Dog Day Afternoon

Ashford, Middlesex had its own armed bank robbery Monday afternoon. The siege lasted barely a quarter as long as events in the film Dog Day Afternoon, though it was almost as hot.
The police did not acquit themselves well, cordoning off the entire area without explanation. I had to waste my time rescuing a teenage overseas visitor left stranded at the railway station.

Instead of sending people to traffic school for minor motoring infringements police officers should attend charm school themselves, and they might get the cooperation from the public they say they crave. Instead, most crimes go unreported, and our elders live as prisoners in their own homes.
With the Ashford bank robber caught red-handed surely he can go straight to prison, with no reason ever to release him. He made his choice.

Who’s Laffing Now?

As the economist Arthur Laffer pointed out in the 1970s, increasing the rates levied by certain taxes will actually reduce overall revenue.
The UK Budget will be announced later today, and there is talk of some tax rates going up, especially taxes on capital.
And that’s where I’m confused, because critics of any increase in such rates predict diminishing returns. Surely a reduction in overall taxation is a good thing?
Or could it be that so many entrepreneurs would simply emigrate, leaving us all much worse off?

World Cup on Television

Oh for a life on welfare benefits with all the time in the world, and no need to worry about getting a flat screen TV.
Six months after my television broke down I finally found time to buy a new one today. No more squinting at a 14-inch portable, though watching BBC iPlayer via a computer monitor is quite handy.
I ended up buying the TV that was displaying the last three minutes of my team winning today’s World Cup match.
I’m not a great football fan and I didn’t even know until yesterday that Chile had reached the World Cup finals. So far they’ve won both matches played.
I first followed Chile after getting embroiled in the ecstatic celebrations in Santiago moments after they qualified for the 1998 World Cup -- all completely non-violent.

BP Political Blow-out

I continue to be shocked by how supine are reports about the Gulf of Mexico oil spill by the world’s media.
I was pleased to see that President Obama’s brother was recently denied entry to Britain for being a criminal, a sanction that should equally apply to the President himself.
For the Deepwater Horizon disaster is far more political than environmental.
The current spill is not large in relative terms. Much more oil escapes into the Gulf of Mexico from natural fissures in the seabed each and every year, and has done for millions of years. A similar explosion on a rig owned by the Mexican Government in 1979 released at least three times as much oil in shallow water, some of which washed on to Texan shores.
The truth is, drilling in the Gulf of Mexico is not just physically complex but is laced with more political corruption that in any other oil region -- more than Saudi Arabia, Nigeria and Azerbaijan put together.
BP is well up to the task in all other regions of the world, but its exemplary safety standards are continually vetoed by it’s US subsidiary, backed by pressure from the local trades unions and oil services giant Halliburton (which has inappropriate influence within the US Government and to whom BP had subcontracted the drilling).
The Americans think they know best.
In any other part of the world the domino series of failures that led to the Deepwater Horizon explosion would just not have been allowed to develop. For that reason the American political establishment is fully culpable, and gives the Third World a bad name.
The US Government should be indemnifying British taxpayers and investors for losses incurred by BP, not the other way round.

Contradictory Views amongst Voters

People often say they only ever see politicians at election time.
Conversely we you call on people after an election they complain why are you calling now, there’s not an election is there? You just can’t win.
Here’s another conundrum. Liberal Democrat voters believe Conservatives and LibDems are all the same now (following the coalition at Westminster). I’m not quite sure of the answer to that one, though it does indicate that no one is sure what the LibDems stand for any more.
Another amusing contradiction comes from the ComRes opinion poll last week. 78% of people prefer proportional representation, and yet in the same breath 72% do not like the political horse-trading that follows a hung parliament!
They say the customer is always right.

Unconventional Lifestyles

Aired on the BBC last night was the story of Anne Lister who led an unconventional lifestyle during the first half of the 19th century. Little was known at the time.
When a relative discovered her coded diaries in the 1890s he was forced to keep quiet about them by his own similar lifestyle, during even more puritanical times.
Even in the 1960s the content was considered too risqué by the authorities, and by the time they were finally published in 1988 they were considered so outrageous that they were rumoured to be a hoax.
And yet even in these so-called enlightened times a cabinet minister resigned last week for similar behaviour. And please London Daily Telegraph, stop repeating the pretence that the David Laws report would have been published without revealing his sexual orientation. Without that crucial admission there was no story, and there would have been no resignation.

Why Now?

The London based Daily Telegraph newspaper faces the most serious question about David Laws’ resignation, and that is: Why now?
Why reveal information pertaining to his personal relationship as it relates to a rule change in 2006 about MPs renting accommodation from a “partner” -- a murky term if ever there were one?

It is certainly most detrimental to the coalition government, and hence the economic fortunes of the United Kingdom, and thus totally irresponsible.

Today the Telegraph makes the naïve claim they had no intention of revealing the victim’s sexual orientation. What a foolish claim.

It’s ironic that had David Laws defected to the Conservative Party at the time of the rule change he could then have safely come out, and stopped claiming for the London flat without giving rise to any suspicion.
But he didn’t, because he wrongly thought the Conservative Party more homophobic than his own LibDems.

Deepwater Horizon

I find the media reporting and reaction to the oil well blowout in the Gulf of Mexico astoundingly amateur.
The resources being brought to bear by Sunbury-on-Thames based BP are truly remarkable.
In contrast the response of the American Government -- including their President -- is a complete joke. And the British Government could afford to show a bit of backbone and stick up for it’s economic interests.

BP has 1,100 vessels involved, and 22,000 people working on the containment exercise, including a whole series of largely experimental solutions until one cures the unprecedented problem. Whilst these methods worked successfully to plug the wells blown by Saddam Hussein in Kuwait, they’ve never been tried before at 5,000ft depth of water.
The final solution maybe another two months away when a relief well is able to plug the well bore 16,000 feet below the surface, with a backup relief well two weeks behind that, in case of any snag.
In fact all the skills needed to cure the problem are entirely within the private sector, and the almighty US Government is completely out of its depth.

Coalition Misgivings

I couldn’t help noticing the Liberal Democrats in Twickenham and Richmond are having a meeting on Thursday week (3rd June) to “discuss the coalition government”. Vince Cable will “speak, answer questions and listen to members' views.”
Now, political parties do not have meetings like that unless they have serious misgivings amongst their rank and file.
And for a party that has spent the last fifty years preaching the wonders of proportional representation and coalition government, the fact that they hesitate when they find themselves part of one is utter hypocrisy.

TaxPayers’ Alliance

This evening I attended a political dinner in Staines with Mark Wallace, Campaign Director of the TaxPayers’ Alliance.
Similar to the Tea Party movement in America, the TPA sees itself as the guardian of British taxpayers’ money, and delights in exposing government waste by using the Freedom of Information Act.
More interesting is that its growing membership of around 50,000 could soon overtake that of the Liberal Democrat Party.

