Monday Musing

Apologies for not posting for a few days, I have been away enjoying Conference League Football, celebrating my sisters impending birthday, recovering from some genetically modified super-virus and last night watching 24 and House all of which kept me away from the computer, and work will no doubt be competing for my attentions this week.

Along my travels there has been some conversations along the way from people regarding the election and regarding in particular the debates.  Despite what the polls are saying, I have yet to encounter anyone who is swinging their vote to the Lib Dems.  Now, that might say more about my circle of friends and family, and the encounters of the weekend, but none the less with a 14% swing in the polls, it is not matching the reality out there in Daniel World.

Which is good because I would genuinely be concerned if all of this fantasy talk of Nick Clegg becoming Prime Minister were to come true.  Mostly because of the Lib Dems fanatical support of all things EU - they would sell us down the river in a heartbeat; but also for Cleggs refusal to back the Lisbon vote despite the Lib Dem Manifesto commitment, and his intent to rid us of Trident (despite declaring publically he would not in his own leadership election, and at the cost of leaving our defence in the hands of the French).  I am actually getting annoyed hearing him refer to his opposition as the "older" parties when his party was born before Labour back in the 1800's.  (And back then the Liberal Party were for personal liberty, free markets, free trade and smaller government none of which can be charactered to Cleggy's party of today.)

What is a little alarming is that there are still people about supporting Gordon Brown, including people in my own family that really should know better.  It seems that whilst most of us are at work, Brown has done some good work in the last year on the sofa's of daytime television and at least one person I love dearly is at the moment still planning to vote for him, though she freely admits it is out of pity.  That really does not make it any better.

And with absolutely nothing to back up this or any of my claims I will move onto David Cameron who it seems has actually alienated people back home.  Whereas I thought he had just edged the debate over Clegg (despite clearly not having picked up some basic lessons from the US debates) it seems back home Cameron came across as remote and as somebody who could never understand the problems facing the coping classes and working poor.  A comment I would find difficult to make an argument against. So I won't.

And is it just me in thinking that if there really is a Clegg-bounce from a debate appearance, does that not make the case stronger for all of the parties to be involved in a TV debate at some point? If seeing and hearing Nick Clegg talk Lib Dem for his part of the 90 minute debate did him good because he was perhaps seen as new or different by some, then maybe UKIP, SNP, the Greens...et al, should be included also in future prime time debates.

So, with three weeks to go dare I make another prediction?  No, I am gonna stick with my original prediction of a wafer thin Tory majority and I think the Great British public in their infinite wisdom are collectively and subconsciously keeping the numbers in hung parliament territory because quite frankly we all have a shopping list of what we want from a perspective government, and few of us thanks to Browns busting of the bank balance are getting to hear much of what we want.  Consensus politics and record debt means there is little anyone feels able to promise.  The closer we get to polling day the more some of our shopping lists will get second and third looks from the main players.

If I were up there, as a crazy right-winger, I would be offering to sell off the BBC, and a referendum on EU membership which would save us money.  But I am not, so you can't have it.

The Problem(s) With The Liberal Democrat Party

It is easy to summise what has come from the Lib Dem conference, because as somebody who has had no inclination of following it, every incidental contact via the media has shown this particular conference has shown them to be the loony party that has no good ideas or innovative thinkers. They are the third rail of British Politics. They have not put forward one original proposal to capture the imagination, and their conference seems to have been arraigned to inflate the egos of its leaders rather than to set out a convincing alternative vision.

I don’t spend much time blogging on the Lib Dems, so I had better pack it in tight here as I might not again until the election.

The fact that they have not had a good conference at all, whilst the rest of us are battering Labour into an unprecedented oblivion is politically disgraceful; especially considering that they are not going to be picking up Tory seats at the next election, it is the Labour seats and voters that will head their way. But what have they done this week? Have they provided a channel in which to ease Labour voters across to their brand of left wing politics? No. Have they set out a convincing alternative to current Government overspending? No. Have they identified with the guy on the street, Mondeo Man and White Van Man? No. Have they abandoned their ridiculous context of being serious contenders for Government and offered a vision of a Liberal official opposition party to the Conservatives? No.

