New Labour hypocrisy

Haha. That’s what I have to say to New Labour. Haha. I mean talk about revealing yourselves at every turn. This time it’s Ruth Kelly who seems to delight in decrying the not in my backyarders but then turns out to be one herself:

Ruth Kelly faced fresh embarrassment as she was branded a hypocrite for denouncing Nimbyism while opposing a series of housing developments in her constituency.
Local planners said Ms Kelly, the new Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, was a regular campaigner against new housing in her Bolton West constituency, despite saying she wanted to "root out" the not-in-my-backyard attitude of householders.

I’ve never been happy about the term NIMBYISM when it’s been thrown about by elected politicians. I mean, they are the worst offenders, what with all that ”working for the best interests of my constituents” and the ”listening to the demands of my local community” seemingly without a care in the world for the people in the next constituency.

When New Labour lose a seat they say ”oh well, it was about local issues, we must do better” and in the next breath it’s all ”oh local issues, don’t be such a NIMBY”. What are they like eh?

There's an idea. The Little Red Book of New Labour Hypocrisy. Try and keep it under 600 pages.

England sinking? The Politics show to record meeting.

Updated ... see end of post.

From the CEP, which I received via mail last night, and also from the EDP

A public meeting is being held in the Rugby Club in Penrith, Cumberland, at 7.30 pm on Thursday 11th May 2006.

Christine Constable, our Vice Chairman, will be there representing the English Democrats.

Scilla Cullen, Secretary to the CEP, will also be there with a speech entitled

An English Parliament? - Objections and Solutions.

All welcome

For further information please contact Steve Gash at spg.cep [AT] btinternet.com

or Geoffrey Graham - gwgraham [AT] supanet.com

It's too late and too far away from me but this thing will be recorded by the BBC possibly for The Politics Show so the bigger the turnout the better. If you can make it at such short notice it would help.

Have your say over at the BBC.

Kelly and equality

No. 10 backs Kelly on equalities. Oh, oh....she's finished.

Flaccid Prescott

Well, it looks like John Prescott's roll has been regionalised. He's managed to keep just the Deputy PM roll which basically means that he's the bouncer standing between Blair and Brown. They should both hit him and get on with the main bout.

No, he's a baby elephant

Let’s get this straight right from the start. Charles Clarke is not a proud man. A proud man does not attempt to impose ID cards on the general public. A proud man does not allow the release of dangerous criminals to impose their lawlessness without considering them for deportation. A proud man does not allow the police force to have the power of summary judgement. None of these are the actions of the proud. They are the actions of the arrogant.

A proud man would have resigned. Being pushed and then refusing kindness (a new ministerial position should not have been offered) is more akin to tantrum than it is to anything else.

By 1 vote

Sublime:

A former mayor of St Albans lost his council seat after an election tie was settled by getting the candidates to pick the longest pencil.

St Albans Tory councillor Keith Stammers lost out to Lib Dem Judith Shardlow after their votes were tied at 1131 each after three recounts.

What a difference a single vote can make eh?

Local election turnout

A quick word with some guy sitting outside of the polling station here returned a turn out so far of about 30%. They're hoping the after work voter rush will improve things.

Sun is shining, beer is calling.

The conservative message is not getting through

So, there I was this morning, sitting at the bottom of the stairs putting my shoes on when my good Lady suggested that I take my poling card with me to work so that I might vote on the way home. Good idea, so while we both hunted around for the cards we chatted about the moment of utter pointlessness that lay ahead.

”So who are you going to vote for?” she requested.

”Oh, for the first time I’m not 100% sure. It depends on who is standing really. If UKIP are there I’ll probably go for them, perhaps the EDP if someone is standing for them. I might even spoil my ballot with Guido had the right idea, What’s the fucking point or English Parliament! or some such. How about you?”

”Well, you know so much more than me about these things. I’ll probably just vote conservatory.”

How we laughed.

”You won’t put this up on your web site will you?”, she said.

Local thinking

Government minister David Miliband wants the electorate to ignore what's going on at Westminster and think local when it comes to voting in the council elections. I like to be helpful. Here are some local thoughts for you to think:

"Are any of the released murderers, rapists or child abusers in my local community?"

