Scottish politics

I hear Alex Salmond rubbishing claims that his 'Yes' vote colleagues are using bullying tactics whilst talking about the people of Scotland becoming galvanized by the in/out debate. Their engagement in the Scottish referendum made manifest by the enormous numbers of people, previously oblivious of politics, who are rushing to get on the electoral roll. Now, it may be that I've lived in Spain too long but when I hear politicians deny something like this, I wonder how many of those names are fictitious and to where will their votes be aimed! I would also be wary of postal votes; another well used route to poll rigging. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

Statement by Douglas Carswell MP

Copied from his Blog:

http://www.talkcarswell.com/home/its-time-for-change/2801

It's time for change

I'm today leaving the Conservative party and joining UKIP.

This hasn't been an easy decision.

I've been a member of the Conservative party for all my adult life. It's full of wonderful people who want the best for Britain.

My local Conservative Association in Clacton is thriving. It brims with those that I am honoured to call my friends.

The problem is that many of those at the top of the Conservative party aren't on our side. They aren't serious about the changes that Britain desperately needs.

Of course, they talk the talk before elections. They say what they feel they must say when they want our support.

But on so many issues – modernising our politics and the recall of MPs, controlling our borders, less government, bank reform, cutting public debt, an EU referendum – they never actually make it happen.

All three of the older parties seem the same. They've swathes of safe seats. They're run by those who became MPs by working in the offices of MPs. They use pollsters to tell them what to tell us.

Politics to them is about politicians like them. It's a game of spin and positioning.

First under Tony Blair, then Gordon Brown, now David Cameron, it's all about the priorities of whichever tiny clique happens to be sitting on the sofa in Downing Street. Different clique, same sofa.

Few are animated by principle or passion. Those that are soon get shuffled out of the way. Many are just in it for themselves. They seek every great office, yet believe in so little.

Only UKIP can change this. Only UKIP can shake up the cozy little clique called Westminster.

I'm joining UKIP not because I am a conservative who hankers after the past. I want change. Things can be better than this.

I am an optimist. Britain's a better place than it was when I was born in the early 1970s.

We're more open and tolerant. We're, for the most part, more prosperous. More people are free to grow up and live as they want to live than ever before.

As the father of a young daughter, I've come to appreciate what feminism's achieved. Most girls growing up in Britain today will have better life chances than before thanks to greater equality.

There's been a revolution in attitudes towards disabled people.

What was once dismissed as "political correctness gone mad", we recognise as good manners. Good.

So much about Britain is so much better. Except when it comes to how we do politics.

UKIP is not an angry backlash against the modern world. Modernity has raised our expectations of how things could be.

We need change.

People have a right to expect a government that gets the basics right.

In a world of 24 hours supermarkets and instant access everything, it ought to be possible to make an appointment to see a GP. Yet in my Essex constituency patients have to literally stand in line and wait. They have to compete to been seen by doctors.

There is an alphabet soup of NHS quangos supposed to be in charge. But who takes responsibility?

People have a right to expect the government to control who crosses our borders. Tens of thousands of Londoners log in and log out of the London underground each day. Yet the government just wasted another £224 million on a system that failed to log people in and out as they cross our borders.

On the subject of immigration, let me make it absolutely clear; I'm not against immigration. The one thing more ugly that nativism is angry nativism.

Just like Australia or Switzerland, we should welcome those that want to come here to contribute. We need those with skills and drive. There's hardly a hospital, GP surgery or supermarket in the country that could run without that skill and drive. Real leadership would make this clear.

We should speak with pride and respect about first generation Britons.

But like Australia, we ought to have the right to decide who comes.

Ministers promised us a great Freedom Bill, which was going to repeal all that unnecessary red tape. It never seemed to
happen.

Ministers promised us real bank reform. They only seemed to tinker.

They don't think things through. They make one glib announcement after another – and then move on. On to the next speech. The next announcement. The next headline.

They promised to cut the public debt. In just five years of this government, public debt will increase by more than it did during thirteen years of Gordon Brown.

Clever word play about debt and the deficit doesn't conceal that fact that we're still having to borrow over £100 billion a year – and even then government is not getting the basics right.

We need change.

