Oh, this gave me a chuckle.
Apparently, foreign policy academic and plunderer of the Third World's children Madonna was booed at a concert in Romania after saying that the way they treat gypsies out yonder way "made [her] feel very sad".
Perhaps folks just want to listen to her music - not my idea of fun, but some people must like her - rather than listen to her wagging her finger at them for their lack of PC credentials. They'd love Harriet Harman there, wouldn't they?
Reminds me of the story about that preening idiot with the stupid sunglasses and how in one of his concerts, he started clicking his fingers every few seconds, and then said, "Every time I click my fingers, a child in Africa dies". And someone in the audience shouted back, "Well, stop fucking doing it then!". Brilliant.
Friday, 28 August 2009
Thursday, 27 August 2009
Lord Turner: what's it to you?
My late grandmother (a Tory to her toes) had a wonderful expression that she would use to prick the pomposity of petty jobsworths that she would come across, y'know, the people with the rule books. She would say to them: "what's it to you?". In other words, get a life and mind your own business.
The phrase came back to me when I came across this news story, where "Lord" Adair Turner (another Labour toadie - they do love their peerages, these socialists), the chairman (at least he's not an item of furniture) of the FSA has said that he "backs a new tax on banks as a means to prevent excess bonus payments in the industry" [my emphasis].
Seriously pal, who the f*** asked you? It is for the Government to decide taxation policy, not a jumped up civil servant who should have been forced to resign after the banking scandal. He's high finance's answer to Sharon Shoesmith. Or Nero.
So, rather than sharing your utterly worthless opinions on taxation, I suggest you get back to doing your day job - i.e. making an arse of regulating the banks. Politicians are elected; you are not. I am reminded of the old Latin motif: "Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?"
Anyway, I think we've heard enough about taxing bonus payments from a man who was given a package equal to £250k for the year to 2009 (from the FSA's accounts - on their website).
Adair Turner: Idiot of the week
Red Ted would have been sad to have missed this anniversary
It's ironic that the "supporter of the Northern Ireland peace process" who actually supported the IRA bought it the day before the 30th anniversary of the assassination of Lord Mountbatten and the Warrenpoint ambush.
A disgraceful episode - why on earth Tony Blair let IRA murderers out of prison I will never understand.
UPDATE: Oh really - this is too much... and where else but the Guardian's site:
Pass me the sick bucket.
Wednesday, 26 August 2009
I spy a voucher system...
I'm just conscious of the fact that all my posts to date come across as a bit angry. I'm not really an angry person at all - actually, I'm quite relaxed and amiable. No, really!
So here's a more constructive post:
On Monday, I went to see my optician for an annual check up. I made the appointment at a time that suited me, with my own choice of optician. As I use a computer in my work, my employer provided me with a voucher so I could get my eyes tested at their expense.
There is a free market in opticians (largely due to reforms made by the Thatcher government) from which I can choose. The service is good at mine, and if it wasn't I could go elsewhere. They want my business (for contact lenses) and that of my employer (for the eye test).
So why can't we introduce a voucher system for other parts of healthcare provision? Seeing 'your' GP?
[Stand back as I get turned on the spit for suggesting that the NHS might, ahem, benefit from a bit of reform]
So here's a more constructive post:
On Monday, I went to see my optician for an annual check up. I made the appointment at a time that suited me, with my own choice of optician. As I use a computer in my work, my employer provided me with a voucher so I could get my eyes tested at their expense.
There is a free market in opticians (largely due to reforms made by the Thatcher government) from which I can choose. The service is good at mine, and if it wasn't I could go elsewhere. They want my business (for contact lenses) and that of my employer (for the eye test).
So why can't we introduce a voucher system for other parts of healthcare provision? Seeing 'your' GP?
[Stand back as I get turned on the spit for suggesting that the NHS might, ahem, benefit from a bit of reform]
Quote of the day
Environmentalism should be like tipping in restaurants – something you do out of the goodness of your heart because you have the inclination and motivation. The more it gets shoved down my throat, the more I get the sinking feeling that it’s really just a socialist scam wrapped in guilt.
Beautifully put. And very true!
But this lady lives in the US... try telling that to Brussels. We've to comply with some goody-goody EU landfill directive, leading to a tax on waste:
Landfill tax
Landfill Tax is payable on waste that is disposed of at landfills. The Tax is regulated by HM Revenue and Customs. Rates for 2008/09 were:
Active waste - £32/tonne (+VAT)
Inactive waste - £2.50/tonne (+VAT)
Rates for 2009/10 are:
Active waste - £40/tonne (+VAT)
Inactive waste - £2.50/tonne (+VAT)
The rate for active waste increased by £8/tonne per annum from 1st April 2008 and will continue to increase by £8/tonne on 1st April each year to 2013.
The rate for inactive waste increased to £2.50 + VAT per tonne on 1st April 2008. The Government has announced that the rate will be frozen at £2.50 per tonne in 2009-10.
The Government has announced that the rate for inactive waste will be frozen at
£2.50/tonne for 2009-10.
If this waste was being dumped in Belgium, then these guys might have a point. We don't need a foreign-imposed tax to tell us what we can and can't bury under our own land.
Just one more reason for coming out of the expensive joke that is the EU.
Vile reptile slithers away
'Sir' Teddy Kennedy: no friend to BritainWell, it wasn't actually unexpected, but today we mark the passing of Senator Edward Kennedy, a Democrat senator since 1962 and the younger brother of JFK. This comes just two weeks after the death of his sister, Eunice Kennedy Shriver.
Obviously, it's a sad time for his family, constituents and the like.
