I watched this video of the demonstrators outside the English parliament building tonight with mixed feelings.
I deplore (I really mean that) violence of any kind and I’ve spent my life trying to avoid it and discourage other people from it, but I guess sometimes you have to ask yourself, what else is there to do?
We live in a dem
ocracy, people say, so what you do is you wait till the next elections and you vote for the other lot. (Of course the other lot is just as useless and have almost identical policies so that’s a bit of a non starter.)
But what if you have a situation where one of the parties voted into government said that they would not do ‘something’. In fact they said that to do even half of that ‘something’ would be a disaster, never mind the whole thing. They even went so far as to sign a pledges not to do this “something”. They achieved a deal of publicity about swearing and promising that they would not do this ‘something’.
Then, lo and behold, and quite unexpectedly, they found themselves in government, with flashy cars, and massive offices; with staff bowing and scraping; with people calling them “Minister”, or “Secretary”, or, in one case, “Deputy Prime Minister” and every principle they ever ha
d went flying out of the big posh office windows.
And what of this pledge that they had trotted around every university town in England? What of the photographs in the local press the length and breadth of the country? Well, at the first sniff of the Ministers’ Dining Room Wine List, they scrunched it up and dropped it into the ministerial waste paper bin to be emptied by the ministerial lackey.
So... what’s the option? Wait till the next election? Vote for the person who signs a pledge to repeal the law? Take the word of the prospective MP?
Huh?
What happens if he too drops his pledge into the ministerial waste paper bin as soon as he is comfortably ensconced in his ministerial armchair?
Peaceful protest is fine, indeed it’s right, except that this far from an election no one pays an
y attention to it.
The only time that the people in England have managed a change in the government’s policy was when they turned London upside down over Thatcher’s Poll Tax. The government listened then, just like the French government does.
Do you see where we are going with this? It’s not a pleasant picture, is it? But what is the alternative?
Tonight there will be arrests, but the real criminals will ride out of the building with their fat, self satisfied, lying bottoms on the rich upholstery of a ministerial car paid for by us, safe in the knowledge that they had their university education for free. Paid for by us!
Fair? Thought not.
Pics: (1) Qu'ils mangent de la brioche. Ex-Saint Vince laughing it off, after all he got his car and his office...and his doctorate; (2) Fires near the Westminster parliament. It will soon be the only way many of us can keep warm; (3) His magnificence Charlie and Mrs Parker Whatist’s car was hit by missiles and daubed with pain as they tried to get to the theatre. I can just hear his “ghastly people”. Don’t worry Chic, the feeling is mutual. Nice car by the way. Who paid for it? (4) Nick the Dick doing an advertisement for furniture polish. It’s clearly the only kind of pledge he knows.
I deplore (I really mean that) violence of any kind and I’ve spent my life trying to avoid it and discourage other people from it, but I guess sometimes you have to ask yourself, what else is there to do?
We live in a dem
ocracy, people say, so what you do is you wait till the next elections and you vote for the other lot. (Of course the other lot is just as useless and have almost identical policies so that’s a bit of a non starter.)But what if you have a situation where one of the parties voted into government said that they would not do ‘something’. In fact they said that to do even half of that ‘something’ would be a disaster, never mind the whole thing. They even went so far as to sign a pledges not to do this “something”. They achieved a deal of publicity about swearing and promising that they would not do this ‘something’.
Then, lo and behold, and quite unexpectedly, they found themselves in government, with flashy cars, and massive offices; with staff bowing and scraping; with people calling them “Minister”, or “Secretary”, or, in one case, “Deputy Prime Minister” and every principle they ever ha
d went flying out of the big posh office windows.And what of this pledge that they had trotted around every university town in England? What of the photographs in the local press the length and breadth of the country? Well, at the first sniff of the Ministers’ Dining Room Wine List, they scrunched it up and dropped it into the ministerial waste paper bin to be emptied by the ministerial lackey.
So... what’s the option? Wait till the next election? Vote for the person who signs a pledge to repeal the law? Take the word of the prospective MP?
Huh?
What happens if he too drops his pledge into the ministerial waste paper bin as soon as he is comfortably ensconced in his ministerial armchair?
