LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE . . .

Within the Labour Party? It doesn’t look like it at the moment, but both David Miliband (a definite contender for that role should it be made vacant) and Harriet Harman have been busy denying they are going to attempt to take Gordon Brown’s position. After their defeat in Glasgow East she was reported by the London Times as saying “This is my moment,” which she has denied. Likewise, Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, in a widely read article in The Guardian he referred to the growing sense of ‘fatalism’ regarding Labour both inside and outside the party. This has been seen as part of his platform upon which a leadership bid could be launched. Downing Street sources claim all of this is “garbage,” and according to the BBC ‘only Labour MPs Gordon Prentice and Graham Stringer have publicly called for a change of leader.’ However the rumour inside Downing Street, according to the FT, is that the word “traitor” has came up several times in conversations, relating to the aforementioned Foreign Secretary and that Guardian article.

Compare that to the public defence of his leadership coming from Home Secretary Jacqui Smith; Justice Secretary Jack Straw; Schools Secretary Ed Balls and Cabinet Office Minister Ed Miliband. Many coming to his defence have cited the fact that a lot of challenges facing the country right now are economic, and Gordon Brown has at least got the necessary track record in this field. Look at his recent handling of the 130 demands the Trade Unions made upon Brown, according to the FT he ‘rejected the vast majority outright and gave little ground on the remainder.’ Certainly the right thing to do in the current climate, and something that gave the business world a little more confidence in Gordon Brown. US Presidential Candidate, Senator Barack Obama on his tour of the EU, reassured him (somewhat prophetically, perhaps) that “You’re always more popular before you’re actually in charge.”

Which naturally makes me think of what Henry Kissinger (pictured above) wrote in one of his biographies, The White House Years, about how from the outside political decisions look black and white – there is the right choice or the wrong choice; and yet on the inside they are made up of a myriad of different opinions, thoughts, idea’s, briefings and conflicting interested parties all trying to influence the outcome. Now in Westminster and Whitehall it may not be as much of a jungle as it is in Washington, but the point he made is valid, about how those outside the corridors of power have a limited understanding of the workings of political decisions. So when an outcome may look poor to the outsider, it could be the case of that being the best possible scenario for those on the inside.

This is something I believe we should think of, more on a conscious level (I simply assume this is a given when it comes to assimilating information regarding politics, but I have been shown time and again that my view of the world is not necessarily everyone else’s, so I thought I should make this point here and now) when we look at matters, like a leadership challenge, or making policy decisions. There will come a time when people are making comments about the Tory leadership, and then the shoe will be on the other foot for blogs such as this one. Then it will become more our duty to try and understand what is going on inside the party, the government, and the numerous bodies of opinion, in order to better make sense of the workings of government. It is the sort of reflective writing which could come to good use either in the act of defending or attacking the actions of a political party.

The case I am wanting to make is that it is not the time for change (in the labour party – though as amusing as it might be for a blog such as this one to watch), but a time for understanding, and from what I understand of government; what would be the point of a leadership challenge now? The situation is clearly frustrating for Labour, but if and when their ship of state sinks, and the Conservative one takes its place, then it will be time for a leadership challenge. Then it would make sense. For if anyone were to take over of the Labour Party now they would sink with the ship. So unless anyone is feeling foolhardy, I have my doubts we will see a change at the top of the Labour Party any time soon.

By DOMINIC TARN.

John McCain: The True Candidate for Change

It is a well known fact that the Republican party are at a low ebb. As I have stated previously this is not their election to win, its the Democrats to lose. Admittedly I am disillusioned with American politics after 8 years of George Bush and even I flirted with the idea of ‘President Hillary Clinton’ as a more conservative Democrat. In many ways I saw her as the lesser of two evils. However now she is out of the race we are faced with two candidates who couldn’t be further apart. Barack Obamania has taken over not just America but the wider world, yet the world knows very little about this dangerous left winger other than he can talk the talk. By contrast we have known John McCain in all the seasons of his political life and what endears me to him most is the fact that there has been conviction and conscience in every season.

Perhaps the greatest of all the injustices that John McCain has had to endure over this Presidential campaign lies in the media and the Obama camp’s venomous villification of a former war hero based around deception and exaggeration. McCain has been accused by the Obama camp time and time again as being the gateway to a third Bush term. Therein lies the deception and deviousness of the Obama campaign. Obama is globetrotting his way to the Presidency on a mishmash of lies and false promises playing on Americans worst fears and exploiting their hopes. If one detaches the Republican tag John McCain and George Bush couldn’t be further apart.

