Silent
Majority Speaks
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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Economical
thinking
Letter
to the Editor of the Daily Mail from Wilf Fielding, Stretford,
Manchester - December 29, 2004
Doesn't
'President' Blair's election slogan of 'education, education,
education' sound pretty hollow now. What a sorry state
the Government has allowed education to get into. Universities
close down chemistry and pure science departments, yet
keep on 'hobby' and 'Mickey Mouse' degree courses.
Isn't
it time the Government prioritised its spending and gave
sufficient finance to the degree courses on which our
future economy depends - and charge students a premium
if they chose to follow courses such as philosophy or
media studies?
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I
hate to sound mean, but why does my son have to pay to go to a
British university when foreigners go free?
A
fair deal for students
Labour
has twice broken its promises on fees and let students down badly.
Tuition
fees - Labour's first broken promise
During
the 1997 general election Tony Blair promised, "Labour has
no plans to introduce tuition fees for higher education"
(Evening Standard, 14 April 1997). Yet within a year, the Labour
Government had brought in tuition fees.
Top-up
fees - Labour's second broken promise.
In
the 2001 Labour manifesto, they pledged, "We will not introduce
top-up fees". But less than two years later, the Labour Government
has announced that it would allow universities to charge fees
of up to £3,000 a year.
Liberal
Democrats make students pay.
Liberal
Democrats say that they would scrap tuition fees, but we only
have to look at their record in Scotland. Tuition fees have not
been abolished in Scotland – as fees still have to be repaid
after graduation (the so-called ‘graduate endowment liability’).
Far from abolishing tuition fees, graduates just pay later and
some pay more. As Labour’s David Blunkett has remarked, ‘it
is difficult to see how anyone in Scotland has gained, with 40
per cent of students not paying fees in the first place and now
having the non-fee deferred so that they have to pay after they
have left university’.
Indeed,
advertising watchdogs have investigated the Labour-Liberal Democrat
Executive in Scotland over a complaint it has made misleading
claims about "abolishing" tuition fees. The ASA carried
out a simultaneous investigation into similar claims made by the
Scottish Liberal Democrats in leaflets circulated to households
in Edinburgh
Conservatives
will scrap all fees and give a fair deal for students. They have
announced plans for wide-ranging reform of higher education that
will give a fair deal for students and universities. Conservatives
will:
- Scrap
all tuition fees
- Axe Labour's plans for top-up fees, handing students a total
bill of £9,000 - students
must not be tempted into wasting their valuable youth getting
useless degrees.
-
Scrap Labour's arbitrary university admissions target -
70% of Business leaders say graduates today
are not better than non-graduates. Universities now invent courses
to meet the Government target of getting 50% of school leavers
into University. The current level is 44% and is rising fast,
with courses being invented solely to appear attractive to potential
students.
Graduates
will leave University saddled with a large debt, with half of
them unable to earn enough to repay their loan.
- Axe the proposed Access Regulator for Universities. Without
Government targets for University education to monitor and control
there will be no need for bureacrats.
- Improve vocational and technical education. This
is the critical area to expand and exploit. Vocational apprenticeships
will allow students to earn a living while learning their craft.
They won't have the mountain of debt with which graduates will
start adult life.
There
has been growing concern in academic circles over 'degree inflation',
similar to that seen with GCSE's and A-levels. Recent figures
show that the number of first-class degrees awarded by leading
universities soared by 50% since 1997. Last year, 55% of graduates
were awarded a first or an upper second compared with 25% a decade
ago.
There
is a serious proposal to replace the entire University grading
system with a simple "pass" or "fail". Getting
a University degree may soon be as simple and easy as getting
a Driving License. Is that what you want for yourself, or for
your children?
Do
you want a devalued Degree that almost everyone will get, or one
you deserved to win by your own hard work?
Graduate
glut that leaves thousands in lowly-paid jobs
by
Laura Clark, Daily Mail Education Reporter - August 11, 2004
A surge
in the number of university students is forcing graduates to settle
for mundane jobs, according to official figures. At least four
in ten are finding work that is unlikely to justify their studies
or the thousands spent on fees and living expenses. A Government-funded
study yesterday warned that Tony Blair's university recruitment
drive was turning degrees into lottery tickets with no guarantee
of a job.
Statistics
show nearly one in five graduates who finds work within six months
of finishing their studies ends up in administrative or secretarial
posts while 11% work in sales and customer services. One in 20
- some 6,100 - go into 'elementary occupations' - traffic wardens,
hospital porters, roadsweepers and tractor drivers. Similar numbers
work in 'personal services' including hairdressing and childcare,
while 900 get jobs as machine operatives and lorry drivers.
The
figures, from the Higher Education Statistics Agency, cast renewed
doubts on the Premier's pledge to send 50% of young people to
university. Student numbers have nearly doubled over the past
15 years but the Prime Minister now wants half of under-30's to
go to university, up from 43.5%.
Critics
claim the recruitment drive is leading to a 'glut' of graduates.
More than a third of university lecturers consider the academic
ability of students to be lower than it was ten years ago, according
to a survey by the Times newspaper. And Richard Grace, managing
director of Gordon Yates recruitment consultants said: "There
has been an increase in the number of graduates in secretarial
and clerical roles and there are more graduates slopping around
in the workplace."
The
HESA figures show 92.9% of graduates were in jobs or further study
within six months of finishing their courses last summer. Only
25% of posts were classed as 'professional' - including doctors,
teachers and lawyers. some 26% were described as 'associate professional
and technical' including computer programmers and air traffic
controllers.
Medicine
and dentistry was the degree subject with the lowest unemployment
rate with only 0.2% of graduates jobless after six months. In
contrast, 12.4% of computer science graduates were unemployed
and 10.5% who studied creative arts and design. The average salary
of graduates in full-time jobs was £17,000.
Men
were more likely to be unemployed than women - 7.2% were jobless
compared with 4.2% of females. Chris Grayling, Tory higher education
spokesman, said: "There are already far too many graduates
who are struggling to find graduate-level jobs."
Meanwhile,
students are running up bigger debts than ever, as they now finish
university owing an average of £12,180. This is £4,055
higher than in 2003, due to the increasing cost of living and
fewer hand-outs from parents, according to a survey by NatWest
bank.
A Department
of Education spokesman said: "It is still a good time to
be a graduate. Recent evidence shows that just 1-2% of graduates
are unemployed and seeking work seven years after graduation."
Read
this letter to the Daily Mail Newspaper from 16 year old Caroline
James and let me know what you think.
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 voters in their 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."
Blair's
defiance of the will of the majority of we, the people of the UK,
over the invasion of Iraq 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:
Here's
one to get Tony Blair to resign:
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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.
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.
If you have suggestions
for additional subjects, or material to include in the pages linked
to the subjects listed, please contact
the webmaster.
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