A stream of consciousness from the centre

Self-interest or public interest? Both, for a change.

2011-07-13T20:38:00.001+01:00

So, the last few days have seen Parliament united against a common foe.

Now, call me skeptical if you like, but I don't think our beloved leaders are acting with the purest of motives.

History tells us that popular opinion is rarely reflected by the actions of Parliament. So why this time?

That'll be revenge. And power.

Revenge for colleagues smote by the pen, careers thwarted on the flimsiest of evidence; the list is endless.

Anyone entering Politics does so to seek power. Otherwise what's the point. When that power has eluded them and those like them for generations because even the highest office in the land is beholden to tomorrow's headlines, then clearly they will seek to wrest back what should, democratically, be theirs.

The fact that this latest populist witch-hunt happens to reflect the revulsion of the vast majority of the population at News International's methods makes simply makes our politicians' agenda easier to achieve.

It's been a while

2011-07-12T23:22:00.000+01:00

I've not blogged in over a year.

There was no conscious decision to stop. I've just been busy.

Lots has happened since my last posting so I'll be easing myself in gently, reacting to events as they happen.

The story du jour is obviously the scandal surrounding News International. There seems to be a consensus of opinion on this, so there's little I can write that will contribute anything useful.

I'm probably writing this as a reminder to myself that this blog is my commentary on life as I see it, when I see it, mostly Political.

Anyway, I'm rambling about nothing in particular, so I'll see you all soon.

PS Oooh yes I've been song-writing, so expect some ramblings about that too.

One of Farmer Eavis's madder ideas.

2010-02-12T11:51:00.000Z

Why on earth are they opening the car parks at 9p.m. on Tueday night? And with no refreshments?

Opening 8a.m. Wednesday has always worked well. You queue to get into the car park, and then queue to get on site, followed by a mad rush to camp. Followed by a beer. If you planned it well enough you could get a good parking spot, too.

The change is because of the chaos around the area on the Wednesday. Moving it will only move the problem forward by 11 hours.

What we'll see now is most cars trying to turn up on the Tuesday, arriving as it gets dark. With all those people milling around it'll be dangerous. You're then left with the choice of staying up all night with no refreshments or sleeping in your car (we'll be 4 in ours, so not an option). Then, when the gates open there'll be a huge crush.

Please re-consider, Michael.

The Home Office has gone all Daily Mail

2010-02-12T09:11:00.000Z

Yes, I know. I was a bit shocked too.

In today's Telegraph it's reported that the Home Office is to crack down on lapdancing clubs. Quite why this has become a prority wasn't made clear.

After all, apart from Nimbyism, what harm do they do? Their main clientele are men on a boozy night out with friends and the dancers are willing participants, kept safe by enormous bouncers (no pun intended). And with just 300 clubs nationwide it's hardly an endemic problem.

If the clubs were encouraging or attracting street prostitution then I could see the point but there's no evidence that that's the case. Associated crime levels are no better or worse than for any other late night venue.

What will happen instead is the clubs will be driven underground, which will mean no regulation at all and the reality that many of them will become fronts for brothels.

If that happens it'll serve the Nimbys right.

The cynicism of Gordon Brown

2010-02-07T11:03:00.000Z

This week has seen two shameful acts of cynicism from Gordon Brown. Both show he will stop at nothing to cling to power, regardless of the cost to any principle or sense of dignity he may have left.

Earlier this week he started to talk about Electoral reform. The Labour Party have been fairly consistent, along with the Conservatives, in their unequivocal support for First Past The Post. It's a system that has delivered strong Government for 400 years and, whilst far from perfect (no system ever is) it has served us very well.

All it took was a dip in opinion polls, indicating a possible hung Parliament, and our Prime Minister started shamelessly nailing his colours to the favourite mast of the Liberal Democrats. The Liberals have wanted Proportional Representation for as long as I can remember, knowing it would give them their only hope of a seat at the top table. To suddenly embrace this system was a deeply cynical move, shameful for any politician but fairly disgusting from a Prime Minister.

It's clearly a courtship ritual, hoping that, in the event of a hung Parliament, Nick Clegg will help Gordon cling to power.

