UKpopdems Comment Pane

Michael Jackson - a mirror for the US?

2009-06-29T17:10:00.003+01:00

I am personally saddened by Michael Jackson's passing away. Such genius, such talent, so inventive and yet so flawed and so naive in many ways - a victim as much as a master. To me also, he was a reflection of the US today. A country where one man can make incredible things happen. Where so many have genius, inventiveness and extraordinary talent enough to affect life in the whole world; and yet a victim of extreme wealth and vast consumption as much as a global master because of it; not quite grown up enough to understand the impact of its actions and beliefs on others or on itself. And now, as the world moves East, a country slowly coming to terms with mortality. But for America, there is some hope of recovery and a new maturity.
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Negotiating with Terrorists

2009-06-22T14:33:00.002+01:00

One of the key jobs of government is to do its utmost to save innocent lives; we all agree with that, don't we? But one of the proud British claims is that we do not negotiate with terrorists and this is meant to keep British lives safer. This boast is a sham: Britain does indeed negotiate with terrorists when they want to - look at Northern Ireland - but it's meant to be a secret. Terrorists are not stupid, they have highly competent and sophisticated organisations: they know our government can be forced to negotiate. This double standard means government can be lazy about doing whatever it takes to get innocents free while telling families and loved ones they had no choice. Where I stand is this; it is better that ten bad men go free if one innocent British life is saved. We will always pursue and harry the bad men to the end, but we cannot give back life once it has been taken.
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Israel - Netanyahu softening?

2009-06-17T11:39:00.002+01:00

There are so many conflicts big and small on our planet, some hardly ever or never reported. But if there is one area where a long-term solution could begin a domino effect of the kind of wide-spread peace we are all longing for, then it is Palestine/Israel. It is not religion preventing peace; it is the fact that the West (US especially), and the Muslim world have used Palestinians and Israel as their proxy states, prolonging conflict for their own tactical and strategic benefit. If Obama has strength of will and character then enlightenment and conciliation can begin. Middle-East countries want respect above all. If Netanyahu softens publicly and Obama starts listening and acting on what Middle-East leaders are REALLY saying, rather than their public utterances, then peace can finally be given a chance.
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Prince Charles and Chelsea Barracks

2009-06-13T14:35:00.003+01:00

Prince Charles was passionate about getting this development stopped and he pulled strings with his royal mates to do it. Is that wrong? MPs and architects have lined up to condemn him and say 'normal democratic planning processes' should have taken their course. What I know is this - there is nothing democratic about planning processes; peoples' views are hardly ever taken into account; famous architects totally intimidate planning officers and councillors; Government overrides local planning agreements; and I'll tell you what, LORD Rogers is perfectly capable of pulling his own strings to get what he wants. What we have here is poor and lazy architecture by a big name. Have a look for yourself. I'm old enough to have seen the scandals of the sixties when perfectly good buildings were torn down and replaced by ugly concrete slums in the name of modernism. Please, let's not make that same mistake again. Good on you, Prince Charles.
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BNP Euro seats - should we worry?

2009-06-09T12:25:00.003+01:00

I have a very high regard for British public opinion and the decision of voters, as you'd expect. Labour's failure to control and manage immigration effectively has angered millions. I have said before that concern about immigration is a key issue on almost all peoples' minds. This result for the BNP is simply designed to show government exactly HOW angry some people are. In fact, the whole election result can be explained as anger with Labour more than anything else. I very seldom get angry except when I see or hear of others being abused, but even I am angry with the extreme arrogance and incompetence of this dangerous labour government. Will they listen now? I don't think so. If not, then anger can only increase.
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Reforms? - don't trust them

2009-06-02T10:57:00.002+01:00

Each party is fighting to lead the pack on democratic and parliamentary reforms. Do they mean it or do they just want to get one over on the others? Is it still the old game but with new rules? In my opinion it is just that. The guilty are telling us they are reformed characters but the people know better. It is not just the system but the MPs themselves who are the problem. They see themselves as masters of the people instead of the servants we want them to be. Whatever they say different, that's the truth of it. The answer is not an election right now where the chairs are moved around but everything else stays the same. No, what's needed is for each party to clearly lay out its reform policy for us to judge, with a minimum pledge that an independent body will force the elected party to make good its promises.
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This is history