So what have they done? Cocked up their flagship tax plan, taken pot-shots at the party to their right, rather than the parties to their left, reversed announcements on cuts immediately after making them , been incoherent on many things including Child Tax Credits and convinced their best blogger (by their own estimation) that perhaps it is not worth carrying on after all. Their failure was punctuated by two other events. Firstly their chief economic spokesman spokesperson, Mr Cable and his economic record got thoroughly spanked by Andrew Neil on TV just before the conference and secondly all polls I have seen this week reveal that their leader Nick Clegg is not very popular at all.

Nick Clegg whenever he opens his mouth reveals himself to be more and more nasty. He strikes me, and I am sure I am not alone here, as an amateur politician who is unsure of his principles, and as such compensates by talking about making things fairer whilst not really understanding why our society and our laws are designed and were made the way they are. Victim politics. When Nick Clegg speaks, I feel like he dislikes the people he would purport to like to govern, including me.

His record is even poorer than his personality, his first act as Liberal Democrat leader was to reverse their only widely popular manifesto pledge from the last election, that of a holding a referendum on the Lisbon Constitutional Treaty; then he forced his parliamentary minions to see it through a safe passage. There is not one truly Liberal thing the Liberal Democrats stand for. They are definitely not the party of William Gladstone.

The party itself has no good ideas, because they have spent the last 12 years pretending that Tony Blair and New Labour were not rolling out plenty of “progressive” social policies of exactly the same ilk as they would have been. New Labour have socially engineered Britain into a crouching embryo position, quivering with fear that we are about to be branded racist, fascist, tory loving, criminal terrorists, who are also a big bunch of paedophiles, climate change deniers, dangerous, overtly ambitious, greedy, capitalist, baby-eating frog marching, fox hunting car driving despots who could not possibly function in the world without an ever extending over-reach of nanny government. If by some amazing fluke Paddy Ashdown had of won in 1997, he would have been talking to the same think tanks, lobbyists, journalists and money men that New Labour have been for the last 12 years, there would not be too much different today following 12 years of Liberal Democratic government as there has been of 12 Years of New labour ‘progressive’ government… And people not involved in politics do understand this. Worse still, people have now had many years and many experience of Liberal Democrats at local government, and seen exactly how fluidic the Liberal Democrat message is, depending on your postcode.

Efforts to consult and adopt a broad-church approach have led to incoherence, and inconsistent messages – even this week. The only week in the year when the Liberal Democrats have a hope of setting and controlling a news agenda is their conference week and they blew it, spectacularly.

I am not a fan of Vince Cable, but he is the only Senior Lib Dem left who can speak (occasionally) without condescending. Nobody votes for those kinds of politicians. The Liberal Democrats or at least their current leadership have turned their backs on any strain of Libertarianism and are nothing more now like Labour-lite… more EU, more statism, more taxes, more regulations, more politicians, more, more, more. This is the inescapable abode of the failed, disaffected and student politicians – the only place they can be heard.

I repeat, that in my humble opinion the fact that the Liberal Democrats have not found a way around the Labour Party with such a discredited Government at the helm is very, very bad and should be sounding alarm bells and sirens sounding with Lib Dem grass roots. If you are truly content on Nick Clegg and Chris Hunhe’s visions then do nothing, vote Liberal Democrat, and get your 14 or 15% at the General Election.

But surely there are some people out there still, who want a centre-left party that will challenge the EU and statism? Where are the people that recognise that the smaller the state the smaller the infringement on freedom, and the people that want to stand up for people’s rights if only so that peoples freedoms are safe guarded if not enhanced. Where are the people on the left that will challenge corporate criminality without attacking capitalism in the same breath? Where are the people that will champion the plight of the poor for no other reason than to help them?

I don’t know where they are, but I know they are not heading for an application form to the Liberal Democrat party.

