Rescuing
Democracy in the United Kingdom from our current Elected
Dictatorship
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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
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The
scandal that is Alan Milburn Why should we taxpayers
fund this failed minister to run Labour;s election campaign? -
By Simon Heffer, Daily Mail, February 22, 2005
Most
of us, having had a bad week at the office, would not expect it
to be rounded off with rumours of our imminent promotion. But
then most of us are not working for New Labour, have not obtained
our jobs simply by being a crony of the boss's and are not called
Alan Milburn.
Mr
Milburn is in charge of Labour's election campaign - forget, for
the moment, the technicality that an election has not actually
been called - and he is not doing very well. Last week, after
almost all their supporters had abandoned hope, the Tories landed
a series of powerful punches on the Government on issues ranging
from immigration to dirty hospitals, drug-taking and under-age
sex.
And
when women ministers complained that Labour's image
was too macho, Mr Milburn - who conducts himself as if he thinks
he is rather a hit with the ladies -
invited women political reporters to a sandwich lunch to attempt
to convince them that Labour was female-friendly.
That
too failed, with the intelligent and sophisticated women present
feeling they had been roundly patronised by one of their intellectual
inferiors. Having already been humiliated by the 'flying pigs'
poster debacle, this was yet another sign that Mr Milburn is perhaps
not up to his job.
Mediocrities
However,
he will have read in the Sunday newspapers that he is nevertheless
tipped to succeed Gordon Brown as Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Put aside, if you can, the insult to Mr Brown and the damage to
government unity - not to mention the economy - caused by what
was obviously a Downing St sanctioned piece of briefing.
Whatever
one thinks of Mr Brown's policies, to replace him with Mr Milburn
is a little like having Victoria Beckham stand in for Maria Callas.
Mr Milburn was once a short-lived, undistinguished Chief Secretary
to the Treasury. Outside the Cabinet, he never had a proper job,
and many would argue he still doesn't have one.
He
once helped out in a Marxist bookshop and was a more-or-less full-time
CND activist. He worked as a coordinator at a Trades Union Studies
Information Centre and for a local council and typical of the
semi-educated, state-subsidised mediocrities with infinitely flexible
principles who flourish in our government. The only discernible
skill this putative future Chancellor has is unswerving obedience
to Mr Blair. That is the only reason he is in the Cabinet.
He
is just clever enough to realise that unless he does exactly what
Mr Blair wants and gives absolute undying loyalty, he will never
have another government job again. After all, his last post was
unmitigated failure. He had a big agenda as Health Secretary,
notably including the establishment of foundation hospitals. With
the NHS in crisis, it was a huge job. People's health depended
on the minister.
So
what didd their hero do? After taking months learning the job,
he suddenly threw in the towel, leaving a remnant of a diluted
policy to be put on the statute book by a successor who had to
rebriefed from a cold start by exasperated civil servants.
His
lack of bottle is significant, and not just for what it said about
him. Foundation hospitals were a departure in health policy that
separated old labour from New., Mr Milburn was a general in the
army fighting that civil war, and he broke his sword.
It
was said he resigned to spend more time with his children and
their mother. However, the truth was somewhat different. He picked
up a £30,000-a-year consultancy with an investment company
to help compensate for the loss of his ministerial salary and
longed for a return to something high-profile but less challenging.
He had to wait only just over a year. Mr Blair summoned him back
to the trenches last September.
As
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Cabinet Office minister,
Mr Milburn earns £130,347 a year. He is being given this
enormous salary - which, of course, is being paid by you and me
- for what is effectively the party political job of getting Labour
re-elected. As a fig-leaf it is claimed he is responsible to the
Queen for the general administration of the Duchy of Lancaster,
and oversees the No 10 Strategy Unit and the Prime Minister's
Policy Directorate. In truth, his role is simply to win Mr Blair
the election.
Irritating
He
also has a 'cross-Cabinet role' in the coordination of government
policy, which seems mainly to involve irritating his colleagues,
few of whom can stand the sight of a man they regard as an untalented,
overambitious toady. None of these roles entails any serious work,
and the last three are blatantly party political too.
No
wonder that at the time of his appointment, a senior Whitehall
official was quoted as saying that the use of taxpayers' money
to fund such a political job was 'perilously close to the edges
of propriety'.
Of
course, New Labour, which cares little about such things, has
wasted our money with abandon since 1997, and politicised large
parts of the publicly-funded civil service. Nor does Mr Milburn
worry too much about spending public money either. As befits a
man used to living off the backs of others, his parliamentary
expenses claim of £139,374 last year was the highest of
any member of the Cabinet.
It
is outrageous that he should be paid by the state for his present
post. The Tories, who estimate that the complete cost of running
his office is somewhere in the region of £400,000, have
asked for three separate inquiries into his appointment and its
funding.
Incompetence
The
Government, with its cynical commitment to freedom of information,
has promised to answer the question of the costs of Mr Milburn
after the General Election. It would be bad enough though, if
he were being paid by the taxpayer to help the fortunes of the
Labour Party, In fact, it has been clear since his appointment
almost six months ago, and gets clearer by the hour, that his
main purpose is something even less justifiable than that.
The
point of Alan Milburn, for he does actually have one, is as a
weapon in the war Tony Blair is waging upon Gordon Brown. No one,
not even Mr Brown's worst enemy, believes that Mr Milburn will
actually succeed him as Chancellor. The story was, according to
insiders, put out over the weekend just to 'liven Gordon Brown
up'. Mr Brown is on a trade mission to China, and it is unclear
just how livened up he is.
Unless
Mr Blair wins a third massive majority,Mr Brown may not be going
anywhere. If he does become Foreign Secretary, he will have a
say in who succeeds him, and it won't be Alan Milburn.
Mr
Milburn was made election coordinator to put Mr Brown's nose out
of joint.
Instead,
all he has succeeded in doing is display his own incompetence,
his party's lack of taste and a complete incomprehension of strategy.
If this were an honest government, it wouldn't have Mr Milburn
in it. If, out of some sense of pity for him, it felt it had to
give him a job, he would (like Tory supremos in the Eighties)
be paid out of party funds, and not by the public.
At
least this latest chapter of pointlessness should come to an end
on May 5. After that, if Mr Brown (or whoever is Chancellor) is
looking for a public spending cut, there is at least one that
should easily come to mind.
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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.