Peaceful protest is fine, indeed it’s right, except that this far from an election no one pays an
y attention to it.The only time that the people in England have managed a change in the government’s policy was when they turned London upside down over Thatcher’s Poll Tax. The government listened then, just like the French government does.
Do you see where we are going with this? It’s not a pleasant picture, is it? But what is the alternative?
Tonight there will be arrests, but the real criminals will ride out of the building with their fat, self satisfied, lying bottoms on the rich upholstery of a ministerial car paid for by us, safe in the knowledge that they had their university education for free. Paid for by us!
Fair? Thought not.
Pics: (1) Qu'ils mangent de la brioche. Ex-Saint Vince laughing it off, after all he got his car and his office...and his doctorate; (2) Fires near the Westminster parliament. It will soon be the only way many of us can keep warm; (3) His magnificence Charlie and Mrs Parker Whatist’s car was hit by missiles and daubed with pain as they tried to get to the theatre. I can just hear his “ghastly people”. Don’t worry Chic, the feeling is mutual. Nice car by the way. Who paid for it? (4) Nick the Dick doing an advertisement for furniture polish. It’s clearly the only kind of pledge he knows.
You know you want to go on.
ReplyDeleteToast.... Maybe that's why they were lighting fires... to toast Nick the Dick.
ReplyDeleteThe Mirror's got it about right.
Never in my memory has my opinion of a bloke fallen so far so fast.
Well that’s, that wobble over for the Lib Dems! Time to move on to the next one. Reckon they will quivering like the proverbial lemon jelly before too long. Can’t help thinking it wont bid well for them in the Scottish elections in May. Either way should be fun!
ReplyDeleteAs for FMQs well....surprise, surprise Elmer asked about the snow on Monday and wanted to know why Stewart Stevenson was still in post. Thanks Elmer you are nothing if not predictable! The advice about sticking to the crib sheet no matter what is wearing a little thin though. I mean how many nil is that to the First Minister?
I suspect they'll be like Mr Wobbly with wobbly boots on 'ere long Munguin.
ReplyDeleteAs for Elmer, did he ask if he could go out and play snowballs?
What a turnip he is... Has he any idea how bad the snow has been? What on earth would he have done? Asked the Norwegians for help?
Who is going to be asked to resign?
ReplyDeleteHeavens Alan, they can't afford anyone resigning. They don't have anyone very bright to begin with. Nah, they will blame it on students.
ReplyDeleteI heard someone tried to set fire to a statue of Churchill, although I'm not sure that they could be THAT thick (on the basis statues tend not to be made out of combustable material).
I suspect that the government inflitrates a few real trouble makers into the crowd... you know, 'rent a nutter' types, slings them a few of our tax pounds and gets them to do really daft things that will get the public on the government side.
It's shocking that I do believe that, but I really do. They are such a bunch of self serving twonks... and that goes right across the political divide.
If we want resignations... let's ask Iain Gray to nominate someone. It appears to be his hobby!
I noted from further reading:
ReplyDeleteThe attack on the Parker-Bowles car was precipitated when the police drove straight into the students who were doing nothing wrong. In other words you can protest but if you hold up His Holiness you will be run over. Old Charlie got his degree for nothing too I suspect back in the Stone Age.
Secondly I note that two members of the government resigned tonight. They are both Parliamentary Private Secretaries, members of the government who do not get paid...trainee ministers as it were.
Isn’t it odd that those who found the guts to hold on to their principles were people who weren’t getting paid? None who get a salary had any qualms about voting with the government, or if they did the ministerial salary soon kicked that into touch. Yuk. They make me billious.
Nothing wrong with a bit of violence. As noted by outspoken crusties Discharge, 'They Ignore Peaceful Protest.' Anyway, there's a great lot of difference between violence against a person and violence against a non-vital object. Unless you're busting up a life support machine, the destruction of private property seems to be the only way to get heard, and good on the people in London smashing stuff up.
