Labour is Bankrupt

Lord Prescott today announces Labour is near bankruptcy and a diminishing membership. Since the General election the Labourites seem to have lost their way as well as losing their leader. The image portrayed is a fragmented labour party unsure whether it wants to have Balls or a Miliband.   

Labour is lost, their ideology confused. Their last year in government was painful as the power they once had slipped away. Now in opposition they have a real chance to regroup, rethink and plan for the future. Instead Labour is still limping along driven by a thirst for power rather than a realistic vision for the future.   

A party that promised economic stability drove the UK economy in to the red and have taken their own organisation, to a financially precarious situation. Proving themselves economically incompetent.

A party that campaign for an AV referendum in government is campaigning against it in opposition. This partisan stance shows them to have lost their ideology and the ability to stand for what they were elected to do.

John Prescott the peer of the realm is another flash point of the setting sun over Labour, as an MP Prescott campaigned to abolish the upper house he now finds himself a member of. Gordon Brown the man of the people, is set to make millions for after dinner speeches as Tony Blair pursues his fantasy with oil.   

New Labour is dead its party members are fleeing, their finances in ruins, their ideology lost and there former leaders finishing off the Labour project with their own epilogue.      

Things can only get Better…

Reflections on the General Election

Is reflecting on a very weird election… the Conservative failed to gain an overall majority over the most unpopular Labour party since Foot. The Liberal Democrats lost seats despite surfing on a wave of popularity and polling above Labour and just below the Conservatives weeks before the election. Labour after years of medico governance, recession, war and scandal mange to hold off the Conservatives and after coming second in the General election still hope to form the government… FPTP is broken on all accounts, the political superstructure is corroding, we need to stop this decay through radical reform, we need proportional representation quickly followed by a General election.

Democracy inaction

In Lincoln we are seven potential parliamentary candidates each seeking your vote and eight parties fighting for city council seats. This is great for democracy and great for Lincoln and yet…

We are told by the Labservative duo that a vote for anyone else is a wasted vote. If the Labour and Conservative parties were companies, they would have been broken up for having a monopoly. Labservative’s strangle any opposition that offers a change or a challenge to their market dominance.  

It is great to see democracy in action, with so many candidates coming forward. I may not agree with all their politics, but I will fight for the right of them to express their views this is democracy and I kind of like it.   

Labour and Conservatives will never reform the political system to allow smaller parties to have a say in how this country is governed. This is the self serving nature of the old party politics. The only party that will bring about real change to our political system is the Liberal Democrats. I would encourage anyone who believes in a true democracy instead of the elected dictatorship we currently suffer, to vote Liberal Democrat.

I do have a bias I am a Liberal Democrat but I see the only way to give Independents, Greens and anyone else a chance at running this country is to vote for electoral reform. Real reform is void from both the Labour and Conservatives manifesto. The only party in this three horse race, which offers electoral reform is the Liberal Democrats.

The only way of stopping our politics from stagnating and our nation’s future failing is to vote for electoral reform. Stop the inaction of Labservative and support politics in action.

What is wrong with Labour?

Yes it is true Labour have done some good things in their time in power however they have produced and implemented some of the most draconian and ill thought-out policies.

Economy –Under New Labour the UKs mixed economy disappeared, they focused entirely on the financial district in the city of London ignoring the rural and industrial economy. Under Labour we have become a nation of consumers rather than producers leading to large personal debt. The UK was the worst placed western economy when the global banking crisis hit, we had all our eggs in one basket. The financial economy collapsed and national debt shot up to 69% of GDP with the rate of the deficit at 11.5% the UK will be bankrupt in three years time. Labour and Conservative just talk about halving the rate we are going to debt acting as a smokescreen to the very real problem of UK national debt.

Crime and Justice- The 2001 terrorism act suspended civil liberties to anyone the state perceives as a threat. There are numerous cases of the miss use of these powers and the damage they have caused. The police can search you, your property and your car with no warrant and no reasonable suspicion. The Jury trial has been suspended in cases deemed serious. You can be imprisoned without trial, your property taken off you with no reason. The shoot to kill policy is another crazy measure. British police are meant to be nothing more than citizens in uniform yet they have increasing powers and are increasingly armed something the Robert Peal said would never happen.

Yes crime has gone down, but should we be proud of the fact we have the prison population of 84875 (2010) or that we hold the record by far for the highest proportion of people in prison with the harshest sentences compared to are European counter parts (44% higher than Germany and 52% higher than France).

