So the Sun has decided to ditch Labour for the Tories. A long overdue decision, and simply a reflection of the once-again changing political times. I agree with the decision, because it is clear to me that Brown simply cannot live up to what he says he can - he mentions "policies," but the time has passed to make any real difference - and we are left with many of the same challenges as twelve years ago.
To give Labour some credit though, of course it is in the Sun's interest to back who they percieve to be the "winner" and I am slightly cynical as to the ultimate motive - more sales. But putting this aside for a moment, I really do hope that the primary motive of the newspaper is to reflect the collective feelings of their readership, and to present political reality as it is.
Labour was needed in 1997. Hopes were high - achievements have been made. But over the past few years - and particularly since the 2005 election - what a failure. I have a list I made more than a year ago listing what I percieve to be failures - and my attention has been brought to more. To get to the crunch however, my biggest three problems with this government remains their stance towards the EU, their endless attack on civil liberties, and the divison that devolution has created - all policies that might be right in principle, but certainly not in practice.
I personally decided to forget Brown and Labour the day he arrived late to sign the Lisbon Treaty - trying to do it out of the limelight, in such an underhanded manner that HE KNEW how wrong his decision was. This is the moment that people will not forget Brown, for its effects will be felt for years to come. My decision is not just based on the classic argument of sovereignty, but on the idea that what Lisbon advocates is simply not what we want as a people from the process of European integration!
Now we just have to wait and see what Cameron does when he refers to "making a decision at the correct time" in relation to if Lisbon will be ratified before he enters office next year.
Wednesday, 30 September 2009
Monday, 28 September 2009
Iran, Iran, Iran
I do not know where to begin discussing this issue. A new secretly-hidden nuclear facility? Revealed on the back of exposure by the Western Powers? With enough centrifuges to produce one weapon a year? Not big enough to be useful for generating nuclear power?
If these claims are true, and given the history of this issue I am inclined to think that by sheer lack of credibility that they are - then I think it speaks for itself. We stand one step closer towards the edge - with all insisting that diplomacy is the only way out (and realistically that might be true, given wars elsewhere and the sheer logistical nightmare of attempting to invade Iran) - but with all knowing that Iran is one step closer to that nuclear programme. And this evidence suggests that it is not going to be something peaceful for our world.
Do something about it now!
If these claims are true, and given the history of this issue I am inclined to think that by sheer lack of credibility that they are - then I think it speaks for itself. We stand one step closer towards the edge - with all insisting that diplomacy is the only way out (and realistically that might be true, given wars elsewhere and the sheer logistical nightmare of attempting to invade Iran) - but with all knowing that Iran is one step closer to that nuclear programme. And this evidence suggests that it is not going to be something peaceful for our world.
Do something about it now!
Monday, 21 September 2009
The weekend, and a Monday dose of Civil Liberties
After the weekend just rushed by, where I spent most of it in bed and/or just feeling completely lazy, I have returned to work this week determined to keep this blog and up and continue to recount all kinds of experiences that cross my path!
The weekend was very nice, with much less work to do. Did some preparation for my Business English class - and these are going much better now that the last 20 minutes is essentially private in nature with fewer students.
Had a bit of a scare over the weekend when I saw a huge spider in the bathroom, late on Sunday night. I don't really want to say much than that, except that boy could it run - and it had to be killed with boiling hot water. Days like this just make me want to leave - I really can't stand it!
Returning to work today, it has been a nice day - clearing up odds and ends and making progress in my English class. Nothing beats a nice tikka masala at lunchtime too. I am sitting here now getting ready to finish work and go to the gym, but I wanted to share this article regarding the topic of Civil Liberties - one in which I have come to feel as passionately about as Europe. I do feel compelled to try and get involved somehow in the fight to retain civil liberties, as we learn more and more of how they have been supressed under this Labour Government.
The Assault on Civil Liberties
Perhaps it was inevitable, given the advances of technology, that we would lose what we consider to be "freedoms." But by and large this is an issue I feel more and more strongly about. Hearing shock-horror stories concering cameras, Big Brother, and the erosion of British legal principles such as Habeus Corpus just make me very afraid to come back and live in the United Kingdom. Some lament that the "Great" has gone in Great Britain, but this is too simplistic. What has gone is years of evolution that in many cases worked well. And for what? Terrorism? Unparalleled threats? Please!