McCain is a man who puts conviction above covenience. He votes with his conscience and not with any political tag. He has spent the past eight years restraining his own Republican Congress and has repeatedly voted with Democrats against his own party on tax cuts, election finance, immigration, and much else. McCains support of the Democrats has cost him dearly amongst many Conservatives which ironically could impact on his ability to get his core vote out in November. Further to this many in the media conveniently ignore the fact that McCain fought a bitter campaign against Bush for the nomination in 2000 opposing him on many issues. 

The somewhat controversial commentator Ann Coulter, a known supporter of Bush, has even gone so far as to say that had Hillary Clinton been the nominee for President she would back her over McCain. So to say a McCain administration would be a third Bush term is not merely an exaggeration it is a blatant lie and, like much of Obama policy, flies in the face of fact. McCain unlike his Democratic counterpart doesn’t jump to the cheers of a crowd or change his stance on the basis of an opinion poll, he stands up and speaks for what he believes in even if it is at odds with his own party. He doesn’t offer rhetoric he offers solutions. His policies are gimmick free but full of substance and solution. 

Barack Obama’s policies are reckless and represent a dangerous shift in international relations. At a time when the Middle Eat in particular needs strong leadership from Washington, Barack Obama diverts his attention to the more popular war: Afghanistan. The surge policy employed by Bush is working and at a time when we should be pushing that bit harder we are pulling away. It baffles the mind. People often say to me we can win if we work with our enemies, a policy touted by the Obama camp. Thus Obama has threatened to undermine continuing negotiations with rogue states by saying he will meet unconditionaly with Iran, Venezuela, Cuba etc without preconditions.

This is why Obama is dangerous not just for America economically but for the world politically. On his recent trip to Germany Obama in a very clever speech made a big faux pas which suprise suprise went largely unreported. Obama explained that the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Europe proved “that there is no challenge too great for a world that stands as one.” Perhaps he needs a refresher course in Cold War history, but the Berlin Wall most certainly did not come down because “the world stood as one.”

The Iron curtain fell because of a decades-long, existential struggle against one of the greatest, left wing, totalitarian ideologies mankind has ever faced. It was a struggle in which strong and determined leadership by the likes of Thatcher and Reagan was constantly questioned and ridiculed. This strong leadership held out and the rest as they say is history. If good is right and evil is wrong why should we comprimise? Obama is too soft and he risks undermining all the years of negotiations and hard work which have pushed leaders like Kim Jong Il and Gadaffi in to reforming their regimes. McCain is the candidate who will be of greatest benefit to the world and he is the candidate who is most experienced to run a war.

John McCain is a true stateman and a true American hero. He is the only candidate of 2008 that is worthy of the title President of the United States and I feel he will be cheated of his chance to serve the country he loves due to the maliciousness and underhanded tactics of the American and global media. If I could offer McCain one bit of advice it would be to play up his patriot credentials. American patriotism is renowned and is potent amongst all classes and at a time when Americans need a morale boost this could be the perfect oppourtunity. Patriotism is universal among blue-collar workers, the same workers that reached out to Clinton not Obama and McCain can exploit this because he, a war hero, is its embodiment.

In addition Obama has sown many seeds of doubt about his own patriotic credentials due to his refusal to immediately condemn the outrageous sentiments of his pastor Reverend Wright, who claimed 9/11 was just, a sentiment held by many on the left wing. Those doubts still linger but have been buried by the biased media that seem determined to put Obama in the Oval Office whatever the cost. McCain’s best hope goes against all of his principles: fight dirty like Obama. Exploit your patriotic credentials and expose Obama as a dangerous, protectionist left winger that promises nothing but deception. McCain might be advanced in years but when compared to Obama he is advanced in every way.

Labour doomed… with or without Brown

The media world has been ablaze lately with questions regarding Gordon Browns leadership and his ability to lead Labour to a 4th General election victory. Indeed the Labour party is finding itself increasingly divided as to what should happen now in the face of a string of by-election defeats in some of the previously safest Labour seats in the country and an economy that is increasingly on the down turn. There are some in the Labour ranks who believe that old Gord is having a run of bad luck and he will inevitably pick up his game after the Summer recess. These are people that acknowledge that whatever his mistakes now, what ever his personal flaws, all of the Labour party were more than happy to ride on the back of his reforms, the same reforms that led them to record electoral success under Blair. Therefore they recognise a degree of loyalty is required and cling to the hope that things will get better.

