Well dear people two posts in two days. There is nothing like a general election campaign to light my fire.
I listened to a Welsh man earlier today, Ieuan Wyn Jones, the Leader of Plaid Cymru telling Radio 4 that if his party can get sufficient MPs elected, with the SNP they will hold the balance of power in Westminster and negotiate on a vote by vote basis with the majority to get more money out of Westminster for Wales and Scotland respectively.
Now, I thought to myself, we have one of the worst financial situations ever, money is short and we can expect cuts everywhere. This leads me to believe that both party leaders are seriously deluded if they really do see any truth in these statements. I cannot imagine either Gordon Brown or David Cameron agreeing to one single extra penny leaving Westminster for Scotland or Wales in the next five years.
Now, I am not saying that MPs from these parties will not be best to represent the interests of their respective countries and constituents but they certainly will not extract more money from Westminster. I say put this issue aside and look at the real issues affecting not just Scotland and Wales but the whole of Great Britain.
I hope a SNP parliamentary candidate knocks on my door to pour forth this theory, I will certainly enjoy the debate.
When I lived in Newcastle we used the expression 'I will show my backside in Fenwicks window if that happens' (Fenwick Ltd is Newcastle's equivalent to Jenners). Perhaps I need to ask the question, What time does Jenners open on 7th May? (Just in case I have got it all wrong).
Till the next time dear reader.
Thursday, 8 April 2010
Wednesday, 7 April 2010
Vote for Change!
The Westminster Election cometh!
I have not blogged for an eternity, have been so busy living life to the full.
I found this wonderful quote from Lord Macaulay on a friend's facebook page:
There is not, and there never was on this earth, a work of human policy so well deserving of examination as the Roman Catholic Church. The history of that Church joins together the two great ages of human civilisation. No other institution is left standing which carries the mind back to the times when the smoke of sacrifice rose from the Pantheon, and when camelopards and tigers bounded in the Flavian amphitheatre. The proudest royal houses are but of yesterday, when compared with the line of the Supreme Pontiffs. That line we trace back in an unbroken series, from the Pope who crowned Napoleon in the nineteenth century to the Pope who crowned Pepin in the eighth; and far beyond the time of Pepin the august dynasty extends, till it is lost in the twilight of fable. The republic of Venice came next in antiquity. But the republic of Venice was modern when compared with the Papacy; and the republic of Venice is gone, and the Papacy remains. The Papacy remains, not in decay, not a mere antique, but full of life and youthful vigour. The Catholic Church is still sending forth to the farthest ends of the world missionaries as zealous as those who landed in Kent with Augustine, and still confronting hostile kings with the same spirit with which she confronted Attila. The number of her children is greater than in any former age. Her acquisitions in the New World have more than compensated for what she has lost in the Old. Her spiritual ascendancy extends over the vast countries which lie between the plains of the Missouri and Cape Horn, countries which a century hence, may not improbably contain a population as large as that which now inhabits Europe. Nor do we see any sign which indicates that the term of her long dominion is approaching. She saw the commencement of all the governments and of all the ecclesiastical establishments that now exist in the world; and we feel no assurance that she is not destined to see the end of them all. She was great and respected before the Saxon had set foot on Britain, before the Frank had passed the Rhine, when Grecian eloquence still flourished at Antioch, when idols were still worshipped in the temple of Mecca. And she may still exist in undiminished vigour when some traveller from New Zealand shall, in the midst of a vast solitude, take his stand on a broken arch of London Bridge to sketch the ruins of St. Paul’s.
-Lord Macaulay
Now, given the current problems affecting the Holy Roman Church today in relation to child abuse and how badly it has been handled globally, one wonders how close we are to witnessing a traveller from New Zealand taking his stand on a broken arch of London Bridge to sketch the ruins of St. Paul's. One thing which I do know is that if the residents of the United Kingdom remain apathetic towards politics we will get closer to such a ruinous situation. I do not intend to tell anyone how they should vote. In this blog you may arrive at a fairly certain conclusion of my voting intentions, however all I will say to you dear readers is 'Go out and vote'.
From now until May 6th we will hear soundbites, read propaganda from all of the political parties and be inundated with information from every form of media imaginable. Five years ago we were not blogging, facebooking or using twitter. This is the first UK election in history that has such a vast array of media available to communicate with the electorate. Another first is the live television debates between the leaders of the three main UK parties.
I have lived in Scotland for less than two years and I now realise how the political parties in Westminster are so centred on English issues, they appear to forget that Health, Justice, Education and many other important parts of their brief are now exclusive to England, having devolved these responsibilities from Westminster to the Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly and Northern Ireland Assembly. I now realise that during this election campaign Scots, Welsh and Northern Irish residents are simply not interested in what Westminster politicians have to say on these matters.
A note to the political party leaders, think very carefully about what you have to offer the residents of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. I know in depth what the current administration is doing about education, health and justice. Give us a message that informs us what your party is offering those not resident in England.
