in Chris Hallam, ChrIs Hallam Freelance Writer chrishallam_@hotmail.com, Conservative Party, Exeter freelancers, history, labour party, politics
Tagged blair, British, chris hallam, David Cameron, election, Gordon Brown, Labour, landslide, Margaret Thatcher, Politics, socialist, Thatcher, Tony Blair, Tories, Tory, UK


text:
thisisfootballislife
This is all about the things that tie football to life. The shirts, the stadiums, the stories, the travel, the people, the politics, and everything in between.
Matchday Photos
F.Y.R Macedonia
F.Y.R. Macedonia
Politics/Sociology of Sport
Football Travel Stories
Non-Football Travel Stories
Classic Shirt Designs
Inönü Stadium, Istanbul, Turkey: Beşiktaş JK-Maccabi Tel Aviv UEFA Europa League (5-1) Matchday
thisisfootballislife	Matchday Photos, Stadiums, Turkey, Turkey	Besiktas, European Soccer, Inonu Stadium, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Stadiums, UEFA Europa League	3 Comments
This is the Beşiktaş Inönü Stadium (capacity 32,145), a stadium Pele reportedly called "the best place in the world to watch a game". One cant fault him for his praise–where else can one watch a European football game while enjoying a view of the Bosphorus and Asia at the same time? The Inönü Stadium is truly a unique spot, both in footballing and historical terms. Currently it is closed, part of an ambitious project to build a new stadium in the same location–a ten minute walk from Taksim Square and the heart of modern Istanbul.
These pictures were taken from a tense Europa League encounter between Beşiktaş and Maccabi Tel Aviv back in 2011. The match was played in the shadows of a diplomatic crisis between Israel and Turkey following the Mavi Marmara incident, when Israeli soldiers shot and killed Turkish activists aiming to break the blockade of the Gaza Strip. As with many political crises, the tension spread to the football pitch. There were a large amount of police and private security guards on hand, ensuring that no violence took place. In the end they were successful in preventing extra-curriculars, and the fact that only ten Israeli fans made the trip to see their side go down 5-1 also helped in keeping tensions low in my opinion. Part of me felt like Maccabi didn't really go all out on the field so as not to stoke the fires, as Maccabi were not as poor as the scoreline suggested. As for Besiktas, the (in)famous Çarşı fan group did their team proud, chanting nationalist slogans of "Türkiye! Türkiye! Türkiye!" and "Şehitler Ölmez Vatan Bölünmez" (The Martyrs will never die, the country will never be divided). All in all, it was a good european win for Beşiktaş at the time. As for now, we can all hope that the new Inönü will do the old one justice, and that Çarşı carry on the activism born in Gezi park by continuing to stand up for what they believe in.
The views from the cheap seats (!)
Some fans decided to write some unconventional messages on their shirts
Luckily, Private Security didn't have much to do
Mestsky Fotbalovy Stadion Srbska, Brno, Czech Republic – FC Zbrojovka Brno
thisisfootballislife	Czech Republic, Stadiums	Brno, Czech Football, Czech Republic, European Football, European Soccer, FC Brno, FC Zbrojovka Brno, Gambrinus Liga, Groundhopping, Mestsky Fotbalovy Stadion Srbska	1 Comment
Much to the dismay of my friends I decided to veer of the European E65 motorway in Brno while en route from Prague to Bratislava. My friends should have known better before putting me behind the wheel of our Opel Astra, but I guess they secretly wanted to enable my soccer hobby. After hitting the exit for Brno at the last minute I plugged the coordinates for the Mestsky Fotbalovy Stadion Srbska into the GPS and navigated through the back roads of Brno to the gates of the stadium.
The stadium looked great in the summer sun, having replaced the aging Stadion Za Luzankami as FC Brno's home stadium in 2001. Currently the stadium, which is up to FIFA standards, has a capacity of 12,550. It a fairly modest number, considering that Brno is the Czech Republic's second city, and compared with FC Brno's previous home–the aforementioned Stadion Za Luzankami–which was the old Czechoslovakia's biggest stadium with a capacity of 50,000.
