Archive for February, 2008
Power Needs to Devolve from Westminster – No.3
February 27th, 2008 | 
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Our Parliamentary system and the politicians within the village of Westminster have lost their way and we need to ask why this has happened ? It would be very easy to comment that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely and in part the self-seeking failures that are drawn to a political career where few who enter the House have ever had a successful career elsewhere in the real world, would seem to vindicate such a view.
However, my broad brush answer would be simply that Parliament tries to do far too much and the general public expect far too much to be done by it, the consequence of which is flannel, lies and a growing contempt of it all by the general public.
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A Memory of America
I am very fond of the USA, it is a great place to visit and if you happen to live and work there for a period of time with a reasonable job, as I did in 2000/2001, it is a very enjoyable and pleasant place to be. I was reminded of this today as I went for my morning bike ride. I have three mountain bikes, two full suspension and one I bought last year as my “shopping bike”.
The Context of Renewal – Part 2
In my previous essay, my aim was to show that past major reforms such as Magna Carta and the English Civil War, had specific contexts built around a “group or class” in society acquiring some degree of power that was taken away from the then “Ruling Structure”. However, I also intended to show that that the impact of those reforms and events, took time to bed in and become part of the British Way of doing things, we are an evolutionary country by nature and inclination.
My basic proposition is that our current parliamentary system is coming to the end of its time in its current form and we should start thinking and debating where it should go next. I can offer no “solution”, my purpose is to encourage interest and debate and whilst my personal instincts are to the right of centre politically, I promote no particular party above another in looking at this in fact, I could not do so because they all have vested interests in the status quo which you and I do not.
Fox Hunting
Now whilst hardly a burning issue, it is one where the foolishness of our directly elected representatives has over-ridden simple reason however, I am not of a mind to suggest repealing this Law. Introducing laws that cannot be enforced as this one, is always totally stupid bringing the law into disrepute and in that context, the real laugh probably lies in leaving things as they are if only to teach MPs of all parties the folly of coffee house ideology triumphing over good old common sense.
Major Political Change in the UK – Part 1
Britain is an “evolutionary” country rather than a “revolutionary” one and has become so in part because of being an island but also, because we had our blood letting and Civil Wars in the past and like a tuning fork, the memories of the 17th Century somehow, still reverberate even until this very day and say that, “We shall never return to those times and those ways…”
The purpose of this essay and others that will probably follow, is to explore what I believe are the start of impending political change within the UK and the historical themes that will properly, shape those changes and no, this is not about the EU because that is an irrelevancy which will pass soon enough.
How Responsible is the Government Over Northern Rock ?
The biggest loser from Sunday’s news that the Government is going to nationalise Northern Rock is, the Government’s and specifically Gordon Brown’s claims to financial probity – “You can trust me, I’m the Iron Chancellor, I am prudent…” words that will come to haunt him. Now personally, I have no issue with that, Brown’s arrogance and pomposity as Chancellor, was always well deserving of a good comeuppance ! However and within this sorry saga, there are more serious issues to raise and questions to be asked.
The Way We Were…
Sometimes people and I suppose of my sort of age, can reminisce about the “Past” and how it was all “so much better then”. It is not a view I have ever shared, some things may have been better, others worse and if today we have lost the “better” and are only left with the “worse”, then I suspect that is probably our own fault. The reality of course is that today, things are very different from “then” (whenever that may be) and sometimes it is interesting to have a “window” into those differences so that we can judge present day reality better.
Milly the Muppet
Apparently our much loved Foreign Secretary is to give a speech in which he will say that it is our moral duty to spread democracy abroad even by military means, if necessary. It makes you realise that the lunatics have indeed taken over running the asylum when a man who has denied the British electorate their promised referendum on the EU Constitution and therefore denies democracy at home, has the gall to say this ! The man is a total idiot, how can he face himself in the mirror each day to shave without cutting his own throat ?
Three Converging Themes
Or should I really write, three symptoms of a single theme ? Allow me to start this piece with a question: What to Derek Conway & all MPs, Sharia Law and the EU Constitution have in common with King Canute ? The answer is that all three are trying to hold back unstoppable change to a world where their current powers will be restricted in future times just as King Canute commanded the tide to stop and was powerless to do so.
More XP & Vista Tales
I have written before on the subject of the Microsoft XP and Vista operation systems for personal computers but I thought I would add a bit more on the slight chance that it may be of interest to someone and also I have some more recent experiences to share.