People have a right to expect a government that answers to Parliament, and a Parliament that's accountable to the people.

All three parties went into the last election promising to give local people a right to recall their MP. The Coalition agreement promised a system of open primaries, to throw politics open to those beyond SW1.

None of it has happened.  The whips spent the summer trying to undermine Zac Goldsmith's proposals for real recall. They're really not serious about real change.

We need change in our relationship with Europe.

When we joined what was to become the European Union all those years ago, we imagined we would be joining a prosperous trading block. In the early 1970s, it accounted for almost 40 percent of world economic output.

Today it accounts for a mere 25 percent. In a decade, its expected to be down to 15 percent.

Far from growing, the European Union has grown sclerotic. Indeed, it's the one continent on the planet that isn't growing.

Even a decade ago, we were told that we had to join the Euro because it would raise our output. It would bring prosperity.

Looking across the channel, no one seriously argues that any more.

Yet who in Westminster – who amongst our so-called leaders – is prepared to envisage real change?

To be fair, over the past four years ministers have at times done the right thing about Europe. They vetoed a treaty change. They refused any budget increase. And of course they agreed to an In / Out vote.

But on each occasion they only did the right thing because they had been forced to by their own side. On each occasion, they had instructed their own MPs on a three line whip to support the wrong thing.

With an election approaching, ministers most Eurosceptic boasts are about things they know that they were pushed into doing. It's not leadership. They've not serious about real change. They're only interested in holding office.

No one cheered David Cameron more loudly at the time of his Bloomberg speech, when he finally accepted the case for a referendum. He would, he claimed, negotiate a fundamentally new relationship with the EU, and put it to the people in 2017; In or Out.

But there's been no detail since.  That's because there isn't any.  Again, they've not thought it through.

Ministers have specifically ruled out a trade-only arrangement with the EU. The Prime Minister said so specifically at a meeting of the 1922. It won't even be on the table.

His advisers have made it clear they won't contemplate any deal with UKIP. They're more comfortable doing deals with Nick Clegg than with a party that wants real change in our relations with the EU.

His advisers have made it clear that they seek a new deal that gives them just enough to persuade enough voters to vote to stay in. It's not about change in our national interest. It's all about not changing things.

Once I realised that, my position in the Conservative party became untenable.

There is a world of change and opportunity out there. Tens of millions of people have been lifted out of poverty within my life time. There is a growing middle class in India, China and elsewhere.

Our future prosperity rest on being able to produce things that those millions of new consumers want.

Ministers are simply not up to giving us the kind of realignment that we need.

BY-ELECTION

It is not enough that I leave the Conservative party and join UKIP.

As someone who has always answered directly to independent-minded Essex folk, there is only one honourable thing to do.

I must seek permission from my boss - the people of Clacton. I will now resign from Parliament, and stand for UKIP in the by election that must follow.

I don't have to do this. It would have been easy for me to have muddled along comfortably as a backbench MP. There are all too many who enjoy that convenient life. But that's not the sort of person I am.

I stood for Parliament in the first place because I believe in certain things. I still do. With greater determination than ever.

I just happen to know that principle in politics is more important than the career of an individual MP – even if that MP happens to be me.

Things don't have to be this way.  I'll be asking the voters of Essex to help me bring change. Let's do this together. Let's see if we can make history.

Thank you. I must now return to Clacton to prepare for what is to come.

Saun Wright

South Yorkshire Police Commissioner, Saun Wright, has refused to resign his post after being revealed as the Rotherham Child Councillor when 1400 youngsters, mostly girls, were abused by Pakistani men. Apparently he accepts COLLECTIVE responsibility but fails to see that as titular head of the department (and presumably trousered the pay) he ought to take the blame for any neglect of duty. It seems that only the public can force him out at an election; so what can be done?
He should therefore be marginalised. Meetings with him must be cancelled. Invitations to attend charity functions, turn on lights, attend premiers should be rescinded. Tickets for sporting and cultural events should be cancelled, as should invites to the Chief Constables Association golf tournament, no doubt held IN PUBLIC TIME AT TAX PAYERS EXPENSE. In other words make his position untenable.

