Another Test Match - More Empty Seats. We Should Make Test Matches Affordable For All

Another test match. Some more great cricket for England and yet more empty seats at what should be a big ticket test match.

It has been a fantastic day for England's cricketers, who are looking in really sharp form ahead of the Ashes series.



But, as Jonathan Agnew pointed out on TMS today, there are plenty of empty seats around the ground.  I made the same point about the first test last week.  There is very little reason for that to be the case.  The football season hasn't yet started.  The national team is in great form.  The opponents are a top flight team who beat Australia a few months ago.  Even the English summer weather is, by and large, playing ball.

Sadly, cricketing authorities seem to have been overcome by a bout of rapaciousness following two home Ashes victories.  Test match tickets have shot up in price.  Tickets for Lords are as high as £90 and they go up to £60 for this series.  That means a father to take his kids along to the Test will cost hundreds.

Test match authorities are turning what used to be an affordable day out into something that is out of the reach of many people in economically straitened times.  The more prices go up, the more test matches will be attended by the corporate crowd and not the great social mix that makes test match cricket so special.

The authorities should look beyond the short term bottom line and think about what is going to attract a new generation of fans to the game and to the unique pleasure of a day at a test match.  Cricket has chosen to hit the jackpot in the past few years by selling TV rights to Sky and minimising its audience at TV level.  The very least they could do with this TV rights jackpot would be to make test match cricket affordable for all.

Progressive Postings - Best Of The Blogosphere, Wednesday 4th August 2010

The best of the web today:

NME on 'why we love the Clash' http://www.nme.com/blog/index.php?blog=10&p=8830&why_we_love_the_clash&more=1&c=1

The Australian on the upcoming Aussie election: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/abbott-not-unelectable/story-fn59niix-1225900814866

Luke Tryl on gay rights and the Tory right: http://conservativehome.blogs.com/platform/2010/08/luke-tryl-the-tory-right-shouldnt-fear-gay-rights-.html

The Daily Beast on Palin's social media strategy: http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-08-02/sarah-palins-facebook-and-twitter-strategy/?cid=hp:beastoriginalsR2

Both Dan Hannan and Tom Harris campaign for a memorial to Ian Gow:
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/danielhannan/100049644/ian-gow-the-best-kind-of-parliamentarian/

http://www.tomharris.org.uk/2010/08/02/ian-gow-mp-1937-1990/

Raise Your Glasses For The Great British Beer Festival

I was at the Great British Beer Festival yesterday.  The event has become a real national institution, showcasing quality British beers and the brewers, large and small, who help quench the nation's thirst.

The event brings together a massive range of beers and ciders, including some extremely unique flavours (I tried, amongst other fine ales, some of the award winning Chocolate Orange flavoured stout from Amber breweries, which I highly recommend.)



I was delighted to find out that my region, the North East, is top of the pops when it comes to real ale, with 74% of people having tried real ale, compared to only 45% in Yorkshire. You should toast this fact by trying some of the great North Eastern ales.

As well as being a massive event in it's own right, the Beer Festival is also a reminder of the importance beer to our culture and the importance of pubs to our communities.  The beer industry is a massive employer and the pub acts as the beating heart of the community.  It is vital that we preserve the pub at the core of community life - as there are still far too many pubs and working man's clubs closing.

If you are in the London area, I would highly recommend that you popped along to the Beer Festival, for a top quality evening out.

Progressive Postings - Best Of The Blogosphere, Tuesday 3rd August 2010

Today's must reads:

Jon Rentoul on a Tony Blair lecture about the job of Prime Minister: http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2010/07/27/how-to-be-prime-minister/

John Hayes argues that the education of offenders should be at the core of the 'rehabilitation revolution': http://conservativehome.blogs.com/platform/2010/08/john-hayes-mp-the-education-of-offenders-must-be-at-the-centre-of-the-rehabilitation-revolution.html

Andrew Gilligan On Ken Livingstone's deja vu Mayoral campaign: http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/andrewgilligan/100049400/ken-livingstone-this-is-what-brain-death-looks-like/

Next Left on political philosophy and the left: http://www.nextleft.org/2010/08/political-philosophy-and-left.html

Dylan Loewe at the Huffington Post asks whether the Republicans have lost the White House for a generation: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dylan-loewe/have-republicans-lost-the_b_667345.html

And Working Class Tory isn't too keen on my blog about the left of the Tory Party: http://www.workingclasstory.com/2010/07/platform-10-and-progress.html

The Undemocratic Threat Of Judicial Activism

Political sovereignty in Britain should lie with the Commons.  It should lie with people we elect and can remove.  The rise of both the quangocracy and judicial activism (not to mention the EU) makes that less the case than it should be.


Dan Hannan has a very good blog today in which he points to the case of the budget being challenged in the courts by the Fawcett Society.  As he queries, how can a budget possibly be a legal rather than a political question.


A budget should be entirely the prerogative of the elected chamber and elected politicians.  That was the clear result of the crisis around the People's Budget that culminated in the 1911 Parliament Act. The Commons, in which the sovereignty of the people resides, should not see its budget decisions overturned by unelected judges.


Judges are not only unelected.  They are thoroughly unrepresentative, representing a small section of British society.  They are not only unelected and unrepresentative - they wield increasing power and they cannot be removed.  Shifting power to the judiciary and the quangocracy only shifts power further away from the people


As Daniel Hannan says in his blog:

"It is worth remembering that we came through a civil war to establish the principle that revenues should be levied and disbursed by the House of Commons. If the Fawcett Society wants a different budget, its members should put themselves up for election and argue their case."

Judicial activism represents a real threat to the democratic tradition.  Change should be achieved through the ballot box, not at the whim of unelected judges or unelected quangos.

Progressive Postings - The Best Of The Blogosphere, Sunday 1st August

Today's must read blogs include:

NME's Jamie Fullerton on The Libertines:
http://www.nme.com/blog/index.php?blog=10&p=8807&title=the_libertines_still_the_greatest_rock_n&more=1&c=1

Next Left on whether any of the Labour Leadership campaigns have an 'August surprise' up their sleeve: http://www.nextleft.org/2010/07/which-campaign-has-august-surprise-up.html

Mark Wallace on the righting of a Thatcherite wrong: http://www.crashbangwallace.com/?p=149

Liberal Conspiracy report that the GMB will be campaigning against AV: http://liberalconspiracy.org/2010/08/01/gmb-union-joins-tory-right-against-av/

Charlie Crist, exiled by the far right Tea Party movement from the GOP looks well placed to win in November as an independent: http://www.gainesville.com/article/20100731/ARTICLES/7311009/1002

Sahil Kapur at Comment Is Free  on how the USA learned to love healthcare reform: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/aug/01/healthcare-reform

The Cycle Hire Scheme - A Capital Idea That Should Be Replicated Nationwide

Bikes have sprung up all over London.  At the corner of most streets a bike hire area has been established.  People can pay a couple of quid, hire a bike for a short time and then drop off the bike at any other rental station.



This is, beyond any shadow of a doubt, a great idea.

It is good for public health, good for the environment and good for community spirits.  It is even sponsored by a bank, so they can give a little back for the hell they have put us all through over the past few years.

I don't see any reason why this kind of scheme shouldn't be introduced in other cities around the UK.  It would be great to pick up a hire bike and ride down the quayside, or through the Durham or Tyne Valley countryside on a good, sunny day.


Hopefully other local authorities will be looking to follow Boris' lead.