Michael Moore – “The Liberal with a Small l”

Like many other people in the UK I am concerned about the Welfare reforms being put forward by the Coalition Government.

So when I recently attended a Scottish Borders Council Teviotdale Area Committee at which a number of Council officers put forward their analysis of the impact these reforms will have on the Scottish Borders Council area. The off shoot of the analysis was that there would be a drop in Benefit of between £6.6M and £8M. I have some background in working in the revenues department of a Council so am aware of HB and CTB legislation. I was aware that there would be people hit by the Conservative and Liberal Democrat Bill, however I did not expect the levels being predicted. I found this very frightening given the recent child poverty levels which were released for Scotland and were spit down to individual Council Wards and the one I live in and which I have been selected by the Labour and Co-operative Party to stand in at the fore-coming Council elections,Hawick and Denholm the rate of Child Poverty is 26%.

So I Emailed My MP about welfare reform

Rt Hon Michael Moore MP
michaelmooremp@parliament.uk
Dear Mr Moore,
I am writing to you regarding Wednesday’s session in the House of Commons.
The welfare reform bill returns to the Commons on Wednesday. Ministers plan to use
parliamentary privilege to override amendments. It is a vast bill that changes every aspect of
social security. There are elements of value, like Universal Credit, but some parts need attention
to make them safe. We all want to make work pay, but in the fairest way. The amendments… -
Give people more time to recover if they become ill or disabled. Lib Dem MPs opposed a one-year
limit to contributory ESA, and Lib Dem peers supported this vote. Please stand with your
colleagues in the Lords to oppose this measure. protect the National Insurance entitlement of
disabled children – an issue that has always enjoyed cross-party support. – Ensure cancer patients
suffering chemotherapy are not forced to attend work-related interviews. keep the Child Support
Agency free at the point of use. Please consider the amendments and vote on the evidence.
These are not issues to be decided by party whips.
Scottish Borders Council have calculated based on the reforms currently going through Parliament
there will be between £6.6 and £8 Million Pounds less benefits paid out in the Borders. This is
money being taken from the poorest in Society.
Very best regards
Michael Grieve

To be Honest I was shocked by his reply

Dear Mr Grieve,
Thank you for your email of the 30th January 2012 regarding the Welfare Reform Bill.

Firstly I would like to reassure you that it is absolutely not the intention of the Government to penalise those who legitimately depend on benefits. Indeed, we have outlined that we are committed to continuing to provide support for those in need, such as those with disabilities or those who are out of work, and this is only right in a civilised society.

At the same time, by introducing the benefit cap, we also want to ensure that those on benefits do not receive more than the average person in work. It is important that, in households where people are able to work, they are not financially penalised when they choose to do so. Additionally, however, households in receipt of Personal Independence payments (the replacement for Disability Living Allowance) are exempt from the benefit cap. This cap of £26,000 will only apply to a small group of people, and the majority of people here in the Borders, and indeed across Scotland, will not be affected by this change.

On the proposed change to young people over the age of 16 automatically receiving Employment Support Allowance (ESA), it is important to note that 90% of young people will receive income-related ESA, and it is only those who have received an inheritance or a medical payout who are likely not to qualify for support.

On the time limiting of contributory ESA to 12 months, this change is part of a package of reforms that are designed to provide much more support to people to enable them to find work or, in cases where people are not able to work due to ill-health, to ensure that they are put in the support group for ESA. As such, only those in the work-related activity group, and not the support group, will be affected, and the poorest people will still be entitled to income-related ESA as it will be means-tested. Furthermore, around half of people affected will receive an additional six months of Statutory Six Pay.

Ultimately, the most important thing to note is that those who need the most support should be put into the Support Group (including most people with cancer) to exempt them from the time limit, and we are therefore reforming the Work Capability Assessment to ensure that this happens.

With kind regards

Yours sincerely,
Michael Moore.

