Cheerio

As I said the last time I took satisfaction at someone losing their job, I don't normally take satisfaction from people losing their job. But where the Scottish Stalinist is concerned, I'm quite happy to make another exception. This cheered me up.

NB It is etiquette in the blogosphere to credit other sites when you use their stuff. Now I have to confess, I saw this somewhere this morning, and cannot for the life of my remember where. So if it's your blog, I'm really really sorry. Tell me, and I'll post a link. Promise.

Thank God That's Over

There may be trouble ahead,
But while there's moonlight, and music
And love and romance,
Let's face the music and dance.

Before the fiddlers have fled,
Before they ask us to pay the bill,
And while we still have that chance,
Let’s face the music and dance.

Nice speech, I have to say.

Well, That's Something At Least

You arrive, as Hugo Drax might have put it, at a capricious moment: the 2010 General Election's one undisputed contribution to western civilisation; the removal of Gordon Brown.

Praise be and Halleluiah !

+++ Purnell Resigns And Calls For Brown To Go +++

The edifice is crumbling. What a wonderful sight.

Komsomol Comes To Britain

I nearly missed this story from the weekend. It's another sign of New Labour's ardent belief in the standing and power of the State vis-a-vis the individual; that the State is everything, and the individual simply exists to serve it.

They want to introduce compulsory community service for anyone aged 19 or under. Compulsory community service. That is, enforced unpaid labour as directed by the State. Where I come from, that's called slavery.

Gordon Brown is quoted as saying: "It is my ambition to create a Britain in which there is a clear expectation that all young people will undertake some service to their community, and where community service will become a normal part of growing up in Britain."

"...a clear expectation that all young people will undertake some service to their community".

This from the Prime Minister of Great Britain.

If only Joseph Stalin were still alive today...he'd have been so proud.

Care To Follow Suit, Gordon ?

Barack Obama scares the life out of me because of all his spending commitments and his apparently certainty that the government throwing money it hasn't got at everything in sight is the cure to all America's woes.

But, when any Head of State has got the balls to go on national television and say unequivocally that they got something wrong, I'm impressed. And saying "I screwed up" in quite unequivocal enough for me. Admitting mistakes isn't something that comes naturally to politicians, so any that do it always benefit from the element of surprise.

It remains to be seen whether such honesty becomes the norm or whether it's just a one-off. I hope it's the former.

Who knows, maybe this departure from standard political behaviour will inspire others to similar candour. Maybe Gordon Brown is just about to follow the example, put his hand up and say "I screwed up" on the pointless VAT cut, the 10p tax debacle, the debt colossus and the run on sterling.

While we're waiting, I'm just nipping down to Ladbrokes to put a fiver on Porky Pig on the 3 o'clock Flying Stakes, taking off from the rooftop over the road from me this afternoon...

Shhh ! Don't Mention The Recession....

...I mentioned it once but I think I got away with it.

Apparently we're not really in a recession.

Rather, we are experiencing "the difficult birth-pangs of a new global order" . The Scottish Stalinist said that, so it must be true. Yep, a new world order in which countries that haven't mired themselves in debt recover the quickest while Britain has a seat next to Hungary in the IMF's waiting room.

You've got to hand it to the guy (or his script writers); what a wonderful piece of linguistic manipulation. I wonder if they held a competition to see who could come up with the fanciest alternative to the R-word ?


Either way, it's clear that anyone who does mention the R-word is likely to be rounded up and taken to the salt mines. In the same insane Press conference, Brown warned against pessimism and (would you believe it) the danger of "muddling through". Meanwhile Cabinet Minister Andy Burnham (he who already has bloggers in his sights) looks ready to whip anyone caught not smiling: "It is going to be a difficult year but it is important people choose their words carefully. We can talk ourselves into a worse situation." The fact that we can also spend our way into a far, far worse situation, and what's more seem hell-bent on doing just that, is obviously irrelevant.

Thus the New Labour spinning line is clear. The recession , sorry, the difficult birth-pangs of a new global order, are the fault of a) the banks b) Dave c) George Osborne and d) everyone else.

Got that ? Great. Now then, repeat after me...."difficult birth-pangs of a new global order", "difficult birth-pangs of a new global order", "difficult birth-pangs of a new global order"....

Deluded Part II

Sorry for digging this up again, but the irony has only just struck me...



He wasn't even right the second time.

From Brown To Obama, Things Are Going To Be Smelly

While the liberal Establishment and accompanying media work themselves into a lather about the inauguration of Barack Obama (Jim Naughtie sounded close to tears yesterday) back in Cloud Cuckoo Land Messers Brown & Darling still seem utterly convinced that you can spend your way out of a financial crisis.

