Wednesday 10 September 2014

Establishment close ranks to scare Scotland

The former Tory Prime Minister, John Major, who got rich working on boards of arms companies and bailed out financial institutions after he left office, was wheeled out today on the BBCs "Today" programme. He had a long list of scare stories, from nuclear destruction of the UK, because we would have to abandon the totally useless "Trident" nuclear missile system to the UK losing its place on the UN security council and in the EU. He was not asked by the supine John Humphries, nor did he offer, any evidence for any of these far fetched claims. He also said, quite directly that the Scottish people were not intelligent enough to understand fully the implications of voting to free themselves from the imperial yoke of Westminster. He told a story of one Scot who told him not to worry, because even if the Scot voted "Yes" for independence, he would still support the Tories in the next general election. Major stated that the Scot did not understand that there would be no more UK general elections. It did not occur to Major that there will be general elections in Scotland after voting for independence. It showed how little faith John Major had in his own party in Scotland, by assuming that the Scottish Tories would not be fighting in those Scottish General Elections. Naturally Major brought out the big lie that Scotland did not have a currency, which could survive an independence vote. It really does show the desperation of the Unionist No campaign that at the 11th hour they are wheeling out yesterday's men like John Major and Gordon Brown to spread lies and innuendo to try to save the Westminster establishment, after the failure of Alistair Darling to keep a lid on Scottish aspirations. I personally welcome the desperate bid by the three Westminster clones, Cameron, Milliband and Clegg to woo the Scottish people today. It will give the Scottish people yet another opportunity to view the Westminster toffs who have corrupted democracy in the UK and celebrate that they now have the opportunity to be free themselves of the ruling Westminster clan at last. And hopefully us in England and Wales as well?

Thursday 13 February 2014

Vote for Scottish (& English) Independence.

Copy of a letter sent to newspapers last week, which suprisingly they ignored .... The British Prime Minister called on the British people to have a voice in the Scottish Independence debate and to ask the Scots to stay in the UK. I profoundly disagree: indeed I would very much urge the Scots to take this opportunity for freedom and vote for independence. For the same reason, I would ask the same for the people of Northumbria, the right for a vote for independence for the citizens of the North East and Yorkshire. Independence would mean the rejection of a modern British state which allows all the money and power to be retained in London and the South East, at the expense of Scotland and the North East of England alike. It is no coincidence that David Cameron has decided to rap himself in the Union Flag not in Scotland, but in his heartland in London. His cynical abuse of the Olympic ideal to expound his jingoism cannot mask the reality of the modern British state as a slave to multinational conglomerates, who have their British bases in London. The British Parliament is full of yes men in thrall to the London money markets, who profit at the expense of us taxpayers. UK policy since Thatcher has been to destroy manufacturing industry, mainly based in the North and pass everything to the multinational service companies based overseas and in London. Take for instance the £1bn contract awarded to Bombadier for London Cross Rail trains. (At a time when London is still refusing to upgrade the A1 north of Newcastle). Hailed as a great success for British manufacturing, this is, in fact a Canadian assembly plant in Derby, mainly putting together foreign components, which is the only survivor of train manufacturing in this country. Why? Because the Tory Government of the 1990s forced all the British train makers out of business by refusing to order any rolling stock for British trains for three years before privatisation. Both Tory and Labour are united in their cynical jingoism, with the support given by Labour MP Tessa Jowell to Cameron's use of the Olympic park because it reminded people "how it felt to be British". These are the same Labour & Tory MPs that voted for the war in Iraq: how did it feel to be British then? It is this selfish ideology of the monied classes that has destroyed jobs in Yorkshire and the North East. So I say to the people of Scotland, think with your heart as well as your head and seize this opportunity to break away from this southern elite and take power back into your own hands. Do not give in to the blackmail from the Westminster club of Tories, Labour & Lib Dems over a pound they do not own. And what is good for Scotland is also good for Yorkshire and the North East. After all, Yorkshire alone has a population greater than that of Scotland. Why should only the Scots have a right to a Parliament of its own? The UK is neither a democracy (with minority parties in power) nor does it have a divine right to exist. Power should lie with people and all people should have the right to decide their own fate, not to be dictated to by a little man wrapping himself in a Union Flag.

