Geoff Hoon resignation - Greenpeace response

Commenting on Geoff Hoon's resignation, Greenpeace executive director John Sauven said:

"Geoff Hoon's resignation is an ideal opportunity for Labour to ditch its disastrous Heathrow policy and make a clean break from the past. In recent years the fortunes of the third runway have become a metaphor for the Labour Party itself - increasingly unpopular, with most people now wondering what on earth it's for. In one single step Labour could signal that it takes the voting public seriously and is committed to stopping climate change, and it wouldn't cost a penny. In fact as the aviation industry continues to decline a new £13bn runway would be economic folly."

That's it James, stick it to the man!!!

Another wild stab in the dark is what the PM has just received from yet another cabinet minister today at 10:00pm as the polling stations closed. There was no warning and absolutely no respect or gratitude for the cabinet position that was given to him ahead of his time.

James Purnell plunged the knife in and looks to have twisted it around a bit in the process by giving his resignation this evening. He wants a leadership contest. He must know that what he has done will result in a general election and the defeat of his party. I think he has thought this through very carefully.

He is young. If Labour go into opposition now then by the time they get back into power, he will be a little bit older and a little bit wiser. He will also have cabinet experience so there is a very good chance if he backs the right horses (and I don't mean Mr Ed!) that he will end up in a very cushy place.

I would not recommend a game of cards with this man and I'm not sure I would lend him a fiver either.

Purnell resignation means we need a General Election now

David Cameron warned the Labour Government is “falling apart in front of our eyes” after James Purnell, the Work and Pensions Secretary, resigned from the Cabinet.

David said, “In a deep recession and political crisis we need a strong Government. Instead we have a Government falling apart in front of our eyes. Britain deserves better than this.”

Keep Jacqui the Goon for comedy's sake

I don't know if I'll ever forgive myself for saying this but I'm not convinced that it is time for Jacqui Smith to go. The Home secretary has jumped from the frying pan into the fire, then into the saucepan, the grill, the barbecue, steamer, broiler, fondue, kettle, deep fat fryer, cauldron, griddle, toasted cheese and ham sandwich maker, the slow cooker and the George Foreman. Wow! what a lot of junk I've got to cook stuff in that I never use.

Anyway I have been hypothesising about what would happen if she were to be sacked or if she resigned. Firstly I would have less to get angry about and subsequently write about. She is a one woman disaster and from my point of view is a dream come true because she provides me with gaff after gaff with which to criticise the current mess that is our government.

The difference between Smith and other cabinet ministers is that she gets caught. She gets caught because not only is she ignorant of the rules, but by now she has to be convinced that they don't even apply to her anyway. If she goes then the potential is that the gaffometer will go back down to an almost respectable level as her sneakier colleagues actually play politics and people might start to think that the government is OK!

We cannot afford (literally) for this to happen. If Labour win another term in office then we're done for and I'm off to Zimbabwe for a more stable economy and I'm taking my cooking implements and appliances with me. However if she stays then she will continue to show up this government for what it really is...a joke. Politically, it will probably serve the PM and others quite well to keep her too. After all if you have made mistakes or want to do something without being seen because it will be unpopular, illegal or immoral it is always handy to have a clown running about to divert attention. I'm sure that there are those in power who are delusional enough still to presume that they can win another term so for them she has to be pure gold.

The last thing I want to say is that I actually enjoy having her where she is. When all the rage and anger subsides, she's actually seems to be quite a funny and light hearted character. Granted, she's helped to spend our money on nothing but her own gain and most of her policies would have been lauded by the Nazi party in Germany circa 1930s but she doesn't smile like a vampire and she is the kind of person who provides a bit of light hearted humour in an otherwise grey world. She's the character who's bra flings off in true Carry On/Barbara Windsor style when she walks into Westminster or slips on banana skins left by the opposition. So if she does go I find myself in the compromising position of saying that she will be sorely....

(MPA) Statement: chair of MPA Boris Johnson

"It is with deep regret that that at 7.30 am this morning I accepted the resignation of AC Bob Quick. Bob understands fully that the security breach which occurred yesterday was a serious issue for which he has taken personal responsibility. Bob has had a long and distinguished career and has made a huge contribution to British policing, particularly in the last year developing the national counter terrorism capability."

