The Labour MP initially defended her comment stating that her tweet was taken out of context and referred to “the nature of 19^th century European colonialism. Bit much to get into 140 characters” (to which the question begs: ‘Why try then?’ Swiftly followed by the answer: because I’m Diane Abbott).

However after a ‘stern dressing down’ from Ed Miliband (as one tweeter put it: about as scary as a stern dressing gown from the Labour leader) Abbott backed into the wet, shallow ground occupied by many a red-faced politician, as she resorted to the weasly line: ‘I apologise if any offence was caused’.

Personally, I would have been happier for the condemned to take to Sky News and recite David Cameron’s one sentence commandment for all forms of social media: “too many tweets makes a twat”, swiftly followed by a bow and an immediate return to her day job of flicking globules of paper at Michael Portillo.

Yes, today’s furore was another dog-with-a-bone moment for the Twitterati, most of whom probably missed the juicy argument lurking right beside them.

Diane Abbot made her tweet while sat firmly on the wrong side of an argument with freelance journalist Bim Adewunmi about the use of term ‘black community’. Writing in the Guardian after the debacle Adewunmi sets out her assertion.

“a) Something deemed to be a “black issue” is on the news agenda; b) Without fail, “community leaders” and the now standard “ex-gang member” are wheeled out to be interviewed…I hardly ever recognise any of the so-called “community leaders” on these programmes – I doubt many ordinary black people, i.e. those they purport to represent, ever do.”

By not viewing ‘the black community’ as one homogeneous population Diane Abbot somehow concluded that Adewunmi was “playing into a divide and rule agenda”; a risible and idiotic suggestion if ever there was one.

Even without the ugly colonialist echoes, it’s not hard to find fault with the entire premise of Abbott’s argument. Ethnic communities yes, local communities yes, national communities yes; you can even have music communities – but monolithic communities ordered solely by colour of skin? I think, nay hope not.

Abbott’s argument hinges on a binary, separatist mentality between colours. The events of this week have proved our society is fighting hard to move away from this ugly order.

The truth behind Quakle’s collapse

The role of troubled payday loan borrowers is particularly interesting.

Attacks were levelled at the frequent connecting shots of the presenter strolling around California, apparently ‘showcasing her designer wardrobe’. Posters criticised Miss Maitlis’ ‘swaggering style’ and her ‘fawning’ manner with Zuckerberg. According to the Mail, one person said that they thought the documentary “was more about Emily Maitlis wandering about looking hot and occasionally stopping to chat to folk”.

Now, I watched that program. And while Maitis’ costume changes were somewhat noticeable (especially that rather odd jumper) they were far superseded by the in-depth, interesting interviews and snapshots from inside the Facebook machine. This was thorough, interrogative journalism at its best. Anyone who watched the site’s PR man sit in stoney silence at the suggestion that users who ‘liked’ certain products on Facebook did not want to advertise it should realise that.

As for the Mail’s suggestion that several viewers were somewhat distracted by the shots of Maitlis “striding the sunny streets of California”. Well – at the risk of sounding like an utter snob – if that’s what it takes for your attention to be diverted from a documentary you have actively chosen to watch, you probably shouldn’t be watching it. After all, if you were really looking to fill your Sunday night with jean-clad arse waggling and ridiculous costumes, Beyonce was over on ITV  excelling on both fronts.

No, this storm in a tea cup comes from the same cloud as the #womenontheleft saga that kicked off at the Leveson Inquiry, Fiona Bruce’s Da Vinci doco controversy and the entire tabloid turd that was the press coverage of the Amanda Knox case. Yes, it seems that across media law, documentary journalism, and Italian murder cases – female physical attractiveness is just too out-of-place for many to comprehend (although I’ve never really got the attraction of ‘Foxy Knoxy’ myself’).

This is a logic akin to Harry Enfield’s Mr Chumley Warner sketch: “the lady has foolishly attempted to join the conversation with a wild and dangerous opinion of her own. Women know your limits” the narrator snuffs after a comment about the gold standard from a female member of the party.