"I hope Prescott doesn't come round here to try and shag me."

A very British politician

I am not one for enjoying other people’s suffering, it’s not part of my character. However, I am one for enjoying the demise of the powerful, particularly when they themselves don’t seem to regard the feelings of others as particularly important. Obviously these two character traits sometimes come into conflict with each other and eventually one wins.

So, onto John Prescott then. You remember him, he’s the politician who thumps egg throwers in self defence. He’s the politician who sticks two fingers up at the press and does so on camera while walking into number 10. He’s the politician who baits and goads demonstrators while on Labour Party business. He’s the politician who asks the people if they want the regionalisation of their country and then ignores the answer because he thinks it’s the wrong one. He’s the politician who responds to criticism about that point by saying that he asked the people if they wanted elected regional assemblies and because they said no they will get un-elected ones. He’s the politician who wants to tax your garden patio.

And now it turns out that he’s the politician who has used arguments about moral values and sleaze as part of his platform but doesn’t himself believe in those arguments or values. Certainly not enough to prevent him becoming what he was apparently once morally against.

This is a British politician. Quiet, measured, eloquent, restrained, truthful? None of those things. Hurtful, vexatious, prejudiced, rude, adulterer. We’re getting warmer.

When the news finally breaks of his other misdemeanour, and if he survives that as a minister, then we should take solace in the fact that history will judge him as twat whose main achievement after years in power was to fuck just about everything that he came into contact with.

Too funny

Holy smokes!

I'm prepared to bet that once Fleet Street's dogs of war start trawling through the Labour Party, the National Union of Seamen and the darker corners of the corridors of power, this will prove not to have been the first time Two Jags has dipped his fingers in the typing pool.

Baha! Read it all! Via blognoregis.

V for Vote

There's a very interesting poll over at Guido's place that you might want to take part in. Don't miss the comments, particularly the one by the morningstar.

Are you a big game hunter?

Does anyone have an elephant gun? There's an elephant at the Home Office that's just about to bolt.........Public safety and all that.

Don't waste your vote....vote fringe!

From the Telegraph:

David Cameron threw down the gauntlet to Eurosceptic Tory MPs yesterday by declaring that anyone who advocated withdrawal from the European Union would not serve on his front bench.

I am assuming that at least some of those MP’s made their position on the EU known in their constituencies. I wonder what Mr. Cameron has to say to these people?

One often comes across the phrase ”what a wasted vote” when discussing fringe politics with people over a drink or two. I’d just like to point out that wasted votes have been cast in the direction of the Tory party for years.

The Tory party is full of people alienated by its fruitcake leadership. Cameron confirms that this situation also extends to his parties own MPs.

(Via The Englishman).

This in The Times is worth reading.

Open letter to David Cameron

Here's a cracking open letter in the Observer addressed to David Cameron, leader of the Tory party and former conservative.

Sure, it's written by an unelected conservative Lord. But that doesn't make it any less true.

Via Bishop Hill.

UKIP backgound reading

Ever since the Camaron remarks on UKIP I have been keeping an eye on the UKIP forums to see what might be found. This very recent posting, which seems to be a copy of an article written by By Gerard Batten (MEP), fills in some details on Dr Sked (UKIP's first leader) and the reasons why he left the party:

Among David Cameron's recent insults levelled at UKIP was the allegation that, "Dr Sked (UKIP's first leader) left the party because he thought it had been infiltrated by the far right". Mr Cameron speaks from a position of ignorance. As one of UKIP's founding members, the first Party Secretary from 1993 to 1997, one of Dr Sked's closest associates and a participant in these events, I would like to put the record straight.

Class:

UKIP said it would also be parking a Saracen armoured car outside the Conservative spring conference in Manchester on Saturday, in a publicity stunt designed to show "that UKIP's tanks are firmly parked on David Cameron's lawn".

Britain’s water crisis worsens

Members of the public have expressed dismay over Britain’s worsening water crisis with 90% of voters saying they believe there's no longer enough clear blue water between the Tory party and New Labour.

