Labour Isn't Winning

A YouGov poll that showed -18% approval for the Government has sent many Labourites into rapture. Sure, it’s good that people are seemingly taking issue with the Government’s indiscriminate, ideology-inspired cuts. But we need to take this with a pinch of salt the size of which would ensure the whole of the M25 doesn’t freeze over ever again.

Read between the lines. In the same poll, YouGov showed that 40% still said they would vote Conservative, with 43% saying they’d vote Labour and 8%, apparently those living under rocks, still vouching for the LibDems. Does it really make sense that, despite a -18% Government approval rating, 40% would still vote for the main party in that Government?

Read a bit further. In an IPSOS poll this week, David Cameron received +4% approval to Nick Clegg’s -12%. Ed Miliband, Labour Party leader, received an approval of +4%; but a whopping 30% gave “Don’t Know” as an answer when asked if they were satisfied or dissatisfied with the way Ed was doing his job as leader of the party. To show how big that figure is, Cameron and Clegg received 8% and 11% "Don't Knows" respectively. ComRes showed a worse picture with Ed’s approval at a lowly -16%, very similar to aforementioned Government approval rating that Labourites have been gushing over. Even in that poll, a massive 50% said they “Don’t Know” if Ed is turning out to be a good leader of the Labour Party. Nick Clegg had a dire -23% approval rating in the ComRes poll, with the Prime Minister on just -2%.

We know that LibDem polling has plummeted. ComRes had them at 23% in the middle of June. Their drop to 8% in the latest YouGov poll shows, Keir thinks, that the Government approval rating of -18% is largely due to anti-LibDem sentiment; not anti-Tory sentiment.

Labour isn’t winning. The Tories are. Government approval may be sinking, but their polling is stable. And we also now have the reason why we do need to act fast, contrary to what many Labourites would argue. Though Keir doubts he would or could, if Uncle Vince pressed his big red nuclear button, we would not win a snap election. In all likelihood, the Tories would win a majority as Labour are yet to propose an alternative, and the leader’s ratings are not good enough to carry the party in that situation. Now Keir doesn't suddenly think Cable has developed some fortitude and would actually be able to do that, but the point here is that this Coalition is fragile and we need to be ready if they capitulate.

It's not all gloom though. The amount of “Don’t Knows” in the questions about Ed’s leadership shows there is a vacuum to exploit that would not only make that Government approval sink further, but would make Labour’s polling percentage grow at the expense of the Tories; the real enemy. Labour MPs have been doing a sterling job on certain issues. Stella Creasy's campaign against legal loan sharks is the Labour Party as it should be. Jim Murphy's excellent use of the internet and his sterling work with genuine new ideas on Defence is offering credible plans. Bob Ainsworth's call for a new way of looking at drugs policy is laudable if only for his suggestion that we have an intelligent debate. And Ed Balls and Andy Burnham continue to offer stern opposition to their two Cabinet rivals across the dispatch box. Both are expertly exposing two of the most ideologically-driven Tories in the business.

But, on the whole, people don't vote based on their impression of Shadow Cabinet members. They look to the Leader. So now, yes now, nearly 3 months after taking up the post of Leader, Ed Miliband must start converting the “Don’t Knows”.

LetUsFaceTheFuture.

Is T.I.N.A. Working?

More polling from the lovely people at IPSOS. And you know how Keir loves giving his view on what it all means.

It shows that 39% of people see the economy as the most important issue facing Britain today. And 54% gave the economy as an answer when asked to state which issues other than their chosen "most important" issue were important.

We could read this as being obvious given the times we live in.

However, Keir found the percentages of the other issues intriguing. Just 2% said the NHS was the most important issue. Also, 2% said education and 2% said housing. These are staggeringly low. Even in the second question, education only got 15%, the NHS 18% and housing 8% when people were asked to state other important issues.

What this tells Keir is that the Conservative narrative is working; T.I.N.A. is fooling the nation.

The Tory changes are going to hit education hard. The cuts and the barmy "free schools" policy are going to begin the ideological dismantling of the school system. The NHS is looking down a similar barrel.

And the cuts to housing benefit alongside changes to social housing tenure rules will, as the Tory Mayor of London put it, cause "Kosovo-style social cleansing."

So why don't these issues poll higher on the IPSOS Issues Index?

