What I fear most about the expenses scandal
Is that it could yet provide a route for Labour to come back, or at least to ensure that no government can replace them with a strong enough mandate to save the economy.
The private self enrichment, within and without the rules, of MPs is bad enough. Tories seem to have embarrassing things on their claims, Labour seem to have been "optimising their taxs" through the rules in just the way they criticise "the rich" for doing. ( The second is in my mind worse ).
But the corruption has gone deeper than that, and mostly its on the Labour side. They have allowed the gutless coup to install Gordon Brown, despite being elected on a promise in 2005 that this would not happen. They have sold out our country with the Lisbonconstitution treaty without the promised referendum and made layers excuses for what we just know in our guts is a betrayal. ( A judge even ruled that nobody should have a reasonable expectation that the Labour party would keep its manifesto promises !! ).
The governments books and public statements on our financial position are now being falsified in a way that would get you sent to prison if you were a director of a private company.
Education is just getting worse. The teaching unions are getting into strike mode to prepare a scorched earth policy for a future Conservative govt.
We have suffered utter humiliation in Iraq, and have been forced to pull back from Helamand province to be saved by the Americans. Our military equipments is old and worse worn out. Things are so bad that there are less than 10 serviceable aircraft to defend UK airspace and Russian supersonic nuclear bombers can come within a whisker of our Territorial waters without being detected.
The public services are unaffordable and private pensions have been destroyed.
I'm afraid the lack of moral backbone of a number of MPs of all parties ( and this includes you Lib Dems ) is not the major issue. It is just a symptom.
If people go on ego trips like Ester Ranzen and deny an incoming government the ability to govern then the damage will be irreversible and its just possible that another Labour government might follow.
Its time to lift out eyes from the scandal and look at the big picture. Yes lets get even with those MPs, but lets make sure we end the disastrous mis-government of this country by Labour and replace it with a government that can stop the rot and put us back onto the path that It was on in 1997.
The private self enrichment, within and without the rules, of MPs is bad enough. Tories seem to have embarrassing things on their claims, Labour seem to have been "optimising their taxs" through the rules in just the way they criticise "the rich" for doing. ( The second is in my mind worse ).
But the corruption has gone deeper than that, and mostly its on the Labour side. They have allowed the gutless coup to install Gordon Brown, despite being elected on a promise in 2005 that this would not happen. They have sold out our country with the Lisbon
The governments books and public statements on our financial position are now being falsified in a way that would get you sent to prison if you were a director of a private company.
Education is just getting worse. The teaching unions are getting into strike mode to prepare a scorched earth policy for a future Conservative govt.
We have suffered utter humiliation in Iraq, and have been forced to pull back from Helamand province to be saved by the Americans. Our military equipments is old and worse worn out. Things are so bad that there are less than 10 serviceable aircraft to defend UK airspace and Russian supersonic nuclear bombers can come within a whisker of our Territorial waters without being detected.
The public services are unaffordable and private pensions have been destroyed.
I'm afraid the lack of moral backbone of a number of MPs of all parties ( and this includes you Lib Dems ) is not the major issue. It is just a symptom.
If people go on ego trips like Ester Ranzen and deny an incoming government the ability to govern then the damage will be irreversible and its just possible that another Labour government might follow.
Its time to lift out eyes from the scandal and look at the big picture. Yes lets get even with those MPs, but lets make sure we end the disastrous mis-government of this country by Labour and replace it with a government that can stop the rot and put us back onto the path that It was on in 1997.
2 comments:
Honesty, trustworthiness and respectability will become the major focus for the GE.
The other debate is whether a government should protect the public during a recession or start on spending cuts. But if the GE isn't til next year that debate should be over because Labour's own cuts are due to start then.
@pol-e-tics I think you may e right, especially if the general election is soon.
However that just doesn't cover the big issues or allow them to be debated and understood.
There is the view that government borrowing against future generations income is protecting people, others would call it theft from our children.
There is also an interesting view that what the government has done in terms of not reducing spending is prolonging the recession. ( There is plenty of evidence from Japan in the 1920's and 1990's to support this ).
Just because a politician calls something a stimulus and says its investment doesn't make it so.
Debt is a spectacular problem in our country, whatever happens with the recession ( indeed even if it went away tomorrow we would still be in a very large amount of trouble ).
The off balance sheet wheezes, debauching the currency and allowing decisions on civil service pensiosn and retirement ages to go on, but not to recognise their costs on the books is far far more dishonest than claiming for a floating Duck island ( though the Duck Island is more photogenic and easier to understand).
In my view things have been made far worse by the current governments dishonesty about debt, the fact that much of their spending has just been spending on consumption not investment ( as they claim ) and the massive off balance sheet liabilities that the public are just not told about by politicians ( some campaign groups do try to alert people, but who wants to listen to the Cassandras ? ).
What I fear is these issues never being explored and debated fully and openly so people can really understand them and recognise the gravity of our current situation compared to 12 years ago.
That would be the most dishonest thing of all, and I suspect its just what Labour are planning.
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