A Message from the New Chairman…

First of all may I say a word of thanks to the outgoing Chairman. Theo, whether you admit it or not, you have done a good job as chairman of BUCF. You have actively involved yourself and our more committed members in the local and national arena with determination and vigour. This blog in particular has gone from strength to strength under your watch and the Conservative Home award for ‘Best Young Conservative Blog’ is a testament to the achievements of the out-going committee.

 

What I want to do as chairman of CF however is to build upon our success as a society whilst attempting to correct our mistakes. I want to reconnect with the members we seem to have scared off, as well as guaranteeing CF’s support for our local parliamentary candidates at this crucial time. This is the time when conservatives across the country are finding their voices after years in the ‘political wilderness’ and it is our job to ensure they succeed in ensuring a conservative occupies number 10 at the next election. As a party we have never been stronger, apart from under Thatcher naturally J and this is the time when Conservative future needs to take a front line role.

 

I know that the committee we have put together is of a common mind. Our main goal is to reinvigorate our membership and make them feel that a political society can be about more than just politics. We want to make BUCF a social as well as a political society and we believe that a membership that is comfortable with its committee and indeed with one another is of far more service to our party locally and nationally. This is a daunting task, and given the stresses of my impending dissertation, perhaps an unrealistic one. But I can, in the ever eloquent words of Gordon Brown, only promise to ‘do my utmost’ to serve the interests of our party and our members…the only difference is I actually mean it! So thank you for your support and I hope myself and the new committee will do it justice.

 

David Cameron

David Cameron will be in Birmingham this coming Monday and the majority of the new BUCF committee will be attending. We encourage all members to come along and get to know the new committee and have the oppourtunity to meet David Cameron and George Osbourne. Anyone interested is to RSVP to the Chair at:

bucfchair@hotmail.com

The final names will be sent to the organisers no later than mid-day tomorrow so don’t hesitate to get in touch!

The Chairman’s last-word…

From yesterday evening, Birmingham University Conservative Future elected in a new committee, this committee is chaired by Daniel O’Doherty who I am sure all of you who have read this blog more than once will be fully aware of.

I started my Chairmanship with a list of things I wanted to achieve; all of which were managed to an extent. My primary aim had been to increase membership, which we did achieve. On top of this we managed to put on a wide variety of successful events, run an award winning blog as well as sending delegates to conference and putting hundreds of hours into the local elections. It has been a good year for the Conservative party, that has been represented down at the CF level!

None of this would have been possible without the hard work of my committee, who I’d like thank for all their hard-work. It is important that I single out two members though, who were always there when I needed them. Ryan and Jimmy helped make this society what it is today, their help has been invaluable and has given me much needed support throughout the year, they have been great friends and a great asset to Conservative Future. The local Conservatives have also been a real help, particularly David Fazakerley who always went that extra mile to help our society and try and get us involved in local politics.
Lastly, a special thanks needs to go to Daniel Cowdrill, he has put his blood sweat and tears into BUCF, and has always been willing to get stuck in, no matter with what or when, I truly do appreciate all the help he has given CF and I wish him all the best in his graduation this year.

Jimmy and I will now be working at the Birmingham Solihull & Coventry area level of CF, but will still be very much around in Birmingham. I wish Daniel and BUCF the very best of luck and look forward to his exciting new ideas.

Goodbye!

This is my final post on the BUCF website as Editor. Last night we had the BUCF AGM, and a new committee has been elected, one of which I shall take no part in. I will let them write their own blog post introducing themselves later.

First an apology I have shamefully not kept the blog up to date over the last six weeks as much as I would have liked to, I was in London working on the Mayoral campaign, and this to say the least took quite a lot out of me, and since returning to Uni I have been behind on revision also.

I have though thoroughly enjoyed my time as Editor and being responsible for communications, I have learnt a great deal as well. I am delighted that the blog continues to do so well from winning awards to receiving at one point regularly over 600 readers a day, and although it is a cliche, I would like to thank you the readers and particularly commentators who inspire the debate that takes place on this website, since it began around 18 months ago, we have had over 1400 comments. I think this demonstrates that it has become one of the key forums for debate for all goings on at the University of Birmingham.

I would encourage all CFs around the country to start blogging, it is a great way to inform new members and the wider audiences about what you are doing, in my new role as Area Chairman for the West Midlands, I will be encouraging all branches to take it up  (I will use this blog in the future to outline my plans for Area Chair, once the exams are over!). We have been contacted in a huge variety of ways from radio companies, newspapers, television broadcasters and politicians, all this has led to a great experience of the media.