Tories, what a funny lot

It's amusing really. A whole bunch of Conservatives defect from the Tory party to the UKIP only to be branded racists by the new Tory leader. This includes your host by the way who has been experimenting with UKIP voting in the hope that it would send some kind of message to the Tories. Well, message sent and response received. Nice.

I'm sure Peter Lilley MP will won't worry a jot about losing the votes of individuals such as myself, though I wish the Tory party would stop sending me all that information about local events, lunches, coffee mornings and dinner parties with posh after dinner speakers. I mean, why bother courting racists. I'd only turn up in my jack boots and start spouting nonsense that has no basis in fact and that's insulting to various groups of people. Hang on a minute, isn't that exactly the kind of behaviour that is being showcased by the New Tory leader?

Right then. I'm off to parliament to lobby to have my family sent back home to where they came from. I never did understand my mother; she talks funny and takes jobs from the locals.

Oh oh!

Toad flu!

Another conservative chased away

This makes me feel like joining the Conservative party again just so that I can quit in more style rather than in the way that I did. Sure, they phoned me to find out why but a well thought out letter is so much better.

Via Gareth who quotes the following from Chad's highly quotable letter:

"You cannot promise tax-cutting in Scotland whilst demanding “sharing the proceeds of growth” in England."

Lords and IDs

The more the present government and the House of Commons fall into disrepute, the more reasonable and worthy of respect the House of Lords seems to become. It’s astonishing until you realise it’s exactly the point.

My guess is that it's all likely to be in vain though. I hope that I am wrong but the Lords is no longer a serious barrier to the commons and there is a lot of money and some rather large contracts riding on the ID database and all its associated bits and bobs.

Indeed, one of my consultant friends now drives a brand new Jag paid for in cash.

Councillor in huff over his nations flag? Or perhaps it's just over women? Or over women and flags? We ask which it is.

Now here's a fascinating insight into the mind of a New Labour Councillor:

I would have thought a picture of a young blue-eyed, blonde woman wrapped in the Union Flag was the sort of thing one would expect on the Freedom Association (or worse, the BNP) site rather than a serious political blog.

Now, considering the fact that Councillor Bob Piper is a member of an apparently strongly unionist party and presumably has nothing specifically against women, blondes, and people with blue eyes, we have to ask of him what exactly does he mean by his objection?

Still, it could get worse:

Whatever next.. a young woman in a PVC cat suit carrying a whip in one hand and a cross of St George flag in the other? (no, no, not you Mrs T.) Perhaps someone could explain the reasoning.

Erm no Councillor, perhaps you could explain yours. I grant you that overly sexual overtones on a political site are largely not appropriate (unless that site happens to be Westminster I suppose) but I fail to see any relevance in the references he makes to the flag of the British Union (of which his party is an extremely strong supporter) or the Cross of St. George (which his party is at its wits end trying to find reasons to ignore it).

Mirror, mirror on the wall

The people over at the Power Inquiry ask:

How can democracy survive when we feel politicians don’t listen?

Hmmm, I thought to myself, I have this odd feeling that the submissions that me and my friends made to the inquiry were completely ignored. Well actually I’m sure of it.

Now that’s funny.

Look out! Toads!!!

There's little trust in politics and even less trust in politicians. That's one of the findings of the oddly incomplete Power Inquiry into political and democratic participation by the masses:

How can democracy survive when we feel politicians don’t listen?

It's worse than not listening to us I'm afraid. It's also about not telling the truth. Alfie asks:

Can Simon Hughes explain why only a few months ago he declared his support for an English Parliament, only to jettison this view once he declared his intention to lead the LibDems.

I thought politics was all about belief, passion and HONESTY - clearly I am mistaken.

The reply?

Guess what, Simon said he’d always said he wanted EvoEM (English Votes on English Matters) – and he had always been up front about that…… Liar, liar, Hughes’ pants on fire….

Remember now, the skin of some toads is poisonous. Avoid contact at all costs, but then again I don't need to tell you that. The Power Inquiry proves that you lot already know.

Oh the humanity of it all.