Now that's been said, perhaps it's time to say a little more about him while he was alive.
If there was ever a man for whom the expression "runt of the litter" was invented, it was for him. Oh, where to start? Chappaquidick, his support for the IRA, his ludicrous 1980 run for the Democrat presidential nomination, perrenial Leftism, blah blah fishcakes...
No doubt the BBC will be full of it today. Well, more full of it than they usually are. I suppose with the death of Joseph Stalin the Left have few heroes, well, left.
But the thing that really made my blood boil, was when our idiot Prime Minister decided that this vile old reptile should be given a KBE! Y'know, Gordon, who doesn't do celebrity... yea Gods.
Well, it could have been worse, I suppose. He could have wound up as the Prime Minister's Special Envoy on Road Safety.
Well, who wouldda thunk it?
Apparently, Bertiebaset Al-wossname "could live far longer than predicted by Scottish ministers when they decided to release him", according to the Telegraph today.
No surprises there then. Kenny McAskill has made a twerp of himself again.
Funnily enough, he's not the first person to suddenly be in better health upon being released from prison. Remember this guy?
He doesn't look like that now though, does he, Jack Straw?Monday, 24 August 2009
Double Word Score in PC Guardian Scrabble
What's PC Guardian Scrabble, I hear you ask? It's a little game I've invented re the nature of the articles on CiF and the progressive Left's obsession with the "rainbow coalition" (viz, the idea that there isn't a single problem on the planet that can't be blamed on white, middle-aged, middle-class, heterosexual men). Y'know, like the fact that we have a Minister for Women but no Minister for Men, and there aren't any Straight Pride parades where heterosexual people get to have a march to celebrate their particular preferences in the sack.
These remarks are NOT to be taken as a criticism of gay people at all by me (some of my best friends etc...) - but sexuality isn't the be-all and end-all of who people are. Don't gay people have an interest in safe streets, low taxes, public services in the same way as anybody else? It's similar to our 1980s slogan "Labour say he's black, we say he's British" - let's focus on what we have in common rather tha go down the road of all this tedious, Balkanised identity politics so beloved of the Left.
Anyway, getting back to the topic... have a look at this piece by Ruth Bond, the chair (a talking chair? Very clever. Looks more like a human than a chair to me. I dunno... maybe people sit on her a lot) of the National Federation of Women's Institutes.
In it she whines... whoops, opines, that wonderful though the Green movement is, it's too heavily dominated by men. That gets a double word score in PC Guardian Scrabble as:
1. it's about eco wackery
2. it's a 1970s feminist whinge about "male domination"
Unless Ruth the Talking Chair is perhaps transgendered, in which case it's a triple score.
I do love this quote though:
Well, lucky, lucky us (PS Right Ranter is a man!) - with company like that, if women have any sense they'll steer well clear!
Seriously though, the Suffragettes fought for what they believed in. Is this where feminism has got to these days? Having a whine in the newspaper? Good luck to you.
These remarks are NOT to be taken as a criticism of gay people at all by me (some of my best friends etc...) - but sexuality isn't the be-all and end-all of who people are. Don't gay people have an interest in safe streets, low taxes, public services in the same way as anybody else? It's similar to our 1980s slogan "Labour say he's black, we say he's British" - let's focus on what we have in common rather tha go down the road of all this tedious, Balkanised identity politics so beloved of the Left.
Anyway, getting back to the topic... have a look at this piece by Ruth Bond, the chair (a talking chair? Very clever. Looks more like a human than a chair to me. I dunno... maybe people sit on her a lot) of the National Federation of Women's Institutes.
In it she whines... whoops, opines, that wonderful though the Green movement is, it's too heavily dominated by men. That gets a double word score in PC Guardian Scrabble as:
1. it's about eco wackery
2. it's a 1970s feminist whinge about "male domination"
Unless Ruth the Talking Chair is perhaps transgendered, in which case it's a triple score.
I do love this quote though:
From Britain's environment ministers, past and present, to prominent campaigners
such as Jonathan Porritt or George Monbiot, global converts such as Al Gore, and the panoply of climate change negotiators from Kyoto to Copenhagen, men are dominating this debate.
Well, lucky, lucky us (PS Right Ranter is a man!) - with company like that, if women have any sense they'll steer well clear!
Seriously though, the Suffragettes fought for what they believed in. Is this where feminism has got to these days? Having a whine in the newspaper? Good luck to you.
Your taxpayers' dollars at work
Spotted - a 'character' sitting outside a Boots on the high street of a fairly prosperous Birminghan suburb. Has just polished off a bottle of something that's just come from the chemists.
God bless the methadone programme, eh? Ah the wonders of the benevolent welfare state know no bounds.
And we get to pay for this as well! Result!
God bless the methadone programme, eh? Ah the wonders of the benevolent welfare state know no bounds.
And we get to pay for this as well! Result!
Saturday, 22 August 2009
Lockerbie - a thought on sentencing
Something that just occurred to me. Why was the "Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny McAskill" (tee hee) allowed to release Bertiebaset anyway? Surely that would mean that a politician is deciding how long a convicted criminal should serve in prison.
Doesn't that contradict the European Convention on Human Rights? This came up in 2002 when Dennis Stafford went crying to Strasbourg that nasty Jack Straw wouldn't let him out of prison. Why haven't Amnesty and Barnoness Helena Kennedy and the Left's other useful idiots been out in force to complain about it this time round?
Ah, I see - it's fine for polticians to SHORTEN prison sentences, because that's showing compassion blah blah fishcakes, but if they LENGTHEN the prison sentence then this is an abuse of power, it's for the courts to decide etc etc etc.