I like to think the blog is in a healthy state to continue forward into what for the party and this branch of CF should be an exciting couple of years in the build up to the closest fought election in two decades.

Best of luck to the new committee, I look forward to your injection of fresh ideas into the blog and reading your musings.

 

 

1000

This blog post, marks number 1000 since the website was set up 18 months ago, a very emotional day for all involved I can assure you!!

 

Happy days…

Down but not out…

On Thursday night at Zizi restaurant in the Mailbox we got on to the political question on everyones mind… when is Hillary going to concede or more importantly should she concede? The basic consensus was that Clinton had lost the nomination but should not concede the race just yet. I went a little further and at the risk of rattling Cowdrills cage I say now what I said then, Clinton should remain in the race until the bitter end. I shall briefly discuss my reasoning for this.

Firstly Obama’s lead is not so decisive that he was able to surpass the 2025 delegates needed to win the nomination outright. Thus in my opinion the superdelegates should ask themselves why? It is at this juncture that they should exercise a degree of autonomy, after all that is their intended purpose, to break a deadlock not to slavishhly endorse polls results. Forgive me for saying but the superdelegates know more about politics and the requirements of elections than your ‘average joe’ voter and should keep that in mind. 

I believe the superdelegates reluctance to flock to Obama is in part down to a fear of charges of elitism from those who voted for him which would inevitably emmerge if they backed Clinton. This allied with the fear of a fall-out from within the traditionally loyal black community makes them cautious. Further they have a realisation that Obama isn’t winning in the ‘right places’ such as the decisive swing states. They also have an acceptance that Clinton leads Obama in most national polls and maintain a desire to wait until the end of the race to see if Clinton can regain any momentum in terms of the popular vote.

Delegate math is tricky, electoral math isn’t, Clinton is taking the big states and the swing states that matter in a Presidential election. The latest poll in West Virginia, a decisive swing states, shows a massive lead for Clinton. She has a 43-point advantage over Obama, 66 percent to 23 percent, according to a new survey from the American Research Group. This poll was conducted after Obama’s victory in North Carolina.

To add to this Kentucky polls don’t make much better reading for Obama with the most recent survey suggesting Clinton is ahead 62-28, a 34 point margin. This I believe would tip the popular vote firmly in Clintons favour giving weight to her claim she is the voters choice. I believe commanding victories in states such as Kentucky should ensure Clinton carries on right until the end. However I believe that the issue of Michigan and Florida has to be resolved. Contrary to popular opinion NEITHER candidate campaigned in Florida of Michigan, however after the Clinton victory she did travel to thank Floridians.

For me it is inconceiveable that the votes of over 5,163,271 people should be discounted for a stupid technicality this issue is bureaucracy gone bonkers if you ask me. When all the points raised about and more are considered, coupled with the fact that even Conservative commentators such as Rush Limbaugh concede Clinton would be the stronger candidate to face McCain and thus have endorsed Obama, Clinton should be the Democratic nominee.

Final Farewell to Dunwoody

 

The funeral of Veteran Labour MP Gwyneth Dunwoody took place yesterday at St Margarets Church in Westminster. Dunwoody was renowned for her decency and the courtesy she extended to everyone, regardless of their political affiliations. She was a great parliamentarian and the world of politics turned out to bid her a fond farewell. David Cameron, Nick Clegg and an array of top figures from all the political parties attended, apart from one… Gordon Brown.

Trouble with the Telegraph…

After reading the Telegraph this morning, horror of horrors, I found an article that deeply disturbed and greatly irritated me. At first I believed it was some kind of prank, but realising April fools day had passed it dawned on me that the author of this ridiculous piece actually believed in what he was writing. The opinion section contained the article “Austria is defined by its nasty secrets”. This initially intrigued me but as I read on I found it way off course and in parts blatantly racist and abhorrent.

The article basically went on to claim that Austria was a land of misery and death and that Austrians are a suicidal, Nazi loving and ‘distorted’ people. Having been to Austria myself I can express my view that few countries are as beautiful and few people as friendly and hospitable. Sadly each nation is characterised by a certain few cancerous individuals and wrongly it is often the case that this minority of people come to stereotype a nation. People such as Fritzl and Hitler are being viewed by some as ’Mr Austria’ and the embodiment of all that Austrians stand for. This is tosh.

