The still ongoing Raoul Moat story moved into new territory over the past day after the topic of the “Raoul Moat RIP You Legend” Facebook group was brought up at Prime Ministers Questions. This lead to a condemnation of any sympathy for Moat – which I felt was a tad unstatesman like in that it lacked any reference to the proper legal system of justice which is meant to be the desired outcome or Moat’s clear mental illness – but lead to the bizarre situation of the Government asking Facebook to remove the page.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerburg had talked with the PM in a slightly awkward video conference earlier in the week and no doubt the government wanted to be seen exercising some soft power. The Internet however isn’t for censorship by force or friendliness. Facebook said no.

Yesterday I blogged my opposition to the idea of a graduate tax. At the time it was only being rumoured. Today however it has been declared an “option” by Vince Cable; an “option” with so much detail thought out that it’s almost definately his favoured option and will no doubt be brought in.

The LibDems sought to cement their support among the young and foolish by opposing student fees back under Blair’s reign of madness. That policy is now neither feasable or believable. With the Labour leadership contenders backing a Graduate Tax, supported by the NUS, it was almost inevitable the LibDems would move that way. They’re mad.

As I blogged yesterday, the only option is for students to pay their own fees with assisted places, scholarships, bursaries and loans.

The Graduate Tax is the worst option I can think of, particularly as Cable plans higher rates for higher earners “such as surgeons”!

Under the Graduate Tax, work hard, study hard, and study a challenging subject such as medicine – and you’ll pay. Don’t study hard, don’t work hard, and do an easy subject, and you’ll pay less. Emigrate and you’ll pay nothing!

Brain drain here we come!

The Treasury is considering introducing a “Graduate Tax” to fund University degrees…

They had better not backdate it!

I have long believed in an assisted-private system for Higher Education, in which students pay the full cost of their degree direct to the university via a loan scheme. The money saved by the taxpayer could then fund scholarships and bursaries for those from disadvantaged backgrounds, and sponsorship scholarships for those studying the most socially useful subjects – medicine, nursing, etc – in return for entering the NHS on an agreed contract upon graduation. In short we’d be channelling taxpayers cash to those most needing it and those who’ll repay in non-financial ways.

The current system of £3000 fees per year was an improvement – I supported it even though I was the first year group to pay – but it’s far from perfect. Degrees are different, some cost more to teach than others but the fees are the same. The result is that the focus has shifted to degrees viable financially at this figure and away from schemes that cost more. So there’s a surplus of places for some subjects yet the most intense competition is for medicine! A friend of my sister failed to get a place for medicine despite AAA grades! But don’t we want more doctors?

The idea of a Graduate Tax however is very wrong, indeed it would have put me and will put many others off of attending university. It will also encourage a “brain drain” of talented, high paid graduates moving abroad to avoid it. Graduates should pay for their degrees, they’re the ones who benefit financially, but they should pay for their degree – not other peoples!

The Raoul Moat saga has gone on now seemingly for ages. The abysmal Police investigation and ineffective manhunt – which I blogged about on ConservativeHome – has now been joined by ever more serious questions over Raoul Moat’s death, and a bizarre polarisation of public mood.

In one corner is a wave of sympathy for Moat from very odd quarters. You’d expect grief from family and friends, and sympathy even from those who feel he was mentally ill and failed, but the 17,000+ people who’ve joined the “RIP Raoul Moat You Legend” Facebook group are neither. Instead they post anti-Police messages and call him a “legend”. He was no such thing!

In the other corner are those who are “glad he is dead” and largely blinkered to Police failings in the case, even the missed leads that risked losing Moat. On the Sky News Paper Review last night one guest, who’s name I forget, even advocated a “shoot on site” policy on the basis that’s what the US does (it isn’t – you have to give people chance to surrender or no one ever will).

Both groups are wrong.

It seems the ONLY two voices of reason are those closest to the case and with most to be angry about. Shot PC David Rathband who “bears no malice”, and Kelly Stobbart – sister to Sam, Moat’s former partner – who stated “I wish Raoul Moat was alive…I wanted to see him get sent to prison”.

Kelly Stobbart is right.

Whatever Raoul Moat did, however awful, we have a justice system for a reason. Often sentences are too soft, often there are errors, but our ancient system of innocence until proven guilty and trial by jury is what sets us apart from tyranny. Justice is delivered by the courts, not by the gun.

As Kelly Stobbart states, the Police had numerous opportunities to capture Moat and – in the final stand off – failed in their duty to deliver Moat to legal justice. The use of Tasers, sneaking up on Moat, and not using family members in negotiations, all contributed.