Personally I admire these individuals far more. Whilst I may disagree with them politically and in their perceptions of certain members of their party, I too believe that in times of crisis it is vital to get behind your leader sure in the knowledge that the ‘other lot’ would be far worse. If the boot was on the other foot I would still back Cameron absolutely certain that yet another Conservative leader would prove suicidal for the party. However, back to Labour, there are other individuals, snakes in the grass if you will, who believe that the summer should be the time to plot Browns downfall and scout for potential successors.  Andrew Porter of the telegraph, revealed earlier this week that some 30 Labour MPs were already cooking up a killer letter, ready to be given to Brown at the end of the summer recess.

As a Conservative theres nothing I would relish more than seeing Gordon being booted out on his backside by his own party, not purely for my own sense of satisfaction but because of what would inevitably follow. We conservatives only have to look back to the fall of Thatcher to see what bitterness and in-fighting can do to a party. Many conveniently ignore the fact that Thatcher did win the first ballot of the Conservative leadership contest and it was likely she would do the same in the second ballot. Therefore in many ways her party would back her, despite their misgivings about her leadership. I am sure the same can be said of many in the Labour ranks.

However it was the snakes in the Tory grass that refused to let it lie. They set out to topple her and her cabinet would be pushed in to dealing the death blow. If Gordon Brown does go then I feel it will be the cabinet that push him and not a majority of his parliamentary party. This view is further reinforced as the media is reporting that Harriet Harman was reported to have been overheard saying after the defeat in Glasgow East ‘This is my moment’ whilst David Milliband is said to be investigating how to mount a leadership campaign. However if Brown does get pushed it wont be the new dawn that Labour hope it will be as a poll published by populus suggests that around half of voters do not believe that a new leader will improve the party’s fortunes.

The new dawn Labour will get will be merely a repeat of the dawn of 23rd November 1990, the day after the Tories toppled their greatest leader in living memory. We did go on to win the 1992 election yes, albeit by a whisker because we had such an incompetent and unpopular opposition. However that win only delayed an inevitable thrashing 5 years later. In my view the Tories should have lost the 1992 election for the sake of our own electoral prospects just as Labour for their own sake need to lose the next election. If Labour ditch Brown, they will fall apart at the seams not just for this election but the one after that and the one after that. They will find it hugely difficult to regain the public’s trust and I think the sensible wing of the party know this.

There simply isn’t enough time to convince the country that yet another Labour leader put in to Number 10, yet again without an election, can lead the country effectively. Not when they are faced with such a resurgent Tory party and the charismatic Cameron. Cameron would rip them apart at the dispatch box and then the electorate would rip them apart at the ballot box for taking the country for fools. Labour are on the way out either way, now they can do it the easy, dignified way or they can do it the hard way which would send them in to the political wilderness for many years to come. They can lose by 100 seats with Brown or they can lose by 200 without Brown either way they will lose. I personally hope they will do it the hard way but if I was a Labour supporter I would be fighting Browns corner tooth and nail. The fact remains that no matter how incomepetent or bumbling Brown may be, he is the best and only Labour man for the job… which is in itself a sad statement.

Race relations & President Obama

Should Barack Obama be elected President of the United States in November, the world will have not only the first black President of the USA but the first black leader of a world super power. This would undoubtedly be a welcome and symbolic achievement but one I feel is coming to soon for America as the racism that haunted it in the 1950’s still remains but in a very different form: institutional racism. There are those who have naievely claimed that the election of Barack Obama would mark an end to the racial divide in American politics and society. In reality however I believe an Obama presidency will have the reverse effect. Race relations will deteriorate or remain static.

The New York times has just issued a poll which claims that majorities of both whites and blacks agree that the country might be ready for a black president however the consensus between blacks and whites ends there. The respondents perceptions of Obama and his Republican challenger McCain, break sharply along racial lines. The survey found that more than 80 percent of blacks said they had a favorable opinion of Obama, while among whites only about 30 percent said they viewed him favorably.

However the most telling of the results lay in the respondents feelings toward how they view race relations. A slight majority of whites believed race relations were good (55%) while only 29% of black respondents could agree. This represents a sharp racial divide because the fact remains that blacks do legitimately feel like an ‘underclass’ in American society and they are clinging on to Obama in the hope he will reverse the systemic and racial inequality potent in American society. An Obama Presidency represents a dangerous path for American race relations. I believe that should Obama be elected President then many white Americans will ignore the ever present systemic and institutional biases that exist in American society.

