Thursday 10 June 2010

Then there were 5

                                                  




Embarrassed by their own vanity the Oxbridge 4 contrived to add add Diane Abbott to the ballot at the very last minute to stop an all Daily Mail line up.

How very gallant. How very PC and New Labour to add yet another Oxbridge graduate to the ballot. Shame they couldn’t find a candidate from a good Secondary Modern School to stand. Now that would have broken the Blairite mould.
                  So now we have the Fabulous Five


                 Who to Vote for ? Who gets my Vote.


        1. David Milliband our one time anonymous Foreign Secretary.
            Bookies favourite and leading the pack at the moment.
           Sorry David you had every chance to say no to war with Iraq
           but like the good Blairite you are you voted for war. A war that
           lost the Party half its active membership and the last Election.

       2. Brother Ed. Secretary of State for Wind Farms & Global Warming.
           Outside chance but not in this Constituency unless he ungoes a
          sea change on the way to the winning post.
          Failed to involve the local Party in celebrating the Wind Farm on
          Romney Marsh and then just prior to the General Election goes
          and puts the kibosh on a new Nuclear Power Station at
          Dungeness. Needs to sort out his priorities on the ground not in
          some research leaning think tank.

        3. Ed Balls. Like the other two straight out of Uni into a research job
            for the Party then into a relatively safe Labour seat following
            Gordon’s rising star. But like Gordon reluctant to take note of
            public opinion and the voters worries before it was too late.
            Really should now be spending more time in his constituency
           given his poor election result.
                           Now if his wife Yvette was on the ballot instead of Ed she
           certainly would give the others a run to the finishing post.

        4. Andy Burnham . Shame he made such a pigs ear of his lines at the
            Hillsborough Memorial service at Anfield. Had be promised then
            full disclosure of the police enquiry and criminal prosecutions he
           would now be out in front by a good few lengths. But like all the
           above when it came to hard choices he played safe.
           Now had he been a Liverpool supporter not a toffee nosed blue
           then he would have my vote by now. Some thing are just tribal.
        5. Diane Abbott. Great company on anyone’s sofa. Superb fall guy
           for Portillo and whats his face the presenter. Just too off the piste
           too often and sadly just another armchair Socialist who says one
           thing and practises another by sending her child to a Private school.
           Certainly deserves to save her deposit and wipe the smile off those
           pundits who think the Millibands have all the answers.
          So for now it’s a write in ……….none of the above.
                             Then Kent in summer is so beautiful one never know
                             who may just drop in to ones Garden Party.

                            They had just better make sure though they come with
                              some Socialist policies for once not just platitudes.
                                                                      Donald 10th June 2010

Wednesday 2 June 2010

Business as Usual

Its nearly one month since the General Election that was meant to clean up the Palace of Westminster and restore our faith in Democracy but as yet nothing has changed. Business goes on in the same arcane old way only the floor managers have changed.
The State Opening of Parliament as usual had more costumes and flunkery on display than in the whole of the West End of London and enough Ermine to give the World Wildlife Fund an apoplectic fit. No urgent cutbacks in this expensive charade.
Then the Coalition Government in its hastily cobbled together agreement promised a reduction of 50 in the number of MPs while in the very same breath creating over 50 new Lords from amongst its financial backers and a motley collection of former members of the House of Commons more famous for their 2 jags or fiddled gardening expenses than their achievments for the country.
Finally to see out the month in grand ignominy not just 1 but 2 Chief Secretaries to the Treasury ,fresh from sharpening their axes to cut billions in taxes, were forced to excuse themselves for over claiming on their expenses or evading their liability for CGT on their second homes. Matters they so very conveniently and so hypocritically concealed from the electorate before and after the election in pursuit of a place at the cabinet table.
All this in less than a month from a Coalition Government that promised to clean up Politics once and for all, reform the voting system and the House of Lords , create the Big inclusive Society and give power back to the people.

No wonder Cameron and Clegg want a Parliament fixed for 5years. At the rate they are going 5 weeks let alone 5 months is time enough to show everyone how shallow their promises are and how little is set to change in the Palace of Scandals.