Broken Silence: Broken Economy

I have been away for a bit which has meant that I have neglected this site to an extent. However I don't think that I have been as negligent as some (in power and in finance) have recently been so I'm going to let myself off and er... what the hell, I'll give myself a sizable pay rise, bonus, fantastic perks and a holiday too!!!

Anyway, I have been going out of my mind with anger and rage recently about all this business to do with the economy and the stock markets. I have to say that I think that a great deal of the problem and the rising lack in confidence in the UK and world wide economy is a result of the constant 24hr jabbering of the media who appear to be in something of a feeding frenzy at the moment. However, irrespective of the media slathering at the prospect of planetary economic meltdown, governments actually seem to be panicking at the thought of recession and are running around like headless chickens trying to be seen to be "prudent" in solving the problem.

All governments including that of the UK who previously and apparently had no money are all bending over backwards to pump money into the banks to remedy the problem. This, I think is a fundamental mistake and should be avoided at all costs. Why? The money will disappear and it will not solve the problem. Regardless of any money old Gordon throws at this, we are going into recession and any attempt to stop the inevitable natural cycle of the economy can only be likened to attempts by King Canute to hold back the tides.

The fact is that the present government has for years, unnaturally prolonged the boom part of the cycle and in so doing have claimed economic mastery and genius. Gordon and Tony revelled in good figures like swine in swill for years and our current incumbent actually believes that he was and is a top economist. In his desperation to keep this reputation in tact he is in danger of pushing the UK into the worst and longest recession in history and instead of dealing with the problem logically and rationally he is addressing the problems from a popularity point of view.

Rather than looking at what caused the problem (and in truth a lot of the problems in our society) he appears to be set on reinforcing and restoring policies and practices that caused the problem in the first place. The problem is greed accompanied with a means. It's wrong to blame bankers for the problem because whilst they have undoubtedly been acting like wolves the whole time, it takes two to Tango and in fact it actually takes three. People without any financial security or appreciation have been exposed to cheap and readily accessible credit and have been allowed to borrow without full understanding of the risks and consequences. This has been encouraged by the banks absolutely and it seems encouraged too by the government who have allowed its people to live beyond their natural means and whose regulatory institution, the FSA has done nothing to fulfil their statutory mission. The fact is that all of the players involved have been blinded by greed and all are equally to blame.

This being so, if the banks are given cash to stimulate more borrowing then nobody will learn any lessons and the problem will crystallise in the future. The solution also goes against the laws of natural selection, capitalism and democracy. If banks have misbehaved then they should go to the wall. If people have irresponsibly over borrowed then they should also face the consequences and learn lessons. Government both central and the FSA should also be made to pay. Gordon and cronies will undoubtedly and finally face the firing squad over the next year and a half depending on how long they manage to stretch things out. The FSA in reality has failed, perhaps even worse than the Child Support Agency and should be scrapped, reinstating the statutory regulatory bodies that existed prior to its inception. We need to realise the extent of the mess that New Labour has left this country in and find a way to unpick the tangle that has been created. Not sure if Dave is the man to do it because he seems to be backing the government in some weird attempt to look as prudent as the PM perhaps (who got us into this mess in the first place).

All things said and done, we have to accept that the recession is coming. Like a snake sheds its skin to grow so too must the economy. What is vital is that we accept the loss of things dead in life. in order to go forward. If we don't then we will become constricted or worse become stagnant and infected. Nature must be allowed to take its course.

The Week's Shiny Bits

Funny things happen in politics every day. Some things make you feel frustrated, some things laeve you confused, some things make you mad and sometimes, only sometimes things really make you smile. This week has presented the whole spectrum of feelings for me.

Frustrated...with the refusal and silence of Thabo Mbeki over the elections and violence in Zimbabwe. Frustrated also by a pittyful show of gesturing and posturing by world leaders. Everyone seems to be very keen to condemn Mugabe but as usual, nobody seems to be in any rush to actually do anything...Quelle surprise!!!

