Labour leader candidates need to get priorities straight

We have seen the end of a thirteen year rule under a corrupt labour government yet there is still bickering going on at the heart of the party. It is strange that despite Labour now being the opposition party and should be set in their role in criticising the current Government they are instead criticising their own policies and actions that ultimately led to them being thrown out of number ten and sent to the other side of the commons. The issue that is being heavily discussed is a valid one it must be said. There is no doubt that the decision to go to war with Iraq was wrong and is costing hundreds of lives each year.

The bit I am failing to understand though is David Miliband continuing to argue over this with leader race rivals Ed Balls and brother Ed Miliband. At the start of this leader battle David Miliband said that the era of new labour was over and that the party would now need to look at “next labour”. This I considered a very fair point and despite my continuing lack of support for Labour it would have been David that I would support for the role of leader of the opposition as I do actually believe that he can provide a stable balance in the commons between the Government and the opposition. My concerns are raising however. Why would David talk about next labour if he is going to continue to be concerned about policies and actions undertaken by the previous labour administration which had corrupt leaders bent on destroying the reputation of this country? I completely understand the need to recognise why labour lost control so that the party can move forward but arguing and blaming each other is not going to solve any issues. All three candidates in this race had nothing to do with the decision to send troops into Iraq or support a similar bent American administration under the previous president George Bush. I am completely aware that American citizens feel exactly the same in terms of the “illegal war” and the fact that the previous administration was an embarrassment  to the country especially with America being even more on the political world stage with everyone watching their actions.

In my opinion all three candidates and the party as a whole need to turn to what needs to be done to rebuild the reputation of a party once considered to be the vital change needed to the country after a John Major administration ended. There are far more important issues such as the colossal deficit, healthcare, education and unemployment. This next labour administration now must build opposition policies and look to aid the Countries recovery. It amazes me that this party continue to show very little concern towards the British people and continue on a self-centred adventure if you can actually call it that. I am also praying that this coalition Government does not do exactly the same as Labour and end up as a administration the British people can not wait to get rid of in so many years. The conservative Government did this the last time around and Britain were fed up in 1997 and decided to trust Labour hopefully this will not happen again. Politicians need to pull themselves together now, get their priorities straight and get the reputation of Britain back up to a stable level.

Blockage to politics.

I have been a welsh learner for quite a while now and whilst I can not speak fluently I can still write and type decently at times. It angers me though to see that the Welsh Assembly Government has taken a decision to stop translating debates and speeches made within the senedd into English in a bid to save money. If we actually look at the spending of the entire Welsh Assembly Government I am sure we can identify other reasonable cost cutting strategies to help the Welsh Economy. The Welsh language is used far more in the North of the country where it is generally considered to be a first language although in the South the number of Welsh speakers is far lower especially with young adults. This decision to stop translating speeches from Welsh to English is going to build a barrier between politicians and members of the General public.

It has long been seen that political parties have tried to get young people interested and involved in politics as well as the general adult population in Wales. Bethan Jenkins AM for South Wales West has been known for quite a while as a politician who has attempted to get the youth population in Wales involved in politics and to take action in their community. This is what we need, we need to recognize that building barriers is only going to push people away from becoming involved, people are not going to go out and learn Welsh just so that they can become involved in politics. I have been a supporter of promotion of the Welsh Language since I began taking an interest in politics and yes it is vitally important that we try to advocate its use within everyday situations and try to build a strong educational background so that future generations are able to continue on this language. How on earth are we going to be able to bring change to Wales if we are preventing people from taking an interest here? If we are blocking youth involvement in politics then we will not have future politicians just corrupt ongoing politicians who try to force back the public from having any involvement.

I completely oppose any decision made towards stopping English translations within the Welsh Assembly Government and think it absolutely shameful that any politicians look at this as a cost cutting strategy. If you want to cut costs then surrender some of your pay and cut back expense allowance the general public should not be punished for actions of corrupt politicians. This is not a cost cutting strategy it is a way of preventing public involvement in politics something which should be discouraged.

Explore all the options towards a coalition Government.

We are now entering into day three of negotiations following the result of a hung parliament. On Friday there were strong suggestions that a deal between the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives would go ahead to form the next Government. This has slowly changed as the weekend has gone on ultimately through the Tories ruling out voting reform. It was suggested earlier in the weekend by the Scottish Nationalist Party that they would be willing to enter into negotiations with the Liberal Democrats, Labour and Plaid Cymru in a sort of traffic light coalition. This idea was quickly rejected by labour saying that it was non-negotiable and the SNP would not be part of any talks.