                Guy Fawkes was perhaps not so misguided after all . Just a few centuries before his time?

Tuesday 1 June 2010

                                                         The Final Insult




Giving Michael Howard a peerage for services to politics is an insult to the people of this great constituency.

                             27 years he was its MP. 27 years it went downhill.

At a time when Parliament needs cleaning from top to bottom more thoroughly than any hospital ward infested with MRSA his peerage is a disgrace of the 1st order.

So much for reforming the Lords his presence there now demands its abolition.

It was criminal that he over claimed on his gardening expenses , morally indefensible that he claimed his second home allowance on a house in the Constituency he was elected to serve.
Still on the positive side it does now give us all an opportunity to find a new name for his Lordship until the House of Lords is abolished. My favourites so far.
                                    Anne Widdicombe: “ Lord of the Night”

                                  Jeremy Paxman : “ The 13th Lord of the Same.
                    People of Folkestone & Hythe : Lord Warden of the Sink Port
                               From MI5 and the UFO Society:    The Lord Alien
Perhaps someone out there can do us all a favour and start up a Facebook group to find the perfect name for our erstwhile disgraced MP.
                                                                                                                             1st June 2010
                     The Name is out There.

Tuesday 18 May 2010

Out with the New

While Helen launched a thousand ships sadly the sight of the two Milli-bands vying for Leadership of the Labour Party threatens to sink a proverbial Armada.



David may believe its time to throw overboard New Labour but having been at the helm of the Foreign Office for some years his efforts to steer Labour into a safe haven before or during the General Election had more in common with the maiden voyage of the Titanic than Gipsy Moth 1V.



Brother Ed entering the race late adds nothing to the pace and excitement. He threw Old Labour overboard long ago when he pinned his colours to the Blairite yard arm, determined to catch the wind in whichever direction his Global seeking Wind Turbines were destined to take him.



Labour cannot afford another Leader hell bent on forever seeking a favourable wind and exposure to the TV cameras at the expense of 1st rate navigation, sound principles and above all excellent teamwork. Labour needs a Leader that can take the Party with him or her, that can give it backbone and above all restore a sense of pride in its Socialist traditions and beliefs.



A new leader must bring comradeship back to a united Labour Movement and must be able to draw in thousands of new members committed to defending the poor and underprivileged against the ravages of the Con Demd Coalition. He or she must caste out the spin doctors and the sychophants, the career politicians and the carpet -baggers and must never again allow them to control the pulse and spirit of the Party.



The title New Labour has for too long betrayed our heritage. The epithet Old Labour for too long devalued our heritage. Our next Leader must make “ The Labour Party” once more a title to be proud of in its own right. A title worth sacrificing blood sweat and tears for. Whoever promises that goes a long way to getting my vote on the 25th of September. Until then if any Labour MP cares to hoist a Red flag with their Red Duster then I’ll gladly crew for them.

                                                                                                       Donald Worsley 18/05/2010

Sunday 16 May 2010

Con Demd

                                    The Con Demd State of Britain



When historians come to write the history of the 21st Century the General Election of May 2010 will be infamous for the Liberal Democrates betrayal of Britain.

The Cameron/Clegg Coalition is nothing more than a Public School coup against working families to protect the privileged classes and the well to do. The overriding qualifications for Government are now clear for all to see. Public School education, an Oxbridge degree and the ability to sell out one’s principles for a chaffeur driven car and a place around the Cabinet table.

I actually thought for one moment during the Election campaign that the Liberal Democrates had principles and stood for something decent in British Politics. Against Trident, in favour of the Euro and an Amnesty for illegal immigrants. How wrong one can be. How easily one can be deceived. How venal politicians are. How easily they can betray their own supporters.

Little wonder Cameron now believes in a fixed 5 year Parliament. He has taken hostage of the Lib Dems and the price of their absolution is 5 years of servitude or face political oblivion in the meantime.

Never mind that 23% of the country voted for the Lib Dems policies . They are now disgarded enblock in worthless realms of paper waved for all to see just like Neville Chamberlain’s famous piece of toilet paper was after Munich. Then NC trusted in Hitler’s promise of “Peace in our Time“. Now a later day NC trusts in Cameron’s big open promise of “Stable Government”.

