2008 January archive at deborah4twickenham

Archive for January, 2008

Democracy breakdown at the European Parliament

Published at January 31, 2008 in Conservative news, EU, Freedom of speech and civil liberties, NEWS -, National news, POLITICS - and TOPICS -. 0 Comments

I know it is a funny time to be talking about Europe, when there is so much going on in Britain, but I have decided to reproduce an article in full, that appeared on today’s Conservative Home website. I would be interested in hearing the comments of readers on this, particularly as our own system of rules and regulations over our elected representatives is under the spotlight.

The point is not about whether we are “in” or “out” of the EU, but on what terms the monolithic European institutions are operating, particularly when most of the power lies in the unelected chambers, where accountability to the Electorate is minimal. This principle alone is relevant to all we have seen domestically in the last few months.

Read on for the full article…

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MPs and their expenses

Published at January 30, 2008 in Conservative news, Conservatives, Labour, Liberal Democrats, NEWS -, National news, POLITICS - and TOPICS -. 5 Comments

Another day another financial scandal concerning an MP, except this time it is a Tory MP, Derek Conway in the spotlight.

After Peter Hain, Harriet Harman and Alan Johnson’s deputy leadership fundraising issues, the focus has now moved away from how money is coming in to how it is being spent.

None of the major parties are coming out very well in the wash, although undoubtedly it is Labour that is the most tarnished by this episode. After all, it is a sweet irony that Labour MPs are falling foul of the rules that they themselves voted in to shaft the Tories.

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That was the week that was

Published at January 25, 2008 in Conservative news, Conservatives, Crime, EU, Elections, Freedom of speech and civil liberties, ID cards, Labour, London Mayor, NEWS -, National news, POLITICS -, TOPICS -, Tax, Terrorism and The Economy. 5 Comments

I am only just catching my breath.

Regulars on this site need not concern themselves that I have suddenly taken up jogging or any other New-Year inspired fitness regime. I have only just recovered from news overload, which I wouldn’t have believed had I not been here to witness it myself…

Conscious about not wanting to sound like the front page of a tabloid, I am trying to describe Brown’s Labour Government using words other than “meltdown”, “incapable” or even “anarchic”. I want to intellectualise the last week and harshly but fairly critique their performance.

But I can’t.

This week is, in my opinion, a milestone for Labour – beyond the temporary whinging of the press and opposition politicians, there was always a glimmer of hope for reincarnation (or at least salvation). That has now been lost.

The Labour party are now not trusted in government, not only by the “swingers” who elected them in, but by their own grassroots and die-hard supporters.

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Northern Wreck and the innocent victims

Published at January 22, 2008 in Conservatives, Labour, NEWS -, National news, POLITICS -, TOPICS -, Tax and The Economy. 2 Comments

It is really saying something about the state of Labour, when 600 Ministry of Defence laptops go missing over a 2-year period, the latest with 600,000 military personnels’ and applicants’ personal details on them, is hushed up by the Government for most of that time, and the story only makes page 2 or 3 of the papers.

I, for one, am not happy about this. Yes, ”Labour Fatigue” is rife, but as with so many of their sins over the last 11 years, they appear to have got the public resigned to them, so that we just shrug our shoulders and say, “Not again?”

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