In order to fund wars, the Labour Party is ready and willing to sacrifice the elderly and the disabled

 

The Labour government that started in July 2024 started what was presumed to be a period of austerity, but soon after elections in which the Reform Party won 10 out of 16 local authorities the tune changed. More than 10 billion Pound for Mauritious, an undefined amount of money for Volodomir Zelensky, the promise to buil 6 ammunition factories, to build 12 nuclear submarines, to acquire jets capable of launching nuclear weapons and the list goes on. 

Nor the British Prime Minister, or the Chancellor of the Exchequer, or any other member of the Cabinent has been willing to tell the British people where the money is going to come from.

Where is the money coming from? A new term has been coined. Following QE Quantitative Easing, now comes QT Quantitative Tightening. The Bank of England is selling expensive bonds of public debt for lower prices and the Treasury has promised to cover the losses of the Bank of England. So monies that could have been used to finance better living standards. So, not enough money for disabled people, no money for schools, no money for the health service that the Labour Party has classified as "a wasteful NHS". 

Tomorrow´s decision in Parliament is very much linked to so called QT. We do not know what is going behind close doors, but we do know the Electorate´s reaction. Both Labour and Conservatives were massacred in the polling stations during the 2025 elections and 2026 could be an even more disastrous defeat for both Labour and Conservative.

Business activity in the United Kingdom has gone down 40% and there is a list of food chains closing branches across the country, as the number of cases of shoplifting goes up steadily. More taxes? More borrowing?

Are monies going where voters want monies to go?

 

What we call Democracy are merely a collection of blank cheques to be used in many ways other than the ways voters want their monies to be used.

In every election, voters are asked to support a given candidate and/or political party and many attend polling stations or use other ways of voting to make a choice. But what choice are they really making? Apart from marking their ballots, what choices are they really making?

In actual fact, they are just giving away their decision making powers to individuals that they hardly know or that they hardly ever meet for the said individuals to do as they please. They are given away the entitlement to make decisions. They are giving away their rights.

Democracy is based on illusions. Democracy is a mirage. Democracy is fiction. And the consequences of maintaining fiction can be and usually have been  catastrophic, because all voters can do is to vote down a political party to replace it with yet another ilusion months or years later. We lie to ourselves pretending that things will be better if so or so gets elected.

Elections are about how monies are used and when it comes to how monies are going to be used we have no choice whatsoever. We have got no choice in terms of where the monies are going to be coming from or how monies are going to be spent. Decisions about where the monies are going to be coming from are arbitrary and decisions about where the monies are going to go are equally arbitrary.

What we call Peace is in actual fact an ongoing War in which those who have little bargaining power are bound to lose.

This is why voters should be able to keep in their pockets as much of their monies as possible and be able to make their own personal decisions. The numbers of those in employment are debatable as they don't tell us the truth about subemploment, the kind of employment leading to even greater poverty. If in spite of working long hours you don't get enough to have decent life then you are not employed and you are actually a slave. This is Modern Slavery. If we were to discriminate between those who earn enough and those who do not earn enough then the numbers of those in real employment would be much lower.  

German Coalition: Vote of Confidence due to take place in January will actually take place on December 16th 2024

 

The days of Olaf Scholz as German Chancellor could be numbered. 

The vote originally planned for January 2025 is due to take place on December 16th, 2024 and the Federal Election will actually take place in February.

This can change quite a lot in German politics at a time when urgent measures are needed to sort out German economics.

Germany was remarklably absent from a top meeting about the Environment. The German government has more pressing concerns when the Green Party barely has a calculated 10 per cent support across Germany and in three state elections only managed to get 7 representatives elected out of 120 in Saxony and none in Thuringen and none in Brandenburg.

As part of a deal to get a coalition together, hawkish Annalena Baerbock got chosen as Minister for Foreign Affairs. The fact that she could be on her way out within weeks would be a step forward towards peace in Europe.But the outcome of the Federal Election will tell the story and possibly write a new script.

