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
Back
to the future
'Forward
not Back' is quite wrong: we must go back - back to clean
hospitals with more medical staff and fewer managers;
back to education with proven standards.
Back
to police on the street and solving crime; back to increased
employment in industry, back to ministers who stand up
for this country and back to democratic government. Then,
perhaps, we can move forward. Letter from S, M. Butler,
Shoreham-by-Sea, Sussex - Daily Mail, March 23, 2005
Virtues
of a secret ballot
Sir
- Concerning postal votes (report Mar 23) what is the
first principle of a democratic political vote? Answer:
THE SECRET BALLOT.
It
is obvious that a postal ballot is only as secret as the
moral strength of the voter. With the infinite propaganda
powers of today's electronic media, it is frighteningly
easy for devious politicians to promote politically correct
or "cool" or, most wickedly, "honest and
transparent" voting patterns, where someone failing
to vote "with his/her group" must "have
something to hide".
Postal
voting should, at best, be allowable only to persons who
are required to be stationed away from their constituency
on government business. A few temporary disfranchisements
may result, but nothing is perfect.
Letter from J. B. Lewis, Bognor Regis, West Sussex - The
Daily Telegraph, March 25, 2005
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The
hidden cracks in the (Tony Blair's) Mirror letter
By
Edward Heathcote-Amory - Daily Mail, April 7, 2005
Yesterday,
Tony Blair published a handwritten letter addressed to readers
of the Daily Mirror, explaining why he believed they should support
Labour at the election. It wasn't a great literary work - much
appeared to have been copied out from an Alastair Campbell-style
briefing note - and it glossed over the most difficult issue -
IRAQ, with a passing reference and no apology.
But
it did contain a series of assertions about how much better life
in Britain had become under Labour that don't stand up to even
passing scrutiny. Here, we expose facts behind Mr Blair's claims.
CLAIM:
"Our country is fairer"
FACT:
Income inequality - the gap between rich
and poor - has in practice grown slightly under Labour, according
to figures released last month by the independent Institute of
Fiscal Studies. Mr Blair tried to wriggle off this hook recently
by claiming that 'sometimes figures can be misleading about the
gap between the wealthy and the poor', but was unable to explain
why.
CLAIM:
"The decisions we took on the economy,
which were opposed by the Tories, have delivered low inflation
low mortgage rates and low unemployment,"
FACT:
There have been 50 consecutive quarters of economic growth. a
record of which Gordon Brown can be proud. But the first 19
of them were under the last Conservative Government.
Labour
inherited a strong economy, and kept it that way by sticking to
Tory spending plans for the first few years, and by making
the Bank of England independent, keeping meddling ministers away
from interest rates. He does not mention Labour's 10% increase
in National Insurance costing the average family £353 this
year.
CLAIM:
"Two million more people in work."
FACT:
Labour deserves credit for the growth
in jobs, but 861,000 of this increase has been in the public sector,
a massively disproportionate growth in civil servants. Last year
alone, Labour piled on 261,000 public employees, but the productive
private sector shrank by 6,000.
CLAIM:
"Through the New Deal ..thousands upon
thousands of young people have found jobs, and long-term youth
unemployment ... has virtually disappeared."
FACT:
There are more under-25's on incapacity
benefit than there are on the New Deal, as the long-term unemployed
simply became the long-term 'sick'. The number of young people
claiming to be unable to work because of illness is up 60% under
New Labour to 160,000.
CLAIM:
"There are thousands more doctors, nurses,
teachers and police."
FACT:
True, as you would expect, given the billions in taxpayers'
money that has been spent. But the number of new bureaucrats and
support staff in education increased twice as fast as the number
of new teachers, and the number of NHS managers is increasing
three times as fast as the number of new doctors and nurses.
CLAIM:
"Better school results."
FACT:
There has been an improvement in GCSE results - up 5% between
1998 and 2002 - but they went up more under the Tories between
1990 and 1994, when spending increased at a third the rate of
that under Labour. Nor should we take the results at face value.
Academic researchers have found that the standard required at
A-level or GCSE has slumped by the equivalent of a whole grade
since Labour came to power. And Mr Blair might also have mentioned
that almost half of all boys and a third of girls leave primary
school unable to write properly.
CLAIM:
"Shorter waits for hospital treatment."
FACT:
After years of no movement, increased spending is finally leading
to shorter waiting lists for operations in the NHS. The number
of people on waiting lists is down 11% over the past year to a
far from impressive 861,900. But individual cases continue to
illustrate the ways in which the system fails the sick. Margaret
Dixon, 68, had her operation cancelled seven times by the NHS.
Other patients are stuck on hidden waiting lists, for a year or
more.
CLAIM:
"Two million pensioners have been lifted
out of poverty."
FACT:
Pensioner poverty has declined since 1997, but some of the most
vulnerable have slipped through the net because the application
process for Gordon Brown's handouts is so complicated. In 2003,
£3billion went unclaimed by Britain's worst-off pensioners.
Old people have also been hit especially hard by the £100billion
raid on our pension funds, and by soaring council tax rates, up
£574 for an average household since 1997.
CLAIM:
"There is improved maternity pay and maternity
leave, expanded childcare facilities."
FACT:
True. Women can take a year off work after having a baby; fathers
have new rights to parental leave and Labour plans further extensions
to these rights - including nine months' paid maternity leave
and the right to swap some of this entitlement with the father
- after the election.
But
it is British businesses that pay the bill and lost jobs, particularly
in small businesses, that are the result.
CLAIM:
"Tax credits have boosted the incomes of
millions of families."
FACT:
Hard work and economic growth have boosted our incomes. Tax
credits then recycle some of this money, increasing the number
in receipt of a means-tested hand-out to 40% of Britons, up from
20% under the Tories.
So
high has Labour pushed our taxes that, despite all this growth,
the Institute for Fiscal Studies concluded that last year, our
take-home pay - after taxes and benefits - fell for the first
time in a decade.
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Tactical
Voting
As
UKIP member for several years, I believe the greatest
threat facing the British is the potential loss of our
independence to govern ourselves. Once Brussels gains
complete control, everything else we are voting for in
the coming election is academic. The real decisions will
be made in Brussels by people we can't vote out.
Much
as I support UKIP's aims, I now believe the single most
important goal for British voters is to remove Blair and
his rotten Government before they complete the process
of removing our sovereignty. Only a vote for Michael Howard
will do this - Letter to the Daily Mail from Tony Beverley,
London SW10 - April 7, 2005
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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So
do it , Sedgefield. Vote for Reg Keys. Do it for David Kelly.
Do it, as the man said, for a government that will restore the
trust in politics in this country.
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.