2009-05-20T10:20:00.002+01:00

We are privileged to witness democratic history being made. At last the public, you and me, have increasing power to peer deeply into a previously secret society - and see what we always expected to see - corruption and personal gain. Now we've got the appetite for it we should peer further; into the House of Lords; into the 'Grace and Favour' business; into the fabulous cosseted cosiness of the Whitehall mandarins. Where wil it stop? Don't believe that 'independent scrutiny' will achieve what we want: this, the most centralising government ever, has got its fingers well and truly into every corner, so there is no true independent body left; they are al beholden in some way to government. On all these issues, and increasingly, the public should have a direct vote. WE should vote a body of scrutineers to serve our needs and WE should insist on direct votes for key issues that affect us; like taxes, EU membership and social legislation that attempts to control us. We know we cannot trust MPs to do it for us.
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MPs - now we see them for what they are

2009-05-12T16:21:00.002+01:00

They tell us they are in Parliament only to do their duty; totally dedicated to the best interests of the British people. I have been banging on for ages that MPs are only interested in themselves and what they can get out of it, but it is no gratification to have it proved so conclusively. Did you see any of those old episodes of 'You Rang M'Lord?' A comedy series in which some of the servants continually helped themselves to the master's best port and caviar as if it was their right. Well, our supposed servants in the House of Commons have certainly got their noses deep into the honey jar. They do say truth is stranger than fiction. The one bright side to this is that the British people are finally waking up to how well and truly we are being conned. Popdems vision shows a very simple and effective answer that's written all over our policies. Please have a look.
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Ghurkas - Extreme Lobbying

2009-05-08T13:15:00.002+01:00

Whatever you think about the Ghurka issue, you cannot but admire Joanna Lumley's supreme lobbying ability. This is celebrity power in action. Faced with such finesse, Government Ministers and even the Prime Minister, fall at her feet in a swoon promising the earth. Go girl! But, let's think. Is this lobbying by a talented beauty any different from the lobbying by fat suits with wallets and corporate backing we're more used to? They can get laws changed just as easily, but quietly in the shadows. No-one is asking what the rest of us think or want. What if you wanted to change inconvenient legislation and had no money or media attention - no-one would listen would they? MPs are our servants above all and they should make sure the voice of the many is heard above the voice of any one person. The proper process should be that the many are engaged to change legislation, not the few. How else do our government know what their masters (the people) really think.
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Swine Flu - Conspiracy or Incompetence?

2009-05-03T19:39:00.003+01:00

Now we know that dire forecasts of a world Swine flu pandemic of 1918 proportions, where millions died, was just a bad dose of hysterics. It turns out Swine flu is no more dangerous, outside Mexico at least, than a mild headache, sweat and sore throat - a little bit less than 'man flu' it seems. Are we that desperate for disasters that we have to make them up? You can understand politicians hyping it up eager, as they are, to divert attention away from their own failures. But the UN? Maybe it's a cry for attention after their own dismal inability to solve pressing international crises. I do not blame newspapers; they just hold up a mirror for us to see ourselves in. It's true many don't like the image that comes back.
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The Budget - a total lack of imagination

2009-04-24T11:31:00.001+01:00

We are told this is the worst recession since the Second World War – it was labour then, by the way. WWII was not their fault then and the mad greed of bankers may not be now – that story is still to be written. But one thing stands out; the towering imagination and integrity of the men of government at that time compared with the pin-headed bureaucratic nonentities we are foisted with today. Then, even with all Britain’s travails, the astounding, world-leading legacy of the National Health Service was pushed through, benefiting every man, woman and child in the country to this day. Now, labour will leave us only with a pile of debt enough to last two generations. What a legacy! They could have created a citizen-owned national bank out of RBS, Northern Rock and the Post Office giving preferential rates, social benefits and stability to all Britons. They could have reversed the appalling waste of the VAT cut and even raised it to 20%, but at the same time totally eliminate Council Tax, the most unfair and heinous tax of all; that would put at least £1,000 into every family’s pocket every year for ever! Is there no politician left who can think beyond filling out next month’s expense sheet?
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How has so much respect been lost?