Foreign policy – Iraq was a conflict that mobilized the masses a scene never having occurred at any other time in my living memory. The British public did not want the conflict to occur, the EU did not want the conflict to occur and neither did the United Nations. In a democracy should the masses not control what the state can and cannot do? As the USA and Russia are reducing their nuclear arsenal why does new Labour wish to renew Trident? Could it be because it would pump money into areas where Labour voters are? We do not need nuclear missiles once one nation launches them the world is essentially over why bother keeping them if the only time we will use them is when the UK its self is already destroyed. Is it not better to disarm and work for toward peace and stop wasting billions of pounds on weapons we don’t need.

Social Mobility – The poor have gotten poorer and the rich richer, New Labour are a very strange kind of socialists. The number of millionaires in the UK has risen as the number of those in relative poverty has. Electoral Reform – How is it that a party that only received 35% of the popular vote gets 346 seats and the Liberal democrats with 22% of the popular vote only receive 62 seats this is not true democracy in anyway. Civil Liberties – The UK has the most CCTV cameras in per population in the world. Labour wants to introduce biometric ID cards and want DNA of every single person in the UK on a database. Using the fear factor stating that it will solve crime and stop terrorism. Does the death penalty stop murders from happening? Does increasing punishment decrease crime? Leading criminologists would tell you no. The people without an ID card or their DNA on a database will be able comit crime and acts of terrorism and the state would be no closer to catching them. It is those whom do not submit to the power of the state that commit crime not the average person these draconian measures will affect. It essentially criminalises everyone to catch a minority that probably won’t be on the database anyway. I am sure is the BNP ever came into power they would find the DNA database very useful or a eugenics movement identifying people whom are likely to commit crime or be prone to disease. If that information was available to employers we would have a class of people whom could never get employed and create a self fulfilling prophecy. DNA and biometrics are owned by the individual not the state and therefore the state has no right to them.

Conclusion – Labour has had some success but have a plethora of ill thought-out policy that wastes money and takes away fundamental human rights. They have shown in the face of public criticism that they do not listen to the electorate. Don’t vote labour they don’t actually listen to you! They are self serving and self righteous and seek to remain in power not for the good of the British electorate but for the good of Labour.

 • The Lib Dems have a feasible plan to reduce our national debt that we have outlined exactly what we will do unlike the labservatives. Vince Cable is well renowned for being the best person to run the British economy by all parties, the civil service and the public.

• The Lib Dems are against the erosion of civil liberties and the immense power we have given to the British police • Lib Dems voted against the war in Iraq and are against the renewal of Trident

• Lib Dem Policy is built upon a fair start for all children, fair taxes and a fair economy creating a more equal prosperous economy encouraging social mobility.

• Lib Dems have constantly campaigned for electoral reform to make politics more fair and democratic.

• The Lib Dems want to scrap ID card and scrap the mass rollout of the DNA database.

For a politics that is progressive, for a politics that is fair, a politics that works for you, vote Lib Dem.

Labservative two sides of the same coin

Labour and Conservative, Left and Right, Punch and Judy, heads and tails. Politics can’t go on like this there must be another way, a third way, the Liberal Democrat way. The last 65 years it has been Labour, Conservative, Labour, Conservative and Labour again but this election is set to be something quite different.

The coin we flip this time may land heads or tails but it is increasingly likely to land on its side. Labour or Conservatives, they do not have the authority to rule and at last the Liberal Democrats have their chance.

The UK has no want for the Tories with the catch phrase “Rip a Tory poster a day keeps the Conservatives away” falling into common use. Labour are running to the hills, they have failed and the only political momentum they gain is from saying “Cameron just like Thatcher, remember the last time”.

The only party forward looking with a plan to build a better future a liberal future is the Liberal Democrats.

On Election Day would it feels as if things had changed if Gordon Brown were still Prime Minister or how about if David Cameron became the new Prime Minister that plans on taking us back to a bygone age that never existed. Or imagine the Liberal Democrats propelled into power by popular vote back in power after 65 years in opposition, a party that seeks the best for all a democratic party built upon the core ethos of fairness.

So if you are content with Labours performance or think the Conservatives will be nicer this time, vote for more of the same, you may not like them but at least you know them.

If you are happy with the state of the economy, the state of our politics the state the Labservatives have lead us into. Vote Liberal Democrat this year and have a government that works for you.

Where is my Equality?

“Where is my equality?”. “Sorry you’re not old enough?” .The demands and restrictions made upon young people is amazing, the youth of today are demonised, exploited and not listened to properly by the Conservatives or Labour. I began identifying the striking inequalities place upon the youth of today with no question, no consultation and no thought.

