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Bob Ainsworth - Even Lib Dems think he is Useless

Lib Dem Blogger, Norfolk Blogger has this to say about Bob Ainsworth.

I lived for three years, in Coventry and was a council candidate during that time in Bob Ainsworth's constituency. In that time, he was virtually anonymous. As a politically active and politically aware student, you might have expected the local politicians to be of immediate interest to me, and in the run up to the 1997 I expected to see lots of them, but of the then four MPs in Coventry (then reduced to 3 in 1997), Bob Ainsworth was the least seen and least known of any of them. Indeed John Butcher, the one Tory (who was standing down anyway) had the highest profile.

When all sides of the political parties think the man is a waste of space then you know that he must be completely talentless and unworthy of any job in Government far less in one of what should be the most important in Government.

This just goes to show that Gordon is so devoid of any support within his own party that he has to use the dross. When will our Armed Forces get the Minister they deserve?

Norfolk Blogger: Bob Ainsworth - A sign of desperation by the government

More On Brown's Spending Brownie.

The attached videos from Channel 4 show how big Brown's Brownie during PMQ's etc was.


This second video shows Jon Snow nailing Andy Burnham on the Brownie's.


And finally we have this report from tonight's Question Time

Another guest, Ruth Lea, the former head of policy at the Institute of Directors, criticised Mr Hain's response. "When I hear all this about Tory spending cuts... They are all in Alistair Darling's report," she said.

The audience joined in criticism of the government's position in the spat. A heckler shouted: "Labour is not being honest with people."

The man who posed the initial question told Mr Hain: "Your answer just lost my vote."

Spelman concluded by accusing Gordon Brown of misleading the House of Commons during Prime Minister's questions yesterday.

"He trotted out figures of billions without adjusting for inflation, without costing in the benefits for the people we do need to pay. I want a Prime Minister that will come clean with me," she said.

Both in the media, on the internet and just in general conversations people are now laughing at Brown's lies, He is a figure of fun not just in Parliament but also amongst the general public. How much more does he have to do to convince Labour MP's that he is a millstone round their necks pulling them further and further into the abyss.

FFS Gordon just Go Now

PoliticsHome | News | Spelman and Hain continue spending row

More Brownies on Spending Cuts

Lots more Brownies have been apparent during the past couple of weeks as our idiot Prime Minister lives in fantasy island where there is still no boom and bust. During PMQ's and last weeks press conference we had the huge Brownie that there were no spending cuts. Lets look at the truth and not the Brown fantasy

Here we see that whilst total spending is not cut, all front line services are cut, as most of the "extra" spending is being used to service our huge debts. Factor in that Andy Burnham has explicitly told us there are no NHS cuts and then the total cuts to other services are around 10%, much the same as the proposed Tory figures.

The problem is that Gordon, in his fantasy island, wants us to understand that only Tories do cuts, whilst his true genius allows us, during the worst recession in living memory, to continue to spend, spend spend. This is now revealed as a complete "Brownie". Lets look at what Brown has said

‘Public spending is rising every year; just be absolutely clear about that. Public spending is due to rise every year… The public spending in our country is rising and it’s going to continue to rise’ (Gordon Brown, Number 10 Press Conference, 5 June 2009)

‘The only party that’s proposing a cut in public spending is the Conservative Party.’
(Gordon Brown at PMQs today)

“Public spending this year is 621 million. It rises next year to 672 million, that’s this financial year, then to 702, then to 717, then to 738, then to 758.” (Gordon Brown at PMQs today)

Then have a look at the tables above and see the reality. Listen to the words of your own chancellor Alistair Darling:

‘I have cut overall public spending’ (The Today Programme, 23 April 2009)

BROWN IS LYING yet again. This is the man who says he said in his latest press conference

“To be honest, when I look at this expenses crisis I remember the words of my father and I remember what he told me: always be honest.”

This is the man who wants to "reform" government to be more open and transparent. The only people being honest and transparent are the tories who are telling the public what is likely to happen.

His grip on reality has disappeared, his grip on his cabinet has disappeared, his grip on Government has disappeared, he needs to disappear.

FFS Gordon just Go Now.

The truth about 10% spending cuts - thetorydiary

Brown appoints part-timer as energy minister No. 12

Now we see the impact of the in-fighting between Brown and his party, Part-Timers in important Cabinet jobs. Perhaps Mr Brown would like to remember where he gets much of his money from and where some of his "green shoots" of recovery are coming from.

As the P&J said

Prime Minister Gordon Brown was under fresh fire last night – over the way he treated the vital North Sea oil and gas industry in his government shake-up. He has handed the key minister of state for energy portfolio to part-time peer Lord Hunt of Kings Heath, who will be helped in the Commons by Stafford Labour MP David Kidney – a new, unpaid junior minister.

Former NHS chief Lord Hunt’s other post, as deputy leader of the Lords, involves the painstaking work of getting government business through without a majority. The appointments take the number of changes of energy minister since Labour came to power in 1997 to 11.

Last night, industry bosses and opposition politicians accused Mr Brown of treating the offshore sector in a “cavalier” manner and criticised the lack of continuity in the government department. West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine Liberal Democrat MP Sir Robert Smith said: “This is a crisis reshuffle with Mr Brown doubling-up ministerial jobs because he has run out of loyalists. “It is another example of the prime minister’s neglect of Britain’s most important industry.”Sir Robert added: “To put it in the hands of a part-time peer and an unpaid junior minister is a disgrace.”

Just another example of the contempt that Gordon Brown has for the Real World.

FFS Gordon just Go Now

Brown appoints part-timer as energy minister No. 12 - Press & Journal

Treasury is crippling war in Afghanistan

Former Brigadier in the army and SAS, Ed Butler appeared before the Defence Select Committee yesterday to expose the financial constraints being placed upon the military in Afghanistan.

When he resigned last year Butler stated, when paying tribute to the servicemen and women he fought with, that they operated

'within the well-known constraints and restraints', leading to speculation his departure was due to concern over troops' equipment and conditions.

Appearing before the committee Butler said that the constraints meant that the Army could

“just about hold the line, but couldn’t sustain a higher tempo” in its campaign against the Taleban.

In other words Stagnation, nothing was being achieved as we make no progress militarily or with sorting out the civilian problems. These are both a pre-requisite before lasting peace can be achieved.

Brigadier Butler told the committee that in 2006 the Treasury had “capped” resources available for the operation, limiting funding to £1.3 billion for a “three-year campaign”. The Government has always denied imposing a cap on resources for the mission.He said

“There was a Treasury-imposed cap on the number of troops we could have in Afghanistan,”.

With the troops available to him — 3,300 —

“we could just about hold the line but we couldn’t sustain a higher tempo.”

Brigadier Butler said he was visited by numerous ministers during his tour of command but not once by a Treasury minister.The financial constraints resulted in a severe shortage of helicopters in the field and seriously hampered the ability of British forces to cover the ground, He compared the number of helicopters available in Afghanistan to those that had been available n Northern Ireland.

Butler was also critical of the overall government strategy in Afghanistan with no little or no efforts being made to start development and reconstruction programmes. Without these the efforts of the forces were being wasted.

Butler also said that the

“tribal tapestry” in Whitehall was as complex as it was in Afghanistan and that the officials working in Helmand from the Department for International Development were the most “risk-averse” of the civilians involved in the campaign, followed by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the security services.

He then went onto to say

that a strong secretary of state was needed to ensure that everyone co-operated, and praised John Reid, who was Defence Secretary in 2006, for “knocking heads together”. “It needs someone with clout back home. . . if you want to go into these places [Afghanistan], you must go deep and go long or go home. . . and it must be properly resourced,”

So what have we now got instead, we have Bob Ainsworth or "Slow Bob" to his friends. This is the man who lies and covers up problems. This is the man now trusted with ensuring our Armed Forces are adequately funded and resourced to be in Afghanistan. This Brown Toady, who "inherited" the Defence Minister post by default will unlikely be strong enough to face down anyone to help the Armed Forces, he cannot even cope with some simple questions from Paxman. But what do we expect when we have the man of "Courage" in charge, a man who only knows how to defeat his enemies by lies and untruths and has never faced a serious challenge in his life. A man who has so little respect for his Armed Forces that he appoints someone as inept as Ainsworth to look after them, in the full knowledge that, he is only there as his lickspittle, a lap-dog to do as he is bidden.

