Can this Government Govern ?

Let us suppose LA agreed with all of the Governments policies.(Yes far fetched but stick with it)

The question then is can this Government actually deliver any of these policies?

This week alone it has spent its time dealing with forign governments mocking it, its MP's sex romp in the commons, Tony Mcnulty and his Mum & Dads house expenses claim, Obama planning to see Cameron and Jacqui Smiths expensed Adult entertainment.

This is getting to be a standard week.
With all this going on how can they concentrate on putting in place any policy. How can they help the country through its turmoil.

It would appear the only real politics is the "collapse" of the Dunfermline Building Society, and even as LA types that seams to be unravelling into a confused mess, possibly highlighting that Ministers cannot concentrate on their jobs in this atmosphere of farce.

LA concludes they cannot govern?

Once again LA says, 30 years on from the collapse of a Labour Government that brought the nation to its knees, it is time for an election.

LA

Is LA unpatriotic , ask Tom Harris MP

This is Tom Harris reposte to his party leader being shown for the sham he is , he says of Dan Hannans destruction of Browns delusion:

"What was truly repugnant about his speech was the total absence of any sense of patriotism. Some Tories on the extreme right of the party share the problem of some Republicans in the States: they don’t regard the head of government to be the nation’s leader unless he or she is also a member of their little party.

Gordon Brown isn’t just Labour’s prime minister; he’s Britain’s prime minister, and for any UK politician to launch such a disgraceful, personal attack on his country’s leader — in a foreign country — is nothing short of disgraceful."

This would make LA's previous postin on Dan Hannan's speech unpatriotic.

Mr Harris, it is you sir who puts his party and its leader over and above his country ,that is unpatriotic. This unelected Prime Minister needs removing, you Mr Harris and the rest of the parliamentary Labour Party are the ones keeping him in place. It is you who should be taken to the Tower.

LA.

Its is LA's Patriotic duty to post this

Hat tip to half the blogsphere for this, but just in case you have not watched.This is what our Parliamentary system with its lapdog speaker does not allow to be said.
Watch and enjoy.

LA

Ups and down of inflation

Government figure now conflict, CPI up, RPI down. If you take out the reduced cost of mortgages, prices have gone up!!

LA has been warning this would happen for months, the devaluation of the pound is having a major effect, politicians, BoE officials and government officials have chosen to look on LA as a heretic when he has warned them.

Brown has left Britain in a terrible position globally and now we are payin the price.

The retired who rely on their savings interest and do not have a mortgage are well and truely stuffed. Less income, higher prices.
They would have been better off wasting their money on holidays, booze and fags. Then they could have applied for extra benefits from the hand out, bankrupt state.
Thank you Mr Brown, now just call an election!

LA

RBS Non Execs "Bowed to pressure"

There are reports that Non Execs of the tax payers new bank, RBS, backed down from asking questions about the banks financing, when they were threatened with the sack.

If this is true this shows that the wrong people are being chosen to be Non Exec Directors (NED's).

NED's are supposed to be independent. Any board taking on a NED should ensure that they are also financially independent. They then have no worries over being sacked.

A NED's ultimate sanction is to resign highlighting issues to shareholders (Or government if a public sector NED). If they "fear" the sack, they should not be there in the first place, they are critical friends on the board, not co-conspirators.

Until boards recognise this they will be ineffective and not deliver true shareholder value.

LA

Another Sunday, another expenses exposé.

According to this Mornings papers Tony McNulty has been claiming housing allowance for his parents home 8 miles from his family home. By all accounts this is within the rules. But was it within the spirit of the rules. I can't see that anyone would say that it was.

There are two points here.

The first is the inescapable view that MP's allowances is a joke. It should be brought in line with that of the private sector, if it is not the repute of all politicians is brought into question and democracy suffers.

The second point is that just as the Major government found, when the rot sets in, it cannot be turned. LA is sure that there are MP's on all sides of the House pushing the system to the extreme for personal gain. They are however not all part of a crumbling government. A predatory media are like Lions, they will pick off the lame and weak. This government is both of those, over the coming weeks we should expect similar headlines.

Drip, drip drip.

LA.

Why does cabinet devalue Parliament

LA notes the debate on the Economy that the opposition tabled yesterday. Incredibly given the recession, the economy has not been the subject of debate since December. It took the Tories to use up some of their allocated Parliamentary time to have the debate.

The Shadow Chancellor headed the debate, Alistair Darling did not show up, he had Yvette Cooper front things for the Treasury.

He was not at any summit, overseas or at any appointment that could not have easily been rearranged, he also had weeks of notice of the debate.

There are only 2 conclusions to draw.

1: The government is afraid to debate the economy as it knows it would become apparent that it is useless.

2: The government has no respect for Parliament, MP's or those people that elect them.

Of course the third option is both of the above.

LA

Cameron Confirms regional changes to LA

LA this evening asked David Cameron how a Tory government would see the regions. Cameron confirmed that the role of the RDA's would be hugely diminished ad power would be devolved to local councils.

LA is happy. That allows for democracy and accountability.

LA.

Are Banks Blackmailers

LA has had disturbing reports.
It is anecdotal, but if true very wrong.
LA has been told that high street banks have told businesses that they will only get renewal on overdraft and finance facilities if they move their insurances etc to the bank.

If this is true the FSA should step in without delay.

LA would welcome feedback, if it is true, and he has it from two sources it is a disgrace!

LA

West Midlands Minister peddles the delusion

LA has just attended a meeting with the west Midlands Minister in Birmingham. It was to discuss retention of skills.
His audience of around 150 business people was greeted by the opening line "The current recession, which started in America"
At this point, 2 seconds in, the entire audience shook its head and was lost.
How can anyone take these people seriously, an alcoholic cannot start on the road to recovery until he recognises he is an alcoholic, denial and delusional is damaging.

LA

Partyless Politics

Sir Paul Judge has set up a new "party" it is for all waifs and strays of politics who have no party. It is supposed to reflect a sense of independence, the ability of MP's to truly representing their constituents, not their party.

How laudable, however it is destined to fail, even if they took every seat, it would fail the nation. It was only during the Disraeli and Gladstone era that party politics as we know it really took shape.Prior to that there were loose affiliations, whigs, torys,liberals members would vote however they felt. Sounds great but of course it was only with a true party system that real reform of the nation took place. It takes a party system to get real change through. Therefore even if the public find toeing the party line uncomfortable, in reality it is in the best interests of a progressive democracy.

LA

When has quantitative easing worked?

LA has been asking this question a lot. It was ineffective in Japan but didn't ruin the economy, all other cited examples have been unmitigated disasters from Germany to Zimbabwe.
George Osbourne describes it as "a leap in the dark". LA fears it is a leap in the dark by a blind man, he does not even realise its dark.

The worry is all these government measures have not hit, Government Ministers are unaware of the underlying risk of inflation( Ford announcing price increase due to £, timber prices up, food prices up). Put these facts in the mix and it starts to increase the risk.

11 years of the great socialist experiment and it has come to this.Surely the nation will now realise for a generation that artificial wealth redistribution leads to wealth devastation, with the poorest in society and working families and saving pensioners hit worst. Big government equals high taxes high public spending equals higher waste not better sharper services.

LA hopes, but with the left wing media, memories can be reprogrammed with remarkable speed.

LA

The "NYLon" recession

LA met with a representative of the Bank of England yesterday, obviously the discussion was around the recession and its solution.
The Bank of England is still forecasting a "V" shaped recession, on what basis never became clear.
There was a reticence to enter into the argument of where the thing started, although there was recognition that it started on both sides of the Atlantic, not as Gordon says "it started in America".
LA has now coined this the NYLon recession, it started and was produced by the banks and institutions of New York and London, and as with Nylon the more you have the more shocks you get.
Obviously in parallel to this was the two most useless administrations in living memory, Bush Washington and Blair-Brown Britain. There was nothing inevitable about the current crash, it was produced over years, it was not natural, like Nylon.

When will Brown admit to this, more importantly, when will he finally go.

LA.