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
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Polish
dentists get a £40,000 rise to bail out NHS -
By Julie
Wheldon - Science Correspondent, Daily Mail, January 21, 2005
Dentists
from Poland are being flown in to tackle an NHS shortage. They
are used to earning around £8,000 a year at home but are
heading for £50,000 a year posts in an area with an NHS
dental crisis.
The
Department of Health has put forward £1 million to finance
the recruitment of 15 dentists from Poland to Norfolk. The move
comes amid a growing crisis, with figures showing the just 44%
of adults and half of children are now registered with an NHS
dentist. In some areas the situation is so critical that when
a new practice has opened its doors, people have queued through
the streets for hours simply to register.
Eight
of the Poles are being recruited by the great Yarmouth Teaching
Primary care Trust which runs dental care for 100,000 people.
It has had a particular problem in the town of Gorleston where
only one dentist was accepting an NHS patients, and he had a waiting
list of three months before there was any hope of a check-up.
Mike
Stonard, chief executive of the trust, said its eight Poles would
treat more than 12,000 new NHS patients over the next year, rising
to 15,000 during 2006-7. They will join existing dental practices
within the next three months and will work solely for the NHS.
One
has already started. Katarzyna Zaton joined the John Plummer practice
last November after it took a gamble that the funding would come
through. Mrs Zaton, 33, who works at the practice's surgery in
Gorleston and Bradwell, said her family had decided to make the
move from southern Poland for a better life. She said her husband
Paul, a computer worker, had been unable to find work in Poland
- and added that there was a surplus o trained dentists in Poland.
Mrs Zaton, who has a four-year-old daughter, said: "Working
as a dentist is very similar in both countries and qualifications
are the same. I only needed to take an English exam."
Mr
Stonard said: "This is great news for our patients and it
will make it much easier for local people to get NHS dental care
close to home." He added: "There are problems in our
area recruiting clinical professionals because of our isolated
geographical position. We have to work hard to compete with other
areas who are all fishing in the same pond."
He
said Poland had been targeted because it was a new member of the
European Union and it had a surplus of trained personnel. The
trust was preparing a further funding bid for two more overseas
dentists, with the Czech Republic and Lithuania also viewed as
potential recruiting grounds.
It
is thought that trusts in other parts of the country may also
look abroad. A spokesman for the Department of Health said: "We
know there are some places in the country where people do have
a choice or have to travel long distances to see an NHS dentist
and that is why we are bringing more dentist in from abroad to
help the hardest hit communities."
In
Scarborough the lack of dentists was so great that when Dutchwoman
Aria Van Drie came to open a new practice in February last year,
3,000 people queued to register. But it emerged that she had been
convicted in Holland of involvement in a kidnap plot and had to
sell her practice.
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.