Mile and Ounces castigate new style politics

David Mile, senior official at the Toadwatch Foundation, has written to the Toadish Policy Institute castigating Britain’s track record in modernising its politicians.

The people of Seahaven have shown the way and that is embarrassing for a modern and forward looking nation like Britain.

Mr. Mile thinks that the current situation is confusing and a national embarrassment:

We have a halfway system in this country where on the one hand we have sensible politicians who are hardworking and in tune with the demands of the Great British public and on the other we have politicians like Lord Kinnock.

Simon Half-Inch, policy researcher at the institute said:

Well, you have to admit Mr. Mile has a point. We have all kinds of politicians and dignitaries visiting this country and they don’t know from one minute to the next whether they will be dealing with a serious politician or a complete idiot. It’s awkward.

Mile went further and drew upon the recent experiences of the Ounce family who recently held a dinner party to celebrate their return to Britain after more than a decade overseas:

I am in full agreement with the Ounces. Many politicians seem to not only have lost their way in recent years they also seem to have lost their minds.

The Ounces are known for their outspoken remarks on the way the face of British politics has changed over the relatively short period they have been away.

It’s like a bad dream. When we first went to live abroad we thought the way their politicians did things was actually funny. Italy was a hoot and Sweden was like some kind of surreal dream. We felt sorry for the ordinary people having to put up with all that nonsense from their elected representatives. Well, the blood simply drained from our faces when we came back. It’s all gone mental.

Lord Gram, a close friend and ally of Lord Kinnock remarked:

Well, you know, ummmmm.

This just in

Tory toad uses email to try and 'hack' web site figures. That in itself should exclude the toad from ever using the internet again. Surely there's a New Labour law that can be used to change this mans behaviour?

On the subject of the New Labour party the figures on MP responsiveness quoted in the article above is of no great surprise:

Overall, the writetothem website found that Conservatives recorded a 74% responsiveness rating, compared with 60% for Liberal Democrats and 58% for Labour.

My emphasis, writetothem's statistics, New Labour's shame.

In other news this particular Tory makes a great deal of sense:

Mr Hague said: "Anyone who thinks that we can carry on legislating for England in exactly the same way as we did before devolution is clearly living in the past.

"When even senior Labour backbenchers have begun to recognise this, so should Gordon."

Is this a sign that there's a conservative party in the making? Don't hold your breath unless, of course, you mean this one.

Brown pants Brown

Most excellent. I'm not a LibDem supporter but I do not not support them to a greater degree than I do New Labour. If you get what I mean.

The Beeb report government ministers saying the loss was due to "local issues". "Really?" I thought, "they would say that woudn't they?". Then I read this:

The chancellor, who lives in Dunfermline and West Fife himself, had been active in the by-election campaign.

Oh, I see what you mean.

I smell a rat. Do you smell a rat? There's definitely something ratty in the air.

Let me get this straight. There are rumours of plans to suspend local democracy in England during 2007 so that us cash cows don’t have to be bothered to vote for local representatives who might end up representing us for only one year. Only one year because New Labour is planning a significant shake up in local democracy by, they hope, some time in that very same year. Hmmmm…..

The New Labour Minister for Communities, Mr Miliband, has this to say about the shake up and the discussions they are having with our locally elected representatives:

"The debate on local government reorganisation is gathering pace - we are having a mature discussion with local government - and we will make our position clear in the Local Government White Paper in the middle of this year."

Now the thing I want to get straight about this is that there is a chance that New Labour will fail to meet their deadline for the passing of their new law. There is a good chance that if we were given the opportunity to vote, as we have done for donkey’s years, on who our local representatives are New Labour would come out in a weaker position than they are now. Perhaps this local shift will change the tone of this mature conversation that Milband says he is having with our local chiefs. Perhaps this change in tone will reflect the feelings of the scruffy voters?

My spider senses are tingling. Tingling because I would not put it past New Labour to end up suspending the local elections until after a delayed new law has been passed using some excuse like they were going to be suspended anyway due to the restructuring they were expecting to happen and that it is only a few more weeks or months for us voters to wait.

The picture I have painted above has got to be wrong hasn’t it? It’s got to be.