By electing a black president many whites will believe that they have somehow ‘reached the racial promised land’ and everything else will fall in to place. Indeed it has become customary in America to use popular and prominent figures such as Oprah Winfrey, Condi Rice and Colin Powell as examples of how race is no longer a barrier in America allowing whites to dismiss other legitimate racial issues. Obama risks joining this misleading list of ‘blacks who broke the barrier’. Real changes in racial inequality, like those of the 1950’s, have been stalled as on the surface things appear more equal than they have ever done while in reality things are far from equal.

Steve Sailer, a columnist for The American Conservative magazine, wrote last year that some whites who support Obama aren’t driven primarily by a desire for change they want something else Obama offers them: White Guilt Repellent. According to Sailer many whites want to be able to say, ‘I’m not one of those bad whites. …I voted for a black guy for president,’ They know that all is not well in American race relations and they feel that by voting for a black man as their President that guilt over the inequalities that remain between blacks and whites can be relieved. Even African American commentators such as Andra Gillespie agree that Obama’s success doesn’t mean America has become a ‘post-racial’ or hemogenous society. She says it may signal the decline of individual racism but not another form of discrimination: systemic racism. She believes Obama is a token gesture to distract attention from the real issues of racial inequality and his election would overshadow these issues.

Systemic racism is alive and well in America and she feels that Obama’s election will do little to combat this as he has yet to acknowledge it exists publicly. African Americans, and indeed many whites, are clinging on to Obama as they believe he will hearald a new dawn in American race relations. Many African Americans are sick of feeling like an underclass and to put a black man in the Oval Office for them would be a huge symbolic victory even if they aren’t quite sure who Obama is or what he stands for.  This is exemplified by the support of leaders such as Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson who passionately want to see the day a black man walks in to the Oval Office.

However clearly all is not well in paradise after Jacksons now infamous remarks that he wants to cut ‘Obama’s nuts off’. The fact is, Jackson is backing him passionately because he knows how close they are to claiming the Oval Office and that historic symoblic victory. That is all an Obama victory will be: symbolic. Jackson doesn’t care who it is who takes the Oval Office, he doesn’t have to like them, they just have to be black. The reality of an Obama Presidency will be very different, I cannot see race relations improving much but I can see many blacks feeling even more let down that a black man could only get to the Oval Office by ‘acting white’.

Obama might be incredibly popular in Europe but Europe isn’t America. Obama’s support is slipping back home and a tight race is getting that bit tighter. At a time when the Democrats should be a shoe in for the presidency and with a leader as charismatic and internationally popular as Obama one has to question why the race is so close with latest polls putting the two nominess almost neck and neck. Since Barack Obama became the presumptive nominee for President the question on almost every commentators lips has been ‘Are the Americans ready to elect a black president?’ The very fact we have to ask that question shows they as individuals might be but America and its institutions certainly aren’t.

Brown’s Summer of Discontent continues…

Gordon Brown’s year: ‘The Lady and the Tramp’

Cameron: The year in review

David Cameron has produced a video showing the Conservative paty’s highlights of the past year. I wonder whether Brown will be doing a review of the year? If not I’m sure we can rustle up some of the highlights of the Labour year!

Mr. Brown, when will you learn?

The best quote I have ever heard from a politician about another politician is: ‘We are always blinded by our own brilliance’. No more apt is that quote today . . .

Huge losses in Local Council Elections. Hit by a Cruise missile in C&N.London to Boris Johnson.

And has just been dealt a hammer blow by losing in the 3rd safest seat in Scotland (if result was repeated at a GE, Brown and Darling would both lose their seats).

However, what I really really just cannot fathom is despite all these messages, he effectively still claimed this morning, that it was the voter’s who simply did not understand Labour!?!? It is arrogance in the extreme to be losing so heavily and blame it on those ‘that don’t understand’.

His quotes this morning at neighbouring Warwick Uni, said it was up to Labour ‘have confidence’ in their own policies and ‘persuade’ the voters to back these by voting Labour.

If he continues on that message he is not only pushing the self destruct button, he might as well be jumping up and down on it, so much so its probably broken!!!

It is not about persuading voters that Labour is correct for them, they clearly don’t think it is. He has to change tact he has to do what the people who have to vote for him want him to do.

*It conjures up images of Brown in a rocking chair in Downing Street repeating ‘why don’t they understand me’.

He is a PM who has spent to long at the top to be in touch with the ordinary voter. Those over at BULS know that only too well.