Throwing our good money in such hot pursuit of the bad that's already disappeared down the proverbial drain exposes us to more risk than ever before, massively (immeasurably, in fact) increases our exposure to toxic assets, and the ramifications will be felt for decades to come. As we stare into the bottomless put that is Bail Out II, two things are crystal clear: 1) Bail Out I has failed, and 2) the Government has absolutely no idea what it is committing itself (us) to. It is, as George Osborne said yesterday, an utterly blank cheque. And who's to say there isn't going to be a Bail Out III ? Or IV ? Make no mistake, this one could run and run.

It would be nice to think that over the pond a dose of common sense is about to be administered. Sadly, it ain't so. Obama reminds me of one T. Blair; long on optimism, charisma and rhetoric, decidedly short on specifics, and absolutely bereft of anything that doesn't involve more government intervention and expenditure. Doubtless many Americans will bask in false hope for a few months, just as many Britons did (not this one, mind !) post May 1997. But the US of A is heading the same as we are - more tax, more spend, more government control, less individual freedom.

Two traditional bastions of the free world are becoming less free by the day. And by the Bail Out.

Deluded

The tragedy of it is, he probably believes what he said the first time....

Kerrrching ! Brown Opens The Till Again

George Osborne remarked a couple of weeks ago that all Labour governments end up running out of money, and this one is no exception.

The trouble with this one is that it is now abusing the privilege.

Today they've just risked pouring another £1bn down the tube with the mortgage prop-up scheme.

This sort of distortion in the mortgage market is a bad idea because:
..it can only be paid for with yet more government borrowing (this is actually taxpayer-sponsored guarantee of bad debt, financed through government debt, to try and get us through a recession which was partly caused by debt in the first place);
..it will be a difficult scheme to withdraw, because even once we're through the recession they'll always be some "deserving" cases - so this could actually end up being a permanent drain on the taxpayer;
..it encourages poor discipline amongst home buyers, who may over stretch themselves in the future in the "knowledge" that lilly-livered governments will help them out if the going gets rough;
..it opens the way for other government-inspired (and taxpayer-funded) debt guarantee schemes, to which all the above problems will also apply;
..home repossession, however painful and horrible, is one of the things that helps get the housing market going again, because it brings new houses onto the market, increasing supply and further reducing prices until such a time that people are prepared to buy again.

As is usually the case with socialist governments, this administration is awash with short-term, highly expensive market distortions that do nothing to deal with the long-term problems. Brown is obsessed with wanting to be seen as "caring" and "understanding people's plight". This is as much a political move as it is an economic one, but it's a political move paid for by money we do not have. And all along the reality is that if he hadn't taken so much money off us through tax in the first place we wouldn't be half as badly off as we are now.

Instead of taking the only path that would really help - massive government spending cuts, dealing with the borrowing and giving what he can in tax cuts, new Labour is showing its old Labour colours - spend, spend, spend when we simply can't afford it. £1 trillion worth of debt, and still courting, thanks to madcap initiatives like this one.

Osborne was right - they do all end up absolutely broke.

But Gordon Brown is, quite frankly, taking the piss.

This Is Not A Rant. But The Arrest Of Damian Green Should Keep Us Awake At Night.

OK, so I've come down from the ceiling after the arrest of Damian Green and I'm trying to analyse what it means and where it might take us. I'm not going to rant or shout, I'm just going to describe my conclusions now that I've tried to think it through. And I tell you, it leaves me cold. It scares me like nothing else Brown or Blair have ever done.

I suppose I should start by admitting that, like most other people, I don't know all the facts and yes, it's conceivable that something might come out which renders defence of Mr Green untenable. But I doubt it. The extent to which Conservatives are clearly furious tells me that his behaviour is no different from what opposition ministers (including Gordon Brown) have done for years.

To set the scene, then. It's part of a shadow minister's job to unearth facts about the government's performance it would rather have kept quiet. On that score, Green has been doing a reasonable job (although you might think, given what we know about the efficiency of the Home Office, that there must be a hell of a lot of skeletons left in cupboards he hasn't yet opened).

What he's come up with, while embarrassing for the government, isn't exactly earth shattering: the news that an illegal immigrant was working in the House of Commons as a cleaner is hardly a threat to national security.

He's been using techniques employed since the dawn of politics to get at the government; find an insider who knows the score about various cock-ups and publicise what they tell you. Result: discomfort for the government, perhaps a few votes float from one side to the other and, in some cases one would hope, changes in procedure and behaviour to make sure that improvements take place in government machinery.

Leaking of this sort within government is healthy on a number of counts:
...it keeps ministers and officials on their toes and on the look-out for poor practice, lest it "get out";
...it gives the public an insight into how things really happen and how our money is spent;
...it helps the opposition hold the government to account;
...as I've described above, it has the potential to improve how things are done.