Oh no. They lied to me. Me of all people.

It just goes to show that politicians are not the only accomplished liars in the world:

George Galloway has said he was promised he could use Celebrity Big Brother show as a "soapbox" for his political views.

He had been surprised when he emerged from the house to discover his political statements had been blanked out with the sound of "birdsong".

Haha! No really, Haha!

And to think I never knew......

Apparently New Labour are a party of ordinary people doing extraordinary things.

Quite

Tom Utley in the Telegraph:

The Chancellor has had a very long wait for the keys to Number 10. It will serve him right if he takes possession of them at the very moment when the economy that he has abused for so long begins to collapse.

Drunk, vain and lazy

Wow, what a microcosm of the failings and self indulgent desires of the arse end of society our Parliamentary establishment is. The latest double tap comes in the guise of boozer Charles Kennedy MP and the Big Brother celebrity housemate George Galloway MP.

All coming on the same day that the FaxYourMP guys wrote to ask me if my MP had bothered to answer the last fax I sent him. Yeah, right. Like that was going to happen.

That was then, this is now

When the government suggests that this or that policy is desirable and the police service are in agreement our ministers insist that the mere fact that our police think the policy is desirable is an extremely good reason for that policy to pass unopposed through the two parliamentary houses. I wonder how well the government will listen to their tarmac pounding champions this time.

EDM 1184

I've just used this service to send a fax to my MP asking him to sign this Early Day Motion.

This is a change in direction for me as I was convinced that I would never write to another MP again. I have found that writing to my MP is much the same as signing an on line petition. Neither activity has actually produced any positive outcome in the past.

Am I coming in out of the cold? No, but I am throwing ice and snow through a slight crack in the door.

Via Gav.

Pull up the drawbridge and release the hounds

The Englishman does some excellent work on the subject of council tax inspectors and their mandate to enter your home. He then asks a simple question: so why the lies?

Might as well ask a monkey why it makes monkey noises.

Hydrocardigans?

John Prescott didn't reall say hydrocardigans did he? This must be some kind of joke, perhaps on Prescott's part?

Pffft, ten a penny

Get a load of this. Apparently I have one member of parliament, one county councillor, three district councillors and seven members of the European parliament.

Official statistics

Is this the first sign that New Labour thinks its going to lose the next general election?:

Chancellor Gordon Brown has announced that the Office for National Statistics will be made independent of government...

11 out of 10 people think this is a good idea.

Questions, questions

The burning question on my mind at this very moment is could John Prescott pass the Turing test? I think not.

Have you chosen your song yet?

Have you chosen your Blair has gone song yet? I chose mine about two years ago and I am looking forward to putting up some of the lyrics on this blog and dancing around semi-naked and drunk when the Day of brief light arrives.

Then, no doubt, I will have to start hunting around for a New Labour has gone song which I hope to be playing, and singing, and dancing to sometime within the next decade or so.

But what then? Being out in the cold is great for music appreciation but does nothing for ones well being. Still, I have my principles. They'll have to do.

Is throwing a minister still an accurate measure of trust?

A policeman should be allowed, without intervention, to lobby his MP regarding any subject he feels is appropriate. The key test in the current brewing storm is not whether the police lobbied their MPs but whether they were asked or invited to do so by government.

If they were then not only is it an unacceptable situation but it is also further evidence that New Labour has failed to understand the right and proper place of government in our society.

I suspect that I could throw a minister a long way. It is no longer an accurate measure of how much I trust them.

Blair says MPs out of touch with public opinion

You could say the same thing about hanging, or prisons, or life meaning life or public opinion of MPs. Any argument in a storm I guess.

Dirty, dirty, toady

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.

Blair's blunder over MI5 demand to hold suspects for 90 days

Oh no, another inadvertent mistake by one of our 'leaders'. Of course, we really wouldn't know much about this if Blair was in his ascendancy. Expect to see more of this kind of revelation and confirmation in the future.

When the police ask for something that's in line with government thinking their opinions are seen as important and beyond reproach. When the police disagree with government thinking their opinions are seen as "their own views".

