For many Conservatives a strong defence is a article of faith, and hence the calls to exempt defence from the cuts necessary to get of the path to disaster that Labour has pushed the country down.
But I'm afraid the damage has already been done by Gordon Brown ( & his eager little helpers #RedEd & Ed Balls ) . We can't sustain our current position and its also quite clear that we will have to reduce the manning of the army and RAF as we just can't aford the current levels. I would also question the new aircraft carriers.
We either get our finances in order or in the medium term both economy and defences will collapse.
About three weeks ago I spotted an email I'd normally have expected the spam filter to have dispatched along with those pleading emails form the Nigerian central bank which require me to just hand over a few thousand to facilitate the transfer of millions.
Would you like to come and see the new Yes Prime Minister play in London ? Attention grabbed a little more than I suspect is safe in this world of socially engineered deceit, I had a look for the catch - and then couldn't find it. It was tempting - as I think I repeat a line from the Yes Minister series at some point in my head at least once a week. It was the fable of our political times - in the 1980's.
So I said yes and wound up last week at the Gielgud theatre watching the theatre production of Yes Prime Minister.
Its hard to over estimate the impact of the original TV series. The shaped our view of government. Plenty of programmes made fun of politics and politicians, but only one worked on government as its theme and the battle between the civil service and its supposed political masters. So expectations were high. ( Even the tick of it doesn't really qualify as it just shows how dysfunctional New Labour relationships where, rather than the battle between the civil service and the politicians. )
What I'd say - without giving away the plot - is that its inevitably different with a different caste and placed firmly into the world of today's politics. The key character's are all there, as are the set piece demonstration of civil service obscurification , but the moral dilemma's ( as if anything like that would bother Sir Humphrey ) are updated for the age of the coalition and post economic crisis.
There's a touch of Ealing comedy and farce, as well as the theme's you'd expect from Yes Minister - but it also contains in short summary many of the ongoing issues that are faced by government and perhaps more importantly used by it. In that sense Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn have more messages for us and a boaster shot of cynicism to protect us from the slick presentation of modern government. ( Sir Humphrey's explanation of Global Warming was surprising to hear in the theatre - but very close to what many of us suspect is the truth. I'm reminded of the episode "The Grand Design" I think where we get the real explanation about Trident. )
I especially liked the new Bernard, who is in many ways made into more of a hero this time round.
In short the fable of the priests of government against their masters has a new chapter. I genuinely found it entertaining and a good laugh, and most of the time was thinking of the people I know who would have loved to see it also. My late Dad being top of the list - he would have loved it.
I've linked to the Youtube summary below which does give away a little of the plot, but will also give you a flavour. All I can say is I hope David Haig GP has cleared him for the sort of performance he puts in ( think Basil Faulty having a bad day ) and will have to keep going every night.
If you get a chance to see it - do what I did and say yes. If you know someone who loved the series then you will be onto a winner to take them along. The good news is it won't be a brave decision...
And they're going to keep coming thick and fast now ...
After all #RedEd wrote the Labour manifesto that promised to reduce the deficit - so surely he knew about the planned Labour tax rises and cuts even if he didn't put them in the manifesto ?
Now perhaps he's not an idiot and will stab his Marxist and left wing friend in the back ( quite likely if he wants to win power ), but he's better start sharpening the knife as he has his party conference to address and they will be demanding pure fantasy and now apology for the criminal negligence of their recent regime's running of the country's finances.
We will see - very shortly.
PS If I was David Cameron I would congratulate David Miliband on winning the most votes and Ed Miliband on getting the Unions support. Ps Just picked this up from Conservative Home ( above )
The bookies and punters are starting to say that Red Ed Miliband - son of the infamous marxist and brother of banana man may win with the Union vote.
