Modern Liberty – whatever happened to Magna Carta?

I went, with Praguetory and Mrs Praguetory, to the Birmingham satellite event of the Modern Liberties conference.

The speakers, webcast from London, included Shami Chakrabarti, Dominic Grieve, and Helena Kennedy. It was a fantastic discussion and focused upon important contemporary issues of civil liberties and freedom – which Labour has been eroding since 1997.

Not just 42 days, but the recent No British Need Apply scandal at Lindsey and the Dover Tory councillor being threatened with his seat being taken off him for making a perfectly frank and relevant joke about immigrants being given an 8 bedroom house then having it taken off them if British all highlight the erosion of liberty and free speech.

Immigration debates aren’t about race, but about jobs and fairness. Conversely, Labour is happy to lock up law-abiding citizens simply because they have brown skin.

Go figure.

++ RBS £24b and HBOS £10b loss ++

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS), the latter being part of LLoyds Banking Group, have announced staggering losses of £24b and £10b respectively.

While Mandy and co have tried to spin the big news story as being RBS’ former boss, Sir Fred Goodwin’s, pension pot, the real story is elsewhere …

… Brown ‘nudged’ the banks into lending to all and sundry, and by forcing the farcical Financial Services Authority (fFSA) to apply ‘light touch regulation’ and the Bank of England to keep interest rates low, he caused this boom and bust.

But Brown is the one man (as women are not involved in this mess) who is not apologising.

++ Barratt made a £600m loss in Q2 2008 ++

The financial performance of housebuilders in 2008 is starting to feed through, and this is solid evidence of what we already know about the collapse of the section – for example, Barrett has:

UK housebuilder Barratt Developments has reported a loss of almost £600m in the second half of 2008 after having to write down the value of land it owns.

It saw a pre-tax loss of £592.4m, down from a £192.4m profit a year earlier.

This is not surprising news but what it does indicate is how Brownian (dis)economics, acting through the debt-fuelled housing market boom that Brown stoked up for political purposes, is having an effect on a major housebuilder; subcontractors; workers; and people who would like to buy, but frankly can’t. 

This is the major indictment on Brown’s disastrous reign, first as Chancellor, then as PM.

++ Wrightbus to shed 235 jobs ++

Ballymena, Northern Ireland based bus maker, Wrightbus, is shedding 235 jobs as the BBC reports:

The Ballymena-based company, which employs 1,000 people, said a 90-day consultation process had begun.

“We will be actively working with union and employee representatives to explore ways in which we can reduce the number of job losses,” a spokesperson said.

He said the sudden cancellation of a substantial order from one of its largest customers was a factor.

“By acting now, we hope that the company will be able to weather the current economic downturn and emerge stronger for the future,” he said.

DUP assembly member Ian Paisley Jnr said the job losses would be “a devastating blow to not just the North Antrim economy but the Northern Ireland economy as well”.

“Whilst there is little that can be done to regain cancelled contracts, I would call on the government to make whatever expertise it has available to the company and these workers,” he said.

SDLP North Antrim assembly member Declan O’Loan said: “The loss of skilled, well-paid jobs will be a crisis for those families when there are not many alternative jobs around.

“Unfortunately, companies have to react to the state of their order books, and the recession is hitting every sector.”

It seems that no sector of the economy is safe from the Brownian recession.

What fools would give Labour £2.6m in 3 months?

The BBC reports that in three months the Tories raised almost twice as much as Labour – £5 million versus £2.6 million:

In its latest update, the Electoral Commission said the Tories were given £5.1m in donations between October and December while Labour received £2.6m.

For 2008 as a whole, the Conservatives edged ahead with donations of about £19m compared to Labour’s £17m.

The interesting question is : what fools would give £2.6 million to Labour in three months?  Perhaps it is people who believed that Brown was saving the world?  Maybe it was trades unions’ donations, which in the case of the mail union, will not be forthcoming in the future?

Whatever its source, it is clear that Labour won’t be receiving so much from now on, now that it is clear that Brown has driven us into a Depression.

++ Royal Sun Insurance to shed 1,200 jobs ++

Sad news for over a thousand workers who will lose their jobs, thanks primarily to Brownian economic policy.

No one seems to be safe or secure in their jobs – but at least we know one thing – that we can kick Brown, his ministers, and hundreds of his MPs out of theirs.

Part-privatising the Royal Mail? Digging its grave? Lessons not learned?

That ex EU Commissoner Lord Mandy is doing the EU’s bidding in part-privatising the Royal Mail is not in the slightest bit surprising.

Labour backbencher John Grogan said three cabinet ministers had told him they opposed the plan and told the BBC:

“Is this the time for the Labour government, which is going through hard times at the moment, to completely split the Parliamentary party down the middle?

“Over 100 Labour MPs have signed a motion against these proposals – it’s going to be Peter Mandelson against a big bulk of the Parliamentary Labour Party.”