How the Other Half Lives

In the last two years I’ve had two TVs breakdown, so am now reliant on an ancient 14” portable set, as I simply do not have the time to go out and buy a new one.
Go around any housing estate and I used to reckon you could spot the families living on welfare by the flat screen TVs visible through the curtains.
But it’s more subtle than that. These days only those on benefits can afford Sky subscription, which is too expensive for those in work.
So the quickest way to slash the Government deficit is to marry the benefit claimants with the Sky TV customer records.

A Good Deal?

People ask me whether the coalition is a good deal. If activists from both parties are complaining in equal measure that too much was given away, that says that it was about right.

No one believes that a minority Conservative government would have lasted beyond Christmas. Now there’s a good chance the coalition will last long enough to get to grips with Labour’s economic mess.

Meantime we must stomach the hike in capital gains tax and the delay in abolishing inheritance tax for families with modest wealth.
And hope for the best.

A Five Year Parliament

I don’t fully accept the notion that “the people have decided” when it comes to election results, especially the idea that Britain somehow chose a hung parliament last week.
Most people made up their own minds and voted individually -- only a minority were wishing for an inconclusive result. And none of them was expecting such resounding coalition deal.
I can’t help thinking that a lot of floating voters treated the entire process as a TV talent contest like the X-Factor and American Idol.
They imagined it was just for this year, and they’d get a chance to vote again next year.
Maybe they will, but the odds are that David Cameron has played a blinder, and they’ll be stuck with their decision for five years.

A Deal

It looks as though there’ll be a deal before the day is out.
It almost makes you want to believe in a proportional voting system, with single transferable votes and perpertual coalitions.

But these are very special times.
There’s thirteen years of Britain’s economic and social decline under Labour to sort out. And of all parties the Liberals can least afford a second General Election this year.
So whilst I’m happy to sup with the devil at Westminster, Britain’s third party -- with it’s childish campaigning methods -- is not welcome in Surrey.

The Cameron-Clegg deal will either make or break the Liberal Party.

Winning isn’t Everything

Elections are about making difference, and I’m still recovering from last Thursday’s marathon.
My day started in Surbiton at 5:30am with a deft touch to avoid clanking any letterboxes. After five hours delivering it was time to start door-knocking to encourage Conservative supporters to turn out. Ten hours later and I was still bumping into Liberals doing the same thing, meaning we’d kept them pinned down all day long.
Even if you can’t beat Liberals, it was just as nice stopping them concentrating their resources in Richmond Park where they lost a seat.
Ironically for a party that moans about the First Past The Post voting system, they are usually the ones who work it most to their advantage by mobilising their limited manpower to best effect.
Finally back to Spelthorne to watch over the count -- another five hours –- and about the last process left in Britain that is not electronic!

Always be Nice

For you never know who you might bump into.

A couple of weeks ago Ed Davey was asking directions to get to a meeting in Kingston, and a nice lady assisted -- at which point he rushed off without thanking her.
That lady joined the Conservative campaign team a few days later.

Maybe if Gordon Brown hadn’t been so intolerant of the media they wouldn’t have released the Bigotgate tape?

Vote Conservative on May 6th
A vote for the LibDems is a vote for five more years of Gordon Brown.

Bigotry

Seasoned political campaigner as I am, there’s hardly anything that shocks me on the doorstep.
Except working with a pregnant candidate recently, I’ve encountered bigotry from another age -- the Stone Age.
Admittedly forty years ago it was considered acceptable to believe a woman’s place was in the home. But it really is shocking that in the 21st century some people still think a woman should make a choice between having a career or raising a family.

Today’s LibDem Lie: Sorry this blog will no longer mention the name of Britain’s third party, or the despicable things they say in connection with the above subject.
Fortunately the police have started arresting them.

Conservative Support Firming Up

Expect the opinion polls to move tomorrow after I’ve detected a change in the last 24 hours.
Yesterday LibDem voters were being rude on the doorstep -- always a sign of piousness.
Whereas today (Sunday) even those people who have already voted LibDem (by post) were being pleasant, and wishing the Conservatives good luck -- rather odd, but symbolic I think.

Today’s LibDem Lie: Ed Davey, the man who has already claimed victory in his own constituency-wide leaflet, announced at lunchtime that "People dislike politicians because they don’t tell the truth".
This was after telling us that 80% of UK immigration comes from the European Union, when in fact it’s less than a third; and that the Conservatives stopped counting people out of the country, when it was in fact Labour who abolished exit controls in 1998.
Mr Davey also claimed his party’s amnesty would have no impact on future illegal immigration, when in fact all the evidence is to the contrary, from other countries which have tried it. Goodbye Mr Davey.

Don’t Attack LibDems

One of the great oddities of British politics is that small protest parties can win large numbers of votes by attacking the two mainstream parties. The more hypocritical the attack on policy, and the more personal the abuse about the opponent the better.
However the British love of the underdog means the reverse does not apply. In fact any attack on the LibDems can be counter-productive, as David Cameron found out during the third TV debate, when he criticised the LibDem's ridiculous amnesty for illegal immigrants. His rating immediately plunged.
It is frustrating to explain to Conservative voters why LibDem lies must go unanswered, but that’s just the way it is.

Today’s LibDem Lie: This will be almost the last LibDem lie feature -- unless next week’s election results in a realignment of British politics, and the LibDems cease to be a protest party, and return to the mainstream two-party system.

Unguarded Moment

Least written about the Prime Minister’s unguarded remarks the better, but I can’t help thinking they might not have seen the light of day had he got on better with the media. Tony Blair would have shrugged it off.
Nice that we’re allowed to talk about immigration now, it being one of the most common complaints on the doorstep.
Let’s hope the Liberals’ amnesty comes under scrutiny, with each of the one million illegals being allowed one family member from abroad.
No one is quite sure where the ex-Labour voters will go.
If there is an indecisive result I can see both left wing parties splitting, and a Cameron rainbow coalition to sort out Gordon Brown’s mess.

Today’s LibDem lie: Last week Nick Clegg said: “Politicians who sell their houses and pocket the money still haven’t been held to account.” Five years ago he made a profit of £240,000 selling his home in Brussels, after using his expenses as a Member of the European Parliament to help pay his mortgage.

Stolen Bicycles

Sympathies to Labour’s parliamentary candidate in Spelthorne.
He commutes from central London each day by train, with a folding bicycle so he can then get around. Unfortunately it keeps on getting stolen. Four times now he has bought a brand new one.
My advice, after I had my bike stolen, is to get a cheap second hand one!
Truly an indictment of thirteen years of soaring crime under Labour.

Hung Parliament

Few people seem to understand the constitutional position in the event of a hung parliament.

For a start Gordon Brown carries on as Prime Minster. He does not have to resign until he were to lose a vote of confidence in the House of Commons. It’s nothing to do with how many seats (or votes) each party has.

Britain’s third Party does not get to haggle over policy, though now doubt Labour will try to bribe them. If they decide not to keep Gordon Brown in power they are automatically locked in to back David Cameron as Prime Minster. They can’t pick and choose policy. Take it or leave it.

Failing that, we have another General Election, brought about by Liberal indecision.

NH-yeS

Campaigning today with Shadow Health Secretary Andrew Lansley, we learned why the Conservatives have health as the top priority.
The Conservatives do not believe in making the sick pay for Labour’s economic failure.