London 2012 Concert

Boris Johnson has announced a new ‘British theme’ to the London 2012 Olympics, unveiling the new olympic logo in Union Jack theme and announcing a concert to be staged outside Buckingham Palace before the games. The idea Boris claims is to promote Britishness, emphasising our past and our traditions but also celebrating our future and our diversity.

If you all cast your mind back to the Queens Golden Jubilee in 2002 Im sure all of you can remember what a success that was. Well over 1 million people packed the mall for the pomp, the pageantry and… the pop. The Queen staged a unique free of charge pop concert in the gardens of Buckingham Palace an event which is set to be repeated for the London 2012 Olympics.

I and many thousands of others still feel our chests swell with pride at the sight of huge numbers packing in the Mall joining in traditional British renditions of God Save the Queen and Land of Hope and Glory and I look forward to repeating the experience in 2012… which incidently will mark the Queens Diamond Jubilee should she still be reigning.

2012 could be a momentous year for this country, hopefully with a Conservative government at the helm, and will be a perfect time to remind ourselves of the pride of our past and the hope for our future.  For those of you who can’t remember the amazing sights in the Mall and the roaring renditions of Land of Hope and Glory and God Save the Queen this video will jog your memory…

Labour lose Glasgow East

The Labour Party are continuing their terminal decline after another shock by-election result. Tonights result represents yet another startling and humiliating defeat for the Labour party, particularly as this one has occurred in their once safe seat of Glasgow East. A Labour majority of over 13,000 has been turned over night in to an SNP majority of 365. The Labour party can um and arr as much as they like the fact remains this is a disaster for Labour, one in a very long line. The Labour party need to look closely at themselves and realise that their government is rotten to the core and is being rejected right across the country.

BUCF predicted earlier today that the result would be an SNP victory with a majority somewhere between 500-700, we also predicted that the Conservatives would beat the Liberal Democrats to take 3rd place. So even for the Conservatives, who did incidently take third place from the Liberals, this has been a particularly pleasing night. It will certainly be interesting to watch the excuses and the fall out from this election and who knows perhaps Labour will be losing more than just a seat soon…

BUCF Thatcher Poll result

Whilst we wait for the result of the Glasgow East election we can bring you the result of the poll BUCF conducted earlier today which has come in quicker than expected. The poll reached the 100 vote quota very quickly and an email was sent to me confirming the result:

Should Margaret Thatcher recieve a state funeral?     

YES: 65%

NO: 35%

Glasgow East By-Election

This is the BUCF prediction (and best case scenario) for the Glasgow East By-election and its aftermath:

SNP to win by 500-700 votes

Labour 2nd,

Tories 3rd up from 4th

Post election: BROWN OUT> MILLIBAND IN

UPDATE:

1AM – LABOUR SET TO LOSE GLASGOW EAST TO SNP

Ich bin ein Obama

Barack Obama has just made a very passionate speech in Berlin with his mannerisms and words reminiscent of a young JFK. Obama appeared confident and relaxed as he took to the stage in central Berlin and called for greater co-operation between Europe and America. Indeed for a brief moment I found myself hanging off his every word and cheering him on, but then I realised the policies don’t stack up to the promises. He is a great talker but I sincerely doubt his ability to communicate his words in to actions.

When one disects Obama’s speech and pulls apart the clever rhetoric you find that there is little concrete policy just false nicities and memorable soundbites. I am intrigued as to how someone as economically protectionist as Obama can call for greater co-operation between nations when he offers nothing to support that end. I am also intrgiued as to how he thinks it is co-operative to ditch Iraq and leave the Iraqis to wallow in the mess America has made.

This speech reinforced what we already knew, Barack Obama is a great communicator. He speaks with passion, with confidence and with panache but hes like an easter egg, sweet and solid on the outside hollow inside. He is a rabble rouser, he can get the people on their feet but then again so could Tony Blair and look what happened there. I fear his communication skills will inevitably take him to the White House and when it does I hope he communicate his words in to action. Somehow I doubt it, but until then at least the Obama bandwagon will take him through Europe and we’ll have a few more inspirational rabble rousing speeches for posterity.

Cameron’s bike ‘teefed’!

On the lighter side of the news it has been reported that David Camerons now legendary bike has been stolen outside his local Tesco’s whilst he shopped for salad! Hopefully this incident will not discourage Dave from cycling in the future… however he may prefer to shop at Sainsbury’s for his salad next time!

BUCF Thatcher Poll

Your chance to have your say on the most controversial issue of the past week… Should Margaret Thatcher follow in Ronald Reagan’s footsteps and recieve a state funeral? Results will be published in 2 days.

