Why we need a general election now: Gordon Brown’s government was in disarray on Tuesday night as Jacqui Smith, home secretary, led a wave of resignations ahead of what is expected to be a dismal performance by Labour in this week’s local and European elections. via FT.com / UK – […]
Read MorePost Tagged with: "Parliament"
Surveying Cameron’s constituency and jumping with a paratrooper
The weather was superb for skydiving yesterday and Weston was alive with skydivers, tandem passengers and their families. Beth caught me on camera a couple of times under canopy: I jumped three times. The first two were solo jumps for fun — one in shorts, one in my FS suit […]
Read MoreMPs’ expenses: Lynne Jones claimed £1,000 for wallpaper – Telegraph
When I read the following, I think of all those individuals and families in modestly- and low-paid jobs, who still pay tax, and I get really quite angry. Perhaps it is due to my ordinary upbringing and my personal knowledge of family and family friends who are not well-off, but […]
Read MoreA new politics: We need a massive, radical redistribution of power | David Cameron | The Guardian
David Cameron writes, in the Guardian, four articles on reforming politics: The public reaction to the political crisis over MPs’ expenses is far too serious to be assuaged by any instant package of measures, or even the sight of MPs paying the price for unethical behaviour. I think the British […]
Read MoreWhere are the rebel MPs who will dare to vote from the heart? – Telegraph
Boris piles in: We need Members who defy party pressures and go with their conscience, says Boris Johnson. … They file through the lobbies to vote – and what are they voting on? Nine times out of 10, they haven’t a clue. All they know, because their BlackBerrys tell them, […]
Read More325 MPs to be swept away at next election – Times Online
AT least half of the House of Commons’ 646 MPs will be swept away at the general election, as voters take revenge on the political classes for the expenses scandal. The departure of 325 members of parliament as a result of forced resignations, retirement and defeat at the polls would […]
Read MoreMPs’ expenses: Now is the time to obliterate the professional political class – Telegraph
Fascinating remarks from Charles Moore. They make me glad that I am, as one front-bencher put it, “hard to caricature as a professional politician”: The reason for this is that Labour really does believe in a political class. It thinks that having lots of full-time politicians paid lots by the […]
Read MoreThe Times’ commentators move to support British democracy
Three interesting articles in The Times today: Regulation comes in, necessarily, when you recognise that you can’t rely as much as you might hope on people’s intelligence or goodwill. But this can turn into an excuse for failing to encourage intelligence and goodwill in the first place. via Enough humiliation. […]
Read MoreMPs’ pay in context
The Institute for Fiscal Studies runs a utility — Where do you fit in? — which allows you to enter your pay and council tax so that you can see how you fare in relation to the rest of the population. I entered annual pay of £65,000 and council tax […]
Read MoreMPs’ expenses: would you choose the same MP today? – Telegraph
For the past fortnight, Telegraph readers have woken up every day to stories about MPs abusing their expenses and wasting taxpayers’ money. What can they do about it? The answer, at the moment, is very little. Voters need to be given the power to do something about politicians who have […]
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![😡 A wise building site carpenter once said to me,
🗣️”A Labour government is the worst kind of government for the working man [and woman].”
🇬🇧 True then. True today. We battle on.](https://www.stevebaker.info/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/442413775_18432903037051538_3387178564604183858_n-320x320.jpg)
![😡 A wise building site carpenter once said to me,
🗣️”A Labour government is the worst kind of government for the working man [and woman].”
🇬🇧 True then. True today. We battle on.](https://www.stevebaker.info/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/442413775_18432903037051538_3387178564604183858_n.jpg)