Blatant Liar

I agree with Guido here. I simply don't believe Stephen Byers. His apology to the House for providing "factually inaccurate" evidence to the transport select committee does nothing to change my opinion of him. It seems to me that the price for lying in public office these days is to have to stand up in front of your peers and say sorry. Sometimes. If you're caught.

It's a remarkable coincidence that an anagram of Stephen Byers is Blatant Liar.

Earlier I wrote that an anagram of Stephen Byers is Blatant Liar. This was incorrect and was an inadvertent error on my part. A proper anagram of Stephen Byers is Lying Tosser. Oooops, it happened again. Sorry.

Another one bites the dust

The New Labour party is like an excitable child with a new toy. They see a problem, get all excited, shout about what they are going to do, start spending our money, then a grown up comes along and tells them to calm down.

Already, most of my friends do not bother to vote

Dr. Gabb has his latest Free Life Commentary up. In it he discusses the shame of it all and the current political vacuum left by the failure of the Tory party. On the up are regulation, illiberal legislation, increased police powers, decreased individual liberty and responsibility and an increasing propensity for people to consider all politicians as pretty much the same. All from the same tribe with the tribe 'elders' showing over and over again an utter hatred of the English people and their ways. Dr. Gabb thinks that things may finally reach a breaking point:

England today is very similar to England in the 1630s, or to France before the Great Revolution, or to Central Europe before 1848. We have a ruling class that has carefully stifled all peaceful means of dissent. The result is a crust of placidity over a mile depth of superheated magma.

If Rebecca is right, the sandpaper on the skin will eventually begin to hurt. But the resulting convulsion will not be limited to the ejection of the Blair Government from office. The force of the convulsion will be proportionate to its previous containment. We are looking at an explosion of anger such as England has never seen.

When will this start? Perhaps tomorrow. Perhaps next year. Perhaps after one more failed placing of faith in a Conservative Government. What will be its immediate cause?

As with other revolutions, it will be some issue of such local significance that the more plodding historians will forever shake their heads over it in wonder. But unless some real party of conservatism can emerge in short order, and establish itself as a government in waiting, there will be a revolution.

Now, because I do not wish to become a victim of one of those new police state laws we were assured the Government needed to contain the threat of Islamic terrorism, I will say here that I do not advocate overthrowing the established order. I am certainly not the kind of person able to lead such an overthrow. Instead, I am only observing what seems to me an obvious truth. Because the rulers of this country will not read the letters and e-mails of respectable complaint, they will be forced one day to listen to the roar from the streets.

That is why Rebecca and I did not discuss who should be our choice to lead the Conservative Party. That is why I will not even raise the matter with Dr Tame. It seems now irrelevant who is to lead the Party of the Quisling Right. We may live at present in a political vacuum. Assuredly, though, some unstoppable force is about to fill it.

I agree with Dr. Gabb on a number of his points and always have done but I'm not sure he has got his timing right on this one.

We live in comfortable times and although many people agree that all politicians are effectively the same they will generally remain comfortable with being comfortable.

Judgement is clouded by the local weather. By that I mean that what is close to your heart, what you are exposed to day in and day out, what you spend much of your time thinking about, all these things tend to lend an air of importance or significance to issues that don't register with most other people (at least not to the same degree). That doesn't mean these issues are not important, it may just mean that not many people know how important they are yet.

Take, for example, my own views on the deconstruction of the nation of England brought about by unfair devolution and the tendency for many in the political elite to consider England as a minor concern when stacked against the might of one minority or fantasy interest or another.

It's a big issue for me. The local weather is stormy. However, the further you move away the better the weather. It annoys my wife. Some of my friends have a clue. Some people shrug. Most don't know a thing about it.

If Dr. Gabb's revolution does come any time soon I doubt very much that it will come directly from the people. Most trust the police. Most have never been on the end of an illiberal policy. Most have not had their property taken away by the state. Most simply do not take an interest. CCTV rocks and ID cards, well, sounds good to me.

There is a political vacuum sure enough, but it's one that the people are not in any hurry to have filled. Why? Because all politicians are the same. You see, the market is saturated. There's no demand these days.