This is the first post of many that I will bring up this subject. I shall consider it a new passion, as I consider Europe and the EU to be another political passion and issue that will always determine my vote. I leave this post just wondering to what extent it is true that the Left are actually the ones destroying these freedoms, leaving the Right to champion them! However, despite the tendency of the right to advocate less state intervention, I don't feel that they are necessarily as opposed to British civil liberties as they are portrayed to be...........the evolution of these freedoms that we have taken for granted took place under all political administrations after all.
Comments on the article most welcomed!
The weekend was very nice, with much less work to do. Did some preparation for my Business English class - and these are going much better now that the last 20 minutes is essentially private in nature with fewer students.
Had a bit of a scare over the weekend when I saw a huge spider in the bathroom, late on Sunday night. I don't really want to say much than that, except that boy could it run - and it had to be killed with boiling hot water. Days like this just make me want to leave - I really can't stand it!
Returning to work today, it has been a nice day - clearing up odds and ends and making progress in my English class. Nothing beats a nice tikka masala at lunchtime too. I am sitting here now getting ready to finish work and go to the gym, but I wanted to share this article regarding the topic of Civil Liberties - one in which I have come to feel as passionately about as Europe. I do feel compelled to try and get involved somehow in the fight to retain civil liberties, as we learn more and more of how they have been supressed under this Labour Government.
The Assault on Civil Liberties
Perhaps it was inevitable, given the advances of technology, that we would lose what we consider to be "freedoms." But by and large this is an issue I feel more and more strongly about. Hearing shock-horror stories concering cameras, Big Brother, and the erosion of British legal principles such as Habeus Corpus just make me very afraid to come back and live in the United Kingdom. Some lament that the "Great" has gone in Great Britain, but this is too simplistic. What has gone is years of evolution that in many cases worked well. And for what? Terrorism? Unparalleled threats? Please!
This is the first post of many that I will bring up this subject. I shall consider it a new passion, as I consider Europe and the EU to be another political passion and issue that will always determine my vote. I leave this post just wondering to what extent it is true that the Left are actually the ones destroying these freedoms, leaving the Right to champion them! However, despite the tendency of the right to advocate less state intervention, I don't feel that they are necessarily as opposed to British civil liberties as they are portrayed to be...........the evolution of these freedoms that we have taken for granted took place under all political administrations after all.
Comments on the article most welcomed!
Friday, 18 September 2009
The Rubbish Strike
To add insult to injury, as if the Post Office fiasco wasn´t enough.......you have the strikers in Leeds.
I will do something quite uncharacteristic and officially state that I support them. Rubbish collection has been getting worse for years, and at the same time that draconian new rules to separate rubbish have been coming in. How can people comply when the infrastructure simply doesn´t exist to adequately support these wonderful environmentally-friendly ideas in the first place?
Take a look at this article.
Of course I don´t want Leeds to end up a mess, but something must be done. Council tax has risen excessively and the exact services that it is supposed to pay for have declined.
And to think that in Mexico that rubbish collection is far superior. Given, they must become environmentally-friendly here. But a twice-a-week collection where I live, and a daily collection in Mexico City surely isn´t bad. Wouldn´t a twice a week collection in London and Leeds just be heavenly?
Another example of how a developing country shows up the supposed developed and wealthier one.
Leeds residents, good luck in your dispute.
I will do something quite uncharacteristic and officially state that I support them. Rubbish collection has been getting worse for years, and at the same time that draconian new rules to separate rubbish have been coming in. How can people comply when the infrastructure simply doesn´t exist to adequately support these wonderful environmentally-friendly ideas in the first place?
Take a look at this article.
Of course I don´t want Leeds to end up a mess, but something must be done. Council tax has risen excessively and the exact services that it is supposed to pay for have declined.
And to think that in Mexico that rubbish collection is far superior. Given, they must become environmentally-friendly here. But a twice-a-week collection where I live, and a daily collection in Mexico City surely isn´t bad. Wouldn´t a twice a week collection in London and Leeds just be heavenly?
Another example of how a developing country shows up the supposed developed and wealthier one.
Leeds residents, good luck in your dispute.
The Post Office
Very sad to see the state of affairs with the Royal Mail. I remember as a child being told of how a first-class stamp on a letter made sure that it could be delivered from London to the Highlands of Scotland by the next day.
Now look at what is going on.
Now look at what is going on.
I think this sums it all up for me.........another great British insitution to the wind.......not helped by EU rules on state aid etc. I wonder if France would alow "La Poste" to fall like this.