We must also remember that the right to vote is privlege which was fought for and cost some their lives, particularly women who were first given the right to vote in 1918.
I would like to see a change of administration in this election, we have seen many changes since LAbour came to power in 1997, some good, some not so good and some extremely bad. Today, the Leader of the Labour party promised a referendum on reform of the House of Lords and on voting reforms (including a fixed term parliament). Leaders of political parties only propose reform on voting if the current system appears to threaten them. First past the post has been the status quo in Westminster and is always pushed to the bottom of the list of reforms when a party has a decent working majority. Last time around Labour promised a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, that promise was not fulfilled.
Now kind reader, I rest my case for today and leave you with one thought - 'please go out and vote on May 6th'.
I have not blogged for an eternity, have been so busy living life to the full.
I found this wonderful quote from Lord Macaulay on a friend's facebook page:
There is not, and there never was on this earth, a work of human policy so well deserving of examination as the Roman Catholic Church. The history of that Church joins together the two great ages of human civilisation. No other institution is left standing which carries the mind back to the times when the smoke of sacrifice rose from the Pantheon, and when camelopards and tigers bounded in the Flavian amphitheatre. The proudest royal houses are but of yesterday, when compared with the line of the Supreme Pontiffs. That line we trace back in an unbroken series, from the Pope who crowned Napoleon in the nineteenth century to the Pope who crowned Pepin in the eighth; and far beyond the time of Pepin the august dynasty extends, till it is lost in the twilight of fable. The republic of Venice came next in antiquity. But the republic of Venice was modern when compared with the Papacy; and the republic of Venice is gone, and the Papacy remains. The Papacy remains, not in decay, not a mere antique, but full of life and youthful vigour. The Catholic Church is still sending forth to the farthest ends of the world missionaries as zealous as those who landed in Kent with Augustine, and still confronting hostile kings with the same spirit with which she confronted Attila. The number of her children is greater than in any former age. Her acquisitions in the New World have more than compensated for what she has lost in the Old. Her spiritual ascendancy extends over the vast countries which lie between the plains of the Missouri and Cape Horn, countries which a century hence, may not improbably contain a population as large as that which now inhabits Europe. Nor do we see any sign which indicates that the term of her long dominion is approaching. She saw the commencement of all the governments and of all the ecclesiastical establishments that now exist in the world; and we feel no assurance that she is not destined to see the end of them all. She was great and respected before the Saxon had set foot on Britain, before the Frank had passed the Rhine, when Grecian eloquence still flourished at Antioch, when idols were still worshipped in the temple of Mecca. And she may still exist in undiminished vigour when some traveller from New Zealand shall, in the midst of a vast solitude, take his stand on a broken arch of London Bridge to sketch the ruins of St. Paul’s.
-Lord Macaulay
Now, given the current problems affecting the Holy Roman Church today in relation to child abuse and how badly it has been handled globally, one wonders how close we are to witnessing a traveller from New Zealand taking his stand on a broken arch of London Bridge to sketch the ruins of St. Paul's. One thing which I do know is that if the residents of the United Kingdom remain apathetic towards politics we will get closer to such a ruinous situation. I do not intend to tell anyone how they should vote. In this blog you may arrive at a fairly certain conclusion of my voting intentions, however all I will say to you dear readers is 'Go out and vote'.
From now until May 6th we will hear soundbites, read propaganda from all of the political parties and be inundated with information from every form of media imaginable. Five years ago we were not blogging, facebooking or using twitter. This is the first UK election in history that has such a vast array of media available to communicate with the electorate. Another first is the live television debates between the leaders of the three main UK parties.
I have lived in Scotland for less than two years and I now realise how the political parties in Westminster are so centred on English issues, they appear to forget that Health, Justice, Education and many other important parts of their brief are now exclusive to England, having devolved these responsibilities from Westminster to the Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly and Northern Ireland Assembly. I now realise that during this election campaign Scots, Welsh and Northern Irish residents are simply not interested in what Westminster politicians have to say on these matters.
A note to the political party leaders, think very carefully about what you have to offer the residents of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. I know in depth what the current administration is doing about education, health and justice. Give us a message that informs us what your party is offering those not resident in England.
We must also remember that the right to vote is privlege which was fought for and cost some their lives, particularly women who were first given the right to vote in 1918.
I would like to see a change of administration in this election, we have seen many changes since LAbour came to power in 1997, some good, some not so good and some extremely bad. Today, the Leader of the Labour party promised a referendum on reform of the House of Lords and on voting reforms (including a fixed term parliament). Leaders of political parties only propose reform on voting if the current system appears to threaten them. First past the post has been the status quo in Westminster and is always pushed to the bottom of the list of reforms when a party has a decent working majority. Last time around Labour promised a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, that promise was not fulfilled.
Now kind reader, I rest my case for today and leave you with one thought - 'please go out and vote on May 6th'.
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