The cynicism didn't stop there. Rather than face an incisive interview, based on policy and the issues of the day, our Prime Minister decided on a cosy, easy interview with his old friend Piers Morgan. During the course of this interview Mr. Brown got deeply personal and talked about the tragic loss of his daughter.

Normally I would be happy to give the benefit of the doubt. It would normally be unthinkable for someone to be using the most tragic event in their life for some advantage and duiring a personal, rather than political interview, personal matters are bound to come out.

However with this man it has all the hallmarks of political opportunism. If it wasn't then I'm sure he would have asked for the footage of him crying to be edited out, or asked Piers for a moment to compose himself off-camera before continuing. Instead he's allowing his personal tragedy to be played out to millions. He might as well have called Hello! for a special "Gordon's Tragedy" issue.

We've seen a fairly shameful week in politics, what with the expenses scandal coming to a head and the continuing soft Chilcot enquiry. These two events are the most shameful and both of them are solely the responsibility of our Prime Minister.

One seat I would be quite happy not to turn blue.

2010-02-05T19:20:00.000Z

I was delighted to read the news today that the actor Ricky Tomlinson will be standing for the Socialist Labour Party in Liverpool Wavertree.

Why would I welcome Ricky, a well-known old-fashioned Socialist to Parliament? Precisely because he's an old-fashioned Socialist, raised in the Trade Union movement. Here we have a candidate who absolutely believes in the causes he champions. I spent many years campaigning against his brand of politics but when doing so I completely respected the conviction held by the activists.

The Labour Party, since 1994, seems to have abandoned every priciple on which it was founded, all in the pursuit of power at all costs. we are led by unprincipled, unscrupulous charlatans and the results are self-evident.

Ricky, if elected, will hopefully bring some basic principle back to the House, and Politics will be better for it.

Labour: More interested in power than Government

2010-02-04T17:43:00.000Z

The Body Politic has always been held in pretty low esteem. There's nothing new there. History is full of examples of politicians abusing their positions to further their own ends.

However the fact that these abuses make the News is because we expect so much more from our politicians. We expect them to act with a fair degree of honesty.

What we have seen in the last 13 years has seriously undermined this expectation. We used to have the "Mother of all Parliaments" and prided ourselves on having, although not perfect, the best form of democracy on the planet. Even if some of our politicians were self-serving (and in a handful of cases downright dishonest), we had faith that policy decisions were taken in the National interest, whoever was in charge.

What we have seen instead is a Government that, virtually from their first day in power, has been a Government of vested interests. It started with the Ecclestone Affair. Mr. Ecclestone was a high-profile donor to the Labour Pary at around the time that the ban on tobbaco advertising was going through Parliament. An uncharitable blogger might draw conclusions that there was some link between this donation and the exemption to the ban enjoyed by Formula 1. There are countless examples of this, including Cash for Honours, but I like to keep my blogs reasonably brief.

Practically every decision taken has the whiff of either dishonesty or opportunism about it. We can see an example of this right now as Gordon Brown talks about Electoral Reform. Just before an election.

Labour are far more interested in power than they are in Government. They will say & do anything to stay in power and their agenda is, as it always has been, driven by this desire rather than any deeply held principle.

It's already started

2010-02-02T08:58:00.000Z

Today's Telegraph reports that Standard & Poor's have downgraded the credit-worthiness of Britain's Banks. Our Banking system is now comparable with Chile & Portugal. The news was greeted by a sharp reduction in Stock Market values and the value of the Pound.

I'm no economist but surely this means very bad news for Britain's already-weak recovery. With the Banks having to pay more to borrow on the International markets, anyone with any debt will have to bear the cost. This will mean less disposable income moving through the economy and could very well plunge us straight back into recession.

With our Banks downgraded it can't be long now before Britain's credit rating follows suit. There have been countless warnings and now it's happening.

Whoever ends up as Chancellor after the Election will need to address this as a matter of urgency. Now is the time for boldness. There'll be alot of pain ahead for alot of people. Anyone who claims otherwise will be misleading the Electorate.

Please, Mr. Future Chancellor, start the cuts immediately. Better a sharp, short pain than an interminable ache for years to come.

Would you please stop persecuting me already!!