The outsted Finance Minister Christian Lindner wanted to stop sending money to Ukraine by sending Taurus missiles instead. To have a member of FDP, a Junior member of the coalition, dictating foreign policy would have been a serious error of judgment. Olaf Scholz was asking to change rules to allow more borrowing. Christian Lindner refused to change the rules abour borrowing and decided to blackmail the German Chancellor to force him to adopt an idea he is very much against because of the dangerous implications of having Germany as the initiator of a European-wide conflict. FDP has no foot to stand on.

But money is in short supply and recent announcements about major German industrial players talking about factory closures and lays offs does not help. Energy and migration are bound to become even more important subjects. Increasing the Defense Budget? Where are the monies going to come from? NATO quotas could simply be unreachable. Listening to individuals like Ursula von der Layen or Emmanuel Macron might make somebody think that there are resources aplenty. Well, no. France is running huge deficits and Germany faces borrowing limitations. Any monies sent Eastwards come from borrowing. Will Germany and France - like Britain - go for tax rises? What effect would tax rises produce when unemployment is rising? What political effects will rising unemployment produce?

 

Wednesday, October 30th, 2024 - Budget Day

 

This is personal, stated the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves. She refers to realities of the 1980s and 1990s. The Chancellor's efforts to gather capital will drag hundreds of thousands more people into paying tax and even more into higher rates as their pay rises, indicates none other than The Guardian.

Could a personal crusade turn into a nightmare? Changing fiscal rules to disguise debt making it appear as something else does not change the fact that it will still be borrowing. So more taxes and more borrowing that will be increased for public interest, according to the Chancellor.

Ordinary folk and many business were badly hit by the Covid Pandemic and the measures implemented to deal with the Covid Pandemic. After that, people and many business were hit by the energy crise generated by the conflict in Ukraine and the measures adopted against the Russian Federation. 

Now, they stand to be hit again by taxation and potentially higher prices of utilities, housing and daily shopping.

But the Chancellor of the Exchequer still says that she will implement the budget in a way that she will 'protect the living standards of working people'. 

Well, in an interview made in Washington, USA, Rachel Reeves - perhaps inadvertently - made promises that she will have to deliver. If she does not deliver and if the measures implemented by the Labour government become a de facto nightmare, then this will create a widely open door for another Conservative government.

Starting on Wednesday, October 30th, 2024, the government will have to deliver and with every failure, and every new crise, there will be many by-elections along the way in which people will express their discontent.

She talks about building schools and hospitals. Well, what will she do about nurses salaries that are not enough to rent a one bedroom flat? If living costs keep rising, this will be a de facto devaluation of salaries and a worsening of living standards. Before she goes around building schools and hospitals, she will have to look carefully at salaries actually paid to teachers and NHS staff. 

Even with the triple lock, state pensions are not enough to rent a one bedroom flat. State pensions are totally insufficient. Taxing state pensions and private pensions can only worsen an already bad situation. And this is going to do nothing to 'protect living standards'.  

Six Conservative Candidates to become Leader of His Majesty's Opposition

 

Six candidates to become Leader of His Majesty's Opposition. This week, it is expected that two of them will be voted out in ballots in which only Conservative MPs will vote.

Mel Stride, Priti Patel, Robert Jenrick, James Cleverly, Tom Tugendhat, and Kemi Badenock are the six hopeful candidates.

With the Labour Party moving towards the right for internal reasons, Reform will be the bone of contention for the Conservative Party.

Question 1 - What do they stand for?

Question 2 - What do party members want?

Ultimately, whoever the last two contenders will be, party members will have to chose. What is the mood in the Conservative Party? Will the party want to go left in order to place itself in the mythical centre? Will the party have to go right to counter Reform?

With the horrendous experience of a similar leadership contest, who will be the chosen one and how long will the chosen one last?

The first year of the Labour governement will be a test for the Labour government and for His Majesty's Opposition. If the Labour government falters, then there has to be somebody who is killed enough to capitalize on Labour's mistakes. But it has to be also somebody skilled enough to prevent any additional casualties. There were casualties before the General Election and there were casualties after the election with several Conservative candidates being pushed aside because of the rising support for Reform.

