Saturday 6 June 2009

Saturday 06/06/09

I’m sorry, but I’m going to bore you for the next few minutes and focus on British politics.

Countless people from all sides of the political divide have been calling for Gordon Brown to resign, but without clearly articulating what he’s done wrong. The electorate’s anger with rapacious and arrogant MPs who have been fiddling their expenses has been transformed by these self-same MPs into a vote of no confidence in Gordon Brown. To me that sounds like hubris on a staggering and mind-boggling scale.

The Boy Cameron says the people are yearning for a strong and united alternative to Labour. Mr Cameron – I might vote for you, but first you must tell me what your policies are, as I haven’t a bloody clue as to what you stand for. You have consistently poked at government policies (even agreeing with many) while offering no alternative. It’s very easy to criticize; it’s very difficult to come up with workable alternatives.

Nick Glegg of the Lib Dems says people want something “new and fresh from government”. Well, Nick, for God’s sake tell us what you offer. Again, I don’t have a real clue. For example, one of the Lib Dem’s cornerstone statements on the campaigns page of their website says crime is on the rise again, but the Labour Government is cutting police numbers even further.

Put that into context against a statement by Sir Ronnie Flannagan, the chief inspector of constabulary, that the current record police force strength in England and Wales, which peaked at 141,000 officers, is "unsustainable" over the next three years and numbers are likely to fall. Flanagan said there was widespread recognition within the police that maintaining current numbers was not possible, and he predicted a "slight reduction" in the next three years.

OK, so you can’t believe a word the Lib Dem’s say. I’d actually challenge the Lib Dems to find any evidence to support their assertion that crime is rising, as all the statistics show otherwise – do the research yourself and you’ll see.

I’ll move on to the Lib Dems’ plans (again on their website) to get Britain out of the recession, but it reads too much like a GCSE curriculum on sums – and not even good sums (or even relevant sums).

Their “priorities” are:

  1. Action to protect jobs and to build a new green economy to lead Britain out of recession
  2. Cutting taxes to give low and middle income earners the help they need now
  3. Help to cut heating bills for pensioners and most vulnerable
  4. Action to stop banks rushing to repossess homes

My response?

  1. What action to protect jobs? Please provide some detail rather than bland statements.
  2. Cutting taxes? So where’s the money for the extra police going to come from? Or the money to pay back the money used to prop up the economy?
  3. Cutting pensioners’ heating bills is going to get Britain out of a recession?
  4. The Council of Mortgage Lenders has predicted that 75,000 homes will be repossessed in 2009 as against 40,000 in 2008. But the group has admitted that this prediction is "pessimistic". Figures from the Ministry of Justice show a huge drop in the number of lenders getting court permission for the early stages of repossession.
I despair of politicians. They fill the media with misinformation, obfuscation and damned lies.

President Obama stretches out the hand of friendship to Muslims the world over. Osama Bin Laden stretches the sword of a megalomaniac with a Messiah complex over the neck of captives.

Osama – let me be first in the queue to live under your enlightened rule in an Islamist utopia where you’d have dissenters beaten or beheaded for simply not believing in your barbaric, medieval fantasy world or your imaginary sky-god, for whom there’s not a shred of tangible evidence, and whose self-appointed representative you seem to have become. On second thoughts, I don’t think so.

Is it just me, or do all my male readers also have problems with their thongs getting tangled in their bum hair?

9 comments:

The Irascible Fairy said...

Taking your last sentence first - now that you are "Officially" 11% gay you surely know that you have to wax first!

Richard x x x

Chairman Bill said...

Richard: But will waxing solve the Brown crisis?

The Irascible Fairy said...

I am working my way from the bottom up on your blog!

Richard x x x

Anonymous said...

You are right about people's hubris over the call for change. It doesn't matter which party is in power; there will always be a scandal and the people will always call for the PM's resignation. However, it's sad that you now have leaders of the opposition stating, to paraphrase, "We need change". The last person I heard saying that was Obama. That's all he ever said. Everytime you turned ont he tv there he was, shouting "We need change". But he never said what needed changing or why or even what it would change to. But the black population liked the sound of that so he swept to power. As soon as he got in he staffed the majority of his Cabinet with people who served under Bill Clinton and are seen as being on the right wing of the Democratic party. Clinton's reign wasn't a bad one, but how much change can happen if you staff up with the old guard? None. But at least Obama got what he wanted - the Presidency!
When Obama and his VP, Joe Biden, were running for presidency it was common to drive by houses and bill boards that had signs up stating "OBAMA / BIDEN". When passing quickly, the eye was easily tricked into reading OSAMA bin LADEN. How ironic he is now reaching out to the Muzzies.

However, if you have made it this far through my windbag comment, I have some sage advice for you on the bum hair entangled thong. Do what I do. Go to a waxer and ask for the "Back, Sac n Crack Special". Your thong will glide up and down with ease once you are silky smooth. It works great for me (and if you believe that, I will tell you another).

Jennysmith said...

Thongs? Ugh - don't know how you can wear 'em in the first place! Get some M&S Y-fronts like any self-respecting male xxxx

The Irascible Fairy said...

And so to Mr Brown – it really is a shame but a good chancellor (even if he did sell off the family gold when gold prices were at an all time low) but some people are good leaders and some arn’t and Gordon Brown is one of the latter.


1. He finds it difficult to make decisions and constantly vacillates – witness his decision not to have an election after apparently saying he would have one when he took over as PM.


2. He cannot delegate authority – which means that Ministers are not allowed to take/make decisions and everything has to be referred back to him. Some women Ministers think that this is aimed only at them but male ministers get the same treatment.


3. However there are some people whose decisions he will rubberstamp. Business Secretary Lord Mandelson for one.


On my own level I am really angry with the Labour Party and thus their leader – my MP – Ian Gibson – a man who I had great respect for has been stolen from me. And I don’t understand why a party that was talking about reforming the lords now has the Peers – unelected – in ministerial positions. And as one of them is Sir Alan Sugar I will probably never vote labour again.



Richard x x x x

The Irascible Fairy said...

Of course no Political Party is going to tell you what its policies are if they can avoid doing so - because telling you - apart from in the vaguest possible terms will:-

1. Stop you voting for them if you disagree with their policies

2. The same policy promised will come back to haunt them if they win the election and discover that those policies aren't practical!

No far, far better to make vague and smiling promises whilst attacking the other parties.

Richard x x x

Chairman Bill said...

Richard:

1) Would you have held an election at that stage?

2)I agree ref the delegation problems, but can you blame him?

3) Mandelson is an astute politician, if somewhat naiive in relation to hsi associations. Machivellian is perhaps an apt description, yet I think he'd make a good PM himself. Forget not that he was one of the architects of Blair's triumph.

4) Agree fully with the issue of Sir Alan Shergar.

I worry a great deal when the electorate is more interested in people than policy. They are not what you might call a sophisticated electorate. I'd even go so far as to call the vast majority politically ignorant. They'd vote for a monkey if it wore the right suit and kissed babies.

The Irascible Fairy said...

An election - Brown was high in the polls so perhaps - but once he said that he would have one he was committed - at least I think that he was.

Mandy is an astute politician but I think that he is tainted by the last two scandals that saw him ousted from parliament. And I hate the fact that he is now de facto Deputy Prime minister and in the Lords.

As for the electorate being unaware of political issues - it was ever thus.

Richard x x x