Most people rely on the NHS when they get ill, but it needs to be better run. Labour’s targets will be abolished in favour of decisions taken by the healthcare professionals, and patients themselves.

For instance, well-informed patients may opt for a slightly longer waiting list in order to avoid a hospital with a poorer hygiene record.

Today’s LibDem lie: Were it not for the fact that most Liberal Democrat MPs abstained in the House of Commons vote on the Lisbon Treaty, the amendment calling for a referendum would have passed, and the British people would have had the chance to reject the Treaty.
So let’s hear less from the Liberals complaining that the Conservatives won’t hold a referendum -- it’s now too late -- the Treaty is signed.

New Activists

Being a bit of an old lag -- though always willing to learn new tricks -- the enthusiasm amongst our new activists is humbling.

There are those who are returning to the fray after twenty years, perhaps from a different party. But more impressive is the ease with which brand new recruits -- many aged under thirty -- take to the campaign like a duck to water.

There is a widespread misconception that canvassing support for a political party is only for policy wonks. Well no, it’s actually just an ability to say hello and let people know the Conservatives care.

Today’s LibDem lie: The Liberal Democrats portray themselves as whiter than white yet refuse to return the £2.4 million donated by convicted fraudster Michael Brown. If they had any moral scruples they would set an example and reimburse all Michael Brown’s innocent victims, instead of hiding behind the Electoral Commission’s worthless verdict.

First Time Voters

After concluding that Cleggmania is mainly down to the exuberance of younger voters, it has been gratifying these last few days to find first time voters choosing the Conservatives.

And why are they going to vote Conservative?
Because they want a job!

Leave aside the fact that there has never been a Labour Government that didn’t end with more unemployed than when it started: the number of 16 to 24-year-olds seeking work in Britain is now 929,000 and rising.

Today’s LibDem lie: Nick Clegg repeats his pious claim that no LibDem MP abused their expenses for second homes, just one month after four of them were ordered to pay back £16,500 pocketed from a dodgy rent deal at the taxpayers’ expense.

Opinion Polls

I now have a view on the opinion polls and make the following prediction.
If, as seems likely, they are distorting the intentions of those who will actually be voting (by including the views of many youngsters who tend not to vote), then they will be abolished during the next General Election campaign as in continental Europe.
You have to balance the freedom of the press against the artificial volatility caused by people’s herd instinct.
Let people make up their own mind, rather than be told what to think!

Today’s LibDem lie: At the start of the recession Nick Clegg sympathised with voters by saying he was changing his grocery supplier from Waitrose to Sainsbury’s as they were a lot cheaper. The same Nick Clegg MP who claimed £1,657.32 worth of food on his parliamentary expenses in one four-month period alone.

Delivering to Flats

People are always telling me about flats [US: apartments] where they can’t deliver election leaflets.
Yes, more and more people are living in seclusion, and things are set to get worse under a Liberal Democrat administration, when only the most serious criminals will go to prison, because they will abolish sentences of less than six months.
However I have yet to find a building with more than five flats that I couldn’t get into, though admittedly there are hazards.
I have sheltered accommodation on my patch where the warden was always very defensive. After she faced a tirade of abuse from a senior Liberal Democrat local councillor 18 months ago she is even more protective. I have contacts who let me in, and I then have to whiz round the building undetected. Today I exited under her nose, as she sat at her desk.

Today’s LibDem lie: As Member of the European Parliament Nick Clegg used to fly to Brussels in economy class, but always claimed expenses for first class travel and pocketed the difference.

Cleggmania

Two clouds hang in the stratosphere across Britain this week.
We wait for the ash from the Icelandic volcano to clear, and for Nick Clegg’s X-factor stardom to wane.
The Liberals want us to scrutinise their policies. Well how about their amnesty for 600,000 illegal immigrants for starters -- our schools can’t cope. Add in unlimited immigration, “providing they only live up north”.
Locally they petition to keep hospitals open, but nationally there's no commitment to increase funding for the NHS.
And do they not realise cancelling Britain’s nuclear deterrent forfeits our place on the UN Security Council?
Opinion polls are saying one thing, but on the doorstep I’m finding little extra enthusiasm for the Liberals, and no stomach for another LibLab pact, the most likely outcome unless the Conservatives gain two dozen LibDem parliamentary seats.

Surbiton Farmers’ Market

I’ve just eaten some delicious lamb merguez sausages that I picked up from Surbiton Farmers’ Market on Saturday.
This project was initiated by a group of community activists who are now standing as Conservative candidates for their local council.
The existing Liberal Democrat councillors thought the idea of a farmers’ market was so good that they’d try and claim the credit for it.
They issued one of their Focus newsletters advertising the first one.
However the Conservatives decided there were “teething problems” with the plans, and delayed the launch by a month, leaving the Liberals with egg on their faces -- free range I hope!

Sore Feet

After two weeks of campaigning my feet have turned red, where the serrated edges of my bicycle pedals have gnawed through the thinnest part of the soles of my shoes.
As I rest up I wonder whether the phone companies have played a trick on the opinion pollsters, and routed their calls through to voters on Mars.
I’m not finding a single person changing their party allegiance based upon the party leaders TV debate last week.
No doubt the legions of uncommitted voters have plumped for one party over another, but their support is very fickle, and many won’t actually be voting.
When I remind them that unlike the prime ministerial contenders, the leader of Britain’s third party had nothing to lose, they admit that closer scrutiny will sway them again.
I repeat: wait until the poll on May 6th.

More Power to Local People

Campaigning today with Justine Greening, Shadow Minister for Local Government, we learnt how the Conservatives will give planning powers back to local people.
Gone will be the Whitehall targets demanding a certain number of homes in a given time. Instead each community will assess it’s own needs for different types of properties such as affordable homes and larger family houses.
Big developers will have to consult with local residents from day one, rather than put in a ridiculous plan to start with, hoping not to have it watered down too much.
In short people will have a greater say over their own lives.

Where are the Liberals?

I’m temporarily lifting my ban on mentioning the Liberal Democrats simply to ask where are they?
Apart from the odd leaflet here and there, we’ve seen very little sign of them throughout Spelthorne and vicinity, and they are normally so industrious.
In fact they are contesting only one third of the vacant seats on neighbouring Hounslow council, leaving electors in many wards with no chance to vote Liberal at next month’s local elections.
So much for Nick Clegg’s pitch to be Prime Minister.
Hopefully this heralds a return to the two-party system, where people can make a straight forward choice between Big Government with Labour or Good Government with the Conservatives.

Opinion Polls

Whilst I wouldn’t go so far as to outlaw political opinion polls altogether, like they do in some countries, they should be taken off the front page and put near the back, alongside the horoscopes.
Their main purpose is cheap publicity for the market research companies who conduct them.
I have already questioned their methodology in this blog, which largely explains why they are all so inconsistent.
If you speak to people you find that a vast number -- who will be voting in three weeks time -- have simply not applied themselves to the question of which prime minister they’ll be better off with.
So as I wrote before, I will be waiting for the exit poll at 10pm on polling day.