Of course, had we found an alternative way to punish Bertiebaset we wouldn't have all this hand-wringing now:
Doesn't that contradict the European Convention on Human Rights? This came up in 2002 when Dennis Stafford went crying to Strasbourg that nasty Jack Straw wouldn't let him out of prison. Why haven't Amnesty and Barnoness Helena Kennedy and the Left's other useful idiots been out in force to complain about it this time round?
Ah, I see - it's fine for polticians to SHORTEN prison sentences, because that's showing compassion blah blah fishcakes, but if they LENGTHEN the prison sentence then this is an abuse of power, it's for the courts to decide etc etc etc.
Of course, had we found an alternative way to punish Bertiebaset we wouldn't have all this hand-wringing now:
Education - a few home truths
Great piece in today's Telegraph on education by George Walden. George is the former Conservative MP for Buckingham (some might say the last Conservative MP for Buckingham) who served as an education minister under Mrs T. He is also the father of the Telegraph's Celia Walden.
He gives a great analysis of what's wrong with our education system, blaming both parties - a squeamishness about selection in the state sector (especially by politicians who sent their own children to highly selective private schools), trashy popular culture, the "comprehensivisation" of our universities etc.
It's a well-written article - read it here. I have already indicated that I have a great respect for Michale Gove, and that his Swedish style reforms are an excellent idea and long overdue. I just wish they would go a bit further!
He gives a great analysis of what's wrong with our education system, blaming both parties - a squeamishness about selection in the state sector (especially by politicians who sent their own children to highly selective private schools), trashy popular culture, the "comprehensivisation" of our universities etc.
It's a well-written article - read it here. I have already indicated that I have a great respect for Michale Gove, and that his Swedish style reforms are an excellent idea and long overdue. I just wish they would go a bit further!
Friday, 21 August 2009
Lockerbie - some thoughts
I mentioned before that I hail from Scotland. Well, tonight, if I had a had a saltire flag here... I would burn it. That's after having seen this:
The sight of these Libyan tossers flying the Scottish flag as the man found guilty is returned to that country having served TWO WEEKS for each victim turns my stomach. Oh, he's dying of prostate cancer...why can't he be allowed to die with his family. Why not indeed? Because he showed precious fucking remorse for the passengers on the Pan Am flight and the residents of a small Scottish town.
Where I come from in Scotland isn't really that far from Lockerbie. It's about 45 mins drive further up the M74 (or the A74 as it was back then - you can see bits of wreckage lying on the old road when they show the clips on the TV). Had that plane left five/ten minutes later... who knows? I'm slightly too young to remember all the detail - I was six then and am 26 now, but I think of it every time I pass through Lockerbie on the train. I always notice other passengers looking out the window as we pass (it's well sign-posted - Lockerbie is the first stop north of Carlisle) and perhaps they too are thinking about the carnage leashed upon this unsuspecting Scottish town. A disgrace.
To knock down a few arguments that are made in favour of his release:
"He's dying of cancer... keeping him in prison might shorten his life further"
As it happens, I was watching "Goodfellas" earlier this evening - it's a great film. There's a line in it when this guy who sells wigs (bear with me) tries to take on the mafia guys who are round "collecting":
That's how I feel about Al-wossname: tough cookie. Myra Hindley died in prison, and she was responsible for the deaths of far fewer than you, sunshine.
Anyway, got to remember Right Ranter's first rule of Scottish journalism: the Herald (a dreadful Left-wing paper, based in Glasgow - think the McGuardian) is wrong on every issue. See here if you don't believe me.
Next straw man:
"It wasn't him... it was Iran / Mossad / the shapeshifters..."
Well, perhaps it wasn't him. That's what we have an appeals process for. But to release him, such that he abandons his appeal, means that both he and the legal system accepts that he is guilty. Case closed. No further investigation into finding "the real killers" as OJ would have put it.
It's like getting a double word score in Scrabble. Combine (a) being (allegedly) at death's door with (b) there being some doubt over the safety of the conviction, and hey presto, the prison door swings wide open. Neither are perhaps enough in their own right, but under Kenny McAskill's jurisdiction, both together get you free. This is NOT how the legal system is supposed to work.
I have nothing but sympathy for the likes of Dr Jim Swire. But simply because he's been the most vocal of the British victims' families does not mean that he is right and everyone else is wrong. There was a full investigation and a court case watched by the world's media (at great expense, for that matter). The evidence against Al-Megrahi must have been pretty compelling.
Anyway, the Libyan government actually accepted responsibility. This is getting a bit like the 9/11 "truthers" who insist the whole thing was a CIA conspiracy (the CIA wouldn't, for a moment, have had the competence to pull off 9/11).
Finally:
"There are good diplomatic reasons for setting him free."
Oh really, what are they then? I've got nothing against the odd bit of cynical realpolitick but this is insane. At the very least (as Shrewsbury's MP, the excellent Daniel Kawczynski) has said, we should be demanding the transfer of the killers of WPC Yvonne Fletcher back to the UK. But, hey, she's only some dead English broad, isn't she, Kenny? No reason why the Scottish "Government" should act in the interests of those folks down south.
Perhaps the SNP are hoping to get a few inward investment contracts from Colonel Gadaffi. Might make up for falling out with the yanks then. "Whisky swigging surrender monkeys" says it all.
It's a cruel and bitter irony that this vile man has returned to Libya by plane. I note that he got off at the other end (to loud applause from his equally vile countrymen) - that's more than can be said for those poor souls back returning to see their families back in Christmas 1988.
