Rescuing
Democracy in the United Kingdom from our current Elected
Dictatorship
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Come
back Gilligan, all is forgiven. Penny Young, Diss, Norfolk,
to The Guardian, February 24, 2005
Spin, not
face-to-face confrontations with the voters, is the Government's
chosen method of communication. Ordinary
people are dangerous. Ordinary people might ask a question
which throws a politician 'off message'; the Cabinet member
might reveal himself or herself to be a human being like
us, and not a programmed android. Worse still, he or she
might tell the truth. Ann Leslie
- Daily Mail, September 16, 2004
Power
cut, please
Labour's
pollsters have Tony Blair running scared, because they have
informed him that if turnout at the next election is below
50%, the result will be a hung parliament. This would be
good news for those of us who, viewing the damage inflicted
by recent governments, would like nothing better than a
Parliament powerless to do anything. Letter from Ron
Phillips, London W14 - Daily Mail 17/2/05
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Tony
Blair's pledge cards made no mention of pensioners. Perhaps
they're the jokers.
Letter
to the Daily Mail from Brian Green, Daventry, Northants
- February 22, 2005
The
Guardian's Polly Toynbee says 'a profoundly nasty streak'
among voters worried about poverty, crime and immigration
might cause them to vote against the Government. Isn't
it time we replaced the present electorate with one more
to Polly's liking? Ephraim Hardcastle, Daily Mail,
February 24, 2005
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Labour
and a million lost jobs in British industry
BY
Edmund Conway, Economics Reporter, Daily Mail, March 7, 2005
The
true extent to which Labour has created an army of public sector
workers has been revealed. More than one million manufacturing
jobs have been lost since Tony Blair came to power in 1997, official
figures will show this week.
Yet
unemployment has stayed low, indicating that many of the jobs
shed from the industrial heartlands are being replaced by posts
in the wealth-sapping public sector. The figures will come as
a bombshell for the Government, which has boasted of its employment
record and is basing its election campaign on its success over
the economy.
TALE
OF TWO SECTORS -Change
in employment numbers on previous years
YEAR---
-----Manufacturing------ Public Sector
1997 ***** +
34,000
*****
-
110,000
1998
* ***
+ 31,000
**** ** -
13,000
1999
*****
- 172,000*****
+149,000
2000
****
- 123,000
*****
+ 17,000
2001
***** -
175,000
***** +
92,000
2002
****
- 199,000
***** +
89,000
2003
****
- 190,000******+162,000
2004
****
- 127,000 ****
+260,000
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They
also severely undermine a pledge by Gordon Brown to save taxpayers'
money by culling more than 80,000 penpushing civil servants. By
last autumn, 985,000 industry workers had been axed since the
1997 General Election, according to the figures from the Office
for National Statistics. Studies show that thousands more have
disappeared over the winter months, which is certain to have pushed
the total over the million mark.
There
are now just over 3.5 million working in manufacturing, compared
with 4.5 million when Mr Blair became Prime Minister. In the late
1970's , before the winter of discontent, the total stood at 7
million.
The
figures, to be released on Wednesday next week, may explain why
the Chancellor has decided to hold the Budget on that day. Labour
spin doctors may be trying to 'bury the bad news'.
The
Tories called the figures 'frightening', last night. Shadow Chancellor
Oliver Letwin said: "In the last three years of the last
Conservative Government, manufacturing employment rose by 150,000.
Under Mr Blair it has plummeted and we are now 11th instead of
4th in the international competitiveness league. At the same time
we have seen a big rise in public sector bureaucratic jobs. For
British manufacturing to prosper in the face of tough international
competition, we have to lift the regulatory burden and lighten
the tax load instead of adding 15 new regulations per working
day and imposing 66 new stealth taxes."
Manufacturers'
body the EEF said the decline has been made worse by Labour policies.
"If we saw some further growth in the sector, we could actually
create jobs," said its chief economist Stephen Radley. "Instead
we are faced with higher taxation, problems with the transport
system, rising costs and concerns about skills, not to mention
the increased burden of regulation."
Many
of the jobs have shifted out to China and India, where wages and
costs are lower. Unions urged the chancellor to boost manufacturing
in the Budget. "We have had a long-term failure to invest
in manufacturers," said TUC general secretary Brendan Barber.
"Last year, manufacturing sector shrunk by 0.5%. In the US
it grew by 6%. In Europe it grew by 3.3%. In Japan it grew by
1%."
The
Government insisted that it was doing its best to help industry.
"The manufacturing sector is extremely valuable to the country,"
a spokesman for the Department of Trade and Industry said. "It
contributes £150bn a year to the economy, it produces half
of our exports, and it still makes up a sixth of businesses. We
are never going to compete in low wages and low skilled manufacturing,
so we need to specialise in high-tech industry and innovation."
John
Philpott, chief economist of the Chartered Institute of Personnel
and Development, said: "Thirty to forty years ago almost
a third of the population worked in manufacturing. Soon that will
have come down to just one in ten."
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Perhaps
Ann Widdecombe was right about Michael Howard, but it
should have been KNIGHT with a K, and he could have saved
us from the monsters Blair and Campbell - Letter to
the Dail Mayil from Les Fletcher, Rhos-on-Sea, Colwyn
Bay, Wales - February 18, 2005
After
a clear vote against them, we still got eight non-elected
Regional Assemblies. When we vote against the EU Constitution,
we'll get them anyway. Letter from P.Cove, Aylesbury,
BUCKS.- Daily Mail, January 31, 2005
THE
TIMES slavish support for the Government worries some
members of the paper's staff, not to mention any perspicacious
readers who are left. Political editor Philip Webster
was questioned about this when he addressed colleagues
as part of an in-house 'masterclass' exercise. Small wonder.