This shallow, Nuts magazine-esque reaction that says attractive woman cannot ‘do serious stuff’ on TV is an utterly repulsive attitude to hold in modern society. Especially in a country where Noel Edmonds, Adrian Chiles and James May’s shirt collection all appear on-screen every week completely unchallenged.

Here are a couple of videos reports I put together featuring FairfuelUK’s Peter Carroll:

Cost of motoring soars to £130 a week

Robert Powell finds out what is driving up the cost of owning and running a car…

Petrol prices fall at supermarkets

Robert Powell reports on the recent supermarket petrol price war and finds out if these dips in costs could be the start of a general fall in fuel prices…

And an article on why petrol prices keep rising despite falling fuel costs.

I will be covering this topic in more detail next week when I look at three reasons why petrol prices will keep increasing, despite the tax cut.

This video will also be logged in the other video section of this site.

Here are full links:

Occupy LSX St Paul’s anti-capitalist protest camp

Here is an interview (4’20″) with a protestor at the Finsbury Square camp focussed on what would happen if the police attempted to evict the camp, allegations of empty tents overnight and what the camps aims actually are.

Finsbury Square protestor interview.

Here is a live recording (2’03″) of Georgina and I discussing the public perception of the camp on OnFM on Thursday 3rd November.

The public perception of the camps – discussion.

Julian Assange

A live chat (2’28″) between Georgina and I on the public image of Julian Assange in light of his recent extradition hearing. This recording includes a clip of Julian Assange recorded at a recent Stop the War rally.

Julian Assange – live discussion.

I speak to James Browne from The Institiute for Fiscal Studies and ask why VAT is now hitting the poor hardest and get some tips on dealing with debt from CCCS‘s Matt Hartley.

This video will also be logged in the lovemoney.com video section of this site.

In my article on proposed changes to council tax I noted that despite councils being forced to offer up to a 50% tax discount to second home owners, most only go for the minimum exemption of 10%. However one group of people who almost always get the full 50% exemption are those who buy second homes in order to be near their place of work.

One profession common to this group of second home owners: MPs. Not that they need worry, as council tax on second homes can be claimed back as an expense on the tax-payer anyway.

But if all council tax discounts for second homes are axed – including those for workplace homes – council tax for MP’s second homes will rise and in turn the tax-payer funded tab for expenses will inflate.

Are there any MPs still so red-faced from the expenses scandal that they will bring this up?

In my humble opinion, it’s quite an interesting and different angle on a story covered widely today in a rather predictable way.

The Guardian took the Wealthy to lose tax breaks line writing that ‘almost a quarter of a million second home owners could be hit with hundreds of pounds extra on their bills’. However with most second home owners only currently receiving a 10% discount, this really isn’t the case. Most will only have an uplift of one tenth, or – as I note in the article – an extra tenner a month on average.

The Telegraph were rightly more realistic and cynical about the changes; writing that owning a second home doesn’t make you evil. However this is exactly the message David Cameron and Eric Pickles want to convey. Not because they believe it, but because it’s good PR for the Tory party.

I wasn’t able to include a response from the National Landlords Association in the article. But here is one from policy manager at the NLA, Chris Norris:

“We will be monitoring the proposals very closely but are yet to see the detail of the consultation.

“With respect of discounts for empty properties, the NLA hopes that the Government takes a sensible approach to removing local authorities’ discretion to apply reliefs.  Unlike the owners of second, or holiday, homes landlords do not deliberately leave property empty. 

“Most landlords can only cover their costs by ensuring that properties are tenanted for as much time as possible. However, there are inevitably short periods between tenancies or when renovation work is being carried out.

“Relief from Council Tax during these periods helps landlords finance refurbishment and meet the costs of marketing property. Their removal would add to the financial strain felt as landlords try to improve their properties.”