Thursday, May 21, 2009
"Well Said" Jonathon
Really interesting discussion by the panel on Dragon's Eye tonight. The Conservative (Jonathon Evans), the Lib Dem (Roger Williams) and the Plaid rep (Hywel Williams)) were all in favour of an immediate General Election. The Labour panellist (Paul Flynn) made a spirited case against, and I concede that he made good points. But I'm afraid his logic was trumped by Jonathon. There are some huge problems facing our Parliament - not least that the UK's triple A credit rating is under threat. The brutal truth is that the people have no confidence in the current Parliament to deal with these issues on their behalf. Our politics is completely fossilised and devoid of authority - and will remain so until the people have their say in a General Election. For anyone who cares about Parliamentary democracy, the next few months if there is no Election will be a period of despair.
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12 comments:
is Jonathan making a play for Leader, now he is on Sharpe End talking about epilepsy. Mr Millar and Mr Bourne is being outflanked by this young poltician
I did see this, and the case for an early general election is truly unstoppable. In all seriousness, Britain is as close to a full-blown revolution as I can ever recall - it was even discussed on BBC Radio 4's PM programme tonight by Eddie Maier and his guests. The only real thing holding the current Establishment in place is the (so far) less than catastrophic economic slump. If the tanks rolled into Westminster, and in the name of the Queen - a Ministry of all the Talents (but not MPs) took the reigns of power, I don't think the public would lift a finger in defence of the old order. Bastille Day is coming!
VM - I didn't see Sharp End. Was it Jonathon Evans or Morgan? I'm sure J Evans would be impressed to be referred to as a young politician!
Roman - I do think that if we do not have a General Election, we are entering uncharted waters. Its a dangerous situation when Parliament has lost its authority.
This triple A issue is deadly serious. Economists have said the impact on the UK economy in terms of inward investment will be staggering. Foreign investors will be put off; many have rules about how much of their portfolios can be invested in economies that lack a triple A rating.
Huge amounts of money will likely drain out of the UK economy and UK Treasury, this will put enormous pressure on the UK Treasury/government particularly in view of the mega exposure that the UK government has vis-à-vis toxic debt held by banks and insured with the government.
The governments own borrowing costs will go up - since the double A rating translates into greater risk for bond holders/buyers.
Didn't the Telegraph comment to the effect that S&P have fired at least one warning shot with this threatened review that will follow 'who dares wins' next election?
Your Mouth - It sems that the loss of the crucial triple A follows in about one third of cases - and while the market did react, it was not in a violent way. Big warning though
On the news this morning they were saying that some MPs have become so stressed over the Expenses Scandal, that their colleagues are fearing that suicides might be possible.
From the members of the public I have spoken to, I think there would be many who'd happily queue up with the packets of pain killers and the loaded revolvers to hand out!
The People are sick of this Government. Get them out!
Also, further to other posts - it can become dangerous in that the masses will say "Why do we have to obey laws created by people who are morally bankrupt?"
I liked the tactic of News at Ten last night, holding a public meeting in Naseby. We need a New Model Politics to sweep away the tired old Establishment and make Britain great again!
The way to make Britain great is to accept and recognise the new consciousness among the nations which make up Britain. There lie the strengths. The Britain of old is no longer valid in the present political status of Europe and it lacks authenticity. It should be swept away along with Britannia.
Alan> I don't want to disagree with you, but unfortunately Wales is clearly the exception given the manner in which the Welsh Assembly Government ("WAG") has run down the Welsh economy, and 'run down' being the operative phrase.
In terms of Welsh GVA figures set against the UK average, the Welsh economy has gone down and not up.
The WAG has failed miserably to harness Wales's greatest assets - the people of Wales. Wales has world-class institutions producing world-class research, yet Wales files very few patents on its discoveries. If there is no "P" then there is no "D" in R&D done in Wales - the stats say it all, the amount of R&D spend in Wales is pathetic.
The WAG is not helping build a sustainable Welsh economy. How can it be when WAG is not interested in protecting Welsh IP (intellectual property)?
There is a university in a former third world country that is totally outclassing all of the universities in Wales combined (not in world class research output), but in terms of protecting its research findings through patent filings.
There is a university in MA that has far fewer post-grads than the all of the universities in Wales combined, yet has orders of magnitude more patent filings and is making mega-amounts of money and creating hundreds of thousands of jobs based on its IP.
While WAG harps on with flowery elitist PC words - the Welsh economy is in the toilet. And what is frightening, is that WAG continues to give away Wales's bright future, when discoveries are published absent filing a simple patent application, the IP is largely gone, but the United States has a one year grace period.
I have made it clear to several people inside Wales that I am willing to screen Welsh university publications in science and engineering disciplines with the aim of finding nuggets that can still be filed within the one-year grace period in the USA.
If there is no money to pay me, I will do it for free so long as I (my firm) can take a % stake ownership in what will anyway be worthless, absent filing a patent, within one year of the publication date.
I am Welsh, I love Wales, and I want Wales to generate jobs out of its IP. But right now most of it is going to waste. It is almost criminal given the crying-out need among Welsh families desperate for decent paying jobs.
WAG is letting Welsh families down, and it is terrible especially given that the means to stop it is at hand.
I challenge WAG to take up my offer, but alas all I hear is deafening silence. Perhaps the Welsh economy has to fall through the toilet before common-sense prevails over PC ideological theoretical flowery elitist words spewing forth from WAG - that's all they have, flowery elitist words given that the Welsh economy has gone backwards.
I don't disagree with you, and recognise that the Scottish parliament is streets ahead and is a vibrant dynamic institution, showing the Assembly what Wales could be if only.......
we had Alex Salmond and Nicola Strugeon leading the way.
Cymru X - the future is in your hands!
I agree with you Alan, In re 'leadership' - u ain't 'alf got that right!
The Welsh Assembly is sorely lacking in good leadership as evidenced by the decrease in Welsh GVA vis-à-vis UK GVA average. The Welsh economy is going backwards.
Scotland is a great nation, I lived in the heart of Glasgow's West End for a few years. So got to observe how things are done in Scotland up close and personal.
I agree with you Alan, Scottish leadership is in a different ball-park from that in Wales.
I am deeply proud of being Welsh, and proud of our heritage - but when I have to take my wife to Shrewsbury Hospital for the birth of my child, to Shropshire for major purchases and it is cross-border traffic that sustains our local economy, I can't get too star-eyed about events in distant Cardiff. WAG can't be trusted with our economy.
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