2010-02-01T21:58:00.000Z

I smoke. So do many of my friends. You may not like it but are you willing to take up the tax slack if we all stop? No? What about half?

If Andy Burnham has his way that is exactly what will happen by 2020. That would mean tens of thousands less Police Officers. Or nurses. Are you finance that to indulge your prejudice?

Prejudice? Yes!! The smoking ban was a particularly nasty piece of legislation.It was supposed to protect workers, and I agree that shops, offices etc should be smoke-free. For the most part legislation wasn't needed as it was rare to be able to smoke in the workplace outside of designated areas.

However now Burnham's proposing extending the ban to smoking outside the workplace. There is no justification for this whatsoever. He's dressing it up as a means to further protect children. I don't see the logic as it's outdoors.

So yes, I feel persecuted. I rarely go out for the evening now as I can'y smoke without going outside. In January, when the temperatures dropped below minus 10, or any time of the year when it's raining, I am effectively banned from my local. And pretty soon I won't be able to spend my breaks in work as I wish.

If I choose to smoke, I do so being fully aware of the risk to my health. If I give up it will be my choice. I refuse to be forced by prejudice.

Now is NOT the time to lose your nerve.

2010-02-01T10:33:00.000Z

With the amount of weekends left between now and the inevitable General Election, David Cameron & his team can't afford another weekend like the one we've just had.

The opinion polls have, for some time now, been indicating a moderate Conservative majority. This weekend, however, saw Labour pull back the deficit quite considerably, indicating a hung Parliament. There were three polls, so to dismiss them as rogue (as I did) would be a mistake.

They came in the wake of the news that Britain is technically out of recession, so a "Brown Bounce" was always going to be on the cards. The "Electorate At Large" didn't hear the message that it was at 0.1%, or that it was stimulated by temporary stimuli ending this quarter (V.A.T. reduction and Vehicle Scrappage Scheme). They just heard the good news and desperately clung to it.

It should have been a good week for the Conservatives. They sent a team to Davos where they would normally expect some decent coverage in the Media. Chilcot was all over the News. Combined with some strong policy announcements it would have been reasonable to expect the Conservative lead maintained, or even extended.

The reaction to the poor polling was the Conservatives' worst for quite some time. We saw the economic message watered down. When the "immediate cuts" announcement was made there was a positive effect on the polls. There was no need for this weekend's "clarification". Without detail it was pointless and gave Labour an open goal.

Then we had David Cameron talking about denying burglars their human rights. This was a monumentally stupid error that will haunt him from now until Polling Day. He phrased what he wanted to say very badly. His previous rhetoric about defending your home resonated well, contributing to his poll lead. This was the same policy blown apart by an uncharacteristic loss of judgement.

The polls have shown such a strong lead because the Electorate have had enough of a Government continually courting popularity rather than the right thing to do. They have been giving the Conservatives the benefit of the doubt on this. As soon as they suspect that the Conservatives are doing the same thing they will lose any reason to vote for them.

We as a Country need a Prime Minister who leads based on what he genuinely believes. Not being led by opinion polls.

Brown's given up. Now he's just having fun.

2010-01-11T08:26:00.000Z

The Sky News website reports this morning that Gordon Brown plans to use the Children, Schools & Families bill to pledge £300million to a scheme promising free laptops & broadband for the poorest families http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Politics/Laptops-Gordon-Brown-Announces-Free-Computers-And-Broadband-For-Low-Income-Families/Article/201001215518604?f=rss .

I can only imagine he's decided the game's up so he's deliberately coming up with ludicrous policies to get Daily Mail readers frothing at the mouth. There can't be any other explanation for it.

Now there's even less incentive to get up & go to work. Life on benefits is tough(it should never be an easy ride). My regular readers will know that I'm currently unable to work through injury (I'll be back at the earliest opportunity following an operation) & this has put a tremendous strain on my family, so I know what I'm talking about. There's plenty like me but equally there's plenty that buy in to State reliance who always seem to have enough money to go to the pub & have all the latest gadgets.

