Big Ben on Parliament

Budget 2009 - cut to the chase...

If like me you took one look at all 260 pages of today's Budget and wished there was an easier way, there is! LEWIS PR has produced a summary of all the pertinent points - new points that is (not rehashed former announcements that have been put in the Budget to bulk it out). You can download it here.

Download Budget 2009 - LEWIS PR Summary

Former Government CIO appointed as Chief Executive of FA

Sky and the Guardian are both reporting that Ian Watmore, formerly Permanent Secretary of the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) and a veteran of the IT industry, has been appointed as the Chief Executive of the Football Association (FA).

Initially it seems like an odd appointment when you consider that Mr Watmore's previous posts include Head of the Prime Minister's Delivery Unit, Chief Information Officer and Head of e-Government, in the Cabinet Office. However, he has carried with him an excellent reputation in his past positions and has worked closely with former DIUS Minister, and now Chairman of the FA, Lord Triesman. 

So as someone who has immersed themselves in Government IT issues over the past few years, I would say that this is certainly an unexpected appointment, but a welcome one nonetheless. And, I would hazard a guess, the only time a former CIO has been appointed to the upper echelons of the FA!

Winter Term report: Education Minister must do better

The Education Minister, Jim Knight's blog has been inundated with what can only be described as a a waive (sic) of bloggers/journalists with their metaphorical red pen in hand, to correct the spelling of everything Mr Knight has ever written on his blog. 

This follows a number of media reports (most prominently theBBC) that the Minister responsible for, amongst other things, raising school standards is actually prune (sic) to the odd typo or 23. 

Personal Information Promise - who's in, and most importantly, who's not?

This morning, EU Data Privacy Day don't you know, the ICO will announce which organisations have signed up to its new initiative - the Personal Information Promise.

The PIP is effectively a PR campaign - an attempt to restore public trust in the ability/willingness of public and private sector organisations to safeguard private information that they hold, by giving senior executives the chance to sign up to a 10-point commitment. Credibility beckons for those that sign up (and manage to keep their promise...), but what about for those that don't? It will certainly be interesting to see who is not on the list and, as I'm sure the media will inquire, why they haven't signed up.

As Toby Stevens of the Enterprise Privacy Group says in his blog in Computer Weekly, its a great initiative and the privacy world will be waiting to see who's signing up. 

Update - 10.20am

The ICO has just announced the list of signatories to the PIP. Quite a few big names from the private sector, from Acxiom to Vodafone, Experian to BT. However, only a handful of public sector bodies, and no central government departments. Make of that what you will. 

Pigs in the lobby

Lobbying through social media is dead. You read it here first. If you want to influence Government, you need a band. Thats right, Bono and Geldoff have done it (with limited success) but the proof that music effectively lobbies the savage beast is almost upon us.

Destined for greatness, a campaign being conducted by 'Pigs Are Worth It' will shortly launch a song on the Internet appealing for more support for the pig industry - from the consumer and the Government. The song, to be recorded this weekend by a large group of farmers, will be called Stand By Your Ham and will be sung to the tune of (you guessed it) Stand By Your Man.

Stand By Your Ham - to the tune of Stand By Your Man
(Lyrics by Barney Kaye, National Pig Association)

Stand by your ham.
Sausages, pork and bacon
Help us to stay in business
Because our pigs are worth it.
Stand by your ham.
Sausages, pork and bacon
Keep givin’ all the help you can
Stand by your ham.

If you too care about the quality of your pork products, sign this petition and together we can move to wards a 'Better Bacon'!

Visit the LEWIS Public Affairs web-page to see how you can book your lobbying studio time...

T'Internet - Conservatives 1 Everybody else 0

Sunny Hundal of LiberalConspiracy.org has written an interesting piece in The Guardian on the apparent dominance of the Tory party in online politics. Its hard to disagree with his stance - the Tories do appear to have the biggest overt presence in the blogosphere (see Iain Dale, 18 Doughty Street and even the Conservative Party website ) but Sunny offers little in the way of hard evidence to back up his otherwise compelling argument.

Maybe I can help.

Blogging isn't everybody's cup of tea, and not everybody sees the benefit of filming everything and putting it on YouTube, but it is strangely unbelievable that in a time when over 15 million households have an Internet connection, a disturbingly large number of MPs do not even have their own website. I count 95 MPs with no obvious websites (only 23 of these being Conservatives) - roughly equating to nearly 6.5 million voters without a practical means of engaging their elected representatives. Maybe the £10,000 that each MP receives on an annual basis for web funding can go towards rectifying this...

Internet who?

Brown to begin PR drive

Despite taking the option that no political commentator in Westminster Village thought possible - no election at all - Gordon Brown is about to kick off a PR exercise that would not seem out of place if he was gearing up for a campaign to woo the nation's voters.

Since 'bottling out' of a much predicted election in November this year the momentum has swung back to the Tories. An expected announcment on Iraq can only go so far to off-setting what is a decidedly negative press on Monday morning for the PM. Understandable really - the media party has been cancelled at the last minute, the Conference season is over and now there's only the actual business of running the country for the press lobby to focus on! Whilst Brown has said that this is what he would prefer the nation to focus on, you cant help but feel a little cheated...

Quiet man makes big noise

Maybe he didn't quite believe everything he said in his ill-fated stint as Tory leader but having seen IDS in action a number of times in his new role as 'chief hoody-hugger' it is no surprise that he is receiving the plaudits today for his speech in Blackpool.

Matthew Engel at the FT suggests that this might be the platform for a new leadership bid - frankly I completely disagree. IDS has found his niche - he doesn't need to 'turn up the volume' in this role - he's naturally passionate about the issues facing the UK's communities and he's largely rebuilt a reputation that took a severe beating after the 2003 Tory Party Conference (where he made 'that' speech). I hope he continues - as I'm sure the CSJ will agree, he's playing to his strengths at the moment and doing a lot of good in the process.

LEWIS PR is aproud sponsor of the Centre for Social Justice Awards.

Big Ben silenced!

Big Ben is to 'bong' its last on Saturday morning before a month of repairs take effect. The BBC is reporting that Radio 4, which uses Big Ben's bongs for its PM show, is looking for alternative sound effects to replace them. This Big Ben has the microphone at the ready and is stepping upto the mark...

Cameron re-empahsises his blue credentials

On the same day as being egged on by Jonathan Porrit to continue his 'green revolution', David Cameron has sanctioned what is possibly the most bizarre cosmetic change this blogger has seen in a while. The Conservative Party emblem has taken what the Daily Mail has, in its own inimitable style, called a 'blue rinse'.

A brilliant move to appease the traditional Tory rank and file? Or merely am overestimation on Cameron's part that, once again, image is everything?