Window Dressing Gone Wrong!

Hello,

I see someone else has fled the cabinet, no doubt by the time I complete this post someone else will be jumping ship. I am troubled by the departure of Caroline Flint, though because it put's me in the position of siding with Brown.

Ms Flint reckons that Gordon Brown has treated her as 'female window dressing'. I don't like to defend sexism or tokenism of that sort but in all seriousness what else was he meant to do with her? Let's face it she's easy on the eye but based her performance to date has hardly set the heather alight. Anyway why is ok for her to do a bit of modelling in the Sunday papers, when a male politician would be a laughing stock if he did likewise? She can hardly moan about being treated like eye candy if that's how she chooses to present herself.

It's also something of a worry that it took her so long to notice she was being treated as 'window dressing'. Only last month she was telling The Observer that she hadn't experienced any sexism in politics since being elected in 1997. Either Brown had one of his hitherto unknown 'window dressing' fits a fortnight a go or Ms Flint is one dim bint. Odder still last night she claimed she was staying in government because she was 'very proud to be a part of Gordon Brown's government'.

Today she announced she was giving up flicking through Grazia magazine behind a desk or whatever it is she's being doing since 1997. I'm sure it is mere coincidence that this happened after Brown failed to offer her a full cabinet role. Good God that whiny ten year old on Britain's Got Talent showed more dignity in the face of disappointment.

I've no doubt being female in that den of overgrown schoolboys is a trial at times. It wouldn't surprise me at all to hear female MPs are discriminated against. What a shame the 'Blair Babes' were ever mooted as an answer -a gaggle of girlies so witless I change sex just looking at them such is my desire to escape from any club they're members of.

I just hope the female electorate in Ms Flints constituency will remember her cynical use of feminism for her own careerist ends come the general election. I'm sure the job centre will appreciate a bit of fortnightly window dressing.

I'm no fan of Brown and hsave never voted Labour in my puff, nor can I forsee any circumstances when I will but having seen the poor quality of the Labour rebels, I rather unexpectedly find myself feeling rather sorry for Brown. I would have thought he deserved at least a measure of loyalty for allowing these mediocrities to remain in high office. Instead he finds himself stabbed in the back by people far worse than he's ever been. I'd have more respect for them if they'd done something constructive to improve things or stuck with the trainwreck to the bitter end because every last one of them is complicit. They've had ample opportunity to get rid of Brown, yet only acted when they were in the shit over expenses or denied a promotion. That speaks volumes. Brown's alright when he's feathering their nests no matter what he does to the electorate. What a repulsive bunch of chancers.

Cheerio

Back To Earth!

Hello,
Off my tits as I am on two weeks of lovely medication I am feeling somewhat better then when I last blogged. So much so that I've declared war in defence of my garden. The student led destruction of my garden continues unabated, a fridge, kitchen unit, drawers and umpteen bags of rubbish have now been dumped atop my poor plants and seedlings.

It's hard to say exactly what ended my state of defeat, prescription drugs were part of it but the outrage of some of my neighbours at the state of my garden spurred me and them into action. I spent the afternoon fighting off flies and transferring the rubbish on the path in to the empty bins. I then agreed with my neighbours to write to environmental health, all the local property managers and local councillors about the frightful state of the place. After all that I felt I couldn't really tell my neighbours that I had in fact abandoned the garden -not when they were being so complimentary about my begonias. I'm off to the garden centre in the morning for summer bedding, a selection of self seeders and something thorny -let them try to pull that out.

Elsewhere I see the government has descended into farce. That said am I alone in thinking Gordon Brown would be as well staying in the top job until the election? Everywhere I go on the internet people are demanding he resigns. I honestly can't see the point, I very much doubt he's significantly worse than anyone else in the Labour Party. What difference will a new face make at this late stage? Everyone knows the tories are getting in at the next election no matter what happens, who cares who leads the Labour Party into defeat?

The tories though, it's a sobering prospect. I remember them last time. It was grim. Bearing in mind I was a mere child for most of it and I must confess I did enjoy the miners strike but other than that my memories consist of absurdly high interest rates, my parents being skint, my dad on the dole for six months, Thatcher cheating the Brighton bomb and an education that would insult the intelligence of a dead dog. Mind you if it wasn't for the tories we'd never have had the experience of a Religious Studies essay being confiscated by the police at our school. Apparently the police reckoned the essay was promoting homosexuality, happily the essay got off due to lack of evidence and was returned to it's somewhat surprised author who co-incidentally was the first woman I ever slept with.

As far as I can tell we'll merely be exchanging being fucked over by people with mortgages for being shafted by folk with moats. Anyone fancy joining me in a nice Passport to Pimlico style uprising?

Cheerio

UPDATE: In addition to the above my garden is now home to what I thought was a dead body until it asked me what I was looking at and called me a cunt.

MPs Expenses

Hello,
In many ways MPs expenses have been worth every penny, I haven't laughed so much in years.
Oh come on a male MP buying tampons, nappies and women's clothes, or some toff scamming repairs to his tennis court and moat cleaning! How exactly does one go about cleaning a moat or more to the point being posh enough to have one? Then of course I remembered I and my other chums the tax payers were footing the bill and that I've still not received the tax rebate I'm due.



Growing up with the standard left wing West of Scotland upbringing I was I suppose natural Labour territory but living in close proximity to the horror of Glasgow City Council put paid to any illusions I may have had about their integrity. Ah yes I remember it well Pat Lally's repellent nephew boasting about being dropped off at school in the provosts limo. All the same I naively thought Labour corruption was a 'Glasgow problem' caused by a sheep like Tory phobic electorate who would rather vote for a rotting corpse in a red rosette than in their own interests.


Similarly I believed the Tory corruption, that became apparent in the last days of the Major government was a result, not of any inherent dishonesty in the Tory party but the inevitable result of being in power too long.