Teamwork

Party politics is the ultimate team exercise. If you don’t work together, sooner or eventually you will lose no matter what, but united you win.
So today I arrived a little late for duty, not least because I was a bit under the weather (man ’flu). I was sent off to deliver a hundred or so leaflets, which involved cycling up Surbiton Hill and back down the other side, and the same the way back.
I was then late for the campaigning session, but they put me in charge anyway.
Sometimes you do what you’re told, and other times you give directions.

Hoovering Votes

So what does the Chairman of a local Conservative Association actually do?
Well today’s job was to go to a neighbouring constituency and Hoover the carpet of the venue for their official General Election campaign launch, then stick up posters on the walls.
Unfortunately these were largely ignored by the audience, who were more interested in the fantastic views over South West London from the top of the Tolworth Tower.
They were treated to an equally impressive speech from their Conservative candidate Helen Whately, with Shadow Justice Minister Dominic Grieve as the support act.
Kingston & Surbiton is one of 24 Liberal held seats which need to change hands to usher in a Conservative Government.
Afterwards I was able to convince a floating voter that a new Conservative MP in Kingston would hold David Cameron to his commitment last Saturday to keep investing in the local hospital, something no other candidate can promise.

VOTE FOR CHANGE

Loose Lips Sink Ships

You can never be too careful campaigning in close proximity to parliamentary candidates, and we are continually warned to be careful what we say.
Campaigning is meant to be fun, but with mobile phones and scurrilous journalists all about, one inadvertent comment posted on YouTube can cause huge embarrassment.

Visit by Bicycling Baronet

My first job Friday morning was to pressure spray months of mud and grime off my trusty bicycle. This was in readiness for the journey to Surbiton to meeting Sir George Young MP, a.k.a. the Bicycling Baronet.

Here we are pictured by the Berrylands pub, for a campaign lunch stop. (From left to right: Berrylands ward council candidate David Hutchinson, Sir George, parliamentary candidate Helen Whately, myself and Berrylands ward candidate Karen George -- picture courtesy of the third ward candidate Peter Topp)
Unlike Sir George, I’m not yet up for taking my bike on the buses. However, hopping on the train is very efficient, though you have to avoid the morning and evening rush hours.

Vote For Change

Some people question the enjoyment of campaigning for votes at election time. Well for a seasoned politician it is always invigorating.
People always have something different to say, and they can often be more demanding than even Jeremy Paxman, the famous BBC inquisitor.
We had great fun this afternoon bumping into people at the shopping parades in Chessington.
Admittedly there’s a few that are still happy with Labour, and many still unsure. But the majority want to see the back of Gordon Brown.
Just one fly in the ointment though. Those that think voting for Britain’s third party can do the trick. When you point out that historically that Party has always propped up a Labour Government, they come to their senses and agree that the only vote for change is a vote for the Conservatives.

Kingston, worth fighting for!

That is the Conservative slogan to win back control of the local council next month, after eight years of financial mismanagement by Britain’s third party, with now the highest property tax in southern England. Plus a mansion tax in the pipeline!
Over a hundred local residents packed a cinema theatre in central Kingston upon Thames for the official launch of the Conservatives' Borough election campaign this Wednesday evening. A series of polished speeches by some of the council candidates were interspersed with their own video reports on local issues.
Then there were presentations by neighbouring MP Justine Greening and local parliamentary candidates Helen Whately and Zac Goldsmith.
Zac explained why only the Conservatives understand that preserving the environment is about so much more than carbon. For example hiking charges for parking near local shops just encourages people to drive further afield to hypermarkets. And people avoid residential parking charges by paving their front gardens, further blighting the street scene.
Above all, green taxes should no longer be stealth taxes, penalizing past choices, but be accompanied by incentives to promote responsible living.

British Election is Called

Five years we’ve been waiting, and the election is now underway.
Because they are so infrequent, British elections tend to be complicated, with floating voters expected to weigh up a huge range of issues, and live with their decision for a long time.
This election is different, because the Conservatives have a simple message, something politicians give their eyeteeth for.

Voting for anyone else could mean a hung parliament, and five more years of Gordon Brown.
So vote for a positive future . . . vote for change . . .
Vote Conservative.

The campaign to win back Kingston & Surbiton is launched with Eric Pickles and PPC Helen Whately (and myself in the centre of the back row). Kingston is a seat needed to give David Cameron a working majority.

Adult Content

I welcome comments on this blog from all over the world, though a new online hazard I’ve discovered is contributions in a foreign language of questionable taste.
A recent response to my China blog was -- not unreasonably -- written in Chinese characters. However it had to be discarded because it contained adult content, which whilst not explicit, was not relevant to the original blogpost.

Doing Business with China

Some of my family lived in China in the later part of the 19th century.
However since 1949 I have regarded mainland China as the red peril -- though Chairman Mao’s Little Red Book was rather fun to pass around at school.
China’s economic advancement is proving an ideological challenge. I’ll pay a little extra for goods of equivalent quality from anywhere but China. But if Chinese stuff is cheaper, then it’s costly to boycott it.
So what about investing there? Corruption is rife, and the penalties severe, though as four employees of Rio Tinto will find out this week, those imprisoned for economic crimes are treated far less harshly.
I’m putting this year’s tax-exempt savings into a new investment trust that will buy into companies that do business in China. Domestic consumer spending is set to take off, creating huge economic expansion.
Investing in China is not for the faint-hearted.

Obamacare: Pyrrhic Victory

So American Democrats have invested all their political capital in forcing through a healthcare plan against the wishes of most hard working Americans.
The hugely bureaucratic new system will cost an arm and a leg, with little benefit for the so-called uninsured. In fact it will cost them too in the form of compulsory levies.
Just like in Europe before the advent of socialised healthcare, and as in America today, no one was ever turned away from hospital for want of emergency treatment and without the means to pay.
By all means address the two key issues of insurers blacklisting clients with “pre-existing conditions”, and capping claims resulting in two million medical bankruptcies per year.
But don’t bankrupt the entire US healthcare system in the process.
And don’t blame me, I didn’t vote for the guy!

Out of Power

You don’t need to be a student of 20th century British politics to understand why Britain’s third party have been out of power since the 1920s.
Just come and read the vindictive propaganda they distribute in Spelthorne. Indeed they seem to be resorting to personal attacks right across the land, which will only ever attract the protest vote. It's not the British way.
Last autumn they cheekily questioned whether in fact a retiring local councillor was actually ill, right at the time he was in intensive care at the local hospital.
And now they query the credentials of one of the best up and coming Conservative politicians in the country by detailing his previous applications for vacant parliamentary seats.
The truth is that competition to become a Conservative parliamentary candidate is a hundred times greater for Britain’s third party, so hardly surprising even the best don’t succeed the first time.

Less Nudity Please, We’re British

The Blair Babes were hopeless at arresting the tide of permissiveness during he last 13 years, so let’s hope Cameron’s Cuties will be tougher.
The Noughties saw a massive rollout of strip-joints across Britain after Labour relaxed the planning laws in 2003, allowing lap dancing clubs to masquerade as ordinary bars.
One is now threatened in Staines High Street, though so far ways have been found to prevent them popping up in Spelthorne.
I’m not sure we need to go so far as Iceland last week, who with almost half their legislators female, have made it illegal for any business to profit from nudity by its employees.

