I have been campaigning like crazy for the Lib Dems in Ealing and Central Acton. It is fun, for the first time in my life, to live in a marginal constituency. I am pretty confident this will be a Lib Dem gain. The local candidate, Jon Ball, is a good man, not least because he quite voluntarily, and before I moved into his constituency, came to one of my lectures!
The Tory candidate, Angie Bray, is a PR professional from Cameron’s “A-list.” Thanks to George for digging up this puff piece about her from the Financial Times, which cheerily informs us:
Angie Bray in Ealing Central and Acton was unabashed about using political links formed while working for the Tory communications machine to help her private PR clients
So much for Cameron’s claims that the Tories represent a cleaner politics…
I am not voting because NONE of the Candidates are representing the Fundamental Interests of LABOUR VS CAPITAL.
CAPITAL is in Such Complete Control, not just of all the Parties, but of all the media and what people actually THINK. The control is so absolute, that CAPITAL is almost Certain to Destroy Itself. There always has to be a balance, and currently there is None. LABOUR is unable to defend itself, and I am NOT talking about the Labour Party, which for all intents and purposes No Longer Exists.
Sometimes it takes someone outside of the system to view it objectively to see how rotten it is…
I will again quote the Australian Economist Professor Bill Mitchell who wrote this today…
“…the UK goes to the polls today and the polls are suggesting “sweeping gains” for the conservatives who are unfit to govern and will drive their economy even further backwards if elected.”
“the UK Labour Party are also not fit to govern ?” which just demonstrates how damaging the neo-liberal onslaught on our polity has been over the last few decades. All political parties have started to attract conservatives who just “badge up” with Labour/Liberal/Tory/Democrat/Republican ?” as career moves and learn to mindlessly recite the mainstream macroeconomics dogma about deficits, public debt, and the rest of it.”
“As this process of selection has developed, our political parties look more and more alike and the voters have very little real difference.”
“Like lambs to the slaughter!”
“So, sadly, I suspect the election in Britain will deliver a very anti-people outcome. Maybe the damage the Tories cause will see them jettisoned from office at the following national election. And in the meantime, maybe the Labour Party will have expelled all the fiscal conservatives and developed a real plan of action to advance public purpose. Pigs might fly!
“But, today ?” if you were a British voter ?” who would you vote for? The choice is a no-choice. The neo-liberal onslaught has eroded democracy.”
http://bilbo.economicoutlook.net/blog/
Tony
According to Google Translate, this means ‘the Greeks have been shafted by the IMF’. There is no Greek word for ‘shafted’ apparently!
?? ?????e? ????? shafted ap? t? ?”??
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8664161.stm
lwtc24/7,
it’s not unusual for 60% to not vote as things are. 60%, 80%, what will it take? I’m convinced that the Big Two parties hang on to the “Winner Takes All” voting system with such determination precisely *because* it disillusions people and puts them off voting. Those not put off are either on their side anyway, or their (our) votes get split between candidates with no hope of individual election, let alone actual power. The real conspiracy is, as always, in plain sight.
Allowing yourself to be put off voting and failing to vote tactically is to let them win.
Tony_opmoc,
I hope your economist is wrong about the “sweeping (Tory) gains”, but yeah, if they get in and fuck up (as seems inevitable, economically) and get thrown out, that’s a pretty decent scenario. Here’s hoping, eh?
David Cameron – He is like C3PO made out of ham
Tony_opmoc
“LABOUR is unable to defend itself”
Exactly.
There seems an almost universal indifference about, or even contempt for, the 20% of British workers who are on the dole, who are unemployed and have given up the search for work, or who are working part-time when they want and need full-time work.
Such attitudes are sometimes evident even on this web site, where any suggestion that the 1.6 million newly created jobs that went to immigrants during the last ten years could, and should have, been filled by British workers is dismissed as racist nonsense.
But if anyone were to address the plight of unemployed labour and the millions of workers who do the most unrewarding work for lousy wages, as brilliantly documented by Polly Toynbee (Hard Work: Life in Low-pay Britain (2003) ISBN 0-7475-6415-9), what solutions could they offer?