The sight of these Libyan tossers flying the Scottish flag as the man found guilty is returned to that country having served TWO WEEKS for each victim turns my stomach. Oh, he's dying of prostate cancer...why can't he be allowed to die with his family. Why not indeed? Because he showed precious fucking remorse for the passengers on the Pan Am flight and the residents of a small Scottish town.
Where I come from in Scotland isn't really that far from Lockerbie. It's about 45 mins drive further up the M74 (or the A74 as it was back then - you can see bits of wreckage lying on the old road when they show the clips on the TV). Had that plane left five/ten minutes later... who knows? I'm slightly too young to remember all the detail - I was six then and am 26 now, but I think of it every time I pass through Lockerbie on the train. I always notice other passengers looking out the window as we pass (it's well sign-posted - Lockerbie is the first stop north of Carlisle) and perhaps they too are thinking about the carnage leashed upon this unsuspecting Scottish town. A disgrace.
To knock down a few arguments that are made in favour of his release:
"He's dying of cancer... keeping him in prison might shorten his life further"
As it happens, I was watching "Goodfellas" earlier this evening - it's a great film. There's a line in it when this guy who sells wigs (bear with me) tries to take on the mafia guys who are round "collecting":
Fuck 'em in the ear... and if they don't like it, fuck 'em in the other ear
That's how I feel about Al-wossname: tough cookie. Myra Hindley died in prison, and she was responsible for the deaths of far fewer than you, sunshine.
Anyway, got to remember Right Ranter's first rule of Scottish journalism: the Herald (a dreadful Left-wing paper, based in Glasgow - think the McGuardian) is wrong on every issue. See here if you don't believe me.
Next straw man:
"It wasn't him... it was Iran / Mossad / the shapeshifters..."
Well, perhaps it wasn't him. That's what we have an appeals process for. But to release him, such that he abandons his appeal, means that both he and the legal system accepts that he is guilty. Case closed. No further investigation into finding "the real killers" as OJ would have put it.
It's like getting a double word score in Scrabble. Combine (a) being (allegedly) at death's door with (b) there being some doubt over the safety of the conviction, and hey presto, the prison door swings wide open. Neither are perhaps enough in their own right, but under Kenny McAskill's jurisdiction, both together get you free. This is NOT how the legal system is supposed to work.
I have nothing but sympathy for the likes of Dr Jim Swire. But simply because he's been the most vocal of the British victims' families does not mean that he is right and everyone else is wrong. There was a full investigation and a court case watched by the world's media (at great expense, for that matter). The evidence against Al-Megrahi must have been pretty compelling.
Anyway, the Libyan government actually accepted responsibility. This is getting a bit like the 9/11 "truthers" who insist the whole thing was a CIA conspiracy (the CIA wouldn't, for a moment, have had the competence to pull off 9/11).
Finally:
"There are good diplomatic reasons for setting him free."
Oh really, what are they then? I've got nothing against the odd bit of cynical realpolitick but this is insane. At the very least (as Shrewsbury's MP, the excellent Daniel Kawczynski) has said, we should be demanding the transfer of the killers of WPC Yvonne Fletcher back to the UK. But, hey, she's only some dead English broad, isn't she, Kenny? No reason why the Scottish "Government" should act in the interests of those folks down south.
Perhaps the SNP are hoping to get a few inward investment contracts from Colonel Gadaffi. Might make up for falling out with the yanks then. "Whisky swigging surrender monkeys" says it all.
It's a cruel and bitter irony that this vile man has returned to Libya by plane. I note that he got off at the other end (to loud applause from his equally vile countrymen) - that's more than can be said for those poor souls back returning to see their families back in Christmas 1988.
Why is it...
...that when men are getting changed at the gym, they find it necessary to whistle tunelessly? I've never understood what makes fellow males feel the need to whistle when getting changed?
Any thoughts?
Any thoughts?
Lord Mandy is in hospital...
...for an operation on his prostate. Never knew he had it in him.
Let's hope he's using "Labour's NHS" and not going private, eh?
Let's hope he's using "Labour's NHS" and not going private, eh?
Wednesday, 19 August 2009
When I'm feeling low...
...I whistle a happy tune. No I don't. There's a sentence I say that always makes me giggle:
If there's one sentence that sums up why further powers for Holyrood is a bad idea, that the jumped-up "Government" has got ideas above its station (and intellect), and that the SNP benches aren't flowing with talent any more than the Labour ones, it says it all there.
The rights and (mainly) wrongs of letting out the Lockerbie bomber can be discussed elsewhere... meanwhile, I think it's slightly tragic on Big Eck's part that his "Justice Secretary" wound up being arrested for being drunk and disorderly during a football match. No, not when he was 19, when he was 41 and an MSP.
Lucky Scotland, eh?
"Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny McAskill"
If there's one sentence that sums up why further powers for Holyrood is a bad idea, that the jumped-up "Government" has got ideas above its station (and intellect), and that the SNP benches aren't flowing with talent any more than the Labour ones, it says it all there.
The rights and (mainly) wrongs of letting out the Lockerbie bomber can be discussed elsewhere... meanwhile, I think it's slightly tragic on Big Eck's part that his "Justice Secretary" wound up being arrested for being drunk and disorderly during a football match. No, not when he was 19, when he was 41 and an MSP.
Lucky Scotland, eh?
