Gary Monro’s blog

It is better to err in forgiving than to err in punishment.

The Prophet Muhammad

I’m fairly politically-minded and am active in my local Conservative Party. I’m hoping to stand as councillor for my local council in May 2006.

This category will be mostly devoted to expounding conservative ideology; it is my attempt to clarify (in my mind as well as in anybody else’s) the underlying philosophy of conservatism. Most people’s only memorable brush with conservatism came courtesy of Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s. Mrs T’s conservative credentials were largley economic however - and in that area she was actually as much a libertarian as anything else.

I find myself on the more ‘purist’ wing of the philosophy. I’m all for adaptation to current circumstances but that should mean simply altering our emphases at a particular time or changing our approach to better fit with prevailing circumstances or being more imaginative in our approach to tough challenges.

That should not mean jettisoning the conservative idea, the fundamental view of life that recognises the superiority of individuals, family and community over bureaucrats, officials and government. It should not mean abandoning the principles of responsibility and accountability and right and wrong.

The conservative outlook is an optimistic one, one that believes fully in the ability of people to create for themselves, their families and their communities lives wholly appropriate for their time, their circumstances, their beliefs, their aspirations and their dreams.

It is this message that I will try to develop over time. I’m sure it will be an interesting endeavour…

You’re too polite to ask so I’m volunteering some of this stuff. Better I tell you now than let the News of the World uncover it later…

Actually, I’m a study in boring but here goes:

38 years old (at the moment - I expect that’ll change though).

Married to a lovely brown-eyed lady. We married in Blackpool in November, 2003. I liked it so much I married her again in Bombay in January 2004. Marriage is something I definitely recommend. But not to my wife of course because I already beat you to it…

12 year old daughter from a previous relationship (politically correct way of saying I was an irresponsible bum and didn’t think twice - or, even, once - about what I was doing). She’s also a lovely person, very intelligent and is currently hassling me to get off the pc so she can do her homework (aka messaging her friends).

Employed as a software engineer at a scandalously low rate of pay.

I live in a galaxy far far away but reside in a two-up two-down in Ilford when visiting earth.

Hobbies include gym, yoga, blogging, erm… and blogging. Am currently searching for a life - let me know if you have a spare one.

Latest news: sat a selection interview with Ilford Conservatives Friday. I’m hoping to get on the approved list for local government councillor candidates. The interview went mildly well; I was very tired (a week of hot weather had killed my sleep) and really I have no idea what they asked me or what I told them. I hope most of it was true. If it wasn’t true I hope it was extraordinarily impressive. Iwill find out the results next week. If I pass I then have to find a ward that desperately needs a candidate (to replace one that has retired or perhaps run away to Brazil) and then be interviewed by the ward’s chairperson. I want to succeed here so my fingers are very, very crossed.

I’ve had a short and not exactly illustrious blogging career. In March this year I created my first ever blog -called ‘A Very British Insurgency’ - whose basic idea was to let rip at the various evils of Blairite rule and expose the man for the charlatan and criminal I believe he is. The blog amounted to one long, intense rant which attracted, at its height, about 80 readers a day and some kind commentary from people whose own blogging efforts were vastly superior to mine.

I was invited to contribute posts to another blog called ‘Once More’ - a rather more sophisticated ponder on the state of conservitism - the political ideology - and the Conservative Party itself. If you’re politically minded then I recommend it.

Now I have this one and have decided to lay A Very British Insurgency to rest. It was a single issue blog which was both its strength and its weakness. It was a strength because it was highly focussed and, in that its aim was to expose the inadequacies of this government, there was no shortage of material.

But it was a weakness also because posts to the blog required some research (yes, I do have a passing acquaintance with accuracy!) and because it meant that I couldn’t blog on some of the many other areas that tickle my fancy from time to time. Sometimes, it’s nice to write something lightweight, humorous or just a little unusual.

This new blog has a different remit. It’s not a single-issue site and can cover a wider variety of areas. And this means therefore that I have a variety of ways now in which to bore the life out of the unfortunates that stumble onto it…

If you’ve never seen a blog before they’re actually a very simple idea.

I - the blogger - write things and you - the blogee (I think I just invented a new word there) - read them.

Each article a blogger writes - usually called a ‘post’ - is listed above the previous one so the newest posts are at the top of the screen.

Actually, it’s counter-intuitive that new writings are at the top because when you write a document or a story or a poem or a diary the newest stuff goes to the bottom but there is sense to doing it the other way round if you consider this: a person who logs into a blog every day will see the latest offerings immediately at the top of his or her screen rather than having to scroll down to find them.

So a blog looks a bit like a diary but with the latest postings at the top, the older ones stacked underneath.

Everything I post goes onto the main front page in the order I write them but note that each post also has a category title. If you like particular types of post - say, ‘politics’ or articles about blogging or something a little lighter like my television reviews - then you can click on the appropriate ‘category’ on the right-hand side and see all previous posts for that category.

You can also add your own comments to what I’ve written. Just click on the ‘comments’ link at the bottom of each post, fill in your name or nick-name, an email address and, if you have one, the url to your own site (optional) and off you go. A warning: Comments that contain expletives, gratuitous insults or are just plain hateful (as opposed to critical - that’s allowed) will be removed. Let’s disagree by all means but let’s remain civilised with it.

But don’t get all hung up about the detail. Just dive in and read. What’s the worst that can happen?

Only terminal boredom….