The Party's Over

Another Poster We Won't See

2010-04-03T13:13:00.000-07:00

Labour's Soviet Britain

2010-03-27T03:11:00.000-07:00

A New Labour Anti-Social Behaviour Victim's Champion

Labour are wittering about their latest "pledge card" which will detail the promises they're most likely to break if they ever get a sniff at power again. It's the usual airy-fairy meaningless stuff that no one will ever be able to prove one way or another. But one aspect caught my eye -

In an attempt to empower victims of antisocial behaviour, the prime minister says they will be entitled to take out civil injunctions, funded by the local public authority, if the police are not taking action within a set time.
"People have got to know if they have a real complaint they will get a fast response, and ultimately if they feel they have not been given satisfaction, they will be able to take a civil injunction themselves and that will be paid for by the authority."

Right, so let me see if I've got that right. Some local neds pan your window in and you report it to the police. They come round, investigate it, compile a report for the CPS or the Procurator Fiscal who evaluate it and decide if a conviction is likely etc etc. But, if you get bored of waiting, you can launch a civil case paid for by council tax payers. Or if the police point out that you never saw who broke your window and they can't arrest the ned across the road just because "he looks well shifty innit" you can launch your own prosecution.

Lovely. Expect the courts to be stuffed full of "He said, but she said and I said" cases in no time. Which will result in greater backlogs of cases, more people getting fed up and launching civil cases. All paid for by Council Tax Payers.

Then there's this little gem -

Labour is also planning to install champions for victims of antisocial behaviour in every local authority.

What? Is that like Block Wardens then? Is this a fancy pc term for the old babushkas who kept an eye on tenement blocks in Soviet Russia, reporting anti-party behaviour to the State?

Tell you what, here's a better idea Gordon. Use the police we have. Let them do their jobs of patrolling the streets and deterring by their presence, instead of being used as personal bodyguards by politicians terrified of their own constituents and keeping a permanent thin blue line around Westminster.

Link

Jury Team are calling for the public to be given a referendum on introducing army-style punishments for offenders. I daresay that will have far more of an effect on anti social behaviour than Gordon's intention to bankrupt councils and logjam the courts.

Referendum Link

Salmond - a national embarrassment

2010-03-20T01:42:00.000-07:00

Ye can tak oor dignity, but ye canna tak oor subsidies

I see Alex Salmond has been shooting off at the lip prior to the SNP conference in Aviemore. The forthcoming General Election does indeed offer opportunities for Scotland. A hung parliament means a disproportionate amount of influence falls to smaller parties. As the Ulster Unionists demonstrated, such power can reap great rewards for constituents.

So it really made me cringe to see what Salmond intends to do in selling Scotland's influence. He wants MORE public funding and geegaws. For a pocketful of gold he'll bend in the wind to his English paymaster and ever perpetuate the image in English eyes of Scots being grasping, avaricious and shallow. It's not a nation stepping forward to grasp independence that Salmond wants, (the SNP have shown they are unable to motivate enough Scots to support the cause), he wants to stir up resentment and disgust of Scots in England to the point that Scotland is repelled into Independence, a pariah state on the British mainland.

At a time of belt-tightening and cutbacks, when all but the most moronic socialist simpleton knows spending must be cut, it is truly abhorrent to see a Scottish First Minister with the begging bowl out demanding "MORE".

BBC LINK

Jury Team - The Immigration Question

2010-03-09T11:05:00.000-08:00

One of the anomalies of having something great is that you may want everyone to know you’ve got it, but if everyone knows about it then they may want a part of it. And if this happens too much then the real value can become rather seriously diluted.

Such is the case with the enormous privileges granted to us by our being British citizens. It is worth being proud about what this affords us. Little wonder that such privilege has attracted the attention of the rest of the world. Advertise a bargain sale on the television and the queues stretch around the corner for that store the next day. And so it is becoming with the offer of British Citizenship for immigrants entering Britain. Result: services get stretched to their limit and what was once valued and valuable to the 60 million or so people of this country, now cannot cope with the excessive demands placed upon its diminishing resources.

With that in mind, and considering that official figures show that immigrants being granted British Citizenship has increased by a colossal 200,000 in the past year under this Labour government, has the prized possession of citizenship and all it affords in this country become tarnished and poorer because of this?

