Talk:David Blunkett

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This is verbatim from another website, but it has to go in here!

Lucy's greatest claim to fame was that she vomited in the House of Commons just after Blunkett's former opposite number, David Willetts, the shadow education secretary, started to attack the government's education policy. As another MP quipped later, "I often feel a sense of nausea when Willetts speaks."

I think Lucy has been retired bow. Mintguy

You're right - Lucy retired in January and was replaced by Sadie --rbrwr

Contents 1 nothing about his affair? 2 Well done Wikipedia! 3 The end of the affair? 4 Big Blunkett 5 Early Life 6 disability living allowence 7 Prescott reaction 8 Bavid blunket the musical 9 MP 10 Anyone confirm this recent addition? 11 Further Political Trouble 12 Early career 13 The mysterious MJ 14 Blunkett and Rebekah Wade 15 Blindness in intro?

[edit] nothing about his affair?

I really don't have time at the moment. [1] --[[User:Bodnotbod|bodnotbod » .....TALKQuietly)]] 00:01, Sep 1, 2004 (UTC)

Since Blunkett is divorced I don't think it is fair to describe it as "his affair". Gdr 11:55, 2004 Nov 22 (UTC)

Well, she's married, so let's talk about her "affair."

Hmm:

affair (n.), a usually secretive or illicit sexual relationship

Sounds like these two both fall under that

James F. (talk) 16:09, 12 Dec 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Well done Wikipedia!

The history indicates that the article was updated with news of the resignation at 6.06pm GMT. I make that minutes or even seconds after the news broke. You won't find many encyclopaedias that up-to-date. Merry Christmas Dave and Tone!

You misunderstand the causal relationship, Dave and Tone. Blunkett resigned because wikipedia wrote it. Fear us! - John Fader 00:29, 16 Dec 2004 (UTC)

If only. I wonder if the phrase "conniving little shit" is reserved for Rupert Allason. :) I think the message must be to vote Tory. At least they're honest about their sex scandals (in the end). jguk 00:49, 16 Dec 2004 (UTC)

"In the end" is certainly one way of putting it!

You could try asserting it publically, get him to sue you and see if you win the libel case. Not that I'm suggesting that's a good idea. Mr. Jones 13:42, 21 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Really? Maybe somebody should claim that Bush resigns as the President at George W. Bush? __earth 06:49, Dec 17, 2004 (UTC)

Legal action against an individual can hardly be a private issue for the Home Secretary so I've added a reference to it to the 'Fall from power' section. Anecdota

[edit] The end of the affair?

The Blunkett article says the affair ended in "august 2004", but my reading of various news stories seems to suggest earlier (and that mediation regarding the children has been ongoing for some months). Does someone have a citation for the time of the affair ending (I'm reworking Kimberly Fortier now)? - John Fader 00:29, 16 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Umm. I corrected it to August; I've picked it up from television and radio news reports, primarily Andrew Marr and other BBC-ites. Don't have a reference beyond that, sorry.

James F. (talk) 01:03, 16 Dec 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Big Blunkett

It says Blunkett earned the nickname 'Big Blunkett'. Really? Yes, on one weblog, but not further afield, and if this was rewritten to say "These measures earned him the nickname Big Blunkett on a website which criticised his approach as authoritarian [link] etc" it would not be worth putting in a NPOV encyclopedia.

[edit] Early Life

My recollection is that he was told to consider being a piano tuner ( the lathe operator job sounds rather unlikely to me!)

[edit] disability living allowence

Removed fro article: Blunkett did, however, continue to claim disability living allowances totalling nearly £26,000, despite the fact that he was already pocketting £125,000 per year in salary and a chauffeur driven parliamentary limousine. Can we have a source for that, please? And even if we get one, the paragraph needs to be NPOV. Iain 11:24, 22 Dec 2004 (UTC)

... and it wouldn't be a "Parliamentary limo", anyway, whatever that's meant to mean, but a Ministerial car.

James F. (talk) 01:52, 24 Dec 2004 (UTC)

... and someone is perfectly entitled to claim DLA regardless of whether they have a nice job and a company car. DWP specifically says "You can get DLA even if no one is actually giving you the care you need. ... DLA is not usually affected by other money you have coming in." -- John Fader 02:12, 24 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Hmm. FWICR, his driver used to be a lovely old lady called Anne (?), but there was some concern over her age, as if, being 65 or whatever, she might randomly nod off and kill the SoS; ISTR that he over-ruled the objection, keeping her on, though I imagine that she must have retired by now...

James F. (talk) 05:29, 24 Dec 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Prescott reaction

This contribution by User:Goatan seems to me to be a disproportionate amount of space to spend on Prescott's reaction. Goatan's only other contribution was a similarly large addition to Falklands War which turned out to be copied straight out of The Observer. It makes me wonder about the provenance of the Prescott stuff. Hmmm. --rbrwr^± 22:41, 23 Dec 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Bavid blunket the musical

I know its only just come out, but shouldn't there be a mention of it?

Wow, I thought you were kidding, but you aren't! According to that article, there's only been a single performance, so really it falls below the threshhold where I (personally) would consider it notable (others may, indeed will, differ). I'd put it in if they do go to the Edinburgh Festival, or otherwise tour it. -- John Fader (talk | contribs) 17:30, 15 Apr 2005 (UTC)

[edit] MP

Is it worth mentioning in the introduction that David Blunkett is a member of parliament, for sheffield brightside? Ojw 10:26, 24 September 2005 (UTC)

Yes it is—so I did it. JeremyA (talk) 19:19, 24 September 2005 (UTC)

I also added the date of his election as MP in the title, if anyone has views, please post. --Tfoxton 22:51, 31 October 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Anyone confirm this recent addition?