The Independent today commented on coalition talks saying that the Liberal Democrats would be more likely to enter into negotiations with Labour if Gordon Brown was booted out of number 10. This has been another key story over the weekend as Mr Brown is currently being pressured into quiting as leader of the Labour party more now than he has been during the build-up to the election. I am very much an anti-labour person but not only in the sense that the party has done nothing for the country in the thirteen years that they have governed. The reason that I have these views towards Labour is that most Labour politicans I have come across since becoming interested in politics have been arrogant and self-centred as well as being highly critical of anyone who oposes them. That being said though I do think that Labour fronted a strong manifesto this time around although that could be said for their manifestos leading back to the Blair years. The problem with Labour stands as being that they are unable to keep to anything they say in their manifestos. The question here is would we have a credible Government if Labour entered this so called “traffic light coalition”? I think that it could be possible, I have come to believe that it is good to look at all options before making a decision. My belief still stands that this country needs change and hopefully if Labour were part of a coalition then they could be pressured into making the correct decisions instead of irrelevant ones. If there was a coalition prior to this election maybe Gordon Brown would not have been allowed to go ahead with the EU Constitution forcing him to keep to his promise and put it to a referendum.

I think that it could be very credible having a traffic light coalition as all sides would have a say on what happens in the country. In the past there has been concerns over representation of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland in Westminster and maybe giving some of the power to each side could have a positive benefit on the country. I think that this will depend greatly on whether Gordon Brown is removed or allowed to stay. I would not support any move towards allowing Labour to have control if Gordon Brown was to remain as Prime Minister as I do not believe his decisions since taking over from Tony Blair have benefited the country. So where do the Tories come into all of this? I have said for weeks that I would definatly support a coalition agreement between the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives my reason being that both sides have policies that complement each other and could work well. The matter still stands about voting reform, I would be appalled if Nick Clegg went back on his main focus in this election and agreed a coaltion with the Tories despite them oposing the idea of voting reform. It was seen yesterday that protesters outside the Local Government Association where the Liberal Democrats were meeting to discuss terms. This group known as take back parliament were initiating a campaign known as Unlock Democracy. I am a supporter of this campaign and completely agree that we should be pressuring the Government to ensure that they look at voting reform in a positive manner to bring across the idea of fairness. I still believe that change can happen but think that we should not be creating deadlines for a decision. We need to be exploring all options towards a coalition Government to ensure that the right decision is made that will benefit this country. Making an early decision without looking at all the options could result in more problems being created in this country.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

What Coalition Government would you support.

The most anticipated general election in recent years has come to an end. The result that has been predicted for weeks has appeared yet it was a close call. In the end David Cameron and the Conservatives were only twenty seats short of an overall majority in Westminster. This has already seen some panic over who will end up running the country although it could have been managed better seeing as it was predicted weeks ago.

Today has seen the start of talks between the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives following David Cameron putting an offer on the table which he described as being open and comprehensive in light of the hung parliament. It seems strange though that Labour are going to be waiting in the background not making any move unless a deal between the lib-dems and the Tories falls through, you would think that Gordon Brown would be keen to ensure that he is not kicked out of number 10 despite him currently squatting there until a decision has been made.

Looking at the developments in these crutial coalition talks then, former Prime Minister John Major said this morning that giving Liberal Democrat MPs cabinet slots would be worth it if it would bring a stable Government. It was said in the papers this week that cabinet slots would be one of the underlying features in any coalition talks for the Liberal Democrats as contained in a “Hung parliament dossier” first developed for when Paddy Ashdown was leader in a hope that a hung parliament would occur.

The latest projection this evening though is that there will be no confirmation of a coalition agreement tonight or tomorrow morning and some journalists and politicians prediciting that nothing will happen until at least Monday. So it would seem that we have a lengthy wait ahead of us until we have a good idea to whom shall be running the country. In my opinion I can not see talks between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats falling through as Mr Cameron will be trying his damnedest to secure number 10 as quickly and as easily as possible.