Great Candidate: Rotten Government

Obviously the Labour Party is seriously bad news for Britain, as we slip lower and lower down world league tables, and social cohesion is disintegrating whilst the gap between rich and poor is at its widest for a generation.
But here in Spelthorne we have a marvel in the Labour’s Parliamentary candidate, Adam Tyler-Moore.
Following my blog two months ago he’s still leaving his leaflet hanging out of letterboxes. Also the content lets him down badly, as it's so nasty and scurrilous that only the most loyal Labour voters would appreciate it.
However the man is so polite, personable, knowledgeable and well presented, and he’s being very well received on the doorstep.
And boy, does he get around. He’s like a ferret, as each day I come across more and more residents he has spoken to in every town and village, right across the constituency.
He deserves second place in Spelthorne at the General Election, and then to earn a safe seat elsewhere next time.

Five More Years of Brown?

As I speak to people up and down the land (yesterday in north Manchester), the answer comes back the same:

We do not want five more years of Gordon Brown.

Funny thing is when you ask them if they’ll be voting for Cameron’s Conservatives they don’t seem quite so sure, as if there is some kind of third option for Prime Minister -- which they have to agree there isn’t.
A vote for any of the minor parties is a wasted vote when it comes to turfing out Gordon Brown.
That is the conundrum the opinion pollsters face, complicated by a serious flaw in their methodology.
You see, when you ask floating voters how they voted five years ago they genuinely can’t remember, and so make it up -- and say Conservative if they’re leaning that way now. So their opinion is excluded by the pollsters when they weight the raw data to match the actual result in 2005, skewing their prediction for 2010.
Best hang on for the exit poll at 10pm on May 6th.

British Airways 1200 : Unite 300

That’s the number of strikebreakers claimed by each of the sides in the BA cabin crew strike.
One could also argue it is the margin of victory by the airline, though wise of them not to crow about it.
We’ll see how they each fare in the second round next weekend.
In the olden days unions used to go on strike, and stay out until either their demands were met, or they capitulated. These days with union power restrained, striking is very much a part-time business.
Even Monday afternoon’s picket at Hatton Cross on the outskirts of Heathrow (pictured) was a rather feeble protest, though I was impressed by the number of hooting motorists driving past -- many too young to remember the union militancy of the 70s and 80s.

Nice to see a strike breaking Jet2.com aircraft (also pictured) at Heathrow Terminal 5, normally serving low cost routes from northern England, this time easing the strain for hard pressed BA passengers.

British Airways Strike

There’s a whole load of stuff we’re not being told about the British Airways cabin crew strike, and one might wonder why?
Hints are dropped about disunity within the trades union, Unite, which seriously hampers their ability to negotiate with the employer. Key union people will not even share the same room, let alone talk to each other
BA boss Willie Walsh is determined to break the strike, and with the rest of the airline’s workforce already having conceded cuts in wages and conditions, there is very little sympathy for the cabin crew.
Everyone is volunteering to man the planes in their absence, and many are still being trained.
Then there is the issue of travel perks. I am assured Willie Walsh will not go back on his promise to cancel staff travel concessions for anyone who walks out. As many of the cabin crew live in Scotland and the South of France, commuting to Heathrow Terminal Five to report for duty, their lifestyles will take a quite a hit -- assuming their jobs are still there when they return.
The outcome of this dispute could well determine the state of industrial relations in the UK for several years ahead.

BUPA Healthcare

BUPA is a major employer in Staines, Egham and Ashford, and their need to cut back on staff is a double-whammy.
The staff deserves sympathy, over 100 of whom face redundancy.
But more worrying is the decline in healthcare expenditure in the UK.
The Conservatives’ commitment to ring-fence state spending via the NHS is good, but that is not enough.
We spend far too little overall on healthcare in Britain, barely half what they spend in America for example.
I’ve been doing my bit recently. I thought I’d save £100 with a special offer on a BUPA healthscreen. After all the further screening tests the doctor recommended -- based on lifestyle and family medical history -- I’ve spent £3,300.

Daylight Saving Time

It’s at this time of year that I reflect if Europe were serious about climate change then our clocks would go forward this weekend.
America has been doing this for four years now, and it is an entirely cost free measure (and probably even saves lives on the roads in the evenings).
It is also logical because the length of daylight is now much closer to when we’re all agreed about putting the clocks back at the end of October.

The Euro

I sailed to France for the day yesterday, and it's a boon having to have just one foreign currency when you go abroad -- well two if you include the dollar for America.
I hope the euro survives the economic crisis in Greece.

Cable ruins Cable

The biggest threat to Cable is Cable.
Cable is the term used by currency traders for the Sterling–US Dollar exchange rate (dating from the 19th century when the rate was transmitted by a transatlantic cable).
The prospect of a hung parliament this spring is sending jitters round the world, and the value of the British pound rapidly towards a 25-year low.
Traders fear the worst if vacillating Vincent Cable were to become involved with Britain’s economic policy.
Far from predicting the current crisis Cable warned merely about personal debt in 2003, and later conceded that the global financial crisis was actually triggered by the US mortgage market about which he knew very little.
Back in 1999 he campaigned vigorously for light touch regulation of financial services, meaning his recent denunciation of market excesses ring hollow.
These conflicting views are typical of Britain’s third party which he represents, and offer no path to recovery.

Healthcare Choice

Last week I had a routine screening test at a top London Hospital -- something which a third of American adults have done, but you’d be lucky to get under Britain’s free NHS.
Everything was wonderful after the initial indignity of being frog-marched to the cashier to present my credit card. (They have a lot of Middle Eastern clients whose approach to settling bills is more relaxed).
At £1,200 for a four-hour stay, it made my prawn sandwich lunch the most expensive in London.
At least the Labour Government still allows people the choice to spend their money on healthcare, instead of say exotic foreign holidays. Though I remember Labour even banned those in 1966 when you couldn’t take more than £50 abroad each year -- documented in your passport.

Eton Boys

I’m still reflecting on what I thought was the most exciting event at the Conservative Party Spring Conference in Brighton last weekend.
An impromptu protest by about fifty left-wing activists who almost broke through the police cordon at the hotel entrance.
They delivered their chant with so much energy.

Eton boys: . . . off our streets!

Eton boys: . . . off our streets!

Interspersed with

Get rid of the rich!

Well who do they think pay the taxes that subsidise their Bohemian lifestyle?
If only that enthusiasm could be channelled into more productive pursuits, Britain would be great again.

Hung Parliament II

There’s been a lot of bunkum written about the prospects of a hung parliament, even on this blog.
The fact is no one knows the result of the General Election -- until the exit polls come out at 10pm on the day.
People say coalition governments work well in Europe, but Britain is not Europe, and for those old enough to remember, they never worked well under our adversarial system.
A further constitutional point is that Gordon Brown is not going to resign unless the Conservatives end up fewer than a dozen seats short of an overall majority. Otherwise he will cling on to power, dangling the carrot of proportional representation under the nose of Britain’s third party, something Ted Heath wasn’t prepared to do in 1974.
So to all those thinking of voting UKIP, or any other minor party, the advice is don’t. Vote Labour instead, because the result will be the same, and at least your vote won’t have been wasted.