I notice that he claims to have spent the last twenty years of his life devoting himself to the service of the people of South Yorkshire. Is this a euphemism for pocketing lots of money for doing very little with the expectation of a very generous pension when he's done with his devotions? I suspect it is but what else has he done? Has he or other Council leaders ever done a proper job; one in the real world of earning a living in the competitive environment of everyday trading?

Rapists and Jihadists

It is difficult when listening to the news to accept the mantra that immigration is good for the UK. Tell that to the 1400 young people of Rotherham sexually abused by gangs of Pakistani men. In fact the result of this policy, encouraged by the Labour party to bolster votes, has delivered an army of  rapists and jihadists to the areas of South Yorkshire and Lancashire. Somebody needs to confront the PC brigade and sort this out. The CEO of Barnados, Javed Khan, a man not free from controversy himself, was brought in to advise the Council but on Sky News, when interviewed by an increasingly crosser Eamonn Holmes, he failed to give reassurance that he could tackle the core problem. As a man with an interest in Pakistan he must understand that the underlying disparity in ideology and culture is stifling integration.
He might ask the Pakistani Community this: If you voluntarily leave a country where your God and culture failed you, WHY would you come to a more successful Country and by throwing the UK's hospitality back in their faces, continue with your old and discredited values? Who is telling these young men to disrespect vulnerable white girls so badly and to barbarically kill for a Caliphate that does not, in reality, exist.
The Country needs to take hard decisions; decisions that cast a deaf ear to Political Correctness and the European Court of Human Rights and respects the interests of the British people (Including those of Pakistani descent who adopt the British way of life).

I realise that some immigrants may indeed want to adopt British values and customs but fear retribution from their own community under the laws governing apostasy. Such people may need help and protection. Education will help but I fear more needs to be done to reassure the vulnerable that help is at hand. Who can lead?

The Country needs a leader; Cameron isn't good enough.

Tony Martin

I read a sad tale concerning the farmer Tony Martin who was jailed for causing the death of an intruder to his remote farmhouse. Apparently, as a consequence of his traumatic experience at the hands of the criminal justice system, he no longer wishes to return to his home, often sleeping in his car. He went to bed one night with no other idea than sleep whilst an intruder with complete free will, entered his house intent on committing a felony. Martin's innocent sleep became a nightmare when he, the victim of crime, was arrested for doing what the Police were obviously not; protecting the public.
As usual with British so called justice the victim's interests were ignored. Law prevailed in a demonstration of the inadequacy of the criminal justice system to serve the legitimate needs of the law abiding public. Martin should never have faced trial; the Police, the Crown prosecutors, the Judge should hang their heads in SHAME.

Bishop of Leeds

The Bishop of Leeds has written to the Prime Minister asking for more help for beleaguered Christians in Iraq. Clearly his earlier appeal for British Christians to pray for their  brethran's salvation has failed which begs the question of why, having appealed to the highest authority he now turns to a decidedly earthly office for help.
Has he thought that the Islamic state's persecution of Christians may, after all, be God's Will and his request might put the PM at risk of heresy by complying.
As for the PM, what does he not understand about the meaning of Islam, translated as 'Total subjugation to God'. There are no half measures. Harvesting votes in an imminent election by appeasement is immoral. Back sliding or apostacy is punishable with death. There has been little support for the cessation of killing from the other Islamic states such as Saudi Arabia, possibly because, if they are honest with themselves, they are heartened by the slaughter of Christians. The only way to halt the spread of this terror is proscription and why not? No one expects anything other than the total eradication of another horror, ebola. Half measures will not do. This is the 21st century; how can people still believe in supernatural Gods? It is literally beyond belief; get rid of all the Abrahamic religions for a safer world. They are not the only source of evil but they are they main causes. Replace them with Churches based, not on the supernatural but on humanity and which subscribe to the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

Rather than write to the Prime Minister, the Bishop of Leeds might have made more impact by admitting that he now no longer believes in a God, merciful or not, and retiring to do penance for all the lies he's told and false hopes he's raised in his ministry.

Is this the proof that God does not exist?

On the 30th July I wrote a blog about the Theory of Everything but I have since realised my theory holds a greater truth. See: here

If the universe comes into being because one of the four pillars of existence is randomly removed it can be argued that a Prime Mover is responsible. However, such a Prime Mover must exist outside his 'Creation' but where? In my theory, there can only be one place and that is the Pleroma which is by definition devoid of anything including Prime Movers. Reductio ad absurdum.