Keir thinks it's because the Tory line is working due to there being, in Political terms, no alternative. Labour is inactive. Whenever the Tories are challenged on a cut they are making, they respond with;

a) T.I.N.A.

b) "Difficult decisions to cut the deficit"

c) Big Society bullshit

d) "We inherited the biggest deficit since Alexander marched into Egypt"

Okay so the last one isn't quite accurate. But you get the point. They are smoke-screening all of their savage policies and cuts with these lines that are scaring people into going with the narrative. That is what is leaving issues like the NHS, education and housing so low down on the list of priorities.

Until Labour finds its alternative, that smoke will only get thicker.

LetUsFaceTheFuture.

Wales ConDemned. Again.

"Just get on the Megabus, Katherine"

Was meant to post this about a week ago; forgive Keir's tardiness.

Keir, along with other alert Welsh folk, anticipated the Conservative Government leaving Wales behind as the axe was wielded across the UK.

And last week we were given further evidence to support that.

Friend of the blog Huw Irranca-Davies MP took yet another concern of the Welsh people to Westminster, asking for clarification from the Government to quash rumours that the planned rail electrification between London and South Wales was going to be halted before it even reached the toll booths of Pont Hafren. The electrification of the rail line would provide jobs and a faster, greener, more reliable service at no extra cost to fare-payers. A Labour initiative from last year, it would keep Wales in line with the rest of the country in terms of infrastructure development. Yet now, as ever, the Conservatives seem to want to leave Wales behind.

And this would not merely be a short delay; according to one expert, if it doesn't happen now, it won't happen for a very long time. But then, he is using big theories like "economies of scale" that we can't expect our novice Chancellor to understand. In the same article, we are warned that failure to expand the electrification to Swansea as planned would be an economic "disaster" for South Wales.

Keir can't help but wonder whether it may help to have a Welsh voice on the Cabinet Committee for, hmmm I dunno, Economic Affairs?

Anyway, Keir would like to echo the words of the Ogmore MP:

"I would urge the Secretary of State for Wales, Cheryl Gillan, to stand up for Wales and ensure that we are not left behind."

Maybe we can also call on the Government patsies to help the cause? LibDem Norman Baker wanted to take electrification even further than South Wales when he spoke on the issue last year, declaring, "The Liberal Democrats want virtually the entire network electrified by 2040."

A LibDem promise. Fear the worst.

LetUsFaceTheFuture.

Irony of Ironies

From the Gruniad.

Pickles, who has declared war on waste in the public sector, also spent £256.64 of taxpayers money hanging a new print of a photo of the Queen in his office reception.

"Welsh" Conservatives Debate Plight Of Wales...Apparently

Keir has already highlighted how Wales is going to be hit a lot harder than most parts of the country by the new Conservative government's cuts.

Since Keir's post, other commentators have agreed. Economists have also added their weight to the argument.

Because of this, there is no more important time for Wales to be represented properly at the front line of politics.

So, the Coalition government appointed Cheryl Gillan as Welsh Secretary. Regular readers will know Keir's thoughts on that. Not the best start.

Hell, but even Mrs. Gillan was bright enough to agree with Keir's analysis.

So now we enter Conference season. A great time for the Welsh Conservatives to meet, discuss Wales and try to push for greater emphasis on protecting Wales from the cuts. An ideal moment for Mrs. Gillan to hear from the Welsh Conservatives who care about the direction in which Wales will be sent. A chance for her to let senior Welsh Tories contribute to a sensible debate where Wales could be shielded from the potential disastrous effects of the coalition.

Oh, wait.... instead, they do this. Failed East of England PPC Iain Dale, chairs the meeting with the English-constituency-MP-cum-Welsh-Secretary and the English leader of the Welsh Conservatives.

Labour's next Shadow Welsh Secretary has one hell of a job because these lot don't have a clue. And we need people like Huw Irranca-Davies on the front bench, fighting this motley crew who will do nothing to stop the axe from coming crashing down on Wales.

The spirit of Glyndwr is going to be needed in the House of Commons.

Wonder if Iain Dale even knows who that is?

LetUsFaceTheFuture.

More Tory crowing over Ireland?

