ARE TORIES BECOMING UKIP MINDED ?

Yes of course they are. The UK Independence Party would scrap the Human Rights Act and leave the European Union, now is this not what the Tories would like to do, probably but not with Cameron as the head boy .Going over to Strasbourg to coax the Court of Human Rights away from making decisions that are at odds with our own courts decisions tomorrow, before  his arrival a member of the Court Sir Nicolas Bratza QC the UKs nominee to the Court says that Cameron doesn’t know what he’s talking about and that British politicians are “failing to understand its role (the courts ) and history” why is he going to bother?.

The gray train is too attractive to for its riders to put country before self .

News from the belly of the beast.

Its reported in the above that when the transfer of the regulation of the City financial services to Brussels came to the vote the Tories,Lib Dems and Labour all pressed the green button just one of the hundreds of laws passed in that session,yet I seem to remember the noises being made by the Westminster Tories who were against any transfer.

It’s a shame the electorate have not woken up to the fact that the luxury of Europe (mainly for those employed there) is costing a fortune in monies that could be better used at home……..for goodness sake the EU books have never been signed off.

LAND of PLENTY …. of what ,asylum seekers ?

Six more years of pain,my paper said this is after a report  commissioned by U-Switch that said “Britain is the worst place in Europe for quality of life” due to the high cost of living ,a poor work life balance ,rain and prices , another by ‘Migration Watch UK” reported that England is the sixth most crowded major country in the world with 401 people for every square mile making it the densest in Europe.Excluding small islands and city states such as Malta or Monaco only Bangladesh,Taiwan,South Korea Lebanon , Rwanda and India are more crowed ,and I thought Oh no. We already have Charlie Gilmore that lovable piece of trash out on the street after four months in jail for swinging on the Union Jack on the Cenotaph , a further report in October disclosed that London prisons are serving goats cheese tartlets ,moroccan fish stew and quiche lorraine.

Lord Taylor the Conservative peer who was locked up for,what else, fiddling his expenses said of Wandsworth Prison “This is Belsen”.The comparison is lost on me having visited both sites.

But that was last week this week we have Cameron continuing to believe that “being in Europe but not being ruled by Europe” means that he will be able to exercise an influence on the Germans and French in the way Brussels behaves,really the European Commission wants to force UK to accept economically inactive europeans so that we can support them through our over generous benefit system…..is this what the electorate want our masters engaged in a continual battle with Europe instead of devoting their time to the welfare of this country and its citizens,I don’t think so.

The United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP ) want to leave the EU freeze all immigration for five years,to have time rationalise the whole mess that with its cost will keep this nation at its approaching third world level,think riots and the conditions on your local housing estate.

There is a growing vocal movement that wants to distance this country from Europe how large this will grow by the time the next major election,in May, in this country takes place will be interesting to watch. A  local MP Ester McVey has left the comfort zone,she didnt vote with the Conservative rebel group recently, has put her name to a letter to the Daily Telegraph today telling Cameron to “defend the City of London against EU measures that will wreck our economy”

REBELLION ‘what rebellion ?

There must be something that binds the three major parties to Europe that the public are not aware of because of all the wrongs that are inflicted on this country by the European Union and our knowledge of its unaccounted for workings what keeps us tied to it ?.

Checking the rebels who backed the motion about Britain’s relationship with the European Union I only spotted one Wirral MP,Frank Field MP for Birkenhead  The three ladies did as they were told by the whips. Cameron later said that there is “no bad blood or bitterness “between him and the rebels , so it will be worth looking at the future careers of the motion backers because in a local,Wirral, setting the bad blood and animosity would be openly displayed.

The Rhodesian “rebel” government of Ian Smith strangely enough chose the EU anthem “Ode for Joy” as their national tune after taking  a UDI when Britain broke the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland and gave independence to Nyasaland and Northern Rhodesia but not Southern Rhodesia unless on their terms,majority rule.

TROUBLE AT TOWN HALL, Lad

Yesterday after a busy day I managed to get to Wirral Town Hall to listen to the debate about the state the council finds its self in after the findings of a couple of reports by independent bodies ,one sparked by a whistle-blower (that the council had attempted to ease away into the long grass) after they had produced their findings on the councils failings.

Wallasey Town Hall. top of the grand staircase.