The reason the events of yesterday sent a shiver down my spine was that they appear to represent an attempt by the government to legitimise increased secrecy, to defend incompetence and to strengthen their already not inconsiderable power base.

Not only that, but they've done it in a way which is, it seems, specifically designed to inspire shock and fear throughout public sector employees and, more importantly, journalists and opposition MPs. To send nine counter-terrorism officers round to arrest one man is an appalling abuse of power in itself.

Let's not prat about here. The government is behind the arrest of Damian Green. Anyone who believes that none of them knew this was coming needs their head examining. It quite simply defies belief that no one in Jacqui Smith's ministerial team had prior knowledge. As acts of political brutality go in this country, this was deeply sickening.

The message it quite deliberately sends out is this: unearth stuff we don't want you to find and we'll have you; tell the people what we don't want them being told and you're ours for the taking; ask the questions we don't want asking and we'll turn you, your world, your family and, for that matter, your home and office upside down.

This is not the behaviour of an administration that believes in freedom or is prepared to stand up for it. Instead it is the behaviour of a government which is rotten to its very core, is chock-a-block full of its own self-importance, lacks the intellectual integrity to accept that it can be challenged, and which believes its own propaganda to such an extent that everything else must be suppressed.

Many blogs have today made comparisons with Zimbabwe, this one included. Whilst Zimbabwe may be further down the line in its erosion of democracy and free debate, the parallel has an element of truth about it. Elsewhere it has been claimed that today marks the death of freedom in this country. I hope with all my heart that the prognosis is wrong, but try as I might I cannot escape the view that our whole standing as a liberal democracy is, at the very best, under serious threat. This marks a dark, dark day in our history. Whether we come out the other side of this with our freedoms in tact now depends in part on the strength and courage of Her Majesty's Opposition and, God help us, on the Press. They can either give in to the bullying and the threats or they can stand up and be counted. In no small part, our future lies in their hands.

It is, perhaps, the ultimate irony about this government that after so many people have got away with telling us so many lies about Iraq, immigration, the economy et al that someone should get arrested for telling the truth. Let that be the epitaph of ZaNu Labour.

In The Words Of Private Fraser...

You know what ? I think we’re heading for a Spring General Election. Brown is swinging into election mode. Several things are making me think it is so.

Firstly, the horrible spectacle of the G20 summit with Brown at the centre of it all had more than a whiff of spin about it, as does the package that he and his cohorts are concocting ahead of the Autumn Statement. That in itself is going to be billed as a big giveaway, a “Take The Money Now, Worry About The Fact That We're Completely Screwed Later” pre-Budget report which is going to leave us all in serious lumber in the years to come but may have the short term effect of making a few people (many of them in marginal constituencies, no doubt) feel a bit better off.

Next, Political Betting has an interesting article today suggesting that bringing back Mandelson and Campbell may prove to be a master stroke. There has undeniably been a change in the much-vaunted “media narrative” over the last couple of months, which is pretty remarkable given the depth of pooh this country now finds itself in, courtesy in no small measure to the policies of the Scottish Stalinist over the last ten years. Labour is closing the gap on the Tories, who seem completely incapable of offering an alternative analysis. If nothing else, this economic crisis has shown Cameron and Osborne to be cowardly lightweights - a dreadful combination – who have failed to put forward a realistic roadmap for getting us out of the mess.

And, as Ian Dale reflected this morning, Labour knows that their best chance may be to go to the polls before the recession really bites. And Brown knows that he doesn’t need to win the popular vote to win, or be close to, an overall majority. Go to Electoral Calculus, hit "Make your prediction" in the sidebar, and key in a prediction such as Con 37%, Lab 35%, Lib Dem 20% to see how close to an overall majority Brown could get even if the Tories gets more votes than he does. (The situation is even more outrageously unfair in England, where even in 2005 the Conservatives got more votes than Labour, only to have Blair wipe the floor with them in terms of Commons seats, not that I’ve got a problem with that or anything…Grrrr).

Finally, as the tax credits kick in, Spring is also likely to see the first visit to the UK of the new American President. So, a few photo-calls with Obama (who’ll still be in his honeymoon period) a bit of State-interventionist guff about new partnerships to create new opportunities, some toe-curlingly sycophantic write-ups from the liberal intelligentsia in the Press, and it’ll be “Hi-ho, it’s off to the Polls we go”.

And then, God knows what’ll happen. But for what it's worth, I stand by my prediction of a year ago; a Labour majority of 20 seats.







In other words, we're all doomed.

Never A Truer Word...

.....................Click here for the Brown calculator

With a hat-tip to Guido, I must post this. It's so appropriate and so very telling that I half expect it to get banned by the government.

Sniff, Sniff...I Smell...Scottish Labour

Something stinks about the takeover of HBOS. And at the heart of the smell lie Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling.

