Cornwall ma get shafted again!

Conservative plans to slash benefits to needy people in Cornwall show they are the same ‘nasty party’ that neglected Cornwall for 18 years and completely ignorant about the county.

A senior Conservative spokeman has admitted that the Conservatives are considering singling out Cornwall for benefit cuts.  According to Lord Hanningfield, who is leader of Essex County Council and Tory spokesperson on business in the Lords “The cost of living is far higher in Essex, say, than it is in Cornwall, so people do not need the same level of benefit.”

Jude Robinson PPC for Camborn Redruthe hayle, said: “Lord Hanningfield obviously knows nothing about this county. It is not true that the cost of living is lower but wages certainly are.  Targeting benefit cuts in Cornwall would hit the poor and needy, it would drive wages down even further and set back our economy.  The contrast with the regeneration and economic support from the Labour government could not be more marked.

“The Tories are the same old nasty party and the last thing Cornwall needs is a return to the policies that crippled our economy for decades.”

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/sep/06/conservatives-welfare-state-plans-benefits

Politics and the “blue” sky.

By Alex Hilton

Sky News is demanding a TV debate between the leaders of the three major political parties ahead of the General Election. Sky’s John Ryley has even gone as far as saying “we’ll set a date, put out three chairs and the cameras will roll”. That’s pretty tough talk backed by grave discussion of the threat to democracy if a TV debate is not had. Well Ryley’s a TV exec – he would say that. But the truth is almost exactly the opposite. A television debate will only prevent people having a real choice at the next election.

I’m not a Labour zombie worried that Cameron will be more popular than Brown, I actually think Gordon would do very well. He knows a lot and he has more gravitas than Cameron. The problem is that Cameron is far more popular than The Conservative Party or any one of its MPs or candidates. It doesn’t matter who televises the debate, one message will be sent to the public louder than anything the leaders might say. That message is that you the voter, on polling day, are voting for a Prime Minister, not for your local MP. You might ask why that matters, and the answer lies with the still-brewing parliamentary expenses scandal. Amongst all the corruption in Parliament exposed before the summer, there were a few examples of notably bad and surprisingly good behaviour. Cameron’s school chum Bill Wiggin MP managed to use Parliament as a cash machine, withdrawing £250 per month as petty cash and a further £400 per month for food, regardless of whether he was in his Leominster constituency or his Westminster second home and none of which reconciled with a single receipt. Laura Moffatt on the other hand made the news when it emerged she sleeps on a camp bed in her office rather than using her second home allowance.

Party leaders already get plenty of air time and more than their fair share of newspaper column inches. Already, the overwhelming majority of people vote on party lines rather than on the strengths of their local candidates. Providing a TV debate as the locus of the election will make it more likely that Moffatt will lose her seat in spite of her strengths and less likely that Wiggin will lose his seat over his personal greed. So this isn’t an attack on leaders’ TV debates in general – just in the context where they undermine the functioning of our already flawed and weak democracy.

When voters enter the booth, the media has convinced most of them that will be voting for Brown or Cameron rather than their local candidates, and because of this electoral sleight of hand, both leaders have far more power over the legislature than they ought to have. The party whips can legitimately demand loyalty of backbench MPs because they are there in the main because of their party ticket – not their own strengths. It gets worse though. You imagine that in a party leadership election MPs get to see the contenders’ platforms and choose who would be best for the country according to their judgement. That simply isn’t done. Party leaders spend years cultivating power blocks, promising positions as bribes and threatening borderline blackmail or bullying those MPs who are vulnerable. Labour’s electoral college isn’t much better when the gamesmanship can include the acquisition of illicit membership lists and the currying of union endorsements. The election of a party leader simply isn’t the noble activity commensurate with the selection of a person to head a government. The Conservatives have repeatedly goaded the Prime Minister to call an election on the basis that he was not elected by the public – yet they know that no Prime Minister in the history of this nation was elected by the public – they were all chosen by their own party and often, like John Major, during the course of a parliament. It’s because of this conspiracy to get people voting nationally instead of locally, in conjunction with an electoral system that promotes parties instead of candidates, that we have 400 safe seats in a parliament of 646 MPs. And it’s this overwhelming proportion of safe seats that gave us a festering culture of unaccountability in Westminster, creating fertile ground for the expenses scandal in the first place.