Confused...by the Nelson Mandella concert in London last night. I think the idea was actually brilliant but I was enraged by the decision by the TV channel that aired it to intersperse the music with inane interviews by inane presenters with inane artistes (some of whom could hardly string a sentence together and I would be very surprised if they were even aware of things like the Sowheto uprisings). I was enraged by the fact that every time someone farts on TV on Saturday night, they bring out the same prepubescent looking slip of a lass (Fearn Cotton) to jump all over the place, ask crap questions and oversell the occurrence almost to the point of orgasm. Surely this style of presentation would be better suited to children’s TV, QVC or ITV’s This Morning. Coincidentally I believe that’s where the other presenter of the evening cut his teeth.

I was also perplexed as to why poor Nelson was sat in what appeared to be a darkened tent on his own except for the company of Gordon Brown!!!???.... possibly one of the most boring men on the planet. What I mean to say is that Nelson, 90 years old and celebrating his birthday at a massive rock concert in possibly one of the most exciting places in the world was sat with possibly one of the most boring people in the world, a failing politician who probably only wanted to be there for his own image or to pester him for some kind of overt sign of public support, affection or endorsement. It would be like popping into Macky Dee’s or Thornton’s with your personal trainer or watching sex on TV with your parents; it just isn’t fun.

Disheartened...by stories from Italy that they re proposing to fingerprint every gypsy in the country so that they can keep control over them in some way. I find it a wholly shameful thing that what the Italians are planning to do is absolutely reminiscent of what the Nazis did to the Gypsies and the Jews before they made them wear badges, put them in ghettos and then liquidated them (ghettos then inhabitants). Where’s the condemnation from the leaders of Europe and the rest of the world on this one? Bloody nowhere!!!

Happy...about the resignation by the crook Wendy Alexander. It is bout time she went for the good of the country. Lets hope that her boss takes a positive lesson from her example and does likewise...sooner rather than later.

Strange Things Afoot With the Conservatives Methinks!!!

What on earth is going on with David Davis? I understand that he and the rest of his party might be a little upset with the outcome of the vote in parliament the other day, but why would anyone from the Conservative party resign over it. It would be understandably thatsomeone from the Labour party might consider stepping down if in disagreement but the Conservatives are in opposition. This logically means that they will oppose the governments stance and will be defeated on certain issues. If they resign, and risk by-election everytime they are defeated in the commons there is no chance they are ever going to gain any ground. Apart from everything else it almost seems a bit like Davis is throwing his dollies from the pram.

When I heard the news, I started thinking that this was a gesture by a politician who actually has morals and ethics; that he actually feels so strongly about this that he is prepared to give it all up for his beliefs. The longer I thought about it though, the more the nagging doubts and cynicism started to tug at me. David Davis is a man who has on two or three occasions so close to running the party that I can't help thinking that nothing he does is without careful planning and strategic political advantage. It didn't take me long to forget all possible altruistic possibilities (and there is only one) in favour for the possibility that this move can only be politically motivated. The problem I have is that for the life of me, I cannot figure out what the motive is!!!

The first idea was that he was simply doing it to prove that the conservatives were a party of conviction and that the positive vote was so bad that resignation was the only reasonable option. Then I realised that this was not right. The only reasonable option would be to stay put and campaign agaionst the government and defeat them at the next general election.

The second thought I had was that the conservatives wanted to force a by-election based on the vote in parliament which would give the people a chance to tell the government what they really thought about their terrorist and extended detention without charge policies. However any result would be negated by the fact that David Davis would presumably be campaigning for re-election in a safe conservative seat so there is no way that anyone could saliently argue that a win would be a knock at the government. They could be trying to keep up some kind of momentum in terms of beating Labour by-elections and thus try to force a general election but I don't think that Gordon is going anywhere near the polls until the last possible second and will not be pushed.

I wondered if Davis was looking for an opportunity to resign from the shaddow cabinet without making the party look divided and this provided him with the perfect opportunity. It is possible perhaps that Cameron wanted him out and rather than sack him, gave him an opportunity to go with dignity and without tearing the party to shreads.

Whatever the reason, I'm not sure I will ever find out. I cannot even wirk out who benefits and who suffers in this. One thing that seems to be emerging is that it hasn't done the conservatives any good. On the other hand, I'm not sure if it has done them any bad either. All that has happened is that I'm totally confused (doesn't take much to do that though!!!)