ReplyDeleteI understand those that don't like violence; I'm fairly meek and polite, don't even like to shout myself, but I will never oppose those that do engage in violence, and sometimes I wish I had the personality type/upbringing that I didn't fear physicality so much :P
As for the 'attack' in the royal scum, I can only laugh at the Torygraphy report, which mentions the security extras costing £1 million while you'd think from the rest of the report that the car was smashing to bits. Benefits thieves 'everywhere' should look at Charles et al, apparently popping out a fancier than normal fanny adds tens of thousands per week to your job seekers allowance.
Funny how there was no violence when the top up fees were introduced 10 or so years ago by Labour. A cynical man might think that this is just "Labour" by other means trying to get what they want using their brownshirts and useful idiots to try and force the governments hand.
ReplyDeleteNot that I'm cynical...
Well, I've no time for violence that ends up with people being hurt laz, whether it be students, hangers on who are there for the fight, or plod, some of whom, of course are just itching to get into a good old strumash.
ReplyDeleteBut no one listens when you write to your MP and complain; no one listens when you go along and see them. They pass your complaint to the minister, or rather their staff do, and the minister’s staff write back a fairly standard letter saying that they sympathise with the member's constituents but the government is ... blah blah blah, and they quote the relevant statistics which have been presented in a way to support their argument.
What’s left but demonstration?
Inevitably no matter what the subject; no matter what the country, there are people who will come along because there is a confrontation to be had. Sometimes, I am certain, these people are planted by the police/government, in order to disgust “Disgusted of Tonbridge Wells”, who writes to the Daily Mail that society is tumbling down and what these people need is a good whipping. And of course that that was what happened to him when he was at prep school and it never did him any harm.
Governments that enact unpopular legislation or unfair legislation need to remember that that is what happens. It isn’t all Ministerial Cars and posh dinners at someone else’s expense. Governments that lie through their teeth to get votes need to expect it a sight more.
Tough I say.
Well QM, I can’t remember when the Labour Disaster...er I mean government did that so I can’t comment.
ReplyDeleteBut I think that this is largely due to the fact that people who are now ministers actually said the total opposite of what they are doing.
For goodness sake, a guy who signed a pledge not to increase student fees was the muppet used by the Tories to do that within 6 months of taking office. And I once thought that Dr Cable was bright. Huh. That shows what my opinion is worth.
(Actually I’m not sure why the business Secretary was responsible for something which should be in the remit of some Education Dept.)
The way to deal with the fact that John Prescott ate all the money, or that they lost it in a betting shop somewhere, is pretty simple vis à vis universities.
Stop the idiotic notion that 50% of the population should go to uni to learn carpet cleaning and tile grouting. People end up working in Tesco stacking shelves. I have a friend who has not long done his Masters in Business Admin, and that’s what he does. Several other graduate mates are working in Tesco’s call centre.
One or two standard grades would equip them for that.
Slimmed down universities giving tertiary education to very clever people and techy colleges teaching trades to other folk. So many people really only need experience, not degrees. We waste a lot of money giving them to them.
As for the violence. Message to Camerclegg. As ye sew, so shall ye reap.
The violence by these anarchists, marxists and terrorists [that is what they are] should not be tolerated. Defacing the statue of the man who won them their bloody freedom!! Do they not realise how close we all came to losing the war to the fascist scum?
ReplyDeleteArrest them all, and when they are found guilty - prison. life. end of.
Dean you make it sound like Churchill won the war single handed, when in actual fact his bungling and interference cost many lives. He should have stuck to what he was good at a glorified propaganda minister and let the generals get on with the war (the USA and USSR when they joined) and let Attlee get on with running the country. His great supporters never seem to remember his second term in office do they? That will be because for most of it 1951-1955 he was pissed by 11am or suffering from manic depression. I pity Eisenhower having to endure his drunken phone calls and Anthony Eden who heard about what was agreed from the US State department because Winnie had forgotten all about it. No way to run a government and what was the result? In the sphere of foreign policy Churchill’s so called expertise we got the Mau Mau rebellion, the escalation of the Malayan emergency and the overthrow of Dr Mossadegh (Iran’s only ever democratically elected leader). In a way he may have helped us get our freedom but he sure made up for that by making sure piles and piles of other people didn’t get theirs.
ReplyDeleteOh Dean, it's a bloody statue, the paint will wash off. What a fuss about nothing.