This policy will pander to the (what I believe to be) minority of claimants with a sense of envy & entitlement. If its aim is, as claimed, to connect families with schools then surely there's a better way. There's plenty of laptops on ebay for around £50 that will achieve that. Let's give them those, running on, say, Windows ME, with 256k of RAM and only access to educational sites. Anyone caught hacking their free laptop & then using it for illegal downloading, gaming etc. should have their free broadband connection withdrawn and their equipment given to the next needy family. And if they don't like it they can pay for their tech like everyone else.

Opposing for the sake of it.

2010-01-08T21:12:00.000Z

I was struck this afternoon by the amount of people on Twitter responding negatively and quite hysterically to the announcement that motorway gritting will be restricted to driving lanes, leaving the hard shoulder ungritted.

Whatever the rights & wrongs of this policy (I happen to think it's right - we have limited salt/grit reserves), the hysterical reaction appeared to be a desperate need to oppose something.

There's plenty to oppose without this non-story. It's been a slow few days since the failed coup. Dig a little deeper & find something really worth objecting to. There's plenty there.

Gordon Must Stay!!!

2010-01-07T15:25:00.000Z

So, the coup failed. Whatever the outcome would have been a gift for David Cameron. Either he'd have been facing another unelected Prime Minister or a mortally wounded incumbent.

The real winner is the electorate. We now get to give our verdict on this incompetent, sly, underhand & downright dishonest Government at the ballot box. Brown has been denied the opportunity of saying the public never rejected him.

For God's sake, Gordon, will you take the hint!!

2010-01-06T20:55:00.000Z

After today's events,it's clear to see even to the most diehard Brown loyalist that Gordon Brown holds no authority. He has lost the confidence of Cabinet (why did Harman, the Millibands etc take so long to leap to his defence?) and the Parliamentary Labour Party. Even The Mirror's Kevin Maguire hasn't condemned the plotters.

What he must do now is either stand aside for the sake of his Party or call a General Election. Tomorrow.

Road Test: Can a Jaguar XJ make it up Victoria Street in the snow?

2010-01-06T16:05:00.000Z

Clearly not.
The whole country was gripped earlier as the outgoing XJ was road-tested around SW1.

The passenger in the rear decided the roads were fraught with danger. Every direction he turned could have proved fatal.

So he decided to go back to Downing Street until the danger had passed.

Still, the new model is launched in March.

Tax & Marriage

2010-01-05T08:19:00.000Z

Whilst I find any tax-cutting proposals laudible in their aims I can't help but feel that placing the emphasis on marriage is a clumsy blunt instrument. Large sections of the population must surely feel the same.

I was married once and I really didn't like it. It wasn't the institution of marriage I didn't like; in fact the sense of family that I got from it was hugely rewarding. I didn't like it because we were the original "couple at war". That is not a healthy enironment to live in and is definitely a bad example to set your children. No amount of tax breaks would have kept us together.

What I have now, whilst being far from perfect, is so much better. We're not married but feel like we are. We chose not to marry for very good reasons that I won't go into here. And yet the tax & benefits system currently in place means we'd be far better off apart.

There are countless families like ours throughout the country and many, I'm sure, feel a little alienated when marriage as an institution is championed to the exclusion of all other relationships.

As a couple we're under alot of pressure at the moment, largely due to my shoulder injury forcing me out of work. We are trying really hard to stay together. Where are the tax proposals for us? We can't be the only ones. I'm pretty sure anyone in a Civil Partnership has similar issues.

Helping families stay together wherever possible has been proven to have a positive effect on Society, starting with children doing better at school & staying out of trouble. It's no magic elixir but it certainly helps. I can see where the Conservatives are coming from on marriage but the emphasis is wrong.

Come on, Mr. Cameron. Let's see a change of emphasis away from marriage and towards family.

The NHS: Time for some radical thinking.

2010-01-04T08:47:00.000Z

With the state of the Nation's finances being such a mess,cuts in public spendimg are an absolute must for whoever forms the next Government. The trick will be to do this without adversely afecting frontline services.

By far the biggest budget in Whitehall is the NHS so, purely in financial terms, this seems the logical place to start.

The concept of the NHS is that healthcare should be free at the point of delivery. The simplistic view of this is that nobody pays for anything. In practice this is clearly not the case. We already contribute towards prescriptions and dental care (if you can find an NHS dentist!).

