David Ottewell's Politics

A West Hallam man stole more than £10,000 from an 86-year-old woman so he could buy a new house, a court has heard.
David Ottewell, of St Wilfred’s Road, stole £6,300 from a Post Office account belonging to Emily Marsden in June 2008, Derby Crown Court was told on Thursday.
Not me, guv’. I’m not 54, I don’t live in Ilkeston, I don’t have a wife called Judy and – most importantly – I don’t steal from pensioners.
It’s still very odd reading something like this, though. I will add this guy to my list of unrelated-but-vaguely-famous-or-infamous namesakes, alongside Ben Ottewell of the band Gomez.

Sad news. Reverend John Leech Sr, father of Withington MP John Leech, died in his sleep on Sunday night.
The Rev Leech – a methodist minister for 50 years – was 74. I’m told he had not been unwell.
Before he retired in 2000, Rev Leech had been based at the Chorlton Methodist Church. More recently he had been living in Leigh.
Simon Ashley, Lib Dem group leader in Manchester and a friend of the family, said: “Rev Leech was in good health for his age, and even attended the Manchester City match on Saturday, so the family is a bit shocked about how suddenly it happened.
“One meeting with John Leech Sr left you in no doubt where John Leech junior gots his liberal values, moral compass and stubbon streak from.”

Thirty years since Margaret Thatcher became prime minister, eh? Time flies, and all that rot.
One thing you probably haven’t read about are a couple of memorable clashes the Iron Lady had with Gerald Kaufman four years earlier. At the time, Mrs Thatcher was education secretary. Mr Kaufman was Labour MP for what was then known as Manchester Ardwick.
On one occasion, Mr Kaufman asked this: “Is the right honourable lady aware that she is rapidly becoming to British education what Attila the Hun was to Western civilisation? Will she come to Manchester and explain to the parents there why she takes such satisfaction in depriving thousands of their children of nourishment?
Mrs Thatcher replied: “I will gladly come to Manchester and tell the people why I have done more to alleviate conditions in 6,000 squalid primary schools than any other minister of education.”
The same year, Mr Kaufman asked: “Why does not the right honourable lady have the courage to come to my constituency, where more than 1,000 children have stopped taking school meals since she put up the price, and explain to the parents of Ardwick why she has literally taken the food out of the mouths of their children?”
Mrs Thatcher said: “I have been to Manchester on many occasions – fortunately not in the company of the honourable gentleman…”

The question I’m being asked most about Hazel Blears’ ‘YouTube’ attack this weekend is simply this: What was she up to?
Let’s recap. Her piece had three main points.
One, that Labour needs to be pushing on with domestic reform. “The recession is not the excuse to row back on public-service reform.” She is quite right about this. Governments are like sharks – keep moving or die. This one appears in recent months to have run out of steam. It needs more big ideas. The ‘Whitehall of the North’ announcement last week was a good start.
Two, a ‘lamentable failure’ to get the message across – for which, Hazel says, ministers have a ‘collective responsibility’.
And three, a corollary: a need for a ‘masochism strategy’, in which ministers ‘engage directly and hear the anger first-hand’. “YouTube if you want to,” she said, “but it’s no substitute for knocking on doors or setting up a stall in the town centre”.
Hazel is said to be ‘horrified’ that this has been seen as an attack on Gordon Brown. But she will be well aware it could hardly be seen otherwise. Policy, communications and strategy – these are determined from the very top. And the YouTube reference is the smoking gun. Westminster was awash last week with barbed references to Mr Brown’s video. Every MP knew this – not least those in the Cabinet.
The strange thing is, when people talk about Hazel Blears, they usually use the phrase ‘ultra-loyal’. It isn’t that simple. She was certainly ultra-loyal to the Blairite cause. She has always had private reservations about Gordon Brown. More than that, her chief loyalty has always been to the Labour party – not to any particular individual. She supported Mr Blair precisely because she thought he was good for the party. Now she thinks things are drifting away, it is perfectly in character for her to speak out.
I’m told she has been becoming increasingly restive in recent weeks and months. She is the one who has been standing up at Labour meetings and calling for action. She has been the one pointing out that the party may only have 52 weeks left, and that it should be leaving its mark on the country.
Hazel knows she will never get to lead the party – her heavy defeat in the deputy leadership race made that clear. This wasn’t motivated by personal ambition, but something far more dangerous: a heartfelt feeling from a cabinet minister that things are drifting away.