I've just got back from a very enjoyable dinner with Aberconwy Conservatives at the Maean Abbey hotel. There were about 60 people there, and you can guess what the main topic of conversation was. I made a 20 minute speech but ended up answering questions for another 40. Hopefully the evening raised a good four figure sum for their excellent candidate Guto Bebb to spend on his campaign. This is a real three way marginal between Labour (who hold it at present), Plaid Cymru and the Tories. It's a must win for Guto.Tomorrow I shall be going to the Lloyd George Museum and also visit the great man's grave. Of course nowadays, Lloyd George would be drummed out of politics because of his financial dealings and private life. Something to think about.
15 comments:
Private life is not a problem. Being a thief and a liar would probably be considered less than ideal.
Glad you had a good time. I was in Wales today, too. Visiting the CAT in Mid Wales to celebrate my birthday.
Yeah, and Beethoven would have been aborted. They still haven't forgotten the Tonypandy massacre up there, along with other fantasies. I am bemused that you can enthuse over an evening of warm, flat beer and bad poetry! Obviously future politician material. (I had a Welsh mother-in -law. I hope even the Welsh will forgive me)
Don't worry, Lembit Grope-it upholds the Lloyd George Liberal tradition of lechery and piss-artistry. Ond hopes that there was talk of Glyn Davies winning that Montgomeryshire seat in your meeting tonight. Surely LO must be toast and energies will be focused on going for it. Due to Grope-it's awful behaviour, not to mention fleecing the tax-payer for his failure to pay the council tax, voteds will go in droves to Glyn.
Lloyd George may have been guilty of many things in his personal life some that may have financially benefited him but, comparison to this present lot must surely end there.
I don't know of any record that exists of him having systematically stolen from the public purse over a sustained period broaching 30+ years. That is how long this "nod and a wink" expenses scandal has been going on and each year led to a widening of the abuse not a tightening as all the hot air coming from the Speaker and the Prime Minister suggests. The irony is this Government which came in on a ticket to eradicate sleaze from Parliament have presided over organised larceny that rivals the exploits of the "great train robbers".
One more thing, Lloyd George for all his faults never treated the electorate with contempt. To all politicians we are too stupid to understand their complicated world, you know this when the Speaker slaps down Kate Hoey in his defence of calling in the police to investigate how the Telegraph got there disc explaining it contained;
Credit card numbers and pass words!!!!
I use my credit card on a regular basis, on receipts I am given the most of the number is blanked out (xxxx) and I have been advised never to give my finance passwords to anyone. The only way I can surmise the Fees office had this information is if they were not only sanctionong the most outrageous purchases by MPs but, were also making them on their behalf.
Lloyd George was another of those politicians who sent an army to war without the means to fight and then denigrated the Generals when surprisingly casulaties were high.
No he was not a great man. Just a backstabbing politician, a liar and a cheat. Would have done well under New Labour.
Lloyd George, no doubt,
When his life ebbs out,
Will ride on a flaming chariot,
Seated in state on a red hot plate,
Twixt Satan and Judas Iscariot,
And Ananias that day,
to his master will say,
"my Claim for precedence fails,
So move me up higher,
away from the fire,
and make way for that liar from
Wales"
-popular ode from the 1920s-
If you observe closely at the Lloyd George grave, you will see that (a) it is not in the churchyard and (b) there's a big wall round it, presumably to keep the bugger in!
Not too far away is Croesor,, where author Patrick O'Brian once lived in poverty. That too is worth a look - it's a strange little place.
Iain, I can't agree with you about Lloyd George. He was a brilliant propagandist who contributed to many of the disasters of the 20th century.
For instance he was the first person to adopt the bureaucratic state based welfare system which wiped out the friendly societies which had successfully provided welfare for much of the working class in the 19th century. There needed to be state supplementation of this but Lloyd George's system wiped it out.
His hatred of Haig led him to underplay the scale of the British Army's victory on the Western Front on WWI thus contributing to the legend that the German army wasn't defeated but betrayed. A myth Hitler used to great effect. Even Pershing the US commander who had his own rows with Haig was appalled.
Maybe if Lloyd George had been drummed out of politics it wouldn't have been such a bad thing.
What sort of background knowledge makes you think he was a great man??
Why not take the opportunity to visit the Glaslyn ospreys/
AJC
Re. Henry Mayhew - LG's "private life" would definitely be our concern if he were found to have claimed goodies for his mistresses at the public expense, no?
Some rather bizzare takes on the life of Lloyd George but never mind.
Ian you have your facts wrong about Aberconwy. It is a new seat and Labour do not hold it. The only elections in the seat have been for the Welsh Assembly won by Plaid fairly easily with Labour a poor third, and the local elections Plaid 8 councillors,Tories 7 Labour 4.
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It is a notional Labour seat and on the notional figures Plaid would not be in the running. However, the Assembly election + local gov. shows that Plaid are in the running.
Prior to this week a three way marginal would have been a fair description especially since Plaid performance at Assembly level is significantly better than at Westminster (even in strongholds such as Meirionydd Nant Conwy and Caernarfon).
It would appear to me that Iain has described the seat correctly but the Labour position might now be significantly weaker than a week ago due to the events at Westminster.
Thankyou Ian, for publicising the LG verse, which I have known for many years ---does anyone know in more detail where it came from? and incidentally, Andrew, Patrick O'Brien seems to have been a s--t of the first water who put LG's mendacity and philandering firmly in the shade, a master sponger and father of many and various children.
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