The NHS is under a terrible strain already and healthcare is, weirdly, the only sector where better technological advances mean more expense rather than less. It is, however, quite right that we should invest heavily in new medical technology.

However we cannot allow the NHS an open chequebook. We need to continue to deliver our frontline services for free to the end user; we also need to ensure that as much money as possible makes it to the front line.

So here's an idea (I must stress I am no expert on these matters and although my politics are clear this is my own personal view). Wherever possible the cost of treatment must be reclaimed from somewhere. For instance in the event where someone is injured and is able to make a claim against someone's insurance (a car accident? A trip or fall?) the treating hospital should make every effort to reclaim the cost of treatment from the insurers. Under no circumstances should the patient be presented with a bill but every effort should be made to recover costs from the liable party.

I remain unclear on how this would be implemented or how much money could be saved and I am aware this would have a negative impact on insurance premiums. But it's a start.

The benefits, if taken to a logical conclusion (this blog is called Stream of Consciousness for a reason. I tend to ramble a bit.) could be fantastic. Imagine you've had an accident where the liability lies with a third party. As happens now you would visit your nearest NHS A&E department who would give you basic treatment for free & stabilise you. They'll admit you if it's really serious. They would then refer you for an outpatients appointment that you could wait 6 months for, sometimes leaving you in considerable pain & unable to work.

If the NHS are compelled to claim the cost of treatment from the third party insurer the patient could at that point choose to "go private", getting treated far more quickly, thus enabling them to return to work & start paying taxes again rather than being off for 6 months claiming Employment & Support Allowance. The cost to the NHS is nil as they have billed the insurance company. The cost to the patient is nil as happens now.

I am fully aware that this will increase insurance premiums but with a No Claims Bonus scheme introduced into Public Liability insurance this will be mitigated.

This idea could go alot further (impose a health levy on tobacco & alcohol to go into a healthcare fund, maybe?) but that's for our politicians to flesh out.

Police lazy? I don't think so, Jack Straw!!

2010-01-01T18:28:00.003Z

What an extraordinary thing for a former Home Secretary to say.

Labour have been in power for 12 1/2 years. They have created whatever culture now exists within the Police. Like all public services it has become far more important to hit targets than to provide their core service.

Straw goes on to criticise 4hrs of red tape & form filling on some shifts. I wonder who created all that beaurocracy.

The challenges ahead as we enter a new decade.

2009-12-31T20:17:00.004Z

Whoever wins the General Election faces some real challenges, both political and practical. Neither will be easy.

Politically, the biggest challenge will be to regain the faith of the electorate. I hope the 2010 intake of MPs, which will be at least a quarter of the House (purely through incumbents stepping down)is filled with people of high principle. They're going to be needed, because whoever forms the next Government needs to put country ahead of party. It seems bizarre as I type that this even needs saying but all evidence points towards policy being dictated by opinion polls rather than any inner belief. This has certainly been true ever since 1997. It may have been true before but that's certainly not the way I remember it.

The practical challenges have been widely documented elsewhere, so I'll not re-state them here. In order to lead this country out of the state it's in right now will require strong resolve. Whoever forms the next Government must be ready to make himself deeply unpopular. The more hysterical the Opposition get, the better he'll be doing his job.

As we enter a new decade the political ideology should be "Doing the right thing is the best form of political expediency".

Gordon's marriage to Prudence was always a sham. No wonder they fell out so spectacularly.

2009-12-29T20:26:00.004Z

According to today's FT, the Noughties have provided the lowest economic growth since the Second World War.

I'm no economist but I don't need to be to understand that GDP rising by just 1.7% after inflation is A Very Bad Thing. At the same time, manufacturing output actually managed to fall by 1.2% (after inflation)every year on average (Source: Office for National Statistics, via FT).

At the same time the FTSE All Share averaged losses of 1.8% annually (Source: Morgan Stanley, via the FT).

So, for all those years that Gordon Brown was Chancellor, when he was telling us how well we were all doing, he clearly had his fingers crossed behind his back; he was lauded in the City for acheivements that were based on smoke & mirrors.

During the "good" years (and they felt pretty average to me; the boom pretty much passed me by, along with most people I know) any growth was based purely either on credit (look where that got us)or over-inflated property values, both actively encouraged by the Government. It was always going to end in tears.