Following up on Guido Fawkes's claim that the last Irish budget (you know, the one that has helped push Eire to the brink of double dip, put tens of thousands of home owners in to negative equity, almost crippled their economy, cut welfare, cut public sector pay, began charging a nominal figure for prescriptions, while also cutting VAT, alcohol tax and keeping corporation tax and income tax unchanged ) was the one we should have had here; we have yet another Tory who I'm sure will not be mentioning his past views on Ireland any time soon, especially considering today's news on their exposure to toxic bank assets.

Oh yes, its George Osborne.

To an untrained monkey it is obvious what Ireland attempted to do. Cut tax to allow the private sector and business to swoop in; what is it that George Osborne says about a private sector recovery?

Who is Grant Tucker and Conservative Future

Not Malcolm's younger brother, no. Grant Tucker Esq is Iain Dale's new Executive Assistant. He is also the newly elected Chair of Conservative Future Wales (despite living in London working for The Nations Favourite Political Blogger TM)

Several months ago he was forced to step down after comments made on his Facebook page about George Galloway; in which he stated he would like to see the terrorist supporting, Saddam Hussein helping, race baiting MP dead. Gorgeous George took umbrage to this and threatened to involve the Police. Odd, considering that Tucker was 17, didn't really threaten him, and Galloway had previously stated that assassination of Tony Blair and George W Bush would be just. (That pair taking offence might have been, you know, a little more justified)

So despite his immature statement, his decision (the parties decision) to step down, Tucker is back with vengeance! Re-elected quicker than a Peter Mandelson return to the Cabinet all whilst leaving Gods favourite country for that there London. Hope he has a young persons railcard.

Anyway, this isn't a personal attack on Tucker, Keir is sure that he is a perfectly pleasant fellow, although he does muse whether the Norfolk North botherer was au fait with the "highly knowledgeable and articulate young man..." he chose past. but it does highlight a wider issue. A scandal hit candidate re-elected easily? How so you might ask? Well, out of 18,000 members, 200 cast ballots! 200! Casts Tories comments on the Union turnout in the leadership campaign in a new light and makes an interesting contrast with this:

100 new members at the Cardiff University Labour Students Society. great turn out and great showing. the fight back begins...

Frank Field, Labour?

There was an understandable furore when Frank Field accepted a position as a 'Czar' in the Coalition government, especially given his criticisms of the Labour government previously, and oft repeated rumours that he was considering jumping ship.

Keir spotted this on Michael Crick's 'esoteric' blog (his words, not Keirs)

Nick Clegg was in the chair, and was joined by his party colleague, the Children's Minister Sarah Teather. Among the Conservatives in attendance were David Willetts and the Economic Secretary Justine Greening. But also at the Cabinet table were the Labour MP Frank Field and his colleague from Nottingham, Graham Allen.

Keir, digging up something from the darkest recesses of his mind did a bit of Google fu. Ah, this Frank Field. Does he mention which party he is from there at all? Nope. Not once. Compare that with friend of the blog (and a must for Shadow Cabinet), Huw Irranca Davies's effort, which while admittedly slightly rougher leaves you into no doubt of his affiliation.

Now we have a leader and we can say in one unified voice that the worst Labour government is better than the best Tory government, Frank Field needs to put up or shut up. Which side is his bread buttered? If not, Keir for one would certainly support a nomination challenge come the next election.

The History Of All Hitherto Existing Society...

These 7 words have resonated with Labourites for decades. And the 6 words that follow them send the blood pumping through the left-winger's veins.

It was in 1848 that Marx and Engels opened the first chapter of the Communist Manifesto, Bourgeois and Proletarians, with that explicit, direct and assured phrase. A phrase that, when heard, makes total sense. You almost needn't read the rest of that book:

"The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles"

It can sound old-fashioned. When we read the history books, it's clear that class struggle did exist, but it's something we look back on. We see photos of the upper classes waltzing the streets and then images of the poor in the workhouses. And then we think of the 1980's; a time where class struggle was rife and Thatcher's political war with the unions divided the nation.

But that was history.

Centrists and centre-right folk will say class no longer matters. And some Labour people may have been inclined to agree as support for the poor has grown. Even though the gap between rich and poor has got bigger in this country, that bottom, basic level of support has undoubtedly got more substantial and humane.

But today, for those who were in any doubt that class mattered in 2010, David Cameron showed that the Conservative Party will always be a party that favours its own class over the working class. The Prime Ministers topic for today's PM Direct showed that class struggle is right back on the agenda.