Mr Moore makes no comment of his local councils own calculations regarding Welfare Reform cant wait to Vote this Man out of office

“There is Power in a Union”

There is power in a Factory
Power in the Land
Power in the Hand of the Worker
And it all amounts to nothing
If together we don’t stand
There is Power in a Union
(Billy Bragg – “There is Power in a Union”)

Wise words indeed from the Bard of Barking Billy Bragg the thing is will my fellow Scotsmen and Scotswomen listen do they believe the constant jibes at politicians from any other party from the SNP that anything other than full independence is “Talking Scotland Down”. I am proud to be Scottish, I support the Scottish Football Team, I support the Scottish Rugby team and I even Support the Scottish Cricket team. I don’t believe that the best move for Scotland is Independence. We have heard so much talk of independence over the years from the SNP. The Talk of “Scotland’s Oil” and how it will make us a wealthy nation. I believe that Scotland is a wealthy nation and always will be a wealthy nation. Not because of oil but because of the Scottish people. At the end of the day that’s all that matters what the Scottish people want. So what we need to do is “Ask the Scottish People”. The SNP have been waiting for 78 years since they were founded in 1934. So why are we waiting until the end of 2014 ?

Well it will be 80 years since they were founded. Could be they want to use that Anniversary.

or could it be that the Scottish Government intend to hold a Second year of home-coming lets face it the last one wasn’t much of a success.

Found this on Scottish Government Website.

Mr Salmond said:

“In 2014 the eyes of the world will be on Scotland as the Commonwealth Games comes to Glasgow and the Gleneagles hosts the Ryder Cup and Scots at home and abroad mark the anniversary of Bannockburn.”

“In this year of celebration, repeating the remarkable success and benefits of Homecoming 2009 is an excellent opportunity to attract tourism and investment and showcase the very best of Scotland.

Lets face it the slippery Alex Salmond wont even tell the Truth as to why he wont hold the Referendum now.

The Iron Lady – Spoiler Alerts

I am just back from seeing The Iron Lady. I must say I did enjoy it. I was not sure if I would as you are probably aware I am no fan of Mrs T and will not grieve at her passing. (no pun intended) I found Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher very believable. She played her as a she was I am not sure if she played her as she is now as you don’t see her enough to comment on that.

Jim Broadbent is out of this world as Denis he plays a man who is very funny and loves his wife very much. The Film is not a step by step look at Mrs Thatcher from her a couple of events in her childhood the main one being her Father speaking at a public meeting to her downfall, instead it concentrates on “some of” the important parts of her life as seen in flashback by Mrs Thatcher while she talks with her dead husband Denis. There as a couple of points of interest in the film as regard what it portrays as present day. Firstly her “staff” and Family (well her daughter Carole played by Olivia Colman Mark is in South Africa and never appears) both think she is going senile they realize she is talking to Denis and still has all his cloths in the closets as if he were alive. Secondly when asked direct questions about seeing things and having hallucinations she says “no” she also tells Denis on a number of occasions that he is dead. So this does not appear to be a case of senile dementia. There as been some concern by her friends and some fellow Tory MPs from her time that this did not portray her correctly. Personally it did not come over as her being a sad old lady so much as someone who missed the long term love of her life her husband and the flashbacks were a way of remembering him.

As I said this goes through the important parts of her life (or at least some of them) it starts with her first attempt at being elected in 1950 in Dartford which was a safe Labour Seat. She didn’t win but she met Denis and they marry she is then chosen for Finchley in 1959 and gets elected the way this effects her children is touched on. The film gives the idea how Sexist the House of Commons was at that time. It imply s however that she was the only Female MP at the time there were in fact another 24 MPs elected that year 12 Conservative and 13 Labour. You see that Airey Neaves (played by Nicolas Farrell) takes her under his wing and then you see her as Education Secretary (no mention of Milk Snatcher) and there is then an argument within her family when she decides to stand against Ted Heath (Played by John Sessions).

Mrs Thatcher is seen being coached how to speak in a lower octave something she denied the whole time she was in office this was all orchestrated by Gordon Reece (played by Roger Allam) The Next Major event was portrayed with a bit of poetic licence as although the INLA (Irish National Liberation Army) did blow up Airey Neaves she was not there at the time. There is coverage of the Miners Strikes, the Poll Tax riots the bombing of the Grand Hotel and her cabinet telling her the cuts were too deep (sound familiar) and you see the way she speaks to them she belittles Geoffrey Howe (Played by Anthony Head). Well this leads to his resignation and his speech in the house of Commons. This was the pivotal point in her downfall as after that Michael Heseltine (played by Richard E Grant) states he will stand against Mrs Thatcher.

When she does not win the first ballot out right the real knifes come out a number of Cabinet members are seen saying “of course you can count on my vote Margaret but I cant say about my colleagues”. Denis Tells her she will loose (this is another inaccuracy as it was Kenneth Clarke and Malcolm Rifkin who told her this).