I also think that Mr Brown’s decision to wait and see what happens may fall back on him for the reasons I have given above. If you are to wait to see if you get an opportunity to form a coalition Government then it will never work especially if the other competing party is looking to re-secure number 10 for the first time in thirteen years. It think that for the past two weeks in the final build-up to the election and the subsequent result of a hung parliament I have supported the idea of the Liberal Democrats preparing a coalition Government with the Conservatives. There are may different ideas between the parties but if you bring policies together then it could work out for the best. There are concerns regarding the conservatives not willing to say if they would offer the liberal democrats a chance to have a referendum over voting changes which would ultimately decide the talks as it has been a key idea of Nick Clegg since the beginning. This is something that I would really like to see happen though, Britain needs change and that is not uncommon to hear now so we do need to modernize the voting system so that voters do get a chance to have a fair say. I am hoping that this will also see the end of safe seats pulling many seats into contention next time around and ensuring that politicans release themselves from their corrupt nature and start caring about this country.

Only time will tell who gets the spot in number 10. I have created a poll through facebook this evening to see what coailition government others would support. I did originally try doing it through the actual blog but there were problems. Click here for the poll.

This has been a very fascinating election and hopefully it will be a very fascinating five years. We shall all need to cross our fingers and hope for change. It is not too late for it.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Tactical voting?

I was in Bristol City Centre earlier today where there was a local debating event for the Bristol West constituency. I did unfortunately miss most of the event due to me not knowing it was going on and only found out by chance as I was passing by.

The main point I want to make on here today is about “tactical voting”. This seemed a main theme within this local event with even the smaller parties claiming that voters should not be using their vote in a tactical manner. Ricky Knight, the local green party candidate told voters they should vote with their hearts in a bid to bring an end to the same old. I was also approached by a journalist from the evening post who asked my opinions on the events and the election in general. It also seemed as if he had developed the views that Britain was heading for spur of tactical voting on Thursday.

I personally assured him that I do not consider that my vote for the Liberal Democrats on Thursday would be that of a tactical decision. I think that this idea has come down from the larger parties such as the Tories and Labour who are scared about the idea of the Liberal Democrats or any other party for that matter gaining large numbers of seats. It emerged following the first leaders debate that it was a possibility that Nick Clegg could achieve a majority within Westminster even though this was very underrated.

I think that these smaller parties are now just taking words out of the mouths of these scared corrupt politicians who do actually fear the worst on Thursday. I do however completely understand that there is a possibility that voting Liberal could result in a conservative government, but taking on board Ricky Knight’s words I feel that I am voting with my heart. We have already seen thirteen years of an inept administration under new labour with lie after lie. The conservatives have also failed to bring on board political reform voting against it.

I am voting Liberal Democrats on Thursday because I agree with Nick Clegg’s policies and the change I believe that he can bring to Britain. I also urge people to consider that tactical voting is a myth and that you should be voting for change not voting for same old. If you believe that one particular party can bring change, if you agree with one parties policies in full then vote for them. Nick Clegg said it last week, do not think that you are betraying labour if you do not vote for them because labour have already betrayed you.

This is not some “vote liberal” post and I am not advocating liberal views here all I am trying to do is to get people to vote for change. Vote for change in whoever you believe can deliver that change. If you do not vote then you can not have your say. This is our country we deserve to have our say, to be involved, to bring across change.

Where we are heading.

There are only four more days until the people head to the polls to decide who will make up our next Government. It would seem as if this decision is already coming into focus and since the first leaders debate three weeks ago it would seem as if Labour have been unable to keep control of the race. The latest poll results released today see many people put the Conservatives top with growing support after what has been a decent build-up during this election campaign.

I am still quite impressed with Liberal Democrat figures which put Nick Clegg second in three out of five polls this morning averaging about 27% whereas Labour are about 1 percent behind on an average of 26%. I still show my overall support for Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats as I believe in the change he can bring as I did when Barack Obama was campaigning for change in America. This said though I have personally identified areas where I could be considered to be floating. I believe that Nick Clegg lapses slightly on his policies regarding immigration and do not think any of the three parties have identified the problems with the European Union having so much control of the United Kingdom.

Recent weeks though have seen me build support for the change promised by the Liberal democrats through voting reform and reform to politics, but I have also gained respect for the strength of policies fronted by the Conservatives through their plans to introduce a national limit for non-eu migrants. The problem with immigration policies is the strength of that the EU has on allowing residents “access all areas” which means that even if someone comes over from say Belgium, commits a crime here and is deported under some parties policies they would be able to return to Britain under the rules of the EU Constitution.