The best thing for the Conservatives, Labour, SNP and UKIP is if the Lib Dems stay the third party of UK politics after GE day. I should not care, and though I do, it is not much concern, but if I may be so bold as to offer some advice as Lib Dem people head home from the conference early. Advice from an outsider may be the best way to put it.

Firstly, as you are the Liberal Democrats, get the brightest young people in your party to come up with some policies that are Liberal and that if you were in Government would preserve, protect and/or enhance Liberty in the UK.

Secondly, as you are the Liberal Democrats, get the brightest young people in your party to come up with some policies that would preserve, protest and or enhance democracy in this country. PR voting doesn’t count, because that requires moving away from majority rule, and the strongest and most fair democracies that provide the greatest Liberties to their people are built upon the projection of majority rule.

Thirdly, after your election drubbing next year change your leadership. Not just Nick Clegg, I mean the whole lot… and keep Shirley off of question time, nobody outside of a BBC studio agrees with anything she has to say.

Whatever policies you come up with, make sure that they are realistic, achievable and aimed at doing something other than filling your time, and spending our money. Do not ever announce another policy that is designed solely at embarrassing the Conservatives or Labour. Be consistent with your messages and making policies that your grass root supporters can be consistent with in their newsletters and their conversations on the doorsteps.

Forget Governing and Tory bashing for at least one Parliament. Aim realistic – for second spot – from there you could potentially aim for Government. The Labour party will be reeling for some time – but are exceptional when on the up about being staunchly supportive and consistent with a message [even when it is the wrong message or a lie]. It will not take more than one Parliament for Labour begin to regaining some ground and find some consistency – so you will only have a small window to leapfrog them. Tell the kids you think the internet is cool and see if you can’t get a few more Charlotte Gore types blogging and see if your new ideas spread.

Sounds simple to me, but I have a feeling my ideas for the Liberal Democrats my ideas will not meet with their approval. Never mind, there are more important things going on than the Liberal Democrats. But then, isn’t there always?

Left Wing PM Poll Closes

I asked who you thought the best left-wing Prime Minister of the last 100 year is and this poll has now closed.

The winner is David Lloyd George. I am a little surprised given some of his background, but he is remembered as being the PM that introduced state pensions, and before he was PM was one of the chief influences on companies who were largely ignoring trade union demands, in getting elected union representatives and their concerns heard.

Here is the Poll results:

Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman - 6% (2)
H.H. Asquith - 0% (0)
David Lloyd George - 32% (10)
Ramsay MacDonald - 16% (5)
Clement Attlee - 16% (5)
Harold Wilson - 6% (2)
James Callaghan - 0% (0)
Tony Blair - 22% (7)

As Lloyd George is your choice, here is a (hopefully balanced) summary of his political life and activities. David Lloyd George succeeded H. H. Asquith as PM in 1916 after securing Conservative and Media support in pressuring Asquith to resign as PM in the middle of World War 1. He is also the only Welsh Prime Minister of the UK ever, and the only PM who did not have English as his first language.

He was Prime Minister from 1916 to 1922. I found out today that Asquith lived in Sutton Courtney which was then Berkshire but is now Oxfordshire and would have lived just a few minutes walk from my nan when she was a child.

Lloyd George and Asquith we very different Liberals and represented different sections of the Liberal Party and clashed often. Asquith as PM still was keen to seek Irish Home Rule, Lloyd George had in caused many problems through his fierce opposition to the second Boer war, he spoke on Welsh temperance reform, Welsh home rule, Welsh Education and Schools and especially on the disestablishment and dis-endowment of the Church of England in Wales. Lloyd George and three other Welsh Liberals tied their arguments to the Irish Home Rule bids which were much more well supported they even exited the party (refusing the Whip) for 6 weeks to force Parliament to recognise Welsh Independence issues. When they returned Lloyd George formed Cymru Fydd ("Wales Will Be") which was a popular political movement, however became unpopular in Wales when dilution for support of the Liberal Party cost them the 1895 election.

