Monster Raving Elections

One of our local councillors has re-released a recording he made, back in history, when he used to be an ordinary member of the tax paying public and a thorn in the b***side of the local council. He used to stand for election as a member of the Monster Raving Loony Party. The locals say that he once paid his local taxes by dumping a pile of horse manure at the front entrance to the council offices. He is no longer a rebel. He is one of them. Now he is just a plain old Con.

He appears to be a man of low ambition. His main focus during this latest election is that he would like to see his old record gain the number 10 slot in the hit parade. To this end there is a website with a link where you can listen to this re-issued offering here . . .

He does excite a lot of comment from the residents of Sidmouth - one of whom is SeeRed:
"However, in order to get councillors from the entrenched majority party to talk to him, he saw the light and was converted to Conservatism. He was (and still is) the County Councillor for the ward that includes Sidford and as such was responsible for highway matters, which are a County (DCC) not a District (EDDC) responsibility. During the entire 'long hot summer' of protest in the village of Sidford, Councillor Hughes was not seen once by any of the residents or shopkeepers who were protesting. He never even came to discuss the reasons for what was (by the standards of sleepy Sidmouth) a huge and unprecedented protest. This involved several village meetings in a packed hall, banners, placards, TV cameras and local radio. Councillor Hughes was invited to attend meetings of the Action Group, and did not appear. Hundreds of normally quiet residents, most of whom were near or over retirement age, attended protest marches".

Brown Fiddles While Britain Freezes

While Gordon Brown and Darling Alistair are tinkering around the edges of this depressive recession they appear to be equally worried about the obesity epidemic, MP's expenses on "second homes" and climate change or global warming (during the coldest winter for decades) .

We are being nagged to turning our heating down. Fit long life energy saving lightbulbs. Well bugger that. I fitted 4 energy saving lightbulbs. They take so long to warm up I've left the room before I can see where I'm going. They also fail to emit any warmth so I have to have the heating on 3 degrees higher. The 'long life' bulbs are less than 2 years old and show signs of being less efficient and slower than when first fitted.

I am now tracking down stockpiles of the old fashioned incadescent bulbs and have boxes of them stored in the loft. I don't see why these are not considered long life bulbs. In our previous house we had many of the old fashioned original bulbs that we'd fitted when we moved in 1982 still burning brightly in 1999 when we left.

Global warming? not according to all scientists. These are the experts who obviously do not have any vested interests in companies making wind turbines, energy saving lightbulbs, solar panels etc. If you believe that Maggie Thatcher was often right then in her time the view was earth is heading towards a new ice age. In which case the local councils and highways dept. had better buy in the snow ploughs and plenty of gritty rock salt before the prices rocket.

A Stab in the Back

I see in yesterday's Daily Telegraph that Andrew Pierce wrote "Cabinet ministers are being subjected to so much abuse in the street ....." that they have talked informally about extending security cover to all ministers. They are afraid to go out in public, where they may have to cope with "an abusive drunk " or "slow hand clapping", without personal body guards. Well, we thought that a few weeks ago when we saw Harriet Harmless venturing out on to the streets of Peckham wearing a protective vest and surrounded by police protection officers.
How do they think the rest of us feel ?? It's a fine mess they have got us into and their solution is that we can pay more in taxes towards their personal safety! It rather reminds me of Tony Blair telling us that we will 'not let terroists change the way we live' as he built a concrete crash barrier around the Houses of Parliament and ordered himself a bullet and bomb proof car.

Gold Price's Soaring

The price of Gold is soaring and Gordon Brown has nothing in the bank to show for it.... HUH! No wonder all our taxes keep on going up and up...

I also cannot understand just how Tony Blair managed to get taken on as an adviser to J P Morgan. After all Tony Bliar sold his home in Islington just prior to a huge surge in property prices and then bought into property again at the top of the market just before a slump. Maybe J P Morgan is going to use him as a kind of reverse psychology pundit. Sound him out for his views and then take the opposite tack... even that could prove difficult what he believes one day will not necessarily be what he believes on another.

