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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

Never Argue with LibDems

The Liberal Democrats may trace their origins back to one of Britain’s oldest political parties, but in the 21st century they behave like political teenagers.
Happy to say one thing to mum and something contradictory to dad, hoping to curry favour with both.
And it never pays to pick a fight with the LibDems as they are always right, and will carry on arguing until the cows come home.
Best way is to ignore them -- they really don’t like that!
Time they grew up.

Charlton Lane Recycling

For all their bluster Spelthorne’s Liberal Democrats have been rather timid in the Council chamber at County Hall in Kingston since they were elected last June.
And this week we think they shot themselves in the foot with a lukewarm response to the Conservatives’ ingenious plan to upgrade the Charlton Lane Recycling Centre, with a really cost effective way of dealing with all our waste.
The UK’s first Eco Park will include a special plant to heat all residual waste (that which cannot be recycled) in a totally sealed environment. In addition all food waste -- to be collected separately -- will be composted. The amount of natural gas produced by both processes will be enough to power ten thousand homes -- that's equivalent to a quarter of the houses in Spelthorne.
Not only will this proposal almost eliminate the need to bury waste in the ground, but it'll cost less than any alternative, there’ll be a reduction in traffic at the site, and there’ll be a profit from selling the green energy to the national grid.

Europe Again v LibDems

Still a hot subject today in the blogosphere, though of little interest to most voters, we read of the disenchantment about the LibDems inconsistency on Europe.
Does their leadership want an “in/out” referendum or not?
Being new to blogging I’ve not yet prepared my blogroll but high up there already was Charlotte Gore (even though my views are diametrically opposed to hers on drugs).
It’s come to a pretty pass when the nation’s top LibDem blogger is severing ties with a party that flip-flops on Europe.
And I didn’t even mention the Mansion Tax.