During the arms race between Britain and Germany in the build up to WW1, Lloyd George proposed from his position as Chancellor that armament spending be reduced, this policy was adopted by Asquith as PM and the Liberals but was deeply unpopular with the Admiralty, The Conservatives and the public. This action was so unpopular that it was eventually reversed, and where Lloyd Georges proposal of cutting spending had been to reduce the planned six dreadnoughts to four, eventually the number became eight, such was the fierceness of the debate that proposed increases were the result.

Asquith had already introduced the State Pension when he was Chancellor to Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, but Lloyd George expanded spending on this and secured spending to support the sick and the elderly. This was put up as the "Peoples Budget" and was a deeply unpopular idea as far as the House of Lords were concerned and they took the unusual steps of rejecting it. The Lords did not normally interfere with financial bills in this way. This brought about a Constitutional Crisis, and Asquith was forced to call a General Election. The election resulted in a hung parliament with the Liberals winning just two seats more than the Conservatives. Asquith formed a minority government with the Irish Nationalists.

The new government passed the "Peoples Budget" as they had an electoral mandate to do so.

In 1916 Liberals, Conservatives and the Public were growing unhappy at Asquith's direction of the War. He was perceived as having a lack of vigour and bringing out dated thinking. As such, Andrew Bonar Law helped Lloyd George succeed to the recently vacated position of Secretary of State for War. Asquith gave Lloyd George the position, but with a greatly reduced portfolio which took no time to frustrate Lloyd George.

Lloyd George rallied for a committee to be set up to manage the war for which he would be part of, Asquith agreed providing the committee reported to him and that he would be able to attend at his discretion. Lloyd George, through Lord Northcliffe (owner of the Times and the Daily Mail) reported this as Asquith being sidelined. Asquith withdrew his support for the committee, and David Lloyd George resigned, prompting Conservatives to withdraw their support for Asquith who himself was forced to resign as PM (but not as leader of the Liberal Party).

Bonar Law refused to form a government as Asquith refused to serve under anybody else, so it fell to David Lloyd George who formed a coalition government , though leading Liberals refused to serve under David Lloyd George, or anybody other than Asquith. As Prime Minister he saw to an expansion of spending at home that saw more and more men escape wartime service and work on public works projects, this was attributed to a weakened forces presence in the War.

In 1917 he ordered forces that would were needed in France to Italy and Palestine, this prompted the resignations of service chiefs Admiral Jellicoe and General Robertson. The offensive saw British troops attack the Ottoman Empire in Palestine and the conquest of that land. Arthur Balfour in the now famous Balfour Declaration of 1917 stated in a letter to Baron Rothschild:

--
Dear Lord Rothschild,

I have much pleasure in conveying to you, on behalf of His Majesty's Government, the following declaration of sympathy with Jewish Zionist aspirations which has been submitted to, and approved by, the Cabinet:

"His Majesty's Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country."

I should be grateful if you would bring this declaration to the knowledge of the Zionist Federation.

Yours sincerely
Arthur James Balfour

--

At the same time as diverting "British" forces away from the front line to manufacturing, and forays in Palestine and Italy, he extended conscription to Ireland, this was exceptionally unpopular and led to the Home Rule Party to be completely wiped out in the subsequent 1918 election being replaced by Sinn Fein who immediately declared Independence. The IRA (known today as the Old IRA to distinguish from later formations of the IRA) began a guerrilla war against the British Government in Ireland.

Home rule had been sought in 1912 and the Parliament Act of 1911 had been passed to not allow the Lords to reject anything that had been sought in an election campaign, though it could delay it by two years. in 1912 the Third Home Rule act was passed, and was expected to be implemented in 1914. This Independence was interrupted by the outbreak of WWI but was to be granted at the end of the war. So the conscription imposed upon Ireland was seen as a way of conscription Irish men onto the front-line. Irish volunteers were returning with stories of horrible atrocities and there was little public opinion in favour to Irish citizens serving in the British war.

