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Some of you might be familiar with a fundraising event, used by many organisations, called ‘Jailbreak’. For those of you who are not, let me explain.

The idea is that you get as far away as possible from a destination (point x, let’s say) in a certain time period without spending any money. You have to blag lifts (from people you don’t know), trains, buses and as many modes of transport as possible without spending any money to get as far away from point x as possible. I’ve done this twice since attending University and managed on the first occasion to get from Guildford to Portsmouth and on the second to get to Paris. I’ve known people who got to Prague and Basel.

I’d like to propose we put a spin on this and do a Barnet FC version. On Saturday 11^th February, we play Swindon at home and on Tuesday 14^th February we play Plymouth away. For a spin how about this:

Starting at 5pm after the Swindon game, pairs of Barnet fans will set off from the Pavillion Bar to start ‘jailbreak’. Their job is to make it to Plymouth FC, prior to 7pm on Tuesday 14^th February. If successful each team will get 150 points as this task would be relatively easy on its own. In the intervening period between the games, the job of each team is to try and get photographed inside as many football league grounds as possible, with would be worth 10 points each. Each team will be given an item to be photographed with in order to confirm they did it in that time period! The teams would still have to make their way to these grounds by blagging transportation.

The team with the most points by 7pm, the day of the Plymouth game would win (prize to be worked out, if this is a goer). I chose Plymouth primarily as it is far enough away to make this a challenge.

Teams would raise money for a chosen charity – or if it is run by the Trust perhaps for Noah’s Ark Hospice? This could be a great opportunity to generate some good publicity for the Trust and the club.

I’d love to hear some comments, preferably ASAP as I’d like to start garnering interest amongst Barnet fans and speaking to potential sponsors to see if we could get some prizes for participants. This would be very simple to organise and lots of fun, I hope you agree.

Kind regards,

Olly

The Labour Group of councillors have submitted a motion to January’s Full Council meeting calling on Barnet’s Conservative administration to renew efforts to help Barnet Football Club stay in the borough.

The text of the motion from Cllr Alison Moore is:

“Council is deeply saddened by the announcement that Barnet Football Club may be leaving Barnet and recognises all the work that the Club does for the benefit of the local community and young people across the Borough.

Council asks that the Leader and Cabinet do everything they can to secure the Club’s future in Barnet for the good of the local community, and all the supporters.”

Leader of the Labour Group, Cllr Alison Moore said: “The Club does great work in the local community and to help young people, and it would be a very sad loss were it to leave the borough – particularly given that the council is slashing the youth service by 75 per cent.

“Labour councillors are ready and willing to work with the council administration to try and secure the future of the Club in Barnet, and I hope the council debate will be the start of some cross-party working to that end.”

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This is excellent news. It has always been my view that the council should work, cross-party, to secure a future for the club in Barnet. Hopefully this motion can generate the sort of cross-party co-operation we need to secure the football clubs long-term future in the borough. I can only encourage Barnet fans to attend the full council meeting at 7pm on Tuesday 24th January at the Town Hall in Hendon. Details about how to get there can be found here: http://www.barnet.gov.uk/getting-to-hendon-town-hall.pdf

12/01/2011

Being the young contrarian I am, I’d like to disagree with the narrative emanating from Fox News and others. The big winner of the night was President Obama. For the following reasons:

1. The result ensures that the GOP race will be a contest rather than a coronation for Romney. This can only be good for Obama as we’ll see a lot more attack ads directed at participants in the primary contest as opposed to the President. For a flavour of things to come, take a look at this. The more grisly the contest gets, the better for Obama.

2. Santorum is a religious bigot, who has pandered to the most unsavoury elements of the Tea Party wing of the Republican party. His views on abortion, gay rights and religious education are something to behold. The longer he is given the spotlight, the better as this can only serve to shed light on the GOP’s extremist element, damaging Mr Romney in the process. Romney will increasingly have to pander to this wing of the GOP as he tries to assert his conservative credentials. Win win for Obama who can attack this extremist nonsense in order to profit from Independent support in November. Obama is already cultivating this narrative.