Tuesday, 18 August 2009
Writers I like - part 1
I thought I would offer a short list of men of letters whose output I enjoy:
Charles Moore - former Telegraph editor turned columnist, Charles is probably my favourite writer in the British press. Articulate, though-provoking and witty, he's someone who really understands his readership, just like his mentor, the much lamented Bill Deedes. Charles is also leading a campaign against the BBC licence fee and he's one of a very small number of traditionalist Conservatives who backed David Cameron and recognised that the party needed to update its message. I saw Charles in person at Bournemouth in 2006 - he was chairing a Telegraph debate on the conference fringe, and an old lady passed out with the heat. Charles was a perfect picture - he halted the proceedings (cutting an impassioned Daniel Hannan off in his prime!) and came forward to see that the first aider was looking after the lady. No pushing people out the way, shouting "give her air!" or anything like that... just a calm, measured approach to see that things were being attended to, then he sat down again. All very British - struck just the right tone. In a better time, people like Charles would run the country.
Daniel Hannan - I've name-checked him before but he's worthy of another mention. Daniel is a former Telegraph journalist, turned MEP for the South East since 1999. He's made a name for himself by humiliating Gordon Brown in a blistering attack in the European Parliament, before recently being embroiled in a Labour smear campaign on his comments on the NHS. A regular on US television and co-author of "The Plan", a radical tract on how to "fix" Britain, Daniel is probably the passionate speaker I have ever seen. His blog is an education to read; Daniel is not averse to peppering his contributions with the odd Latin motif or line from Shakespeare. Someone who represents the intellectual wing of the 21st century Conservatives, I think Daniel will reach higher office than being a backbench MEP. Our loss if he doesn't.
Mark Steyn - a Canadian of Belgian extraction, educated in Birmingham (UK, not Alabama) and now lives in New Hampshire - he's been around a bit! Mark is probably the wittiest of the conservative commentariat; he's also a staunch libertarian who feels that Western values are worth defending. Mark has written an otherwise well-received book "America Alone", that managed to ruffle a few PC feathers in Canada - definitely worth a read. Sadly he's a bit less prolific than hitherto, at one time writing for newspapers across the Anglosphere. But his website is certainly worth a look. Mark started out as an arts commentator and one of the other reasons I admire him so is that he's a fellow Frank Sinatra fan. It's not all about the politics!
Matthew d'Ancona - Matt is now editor of the Spectator magazine but is also one of the best writers in the newspapers today. His Sunday Telegraph column is worth the cover price alone. He's a passionate Conservative but is objective enough to offer the party the benefit of his wisdom when he feels that they need it. The Speccie had a bit more of a Wodehousian feel to it in Boris's day, which I miss, but he's definitely one of the most important writers de nos jours.
More to follow!
Charles Moore - former Telegraph editor turned columnist, Charles is probably my favourite writer in the British press. Articulate, though-provoking and witty, he's someone who really understands his readership, just like his mentor, the much lamented Bill Deedes. Charles is also leading a campaign against the BBC licence fee and he's one of a very small number of traditionalist Conservatives who backed David Cameron and recognised that the party needed to update its message. I saw Charles in person at Bournemouth in 2006 - he was chairing a Telegraph debate on the conference fringe, and an old lady passed out with the heat. Charles was a perfect picture - he halted the proceedings (cutting an impassioned Daniel Hannan off in his prime!) and came forward to see that the first aider was looking after the lady. No pushing people out the way, shouting "give her air!" or anything like that... just a calm, measured approach to see that things were being attended to, then he sat down again. All very British - struck just the right tone. In a better time, people like Charles would run the country.
Daniel Hannan - I've name-checked him before but he's worthy of another mention. Daniel is a former Telegraph journalist, turned MEP for the South East since 1999. He's made a name for himself by humiliating Gordon Brown in a blistering attack in the European Parliament, before recently being embroiled in a Labour smear campaign on his comments on the NHS. A regular on US television and co-author of "The Plan", a radical tract on how to "fix" Britain, Daniel is probably the passionate speaker I have ever seen. His blog is an education to read; Daniel is not averse to peppering his contributions with the odd Latin motif or line from Shakespeare. Someone who represents the intellectual wing of the 21st century Conservatives, I think Daniel will reach higher office than being a backbench MEP. Our loss if he doesn't.
Mark Steyn - a Canadian of Belgian extraction, educated in Birmingham (UK, not Alabama) and now lives in New Hampshire - he's been around a bit! Mark is probably the wittiest of the conservative commentariat; he's also a staunch libertarian who feels that Western values are worth defending. Mark has written an otherwise well-received book "America Alone", that managed to ruffle a few PC feathers in Canada - definitely worth a read. Sadly he's a bit less prolific than hitherto, at one time writing for newspapers across the Anglosphere. But his website is certainly worth a look. Mark started out as an arts commentator and one of the other reasons I admire him so is that he's a fellow Frank Sinatra fan. It's not all about the politics!
Matthew d'Ancona - Matt is now editor of the Spectator magazine but is also one of the best writers in the newspapers today. His Sunday Telegraph column is worth the cover price alone. He's a passionate Conservative but is objective enough to offer the party the benefit of his wisdom when he feels that they need it. The Speccie had a bit more of a Wodehousian feel to it in Boris's day, which I miss, but he's definitely one of the most important writers de nos jours.
More to follow!
Cultural conservatism
Peter Whittle runs a think tank called the New Culture Forum - it's a recognition of the fact that while the Left have lost the economic battles (or at least we thought they had before Gormless Gordon started nationalising the banks and taxing the rich until the pips squeak), they have won the culture wars.
The NCF is an attempt to undo this "march through the institutions" that has gone on since the glory days of the 1960s (Woodstock, Lady Chattersley, Roy Jenkins, et al) - it's worth a look if you consider yourself to be a 'cultural conservative'.