Cameron has attacked benefit fraud which, alone, is right. People who wrongfully claim welfare should be punished, of course. Cameron said,

"There are some people who are claiming welfare who are not entitled to it and that is just wrong and that should stop."

Again: totally right. So what's the problem?

Firstly, I have a problem with this £5.2 billion figure being used. Because the first disgusting thing about Cameron's slight on the working class today was how he kept banding around the £5.2 billion figure that is lost through "benefit fraud". Read the small print (or just read anything other than the headline) and you'll see that only £1 billion of that is fraud. Indeed, over £3 billion is down to official error, yet that is being grouped into this £5.2 billion figure and referred to as "benefit fraud".

Secondly, and more importantly, why isn't Cameron speaking about something that costs this country a lot more money than benefit fraud? Tax evasion, white-collar fraud, costs the country over £15 billion a year compared to benefit fraud which costs us just over £1 billion. If a PM Direct session was completely dedicated to benefit fraud, surely Cameron should be dedicating another session to an issue that is costing fifteen times more than benefit fraud?

Of course, he won't be. Partly because it won't serve to please The Sun and the Daily Mail who get lustful thoughts when they hear Government officials criticising benefit fraud. And partly because the people who evade tax are those who can afford the accountant to fiddle their accounts. They are the upper middle classes; the business elite. They are the people the Tories rely on for votes, money and champagne receptions. They are the non-dom peers and the ginger Capital Gains Tax-dodgers in the Treasury who think nothing of their crimes but berate the underclass and working class for committing crimes that account for fifteen times less financial loss for this country.

And what else has Cameron's government done? Cut Child Tax credits whilst decreasing Corporation Tax. Increased VAT whilst doing barely anything to reclaim money from the banks that we, the people, saved from collapse. Allowed rich parents with free time to take their children out of schools to set up their own elite schools whilst the run-down, arse-end facilities in the state system are allowed to rot as the Building Schools for the Future programme get's abolished.

These are all attacks on the underclass and attacks on the working class. They are no different to Thatcher's political, ideological attacks on the working class in the 80's. And they are no different to the careless, shameful actions of pre-Welfare State governments that locked the poor up in workhouses. Labour governments have ensured that normality has progressed. But now, as they always do, the Tories are back to try and take society backwards again.

Class struggle, entrenched in the history of all hitherto existing society, is back.

LetUsFaceTheFuture.

Tick...Tock...Tick...Tock

Keir always thought this government would last no more than two years. The signs are ominous/promising, however you want to look at it.

Simon Hughes' open discontent regarding David Cameron's housing proposals today is a meaningful moment. Hughes has always been held in high regard by liberals and progressives, and with good reason. A member of the Beveridge Group, Hughes' views have always been compatible with progressives in this country. And today he showed he isn't afraid to speak out against a government he knows is doing wrong. Unlike his peers Nick Clegg and Vince Cable, Hughes doesn't seem too fussed about power and doesn't want to sell out his principles. Sadly for him, his party did that on his behalf. Even the things he has said regarding the coalition have been sensible and far-removed from the brown-nosing "I thought this was a good idea all along" attitude of Deputy Dawg. Hughes is right, of course. He is right when he says that the point of social housing is to provide security. Being in social housing means, as he said:

"You know you can have affordable housing for the rest of your life and for people in many walks of life – out of work, retired, on low incomes – that's fundamentally important."

That is the view of the progressive. And it is diametrically opposed to the view of the Conservative. The Tories are intransigent on issues like this; especially now during a time when they are being smokescreened by the view that all of these cuts are necessary.

In addition to today's disaffection, Hughes also passed comment on Michael Gove's mental free schools plan last month. "A nonsense" is what Hughes said it would be to spend money on free schools that could have been spent improving existing school buildings. And God knows what Hughes thinks of Theresa May's decision to scrap plans to ban domestic abusers from the homes of the victims. I'd forgive him if he was still sitting at home squinting at his screen, wondering whether he is actually reading that story correctly. I'm still confused now as to what is going on inside May's head.

Coalitions collapse over things like this. We all saw what happened in Holland over disagreements on Afghanistan troop numbers. And Belgium's coalition government collapsed over what I think can be deemed an even smaller matter than the housing issue; although the cultural factors in that particular case were complex. Then there was Romania's coalition catastrophe. In all of these cases, the splits were arguably between parties much more closely aligned by ideology than our current coalition.

Though I admire Hughes' defiance, I will wait for him to start voting against things until passing full judgement. He has a lot of respect throughout the party, as shown with his election to Deputy Leader, and therefore should have a lot more influence over the left-wing MPs than Messrs. Clegg, Cable, Alexander and Laws. If he feels this strongly, he could lead a revolt. But I get the feeling that he also wants to be sensible and try to make this odd coalition work.

Still, the possibility is there. It shows how fragile this Government is and it can collapse. What's the relevance? Labour must be ready to fight on the ground whenever the moment comes. Keir still feels this will be before the end of 2012. We need to begin mobilising now. And as soon as our leader is in place, we need to unite and begin the fight; whoever that leader is. Let's be clear though: that leader has to be the Member for South Shields in order to give us the greatest chance of winning.

LetUsFaceTheFuture.

DC Launches BS

"And this is how small I want the state to be."

So, it has actually happened. The most mental idea of the whole election campaign is actually being launched.

When David Cameron first introduced us to The Big Society at the Conservative Party manifesto launch, it was the moment that gave me hope that Labour could snatch victory from the deep blue jaws of defeat. And how he tried to pass this off as his great idea. It was like the Obama community organising heritage, he claimed. The Conservative Party website section about The BS even name-drops the father of modern community organising, Saul Alinsky. Some I've listened to even compare The BS to David Miliband's recent Movement for Change initiative; an initiative championed by Keir.

Cameron said that the BS will be, "the biggest, most dramatic redistribution of power from elites in Whitehall to the man and woman on the street". BS indeed. The BS is not a redistribution of power; it is a redistribution of workload. What David Miliband wants people to do, what groups like CitizensUK do, what Barack Obama did, was organise people to hold the state to account.

DC says, "Don't like your hospital? Build a sodding new one then."

DM says, "Don't like your hospital? Organise your people and make the authorities give you the hospital you deserve".

Spot the not-so-subtle difference.

As people's public services start to collapse, The BS will be shown up for what it is. It will allow the rich to flourish just like the "free schools" experiment, one of the flagship areas of The BS policy programme, allowed only the rich to prosper in Sweden and only served to widen the gap in attainment between the wealthy and the poor. When funding is cut from people's services in poor parts of the country, and they are told "you sort it out, because we're not forking out for it", the BS will come undone.

The BS is not grassroots power. It is not politics from below. It is politics from the suburbs. Not politics by the unemployed, but politics by those who don't need to be employed. Not politics by the affected, but politics by the affluent.

LetUsFaceTheFuture.

We are all in this together...

We are all in this together, Gideon Osborne tells us. Unless you are a Conservative councillor that is.

Keir is uncomfortable using cliches but "they just don't get it"

(Loving the BBC new look by the way)

Incidentally this is Barnet Council, the same council that was lauded by some as being the first 'no frills' council. Keir can neither confirm or deny that you are only allowed one bag of rubbish per person per week, that council workers wear vomit inducing t-shirts, or that the council run buses drop you off in Luton.

OFCOM states that Sky News is biased, aggressive and Tory

The media regulator Ofcom has dismissed almost 2,800 complaints about Sky News's coverage of the general election.

Viewers had objected to Adam Boulton's treatment of the Lib Dem leader, Nick Clegg, and his on-screen clash with the former Labour spin doctor Alastair Campbell, aas well as Kay Burley's interview with an electoral reformist.

Boulton, the Sky News political editor, attracted 1,787 complaints. A total of 671 viewers complained about an interview between Boulton and Campbell on Monday 10 May. Most of the complainants objected to what they viewed as unprofessional behaviour by Boulton, who appeared to lose his temper after Campbell accused him of being "upset that David Cameron is not prime minister".

"Two well-known personalities from the worlds of politics and journalism were taking part in a debate about a matter of topical and serious concern," said Ofcom. "We considered that although the tone and content of this exchange was unusual, it would not have been beyond the likely expectations of the audience for this channel."

Here.

More Gillan

After completely failing to answer Huw Irranca Davies's question on Cabinet Committees (not, it seemed, even understanding what the question was) Governor General Cheryl Gillan has been in the news a little more recently. A front page on todays Western Mail no less!

But first: whilst SoS, Peter Hain had Leighton Andrews' former bag carrier David Taylor as his SpAd. Since Gillan has taken over the Welsh Office, she is yet to replace Taylor. She was expected to replace him with Welsh Conservative Press Officer Richard Hazlewood, who has lots of experience in Wales and Welsh Politics. However, rumour has it, that instead, she is going to install her researcher, Oxford Graduate Sam Gibbs (who has no experience in Wales, or of Wales). So the person directly assisting the SoS in organising the Referendum, and representing Wales in government, has as much experience as she does. Very little. Fantastic.

And the Western Mail. Put simply:

High Flying Civil Servant (who happens to be Welsh) queries why the GG insists in staying in the swanky St Davids Hotel in Cardiff Bay (very nice, but very expensive, Keir can attest) rather than at the flat the Welsh Office [perhaps] have (Billy Hague used to stay there: Keir is not sure if they still own it) or in a cheaper hotel, when she is in Wales, seeing as "...we are all in it together." It must be remembered that this is the same woman who now, it seems, rather hypocritically earned the praise of the TaxPayers Alliance by forcing civil servants out of first class.

High Flying Civil Servant (who happens to be Welsh) is moved to the Ministry of Justice.

So does she not want a Welsh civil servant working for her? Does she not want a civil servant who is anything but a yes[wo]man working for her? Welcome to the new politics. Of course, this wouldn't happen if we had a SoS who was, you know, Welsh, and from a Welsh constituency.

Redressing The Gap, By George Osbourne

There are obviously many issues that will come from the Emergency Budget announcement. Many have been debated in the press and are becoming inevitably boring so I won't go on about VAT rises simply for what they are.

Rather, let's have a quick look at an issue that the Conservatives themselves raised in their manifesto. It was a page on their manifesto that has been referred to previously on this blog. Page 22 of the Invitation to Join the Government of Britain shows a map of the United Kingdom. It is divided into regions with each region's share of the UK economy written on it and each region's size being relative to it's share of the economy. Wales had a 4% share of the UK economy and the North East had a 3% share. Whereas London had 21% and the South East had 14%

So what will the Conservative government do to balance out this inequality? How can you stimulate growth enough in the North East and Wales in order for it to out-pace growth in London and the South East?

Maybe a 2-year public sector pay freeze? No, maybe not.

Wales and the North East have disproportionately high levels of public sector employment. Wales, for example, has around 30% of people working in the public sector. A freeze on public sector pay means less money is coming into these local economies than is going into the economies of London and the South East given that the latter two regions have private sectors to stimulate some growth. So, given that in order to redress the balance we would need to have growth in Wales and North East to be at a higher rate than growth in London and the South East, this policy will just make the gap bigger.

At least these low-income families who are living on the now-frozen public sector pay rates will receive some support though, right? Wrong. The freezing of Child Tax Credits means that a low-income public sector working family will stagnate because of this Budget. More likely, and much worse, they will begin to suffer as prices go up from 2011 with the VAT rise.

Comments such as "it could have been worse" in the media totally ignore the mass of low-paid workers in this country. The Budget may not hit the middle and upper-middle class, represented by the mainstream media, very hard. But what it will do is create a new level of the long-term unemployed class that sadly already exists. This new stream of long-term unemployed will be made up of educated people who have worked for years but are now stuck because of the state of the jobs market; a situation created by the banking collapse. That is, the collapse of banks that will barely be touched by this Budget. Ok, so Gideon introduced a levy on UK banks and UK operations of foreign banks. But that will only raise £2bn. And that's before we consider that the cut in Corporation Tax will allow the banks to scoop up a bit of the money they lose from said levy. Former Chancellor Darling raised more than that with his bonus tax. Much more could and should have been done to bring in money from the banks.

An economic Hiroshima is about to land on the households of poor people up and down this country. Labour and it's people must organise and revolt. This wasn't intended to be a pitch for David Miliband's leadership, but the organisational structure he wants to bring into the party will give people more than just a voice, it will give them a collective fist with which they can begin to pound down this disgusting, ideologically-driven attack on their lives.

LetUsFaceTheFuture.

The New Patsy

So Danny Alexander had his first experience of what it's like to be the Tories' new patsy. After Dodgy Dave got turfed out for being a naughty little liar, Devious Danny, tax dodger extraordinaire, is next in line to take the hit for the Tories.

Alexander today announced further cuts that were laced with contradictions not just with LibDem policy, but with Conservative policy too.

One of the high profile elements of the new load of cuts is the cancelling of a loan to Sheffield Forgemasters. This loan (not grant: LOAN) would have helped secure the future of production and jobs whilst also contributing to new low-carbon energy plans as the loan would have helped production of parts to build new nuclear power plants. This is totally contrary to the promise made in the Conservative manifesto (page 11), apparently part of Sir James Dyson's review, to keep manufacturing jobs in this country (where did you send your factories James? They appear to have disappeared from these shores years ago) whilst "...making Britain Europe's leading hi-tech exporter". The jobs that would have been secured and created by this loan will now go abroad and, far from helping us become an exporter, this will increase dependency on imports. In addition, the Conservatives said they wanted to re-balance the economy and also make it greener, but a move like this is detrimental to both of these plans.

And who was rolled out to give the announcement and face the tirade of criticism and abuse? Not the Chancellor of the Exchequer, but his new patsy; his new fall guy. We took out Dodgy Dave, but the triangulated crossfire is still set up and the guy in the book depository is just replaced by another power-hungry "high flyer". All the while, Gideon sits in Number 11 signing away the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands, maybe millions, of British people.

Here's an idea for you Danny boy: why don't you tighten up the loopholes on Capital Gains Tax rules to get some extra money to reduce the deficit? Nah, didn't think so.

LetUsFaceTheFuture.

Happy Brits

Our friend in my favourite British political photograph of the last decade looks well pleased with life doesn't he? And he is not alone, it seems.

IPSOS-MORI released some interesting data last week. Their study showed that between November 2009 and January 2010, British people were the seventh most happiest people in the world with their local area.

A brief look, first, at which parts of the world have parochially happier folk shows that the Netherlands (85%), Canada (83%), Australia (82%), India (76%), Germany (74%) and USA (73%) all beat the UK’s result of 72% of people who were satisfied with their local area as a place to live. Sadly we don’t have research into what makes people in these places so happy with their local area, but need we ask why Holland is top? Also, it’s hard to imagine “happy-go-lucky Aussie” complain about anything. I digress, and also stereotype. But all in good humour.

Now let us look at the countries below Britain. I won’t bore readers with them all, but most notable among them include Spain, where 64% of people reported being happy with their local area, France, where 56% of people said the same and Japan, where a mere 48% were happy with their local area as a place to live. By far my favourite however, in a slightly perverse way, was Sweden. The social democratic paradise from whence all pure social democratic ideals and policies shall come henceforth has a population of whom only 69% are happy with their local area as a place to live. Has this led Swedish politicians to cry “Broken Sweden”? Not to my knowledge.

It must firstly call into question the reasons for Michael Gove’s trumpeting of his utterly bonkers ‘free schools’ plan as being modelled on Sweden’s system of local schooling. Especially when combined with a Swedish Education Minister’s comments that the system simply increases the gap between rich and poor.

What it also calls into question is why David Cameron, like he had done many times before this research and like he has done many times since, declared Britain “broken.” Cameron, along with homophobe chronie Chris Grayling, who famously said that TV show, “The Wire has become part of real life in this country too,” relentlessly pursued a campaign of scaremongering to dupe the electorate into believing Britain was a damaged society. Grayling, in justifying his analogy with The Wire, explained how the show was, “...a horrendous portrayal of the collapse of civilised life and of human despair. Neighbourhoods where drug dealing and deprivation is rife. A constant threat of robbery to fund drug dependency. Communities dogged by violence and by violent crime.” I’d suggest an addition to these horrific scenarios whereby bigoted bed & breakfast owners turn away people because they’re homosexuals too. But that is maybe a bit too outlandish.

In addition to Grayling’s - let’s call them “musings”, because this guy does seem to just continuously say the mad things that float around his head without giving them any real thought whatsoever - Cameron, amongst many other mentions of “Broken Britain”, once said,

"Do you realise that actually we need to have a more pro-family country, we need to get behind marriage and commitment and fatherhood and we need to have much more discipline in our schools and we need to have a revolution in the way that we provide welfare and education that will really mend the broken society."

Now, let’s condense the issues that Grayling and Cameron talk about into general policy areas. They talk about drugs, poverty, local robbery, violent crime, violence in the community, family breakdown, schools and welfare provision. All of these are broken down into localised issues and the problems that the Tories say that these issues create are local problems that have, they say “broken” Britain.

I am not, in any way, saying these problems do not exist. In fact, due to the area I personally live in, these sorts of issues are right on my doorstep. But how in God’s good name can these two men, and others, claim that Britain is “broken” based on these issues, these local issues, when 72% of people are happy with their local area? So 28% reported being dissatisfied. And what were the 2 top concerns for Brits? Well, top priority was “Activities for Teenagers”, which 39% reported as being important. And the second top priority, with 37% of people saying it was important, was “Road and Pavement Repairs”. You couldn’t make it up really.

So of all the aforementioned policy areas that Grayling and Cameron declared as being pressing issues for “Broken Britain”, where do “Activities for Teenagers” and “Road and Pavement Repairs” fit in?

LetUsFaceTheFuture.

Terrible Twosome

Notwithstanding his keen reply to our letter about Cheryl Gillan's complete unsuitability to be Secretary of State for Wales, David Davies MP (Con, Monmouth) has been elected unopposed as Chair of the Welsh Affairs Committee. Although it had never been held by anyone other than a Labour MP, the parties had agreed, why, Keir cannot imagine, that the WASC Chair would be held by a Tory.

Keir can only scream. David Davies rivals Cheryl Gillan for complete unsuitability to anything that impacts on Wales.

This is the same David Davies who opposed devolution and campaigned against it in 1997, opposes extension of powers to the Senedd, and last year attended 5 out of 44 meetings of the committee, about 11%. The man the BBC refers to as the '...Tory tornado' will certainly have to improve his attendance, as new rules state that any member with less than 60% attendance can be voted off by his colleagues.

Incidentally, this is also the same David Davies who referred to torture recently as a "bonus" and campaigns for Britain to leave the EU, worrying when Keir considers how important the EU is to the recovery of Wales not only from this recession but the gutting of its economy in the 1970s and 80s.

What sort of a message does it send to Wales as a whole, combining Gillan, (whose only qualification is that she spent the first 11 years of her life in Wales) with Davies? (who is anti-devolution and seemingly, has so interest in the select committee he is now chair of) What sort of issues will be on the agenda with someone who categorically disagrees over Wales's right for even limited self governance?

But it's OK, because

Mr Davies had said he really wanted the job and would get the committee to look at issues which he thought were important to Wales.

How self obsessed is this man? Shouldn't he be looking at issues which ARE important to Wales?

Shameless Populism

Keir used to have a neighbour, who during the 2006 World Cup put up an England flag in his back garden. Every time England played a game he added a cane, or whatever, to make it higher. This didn't make him a patriot, it made him a twat.

There isn't really any ideological, structural, political or nationalist underpinning to this post. Keir however involuntary swears every time a car with any flag attached to it passes him.

TWAT BEACONS n. England Flags placed on cars in order to alert the public that the driver is a bellend

Keir feels the same about people who stick them to their houses. Keir is proud to be what he is, and doesn't feel the need to wave flags around to feel any more Welsh or British.

David Cameron has said he will fly the flag of St George over No 10 during the football World Cup in South Africa.

The prime minister told MPs that the move would not cost anything and he hoped would help unite the nation behind the English team.

Except, of course, England is only a constituent of our nation, and we shouldn't have this cheap, populist, flag waving bollocks forced on us. Who is Cameron appealing to? White Van Man? What a pathetic stunt. Let Keir ask them a question they will be asking of us soon: "Is this something the government should be doing?"

This does have a bit of a political link though: the lack of devolved representation for England within the current Union settlement. An English Assembly (at least) should be the first step on the Coalitions journey to strengthening localism which it holds so dear. They can stick their flag there.

This has happened before, which Keir didn't realise when he first composed this post in his head. But it all applies nonetheless, no matter who is the incumbent in Downing Street, the seat of the BRITISH government.

The Prime Minister's

Keir was going to write a blogpost on the discordance between what Clegg said in an interview with the Observer on Sunday and the contents of a speech that Cleggerer leaked about midnight last night and gave today. (Novy Politik) However, he found this, which precis his argument very well, so why repeat! Go read it!

As an aside, interesting how Clegg uses "we" to describe not only the Coalition, but also the Thatcher Government in the 1980s... (maybe a bit of a slip back to this?)