Update: 16:54
This last link on further exploration may or may not be part of BNP - I can't quite figure out if it is or not. However, it does strike a chord and I believe it illustrates just how far a great many of us, the 'general ordinary public', feel a real sense of disappointment and frustration over recent Govt decisions, particularly those made over the last 10-15 years.

Save Us From Global Warming

Rather than all of us being forced into vegetarianism or drinking Utterly Horrible Milk - does anyone know whether the levels of methane [and/or any other gaseous substances] that emit from Parliaments have ever been measured? Maybe we should all propose a cull of MP's.

Now I wouldn't tar all MP's with the same brush and like Phoenix the cow I would wish to reprieve a few. I may not agree with their political point of view but I do admire their integrity, their independence and their honesty [ignoring whether they are/are not faithfull to their spouse].

1. Frank Field
2. David Drew
3. William Hague
4. David Davis
5. Mingie Campbell
6. Malcolm Riffkind
7. Boris Johnson

The last one is only on the list because he makes me laugh - he may be a good MP - I wouldn't know. I can also think of a few more who are now retired and for the record would like to add:

Betty Boothroyd

Tony Benn

David Owen

Shirley Williams

Margaret Thatcher

Are there any others you think should be added to the list for reprieve?

Update on 30th October - how embarrassing I saw Malcolm Riffkind on TV yesterday and it wan't the man I had in mind. My man was a wee bit smaller and neater - did I mean Norman Fowler - maybe?

Liberal Dems

You may have noticed that although I've had a go at the Gordon Brown and David Cameron's Conservatives over the last couple of days that I did not mention anything about the Lib Dems during their conference week. Well no. I didn't. What is there to say?
Menzies 'Ming' Campbell seems a nice enough old codger but he looks far, far older than My Man who is only 3 years younger. My man is in appalling health and really unfit. So how fit is Ming who looks about 15 years older than MyMan? Who else is there in the party with any real standing since Shirley Williams and David Owen retired? Nuff said.

A Bolt from the Blue

Two years ago at the Conservative Party Conference David Cameron made one electrifying speech.

Steady calm intelligent David Davis had appeared to be the front runner in the Tory party leadership contest. He was a popular and dependable choice. But he delivered one poor speech. He was damned from that moment. Then like a Bolt from the Blue David Cameron made that one thrilling speech and it propelled him to the top of the leader board for the Tory leadership contest. But as my old Grandma would have said "he's all mouth and no trousers". She would have been right on that point. Dave Cameron has been a really big disappointment.

I'm really still not at all sure what his views and intentions are. He gives me the impression of blowing in the wind and sitting on the fence. William Hague and David Davis have still made a good showing from time to time on radio and TV but Dave boy keeps letting them down. He reminds me too much of a slighter 'posher' version of Tony Blair.

Now, during this conference unless Dave boy can perform some kind of magical trick and produce e.g. Margaret Thatcher dressed in a bunny girl costume from his top hat - then I don't think he has said anything which would make me decide to give my vote for 'his' party.

I rather liked William Hague's barnstorming speech today :-

" And now we know also, according to pension fund experts, that the total amount removed by Gordon Brown from Britain's pension funds in the last ten years stands at one hundred thousand million pounds - all of it spent, and most of it, as recent reports on the health service show, tragically and stupidly squandered. It makes Robert Maxwell look like an amateur. To me it is as simple as this: I do not believe that a politician who does such violence to the lifetime savings of millions of hardworking British people can be the right Prime Minister for our future."

He called Gordon Brown a calculating politician rather than a conviction politician. That could get me fired up but .... it still wouldn't persuade me to vote for 'em. I need some definite promise of re-instating my lost pension, and dignity for the elderly in hospitals and care homes etc.. I know what it is like - I worked for Social Services until I became so disheartened I threw in the towel and quit.

Northern Rock Debacle

I just cannot believe what I am seeing on the news. The queues at Northern Rock Banks of hundreds of people patiently waiting to get access to their money. The whole tribe of leaders, bankers, experts, politicians wheeled out to tell us all that our money is SAFE in Northern Rock. No problems. Don't panic. The website is running as normal - it 'maybe a bit slow' as so many people are trying to get online to transfer their money out. Does anyone know of anyone who has managed to log on to even look at their balance? You can't even get online to open an account - if you should wish to do so - if you wanted to show your faith in the bank.