No Council Tax Increase

Last night in Kingston the Conservatives set out a detailed budget, showing how to freeze the local council tax whilst maintaining services to the public.
Unfortunately this will be of no benefit to residents of the Royal Borough -- who already pay the highest rate of council tax in London -- because Britain’s third party who run the Council imposed a further 1.9% increase regardless.
The same evening Spelthorne joined a long line of Conservative run councils that are freezing council tax this year, specifically to ease the burden on the less well off caused by Labour’s recession.
I couldn’t believe it when one councillor from the minority party criticised the Conservative budget proposal for lacking in detail -- this from a party that yet again failed to present an alternative budget for the 19th year in a row. Nevertheless their lack of support demonstrated a commitment to raising the tax in Spelthorne as elsewhere.

Bullying

Everyone’s missing the point about bullying by the Prime Minister. Gordon Brown admits he behaves abominably to try and get his own way. And it did John Prescott no harm amongst his supporters when details of his behaviour were revealed.
There are many examples of effective leaders who have been bullies, but usually as dictators: Saddam Hussein, Joseph Stalin etc.
However in a democratic system you can only get so far by throwing tantrums. Eventually people start working quietly against you. At all levels of politics you need conciliation and geniality to get the most out of the people working along with you.
And that's why Gordon Brown is a failure.

Shortwood Infant School

When a school suffers falling numbers it is right that the authorities investigate. It is no use carpetbaggers from minor political parties joining in the protest without offering constructive solutions.
Of course the resultant smaller class sizes are good in principle, but not at the expense of starving funds from other more popular schools in the area.
Shortwood Infant School has room for 81 children, but with numbers currently well below 50 it is not financially viable, and the quality of education is beginning to suffer.
So yes, let’s support the tradition of a 114-year-old school, but only on condition that it’s fall from grace is addressed by concrete measures to restore its intake.
I remember when my first infant school shut in 1962. It was a terrible shock because all the teaching methods changed, but I survived.

Real Life Crime

I don’t normally watch TV soaps because they're so contrived and unreal.
But last night’s Eastenders was real because it was broadcast live, just like all television used to be fifty years ago.
You could tell everyone was on edge -- not just because of the plotlines. Then I flipped over to BBC3 and the actor who’d just jumped to his death got up and told us how he felt -- great!
That got me thinking: how much easier it would be for our over-stretched police force if everyone admitted their crime at the end, like Stacy Slater did.
However I was amused this week when PC plod arrested a veteran TV broadcaster in a dawn raid at his old people’s home, after admitting on TV that he killed his lover ages ago. After 30 hours in detention they had to let him go because he refused to say who the victim was, or when and where the crime took place.
Suicide is wrong, whether assisted or not.

Dis-Proportional Representation

During my visit to the dental hygienist yesterday, the last thing on my mind was the appointment of Conservative Party candidates in next year’s Spelthorne Council elections.
But it would seem that was exactly what Silvio Berlusconi was thinking about whilst having his teeth fixed last month, after being attacked in Milan before Christmas. He has just nominated his oral hygienist Nicole Minetti (pictured) to stand for the regional elections in Lombardy next month. And a great looking choice if I may say.
You see under proportional representation -- much vaunted by Britain’s minor third party -- the leadership gets to choose the candidates for Parliament by means of the Party List.
Doesn’t sound very proportional to me.

Labour’s Death Tax

At last we have some clear blue water: on the care of our elders.
As Benjamin Franklin wrote in 1789: “. . . in this world nothing is certain but death and taxes”. No wonder Labour’s death tax is such a double-whammy.
A compulsory levy robs those who've set aside something for their old age, transferring it largely to those who’ve made no provision. It discourages self-reliance.
The debate is also a proxy for the argument on both sides of the Atlantic about how to fund healthcare in general (bearing in mind that on average half our lifetime healthcare costs occur in the last two years of life).
People no longer want to pay more in taxes, i.e. “big government”. A more voluntary insurance based solution is not easy because the premiums are paid well ahead of the risk, but the concept is not so different from pensions.
New Labour ducked the issue for twelve years. The Conservative solution should not be scoffed at, even by the London Daily Telegraph.

Outdated Labour

I no longer mention by name the third-rate party in Spelthorne, as they are totally ineffectual, even in Sunbury where they have councillors. As usual they claimed to oppose the Conservatives’ budget, but failed to present any alternative at Surrey County Council last Tuesday.
However I’m worried for the main opposition, the Spelthorne Labour Party. Their parliamentary candidate is very enthusiastic, but sadly let down by their internet presence, or rather lack of. All he’s done is a couple of tweets back on 2nd January.
And Stanwell’s Labour councillor Victor Agarwal -- before he disappeared off to Swindon last month -- promised us a daily blog, but hasn’t written a word since June last year!
In fact so out of date is Labour’s website, they’re still promoting their previous parliamentary candidate, and apart from one news item 18 months ago, all the content dates back to 2007.

Fin du Régime

I don’t think we need to wait for tomorrow’s TV broadcast of the Prime Minster’s interview by Piers Morgan to conclude that Gordon Brown is finished.
The sheer hypocrisy of criticising David Cameron for talking about his children 18 months ago, and then weeping about his own family is enough on its own.
Wearing his heart on his sleeve so uncharacteristically just smacks of desperation, not something people admire in a politician.
That’s not to say the British election is over, because Labour has built up such a huge client state in the last twelve years: six million on welfare, an extra million public sector employees (all on indexed-linked pensions) and a wave of foreign workers who’ve never had it so good.
Still, at least a hung parliament will expose the minority parties for the charlatans that they are, and remind us why the largest one was thrown out of office nearly a century ago.
Which reminds me of my favourite doorstep question to a Labour voter:

Name me a Labour Prime Minister who didn’t end in economic ruin?

To which the answer came:

Lloyd George.

Update Sunday: Piers Morgan's interview was very entertaining -- Gordon's still dead meat though.

UK Parliamentary Expenses

The news today that the cost of IPSA -- the body set up to police Westminster parliamentary expenses -- will be six times the total amount MPs have been found to have over claimed, tells us all we need to know about left-wing liberal “big government”.
And that’s six times the amount just in the first year, until common sense sees to it that the quango is abolished.
Compare that with the cost to taxpayers of exposing the allegations in the first place, which was precisely zero, because everything was brought to light by a free press -- the Daily Telegraph in particular -- something which the liberal left also secretly despises.

Palin for President

Having watched a recording of the 40 minute keynote speech by Sarah Palin to the US National Tea Party Convention last weekend, I saw America’s first woman president in the making.
Her voice was a little shaky at times, but that just added to the authenticity.
My favourite sound bite was “How’s that hope-y, change-y thing workin’ out for ya?”
But the phrase that stuck in the throat of the liberals was her referring to the teleprompter president, for that’s all Obama is.
You can tell it hit home, because all the liberal left could criticise her for was having a few keywords scribbled on her palm. What a puerile jibe!
I think it’s significant that whilst left wing orators rely so much on teleprompters, most conservatives are able to address their audience without a full script. So much more genuine.