Without wasting too much time on the road to Bratislava I was able to get a nice Umbro shirt from FC Brno's secretary, which can be seen here. As for the stadium pictures, they are below:
A Pristine Pitch Beneath Blue Skies:
The Seats Spell Out My Location Precisely:
Visiting Fans Won't Expect a Red Carpet Welcome:
Who Knew One Could Drive–Literally–Into the Stadium?
The Author and His Shirt (And a Baseball):
Dolicek Stadium, Prague, Czech Republic – Bohemians 1905
thisisfootballislife	Czech Republic, Stadiums	Bohemians 1905, Bohemians Prague, Czech Football, Dolicek, Dolicek Stadium, European Football, European Soccer, European Stadiums, Gambrinus Liga, Groundhopping, Prague, Stadiums	1 Comment
It was a warm summer day in 2010 when I visited the Dolicek, my head heavy with a vodka-induced hangover from the previous night. Bohemians are by no means on the same level as their more illustrious Prague cousins Sparta or Slavia–their main rival, whose stadium lies just 1 Kilometer away–but they still have an interesting story. The Kangaroo on their shirt, which serves as the team's logo, was garnered from a 1927 tour of Australia. Fitting, I suppose, until you think of the absurdity of a Czech football team touring down under more than 80 years ago.
The Dolicek itself is a small ground which opened in 1932 and that now has a capacity of 7,500 (its been reduced over the course of several downsizings as the team have decreased in stature). Most recently it was Bohemians' "B" team that played here–the "A" team played their Gambrinus Liga games at Slavia's ground, the Synot Tip Arena, before being relegated to the second division after the 2012 season. Here is to hoping that the Dolicek survives to see 100 years, since it is indeed a quintessential neighborhood European ground:
The oddities of World Football's interconnectedness:
Bad shots will end up in the trees, like Izmir's Alsancak Stadium closer to home:
I wonder how much one of those flats would sell for…:
A Pristine Pitch at the Dolicek:
Or these flats–an even better view:
Generali Arena/Stadion Letna, Prague, Czech Republic – AC Sparta Prague
thisisfootballislife	Czech Republic, Stadiums	AC Sparta Prague, Charles Bridge, Czech Football, Czech Republic, European Football, European Soccer, European Stadiums, Gambrinus Liga, Generali Arena, Prague, Prague Old Town, Praha, Sparta Praha, Stadion Letna, Stadiums, Toyota Arena	3 Comments
As I'm sure most visitors to this blog already know, Sparta Prague are the most successful club from the Czech Republic. I visited their Stadion Letna–I use the colloquial name since sponsorships are ever-changing in the age of industrial football–in the summer of 2010. The club's history is rich, having been formed over 120 years ago in 1893, and as such a visit to the Letna takes the traveling fan off the beaten path.
While the friends I visited Prague with decided to while away their afternoon in the city center with the beautiful girls, I decided to go on my own adventure to the Letna. Rest assured, it is a valuable trip for the intrepid football fan because it takes one off the beaten tourist path of the Charles Bridge and Prague Castle (although both are essential spots to visit).
High above the Vltava river is a large park with inviting beer gardens, and after a few pints and a relaxing stroll through the park's pathways one will find themselves squarely in an Eastern European scene. After overcoming the shock of the drab communist-era tenements, which are in stark contrast to the tourist-centric Old Town Center, one will come across Sparta's ground, the Letna. Despite being built in 1969, its renovations have made it undeniably modern with a capacity of 19,784, and–I'm sure–would make a great place to take in a match. Hopefully, i'll make it back for the Sparta-Slavia fixture in order to get a shirt from both sides–for my Sparta shirt, a vintage piece picked up from the internet, please see this page. In the meantime, my pictures from a summer's day will have to suffice:
Communist-era Tenements Are In Stark Contrast to the Old Town's Old World Charms:
I've made it to the Generali Arena:
What would Ultra Graffiti be without the obligatory "ACAB"?:
I don't know what it means, but I like it:
Generali Arena or Toyota Arena? I prefer the pre-industrial football name–Letna:
The Old Town Is in the background, but at least I know I'm still in Eastern Europe:
Asim Ferhatovic Hase/Kosevo Stadium/Olympic Stadium – Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina – FK Sarajevo
thisisfootballislife	Bosnia Herzegovina, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Football Travel Stories, Stadiums	Asim Ferhatovic Stadium, Bosnia, Bosnia-herzegovina, European Football, European Soccer, European Stadiums, Fk Sarajevo, Football Stadiums, Sarajevo, Sarajevo Olympic Stadium, Sarajevo Winter Olympics, Winter Olympics	1 Comment
The walk to the Asim Ferhatovic stadium is one that truly gives the casual visitor a chance to understand the magnitude of the Yugoslav wars of the early 1990s. Although I was a young child at that point, I can still remember summer nights in Turkey listening to my father explaining to me the details of the war, taken from the black and white pages of the International Herald Tribune. On the way to the stadium you are surrounded by the alabaster white graves of thousands who lost their lives in a civil conflict so gruesome that Europe is still unable to come to terms with it.