I am so sorry for all the staff at Northern Rock. From staff at HQ, to the IT Dept, and all the counter staff. I expect they are getting a lot of flack and aggro from anxious savers. At the same time they will be worried about their own jobs. The standard of staff and paperwork at Northern Rock has been exemplary. Far superior to any other bank I've had dealings with. That's why it is such a sad ending to a fine institution. It's the bosses who are to blame - and the shareholders along with the FSA and Govt.

Now I'm a saver and so is my husband. We can't afford to lose money. But as our accounts are postal and have penalties attached for cashing in early - then there is no easy access to our money however much I would like to panic and take it out. Unless the bank and its obligations are taken over we are likely to lose some of our savings. The FSCS scheme only pays 100% on the first £2k and then drops to 90% for the subsequent amount to a maximum of £33k. This sum was set up with the scheme a few years ago. I don't know whether it will ever be reviewed. Some people have had far more than £35k invested - perhaps they weren't told of the maximum re the FSCScheme as a last resort if a bank fails - perhaps banks should be required to do so in future.

Now - I also have a smallish sum - my ready cash savings in the Silver Saver On-line. There is no way I can access that at the moment. I did try at 3.30 a.m. But I am reluctant to anyway because what would happen if I arranged a BACS transfer and while my money was out there in that mysterious world of the etherbank - that strange place where I get no interest on it - while it has left one bank and takes 3-4 days to arrive at the destination bank - what would happen if the Northen Rock bank suddenly ceased trading? Would I be covered then by the FSCS scheme? Or if the NR Bank sent my money to me as a cheue through the post. My money in a cheque. But before it was paid in and cleared as cash in my current account - would I be then be an unfortuante creditor only or would I still be covered under the FSCS scheme?

Knowing how this Govt. has refused to help out pensioners with collapsed pension schemes and the Equitable Life customers; also the FSA seems very toothless when dealing with this - then are any of these schemes worth the paper they are written on? At our age we can't afford to wait xx years to find out if we will get compensation should a bank collapse and cease trading.

This latest panic on the high street just shows how none of us trust our leaders when they tell us we have nothing to worry about. They have squandered our trust over the last 10 years and are now being hoist by the petards [whatever they are!]. I hope it's painful for them all.

18/09/07 - Well said Libby Purvis : http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/libby_purves/article2477756.ece

Tony Blair Man of Steel

Have you noticed how practically everyone, from newspaper journalists to tv and radio; each and everyone one of us is counting down the days to our release from a much loathed and despised Prime Minister. Don't you just love the fact that we won't have to have him preaching and prissing on to us.
Does everyone or anyone admire his Bravery in the face of adversity? He's constantly telling us that the war against terrorism is important and 'we must not allow them to change the way we live'. Don't you just love that phrase? No - the way WE live hasn't changed. But have you noticed that Tony no longer walks to the the House - he is driven just a few hundred yards in a bullet and bomb proof car. He is even getting terrorist resistant car[s] for when he retires. He obviously doesn't trust his God that much. I doubt we'll be seeing him on the tube or bus in the future or at Lord's cricket ground. He's always full of fine words but it is very much a case of don't do as I do, but do as I say.
Margaret Thatcher was bombed in Brighton and John Major had a rocket fired on him in Downing Street but there was no sign of them changing the way 'we live'. I reckon they were much braver than Blair is with his quivering lower lip and manly 'butch' stance.
I just hope that Gordon Brown doesn't lose his main virtue of [apparent ] 'honesty'. With Gordon there is an impression of a belief in his belief [s]. Whether you agree or not with him it is to be admired. Rather like Margaret Thatcher, with her many unpopular decisions. There is much to be said for integrity. I hope Gordon will retain his. Time will tell . But we do need something to change for us, the electorate, to regain trust in the people who represent us in Parliament.
I'm not sure that Tony ever had any integrity. I've only ever seen Tony as a celeb with a big desire to be a great, much admired star on a huge stage. Margaret Thatcher the Iron Lady or Tony Blair Man of Base Metal - I know which I'd prefer. Lets hope Gordon Brown turns out to be made of sterling silver or better still, a diamond of the first water.