If Conservative MPs decide to go awol and join other parties, including Reform, this could sink the Conservative Party in favour of Reform or other political parties. There is hope that 2026 could produce better news for the Conservative Party. Is that hope justified?

The first test will be the coming budget to be presented by the Labour government. If because of tax changes the Labour government's plan goes South, then the chances of doing better in local and regional elections will rise. Having said that, party unity will be a critical factor.

 

Birmingham and Slough are clear examples of how unfit the Labour Party is for government.

Slough bankrupt. Birmingham bankrupt. Liverpool under special measures. This is what the Labour Party has done in government. Corruption, mismanagement, misuse of public funds, and unpayable taxes including Council Tax and now with the addition of ULEZ and parking permits. 

Keir Starmer and the Labour Party Cabinet can claim that they have solutions that they clearly do not have. When asked on the streets, the inhabitants of Birmingham are talking about leaving Birmingham and such is the level of disarray.

As if this wasn't enough, extraordinarily high number of migrants including illegal migrants, are loading local authorities, regional authorities and government with spiralling levels of indebtedness. People who arrive in the country without any documentation and without even knowing the language of the country and practically no skills are occupring local facilities and turning local communities into a living hell. 

Local inhabitants are taking to the streets but those who are supposed to represent them are not listening. Based on ideological stances, elected representatives care more about illegal migrants than they care about those who got them elected.  

London Assembly Selection Process: Strong candidate, weak candidate, paper candidate?

 

Next year, the election of the Mayor of London will happen with a new electoral system. The system of first and second preferences has been abandoned and it will be run with a first past the post system. Whoever has most votes will win.

The election of Assembly Members will continue to be run with two systems: one for London Constituencies and another for the London Wide List - still giving other political parties other than the major parties the opportunity to have representatives elected.

During the selection process, due to the present situation in the Conservative Party, it has been reported that the pool of candidates has been limited due to the struggle of allegiances and that it has not been possible to include on the short-list strong gunners for Mayoral Candidate, but merely candidates with very limited public profile and some with no political experience. Some were left with the impression that the war of allegiances has left the Conservative Party without somebody that could really challenge Sadiq Khan. Will something similar happened when it comes to select constituency candidates and londo-wide list candidates?

What happened in these year local elections, could happen again next year in the London Elections. On top of two by-elections caused by political disagreements, we have to add by-elections caused by sexual misconduct.

 

Local elections and by-elections with the feel of a General Election

In another time, it would only about local elections and by-elections. Apart from the fact that London has always been a focal point, this looks like a referendum that directly affects the standing of the Prime Minister and of the British government as a whole.

The scene for the local elections is already ongoing with selection processes of candidates in full swing. You have a chance to do a bit of sightseeing travelling to places where by-elections are due to take place.

What happened to Ukraine. Well, a lot has been said and done and there is mass media fatigue. After seeing a few buildings destroyed and images of refugees, all destroyed buildings and images of refugees start to look exactly the same. People want to talk about something else. Even the debates about Phillip Schofield and Prince Harry's adventures can become tedious. What else is there to be said that hasn't been said before? Like the falls of President Biden, after a while things become a bit boring.

Now, minds are focused on politics. Time for walking and talking before voting or not voting. 

  

Labour Party talks about honesty? Let's look at the percentages

 Prime Minister Boris Johnson was first elected with more than 50% of support and now has got more than 60% of support. The Labour Party says that Boris Johnson should resign because of lack of support. Well, let's look at the numbers. With what percentage did Keir Starmer get elected Labour Party Leader?

Since the Labour Party says that more than 60 per cent is not enought to be leader of the Conservative Party, should Keir Starmer resign as leader of the Labour Party? Look at the numbers. Keir Starmer got 41.5%.

There was a time when the BBC used to provide accurate information. Not anymore and for a very long time the BBC has failed to do due diligence. If the BBC had done its homework, it would have discovered that existing data is against the argument used by the Opposition and would have avoided the usual distortion in its new broadcasting output that has degraded the BBC. Bias is one thing. Sheer stupidity is quite another.