Air Travel Insecurity

Flying with hand luggage has become an arms race.
Having sailed through Heathrow, I came a cropper in transit at Paris Charles de Gaulle, where they’re much tougher.
I thought I’d got my liquids contained -- shower gel, shampoo, hand gel, toothpaste, moisturiser, sunscreen, aftersun -- but all had to be repackaged in a tiny one-litre bag. The deodorant had to be ditched.
Still not happy, my belongings were rifled in search of some fruit salad -- not actually a prohibited item.
Returning via Amsterdam, security is still sloppy, and they weren’t bothered about the liquids -- just as well because my incoming flight was late and I was the last one on to the connecting flight.
A good surgeon these days can implant plastic explosives inside the belly of a suicide bomber, along with the two-pack liquid detonator. The only method of detection would be to set if off by punching the guy in the stomach -- a bit like how I felt.

On Vacation

This blog is suspended for a couple of days as I grapple with this French keyboard in the ski resort of Courchevel.

The Game’s Up

I was going to blog today how the game’s up for Labour, but that can keep for another day.
There’s a small minority party -- “the third party” -- who are now resorting to desperate measures to save their seats.
They’ve started this rumour that Kingston Hospital is set to close. A classic wheeze, because they can then campaign to keep it open, and claim the credit when it stays open. Meanwhile everyone gets worried, both patients and staff, and recruitment suffers.
The Conservative Party is the only British political party committed to increasing NHS expenditure, and specifically would impose an immediate moratorium on closures of A&E (Emergency Room) and maternity units nationwide -- services allegedly threatened at Kingston. For more see Helen Whately.
So I warn the third party party: “Be careful what your stir”.

Direct Debit Fraud II

Last November I mentioned theft from the local Conservative Party bank accounts, and believe it or not, it is extremely easy -- that is until yesterday!
All you needed was to copy the sort code and account number from a membership form and all worldly goods and services were supplied to your own address. So efficient are the banks these days, signatures and addresses are no longer checked.
So a warning to all online thieves out there: our accounts are now blocked to new direct debits.
Ironically getting though to the bank is far harder than setting up a fraudulent direct debit was. As one point, for ID purposes, I was asked to quote a recent direct debit payment from the account -- I lost my cool.
No longer will Spelthorne Conservatives be financing pet insurance, car breakdown cover, broadband connection, camera equipment and several other domestic insurance policies.
All money raised will now be spent on campaigning to defeat the Labour Party, including over £300 refunded from the bank.

Ethnic Minority Politicians

I first noticed the term ‘BME’ only a few weeks ago, and I choose not to remember exactly what the initials stand for -- something to do with ethnic minorities, and by implication their promotion.
I’ve been unwittingly promoting ethnic minority politicians for years, not because of their background, but because of what they have to offer regardless of their ancestry. I find the BME agenda distasteful.
There was nevertheless a row yesterday about the fact that Operation Black Vote was quick to report the selection of Labour’s Stanwell County Councillor Victor Agarwal for the marginal seat of Swindon North, yet it took them a while to catch up on the selection of Conservative Kwasi Kwarteng for the winnable seat of Spelthorne.
I was however grateful for OBV’s fulsome apology.
For me, Spelthorne has the best candidate in Kwasi, and Swindon are welcome to Cllr Agarwal (though not as an MP).

Winter Vacation

This time next week I intend to be on holiday. I’m not going to say too much so as not to tempt fate, because this time last year I chose the worst travel day of the year. I spent half the day getting to Gatwick, and the rest of the day waiting there, before giving up and coming home.
All I will say is that I shall be leaving my house at 6:40am next Wednesday, and I am one of the few people who make use of Heathrow Airport’s excellent bicycle racks, even if the route there is not at all cycle friendly.
At least the first leg of the journey is guaranteed.

Don’t even mention them

It’s just occurred to me that I’ve not been following my own advice on this political blog, though I’ve only slipped up a couple of times this year.
There is a small British protest party that craves publicity, ably assisted from time to time by the BBC.
The thing they most hate is being ignored by the two main parties.
They spend their time attacking either one of the mainstream parties in the hope of getting some reaction. They make outrageous claims and then hope the main party will hit back.
They even spent their time at the Spelthorne Open Primary taking notes of everything the Conservative candidates said in the hope of catching them out later on.
As I wrote in December, they are the “teenagers” of British politics, and if you ignore them they’ll stop bothering you. (I don’t suggest this for real teenagers, whose angst we must suffer with love).

Last on the Spelthorne Primary

One final reflection on Friday’s Spelthorne Open Primary.
Back in November I commented upon the surprising good spirit and co-operation between most aspiring Conservative politicians despite the fact that they are often in competition for prized vacancies.
This again was apparent in the Green Room at Kempton Park from the cheer the moment the defeated candidates learnt that Kwasi had won, which was almost as loud as the ovation in the main hall when it was announced to the audience.

More on the Spelthorne Primary

I’ve been so grateful for all the emails and phone calls saying how well organised and successful was Spelthorne’s primary election last Friday night.
Even though it went on so long, and people were checking their watches, no one was anxious to get home, and all but eight stayed to the end to hear Kwasi Kwarteng’s victory speech. I know he was gobsmacked.
Being at the heart of the organisaton, and conscious of the things that didn’t quite go to plan – none of which actually mattered – made it hard to judge people’s satisfaction.
For instance we need to check the figures, but it looks like Party members were outnumbered two to one.
Now that’s what I call an open primary.

Kwasi Wins

Last night we had a fantastic victory for Kwasi Kwarteng, and a fantastic victory for Spelthorne Conservatives.
Despite terrible weather earlier in January, which brought campaigning literally to a standstill, we still managed to encourage over 400 electors to attend on a dark winter’s night in January -- a meeting which lasted nearly five hours.
The majority of the audience were not members of the Party, so it was a truly open primary.
Kwasi gave a convincing performance, and was both relaxed and knowledgeable. The rapture with which Spelthorne electors endorsed his selection as their Conservative Parliamentary candidate was truly inspiring.
We picked a winner!

Spelthorne Open Primary

I seem to be the only one left still blogging about the Spelthorne Open Primary, taking place later today in Sunbury.
Everyone else is nervous about everything. Contestants about their pitch, fellow organisers about how it’ll go, electors about whether they’ll last the evening.
I’m cool. Whatever happens it’ll be a success. I’ve had so much thrown at me these last three months, nothing can bowl me over.
I will be glad when it’s over though. May the best person win!

Election Day

As Election Day in Massachusetts comes to a nail-biting end, so another looms in Spelthorne this Friday.
Funny how New England copes with the cold and snow so much better than us in southeast England. Just as snow showers are expected right across Massachusetts Tuesday, it looks like Wednesday is going to be another day trudging through the snow in Spelthorne, rounding up those last minute voter registrations! Let’s just hope for milder weather Friday for the 600 expected at the Spelthorne Open Primary.
The Brown Oakley race is neck and neck after just a few votes reported. The Spelthorne Open Primary is a six-horse contest, with each candidate offering something different, and the outcome equally unclear.