One of his Blair-worshipping subordinates wrote a news
story yesterday poo-pooing the row over Labours anti-semitic
poster mocking Michael Howard, saying it was merely £5million
worth of 'free publicity' for the party. Ephraim Hardcastle
- Daily Mail, Febrauary 2, 2005
Hold
the front page
Further
to BBC bias (Mail), very often on BBC Breakfast and Breakfast
With Frost, coverage of the morning papers is censored.
If the front page of the Daily Mail is critical of Tony
Blair and his Soviet-style Government, it is not shown,
although the front pages of all the other newspapers are
shown. A supposedly independent broadcasting body is acting
as censor for this Government - an absolute disgrace.
Letter from Peter Fish, Chippenham, Wilts. .- Daily Mail,
February 17, 2005
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The
REAL NASTY PARTY- How
Labour is the true home of spite, bigotry and contempt for the
public
For
the health of our democracy, we, the people of the United Kingdom,
must find a way to force Mr Blair to resign
Such
defiance of the democratic process and the will of the majority
of we people of the UK, must be exposed by voters as a matter
or urgency, and not just in the two by-elections we have had this
July and the European elections in June 2004. But how can this
be done?
The
most effective way of getting our deceitful PM to resign would
be to mobilise the army of Labour MPs currently in the House of
Commons and get them to demand it, the loss of their seat to be
a penalty if they did not. All voters in Labour-held constituencies
need to write a letter along these lines to their local Labour
MPs:
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Dear
Despite
his absolute and unequivocal assurances over the past year
of the serious risk to our security of Saddam Hussein's
'weapons of mass destruction', Prime Minister Blair
has admitted, that the threat was non-existent. For that
critical error of judgement and for his gross incompetence
in handling this very important issue, I ask you to take
immediate steps to ensure that Tony Blair does the honourable
thing and resign without delay..
I
would therefore be much obliged if you would propose and
help mobilise a Parliamentary vote of 'No Confidence' in
Mr Blair which, despite Labour's huge majority, would leave
the PM with no option but to resign.
If
I get no reply to this letter, I shall assume you will continue
to support Mr Blair as our Prime Minister. In such circumstances
I shall not vote for you in the forthcoming General Election.
Signed:
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Simple,
non-violent, protest letters along these lines on a variety of
issues could be the basis for re-vitalising our democracy and
increasing voters' interest and participation in politics. Download
a printable copy of the above letter here.
There
is another way for the voice of the silent majority to be heard,
a voice that made sure broken promises would not only be revealed,
but punished in subsequent elections.
In
the year available before the General Election expected in 2005,
many topics are available as ammunition, each one asking questions.
A weapon for our purpose will be the results of Opinion Polls
in individual constituencies using ICM, NOP, Gallop, Mori
or YouGov.
Questions
suggested for this purpose are listed here.
CAST
YOUR VOTE ON A VARIETY OF OTHER IMPORTANT ISSUES HERE.
Current
and prospective Parliamentary candidates of all Parties running
for election could share a platform at public forums in every
constituency. They would be presented with the results of
polls on this issue expressed by the majority of voters in that
constituency.
The candidates could be asked if their own views and that of their
Party manifesto corresponded with the polls, and if not, how they
intended to represent the will of the majority of local voters.
Local and National Press, Radio and TV coverage would be arranged
and the results published on this web site.
Here
is another powerful strategy for using your vote effectively in
the forthcoming General Election. Send your sitting and prospective
MPs a letter defining your requirements if they want your vote.
This example deals with the proposed
EU Constitutional Treaty.
Your
letters would end: "If you do not answer
this letter, I shall take it that you intend to follow the Government
line. I shall act accordingly in the forthcoming General Election.
Or
why not create a questionnaire that you send to all the candidates
in your constituency, getting them to give yes/no answers to questions
of your choice, and ending it with the same paragraph(above).
Download
a printable example of the questionnaire.
It
is high time for the people of this United Kingdom to stop allowing
themselves to be manipulated by politicians. We need our representatives
in Parliament to genuinely reflect the view of the majority in
their own constituency, even if this means going against their
personal and/or their party's policy. While they may argue their
case, hoping to change the minds of the majority in their constituency,
they should ultimately be obliged to reflect the majority view
of those who elect them.
It
will be argued by politicians of all parties that most voters
don't have the knowledge necessary to express an opinion on important
subjects at issue, and that our vote is a form of delegated democracy.
We should argue that it is their duty to ensure that we voters
do have ready access to such information as is necessary to form
an intelligent opinion. That, after all, is one main purpose of
Opposition Parties in our Parliamentary Democracy.
Most
important of all, such proceedings would rekindle in voters their
latent interest and obligation to cast their vote, knowing that
the candidate of their choice would be more likely to act in accordance
with their wishes. A much higher turnout in elections would be
the result.
Contact
your local Party Chairman. Gain his support for setting up public
forums in your constituency on these, as well as any other relevant
topics, well before the next General Election expected in 2005.
You should then, depending on the integrity of the candidate of
your choice, feel fairly certain that your view on any subject
being debated in Parliament will more accurately be reflected
by your representative in that assembly.