How do poorly educated, often socially inept and physically unfit British workers compete with Microsoft employees in China who receive 34 pence an hour and work 15 hour shifts when so required?
I’d really like to know how you think the problem can be solved.
All of those firms – and hundreds of others hiring MPs like taxis – clearly hope to get more business and more profit out public services trading on the MPs’ connections.
http://www.coventrysocialists.co.uk/blog/
“How do poorly educated, often socially inept and physically unfit British workers…”
Sounds like far right propaganda. The workers I know are pretty fine people, thanks very much.
Otherwise, China has corporate communism, which, like nationalist socialism, is plainly to be avoided. The answer is not to compete, but to keep building better structures.
Clark,
A decent scenario will be if we avoid total economic collapse, mass unemployment, mass housing repossesions, civil unrest, and an enormous increase in crime.
At least the UK public is highly tolerant of adversity and is not tooled up to the eye balls.
In my view the Revolution will start in the USA sometime over the next few years and be an appalling bloody mess.
Incidentally, I believed in the concept of peak oil for a few days around 7 years ago and was totally shocked at the implications. However, I don’t actually believe it is true. The problem is, most Governments and Elites do believe it is true, and thats what the resource wars are all about in the Middle East.
If you are in such a position of believing something is true, then it is very easy to turn that belief into a reality by using military force to fight for and hoard the remaining resources even if no actual shortage exists.
If you are convinced that Peak Oil is true, then you have every right to be totally depressed about the future. The reason for this is that it takes a certain amount of energy to pump oil from the ground. The argument is once it takes the energy equivalent of a barrel of oil to pump a barrel of oil from the ground, then the economics and cost of it is irrelevent and oil production will stop. There is no point in using a barrel of oil to pump a barrel of oil from the ground.
The logic is perfectly sound if you believe oil is a fossil fuel and is rapidly running out.
The result will be a massive die off, the details of which can be found on this website.
http://dieoff.org/
It is however all lies, but if powerful people believe it is true, the result will be the same as if it were true.
Tony
O.K. Techie,
Re: “How do poorly educated, often socially inept and physically unfit British workers…”
“Sounds like far right propaganda,” you say.
So if the 8 million unemployed are all highly educated, socially skilled geniuses, it makes it even more of a mystery that Britain needs millions of immigrants to do the work the Brits can’t do for themselves.
But you don’t wish to discuss that do you. That’s why you’re so irrelevantly waving the far right racism flag.
I still hope to hear from Tony. The question I raised concerns a profound economic challenge. Let’s see it addressed for what it is, and not be side-tracked by the settler interest.
A friend who is not a Conservative has received these e-mails earlier.
*******,
This is it. As I write these words Gordon Brown should be teetering on the edge of the political oblivion he so richly deserves.
One shove, one nudge, one tiny prod in the right place -and we will at last be rid of this bankrupt embarrassment of a Labour government. Just one last push and this great country will be spared another five years of Gordon Brown.
We will avoid the drift and dither of a hung parliament. We will give a Conservative government the chance to offer dynamic and energetic government and by tomorrow morning we will begin the work of undoing the damage done by Labour.
Who is there left to administer this final judicious kick to the Labour Party’s ample posterior?
It could be you, *******.
If you have yet to vote – and you have five minutes to spare – I urge you and all your family and friends to get down to the polling station and play your part in history.
In an election this tight, your vote could be decisive. The boot’s on your foot. For the good of our country – I urge you to use it.
Boris Johnson
______________________________
FROM: David Cameron
TO: ******
SENT: 06 May 2010 14:52
SUBJECT: ******* – vote Conservative today, get change tomorrow
Dear ******,
Today, we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to turn our country around.
This one day will decide Britain’s future at a crucial time for our economy, our society, and our politics.
We all know that it’s time for change, after thirteen years of this Labour government. But there’s only one way to bring change – and that is to vote Conservative.