Before I was elected as a councillor it was suggested that I watch a full council meeting from the visitors gallery…something that I never got around to doing until last night. When I arrived it was standing room only with plenty of council employees crowding into the gallery.the speaker in full flow when I arrived was Cllr Gilchrist,a Lib/Dem who thought there was no need” for a decision tonight” a Labour speaker said that there was no need to “change the leader” but “change the culture”so I knew the way the vote would go….and the motion, (proposed by the Conservatives ) that I never saw a copy of was lost.

During the debate the ruling Labour Party were full of vim and stated that at the next council election. May 2012,  the Tories would lose all their Wallasey constituency seats, ho hum…they certainly looked lonely and obviously havent managed to persuade the Lib/Dems to go into coalition with them.

UKIP have a “Save the British Pub” campaign that on the 28th of the month will have members visiting Wirral watering holes something that I am going to miss because of other business…what a pity.

New Brighton will never go back to the “good old days” that I remember I was a boy,people were different in outlook,and life was slower and more honest it felt  however the new complex with its flagship store is a good start,

New Brighton Tower

I even know a woman who cannot wait for Starbucks to start brewing its coffee… I’m more a casino man.

MY HOLs 2

Ah Liam Fox I remember him well after the Tories Blackpool conference where I listened to the shadow defence secretary as he chaired a meeting on defence matters in a hall at the Winter Gardens that was decorated in the Italian style at the end of which I was in the surrender mode. He was very proud of his honorary lieutenant colonels rank in the Royal Army Medical Corps he said and the Tories would once re-elected re=form the three infantry battalions that labour had cut, no mention of regiments just the bare figures at which point I knew that he was only a politician, a button counter, with no understanding of the military ethos. And did he reform this brigades worth of troops on election no the exact opposite, disbanding many more units,

As for his boss Cameron what are his priorities ? has Gay welfare overtaken his love of  Asia ,Africa and its people’s showering them with aid an ironic situation as the military is reduced, the NHS cannot find the money to fund the health needs of its citizens all presided over by a man who will never don a uniform or have any heath worries being well able to go private.

An immigration officer, Benjamin Orororo, accepted £50,000 to let 19 asylum seekers stay in Britain and he has, been jailed surely for recruiters the key was in his name.

Whilst on my “hols” I went out to Greenwich setting out from Hyde Park for a quiet Sunday drive through London, oh big mistake after the Blackwall Tunnel, free unlike the Mersey Tunnels,  and landmarks like the Poplar Mosque.

Poplar Mosque

I was sent round and round by detours at Greenwich because of a mass run “for life” going through the town.After going through Sainsburys car park three times I refueled and snapped some of the runners going past on an extremely hot noon.

Runners from the petrol station.

On the Monday I visited the barracks at Woolwich that has the 2nd Battalion The Princess of Wales Regiment in residence and is situated   behind  the grand facade of the military academy that is covered in scaffolding a place I only ever visited  once, in mess kit going to a boxing tournament ,and then it was on to the South coast.

Last October there was a devastating fire on Hastings Victorian Pier,an occurance not unknown in my home resort of New Brighton where fires over the years have claimed a number of landmarks.

HASTINGS PIER before the fire.

After a vigorous campaign to save the pier lottery cash along with other funding should save, at least part of the structure that was about twice as long as the old New Brighton “unsafe ” structure that had to be dynamited to clear .

..........The partly cleared pier.

………………………………………………………………………………

From the White Rock Theatre

This resort will survive this disaster I certainly want my local patch to do the same after years of disastrous neglect.The owner of the Palace amusements who is threatening to shut up shop could sell at any time he choses because he knows that the council have always wanted that piece of land,by gum they could  build 4oo apartments on the site (10% for social housing of course ) .

The complaint that the “Lido” will change usage from an outdoor heated swimming pool for the public and an indoor sports centre for paying customers to a kiddie friendly hub and affect the Palace business may have some merit, but this is not the first problem that part of the site has experienced. Neptune once requested that they be allowed to  drop that part of the plan however the council insisted that the original plan be adhered to.It now looks like a business plan that doesnt fit these grim economic times.