For a healthy democracy Sky News tells us we need a televised leadership debate. What we actually need is an electoral system that radically reduces the number of safe seats and makes MPs keenly accountable to their voters. And it may be that in the media age we also need party leaders to be accountable to the public rather than to their MPs, in which case we should give people a directly elected head of government to vote for, and an executive properly separated from the legislature.

If the politicians who legislate on the British constitution really wanted a TV debate, they would enact an electoral system that would be enhanced by it rather than undermined. But how many party leaders would be elected to that position by their fellow MPs if their platform were to do away with safe seats? Parliamentary corruption goes far deeper than you imagine.

Your Wrong Because….

1. Amazing bad analogy

You can teach a dog to fetch a stick. Therefore you can teach a potato to dance.

2. Faulty cause and effect.

On the basis of observation, wearing huge pants makes you fat

3. I am the world.

I don’t listen to country music. Therefore, country music is not popular.

4. Ignoring everything that science knows about the brain.

People choose to be obese/gay/alcoholic because they prefer the life style.

5. The few are the same as the whole.

Some Germans are animal rights activists. Some Germans wear fur coats. All Germans are hypocrites.

6. Generalizing from self.

I’m a liar. Therefore I don’t believe what you say.

7. Argument by bizarre definition.

He’s not a criminal. He just does thing that are against the law.

8. Total logic disconnect.

I enjoy pasta because my house is made of bricks

9. Judgment without comparison to alternatives.

I don’t invest in government bonds. Theirs is to much risk.

10. Anything you don’t understand is easy to do.

If you have the right tools, how hard is it to build a super tanker in your shed?

11. Ignorance of statistics.

I’m putting ALL my money on the lottery this week because the jackpot is so big.

12. Ignoring the downside risk.

I know free base jumping could kill me, but it’s three seconds of fun.

13. Substituting quotes for common sense.

“All things come to those who wait”. So don’t look for a job.

14. Irrelevant comparison.

Fifty pound for a toaster is a good price, compared to a Rolls Royce.

15. Circular reasoning.

I’m correct because I’m smarter than you. I must be smarter than you because I’m correct.

16. Incompleteness as proof of defect.

The theory of gravity doesn’t address the question of why there are no unicorns. So its wrong.

17. Ignoring the advice of experts for no good reason.

The experts say you should not ride a unicycle in to the eye wall of a hurricane… but I have my owne theory

18. Following the advice of known idiots.

Uncle Billy says eating beans makes you smarter. That’s good enough advice for me!

19. Reaching Bizarre conclusions without any information.

The car won’t start. The spark plugs have been stolen by the pixies.

20. Faulty pattern recognition.

His last seven wives were murdered mysteriously….. We’re engaged now.

21. Failure to recognize the important point.

My house is on fire! Quick, call the post office and cancel my mail!

22. Over use of the Occam’s razor principal.

The simplest explanation for the moon landings is that they were hoaxes.

23. Ignoring anecdotal evidence.

It has been proved that eating spicy food makes you fart, but the data is not reliable. I will continue to eat spicy food at every meal to see if it’s true.

24. Unclear concept of sunk costs

We’ve spent millions on a aqualung for fish. We can’t stop investing in it now!

26. Inability to understand that some things have multiple causes.

The Beatles were popular because of one reason only : they were good singers.

27. Judging the whole by one of its characteristics.

The sun causes sunburn. We would be better off without the sun.

28. Blinding flashes of the obvious.

If we all had lots of money, we’d all be rich!

29. Blaming the tool.

I bought this encyclopedia, but I’m still stupid. The encyclopedia must be defective.

29. Reality failure.

I get my opinions from a talking frog.

30. Taking things to their illogical conclusion

If you let a barber cut your heir, the next thing it will be your arms.