Conservative Party is being defeated by demographics

Whether this is accepted or not, the fact remains that demographic changes are changing the political map of England and in particular of London. There are swades of people that might abstain from voting Labour, but would certainly not support the Conservative Party. During the recent local elections in London, there were block votes and mixed votes. Block votes is when all votes on the ballot paper are for a single party. A mixed vote is when on the ballot paper votes are for different political parties. 

After recent changes in terms of the number of wards and of the candidates that could be chosen to represent each ward, it became apparent that people in general could support Labour and Greens or Lid Dems on the same ballot, but very few could bring themselves to choose a mixed vote that included Conservatives. Another option, for many voters who did not want to vote Labour was simply to abstain in a sort of protest vote.

In Conservative ranks there is the view that 'Westminster is poisonous'. This means that events happening at national level are somehow putting off Conservative voters and anybody else who in theory would be willing to support Conservative candidates.

The race card and the socio-economic card play a huge part in local elections in London. The Conservative Party managed to lose the only Councillor it had in Clapham, Lambeth. Members of ethnic minorities would not support the Conservative Party. I have chosen the label 'ethnic minorities' when in fact so called ethnic minorities have become majorities in several London boroughs.

London politics is tribal and tribalism is very much undermining democracy when people vote along racial lines driven by misconceptions about what candidates actually represent. One can understand why Labour demonises candidates of other political parties as a way to keep itself in power, but this undermines relationships between communities. If politics is dominated by ghetto mentalities, and ideas about 'us and the others', peaceful coexistence cannot be promoted.

Keir Starmer: Captain, what are your orders?

Keir Starmer: Does the Captain of the ship know what he wants to do?

After the May elections, it was not all defeat for the Labour Party. Andy Burham won again as Mayor of Manchester and there were other successes at Mayoral Level. In Wales, once again, Labour came up victorious. 

What has become self-evident is that the Labour Party won certain elections in spite of Keir Starmer's term as Labour Party Leader and not because of Keir Starmer Leadership.

Both friends and foes keep asking: what that the Labour Party actually stand for? Now, Keir Starmer has come up with one word: Modernisation. He says that the Labour Party needs to be modernised to win elections.

 What does 'modernisation' mean in this particular case? Can he be more specific?

The most important issue is to define what exactly the Labour Party stands for under his leadership. He is the captain of the ship. The shadow cabinet is his team of officers onboard and the grassroots are his sailors. Do the officers know what the captain wants them to do? Do the sailors know what the captain expects them to do? Where is the ship heading to?

Right after the election, the main complaint was that the party doesn't know what it stands for, that the grassroots don't know what the party stands for and that voters don't have a clue about what the party stands for. Many Labour supporters couldn't bring themselves to vote for anybody else and stayed home in despair. The role of the captain is to lead and this is exactly what Keir Starmer is not doing.

How many hours did the Shadow Cabinet spend criticizing the government? How many hours did the Shadow Cabinet actually spend talking about specific and detailed policies? He came up presumably to get rid of anti-Semitism in the Labour Party. Is that all he has to offer?

Being an experienced lawman, an experienced barrister, does not make you a political leader. Keir Starmer has a one in a lifetime opportunity to make a difference. The obvious question would be: Does Keir Starmer know what he wants to do with the Labour Party?

In 1972, Robert Redford starred in the movie The Candidate. The son of a former Senator got himself elected Senator. On the day when his victory is confirmed, his agent finds him in his bedroom in a state of anxiety and fear. Instead of rejoicing because of his electoral victory, he is absolutely desperate and asks his agent 'What do I do next?' and begs for help because he doesn't know what to do.

Keir Starmer is a good and honest man. He is an experienced lawman. He expresses his opinions openly, but this does not necessarily make him a good political leader. Jeremy Corbyn is a conviction politician, somebody that trully believes what he is saying, but not necessarily a good political leader either.