I still believe that it was wrong for Gordon Brown to promise a referendum on whether we join the EU Constitution and then go ahead and sign it anyway. I do not believe that he can protect himself by claiming that this was for economic purposes as it does see more of our independence and power to make decisions taken away. This is what I mean when I say that the EU has too much power over us. I am not saying that we should not be a member though, I believe that we should have EU membership in an economic capacity only which would allow our economy to grow through trade with EU countries. Other than that capacity I believe we should only have limited membership to the EU so that decisions can be made here including those on EU-based immigration.

So where are we heading? It now seems certain that Britain is heading for a hung parliament and I do not understand how people are thinking that this would be a bad decision for our country. I personally believe that there will be a Conservative-Lib-dem coalition and pulling policies from both parties together can bring change and prosperity to our country. I understand that it will be harder to make decisions but when these decisions are made they will be fully thought through and what will be best for Britain.

Maybe we will see the Lib-dems push through their plans for political reform changing how things work in Westminster and maybe this we will also see strengthened immigration laws helping to protect our jobs and our economy. Overall I believe that this election is offering the people of Britain the chance to make change happen and a hung parliament may just do that.

My take on a manifesto [Part One]

It is not strange to hear that Britain needs change. The past thirteen years have seen deceit pushed to the limits with promise after promise fall through under a Labour Government. Our current Government is more concerned with targets and reports instead of actually spending money on improving the country. The National Health Service has constantly had targets thrown at it, some of which are unachievable costing the taxpayer more and more money. The politicians should be listening to the people and what they need, only we know what will help improve the country.

We can we not put more money into protecting front-line services, why can we not put more funding into putting more police on our streets rather than being stuck behind a desk? Our economy is crumbling because of the irrelevant decisions made. The past few weeks have seen political parties offer their manifesto’s in the build-up to the biggest general election in decades.

This is my take on what politicians should be including in their manifesto’s to help support our country and improve it for the residents who live and work here.

Healthcare

The National Health Service is one of the greatest healthcare organisations in the world and we need to protect it. Since 1997 Labour have been pushing targets to cut waiting times, to improve services yet we are thirteen years down the line without any change being made. I believe that the NHS should be a bottom up organisation. This would mean that NHS workers- Nurses, Doctors, Healthcare Assistants would make the decisions regarding the way forward. The staff who serve the service know what needs to be changed more than the Government and they should be given the power to make the decisions. There should be more open consultations with patients to hear what they want to see changed, what can be improved and to let staff know what they are doing right.

I believe that there should be a reform on NHS spending. We need to look at where the money is going, cutting unachievable targets and preventing NHS bureaucrats from using taxpayers money for social events. We need to identify where money is being wasted and where it can be relocated. This would help to protect front-line services and allow extra funding for more staff, more equipment and better facilities that would allow us to drive down waiting times and get faster treatment.

Education

Education is a key issue for this country. We need to ensure that every child is given the full opportunities to undertake a first class education. There are too many problems with the current education set-up to talk about. One of the key issues though is the postcode lottery that has seen many children denied the opportunity to learn forcing families to relocate to ensure that their child gets this education. I believe that the Government should scrap the postcode lottery and raise the standards of education. We need to build more schools and develop more teachers so that every child can get the opportunity to take big strides in life.

I believe that class sizes should be reduced to improve one-to-one tuition. Again I believe that we should be identifying areas where we are wasting money and putting more money into areas that are needed. I would keep the current compulsory education until eighteen as this gives everyone the opportunity to further their education. Within this though it would be important to introduce work placement schemes for those in education about GCSE level to allow students the chance to see what career they would like to go into.

I believe there should also be focus on adult education. The Government needs to realise that focussing in on this area and promoting adult education more could put more people back to work through part and full time courses at colleges. There are fantastic opportunities for people to expand their knowledge and gain new skills.

As for university education, it is time to scrape tuition fees as this poses a barrier for people to enter higher education and pushes young people into more and more debt before starting in a career. There should be every opportunity for anyone wishing to attend university to attend. If we are restricting university education then we are restricting businesses from growing in the future for a chance to build on our economy,.

Our Economy & Europe

It was wrong for Gordon Brown to go ahead with the EU Constitution without putting it to a public referendum. At the moment I believe the Europe has too much control over the United Kingdom which restricts us from making our own decisions. I believe that we should not hand over any more power to the EU over matters relating to the welfare of Great Britain.