Clowns to the Left of me jokers to the Right

I'm finding it increasingly difficult to define my place on the left/centre/right scale. You see growing up I was a big Thatcher supporter and, until recent times, always voted Tory. My friends and family always considered me somewhat to the right of Peter Hitchens and I always felt happy with this categorisation. After all I was more often than not right, and they were more often than not wrong. However times have changed:

The Right sees single mothers as immoral and slobby products of bad neighbourhoods.

I have never subscribed to this type of thinking. Single mothers are no more than that, single mothers, and to make a judgement about their morality is too imply that one is clairvoyant. I am many things but clairvoyant is not one of them.

Alice Miles makes some interesting points in her article but I simply can’t bring myself to engage with them.

She continues:

I prefer the Right’s look of embarrassment when they find I am a single mother to the Left’s smile of sympathy, but perhaps that’s because I don’t need their money. I want to tell them how much fun it is, and how easy, and how much easier and more fun it is for me than for many married couples, because raising children within a marriage often looks like hell.

Well that’s sorted it. I can’t be on the right. I felt not a single tinge of embarrassment when I found out that Alice is a single mother.

Oh my God. I’m a lefty. Where’s the yoghurt?

Vincent Cable MP

Apparently Vincent Cable's roll could be cruicial to the LibDem party. Crucial it is, but not in a good way.

Of course, it won't bother him one little bit that he has offended a bunch of people he's never met just because they want equality. You see, it's the wrong kind of equality they are after.

A national what now?

What does it mean when a politician says that he will not modify government policy until there has been a national debate? No honestly, what does it mean?

Labour's Raging Bull

Via Neil Herron:

So many people are using the "Bill of Rights defence" to justify non-payment of automatic penalties - HM Customs has backed down more than once over refusal to pay surcharges for late VAT returns - that, according to Birmingham city council last week, Government lawyers are considering emergency legislation to override the Bill of Rights.

No mandate to do that is forthcoming from this direction.

How about the rest of you little people?

This litterally is about the scales of justice:

When those Sunderland officials seized Mr Thoburn's scales in 2000, they can little have guessed what a constitutional can of worms they were about to open.

Petitions

Petitions, petitions. Here’s one that you might want to sign. If you win you get your own Parliament which means your country suddenly pops back into existence again. Bargain!

Here’s another. If you win this one it means that you loose a Parliament but get to keep your country. Wow!

Imagine if there’s a rollover next week!

I’m not a big fan of petitions myself but that’s only because I’ve signed a few and nothing ever comes of it. However, once they have been set up it can be quite important to get the number of signatories up as this removes the opportunity for the detractors to call the whole thing a failure.

So sign, sign, sign.

Vincent Cable MP (Liberal Democrat)

This post at the CEP has prompted me to mail Vincent Cable MP (Liberal Democrat - Shadow Chancellor) regarding his alleged quote in this article:

"The threat to harmonious social relations in Britain comes from those who insist that multiple identity is not possible: white supremacists, English nationalists, Islamic fundamentalists.

This is the opposition and they have to be confronted. An important element in that confrontation is the assertion of a sense of Britishness."

It is perfectly possible to be an English Nationalist without any reference to multiculturalism and multiple identity. His accusation is insulting and his grouping of English Nationalists along side white supremacists and Islamic fundamentalists , though a good trick to imply a certain sordidness about nationalism that doesn't exist, is a disgrace.

DumbJon comments:

Here, we have a group of people creating mayhem across the globe, and Vincent Cable classes them with people who support a solution to the West Lothian question he disagrees with ? But, of course! This is the world view of the modern Liberal in a nutshell, a childish tautology whereby the Right is evil, and everyone who's evil is on the Right.

Campaign falls at first hurdle

I tried to set up the following pledge at PlegdeBank:

"I will stick my fingers in my ears and go "la la la" whenever I hear a politician speak but only if 60,000,000 other people will too."

— John, traveller of the highway of disaffection

Deadline to sign up by: 10th October 2005

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Dear Lord, someone please make them stop.