Equality of Pay – At 16 you can take up full time or part time employment, the minimum wage given to you is significantly lower than that given to a person over 21. You can work full time, work that same job with the same responsibilities as someone older yet be paid peanuts.

No Taxation without representation – A phrase borrowed from our American cousins, At 16 you can work a full time job and therefore contribute to society through the tax system, but you have no say in how your taxes are spent.

Discrimination – The youth are subjected to more discrimination than any other group of people. The populist press portrays us all as knife wielding drug addicted hooligans. The reality, young people are the most liberal, open, accepting friendly section of society.

Move along – The police can breakup any group of young people with no pretext of doing so. I would rather see the youth on the streets or hanging out in parks than I would want to see them at home watching crime watch suffering from popular punitivist paranoia.

Your papers please – The constant age checking, ID checking and distrust fostered throughout the retail sector, pub sector and entertainment sectors.

Sorry only two school children at a time – imagine any other group being told they cannot enter a shop because of which group they belong, this is outright discrimination.

Alcohol age raise – Lincoln Conservatives are looking at raising the legal age that alcohol can be bought at. To reduce binge drinking and alcohol related problems. Most alcoholics are middle aged men and the local teenagers drinking at a party.

Higher education higher fees – It is very backwards to charge those whom are striving for success before they have any. These fees are constantly rising a constant source of frustration for all students. Education is a right not a privilege.           

Moving goal posts – Every exam success if followed by comments of the exams are getting easier, the answer is no the investment into the education system is working and pupils are getting more intelligent.

Young people form the most cohesive part of our society, they are inclusive, positive and form an example the older generations should follow. Young people fight in are wars, volunteer in our communities, raise money for charities, participate in sports and understand the importance of looking after their environment.

The Liberal Democrats policy includes votes at 16, getting rid of tax on the first £ 10,000, more freedom and funding for education, abolishment of tuition fees and seeks to build a future fair for all.

Young people have little trust in politics as politics has little trust in them. The best way for young people and people in general to insure their wants and needs are taken into account is by engaging in politics, you cannot change the atmosphere of a party without being there.

By Matthew Holden

The Conservative Party are they ready to govern?

This evening I will be taking part in a question time styled debate, the question being “The Conservative Party, are they ready to govern?” I will be speaking against the Conservatives ability to govern. I will debate against Fraser standing to be elected as a councilor much like myself. Here is my opening speech. (note it is written as if spoken)

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Tories will never be ready for government. In order to govern you need to represent those whom elect you. The Tories represent a bygone era where wealth buys influence, this is how the Tories will “rule” but not govern.

This new breed of the compassionate conservatives is in truth the iron fist in a velvet glove. The same nervous xenophobic, sexist and elitist ideology underpins conservative dogma.

 I wonder if Fraser could let me know an answer to a question that has long puzzled me?

Did the Daily Mail write the conservative manifesto? Or do only Conservative write in this lamentable excuse for a news paper?

The conservatives success can be attributed directly to Labours failures, not because the conservatives offer any credible alternative! The Tory propaganda machine of Merdock’s monopoly and Ashcroft’s accounts have helped prepare the field for conservative success, this morally wrong, politically wrong and democratically, wrong wrong wrong.

Where the conservative already govern the mask often slips with Conservative councilors calling climate change a hoax or try to sell off common land to private individuals.

The conservatives will rant until they go truly blue, proclaiming “Britain is Broken” the only thing broken in Britain, is our broken politics of Punch and Judi, Conservatives and Labour

Both the two main parties are void of vision for the future, and neither are fit for government. The Conservatives, a party without real policy, a party without real politics a party without real people. They are not really ready for Government.

by Matthew Holden

“Freedom in not rocking the boat”

We the university students of today are the leaders of tomorrow, politics is a sinking ship and yet we hold the power to save it. British politics has been through a storm this year and the boat is swaying.

For nearly one hundred years voters have run side to side, left to right, Labour to Conservative. This has lead to the Westminster ship rocking and it will soon reach critical mass and capsize.

The numbers of people whom vote are falling, the trust in our governance is failing and Great Britain’s future clouded. The result …… Britain’s standing in the world will dramatically fall.

The British government is near bankruptcy and the economic stability we have now may well be the calm before the storm. The so called “change” in the wind will swing our political ship from left to right and perhaps left again with many people abandoning politics, abandoning hope and abandoning Britain. 

I have been told if I want a good job, a good future then Britain is not place to be. I disagree. Our country needs us the liberal educated students to innovate and motivate the crew of this sinking ship. Bring about stability by standing in the middle of this political enterprise. 