The rules of the Labour Party dictate that to be a Labour Party Leader you must be a Member of Parliament. This would not allow Andy Burnham to stand for Labour Party Leader. Because of his role as Mayor of Manchester, Andy Burnham was very comfortably re-elected a few days ago. Every leadership change can be traumatic and there are still open wounds caused by the manner of the departure of the previous leader. The Labour Party is now more factional than ever before. The next General Election is due to take place in 2024. There was a reshuffle when Jeremy Corbyn was deposed and there has been yet another reshuffle after the May 2021 Elections. People are going to keep asking: what does the Labour Party stand for? Captain Starmer, what are your orders? 

 

London Assembly Elections 2021 - Record number of candidates and of political parties

 Record London-wide Assembly Member list

Official list of London Assembly List parties/candidates for 2021 elections

 

A total of 18 political parties and 171  candidates are standing to win the 11 London-wide London Assembly seats for the next three years.  In 2016, 12 political parties stood.

 

• A list of parties and independent candidates standing for the 11 London-wide Members of the London Assembly contest is below.
• The 14 Constituency Returning Officers will each publish their lists of Constituency candidates
• The complete list of all Mayoral and London Assembly candidates is published together on the London Elects website.

 The full list of parties standing in the London-wide contest are as follows:

• Animal Welfare Party
• Christian Peoples Alliance                                  
• Communist Party of Britain                               
• Conservatives                            
• Green Party                                                           
• Heritage Party
• Labour Party                              
• Let London Live                                       
• Liberal Democrats                    
• Londependence                                                                               
• London Real Party                                                             
• National Liberal Party                                                     
• ReformUK
• Rejoin EU                                                                             
• Social Democratic Party                                                                               
• Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition                                                      
• UKIP                                                                         
• Women's Equality Party

 

Voters will receive three ballot papers when they go to vote: one for the Mayor, one for the London-wide Assembly Members and one for the Constituency Assembly Members.  

 

18 political parties are standing to win the 11 London-wide London Assembly seats.

 

Fourteen London Assembly Members are also elected to represent London’s 14 Assembly Constituencies.  There are 78 Constituency candidates – so 249 London Assembly candidates in total.

 

Nominations for the Mayor of London and London Assembly elections closed at 4pm on Tuesday 30 March. The Greater London Returning Officer is required by law to publish the list by 4pm on Thursday 1 April.

 

London Elects will send an information booklet to each of London’s 6 million registered voters. This will begin arriving in letterboxes from next week and includes a ‘mini manifesto’ from 17 of the Mayoral candidates, the full list of Assembly candidates and information about how to vote. 

 Important dates:  These dates apply to both the Mayor and the London Assembly.

 

Polling station voting:                    Thursday 6 May (polling stations open from 7am to 10pm)

Count commences:                         Friday 7 May (9am) and continues Saturday 8 May (8am)

 

If you are registered to vote, you should have received your poll card already.

 

The last day to register to vote in the Mayor of London and London Assembly elections is 19 April 2021.

 

To vote by post, electors need to register as a postal voter by 5pm Tuesday 20^th April.

 

For more information, please contact the London Elects media office.

 

London Elects Head of Media:

 

Alison Bell - 07887 832 918 or 020 7983 4228 – City Hall

media@londonelects.org.uk

 

www.londonelects.org.uk   

Follow us on Twitter @londonelects

Record number of Candidates standing in the Elections for Mayor of London

Official List of Mayor of London Candidates for 2021 Elections

Since due to the situation generated by the Covid-19 pandemic the Elections due to take place last year were suspended, the candidates will be standing for office of Mayor of London for the next three years.

We have been informed that the full list of candidates for London-wide Assembly Members elected by proportional representation will be announced by London Elects.

The full list of Constituency Assembly Members elected by the system First-Past-the-Post will be announced by each relevant Constituency Returning Officers.

The complete list of all Maytor and London Assembly candidates will be published together on the London Elects website as soon as they are all available.

The following list indicates the order in which the names of the candidates will be printed on ballot papers including their chosen party or independent description. 

