I've been completing my latest book which has meant a lot of research on one of the appendices. This week I'll be working on the index - much more straightforward.

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With the government looking seriously at proportional representation, I wondered briefly if my expectation (or desire) for a coaltition might come to pass. Gordon Brown would slip in a referendum about PR before Parliament is dissolved. He goes to the country with the message that he (and Alistair Darling) saved the country from a financial melt down. Naturally, the Labour Party don't come anywhere near an overall majority but they manage to convince the Liberal Democrats or the SNP that the Conservatives are ready to withdraw from the EU and scrap the NHS and, hey presto, we've a coalition government.

The only flaw with this scenario (in terms of likelihood) is that the media doesn't believe that there would be enough time to bat around the ideas about PR systems before the general election HAS to be called.

Actually, a coalition that leaves out Labour or the Conservatives is highly undesirable. It needs to be Labour AND the Conservatives to have enough nerve (and moral authority) to restore the country's finances.

Even allowing for the media's appetite for novelty, it's surprising how quickly the news has moved away from the reform of the MPs expenses and how quickly the parties can try to return to the normal business of throwing misleading slogans (about government cuts).

Another idea that seems, as a deliberate attempt to distract everyone, to have been thrown up for the media and the public to chase after is MP recall. It seems like a device that's designed to thwart the electorate. How would it work? If you happened to vote for the sitting MP and support his/her party, a recall would mean that either your preferred party is bound to lose (because its candidate is soiled goods) or the party of the sitting MP would sack him or her and put up another candidate - which doesn't seem very just. And what would happen if a PR system was in place; would all the MPs who had been elected in that constituency's previous election have to stand again?

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I took the time to read President Obama's Cairo speech and was duly impressed. Of course, it doesn't, of itself, change anything, although it was neat to have it on the same day as an election in Lebanon. Just how little difference it made has been demonstrated by President Ahmedinajed's post election clamp down. Although, it could be argued that progressive's in Iran were bolstered by President Obama's calls for a thaw in relations and that this made it more likely that Iranian conservatives would need to 'affect' the results of their own election.

The situation is highly problematic. Ahmadinajed (without the legitimacy of a properly conducted election to validate his position) will probably become more aggressive and keener to have nuclear weapons up and running. America and others condemning abuse of power in Iran will simply be confirming Ahmadinajed in all of his prejudices.

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Since last posting, we've had one visit to a garden (lake and rhodedendrons) and I've had one good walk. This started on a new path (to me) on the outskirts of Chiddingfold. The middle section was in Tugley Wood and Pear Tree Piece and the last section in Prestwick Copse and along Vann Lane. There's a large chunk of to the west of the A283 and down to the county boundary with hardly any rights of way so, what with the main road, walks to the south of Chiddingfold can't be made to join up with ones to west of the village.