Peter's excellent blog on the Telegraph website is always worth a read, but this post attacking smug, boring Leftist comedians really cracked me up:
The NCF is an attempt to undo this "march through the institutions" that has gone on since the glory days of the 1960s (Woodstock, Lady Chattersley, Roy Jenkins, et al) - it's worth a look if you consider yourself to be a 'cultural conservative'.
Peter's excellent blog on the Telegraph website is always worth a read, but this post attacking smug, boring Leftist comedians really cracked me up:
Of course they’re about as genuinely rebellious and unorthodox as Enid Blyton. Have you ever heard a great routine mocking the environmentalist movement? Islamic fundementalism? Welfare cheats? Multiculturalism? Inconceivable. No, let’s say “f***” a lot, and maybe have a go at the Queen. You rebels!Brilliant! Read the whole thing.
More good news...
I see the fragrant Polly Toynbee is back in the pages of the Guardian... she must have been on holiday or something. Perhaps she was fretting about her carbon footstep after having flown to her villa in Italy. Or maybe she's started practicing some of the eco-wackery she believes in and went by broomstick.
Polly Toynbee of the Guardian - let's say they belong togetherI'm hoping to "fisk" Polly's columns on a regular basis - she's probably the most forthright of the socialist journalists (forthleft?) and sometimes the contradictions in her articles tear themselves to shreds. It's good sport - just ask this guy (website isn't exactly NSFW - but the Devil can be a little bit profane from time to time).
This week she's devoted her intellect to exam results and school standards. Perhaps if I have time later I will have a go!
Good news in Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk
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John: a fine MSP and hopefully soon to be MP!It was announced last night that John Lamont, MSP for Roxburgh and Berwickshire has been selected as the Conservative candidate to stand in Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk at the next General Election.
This is great news: John won an historic victory on his election to the Scottish Parliament in 2007 and I have no doubt that he can pull off a similar feat next year. For those who don't know the area, this is Borders country that has been something of a Lib Dem stronghold since David Steel's legendary (or should I say infamous, as one of his political opponents!) by-election win in 1965. The Westminster seat (R,B & S) takes in John's Holyrood seat (R & B) plus what we used to call Selkirkshire, the historic county in the heart of the Borders.
John has a Lib Dem majority of 5,091 to overcome, standing against Michael Moore (no, not that one), whom he stood against back in 2005. The previous selected candidate for the next election, Chris Walker, stood down earlier in the year. I don't know the reasons why he quit but suffice to say I wasn't impressed by him when I met him at previous Scottish Conservative party conferences. I doubt that he would have come across well on the door step.
John will hopefully do much better, and with a potential win for Peter Duncan in Dumfries and Galloway, we could have Conservative wins in southern Scotland from sea to shimmering sea!
Then we just need to win all the seats north of there!
Sunday, 16 August 2009
Exclusive: Michael Gove does NOT have links with King Herod
I seem to be on a bit of a roll with the blogging today! Last post I promise...
I'd like to say more about the media sh..., ahem, 'sandstorm' apropos Daniel Hannan and the NHS. But if I start blogging on that one I'll be here for the rest of the day.
Suffice to say: the only thing Dan has done wrong is to expose the fact that the Conservative Party doesn't have anything interesting to say on health, having surrendered our position entirely to Labour. Thus one is treated to the unedifing spectacle of Andrews Burnham and Lansley (political collossi, both) getting into a bidding more about how we can spend yet more money on an unformed health service, and refuting the notion that an organisation that employs 1.4m people might be a bit top-heavy.
However, to cut to the chase, I was watching Huw Edwards interviewing the excellent Michael Gove (thank goodness this man is in the Shadow Cabinet...maybe that's why we have some good policies on education), and he turned to the Dan Hannan issue.
Huw (I remember the good old days when the Sage of Sevenoaks, Peter Sissons, used to cover for this programme in the summer months - much better) asked Michael whether it was true that he had "links" (shock!) to these horrible Right-wing people in the States and here who want to reform (shock! horror!) the NHS. Presumably he means these guys. You would have thought we were talking about these guys.
He then suggested that the Govemeister should consider "severing ties" with the Dan Hannans of this world. For Pete's sake, he made a suggestion, ten months ago in a book, that there might be a more efficient way to provide healthcare in Britain than using a model devised in 1944 when we were still rationing food. You'd think he'd advocated a slaughter of the first born. It's one thing being asked to sever supposed links with extremists (in which case, why doesn't Brown disown Michael Meacher?) but this is a bit much, even for the BBC.
Gove put in a pretty good performance: noted that Dan has deviated from party policy, the policy is blah blah blah but that "...in other areas you disagree with, you don't send them off to Siberia" (hat tip, the Andrew Marr show). Showed him a bit more respect than Cameron did.
Final thought: why can't we have a grown-up debate about healthcare provision, without every attempt being taken as an attempt to impugn the reputation of the staff in the health service? Take prisons for interest. The Left are desperate to close them down, especially these guys, this Lib Dem chap and (in the case of women's prisons - so much for equality) Joan bleedin' Bakewell. In their favourite cliche: "Prisons are an expensive way of making bad people worse."
But surely that's an attack on the prison staff? Aren't they low paid people, toiling in the public sector, working with some 'challenging' characters and trying to do their best under the circumstances? Or is it maybe just possible to talk about reforming the prison system without it being seen as a slur against the people that work there? If only we could discuss health in such a civilised manner.