Let us also remember the fact that over the past four years more than 150 of our Servicemen have been killed in Afghanistan (Do watch out for statistics that quote since 2001).We have to now question what this loss of life is achieving unless we are prepared to put in place a proper strategy and properly funded resources.

Former British commander in Afghanistan says Treasury is crippling war - Times Online

First Snouter officially resigns - Ian Gibson

Ian Gibson has officially resigned by being appointed to be the Crown Steward and Bailiff of the three Chiltern Hundreds of Stoke, Desborough and Burnham.

He is the first snoughter to actually resign, despite the fact that there are much worse troughers than him stil in the Stys of Commons. A by-election in his constituency should be interesting but don't wait in bated breath for it to happen any time soon as Labour will no doubt delay it as long as possible.

The position of Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Chiltern Hundreds is now used as a procedural device to effect resignation from the House of Commons, as British MPs are not permitted simply to resign their seat. This legal anomaly dates back to a resolution of the House of Commons of 2 March 1624, passed at a time when MPs were often elected to serve against their will.
As an instrument of resignation, the role is usually alternated with that of Steward and Deputy Steward of the Manor of Northstead in Yorkshire. Under the Act of Settlement, any Member of Parliament accepting an office of profit under the Crown must give up his or her seat. An MP applies for the office to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who usually then signs a warrant appointing the now former MP. The Chancellor can in theory deny an application, although the last time this happened was to Viscount Chelsea in 1842. The appointee holds the office until such time as another MP is appointed, or they apply to be released.

David Marshall is the current holder of th Manor of Northstead, he resigned because of "ill health".

Three Hundreds of Chiltern - HM Treasury

Defence in the World:

This was the name of the debate on Defence in the House of Commons on Thursday 4th June, Yes, buried amongst the elections and some trivia at the HoC we had one of the most important debates of the year, timed so that few could attend, few would watch, few would even know it was going on and few would report on it.

By my reckoning only 10-12 MP's were actually present at what should be on one of the most important debates held by the H0C, I think 4 Labour perhaps 6 Conservatives and 2 Liberals actually spoke. As Bernard Jenkin said during the debate

Staying with the theme of the public's attitude towards defence spending, we in the House of Commons should have learned in recent weeks how neglecting an issue can engulf us in public rage. Neglect of this particular issue may be fine in peacetime and when we are deploying our troops in faraway and little-understood battles, but if we require our armed forces to do something at short notice that they are not capable of doing and it results in disaster, we need to be aware that the wrath of the British people over our neglect will be unimaginable—and we will deserve it.

In a year when casualties in Afghanistan have now overtaken those in Iraq it should be a national disgrace that we pay so little attention to what is happening to our Armed Forces around the world.

As you read the debate you begin to understand how little has changed in the past 2-3 years. Still we are sending soldiers out in badly protected vehicles, still we have inadequate helicopter and aerial support, still we are arguing about how little money we should spend on the Armed Services, still we comply with ridiculous rules of engagement that will allow the death of our soldiers before we can take action, still.... it goes on.

And now what do we have, one of the worst possible MP's as our new Defence Secretary. "Slow Bob" Ainsworth who has been rewarded for his toadying and blind faith in Gordon Brown. All I can say is let us hope his reign is short or our Armed Forces will suffer more than they do today. He is the complete Labour Jellyfish ready to lay down any principals for the greater god of serving his master and the pursuit of a longer sinecure and a tidy index linked pension.

Makes you sick.

Defence in the World: 4 Jun 2009: House of Commons debates (TheyWorkForYou.com)

The Jinx of Jonah Brown

Jonah Brown has just had his first UK wide elections as supposed Leader of the Labour party. It notched up a number of notable firsts.

• First Loss in Wales since, well for about forever.
• First Loss in Scotland since, well for about forever.
• First BNP person elected in a National Election since, well forever.
• First time Labour have come third in a National Election since, well for about forever.
• First time as third party of local government in England, well for about forever.
• First time under 20 per cent vote share, well for about forever.

I'm sure there are more but I haven't time just now so this will have to do.

Let us hope that the Labour PLP has the sense today to see that it should, for the first time, depose one of it's Leaders before he has been through a General Election, you know it makes sense.

FFS Gordon just Go Now

Why I lost my loyalty to Gordon Brown

Sally Keeble MP for Northampton North, a former International Development Minister, and a member of the Treasury Select Committee has said

I am withdrawing support from Gordon Brown as Labour leader.

In an open letter to her constituents she says

Gordon Brown was the obvious successor to Tony Blair. Both were architects of New Labour. Gordon's command of the economy underpinned the achievements of the Blair governments and rightly won him international stature and acclaim. He will always deserve our respect for that.

The transition from chancellor to prime minister was not an easy one, and when Gordon said in the autumn of 2007 he wanted more time to put ­forward his vision, that seemed fair. However, 18 months on, it is painfully clear that time has really run out.

First, the vision has not materialised. The economy is the most important factor, and he was the right man to deal with the crisis. But people look to their prime minister for more than that. ­People in Northampton work hard, pay their way, and look after their families. They look to the government for high quality public services, and a sense of purpose and direction for the country. The prime minister has to articulate that and, sadly, it hasn't happened. Not that there is an alternative on offer from the other main parties. David Cameron's vision would quickly become a nightmare, while Nick Clegg's is multi-focal.

Second, recent events have shown that Gordon Brown has not been able to manage relations within his government. Admittedly, some ministerial behaviour has been appalling. Whatever the disagreements, resigning just before council elections can only be topped by talk of window-dressing. However, the person at the top has to forge a group of strong politicians into a united, coherent team to provide stable ­government. And that has, painfully, not happened either.

In my first political job, I was a press officer at Labour HQ during the 1983 general election campaign. It was a searing experience. The public did not see Michael Foot as a credible prime minister. The electorate had its say – Northampton roundly rejected us then – and it was another 14 years before we recovered. Meanwhile, the public paid a massive price in jobs lost, communities laid waste, lives ruined. I'm not prepared to let that happen again.

The reason for writing this letter is that the UK is a parliamentary democracy and Labour is a democratic socialist party, not a Trotskyite cell.

The government depends on retaining the confidence of MPs, so the debate taking place among Labour MPs is vitally important. It has profound implications for the day-to-day lives of my constituents, jobs, homes, schools, hospitals, all the things that touch us most. So the debate has to be public, it can't be some private Westminster coup – in the Pugin room with an ice-pick.

By the next general election, the Labour party needs to put forward a coherent vision with a credible team. We need to say what kind of country we want Britain to be: whether we're going to encourage innovation and enterprise, or cap it with tax increases; invest in public services or cut them to close the fiscal gap; how we're going to give people a say in our country's progress and realise the aspirations that my constituents and I share. There has to be consistency and credibility, not just a statement of values but an explanation of how they will be put into practice.

To achieve that we need a leader who can articulate that vision and let our country and the party move on. I want my constituents to have the best that Labour has to offer.The challenge to the cabinet is how that will be achieved.

Getting the message Gordon.

FFS Go Now Gordon

Why I lost my loyalty | Sally Keeble | Comment is free | The Guardian

Please Gordon Read the Papers

Please Gordon read the papers this morning and take the hint.

FFS Go Now

Newspaper Front Pages On June 8, 2009 | UK News | Sky News

Tories Win in West Aberdeenshire EU Vote

I hear the Tories have won in West Aberdeenshire in the EU vote. This is great news.