Sunday 15 September 2013

Faust & the Liberal Democrats

It is a long time since I wrote a blog. But the situation in this country has got so dire, I feel I must speak out once again. Take for instance the sad decline of the Liberal Democrats. As an ex-member of the Liberal Party, I remember fondly the earnest debates we had on nuclear disarmament, on climate change and global warming, on protecting a free health service and education system. Mighty debates that emphasised the quality of life, not its price. Contrast and compare the Liberal Democrats of today. Not one principle seems to be worthy of defence. On the contrary, Lib Dems appear to be falling over themselves in their eagerness to abandon whatever principles they may have once claimed in their manifesto. It started with the now infamous betrayal by Liberal Democrat MPs of their signed election pledge not to put up student tuition fees, indeed their solemn pledge to abandon tuition fees all together. After all what do student tuition fees achieve? The money still has to be found, but instead of straight forward government taxation, we now have a whole industry of get rich quick wide boys, saddling the next generation with a lifetime of debt that in many cases will never be paid off. It reminds me of the American folk song “Sixteen Tons” with the famous line, “another day older and deeper in debt”. Like the US coal industry of the 1930s, the conservative establishment, including now apparently, the Liberal Democrats, want to ensure the youth of Britain remain as wage slaves from the moment they enter the “Labour market”. Vince Cable says as much in his infamous U-turn speech of 15th July 2010 in Westminster, where he tries to justify the Lib Dem betrayal of their election promises. He said (& I quote) “You can’t measure in cash returns alone the transformation of the life opportunities of a working class child through a university education that raises their sights - and those of their children. Nonetheless, when students are faced with a bill, even one delayed, they will look to an economic return.” https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/a-new-era-for-universities"> As I said saddling the next generation with a lifetime of debt, so that they have no option but to become wage slaves, lackeys of the conservative establishment. And the Neo-Cons have succeeded beyond their wildest dreams. Unlike the generation who went to university at the same time as Vince Cable who looked out on the world and protested about injustice, such as in the Vietnam war; the modern student has to spend her or his time dealing with a cash flow crisis from the day they get accepted into university, forcing the focus inward to their own survival, instead of outward and the survival of our society. For make no bones about it, our society is fighting for survival against the onslaught of corrupt politicians, elected on false promises and led it seems by the former champions of individual liberty, the Liberal Democrats. Where were their principles when they agreed to abandon their decades old commitment to a fair electoral system (Single Transferable Vote or STV), which would have meant a parliament which represented the whole of society , not just the largest minority? Instead they were persuaded to put forward the discredited alternate vote system and then failed to campaign for even this change, apart from a few weeks of lack lustre debate. Where were Lib Dem principles when the Tories dropped the bombshell of wholesale privatisation of the NHS, a policy not even in the Conservative manifesto? Which has led to a system which has quadrupled the cost of administering the NHS, including an accountant for every clinical commissioning group, so that were previously there was just one Finance Director for the Primary Care Trust, there are now sixteen FDs, one for each of the CCGs. (Such is the shortage of Health Service accountants, they are also some of the highest paid in the country). Where were Lib Dem policies of local democracy, when schools are converted into Academies and taken out of Local Government control and put into the hands of big business? Where was the Lib Dem opposition to penalising disabled people and the less well off in society, when the Tories introduced their ridiculous bedroom tax? A policy akin to the 18th century window tax, when people bricked up their windows to avoid paying the tax. Today, we have legal battles to convert bedrooms into wheel chair storage areas or any other designation that is not a bedroom. Where were Liberal Democrat principles when usury loan companies like Wonga, charging exorbitant interest charges are allowed to prosper on the back of the poor, a situation in part created by the withdrawal of benefits and of this coalition’s tacit support for on-line betting? Where were Liberal Democrat principles and good sense when The Tories continued the discredited Private Finance Initiatives so favoured by Labour, which increased the costs of hospitals five fold and made even more profits for the discredited banks? Where were Liberal Democrat principles when the Bankers continued amassing their riches and to get off scot free from their theft of billions of pounds from the British taxpayer, after they were bailed out by dim witted politicians from all three Westminster parties? How many bankers have gone to jail so far? None and none will, even after this Coalition Government, (including the Liberal Democrats) quietly flog off the nationalised banks back to the bankers at a fraction of the cost it took to bail them out in the first place. The millions lost on the sale of Northern Rock to Virgin Money will be chicken feed in comparison. Nuclear power, nuclear weapons, fracking, the high speed rail link: the list of betrayed principles by the Lib Dems goes on and on, culminating this week with the indecent haste to flog off Royal Mail; despite the opposition of two thirds of the British public (as shown in a recent YouGov poll). The inevitable abandonment of universal postal services, with deliveries to thousands of rural locations being cut and higher than inflation price rises have elicited not a squeak of protest from the Liberal Democrat conference in Glasgow. Once Liberals were proud protesters, shouting loud and long about injustice. Now the only protest we hear is the rather feeble complaints of former Liberal Democrat minister, Sarah Teather MP, who has decided not to stand at the next general election rather than stand up to her party leadership. Clearly the only goal the Liberal Democrat parliamentary party now has is to remain in Government. It probably does not matter whether it is in coalition with the Tories or Labour, these two parties’ policies being so indistinguishable and the willingness of the Liberal Democrats to abandon their principles so blatant, that it is the only real goal left for all the Westminster Parties. So sadly, the Liberal Democrats have at last joined the establishment, making the Faustian bargain and paying the price of their very soul.