I'd like to say more about the media sh..., ahem, 'sandstorm' apropos Daniel Hannan and the NHS. But if I start blogging on that one I'll be here for the rest of the day.
Suffice to say: the only thing Dan has done wrong is to expose the fact that the Conservative Party doesn't have anything interesting to say on health, having surrendered our position entirely to Labour. Thus one is treated to the unedifing spectacle of Andrews Burnham and Lansley (political collossi, both) getting into a bidding more about how we can spend yet more money on an unformed health service, and refuting the notion that an organisation that employs 1.4m people might be a bit top-heavy.
However, to cut to the chase, I was watching Huw Edwards interviewing the excellent Michael Gove (thank goodness this man is in the Shadow Cabinet...maybe that's why we have some good policies on education), and he turned to the Dan Hannan issue.
Huw (I remember the good old days when the Sage of Sevenoaks, Peter Sissons, used to cover for this programme in the summer months - much better) asked Michael whether it was true that he had "links" (shock!) to these horrible Right-wing people in the States and here who want to reform (shock! horror!) the NHS. Presumably he means these guys. You would have thought we were talking about these guys.
He then suggested that the Govemeister should consider "severing ties" with the Dan Hannans of this world. For Pete's sake, he made a suggestion, ten months ago in a book, that there might be a more efficient way to provide healthcare in Britain than using a model devised in 1944 when we were still rationing food. You'd think he'd advocated a slaughter of the first born. It's one thing being asked to sever supposed links with extremists (in which case, why doesn't Brown disown Michael Meacher?) but this is a bit much, even for the BBC.
Gove put in a pretty good performance: noted that Dan has deviated from party policy, the policy is blah blah blah but that "...in other areas you disagree with, you don't send them off to Siberia" (hat tip, the Andrew Marr show). Showed him a bit more respect than Cameron did.
Final thought: why can't we have a grown-up debate about healthcare provision, without every attempt being taken as an attempt to impugn the reputation of the staff in the health service? Take prisons for interest. The Left are desperate to close them down, especially these guys, this Lib Dem chap and (in the case of women's prisons - so much for equality) Joan bleedin' Bakewell. In their favourite cliche: "Prisons are an expensive way of making bad people worse."
But surely that's an attack on the prison staff? Aren't they low paid people, toiling in the public sector, working with some 'challenging' characters and trying to do their best under the circumstances? Or is it maybe just possible to talk about reforming the prison system without it being seen as a slur against the people that work there? If only we could discuss health in such a civilised manner.
A* for tales of underprivilege
Change of subject - educational standards and the Government's attempts to make the universities complicit in their decline.
The Sunday Telegraph notes that school pupils applying to Universities have been lying about their backgrounds to meet "social engineering" criteria. From the ST:
The Sunday Telegraph notes that school pupils applying to Universities have been lying about their backgrounds to meet "social engineering" criteria. From the ST:
Application forms include sections where sixth formers can declare that
they were brought up in a care home, that their parents did not go into higher
education, or that they attended summer school classes.
...
A small number of universities, including three from the Russell group of top institutions, said they later found out that up to one in seven candidates who declared they
had been in care on their forms later admitted that they been filled the box "in
error".
So, your chances of getting in to university are now determined by being able to prove how poor and 'umble you are. Are potential students losing out because they are forgetting to doff their caps and touch their forelocks when being interviewed? Yea Gods. And the universities are expected to
verify all the hard luck stories? Haven't they got better things to be getting on with? This is what happens when you move away from having an objective set of criteria for admission to a lot of fuzzy, gerrymandered stuff that Labour has come up with to disguise the decline in standards in our state
schools.
It is entirely desireable to get more people from disadvantaged backgrounds in to university where they are bright enough to benefit from such an education. In which case, the way forward is to improve standards in state schools - rather than giving out qualifications in how to catch the bus.
Probably the worst way to go about it would be to:
- Expand the universities and set a ludicrous 50% target for school leavers to attend...thereby leading to the creation of more Mickey Mouse courses like these ones.
- Make it necessary to get hugely in to debt when you go to university as there isn't enough money to provide places for half of all school leavers.
- Abolish (or at least try to) every f***ing grammar school in the country, which had provided a route for poor, bright kids to compete with the best from the private sector in higher education.
- Scrap the Assisted Places Scheme, which subsidised private school places for, again, poor bright kids.
- Threaten to withdraw the charitable status of public schools, making it even more expensive for those families who are making sacrifices to educate their children there.
But hey - it's easier to fiddle the system and encourage people to come with Dickensian tales of poverty. Like these guys:
How Britain is becoming more Islamic - part 2
As if to prove a point, I came across this piece in the Sunday Telegraph, which notes that a number of local authority-owned swimming pools are having "special Muslim sessions" where ALL swimmers must adhere to Islamic dress code. Examples of this involve women wearing the "burkini", which has just been banned from swimming pools in France.
Last time I checked, this wasn't Saudi Arabia. It's yet another example of how "multiculturalism" means that Britain is expected to integrate with Islam rather than vice versa. Again, how did Muslims cope before? Did they not go swimming in UK pools? Or did they just fit in and do the same as everybody else? What's the word again..."integrate"?
The leisure teams at Croydon council, North Lincolnshire council and Glasgow City council should hang their heads in shame. What are they thinking? I hope none of these councils are Conservative run. In fairness to Muslims, I do get the feeling such a change has been driven by the councils (desperate to show off their craven PC multiculti credentials) rather than by any genuine groundswell of Muslim support. But it all seems to be one-way traffic - integration in reverse.