Statement from Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland David Mundell:

“On the basis of tonight’s European results, Conservatives are winning again across Scotland, taking seats like Edinburgh South, East Renfrewshire and Dumfries & Galloway from Labour and Berwickshire, Roxburgh & Selkirk and West Aberdeenshire & Kincardine from the Liberal Democrats. This European election result is a disaster for Labour in Scotland. It only emphasises that the choice at the next Westminster election is between a tired and failing Labour Government or a rejuvenated Conservative Party. Only the Conservatives can remove Labour from Downing Street."

This is a good reflection of the hard work being put into Scotland. Here in West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine Alex Johnstone is putting in a huge amount of work and it is obviously paying off. Let us hope it is reflected in the coming (shortly?) General Election.

Fight Fear with Fear

Paul Flynn Labour MP for Newport West blogs about the uncertainties and fears going on in the Labour Party at the moment. In his blog he has this to say

On Monday a decision on the leader of the party must be made.To sign or not to sign the round robin. The wrong move could lead to political suicide. All evidence points to electoral advantage if Alan Johnson replaces Gordon Brown. Tonight’s Channel Four poll claims that 54% of the usually loyalist Labour Party members favour a change. The local election results confirm some of the warnings of collapsing Labour support. If the party comes third or fourth in the Euro polls, a shudder of fear will convulse the Parliamentary Labour Party.

So we see we have fear in the Labour Party of the EU election result, at best they will get third and it looks quite likely that they will only manage fourth, a result so bad that any normal leader would immediately do the right thing and resign. But Labour do not have a normal leader they have Gordon Brown a man who only knows one thing, and that is, that he is right, even when millions have told him that he is wrong.

Paul then goes onto say

The likely outcome is that a delusion of optimism will rule. That's how Michael Foot avoided being replaced by Dennis Healey in 1983. Although all rational evidence is that Labour is heading towards an electoral abyss, manic optimism will persuade some that a bridge across it will magically appear. In its fragile mental state the PLP will seize at comforting delusions and the Labour sect may opt to advance towards political suicide.

That’s the way it’s going.

He is right, it is this amazing ability that Labour have, to believe that somehow there will be a wondrous rescue. They need to look out into the real world and to accept that there will be no rescue for Labour, they have done it yet again, brought our country to a deep abyss and forgotten the rope to get us out. All they can do for us is to get rid of Gordon and turn to the country who can then elect the Conservatives who will have, yet again, to start from the depths of a Labour abyss to recover our country.

Many Labour MP's are starting to get the idea, but many are still thinking about their jobs and their hopes rather than looking at the country as a whole, a country they promised to serve when they became MP's.

I can only hope that Labour MP's will tomorrow night begin to figure out how bad things have become under Gordon and that they are not going to get better, they can then, for once, do the right thing and get rid of Gordon. Paul Flynn seems to have got the message, he needs to pass it on to some of hois colleagues.

FFS Gordon Go Now

Paul Flynn - Read My Day: Fight fear with fear

Blair on Brown

A devastating article in the Sunday Mail. According to it

The Darkness in Gordon's Heart and his lies will bring him down.

The article also says

Friends of Mr Blair say he has been 'saddened' by Mr Brown's performance and believes that he has failed to show the necessary leadership or policies.'Gordon's performance has confirmed Tony's reservations about his suitability to be PM,' said one source.'He hoped he would be a success and has tried to support him and offered what advice he can. But he always feared Gordon may not have the right temperament or character to do the job and that's how it has turned out.'Another source close to Mr Blair claimed Mr Brown's wounds were 'self-inflicted'. He added: 'Tony's view is that Gordon has brought this all on himself. He spent years plotting against Tony and is in no position to complain now that it is happening to him.'The people trying to get him out learned how to do it from Gordon's people. It takes a moment to inject the poison, but years to drain it.'

This is just one of a series of articles in many of the papers indicating that the whole Cabinet is fighting and briefing against each other. Total chaos is reigning and yet our Prime Minister keeps insisting they are getting on with the job. In fact it is a living death, a cabinet of zombies, paralysed by fear and loathing of each other.

FFS Gordon just Go Now.


Blair: The darkness in Gordon's heart will bring him down | Mail Online

The Drip Drip Drip Water Torture of Gordon Brown

The Drip Drip Drip Water Torture of Gordon Brown is continuing. Already tonight we have this story of a series of leaked emails sent by Lord Mandelson, he reveals:

• Gordon will lose the next election.
• the PM cannot do "X-Factor politics" of his predecessor Tony Blair.
• he slams his leadership style.
• Brown is "complex", unable to hide his insecurities and too self-conscious.
• voters are put off because they think Brown is "angry".

The devastating comments were sent in emails to disgraced former spin-doctor Derek Draper, the man behind the "Mcbridegate" smear scandal.

Next we have this story, again in the News of the World about senior cabinet Ministers facing election under Brown and Labour.

ICM polled in the parliamentary seats of the Cabinet - and in Gordon Brown's back yard.

This is the first poll to show how voters in crucial seats will behave in a General Election.

And the poll shows these previously loyal voters - in previously safe loyal seats, want Brown out.

A massive 12% from Labour to Tory will unseat many of Brown's most senior Cabinet Ministers.

That would unseat SEVEN Cabinet Ministers - the same as Labour managed to kick out when they beat the Tories in 1997.

Chancellor Alistair Darling, Justice Secretary Jack Straw, Work and Pensions Secretary John Denham, Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell and Scottish Jim Murphy will all lose their seats.

We also have reports that Harriet Harman was not happy. Tory Bear says

Gordon's desperate reshuffle is unraveling quicker than one of his budgets. Sources have let it be known that Harman came very close to quitting and was prepared to walk if Gordon had made Mandy Deputy Prime Minister. The idea of this was openly discussed and Harman got her claws out.

What more torture can we expect for Gordon today, whilst he is away in France lauding Obama and being booed by Veterans.

Peter Mandelson tells closest former aides that Gordon Brown cannot win the next General Election | News | News Of The World

A Man to be Proud of .....

It's amazing to see this true gentleman at 113 still being so full of life and energy. Happy Birthday Mr Allingham.

The oldest survivor of the First World War, Henry Allingham, is celebrating his 113th birthday with a party organised by the Royal Navy.

The veteran soldier also holds the record as the last survivor of the Battle of Judland, the last surviving member of the Royal Naval Air Service and the last surviving founding member of the Royal Air Force.

The Royal Navy and the RAF take it in turns to host Mr Allingham's party and this year it is being held at HMS President, a building overlooking the River Thames, near London's Tower Bridge.

World War One's Oldest Survivor Henry Allingham Celebrates 113th Birthday With Royal Navy | UK News | Sky News

D-Day Remembered

Ronald Reagan's finest and most moving speech.

we shall fight on the beaches,
we shall fight on the landing grounds,
we shall fight in the fields and in the streets,
we shall fight in the hills;
we shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this Island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God's good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old."

Winston Churchill.

Flipping Trougher Brown

How convenient the Telegraph has this to be buried tomorrow.

Mr Brown, who "flipped" the designation of his second home before moving into Downing Street, submitted an estimated electricity bill for his home in Fife which partly covered a period when his London flat was his designated second home.

He also claimed for council tax and service charge bills for his London flat which included periods when his second home was in Scotland.

In total, Mr Brown appeared to make claims totalling £512 for the "wrong" properties.

As the Telegraph says

It is a humiliating blow for the Prime Minister, who publicly rebuked Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, this week for doing a similar thing.

It would have been even more humiliating if had been released before the elections.


mps expenses: Gordon Brown billed taxpayer for two second homes - Telegraph

Bob Ainsworth Paxoed

A Total Incompetent led by a Complete Incompetent. Gordon has shown his utter contempt for the Armed Forces by this move. Repost of this old blog.


