1. John Prescott ain't gonna hold up the white flag any time soon. He gets blogging in a way few of his colleagues do. This is a brilliant blogpost (i you ignore the list of 50 Labour achievements).
2. Labour Peer Lord Harris tells how he foiled a Sunday Times attempt at entrapment.
3. PR & Social Media blog asks if blogging is right for business?
4. Guido has proof of Gordon's boom and bust.
5. Some of Tom Harris's best friends are gay.
6. Dave's Part is being taken to the High Court by former Respect member turned Tory Johanna Kaschke, the woman who is also suing Alex Hilton.
7. Dan Hannan explains why he will continue to be a merchant of doom.
8. Lobbydog tells how Ken Clarke beasted a Minister.
9. The Blue Blog's Craig Elder looks at some important changes to Wikipedia.
10. Party Lines learns how not to launch a consultation.
11. John Redwood asks "Anyone for the Euro?"
12. Sir Graham Bright for the House of Lords, suggests ConHome.
17 comments:
From JP's blog...
"there are tens of thousands of people in this party who will fight with every last ounce of the breath to make sure the Red Flag flies high and proud over Britain."
Ignoring the unedifying proposition of the 'Red Flag flying high', I am at a loss as to understand the concept of breath being measured in ounces, or exactly how many LAST ounces of it one might have (I'd have assumed only one, but I'm not a doctor).
If he's the best they've got...
Prescott --- Huh?
Provided we ignore the principal 75% of his blog?
Provided we laugh at his weak joke about the arts?
Provided we ignore his whining about a Blairite realising that Labour are shite?
Yes provided we ignore all that then yes - 'what did the Romans do for us'?
It would be nice if Prescott hadn't copy-pasted that "list of achievements" from the Labour web site - half of it's out of date now - employment at an all-time high indeed!!!
9. Employment is at its highest level ever
Think that's out of date!
29. A million pensioners lifted out of relative poverty
30. 800,000 children lifted out of relative poverty
Given Labour's mishandling of the economy these two will soon be out of date as well. Gas Prices and food prices have not fallen yet! Those of us tossed out of Work due to Labour's Boom and Bust know that most of your dole goes on energy and water bills. Gordon helping us = LoL
JP's comment "How anyone can get pleasure from seeing animals been torn apart is beyond me." - I don't know i rather enjoy watching Cameron tearing Gordon Brown apart every week by proxy for those suffering from Labours economic incomptence.
Labour Labour Labour - Out Out Out!
Another cracker from JP "As it happens, I've got four foxes in my back garden and they don't bother me one bit. So at least I've got four votes in the bag at the next election!"
Might you get Postal Ballots for them JP? LoL!!! (I am of course joking!).
JP is brilliant - just brilliant. He's genuine - it shows in his blogging. You don't have to agree with his views but all credit to him for having a go. His conversational style is perfect for blogging.
But there's little doubt that Gordon Brown will lose Labour the next general election.
Yes, Prezza is amusing and an interesting character!
I would just have thought Parliament is a better forum for his views!
A passing thought! John Prescott on have i got news for you = LoL!
I'm more than sure JP's blog will annoy me because of what it is and the side of the spectrum he is on, but! then that is to be expected isn't it? I also think however if he is able to keep he keeps taking his current baby steps he may produce a Labour orientated blog, other than Tom Harris's one, thats worth reading!
Seeing that JP is now a Cyber Warrior I thought of Fisking him on his 50 points. Actually was looking forward to it, as well as ducking any punches he may try land on me.
Only to discover that to post on his go forth and multiply website you have to register and commit to fight for a Labour fourth term.
Sod that.
Does it take you over 2 hours to get home at night, Iain? We know the transport system in this country is crap, but that's pushing it a bit. ;-)
Have sent this to John Prescott's site, but it might not get past the moderation. He needs a fisking of his Labour "achievements".
1. "sustained low inflation" Wrong. Low CPI and fairly low RPI, but the supply of money was increasing drastically, that is true inflation. Also reducing prices for Chinese consumer goods. All essentials apart from clothing going through the roof.
2. "Low mortgage rates" Hence the housing bubble. Now most people just can't get a mortgage.
3. "Minimum Wage" Nice way to reduce employment. Government should stay out of contracts as far as possible.