MJ Robbins has an excellent post – Seven Questions the Media must Answer

French President Nicholas Sarkozy is accused of taking illegal campaign donations from France’s richest woman, l’Oreal heiress Lillian Bettencourt.

I guess it’s because he thinks he’s worth it.

Britain’s gone meerkat crazy since Aleksandr Orlov – Founder of Compare the Meerkat – burst onto our screens in the best advert of the century so far (and perhaps ever). Now it seems meerkat-mania has hit the election.

Not sure who to vote for though? It’s simples!

Steve Rowlands, who runs Tropical Inc in Oldbury, West Midlands, has come up with an unusual way to teach children about the General Election – by recreating the election debates with live meerkats. Steve created handmade tiny versions of the TV sets to take into schools to help explain to youngsters about the battle to become PM.

Curious meerkats are pictured beside a plastic post box as part of a photocall at London Zoo to simulate the animals casting postal votes.

Elvis has endorsed Labour, ConservativeHome reports.

Desperate times call for desperate measures, they say. And the Labour campaign took a surreal turn this morning. The great relaunch of Labour’s campaign took place this morning at an event in Corby – where Louise Bagshawe is poised to oust Labour MP Phil Hope – and involved Brown making a series of outrageous claims about how a Conservative government would reduce the NHS to a ’sub-standard’ service.

His scare-mongering claims were all the more spurious given that the Conservatives have of course promised to increase spending on the NHS in real terms – a commitment which not even Labour will match.

And then came the weird bit. Onto the stage then came Labour’s latest secret weapon: an Elvis impersonator. It really was quite bizarre.

I have not been able to verify reports that Labour is now considering using the 1958 Elvis B-side I Got Stung as its new campaign song, or indeed that Brown will adopt the King’s little-known 1971 single I’m Leavin’ as his personal theme at remaining campaign events…

Click here to watch the video of the bizarre spectacle

Gordon Brown urged the voters “Don’t Leave Me Now” and to re-elect him “Big Boss Man” whilst accepting his poll ratings were “Way Down” on the last election. The Labour Prime Minister launched fighting back by accusing David Cameron of being “The Devil In Disguise” and “Nothing But A Hound Dog” with plans to cut “Too Much” before boarding his “Long Black Limosine” en route to his “Mystery Train”. Elsewhere Home Secretary and former postman Alan Johnson complained at the amount of leaflets being marked “Return to Sender”, stating “Doing The Best I Can”.

Meanwhile Conservative Shadow Business Secretary Ken Clarke was warning a Lib-Lab coalition in a hung parliament would be “Double Trouble”, urging voters in a street market to try on his “Blue Suede Shoes”. Meanwhile David Cameron admited that the polls remained “All Shook Up” but that voting Conservative was the only way to change the government. “It’s Now Or Never,” he told crowds In The Ghetto he was visiting, “We Can’t Go On Like This With Suspicious Minds”.

Bouyed by the polls, Nick Clegg urged voters “Please Don’t Stop Loving Me” as a new survey by YoGov revealed 55% of voters “Can’t Help Falling In Love” with the Lib Dem leader but don’t see him as a suitable PM. It’s far from “Burning Love”, polling experts told reporters. Critics accused the Lib Dems of planning a “Jailhouse Rock” by being soft on crime.

Click here if you don’t get it.

Just in is this photograph of a clever and novel grass roots vote of support for Helen Grant – Conservative candidate for Maidstone and the Weald – by John from Staplehurst, which took the form of this carefully mowed message designed to seek some “aerial” votes from people in aeroplanes, helicopters, microlights, hang-gliders, and hot air balloons. If you have a photo or story, get in touch by email.

Just for “a bit of light relief” during the election campaign Helen will be running in the London Marathon next Sunday as patron of the Maidstone Branch of national charity Tomorrow’s People. You can sponsor Helen’s Marathon for Maidstone by clicking here. Or, alternatively please send a cheque payable to Tomorrow’s People to my home address at Albion House Cottage, Albion Road, Maidstone, Kent, TN12 9EA.

Tomorrow’s People’s mission is to break the cycle of unemployment and dependency by helping the most disadvantaged to get, and keep, a job. Nationally the organisation has assisted over 400,000 long-term unemployed people since 1984.

Normal service has at last returned after we were so rudely interupted by what appears to have been an attack on this blog. Shortly after my posts The Lib Dem VAT Bomb to launch Blitz on the housing market and Lib Dems caught dropping litter across Britain on Sunday the site mysteriously went down. Visitors were unable to view the site, my admin dashboard was missing and FTP was inaccessable. It turns out someone had in effect switched my entire server to “off”, knocking out not only this site but my other site MYBILLBOARD.NET and my developmental projects.

Did leftists hack my blog?