Throughout the film as I mentioned Margaret is speaking to the dead Denis and her Housekeeper June (played by Susan Brown) tries to get her to get rid of the Clothes she still has belonging to him. The end sees Margaret emptying the closets herself packing a suitcase for Denis and waving him off into the light.

Overall its a fairly accurate portrayal of her years in power well from my recollection anyway. There is very little politics and more about her relationship with Denis which if the film is to be believed was a love affair. A understanding of the history of the time gives you a better understanding of the film. I would not recommend taking to children without ex-plaining a lot of the history to them first as my daughter found that knowing the history helped. I would recommend seeing it as its not a glorification of her but shows how she was out of touch with even her cabinet at times and that the way she had to act to get ahead was in its self the main thing that lead to her downfall.

My Part in Thatchers Downfall by Alex Salmond Aged 57

Now anyone who knows me will know that I have a photographic memory (problem is it’s never developed) but even I know that Alex Salmond played no part in the downfall of Margaret Thatcher. He has Claimed in an article in The Scotsman that his interrupting Nigel Lawson s Budget Speech in 1988 when he had been in the commons a year.

I thought I don’t remember this but he makes it sound like a major incident so it must be on his Wikipedia page but NO not one word. I did find the incident online on the BBC website here you don’t hear Mr Salmond you however hear him being named and thus suspended for a week. Not exactly bringing down the Prime Minister. It makes me wonder why someone who is at the pinnacle of his political career as the First Minister of Scotland needs to rewrite History to involve himself in “Thatcher’s Downfall” ?

For those of you who don’t know and not to spoil the plot of “The Iron Lady” Mrs T was brought down from within. Her own “Wets” (name for Tory MP who was slightly right of centre) people like Michael Heseltine who challenged her for leader there was no outright winner. This was a “Major” Blow to Mrs Thatcher she initially stated her name would go forward to the second round and she got told she had support from people like Nicolas Riddle Norman Tebbit and Kenneth Baker as well as Douglas Hurd and John Major. Kenneth Clarke told he didn’t think she could win as did Malcolm Riffkin. Strangely enough Kenneth Clarke is still in the house of Commons and in the Cabinet. Well after being told that rather than be beaten she withdrew her name from the next stage. Douglas Hurd and John Major joined Michael Heseltine in the next round. In the Second round Major failed to get the 50% requirement and got 49.7% after the result was announced both Hurd and Heseltine withdrew and Major won. (not one mention of Alex Salmond anywhere).

So why does Alex Salmond want to be associated with the downfall of Mrs T ? well the release of the Iron Lady must play a part in this though he doesn’t appear in the film. I not sure who they would have got to play him Robbie Coltrane was mentioned on a Facebook post I saw. I wonder if Mr Salmond is thinking well I need to write myself into a Historical event related to Westminster because if I Run a Referendum and loose it where will I be then. I wonder who among his Cabinet will be given the hot potato of running the referendum campaign ? Answers on a postcard to Alex Salmond MSP, T4.26, The Scottish Parliament, Edinburgh EH99 1SP.

I Look Back at 2011 and Forward to 2012

As I sit here thinking what happened in 2011 I am trying to think of things other being a campaign manager for Rab Stewart at the Scottish Election, the labour vote increasing in the Scottish Borders, becoming Chair of my CLP, My Daughter (Esther) joining the Labour Party on her 15th Birthday and getting Selected as a Labour and Co-operative Candidate for this years Council Elections. Well I suppose there was when I met the Scottish Party Leaders at parliament well I say met, I was introduced to Iain Grey and then steered clear of the others mainly the FM as I think people were concerned I may say something inappropriate. I am sure he would have taken it on the chin if I did.

I have been at the Scottish Parliament a couple of times this year and made it to FMQs twice (which was nice) on Both occasions Iain Grey was on excellent form.

I am pleased to say I believe the Labour party in Scotland finish this year we have a new leadership team with Johann Lamont as Leader of the Labour Party in Scotland and Anas Sarwar as Depute. The new leadership will bring the party in Scotland together. I believe the polls will start to pick up for Labour as a clear message is given in Scotland.

The Local Government Elections in May I predict will be the turning point in Scotland politically. I predict that the Liberal Democrats will lose a lot of Council Seats. The question is who will they go to. In the Scottish Parliamentary election they went to the SNP now the question is will that be repeated.