However the award for one of the worst lines ever written has to go to the author of this piece, Nigel Jones, when he claimed… ‘Fritzl’s latest plea that he actually saved his children/grandchildren from the wicked world’s contamination by locking them in a dark dungeon for decades may even be the truth - as he sees it. He could actually believe this grotesque distortion. He is, after all, an Austrian.’ No Nigel… he is INSANE.

Full Steam Ahead!

The latest poll for YouGov puts the Tories 26% ahead of Labour! As Dan has already said… its a good time to be a Tory!

EU Immigration Policy

After a good swim and a lot of wine with my housemate Fabio we got on to discussing immigration. we concluded that we thing the national level strategies currently in place by the European governments are now not suitable to securing our boarders and managing populations.

As we all know within the EU all citizens are at liberty to move freely and work freely. In essence with specific regard to boarders we have no internal ones. Therefore in regard to asylum seekers and refugees we should be treating the EU boarders as an entry point, not the national ones.

This would result in a system where all applications for entry to the EU would be considered at immigration centres on the boarders of the political union. Then all peoples seeking entry to any European country would be processed via these centres. Any persons who had by their ingenuity managed to get say to Britain, without being processed, would be immediately sent to the nearest centre.

The ideology here perhaps deviates a little from the conservatives party’s and even my own as my previous blogs on Europe are euro sceptic but we have immigration laws in Europe which make it more logical to treat the EU as on state, with one immigration and boarder policy. These centres would be funded by the EU nation states, and would be held to account by them. For this to work properly perhaps we need to open up the EU to proper democratic accountability. The centres would also reduce massively the cost of immigration to the national state, as it would be far more efficient to do all the processing and legal wrangling in one place. It would also end the ridiculous made dash for Britain at Calais and the armada of boats Italy has to deal with from Africa.

The national level approach has not worked, and now is the time that we properly defended and regulated EU boarders and we can do this properly together. A co-ordinated and united EU approach to immigration would be a better option than the idiosyncratic one we have now. I fear however that any sane and efficient policy would be impossible to get through EU paperwork.

Tories Triumph

The Conservative party have trounced New Labour with a series of spectacular results across the country. No matter how Labour try to spin it, and try they will, this victory was not just the result of a vote of no confidence in New Labour, it was a vote of confidence in us. These results are much deserved, no-one in their right minds could claim that we are the same party we were 20,10 or even 5 years ago. We as a party have developed in leaps and bounds whilst the lies, false promises and mismanagement of New Labour has become increasingly apparent. It has taken us a long time to stand as we do now and I’m sure the days of ‘wilderness’ will not be easily forgotten in Tory circles, nor should they. Indeed for a while we feared for the very surival of our party because we were faced for the first time with an opposition that in all intense and purposes was ‘diluted Tory’ and we didn’t know how to fight a party that offered similar policies! However those days are gone, we now have the weapon with which we can go forth and triumph at another more crucial election, we have the confidence of the British people.

For the first time in a long time people are thinking we really are a changed party and are willing to listen to what we have to say. This is not all down to the Cameron factor, previous leaders need to be commended for their efforts in the Tory revival. It is to their credit that our polling in the local election’s have consistently increased election on election to propell us to the plateau on which we now stand. Whilst the local elections are a huge boost for us, undoubtedly our crowning glory was achieved when Boris Johnson succeeded on unseating the incumbent Ken Livingstone and taking the Mayoralty of London. So where do we as a party go from here? Firstly we should not feel ashamed of our past but neither should we live in it. I and I confidently suspect a majority of our members will always be hugely respectful of the legacies of leaders such as Thatcher, but this is Camerons age and he offers the policies to rectify the social ills which plague us today as much as she rectified the economic ills of the 80’s. Our standing is now reminicent of the height of the Thatcher years with one small difference, we aren’t in government yet.

Now we are on an even keel with Labour. They can’t continually throw our past at us as a ’get out clause’ it is becoming a distant, less emotive memory and besides they’ve got enough baggage of their own! We have much to tackle Labour on and it is clear that this government is sinking fast. I am a passionate believer that politics generally works in cycles and it is plain to see that this one is coming to its end. So I urge all Conservatives not to lose sight of the task in hand, not to wallow in our triumph and not to get cocky and complacent. Having said this for tonight at least I think it is acceptable to sit a little smugly and wait and see how Labour attempt to recover the ground that is falling beneath them. Congratulations to all our candidates in Birmingham who have done spectacularly well, particularly in Quinton, and lets hope that we can justify the faith that people all over the country have placed in us.