Come May the student vote must decide the countries future. If we do not the “grey vote” will take it upon themselves to turn our voyage around and sail into the poisoned past: the daily mail’s utopia.

The futures bright the future is yellow.  

By Matthew Holden

What is to be done?

I will be campaigning on a number of local issues and if I am voted in I will fight tirelessly to get them resolved. These are issues I have picked up on from reading the Lincolnshire Echo, reading election leaflets from all of the parties and from my own personal experience.

Transport: something radical needs doing to solve the infrastructure of Lincoln. The railway is the main sticking point, when the barriers go down Lincoln is cut in half this needs to be resolved without disrupting the rail service that many depend on. The roads surrounding the city are also a mess with queues forming on Pelham Bridge, Silver Street and Carholme Road .This is bad for our economy, emergency services and bad for everyone whom is held up by this nuisance. I will aim to work with and talk to anyone whom can solve the current farrago that is the Lincoln transport system.

Trains: there is a long term plan to connect Lincoln to London and run a better service between both cities. This will bring job, people and prosperity to Lincoln. If there is anything I can do to speed up the process I will.

Economy:  encourage jobs and businesses to Lincoln and harness the unlocked potentials of University of Lincoln students. Most graduates educated here have to leave for jobs elsewhere. Encouraging companies invest in Lincoln will reduce the academic leakage we currently suffer from.

Encourage green industry to move into Lincoln and support the rural economy creating long term stability and prosperity.

Education: I stand by the promise of the Liberal Democrats to abolish student tuition fees; I will work with local educational establishments and the Students Unions to make this debilitating tax on students to be abolished.

Crime: crime destroys communities and leads to social breakdown I will work with the police and other organisations to ensure our communities are free from crime and the fear of crime. It is great to see in the Echo today that the police and council have teamed up together to “clean up” abbey ward this is something that has my full support and I would like to see across the whole of Lincoln.

Other local issues:  I will be elected to represent my residents, if I can support and aid any of them in raising awareness, protesting and campaigning I will be will to come to their aid. The Nocton Dairy Farm, The Common to Race Course, The Waddington Circus are all issues I am ready to make a stand on and use what influence I have to really build Lincoln in the vision of my residents.     

I want to build a better future and bring about change that works for you, come the 6^th of may let the people of Lincoln come out in their true colours yellow.   

By Matthew Holden

Why Politics? Why the Liberal Democrats?

There are just seven weeks until the General Election and the City Council Election in Lincoln. I am standing for election to the city council in Abbey ward for the Liberal Democrats. The questions most people ask me are Why?

Why bother nothing ever changes?

The first question worries me the most, I have written in the Lincolnshire echo on this very topic. This has been the worst year in politics in my living memory and when I see a problem I want to fix it.

I worked on a polling station in the 2009 EU elections there was record low turnout and those whom did turn out were, well, all pensioners. No wonder politics is out of touch with the people, when the only people whom do vote in any large number are over 60!

The EU election was the rise of the right Conservatives, UKIP and BNP. Seeing these parties gain votes, power and influence gave me the kick I needed to engage in politics, these parties don’t represent me they are the antithesis of my political ideology.  

In 2009 the world saw Obama get into office, we saw the crowds of people on the streets cheering on the new president, and will that happen for Gordon Brown or David Cameron? Or will people carry on and simply say “that’s just the way it is”.

The disillusionment, distrust and general dislike of politics is a problem that must be solved. I believe a vote for the liberal democrats would be the right direction in solving this.

Other things that have excited the political gene are numerous.

• The erosion of civil rights
• The widening gap between the rich and the poor
• The Iraq war that most were opposed to
•  The rise of far right parties
• The collapse of the economy
• The huge burden of debt put on students individually
• The huge burden of debt mortgaging Britain’s future

The Change We Need is the end to the red, blue, red, blue cycle of politics making politics about politics and not the pursuit of power over people.

 Why the Liberal Democrats?

They are the only party free from pressure from the outside for example Labour and the trade unions or the Tories and the toffs.

Every party pretends to be a centrally aligned party in order to win votes. Tony Blair with New Labours lack of clause four and the Conservatives “I never voted Tory but..”. The Liberal Democrats don’t pretend to be a centrally aligned party they are.   

The liberal democrats have policies that are not only realistic but will improve the lives of all. No tax on the first ten thousand pounds of earnings, putting the cap of twenty pupils per class in primary schools and scraping tuition fees.

The policy paid for by scraping ID cards, scraping trident, reducing the number of MPs and creating a green economy bring job and energy independence to Great Britain.   

The Liberal Democrats have the vision for the future and will build a better future, a fairer future, a liberal future.