The first NC thought he could stave off the march of fascism now the latter day NC believes he can stave off the excesses of Tory cuts . Deluded Politicians it appears are as much alive today as they were in past centuries. Only today when politicians are judged more by their looks on TV than their actions the potential Churchills and the Attlees of this world are few and far between.

Long therefore may the words of Harold Wilson come to haunt this Con Demd Coalition as it strives towards May 2015.

                         “ A week is a long time in Politics.”

                                                                                           Donald Worsley 16/05/2010

Tuesday 4 May 2010

Political Correctness off the Rails

                       My campaigning hit a raw nerve today.



               Some jobsworth from South Eastern Trains reprimanded me for canvassing voters outside Folkestone Central Railway this evening.
 Moved me along 100 yards down the pavement for allegedly obstructing railway property.

 Never mind my Election Address was giving the High Speed Service to London top billing and free publicity

Never mind that Democracy is the Guardian of all our freedoms.

Never mind I was actually talking to a friend when hounded on my way.

Never mind that the British Public own the Railways.

Socialism on the Railways it appears must be countered at any cost.


A Labour Candidate canvassing rail passengers. Heaven Forbid!

Long gone the days of the friendly and helpful staff of British Rail.
Company man now must pursue the ruthless goal of profit with an iron will.

Coming less than a week since the Ticket Kiosk was closed and heavy handed Revenue Enforcement Officers demanded I use an automated ticket machine rather than buy a ticket on the train the Re-Nationalisation of the Railways can’t come a day too soon.

The Tories sold off BR ,so they said, to end restrictive practices and introduce competition just forgetting to mention service to the travelling public would be sent down the track and corporate officiousness become the norm.



                                                                           Donald Worsley 4th May 2010

Sunday 2 May 2010

Beware the EuroZone bearing Gifts

                                                 

The Eurozone and IMF so called “Bail Out” of Greece is nothing short of Political and Economic blackmail by international financiers.

A take over of Greece by any other name. A financial Coup D’etat by French German and USA bankers and politicians.

The results for Greece will be catastrophic. Mass unemployment, savage cuts in public services and poverty on a scale not seen since the end of World War 2 .

The Government of Greece is now effectively run from Berlin and the IMF in New York. The Eurozone has at last revealed its true hand. A hand that holds a rod of red hot iron ready to brand any country that doesn’t adhere to its monetarist policies or capitalist rules of the club.

Never mind that the people of Greece will be forced to retire 12 years later than at present. Never mind a sudden 10-20% drop in living standards. The rules of the club insist on loan repayments now not later and interest rates in excess of 15% in the meantime. Usury that would shame Shylock.

Little wonder the greeks are rioting on the streets of Athens and other cites throughout the country. The Social face of the EU has now turned to that of the Wolf at the door. The reception at Brussels now the entrance to Hades and the German sun lounger the paymasters collection plate.

Gordon Brown may had made some mistakes during his time in Downing Street but keeping us away from the Euro and economic submission to Berlin, Paris and Brussels was not one of them.

Otherwise we would now be spiralling towards revolution in the United Kingdom led by a bunch of unelected European Zealots hell bent on European Unity under 1 Bank ,1 Bureaucracy, 1 President and 1 rule for the Superich and quite another for the poor of Greece, Spain, Portugal and Eire et al.



Pray God then that the Lib Dems never hold enough power to force the Euro upon Britain. Then it won’t be immigration worrying voters but how fast then can emigrate .


                                                                   Donald Worsley 2nd May 2010

Wednesday 28 April 2010

An Apology for Gordon's remarks

                                        Bigotry is not part of our Creed



On behalf of Folkestone & Hythe Labour Party I apologise unreservedly to the people of this great Constituency for Gordon Brown’s offensive remarks abour Mrs Gillian Duffy.

His off camera remarks were unacceptable and shamed the whole Labour movement. Calling her a “bigoted women” was inexcusable, whether to an aide in the back of a car or in front of the cameras.

Whatever views she may hold on crime, the national debt or immigration I strongly believe they must be addressed with sound arguments not cheap insults.