3. The longer this contest last, the less time the GOP has to prepare its electoral machine for November, as it fragments behind different, bickering candidates. Obama’s ‘shadow’ campaign in Iowa has been dubbed as the best organised of the primary by the New York Times despite the money that was pumped in by Republican candidates and the President’s unopposed nomination. Obama has been afforded extra time to organise before, most likely, Romney has the chance to rally the GOP machinery in its totality. This can only enhance Obama’s chances of victory in 2012.

It is for those reasons that Obama will be smiling today. This should all come with a very big caveat though. If Obama’s campaign indulges in complacency for a single moment, the GOP will capitalise. Political operators on America’s political  Right have a reputation for ruthlessness. If they catch a whiff of complacency, Obama will be punished.

So Obama must continue to guard against complacency and maintain an effective campaigning network a la Iowa, as the GOP juggernaut chunters across the America.

Yes, there has been a bit of drama. Herman Cain has had to suspend his campaign due to a slew of sexual allegations from a number of women, Michele Bachmann, Newt Gringrich and now Rick Santorum have led the charge against everyone’s least favourite frontrunner Mitt Romney, yet the former pair have fallen away as of late.

But this season of campaigning just doesn’t have the magic of 2008. The race lacks the spark of a Clinton or the inspiration of an Obama which is a sign of the times. The economy will be the central issue of the campaign and the GOP has had very little constructive to say about it. President Obama has set out a clear path for withdrawal of American combat forces in Afghanistan and troops have already departed from Iraq. Bin Laden has been killed and the American government exhibited constraint in its actions vis-a-vis Libya. It is true that healthcare remains controversial. Liberals are disappointed and conservatives furious. His personal approval ratings remain stubbornly low, hovering below the 50% mark.

Despite all that, the poor quality of candidate in the Republican field is testament to the strength of Obama’s re-election prospects. There were many who could have thrown their hat in the ring. Every day another name is mentioned, whether it be Chris Christie the Governor of New Jersey or Marco Rubio, the charismatic Hispanic Florida Senator. Yet they all remain silent, laying the ground for a shot at the nomination in 2016 when a Republican victory is more likely.

So whilst the campaign has been tedious the Iowa caucus will be most intriguing. My feeling is that Romney will scrap home with the maverick Ron Paul trailing in second. Bachmann and Rick Perry will perform poorly and withdraw within weeks. Santorum will finish a respectable third but his momentum will fall away as his lack of organisation across other states starts to tell.

Ultimately, Mitt Romney will be crowned the GOP candidate to face Obama in 2012. It is at that point that the election campaign starts to become interesting.

Logic concludes that annual reviews are chronological. Yawn. We’ll be here all night and that’ll turn you to alcohol. And there is only space for one alcoholic on this blog and that’s me. So we’ll start with the most important political ‘event’ of the year; the Arab Spring.

Your standard isolationist, Daily Mail little Englander might disagree with that last contention, but for us muesli eating, Guardian reading (guilty on both charges) internationalists, the events of the Arab Spring represent the embodiment of 2011; a year of emancipation, a year of political maturation in the Middle East and the end for a brutal dictator in the form of Colonel Gaddafi.

The nature of Gaddafi’s downfall did leave me with a rather uncomfortable feeling. Whilst he was a foul and disgusting autocrat who had nothing but contempt for his fellow Libyans, one can’t help but feel that his grizzly end rather sullied the legitimacy of the rebels who stooped to cowardly tactics when they sodomised and brutalised a fellow human being, however despicable.

This aside the appetite for democracy, human rights and freedom in the Middle East is clearly fermenting day by day. It has always existed, but has never manifested itself in such a tangible way. I’ve never subscribed to the deeply patronising view held by many in the West that the people in the Middle East are not ready for democracy and it certainly isn’t in our interests anyway. You know, the sort of bollocks spouted by Niall Ferguson. This political revolution has been coming for a while. A cocktail of deprivation and suppression provided the environment within which rebel movements in Libya, Eygpt, Bahrain and Syria could thrive. Long may that continue.

In 2012, two challenges will need to be address by policy makers in the Middle East. Firstly, those states that are emerging from the throes of revolution will require a political settlement that satisfies the stakeholders within civil society. That is a huge challenge, Eygpt is testament to that. Libya will face similar challenges and it should be left to the peoples of those nations to face them. If Western support is requested, we should provide it, but not before. The delegitimisation of these movements due to clumsy policy making in the West should be avoided.