The open areas leading to the stadium made me wary of unexploded land mines, even though I knew that this stadium has seen many visitors before me. It was the paranoia of a young college student, exacerbated by the pages of his Lonely Planet. At the time I visited I had already acquired my FK Sarajevo shirt from the Nike shop in town, but I'm still glad I visited. The graffiti on the walls of the stadium serves as this blog's header, as well as the background on my computer.
The stadium, named after Bosnian footballer Asim Ferhatovic Hase, has a fairly large capacity of 37,500. It was built in 1947 but renovated in 1984 for the Winter Olympics, a time that Sarajevo was the centerpiece of a cosmopolitan Yugoslavia. For a more detailed account of my visit please see this travel writing piece, an excerpt of which is below:
Killing Fields and Playing Fields
In the morning Sarajevo looks different, less intimidating and more of the intimate provincial city that it is. Surrounded by hills from which Serbian artillery rained terror during the 1992-1993 siege, the city is a cozy enclave of Ottoman culture in the middle of the Balkans. At night it had felt different, more menacing and impersonal. On arrival, across from the bus station, I had been met with a bombed out building, its stones crumbling. It evoked the warning from my guide book-"Stay away from war-damaged buildings!"
I set out early, before the repressive mid-summer heat descended over the city, walking down the central boulevard Marshal Tito, named after the man who had held a fragile country together by a combination of romanticism and brute force—more of the latter than the former. The apartment blocks lining the street were scarred by bullet holes, a reminder of the hell that was the city in the early 1990s. On the ground were infamous "Sarajevo Roses", scars left in the concrete from Serbian shells that are now filled with red paint as monuments to the civilians who fell, unwilling, into a conflict they had no control over. They were only pawns of greater powers, as those before them had been. Bosnia was involved in great power tug-of-wars since its early history; first it was a tug of war between the Ottoman and Hapsburg empires, later it was the Russian and Austrian empires, and most recently it was the destructive nationalisms of Croatia and Serbia.
I turned off the main street at the Gazi Husrevbey Mosque towards the outskirts of the city looking for the Asim Ferhatovic Olympic stadium, part of the Olympic complex built for the 1984 Winter Games. That was a time when Sarajevo was the multi-cultural centerpiece of Yugoslavia, a time when Yugoslavia received a much needed economic boost from hosting a global sporting event. The small football pitches around the main stadium were now mass graves, a silent yet startling reminder of the brutality of human beings. For as far as the eye could see alabaster white graves stood shining in the summer sun, each telling a separate story. Shaking off the morbid feelings, I hesitantly walked across an abandoned lot towards the stadium gates (again, heeding the mine warnings of my guide book). No one was present around the stadium, but I took pictures of the graffiti on the stadium walls—here I saw "Never forget-Srebrenica", a reference to the mining town in Eastern Bosnia once known for its salt mines, and now synonymous with the massacre of thousands of Bosnian muslims masterminded by Radovan Karadzic and his cohorts. It was a telling reminder of the scars that still lay below the surface of modern Bosnia's calm culture, a history with which the country is still struggling to reconcile itself.
After a few minutes of photography I headed back towards the city center to rest at the Sarajevo brewery, whose underground lake had provided water to the city during the siege by Serbian forces.
The next day I went to the Sarajevo Football Club's offices and was directed by a friendly lady to a Nike shop in order to find my coveted soccer jersey. Everyone was friendly in Sarajevo, exceptionally so—I guess living through a civil war teaches you, in a strange way, to be a more civil person. The Nike shop itself was a testament to how far the city—and country—had come; Sarajevo was once a symbol of the extremes of human brutality, now it had successfully joined the world economy and—it seemed—could finally start to heal the wounds of the past.