YouTube - Bob Ainsworth Paxoed

The peculiar irony of New Labour's endgame

Marina Hyde writes an interesting article in the Guardian today, which reflects on the fact that

The peculiar irony of New Labour's endgame is that it was all foretold by an accidental prophet named Tony Blair. "My project will be complete," he once declared, "when the Labour party learns to love Peter Mandelson."

Today we saw Lord Mandelson of Foy and Hartlepool installed, in all but name, as the No 2 to Gordon Brown. Unfortunately he is surrounded in the Cabinet and his party by a bunch of Toadies, Has-Beens, Never-Beens, and those who have simply been promoted way beyond their capabilities. Truly a Government of absolutely no talent.

The article also reflects upon the issue that

"We are witnessing the final self-destruction of what those who ­created New Labour were given to calling 'the Project', apparently oblivious to the Orwellian overtones of the phrase. Then again, perhaps they weren't ­oblivious – after all, the Project appeared to be closely modelled on the Party, which, you will recall, 'seeks power entirely for its own sake'"

This is so true of Gordon Brown and his party who cannot see the damage they are doing to our country. They cannot see that they must, instead of trying to save their own skins, save our country from the abyss that it is rapidly descending into. They need to unite together and throw us a lifeline by getting rid of Gordon. As Marina says

The Project is complete. It was never about ideas, as became ­depressingly clear to many of us well before the 1997 election. The Project was the formal expression of the gut instinct for survival in power. Its sole aim was to make Labour ­electable, and the manner in which it realised that ambition has now left it even more ­unelectable than it was before its inception.

The problem is that not only is Labour unelectable, as has been amply demonstrated today, but that they are also not fit to Govern. When they rely on 7 Lord's a Leaping and a plethora of non-entities, all led by someone who has no aim but to further himself as a man of history, it is time to call for the Grim Reaper to dispatch this malfunctioning and self-destroying Government. As Marina Hyde says as the end of her article

Think not of it as a murder, but a fated suicide.

Let us only hope it is not a long-drawn out affair as our country is in need of change.

Misery. It's Gordon Brown as Kathy Bates. And Westminster as Lilliput | Marina Hyde | Comment is free | The Guardian:

Lies, Damn Lies and Ainsworth lies

A pointer to an old blog entry This is a typical bit of Ainsworth lying and he is gong to be our Defence Minister. He is not worthy to lick the lowliest of our squaddies boots. As I said then

This is just yet further news of the deep and dirty corruption that stains this government. Bob Ainsworth should resign immediately and Gordon will need to issue yet another apology for his stinking corrupt Government.

Go now

MicroShaft Blog: Lies, Damn Lies and Labour lies that kill

When Sugar wasn’t so sweet on Gordon

Amazing what a peerage can make you do. Arise Sir Alan, hopefully you'll soon be fired as you are nothing short of a lickspittle.

FT has this

This is absolutely hilarious. The Tories have found Sir Alan Sugar’s scathing letter about Gordon Brown to the FT in 1992.

“I have noted with disgust the comments of a certain Mr Gordon Brown who has accused me of doing well out of the recession….I do not know who Mr Gordon Brown is. Excuse my ignorance, but I don’t. Whoever he is, he has not done is homework properly. The man doesn’t know what he is talking about….Labour offers no route out of recession.”

Go Now

FT.com | Westminster Blog | When Sugar wasn’t so sweet on Gordon

Party First Country Second

George Osborne commenting upon the continuing disintegration of this Country's Government had this to say at lunchtime today.

The government is disintegrating, and accused Labour of acting in a “self indulgent” manner, putting the party’s interests ahead of those of the country.

“The real story of today, as well as the election result, is the meltdown and chaos in the Labour government.

He said Labour are acting in a “self indulgent” manner, “putting the Labour party’s interests ahead of the country interests”.

On Gordon Brown’s position he said, “if he survives this he will be in a desperately weak state. He won’t have the Cabinet he wants, he won’t have the Chancellor he wants.

“The British government is disintegrating in front of the eye of the British people. We need a strong and united government.”

FFS Go Now Gordon.

PoliticsHome | On Air Today

Cabinet of Has-Beens, Toadies and Cliques

Fraser Nelson in the Speccie has this

It looks increasingly likely that this will be a Cabinet of has-beens (i.e. Beckett); clique members (Balls, Cooper, Vadera and - God help us - Alan Sugar); and toadies (Sean Woodward). Cameron's lot will look like veritable titans compared to this new axis of pygmies being assembled in No10. For the Tories this gets better and better.

More reshuffle snippets | Coffee House

Lincolnshire Massacre for Labour

Conservatives in Lincolnshire gained a further 15 seats whilst Labour lost 17 seats. Labour overall vote dropped like a stone, nearly halving from 20.8% to 11.1%.

Lincolnshire is the county of my birth so it's good to see it contributing to the slow death of our Prime Minister Gordon Brown. If this is repeated across the rest of the results it will leave him with little choice but to scuttle along to the Palace and as David Cameron said

For the sake of the country, Gordon Brown must carry out the one final act of authority left open to him, go to the Palace and call the general election we have been demanding.

Go Now!

Results for the County Council Election 4th June 2009 | Lincolnshire County Council

Britain Needs Better - Go Now

Final thoughts of the night from David Camero.

First a Quick Video


Then some Quotes

• For the sake of the country, Gordon Brown must carry out the one final act of authority left open to him, go to the Palace and call the general election we have been demanding
  

• United government was needed to deal with the recession and political crisis. Instead we have a government falling apart in front of our eyes. Britain deserves better than this.

• the government is "falling apart" after the third resignation by a cabinet minister in three days.

Go Now!

BBC NEWS | Politics | Cabinet falling apart - Cameron

The half-dead prime minister - Polly Toynbee

Another killer blow from the Guardian and Polly Toynbee

Inside the party this is a miserable debate of the despairing, most of whom agree their prime minister is leading them to calamity. The dismal question is whether the chaos of a second regicide might bring yet worse voter revenge than soldiering on with a leader who rates lower than any other since polls began. For a while yesterday, Hazel Blears's selfishly-timed resignation with her rude "rock the boat" brooch send shudders of revulsion through some in the party. Was this a Blairite putsch? Purnell, as a second Blairite assassin, will not calm those fears among some.

Go Now!


The half-dead prime minister | Polly Toynbee | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

Gordon Brown: The endgame nears

Guardian says it is the endgame

"Any prime minister, however powerful, serves as a member of a cabinet. When that cabinet loses faith in him or her, and its members start saying so in public, the leader cannot stay. Gordon Brown must face this reality today, after losing three cabinet ministers in three days, attempting to terminate his chancellor's career in public and reportedly offering a series of posts to people who refused to take them. Tonight's dramatic resignation of James Purnell, the welfare secretary, was a massive blow, a deliberate full-frontal attack. Even a strong leader would struggle to survive it, and Mr Brown is not that."

When will he realise, he is past his sell by date. Three ministers already, Miliband rumoured, Burnham rumoured. More than 50 MP's rumoured to have signed the resignation letter.

Go Now!

Gordon Brown: The endgame nears | Editorial | Comment is free | The Guardian:

Rumours Andy Burnham will be next to go;

LabourList rumours that

Rumours are spreading within the Party tonight that Andy Burnham, the Culture Secretary, is likely to resign from the cabinet over the next few days. He would be the sixth minister in as many days to step down after Work and Pensions Secretary James Purnell left the government tonight.

Meanwhile, Radio 5 and Sky News are both strongly hinting that David Miliband may also step down in the next few days.

Burnham and Miliband were both staunch Blairites during the 1990s.

Rumours Andy Burnham will be next to go; Reports Miliband could follow | LabourList.org

Why Purnell resigned

According to Fraser Nelson in the Spectator

"I can reveal that James Purnell was offered education, which he turned down, and decided to resign because he couldn't go on continuing to support a PM whom he'd lost faith in months ago.

It's an open secret that Purnell supported David Miliband for the leadership last summer. And reports of Miliband's resignation make sense - four resignations in four days.