MAKE SURE YOU VOTE TODAY.

TODAY IS THE POLLING DAY LOCAL ELECTIONS. FOR MOST STUDENTS THE POLLING STATION IS TIVERTON ROAD SCHOOL.

MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD AND VOTE CONSERVATIVE.

Its on: Boris Johnson vs. Ken Leavingsoon

Thats right after weeks of political punches Red Ken and Bumbling but brilliant Boris are going head to head for the Mayorality of our great capital. Pundits and pollsters are putting Boris as the favourite to unseat Livingstone outright in the first ballot although some have suggested it could go on to a second preferences ballot which Boris should go on to win. To add to the Boris momentum Brian Paddick, the Liberal Democrat mayoral candidate, signalled that he would consider a job with Boris Johnson in a Tory administration but ruled out any role with Ken Livingstone.

To rub salt in the wounds Paddick claimed “I just don’t trust Ken Livingstone,” adding that “the thought of having him as my boss sends shivers down my spine.” So if the Lib Dems have any sense about them they will ‘follow the leader’ and give their second preferances to Boris Johnson almost guarenteeing him a win. If all polls and predictions are correct, tomorrow for the first time in a long time, looks set to be a great day to be a Tory. So I urge all those eligable to get out and vote Tory and ensure that we show this government for what it is…dead in the water. I also know everyone will join me in sending our support and best wishes to members of the BUCF committee who have been campaigning for Boris in London and our Birmingham Conservative candidates in tomorrows elections lets hope their hard work pays off! 

US Update

Its seems that Hillary Clintons crucial win in Pennyslvania is paying off. According to an Associated Press-Ipsos poll released Monday in a hypothetical general election match with McCain, Clinton would lead him 50 percent to 41 percent. Further to this Obama’s once double digit lead over Clinton amongst Democrats has now been reduced to just 3 percentage points with Clinton 43 and Obama 46. To add to his woes Obama remains virtually tied with McCain in the same hypothetical general election, 46 percent to 44 percent.

Clinton also picked up a prized superdelegate endorsement heading into the North Carolina primary. Gov. Mike Easley announced his support for the former first lady on Tuesday morning in Raleigh, the state capital. This endorsement is contrary to the opinion polls in the state which up until now have shown Obama leading by double digits. It will be interesting to see whether this endorsement has any impact on the voters of North Carolina. Either way Obama has nowhere near bagged this nomination yet and Clinton clearly is going nowhere. I would agree with Howard Deans remarks that the superdelegates need to get off the fence within a few days of the last primary but I reject any calls for her to quite when the race is far from conclusive. However unless the candidate is decided by early June then Democrats will be faced with an increasingly uphill battle against the Republicans.

On a personal note I still believe the nominee should be the candidate with a majority of the popular vote, this is currently Clinton. I think she will suffer a set back in the upcoming primaries in states like North Carolina but she should regain her lead with wins in states like Indiana. However should Obama win the popular vote then I would back his case that he should be the Democratic nominee, I would expect Obama supporters to do the same should Clinton win the popular vote.

The Glamorous Aspiration.

I have just finished watching a TV programme on BBC3 called Page Three Teens; it was enlightening to say the least. This programme really depressed me. It followed this one 17-year-old girl on her exploration of the Glamour model industry. She was not stupid; in fact she was highly driven, ambitious and confident. So why I wondered was he aim in life to take off her bra?

This really shocked me, the programme informed me that in a phone poll of women aged 18-24 63% would rather be a glamour model than be a nurse or a teacher. Where has the determination of young people, in this case women gone? This really highlights a huge problem in education in my opinion. The stale, prescribed, conveyor belt of spoon fed knowledge that is our education system is unsurprisingly not enthusing our young people. Schools and education have to compete for the aspiration of their students, parents too play an invaluable role. In a world where celebrity is held as all mighty the virtues of a more professional life need now to be extolled more than ever.

More worryingly the programme also highlighted a trend of girls as young as 12 posing on the Internet as if they were glamour models, leaving these children exposed to the full perversion the Internet has to offer. This is a horrendous situation for young girls to be in, and reaffirms the message that the internet needs better monitoring, but that parents must be making sure their children are safe online. This leaves me feeling empty about the state of childhood and aspiration in this country.

Apparently we are becoming one of the least socially mobile countries in the world, and this can only get worse if girls and young women only aspire to pander to horny dirty men but getting their tits out for the lads. In a line that could have been uttered by a pervert, a female photographer commented “I don’t want to get into anything deep right now, coz (sic) I’ve not seen her boobs” sounds like some men’s dream line.