Lord Mandelson, who has come under fire for choosing to introduce the bill in the House of Lords, said he was sorry for the “political pain” that the proposals were causing in Labour ranks but vowed not to “walk away” from the proposals.

Tory MP Daniel Kawczynski told the BBC he would vote against the plan, because he was concerned deliveries to rural areas, like his Shropshire constituency, would be under threat if Royal Mail was run by a private company.

Good on these MPs for standing up to the élites of  the EU and skunks like Lord Mandy and the Government who are rubbing working people’s faces in the mire yet again. How many postmen and other Royal Mail workers (and their families) will suffer, in the current Brownian Depression, because of this?  They will not vote Labour again.

It was the EU that forced competition onto the Royal Mail, which is one national institution in which the free market simply doesn’t work, because delivering certain items and to certain locations are “uneconomical” and, therefore, have to be subsidised.

Lessons have not be learned from the deregulation of the buses, where rural services were axed (forcing many country folk into cars, and others – especially the elderly – into isolation), or for that matter the Beeching of the Trains (not privatisation – just butchery).

So, in digging the grave for the Royal Mail, the EU – which has no accountability or mandate to the British people – has forced part-privatisation and rats like Mandy are lapping it up.

This does not only mean misery for many Royal Mail workers, but it also will damage even further OUR postal service and OUR deliveries (they’re not Labour’s, remember). There would still be 2 deliveries a day, with mail by 7.30am, if it had not been for allowing private mail firms to cream off the best of the business.

++ Vodafone to axe 500 jobs ++

Thanks to Brownian economic policy, the latest round of job cuts – and probably many people who will subsequently have their homes repossessed by Government-bailed-out banks, such as Northern Rock - is Vodafone which is axeing 500 jobs.

We do like our mobile phones, but clearly not even trusty old Vodafone is immune from this Brownian Depression. 

The key policy question in these economic climes is that, whilst Labour is perfectly content to bail out bankers so they can have their gold-plated bonuses, why are they not prepared to provide a new welfare package to help people who are being forced out of their jobs and, therefore, their homes?  And to protect many kids who are being made homeless?

Is it because the Government would thus be tacitly admitting its culpability in this sad state of affairs.

Darling’s predictions

Praguetory has a very funny but sadly true post on Alistair Darling’s predictions and how they invariably turn out to be completely untrue.  Would you trust Darling to sell you a used car, never mind be the Chancellor of the Exchequer?  Well, maybe you voted Brown in 3 times as the Chancellor … but “thrice bitten” …

Labour still floundering in the polls; Brown will sink the ship

The latest ICM/Guardian poll has Con 42% (-2), Lab 30% (-2), LD 18% (+2), Others (+2).

What this seems to suggest is that both Labour and the Conservatives have shed a little support to the Lib Dems and the “Others” (primarily the BNP or UKIP). 

The economy has certainly not helped Labour.  The Tories are shedding some support, perhaps because of their foolhardy reincarnation of Ken Clarke and for other reasons (such as the European Elections forthcoming, and the spectre of the EU raising its head again at Lindsey), but generally the trend is away from Labour and towards the Conservatives.

What’s most interesting in this poll is that:

… that only 28% of voters think Brown is the leader most likely to attract support to Labour on polling day. Meanwhile, 63%, think the party would do better with another leader.

Even Labour supporters are not convinced. Among people who voted for the party in 2005, 45% pick Brown and 49% another leader. Among people who still stay they intend to vote Labour next time the split is 48% to 47%.

The breakdown of the Guardian/ICM poll
The results will come as a blow to Brown who has sought to present himself as the statesman best equipped to lead the world out of the financial crisis. Labour had hoped that the G20 in London in April would showcase his global role.

So not only is Brown costing his party support, he is opening the door for a Cameron Government.  If the Tories can maintain a significant, maybe even widening, lead – and no one in Labour has the guts to take out Brown – then Labour’s ship is well and truly sunk … and the economy with it.

You see, it’s not just the electorate who have little confidence in Brown – it’s the investors and other key stakeholders in the British economy.

For all our sakes, Brown would be better resigning now and let Harman take over, although she would probably manage to muster about 0% of the white, working-class, heterosexual vote.  Just goes to show what a complete and utter shambles Labour has got itself into under its Great Leader who was going to save the world but can barely protect his own party.

Labour complicit in torture

It appears that Labour authorised the intelligence services to become complicit in the torture of a British man, Binyam Mohamed.

This man has not even been charged of anything – and get he has been treated this way at Guantanamo Bay by the US, with the UK poodle in tow.

Didn’t we fight fascism in the second world war? Why is the government involved in the torture of British Muslims?

Is LDV Unite’s plant in danger?

There has been some mystery about which plant Unite said was in danger.  Some believed it to be the Vauxhall plant on Ellesmere Port, which is part of General Motors.

And yet this story on the BBC website refers to LDV in Birmingham. 

What’s more,

The government has told ailing van maker LDV that the taxpayer cannot be expected to bail out the firm, after it asked for £30m in loans.