Any other vote could mean we are left with another five years of Gordon Brown – and the uncertainty of a hung Parliament could kill the recovery.
Earlier this morning Sam and I voted in our constituency. Watch this video to see why I believe it is vital that you vote too.
******* – there is so much at stake today.
Only by voting Conservative today will Britain have a fresh government tomorrow that can roll up its sleeves and start to clean up the mess.
So please take the time to vote – and please do pass this message on to your friends too.
Together, we can bring the change our country needs.
David Cameron
______________________________
Cameroon’s signature is legible. Boris’s is a squiggle.
I was watching bbc News 24 earlier today, there was a reporter out in the sticks where a pub was being used as a polling station. Eager to get some reaction from the public, the reporter engaged with a local enjoying his pint, peace and quiet and minding his own business. “Have you voted yet sir ?” “I don’t vote” came the reply. “Why’s that then?”. “Well I don’t wish to be associated with crooks and criminals!” came the unexpected and unwelcome answer on a live tv interview.
I live in a Labour heartland, even though the previous whore resigned because of expenses, I’m sure the faithful will put in another one in the mistaken belief it will be good for them. My vote would not matter much one way or the other, however given the stunt pulled by Mr Farage this morning I decided I would lend it to UKIP this time round. Given the crisis in Greece and the chance of similar heading this way and the fact Mr Farage survived I am prepared to go with them.
Pity few others will but that’s life as Ester R used to say.
“Well I don’t wish to be associated with crooks and criminals!” – Goodman!
One less person that will be an accomplace to the forthcoming crimes of the looming diseased govt.
Farage’s stunt. Lucky it escaped the “hard landing” that some planes and rather more helicopters seem prone to in the DU soaked battlefields formerly known as Iraq.
Dear Craig,
While I am a new-comer to this site, I did notice your today’s announcement and would like to extend my own well-wishes to you and Nadira.
These are steps of assertive self-determining your future between two people.
In a democracy, our voice in the democratic process should also be real and I also extend my hope that you will also be rewarded at your local riding level.
Not to detract from these well-wishes but to raise as a word of caution, not unlike the quote “when an accident waiting to happen, happens; is that an accident?”. If the UK 2010 election results are disfavourable to the majority of Brit’s is that an accident?
Towards underlining this real probabilty I provide the following which I copied to several Canadian media outlets yet while the polls were still open
May 6, 2010 A.D.
In addition to the National, those receiving this directly from me via bcc, you may forward further, though I would ask you first delete my addresses above including email address.
What is the qualitative nature of the 2010 UK election outcome?
And can this be accurately predicted before the outcomes are known?
Before the 2010 UK election polls close, its a real crap-shoot whether only one of the conspicuously prominent party partisan leaders will have control of the majority MPs in parliament.
However, what can be stated predictively with almost near statistically certainty yet prior to the close of the 2010 election polls, is that on a local MP by MP basis, and this somewhat more so in this election but not unlike other recent elections,
is that the majority of Britains will end up having as their MP, one for whom the majority of citizens did not endorse with their vote!
To repeat even more plainly, the majority of the individual MPs that will be declared elected will most likely not be endorsed by their local majority of citizens who actually voted!
This factual reality can not or ought not be unknown to Brown, Cameron or Clegg.
Yet in stark contrast to this undemocratic reality, to what extent has any one of Brown, Cameron or Clegg drawn attention to this highly probable undemocratic outcome where one party, two or even all three of them stand a very good chance of being the undemocratic beneficiaries of a single-mark ballot electoral voting system which systemically and routinely in a multi-candidate situation is very vulnerable to vote-splitting and will reward one, two or even all three of the prominent parties with an over-inclusion of seats in relation to their popular vote while the majority of voters will be left out in the cold without a local representative for whom they voted?