I don't blame the Banks. They were just working within the rules. The National interest is the job of Government, not Banks.

This recession has been the worst I can remember. Today's revelations show the reason why.

Justice & the Law. Strangers?

2009-12-28T21:45:00.004Z

Thankfully I live in an area not known for high crime. That's one of the benefits of living a reasonable distance from a large conurbation. Should you pick up the weekly local paper it'll be at least half full with property adverts. There'll be many community-based stories such as the Manager of our local Department Store leaving, or half a page devoted to how much fundraising the Young Farmers have done this year. The closest we get to a crimewave is usually a drunken incident or vandalism at the school.

That makes me, and everyone else that lives here very lucky. The downside of this is that our Police Station is only manned 9-5, 5 days a week. By manned, I mean open. By open I mean it's staffed by a civilian while our solitary (I think) local bobby is supported by 2 PCSOs and a Traffic Warden. All well & good. Let's send coppers where they're needed most.

The problem is if you need the Police at night they could be attending in an entirely different town, and the criminals know this (I'm sure the problem's the same in urban areas,roughly the same copper per capita ratio).

So, if I happen upon intruders in my home, what am I to do? Or if I'm attacked? My natural reaction is to deal with it myself. The Law states that you can use reasonable force to protect yourself, your family & your property. The problem with that is interpretation.

Some months ago I was attacked in my local pub (I was sober, by the way.). I could have walked (run?)away if I'd chosen to allow myself to be intimidated, but there was no way that was happening. My sense of right & wrong would've been offended if I'd been forced to end my evening out just to avoid a row. So I stood my ground. I allowed him a couple of punches as, to be honest, they weren't doing much, but eventually I decided to hit back. Once. I had the opportunity to throw more and walk away pretty much unhurt. But I didn't, because I was worried about "reasonable force". He came at me again and the details after that are a little hazy, but the end result was that he ended up with a few bruises that healed very quickly. I ended up with a dislocated shoulder which still hasn't healed.

Had I thrown a flurry of punches to defend myself I am pretty sure I would have been arrested. As it was, it wasn't worth calling the Police because I hit back. He's getting on with his life, earning a living, and I'm unable to work as my left shoulder causes alot of pain under the slightest strain. I'm awaiting an operation to put it right, but I'll be "economically inactive" until long after my operation (over a year from the incident).

The Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Grayling, has promised that, if elected, a Conservative Government would do more to allow victims of crime to reasonably defend themselves, which is great. The problem, however, isn't just one of legislation. The problem also lies with those charged with admnistering the law.

Keir Starmer, The Director of Public Prosecutions has rejected the need for a law change out of hand, stating that the law "works very well". When victims of crime fear the Law more than the criminals, then clearly it doesn't work at all.

Hello & welcome to my new blog.

2009-12-28T17:26:00.003Z

Evening all.

Why am I blogging?

Well, I've recently started following a fair few political blogs on Twitter. There's lots of them, some excellent & others not so great.

Among the many great blogs supporting the Conservative Party, reporting on policy announcements or criticising H.M. Government, there are others from the Right of the Party espousing values that don't sit very well with me. Many re-affirm the class stereotypes that Labour are trying to exploit.

Among these are some very thinly-disguised bigotted views. I've seen prejudice against practically every sub-culture & social group in Britain. Whilst I am far from unsympathetic towards victims of anti-social behaviour, when I see blog posts from people labelling by implication all members of a social group with a particular social ill it really boils my blood.

Presumably these bloggers have been longing for a change of Government for quite some time. These extreme views only harm David Cameron's chances of becoming Prime Minister.

This is why I've decided to blog. I hope to redress the balance towards the Centre. I am not a Party member but I am hoping DC will be our next Prime Minister. He has worked so hard to plant a flag firmly at the Centre of British politics, following far too many years of navel-gazing & indulging the Right of the Party.

I also hope to provide as much balance as my natural bias allows. I will definitely not slavishly follow the "Party Line". When I disagree with something I will say so. Likewise, in the unlikely event of me agreeing with something Labour say (or any other Party for that matter), then I will say so.
Let's not undo all that work & play into Labour's hands. This country's future depends on it.