If Purnell was offered education, that means Ed Balls has porbably been offered the Chancellorship. My hunch is that this was likely to be the trigger for Purnell and many other ministers.

Brown got rid of Blair by getting private secretaries to resign hour after hour. It seems Brown is going to go after ministers resign day after day."

Why Purnell resigned | Coffee House:

RUMOUR: David Miliband to resign Friday

The word on the street which I haven't confirmed is that David Miliband will go tomorrow.

RUMOUR: David Miliband to resign Friday | Coffee House

Guardian thinks it's all Over

Guardian says

But there is more to it than this. Purnell has long argued it is time to discard the old tropes of Brownite and Blairite.

And if Purnell has been talked about on the right of the party, then Jon Cruddas can be broadly defined as on the left. Cruddas is known to be in a quandary about how to respond to the Hotmail plot. However, in the last year, Cruddas has been very complimentary about Purnell – regarding him to be a Blairite the left could be able to do business with. Purnell's ascension to the backbenches will add to the many meetings Cruddas has been convening in the last few days to figure out what to do.

"This coup has no legs," said one Brown supporter yesterday. Purnell has given it very long legs.

How James Purnell's manoeuvre changes everything for Gordon Brown | Politics | The Guardian

Open Revolt against Gordon Brown

Two seconds after the polls closed James Purnell resigns and calls for Gordon Brown to

Stand Aside

James Purnell's letter reads

Dear Gordon

We both love the Labour Party.

I have worked for it for twenty years and you for far longer. We know we owe it everything and it owes us nothing.

I owe it to our Party to say what I believe no matter how hard that may. I now believe your continued leadership makes a Conservative victory more not less likely

That would be disastrous for our country. This moment calls for stronger regulation, an active state, better public services, an open democracy.

It calls for a government that measures itself by how it treats the poorest in society. Those are our values, not David Cameron's.

We therefore owe it to our country to give it a real choice. We need to show that we are prepared to fight to be a credible government and have the courage to offer an alternative future.

I am therefore calling on you to stand aside to give our Party a fighting chance of winning. And as such I am resigning from Government.

The Party was here long before us, and we want it to be here long after we have gone. We must do the right thing by it.

I am not seeking the leadership, nor acting with anyone else. My actions are my own considered view, nothing more.

If the consensus is that you should continue, then I will support the government loyally from the backbenches. But I do believe that this question now needs to be put.

Thank you for giving me the privilege of serving.

Yours

Rt Hon James Purnell MP

This must be the death of Gordon's reign. He should just Go Now before he takes this country into an even deeper abyss.

BBC NEWS | Politics | Pressure on PM as minister quits

A very British form of anarchy

A delightful read for a voting morning. Remember Vote Conservative!

The days when pretentious gits like me invoked tragedy in a Gordonian context have long since passed. Tragic heroism relies upon a certain largeness of spirit, or at the very least a sudden moment of self-knowledge so acute that it induces intolerable psychic anguish. Ajax slaughtered his sheep when made aware of his fatal flaw, Oedipus put out his eyes when faced with his. Despite his ocular head start in that direction, Gordon is as nugatory a figure as Nero, fiddling with ritualistic lines at yesterday's PMQs while his government self-immolates.

It's the smallness of the man, the lack of grandeur in his dreams, the pathetic dressing-up of rank self-interest in the translucent cloak of dutifulness, that makes guilt-free schaudenfraude less a temptation than a moral obligation. For this has become a morality play – specifically, the first morality high farce in politico-theatrical history - about a system so deranged in its complacency that it gifts such power to one whose personal ambition is surpassed only by his lack of talent, without any mechanism to remove him once that power has drained away.

H/T Mr Eugenides

Matthew Norman: We are witnessing a very British form of anarchy - Matthew Norman, Commentators - The Independent

Why bother with UKIP when you can get the Real Thing

Why bother with UKIP when you can get the Real Thing.



Tomorrow at the EU elections vote Conservative to get the Real Thing.

EU Manifesto here.

YouTube - David Cameron: We need a referendum now

Go Now Gordon -Don't sit about

The Telegraph asks if Gordon could sit this crisis out?

As it says

As Anthony King, constitutional historian and professor of government at Essex university, puts it: "No one alive can remember a crisis quite like this one. Prime ministers have been in deep trouble before – for instance, Sir Anthony Eden in 1956, and John Major a decade ago – but they have never been in such trouble in the midst of an economic crisis and when the legitimacy of Parliament itself was called in question. There is also no precedent since the 19th century for a government and a governing party disintegrating so publicly.

Let us hope he finally has the chair kicked out from under him by his spineless colleagues.

Gordon Brown: Even now, he might sit it out - Telegraph

Stating the Bleeding Obvious - Too Little too Late

The BBC's Nick Robinson has obtained a copy of the email being circulated amongst Labour MPs to test support for the prime minister. It is reported to consist of the following short message to Gordon Brown:

"We are writing now because we believe that in the current political circumstances you can best serve the interests of the Labour party by stepping down as prime minister."

PoliticsHome | News | Labour backbenchers' letter to Gordon Brown

Letter to the Guardian

A letter in the Guardian from a Mr Aitchison of Hove, East Sussex has this to say

Do I notice an increasing amount of anti-Gordon Brown sentiment in the Guardian's editorial content of late? Whatever his faults, Mr Brown strikes me as a man of integrity - something increasingly rare in UK politics nowadays. While we're at it, does anybody seriously believe any of the other political parties would have avoided the credit crunch - or indeed handled it any better now that it's here?
Stuart Aitchison
Hove, East Sussex

Perhaps Mr Aitchison has had his letter answered by the slightly anti-Gordon Brown Guardian editorial in the same issue when they say "Labours Dilemma: Gordon Brown".

Amongst some of the choice quotes are

The public is calling furiously for a better system. People want an honest parliament. They want leaders who are prepared to act. They loathe the old system, and many of the people who are part of it.

and

The truth is that there is no vision from him, no plan, no argument for the future and no support. The public see it. His party sees it. The cabinet must see it too, although they are not yet bold enough to say so.

and finally

But Mr Brown will never do it. The prime minister was absent from the start of the debate and cautious now he has joined it. His instinct is usually to hesitate, and to establish reviews and commissions. Meanwhile, the chance of a generation is being missed.

Mr Aitchison may now just about have got the idea. Hopefully the rest of the country will get the idea and continue to tell Mr Brown to go on Thursday.

Letters: Not the time to drop the chancellor | Politics | The Guardian

Another little Earner for MEP's

MEP's who "retire" or are voted out this Thursday along with those caught with their hands in the very deep pockets of European Expenses and the generalised fraud (anybody signed off their accounts recently?) that characterises the European Parliament can expect to pick up their share of various "pots" of money set aside to make sure that they continue traveling first class on the gravy train that is the EU.

As the Times explains

Den Dover, who was expelled from the Conservative Party for gross misconduct after claiming £500,000 in “unjustified expenses”, has a pension valued at £235,000 and will receive a “transitional allowance” of £59,367.

So after taking us for a cool half-million he still gets a nice pension and a tax free sum, whoever said crime doesn't pay never saw the workings of the European Parliament. Alongside him the Times reports we have

Tom Wise, the former UKIP MEP who faces trial for fraud and money-laundering related to his expenses, has a pension valued at £235,000 and will get a £32,382 transitional payment.

Another jolly into crime paying as long as it's in Europe.

Another (now former) UKIP member Ashley Mote who was jailed for six months has according to the Times

a pension worth £174,968 and will receive a transitional payment of £32,382

Not bad for spending much of his time lazing away inside one of our prisons.

In all British MEP's will share over £20 million in the European payout, true value for money. Unfortunately this may be the tip of the iceberg as in a previous story the Times highlighted that the

generous second pension scheme enjoyed by Members of the European Parliament is likely to be bailed out by the taxpayer after falling stock markets left it with a deficit of €120 million (£105 million).