Sunday 6 May 2012

BBC Bias fails to mask undemocratic elections

Andrew Marr in his usual fawning style failed once again to challenge a blatant untruth spoken by the Tory chancellor George Osborne on Marr's BBC programme this morning (Sunday 6th May 2012). Osborne claimed that "more than half of the British people voted for Conservative or Liberal Democrat candidates in the local elections last Thursday." That is a blatant LIE.
From the BBC's own figures, 31% of votes cast were for the Tories and 16% for the LibDems. But then only 32% of the electorate voted. This means that actually only 15% (32% of 47%) of the electorate voted for the Coalition candidates, about one person in seven. But you also have to take account of all those people who are denied the vote. People under the age of 18 (who account for nearly a quarter of the population), prisoners, unregistered voters and people in long term institutions for instance. Taking this into account the ConDem vote accounts for less than one person in eight of the UK population.
The same hyperbole applies to Ed Milliband and his crowing Labour Party. Their share of the vote (38%) represents just 12% of voters. Taking into account the disenfranchised, less than one in ten of the UK population voted for New Labour in the local elections. This is hardly "winning back the voter's trust" as Ed Milliband declares.
Andrew Marr continues with the BBC Bias as he allows Osborne to talk about the "three political parties", as if no other political parties exist apart from the ConDems and Labour. Between them them parties garnered votes from less than a quarter of the population of Britain and yet they control more than 80% of local councils and dominate Westminster politics. This is in part due to the refusal of the BBC and other broadcasters to acknowledge that voters have the right to vote for whomsoever they choose and allow the ConDems and Labour to dominate political debate. At the last general election for instance, in my constituency (Richmond, North Yorkshire) the BBC made a prime time TV programme about the contest in Richmond and spoke to the Conservative, Lib Dem and Labour candidates, but did not even inform the one other candidate (from the Green Party) that the programme was being made. I should know. I was that Green candidate. My complaint to the BBC remains unanswered to this day.
It is not a democracy when the state broadcaster decides which politicians you can or cannot listen to. It is not a democracy when less than a quarter of the population decide who runs both national and local government.
So now it is time for you to do your bit. Are you fed up with all politicians, their corrupt ways and economy with the truth? Then do something about it. At your next election, do not vote Labour, Tory or Lib Dem. But rather than sit at home calling a pox on all their houses, go out and vote (if you can) for someone else. Be it Green, be it UKIP, English Democrat, SNP, Plaid Cymru or even a penguin, use your vote to help remove the corruption that is the British political establishment from our green and once pleasant land.

Thursday 19 January 2012

Real Electoral Reform

The English can learn from the Scots (& Welsh & Irish). If you want to get real change (or even independence) do not vote Conservative or Labour or Liberal Democrat. If you live in the Chilterns, you are really not obliged to vote Tory. You could form your own party to oppose the high speed rail link. If you banded together and opposed the Tories in their "safe" seats, just think how quickly you would change their minds?
If you are a member of Unite or another union, put up your own candidates, please stop fooling yourself that Labour represents anyone but themselves. Ed Milliband is just another Tony Blair (as is David Cameron), pandering to big business and the banks. All these politicians promised us the taxpayer would not lose by supporting the banks, so how come we have lost £20billion on Northern Rock alone?
And after the disgraceful betrayal of the Liberal Democrats on student fees, every University Student Union in the country should be putting forward their own candidates.
Everyone else should vote for anyone other than the old elected dictatorship of Labour, Liberal and Tory. Personally I think the finest political leader in the country is Caroline Lucas of the Green Party, but whatever you do, just don't vote for five more years of Nick Clegg!