The 1918 elections gave Irish Republicanism a boost, which had been crushed in the intervening war years. Sinn Fein refused to sit in the UK Parliament and declared to set up an Irish Parliament (the First Dail) and in 1919 at its first meeting they reaffirmed their previous claims to Independence, issued a letter to free nations of the world and immediately redesignated Irish volunteers into the Irish Republican Army. Between 1919 and 1921 they waged war against the British Administration in Ireland. On the same day in 1919 in Co. Tipperary Sean Treacy and Dan Breen killed two Royal Irish Constabulary Officers who were escorting explosives. This act was deliberately intended by the pair to bring about a War of Independence (which it did).

At the end of WWI it was David Lloyd Georges' express wish that Germany pay for the costs incurred for the prosecution of the entire war, including pensions. He summarised his 1918 election as a six point programme.

1. The trial of Kaiser Wilhelm II
2. Punishment of those guilty atrocities
3. Fullest indemnity from Germany
4. Britain for the British, socially and industrially
5. Rehabilitation of the broken war
6. A happier county for all

He stood as head of the "National Liberal" coalition and won a landslide victory though The Conservative controlled more seats within this coalition. Asquith's Liberals won just 33 seats.

At the Versailles Peace Conference David Lloyd George clashed with French Premier Georges Clemenceau and American President Woodrow Wilson. When asked how he did at the conference he replied "Not bad, considering I was seated between Jesus Christ and Napoleon". John Maynard Keynes was critical of Lloyd George saying in his book The Economic Consequences of Peace that Lloyd George was a "half-human visitor to our age from the hag-ridden magic and enchanted woods of Celtic antiquity."

The Conservative influences and with the Anglo-Irish war being fought put great strains on his leadership. In 1922 the Conservative demonstrated that David Lloyd George had been profiting from the sale of peerages and he fell from power.

David Lloyd George is remembered fondly for his time as PM, but there were a number of things that he is associated with that were less than honourable. As mentioned the Conservative proved that he had abused his position as Prime Minister for financial gain for himself and for the Liberal party.

In 1925 the Honours (Prevention of Abuses) Act was passed, to make illegal the sale of peerages and honours, modelled on the abuses that David Lloyd George had participated in. The only person who has ever been successfully prosecuted under this act is Maundy Gregory who was Lloyd George's "Honours Broker."

The act was the basis of the cash for peerages investigation in 2006/07 when Police officially interviewed sitting Prime Minister Tony Blair over allegations that Loaned to the Labour Party had been made quid pro quo for peerages and honours.

Later in life, and apologies in advance for the language but this is a direct quotation, but David Lloyd George is quoted by Frances Stevenson (secretary and second wife) in her diary as saying:

"Debate last night in the House on Air—strong demonstrations in favour of increased no. of fighting planes. D. [David Lloyd George] says it could have been avoided but for Simon's [Sir John Simon's] mismanagement. At Geneva other countries would have agreed not to use aeroplanes for bombing purposes, but we insisted on reserving the right, as D. puts it, to bomb niggers! Whereupon the whole thing fell through, & we add 5 millions to our air armaments expenditure."

Apparently he, and others in Government felt it was important that the British Government retain the right to bomb British colonies as and when they deemed it necessary. [From Conquest to Collapse: European Empires from 1815 to 1960, Pantheon Books, New York, 1982. Page 200]

Lloyd George in 1923 resolved (Politically at least) his differences with Asquith, and the Liberal Party was re-united for the 1924 election which they lost. In six years David Lloyd George had gone from being the man the Conservatives had described as "A dictator for life, if he wishes," to being an known crook.

In 1924 the Socialist Labour Party overtook the reformed Liberal Party to become the second biggest Party in Parliament after the Conservatives. The proud party that had been formed to fight the corn laws and champion peoples rights and small government were now a shadow of their former selves, the Socialist were now speaking for the poor and the working classes.

