Time for a change

It was announced on the news last night that our Prime Minister has a support rating of 28%, the lowest rating of any PM since the 1930's when we were in the Great Depression. He has called the banks in today to berate them for the credit crunch. This from the man who stole £5 billion from pension pots, who has been behind the introduction of more and more stealth taxes since Labour came to power. The UK is in probably the worst situation since the Winter of Discontent in 1979, I cannot recall a time when morale and confidence was this low. Brown must be in a state of funk waiting for what his enemies will be plotting. The enemies are all those in his own party who will be sitting and silently plotting how to unseat him and take the power for themselves. The sooner the better! The big problem is that there is no discernible blue water between the two main parties, since New Labour arrived they have become more centre right than the Tories. It's only the defence,enterprise and business acumen that seperates the two now. The Liberals are a joke, they can afford to come out with all sorts of crack pot ideas because they know they will never have to implement or fund them. Their Leader is a cypher, a non entity and totally without significance. I wouldn't recognise him if he walked past me in the street. He has contributed nothing to the political scene. At least the past incumbents(Menzies excepted) had something about them, Jeremy Thorpe with his sex scandals, Paddy Pantsdown and Mr Sobriety, even the cabal who were behind the original Social and Liberal Democrats were more than just a dot on the page.

We get the leaders and the party we deserve, Winston Churchill with his womanising, misogynism, smoking and drinking would be completely un-electable today. Do we demand too much of our politicians in terms of private behaviour, because we do this and insist that they have had led a blameless existence we end up with non entities. The sort of person who achieved nothing at school and is likely to achieve nothing in life because they would never want to be part of a failure. It is inevitable in life that as you attempt, so you will sometimes fail. Success has a million fathers, failure is an orphan. The bland, self serving batch of politicians that we end up with have never done anything by and large. Those that end up in office and positions of responsibility are often those who have been the most mediocre.

Let's change PM, let's change parties, let's change politicians. Also let's elect people not bland non entities.

Shabby Treatment

I have now become an infrequent blogger. Pressures of work is my excuse. I am not a regular reader of the Mail but decided this week that I will buy it, mainly because of the DVD's. I love the stiff upper lip war films with John Mills, Noel Coward et al in them. Today's Mail(Sunday) had the front page covered with the story about the treatment of the returning fallen servicemen and contrasting how differently they are treated here and in Canada. It seems that "ceremonial" matters are not a Force priority for Thames Valley Police, it should be! They cannot be bothered to provide and escort for the coffins from the border with Wiltshire (who incidentally not only do so, but also pause at the War Memorial in Wootton Basset where the locals gather to pay respects)to the Coroner's Office in Oxford. What kind of mad society do we live in! Why haven't our elected representatives stood up in Parliament and demanded that these fallen be afforded full respect. Why doesn't the Chief Constable of Thames Valley afford them the respect of one uniformed service to another. Our Courts have this week allowed Abu Quatada to stay here at our expense and yet we cannot spare a couple of cars and motorcycle outriders to ensure that our heroic dead are treated with proper respect. In life they may not have been heroes or carried out heroic deeds but their sacrifice demands that we treat them like returning heroes. If I was living in Thames Valley I would be demanding of my local councillors an answer to this question and a refund of the Police Precept from my council community charge. The Chief Constable isn't serving me in the way I wish her to.