Reasons For AV - 1974

The first election of  1974 was held in February. It was all about who ruled the country.

Was it the elected government?

Or Authur Scargill and the NUM?

Ted Heath, the Conservative Prime minister called the election after a wave of strikes. He made it plain that the issue of who governed the country was the primary issue in the election.

But instead of getting the government with the highest popular vote, the country got the loser.

It got Harold Wilson.

Wilson's Labour Party won the most seats, even though they got a smaller share of the vote than the Tories. Because they got the most seats they were given the first opportunity to form a government

Wilson,  on the day of the election called a surrender parley with Arthur Scargill and the TUC to ensure the security of his minority government.

He then went on to form the Lib-Lab pact, (a poor mans coalition).

The country was in crisis. It needed popular leadership.

It got a coalition of losers. Courtesy of First Past The Post.

Heath was not asked to form the government because the Tories had won fewer seats than the Labour party. Even though the Tories had a greater share of the popular vote. What a travesty.

Wilson, the grand appeaser, forced a false boom and then held another snap election in October 1974. This time he won legitimately though at terrible cost to the nations wealth.

The country got a supine Labour  administration that sleep walked the country though devaluation and economic collapse when the country  really should have got something a little more "popular" and dare I say, effective.

The country ended up on a rudderless pre-Thatcherite course to the Winter of Discontent. Internally riven by extremists and in the middle of the depths of the cold war the country was, as in 1929 and 1951, bankrupt. It remained that way for a long time.

The current First Past the Post system abjectly failed this country in 1926, 1951 and 1974. The intrinsic flaws in FPTP and particularly its sensitivity to swing seats mean it will fail again unless replaced.

FPTP has the potential to randomly foist either a coalition of losers or (much worse - as in 1951) promote a government with an absolute majority that clearly came second in the election.

FPTP must be replaced. To simply go along with the current system would be to fossilise our democracy and deny our children the right to a dynamic forward looking democracy.

There is only one way to vote in this referendum. Vote for fairness. Vote for AV.

Reasons For AV - 1951

Due to the flaws of the First Past The Post (FPTP) voting system, the 1951 General Election returned a Conservative Government with an absolute majority, even though they actually got a smaller share of the national vote than the Labour Party.

By any measure, such an event must be regarded as a catastrophe for democracy, and it was all down to the FPTP voting system.

Both the Tories and Labour increased their share of the vote but Labour clearly gained the largest share of the national vote.  But the conservatives gained the most seats.

Not only did the Conservative gain the most seats, they gained an absolute majority.

No prizes for spotting the horrendous anti-democratic outcome of the 1951 election below. All thanks to FPTP.

Image -Wikipedia

In 1926 and in 1974 the country was also ill served by the FPTP voting system that promoted the losing party to be the leading party in a minority government. Essentially the system promoted a losers coalition.

The election of 1951 was much worse.

Here the full potential horror of FPTP was realised. The loser not only went on to form a government but also governed with an absolute majority. Essentially governing against the wishes of the electorate.

Never again should we risk the catastophe of 1951 and having a government that, by a fluke of the FPTP voting system was totally illegitimate.

What has happened in the past can happen again, unless we replace this flawed FPTP system.

There is only one way to vote in this referendum. Vote for AV.

More on the 1951 election can be found on Wikipedia HERE

Reasons For AV - 1929

The 1929 General Election was a First-Past-The-Post election.

The national majority voted for Stanley Baldwin.

But they got  Ramsay McDonald.

Here is the result. There are no prises for spotting the flaw in this election

Baldwin was not given the opportunity to try and form a government, even though his party had the most votes.

McDonald's minority government, initially supported by the  Liberals, eventually collapsed.

Although McDonald desperately tried to do the best by the country, his 1929 victory was illegitimate. McDonald had no popular mandate.  

Remember McDonald's minority government was initially supported by the Liberals. This was a coalition. But it was a coalition of losers. The most popular party was not given the opportunity to try and form a government.

Although the Conservative Party had secured the highest share of the vote it did not win the most seats. It did not win the most seats because of the quirks and flaws of FPTP.