Sunday 1 May 2011

The Prince or the Pauper?

The fawning attitude of the BBC and other media moguls to the Royalist  wedding in London is part of a continuing conspiracy amongst the ruling classes to deny democracy in the UK. This has been backed by the closing down of Facebook accounts and Websites of anyone critical of the Monarchy and police raids on over 50 social centres.

This wedding is not a dream, but a nightmare. The tightening of the grip of the powers that be, at the expense of democracy. Westminster politicians, except for a brave few, are too frightened to speak the truth about the elite who run our country. If they are so confident that the monarchy is so popular, why has the alternative never been offered to the British people?

We need an informed debate and a referendum to ask ALL the people of Britain whether they would prefer an elected head of state, rather than this continuing dicatorship by an unelected elite. Do we really want to be governed by a Hooray Henry whose best friend is Posh Spice? Do you really think it is a coincidence that the leaders of the coalition government are all public schoolboys?
We know that a large proportion of the cheering crowds at the wedding were foreign tourists, especially Americans, who got rid of their monarch almost 250 years ago. There were no protests because protests were banned, protest leaders detained and the voice of protest gagged by a subservient media, led by the BBC. Like the majority of people in the UK, I did not watch the wedding, but spent the day delivering local election leaflets, campaigning for a Yes vote to electoral reform and dreaming of the day when Britain will indeed become a democracy. Not an elected dictatorship, led by an unelected monarch.
The Prince or the Pauper? Vote for the paupers of this world and set yourself free!

Monday 4 April 2011

News direct from Japan

From: DrumCircles@ yahoogroups. com [mailto:DrumCircles@ yahoogroups. com] On
Behalf Of Kaoru Sasaki
Sent: 02 April 2011 03:30
To: Yahoo! Int'l List
Subject: [DrumCircles] Another thing you can do for Japan

Hi list,

Thank you for your massages, prayers, drumming, donations,
holding charity events and so on.

More than three weeks have past, and things don't seem to be better,
unfortunately. The fiscal & school year begins on April 1, and
many people who evacuated from Tsunami/nuclear disaster area
have either moved for new places to settle or went back home.

Japan is almost like North Korea and the people are not provided
with truth. Information is very much controlled and you outside
Japan may have better information. You may think we always
have internet, but there are old people who don't use internet,
who have lost their PCs, who have PCs but the internet connection
is not available, and so on, especially at the Tsunami/nuclear- polluted
area.

As you know, Japan is one of the biggest seismic country.
Many earthquakes have been happening, before and especially
after the one on March 11. The big plates are stimulated
by the recent quakes, and many experts expect more to come.

There are 54 nuclear-power- related facilities, and the government
plans to build 14 more. They built the nuclear waste dumping
facility in Rokkasho, in the north, but it is almost full.

The real information is not available from either the government
or the power company, but there is already ongoing radiation leaks
which is polluting everything. We know it is MUCH more than
we are told it is.

You have rights to get more angry about Japan, because there is
no border in air and water. What Japan has done to its people
and to the world is a crime.

Japan has been traditionally VERY hard to change from inside.
Dr. Koide of Kyoto University, an anti-nuclear scholar, asked by
someone how we can stop nuclear power plants in Japan,
replied, "We have been trying for 40 years, and it has been
very difficult." Mediad oesn't function here either, because
many of the journalist who spoke out have been 'burried' in
all kinds of ways.

In many environmental movements, we as activists, often used
'external pressure' and asked our foreign friends for help.

Please contact the Japanese embassies in your area,
write to the Japanese government, Tokyo Electricity,
and so on to call for stopping and eventually abolishment
of Japan's nuclear power plants.

Tokyo Electricity http://www.tepco. co.jp/en/ index-e.html

Would it work? ... I don't know, because they may just
ignore your e-mails.

Tell your friends about the situation in Japan, contact
media or your government if you have connections.

Japan has already polluted the planet enough as of today,
and we have to avoid more nuclear-pollution by more
earthquakes to come.

Big earthquakes are said to come 100%. The problem is
no one knows if it will come today or 5, 10 years later.

We are doing our best to stop nuclear power plants here,
and we need your help. Please help!

Kaoru