That will all depend on two things. Firstly how the electorate perceive the SNP, how are they dealing with being a majority Government in Scotland. They have come under fire for passing bad legislation the Sectarian Bill and the Minimum Pricing Bill are at least two examples. How these will be perceived come May is the Big Question. The second is how they have been perceived on a local level how have their Councillors performed. The City of Edinburgh and the Trams (Edinburgh is run by the SNP and Liberal Democrats) Fife Council has come under attack for plans to Close Council Run Old Peoples Homes, Aberdeen Council has lurched from one disaster to another. The SNP are talking of having control of Glasgow Council after May, well we will have to wait and see.

I am standing as a Labour and Co-operative Candidate in the Scottish Borders for the ward in which I live Hawick and Denholm it is a 3 Councillor Ward. I am not complacent about winning however I do intend to win. To that end I have set up a website I will be updating it more as the time gets nearer with News and Policy.

So lets see what 2012 brings.

language

Does the Language we use reflect on how we are seen ?

I believe so, the use of words that when I was young where swear words and you did not hear them or not very often anyway. They are used in everyday conversations now. I sometimes wonder if its down to lack of respect, lack of imagination or apathy. I can understand people can swear when they are angry I have done that myself. We must however recognise the situation and environment we use such language in. For instance you would not swear in a every day conversation with your Mother (well I know I wouldn’t) so why do people resort to it ?

As I say to my children, it’s NOT BIG and it’s NOT CLEVER. It is like Godwins Law when you have to resort to swearing to win an argument you have already lost the argument. Swearing and abusive language indicates to me that your verbal skill are low and that because you know this you have to swear or be abusive to stand out and be heard. What I would like to know is why people feel they need to do this as if there are more people like me it does not encourage me to listen, more often than not it makes me angry and turns me against their argument or indeed tell them that the are not doing their argument any good by their choice of language. This has backfired on me in the past and I get abused. Not that I let that bother me it only proves my point.

So do you feel swearing helps your argument ?

Why I am supporting Johann Lamont.

When Iain Gray announced he was going to stand down once the party had reflected on the result and had carried out a review. I can say that along with other Labour party members say that I was not surprised. It has become the norm for party leaders to fall on their sword after bad results.

Labour needs to Move forward in a safe pair of hands the new leader needs to understand why we lost so many constituency seats in May. They must be willing to reconnect with the electorate. If you have read my Blog before you will know that I am an advocate of more Co-operative policy as being the way forward for the Labour Party. Therefore I fully support Johann Lamont as the Candidate who will move the party forward giving it a new lease of Life and galvanizing the membership to go forward policies that Scotland needs and that the Scottish people will endorse from next year in May 2012 at the Local Elections, in 2013 at the European Elections, in 2015 at the UK General Election and onto 2016 for the return of a Labour Administration in the Scottish Parliament. Having watched the candidates Speak a number of times I believe that Only Johann can put the case to the Scottish people for remaining as part of the United Kingdom. Not an argument about what we can’t do, more about how we are stronger.

Labour must not abandon its policies in a bidding war with the Nationalists for votes. We should not even consider dropping opposition to the Minimum pricing. Johann is the only candidate who is still opposed to the Minimum Pricing Bill. Johann has stated that when Labour opposes it will not be for the sake of opposing therefore when we see consensus we must grasp it. Johann as Co-convenor of the Cross party Group on carers is already working on consensus polices for the benefits of Scotland 650,000 unpaid carers who save the NHS and Social services Millions each year. This is the kind of leader I want I hope you will agree with me and support Johann for leader and if you are not a Labour party member that you will recognise the Change in the party and get behind Labour by voting for Labour Candidates.

Scotland’s Alcohol Problem – Whats the Answer ?

We are all aware that Scotland has a problem with heavy drinking. Binge drinking seems to be the norm for younger people these day’s, Supermarkets offer Cider and Lager at bargain prices, Drinks companies have made alcohol that tastes like “Fizzy Juice” and meanwhile Pubs are closing School Children are drinking openly on the streets.