2009-04-21T13:16:00.002+01:00

The groups respected most in the past have, in the eyes of the people, lost most respect today. Politicians; Judges and the legal profession; Police; Social and Children's Services; Civil Servants; even Doctors, Nurses and Carers. How did this happen and can it be put right? It happened because the evil of money came into the public sector and pushed out vocation. Accountants and their targets, controls and budgets are more important than the needs of real people. The worst crime, yes it is a crime in my eyes, is the outsourcing of services for profit. Profit and Vocation do not make good bedfellows. We want to change all this. No outsourcing, no profit motive, no bonus culture, no political interference. Instead, we'll trust and value front-line deliverers above bureaucrats and above government, too, and give the people we all serve the biggest voice.
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A care service that just doesn't care

2009-04-09T18:30:00.002+01:00

The latest revelations of appalling neglect within the 'care industry' illustrates starkly how private company greed is not restricted to the banking sector. It is not the fault of harassed, low paid front-line carers. It's the whole wrong-headed government strategy of outsourcing services. Anyone who supports UKpopdems knows we will end the outsource gravy train. There is no room for private profit in Britain's public services. UKpopdems will bring most public sector staff in-house, including care workers, and use the millions that private sector bosses are making to pay care workers a proper wage. Caring will be part of a much expanded nursing profession with the respect and relevant qualifications anyone should expect. Ukpopdems put ordinary people first: we understand what service really means.
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G20 - everyone wins except ordinary Britons

2009-04-03T12:08:00.002+01:00

Judging by the self-congratulatory whooping, you'd think the whole world was saved. Well, I don't need to tell you that the only ones who gain are politicians and their mates, the top bankers, the already rich, business directors and whitehall mandarins. There's less than nothing for ordinary folk like you and me. They gain, we pay the debts. We're already seeing the start of it with another 2p a litre on fuel - there's more to come - a lot more! Not one single British job is saved, not one British family benefits from G20. This is what will eventually do for Brown and the Labour party. Real people come first and they will take their revenge in the voting booth.
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A Britain of Anger and Fear

2009-03-31T09:56:00.003+01:00

Britain's society is not yet broken, but government mismanagement over the last thirty years has brought it closer. The answer lies in both short term and long term solutions. UKpopdems short term answer is a zero tolerance of any violence, threats of violence and carrying of any weapon, where a quick trial and jail awaits. An extra 250,000 police on the streets, 24 hour courts and many extra pre-fabricated prisons and detention centres. The long term solution lies in schools and parenting that builds-in civilised behaviour. Schools that focus around the individual so that the need for remedial learning and behaviour can be identified and actioned fast in an array of new special schools. Plus intensive parental support up to school age and beyond through a massive transfer of social resources directly into communities and away from back offices. It's a big programme but society demands it be done.
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Private vs Public Sector pay

2009-03-23T15:28:00.002Z

For the first time in a long time public sector employees are much better off than private sector employees. A job in the public sector today means good pay, low risk and a guaranteed pension. The people who pay for these luxuries through taxes have no such protection themselves. This is divisive and a recipe for trouble that should be addressed properly. UKpopdems solution is two-fold: we believe firstly that total average employee earnings in the public sector should be pegged to match the total average earnings in the private sector, including pension and other benefits. And secondly, that no public or state supported employee or director should be paid any bonus, nor receive total earnings, including benefits, of more than ten times average UK earnings, regardless of seniority. This is fair and justifiable.
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Children's services - the Laming report

2009-03-18T14:20:00.002Z

The one chink of light in the disaster which passes for children's services under this government is the beginning of a small recognition that the future focus must be on front-line expertise and resources and away from centralised bureaucracy and targets. Anyone who follows UKpopdem policies and objectives knows we have been championing the strengthening of front-line resources across the whole public service. We want to see the bulk of public money attached to the front-line, so the people who do the real work know they are valued and have a proper career path that makes best use of their growing expertise, without having to move into management. In fact management should attract less pay than the most competent front-line jobs. Let's hope the government listens this time and acts.
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Northen Ireland murder atrocity

2009-03-11T09:37:00.002Z

There is no 'cause' in these atrocious murders, no idealism. It's murder pure and simple, perpetrated by the most evil people who have ready access to guns and a 'label' to pin their actions on that only the gullible will take seriously. This is all about power and lust for money by a few individuals. They can see how the worst actions by the IRA have been rewarded with pardon and political position by a desparate government, even though underneath, the mafia style activities continue. This is what Continuity and Real are after; a slice of the action.
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Sir Fred Goodwin - pension