The best bit is of course the fact that these amounts are for their "second" pensions over and above the standard pension.British MEPs already receive a main pension, which is the same as that for MPs at Westminster. This is worth up to two thirds of their £63,291 salary, depending on length of service.

This "second" pension is, and I loved this bit, paid from a 1/3 deduction from MEP's Ofiice Expenses. This allowance was about £45,000 per annum. The rest was paid for by the EU (Meaning us). MEPs are supposed to reimburse this account but there are no checks and it is accepted widely that many do not repay the money, potentially making the pension an entirely taxpayer-funded perk.

Yet another scandal that is so typical of the wastefulness that characterises the EU.

When you vote on Thursday vote Conservative and let this country have the referendum we were promised by the two other main parties in the UK.


Shamed MEPs take share of £20m payout - Times Online

Will Labour be Flushed Away?

Bit light on the blogging over the weekend due to a malaise of the stomach which leads me onto another story.

Ian Dale is covering the Euro and Local elections this coming weekend on PlayRadioUK , the side banner on this site gives more details. Hopefully, as the the polls are predicting, Labour will confirm they have been flushed away by the UK public and the Lib Dems will be dumped by the Scottish public.

Worth tuning in because the last time Iain covered the elections back in 2007 for 18 Doughty Street the coverage was worth listening to apart from one slight hiccup, or at least a similar bodily fumction.

Please Iain remember to turn your microphone off this year!

Iain Dale's Diary: Election Results: Calling all Political Bloggers

No choice for Labour

The Times has a Leader today asking if the result of the Euro Elections will be the final chance for the Labour Party to dump Gordon Brown. It asks

The Labour party is about to suffer a serious electoral defeat. The Cabinet now has a big decision to make - whether or not to act.

The problem is that Labour knows that it has gone past the point of hoping that dumping its leader will enable then to be voted in by the public.The public has had it with Labour, regardless of whether it is Gordon Brown or one of his lackeys that is running the party, why would one of the current Cabinet want to take on this fatally poisoned chalice. Labour under Gordon Brown have managed, yet again, to do what Labour always does and bring this country to the verge of Bankruptcy. As usual it will have to be the Conservatives who have to supply the medicine, a medicine that yet again will not taste very good, but has to be taken to allow us to no longer be the sick man of Europe.

Gordon will continue doing what he does best, building lists of what he thinks we should do, with no reference to anyone else, as only Gordon knows how to save the World. The Times gives a clue to why Gordon is currently bunkered away pretending to be Macavity rather than out in the real world. According to the Times he is

...already working on how he plans to respond. Mr Brown is said to be weighing his options for a Cabinet reshuffle, discussing plans for political reform and putting the finishing touches to a national plan in the hope that he can restart the conversation about economic recovery.

In reality what Gordon is doing is trying to save his skin until next May when he finally has to have an election, one he knows he cannot win. Then and only then will he relinquish power as he, as the saviour of world, cannot face defeat.

As the Times puts it.

Of course, Cabinet members may choose not to act. This would involve closing ranks around Mr Brown on the ground that economic recovery will provide a political dividend. This would mean making an honest judgment that, for themselves, for their colleagues in the PLP, for the reputation of the Labour Party and for the sake of good government, they truly believe that Mr Brown offers the best leadership. It is hard to believe, for anyone familiar with the mood of Cabinet and senior Labour advisers, that they think that Mr Brown can deliver the best possible result for the party at the general election.

The question is now whether any of them is prepared to act. For a long while they have steadfastly maintained, at least in public, that the cost of removing the Prime Minister from office was greater than the benefit. Perhaps the verdict of the electorate will steel one or more of them to speak the truth about power. But doing nothing is itself a choice. Either way, Labour's future is not just Mr Brown's but the Cabinet's collective responsibility.

So the choice is stark for the Cabinet and any member that wants to be leader, either go for it now and be defeated as Leader or wait until Gordon resigns and still get beaten at the polls.

Not much of a choice but we can at least hope that someone in the Cabinet has the the balls to realise that under Brown we are doomed to even more serious problems, economic and political, and that anyone would be better than having Gordon in charge. They at least could say they tried their best to get us out of the mess that the UK is currently in.

The Choice for Labour -Times Online

The writer is the UK prime minister

According to the article in the FT

the writer is the UK prime minister.

Well he may well have that position at the moment in name but by his inactions over the past few weeks few would actually know it. Whilst the Economy has been going down the pan and MP's are being panned, Gordon has been in the Bunker drawing up more lists of what he has supposedly done and what he is going to do to make him look good. The one list he has forgotten is the one about doing anything to sort out the actual situation we are in.

What does his article actually have to say. Not much really despite being in a paper in which you would expect some reasoned argument. His first riposte is to warn us about how the dreadful Tories would have a problem with Europe. I quote from the article as follows

So we face a choice: to embrace our membership of the EU knowing that committed partnership is the only way to achieve our common aims and protect British jobs, or to accept the Conservative opposition’s approach to British membership, which would threaten many British jobs.

So from this we learn nothing apart from some fear-mongering. Gordon is apparently right and anything the Tories do is wrong. No description or help to tell us what the Tories would do wrong, they are just wrong, a telling argument.

Next we get some puff about how Gordon has saved the world, words such as IMF and G20 to make it all sound impressive, but then we come to the meat, a new list from the Bunker. Actually it is just a call to the European Investment Bank to lend more quickly and to riskier investments, by which I assume he means lend to the UK as we are becoming more and more of a risky investment.

Finally Gordon mentions what is going on in the UK at the moment, well not really he skates over it and says he is just getting on with the job, he will shortly have a new list completed of how he will fix it all.

A quick final paragraph to try and blame it all on the Tories who of course created all the ills of the current Government.

Worth comparing this trivia from Gordon with what the Prime Minister in waiting has been doing over the past weeks. Whilst Gordon has remained curled up in his Bunker, David Cameron has been out speaking to the Country and attacking the problems head-on and with reasoned argument.

More and more we see the Media and the Public turning to Cameron when they want a response to our current problems. They know that Gordon is bunkered and only has one club, the wrong one, to get out of the hole he has dug. Cameron though appears to have the whole set of clubs and the knack of knowing which one to use and when.

FT.com / Comment / Opinion - What Europe must do to build a recovery

Some Light Reading from David Cameron at the Guardian

David Cameron has four articles in the Guardian tonight at A New Politics which is on the Comment is Free site.

The first article is entitled We need a massive radical redistribution of Power and starts out

Adding his voice to the Guardian debate, the Conservative leader argues today that public fury at the MPs' expenses scandal points to deep problems in the British political system, and calls for restoring local control in the spirit of glasnost

In it David Cameron argues that

The anger, the suspicion and the cynicism – yes, with politics and politicians, but with so much else – are the result of people's slow but sure realisation that they have very little control over the world around them, and over much that determines whether or not they'll live happy and fulfilling lives.

The second article is entitled Democratic accountability and starts out

From local to central government, the driving principle of Conservative reform will be from the powerful to the powerless

In this Cameron says

But it's not just by decentralising power and reforming parliament that we can redistribute power away from an over-mighty executive. We need to end the culture of sofa government, where ­unaccountable spin doctors in No 10 – whether it's Alastair Campbell or Damian McBride – toss around ideas and make up policies not to meet the national interest but to hit dividing lines or fit the news cycle.

The third article is entitled The Post-Bureaucratic Age and starts out

Where the information revolution meets progressive Conservatism, people will control the things that matter to them

In the article David says

The lack of power and control people experience from politics was barely tolerable when times were good. But now times are hard and people are on the receiving end of wage cuts, job losses, negative equity, home repossessions and rising crime – and revelations about their rulers' behaviour, which has disgusted them. They are furious and finally demanding big change. Big change and a new politics is exactly what people can expect from a new Conservative government. We'll begin a massive redistribution of power in our country from the powerful to the powerless – from the political elite to the man and woman in the street.