Perhaps we all have a duty to stand up to this by dressing like this guy when we go swimming:
Is nice? Borat: clearly doesn't go swimming in Croydon
Nice friendly chaps from Luton
Last time I checked, this wasn't Saudi Arabia. It's yet another example of how "multiculturalism" means that Britain is expected to integrate with Islam rather than vice versa. Again, how did Muslims cope before? Did they not go swimming in UK pools? Or did they just fit in and do the same as everybody else? What's the word again..."integrate"?
The leisure teams at Croydon council, North Lincolnshire council and Glasgow City council should hang their heads in shame. What are they thinking? I hope none of these councils are Conservative run. In fairness to Muslims, I do get the feeling such a change has been driven by the councils (desperate to show off their craven PC multiculti credentials) rather than by any genuine groundswell of Muslim support. But it all seems to be one-way traffic - integration in reverse.
Perhaps we all have a duty to stand up to this by dressing like this guy when we go swimming:
Is nice? Borat: clearly doesn't go swimming in CroydonOn the same page of the ST, you cannot read from the Bible in the street these days (at least not in Manchester) because to do so is "racist and homophobic". Whereas the Koran is model of progressive liberalism of course...but I doubt the police would be arresting those guys. Remember this?
Nice friendly chaps from Luton
Friday, 14 August 2009
Good for Jim Fitzpatrick!
Given that I've declared myself as a Tory, it perhaps seems a bit odd that I'm going to devote my first blog post proper to praising a Labour MP. But I am!
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/religion/6023519/Jim-Fitzpatrick-Government-minister-condemns-traditional-Muslim-wedding.html
Jim Fitzpatrick, Lab MP for Poplar and Canning Town, walked out of a Muslim wedding of a constituent yesterday because he discovered that he and his wife would have to sit in separate rooms at the wedding.
He might have been a bit pro-speed cameras when he was at Transport, and he became "Mr Post Office Closure", but he touches a nerve with this remark:
"The segregation of men and women never used to be a strong feature...only recently has this strict line been taken".
In other words, as time passes, the interpretation of Islam adopted in the UK has become more extreme. So much for integration then.
About five years ago, there was this furore about the need for "Muslim finance" at our banks. The argument went something along the lines of "Islam prohibits the lending of money for interest, and so we need some new projects". Many banks now offer so-called "Islamic mortgages" to cater for this market.
But there have been large numbers of Muslims living in Britain since the 1970s. Did they not have mortgages? Sure, some may have rented, some may have been wealthy enough to buy outright...but are we really to believe that there was not a single Muslim with an ordinary mortgage from a mainstream UK bank?
I don't buy it. This is an attempt to push a radical agenda, and the more craven the British state becomes, the more the agenda is pushed. It's integration in reverse.
Jim Fitzpatrick has at least made a small stand against this.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/religion/6023519/Jim-Fitzpatrick-Government-minister-condemns-traditional-Muslim-wedding.html
Jim Fitzpatrick, Lab MP for Poplar and Canning Town, walked out of a Muslim wedding of a constituent yesterday because he discovered that he and his wife would have to sit in separate rooms at the wedding.
He might have been a bit pro-speed cameras when he was at Transport, and he became "Mr Post Office Closure", but he touches a nerve with this remark:
"The segregation of men and women never used to be a strong feature...only recently has this strict line been taken".
In other words, as time passes, the interpretation of Islam adopted in the UK has become more extreme. So much for integration then.
About five years ago, there was this furore about the need for "Muslim finance" at our banks. The argument went something along the lines of "Islam prohibits the lending of money for interest, and so we need some new projects". Many banks now offer so-called "Islamic mortgages" to cater for this market.
But there have been large numbers of Muslims living in Britain since the 1970s. Did they not have mortgages? Sure, some may have rented, some may have been wealthy enough to buy outright...but are we really to believe that there was not a single Muslim with an ordinary mortgage from a mainstream UK bank?
I don't buy it. This is an attempt to push a radical agenda, and the more craven the British state becomes, the more the agenda is pushed. It's integration in reverse.
Jim Fitzpatrick has at least made a small stand against this.
Welcome!
Welcome to my blog!
This is a blog by a Conservative Party member from the Midlands... I'm hoping to focus on liberal hypocrisy, consider what's wrong with our country and how we can fix it, and have the occasional rant about whatever's caught my eye!
I consider myself to be towards the Right of the Conservative Party (hence the name!) - I'm a Thatcherite economically, quite socially conservative and I'm a Telegraph man to the core! I've got no time for genuine discrimination but I fear that the "discrimination industry" is a far cry from the noble words of Martin Luther King.
I'll also focus on Scottish issues from time to time as this is where I hail from originally. Hopefully I will blog about more than politics as well.
I want to remain anonymous... I'm not "famous" (this isn't Michael Gove's blog!) but don't want to say who I am at the moment. Hope this doesn't detract from my blog posts too much!!
This is a blog by a Conservative Party member from the Midlands... I'm hoping to focus on liberal hypocrisy, consider what's wrong with our country and how we can fix it, and have the occasional rant about whatever's caught my eye!
I consider myself to be towards the Right of the Conservative Party (hence the name!) - I'm a Thatcherite economically, quite socially conservative and I'm a Telegraph man to the core! I've got no time for genuine discrimination but I fear that the "discrimination industry" is a far cry from the noble words of Martin Luther King.
I'll also focus on Scottish issues from time to time as this is where I hail from originally. Hopefully I will blog about more than politics as well.
I want to remain anonymous... I'm not "famous" (this isn't Michael Gove's blog!) but don't want to say who I am at the moment. Hope this doesn't detract from my blog posts too much!!
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