4. "Record police numbers" filling in record numbers of forms, doing less useful work
5. "Cut overall crime by 35 per cent" By dubious statistical methods, in a time when crime was naturally falling due to the economy
6. "Record levels of literacy and numeracy". A straight lie, unless you redefine literacy and numeracy.
7. "Best-ever primary school results" by dropping standards
8. "Funding for every pupil in England to double by 2008" with nothing to show for it. A terrible thing to admit, not a boast.
9. "Employment went to its highest level ever" by the government spending other people's money and borrowing against future wealth, and by loose fiscal policy. Unfortunately all the jobs went to immigrants, so the number not working is also a record.
10. "Written off up to 100 per cent of debt owed by poorest countries" so encouraging political practices that will condemn those countries to years more poverty. A terrible idea.
11. 12. and 13."85,000 more nurses, 32,000 more doctors, Brought back matrons" yet still no improvement in experience of the NHS, still thousands die of preventable infections.
14. & 15. "Devolved power to the Scottish Parliament, Devolved power to Welsh Assembly" increasing teh democratic unbalance, and making the 85% of UK citizens in England second-class citizens. An attempt to gerrymander.
16. "Dads now get paternity leave of 2 weeks for the first time" so? They could have had leave. Everyone has a right to 4 weeks leave a year. Why should someone get more by procreating?
17. "NHS Direct offering free convenient patient advice" The only experience I have of this is awful, and very frustrating for a rather unwell friend.
18. "Gift aid was worth £625 million to charities last year" that's not a Labour boast. That is the generous people of the UK.
19. "Restored city-wide government to London" and allowed corruption in its heart. Another attempt at gerrymandering. How come England has no government?
20. "Record number of students in higher education" doing underwater basket weaving degrees, record numbers dropping out and no jobs for graduates mean the government now wants to bail them out. We don't need more graduates.
21. "Child benefit up 25 per cent since 1997". So why is my money being given to someone else just because they have decided to reproduce?
22. "Created Sure Start to help children from low income households" all the while reducing the prospects of such children to the worst they have had in decades
23. "Introduced the Disability Rights Commission" another quango. More unelected "rights" mobs.
24. "£200 winter fuel payment to pensioners & extra £100 for over-80s" yet you opposed gas and electricity privatisation, which both drastically cut the price of energy. If you hadn't decimated pensions and savings then old people would be better off anyway.
25. "On course to exceed Kyoto target" So? For one that is only because manufacturing has moved to other countries, now using energy on our behalf. For another Kyoto is irrelevant. It is based on junk science. Climate change happens. Humans didn't start it, there is nothing we can do to stop it.
26. "Negotiated the historic Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland" due to the Conservatives having actually won the war, agains the wishes of some of your followers. You then gave a lot away so we now have terrorists and murederers in the NI Assembly. Nice.
27. "Over 30,000 more teachers in England schools" and worse education. Numbers are not everthing.
28. "All workers now have a right to 4 weeks’ paid holiday". That's EU law. It is also an undue interference with agreements between employers and employees. As a manager, that right is moot, because it would be impossible for me take that much. When self employed it was also moot, I didn't want to take it as I wouldn't earn.
29. & 30. "A million pensioners lifted out of relative poverty, 800,000 children lifted out of relative poverty" meaningless. You also put a million pensioners into relative poverty. It all depends on teh definition of "relative poverty", which is arbitary.
31. "Introduced child tax credit giving more money to parents". Yes, more of my money. You took my money and gave it to someone else, with the threat of force if i did not. That is called robbery elsewhere. You have no good reason to do so. If people choose to have children they can look after them themselves.
32. "Scrapped Section 28 and introduced Civil Partnerships" I'll give you civil partnerships. Clause 28 was pure identity politics, and irrelevant at best.
33. "Brought over 1 million social homes up to standard" don't know about this, can't comment.
34. "Free school milk for five, six and seven-year-olds in Wales" so increasing inequality in the UK.
35. "Banned fox hunting" a nasty, class attack, wiht no basis in rational reasoning, science or real animal welfare. However it has rejuvinated hunting, and will be easy to repeal, so I'll give you that.
36. "Cleanest rivers, beaches, drinking water and air since the industrial revolution" continuing a trend from well before you had anyhting to do with it. You can't take credit for that!