Unfortunately their system will not let me enter more than 100 people in my target. Am I really being that unrealistic?

Nailed like a cheap whore in a seedy motel

What Clarke fails to realise is that his is the dictum of "power before principles", which is what is turning people off politics. It is the reason why so many politicians are regarded with the utmost contempt. And it is exactly the reason why Clarke would make a disastrous leader of the Conservative Party - Richard at EU Referendum.

It's all about the Oiiillllll!!!

Wonko posts about the threatened fuel protests:

A treasury spokesman said cutting tax would not solve the problem of high oil prices. That is correct but about 4/5ths of the price of fuel is tax so you see, it's already started?

This line was taken by some politician this morning on the radio. ”The problem is high oil prices. There is nothing we can do about that.”

Do they honestly think we are that stupid? The problem for the consumer is high prices of fuel at the pumps and most of that price is taxation.

There are only two lines that the government can reasonably take on this issue to avoid calling us stupid. Firstly that a high price at the pump is a good thing because it reduces consumption and, therefore, will save the world from the day after tomorrow and/or will reserve stocks. Secondly that the government needs the tax revenue for public services.

These lines are mutually exclusive as a reduction in consumption will result in a reduction in tax revenue (though a balance can be struck I suppose).

Any minister that uses the high oil prices line in an attempt to explain why there is a threat of a protest either does not understand the grievances of the protesters or thinks we are simpletons.

Frankly I am pretty confident that the issue for the government is simply one of tax revenue. The argument will be that this money needs to come from somewhere and if fuel duty is reduced some other tax will need increasing. This reasonable proposition requires two other factors to be true before it can be seen as a truly successful argument. People must not feel over taxed and they must feel that what tax they pay is good value for money.

Bzzzzt, no and bzzzzt, no. You are the weakest link. Goodbye minister.

The treasury admits that:

"More than half the fuel used in the UK bears little or no fuel duty at all... so seeking to address the problem of high oil prices through road fuel duty alone would do nothing for the majority of consumers."

It follows that seeking to address environmental issues and/or demand through taxation of less than half the fuel used does nothing to address fuel usage by the majority of consumers. Remember that the next time a minister suggests environmental issues as an excuse for higher fuel taxation.

Also note the usual You are stupid! declaration via the use of the high OIL prices phrase.

Intelligent design versus evolution

The Scottish Parliament seems to be having trouble passing legislation:

A FORMER MSP today called for a radical overhaul of the parliamentary process at Holyrood, blaming the Scottish Parliament for passing confusing, contradictory and poor-quality laws.

What they need is their own House of Lords.

Duncan Hamilton, now a lawyer but a Nationalist MSP in the first session of the parliament, argued that a new body should be set up to check the laws passed by the parliament before they are put on to the statute book.

I bet this new body will consist of non-elected members.

The problem with competing with an evolved system is that the pressure to turn into that system increases over time.

Good luck chaps. At least it is a system of your own.

Quisling quality in steep decline

Ken Clarke isn't even very good at being the Quisling toad:

"I do not think there has ever been a time when the British could have joined with complete security and confidence. I doubt it is possible for 10 years or more."

So, become Tory leader. See Blair finish out his term and then hand over to Brown. Spend another term in opposition. Hopefully win the election after that and whamo! Well past the ten years and it's time to rock and roll on the Euro front. Ribbit.

Guido's competition - only 24 hours to enter

Guido is offering tickets to a contemporary play:

5/11 is a new play commissioned to mark the 400th anniversary of the Gunpowder Plot. It has obvious contemporary relevance - it is set in 1605 with a war on terror going badly. A group of young religious fanatics is plotting to... well, you get the idea.

All you have to do is email him a piece of juicy gossip or tittle-tattle about a parliamentarian by midday Wednesday. Hurry, hurry, hurry and I strongly encourage those parliamentarians that score highly on the slime scale to shop their buddies. That, I guess, means all of you.

No, no, no. It means this not that

Aha! told you so. Lord Falconer wants the independent judiciary to apply the correct interpretation to the convention on human rights.

I may or may not agree with the convention (I don't know because I've not read it) but this is simply sublime.