2009-03-02T10:22:00.002Z

It's easy to get angry over this wildly excessive pension payout. That's just what the government wants. Anything to divert attention away from its own catastrophic failures. I see the hand of Mandelson all over this spin. What about taking away Brown's pension when he is finally thrown out after his failures? And the same with the rest of the government. And what about all those 'protected' public sector pensions we pay for? Failed Social Services that can't protect our helpless and innocent children. Failed education that puts Britain near the bottom of the international league. Failed police and justice system that can't protect ordinary people going about their everyday lives. Their bureaucratic bosses are in-line for fabulous pensions giving them luxury for the rest of their lives, while ordinary workers have seen their pensions at risk. Time to turn things around.
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The bigger the job the smaller the ability

2009-02-24T12:02:00.004Z

I must be one of the few politicians who really value the freedom of the press and their ability to expose the way the elite do business. Look over the last few days and you can see how many of the so-called world class professionals running our banks and big corporations know little about what they are doing. It's no surprise we are in trouble. It appears appointments and decision making is done in the great halls of power where schmooze and influence count much more than ability. A few moments of self-congratulatory back-slapping and posh nosh at a party and the job's yours. Politicians call for a meritocracy, yet they are all right in the middle of giving and taking jobs regardless of competence and prudence. God help us.

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Geert Wilders - Dutch MP

2009-02-14T17:30:00.002Z

At first sight this case looks like heavy handed prevention of free speech, but it isn't. Wilders simply wants to condemn the whole of Islam. Most of all he wants to stir up hatred. This is no different from Third Reich Nazis stirring up hatred of the Jews, or radical Mullahs stirring up hatred for the west, or radical Christians stirring up hatred for other faiths, or any form of hatred of one against another. Hatred breeds violence and in Britain today there's more than enough of that as it is. All people want is consistency; the sure knowledge that this kind of verbal violence, whether it's clever and intellectual, coarsely threatened outright, or crudely framed in four letter words, will result in the full force of the law immediately stamping on whoever is involved, especially the self-important.
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The bonus culture

2009-02-10T12:05:00.002Z

It's a lesson from history that when things go badly wrong, being able to create a popular witch hunt is a great way of deflecting attention from the real culprits. In labour's case it's easy to blame bankers; all bankers. Yes, there is a lot of blame on the shoulders of a tiny coterie of senior bankers: but the real blame is government's. Government took their regulatory eye off the banking game and gained billions in tax pounds as a result. Even the regulation there is is woefully inadequate. And the bonus culture is not just endemic in banks; did you know that most senior execs in PUBLIC SERVICE get bonuses and play the game to ensure they get them? Failing education, failing social services and any number of other failures; yet the elite still get their bonuses - paid for by us, the very people not getting the service.
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Refinery Strikers - The British Lion Awakes

2009-02-04T15:13:00.002Z

Not since the successful fuel blockade of years ago have the ordinary people of Britain started to make thier voices heard over the din of political speak. I love the comment of one strike leader who said:-'politicians should stop talking and start listening'. Such a simple statement but an echo of what most of us feel in this era of disasterously incompetent politicians who think they are all super-heroes. It's simple. The job of the British Government is to run this country for the benefit of the British people above all. The only way to understand what that is, is to listen. So Brown and others; stop talking and start listening.
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Lords 'Consultancy'. Is it Greed or Corruption?

2009-01-27T10:43:00.002Z

When I'm canvassing, I regularly get two responses from voters: one is that 'they are all the same'; and the second is that 'they are all in it for themselves'. Such deep insight into the truth is why I trust ordinary British people far above our Parliamentary and bureaucratic elite. Now we find The Lords are at it as well. Thatcher institutionalised greed and Major institutionalised sleaze. Today we have a government so centralised, so far removed from real life, that they really believe the laws that apply to us should not and must not apply to them. Look around the world and you'll see what kind of country that produces. Couple corruption with incompetence and we should rightly be fearful.
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Barack - A New Age?

2009-01-20T11:10:00.002Z

Does the inauguration of Barack Hussein Obama herald a new age? The man and his name itself means so much - half black, half white with an historical link to Islam. He is the first fully 'integrated' president. As the American leader his goal and great challenge is to bring peace and wealth to his country. But if Barack can achieve that in any degree then the benefits will rub off onto the rest of the world. What we all need now is freedom from conflict and peace of mind, capital wealth and social well-being. He must not delay in finally closing guantanamo and gaining trust through communication in the Middle-East. And he must get ordinary Americans spending again if the world is to move out of this 'austerity' recession of frozen and worthless assets. He is wished well by millions.
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