In light of this pressure on diminishing resources, the Jury Team proposes the amount of time adult immigrants must be resident in the UK before they can claim an entitlement to full British citizenship (and therein those rights granted to every citizen) should increase from the 3-5 year as it is now, up to 10 years. Rather than being an easy result, an applicant with a genuine wish to achieve British citizenship would be tested to properly ascertain the required education and be required to prove their record is void of any crimes (http://tinyurl.com/Citizenship-10).

According to Migration Watch, a respected calculator of these numbers, the levels of migration have increased by a colossal 58% from the previous year (http://www.migrationwatchuk.org/)!

The Jury team believes this ‘open-door immigration’ policy has become a revolving door of issues under the current Labour government, scared to address an issue until it (typically) becomes too late to do anything about it. The Jury Team consider this as another form of Westminster ignorance, failing to acknowledge the incumbent issue of immigrants viewing the short-term qualification (as little as just 24 months) as a platform to live in Britain as they choose and receive automatic government benefits. The UK is the only EU country providing automatic, free medical healthcare; our European counterparts present a cogent policy of acquiring sufficient medical insurance before entry. This seems wholly sensible and therefore the Jury Team suggests making private medical insurance mandatory for non-EU citizens obtaining visas intending to be in the UK for a period of more than three months (http://tinyurl.com/Non-EU-Medical). The resultant saving to the NHS of £4billion a year could be spent better on those who are already the good citizens of Britain, and the value returned to that cherished position that it provides everyone.

UK Afghan Troop Deaths Are 12 times European NATO Allies

2010-02-13T08:50:00.000-08:00

One of Jury Team’s key policies is that British troops should not be put in harms way more than the the troops of other NATO countries. NATO “remains the cornerstone of UK defence policy” according to the Ministry of Defence. However NATO is meant to be a co-operative endeavour among its 28 members and if the UK is not specifically threatened then there should be no reason for it to play more than its fair part and to put its troops in greater danger.

An analysis being published today shows that British troops have been dragged into the Afghan war far more than any other NATO country. We have more troops there, compared with population, than any other NATO country including America.

Compared with the size of the UK, we have had 12 times more deaths than our European NATO allies since 2006 when the army was redeployed to Afghanistan and John Reid, the Defence Secretary at the time, famously said that “our boys” might leave in three years “without a shot being fired”.

In fact during 2006-9, Britain had 240 troops killed but Germany had only 19 deaths and Italy only 16. The total deaths of troops from Germany, Italy, France, Belgium, Spain and Portugal, with a combined population of 273 million, more than 4 times the UK, has been only 76, less than a third of the number of UK fatal casualties. This means that per head of population, Britain has suffered 12 times fatalities more than its supposed NATO allies and has suffered nearly double the U.S.A.

This new analysis is taken from the latest troop numbers posted last week on the website of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan which is run by NATO on behalf of the United Nations.

The Jury Team policy is to “Limit the number of British troops sent to Afghanistan to the average number sent by other NATO countries (relative to their population)”. This would mean that instead of 9,500 troops in Afghanistan, the UK would have only about 4,000. We would still be fulfilling all of our NATO obligations but would also be saving at least £2 billion a year.

Jury Team policies are based on what the British people want. The political class have become out of touch with the electorate. As a result of vested interests and electoral cowardice, the current party system does not deliver the policies that people want. The traditional political parties do not even properly debate the issues. Using its own review substantiated by a series of YouGov opinion polls, the Jury Team has researched the areas where the political class and the public have clearly different views. Jury Team will legislate for those policies and then have an authorising referendum before they become law.

The Jury Team policy on Afghanistan was shown in a YouGov poll to be supported by 67% of the electorate to 14% against. There was particularly strong support from females (71%) and from those aged 55+ (75%).