Sitting at the Sarajevo train station that night, with jersey acquired, I waited for the nine o'clock train to Banja Luka, capital of the Republika Srpska. Apparently, I would have to get off at a town named Doboj and transfer. At least I understood as such—the ticket office knew no English, just German (a relic from the days of the Eastern Bloc). Sitting on a bench in the station I drank some beers, purchased with the last of my Bosnian Convertible Marks. All around the cavernous station backpackers lay on the cold floor of the station, some young couples, others groups. Everyone seemed tired, and eager to get on with their journeys. As I sat, a homeless man sat down at the bench next to me. His clothes were worn and dirty, and he was wearing a winter coat not fit for the summer. I assumed it was all he owned.
"Know Tito?" he asked.
"Of course, Marshal Tito," I responded. How could I not know the man who kept this fragile place together?
"Tito," he said, and continued speaking in Serbo-Croat, gesticulation at times explaining the glories of Tito. He knew no more English, just enough to explain the history of his hero. I wondered how many others would agree with his views. He pointed, as if to ask where I had come from.
"America good," he responded.
"Bosnia is also good," I told him. He didn't seem to agree, but was happy I liked his country. I pointed at him.
"Sarajevo," he said, indicating where he was from. When I left for the train he sat and waved, resigned to sitting on that cold hard bench in his city. For him the border was demarcated at the train station—it was as far as he could go, yet I knew he had miles to go before he'd sleep.
The bullet marks on surrounding apartment blocks remind the visitor of a recent past not easily forgotten:
The downtown building home to the offices of FK Sarajevo:
Sports play a secondary role to the monuments of those who lost their lives too early:
The small football pitches around the main stadium were now mass graves, a silent yet startling reminder of the brutality of human beings. For as far as the eye could see alabaster white graves stood shining in the summer sun, each telling a separate story:
My paranoia of unexploded land mines:
One of the best pieces of stadium graffiti I've ever seen:
The beauty of Sarajevo in the backdrop:
The stands as green as the hills surrounding the city:
Turkish football makes its mark at the restaurants in the city center. After all, the first match at the Asim Ferhatovic took place in 1954 between Yugoslavia and Turkey:
Obladinski Stadium, Belgrade, Serbia – OFK Beograd
thisisfootballislife	Serbia, Stadiums	European Football, European Soccer, Obladinski Stadium, OFK Belgrade, OFK Beograd, Serbia SuperLiga, Serbian Football	Comments Off on Obladinski Stadium, Belgrade, Serbia – OFK Beograd
OFK are a side I would like to have learned more about on my visit, due in part to their nickname–"Romanticari", or "The Romantics". They are the oldest Serbian club, formed in 1911 a healthy 102 years ago. I got a cab ride to the 19,100 capacity Obladinski on a lazy summer day before heading on to Bosnia-Herzegovina and found no one there to provide me with a shirt–perhaps I should have been a little more persistent. Hopefully I will be able to return to Belgrade and get a chance to attend an OFK match since their youth system is one of the best in Serbia–certainly their staying power in the face of more illustrious Belgrade rivals like Red Star and Partizan attests to this. The photos of the stadium were current Chelsea star Branislav Ivanonovic honed his skills are below:
Now I know where I am:
The Practice Fields where Branislav Ivanovic Learned His Trade:
The Obladinski:
Good Bye Serbia, and on to Bosnia:
Stadion Crevna Zvezda/Red Star Stadium, Belgrade, Serbia – Red Star Belgrade
thisisfootballislife	Football Travel Stories, Serbia, Serbia, Stadiums	Belgrade, European Football, European Soccer, FK Crevna Zvezda, Groundhopping, Red Star Belgrade, Serbia, Serbian Football, Stadiums, Yugoslavia	4 Comments
The Red Star Stadium is as intimidating as the name sounds. Unfortunately, this post is not about a match, but I hope to attend one here soon, since the Belgrade derby between Red Star and Partizan is one of European football's most storied derbies. It was being renovated during my visit in 2008, and it now boasts a capacity of 55,538. One can only imagine what the atmosphere would be during a sell out. The stadium was completed in 1963, and from 1964 to 1998 the capacity was an amazing 110,000. Now, with under soil heating and a new pitch, it is slowly entering the category of a truly modern stadium.
