I’ve been in Spain for just about a week now, and it’s quite an adjustment.

Moving from France to Spain is a larger leap than England to France. Equally, I am trying to make the transition from the workplace to the classroom.

My first impressions have been formed, and they tell you more about me than they do the locals.
Principally, I feel much more foreign here than I ever did in France. In Nice, my nationality was more like a funny hat that I would bring out and wear from time to time. Here, it’s a lot more permanent simply because of genetics; I don’t (as far as I know) look even the remotest bit Spanish, the locals react as such.

Even thus, my identity is still a bit confused. In Nice, I was so connected through my job to the town and the region PACA that I feel much more at home speaking with the French students than I do the English.

Then when you add my personality into the mix it becomes even more complex. Friend and colleague Jack Penrose, well known for his linguistic elegance and amateur poetry (rumoured) described me as “someone who flushes before he’s finished pissing.” I would translate that phrase as “time-efficient”. My life is divided into hour-long blocks of time; I enjoy darting from one meeting to another, getting from A to B. I love my Blackberry, I hate downtime.

This “time-efficiency” trait is a direct contradiction with the Spanish way of life.

Everything is closed, all the time, and nobody cares about anything. If it is agreed to meet at 1200, may god help the person who turns up at 1210, particularly if they find we’ve already left.

At the risk of being compared to Hugh Abbot, I find it’s much more difficult to click with Spanish people as we don’t seem to have very much in common. Hopefully that will change once classes start and I get involved with the PSOE (that the Spanish Labour / Socialist party… you know… the one with Zapatero in it.)

Of course it’s early to start making wild generalisations, but there really is a key difference in the mood of this part of my placement. In France, I was integrated and absorbed in the culture, ethic and identity. In Spain, I feel like I am looking at society through a lens.

Eight months ago, I arrived in Nice, now it’s time for me to leave.

It’s been an excellent stay, and I never wanted to leave for a minute.

There will be a longer, more reflective post after I get back in the UK. For now though, I’ll show you this video which was a campaign song for Opposition group in Nice Changer d’ère.

It’s not goodbye, it’s Au Revoir.

I’ll be in the UK from this evening until January 22nd.

Next stop: Madrid.

To start the year 2010, let’s look back at 2009.

Like many bloggers, I’m going to enter the Orwell Prize, an award for political blogging.

Unlike many bloggers, I don’t expect to win. I’m sure it’s a total stitch-up reserved for some snooty journalist. (Prove me wrong, guys, prove me wrong.)

How did I pick the Top Ten? It was a complex algorithm I like to call “That’ll Do” which involves rules of thumb, unreliable memories, bitterness, arrogance and guesswork.

The result was a mix of posts that almost made a splash in either links or comments or hits, ones that almost achieved something, ones that were almost exclusive, ones that were almost a good idea. I’m going to almost win this prize, it’s almost certain.

Anyway, here’s the list in chronological order:

• We’re going to get hammered on June 4th – and videos like these don’t help
• Anti-BNP Demonstration at BRLSI Meeting
• The Prime Minister is in legacy mode: he is destroying 100 years of history for his own ego
• Libertarian Party threatens Libel against Hadleigh Roberts
• Cutting down the Commons will cripple Cameron’s government
• My very French By-election: The Battle for Nice 6
• Dividing Lines: When politics comes between friends
• Fixed Term Parliaments won’t necessarily fix Parliament
• It is Labour’s duty to defeat the BNP, we must end the ‘No Platform’ policy
• Tory PPC: “It is about time we had a recession”

Enjoy!

A bit of a Christmas Cracker now, from our very own living bad joke.

Jacob Rees-Mogg, the Tory PPC for North-East Somerset, really is the comedy Tory gift who keeps on giving. (Giving tax benefits to the super-rich that is, ho ho!)

His latest gaffe, since November, sees him once again faking he truth.

Private Eye picked this one up, and in the Christmas edition explained how he shipped a London-based member of his London-based investment firm staff on a 260 mile (about 420km) round trip to Midsomer Norton to take part in a photo opportunity to illustrate his website.