The fourth and last article is entitled Electoral Reform and starts out

We'll consider fixed-term parliaments, but not proportional representation, as many in the Guardian series have demanded.

In it Cameron has a go at the current Government and its, and our, unelected leader

We also need to look seriously at the immense power prime ministers wield through their ability to call an election whenever they want. I know there are strong political and moral arguments against fixed-term parliaments. Political – because there's nothing worse than a lame-duck government with a tiny majority limping on for years. And moral – because when a prime minister has gone into an election and won it promising to serve a full term, but then hands over to an unelected leader halfway through, the people deserve an election as soon as possible. These arguments are of course particularly relevant today

I would recommend that anyone of any political persuasion reads these and has a think about what they mean.

You may agree or disagree with them, you may or may not believe that any party, far less a Conservative party, could be able to put them into being, they may make you angry or happy, they may even get you interested, if so they have achieved their aim and made you think about what is going on in the UK at the moment and make you want to do something about it.

Only when most of us want to do something about the current state of this country will it happen. Politicians themselves don't make anything happen, the truly good politicians though, might just get us pointed in the right direction, and get us back on our feet and believing in this once great nation.

A new politics: blueprint for reforming government | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

Nadine on Nadine

Read Nadine's blog and maybe have a think what is going on here now. I know I am thinking there is more to the story than just exposing bad MP's, there is now too much in the way of a holier than thou attutude. We know there are a few fraudulent expenses, we know there are some MP'S who have lost a sense of morality and common sense, but there are also a good number just trying to do a good job and for this they should be paid a good salary. I quote

I believe it is right of the DT to bring this issue out into the open. I praise their exposure of fraud and mis-appropriation.

However, it is wrong to conflate the deadly serious with the mildly embarrassing and genuine administrative errors. By doing that you deem the truly innocent, wholly guilty, make it impossible for the public to understand where to direct their anger, create an atmosphere of chaos and insecurity, which in turn, threatens democracy itself.

Does the DT have an agenda other than the desire to perform a public service?

Why would they expose this fiasco at the start of an election campaign if the priority was not to de stabilise the main political parties and to drive votes towards the minority parties?

I cleave to my original substantive point. If it's in the name of the public good, do it all in one day. Get it all out there. One big explosive edition. Let the guilty be found, the mistakes be rectified and the innocent go about their lives free from the potential impending ducking stool.

Is there not something slightly hypocritical about the DT increasing its revenue by an estimated £1 million per day in the name of public good?

Whilst democracy teeters on the brink of collapse, the DT is laughing all the way to the bank.

On day 15 the boil needed to be lanced. Two weeks away from elections it was time to turn the discussion to how we put things right.

Public anger was at such a level that the situation needed to be taken by the neck, dealt with and a solution to guarantee that democracy is never again threatened in this way, put on the table.

You would never allow a business to freefall in the way we were allowing the mother of all Parliaments to spin out of control.

My colleagues, my innocent colleagues, were literally being made physically ill by the bullying process deployed by the DT, as part of the drip, profit, drip, profit technique. It had to stop.

If I had to use one word to describe any personal quality I possess, it is loyalty.

I would never betray a friend and I always instinctively, fiercely, protect those I care for. Seeing the innocent amongst my colleagues, from all political parties, on all sides of the house, suffer in this way and threading together what I saw with what I have explained above, made me realise that we were in danger of being a long way from putting things right if the anger wasn't soon lanced.

I had no idea that the few words on my blog, written from a perspective of concern and care, would result in another 24 hrs of frenetic media or be quoted as the second item on the Today programme. I had only stated what was blindingly obvious to anyone and everyone who had been in Westminster that week.

It continues

Whilst waiting for my fate to unfold in Saturday's papers I was aware that if I had called the time wrong, I may be toast with my own association. I also reflected on the disproportionate, inappropriate action of the DT. The profile on UKIP's Nigel Farage in the following days paper did not surprise me in the least.

and the last bit

The phone rang an hour ago. An upset female MP, wrongly targeted by the DT. Her husband's company had received hate emails. The press were camped outside her house in a pack. Her very young son, unknowingly holding telephone conversations with journalists, even though he had told them mummy wasn't in. Her life and her family in bits, and in her case the DT have got it completely wrong. Decent people do not like to see the innocent victimised. I suspect this wont stop until June 5th, the day following the election. By which time much more harm than good may have been done.

I knew on friday morning that I had walked into the eye of a storm. I also knew that in voicing concern for all but the immoral fraudsters and the totally ridiculous, I would become a conduit for the anger which had yet to be earthed.

It was a mere rehearsal. If party leaders do not resolve this issue then backbenchers will need to pick up the gauntlet and find ways and means to bring about legislation which will.

Never again must democracy be threatened or the innocent be victimised whilst two of the richest men in the world, sit back and become even richer.

I finish on my initial point. If the Telegraph are doing this not for the advantage of minority parties, not to destabilise democracy, not to make themselves even wealthier, then handle it better. Leave the innocent alone and publish the guilty all on one day. Because if democracy is damaged as a result of the increased wealth of two men as a result of a minority of fraudsters and crooks, we will all in the long term be much worse off than we are today.

A Conspiracy? Bad Timing? Good Journalism, Bad Journalism? What is the answer. I know one thing the Daily Telegraph is not just doing this for it's own good.

Why I did What I did

BBC List of missing data misses out MP'S expenses

The BBC has put out a list of data missing in recent months from various Government systems. The list itself is already large enough without also adding the biggie that they have missed of all the data from MP's Expenses or Scamalot that was also strangely mislaid. This data, as I have said before, is not just a little extract but the complete contents of a database or system and should be hugely worrying to both the authorities and the general public.

Add to this list all the data that the NHS so regularly loses and we have a prospect of chaos as more and more data is stored by the government.

DO NOT TRUST THEM WITH ANY OF YOUR DATA. THEY WILL LOSE IT.

Here are other cases to emerge in the recent past:

MAY 2009: RAF PERSONNEL DATA

It emerged that data lost from RAF Innsworth in Gloucestershire the previous September included 500 highly sensitive files, containing details of individuals' extra-marital affairs, debts and drug use.

An internal MoD memo passed to the BBC warned that the material "provides excellent material for Foreign Intelligence Services and blackmailers".

On the same day, a report from the Information Commissioner told the NHS to improve its data security, after the watchdog took action against 14 NHS organisations in the last six months.

JANUARY 2009: PRISONER MEDICAL RECORDS

A health worker in Lancashire lost a memory stick containing the medical details of more than 6,000 prisoners and ex-prisoners from HMP Preston.

The data was encrypted, but the password had been written on a note which was attached to the stick when it was misplaced.

NOVEMBER 2008: GOVERNMENT COMPUTER PASSWORDS

A memory stick - holding passwords for a government computer system - was found in the car park of a pub in Staffordshire.

The Gateway website gives access to services including tax returns and child benefits. The memory stick was lost by an employee of a subcontractor called Atos Origin.

OCTOBER 2008: MINISTRY OF DEFENCE DATA

A computer hard drive containing the personal details of about 100,000 of the Armed Forces was reported missing during an audit carried out by IT contractor EDS.

It is thought to contain more than 1.5m pieces of information, possibly unencrypted, including the details of 600,000 potential recruits, a small amount of information about bank details, passport numbers, addresses, dates of birth, driving licence details and telephone numbers.

The Ministry of Defence police said it was investigating the disappearance but it is not yet known whether or not it was stolen.

SEPTEMBER 2008: JUSTICE AND RAF EMPLOYEE DETAILS

The government confirmed that a portable hard drive holding details of up to 5,000 employees of the justice system was lost in July 2007.

The details of employees of the National Offender Management Service in England and Wales, including prison staff, were lost by a private firm, EDS.

Officials only realised the data was missing in July of this year. Justice Secretary Jack Straw launched an inquiry.

Also this month, the MoD admitted that tens of thousands of personnel files had been lost from RAF Innsworth in Gloucestershire.

