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PoliticalCentrist

Listed below are comments made by PoliticalCentrist between Wednesday, 7th October 2009 and Thursday, 10th December 2009.

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Pre-Budget report plans imply cuts 8:59pm on 10 Dec 2009 It is surely no surprise that budgets cuts are going to be enforced to eradicate the enormous deficit. Every political party, commentator and dare I say it...us the people are aware this is required.

Lets cut to the chase and bypass the phoney war of your cuts are bigger than our cuts. At the next election the choice is straighforward and you can either:

Vote Labour who will tax jobs or Vote Conservative who will tax everyone by raising VAT.

The choice is that of the Great British public.
Efficiently tackling inefficiency 4:07pm on 07 Dec 2009 What is the fundamental difference between Labour and Conservative? They both agree on Afghanisatan; climate change; higher taxes; departmental budget cuts; agressively tackling the debt; cut borrowing levels etc.....

Has it come to the stage where politics has turned into a beauty parade where we no longer vote for the party but for the leader? If so, Gordon Brown does not stand a chance against David Cameron not because DC was born to lead but because GB was born not to!!
Schools and the Class War debate 4:32pm on 04 Dec 2009 Andrew,

I feel there is nothing wrong in having a privileged education per se but it is a major issue in the current economic climate.

The fact the country is up in arms at the bankers and their millions and billions demonstrates the resentment the ordinary person has for those who are in a "privileged" position and the feeling is these people are out of touch with reality and do not understand, or feel, the pain of Joe Public.

This perception is an achilles heel for the Tories which Labour have quite rightly seized upon and it could seriously damage the Tories as the resentment does not just exist within the working class but also the middle class who are important voters for the Tories.

In my view "class" will be a secondary issue for the election. Incredibly the next election will be decided upon the party who manages to tap into the feelgood factor of the football World Cup in South Africa just before the election in May.

Will the feelgood factor favour Gordon Brown as he is the incumbent and remind people this has happened under a Labour Government? or else will it create the optimism for change and hand David Cameron the big electoral swing he needs to sweep the Tories into power?
Plotters, quitters and fighters 4:16pm on 17 Nov 2009 Nick,

If you ever bother to read any of the messages posted on your blog you may well remember that some time ago I said that Gordon Brown had to remain as leader but resign at this years party conference.

Little did I know The Sun were in tune with me and after Gordon's conference speech they immediately backed the Tories. To get rid of Gordon now would be too little too late and would be political suicide.

The general public are already prepared for the battle between Gordon and David and Labour have no option now but to run with Gordon. A year ago at the Glasgow East by-election Labour got humiliated as the General Election was a long way off but now we are in the final lap for the General Election they have comfortably won Glasgow North East and have a little bit of momentum to suggest the election will be closer than many think.

This election should not be compared to 1997 as Labour managed to convince the electorate that change was needed whereas the Tories have not successfully achieved this. Many people are frightened of the insecurity a Tory Governemnt will bring to people's lives and a more sensible comparison is the election of 1992 when John Major secured a narrow victory in similar circumstances: the electorate was not estatic about the incumbent government but they were unsure that a new government would be an improvement.

Labour should be viewing the election of 2010 as a re-run of 1992 and not 1997. My impression is the Tories are aware of this and it is their greatest fear. Gordon Brown is no longer the problem for Labour or the Conservatives as we will have had 13 years of a Labour Government and the electorate is aware of what they will get irrespective of who is leader of the Labour Party.

This is an election about David Cameron to see if he can convince the electorate that 'things can only get better'. VAT up to 20%; ruthless cuts on public service spending leading to job losses and brutual strikes; unemployment rising to 5 million; the real possibility of going back into recession in 2010 etc, etc.

David has a tough job convincing the electorate that 'things can only get better'. Personality only counts (i.e. Obama) if you have an addictive personality which neither Gordon or David possess. The election of 2010 is no longer about the leader of the Labour Party but all about the leader of the Conservative Party therefore the plotters, quitters and fighters should unite and hold their breath to see if David can step up to the mark and produce the goods.

Dejavue 1992 not 1997 unless David Cameron can produce a rabbit from the hat (of which there has been no evidence whatsoever to suggest will become a realistic possibility) before May 2010 as Nick rightly states that pre 1997 Labour had a 50% rating wheras the Tories hover closer to 40% even though the country is still in recession.
El Presidente 1:46pm on 27 Oct 2009 It seemed not that long ago that David Cameron was gesticulating to his party MPs to give Tony Blair a standing ovation as the ex-PM was departing on his last day in the House of Commons.

Ken Clarke hit the nail on the head when he said 'the sooner the power of the UK Government is similar to a parish council the better'.

An integrated EU will see the Euro become the benchmark currency for global trading, overtaking the dollar, and will ensure the only two world wars can never be repeated.

Is there any example to show the view of the right that isolation is good for business? The quicker we are integrated into the EU the better and what better man at the helm than our very own and distinguished Tony Blair.
Nick Griffin on Question Time 1:32pm on 23 Oct 2009 I found it sad that a political platform was turned into a personality contest.

The main issue of this story is not the BNP or Nick Griffin but that almost 1 million people voted for the party only a few months ago and THEY (the people) deserve for the leader of the party they voted for, to be able to express and debate the political views of the party, irrespective of whether you agree with them or not, in a manner that is fair with all the other political parties.

This should be normal practice in a democracy. Personally I totally disagree with the fabric and policies of the BNP but believe the best way to discredit them and expose their politics is by mature, democratic debate on policy rather than personality and insult.

Being judge and jury will only have strenghtened the BNP support whereas a fair politcal debate would have demonstrated to the British people that they are a discredited party who do not merit their vote.
Has he got a Legg to stand on? 2:03pm on 13 Oct 2009 How can it be right to fiddle the mortgage but wrong to fiddle the expenses for cleaning and gardening? Can anything ever be straightforward with our current batch of MPs?

Why could the verdict not have been the previous system was flawed and open to abuse, which many MPs took advantage of, but ultimately they broke no rules and therefore a line could be drawn under this sorry episode and anyone who breaches the rules of the new expenses system would face instant dismal from the House of Commons from now on.

Story over and the MPs could get back to real politics that affect people and country.
Expenses, Libya and the pound 1:48pm on 13 Oct 2009 Andrew,

This expenses review is a perfect anecdote of the leadership displayed under the current PM.

Even something simple such as paying back expenses is becoming labourious and it seems that under the current stewardship there is nothing, even the simplest of tasks, that can get done effectively and efficiently. Ed Balls says one thing, David Miliband says the opposite and the leader cannot make his mind up.

If our holidays are also going to give us grief over currency rates then dark days are with us in more ways than one. The way is it going we are going to be lucky to have the EU rather than the EU lucky to have us.
It's Groundhog Day! 10:18pm on 12 Oct 2009 Andrew,

Politics oh politics. The majority of the repayments that require to be made would hardly keep you going on your vintage champagne.

How is it in the public interest to know that Nick Clegg should pay back £910 in expenses retrospectively? It was not the "greed" of the politicans that got us into this mess but the greedy bankers.

For the CEO of the now defunct Lehaman Bros to receive half a billion dollars in bonuses is an example of the real reason we are in dire straits and we must not forget that while the politicians have been naughty; the bankers have been nothing short of disgusting.

How the bankers must be pleased the media is diverting attention from the real culprits.
Another gaffe 7:57pm on 07 Oct 2009 Nick,

Just goes to show that even the best can make mistakes.

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