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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
Perhaps
hospitals should adopt the motto: TOUGH ON GRIME. TOUGH
ON THE CAUSES OF GRIME. Phil
Musk, Godalming, Surrey - Letter to the Daily Mail, February
28, 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
Stop
the gravy train
The
biggest worry that most politicians have after the 'NO'
votes in France and the Netherlands is how much longer thay
can keep the lucrative gravy train rolling. When they are
eventually kicked out of office here, they often have a
juicy Euro job to go to, plus their pension.
Why
does every aspect of our lives need to be controlled by
zealously enforced stupid laws, supervised by quangos of
cronies, monitored by umpteen committees and the results
then translated into 20-odd languages by armies of overpaid,
unnecessary pen-pushers?
Give
them all a new job description, a mop and a bucket and tell
them to do something really useful , such as getting rid
of MRSA from our hospitals. Letter
from A. McMurray, Luton - Daily Mail, June 6, 2005
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MRSA
Deaths Double in 4 years - Experts fear toll
is even worse
I'll
cleanse our hospitals of MRSA, says Michael Howard
by
Paul Eastham, Deputy Political Editor, Daily Mail - September
4, 2004
Michael
Howard branded MRSA 'a British disease' yesterday as he accused
Ministers of dragging their feet in the battle against the hospital
superbug. The Opposition leadeer, whose mother-in-law was among
the 5,000 patients killed annually by MRSA, said Labour's failure
meant hospitals were 'killing as well as curing'.
Bugged
by M R S A - Letter from Susan Griffiths,
Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales - Daily Mail, March 10, 2005
There's
nothing new about MRSA infections on hospital wards. I
was a student nurse in the late Sixties when there was
an investigation into the number of 'staph aureus' infections
of surgical wounds and bedsores. This was in the days
when hospitals were scrubbed, washed and disinfected until
every inch was clean.
A
carrier was suspected, and all staff had nasal swabs taken.
Some results came back positive, including mine, which
was also resistant to all available antibiotics tested
- Multi-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus.
I
was told I would probably be sent off duty until such
time as any swabs taken proved negative, but because of
staff shortages, I never was.
I
continued nursing till 1995. Nothing further was ever
done about the swab result. In fact, I forgot all abut
it until MRSA cropped up in the news.
How
many hospital staff are carriers these days? Is anything
being done to find out?
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On
a whirlwind tour of target seats in Kent, he put ward cleanliness
at the heart of the Conservatives' general election policy on
health. "The superbug is a British disease,", he said.
"The right to choice is the cure. I want to see a culture
of cleanliness throughout all hospitals from top to bottom."
Mr
Howard said the Tories would let hospitals appoint special cleaning
teams to fight the infections, Each department could take responsibility
for its infection rate and incompetent agency cleaners could be
replaced by in-house staff. The Tory leader said he would also
scrap tergets to free up staff to fight the bugs, which are estimated
to cost the NHS £1billion a year.
Although
Labour unveiled plans on Wednesday to put alcohol-based gels at
the end of every NHS bed to encourage staff to clean their hands,
Mr Howard said this was not enough. "The time has come for
a sustained and effective programme of action," he said.
"The next Conservative government will make ridding our hospitals
of the superbug a key priority. Patients deserve - and patients
will get - clean and safe hospitals."
Mr
Howard added his party's policy of giving patients more choice
over where they were treated would help hospitals stamp out the
bugs. "If patients don't want to be treated in a filthy ward
or one with a high rate of infection, they won't have to be,"
he said. "The best hospitals would drive up standards for
the worst. That's how choice works."
The
Conservative leader also highlighted the worrying spread of staphylococcus
aureus, a bacteria which can cause skin infections and is potentially
dangerous if it infects wounds. Tory health spokesman Andrew Lansley
insisted the party's policies would make a difference. "There
are people across the NHS who want to achieve infection-free and
clean hospitals but feel they are frustrated from doing so,"
he told the BBC.
Health
Secretary John Reid defended Labour's record saying he set a target
to reduce MRSA rates as part of the recent five-year NHS plan.
My
husband had to fight the superbug in a filthy isolation room
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.