From an abuse of power and vested self-interest position by each of the conspicuous party partisan leaders, is it not plainly revealing that this undemocratic reality is muted while Cameron’s greatest expressed concern is not about a lack of democratic representation for the people but xxb a “hung parliament”, one where he does not have control of the majority of seats in parliament? And what of the other partisans, who instead of exposing this reality, in effect cozy up to one another, play the good cop bad cop routine, and thereby collectively help detract attention from this undemocratic reality?
And where exactly is the hole in the electoral system that helps hide this reality?
The single-mark ballot system, frequently and deliberately misnamed for what it clearly is not, that of ‘first-past-the-post’ ballot system! This may be shown by a district of 9 voters where a clear majority of 5 voters split the vote between two similar candidates so that A gets 2 votes and B 3. While the majority of 5 may clearly not want C, but in our system if C gets the remaining 4 votes, then C who the majority has not endorsed is declared elected!
This vote-splitting vulnerability is easily eliminated by instead of having a single-mark ballot in a multi candidate field but by allowing voters to mark their ballot preferentially, that is marking their ballot 1-2-3… for as many of the candidates as the voter is willing to rank. This small step revision would turn our present ballot into an honourable and honest ‘first-past-the-post’ ballot system.
Coincidentally, this simple and easily implemented solution would also bring an immediate end to the level of over-inclusion of seats where any one party, or collection of parties could no longer mathematically achieve the majority of seats with a minority of popular vote!
Since none of the major parties has any real interest in empowering the citizen with democracy, the citizens by conducting their own preferential vote123… pre-election straw vote poll, could then, armed with this information actually empower the majority to elect the one candidate that had the confidence of the majority of local citizens.
Eduard Hiebert
Here are three problems with PR:
First, you get Nick Griffin, and others representing views repugnant to the great majority, elected on 6% of the vote, as in the EU Parliamentary election.
Second, every government decision will be a more or less wishy-washy compromise. There will never be real innovation or reform because all the vested interests will be powerfully represented in government.
Third, you will never see a real turnover of those in power. It will be Cam, Clegg and Brown for ever: which might make you want to throw up.
The corruption of government increases with the passage of time. It is highly desirable, therefore, to kick the rascals out periodically, even if they are replaced by another bunch with the same policies.
The real problem today is that the three main parties are bought by the same interests, and so are prone maintain the same corrupt rackets whatever change in government occurs.
Alfred,
The UK, especially the South East of England is one of the most densely populated places in the world. High levels of immigration results in significant cultural change and major challenges with regards to housing, and infrastructure. There is also the fundamental need for the protection of land and sea required for growing food, providing water and energy.
Despite all these constraints, the net effect of immigration is still marginally positive on UK society, for the simple reason that immigrants are likely to be the most highly motivated, intelligent, hard working and better educated of both the societies they left and the society they have come to.
If we are to avoid a return to the dark ages, then the only way we can achieve that is through the development of new technologies that can only be developed by the best educated and most highly motivated people.
The issue with regards to competition with slave labour rates in places like China is not actually that important in the long term from the UK’s point of view. It is of course a major issue for the Chinese, as is their high levels of pollution that we have effectively exported to them.
But at the end of the day, everyone wants to live in a clean, safe, sustainable environment that is fair in terms of offering equal opportunities to all human beings, such that they can live a good quality of life and be confident of the future.
The Developed West is going through a Major Crisis, because we have lost all sense of value, of what life should really be about.
We have become rats on a hamster wheel, where much of the work we do is of no real benefit to ourselves or the planet we live on, and much of it is unnecessarily destructive.
We build things not to last, but to fail (just after the guarantee has expired) – so that we can throw them away and buy another – and repeat the process – just in order to maintain the company’s profit.
It is the complete insanity of Capitalism gone Mental.
Most of the things we buy and throw away could be Engineered to have more than 10 times their current lifespan, but the economic system we currently “exist” in would mean that any company that actually built things to last, thinks they would go bust, because there wouldn’t be any repeat customers for over 10 times their products current lifetime.
So we create mountains of waste – which pollutes, whilst doing 10 times more mining than necessary that pollutes even worse.