It is a fitting stadium for the most successful Serbian club, as Red Star remain the only Eastern European side to lift the European Cup (It happened in 1991). Below is a write up of my visit to the stadium when I acquired the team's shirt, an excerpt from a larger piece of travel writing. As you read the write up and peruse the pictures, feel free to take in Serbian folk Singer Boban Zdrakovic's "Marakano", a cult song amongst Red Star fans.
Bombed Out in Beograd:
My father had been right—Belgrade is not a pretty city. The grey façades of communist era architecture were drab as ever, even in the gentle light of dawn. Their paint was pealing, neglected after communism's unceremonious fall. The streets were empty, as I wandered looking for lodging. After doing a loop around the city—and having found all hotels full—I ended up back near the train station settling on the drab Hotel Astoria—I wasn't about to shell out for the luxuries of Hotel Moskva. After leaving my passport at the reception desk so that it could be registered with Serbian police—old habits die hard apparently—I headed up to my small room. It seemed that whoever had given the hotel three stars must have been here at least twenty years ago. The rotary telephone in the dreary little room, which had the stupendous view of the backside of an apartment block, was proof of it.
I fell onto the bed for a little rest since it was only eight in the morning and I had already been walking for a few hours. Lying on my pillow, I had a vague feeling that something wasn't right—I just couldn't relax and drift away into dreams. After a few minutes I sat up to look around and confirm that everything was alright. Obviously, it wasn't. On my pillow, next to where my head had been lying, there was a small worm. I don't know how it got there, but I jumped up and ran my fingers through my hair madly, making sure that there was no insect infestation. Luckily, there were no more worms but this was too much for me this early into my stay in Beograd. I decided to leave the bed and go outside on a search for the Red Star Belgrade stadium, the Marakana. After receiving directions from the lobby I set out, ignoring the receptionist's warning that it was a forty-minute walk. After all, walking is healthy!
In the streets the signs were not transliterated from Cyrllic. I conjured up all my memories from previous jersey hunting experiences in Macedonia, where Cyrillic is also the official alphabet. Walking uphill from the hotel the bombed out remnants of the former Yugoslav interior ministry, destroyed by NATO in the bombing campaigns 0f 1999, met my eyes. I assumed that it had been kept in its half-destroyed state as a reminder of America's aggressions against civilian Belgraders. As I took pictures, I wondered what would happen if someone should find out I was an American? Later, in a café by the train station before leaving, I read that the building would soon be built into a luxury hotel by an Israeli company—another move to erase the memories of Yugoslavia and inch toward the EU.
Walking away from the destroyed building I followed the road up to the Slavija square, home of the first McDonald's in Eastern Europe as well as mass protests after the United State's recognition of Kosovo's independence in February of 2008. I headed up a typically communist tree lined boulevard—like so many, it was beautiful in its own special way. I opted against riding one of the ubiquitous trams, deciding that walking was a better way to take in the city. Soon I was on the side of a highway, the only pedestrian in sight. The loneliness was strangely nerve-wracking, with the fresh memories of bombed out buildings in my head.
Continuing up the road for another ten minutes, cars buzzing by me at high speeds under the summer sun, I found a clearing in the development, and across it was the gigantic Marakana stadium. I headed to the walls of the stadium. All over the walls graffiti was scribbled, imparting a number of different things—some I couldn't understand, and others I understood immediately. "North Storm" and "Chemical Boys RS" were cryptic at best, while graffiti scrawled in blood red paint read "Kosovo Srbija". A reminder to all that Red Star Belgrade fans—and I'm sure many others—will not forgive the loss of their cultural homeland of Kosovo, ripped away by a West led by the United States.
I took a deep breath and continued along the curved outer wall of the stadium. It was a continuous curve, and as such I couldn't see more than three feet ahead of me at any time. My paranoia was such that I expected someone to jump out at anytime and ask me what I was doing snooping around a stadium in the middle of July, with no games being played. I played out the scenario—I would be asked why I was there, and where I was from, and somehow they would learn that I was American and then . . . well, it wasn't worth thinking about because it wasn't going to happen! Finally, I made it around to the front of the stadium. Ahead of me was graffiti depicting a knife wedged in something. I couldn't understand it, but I took it as a warning of some sort all the same.