BAILEY Shaun                              Conservative Party Candidate

BALAYEV Kam                             Renew

BERRY Sian                                  Green Party

BINFACE Count                           Count Binface for Mayor of London

BROWN Valerie                          The Burning Pink Party

CORBYN Piers                             Let London Live

FOSH Max                                    Independent

FOX Laurence                             The Reclaim Party

GAMMONS Peter                      UKIP

HEWISON Richard                     Rejoin EU

HUDSON Vanessa                      Animal Welfare Party – People, Animals, Environment

KELLEHER Steve                         Social Democratic Party

KHAN Sadiq                                 Labour Party

KURTEN David                            Heritage Party

LONDON Farah                           Independent

OBUNGE Nims                            Independent  

OMILANA Niko                           Independent

PORRITT Luisa                             Liberal Democrats

REID Mandu                                Vote Women’s Equality Party on orange

ROSE Brian                                  London Real Party

 

Greater London Returning Officer, Mary Harpley, said:

“The Mayor and the London Assembly hold important and powerful roles. The winning Mayoral candidate will be responsible for issues that affect every Londoner – from transport and policing, to housing and the environment. 2016 saw a then-record number of 12 Mayoral candidates.  This year, there will be 20, the largest number yet.

 

“It’s up to Londoners to make a decision on who will run the capital for the next three years.  Our website www.londonelects.org.uk tells you everything you need to know about these elections and what the Mayor and London Assembly Members are responsible for. Remember also to look out for the booklet coming through your letter box in April.”

 

Voters will receive three ballot papers when they go to vote: one for the Mayor, one for the London-wide Assembly Members and one for the Constituency Assembly Members.

 

A list of parties and independent candidates standing in the London-wide contest will follow. 

 

Fourteen London Assembly Members are also elected to represent London’s 14 Assembly Constituencies.

 

Nominations for the Mayor of London and London Assembly elections closed at 4pm on March 30. The Greater London Returning Officer is required by law to publish the list by 4pm on Thursday April 1.

 

London Elects will send an information booklet to each of London’s 6 million registered voters shortly, with a ‘mini manifesto’ from 17 of the Mayoral candidates, the full list of Assembly candidates and information about how to vote.  To include a mini manifesto in the booklet, candidates were required to pay a £10,000 fee set in law.

Important dates:  These dates apply to both the Mayor and the London Assembly.

Polling station voting:                    Thursday 6 May 2021 (polling stations open from 7am to 10pm)

Count commences:                         Friday 7 May (9am) and continues Saturday 8 May (8am)

If you are registered to vote, you should have received your poll card already.

The last day to register to vote in the Mayor of London and London Assembly elections is 19 April 2021.

To vote by post, electors need to register as a postal voter by 5pm Tuesday the 20^th of April.

For more information, please contact the London Elects media office.

London Elects Head of Media:

Alison Bell - 07887 832 918 or 020 7983 4228 – City Hall

media@londonelects.org.uk

www.londonelects.org.uk   

Follow us on Twitter @londonelects

1. A full list of candidates standing in the Mayoral contest, London-wide contest and each of the 14 constituency contests will be available at https://www.londonelects.org.uk/im-voter/candidates

 

2. Candidate and party descriptions are given as on the nomination forms submitted by candidates. This is how they will appear on the ballot papers (along with party emblems).
3. The election itself will see nearly 3,900 polling stations set up across London on 6th May. The stations will be staffed by more than 12,000 people between 7am and 10pm. Another 2,000 staff will then be on hand to help with the count.

 

4. London Elects is the body responsible – under the direction of the Greater London Returning Officer (GLRO) – for delivering and encouraging participation in the Mayor of London and London Assembly elections.  

2021 - London Assembly Elections Start of official election period and nominations

A year after the London Assembly Elections had to be posponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic and measures put in place to prevent the spread of the virus, London is open for business again and preparations are in full swing for what is going to be a very exciting time for all Londoners. 