Most of the things we do, we can do far more sensibly to minimise pollution and waste if we develop new technology. Even our current landfill sites should provide us with a wealth of useful material which can be processed and re-used – in a similar way that water is.
Unless we change, drastically, we are all doomed to destroy ourselves and our planet.
If we design a new society sensibly, we can actually minimise human work and maximise human leisure. Most essential things can be done by machine.
We only need such enormous “caring” resources such as health, justice, police etc because we have made ourselves “sick” by our insane lifestyles.
We need to address the root of our problems, but that is exceedingly difficult because our society is so corrupt that people lie about almost everything. We attempt to fix non-existent problems whilst ignoring the real issues that are causing our potential extinction.
How we move from where we are to a better future, involves massive cultural and educational change.
We need new leaders to inspire and motivate us to achieve our full potential.
At the moment we have a bunch of totally ignorant Psychopaths as Dictators in Control.
How we get rid of them and replace them with Brilliant Inspirational Leaders of Integrity is anyone’s guess.
These things tend to evolve as a matter of survival.
Tony
No, with STV and a 10% baseline you are unlikely to get the BNP. We’ve had PR in Scotland for a decade. It’s not been perfect but that’s partly because of the lack of fiduciary power of the Parliament. The SNP is different from Lab-Lib.
Suhayl,
The English did not become a great nation by following the Scots. The Scots achieved greatness by following the broad high road to London and taking advantage of all the benefits of civilized life that England provided. PR with any threshold you care to mention, was not one of them.
As for whether Nick Griffin can or cannot get ten percent of the vote, we’ll see later today.
Welcome Eduard – I agree government downsizing, outsourcing, economic and security harmonisation are all part of the Conservative strategy for deep integration with the US – alas a powerful media prevents this fall into oblivion that will present itself after noon tomorrow.
Who’s got the popcorn ?
“Have just read an article in a Danish newspaper in which a professor from the Copenhagen Business School is warning about a pattern in which the financial markets make HUGE amounts of money from weak and vulnerable countries like Greece. First they increased the interest rate massively on Greek government bonds and then as expected the EU have rescued Greece at the last moment from bankruptcy and have in that way, secured the value of the bonds.
The professor warns that the financial markets will do the same to Spain and Portugal ?” making MASSIVE profits from these countries then, once they have milked them dry, basically ‘handing them over’ to the EU’s control.
In his words:
There is an increased risk that the financial markets will push a new country over the edge in the hunt for a quick profit. So it could spread for example to Spain and Portugal but there is enhanced speculation that they could also try this against a Northern European country with a big foreign debt’.
Hm. Northern country with a big foreign debt? Any guesses?”
The polls close in about 10 minutes. Those of you who haven’t voted, this is your last call to go to your polling station. If you don’t go, you will have lost your last chance to participate in what could be a historic election. An exciting night of drama could be about to begin and you will have left yourself out. Instead of sitting and complaining, get out there NOW and do your duty as a citizen, while there’s time!
Like the projections of the Tories vote, the photo’s I took of bluebells today are not very good. That was despite quite excellent conditions.
Next time I will take my tripod and my old Chinese Copy of a Rolleiflex which takes 120 film.
Analogue is still better for some things.
Tony
Seems in Clegg’s constiuency the station closed with hundreds shut out not able to cast their votes. Seems pretty poor organisation by the city council, so what’s new in the third world ?
If the Tories can’t win even with this hated authoritarian New Labour govt, then we badly need a new electoral system to reflect the wishes of the British people.
I hope the Lib Dems will shield their noses, join with New Labour and give us PR and a proper democratic system.
Tony_opmoc,
yes, of course it would be better to avoid economic collapse, but I was assuming that was impossible. Yes, I’ve looked around dieoff.org, and I know what ERIE is – Energy Return on Energy Invested. It still applies whether oil is a fossil fuel or “abiotic”, ie if oil has been welling up slowly from beneath, and has formed large pockets nearer the surface, but we’ve been emptying them faster than they fill, and now we’re having to pump from deeper and deeper.