The whole episode beggars belief.
Until the next post,
Thursday, 17 September 2009
Sovereignty..........
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It's very fitting that as I am about to lecture my students on the EU that the Daily Telegraph has started a new series of articles about it. Of course this is in the run up to the Irish referendum (Round 2) of the Lisbon Treaty. So the EU will be a topic I blog about regularly over the coming weeks......
This article has caught my eye as I was going to bed, and it seems a good a place as any to begin reflection.....
Is Britain still a sovereign state?
To think that I am discussing the impact of globalisation on sovereignty with my students, and I haven't even touched the mighty EU yet..........
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It's very fitting that as I am about to lecture my students on the EU that the Daily Telegraph has started a new series of articles about it. Of course this is in the run up to the Irish referendum (Round 2) of the Lisbon Treaty. So the EU will be a topic I blog about regularly over the coming weeks......
This article has caught my eye as I was going to bed, and it seems a good a place as any to begin reflection.....
Is Britain still a sovereign state?
To think that I am discussing the impact of globalisation on sovereignty with my students, and I haven't even touched the mighty EU yet..........
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Wednesday, 27 May 2009
MP's Expenses Scandal and the rotten British Political System......
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Some long overdue comments on this outrageous tide of events. I have been reading and listening to lots of comments about this and I want to throw my opinion hat into the so-called ring......here goes......
(a) I don't think MP's should be chastised without examining each case closely. Those who have followed the rules first of all need to be separated from those who have broken the explicit rules laid down by the Parliamentary authorities and/or the Fees Office.
(b) Of course those who have broken the rules explicitly need to be duly and swiftly punished - which, given the nature of the very public role and duty that MP's have means losing their seat/standing down at the next election AS WELL AS prosecution. I am heartened to see some reports saying that HM Customs and Excise (Excuse me, it has been rebranded as a part of Labour's spin on the administration of government - I should correctly say HMRC - HM Revenue and Customs) are fully prepared to look into the tax affairs of MP's AND high-ranking ministers (Yes Chancellor that means you - using accountants to post tax returns when it is prohibited for Joe Blog to do so) and if tax law has been broken will go ahead with pressing for a prosecution - so the message is, don't mess with your Majesty's Crown Mr Darling because she has her ways of coming back and biting you where it quite rightly hurts!
(c) Those MP's who have kept within the rules first of all need to be recognised for doing so.
(d) THEN, we can look at those who have followed the rules and quite rightly criticise them for the levels of their expenses claims. If you feel as a member of the public that you have lost trust in your MP because of the level of those claims, express that opinion at the ballot box, but by no means put these MP's in the same camp as the others. Where there has been an "abuse" in the sense of a high quantity of claims, let's voice our discontent but also recognise that no rules have been broken and the problem is WITH THE RULES THEMSELVES - now on course to change.....and this is how our system works! Cast your mind back to but a month or so ago and we were criticising Harriet Harman because she threatened an immediate change in the law to force Goody Goodwin to give his pension pot back - we were absolutely aghast were we not at the thought of a British Government and Parliament legislating at will to scapegoat one man - a man who is certainly greedy but broke no laws. Many were saying that the law must change and then we can prevent future Goody Goodwin's - and quite right. The same principle applies here. Don't abuse MP's because they stayed within the rules - QUESTION their need to claim highly BUT focus on the changes that need to be made and then let's move forward. Focus the negative energy on those who must be purged from this political system that is in a dire mess.
(e) My final point - Reading one article I realised that we can't leave human nature out of this equation - of course it is not a justification for what has happened (especially as this scandal spreads to the EU Parliament) but there is a certain side to many of us I'm sure that would take benefits offered to us as a part of our jobs and try to realise as many of those as possible.........if it is within the rules to stay at any hotel on a business trip, wouldn't you stay at the most comfortable one that would be allowed? However perhaps there is further debate necessary on this when it comes to spending public as supposed to private funds......and I duly take note.
All in all what this expenses scandal reveals is a rot at the heart of our political system - let's go back to 1997. Now I see what has been happening. Loony liberals bringing in political correctness, legislating for every conceivable outcome with armies of pen-pushers, and then sweetening their large majority of MP's on the backbenches by taking away the real power of Parliament (their power) and replacing it with endless benefits and handouts to fatten the pigs up and make it impossible for them to ever leave their constituency seats. Rotten to the core now be the system! Thank whatever God you believe in that Michael Martin is out.....good riddance for his arrogance and absolute contempt for the British Parliamentary System - however I hope his demise followed by Gordy's doesn't force these two Scots back home where they will finally be prepared to cut the Scottish political elite and Scottish public from the United Kingdom of (what-used-to-be-known-as-this wonderful) Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Thanks for Reading.......
