Update on the Battersea Open Primary
Comments on
Guido's blog are proving my theory right. We'll have to wait until probably 2009 to find out for definite whether the open primary was political suicide on the part of the Tories. I'm hoping not as Battersea is a key marginal and I really would like to see the back end of this government.
Slip of the tongue?
I've just been reading a thread on the Warwick University enrolment forum (link not provided because I do not know what the rules are for outsiders viewing the forums) about Gordon Brown's speech at the Labour party conference. Apparently, he said "There are still many valuable
purses worth fighting for". He meant to say "
purposes" but it was a slip of the tongue - or was it? After all, he does like the idea of getting his hands on more and more of our money. Was this slip of the tongue deliberate or accidental? Answers in the comments section please.
Welcome to the Annual Spin Conference
The Labour party conference starts today. I'm hoping it will be more interesting than the Lib Dem was (in my view).
Anyway, the BBC have a discussion going on about this on 'Have Your Say'. I thought I would submit a comment on this. This is what I said:
I would like to see the following:
1. Walter Wolfgang given a standing ovation (much to Blair's annoyance).
2. Blair arrested during his speech by Yates of the Yard for his part in "cash for peerages".
But then I think that this is just wishful thinking taking over.
I'm almost certain that it will not be published - my comments never are, maybe they are too right wing/anti-Blair to get approval - but wouldn't that just make such a good conference?
Update (16:47): I have just been back on the BBC Have Your Say website and, surprise surprise, my comment was never published.
What is the point of open primaries?
Out in the blogosphere today are many postings on the upcoming Battersea Open Primary, particularly on
Guido's and
Dizzy's blogs. As I have understood it, correct me if I am wrong - we don't have open primaries in my constituency, anyone registered to vote in the entire constituency is allowed to vote for who they want to be the Tory candidate at the next election.
Why? I see this as suicide on the part of the Tories. I can see that there will be a lot of tactical voting for whoever will be the best opponent - similar, in my opinion, to the
Tories for Gordon campaign.
I have nothing against making candidate selction more democratic but I think that this is a step too far. Maybe a better option would be to only allow Tory members in that constituency to vote.
Jesus Camp
Whilst listening to the radio yesterday evening, I heard a story about Jesus Camp. It is, in my opinion, a Christian version of Al-Qaeda. Members are expected to die for the Gospel.
I think this is going in completely the wrong direction. We have leaders of Jesus Camp encouraging people who are younger than me to become Christian extremists. That is not the way to take the faith.
I hope that the vast majority of Christians are not going to subscribe to this way of life. Instead, I think we should be focussing on values such as tolerance and treating others as we would like to be treated ourselves. I'm a liberal Protestant and it is this that I subscribe to. Aside from being the Son of God, I believe Jesus was a good man and a good role model for society and I aspire to follow his example.
Political schizophrenia: The tendency to vote Lib Dem
Over the weekend I decided to pick up a book and read it (well some of it). The book I chose was
Have I got views for you by Boris Johnson. It is a very interesting read.
In his chapter on politics (chapter 2), there is a section entitled
Where would muddle-headed mugwumps be without Charlie? that is mainly about Charles Kennedy's drink problems and resignation at the beginning of this year. Also mentioned was how he sees the people who vote for each party. I completely agreed with his comments on this.
On Tory voters, he says:
There are millions of people out there who want freedom, lower taxes, less regulation, less spin, the maintenance of Britain's democratic institutions, a culture of enterprise that encourages people to get on as far as they can, with decent public services and a net beneath which no one can fall.
On Labour voters, he says:
Then there is another huge group of people who seem to believe in higher taxes, more public spending, regulation, bossiness, control, surrendering the rebate to Brussels without any reform of the CAP and horrible bendy buses that crush cyclists.
On Lib Dem voters, he says:
But there is a third group, a minority, but a minority that possesses a characteristic human psychological deformity. They can't stand the pettiness of intellectual consistency. They want it all ways, and are capable of holding two mutually contradictory positions at once. Their policy on cake is pro-having it and pro-eating it, and they need a party that reflects them and their politically schizophrenic personalities.
I'm so glad I'm not one of the politically schizophrenic minority. I know what I believe and I vote accordingly. It has long been a joke around here that the Lib Dems possess a pathalogical inability to make their minds up. Maybe
Iain Dale should add this to his many reasons for hating them.
Never in the field of human conflict has so much been owed by so many to so few
Yes, today is the anniversary of the Battle of Britain. We must not forget.
Bad news for ill people in Tory constituencies
Reading the news today, I saw this story -
Labour accused over hospital cuts - and was rather offended. I live in one of the safest Tory constituencies in the country so I guess my local hospital may have to watch out. Of course, I do not support this scheme of giving more money to hospitals in Labour constituencies. The NHS is funded by the taxpayer. Taxpayers live all over the country. Are we not all entitled to the same level of treatment? The NHS is for everyone who needs it, not just Labour voters!
I guess I should not be getting ill when I'm at home.
Shock horror!! Hewitt said something I agree with
More current affairs. Today's story I want to comment on is
Hewitt wants public say on leader. I think that this makes sense because Labour are in government so their leader will be the PM. That is
our PM, not just a small section of the country's PM.
The ultimate cure for insomnia
As I have already mentioned, I am a student. I am off to university in Warwick in October. This week, I needed to enrol. I also needed to accept my accommodation offer.
In doing these things, I have come across a very important discovery - the ultimat cure for insomnia. I had so many terms and conditions etc. to read through before I could actually enrol/accept my accommodation offer (it is always useful to know what the rules are, ignorance is no form of defence). On top of this, there was loads of data protection act stuff I had to read - I really could do with knowing who has access to my personal details and what they will use them for. I have never known anything to be more boring. I was almost falling asleep at my computer.
Unemployment figures - New Labour innumeracy
I am a bit of a news junkie, as you will get to know by reading this blog. When I was reading the news earlier this afternoon, I found 2 completely contradictory stories about unemployment.
The first was
UK unemployment at six-year high. The second was
Unemployment down, says Blair.
What?!?! I think many bad things about this government but I never thought that innumeracy was one of them. I am about to start a maths degree (with physics) so it would seem that I can count.
Not so. Unemployment has gone
down to reach a 6 (yes, six) year high.
This is me
Hi guys!
I am a student with loads of opinions. I am studying maths and physics in the hope of eventually becoming a research physicist. I am a Christian and politically I'm right of centre.
I hope to use this blog to rant about whatever issue comes to mind - but in particular current affairs, politics and the ups and downs of student life.
Feel free to comment about any of my posts. I believe passionately in freedom of speech so you can say pretty much what you want. Also if you want me to link to your blog then just let me know in the comments. Also (again - my vocabulary is not that large and I can't think of another word to put here) please feel free to ask me any questions in the comments.
Enjoy reading - more posts will follow later.