Here’s a scan of the article:

However, what Private Eye doesn’t tell you is that the very same picture, also appears on the front page of Rees-Mogg’s latest hard copy newsletter which has been circulated across N E Somerset, under the title of “Honesty on the Economy”. Take a look:

If you head over to this page on Rees-Mogg’s London based hedge-fund management company and scroll down to the bottom, in last place you have Fiona Tyrrell. Then, if you head to his political website you’ll see the same picture Private Eye was talking about.

If you still in any doubt, right-click the image and choose “save as” and you’ll find that Rees-Muggins has even named the picture “Fiona”.

In fairness, the caption “Honesty on the Economy. Jacob talking to a lady in Midsomer Norton” is technically true. That is Jacob. Fiona is a lady. The pair of them are in Somerset. Her mouth is presumably moving.

Actually, Jacob isn’t allowed to talk any more. Conservative Central Headquarters issued a gagging order after he told The Scotsman in October 2001:

I gradually realised that whatever I happened to be speaking about, the number of voters in my favour dropped as soon as I opened my mouth.

Looks like there is a theme emerging here from Honesty Mogg. Time to add this one to the list, having been in trouble for plagiarising Trevor Kavanagh from The Sun he now has to fabricate ‘in the constituency with constituents’ pictures to give an impression he’s connected to the community.

I’ll leave you with this thought for Christmas; the Rees-Muggins newsletter was delivered by the Royal Mail. I suppose his crumbling campaign means he has no local volunteers to deliver for him!

Click here to see other classic Ress-Mogg gaffes.

Jan 6th Update: Venue Magazine has also featured the story as their main news article, to supplement other pieces in The Telegraph, in The Daily Mail and a little bit in The Independent. Nothing from The Times, not that that would have anything to do with Rees-Mogg’s father as former editor and columnist, of course.

Finally, can anybody tell me why I published this on December 23rd, yet the Nationals waited until December 28th/29th? Guys, come on, a little credit here.

Bulgaria has begun parliamentary proceedings for staging a referendum on whether public broadcaster Bulgarian National Television (BNT) should continue a special daily news bulletin in Turkish.

In a move which resembles the recent ban on Minarets in Switzerland, the Bulgarian Prime Minister, Boiko Borissov, and his ruling party GERB have publicly endorsed the campaign launched by the ultra-nationalist party, Ataka, which states:

Bulgarian is the official language of Bulgaria and there is no place for news in Turkish on the public broadcaster.

The subtext behind all of this really comes down to the role of state broadcasting, and the suppression of the Turkish (that is to say Muslim) minority. It is a standard act of aggression against an ethnic minority, misguided and twisted into a regressive stand against Islam and immigration.

Ethnic Turks make up 15% of Bulgaria’s population.

It is the responsibility of the state broadcaster to promote and encourage diversity, it is the channel not for a minority, or a majority, but the entire nation. Compare the situation with the state broadcaster in Britain, and the relationship between Wales and the United Kingdom. The BBC has several broadcasts in the Welsh language for cultural and linguistic purposes, which are not restricted to factual programs, despite the general decline in native Welsh speakers. However, the Turks are not demanding that their language is compulsory in schools or that sign posts are bilingual, the issue pertains to one news program.

Here, we see that language is the key barrier to society and it is typically reactionary to suggest that these news broadcasts entrench segregation. In fact, I would suggest that the newscasts improve cultural cohesion. The Turkish population will better understand Bulgarian news which enables them to appreciate and participate in community activities, helping them to integrate with the majority. In addition, it is also useful for native Bulgarians to familiarise themselves with Turks and the Turkish language.

Thus this proposed ban on a single 15 minute long newscast is purely symbolic. The state broadcaster’s schedule is not packed with Turkish-language programs any more than the Swiss cityscape was infested by the five minarets.

The timing is also entirely cynical. Though the campaign was started five years ago, it has only gained real traction thanks to the fear of globalisation and migration exacerbated by the financial crisis. Politically, the cause has gained credibility and profited from the result of the Swiss referendum.

This referendum, like most referenda, will not be democratic. It will bring out the tyranny of the Majority designed to enforce conformity. The only consequence will of the ban will be to strike a blow against the Turkish (again, Muslim) population and make them less welcome in their own country, which in turn makes them less inclined to participate, which strengthens segregation and fragments society.

This post was written on the request of a Bulgarian associate of mine who asked me to investigate the issue. If you have any ‘requests’ or issues you would like me to turn my attention to, please send me a message via the contact page and I’ll be happy to oblige.