P.S One final thought - as this spreads to the EU and expenses scandals are uncovered there - if this is what the "elected branch" of EU "government" does, need we say more about the stomach-churning possibilities of the unelected Commission and European Council? Well, let's not forget the European Commission events of 1999....a past experience to sweeten the taste...........
-
Some long overdue comments on this outrageous tide of events. I have been reading and listening to lots of comments about this and I want to throw my opinion hat into the so-called ring......here goes......
(a) I don't think MP's should be chastised without examining each case closely. Those who have followed the rules first of all need to be separated from those who have broken the explicit rules laid down by the Parliamentary authorities and/or the Fees Office.
(b) Of course those who have broken the rules explicitly need to be duly and swiftly punished - which, given the nature of the very public role and duty that MP's have means losing their seat/standing down at the next election AS WELL AS prosecution. I am heartened to see some reports saying that HM Customs and Excise (Excuse me, it has been rebranded as a part of Labour's spin on the administration of government - I should correctly say HMRC - HM Revenue and Customs) are fully prepared to look into the tax affairs of MP's AND high-ranking ministers (Yes Chancellor that means you - using accountants to post tax returns when it is prohibited for Joe Blog to do so) and if tax law has been broken will go ahead with pressing for a prosecution - so the message is, don't mess with your Majesty's Crown Mr Darling because she has her ways of coming back and biting you where it quite rightly hurts!
(c) Those MP's who have kept within the rules first of all need to be recognised for doing so.
(d) THEN, we can look at those who have followed the rules and quite rightly criticise them for the levels of their expenses claims. If you feel as a member of the public that you have lost trust in your MP because of the level of those claims, express that opinion at the ballot box, but by no means put these MP's in the same camp as the others. Where there has been an "abuse" in the sense of a high quantity of claims, let's voice our discontent but also recognise that no rules have been broken and the problem is WITH THE RULES THEMSELVES - now on course to change.....and this is how our system works! Cast your mind back to but a month or so ago and we were criticising Harriet Harman because she threatened an immediate change in the law to force Goody Goodwin to give his pension pot back - we were absolutely aghast were we not at the thought of a British Government and Parliament legislating at will to scapegoat one man - a man who is certainly greedy but broke no laws. Many were saying that the law must change and then we can prevent future Goody Goodwin's - and quite right. The same principle applies here. Don't abuse MP's because they stayed within the rules - QUESTION their need to claim highly BUT focus on the changes that need to be made and then let's move forward. Focus the negative energy on those who must be purged from this political system that is in a dire mess.
(e) My final point - Reading one article I realised that we can't leave human nature out of this equation - of course it is not a justification for what has happened (especially as this scandal spreads to the EU Parliament) but there is a certain side to many of us I'm sure that would take benefits offered to us as a part of our jobs and try to realise as many of those as possible.........if it is within the rules to stay at any hotel on a business trip, wouldn't you stay at the most comfortable one that would be allowed? However perhaps there is further debate necessary on this when it comes to spending public as supposed to private funds......and I duly take note.
All in all what this expenses scandal reveals is a rot at the heart of our political system - let's go back to 1997. Now I see what has been happening. Loony liberals bringing in political correctness, legislating for every conceivable outcome with armies of pen-pushers, and then sweetening their large majority of MP's on the backbenches by taking away the real power of Parliament (their power) and replacing it with endless benefits and handouts to fatten the pigs up and make it impossible for them to ever leave their constituency seats. Rotten to the core now be the system! Thank whatever God you believe in that Michael Martin is out.....good riddance for his arrogance and absolute contempt for the British Parliamentary System - however I hope his demise followed by Gordy's doesn't force these two Scots back home where they will finally be prepared to cut the Scottish political elite and Scottish public from the United Kingdom of (what-used-to-be-known-as-this wonderful) Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Thanks for Reading.......
P.S One final thought - as this spreads to the EU and expenses scandals are uncovered there - if this is what the "elected branch" of EU "government" does, need we say more about the stomach-churning possibilities of the unelected Commission and European Council? Well, let's not forget the European Commission events of 1999....a past experience to sweeten the taste...........
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