Click here to proceed to the poll.

Hook off!

Abu Hamza the radical muslim cleric who has warped the minds of countless young muslims has lost his appeal to fight his extradition in the House of Lords. The Egypt-born preacher is currently serving a seven-year jail term in the UK for inciting murder and race hate. His extradition to the United States was approved earlier this year by the Home Secretary.

The man besides being a nutter is clearly a threat to others and should not remain in the UK. Besides preaching race hate for years and encouraging young muslims to kill ordinary Britons, in January 2006 while on trial, he accused the jewish people of being “blasphemous, treacherous and dirty” and explained that this was “why Hitler was sent into the world”. I believe that people like this shouldn’t be allowed to remain in the UK and I am glad that his extradition has been held up.

Incidently I find it funny that Hamza preaches and encourages other young muslims to martyr themselves… well why hasn’t he done it yet! The man is wicked and he deserves everything he gets in America.

Welfare Reform…

Commentators have suggested that Gordon Browns welfare reforms go further than those of the left wing’s arch nemisis Mrs Thatcher. Therefore it may not suprise readers to learn that I support the proposals currently going through Parliament, even though they sound remarkably similar to the ones drawn up by the Conservatives in January. (Deja vu?)

The government’s Green Paper will propose forcing those out of work for more than two years to be employed full-time in their community. Under the new proposals, Incapacity Benefit claimants will undergo medical tests to determine whether they can work and will receive a new allowance, which ministers hope will be seen by those not permanently disabled as a temporary measure.

Drug addicts will be forced to admit their problem and embark on treatment before they can receive benefits and anyone claiming while hiding a drug habit will be deemed to have obtained money by deception, and could be ordered to repay it or even be charged with fraud, which carries a prison term. I fully support these plans and it appears that perhaps Labour are finally realising that they have encourage a culture of dependency which hopefully they are beginning to tackle.

Instead of giving people a free lunch as Labour have done previously, you need to follow the Conservative proposals and make them sing for their supper. If these healthy and capable individuals are being funded by the state then they should be of some use to the state! Once again Labour MP’s such as Frank Field, who incidently lunched with Lady T this week, are reported to be seething at these latest plans which only adds to my sense of satisfaction.

Lack of Blogging

The BUCF website as you can tell is going through a period of ‘low blogging’. The reason for this is the committee are currently extremely busy with jobs etc and I myself have been busy experiencing the professionalism of the NHS first hand! As such I and the committee are unlikely to blog for the forseeable, however all those who do wish to blog send me your details to bucfchair@hotmail.com and we shall see what we can do. Again apologies, stick with us and we will be back on track as soon as possible!

Cameron & Obama

Now it is fair to say that this blog is not the most Obama friendly. As with most Conservatives I have an enormous amount of issues with Barack Obama’s plans for America. First and foremost I believe that his politics, at least on the surface, appears dangerously left wing and as history has continually shown the left wing never has and never will hold the answers to the problems of the world. It is no secret that socialism has led to leaders like, Mao, Franco, Hitler and Stalin who butchered and maimed tens of millions of their own people in the name of ’socialism’ and ‘equality’. Socialism and left wing politics are a cancer that spread at times of weakness, desperation and vulnerability. They play on peoples fears and exploit their hopes.

 At the minute America is increasingly vulnerable as they feel that the right wing politics that has characterised their governance over the last decade has failed them miserably so they are lurching to the left in desperate, false hope of the grass being greener on the other side. Obama talks the talk. Hes clever. He’s fresh but most crucially he appears genuine and uncorrupted. However Obama plans do not represent fresh hope but fresh danger for America. He plans large increases in government spending on health and education which in principle are perfectly okay, however he wants to increase taxation on the rich, who already pay more than their fair share, to pay for it. In addition he is dangerously at odds with the prevailing political and economic consensus in the world as he is against companies using the opportunities of free markets to restructure their operations within the US.

Economically he is vehemently protectionist and on the foreign policy level he continues to insist, despite the growing evidence that this left-wing nostrum would be lunacy, that the US must pull its troops out of Iraq. To add insult to injury he threatens to undermine the British, French and German negotiations with Tehran, that have been operating for the last 5 years, and engage in direct, unconditional talks with the dictator. As members of Obama’s own team have stated, Obama is aware that many European leaders believe his plans could undermine the current diplomatic efforts to persuade Tehran to surrender its nuclear programme making the siutation much worse in the longer term.