In my own campaign here in Folkestone and Hythe I encounter many hostile views on the doorstep or whilst out canvassing in the streets. I respect those views even if I disagree with them fundamentally.

I take the view, however, that Democracy will only be strengthened by arguing the issues that concern voters and not by insulting them by calling them bigots or worse.

Immigration is clearly an issue that concerns voters on the doorstep illegal immigrants and bogus asylum seekers in particular. More so every time pictures from the refuge camps in Sangatte near Calais are shown on our TV screens.

Addressing the issues around Sangatte or illegal entry into the country by economic refuges is what we should all be concentrating on, not calling each other names or slagging off hard working foreign workers here lawfully to help our economy prosper.

It is not in my creed to tolerate bigotry of any sort but to face the issues squarely and honestly and then let the electorate decide whether I am right or wrong.

Mrs Duffy and others that share her views have the right to be heard with respect at all times. To do otherwise would make us no better than Nazi Germany or Stalinist Russia.

                   Gordon was wrong today,but he has now realised that and apologised.

Let us all now debate the issues Mrs Duffy raised. By doing so we will then all show her the respect she deserves and prove to everyone that Democracy is the true winner when the voter sets the political agenda not Party Spin doctors.

                                                                                  Donald Worsley 28th April 2010

Tuesday 27 April 2010

                                              Javelins well off Target




With the London Olympics now only two years away one sport that should be top of our gold medal wish list must surely be the Javelin.

The Labour Government and South East Rail having invested billions in a new High Speed Rail Link to Kent and in brand new Javelin trains to get commuters from Folkestone to the Olympic Arena anything short of a Gold Medal will be a PR disaster.

Sadly though the Javelin trains are not all they are hyped up to be and at present not serving Folkestone and the other parts of Kent as well as they should. Fast they may be from Ashford to London St Pancras but from Dover or Folkestone to Ashford they are nothing special, indeed on that leg of the journey up to London they are slower than bog standard commuter trains.

High Speed trains as any engine driver will tell you need a high speed track to get up to maximum speed, something conveniently overlooked when the High Speed service to London was extended from Ashford last year.

Little wonder then that the rail yards outside Ashford Station are becoming parking lots for surplus Javelins. Little wonder commuters still prefer to take the usual commuter train into Charing Cross or Cannon Street.

Folkestone is undoubtedly benefiting from the arrival of the Javelin trains but for them to really hit the mark the high speed track urgently needs to be extended down to Folkestone and beyond.

An Olympic legacy any Secretary of State for Transport will be proud of for generations to come. Otherwise the Olympic dream will soon become just a passing memory and the parking lot at Ashford a javelin’s graveyard. An epitaph to yet another failed political career.


                           The Javelins need to hit their targets in 2012 .

 
                           At present from Folkestone they are just hitting commuters in their
                                   pockets and going a long way about it in the process.

Monday 26 April 2010

Tory Education Policy in Tatters

                                     Tories in Chaos over Education in Kent


David Cameron’s Brave New Education Policy was in tatters today.

Shot to pieces from within his own Party by Cllr Carter leader of Kent County Council and boss of the country’s largest Education Authority.

Cameron’s bright idea for the Big Society of parents having the freedom to set up schools in opposition to local authority schools may have been a great sound bite at the time, but under scrutiny from the very people who will have to implement such a policy they soon realised it was a nightmare.

Cllr Carter quickly saw that the simple arithmetic taught in all his County’s Primary schools didn’t add up under Cameron. He realised that setting up private schools in the County would cut his own education budget in a big way and reduce his empire of 600 schools across Kent at a stroke.

Would expose hundreds of local authority schools in the County to closure and threaten thousands of teachers, teaching assistants, cooks and cleaners with redundancy .His education empire would be under siege from day 1 if Cameron’s proposal were ever given oxygen to survive beyond the election campaign.

Carter’s feeble attempts late today to reconcile his earlier comments on Tory education policy with the Party Spokesman Michael Gove confirming for everyone just how fatally he has torpedoed below the waterline Cameron’s new flagship policy . How the call for a Big Society is in reality just Orwellian double speak for once more establishing Little Britain in the shires.

