Political Poison

In defence of the NHS proposals

2012-02-22T19:53:00.003Z

I certainly don't agree with everything that this government plans for the NHS - particularly raising the cap on private income up to 49%, something which I strongly oppose. But there is some very bias and simplistic reporting going on - particularly from the Guardian, which gave up being a newspaper and now dedicates its time to finding a way of attacking the government on a daily basis. Everyone and their dog has leapt to their feet to defend the status quo, and Labour seems to have forgotten its own record of NHS reform and has instead opted to defend vested interests.

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Mitt's Mates

2012-01-16T23:41:00.005Z

Whilst I still very much hope that Romney isn't the Republican nomination, it's becoming more and more likely that Romney will be the party's pick. So naturally it's time for sadacts like me to start pondering about who he would choose as his running mate.

Putting a ticket together is not an easy business. There are strategies to this, most broadly defined into either a balanced ticket or a united ticket. A balanced ticket will involve picking someone who is thought to help cancel out some of the candidate's potential negative points. Romney is a wealthy businessman from the north east and is relatively moderate; many more conservative voters and Republican party supporters are deeply concerned that Mitt isn't conservative enough, concerns which are heightened by things like Romney's healthcare reforms in his state of Massachusetts. Floating voters and wavering Democrats may be put off by Romney's astounding wealth and big business background.
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Huntsman - not Romney!

2012-01-09T02:18:00.002Z

Though I wouldn't necessarily align myself with the Republican Party - certainly not in its current state - I have been following the GOP's nomination process with interest. Whether or not you support Obama, you must at least acknowledge his various failures; it's in everyone's democratic interest to have a strong, electable Republican candidate to put the current President through his paces. I believe Huntsman to be the most well-rounded, experienced candidate, and the best President-in-waiting on offer in the Republican race.

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January's political viewing

2012-01-02T02:26:00.001Z

Hello - happy new year and all that. Politically and economically, you shouldn't have much hope for 2012 - things can only get worse. So ease yourself into what will be an abysmal year with some entertainment.

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It's the end of the NHS as we know it

2011-12-28T02:14:00.000Z

Unlike R.E.M.'s vision, it doesn't start with an earthquake, birds and snakes. It starts with another dangerous proposal.

News has emerged that the Government is planning to allow NHS trusts to raise up to 49% of their funds from private patients. I don't think it would be scaremongering or hyperbolic to suggest that this, on top of the other changes being pushed forward, could spell the end of the NHS as we know it.

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The importance of being mental

2011-12-27T02:05:00.003Z

Here's some facts to get started:

Anti-depressants are the most commonly prescribed drug in the USA. [source]
25% of people in the UK will have mental health issues at some point. [src]
10% of children in the UK have a mental health problem. [src]
Britain has one of the highest self-harm rates in Europe. [src]
90% of UK prisoners have a mental disorder. [src]
Some of the world's most prominent celebrities suffer from mental health problems. [src]

I had the pleasure of meeting Andy Burnham a few weeks ago. One of the things which most stood out from the Q&A session was his proposal of modernising the NHS to ensure that it adapts to the health needs of modern Britain. This adaptation would include putting mental health issues at the heart of the service - something I can't stress enough.

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The Open University

2011-11-13T20:08:00.006Z

This year marks 40 years since the first intake of students to the Open University. Many of us grew up with the familiar late-night OU programmes on the BBC, a legacy from Harold Wilson's dream of a University of the Air - one which would be accessible to all via the radio and the television. Despite many government assaults on it over the years, the OU has survived, and continues to strive to provide an opportunity to study for students young and old, from all walks of life. Now more than ever, we need to defend it.
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2011-10-30T21:51:00.001Z

I blog about history too now, you know. Come and read the ramblings of an undergraduate at the strangely-named History Harlot blog.

The rambling advice of a former A-Level student

2011-10-26T02:18:00.001+01:00

What follows is a rambling list of suggestions from me as a former A-Level student on how you can best succeed. By no means do I view myself as an expert, but as an average student who's gone through the process, what I learned the hard way may be useful to at least a few others.

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Online opt-in pornography is incredibly dangerous

2011-10-12T02:22:00.005+01:00

We should all be naturally sceptical of the government's attempts to limit freedoms. Whilst there are legitimate reasons to limit freedom and favour safety or protection, we should be very, very concerned when it begins to meddle with the freedom of the Internet, and even more worried when it does it in collusion with biggest Internet Service Providers in the country, because it creates an unsavoury relationship of government and corporate power.

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2011-09-11T15:22:00.002+01:00

"Now, we have inscribed a new memory alongside those others. It’s a memory of tragedy and shock, of loss and mourning. But not only of loss and mourning. It’s also a memory of bravery and self-sacrifice, and the love that lays down its life for a friend–even a friend whose name it never knew."

- G.W. Bush

Obama's Jobs Act

2011-09-10T00:59:00.002+01:00

There were signs before this speech that Obama was going to do a u-turn on the economy and recognise that his current policies haven't worked. He'd knocked away a couple of his Keynesian economic advisers and there had been rumblings of discontent from that he'd not been listening to them. This hasn't been entirely true, because it is mostly what we would expect from Obama, but there is evident compromise and some sensible suggestions put forward here.
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The Scottish Conservative breakaway

2011-09-07T02:07:00.001+01:00

I've just read the article on the Telegraph about the possibility of the Scottish Conservatives disbanding and re-forming in a new separate right-of-centre party if Murdo Fraser wins the leadership election. It would predominantly be a rebranding exercise, but the impact of this on the UK's political field could be massive.