The Scottish Government have promised to bring in Minimum pricing during the term of this parliament. This has been a policy that I have never seen as a “Magic Bullet” We have already seen the loop holes in the multi buy legislation. The Minimum price legislation would do nothing to tackle the addiction to drinking that a lot of young people have. All Minimum Pricing will do is cause financial problems and more heartache to family members of alcoholics who will have to find more money to pay for their addiction. Tax increases have never helped reduce the problem so why would this.

In my opinion what we need is a change to the culture of drinking. We should move from Binge Drinking to drinking being a social activity with friends and family. This should be done by education rather than legislation. We need to reintroduce community social clubs like the working men’s clubs but more family orientated than some of them were. The introduction of community run co-operative pubs. Which could link to local charities encouraging the pub as a local meeting place.

The more you legislate the more people will find ways around the law or will just break it. The prohibition laws of the USA in the 1930 did nothing to combat the problem they were introduced to solve they just made new ones.

Cyber-Nats – The Scourge of Scotland

Ok you may well wonder what is a Cyber Nat and how do I avoid Catching it. Well chances are if you are on Facebook you may have come across them. They hang arround in groups and are all friends with Newsnet Scotland. They Dream of an Independent Scotland where we will all wear the tweed all our energy will be either Gas from the North Sea or Electricity from the local Wind Farm. There will be no drinking underage on Pain of death from President Salmond the Laird of all he can eat. In this Cyber Nat utopia there will only be one political party, why would anyone vote for anyone else.

The Cyber Nats hunt on the Internet they don’t discuss policy and if you don’t agree with them or date to say anything against their beliefs (for it is a religion not just politics) you will be abused and accused of being a member of “British Labour”. The also hang around the comments pages on online Newspapers. The Scotsman is a Good example they give themselves away their as they have names like “Hairy Haggis” (and that’s just the women). They accuse the Scotsman (A Johnston’s Press Newspaper) of being a Labour supporting paper (conveniently forgetting that one of the MSPs Joan McAlpine writes for the Scotsman) . While hanging on every word from Newsnet Scotland. They are aggressive in the onslaught on any opposition they don’t debate the name call demean and insult. They seem to have a chip on their shoulder about being Scottish rather than being proud of it and realising that harking on about battles long-lost or won do not favours to there cause.

Now Dont get me wrong I am not Talking about all SNP members there are growing numbers of ones who will debate and indeed I have a link on this Blog to Joan McAlpines own Blog.

Scottish Labour – Where Now ?

So following on from my last blog where i explained what I thought had gone wrong. I now intend to blog on where Labour has to be in order to re-establish its self as the main Left of Centre party in Scotland. I will not be commenting on the review that is to take place as I do not intend to undermine it. I am sure that most people reading this are well aware of the history of the Labour Party in Scotland The question is not about reinventing Labour with a “New” brand, as I don’t personally believe that the policy or rather the majority of the Labour Party policy is what a majority of the Scottish voting electorate want. Therefore a move towards Blue Labour would be a step in the “wrong” as opposed to “Right” direction (pardon the pun). The example of what can go wrong when you change colour is clearly seen in the Liberal Democrats who have embraced the Orange Book version of Liberalism. This can quite clearly have seen to have “Back Fired” on them.

I am not sure what the outcome of the review of the Scottish Labour Party will bring. I know what I would like it to bring but I will voice that within the confines of party discussions. I do not think there would be any benefit in raising them in my blog. I will however make some broad comments about what Scottish Labour has to do before 2016 and I believe from Iain Grays Speech yesterday at Alex Salmonds Election as First Minister the first step in this was taken. We must oppose the SNP when we need oppose what they are doing and when what they are doing will have a negative effect on the Scottish People. We must support any moves by the SNP where our policies are similar and where Labour party support would help bring benefits to the people of Scotland. In the broadest terms this is where the Labour Party needs to be a party in opposition who can effect change to the party in power but also a party waiting to take power and lead Scotland and who have Scotland’s best interests at heart and not just the aim of separating Scotland from the Union.

Scottish Labour what went wrong ?

Well its been 10 Long days since the election and already the discussion is about an Independent Scotland. Before the election Alex Salmond would not be drawn on when a referendum on Independence would take place, other than to say that it would be in the second half of the 5 year term. Iain Gray warned that this would be the distraction for the next 5 years and he is right so far.