It is a misconception to suggest that coalitions are a peculiarity of AV. They can and do occur under FPTP, in fact exactly as we have now. But with FPTP it is more likely than with AV that the coalition will be formed from the losers rather then the party that got the most votes and a subsidiary.

The current FPTP System has failed this country and needs to be replaced. To simply go along with the current system would be to fossilise our democracy and deny our children the right to a dynamic forward looking democracy.

There is only one way to vote in this referendum. Vote for AV.

Extracting Gordon Brown

I had a cynical little smile tonight when the Dear Leader was on the Box telling us that he will, for the moment, remain in No 10, and will deal with anyone.

I reckon that the only way you will get Gordon Brown out of No 10 will be with a crowbar and a pair of pliers.

I can imagine Gordo, with his arms wrapped around the bannister of the stairs screaming Nooooooo! as the electorate frantically pull on his legs towards the door.

Expect some breathtaking offers in the next few days and some blatant power plays from all corners but especially from the King.

We live in “interesting times”, in the worst Chinese interpretation of that phrase.

God Bless you, my fellow sour faced little Englanders. Let us hope that in the coming flux our country at least gets a look in.

Vote, Drink and Moan

My dear fellow ugly, tainted, sour, little Englanders. As you know Billowthewisp likes a good moan. In fact Billothwisp hold a diploma in moaning awarded by his local pub. It would have been a doctorate in moaning but the landlord was biased against me. (bastard) You cannot rely on anyone these days. But there I go again.

Anyway.

It has been pointed out to me that moaning and not voting are mutually exclusive (e.g vote and moan or don't vote and shut-up). This blogger makes the point Here.

As I have no intention of shutting up I had better toddle off to the voting booth. Luckily the pub will be on the route home. Then that biased unfair landlord will get the full force of my Ire.

I suggest you do the same. Vote for the bloke/sheila who you think is the best candidate. If you think they are all a load of crap spoil your ballot paper. But always cast your vote. As for tactical voting, A vote form a crap candidate is a crap vote. Vote for who you believe in.

Then go down the pub and get rightously hammered.

This is why Billothewisp recommends evening voting, when the pub is open.

You know it makes sense.
Love & Kisses
Billothewisp

A Greek Tragedy and an English Vote.

As we come to the end of the British election campaign, matters in Greece have turned ugly. Greece is nigh on bankrupt and sliding towards anarchy. To maintain their position within the Euro zone they have to make massive cuts . Even our future cuts, that will be very bad, will not match those currently demanded of Greece.

There is a lesson here for us. Greece gave up its sovereignty too easily. It surrendered its national control over its currency and, like us has kow-towed to the Bureaucrats in Brussels. While things were good, the Greeks wafted along on a sea of debt. Now it has all turned sour. Today Germany is calling the shots. Greece does as it is told.

There but for the grace of God we go. I must admit that, several years ago I was of the opinion that joining the Euro was a good idea. How wrong I was.

When we go to vote tomorrow, we should all ask ourselves as to whether the people we are voting for will strive to keep us off the Greek road to ruin.

The European Union has just about cost the Greeks everything. It has also cost us dear.

As the SNP seems ultra Europhile, maybe the primary concern we should express with our vote should be for the sovereignty of (at least) England if not the whole of the UK.

Let us prevent the Greek tragedy becoming the English tragedy.

Examine the manifestos.
Who is really going to protect our sovereignty?

Watch out who you vote for.

Lib-Dems and Flying Pigs

Billothewisp loves the party political leaflets. He swoons over the promises and is thrilled by the wonderful feats of rationality they include. But he does get puzzled by the maths, especially the Dorset South pre-poll results given by the Lib-Dems.

A Hat tip to James Cleverly for this post. It made me take a closer look at the Lib-Dem literature that has been poked through our door. Like James we see a miraculous transformation of the voting intentions of the electorate.

My constituency is South Dorset.

In the Lib-Dem leaflet there is a bar-graph of party support. According to the Lib-Dem leaflet, this is the voting intentions

Lib-Dem 37%
Conservative 41%
Labour 14%

The Labour bar on the bar graph also has a handy little arrow stating “A Long Way Behind”

Hmmmmm.