The voters of Folkestone & Hythe may have had very few reasons to thank Cllr Carter since he came to office, but at least his candide remarks today deserve their praise.

He has truly shown us all what the future holds for education in Kent if the Tories were to return to Government on the 7th May. Cuts in our primary schools, cuts in the budgets for the Academies and redundancies across the whole teaching spectrum .

                                            All to fund the next Big Thing.


              Parent power for the privileged few and run down schools for everyone else.

Friday 23 April 2010

Appeasement in our Time

In last night’s 2nd Leaders’ debate Nick Clegg raised the White Flag over the United Kingdom. His policies now but the country in peril.


His rejection of Trident would have us at the mercy of every Terrorist armed with a nuclear warhead. Iran, North Korea or Al Qaeda could blackmail us with ease. Peace in our time would haunt us once more from the bowls of Munich.

His amnesty for illegal immigrants is a clarion call to bogus asylum seekers and economic migrants to head for Britain from as far a field as Asia and South America. An invitation to storm the Refugee Camps at Sangatte and hop on the first passing lorry heading across the Channel.

His economic obsession with Europe and the Euro furthermore threatens meltdown for our economy and bail outs from the IMF just like Greece and other Eurozone countries. Trade with the USA and the emerging economies of India, Brazil and China would be put in jeopardy if the UK was tied to the Euro.

While the press and media prior to the debate compared him either to a Churchill or a Nazi his true comparision is to a certain former Prime Minister bearing the same initials NC. A man who proudly went before the British people waving his manifesto, or rather worthless piece of paper in his hand hailing “Peace in our Time” one Neville Chamberlain.

                                  Clegg’s battle cry for the 21st Century has the same dark echo.

                             Appeasement in our Time



                      The one true flag to raise on the 6th May to protect this country is the Red Flag.


                                                                                                 Donald Worsley 23rd April 2010

Wednesday 21 April 2010

On the 7th Day

Today the Tories rolled out the their New leader of the Opposition Ken Clarke in one last attempt before tomorrow’s 2nd Leaders Debate to steal the political initiative.


With David Cameron’s face still the colour of Volcanic Ash from his pathetic performance last week the Tories are now pinning their hopes on the most off message member of their team of recycled advertising grandees.

Sidelining poor George Osborne to the substitutes bench on economic matters Ken Clarke is now raised to the status of an eminence grise worldly wise on all matters and in particular Hung Parliaments and the IMF.

No matter that he is so far out of line on Tory policy over Europe and cuts in Inheritance Tax his desperate scaremongering at today’s Press Conference can be his eternal redemption if only he can take the spotlight off Cameron’s mortified looks for 1 day let alone the next two weeks.

Fortunately for the country his scaremongering tactics won’t work as neither the IMF nor the International money markets fear a Hung Parliament. They saw it all before in 1974. What they fear most is a Tory Government hell bent on strangling the UK’s recovery in its infancy with huge tax giveaways to the idle rich and savage cuts in public investment in job creation and support for industry.

Ken Clarke’ reprise as the acceptable face of a caring Tory politician may give momentary impetus to his Party’s campaign but sadly it is not his face the Country will see on their television screens in tomorrow’s Leaders debate . Whose face they will see is that of a smug dusted down former economic advisor to the Chancellor when the markets last crashed on that infamous Black Wednesday.

                                                       A certain David Cameron



                                    Sorry Ken stick to scaring Derby County supporters


                                                The Reds are going to win the playoffs.


                                                                                                           Donald Worsley 21st April 2010

Tuesday 20 April 2010

Sodom and Gomorrah

Not even an Icelandic Volcano or Ian Paisley at the height of his powers could have rained down Ash on David Cameron with such force this past week as the media has.

Exposed for all to see before the world’s cameras his answers to people’s serious questions were just so much vacuous sound bites.

Having spent years before the mirrors preening himself and rehearsing his lines nothing prepared him for the reality of real answers to real questions.

Now with the polls swinging against him he stands before the media in his own back garden mortified that his ambition to breeze into Downing Street is grounded like the very airlines the Tories privatised under Mrs Thatcher.

Too frightened to turn back to the days of a caring Tory Party and too transfixed too the ideology of greed and more greed he takes cover from the pressure of the Nick Clegg beauty parade with a spot of Garden Leave.

Sadly for Cameron and his Party just like the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah centuries before they can run to avoid the Ash and debris falling upon them but come the 6th May their decades of debauchery and lack of moral standards will catch up with them to.

                           Ian Paisley may you say a pray for Cameron’s demise.
                          Neither the Ark Royal or The Sun can rescue him now.

                                                                                          Donald Worsley 20th April 2010

Sunday 18 April 2010

Call in the Navy

                                              Time to Call in the Navy


Dan Snow did us all proud today with his fleet of Ribs carrying stranded passengers from Calais home to Dover. Individual initiative at it best until sadly stopped in its tracks by over zealous French Police.

It may not yet have taken on the mantle of a 2nd Dunkirk floatilla but The Government’s Emergency Committee COBRA needs to give it its full blessing and launch the Navy alongside Dan’s Ribs to rescue our folks stranded across the globe without further delay.

With no end in sight to our planes being grounded and Ash continuing to pour forth from Iceland’s Volcano, rescuing passengers stranded abroad must now be the Government’s No.1 priority, no matter how much Ministers and officials are otherwise engaged with the Election Campaign.
The Government should therefore immediately call up the Naval Reserve and place every available frigate, minesweeper, fishery protection vessel, tug boat, and RHIBS at the disposal of rescuing our people across the globe from France, to Majorca, from the Caribean to Australia & New Zealand.
Bringing home stranded holiday makers across the Channel from Calais by Ribs is one thing, having them stranded across Europe and beyond for days if not weeks on end penniless and in despair unable to fly home is quite another. Well beyond the capabilities of even P&O ferries or Eurostar to cope with.
And with the Port of Dover bursting at the seams to cope with the recent surge in ferry passengers the case for opening up Folkestone’s Harbour once more to passengers for the continent or as a base for any Naval Rescue becomes more overwhelming by the day. Something I shall be pressing upon Gordon and The Secretary of State for Transport at the first opportunity.


                                       Donald Worsley Sunday 18th April 2010

Saturday 17 April 2010

Folkestone's Icelandic Windfall

Folkestone’s Icelandic Windfall
The plumes of Ash pouring forth from the volcanic explosion in Iceland may just turn out to be the greatest boost to Folkestone’s economy since the Victorians took the Town to their hearts in the 19th Century.
With aircraft grounded around the UK and our airports at a standstill continental travel by rail and ferries is now full to capacity and places on Eurostar and Cross Channel ferries now at a premium.
Time then to seriously rethink the country’s future travel priorities.
Time to cancel plans for a third runway at Heathrow and instead invest in a second Channel Tunnel from Folkestone for both cars and rail.
Time to postpone the £16billion Cross Rail line in London and instead invest in new Cross Channel Rail and ferry links through new Ports and railheads at Folkestone, Dover and Ramsgate.
Time to invest in rail infrastructure to Amsterdam and Cologne rather than a see more airplanes waiting in vain for take off to Holland or Germany.
So long as Met Office Scientists can give us no assurances how long the ash from Iceland will continue to pour forth blue sky thinking needs to begin immediately at the Dept of Transport. Thinking that puts Folkestone and the Channel Ports at the very heart of the country’s immediate and long term travel priorities. Thinking that puts rail and ferry passengers and rail freight to the continent as its 1st priority .
Out of the Ashes arose the Phoenix as the legend goes.
Out of the Ashes from Iceland, Folkestone and Shepway District Council must now seize the opportunity to arise and regenerate itself. Then the £50million lost in Iceland’s banking system by KCC may just pay dividends after all.
If elected as MP for Folkestone & Hythe then to that end I can certainly promise the electorate that whoever is Secretary of State for Transport after the Election he or she will be getting a firm knock on the door from me calling for action , whether the planes are still grounded by then or not. Never again can we allow the country to be cut off from the rest of the world so helplessly when Folkestone and the Channel Ports are crying out for new opportunities to serve the travelling public and industry.
Donald Worsley 16th April 2010