Personally I’m not decided on (1) abiotic oil or (2) anthropogenic global warming, though I tend strongly towards “no” and “yes” respectively.
All you say about building things to last, the lunacy of consumer society and modern values being wrong I strongly agree with.
On second thoughts, I’m not *quite* so negative on economic collapse – I’m totally fed up with hearing nothing but engines all day and night, and the mad scramble for the latest, pointless tecnological toys, and all the waste, which sickens me.
I cut my own wood for my stove with a bow saw – it’s a chilly night, and the stove is alight now – I’ve had a couple of people offer me chain saws, and they can’t understand when I turn them down, but I’d hate the noise and only end up cutting my own leg off. I like sawing wood, it feels sort of honest and wholesome.
Do you know about the “Transition Towns”, and “Energy Descent Plans”? My friend Trish lives near Lampeter, which is a Transition Town; she’s made a video about it. She still takes photo’s on 35mm film and publishes them as calendars – bilingual, Welsh and English – her web site is linked on my web space, or you can use:
http://www.imagesofnature.co.uk
Tony_opmoc,
I’ve had poor photo’s of bluebells using a 5 megapixel digital camera under excellent conditions, too. The same camera I used for those Chilcot photo’s, but some years ago before the sensor had degraded as much. The colour looked false and the texture came out all wrong.
Of course traditional film is *much* more finely grained, it works at molecular sizes. And every shot is taken on a fresh piece of film, not the same old CCD sensor getting used over and over again, and getting pointed at the Sun occasionally.
Some news from Norwich North.
“UKIP regrets ‘blow up Iran’ quote”:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/election_2010/england/8660823.stm
Clark,
With regards to oil, you just need to look at how the Russians have developed their own oil fields – using their own technology based on the theory that it is indeed abiotic since WWII when they were stuggling – to become one of the largest exporters in the world. I’ve also looked at the physics, maths and economics of it. Basically for over 100 years Western oil companies have maintained the myth that its a fossil fuel and will run out and have engineered shortages so that they can charge whatever they like.
gasresources.net and even a UK company geoscience have detail about it if you are really interested.
Yes I know about Transition Towns and even the Totnes Pound which I think is a brilliant idea in theory. I have a great deal of sympathy and many common interests with people who adopt such a way of life, I know a couple who moved out to their own small farm in Cornwall, after previously running a commune in Wales before they had kids. I think what they are doing is fantastic, but it is an incredibly tough life because they are effectively living like peasants, dependent on their own well for water and not even having a reliable electricity supply.
I can understand some people wanting to live such a life, but it is simply not viable for over 90% of people who live conventional lives in towns and cities.
Without sufficient energy, towns and cities would rapidly descend into total and complete chaos – where nothing would work and their would be complete mayhem as people fought each other to survive.
Ten years ago pre Y2K I thought people who had such concerns were completely insane, but running out of energy is now entirely possible – even likely because Governments are not rebuilding Power Stations fast enough – and are not planning for the worst contingencies.
All the propaganda is about Global Warming, but there is a Very Real Possibility we could run into severe Global Cooling which would require significantly more energy very quickly, just to keep people warm in winter.
With regards to photography, well I have spells when I get very keen. I used to do my own colour processing and printing in the 1960’s, but my daughter is a much better photographer than me though she’s too busy at University to do much at the moment.
I’m learning guitar again for at least the 3rd attempt in well over 40 years and have played it every day for nearly 3 weeks since it arrived. I am still crap but have made surprising progress. Youtube is absolutely brilliant for learning guitar. I can now read tabs – “guitar sheet music” and play them slowly almost straight away. My fingers are still sore though, but are toughening up.
Despite the fact that I didn’t vote, I will not be happy if the Tories get a clear majority.
Tony
Yes. Deek Jackson of FKN Newz http://www.fknnewz.com/
was standing against Brown. A mass murderer won and the best man lost.
Spot on, Tony.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJelid_QVb0