Now what is the purpose of this post you might ask other than the usual Obama bashing? Well left wing friends of mine have jumped at the oppourunity today to claim that David Cameron and Barack Obama are now ‘best buds’ and the purpose of this post is to dispell such myths. It is true that today David Cameron has praised Obama for his comments suggesting that ‘black absentee fathers need to step up to the plate’ however this has been grossly exaggerated to suit the prevailing media agenda of ‘Obama mania’. The media are selective in their reporting. It is true most Britons are quite taken with Obama and thus the papers have adopted a much more favourable tone when discussing the Democratic candidate and over embellished Camerons ‘endorsement’ of Obama.

Cameron made a very brief reference to Obama as he spoke of his wider plans for social reform. However I still believe that Cameron, as with many Conservatives, will be backing John McCain for US President as ideologically the two have much more common ground and Cameron has consistently heaped praise on the Republican candidate who has responded by dubbing Cameron the ’Tory JFK’. Incidently I also agree with Obama’s remarks that black absentee fathers need to wake up to their responsibilities as do some white fathers, however this does not mean I endorse Obama and it doesn’t mean Cameron does either. Cameron is being courteous with Obama as it looks ever more likely that America will have a President Obama in 2009 and Britain will have a Prime Minister Cameron not long after.  Thus the two men need to maintain a cordial personal relationship but cordial relations does not mean friendship or ideological compatibility.

On another issue I am becoming ever more impressed with Camerons leadership after he has called for the obese, the idle and the poor to take more responsibility for themselves, saying society is too sensitive and fails to “say what needs to be said”. Cameron is exerting true Conservative conviction and is in his own words ’saying what needs to be said’.

Student voting intentions….

Happy Birthday Mr Chairman!

Today the Chairman celebrates his 20th Birthday. When he blows his candles out (no doubt on his lifesize Thatcher cake) I’m sure that this year he will have one wish in particular…

 

3 days and 3 hours….

Once again Gordon Brown’s government is in disarray. Yesterday after days and weeks of dithering, Jacqui Smith unveiled new plans to tackle knife crime. We should have kept waiting. The government it appeared opted for the shock tactic of taking offenders to wards to see first hand the damage inflicted by knife crime. Personally I think these proposals were ridiculous. I don’t know who is advising the government on policy but who ever it is has clearly been watching too much Maury or Jeremy Kyle. I feel that parading knife victims is both unseemly and unneccessary. I feel if the government want shock tactics then the only shock tactic that can be employed in this situation is jail time.

However it seems I didn’t even have the chance to write a blog on these ridiculous before they were being widely discredited. The ‘experts’ stole my thunder, so I decided not to blog until the policy had fallen flat on its face as it now has. In an interview with Sky’s Adam Boulton on Sunday Live, Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said youngsters caught with knives would be forced to confront the possible consequences by bringing them face-to-face with blade victims in hospitals. Now, the Home Office said they would instead only be expected to meet doctors to be educated about the injuries caused by knives “One of those proposals is that people caught carrying knives should be taken to see people in hospital who have been stabbed, or to meet the families of victims, is that correct?” Boulton asked. “It is,” replied Ms Smith. Gordon Brown himself dodged questioning on the proposals.

Shadow home secretary Dominic Grieve has said that ‘ill-thought-through, piecemeal announcements and failed initiatives would not solve the problem’, while even the Lib Dem home affairs spokesman Chris Huhne said Mrs Smith had been ‘panicked’ into bringing forward proposals which evidence in the United States had shown did not work. Jacqui Smith is coming up with half-baked ideas because the Government has been in denial, if not down right oblivious, about the scale of the knife crime problem. This episode proves to me what we already knew, this government is incapable, incompetent and increasingly irrelevant. They have absolutely no idea how to tackle the problems society faces and instead deploy ill thought out shock tactics in three days that fall flat on their face within three hours.

I have said a million times over: make offenders realise that carrying a knife is completely unacceptable and make it crystal clear that if you are caught carrying a knife you will go down. No legitimate excuse? No middle ground. This may seem draconian, this may seem fascist but I don’t care. Every day brings a new death, new trauma for countless families, new patients for the hospitals, new victims for the morgue and new paperwork for the police. This situation, like the government, has hit rock bottom and needs dealing with. I can understand people objecting to such methods if there was a genuine reason to carry a knife on the streets but there isn’t. If we go soft on knife crime next it will be gun crime. ‘I need a knife for protection’ will be replaced by ‘I need a gun’ and a big problem will be even bigger as will the number of casualties. 