The second challenge relates to those states which seem to be tentatively headed for civil war, like Syria. May I be so bold as to suggest that Syria will not be the only state in the Middle East rife with division and conflict next year? There is latent political tension in many states, which show no signs of abating despite the hail of bullets raining down on the rebellious groupings. 2012 is the year for the Arab League to get its house in order. It’s reputation as a fora for demagogues, despots and dictators might not be entirely fair, but they haven’t helped themselves have they? Luckily for them, I’m here to help. My first suggestion goes as follows. Don’t send a team of observers into Syria lead by General Mohammed Ahmad Al Dabi who works for a man who is under indictment by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for a most dubious human rights record. I mean it’s not difficult is it? If the Arab League does not work to resolve conflict in 2012, more blood will be shed in the name of autocracy.

So 2011 represent the year in which the seeds of democracy in the Middle East start to reap reward. 2012 will determine whether we will see long term foliage form or a withering on the vine.

Plenty happened domestically in 2011. We’ve had a Royal Wedding and riots. Both served to change my perceptions fundamentally. The former challenged my complacent republicanism. It is not often that a news item emanating out of the UK leads on news bulletins in the US and across the world. Britain is still trying to manage its relative decline on the world stage. An event of this cultural significance served to boost Britain’s standing on the world stage whilst boosting our economy. I’m not sure I’ll ever be comfortable with an unelected head of state in a mature liberal democracy, but for the time being I’m content to acknowledge the value the royal family provide. I’m sure the Queen and co are breathing a collective sigh of relief.

As a Londoner, albeit from Barnet which straddles the Hertfordshire border, I felt a profound sense of shock when the shooting of a man in Tottenham metamorphosed into a full scale riot. The violence seeped out from London, travelling to other major cities in the UK such as Manchester and Birmingham spreading fear across the UK. And for a few days it seemed like the police had lost control of our streets. Despite the social defragmentation, a silver lining did pierce through that most ominous cloud. Thousands of Londoners joined the clean up movement. Teams in Enfield, Hackney, Croydon and elsewhere cleared up the wreckage. This is terribly clichéd, but it did make me proud to be a Londoner. I have nothing more profound to add than that. Many commentators more qualified than me have produced some fine work on the significance of the riots. Head to those for something a little more profound.

Of course, plenty more happened over the year. Phone hacking, Osama Bin Laden dead, Oslo killings, IMF rape allegations, Occupy, the economy tanking and all that jazz, but I don’t have the energy to pretend to be a sage on all these issues. Head to the Guardian for fair and totally unbalanced coverage of the years (although I’d avoid Toynbee, who has clearly been at the Tuscan wine stowed away in her modest villa).

For me, 2011 will be primarily remembered as the year of revolution in the Middle East. With hope and trepidation we collectively dip our toes into the year 2012. Let’s hope it is a most prosperous year for all.

What about you? What resonates for you when you consider the last year? And what do you think the next year brings?

Answers on a postcard please.  

“This is a sad day for Barnet – the Club does wonderful work with the local community and with young people from across the Borough, and all this will now be lost.

“For years the Conservative council used Barnet Football Club as a political football – they could have done much more to try and keep the club here rather than lose yet another community asset.”

What a contrast to the attitude of her opposite number, Cllr Cornelius! Do Cllr Cornelius, Cllr Coleman and co not understand that if we lose Barnet FC from our community, we lose not only, over 100 years worth of tradition but a plethora of community projects that are delivered by the football club? Whatever happened to the Big Society?

Here’s the best bit. The opening ceremony for the Olympics will take place on 27 July 2012. Barnet’s last home game at Underhill will take place on 28 April 2012, if the current situation is not resolved. The Olympic Games legacy is all about encouraging kids to take part in sport within their communities. One of London’s biggest councils is about to force a provider of such opportunities to leave without a trace.  Can nobody else see the irony in all this?