In 1926 he finally succeeded Asquith as leader of the Liberal party leader, but support continued to diminish. He needed to pay to support candidates from his own funds at the 1929 election where they won just 60 seats. In 1945 and in ill-health with it looking like he would lose his constituency he was awarded a peerage, but he never had chance to attend the Lords as a Peer as he died a few months later in his home in Wales.

Hopefully I will be able to give a bit of a round up on whomever wins the new poll on the Best Conservative PM in a few weeks time. All the above was sourced via some books at home and via Wikipedia.

Whatcha Gonna Do?

So Peers can sell their influence on an open market to lobbyists, the Government can't see that it is their very existance and size that is bankrupting the nation, The Irish will be asked to vote for something they have already voted against, the Greeks are rioting, the people of Iceland are rioting, Sterling is crashing, and tax payers are covering bankers wild international splurges.

The BNP seems close to getting elected in Bexley, Lib/Lab/Con all love the EU even though two-thirds of the people they represent dislike the EU, and MPs were prepared to vote to reduce their accountability to tax payers by covering up their expense details.

Our history has placed us with a position of global responsibilities that a great number of people take great pride in, others see this as a great sin, and a stain on our nation. Our armed forces are asked to serve to defend the very principles that this country has been abandoning for a generation. They are sent into battle with insufficient supplies and armour. An experienced squaddie knows that he must even ensure that a sufficient supply of toilet roll is packed as we are often unable to provide such basic provisions.

Our schools maintain a continued decline in standards, with Maths and English coming second to social studies and humanities. They are taught to pass exams, not provided the tools and skills to succeed in life. And what is the point anyway, their parents will have told them that if they can not get a job they can sign on and earn a living by fulfilling some small requirements that ensure that government targets are met. Don't rock the boat and the benefits will keep on coming.

After ten years of proclaiming that schools and hospitals are over stretched, this government has overseen that poor immigrants have entered the UK, en masse for over a decade. Stretching the those services further and further. A whole underclass of poverty stricken immigrants in place to ensure Labour Support for another 25 years is secured. The Labour Party, creating Poverty in the UK to further its own interests.

The Liberals have abandoned any pretence of true Liberal thinking and share no resemblance with the party was founded to oppose the Corn Laws, and now gloriously urinate on the principles of Gladstone, Asquith and Lloyd George. The Liberal Democrats in their present form would not recognise a principle if they tripped over one.

The Conservatives are the only mainstream party whose views countenance to the problems of the nation, but only in terms that slow the progressive visions of the insane and righteous; not to reverse it and set forward a new independent mantra of individual and collective responsibilities, freedom of individuals, especially freedom from state interference, and trust in the free market... which by the way, has lifted more people out of poverty and released more people from the yolk of tyranny than any charity, institution or international law ever conceived.

I really feel that 2009 could be the most radical for a very long time for setting out a shift in the direction of political parties ever... As politicians listen less, the louder we must shout. You may not answer our questions directly and offer soundbites when we need solutions, but we will not go away, and we will not be ignored forever.

When the EU meets to discuss civil unrest in nation states it demonstrates exactly how important the EU considers itself in the governing of Europe. Did anybody actually vote for this? Do we have Democracy and true Civil representation today? I could only answer yes if I could afford to buy a Peer, (and I can't).

There is something fundamentally rotten in our Constitution that the opinions and wishes of so many people can be ignored, and where the tactical application of smear and innuendo has replaced the presentation of facts in our media. We need to change the way politician's are able to govern from above. More accountability, less cost, less intrusion, and these and other rights enshrined and guaranteed. Thomas Jefferson said, "When the people fear the Government there is Tyranny; when the Government fears the people there is Liberty." Which do you think we have in the UK today? Are we moving towards or away from Tyranny?

Do we wish to form a more perfect country for the betterment of ourselves and mankind? or shall we hand ourselves, and our minds over, as requested, to the people who dictate that the way you live is killing the planet, the way you think is the cause of oppression, that you should be subject to laws that they should not? I have my voice now, here in blogosphere. Is your voice, and are your wishes being heard?