If so Labour's approach to the Lib Dems will be clear. They will need to oust Nick Clegg as Lib Dem leader. ( Banana man could have enticed him to coalition with Labour, but not the head banger Red Ed who wants blood to revenge the humiliation of his sponsor Gordon Brown at Clegg's hands. )
So the left will work at splitting the Lib Dems apart ( with Red Vince Cable, Simon "the straight choice" Hughes and when not delayed by the "rail timetable" Kennedy to play with it shouldn't be too hard. After all most Lib Dem activists are really horrified by the burden of being in power rather than the postcode opportunist politics they love as a hobby. )
The Conservative aim here should be to try to offer the Orange book liberal minority in the Lib Dems a new home.
One day Nick Clegg may yet be a Conservative minister.
So why did the bonfire of the quango's letter leak to the BBC ?
Its not a matter of overriding conscience or even national interest. But its is one of very narrow partisan interest. Its a headline that could have been in George Osborne or David Cameron's conference speeches.
The motive is clear, its also clear that someone very near or in no 10 is putting their own left wing politics above their duty to their country.
They make the lazy mistake is mistaking race for religion to justify their stasi type activities. ( Anyone know of arrests for burning religious material from any other religion than the one in question ? )
Now these men have been daft, insulting - but the same goes on all the time in this country - as the Guardinista /leftie spasms over the Catholic church's leader demonstrates. ( Who I suspect still gets burned in effigy at least one a year somewhere -Lewis isn't it ? )
Burning a book is apparently now a crime where your name gets entered onto databases where other people can find your names and come after you.
I had hoped this sort of thing had stopped with a new government.
Update:Sometime everyone can lose, and this looks like being one of those occasions. The men concerned are now in the press being described as "English nationalists". My heart sinks on reading that as I know this, along with the English Defence League mob, will be used to deny the English people ( all the people living in England ) our political rights.
By using a right these idiots have not only given the state an opportunity to take it away across a wide range of areas, but also helped allow them to continue the anti-English devolution constitutional settlement.
How do I know this ? Well listening to Steve Richards’s first edition [link only valid for a few days] of his programme on the Brown years in No 10.
We hear ex-minister talking about the lies with the election that never was.
We know that things were terrible in No10, with Brown moving between despair and rage - and that was on a good day. We also know that none of the narrow minded selfish careerists put country before their own ambition and tried to do anything about it.
We know that factions briefed and lied against each other.
We know that Brown lied directly to the camera about the election that never was and that it was the middle class of southern England who saved the country ( I think those of us in that category can all have a little pat on the back for that one. )
Combine this with the cowardice that all the main candidates except perhaps David Miliband have show over the massive crippling debt they run up and the structural deficit Brown introduced just ( remember this ) to make it hard for the Tories at the general election. ( This is on record when Brown was talking to a Clinton adviser who asked him why he was running a deficit in the good times and Brown answered to make life difficult for the Tories at the election ).
Brown and co got of lightly over their tactical attempts to copy the Conservative inheritance tax proposals, which they then shamelessly tried to attack latter. ( My guess is that the thing that scared Brown and his Labour skivvies was the impact on the key voter group they were denying was tipping their election date considerations ).
No one who was in Brown's government is morally fit to run this country and unless Labour have a strange turn and election Diane Abbott then it means the next Labour leader is already damaged goods.
Sometimes we have very short memories in politics - but the moral corruption of the last Labour government should be a memory many of us keep alive for a very long time.
Not much time today - just a brief observation that its clear many Lib Dems ( those who voted against the life chances of anyone who could get into a Free School ) are right in step with the middle class hating educationalists at BBC who are excelling themselves in biased rabid left wing propaganda this week.
As I've said before - remember, if your middle class, the left hate your children [1] [2].
So here we go again - Vince Cable is doddering about trying to get his principled resignation right. He can't go just now as he's not ready to stab Nick Clegg in the back just now ( and anyway the Left need the Tories to take the blame for the grown up decisions that must be made shortly after their criminal irresponsibility ).
The excuse Red Vince is preening himself with is the arbitrary immigration cap this year. He trying to go with the idea that English business can't cope with it. After all we are a country of only 60 million people with the highest graduate rate we've ever had. And anyway business would rather hire than spend years training and building up England's future.
You see where I'm going with this ?