Back to the main point of my blog today what went wrong for Scottish Labour, well where do I start. The campaign started with attacks on the Conservatives which left the field open to the SNP to set the agenda which they did. Alex Salmond was never challenged on his policies. Labour were never able to gain any ground after that. The incident with Iain Gray retreating into Subway was a god send to the SNP and the media as they too played their part. The Labour machine never got out of first gear and at some points it seemed like they were in reverse. It was never about the policy as there are a lot of policies where the SNP and Labour are very close. It was down to confidence in the Labour Party. Iain Gray never came over as a man who could attract the electorate to vote labour. Labour spent its time being negative and not putting their policy across. This did not come over well with the electorate.

Labour came out of the election with a net loss of 7 seats and when you look at the votes for each party compared to 2007 Labour were down 0.5 %. While the SNP vote went up 12.5% this was gained mainly from the Lib Dems and some from the Tories. Now I know there are people who will say that they have heard of Traditional Labour Voters voting SNP while I know this is true it would appear that the loss of them was not as major as the Media and some people would make out. The problem was at this election there was the largest number of people who would change parties due to what is happening at Westminster. As we all know the Liberal Democrat Vote collapsed and there was a greater confidence in the SNP than anyone else so the vote went to them. In order to win at Holyrood we need to get the confidence in Labour back. The question is how do we do this ?

Well the answer to that is the subject of another blog.

Scotland – A political change

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Some of you may have wondered where I have been. Well I was the campaign coördinator for the Local Labour party Candidate for the Scottish Parliament Rab Stewart. I have been spending my Time working on his campaign and working on the local party Website we managed to increase the vote all thou we were still fourth.

Well the political map of Scotland looks different from this time last week. Labour Lost 7 Holyrood seats to the SNP and for the first time a party has an overall majority. The parliament was set up so as this should not happen. However it has and we have to live with it. The Liberal Democrats took the biggest hammering of the night being left with only 5 MSPs having previously had 16. The Conservatives lost 2 seats taking them down to 15. The Swing to SNP is not a swing towards the SNP but a vote against the Liberal Democrats and Labour although vote for Labour did not collapse rather Labour did not attract the vote from the former Liberal Democrat vote it went to the SNP. The Labour party now needs to go back and find out from the grass root members why it failed and start the change as soon as possible the change must be done involving the membership and not dictated from above.

Iain Gray’s resignation was not really unexpected his poll ratings had not been high and he didn’t really inspire the public to us. I don’t blame Iain for the result as the SNP have something that the other parties don’t and that is Alex Salmond. He seems to have a large personal following among members of the public. He has been around in politics for quite some time he first became an MP in 1987. He is therefore a very experienced politician and a hard man to combat. I believe he has slipped up on at least 2 things in this election. He has promised to keep Council Tax frozen for the 5 years of the Parliament and he has promised a referendum just before the 2015 election. the interesting point is Referendums are not legally binding, so legally the government can ignore the results. Given that we currently have a Coalition in Westminster parties who belive in the Union It is unlikely that the Westminster Parliament will give up full power to the Scottish Parliament. The Scotland Bill is currently going through both Parliaments and last night on Newsnight (Scotland) Alex Neil MSP (SNP) hinted heavily at the SNP blocking this bill through Holyrood. Which seems very petty to me. We will have to wait and see what happens but personally I think a Referendum would return a NO vote and I think Wee Eck knows this and therefore wont hold one

Another Scottish Secretary betrays Scotland – and England

LibDem Michael Moore crashes and burns on Newsnight Scotland

1st collector for LibDem Michael Moore crashes and burns on Newsn…
Follow my videos on vodpod

The sound of Silence

Last week there was a Joint Ministerial Committee meeting to discuss the economic crisis. A Whitehall insider told the Sunday Mail that it was a lively two and a half hour meeting which was chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg. There were contributions from the First Ministers from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and the Cabinet secretaries. However Michael Moore said Nothing. He made no comment on the closure of the airbases at Luchers and Lossiemouth, he made no comment Welfare Reform and he made no plea for fuel duty cuts for rural areas. Michael is meant to be Scotland’s man in the Cabinet (he was Told this by Douglas Alexander on BBC Question Time) however he is not acting like it he is showing he has no backbone. He does not stand up for Scotland.

This is what the Conservatives want the have little support in Scotland they know they will never have large numbers of MPs and their number of MSPs may very well be reduced at the forthcoming elections. Given the lack of a Backbone of Michael Moore and his fellow Liberal Democrat MP’s on policy they believed in before the election they will take a real hammering at the Scottish Polls. I look forward to this not with satisfaction but with hope. Hope for Scotland under a Labour Government and Hope for the UK that this will lead to the Coalition only lasting one term and 2015 bringing Labour Back to power at Westminster.