“I am extremely concerned about the attitude of Conservative controlled Barnet Council to Barnet FC, who they seem determined to drive out of their ground and out of the Borough, applying double standards when compared with their active  support to Saracens Rugby Club. I believe Barnet FC is an asset to Barnet  and everything reasonably possible should be done to enable them to stay in the Borough”

Spot on Andrew. It is good to have your support on this.

So what about the esteemed Brian Coleman of the Tory Totteridge set? Will Andrew’s 2012 GLA opponent be speaking out against the Council’s actions or will he be staying silent on this important local issue, like he does so many others?

At about 11am I made a rather rash and silly decision. I published some information about Barnet Football Club that I shouldn’t have been in receipt of, on an internet forum using an ambiguous username. Not only did I publish this information, but I also gave my own ill-informed, prejudiced view on the situation regarding Barnet’s future at Underhill Stadium when I was not in full possession of the facts.

My motive in all of this was to draw the information out into the open and try to get the club to make a statement, so fans could have the opportunity debate it as soon as possible. The more controversial the post, the quicker they’d have to reply was my rationale. However, it was immensely arrogant and hotheaded to think that one man, me, had the right to make that decision on behalf of the club and the group that represents Barnet fans. I betrayed the confidence of a friend and undermined people in the process.

Probably the most cowardly part of all of this was the decision I took to use another username to post this information rather than my own. I have no explanation for that. It was pure cowardice. The worst part about it is that I probably would have kept up the lie if the moderator hadn’t exposed my IP address as the source of the new account. For the record, I think that the moderator was right to do it. It would be immensely hypocritical to purport to wanting to be transparent in releasing information and then whinging when your details are revealed as the source behind that information.

Lastly, I also lied when challenged on Twitter about it. In doing so, I deployed the old methods of faux outrage and faux anger to divert attention away from myself. Not only was this duplicitous, it was also unfair on two people I enjoyed debating with on Twitter and at Barnet games.

Nobody can ever be more disappointed in me, than myself. I used to think that friends and even enemies, at the very least saw me as somebody who had integrity, if nothing else.  I think my idiotic actions have torn that idea to shreds.  But far more importantly, I may have damaged the working relationship that Tony Kleanthous has with the group that represents Barnet fans which is completely unforgivable. I just hope that Tony realises that the supporters’ group and its Chairman, who I have spoken to, are just as angry as he probably is.

For the most part of yesterday I had that awkward feeling in my stomach, the one you get when you know you’ve fucked up. I still have it now. It’s difficult not to engage in a bit of self-indulgent reflection and self-loathing when you do something so stupid, ill-informed and damaging. And I doubt that this will go away until I get the chance to apologise, in person, to the Chairman of Barnet FC and I’m not sure why he should grant me the opportunity.

When I first got involved in the politics of Barnet FC, it was almost six years ago as a 15 year old boy, knocking on doors with the Keep Barnet Alive (KBA) campaign, trying to get rid of our disastrous Tory council. Since then, like many others, I have volunteered hundreds of hours of time to the club; clearing the snow, weeding the Barnet Lane entrance of Underhill, cleaning rubbish off the terraces and promoting the club by delivering their leaflets and running street stalls on Barnet High Street to help the club raise BFC’s profile in the local community. Like every other Barnet fan who has done similarly, I did this because I love my football club and I want it to be successful.

My actions yesterday will have done nothing to contribute to the success of Barnet FC, in fact, it may well have done precisely the opposite. And it is that thought that will stay with me for a very long time.

I think it’s difficult for him because he can’t win either way. He has said that he’ll support the party with the biggest mandate in the event of a hung parliament. This is very clever because it gives him leeway to support the party with the most number of seats or the most number of votes.

However I don’t think this will wash with the electorate. Clegg should be more open with the electorate about his intentions at the next election. Sitting on the fence is not good enough Nick. I know you want to be Prime Minister but it is unrealistic. The odds are stacked against you and you should pin your colours to the mast. The voters won’t be taken for fools.

I bloody well hope not. The last couple of days have been good for Labour. To undo that now would be absolutely criminal.

Here’s hoping that it is just the normal idle gossip that we get from the Westminster hacks.

UPDATE: James McIntyre has it here that Tessa Jowell is the Minister rumoured to be resigning. I hope she doesn’t. We’ll see how it’ll pan out.