Christopher Hitchens. 'God is not Great'.

I have just finished reading Christopher Hitchens' work, 'GOD IS NOT GREAT'. This is after the January 2014 publication of my own work, 'SPIRITUAL MAN: AN INTRODUCTION TO NEGATIVE DIMENSIONS'. I mention this so as not to be accused of plagiarism although I see that we quote from much the same body of  past opinion. It would be strange if this wasn't the case. We also approach the God question from different angles; whereas I take a new mathematical concept to arrive at an uncreated, dualistic universe, Hitchens examines the arguments from both sides of the philosophical debate. Hitchens' arguments are compelling and ought to sink the heavily listing ship of faith out of sight but the fact that they are still warring, all over the world, in the name of God is testament to the arrogance and stupidity of the religious leadership. Can you see the Archbishop of Canterbury and the His Holiness the Pope saying well of course you'r right; we have been perpetuating a fraud for nigh on two millenia but listen; the people want and need us?

It is a pity that I never met Hitchens but I sense that we would have had a great deal in common, reaching our conclusions via different mechanisms although I suspect that with his acute perception he might have been sceptical about some of my reasoning. All the more reason why we should have exchanged views although his first hand experiences, use of data and polemical skills are vastly superior to mine. Nevertheless, it would be interesting to hear what someone who read both books side-by-side would have to say. I would hope that they might venture that they complemented one another, but perhaps I delude myself that any work of mine could share the same bookshelf! Time will tell.

Decline of Golf

I learn that the game of golf has been in decline during the last decade. It seems that people cannot justify the cost or more importantly the time to pursue a hobby that makes demands on both resources and other family commitments.
It is a trend I recognised in 2005 and invented my short putting game called 2-Ball Golf and a later version, Marble Golf.
Both games differed from 'Crazy' or 'Mini' golf in needing skill and strategy, but introduced before the recession I assume the public were not ready for this innovation. However, the games do not take five or six hours to play nor do they take four miles of walking to endure,  an attraction that will be immediately recognised by some golfers, not least the retired and infirm.
If any one out there in cyberland wishes to help me in resurrecting the scheme, please contact me but in the meantime go to https://sites.google.com/site/marblegolf/  or   here  for more information.

Calais migrants

Fighting has broken out in the Calais camps holding migrants trying to reach the UK. Inter tribal disputes between Eritreans and Sudanese men have led to over 50 injuries as widespread unrest looks set to escalate. These people are no doubt desperate but why are they insisting on coming to the UK. Eritrea and Sudan are not Commonwealth countries and have, as far as I know, no historical ties so what is the draw if not for free handouts. As for escaping from persecution in their own lands we can now see that they will only increase the risk for the innocent and naive British by visiting on them their local grievances and insinuating their own customs and practices. They must be sent back from whence they came, no matter how tough it seems because the long term outlook for the UK and the indigenous British will be dire.

People or profits

I have just watched a Despatches tv program about the drive by Companies to reduce their costs by cutting the cost of products, in each case at the expense of working people. Whether on zero hour contracts or the minimum wage, working people are the last link in a trading chain that should allow Firms to provide goods or services for customers at the right price. So far so good but it doesn't take into account the greed of the City. You see, if a company such as Tesco  announces a 2% profit drop, then theoretically the owners, the shareholders, shoulder a smaller return on their investment. No problem; businesses go up and down but what is this? Because year on year profits do not go up, the market marks the stock value down, thereby affecting the incomes of pension holders and owners alike This sentiment drives the Executives of top companies, holders of large amounts of stocks to promote growth at almost any cost. This means that grocery companies move into different spheres of activity such as electronics, books, music but also trim margins on their core business. Very often this means that for instance dairy farmers can no longer survive or low earning workers cannot earn enough to support a family.
It is another example of how the Capitalist society is now failing people, fuelling the division between the haves and have nots. Unless the government addresses serious problems in the well-being of the working classes I can see trouble ahead. The problem is the Government, headed by Cameron and Osborne, have no understanding of the aspirations of normal people whilst themselves benefiting from the stock market machinations.