I felt a little nonplussed by this, especially as the sitting MP is Jim Knight (Labour). While I expect he is going to lose his seat, he is actually one of the better of the Labour bunch and actually commands a level of loyalty within the constituency. I would be very surprised (amazed even) if his support fell to 14 %..

I thought I would Google the last election result. Here it is in this Guardian article.

In summary we got:

Lib-Dem 15.7%
Conservative 37.9%
Labour 41.6%


So Ros Kayes (Lib-Dem) reckons she has more than doubled Lib-Dem support. While poor old Jim Knight has seen his support fall by 2/3rds!

Hey! There goes another flying pig.

I hope this is simply wishful thinking and not a deliberate attempt at deception.

Maybe it is simply that the Lib-Dems need a few maths lessons. If so it doesn't sit well with the idea of them running the economy. But it is much worse if they have been deliberately deceptive.

One thing politics desperately needs in this country is honesty.
Not spin, not deception or wishful thinking.
We have had quite enough of those, thankyou.

A Scottish Debate – In England

Billothewisp has been drinking too much cider. He is annoyed. My apologies to my fellow ugly, sour faced, little Englanders..

But what the hell is going on?

Here I am, sitting in the middle of rural Dorset in the non country of England listening to a Scottish debate on the coming election. (BBC News channel)

A similar debate will not occur for my non country. No parliament. No assembly. No representation.

There will be no English debate. England has been abolished. At least in the minds of those who seek its demise.

So then, even by the ruling elites corrupt standards, where is the missing, bastardised regionalism?

So where are (at least) the Regional debates? Tell me. I want to know.

The ugly brutalised dissection of England into a set of regions was supposed to mirror the other countries within these islands.

So then: Where are the regional debates?

We have a Scottish debate, a Welsh debate, a Northern Ireland debate.

At least, where is the Northumbrian debate? The Wessex debate?

Of course they will never happen.

The truth is that there are no regional debates because publicising the false regional dissection of England would risk questioning English identity. Likewise there will be no English debate because that would destroy the grand regionalism master-plan.

England and the English are patient and tolerant.

But there are limits to everything. To put it mildly.

This is unfair.

Why Labour won't Die

Billothewisp has been drinking a lot of cider. During his drinking he has pondered the fate of the Labour Party and politics in general. Especially after the events with Mrs Duffy.

However bad the election result, there is a simple reason Labour will not die. Irrespective of the self serving, elitist clique who own, run and rule the party.

That simple thing is loyalty.

The loyalty of people like Mrs Duffy. People who are generally despised and treated with contempt by the Labour cognoscenti.

Straight forward working people, concerned about their communities. People who get treated like lepers by the ruling elite. They are the ones who will vote Labour even after being demonised and betrayed.

They will vote Labour because they are loyal and trustworthy. They will do it because they respect their forebears who formed the Labour party. They will vote Labour as an act of loyalty to their community.

Lucky ruling elite.

But what about the ruling elite?

I don't want to address the immigration issues again, but I do want to address the mind set of King Gordo and others of the intelligentsia within the Labour party who would deign Mrs Duffy and her like as “bigoted”. Simply because she expressed a view non centric to their mindset.

Bigoted. Really! What a thing to think! Let alone say. Even if it was said in private.

Here we have a pensioner, reasonably expressing her concern on a number of issues. She is smiled at, condescended to, and virtually patted on the head like a good dog. Later she is referred to as a bigot.

Lets make no mistake over this. That is exactly what Brown felt. He said it in private. There is no reason for him to have said it at all, unless that is what he thought and wanted to express. All the snuffling, apologies and false smiles later were there simply to try and dig himself out of the crap.

Even if she had been wrong (and I don't think she was), Mrs Duffy expressed her views in a controlled, reasonable and dignified manner. She deserves more than to be instantly labelled, categorised and demonised.

That is what the McCarthy witch-hunts were about or the Stalinist show trials.

It lays bare the narrow minded elitist mindset that grips the Labour Party.

But loyalty is a great thing. The overpaid luvvies, the champagne socialists and the intellectual contortionists can be assured it will keep them going for quite a few more years.

But one day, maybe, the trough snuffling elite will push things just too far. The loyal will rebel. Maybe then we will get a political party that tries to represent the electorate rather than a narrow intellectual clique. Maybe then we will get a Labour party that good people like Mrs Duffy deserve.

