Principled politics

Do you support:
Scrapping the Trident nuclear weapon
Taxing the rich
A windfall tax on excessive profits
Ending the war
Scrapping ID cards
Taxing vacant property
Using quality typefaces in manifestos
Swapping subsidies for shareholdings to make sure the taxpayer benefits from the recovery
Renationalising essential services
Green tech
Further devolution
35-hour working week
Higher minimum wage
Free higher education?

Then you're a Communist, judging by their election manifesto. Shame they want to withdraw from Europe.

Work and play and work and play and work and play

Well, it's been a busy few days - and it's going to be busier this week because I'm off to Poland with the England Youth Fencing Team for Challenge Wratislavia 2009 - a coach at midnight tomorrow, check-in at 4.00 for the flight, then four days of happy children's voices ringing in my ears. Don't worry - free wi-fi at the hotel means I'll try to find time for blogging.

Last week:

Books bought: 18. 12 of those (which annoyingly aren't showing up on the Librarything feed to the left) are Neal's fault for arranging to meet me in a bookshop. Most were more Left Book Club editions (I collect them), and one was signed by William Rust, one of the most Stalinist of the British Communist Party's upper echelons. The Morning Star is still published in William Rust House.

Films acted in: 2

Parties attended: 3

Fencing sessions attended: 2

Dark corners hung around in at parties: 3

Games of table football lost to Deep Space Nine-quoting female student: 1

Lectures and seminars delivered with panache: some

Self-inflicted nose-bleeds at parties: 1

Octopus eaten: 1 (not on my own).

Shirts etc. ironed: 14

Stoke City and Ireland victories: 2

Sophisticated Radio 4-loving single women impressed by any of the above: 0