Darling has said quite openly that he has sought assurances from Lloyds TSB about jobs - Scottish jobs. Nothing about the English ones. In Halifax alone, 6,500 people are employed by HBOS. But Halifax is in England, and I can't find anything about the Chancellor lobbying to save jobs there. Instead, with seemingly indecent haste, Lloyds TSB has said that the new headquarters will be in Edinburgh.

We know that the government has been very closely involved in this. So, what have we got ? We've got a Scottish Prime Minister - representing a constituency commuting distance of Edinburgh - and a Scottish Chancellor, whose constituency is in Edinburgh. We've got a key by-election coming up, in Scotland. We've got competition rules being waived by the government. And we've got a deal that prioritises Scottish jobs ahead of English ones.

This is government interference of the very worst order. It is a gross and outrageous abuse of power.

Anyone For Suicide ?

Interesting piece here from the excellent Mike Smithson of Political Betting suggesting it might be in Labour's long-term interest to hold a General Election now.

The argument goes that so bad is Labour's predicament, and so bad is the short-term future for the economy, that Labour might be forgiven more quickly it it hands over the reigns of power to the Conservatives now rather than limp on with a spent Prime Minister and be associated with ever growing doom, gloom and despondency till 2010. Using this logic you could conclude that had John Major gone to the polls in say, 2005, the outcome, though a Tory defeat, would not have been as bad as it was in 1997; and it's probably right.

There isn't a chance of it happening of course. There is no way Brown has the guts to call an election now. Actually I'd be hard-pressed to think of any politician capable of taking such a long-term, self-sacrifical view.

One of two things will happen. Either Brown will soldier on, hoping for some sort of minor miracle (and perhaps even getting one - Cameron is not invincible, and things can change very quickly) or he'll be forced to stand aside for another leader. I'll be fascinated to watch what happens at the Labour Conference (and I don't think I've ever said that before !) to see the manoeuvring of those who aspire to the Labour leadership. My bet is that Brown will cling on, but by the ned of this month I think we'll have a better idea of who the runners and riders are for a leadership contest.

By the way, Political Betting is a fabulous site for those wanting a regular fix of political discussion. The articles are usually interesting, challenging and neutral, and the comments surprisingly free of partisan bickering or point-scoring.

What Do You Want Tonight ?

What does someone who hates the Labour Party want out of the Glasgow East by-election tonight ? Do you want Labour to lose because you hate them and they're ruining our lives or do you actually want them to win because if they do lose they might get rid of Gordon Brown and mount some sort of recovery ?

Tough call.

How's This For Devotion To A Cause ?

Anyone who thinks they're prepared to make sacrifices for their beliefs should read this. Would you really be prepared to go this far ? I mean suicide bombing is one thing, but trying to glue yourself to Gordon Brown...that really does go beyond the call of duty. Yes, OK, it didn't quite come off (or actually it came off all too quickly depending on your point of view) but you've got to credit the guy for risking such a horrendous fate.

Give me a night on Harriet Harman's roof anytime.

Brown's Britain

A selection from today’s news stories…

It has emerged that eleven crime suspects whose DNA details went unchecked for over a year have offended in the UK. The data disk was sent over here by Dutch police, and is believed to have stayed in someone’s desk drawer while they were on sick leave.

Doctors’ leaders have claimed that the health and safety of prisoners is being jeopardised by putting them in ill-equipped cells at police stations and courts (bear in mind too that many of these prisoners will not have been found guilty of any crime at this point in their incarceration).

The Public Accounts Committee has found that since the government started spending £800m over the past five years trying to reduce the number of students who leave their university courses, the drop-out rate remains unchanged at 22%.

A murder inquiry has begun after a 16-year-old boy was found stabbed to death in Woolwich, becoming the fifth teenager to be killed in London this year.

Don’t you just love this government ?

Credit Where It's Due

I can't say Gordon Brown has exactly impressed me in his five months as Prime Minister. In fact I can't think of one decent thing he's done.

But I have to admit to admiring his stand over his refusal to meet Robert Mugabe at the EU-Africa summit in Lisbon. I don't actually know if it's the best tactic, and I'm certain that it won't have any effect on Mugabe or anything he does.

But I do get the impression that Brown is refusing to meet Mugabe on principle - because he genuinely thinks it's the right thing to do.

Usually these conferences are just full of diplomatic bollocks, meaning platitudes and souped-up communiques. So it's nice to see someone use a bit of honesty.

That said, it would have been even better had he not sent someone in his place. If he can't being himself to go, it's a bit much to expect Baroness Amos to go instead. This "summit" is only ever going to be a piss-up in any case; even Glewnys Kinnock described it as a "jamboree". It strikes me that Brown could have saved us a small fortune and not bothered sending anyone at all.

That would have had the added bonus of winding up the EU.