´óÏó´«Ã½

ULTIMATE USUAL SUSPECT

Alastair Campbell is a New Labour Zealot whose messianic image of Tony blair was second only to that held by Blair Himself. Is this man's judgement valuable?

"And Jeremy Paxman will be asking Labour spin guru Alastair Campbell what if anything can be done. There chats are always interesting and informative."

There (?). Has the English language changed that much?

DOUGLAS ALEXANDER'S LOT SAY:
Funds will be provided by mining companies, USAID and DFID and used to finance basic health and education services, improve the government of Katanga's ability to collect mining taxes and promote transparency in the mining sector in Katanga.

Keeping in mind Britian's love affir with brewing and the drunken mayhem that approximates to our 'culture', it is clear that our ability to organise a P in a B is severely

DOUGLAS ALEXANDER'S LOT SAY:
Funds will be provided by mining companies, USAID and DFID and used to finance basic health and education services, improve the government of Katanga's ability to collect mining taxes and promote transparency in the mining sector in Katanga.

Keeping in mind Britian's love affair with brewing and the drunken mayhem that approximates to our 'culture', it is clear that our ability to organise a P in a B is severely
constrained. This calls into question the mind-set of any one looking to us for assistance, unless of course pockets are to be lined. As for 'transparency in mining'! This really must be the Age of Change.

I wish they'd forget about all the spin, public image and trying to sell themselves.
They've got elected, they should try and run the country, or resign!

Thank you and apoligies to acrobaticNewYorkMan for the mis spelling. I don't know how it slipped through.

senright (6)

Apoligies? I think I know how it slipped through.

Peter

DUBYA DOES GOD

‘No one who prays to the God of Abraham could strap a suicide vest to an innocent child, or blow up guiltless guests at a Passover Seder, or fly planes into office buildings filled with unsuspecting workers.’ (George W Bush 16.5.08)

Presumably ‘unaccompanied’ Phosphorus, Napalm, Cruise Missiles and Daisy Cutters from the heavens, on the innocent, are OK with Abraham’s god.

Jeremy was too busy on the blog to check the synopsis !
;-)

You know, as a long-suffering inhabitant of the UK, I am hard-pressed to discern how any 'Gordon Brown relaunch' serves me or my family's (or, for that matter, the county's, bar its media establishment) interests at all, let alone well.

The sheer magnitude of his... the party's inability to comprehend what people can see with their own eyes and feel in their own wallets... that is so totally at odds with what he/they is/are spouting... is breathtaking.

He needs to stop telling us he's the right man for the job and get back to actually trying not to make a great clunking fist of almost every aspect of trying to do it.

I am simply desperate to get back to seeing this country run on any sensible basis by anyone competent, and of these, those who see public service as something that has impacts beyond political career or ratings-driven sound-bites, especially outside of the London-centric Exclusion Zone.

You know, where there is no public transport to get to work in less than a day, so £1.30 fuel does rather have an impact when also paying the soaring utility bills, LA pension-hole rates, licence fees, etc without the security of index-linked raises.

'7. At 11:27 pm on 15 May 2008, PeterBarron wrote: Apoligies? I think I know how it slipped through.'

That's nice. Ever in hope, may others know? Oh, and as you're at it... any chance of answers on the other, perhaps more important questions raised. I can understand and deal with a 'live' typo (who doesn't let those slip past.. see below) but remain keen to find out if our data can still be accessed by hackers...

/blogs/newsnight/2008/04/blogging_a_new_era.html

'25. At 12:42 pm on 22 Apr 2008, PeterBarron wrote: I'm checking your points about privay with the team who have been developing the blog and will report back shortly.'

...or why the intro text for Mr. Miliband's recent answers was retroactively changed without explanation to 'deal' with the fact that there was a (what might have been an entirely reasonable - he might have had other unexpected 'country-running' things to do, which would have been a novelty) delay.

"And Jeremy Paxman will be asking spin guru Alastair Campbell what if anything can be done. Their chats are always interesting and informative." That's cozy, isn't it? I really need to be informed by the man who did more than anyone else to mislead this nation and take it into war on the back of a pack of lies. Well done ´óÏó´«Ã½. Looking forward to the "chat".

Junkkmale (10)

Here's the response I've had from the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s information security people on the privacy issue.

"The ´óÏó´«Ã½ takes security seriously, but we do have to be able to provide access for all people who pay the license fee. There were still a number of people who would not have been able to use the web services with full security built in (called HTTPS or SSL - the 'lock' on the browser) the last time we reviewed how we collected data from our communities. We have since re-visited this decision, and a whole new system is currently being designed which will implement full security over the transactions where we request any personal data. These projects are never small scale as we have to deal with many hundreds of thousands of licence fee payers who wish to join in our communities and programmes. We expect this new system to be available towards the end of this year."

On the Miliband Q+A there was simply a delay in getting the answers from his office, so they appeared one day later than initially advertised.

Peter

Thank you:) I am sure others are more qualified to assess the consequences of the IT situation you have been provided and now kindly forwarded but, as with other changes, it's nice to be kept apprised as things progress.

Mushtaq Khan Mooliani Layyah

Earthquake in China has definitely rocked and jolted the Chinese government and the people.50,000 people death is a huge casuality number.My sympathies are with the chinese people.we can pray that their dams and power plants may be safe from these natural calamities and disasters.Otherwise the whole China may come under heavy loss.

Mushtaq Khan Mooliani Layyah

Just testing to see if I'm still logged in.

RE "[money] which is spent on International Development is beyond doubt going to an unimpeachably worthwhile home" (Jeremy Paxman)

On average only 60% to 85% of funds are released to state institutions over a given period. That can be due to slow disbursement by donors, but in most cases the recipient is either unable to show compliance with, or in breach of the financing conditions. As most of today's development aid is given directly to 'local stakeholders', checks are, if at all, made near exclusively by donors who have little control once funds are released.

Of disbursed funds 10% to 60% are 'lost' during implementation. This ranges from money sitting in bank accounts that the implementing agency/ministry is unaware of, to blatant corruption. Africa's second largest multilateral donor has an unwritten policy to take no action so long as this 'evaporation' does not exceed 30%. Thus of a USD 300 mio education loan, USD 90 mio can disappear through incompetence, poor procurement, and inappropriate payments with very few consequences for anyone.

In countries like DRC, the temptation to go for private sector projects is that much greater: the 'client' would be a global company with relatively well-structured management/accounts, which can be sued for failure to implement agreements..

Releasing funds to local structures, emphasising accountability and improving infrastructure is a Herculean task for which most donors do not have the stamina. In the meantime there are large areas in Africa that are barely workable, let alone ideal. I am far from convinced that, in these areas, development spending released under the current fad of 'local implementation' goes to an 'unimpeachably good home'.

Either way, Tim Whewell's current reports are excellent, engrossing, even for seasoned Africa watchers. Great stuff.