Hard disks containing the data, which included names, addresses and some bank account details, were taken from a secure area.

AUGUST 2008: DATA ON CRIMINALS

Home Office contractor PA Consulting admitted losing a computer memory stick containing information on all 84,000 prisoners in England and Wales.

It also held personal details of about 10,000 prolific offenders.

The Home Office suspended the transfer of all further data to the private firm pending the outcome of an investigation.

An Information Commissioner's investigation later ruled that the Home Office had broken data protection laws over the incident and must sign a formal undertaking to improve its procedures in future.

JULY 2008: MEMORY STICKS AND LAPTOPS

The Ministry of Defence confirmed that 121 computer memory sticks and more than twice as many laptops than previously thought have been lost or stolen in the past four years.

Armed Forces Minister Bob Ainsworth gave a written statement to parliament saying 121 USB memory devices had gone astray - five of which contained secret data.

And in a parliamentary written answer, Defence Secretary Des Browne said 747 laptops had been stolen - 400 more than originally reported. Of those, 32 have been recovered so far.

JUNE 2008: TERROR DOCUMENTS

A senior intelligence officer from the Cabinet Office was suspended after documents were left on the seat of commuter train from London Waterloo. A passenger later handed them to the BBC.

The seven-page file, classified as "UK Top Secret", contained a report entitled "Al-Qaeda Vulnerabilities" and an assessment of the state of Iraq's security forces.

Cabinet Minister Ed Miliband said there had been a "clear breach" of security rules, which forbid the removal of such documents from government premises.

But Mr Miliband said national security did not seem to be "at risk".

Two inquiries - one by the Cabinet Office, the other by the Metropolitan Police - have been launched.

APRIL 2008: MCDONALD'S LAPTOP

An Army captain's laptop was taken from under his chair as he ate in a McDonald's, near the Ministry of Defence's Whitehall headquarters.

The MoD said the data on the laptop was not sensitive, and was fully encrypted.

This is the latest MoD laptop theft to be made public and it came after the government tightened the rules on employees taking computers out of work.

Whitehall staff are now banned from taking unencrypted laptops or drives containing personal data outside secured office premises.

JANUARY 2008: MILITARY RECRUITS

A laptop computer belonging to a Royal Navy officer was stolen from car in Edgbaston, Birmingham.

It contained the personal details of 600,000 people who had expressed an interest in, or applied to join, the Royal Navy, Royal Marines and the RAF.

It contained data including passport numbers, National Insurance numbers and bank details.

Defence Secretary Des Browne later admitted the inquiry into the loss of the Royal Navy officer's laptop uncovered two similar thefts since 2005.

At the time, Dr Liam Fox, shadow defence secretary, said 68 MoD laptops had been stolen in 2007, 66 in 2006, 40 in 2005 and 173 in 2004.

DECEMBER 2007: DRIVING TEST CANDIDATES

The details of three million candidates for the UK driving theory test went missing in the US.

Names, addresses and phone numbers - but no financial information - were among the details stored on a computer hard drive, which belonged to a contractor working for the Driving Standards Agency.

The information was sent electronically to contractor Pearson Driving Assessments in Iowa and the hard drive was then sent to another state before being brought back to Iowa, where it went missing.

Ministers said the information had been formatted specifically to meet the security requirements of Pearson Driving Assessments and was not "readily usable or accessible" by third parties.

NOVEMBER 2007: CHILD BENEFIT RECORDS

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) lost two computer discs containing the entire child benefit records, including the personal details of 25 million people - covering 7.25 million families overall.

The two discs contained the names, addresses, dates of birth and bank account details of people who received child benefit. They also included National Insurance numbers.

They were sent via internal mail from HMRC in Washington, north-east England, to the National Audit Office in London on 18 October, by a junior official, and never arrived.

The Metropolitan Police were informed of the loss in November and extensive searches began.

In December, a reward of £20,000 was offered for the return of the two discs, but they were never recovered.

This list is only the tip of the Iceberg.

BBC NEWS UK Previous cases of missing data

Ed Balls and the Wreaths - A fat boy did it and ran away

Apparently the excuse for claiming for wreaths by Ed Balls is as follows

The claim for a wreath was submitted in error by a staff member, as part of reimbursement for the up front costs she paid for organising 2 veterans badge presentation ceremonies for constituents, including for room hire at Parkside Methodist Church & Wrenthorpe Village Hall. Ed paid for wreaths every year – in 2005/06/07 & 2008- & this claim should never have been submitted in 2007. As soon as it was brought to Ed’s attention by the Fees Office he immediately reimbursed the staff member personally as he has done every other year. No erroneous payment was made by the Fees Office.

So of course it's not his fault, he uses the Fat boy did it excuse and runs away from any responsibility. These are his expenses and he is responsible for them.

A Wreath of Shame for Ed Balls

Ed Balls horror at being told he had to pay for Wreaths

After the post I wrote on James Gray who claimed for wreaths on his expenses I see that that paragon of virtue Ed Balls has done exactly the same thing. Well he is also an a***hole of the largest variety. Let us hope the media go to town on him as well, though it looks like the Daily Telegraph are trying to hide this story for some reason.

I know that attending memorial services is something that many MP's have to do as part of their duties but claiming for wreaths is just not morally correct, it speaks of disrespect for the dead and for their friends and families.

MPs' expenses: Alistair Darling's claim for help with his tax return - Telegraph

Alistair Darling's Flipping Tax Returns

The next batch of details from the Daily Telegraph on how MP's spend our money focuses on the fact that nine members of the Cabinet used our money to have their tax returns filled in.

This is taking the proverbial. They have the cheek to steal our money, cheat on taxes by flipping and then get us to pay for filling in their crooked tax returns. You just couldn't make it up.

The Daily Telegraph tells us that ex-Trot and Public School Boy Alistair Darling the Labour Chancellor is such an incompetent at dealing with the likes of Taxes that he got the public to pay up more than £1,400 for accountancy bills in two years. This included the cost of receiving tax advice for “the treatment of rental expenses against income”. During 2007, Mr Darling rented out his London flat after becoming Chancellor and moving into a grace-and-favour apartment. Mr Darling is also one of the few MP's who has managed to flip four time in four years.

Of course it's all within the "rules" the rules, you'll remember, they themselves have set. Of course the reason they need to get accountants to do this for them is because of all the new Labour government’s taxation policies that have made the process so complicated that it is very hard for ordinary tax-payers to complete their returns without professional advice. Professional advice that ordinary punters cannot claim against expenses

Ministers who claimed to have their tax returns filled in included Hazel Blears, Geoff Hoon and Jacqui Smith, David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, Hilary Benn, the Environment Secretary, James Purnell, the Work and Pensions Secretary, and Douglas Alexander, the International Development Secretary.


MPs' expenses: Alistair Darling's claim for help with his tax return - Telegraph

Nigel Farage 2 Million Expenses - UKIP Troughing

Nigel Farage, who is calling on voters to punish

"greedy Labour, Conservative and Lib Dem MPs"

at the European elections on 4 June, boasted of his personal expenses haul at a meeting with foreign journalists in London last week. Asked how much expenses he had conned out of us, the public, in the last 10 years he replied

"It is a vast sum," Farage said. "I don't know what the total amount is but - oh lor - it must be pushing £2 million."

According to the article as Ukip circulated new party literature saying Westminster MPs had "ripped off taxpayers", Farage, who employs his wife to help run his office and pays her from his allowances, faced a backlash as opponents accused him of hypocrisy. Denis MacShane former Europe Minister suggested that Ukip's attempt to pose as more honourable on expenses than other parties had been exposed as shameless and hollow.

"Far from being the party of the little man in Europe, Nigel Farage's astounding £2m raid on the taxpayer shows he is up there with any other politician, happy to line his pockets with gold,"

he said..

Do read the rest of the article. And have a look at the libertas.eu video below on UKIP



Ukip leader boasts of his £2m in expenses Politics The Observer: