Rescuing
Democracy in the United Kingdom from our current Elected
Dictatorship
|
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
|
All
day TV stunt backfires on Blair
By
Jane Merrick - Political Reporter, Daily Mail, February 17, 2005
Tony
Blair was hoping for a gentle time on Channel 5's Talk To The
Prime Minister last night - but by the end of the hour-long programme
he had been battered and bruised by an experience which host Kirsty
Young described as 'torture'. Here are some of the uncompromising
comments he faced.
The
Writer
Neil
Coppendale, a writer from Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex, challenged
Mr Blair's decision to invade Iraq when weapons of (mass) destruction
were never found. He asked Mr Blair whether he would have invaded
Iraq 'with all these tens of thousands of lives lost' when there
were no weapons of mass destruction.
And
he challenged the Premier how he could sleep at night 'bearing
in mind that tens of thousands of wholly innocent men, women and
children have died as a result of the invasion of Iraq'.
Astonishingly,
Mr Blair said he would have still authorised the invasion without
the existence of WMD. Looking under pressure, he said: "I
don't suppose I'm going to convince you of this. I want you to
bear in mind that there have been mass graves uncovered in Iraq
in the war that Saddam started. If you talked to Iraqis who have
just voted in their first democratic elections - I think they'd
prefer their life now."
The
PA
Jazz
Kaur, a personal assistant from London and a victim of a vicious
mugging, confronted Mr Blair over violent crime. She said: "Violent
crime is on the increase. I have been a victim of crime. How can
you make me feel safe?"
She
said the criminal justice system appeared to favour offenders
over the victims and that she barely saw any police in her area
of Wembley, North-West London.
Conviction
rates had dropped by 10%, she said, adding: "I don't think
anyone is going to be satisfied. I think you talk too much and
I think you should be listening to the people more."
Mr
Blair claimed Labour wanted more uniformed police and community
safety officers on the streets and tougher sentencing. He added
it was 'difficult' for the Government to affect conviction rates
when it was up to the jury.
The
director
Norman
Utton, a former company director from Warwickshire, confronted
Mr Blair over stealth taxes - which have numbered 66 since Labour
came to power. He said: "Since Labour came to power there
have been significant increases in indirect taxes. What do you
think is going to happen for the future?"
Money
had been ploughed into the Health Service but there had been no
improvement's to the NHS, Mr Utton told the Premier.
Mr
Blair accepted there had been increases in taxation, but he defended
the moves, claiming the money was badly needed to boost education
and health resources.
The
investor
Sandeep
Bhatia, an investment professional from London, asked Mr Blair
how he justified sacrificing civil liberties when he made the
decision to invade Iraq. Mr Bhatia said: "I think the key
issue is people's trust in your interpretations of the intelligence.
That is an area where people have genuine concern."
Many
voters were nervous about the Government taking away civil liberties
- as in the detention of foreign terror suspects without trial
- which was a 'road with no end'. "Once you have taken away
civil liberties do you actually give them back again?" he
asked the Premier. "If you're happy to give ground on civil
liberties, that to me says that you're happy to hand a victory
to ideological extremists."
The
nurse
Marion
Brown, a nurse from Brighton, tackled Mr Blair over the state
of the NHS. She said there had been investment but asked: "Why
can't I see a difference on the ward? Look at the staff - morale
is low, there's a lack of resources."
Challenging
Mr Blair on recruitment of foreign nurses, she added "Seventy-five
percent of the nurses on my ward are from overseas. Where are
the British nurses? We cannot be reliant on nurses from overseas.
They come from poor countries thinking 'fantastic wages'. But
in our eyes we never feel we have a livable wage."
British
nurses were not paid enough, she said, adding: "D'you care
about us? I can't live properly on the amount I have. I can't
live on the salary I'm being paid." In a parting shot, she
added: "Would you wipe someone's backside for £5 an
hour?"
The
student
Martin
Bayly, 21, a student at Newcastle University from Stroud, Gloucestershire,
asked why Labour was introducing student top-up fees when before
the 2001 election it promised it would not.
He
asked if it was fair to 'leave people who are not used to debt
with triple the amount, about £30,000 on their backs, and
then trying to get a mortgage and trying to pay into a pension'.
The
teacher
Diane
Granger, a teacher from London, challenged Blair on his immigration
policy. She said: "Do you think there are too may immigrants
in Britain today?"
Mr
Blair replied: "No I don't think there are too many immigrants
in the country but the system does need tightening up. Having
said that I do think they do a great deal of good for the country."
Miss
Granger interrupted the Prime Minister and told him he was not
answering the question she had asked. She said: "The population
of this country is now 60 million. How many people do you know
are coming in and out Mr Blair?"
Mr
Blair said there were 'strict controls' on the amount of immigrants
coming in and how many were granted work permits.
Miss
Granger then asked: "There's been a massive increase in immigration.
Is this by design or by default?"
Mr
Blair began to answer that it was not by design to which Miss
Granger interrupted: "It was by default and ineptitude."
|
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
|
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:
|
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:
|
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.