Any Business Secretary worth his salary should be saying hold on a minute - why doesn't business develop the skills they need. Are English graduates just thick and useless ? ( In which case why spend all that money forcing vast populations through the expanded University system ).
And anyway UK Business has the whole of the EU to recruit from !
So why is this an issue and at the same time the assumptions behind it not an issue ?
This is the sort of thing Civil Serf used to tell us.
Of course the Unions and left hate it, which shows its not public services that they really care about.
Further: And lets not forget Lord Digby Jones comments about being able to do twice as much with half the people, and he was a member of a Labour govt !
About two days ago there were some puzzling moves by the Coalition team.
Labour, assisted by the BBC/Guardian, were getting ready to get at David Cameron by attacking his director of communications. For some reason that no one has explained to my satisfaction this all started with the New York Times. ( My guess is that The Forces of Hell had a connection there they could use - and anyway its a safe distance if you want to start attacking the Met Police etc. ).
But they had nothing new or conclusive except a lot of artificial rage which would have even embarrassed Nick Clegg in the way it was put together.
But then the coalition didn't even bother to fight. Yes they hit the balls back with a straight bat, but didn't push anything and even gave Labour the parliamentary enquiry they had been banging on about.
Perhaps Coulson should be sacked for letting this happen you might wonder ?
But hold on a minute - its now becoming a bit clearer that Labour could be heading into a elephant trap.
Phone hacking ( sorry Dizzy cracking - dialling 0000 when you get someone's voice mail - which is tame stuff compared to what the press used to get up to when Labour were using the sleaze smear campaign to get rid of John Major ) was wide spread, and one you stir the tank who knows what will float to the surface. ( The reluctance of the last parliament to look into this, and the then Labour home secretary have been commented on already also - what could they have been afraid of given it was such a direct route to get at David Cameron ? )
Also how smart is it to start a mud throwing war with the Murdoch press ? Isn't this the exact 180 degr opposite of what Tony Blair tried to teach Labour ? Blair travelled round the world to speak at a NewsCorp conference to butter these guys up and gave all sort of access and headlines as part of a quid pro quo arrangement. Indeed getting the Sun on side was almost the crowning achievement of his leadership. And now apparently rudderless Labour is about to make a sworn enemy of the red tops. Does that make political sense ? Is anyone thinking this through on the Labour side - I think not.
So perhaps Coulson is worth his salary after all for the judgement call of letting this go on without any attempt to squash it. Strategy trumping tactics - just the sort of stuff Brown couldn't handle.
If you don't have young children you won't be aware of how maths in primary school has been sabotaged by the educational establishment.
There's a useful video by the BBC ( yes actual public service broadcasting ) here. ( Its called Maths for Mums and Dads as of course we are at fault - if you think this is patronising you should see the briefings you get in the schools themselves. )
Picture below: Lets be clear there are loads of these pseudo techniques and the kids are scared of using the wrong one and making a mistake ( because getting the right answer with the wrong technique is wrong). They don't understand and anyway the techniques aren't scalable and have to be forgotten and replaced with real maths for the work they have to do latter anyway.
Your only way out of this is to pay for private education.
Why can't I chose a state school for my kids that teaches maths the way that served us so well in the past and will give them a chance against the Indian, Korean and Chinese kids in the future world economy ?
This is why state provision sucks so much.
Also seeWhy parents can't do maths ( well of course they can - they just can't do the educational establishments new encoding of maths ).
I've just heard a report on radio 4's Today that of the academies that have opened it's the well off kids make the greatest improvement. This seems to be shorthand in leftwing circles for injustice and failure.
Let's just think about this a little - does it not show that a particular group of kids are being cheated by the current system ? Indeed the kids of the parents whom pay the most taxes ( and hence for their own children's education and other peoples ) are getting the worse deal out of education they are compelled to pay for.
Of course one of the few socialist policies that works is the ability to destroy the life chances of those people socialists are biased against. Equality enforced by targeted failure.
A small example of this from the reign of failure of Ed Balls was given in the article - Balls insisted, no doubt to the left wing teaching unions delight, that new academies had to keep the bad teachers who had failed the old school and more importantly the children.