So when is the English Debate?

Billothewisp eagerly watched the Great Good and Extremely Well Fed engage in their little televised tryst over running the country.

At the end, Billothewisp watched the nice Mr Dimble-Thingy proudly announce the other debates that will be taking place.

There will be one in Scotland, broadcast live (Rah Rah Hoo-Ray!)
The will be one in Wales broadcast live ( Yip Yiop Yo!)
There will be one in Northern Ireland broadcast live ( Rah rah hurrah!)

Billothewisp eagerly awaited the finale in this roll call of nations within these islands. With glowing eyes he stopped filing his teeth and wrung his furry little hands in expectation. He watched like an obedient child about to be rewarded with sweeties for being good and not complaining.

But then Mr Dimble-Dumble simply went on to the next item, telling us that UKIP and the Greens would have a small slot on the following news broadcast.

Billothewisp was puzzled. There was something missing. In fact it was more than a something. It was a whole nation. An Identity spanning 50 million souls.

Billothewisp scratched his head. Puzzled and confused he wondered about the missing nation. He watched the news in case it may appear there. All he got was a virtual repeat of the leaders debate and about 90 seconds of Nigel Farage. Even the Greens did not seem to make an appearance (or maybe they were so irrelevant he just didn't notice).

Still no mention of the missing nation.

Billothewisp racked his poor brain. He had vague memories that the missing nation was actually, quite famous. Funnily, he vaguely remembered it had a long history and a football team that didn't win much. It had a name. But what was that name?

Suddenly Billothewisp looked up with a start. Oh yes! Now he remembered. It was the word that was always to be avoided. The identity that must be denied and derided lest the Proles push past the crappy football team and seek their own governance under its name.

Billothewisp shuddered and gulped. With his heart racing he dared to speak it out loud.
“England” he said.
He furtively looked around him in case others had heard. But they were all too slam dunked by four cans each of Old Speckled Hen to notice.

Billothewisp had that old feeling of betrayal that swam up whenever he heard or mouthed the name of the non-country with its no-identity and no-representation and no-parliament and non-assembly.

He comforted himself with another Old Speckled Hen Suddenly the world was a little rosier. The sense of betrayal lessened. He replayed the Weasel words of the divine three and felt comforted. For the moment the loss of his non-nationhood receded from his thoughts. He went back to filing his teeth to jaunty little points.

But deep down, he knew that sooner or later, the issue of English sovereignty and identity would have to be addressed, however much the ruling elite wished to avoid it.

Billothewisp knew that one day, the nice Mr Dimble-Dumbly would have to add to his role call of national debates. That there would have to be a debate for the English on English issues.

Or there will be hell to pay.

So Why Exactly, is Gillian Duffy a Bigot?

The Dear Leader has got himself into a spot of bother.

The trouble is, our Gordon is so accustomed to dishing out the laws and edicts it must come as a shock when one of the proles starts asking pointed questions. Especially if they are questions about the Great Taboo.

And what is the Great Taboo?

It is, of course, the topic that must not be mentioned.

It must be avoided at all costs.Any queries must be crushed.

Anyone querying the great taboo must be vilified, smeared, derided and despised.

Gillian Duffy, a working class grandmother and pensioner crossed the line.

She mentioned the Great Taboo. That was her sin.

To be fair, she also gave the Dear Leader a good kicking about several other pertinent topics. But without doubt, Gordon Browns vilification and dismissal of Gillian Duffy was triggered by her mentioning the Great Taboo.

So what did she say?

This link offers the full transcript.

The words that propelled this otherwise straightforward, compassionate and dare I say,"normal" person to Bigot status were these:

"You can't say anything about the immigrants because you're saying that you're... but all these eastern Europeans what are coming in, where are they flocking from?"

That is it. That is all. No more.

The Great Taboo was mentioned.

Suddenly Gillian Duffy is a bigot, racist, Nazi or whatever.

The Dear Leader, in response, huffily announced that 1 million Brits have gone to Europe which, in his rather bizarre world, somehow compensates for the several million immigrants (some legal, some not) who have deluged our shores.

These are his words in reply:

"A million people have come from Europe but a million British people have gone into Europe. You do know that there's a lot of British people staying in Europe as well."

