Gordon Sings!

A John Redwood moment!

UK Cyber Security Strategy

 

Photo under creative commons by CarbonNYC click here

The Cyber Security Strategy sets out the Government's plans to establish two new organisations, both of which will be established in September 2009, and will be operational by the end of March 2010:
An Office of Cyber Security (OCS) to provide strategic leadership for and coherence across Government. The OCS will establish and oversee a cross-government programme to address priority areas in pursuit of the UK's strategic cyber security objectives.
A Cyber Security Operations Centre (CSOC) that will bring together existing functions: to actively monitor the health of cyber space and co-ordinate incident response; to enable better understanding of attacks against UK networks and users; and to provide better advice and information about the risks to business and the public.

UK Cyber Security Strategy - even more bureaucracy, but no financial budget, legislative power or democratic accountability - Spy Blog - SpyBlog.org.uk 

Read the full blog post on the link above. Democratic accountability?

Negativity

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On the  21st May the credit rating agency Standard & Poor's put the UK on negative watch. With everything else going on it received less attention than it might have done.

It certainly does not seem to have penetrated the brain of the prime minister, who wants to fight the next election on the basis of Labour investment against indiscriminate Conservative spending cuts.

This is both dishonest and foolish. Dishonest because the government's own plans involve real cuts in spending for many departments once inflation is taken into account and a halving of capital investment in the three years after 2011-12. Foolish not just because it treats voters as idiots, but because the suggestion that Brown is not taking the dire state of the public finances seriously risks incurring the wrath of the credit-rating agencies. And that would have severe consequences.

The Guardian

Everyone else seems to get it - why not Gordon Brown?

Terror alert system too late for Olympics | UK news | The Observer

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A £1.4bn critical response system to ensure emergency services can deal with a major incident such as the 7/7 bombings is now running so far behind schedule that it is unlikely to be ready in time for the London 2012 Olympics, according to leaked documents. The revelation has alarmed fire chiefs and prompted private outrage from ministers, who are said to have been kept in the dark by civil servants as to how late the state-of-the-art project is running. The FiReControl system is described as critical for "protecting public safety and increasing the nation's resilience" and the government claims that once it is up and running it will meet "the challenges of today's world such as industrial accidents, terrorist threats and weather-related incidents" - a reference to the spate of dramatic floods in recent years. The system, which will link all fire and rescue control centres via nine regional hubs and will cost £380m to set up, automatically channels emergency calls to available operators if telephone lines jam during a national emergency.

Terror alert system too late for Olympics | UK news | The Observer

 

The system was supposed to be completed at the end of 2007, but a series of delays has pushed its roll-out back years. "The project is in meltdown and may not be properly tested and in place for the 2012 Olympics even if they can make it work," said the Fire Brigades Union assistant general secretary, Andy Dark. "Fire services needed the entire network to be bedded down and tested by summer 2011 and that will not happen."

Distressed? Shame!

Gordon Brown has set up a team in Downing Street to counsel and support distressed Labour MPs facing flak from constituents over their expenses claims, the Guardian has learnt. An internal email sent out by the Labour party to all MPs reveals that a "wellbeing" support line has been launched from No 10. MPs are being told they can ring the Downing Street switchboard to be put through for support and advice.
The Guardian

Gordon Brown Helped Cause the Crisis - WSJ.com

 

Mr. Brown also repeatedly praised the City's "innovative skills," bragging in 2006 that it was responsible for 40% of the world's over-the-counter derivatives trade -- which includes the now infamous repackaged subprime mortgages. He gave financial institutions a false sense of security by telling them on June 16, 2004, that "I am determined to ensure that we can lock in greater stability not just for a year, or for an economic cycle, but in this generation." With this assurance from the chancellor, how could anyone expect bankers to forego juicy profits and bonuses by avoiding innovative but unduly risky practices? Because of the large size and global reach of Britain's financial sector, and the many newfangled financial instruments it created and marketed, Mr. Brown cannot honestly deny all responsibility for Britain's recession.

Given these historic facts, Britain's Labour legislators should think again about sticking with the prime minister. Choosing a new leader with integrity and managerial competence is the party's best chance to win greater respect from voters.

Gordon Brown Helped Cause the Crisis - WSJ.com

Transparency?

From Penguin Food

Dont need to add anything here.