However to do this me must not be like Michael Moore sitting silent we must have our voices heard. We must stand up against unjust cuts. We must defend the welfare state against ideological policies. We must protect our Local Government and NHS.

Scottish Government Cut from those in Need of Help

I recently attended a Local committee meeting of my local Authority Scottish Borders Council as the meeting was to be briefed on the proposal by the leading administration which is made up of Liberal Democrats, Conservatives and So Called Independents.

I listened with interest and was flabbergasted to discover that they were cutting £32,000 from the budget to help young carers.

Now there was no other cut mentioned of any other local support organisation for the elderly for example. So this is obviously an attack of people who are unable to hit back at the ballot box either this May or Next May. When I asked Scottish Borders Councils Chief Executive about the cut I was given what seemed to me was an incoherent rambling which basically meant it had to be someone.

Now this was last week and on Tuesday passed the 26th January 2011 I attended a Local Community Council Meeting. Where I confronted the two Scottish Borders Councilors there about the issue one of them committed to find out what the situation was and email me.

Today I received an email for the said Councillor stating that the funding from the Scottish Government under “Fairer Scotland” is being cut.I therfore intend to take this up with the Scottish Government. I am attending a meeting of the Cross party committee on Carers Next Thursday the 3rd of February in the Scottish Parliament intend to take this up then.

New web site for Local CLP

This week I launched a new website for my local Constituency Labour party. Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirkshire CLP decided that we needed a website and I therefore created one using WordPress.

The web site is located at Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirkshire Labour Party Please check it out and let me know what you think.

Vats Not the Way to do it

One of the best months of the year for sales for retailers is January this mainly due to the historical January sales. However given the increase in VAT from today (4th January 2011) there is expected to be a reduction in retail sales of £2.2 Billion. In December which is normally another good month for retailers was not. This has been put down to the bad weather. In fact some business groups have called on the Government to delay the increase due to lost sales in December 2010. The government was not going to agree to this request because they are not willing to admit that VAT is regressive and will effect retail sales. Meanwhile while the VAT increase comes into effect where is George Osbourne well is he supporting Britain well the answer is no he is in Switzerland at Cloisters the Ski resort. Strange we have ski resorts in Scotland he could have been to and supported the UK economy. This Government is laughable in it lack of compassion and concern for what the electorate think. This constant way of saying no party won last May and now they are introducing policy that neither party actually mentioned in their Manifesto’s, such as the VAT increase. It’s a sort of Punch and Judy but where the Liberal Democrats are Punch and Judy and the Conservatives are working them from below. Oh and Nick Clegg is one of the Conservatives.
It’s not a pleasant analogy.

2011 a year of change

Well Its now 2011 and we have elections in May on the 5th Local elections In England and Scottish Parliamentary and Welsh Assembly elections. This will be a major test of the publics reaction to the Coalition Government and its policies. There has already been a backlash from students and the Liberal Democrats in the polls. The student’s marching took me back to the 80s and Thatcher. The 80s were when I first got involved in politics in the Labour and Co-operative movement.

Now my hopes for this year are that in May we will see a Scottish Labour Government. I would not like to have to see us in a coalition in Scotland. I also hope to see a record number of Labour and Co-operative MSP’s elected.

how my blog did in 2010

The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Wow.

Crunchy numbers

A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 2,300 times in 2010. That’s about 6 full 747s.

In 2010, there were 59 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 117 posts. There were 24 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 2mb. That’s about 2 pictures per month.

The busiest day of the year was July 19th with 172 views. The most popular post that day was Why I am Backing Andy Burnham for Labour Leader.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were twitter.com, facebook.com, networkedblogs.com, mrcivillibertarian.co.uk, and refzip.com.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for abdelbaset al-megrahi, michael says, vince cable liar, beth greene labour party, and facebook hammersmith and fulham fightback.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

1

Why I am Backing Andy Burnham for Labour Leader July 2010
1 comment

2

What Have Labour Done for Us ? September 2010
4 comments and 1 Like on WordPress.com,

3

About The Blogger June 2009

4

An Insult too far October 2010
1 comment

5

Benefit Fraud – is Detection Working ? September 2010