We need to inspire our young people to see beyond the cover of Bliss magazine and the latest Big Brother and show them a world of opportunity and dignity, where they can be equal to men not the inspiration for their self-gratification. This trend of celebrity is having real affects now and we need to counter it, and I am glad DC talked of a responsible media in society, it needs to come fast.

Oh and the girl’s thoughts on becoming 18 at the end of the show: “I’m an adult now, I can vote, or go topless!”

At least she is voting, May 1st Vote Blue go… you can finish that off, but I am putting out the recycling!!!

A Conservative Future

    

Britain and Britain in the world, in 50 years:

Our children can expect to live until they are 100, and remain healthy and active for their centenary. Medical advancement will make it increasingly possible to identify and eradicate genetic diseases and to prevent more acquired diseases.

We ourselves will live as Millionaires do now. We will have unprecedented actual wealth. Generally, wealth will become more evenly distributed.

As the world becomes increasingly globalised and mobile, governments will compete for skills, business and investment by driving down tax rates. By 2050 Britain will have a flat tax of 10% as well as some of the most competitive corporate and business taxes in the developed world.

The state will have almost no involvement in the provision of services including health and education. As more and more can afford to do so, they will opt for private services until it becomes unviable for the State to have a role in actual provision.

An increasing number of people will be self-employed and less reliant on paid work. As a result the average Briton’s quality of life will soar.

Britain will be one of the most intellectually and technologically advanced countries in the world. We will also be known as the ‘Green Island’, with one of the most environmentally friendly economies.

Scientific research will increase our understanding of the world and ourselves to a point that is completely incomprehensible at the moment. A new enlightenment will illuminate everything more brightly. Social constraints will diminish and society will become more liberal.

As the international economy becomes more complex and inter-dependent, Britain and an increasing number of countries will become involved in armed conflict less frequently.

The future’s bright and blue.

NOMINATIONS ARE NOW OPEN.

THE NOMINATION PERIOD HAS BEGUN FOR THE NEW CF COMMITTEE,

THE POSITIONS ARE:

CHAIR
VICE CHAIR GUILD
VICE CHAIR LOCAL
SECRETARY
TREASURER
COMMUNICATION
EVENTS

THIS IS AN EXCELLENT OPPORTUNITY TO GET INVOLVED WITH UNIVERSITY LIFE, ASWELL AS EXPLORING THE OPPORTUNITIES PRESENTED BY THE LOCAL SCENE. THIS IS A GOOD WAY TO GET KNOWN IN THE PARTY.

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED PLEASE SUBMITT YOUR NOMINATION TO chair@bucf.org.

WE HOPE TO HEAR FROM YOU, THE AGM DATE WILL BE SET VERY SOON.

Inside Conserative Party HQ… (Oh and Lady T too)

 

The Cartography of Crime.

David Cameron in his attempt to tackle the fear of street crime and allow local people to hold their police force to account has suggested that maps be released showing exactly where crime has happened and identify crime hotspots. This to me seems a rather poor idea.

Firstly I think it scores David no political points, he really needs to be seen to be angry about labour’s failure to tackle violent crime. He needs to be seen at the scene of shootings declaring with passion and conviction that this is going to stop and that this must be dealt with. A map seems a little impotent to me.

Secondly a map would in fact only increase levels of paranoia over crime. People would study these maps, they would determine house prices, and we would see an increase in no go areas created by peoples’ fear of crime perpetuated by these maps. If people knew exactly where crime was being committed in large numbers people would increasingly move away from those areas leaving it to further decline.

Thirdly, are we not the party that wants to reduce the burden of regulation for police officers and other public servants? To require a force to have a monthly map would only lead to a huge increase in administration. Not to mention the increased stress and demoralisation that this policy would surely bring.

A timely reminder…

A portrait of Tony Blair, painted in his final few months as prime minister, has been unveiled in Westminster. The portrait will now hang in Portcullis House alongside other top politicians and former PM’s including Thatcher and Churchill. I am intrigued by the portrait as it gives the impression of power and burden with concern clearly etched on Blair’s face. The cheshire cat grin that once characterised Blair seems a distant memory and is replaced by a formal frown as the affairs of state continue to burden his mind. Aside from this given the current state of political affairs the unveiling comes as a timely reminder of just what we’ve lost…

Mr. Rainbow II

     

Student politics breeds student apathy

Recently the Guild of Students held its annual elections, deciding on who would take a multi-million pound organisation, representing the needs and desires of students, into the future. It is thoroughly depressing then that only 3% of students voted for the President, with even fewer for other positions. The same can be seen with the NUS, very few people seem to give a damn about it any more. Why is this? My answer is that the majority of students who do engage with student politics, especially at the University of Birmingham, are idiots.