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Corporations ARE people

2011-09-02T18:21:00.001+01:00

I was browsing the Democrat and Republican websites today, and came across some anti-Romney t-shirt merchandise on the former. The gear understandably tries to make political capital out of Romney's wealth, corporate background, and pro-business views. However, the first thing I find odd is that the Democrat homepage is already touting merchandise attacking someone who may only become the potential nomination. It looks a little desperate and like the party is jumping the gun. However, I suspect it's part of a wider scheme to portray all the Republican candidates as being out-of-touch with ordinary people and only looking out for business.

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Dale Farm

2011-09-01T13:19:00.001+01:00

A very short article because this is such a simple issue. It's on greenfield land. It was occupied without planning permission. It should be bulldozed. If the settlers are allowed to stay there, then we may as well tear up all rules and protections relating to greenfield sites and remove all planning application processes.

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Tim Pawlenty bows out, and the Republican field

2011-08-17T00:24:00.000+01:00

It's a shame to see Tim Pawlenty leave the Republican race for the party's Presidential nomination. Pawlenty started off well in the debate on 11th August, but a bit of a fight between him and nutcase Michelle Bachmann broke out. (Sadly not a physical fight; that would have been exciting, though).

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The debt ceiling talks

2011-07-17T13:17:00.000+01:00

Congress and Obama are currently in talks over raising the debt ceiling. Without an agreement being reached, Obama will either have to concede to Republican spending cuts, or the USA will have to default on its debt interest payments. The debt ceiling does not need to be raised; the USA has enough money to pay its debt interest, but to do so it would need to cut spending in other areas sharpish.
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The Libya vote

2011-06-25T13:47:00.002+01:00

The US House of Representatives recently refused to authorise Obama's use of troops in Libya. I'm assessing what this means and what the impact of this could be.

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2012 Republican candidates: who's in, who's out, how will they do?

2011-06-12T14:46:00.000+01:00

In a previous post, I looked at ways in which I thought Obama could hold onto the Presidency in the approaching 2012 election. This time, I'm looking at the potential Republican candidates and assessing their chances and potential strategy. Something that's been really obvious is how fast-changing the Republican field is; between starting this article and finishing it, all sorts of different things happened. Admittedly though it did take me about a month to actually get this article finished; I kept getting distracted by other things (and I still haven't proofread it all. I'm a terrible person).

David Blunkett on the cost of AV

2011-05-05T18:09:00.006+01:00

David Blunkett, No2AV patron and supporter had this to say:

"We are in the middle of an election campaign. People in elections use made-up figures. I have never used the £250m figure. It [AV] would undoubtedly cost more but I have used an extra £90m".

[Source]
I still don't accept the £90 million figure, but this is at least an admission that the £250 million figure is completely false, so one of the No campaign's key arguments was a lie. Shock.

Why I'm voting Yes

2011-05-04T20:42:00.000+01:00

To be quite honest, we're probably going to lose this referendum, and we're probably going to lose it badly. It's mainly a combination of the dirty tactics of the No campaign, and a poorly-run Yes campaign. The latest poll is predicting that nearly 70% will vote No, with a measly 30% voting for change. Having spent some of today wallowing in self-pity, I'm not one to go down without a fight. Here's my rambly summary of the main reasons I'm voting Yes tomorrow.

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A new low for No2AV

2011-05-04T15:48:00.004+01:00

As I've already stated, the No2AV campaign bought www.yes2av.org and set it to redirect to their own website. They've now done something different with it.

They've misappropriated the Yes campaign's logo and added an animation which pops up a list of unsubstantiated rubbish next to it.

They've also failed to remove the very small "Promoted by Willie Sullivan on behalf of Yes in May 2011 Ltd, Carmelite, 50 Victoria Embankment, London, EC4Y 0LS" legal text from the bottom of the image, for which there are quite possibly legal repercussions. I'm going to get in touch with Mr Sullivan to make sure he knows that the No2AV campaign is wrongly using his endorsement in their propaganda.

Here's proof of Sullivan's caption being left on the photoshopped images:

The one shown above is my favourite.

"Yes! To higher taxes". They've now made the jump from saying that it'll cost £250 million - something which Charlotte Vere recently admitted is an "opinion", to saying that taxes will have to go up to pay for elections under AV. I have never heard such absolute unsubstantiated crap. Only a campaign led by hardline Conservatives and the Taxpayers' Alliance could be this disgusting.

I genuinely cannot understand how any reasonable person can support this vicious and nasty group.

The deplorable No2AV campaign

2011-04-25T12:11:00.003+01:00

I'm expecting my final article on AV to be a positive one which outlines why I'll be voting yes, and why I'd encourage you to do the same. Before that article, I need to do my bit to help tackle No2AV's misinformation and shoddy campaigning tactics. (I changed the title of this post to make sure it couldn't be misread as me saying no to AV).

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Can Obama cling on?

2011-04-17T22:28:00.000+01:00

Here I go again with my attempts at electoral strategy. I'm predicting that Obama stands a good chance of winning the 2012 election if - and only if - the Republicans choose a hardline candidate who adopts hardline policies. If the Republicans get their strategy right, I think it could be in the bag for them. Not that my own ivory tower ramblings are any help to him, I thought I'd outline how I think Obama can increase his chances of being reelected in 2012.

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Political films

2011-04-09T21:14:00.000+01:00

I sometimes do things other than read about politics and write about it. Though it may be a surprise that my narrow mind might have other interests, I actually rather like films. So here's a short list of films related to politics, and my pretentious analysis and rambling about them.
(I would like to apologise for the likely increase in typos and bad phrasing in this post. In The Loop and onwards was written today, and since last night was one of those rare events when I leave the house and consume ethanol-based beverages, I'm struggling a little bit and want to go to bed.)

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