ReplyDeleteIt's Ok for you. You're lucky enough to be Scottish at a Scottish university. They are facing crippling debts and they were lied to, and when they go to see their MPs no one is listening.
As for Big Ears and Princess Parker-Bowles getting a bit of paint thrown at them. Hell, he better get used to it he is going to be such an awful King I imagine people will be queuing up to throw things at him, much worse that a bit of paint too!
ReplyDeletePrison these enemies for life. No appeal, and no to your historical revisionism Munguin.
ReplyDeleteI don't think he'll be King, not now. A survey done a few weeks ago showed a massive majority wanted William.
ReplyDeleteOf course no one in London ever listens to what people who pay for it all want, but I think he'll be forced out.
Anyway, he looks a million. I expect his mum, who looks brilliant for her age, and FAR younger than him, to outlast him.
Dean Dean, calm yourself, they are only Windsors, not Stuarts!
ReplyDeleteHistorical revisionism is it Dean? Feel free to review the facts supplied and refute them if you are able to. It is so easy to sit in your armchair with a pink gin and monocle and have a rosy glow about something, but a far more difficult one to deal with FACTs supplied...eh? You just stick to your catchy one-liners al la “call me Dave” and let those of us with a pre-1990 University education deal with the facts!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteDean, Churchill was an ass-backwards layabout who was good at making speeches during wartime, and a complete liability during peacetime. I've no time for the ridiculous veneration of him that this disgusting state STILL goes in for. Apologising for an alcoholic mess is NOT my MO, and I don't wish at all to be associated with him. WWII was won by the PEOPLE, not the fucking government.
ReplyDeletePrison won't shut up the people, though, Dean, they're trying to be heard above the chattering classes that seek to silence them, the 'ruling class' which seeks to shit over them and they WILL be heard. If they have to deface statues and throw paint at 'royal' dole scum, so be it. Paint and defacement is much less than what those people deserve.
I doubt if Churchill would care about his statue being defaced.
ReplyDeleteThe Tories have handed over power to Germany without a shot being fired so his efforts have been in vain. Millions of allied volunteers dead and Germany still has the upper hand over us. We'll pour billions into the EU and the global warming scam while people like Dean, paid up members of the EU and the NWO ,will stand on the sidelines giggling and laughing like the traitors that they are. They might call us 'Little Englanders' because we love our nation but lets see them try to giggle while on the end of a hemp rope. Hung for treason.
Not literally 'hung for treason'. Just metaphorically. Have to be careful these days ;)
ReplyDeleteYou said "I watched this video of the demonstrators outside the English parliament building tonight with mixed feelings."
ReplyDeleteI am sure you really meant to say the British parliament - didn't you?
Probably right there Oliver. By the time they did that he would have been unco happy LOL.
ReplyDeleteThere is no reason at all that we couldn't have been in Germany’s position. We could have been the dominant and richest country in the EU.
But we chose to use the majority of our Marshall Plan money for nuclear weaponry and following America. Clearly the quality of government over the years that we have had has been so poor that we have ended up the poor man of Europe to Germany’s rich man.
Look back across the governments for as far as you can go and see if you can find a good one.
As Enoch Powell would have said in a high pitched birmingham accent... hanged, Hanged, the word's hanged!
And you can say it on here if you want. I'd have plenty of the commons and the lords and the royals hanged in a second.
Brianm, No, when it comes to domestic issues like Education that is the English parliament, dealing with internal English matters. In my opinion there should not have been one Scottish MP in the chamber that day. I suspect there were plenty.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately on some matters it becomes the UK parliament. Fortunately fewer and fewer things. It is filled with idiots who think we are all idiots and treat us as such. The sooner it is nothing to do with us, the better.
I should add Brianm that sending young men to fight in stupid wars they can never hope to win; reducing pensioners’ incomes to help companies who have messed up their pension schemes; reducing Housing Allowances to people who desperately need them; putting up VAT, you know, the one they had no intention of putting up when they were looking for votes; etc, etc. Is the kind of thing they do as the UK parliament.
ReplyDeleteThere is one Tory MP in that place from Scotland and a handful of turncoat Liberals who would sell their soul for ministerial office. We didn’t elect them.
Much though I loathe Labour they were the elected party in this country.