From 9:00 o'clock this morning and with 45 days to go until election day on May 6th, London Elect is calling on all voters across London to prepare themselves to vote. Nominations can now be submitted for those wishing to stand for Mayor and the London Assembly. The nomination period will end at 16:00 hours on March 30th 2021. It must be noted that campaign spending will be controlled.

To register to vote, you can visit: gov.uk/register-to-vote

How to vote

• In this election, there are three ballot papers and four votes.
• Two votes for the Assembly elections and a first and second choice for the Mayoral election.
• You must make a first choice, or your vote won’t be counted. Each vote must be for a different candidate.
• Your polling station will be open from 7am until 10pm on election day. 
• Before 6 May, you will receive your polling card through your door. This will include details of your named polling station.
• You can also vote by post. You must apply for a postal vote by 5pm on 20 April 2021. 
• Your ballot papers will be sent to you about a week before Election Day. Mark your votes and return them to arrive before 10pm on 6 May 2021.
• You can also vote by proxy. This is when a person you trust votes for your chosen candidates on your behalf if you are unable to make it to the polling station. If you want a proxy vote, your council must receive your application by 5pm on 27 April 2021. The deadline to apply for a proxy vote as a result of an emergency is 5pm, Thursday 6 May 2021.

 To find out more, visit londonelects.org.uk

 

1. This unique form of local government represents the interests of London and Londoners.

London has one Mayor and 25 Assembly Members. The Mayor of London is responsible for running the city, from policing and housing to environment and transport.

The Assembly keeps a check on the Mayor’s work and investigates issues that matter to Londoners.

2. To find out more, visit: londonelects.org.uk
3. Link to 2016 results

Gordon Brown's Coronation as Labour Prime Minister

Gordon Brown's Coronation as Labour Prime Minister

In 1997, Tony Blair became Prime Minister in a landslide General Election winning a record number of seats in the House of Commons. Behind the curtains, there were several agreements that the general public only became aware of when after an illegal military invasion of Iraq his Prime Ministerial position was becoming untenable and there was the need to think about a replacement. It was said that Gordon Brown was his natural successor, but how natural that succession was. Gordon Brown was crowned Prime Minister by the Labour Party and there were no apparent concerns in the Labour supporting mass media. Now, they seem to be very concerned about the leadership election in the Conservative Party, concerns that they didn't have when Gordon Brown was appointed without people outside the Labour Party having a say.

Folks, this is how the political system works in Britain in all political parties. It is up to each political parties to choose or appoint a leader and if the party in question happens to be power then it is natural and part of the rules that the new Leader becomes Prime Minister. 

The way it operates is based on the principle that people vote for the political party and that the political party chooses its leader. Full stop. 

If Boris Johnson becomes Leader or if Jeremy Hunt becomes Leader then whoever is chosen will be Prime Minister according to the rules.

 

UK Democracy: Real Options or merely private agendas of people we don't know?

Democracy: Real Options or merely private agendas?

After all the hype of weeks or even months of political campaigning, of being bombarded by mass media with all kinds of conflicting messages and half-truths, polling day comes and you head towards the polling station to do your duty and choose from a list of candidates that have been pre-selected for you. Not your real choices. Not that you have any say before, during or after the votes have been counted. You are heading to a polling station to sign a blank cheque. Your are not choosing policies. You are merely voting for a certain individual/individuals that are going to be making their own choices and are going to be paid for making their own choices. We call it Democracy and are constantly told how lucky we are to have somebody making decisions for us.

They say that Referenda are imperfect. What could be more imperfect than putting a piece of paper inside a box without knowing what you are really voting for? And we do this in every single election. We are sold smoke and mirrors and we buy them every time because we have been told that this is Democracy. People vote in elections for a myriad of reasons and do so most of the time without having a clue about the consequences of doing what we are doing. We call this 'the Civilised Way of doing things."

I don't feel represented. Every time there is an election, I have to make a gigantic effort to believe and very often when it comes to selecting candidates I don't believe that I am doing the right thing. In one of the latest elections, I chose one candidate in particular because he was an Independent and did not represent political parties that I have come to profoundly disagree with or even hate. Given the way the system is, I already knew who the winning candidate was going to be and therefore knew that voting for the said Independent candidate was the equivalent of throwing a piece of paper in a waste bin. It was not a vote because of conviction. It was a vote not to vote for what I am against. 