Walking through the gates, I looked down into the stadium, where the word "Delije" was written into the seats behind the goal, white seats making out the letters among the sea of red seats. This was the name of the hard-core group of supporters who, in this stadium, were recruited as a paramilitary group to terrorize the minorities of Yugoslavia during its bloody downfall[1]. In the end though, as the final chapters of Yugoslavia were being written, it was Red Star supporters who led the "revolution" against the fanatical Serb president Slobodan Milosevic and took the initiative to attempt and steer Serbia away from its isolation[2].
Finding the fan shop and, after asking the lady at the counter who their best player was, I purchased a number thirteen Tutoric shirt. When I arrived back in Turkey I learned that he had followed me back, transferred to a mid-level side in the Turkish Super League.
That night I wandered the streets of Belgrade, looking for an underground bar written up in my guidebook. Apparently, it had been a place for dissidents during the Milosevic years. While getting lost in the Belgrade night I stumbled upon Shaharazad Hookah café, off of a main street in a dark alley. It seemed inviting and I decided to take a chance and recreate the feel of Istanbul. I walked in and was immediately bombarded by the Middle Eastern décor and advertisements for Efes Pilsen—Turkey's famous brew.
I took a seat and ordered a hookah—mint as usual, smoking it as the lights dimmed and Serbian girls dressed in belly dancing outfits came out. As the girls moved their hips seductively—looking customers in the eyes and encouraging them to buy more drinks—the irony of Serbian girls dressed in Turkish dress didn't escape me. After a while, I caught a glimpse of the men one seat over drinking arak, the Arab version of the anise-flavored Turkish Raki. I think one of them realized I had been looking at him, so he initiated conversation
"So, where are you from," started the heavy-set Arab man next to me.
"Istanbul," I answered, not wanting to let off the whole truth in a sensitive part of the world, figuring that here there would be no ill feelings towards Turks in this "Oriental" establishment.
"Ahh, Istanbul is a beautiful city," He told me in thick accented English, looking into the distance, playing the movie reel of his past in his head.
"You've been there?" I asked, and he nodded in affirmation.
"Many times." He ordered me some Arak and I asked him what he was doing here. He explained that his son owned the place, and that he came here with his Arab friends. I asked him where he was from, expecting to hear Cairo.
"I am from Baghdad," he said. I was surprised, to say the least.
He could read my emotions and continued, "I was the ambassador to this country, but after the Americans invaded my country . . ." he trailed off, assuming that I got the picture, not wanting to go into too much more detail.
I sat back, dumb-founded, as a beautiful Serbian girl in front of me motioned with her hands at a bald Englishmen to our left, dancing. I was relieved to have dodged a bullet—who knows how he would have reacted to me as an American. The fact that he was drinking alcohol proved that he was of Saddam's mold, that is to say secular, and a far cry from the Islamists vying for the tattered country's heart. We continued watching the girls belly dance over another glass of the firewater—we got great service once the waiters saw whom I was talking to. After finishing my drink, I shook hands with the former ambassador and stumbled out into the warm Belgrade night, with both head and heart heavy. My guidebook told me that there were good clubs on the shores of the Danube, where the vodka flowed.
[1] Foer, Franklin. How Soccer Explains The World. Harper Perennial, New York: 2005, 21.
[2] Ibid., 29.
The Bombed Buildings of Belgrade Bring the Past to Life:
The Modern is Destroyed, but the Past Remains Alive and Well:
And the Modern Side of Beograd:
Approaching the Marakana:
I Don't Need a Dictionary For This–Perhaps a History Book Instead:
The Ultras Have Left Their Mark(s):
Belgrade Sprawled Out In The Distance:
I can Understand "Serbia" and "Kosovo":
The New Pitch Being Installed:
The "Delije" Section:
Now, One of These Shirts Hangs In My Closet:
Football Shirts (78)
Classic Shirt Designs (13)
Football Travel Stories (31)
Matchday Photos (35)
F.Y.R Macedonia (1)
Non-Football Travel Stories (19)
Stadiums (101)
F.Y.R. Macedonia (1)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl