All Coventry MP's vote against Gurhkas

LA has just looked into whether Coventry MP's voted for or against (or abstained) the motion to allow Gurkha's to reside in Britain.

Bob Ainsworth, as Minister for the Armed Forces voted against, Sir how do you think all our service personnel will regard you now?

Jim Cunningham and Geoffrey Robinson bot voted against. They both put party over morals and showed a fear and a spinelessness before the whips, that no Gurkha has ever shown before any enemy of Britain.

We voted for these people to represent and lead........pathetic.

LA

Will Brown be a Swine

LA has not blogged for a whole week for a variety of reasons.

It has been another week of Government failure and Brown fiasco, from Polish visit, Gurkha loss to walking off before giving a statement.

The biggest concern for LA is given Browns misanthropic nature, will the Swine flu issue be used to his advantage, regardless of the good of the public. It has to be remembered that Brown is fond of crisis, floods, foot and mouth, even bank collapse at the start.

Would he dare? Is he that callous that he will build this up so he can "save Britain".

LA just thinks he and his cabal may be.

LA

Time Bomb Budget

"he is gambling on a swift recovery"; the words of the BBC website reacting to the budget.

The thing is "he" is not gambling, we are, the taxpayer and public. for him there is no gamble. He knows his growth forecasts are Jackanory, but he also knows he wont have to deal with the consequences.

His only gamble is did he poison the ground enough to restrict Camerons majority.
The 50% high rate tax is like an episode of Life on Mars. We are into the failing economics of the 70's. It will lead to a brain drain, goes counter to the Chancelor saying he wants Britain to be a Global Financial centre and is just a political gauntlet thrown before the Conservatives in a look back to class war mentality.

The headline grabing stuff such as the "scrappage scheme" are garbage in themselves, how many people running a 10 year old car will buy a new one, how can the government ensure it is fully passed on to the buyer and not skimmed by the dealer.
Also if you are a nurse who works when there is no public transport, you need to buy a £900 run about, well they will be no more!

Why continue with the lower VAT rate, scrap it now. Train under 25 year olds to do what. Fund sixth form places, it was thia lot that cocked the funding up in the first place.

LA can think of no redeeming features.

Cameron and Osbourne had better be good at Bomb Disposal, because this is a big one.

Nice rant, LA feels a little better now.

LA

Will anyone defect?

Will any Labour backbenchers defect to the Conservatives?

For some it could be their only slim hope of staying an MP after next spring.

The Email scandal and tomorrows budget could deliver all the reasoning?

LA doubts it but does not think it impossible.

Lets hope someone does jump ship, it would pour even more pressure on Brown.

LA

Even Lego mocks Brown

LA visited Legoland Windsor today. Whilst looking at the incredible Lego copy of London he could see all the major landmarks, he could not however see Downing Street.
He then spotted a big model truck parked at the back of a building, he instantly, and correctly, knew it was the back 10 Downing Street, the truck said "Browns Removals". Fantastic, even Lego model builders get it.

LA

How can you spin rubbish?

LA has been amused by Mandelson today. His idea to spin away from the Ed Ball, Brown McBride, et al affair is to come back to "The Recession".

Has it not struck him that polls reveal that despite their denial, the majority of UK voters have them firmly in the dock for "The Recession".

It is like hitting yourself on the head with a hammer to nullify the pain of a broken leg.

The meltdown continues, and who knows what treat Guido has.

LA

Is Browns administartion collapsing?

Even LA is surprised by the headlines already appearing from the Sunday papers.
Balls, Collins and Maguire all in deep trouble. And still Guido has just a tease on his site that tomorrow could have a bombshell.

On other blogs LA warned that he felt the McBride affair and the denials had a hint of the Nixon administration about it. LA predicted that it really could be the start of a very rapid spiral of destruction. With even more leaks likely and with such stark denials, if this gets any closer to Brown will his position be tenable, will we have a governmental collapse, an election in just weeks.

LA hopes so.

Geoffrey Robinson to stand down?

LA has for some time thought that Robinson, Browns long time financial backer, was planning to step down as an MP. Events over the last few days make that more likely.
The Coventry North West MP, who is 71 next month, has now sold (virtually given away) his stake in The New Statesman. Another step towards retirement.
LA is convinced that Brown, as all outgoing PM's can, will elevate Robinson to the Lords. That is what Geoffrey wants, a seat in Londons best and most exclusive club. The glamour of parliament without the bother of constituents.

Councillor Ed Ruane is being groomed for the seat. The 29 year old Politics graduate who has never had a real job outside political bag carrying is being pushed as the local face of Labour. LA understands that many of the long standing local Labour party may not allow such a smooth transition though.

Of course Clr Ruane may find even if selected he does not get elected, although unlikely it is not impossible given the current polls that the Coventry North West seat could fall to the Torys. This again is another reason why Geoffrey will step aside, to save the risk of ending his political career, a loser.

LA

Who will become our future politicians?

Today two stories have dominated the agenda. Damian Greens arrest, and Damien McBrides lies.

Both of these beg the question who the hell would go into politics?

Lord Allesley has for some time been considering moving into front line politics.
LA has extensive experience at Board level in both the Private and Public sector, he is also experienced at working with the media, senior politicians and public speaking. He is also financially able to commit to the costs of campaigning. He should therefore fit the bill perfectly.
There has however always been one big question mark that has prevented LA from stepping forward. That has been the exposure it would bring LA's family. Lady Allesley has always questioned why LA should put himself and his family in the firing line.

Todays stories really don't help. One says if you do go into politics you may well have the police conduct a dawn raid on your home if you conflict with the government. The other, you and your family will be destroyed by spinning scum like McBride.

How can LA persuade Lady Allesley any different on this evidence? LA's line has always been that he has no skeletons in his cupboard, however both of these stories highlight that even the whitest of white politicians could have themselves and their family life destroyed by pernicious opponents.

On this basis, who will become the next generation of politicians and what will motivate them, is it right to put the nation before ones own family?

LA

Downing Street rats in a spin

Smeargate kept unions off the front page.

Over the Easter Break the McBride affair was, an to an extent still is the big political news. It dominated not just the mainstream media but also the blogsphere.

What that meant was there was little coverage of the teachers unions conferences.

What we saw there was definitely worthy of headlines.
Votes for 10% pay increases, reduced hours and strikes over government policy.
Far more militant than we have seen in 12 years.

LA thinks that the big public sector unions realise it is the last throw of the dice.
Gordon and his gang will be gone in a year, and reality will come back to public expenditure.

On the basis that they feel they can not damage the Labour party electoral hopes as they are beyond repair, they are going all out to bank some deals before any change of Government.

It will be interesting to see how this pans out over the coming months. Will the socialist experiment see its sunset surrounded by public sector picket lines?

LA.

Politicization of Civil service is the real story

Lets get all the McBride smear story stuff in perspective.
Every one knows that spin and smear goes on in politics, sad but true. It is just that in the last 13 years this has gone to new levels of "professionalism". The best proponents of this have been the Labour Party. LA feels sure the Torys sometimes look on and wish they had the same abilities in this disgraceful skill.

The thing is, the emails are horrible, the man is clearly scum and has no regard for political opponants (Tory or Labour) as people, no regard for there family life. He does undobtdly bring politics into the gutter, he does make those that could be good for the country step back from politics as they do not want to have to contend with such filth and upset. But the real story is Gordon Browns (and Blairs) politicization of the Civil Service. Pitt the Younger was the first Prime Minister to really remove patronage from Government positions, but also from the civil service. It became mainly based on talent. Civil servants were there to serve the Government for delivery of its policies, not to fight its party political battles.

Brown made McBride a Civil Servant, the tax payer was therefore funding an organ of the Labour Party, that cannot be right. It also puts full responsibility for all McBrides actions firmly with the Prime Minister. Let us not hold our collective breath for an apology though, we know Mr Brown is as incapable of that as he is of running the country.

LA

Time to clamp down on Pakistani visa's

It is now obvious that Britain and the non Islamic world has effectively had war declared on it by some of the Autonomous regions of Pakistan. The Pakistani government either will not or cannot do anything to protect us.

We must therefore treat all those who travel in and out of Pakistan and over our borders as potential combatants or spies, just as we would in any state of war.

The scrutiny of anyone entering this nation who has been into or from Pakistan must be forensic.

LA says this for two reasons; the first the protection of our security:
Terrorism is about terror, instead of the state clamping down on all of our freedoms, clamp down on those who statistically may offer the biggest threat. If Britain's know that proper Border controls are in place they will feel at ease, and if they feel less oppressed by the situation they will also feel less threatened.

The second reason is the far right. The BNP will grab the suspicion this places on the British ethnic Pakistani community and twist it to their own ends. If it were considered that the threat was neutralized and those that are of Pakistani origin that are in this country are not hostile or a threat, the BNP lose.

Let us not have the sensibilities around the cry of racism lead us to an ineffectual course, which in itself will breed racism in our nation.

LA

Could Brown win an election?

Post G20, Brown has come out with the media spin putting him in a good light, who knows he could even go for a snap election, LA thinks that is very unlikely though. The only reason he would was if we were on the verge of calling in the IMF. Some of the phrases used post G20 by him, Mandelson and Darling all give a hint that is possible.

Would Brown go to the electorate now and then stick through the IMF claiming he had a new mandate?

There is another possibility that worries Lord Allesley. LA is starting to believe Britain may face a double troughed economic crisis.

The first slow down could well appear to be bottoming out, house prices stabilising, people (the vast majority) who have been saving for the last few months feeling a little better off. Then add in the governmental stimulus which has in reality had little effect so far, by the summer/Autumn things might on the surface seem to look a lot better. Throw in a bit of quantitative easing and the perception could be that Brown has saved the day.

It is at this point he goes to the polls thinking, at best he wins, at worst we have a hung parliament.

LA is concerned about this scenario. With a biased media, BBC in particular this nightmare could be a reality.

This would of course be smoke and mirrors economics, as Britain would then see continued rising unemployment as there is always a time lag. Then the inflationary pressures in the economy will also start to show through, poor exchange rate, printing presses running. Stagflation hits. Add to that mix the fact that we have somehow to pay for the folly of the financial stimulus. Bust Britain, with brown at the helm for a further 5 years.

How can Cameron fight this? Is this in Gordon's mind?

LA needs a drink!

LA