LDV admitted that it has made a loss for four years. Sales have fallen after it suspended production in December.

Russian parent firm Gaz said without funding thousands of jobs were at risk, including 900 in Birmingham.

“The British taxpayer cannot be expected to pay for the company’s losses,” said a spokesman for Gordon Brown.

The spokesperson confirmed that talks with the firm were “ongoing and regular” and being conducted by Business Minister Ian Pearson.

“Unfortunately since the company [LDV] is not producing, it is not making enough revenue to cover its costs and the company is literally running out of cash right as we speak,” he said.

“It’s 850 jobs in the plant, 1,200 jobs in the dealer network and about 4,000 jobs in the supplier industry which are at risk”.

Correct me if I’m wrong BUT the figures above add up to approximately 6,050 jobs, which is pretty close to what Unite were talking about.

So the Government is now ready to let LDV and 6,050 jobs go to the wall – when it is happy to bail out banks in order that they can pay their bonuses?

UK CAR INDUSTRY CUTS

 

1: Aston Martin (Gaydon) 600 jobs lost, three-day week

2: Bentley (Crewe) 220 jobs lost, seven-week closure from March

3: Ford (Essex, Daventry, Merseyside & Bridgend) 850 jobs lost, four-day weeks, non-production days

4: GM Vauxhall (Ellesmere Port & Luton) 47,000 global job losses, four-day week

5: Honda (Swindon) Production halted until June

6: Jaguar Land Rover (Solihull & Halewood) 1,050 jobs lost plus production cuts

7: BMW Mini (Swindon & Cowley) 850 jobs lost, week-long stoppages planned

8: Nissan (Sunderland) 1,200 jobs lost, some shifts stopped

9: Rolls-Royce (West Sussex) 40 jobs lost plus non-production days

10: Toyota (Burnaston & Deeside) Some night shifts stopped, non-production weeks planned

11: LDV (Birmingham) 95 jobs lost, production suspended since December

Source: SMMT & BBC

The empathy vote: “Mess with our mothers and fathers and we won’t vote for you”…

I had an epiphany on a doorstep in Crewe in May last year. A lady’s grandson had committed suicide, because he couldn’t find a job, she told me. She said that there was no way she – or anyone else in her family – would vote for the Party responsible. After I left the doorstep, I felt pretty sad for what had happened to a young man who had lost hope.

This lady’s story is a particularly extreme case. But there are countless other examples in the current climate where people are switching their vote from Labour or Tory because of what’s happened to a relative or friend (or switching from Lib Dem to Tory to put Labour out, for the same reason).

We may be a country of millions of single households – but we still have family ties, and we have friends – and if you mess with our spouses, or our kids, it’s one thing.

But mess with our mothers and fathers…

I wonder how many other elderly people had the shock my mum and dad had today when they opened their electricity bill and saw how much it has soared.

There’ll be plenty of other sons and daughters, who may even have to help their parents out financially as a result of soaring energy etc prices [whichever statistician made up the figures that imply inflation is slowing is taking the mick], and they have lost patience with Labour.

And these are just some of the things which explain why Labour is doing so absolutely abysmally in almost every social group, gender, and location. Its policies have hurt so many people, but they know many others who are suffering and they are voting accordingly: we shall call it the empathy vote.

The only way to repair the system is to rid it of the parasite – the Brownian Labour Government – that is causing the “toxic debt” that is destroying large swathes of our economy and society.

Brown’s new £500b ‘gamble’ … But then it’s not his money

As the real economy collapses around him, Brown is planning to announce another bailout, this time a £500,000,000,000 (enough 0s there?) ‘gamble’, as today’s Telegraph describes it.

Though it’s our money, not his, and the worst sort of gambler is one who takes ‘excessive risks’ with other people’s money.

Which is just what the banks stand accused of doing…

… so what is the difference between Brown and bankers? Very little, let’s be honest.

It’s no wonder he’s doing so badly in the opinion polls.

Brown – ‘Banks should be servants.’ – Maybe, but the Government certainly should.

Gordon Brown has declared that, ‘Banks should be servants.’

Whilst that may certainly be true in the current climate and when the banks are part-nationalised, it is completely inaccurate in practice. Bankers serve themselves – they’re happy to force families into homelessness as long as they can have their gold-plated bonuses. And what do we get from the Government and the PM ? Empty rhetoric.

The people who should be servants are the Government ministers, who are most usually to be found with their snouts in the trough (most notoriously, Lord Mandy of North Greenwich with his various resignations; and, recently, the alleged dodgy expenses of Jacqui Smith).

If Labour cabinet ministers had been less focused on feathering their own nests they might have realised that their then Chancellor’s boom-and-bust, debt-fuelled economic expansion policies – Brownian (dis)economics – were going to lead us into a depression, and Labour out of power for a generation or more.

Electoral defeat is one thing that, ironically, will stop them feathering their nests come June 3rd, 2010.