However if Gordon Brown is so desperate to employ shock tactics… I’ve got one that would work him… resign… and take that Home Secretary of yours with you.

The highest honour…

The government has decided that Former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher is to be given the greatest honour a nation can bestow, a state funeral. Thatcher will be the first British Prime Minister since Winston Churchill to be afforded such an honour. However the plan to grant the same distinction to Lady Thatcher may prove more divisive as to this day, the mention of her name can spark an argument as this blog knows all to well! Yet that is itself a mark of her uniqueness. Lady Thatcher is – and will always remain – a major figure to supporters and opponents alike. Not only did she transform Britain’s economy and culture. Her resolve won her admirers among the people of the former Soviet Empire, whom she helped liberate. Her courage and single-mindedness likewise made her a legend in the United States where even to this day her name is recieved with warmth, respect and enthusiasm.

There is not a country in the world where her name is not still recognised. I agree that it might seem improper to discuss a living person’s funeral but it is another mark of Lady Thatcher’s uniqueness that this is not so in her case. Having survived an assassination attempt and lived through a hurricane of abuse, she is not likely to object to these discussions! This announcement should serve as a timely reminder to Labour supporters who detest Lady Thatcher, that even their own leadership understand what she did was not only neccessary but has given the country remarkable stability which they have enjoyed. They can scream and shout all they like but the fact remains it is the Labour government that have set these plans in motion and it is the Labour leadership that recognise that they and the country owe Thatcher an enormous debt of gratitude.

In a separate unique proposal, the Queen has also given her permission for Lady Thatcher to lie in the Chapel of St Mary’s Undercroft immediately beneath Westminster Hall on the night before her funeral. Family friends and VIPs would be able to visit the chapel to pay their last respects. It is not decided whether she will be afforded the honour of lying in state at Westminster Hall. Informed sources last night confirmed that the Queen and Gordon Brown had given their blessing to the preparation of funeral arrangements for Lady Thatcher in recognition both of her achievements and for being Britain’s first woman Prime Minister. I always believed that the country would give her a state funeral and I am delighted that the plans are now officially in place.

Obama’s lies… again

Barack Obama, like Tony Blair, has made his reputation on a promise to be ‘whiter than white’, but even before he has made his way in to the Oval Office Barack Obama’s lies are becoming ever more apparent. In October, Obama had vowed to help filibuster an update of the Republican Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) that gave telecommunication companies that had cooperated with President Bush’s warrantless wiretapping program immunity from lawsuits. After 9/11, Bush secretly authorized the National Security Agency to eavesdrop, without the mandated warrant from a federal court, on electronic communication involving terrorist suspects.

Critics said Bush’s Terrorist Surveillance Program was a violation of civil liberties (sound farmiliar?). The US Senate voted Wednesday on the bill updating FISA which had a provision to shield telecommunications companies that had cooperated in the surveillance. Obama joined the 68 other senators who voted to send the bill to the president’s desk. He, despite his apparent objections, did vote for an amendment offered before the final vote by Sen. Christopher Dodd that would have stripped the immunity provisions from the bill, but the amendment failed. Instead Bush signed the bill into law on Thursday, saying it “will help help us meet our most solemn responsibility: to stop another attack.” Obama therefore has in all intents and purposes lied. He promised to fight the bill yet he has endorsed it without amendment.

This episode proves that, like I suspected, he is a man who will do what it takes to walk in to the Oval Office in Jan 2009. Like Blair before him, he doesn’t care what lies he tells, how he prostitutes the principles of his party as long as he gets what he wants. Our Labour counter parts can dillude themselves as much as they like but they can never escape the fact that their trust is misplaced. Obama like Blair and Brown will prosititue the principles they hold most dear for their own gain. Even Jesse Jackson, who dreams of the day a black man will occupy the White House, claims he wants to cut ‘Obama’s nuts off’, why one may ask? Because he is a liar. He sells out not only his party but the whole black race. Sadly I do feel Obama will win this year, I hope not, but I feel he will win. He wont win on conviction he will win on convenience. He conveniently takes over the reigns at a time when Republicans are viewed with contempt.

Obama will win and America will rue the day.

(True) Labour on Davis…

Whilst I cannot agree with everything Tony Benn believes politically, I do hold a degree of respect for him. He served as the MP for my local town from 1984 – 2001 and he is still held in high regard by many, not neccessarily for his politics, but for his integrity. I thought this video on Benn’s perception of the civil liberty issue is worth a watch…