Most of this belief is based upon my own experience. The majority of candidates seem to be unable to speak in public and rouse interests, they focus on issues which are far too idealistic and appear worthless, but worst of all, they seem incredibly insulated from the other 97% of students. Rather than getting excited that others are challenging their ideas and wanting the best for the Guild, so many student politicians at the University of Birmingham have interpreted these debates as direct attacks on themselves. Sometimes they are and the blame also lies on those making the attack. However both are guilty of treating student politics as a game in which to massage their ego, seeing who can say the most and who can gain ‘power’.

Student politicians, like students, focus on their similarities, such as being part of a political party, sharing the same sporting interests, or interest in the lowest common denominator that is Fab ‘n’ Fresh. What is overlooked though is the most fundamental similarity of all, we’re all students. When you discriminate against people because they don’t share the same views as you means you miss out on the chance of meeting so many new and different people. I came to University to try new experiences not to meet more people who are very similar to me. Student politicians remain part of these groups, making it incredibly difficult for other students to become engaged, let alone with friends, with them.

Maybe all universities share this apathy? No. Warwick University recently held their elections and had a turn out of nearly 20%. There are many other factors involved with elections, but the most basic thing is the people you are voting for. No wonder so many students stay away from elections, where those who are running seem to have ulterior motives and only show an interest in the electorate for their ability to vote. Maybe instead of promoting their own interests candidates need to start treating the electorate as potential friends, getting to know them out of a sincere interest of who they are, rather than what they can offer them. But then again, maybe I’m just being too idealistic…

THE US COULD “OBLITERATE” IRAN

President Bush persistently talks of the threat posed by the Iranian regime to American interests, regional and international security. Indeed, along with Iraq and North Korea, these countries constituted Bush’s ‘Axis of Evil’ – The phrase coined in the aftermath of 9/11 to characterise the nature of the threat facing the United States.

Not content, however, Hillary Clinton has decided to take it one stage further. Still battling against Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination, Clinton has chosen to use primary day in Pennsylvania to clarify her position: In the event of an Iranian attack on Israel, a President Clinton would “obliterate” Iran.

This is the same Hillary Clinton who denounced President Bush last year for trying to “distort intelligence to pursue his ideological ends” after the 2007 National Intelligence Estimate, a collaborative document combining the expertise of the leading intelligence agencies in the US, found that there was no evidence of a continuing Iranian nuclear weapons programme.

Not only do Clinton’s comments smack of hypocrisy and opportunism, therefore, but they also display a height of irresponsibility. It is not clear what purpose Clinton thinks the comments serve, for the American people are surely aware of US military capabilities, and given Iran’s NIE reported change of behaviour, the Iranian regime does too. I take no position here on the debate as to what Iranian intentions are, but suffice to say, such displays of pugnacity and contempt for constructive diplomacy should be met with equal contempt.

The American people should place their trust in Barack Obama and his pledge to use “aggressive personal diplomacy” to resolve the many crises in the world today, be it relations with Iran or stalemate in the Peace Process.

by Jack Gilliland

On this day…

40 years ago today, in this very city, Enoch Powell delivered a speech that was to end his career and spark a political debate that would long outlive him. Whilst the infamous speech was delivered in 1968 one could be forgiven for thinking that it was just yesterday. His words remain, however inconvenient, as relevant today as they were back then and the debate surrounding them remains equally heated. The ever growing support for his assessment of the perils of unchecked immigration is testiment to the re-evalutation of the Powell legacy.

Had we taken ‘a leap of faith’ and acted on his advice 40 years ago we might not be in quite the same situation we are today. Latest polls show 2/3 of people believe Powell was right, or along the right lines, in his prediction and almost all of those polled class immigration as one of their top political corncerns. You are all no doubt aware of my opinion of Enoch Powell so I shall refrain from engaging in a longwinded defence, all I will say is it is unfortunate that only now are we beginning to come to terms with the inconvenient truth that Enoch Powell was right.

Latest Polls: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7352125.stm

Why no one should vote for Ken. . .