9am Update: BROWN WINS! Not a headline I hope to have to repeat this May, but one to savour in January -- and with that Obama's healthcare revolution in tatters. I always knew Obama would be bad news for the US, just like our Gordon Brown in the UK.

Brown Could Win

There's one election I don’t mind Brown winning, and that’s the one taking place today in Massachusetts.
If Republican Scott Brown beats Martha Coakley in the race to replace Ted Kennedy as senator, then the Democrats lose their ability to steamroller their controversial healthcare plans.
Remember the US Government spends the same proportion of national income on their equivalent of the British NHS. And in addition most people have health insurance, which gives them a vastly superior level of healthcare.
Nationalising the American healthcare market can do nothing but jeopardise that advantage.

Chasing Votes

I spent Friday evening chasing Spelthorne’s new Labour Parliamentary Candidate around Upper Halliford -- still wet behind the ears he hasn’t yet learnt to push his leaflets right through the letterbox.
He says he’s going to commute from Staines station -- interesting, as he doesn’t live here. He harks back to 1945 the last time Spelthorne voted Labour. A pity that the only person who remembered him call at their door was a Tory Party member. I’m glad he’s concentrating on Shepperton and Sunbury, areas where Spelthorne's third party rely so much on squeezing the Labour vote.
I found quite a few people interested in next week’s Open Primary to choose the Conservative Party candidate. Funny how people have different views about the same person, but that’s democracy. Gordon Brown isn’t completely written off, and there are worries whether Cameron is Thatcherite enough -- but that’s what they thought about Thatcher in 1978/9, before the word was invented!

Soft on Criminals, Tough on Victims

In a final betrayal of New Labour’s original 1997 pledges it is clear that Britain is now soft on criminals and tough only on their victims.
In America you knock on a stranger’s door to ask for help at your peril, as you are liable to be shot dead, no questions asked.
This week Myleene Klass was reprimanded by police for “illegally” brandishing a knife inside her own kitchen at youths taunting her from out in the garden. She was scared to death.
Personally I don’t have a problem. As long as I know where I am and where the exits are, I’ll roam the toughest housing estates, even after dark. All I fear is the embarrassment of being dowsed by a flagon of water in the summer, or feral youths firing snowballs at me in the winter. I’m fit enough to run away.
However far too many of our elders are imprisoned in their own homes after dark for fear of being attacked. This is not the kind of society I aspire to.

A Stalwart Conservative

As the vicar said at Tuesday’s funeral of Daphne Hobart, learning that about her made us regret never knowing her better.
Born a Geordie in Whitley Bay, her parents spent a fortune on elocution lessons, something unheard of in Britain today.
Daphne joined the Young Conservatives all those years ago, and had been a pivotal part of Staines Conservatives virtually since moving here in 1954. Active in the Cubs, Scouts and Sea Cadets, she never lost her love of the sea from her service in the Wrens. Which made the final hymn all the more moving, with it’s undulating chorus:
O hear us when we cry to thee
For those in peril on the sea.
For many in the congregation it was their first venture out of doors in over a week, especially to pay tribute to a real stalwart.

Agarwal Abandons Spelthorne

A month ago I was puzzled as to why the Spelthorne Labour Party had ditched their bright young hopeful Parliamentary candidate Robert Ferguson (born and bred in Sunbury) for an outsider with a double barrelled name.
Now the plot thickens, when today we learn that Spelthorne’s most popular socialist has clearly been over-looked.
County Councillor Victor Agarwal (born and bred in Stanwell) has had to go carpet-bagging to Swindon to find a Parliamentary seat.
Is this the same suicidal mentality that caused Labour to ditch Tony Blair -- their most successful election winner ever -- in favour of Gordon (bottler) Brown?

True Grit

Despite the national shortage of grit for our roads the Prime Minister announced in Parliament that there’s plenty to go round. Now the Whitehall emergency planning committee (Cobra) has started rationing salt between councils. Somehow I don’t think Tory Surrey will get much priority.
My 4x4 copes just fine, though other offroaders seem to think they are immune to the conditions and drive like crazy. Negotiating the ice on my bicycle is not quite so easy, requiring both feet on the ground to come to a halt -- a bit like when I was a toddler.
Despite stockpiling thousands of tons of salt more than last year, Surrey County Council is now having to preserve dwindling stocks. Many key roads, like the one outside my house are missing out. This came as a shock to the drivers of a school bus and a car which collided head-on this morning. No injuries, but expect next year’s car insurance premiums to rocket.

Carpe Diem

With both sides of the Atlantic as cold as the South Pole, global warming is fast becoming at article of faith.
But what’s this? Reports of an even bigger catastrophe with a nearby star set to explode. Like a volcano, T Pyxidis has been regularly erupting every twenty years, except the last minor blast was in 1967. So the big one (or supernova) could be any time soon (though soon in astronomical terms can be up to ten million years).
But hey, people say the star is 3,260 light years away, so we’ve got plenty of time. But what they forget is that we are observing the star at it was 3,260 years ago, and the devastating nuclear radiation will reach Earth just as soon as the light which tells us it is exploding -- in other words not even the four-minute warning of nuclear Armageddon we were promised in the 1960s.
It is a mystery why there are no signals from other life forms in the universe, so maybe mass extinctions are commonplace.
I say live for the day, and preferably not under another five years of Labour Government.

Hung Parliament

With practically half the UK population on the Labour Government’s payroll, including six million of working age on welfare and a million extra state employees over the last decade, the result of this year’s election cannot be gauged by opinion polls.
Whilst Britain needs a Government with a clear mandate, at this stage a closer result is more likely.
I would argue that a hung parliament is preferable to a narrow majority -- such as the one John Major had to contend with.
If Britain's third party were to support a minority government it would expose them as immature and priggish, and marginalize them as just the protest party that they are.
They would be ridiculed for propping up a discredited Labour Government, and one false move in any coalition with the Conservatives would earn them the blame for a crisis snap election.

China

People are worried about the ascendancy of China.
I had a brief taste of China when I saw Aladdin at the Theatre Royal Windsor last week -- a show that I recommend, more so for the supporting cast.
We need not fear the Chinese who are fatally flawed as a people. Often in history they have made technological advances, always to let themselves them down.
I believe countries get the government they deserve, and the fact that they live under totalitarian rule is merely a result of them being too feeble as individuals to revolt. The English were never going to kow-tow to Hitler, and though the Americans are too conformist to my mind, their elections are too frequent to allow a dictator ever to take over.
One thing I can never understand is why we allow China to vote and to exercise a veto on the international stage (e.g. at the United Nations and the Copenhagen Summit) when they are denied democracy at home?
So should we embargo Chinese goods? Well, if I can find stuff of equal quality I buy cheaper from elsewhere. But if there’s a saving to be made, then we’re better off buying the cheapest, even from China.