37. "Free TV licences for over-75s" and damned expensive ones for everyone else, to pay for pro-Labour propaganda
38. "Banned fur farming and the testing of cosmetics on animals" in this country. Actually that harms animal welfare, as we had high standards, but you never let that get in the way of politics did you? Why not ban products that have been tested on animals after a certain date from sale? Why not regulate and improve fur farming?
39. "Waiting times for operations halved" but you have to wait before you get on the waiting list.
40. Will give you the free bus travel.
41. "New Deal - helped over a million people into work" briefly, except for those that would have found work anyway and those working in the New Deal office.
42. "Over 1.5 million child trust funds have been started" with more of my money given away for no aparent reason, except to buy you votes.
43. "Free eye test for over 60s" even if they are rich. Already had them if needed.
44. "Five, six and seven year olds in class sizes of 30 or less" like when I was a child. Only we got taught well, appropriately to our age and were not obsessively monitored and tested by bureaucracy, which was more important than class sizes.
45. Will give you the free entry to museums and galleries
46. "Overseas aid budget more than doubled" and very poorly-targetted, with money going to India and China as well as Middle-Eastern terrorists
47. "Cancer death rates down by 12 per cent, saving 43,000 lives" due primarily to improved medical science. Improvements have been quicker in the rest of Western Europe.
48. "Cut long-term youth unemployment by 75 per cent" because they have signed off the dole, or gone on incapacity benefit. They haven't actually got jobs.
49. "Free nursery places for three and four-year-olds in England, Scotland and Wales" more of my money spent on other people for no obvious reason.
50. "Free fruit for all four to six-year-olds at school" not bad, but my parents could afford fruit, because taxes were lower and they thought fruit was important. Why should I pay for kids of people who think cigarettes and Sky TV (neither of which could I afford even if I wanted them) are important?
So, it's civil union (or am I biased because I really enjoyed the one I went to?), free TV licence and bus travel for old folk, I'll give you improvement to the stock of social housing on benefit of the doubt and finally fruit for children. the ones that have got a lot fatter. Not realy a great record in nearly 12 years is it?
Set that against
1. Taxes rising every year in office, leding in one year to a drop in average take-home pay.
2. 3000+ new criminal offences
3. Economy in freefall, with Britain especially weak. This is proved by the drop in the pound.
4. Crisis in the armed forces due to under funding and overstretch
5. University entrants' poor educational standards, which lead to dreastic measures by many universities, including adding a whole year to degree courses. These people are to take the country forward,a dn they can barely write, have no historical perspective and often barely know their own subjects.
6. Police have lost the respect of the people they need to work with, those that obey the law through most of their life.
7. Obsessive surveillance of people, leading to data loss and snooping by people who have no business.
8. Loss of historic rights, property rights, rights to secure homes, right to go about our business without interference.
9. Destruction of the constitution, and corruption leading to abuse of power in government.
10. 3 million out of work (adding the increase in incapacity figures, assuming people haven't suddenly got more ill, over 1997's to the dole figures) at the start of the downturn. Labour used to complain about that in the most difficult times, even in the early 80s when they had caused it.
11. The rise in power of unaccountable quangos
12. Lies and news management taking the place of accountability in government
The list goes on, but it is clear that the last 12 years have had far more negative impact on Britain than positive. Labout is, as always, a failure.
Prezza is just trying to defend the indefensible!
Isn't it hilarious that he writes EXACTLY as he talks? Most people's style differs slightly when writing but he sounds as if he is dictating - is he???
This just cannot be right and cannot be allowed to stand.
Social workers in Edinburgh have decided to place a brother and sister for adoption with a gay couple of men despite the little girl being wary of men, and against the wishes of their grandparents, who have been deemed too old to care for them, and have also beenthreatened with never being allowed to seetheir grandchildren again if they dare to object.
The lunatics are in charge of the asylum!
Now, if there's any right minded people in Edinburgh, write, email, phone, shout - go and tell your local authority responsible for this social services department that this is completely wrong and unacceptable. You have the power - use it.
The Penguin
"I deplore hunting and the culture that surrounds around it."
Yeah, truly the work of an authentiic genius.
He should be minced into Donner kebaps for the vans touring his social housing estates.
Richard,
To JP's credit, he has posted your excellent fisk in full. You said what I was hinting at, but much more fully. He also posted mine, even tho I ended up saying his blog title was 2 words short - "and multiply".
Alan Douglas
John Redwood asks "Anyone for the Euro?"
Yes, absolutely.
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