I believe that Britain should have only a limited capacity in Europe that relates to an improvement in our economic situation. We should have the power to restrict our borders so that only those who have skills relevant to the needs within our economy should be allowed entry. I believe that this should also mean Europe. Allowing free entry to our country is having a negative influence on our economy but it is also having a negative influence on our belief in politics.

The current Government also commits to protecting large businesses, we should also be focussing on protecting small businesses that will help to improve our communities and our economy nationwide. We have the great opportunity to improve the face of our communities through removing derelict buildings and increasing the number of small businesses.

I will provide the second part of what I would include in my manifesto at some point during the weekend.

Nick Clegg in Bournemouth.

I had another opportunity to see Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg today. This time it was not only a brief viewing as it was when he came to a mother and toddler group here in Bristol. Following on from Gordon Brown, Nick Clegg turned up at the RCN Congress in Bournemouth to address the Nursing body. It was a very good speech and he came across as being honest and open with voters, not offering promises that can not physically be achieved. During his speech he stated that he could have come to Bournemouth offering bags of gold which would not have been believed. It seemed as if, throughout his speech he spoke with passion and dedication for change not only in the NHS but for Britain.

One of the main points of his speech was to hand power back to the Nurses with the aim of achieving quality patient care. This can be done through cutting unrealistic targets that take up a lot of time deviating away from patient care he said. Nick also showed his support for whistleblowers in the National Health Service. He stated that he would always support nurses who speak out about their concerns and that we should have no fear in doing so.

It was a very interesting speech which you can find in full here.

You can make a difference

Please read the Disclaimer prior to reading posts on this blog.

You do not need to have a massive interest in politics to vote. Politics affects all of us, every day through education, healthcare and the economy. The Government regulates advertisements, sets tax rates and controls crime prevention and justice. The past thirteen years have seen our political system mocked and taken advantage of by corrupt politicians leading a corrupt Government.

This year you can make a difference. You can help change Britain. You can help reform British politics bringing back a country that we can be proud of.  Today is the final day that you can register to vote. This is your chance to show that you support change, that you are fed up with corrupt politics and politicians excessively using taxpayers money for personal gain. We work our entire lives, we pay tax and national insurance and this money should be used to fund and improve services.

Both the Labour party and the Conservatives have blocked political reform from happening. Labour has delivered lies for thirteen painful years and Gordon Brown is showing he is withering through offering slogans and promises from the Blair years instead of offering fresh pledges. The reason? Labour known that their time is up and their lies will not get them any further.

The Liberal Democrats are offering to clean up politics, a promise to reduce class sizes to give children more opportunities, a promise to scrap tuition fees within six years. They have promised to give power to local health boards to give local residents the opportunity to have their say over service provision.

The time has arrived for change and you can have your say.

http://www.aboutmyvote.co.uk/

Calling Labour out on their failures.

This year’s General Election is one of the most anticipated in recent years. With the expenses scandal hanging over many MPs, British residents are also realising the dangers of keeping Labour in Power. The first Prime Ministerial debate took place this week on ITV and saw Liberal Democrat leader come out on top as he outlined plans for a fair future in Britain. That being said though Conservative leader David Cameron is still coming out top on the polls in the race to number 10.

In 2005 the Labour party, then under Tony Blair pledged to take action against knife crime in the United Kingdom. Say no to knifes have found that well over 5,000 knife related incidents have taken place since 2005 with twenty-seven lives taken during 2007 alone. It was also found that during three months, July 07 and October 07 over 5,000 serious knife crimes were committed. We go into the 2010 General election looking at very little achieved towards tackling knife crime which is seeing pain and suffering come to thousands of families each year.

Labour also promised not to increase basic or top-rate income tax, the following year saw a 10p increase in income tax. Labour promised to put the the EU constitutional Treaty to a public referendum instead Mr Brown decided to try and slyly sneak us into the EU constitution without informing us or letting us have a say. I could go all the way back to 1997 and outline consistent failures in Labour’s manifesto pledges. There have been thirteen years where Labour have failed Britain and have attempted to hide these failures or at least deny them. It was found that Labour have blocked political reform over the years, aiding political corruption, setting up for politicians to take advantage of taxpayers money through expenses despite earning over £60,000 per year. Britain needs change urgently if we are to clear up the backlog of failures that are threatening Britain and weakening our political system.

A Vote for Gordon Brown is a vote for failure.