MY HOLs

I attended part of the 50th anniversary celebrations of the forming of the Rhodesian Light Infantry as a founder member.The venue was in a large Territorial Army Headquarters in Davies Street running off Oxford Street toward the American Embassy, and now embraces all the former rifle regiments and holds some of their memorabilia.

General view Rifles mess.

I met old service chums including,in the photo below,the chap on the left who is still serving with the Sultan of Oman as a uniformed officer and 3rd from left a winner of a bravery award who I had not seen for thirty years and is in the process of producing a regimental history.

Four former RLI members.

The celebrations continued the next day with a dinner and a visit to Hatfield House where the original colours are secured in the chapel.

ALL CHANGE…

The Boundary Commission for England has produced its proposals to reduce the number of constituencies and equalise the number of electors in each entity .After a quick glance over them and although there are no cross river partnerships I bet the objections are already in the post.

Wallasey constituency that already extends to Leasowe is,under the proposals, due to gain Bidston.Birkenhead gains Upton Ward and Bebington..

PRESS ADVERTISEMENT

West Wirral is renamed Hoylake and Neston and takes in Neston and Parkgate.Wirral South constituency seems to disappear with Bromborough and Eastham Wards ,Eastham  being the present Southern Wirral boundary, are shed to go and join Mersey Banks County Council that includes Frodsham.  OK got it?.

There is bound to be opposition to these proposals however there is two years  before the final map is presented  ,plenty of time for  arguments to go back and forth.

THE EU & OTHER THINGS

Herman von Rompuy the EU president says that he’s willing to stand for a second term and lead a United States of Europe.The Germans have stated that a new EU constitutional treaty to replace the Lisbon Treaty must be pushed through despite a repeat of France,Holland and Ireland maybe saying no again, so its obvious that the EU have no other plan other than to strengthen the organisation.In UK we have the Tory leadership showing no signs of cutting loose from the European connection that instructs them as  to what must be done in this country while all around the conservatives voices are expressing disent.Today we have Willie Hauge calling for looser ties with Europe and the Open Europe pressure group warning Cameron that he’s falling out of step with public opinion.

This weekend the United Kingdom Independence Party are holding their annual conference  but unless you caught a brief clip on Radio 4,you wouldn’t know it.

The  Government commissioned a report on which railway stations could get by without having a ticket office and operate a coin/card machine..there are over 500 stations on the list and my local station is one that will be affected if the Government accept the report.

NEW BRIGHTON STATIONT

This is another money-saving exercise so that the coalition can go squandering cash upholding EU regulation. Throw money at distant lands to the tune of £14 Billion in overseas aid and of course have enough loose change for MPs expense accounts.

WOMEN

NO I must resist gossiping about the barmaids in my local watering hole and stick to what I heard at a meeting of UKIP on Saturday.In the coalition the minister responsible for family policy is the rather, I think, ridged Sarah Teather who is a Lib Dem and is making heavy going of the task and may be on her way shortly as she’s seen as obstructive .

The other name that came up was Esther McVey the MP for Wirral West whose seat may be going at the next election in 2015 .The Boundry Commission will publish its proposals next week that aim to reduce the number of constituencies from 650 to 600( that should be a lot of expenses saved ). A few years ago it proposed that Wallasey be joined to Liverpool to form an electoral constituency but dropped that suggestion after strong opposition from all sides and I do hope that this idea has not been revived.

PAN EUROPEAN PARTIES

Whats a Pan European Party (PEP) I hear you say, good question . Briefly its: ‘a political party at a European level’, got it ?. It’s not a party in the normal sense but an alliance of parties and elected members from different countries in the European Parliament.

To qualify for European funding the PEP must include MEPS,MPs or regional/assembly members from at least a quarter of member states or have gained a certain percentage of votes in the last Europe parliamentary election.

The EU allocates money, E18,900,000 in 2012, to PEPS who can then spend it but have to provide “match funding”. In 2012 the EU will give E90 for every E10 spent.There are rules on what the money can and cannot be spent on but the aim is always to promote the European Union..

BALLOT PAPER

 UKIP has asked its members whether their MEPs should join a Pan European Party and a ballot has taken place with the results due later in the year.The ‘raison etre’ of UKIP is to exit Europe but those who will have voted ”yes” will be thinking money in the hand can be put to good use, and rules bent .Another complication is that individual MEPs may join a PEP.