"However, despite his views on specialist schools when he was Minister for Education that he later attended the Royal National College for the Blind in Hereford. which has never been openly publicised."

• Added by anon user. I can't confirm it with my patented British news search, nor by a visit to the College website. Since it wasn;t openly publicised perhaps we need someone with a (shudder) book about him. --bodnotbod 16:59, 14 October 2005 (UTC)

This quote made on Blunkett is quite true. The blind community is quite aware of this fact - RNC has tried to pulicise this fact, but David has refused due to his views.

This is presented in a semi-partisan way, with not enough context. What age was he at the time, for example? Morwen - Talk 12:03, 2 November 2005 (UTC)

Ok, I've checked this and it is mentioned on his official biography on number 10's website, although they seem to have a typo (Normal for National). I think this counts as "openly publicised". What it doesn't count as is shouting from the rooftops. Morwen - Talk 13:13, 2 November 2005 (UTC)

Right, just to clarify this... Blunkett did indeed attend RNC. He did not attned New College Worcester. He didn't like the school - they didn't like him. It was too snobbish for him, to high in standards. He also felt that he would be better serving at home with his mother after his father's death (Blunkett's father fell into a vat of some boiling hot substance or other). Later when Educaiton Minister, Blunkett denounced specialist schools - depsite the recent U-turn in this view by the Government. RNC asked if they could publishise that one of the pupils had been a Cabinet Minister, but Blunkett denied them that. (Submitted by a UK visually impaired student, 11:53, 18/11/05)

[edit] Further Political Trouble

Added the latest information on Mr B's current scandal, sorry it took so many edits, I've got to start using the Preview feature.

Do you think that it'd be worth citing source on this resignation, or should it be left until the articles have more to go on? Here's a source, probably not the best "Blunkett resigns from the Cabinet"

Think its best to wait until we know what exactly has happened to him. --TFoxton 10:31, 2 November 2005 (UTC)

Right. Thanks. Let's keep watching!

The Beeb seem quite convincing on the matter. GraemeLeggett 11:07, 2 November 2005 (UTC)

BBC News, ITN News, Sky News, The Guardian and Channel 4 News are all leading with it, and it appears that Number 10 has released a statement saying that they "reluctantly accepted" his resignation - seems very safe to go with it. --Sanguinus 11:17, 2 November 2005 (UTC)

This is an interesting analysis article and might provide some (inspiration for) additional material for the article. Rd232 ^talk 16:45, 2 November 2005 (UTC)

Does anyone feel the Max Clifford bit is unneccesary? --TFoxton 20:27, 2 November 2005 (UTC)

Worth keeping, as it says something about his personality and preoccupations. Clifford had no direct role in the specific reasons for Blunkett's second resignation, only his earlier embarrassments.

Philip Cross 20:49, 2 November 2005 (UTC)

My mistake! Clifford passed Sally Anderson's knowledge about Blunkett's business interests on to The Times. Quick assumption about Clifford only being interested about what was behind the bedroom door, perhaps. Philip Cross 19:34, 4 November 2005 (UTC)

Just a quick note. DNA Bioscience don't make ID Cards (http://www.dna-bioscience.co.uk), and its cancelled, not canceled. D Blunkett also held the shares in DNA Bio since last year, and had them before he became director.

[edit] Early career

Didn't he used to be a teacher? Morwen - Talk 13:00, 2 November 2005 (UTC)

[edit] The mysterious MJ

When mentioning Blunkett - The Musical, the music is said to be written by "MJ". Who is this mysterious MJ? The link is a disambiguation page that surely does not tell us. -- 2005-11-02

Corrected that fault, though the Yorkshire Post story does not give her full name, which I first found via Google and an otherwise dubious source. Incidentally, the Edinburgh festival performance and the London transfer mentioned by the YP were cancelled. I should probably add that Paranzino's site directed me to the YP story.

Philip Cross 14:49, 2 November 2005 (UTC)

Regarding the info on David Blunkett the Musical, MJ Paranzino, Ginny Dougary, and so on.

The musical didn't tour the UK, it showcased once, in April 2005, at the Soho Theatre, garnering a positive review. This is an excerpt from an article by Suzanne Moore, published in The New Statesman, April 25, 2005 review New Statesman:

"I went to see the run-through of David Blunkett: the musical/the other night, which superbly takes the piss out of the Sextator goings-on and has great tunes as well. It was brilliant to see Boris Johnson (played by Robert Bathurst) rapping and Petronella Wyatt (Zigi Ellison) as his "ho". But it reminds you that, as lovely as he is, you don't actually want people like that running the country."

Notrob 16:29, 10 December 2005 (UTC)

The reference to "the book" in musicians is to the spoken portion between the songs, as you must know. I did not mean to imply that Dougary had written a Christopher Meyer style expose. Philip Cross 13:49, 11 November 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Blunkett and Rebekah Wade

Removed comment relating to Blunkett being with Kemp and Wade just ahead of her troubles with Inspector Knacker, as it is not of permanent relevance in Blunkett's biography. It is significant for hers, given the public order ramifications of the NoWs paedophile campaign, and New Labour's reported fear of Murdoch, but would need too much explanation here and violate the NPOV rule. The connection is made in the article on Wade, and WP has a rule against duplicating content. Philip Cross 00:37, 4 November 2005 (UTC)

It's more of a guideline. I'm not sure it's even that. But keeping it here is enough for now should a mention going in be considered sufficiently relevant in future - David Gerard 11:32, 7 November 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Blindness in intro?

I'm surprised there's no mention of Blunkett's blindness in the intro. I don't think it's much of an exaggeration to say that his successful overcoming of his disabilities to achieve such a high office and power is respected and admired by those on all sides. How to phrase that suitably? - David Gerard 11:32, 7 November 2005 (UTC)