When we read or hear about people being disenfranchised, it is not surprising that more and more people are disenfranchised. The reason the EU Referendum was so successful in terms of numbers of voters was that it was a binary decision about one fundamental issue: To be or not to be Members of the European Union. Many people felt than in spite of the frustrations generated by elections they could really and truly have a say and that it was a one-off opportunity in which their votes would really mean something. 

Henry Bolton: British Mass Media not even remotely interested in substance politics

Henry Bolton: British Mass Media not even remotely interested in substance politics.

As Henry Bolton, UKIPs Leader, prepares himself to make a statement this afternoon at 4:00pm in Folkestone, the British Massi Media - presumed defenders of public freedoms - are only interested in superficial issues and innuendo.

Whether his girlfriend had or hand't racist views is absolutely irrelevant. The girlfriend is now history since they have both parted company. Then was the vote of confidence and the resignation of a deputy and an aide. What has happened from a substantial point of view? Absolutely nothing. There is no discussion about policies whatsoever.

In the meantime Nigel Farage and Arron Banks are reportedly talking about new political developments. Is this news? Not at all. Nigel Farage and Arron Banks have been talking about new political developments for a very long time - in fact since right after the Referendum on the EU. I spoke with Arron Banks about plans during a business event in London a few months ago. Since then there was another leadership election in which Ann Marie Waters was not successful and left UKIP to form another political organisation called For Britain.

Scandals or pseudo scandals are what the mass media specialise on even when there are very important issues - non related to UKIP - that need to be talked about. How what is happening in UKIP right now is relevant in the grand scheme of things? Well, it isn't relevant. In the meantime, political forces are getting ready for local elections in London where Councillors are going to be elected in all London boroughs. This is what we should be talking about but attention is diverted from the main issues to talk about rubbish.

Senator John McCain asks Russians to contribute by supporting his re-election campaign

You couldn't make it up. One of the men that is most vocal in the anti-Russian stance asked Russians to help him finance his re-election campaign. Next, a photo of Senator Schumer with President Vladimir Putin. He couldn't be happier sharing a drink with the Russian President.

Later, both McCain and Schumer launch vitriolic attacks against President Donald Trump.You couldn't make it up. And the Clinton News Network writes the scripts of a political charade.

Les media l'appellent candidat centriste. Mes amis, voici la vérité.

Les media appellent Emmanuel Macron candidat centriste. Mes amis, voici la vérité. Ils sont en train de vous tromper. Le Parti Socialiste a eu 6.36% au premier tour et ils on utilisé Emmanuel Macron, un socialiste déguisé comme centriste, pour pouvoir qualifier pour le seconde tour. Mais une fois qu'ils arrivent au deuxième tour, la stratégie est évident.













Regardez les résultats du premier tour.

François Macron: Marketing, marketing y más marketing

François Macron y Emmanuel Hollande

El truco es muy sencillo. El Partido Socialista probó ser un desastre y terminó en los últimos lugares pero... cuidado... un candidato Socialista que los medios ahora califican de centro aparentemente sale del Partido Socialista pero con el apoyo de Socialistas pasa a la segunda ronda de las elecciones en Francia.

Gran estrategia de marketing. Saca a un Socialista del Partido Socialista y discípulo de François Hollande y lo presenta como candidato de centro para tratar de concentrar los votos de izquierda y de derecha, un candidato que habla muy poco de sus ideas políticas. Cuanto más neutro, mejor, pensaron los que crearon esta maniobra para engañar a los electores franceses.

Como dijera el aristócrata de Il Gattopardo "algo tiene que cambiar para que todo siga igual" y a esto le llamamos Democracia. Los que se dejen engañar por la maniobra se van a golpear la cabeza contra un muro cuando se den cuenta de lo estúpidos que son por haberse dejado engañar.