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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One
million reasons why New Labour isn't working - CITY
FOCUS by Edmund Conway - Daily Mail,
March 7, 2005
Labour's
industrial record will soon be shattered by official figures confirming
that more than a million manufacturing jobs have been lost since
it came to power. The news underlines the fact that the stricken
sector has performed worse under New Labour than under almost
any previous government.
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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So
far, 985,000 manufacturing jobs have been lost and the Office
for National Statistics is shortly expected to confirm that the
figure has gone through the damning one million barrier. This
will come as a devastating blow for Labour, traditional champion
of the nation's industrial heartland. Ministers claim that unemployment
is at a record low - but the only reason that jobless figures
have been kept down is a sharp rise in public-sector hiring. More
than 861,000 government jobs were created between summer 1997
and autumn 2004. This number may also soon surpass one million,
as Chancellor Gordon Brown's spending spree continues.
But
the numbers employed in industry have declined as the ranks of
public-sector workers has swelled ( see table). It would be unfair
to pin sole responsibility on the government for the plight of
the sector, which has been in structural decline for decades.
As
manufacturing lobby group the EEF acknowledges, some job losses
are down to the strong pound and to low-cost competition from
firms in China and India. Nonetheless, it believes thegovernment
must shoulder its fair share of the blame.
"Job
losses every year are not inevitable," says EEF chief economist
Stephen Radley, warning that the sector's growth will continue
to flag. He points to higher taxes, problems with transport, infrastructure,
rising costs and concerns about skills as culprits. Burgeoning
red tape is another factor behind manufacturer's woes.
"To
take one example, look at the climate change agenda," Radley
says. "In this case we think the government is getting overly
preoccupied with being the world leader and is neglecting its
support for companies at home."
Trade
Unions are equally critical of the government. The TUV believes
that although ministers have made moves to help the sector, it
may be too little, too late.
"In
its early days the government neglected manufacturers, taking
the view there was going to be a dot.com economy," says General
Secretary Brendan Barber. "We have had a long-term failure
to invest in manufacturers."
For
Barber, there is no doubt that the extent of decline in manufacturing
in Britain has been bigger than in other parts of the world. "Last
year, the manufacturing sector shrank by 0.5% in Britain. In the
US it grew by 6%. In Europe it grew by 3.3% and in Japan it grew
by 1%," he says.
The
TUC believes the government could provide more subsidies for industry
without contavening European competition laws. It claims that
the UK provides less state assistance than any other EU member
and says one rare example was the award of £10 million in
state aid to Ford for a training project in England. It also believes
British procurement systems discriminate more against national
companies than in other countries.
Shadow
Chancellor Oliver Letwin described the job losses as 'frightening'.
"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."
Does
decline of old-style manufacturing matter? The Department of Trade
and Industry (DTI) - which insists it is doing its best to help
the sector - points out that it is still 'extremely valuable to
the country'. Manufacturing contributes £150bn to the economy
a year and produces half of our exports. A sixth of all business
are manufacturers.
The
DTI argues that this country cannot compete against China and
India in low-skilled, low-wage manufacturing. "We need to
specialise in high-tech industry and innovation," a spokesman
said. According to John Philpott, chief economist at the Chartered
Institute of Personnel and Development, the British economy is
still undergoing a long-term switch from manufacturing to the
more skilled and productive services sector.
"Thirty
or forty years ago almost a third of the population worked in
manufacturing industry. Soon enough, that figure will have come
down to just 1 in 10," he says. The shift away from traditional
factories may be inevitable, but it has accelerated and grown
more painful under Labour. That is a serious embarrassment for
the party supposed to represent real workers.
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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.