As I've said before you need to remember that Labour hate your children.
It seems a fair few people voted for this blog in the Total Politics rankings - up this year from 53 to 44 for Conservative blogs.
The blog's been a bit hit and miss since the glorious defeat of Gordon Brown and I am still planning that sabbatical. But the support has been appreciated and will be toasted down the pub where I'll be in about 45 mins time.
Cheers all.
I saw Sam Coates trying to drum up some cash for another Conservative bloggers bash shortly - I'll do my best to come out of sabbatical if that's on (I still have those posts I want to send first )! Failing that perhaps we should nominate a Saturday afternoon sometime for a beer - along the lines Steve Green did a while back.
Labour are trying to cheer themselves up with some worked up self indignation and a good old smear and bake scheme.
The target is of course Andy Coulson. The method is to reheat allegations that people guessed other peoples voice mail codes ( hint a number of zeros seems to do it - allegedly ).
Cash for honours this is not.
Its not lying about weapons of mass destruction being in Iraq, delaying the ban on tobacco advertising in F1 when one of your main domours works there either.
Its not even one senior govt minister threatening and inquiry into his party leaders behaviour over financing that party (slight reheat there - see how easy it is).
Its not being less than full open on your mortgage application form, or prioritising certain passport applications.
Its not lying for the sake of deceiving people in Northern Ireland.
Its not putting ridiculous growth forecasts and hiding behind them until after the election.
Its not kicking of two large wars - sending in the troops and then forgetting to purchase the equipment to save their lives.
But it is a taste of how Labour plans to run opposition - as a nasty thuggish businesses where all principles and facts are variables to be optimised to grab back power with all the sweat high salaries and perks that go with it. Its also why the they were and remain unfit to be anywhere near government in this country.
The more I think about the AV referendum the more I think I could surprise myself.
As a conservative Conservative if you'd asked me about the alternative vote system (AV) a year ago I'd have been dead against.
But I am increasingly frustrated that certain issues where the public want action ( Europe, Immigration are the obvious ones ) the political establishment combined with the civil service establishment stop anything happening. Neither of the two main parties has to worry too much about its core vote - and hence they neglect it in a rush to the centre ground.
Yes AV will produce some weird results - and its certainly been cooked up as a left wing plot to deny the right access to government. Its just I'm not sure that's how it will play out.
The left ( media and politicians ) always underestimate the support for the right as they believe their own propaganda. [ After all if they were balanced rational human beings they would have left wing views anyway ! ]
I'm not sure the things I'd like to see happen in this country wouldn't be more likely with AV rather than less.
There are of course problems - like why should someone get 4-5 of their choices considered and would the system really be understood - but they need to be aired in the campaign.
The one thing I'm very unhappy about is the referendum date - which is up there with how Labour disgracefully fixed the Welsh devolution referendum.
Anyway - lets the campaigning begin. Its an unusual position for me being one of the undecided.
"We used to think that you could spend your way out of a recession and increase employment by cutting taxes and boosting government spending. I tell you in all candour that that option no longer exists." James Callaghan
“The trouble with theoretical economists is that they don't understand that when you have a deficit, you can only finance it by borrowing, and you've got to persuade people that it's worth lending money to you and that they'll get their money back... there's no way of escaping it.” Dennis Healey during the 1976 Stirling Crisis.
"Lenin is said to have declared that the best way to destroy the Capitalist System was to debauch the currency. By a continuing process of inflation, governments can confiscate, secretly and unobserved, an important part of the wealth of their citizens ... Lenin was certainly right. There is no subtler, no surer means of over-turning the existing basis of society than to debauch the currency. The process engages all the hidden forces of economic law on the side of destruction, and does it in a manner which not one man in a million is able to diagnose."
John Maynard Keynes, 1920.
"To preserve [the people's] independence, we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt. We must make our selection between economy and liberty, or profusion and servitude."
Thomas Jefferson, President of the United States of America,1801-1809.
Inflation is taxation without legislation ..
Milton Friedman