Dare I suggest that most of the Brits staying in Europe are retirees or in high demand jobs. Essentially they are fleeing our ravaged little England and seeking sanctuary across the water.

The million(s) coming in are at best (like the Poles) looking for work and contributing through taxes. Although it can only be unhealthy for both England and Poland to have such a large number of workers dislocated from their own country. Like it or not, it does also mean less work for the locals.

Then at worst, there are the parasitic and narrow minded who actively despise our culture, while forever extending out their hand and demanding more.

So there you have it. The Great Taboo.

So perhaps we should say to Gillian Duffy:
How dare you?
How dare you question the unmentionable?
How dare you bring up the topic the cognoscenti wish to hide and obscure?

Perhaps she should be warned that her words were bordering on a hate crime.
Maybe she should be questioned, examined, watched.

Just in case.

A Wonderfully Subversive Election Video

This is so damn good I had to put a link to it here.
This video has probably changed the way I will vote. It is just so ruthlessly accurate.
Unless you are happy and content with our present ugly political status-quo, watch this today.

Lib-Dems: The Return of the Care Bears.

Or is it the "My Little Ponies"?

After returning to our ruined little England from far away I made the mistake of looking up a synopsis of Lib-Dem policies. All I can say to you my fellow sour faced little Englanders is God help us all if this bunch of tosh gets anywhere near legislation.

Really, I would expect better from a group of nine year olds. Some of this junk simply beggars belief.

First off I will blame the cause of my unpleasant foray into Lib-Dem dream-world on this post by Ian Dale It describes the proposed Lib-Dem tax break for illegal immigrants. Basically, if you evade our laughable boarder protection for ten years, you do not have to repay any of the tax you have avoided (ker-ching!). Illegal immigrants only will be eligable for this concession. Nasty little Englanders need not apply. In fact YOU will be paying for this. So bugger off to the back of the queue as normal.

Regrettibly, after reading Ians post, I then Googled this Lib-Dem policy synopsis.

I was going to make a list of the most ludicrous and vacant of these touchy-feely pie-in-the-sky statements but then I read the section marked "Environment".

Then I got worried. Very worried.

There is crass stupidity elsewhere in their policy synopsis. But in the Environment section it gets worse. Much, much worse. So bad in fact, I fear for the future safety of our frail and elderly.

Get this:

"Setting a target for 40 per cent of electricity will come from renewable sources by 2020 rising to 100 per cent by 2050"

This is totally unachievable.

It is a pair of targets that are so ludicrous you have to question the technical ability (if not the sanity) of anyone suggesting them.

Worse than that, by implying it is achievable they will end up killing people. These victims will mainly old ladies who will freeze to death when the inevitable power cuts stop their gas or electric heating from working.

Now get these two further statements:

"Blocking any new coal-fired power stations"
"Rejecting a new generation of nuclear power stations"

So how exactly are they planning to generate electricity? Obviously no-one has told them that those mighty wind turbine thingys don't actually produce much power. Especially when you need it. Are they going to rely on gas? From the generous Mr Putin no doubt?

I had to take a break in writing this to cool down. This is just so bloody unbelievable. Do these people have any contact with reality at all?

I am really, really, worried that people with apparently no understanding of basic physics let alone real world energy generation and managment are "planning" our future energy strategy. The crass incompetence and cowardice of the Labour party has got us into a situation where there is likely to be real difficulties in avoiding power cuts in the next 5 years anyway. This lunacy from the Liberals would make things much worse.

To ensure this countries energy requirements are met we really must have a set of policies based on the real world and what can actually be achieved.

Ridiculous fashion statements will not suffice.

Spoil it for England

My dear dissolusioned fellow little Englanders, how should we address the choice presented to us during the forthcoming election? How should we choose between the bland tasteless porridge of spin and despair that is offered to us?

Maybe you are one of the millions of fair minded Englanders who is now in such a state of despair about our country they will choose not to vote. If that is you, read on.


First lets look at the sorry options we have.

Should we vote for King Gordo?, the Eternal Leader, the Nokia Ballista? The latter day McBeth? The Macawber-esque financial failure?