31. Failure to understand that rules don’t have exceptions.

Its OK to drive on the wrong side of the road.

32. Proof by lack of evidence.

I’ve never seen you drunk. So you must be Amish.

Harry Patch

The last of the last has gone.

Glasto mud report.

Good.

Off to Glasto

Yep…Thay,ve done the rain dance…Mud like HP sause….Loveley..Picks to follow…… …  .. .

Julia gets pasted by George Osborne.

“The expenses of Julia Goldsworthy, the Peter Mandelson lookie-likey on the Lib Dem front bench, include a hitherto unremarked case of political cross-buying. Besides the now notorious Heal’s £1,200 leather rocking chair is a £490 (plus £8 cab fare) claim for wallpaper from Osborne & Little. The upmarket purveyor of coverings to the gentry is, of course, the family firm of the baronet’s son “Sir” George Osborne, who boasts that a cut from every roll sold finds its way into his trust fund.

Michael Gove buying elephant lamps from the Oka company of Druggie Dave’s mother-in-law, Lady Annabel Astor, was creepy.

Goldsworthy donating cash to the enemy is judged as political madness by the Yellow Peril.

“From Kevin Maguire’s gossip column in the New Statesman:

In the Navy…..

The Senior Service. (a bunch of fags)!

Details have been released regarding Britain ’s next generation of fighting ships:
the Royal Navy is proud of the cutting edge capability of the fleet of Type 45 destroyers.
Costing £750 million, they have been designed to meet the needs of the 21st century; in addition to state of the art technology, weaponry, and guidance systems, the ships will comply with the very latest employment, equality, health & safety and human rights legislation.
They will be able to remain at sea for several months and positively bristle with facilities. For instance, the new user friendly crow’s nest comes equipped with wheelchair access. Live ammunition has been replaced with paintballs to reduce the risk of anyone getting hurt and to cut down on the number of compensation claims. Stress councillors and lawyers will be on duty 24hrs a day, and each ship will have it’s own onboard industrial tribunal.
The crew will be 50/50 men and women, and balanced in accordance with the latest Home Office directives on race, gender, sexuality and disability. Sailors will only have to work a maximum of 37hrs per week in line with Brussels Health & Safety rules even in wartime!
All bunks will be double occupancy, and the destroyers will all come equipped with a maternity ward and creche, situated on the same deck as the Gay Disco.
Tobacco will be banned throughout the ship, but cannabis will be allowed in the mess. The Royal Navy is eager to shed its traditional reputation for “Rum, Sodomy and the lash”; out goes the occasional rum ration which is to be replaced by Perrier water, although sodomy remains this has now been extended to include all ratings under 18.
The lash will still be available but only by request.
Condoms can be obtained from the Bosun in a variety of flavours, except Capstan Full Strength.
Saluting officers has been abolished because it is elitist, it is to be replaced by the more informal “Hello Sailor”.
All notices on boards will be printed in 37 different languages and braille.
Crew members will no longer be required to ask permission to grow beards or moustaches, even the women.
The MOD is working on a new “Non specific” flag based on the controversial British Airways “Ethnic” tailfin design, because the white ensign is considered to be offensive to minorities.
Sea Trials are expected to take place soon, when the first of the new destroyers HMS Cautious, sets out on her maiden mission it will be escorting boat loads of illegal immigrants across the channel to ports on the south coast.
The ship is due to be launched soon in a ceremony conducted by Captain Hook from the Finsbury Park Mosque who will break a petrol bomb over the hull.
The ship will gently slide into the water to the tune of “In the Navy” by the Village People played by the Royal Marines.
The Prime Minister said that “While the ships reflected the very latest of modern thinking they were also capable of being up graded to comply with any new legislation. His final words were ” Britain never, never waives the rules!”

Brod crashes and burns.

Brod crashes and burns. I went down like a lead balloon in Camborne Central. But a big thanks to the 120 people who voted for me, and to congratulate to John Stoneman the Tory Who won.

last few days….Unitary elections.

Whoo Hoo…..Another load of attack leaflets out. Feet slowly falling apart …me knackered.