I daresay there is a degree of truth in that. Long running administrations of any stripe are bound to be attractive to opportunists on the make but I think this latest round of expenses scandals reveals something far more rotten and disturbing. No party is spared, not one. These people really are a class apart -who or what on earth gave them the idea that they were entitled to live lives so far removed from the rest of us at our expense? The frightening thing is I think some of them honestly believe that tennis court repairs and the like are essential for them to carry out their jobs, in other words there's no point serving the public or pretending to unless you are allowed to live like a king on the back of it.



Worse than the claims themselves is the 'it was within the rules, it's not me it's the system'. I must suggest that to one of my clients as a possible defence if they happen to spot a loophole in the benefit rules. I'm quite certain that both the DWP and police will be entirely sympathetic. For heaven's sake people refrain from doing all sorts of perfectly legal things because they think it is immoral to do so. If these clowns can't tell the difference between something being legal and being compulsory then can I suggest they find something more suited to their abilities like competitive mouth breathing. You notice that despite being the very folk with the power to reform the system none of them felt so strongly that they raised the matter in parliament with a view to any sort of reform. One can only imagine their howls of outrage at the awful system as they looked at their bank statements and watched the money roll in.



Then there is the flipping scam -no wonder they didn't want to restore any level of sanity to the housing market -the bastards were coining it in! I wonder if any of them as they played their part putting homes out of the reach of key workers and first time buyers ever felt a single seconds guilt. Did those representing less affluent constituencies and reading their post bag containing various tales of housing hell from people better than they'll ever be not reflect for a moment that what they were doing was wrong? Marie Antoinette was beheaded for less.

Being ripped off is bad enough but readers of The Guardian and The Telegraph were treated to that despicable little dirtbag MacShane insulting their intelligence with his assertion that if they don't vote Labour or for one of the big parties then the BNP will get in. In other words you can't risk a protest vote without getting something worse so keep eating shit peasants. Of course if he and his corrupt pals weren't such a bunch of grasping low lifes they might be able to point out a few faults with the BNP but instead they've left themselves in no position to point fingers at anyone. Quite frankly Labour have run a better campaign for the BNP then anything that shower could manage. Still you'd almost think the BNP were the only party standing the way he's carrying on but of course two minutes on google provides you with a world of choice in finding a home for your cheeky protest without your 'racial foreigner' chums thinking you want to send them back. To save you the hassle I will provide a handy list below.

Cheerio

Scotland- Green, SNP, SSP, NO2EU, Socialist Labour Party, Christian Party Christian Peoples Alliance, Jury Team, UKIP and Duncan Robertson (Independent).

Northern Ireland -No candidates from any of the big three your choices are here.

Wales- Green, Plaid Cymru, NO2EU, Jury Team, UKIP, Christian Party Christian Peoples Alliance and Socialist Labour Party.

England (By Region)

North East - Green, NO2EU, Jury Team, UKIP, English Democrats, Christian Party Christian Peoples Alliance, Socialist Labour Party and Libertas.

Yorkshire and the Humber - See above

West Midlands -See above

East Midlands -See above

North West -As previous but with a lone independent Francis Apaloo

East of England- As previous but the independent candidate is Peter Rigby and Animals Count are also standing.

South West- As previous but Mebyon Kernow, Pensioners Party and Your Decision are also standing.

South East- As previous but The Peace Party and The Roman Party are standing.

London- As previous but with Gene Alcatara, Steven Cheung, Jan Jananayagam, Sohale Rahman and Haroon Saad standing as independents and Yes to Europe also standing.

Caught Using Bad Language!

Hello,
I have spent most of this evening gardening, visiting relatives and scratching my head. I don't mind admitting David Duff had me somewhat puzzled by announcing his threat to smack me. I did wonder if last nights Carry On fest on BBC2 had got him coming over all Sid James on us but I needn't have worried. He was only pulling me up for using bad language!

In my post about the low paid client of mine below I had used the word poor to describe him which David quite rightly points out is not really accurate and suggests the word pinched in it's place I must confess to using the word poor out of laziness, habit, to avoid using the ,more accurate but still wrong 'socially excluded' and so that people will know what I'm on about.

He is right though, these people are not starving, the receive cheap or free medical treatment, are clothed and have a roof over their heads. Maybe they'd be better described as the short changed.

Anyway never one to resist a challenge I shall acknowledge the gauntlet thrown down by David and try and answer the question of what we should do about the pinched/ poor/ underclass/socially excluded. It won't be a magic wand or a complete solution. However I shall do my best to identify the problems I see through work and topically enough through my various travels in the Glasgow East constituency. My main belief is that we should make it as easy as possible to do the right thing and as unacceptable as possible to do wrong.

The one area where there is true poverty, and I'm prepared to believe worse than anything you'll encounter in any other country in the world, is in the moral, spiritual, -philosophical and educational. Not only that but a fair percentage of the population are 'pinched'. So what is to be done?

It's not an easy question to answer but to allow me to have a run at it I shall be breaking my answer down to specific areas and hope to get a bit of a debate going with each.

Is There Really Any Need For This?

Hello,
With politicians falling over themselves to tell us what they intend to do about poverty and welfare dependency in the Glasgow East scrap I thought I'd provide you with an illustration of how the government has failed to do either and provide an example of how we make life for the low paid needlessly difficult.

On Tuesday I had a lovely young chap in my office who'd got himself in a spot of financial bother after foolishly but understandably in my view running up a debt of £2000. I should point out that he hardly blew it on living the high life having spent it to pay off some other small debts totalling approximately £750, clear two months rent arrears, three months council tax arrears and er.... take his girlfriend on holiday. To be fair when he took it out he'd managed to wangle some regular overtime in work which has subsequently dried up -hence his current difficulties.

Anyway lets have a look at this very pleasant young fellow's current monthly finances.

Net Earnings

£770.42

Outgoings

Rent £290.00
Council Tax £95.00
Electricity (includes amount towards arrears) £80
Pay as you go mobile £15.00
Prescription costs £6.85
TV Licence £11.60
Bus Fares £58.50
Food, Household, Toiletries, Leisure and Clothing £210

Total Outgoings £766.95

Surplus £3. 47

After obtaining details of his income I realised that he was entitled to benefit that he wasn't claiming and assisted him to apply for Working Tax Credit which will take his monthly surplus income to £55.47 each month and almost cover his loan payments. In any case it represents an offer more likely to be accepted by his creditor than £3.47 each month.

Supporters of our wonderful Labour government will be leaping up and down claiming this chap as someone they've managed to lift out of poverty or some such nonsense. However let's not forget this chap is one of many hit with a tax increase after the abolition of the 10p tax rate.

Speaking of tax, am I alone in wondering why this chap is paying any tax or national insurance at all? If the government did away with tax credits, excluded low earners from income tax and paid their national insurance contributions for them (as they do with benefit claimants) my client would have an income of £913 per month.

£913 is by no means a fortune and the surplus income of £146.45 would be ploughed back into the economy and via increased taxable business profits find it's way back to the treasury at least in part. The Glasgow East constituency and areas like it need all the folk with disposable income they can get to retain and attract useful stuff like shops within walking distance. Add that to the savings made from the costly administration of tax credits and I start to wonder if I'm missing something?

I'm sure some dog breathed bore is reading this tutting and muttering that the chap concerned should stop whining and get a better job. Well firstly he isn't whining because he really enjoys his job and has a great laugh with the folk he works with, he likes the company he works for and hopes to progress within it. In any case he's doing nothing wrong, low paid jobs exist -someone has to do them, his work is perfectly legal why should he be penalised for doing it? We can't all be MPs with thumping great wages and bottomless expenses accounts now can we?

Government reforms of the benefit system are nothing more than a stick to beat people into getting off out of work benefits and the tiny carrot of tax credits to encourage the taking up of low paid work. In other words the poorest among us are being bought cheap to allow the government to fiddle statistics. The only political agenda being served by this is the governments. Whether you believe in dishing out benefits like sweeties, the total abolition of the welfare state or are somewhere in between, if you accept the government statistics as a sign of progress you are being conned.

Shipyards and manufacturing are gone. The jobs open to unqualified workers are in the low paid service industry. People who take up these jobs deserve a living wage. The case for the vultures in parliament who live fat off their drudgery is somewhat less compelling. There is no John Lewis list for the poorly paid. You don't have to be even mildly left leaning to see the inherent obscenity in representatives of areas like Glasgow East trousering enormous expenses whilst their working constituents can barely afford a night at the pub. If I were in charge each MP would be paid the average wage in their constituency to give them an insight into how their constituents live and give them an incentive to get off their fat arses and attract decent jobs to their constituency.

Cheerio

Are You All On Crack Or Something?

Hello,
It's an old one but it still baffles me. What on earth has Labour done to inspire such loyalty in Glasgow? What do people think they'll lose of they go wild and give another party a go? I merely ask because having read this Scotsman article I'm none the wiser.

The article concerns the forthcoming Glasgow East by-election and quotes a fellow named John Smith who describes himself as a Labour man and will be voting Labour because 'everyone here votes Labour'. I'm sure Mr Smith is very pleasant but is he a sheep or something? Does he think he's in there to pick the likely winner rather than choose the best candidate? For heavens sake it's a ballot paper not a betting slip. Someone take this man to a library or show him his payslips before and after he got walloped with a tax increase.

The east end is home to many low paid workers. Could they be the only electorate in history to respond to a tax increase they can ill afford by rewarding the party who inflicted it on them with electoral victory?

It's reasonable to assume that if a party is returned to power over several elections then the electorate are reasonably happy with them but it's hard to see what there is to be happy about in Glasgow East, unless of course it's populated by a higher than usual percentage of masochists. Nevertheless let's examine what a million years uninterrupted Labour rule have done for the good folk to my east.

1. It's the poorest area in the whole of Britain.

2. It's the unhealthiest area in the whole of Britain - life expectancy for men 63 for women 74.

3. 63% of children live in homes on benefits.


One constituent a Jeanette West is somewhat disillusioned with Labour;

'Nothing seems to get done, we need more police on the streets and we need the potholes in the roads fixed and it just hasn't happened.'

Oh come on Jeanette they've only had decades in power give them a chance. Still it's good to see someone is thinking but what will it take for the rest of the electorate to make the connection between who they elect and the state of the place they live in.


I cannot help but think that the journalist who wrote the article missed a trick. I'd have been forced to ask what exactly Labour does from them and why do they regard it as better than the other parties. Then again the poor guy was probably in a state of shock.

What are the voting for exactly? As far as I can tell high crime, high tax, junkies cluttering up the place, pointless health initiates that achieve nothing, low investment, dubious expenses claims, and total government and council indifference. I wouldn't mind if benefits were really as generous as certain folk make out but if it's benefits that keep them voting Labour then we really are in worse trouble than I thought. If you're out for cash at least try and get enough for more than a weeks messages from Farmfoods out the bastards.

It is of course up to the people of Glasgow East who they vote for, even if their behaviour does suggest mass hypnosis. However given the abysmal standard of the candidates they send to Westminster and Holyrood with depressing predictability I think the rest of us are at least entitled to ask why. Other than the MPs and MSPs themselves it's not clear who benefits from this rather one sided love affair.

Cheerio

Please Tell Me This is A Prank

'Where public opinion is a mystery to itself, it is won over from the outset by every piece of writing that formally breaks through the mystical barriers. The censorship makes every forbidden work, whether good or bad, into an extraordinary document, whereas freedom of the press deprives every written work of an externally imposing effect.' -Karl Marx

Hello,
I was strolling round the internet when I came upon this on this post on The Devils Kitchen.


Being in one of my more optimistic moods I assumed the author had been at the sauce and got all delusional on us so went to investigate for myself. Oh how I wish I hadn't. Perhaps I've missed something but I've always found the happy world of blogging pootles along quite nicely still I expect that's why I'm not an MEP -not enough botherer genes.

Anyway it has come to the attention of one Marianne Mikko MEP that something must be done. According to Marrianne 'the blogosphere has so far been a haven of good intentions and relatively honest dealing. However, with blogs becoming commonplace, less principled people will want to use them.'

Oh God! I hate 'less principled' bloggers! But wait help is at hand;

'I think the public is still very trusting towards blogs, it is still seen as sincere. And it should remain sincere. For that we need a quality mark, a disclosure of who is really writing and why.'

Exactly who will be dishing out this 'quality mark' and what in Gods name has it to do with the European parliament who is blogging and why they choose to do so? What will being denied the 'quality mark' mean? What happens if you go ahead and blog without it? What relevance is why someone blogs to anyone let alone Marianne Mikko and chums? Why can't they mind their own bloody business? Does it not occur to them that blogs are seen as 'sincere' because they are by and large honest about their views unlike say self-serving politicians for example?

Jorgo Chatzimarkakis, another of these nosy, interfering, wannabe totalitarian bastards had this to say 'any blogger representing or expressing more than their personal view should be affected by this report.' Eh? So charities, political parties, pressure groups, religions, clubs, businesses and societies will all need a quality mark to blog. It gets worse 'Blogs are powerful tools, they can represent an advance form of lobbyism, which in turn can be seen as a threat.'

A threat to who exactly? Since when did pressure groups and the like require permission to express their views. Do these clowns honestly believe that we automatically believe something because it's on a blog rather than say a badly photocopied leaflet or the front page of the Socialist Worker? And anyway so what if we do it's up to us what we believe and what we regard as a credible source or are they going to go after that next.

There is another way to read this, how about?;

'I think the public is still very trusting towards blogs, it is still seen as non-threatening. And it should remain non-threatening to our interests. For that we need a quality mark, a disclosure of who is really writing and why to ensure we have some control over it.'

Now before anyone gets too alarmed this isn't about to become law -yet. At the moment it's just a resolution but to me the fact they're even discussing restrictions on freedom of speech is sinister. Call me paranoid but people that I cannot vote out of office wishing to censor what I can and can't read and in what context I can express my opinions makes me very uneasy indeed. Oh and don't go thinking nothing will come of it. If I wanted to pass such a law regarding the internet I'd make something up about terrorists and pedophiles and it would sail through. Expect to see reports along these lines in the not too distant future.

This of course is only the beginning. Look how easily Google and Microsoft caved into Chinese government censorship. If the European Parliament get away with this how long before all blogs are subject to 'quality marks'. Then why not let the press and book publishers become part of the 'quality mark' scheme. After all it would stop publishers wasting their money on 'low quality' books and articles. Where does this road end? Mass book pulping (they're too subtle to risk a burning) and computer confiscation by which time it will be too late to do anything about it.

I intend to give my MEP, MP and MSPs a bit of earache over this. I want to know where all the British parties stand on this issue and how they intend to oppose it (if at all) should it become proposed legislation. It's not much but it's a start until I or someone else comes up with something better.

Cheerio

A Minority Of One

Hello,
Having watched the news I appear to be a minority of one in that I'm alone in applauding David Davis for his resignation.

Naturally the words 'applauding David Davis' have put me in a state of shock but I'll limp on. It is a funny one though, isn't it telling that the ITV News seemed to be more worried about what it would do to his career than anything else? They then went on to make everyone who supports the decision look like a maniac. They showed a woman who'd incredibly been spied on by her local council, Brian Haw and then people who don't even live in London! Northeners I think. Good luck to him for taking a stand.

Obviously it would be a lot better if all the MPs in particularly Labour MPs who felt the same did the same triggering by-elections throughout the land but that sort of thing involves principles and self-sacrifice so don't be foolish and hold your breath. After all it's not going to be them or their families that are affected.

Most of those who voted for this outrage were bought and paid for. To be for it and support it is one thing but to sell out is loathsome.

Until I get a cast iron guarantee that the police won't misuse their new powers, that future governments won't take yet more power away from us and that victims of miscarriages of justice will be treated better than the guilty then I'm against granting the state any extension to it's powers. Oh and can anyone tell me how many Provisional I.R.A bombings happened because the police couldn't hold folk for 42 days?

I recently had the good fortune to hear Gerry Conlon (Guildford Four) speak and cannot help but reflect on the fact it took seven days to fit him up. What could be made to stick after 42 days is a terrifying thought. Particularly if the officers like Richard Munro are any measure of the police forces rotten apples.

As more confidential documents end up abandoned on public transport I'm coming round to the view that the government shouldn't be allowed to know anything about the governed let alone have the power to lock them up. The 42 days have nothing to do with a wish to protect us. You only have to see how careless they are with our personal information to see that. This isn't care it's control and I sincerely hope that every single MP who supported this rots slowly from the feet up.

Now let's pray Davis is re-elected otherwise he'll look a a right banana and Gordon will think we're on his side and really let us have it.

Cheerio

UPDATE: That prick Andrew Neil has just used the word principles in a mocking tone in reference to the Davis resignation. If there is a God Neil will be the first to be detained.

UPDATE: Actually scratch that let's lock Kelvin McKenzie up for 420 years. Then throw bricks at him.

I Didn't See That One Coming!

Hello,
Good God! I turn my back for five minutes and find my name taken in vain in the comments section of Scotland's top newspaper.

Unlike big Tezz I don't secretly like the attention, I openly love it! Still Mummy is dead chuffed that I didn't end up all over the gutter press and instead was the subject of comment in a respectable paper. To think people thought I'd missed out on the top notch Harrington genes. I am a toff I just hide it better than some.

Still the whole thing confirms my view of journalists. Terrywatch was not a hate site until very recently at which point I left. Prior to the disgusting posts in early May. It was mainly poking fun with the odd personal rant thrown in. In other words it was perfectly reasonable political comment. Well seeing it's fine for Jasper Hamill to characterise the contributors as a load of right wing nutters based on the actions of one contributor but not a word on Terry's personal attacks on all who oppose him. Is it just me or should an experienced politician not be able to use reasoned political argument to take on his opponents? Well why bother when you have a typewriting Labour lapdog at your disposal. Or did Wendy call in a favour?

I also note that Jasper is quite happy to lie about when the racist hate mail started to make his article more interesting. Nor does he mention that when accused of being responsible several contributors condemned it and offered to supply their details to the police. I personally am not a racist so quite why I would be sending Terry Kelly racist mail I don't know. One of the few things he has my full support on on is his staunch anti-racism.

Terrywatch as a whole fully deserved to be condemned for that post. It was grotesque, misogynistic, vile and contemptible. I'm glad it's been taken down but sorry it took such a one sided article to do it.

Still given Terry's contempt for The Herald he must be fizzing at gracing their pages at all or is it alright when it says what he wants to hear. It's so confusing one minute Labour are victims of the unseen SNP hand manipulating the media, the next they're all friends. Is it just me or do they sound like bitter Rangers fans?

Cheerio

Squandered

Hello,
I'm afraid I've been reading again and it's left me furious! Fit to be tied! What could have got me so riled? Well it is a fine book by the name 'Squandered' written by David Craig and it details how our wonderful leaders have wasted billions of pounds of our money on sod all of any use to anyone. Though that said they have been very kind to themselves.

I haven't finished the book yet I kept having to pause and wonder why it hasn't sparked a bloody revolution. Despite living in one of the wealthiest countries in the world (I refer to Britain as a whole -not Scotland obviously before anyone starts emailing) we have a health service which manages to kill at least 34,000 patients unnecessarily every year. Though given that 34,000 is the health services own figure the real total may be much higher. It also confirms my suspicion that the NHS isn't a mess because of underfunding at all. It's a mess because of disgraceful, bloated management and outsourcing of important services like food and cleaning. Under Labour -those passionate advocates of the health service billions has been squandered on increased management and toothless watchdogs all at the expense of patient care which is the whole point of the bloody thing.

Still at least we're not at war....oh wait a minute...oh dear. Well the good news is most of us aren't in the armed services but it's bad news if you are. Despite being war crazy the government are curiously tight fisted when it comes to forking out for basics like medical supplies, guns that work and devices that offer protection against roadside bombs and the like. Frankly if it came to light that there are entire regiments in Iraq fighting with peashooters and water pistols I would not bat an eyelid. On the bright side if you come back in one piece and work very hard you might get a job in the MoD headquarters . They're very nice apparently and so they should be as they're costing us £78million a year for the next thirty years.

It came as no surprise to me to learn that the benefits system is in complete disarray, though even I was surprised to learn the DWP had it's accounts rejected by the Auditor General every year for the last eighteen years. I part company slightly with the author on the possible reasons for this. He blames an overly complicated system which I agree that it is for claimants but given that I can understand it -it can't be that difficult. I do, however note that the Inland Revenue now require no formal qualifications for new recruits -they used to require a minimum of five GCSEs. I'm not being snooty but given that exams are now almost impossible to fail you'd have to be a real dunce not to have any qualifications. For heavens sake in 2007 97% of GCSE pupils passed their exams. Who are the other 3%? Admit you want to know too so you can take the piss as well.

I could go on but if I write about fucking Europe I will explode with sheer rage. I will confess to having a list of everyone who has ever mocked me for my Euroscepticism and will be taunting them with the relevant details and requiring them to explain how exactly being opposed to fraud, waste, stupidity, excessive bureaucracy and corruption is xenophobic?

I am only 3/4 of the way through the book and already I'm hopping mad. I didn't even vote Labour, I never have mainly because I hate them yet they've even managed to let me down. Not the the last Conservative administration get off scot-free either having been responsible for some appalling waste themselves. I used to hate people who whined that there was no point voting or caring about politics but they have got a point really. Prior to becoming a communist for two years a fifteen I was an anarchist and the more I see in life I'm starting to think I was right in the first place.

It's an illuminating read and one that I shall be quoting great chunks of to Gordon Brown if he starts on me with his 6am crank calls.
Cheerio

Benefit Reform

Hello,
I did promise to the delight of you all I'm sure to have a go at David Cameron's plans to have a go at the folk on Incapacity Benefit. Truly there is no issue to make you feel more like a drunk talking to themselves than ranting about benefit reform.

Based on my own eavesdropping and being collared at bus stops most peoples attitude to state benefits is that they should be done away with unless they or one of their family is stuck. If one challenges them by asking what should be done about the genuinely disabled they backtrack, splutter and tell you about their neighbour who sells tea towels at the market and gets everything going to justify their previous zero benefits position.

To clarify my own position. I am a wicked believer in society, community and helping one's fellow man when he's in the soup but underpinned with values of personal responsibility and self-reliance. How I arrived at a position so at odds with my personality is a mystery but there it is. However the current benefit system utterly fails to promote these any of these virtues which is one of the many good reasons for it to be reformed.

However we should keep the extent of benefit fraud in perspective. Rejoice! It's not as bad as you think. In my view the main problem is the inherent waste in the system.

Take for example one of my clients, an immigrant from Pakistan who is desperate to find work. Until arriving in Britain he worked, whether in the family business from early childhood to carpentry later on. His English is pretty poor but he is physically fit and keen as mustard. He felt his poor English and difficulties with written English would prevent him finding a job, so with a head full of silly ideas about hand ups as opposed to hand outs he asked his local Job Centre if they would lend him money to buy English tuition. The Job Centre correctly informed him that as he'd not been unemployed for six months he was not eligible for any loans and that it didn't matter anyway because if he was still unemployed in six months time they'd be able to get him English classes and help to find work. He then explained that he felt ashamed of 'begging' and asked if they knew of anyone who would help him with English in exchange for work. They told him this was impossible and suggested he look for work in the Indian restaurant trade- something he'd had no previous experience of. Within about fifteen minutes of speaking to me and with no great effort on my part, I got him a place on a church run free English course and organised additional free tuition. I also enrolled him on a work shadowing project for skilled manual workers.

That was just short of three months ago. He is now earning enough stacking shelves to support his family, he continues to take English tuition, his English is a lot better and he is working towards self-employment so that he can work in his trade and he no longer claims Jobseekers Allowance. I again stress that I did not go out my way for this man, undertook no special research or made any exceptional attempt to help him, yet by taking his desire to find work seriously and taking into account that as a Catholic he'd left his country because of Muslim persecution he might not be made terribly welcome in Glasgow's Muslim dominated 'Indian' restaurant trade, he was able to find work. There is no real reason that DWP staff could not have done this instead if the government were really serious about getting people into to work, racial integration and helping people. No flashy initiatives or changes in legislation are required.

Moving on to disability benefits. Again no great change in legislation is required just a change in policy and practice. I will keep saying this until someone listens but if DWP doctors carried out proper medicals we'd be laughing. Similarly if the DWP stopped calling people for medicals who have conditions that deteriorate or do not improve we'd save a bundle.

However if we're hell bent on changing legislation we could remove the inbuilt disincentive to work removed from the system. Someone who is forced to stop work through ill health will eventually receive contributions based Incapacity Benefit once their contractual sick pay then Statutory Sick Pay has run out. Someone who has never worked will go straight onto Income Support/ Incapacity Credits. The difference is that the person on contributory Incapacity Benefit will have to pay some rent and council tax, pay for their prescriptions and be ineligible for Community Care Grants, Direct Deductions for fuel arrears and Budgeting Loans. Oh and if they happen to be buying their home -repossession beckons unless their lender is willing to wait until they qualify for a small amount of help with the interest. This is in direct contrast to the claimant who has never worked who has access to all of the above (except mortgage help for 26 weeks).

None of the proposed reforms either from Labour or the Tories seem to acknowledge that genuine claimants exist, nor show any real desire to reward work. Instead we are left with politicians taking advantage of public misconceptions about the benefit system to push through lazy, shallow, ineffective and pointless legislation. Well I say pointless the real point is of course to make a bunch of effete wankers look butch in The Sun.

If we wanted to get really radical we could take steps to let folk know that their horizons are much larger than their scheme, that with a bit of effort they could achieve a lot more than living off the state. This could be partly achieved by a proper education system. I was recently chatting to an utterly disillusioned teacher who was pulled up for using her blackboard too much. Apparently 'today's children' respond better to interactive learning and she should be using her 'smartboard' to convey the same information she'd put up on the blackboard. Her school then realised they hadn't budgeted for the £200 a go light bulbs required to power the thing and requested that teachers split the lesson between the 'smartboard' and the blackboard. The woman I spoke to has been a teacher for 32 years with an unblemished record. She loves teaching and working with the children. All she asks is to left to get on with teaching.

Could petty interference of this sort be contributing the appalling illiteracy rate? The swathes of children being pointlessly tortured in the name of targets and statistics? 'Today's children' are much the same as the generations that preceded them. What they need is to be taught basic maths and reading and writing. All of which will allow them to attain marketable skills later in life. What many of 'todays children' need in the absence of decent parents equipped to do so is someone taking an interest in their personal development, not writing them off as deprived. Isn't that why people go into teaching? If not don't employ folk devoid of a desire to educate and an interest in their students in the first place. Targets and statistics are no substitute for a good teacher and a reasonable level of inspection. It's easy enough to teach to exams or teach only what meets targets. None of which appear to be producing particularly well educated pupils. Is it any wonder so many of them aspire to nothing more than drug and alcohol induced oblivion and a life on benefits?

Cheerio

Oh Lordy Here Come The Nazis......

' Our time is comming
Tommoro Belongs To Me' -BNP Supporter -Stormfront Web Forum

Vote BNP if you don't want the whole of London and Britain, turning into the ape and reptile enclosures of London Zoo!' -BNP Member -Stormfront Web Forum



Hello,

As I'm sure we are all aware following last week's laughable party political broadcast the BNP are fielding thirty-two morons for election next month. What a bunch they are!

First up we have Kenny Smith standing in Glasgow, he's hard to describe really, though freaky, Nazi geek isn't a bad start.

'SMITH sickened neighbours on his native Lewis by waving a swastika flag on Hitler's birthday.

As Scottish secretary, he vets potential recruits to the BNP and introduces them to their members and officials.

Smith is known for smooth-talking in public and projects himself as the acceptable face of the party. But in private, he is quick to launch into racist bile.'

Imagine living next door to that!

Next up is David Kerr, his hobbies include goosestepping in the vicinity of brown skinned people in an effort to start a race war. I'm not making this up!

'PART of BNP's security team and a candidate in national elections, Kerr is a key player in Scotland.

He was among 58 fans prevented from attending Scotland's match with Norway in Bordeaux, France, during the 1998 World Cup.

Kerr, from Port Glasgow, has organised marches in areas with large ethnic minority populations in the hope of provoking 'race war'.'

Steven Blake is the closet to what passes for normal in that he hasn't been caught masturbating in Nazi regalia- yet. Though he is a fan of some foreign imports....

'THE top-rated BNP political candidate in Scotland, he stood in the Euro elections this year but got less than two per cent of the vote. He runs an IT firm in Stirlingshire but business contacts are unaware of his shadowy politics.

Blake is responsible for the BNP's website, and in the 1980s he imported hardcore Nazi material from the US. He runs Digital Scotland, an IT firm who list work for Edinburgh Cyrenians, a respectable homelessness charity , in their portfolio.

The charity confirmed they had paid the company up to £5000 to run their website but emphasised they were unaware of BNP links.'

It's business as usual for southside uberned Scott McLean

'BNP national deputy chairman and Scotland's regional organiser .

He stood at recent Euro elections and preaches on 'family values'.

Yet, he was photographed giving a Nazi salute at a 'Blood and Honour' Nazi skinhead festival in Scotland. McLean, 33, is a former Glasgow City Council joiner who quit after his views were revealed.

He was involved in gang fights between whites and Asians while at Bellahouston Academy . He joined the BNP aged 18. He has mixed with BNP extremists and others throughout Europe, including members of the notorious Combat 18 Nazi gang.'

What an impressive C.V.

I wonder what Charlie Baillie, another of the 32 BNP candidates makes of all this Nazi love as he took part in the BNP's Rememberance Sunday ceremony. Good Lord! What are they mourning the loss of Nazi life in WW2?

We also have Gary Raikes who apparently takes a dim view of anti-social behaviour. He will, I'm sure be having a stern word with a few of his fellow candidates about their antics.

Walter Hamilton is a particularly disgusting, reprehensible piece of shit who's 'finest' hour to date has been his attempt to exploit the death of Kriss Donald, by hassling his family to win BNP votes.

This next lot will presumably not be displaying much local knowledge having been imported from down south to make up the shortfall.

'Among the candidates in the Highlands and Islands region for the Scottish parliament elections is Roger Robertson, a south-east England organiser. The Lothians sees Sadie Graham from the East Midlands and Tim Rait, who unsuccessfully stood in Maidenhead in the 2005 general election. Mid Scotland and Fife has Michaela MacKenzie, who stood in Warwickshire North two years ago. Meanwhile, the West of Scotland region has Kevin Scott, north-east of England regional organiser.'

The last thing Scottish politics needs is more cretins. Fingers crossed for 32 lost deposits.

Cheerio

Oh My Box Is So Exciting

Hello,
and now that your big eyes are finally open, let me share the highlights of my inbox. Firstly I had an e-mail from this fellow, who has now been added to my sidebar. Do drop in, he really is very good.

Then I had a very surprising email from someone who is moderately famous to readers of broadsheets about some other people in the same line of work being a touch unpleasant about the foreigners. Oh it's like Big Brother for the educated. I'm not allowed to say any more but you might want to keep an eye on Pickled Politics over the next few days.

As if that wasn't exciting enough I got an email about councillors. Lord knows what brought that on. I shall quite from this fine email below

'it has always astounded me just how blatantly Scottish Labour cllrs (esp in Strathclyde) milk the system - lots of allowances for non-existent "responsibilities", and of course the breakfast, dinner, and tea fiddle you mention. There's no way you could get away with this on most councils; it's only because the West of Scotland is such a rotten one-party fiefdom they've managed to keep this scam rolling. Here's to the Augean stables being cleansed come May! '

Do you think he might be referring to this? I rather think he is. That's not all. I was then directed towards this startling news item (more here...) . I wouldn't mind but you never hear Labour voters offering to pay more council tax to fund their representatives lavish lifestyles or mention that Labour have improved things or made them any better off. What's the attraction?

Anyway just for fun I have decided to ask a Labour councillor at least one question about corruption every month between now and the election. Feel free to join me.

Now here's a challenge for you, I'll give £10 to the first person to ask Terry Kelly why he thinks Cllr Richard Manser really had his window put in and get it past comment moderation.



Cheerio

The Scottish Blog Round Up

Hello,
The Scottish Blog Round Up is with us for another week. Plenty of news on the 'SNP are xenophobic row'.

I don't wish to go on too much about 'the row', so I'll just give a brief outline of my thoughts on the matter. I feel certain that all the political parties in Scotland contain their share of xenophobes and I doubt the SNP are any different. I merely note that the SNP have been involved in campaigns against dawn raids, Dungavel and so on which rather undermines their anti-foreigner credentials. I could be catty and contrast that with our internationalist chums in the Labour party but I shan't. One suspects what they are trying to say is anti-English.

At present I am not a member of any political party and haven't decided who I will be voting for, however I will be voting for one of the parties in favour of independence which I suppose makes me a wicked anti-English bigot to some. Which rather overlooks my wee drop of English ancestry, English relatives, admiration for certain aspects of English culture and so on and like all criticism which can be levelled at me is very unfair. As an aside I will point out the most anti-English (full chip on shoulder bit) person I know is a former member of the Orange Order, a lifelong Tory and staunch unionist.

We are frequently told that the Union is in Scotland's best interests which I'm quite certain that it is, though I have my doubts that a set up which requires the rest of the UK to plough a disproportionate share of it's resources into a country that contributes nothing can be described as one that works. If the decision is to made on purely economic terms then I suggest that Scotland is presented to the USA as a gift, given that they are the nation best placed to afford us. Or better still let us sort out our own mess, rather than treating us like a lazy, overindulged adolescent. Just a thought.

It might also be nice if we could get on with things without everyone blaming Westminster for our ills. It's often argued that if Scotland were to become independent we'd end up resembling some sort of Soviet state, well good! Either this will work out well or it it'll be catastrophic and instead of being able to blame London the government will not be able to wriggle off the hook and can be dealt with at the ballot box.

There is no real effective opposition in Scotland. The SNP and Labour are like one of those couples that turn up for a night out and spend the evening arguing in sentences that begin 'well at least I don't...', the Lib Dems are undermined by their desire for coalition, the small parties are too small to make much impact just now and I have been led to understand that there is some sort of Conservative presence but has anyone seen it lately?

As far as I can make out we're only taking in every shade of opinion from far left to centre left, with the odd bit of New Labour third way (worst of both worlds) chucked in for variety. Even I, a dreadful, deluded and wicked left winger find this unhealthy. With little substantial to disagree on all we're left with is a pointless tribal blame game. This can only continue because everything can be blamed on Westminster.

To illustrate what I'm driving at because this piece is dragging on at embarrassing length I shall give an example based on the world of blogging. Prior to reading many blogs I had little exposure to (intelligent) right wing views, consequently whenever anyone mentioned that Socialism was inherently authoritarian I had a poor understanding of what they meant and supposed that they were just dragging up one of the many examples of it in practice that were beyond awful, to score points. Whereas now I have been exposed to other well argued opinions I have been forced to re-examine my own views and face up to the 'we are banning this for your own good' mentality present on the left. I'd love to finish this on a rousing high and amaze you all with my new philosophy but I'm still thinking.

Suggestions on how to put the state in it's place without coming over all unnecessary about tax are more than welcome below.

I won't even try and explain......

Hello,
The fellow that runs this blog is the subject of the story below. Normally I wouldn't go dredging up someones past. I did things as a student that make me wish I'd died in 1993, however if anyone was to cast them up I'd be embarrassed, furious and out for revenge. That is, revenge Clairwil style not running to lawyers like a little schoolboy sneak. I certainly wouldn't claim to be a libertarian and run to lawyers without even attempting to defend myself on my blog. Let's remember this fellow has a blog a million times more popular than this one will ever be. He is the nearest we in Britain have to a celebrity in blogging circles.

I was only dimly aware of his blog before all this kicked off and had nothing against the fellow until he jumped straight to bully boy tactics. Clearly the bloggers he threatened have something to lose. I don't. I own nothing that can be taken by sheriff officers (bailiffs in England), I'm in debt up to my eyeballs which I'd get to write off if I was sequestrated (made bankrupt in English law). I'm no longer a home owner. In short I have nothing to lose and have had my fill of consumerism.

If you have no idea what I'm on about start here and work through the links.

For the record let me state that I think the worst he's guilty of is being a bit daft and naive as student. I doubt he's a racist now or was then. Nor am I particularly alarmed by his antics, from what I understand politics was a polarised business in the eighties and I doubt many decent activists on any side have cause to be completely proud of their behaviour. I'm just irritated by his reactionary appeal to authority and threatening behaviour. Anyway below is the story that's got him lining lawyers pockets and he's welcome to sue me for repeating it for all the good it will do him.




The Guardian 31 May 1986

Tory student leader in ‘ racist ‘ party link / Paul Delarie-Staines of FCS attempts to form pact with British National Party in Hull

By David Rose

A leader of the Federation of Conservative Students wrote to an organiser of the British National Party proposing joint ‘direct action’ to disrupt the meetings of leftwing students. Secrecy, he emphasised, was essential: ‘The Reds would simply go wild if they got to hear of a BNP-FCS link. I would personally be in danger of being expelled from the Conservative Party.’

The author of the letter is Mr Paul Delarie-Staines, the chairman of the federation’s 50-strong branch at the Humberside college of Higher Education. Mr Delarie-Staines, who is in his first year of a degree course in business information studies, wrote on May 22 to Mr Ian Walker, a BNP organiser in Hull.

He was, he said, against several of the aims of the BNP, which campaigns for the repatriation of black citizens. Several of its members have been convicted of offences under the Race Relations Act, and others for crimes of violence against ethnic minorities. Its leader, Mr John Tyndall, is a former chairman of the National Front.

Mr Delarie-Staines said he did not share the BNP view on immigration: as a member of the ‘libertarian’ faction of the FCS he advocated the free movement of labour, albeit with the caveat that ‘you come here to work - or starve. ‘

He went on: ‘I share a lot of your objectives.‘ These included a return to leadership and statesmanship, the abolition of the welfare state, and ‘the elimination of Communism in Britain - the mass media, the trade unions, and the schoolroom. ‘

Mr Delaire-Staines continued: ‘Nevertheless, even though we have our differences, I know a lot of BNP people at college do support the FCS (some are members of the FCS). I can certainly envisage some degree of cooperation.

‘For instance, we are moving away from just the normal political debate and towards more direct action - anti-Communist slogans on bridges, disrupting the leftist meetings by posing as leftists and then causing trouble, and also convincing individual leftists of the error of their ways.

‘Perhaps members of the BNP would care to join us in our anti-leftist activities. We can arrange a meeting to discuss possible joint future activities. ‘

Other examples of Mr Delaire-Staines work reached the Guardian, including a number of songs. One, entitled FCS Bootboys, reads: ‘Gas them all, gas them all, the Tribune group trendies and all. Crush Wedgwood Benn and make glue from his bones, Burn the broad left in their middle class homes.

‘Yes we’re saying goodbye to the Left, as safe in their graveyards they rest. ‘Cos they’ll get no further, we’ll stop with murder, the bootboys of FCS. ‘

In a letter to a friend, Mr Delaire-Staines said that he had been on a ‘community arts course - well. not exactly community arts, more spraypainting a bridge at 3am. Quite good fun really, ducking out of sight of passing police cars’

Mr Delaire-Staines told the Guardian that he had not meant violence by direct action at leftist meetings, only ‘causing as much noise as possible’. He said that he had tried to forge links with the BNP because ‘we share their anti-Communist view’.

He added: ‘They’re not far-right. They’re just racists, they believe in one colour. ‘

Mr John Barrow, the national chairman of FCS and a Lambeth councillor, said that Mr Delaire-Staines was ‘a bit silly. I wouldn’t hold it against him. I’m sure he’ll grow out of it.’ After hearing extracts from the letter to the BNP he added. ‘He’s absolutely right that he’s in danger of being thrown out of the Conservative Party.’

Mr James Goodsman, the Conservative Central Office official responsible for the FCS, said: ‘If the evidence comes my way I will certainly look into it.

Tony Blair Is Scared Of Me!

Hello,
I was somewhat surprised to be greeted by a baying mob on leaving the house this afternoon. Never one to flee from trouble I collared one of them to ask what the meaning of this extraordinary outburst was. You will imagine my surprise and delight when the chap advised me that they were waiting for 'that cunt Blair' who had dropped in to the City Halls.

Well I have always wanted to give Tony Blair a piece of my mind, so I abandoned my plans and waited and waited and waited. I noted that the assembled crowd seemed to be quite competitive about how much they each hate Blair. It was wonderful, people were purple with rage about a whole range of issues. Truly there was something for everyone, well apart from Blair fans.

Anyway it transpired that Tony had to sneak out of another exit because the crowd had got so irate. Ha ha ha! Ten years ago he would have been out grinning at us in his usual obsequious manner, now he's forced to flee like a common criminal.

Still his visit to Glasgow isn't over yet, let's hope he hasn't seen the last of the angry mob.

Cheers

A George Bush Fact

Hello,
I was in the library the other day skim reading a book about the Bush family which contains quite the most tragic thing I think I've ever read. If it wasn't true it would be hilarious.

The teenage George was given a thesaurus back in his schooldays which he decided to consult whilst writing an essay. The subject of the essay was a family death and on reading it over George realised that he'd used the word 'tears' several times. Turning to his trusty thesaurus he changed a sentence from 'the tears were running down my face' to 'the lacerates were running down my face'.

The book doesn't tell us whether or not his parents requested a refund of his school fees, though if I'd been in their shoes I would have, before demanding a public enquiry. Then I would have shot someone. Under no circumstances would I have encouraged him to enter politics or indeed any career with any degree of responsibility.

Cheerio