Or should we choose Posh Dave who has made such a hash of this election campaign thatt he has turned a dead cert into a possible catastpohe.

There is Thingy in the Liberal Doo-Dahs who is simply all things to all men. The political colour equivalent to Hearing-aid beige.

The host of small parties may be honest, but you may consider that they lack gravity.

So what can you do if the small parties do not attract you and the larger ones make you want to vomit?

You are (quite rightly) outraged by the fraud, corruption, hidden agendas and sheer incompetence. You despise the jobs for the boys, the champagne socialism, the privilege and control freakery.

So what are we to do? How can we show our rage? How can we breath life into the bloated corpse of our democracy?

Firstly, always try and find someone worth voting for, but if there is really no one you can stomache voting for, why not indulge in a little constructive bureaucratic vandalism.

Spoil your ballot paper.

Write "Spoilers" or "Thieves" or whatever you like across the paper. But remember the blushes of the nice lady doing the counting.

People who do not use their ballot paper aree ignored. But imagine the effect if there are hundreds of thousands of spoilt ballot papers. The crooks will have to take notice.

So whatever you do, whether you vote or spoil your ballot paper get out there on election day.

At the very least you can register your displeasure.

Cuts for the Old. Foreign Aid Ring Fenced

I cannot believe this. Our political leaders have all queued up to emphasise how they are going to ring fence foreign aid. Now Clegg wants to cut winter fuel payments to the over 60's. See BBC news report here

I must be missing something here. Who comes first? British people at the end of their working lives or foreign governments?

Most of the aid recipients are massively corrupt. Others like India and China are running huge budget surpluses. They have the money, but they choose not to spend it on their poor. They let us do it instead.

I appreciate that the winter fuel payments for the under 65's may have to go due to the catastrophic economic situation we are in, but surely at least some of the £8 billion foreign aid budget should go first.

If you want to see why people in this ruined little land of ours cannot be bothered to vote then this must be a iconic example.

With this we see our political leaders displaying exactly how unimportant they regard the common people in this country. They seem all yearn to strut about on the World stage showing how generous and globalised they are, while their own people can go to hell.

The Liberals New Secret Weapon

Thingy, who runs the Liberal Doo-Dahs along with his dad (the old bald bloke who acts as their treasury spokesman) has a secret weapon.

In these days of dull self-serving politicians, the Liberals have now have something very different. A real vote winning candidate with extensive experience in a popular area of the media.

Her name is Anna Arrowsmith a 38 year old film maker. She is their candidate in Gravesham in Kent. (See Mirror Here) and (See Times Here)

The secret weapon in the Liberals armoury is Ms Arrowsmiths particular area of media expertise.

Low budget pornography.

We can all imagine how politically disinterested young men will be particularly enthralled by Ms Arrowsmiths offerings. If she was put in charge of the Liberal party propaganda machine then they would be unassailable.

Maybe if the Liberals exploit this new area of expertise, others will be forced to follow. Perhaps we could watch the Labour party doing to each other what they have been doing to the country for the last 13 years.

Truly, Party political broadcasts would never be the same again.

Eight Million Reasons for Change

The polls have narrowed. The Conservative lead has been cut to 6 points. This would in all probability lead to a hung parliament. So why is this happening?

The issue here is not the dynamism of the Labour party. Irrespective of your political leaning, when you look at the Labour Party, what you see is divided, tired and direction-less. The only thing stopping another coup attempt against Brown is the nearness of the next election. They are currently beyond redemption and really, they are a bit like the proverbial dead man walking.

So why are they closing the gap?

The answer has to be the utterly lack-lustre performance of the Conservative party. They have failed completely to get across anything resembling a coherent set of policies. We have the utterly ludicrous commitment to maintaining the foreign aid budget. They have ring fenced “this” and ring fenced “that” and pandered to every fashionable diatribe imaginable. This is not leadership. It is simply dishing out the weasel words in the hope of election by default.

I am sorry if that sounds harsh.

I really, really, really do not want another five years of the rotting cadaver that is this present government.

But it has to be replaced with something that has something other than platitudes to offer the electorate. The only worthwhile thing so far that they have come up with is the idea of selling off the bank shares in a privatisation style sale.

While Osbourne's idea shows merit, there needs to be a raft of new thinking not just one plank.

If they were short of a few ideas and aspects of this failed government to emphasise they would only need to read the Sunday Times today. See Here.

• 8 million “economically inactive”
  
• 1.7 million new jobs created since 1997. 81% have gone to foreigners.
  
• 20% companies now recruit overseas
  

Now add to that:

• Stealing Medics from poor countries but cannot offer our own home trained medics jobs beyond their F2 year.
  
• 3000 new criminal offences since 1997
  
• The greatest divide between rich and poor since the 1930's
  
• Open door immigration.
  
• Poorly equipped military used to slake Labours thirst for war.
  

I could go on and on and on.

But all we hear from the Conservative Party is a mumbling set of fashionable greeny feel good statements.

So far Cameron has failed dismally to marshal both his thoughts and his support.

He needs to pull his finger out.

Submerged Optimism and Ruined Hope

There are times when I really love the output of Labour spin doctors.

Here they are, Labours finest, facing potential oblivion and they still come out with preposterous concepts based on how wonderful they are.

Now they have decreed that the country is bathed in “Submerged Optimism” (see Guardian here)

Oh Joy.

Submerged optimism.

Like Submerged Ocean liner?
Submerged city?
Submerged Island?
Submerged swimmer?

When exactly does submerged turn into drowned? Murdered. Done away with. Ruined.

Lets try the last one. And substitute it in the spin.

“Ruined Optimism”. Oh yes. That sounds much more like the Brown Government.

The other great saviour they are looking to is Barack Obama and his electioneering approach with hard sell telephone polling.

Unfortunately they have forgotten that England is not America, and Gordon Brown is most certainly not Barack Obama

The NHS and Ugly Bribes

A few posts ago I pointed out how Gordon Brown and cohorts were peddling a series of little bribes to key groups of swing voters. Roughly one a week. But I never thought that even our Magnificent Citizen One would sink as low as this.

His target this week is cancer patients. The offering is treatment in the community with a dedicated nurse. Although, he has been in office for thirteen years, this “good idea” has obviously not been a priority until now.

There is a big issue here. It is avoided by all parties. This is whether politicians, especially dishonourable one like Brown, should ever control what the NHS spends its money on.

This would not be an issue in France or Germany. There, politicians have much less say or control over their national health care systems. Incidentally the French and German health care systems still knock spots off ours. That is not because of the medics or the money spent. But it is a lot to do with the politics, spin and bureaucracy. Not to mention the bright little ideas spawned by the likes of the Great Leader. Especially when he needs to buy a few votes.

What would really get my attention would be if somebody stood up and announced that they were going to remove the NHS from political control. Then Brown and others would not be able to use it like a political football.

If freedom from political control is good enough for the Bank of England and even the Great and the Good at the BBC then why should our health service suffer the indignities of the dirty little publicity stunts of Gordon Brown?

Is This Brown's Gameplan?

So Gordon “The Abyss” Brown plans to go On and On. (see here)

Machiavellian? A touch of the Macbeth's? Maybe a little like a dishonourable Don Quixote?

I glean from the above article that his reasoning is that even if Labour loses the election badly the main losses will be among the anti-Brown camp. This then would actually strengthen his position within the Labour party.

Like all leaders who have outstayed their welcome he will hang on until the bitter end. Even then, he will want to ensure a king-like succession for the chosen pretender, Ed Balls.

But maybe there is more to this.

Maybe he is hoping that a newly elected Conservative government will have to make such massive and unpopular cuts to save the economy that they lose the support of the electorate. Then King Gordon can make a comeback, a little like Harold Wilson did in the early seventies.

And that IS a worry.

The economy is screwed. There is going to be little but economic misery for the next three years. That will be the case even if the economy is under the control of someone who actually tries to run it properly, rather than just get carried along with the tide.

Gordon Brown is an extremely adept schemer and a ruthless assassin of his enemies. That is why he is still there. After a losing election he would actually have fewer enemies within the Labour party than now.

The risk is that Cameron gets elected with a small or no majority, then after a calamitous year in government trying to sort out the mess, he gets turfed out and Gordo gets back in.

Far fetched?

I hope so.

But I suspect that is the turn of events that Brown is banking on.