The following table shows the latest available (1st February 2010) number of troops deployed in Afghanistan by all 28 countries of NATO as shown on the website of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) which is run by NATO on behalf of the United Nations:

	Troops	Population	Troops Per Million	Deaths 2006-9	Deaths Per Million
United Kingdom	9,500	61,634,599	154.1	240	3.9
United States	47,085	308,181,734	152.8	689	2.2
Denmark	750	5,511,451	136.1	26	4.7
Netherlands	1,950	16,486,587	118.3	21	1.3
Estonia	150	1,340,415	111.9	7	5.2
Norway	500	4,799,252	104.2	3	0.6
Canada	2,830	33,880,270	83.5	130	3.8
Latvia	175	2,261,294	77.4	3	1.3
Bulgaria	540	7,606,551	71.0
Albania	255	3,639,453	70.1
Croatia	295	4,435,056	66.5
France	3,750	64,351,000	58.3	31	0.5
Belgium	575	10,665,867	53.9	1	0.1
Germany	4,415	82,002,356	53.8	16	0.2
Italy	3,150	60,053,442	52.5	19	0.3
Poland	1,955	38,135,876	51.3	16	0.4
Lithuania	165	3,349,872	49.3	1	0.3
Slovakia	240	5,412,254	44.3
Romania	945	21,498,616	44.0	8	0.4
Czech Republic	440	10,467,542	42.0	3	0.3
Slovenia	70	2,032,362	34.4
Hungary	315	10,030,975	31.4	2	0.2
Turkey	1,755	71,517,100	24.5	2	0.0
Spain	1,070	46,661,950	22.9	8	0.2
Luxembourg	9	493,500	18.2
Portugal	105	10,627,250	9.9	1	0.1
Iceland	3	319,368	9.4
Greece	15	11,260,402	1.3
TOTAL	83,007	898,656,394	92.4	1,227	1.4
AVERAGE			62.4		0.9

The table is in the order of the number of troops per million of population. It can be seen that the UK has the highest number, 154 per million, of any NATO country. In contrast France, Germany and Italy have a ratio of only 58, 52 and 52 per million respectively. The average of this ratio for all NATO countries is 62.4 and if the UK moves to this ratio then it will lead to a 60% reduction, about 6,000, in the number of UK troops deployed, saving around £2 billion from the defence contingency budget. These 6,000 would amount to about 7% of the current total NATO forces deployed. This could be made up by further troops from other countries or by reducing the area covered or the rate of training of the Afghan army. Professor Malcolm Chalmers of the Royal United Services Institute, the military think-tank, has already said it would be feasible for 'the total size of the commitment to go down to around 5,000 by 2012'.

The table also shows the number of deaths in Afghanistan up to the end of 2009 for troops of the various countries since 2006 when NATO was redeployed. Tom Coghlan said in The Times in January 2010: 'The force levels now being deployed show the catastrophic miscalculation that was made before the original deployment of 3,300 British soldiers in 2006; with the famous hope of John Reid, the Defence Secretary at the time, that they might leave in three years 'without a shot being fired' '. It can be seen that at 3.9 deaths per million population, the UK has a death rate slightly higher than Canada and much greater than the US. The UK death rate per million population is the highest with the exception of Denmark and Estonia, whose forces both suffered from serious isolated incidents, and is more than 10 times that for the troops from Germany, France and Italy.

If there is a threat to the West then every country of NATO should be deploying its troops similarly. However there seems no reason why the UK should provide more than its fair share of troops to the NATO campaign in Afghanistan. This Proposal will limit the number of UK troops to the NATO average (relative to population) although for operational reasons during handover periods the government would be allowed to exceed this limit by 10% for up to three months.

Why Smeaton?

2009-11-06T15:01:00.000-08:00

It's a common question. Why Smeaton? What gives John Smeaton the right to think he can stand as an MP? How does his role in the events at Glasgow Airport equip him to represent 80,000 people?

The answer's obvious really. It's not so much his actions - I don't think John did any more than most of us would have done given the opportunity, it was the voice he gave to a nation the morning after when a camera crew grabbed him for a quick interview.

Let's not forget the sense of shock in Scotland at the time. We pride ourselves in being different from the rest of Britain, that we are a happy-go-lucky nation comprised of people loved the world over. Terrorism is something that happens everywhere else, not in Scotland. But as those images of a burning car at the airport filled the news-stands and the flames flickered repeatedly on tellys in shop windows it hit home that maybe the world doesn't really love us. Maybe Jocks are as vulnerable as anyone else and any one of us could have been engulfed in tragedy just by going to an airport to fly out on holiday.

As we collectively held our breath, up stepped a glaikit ginger Weegie babbling excitedly and swinging his arms in the air, descibing what he did and more importantly coming out with a line that caught the imagination - "This is Glasgow - we'll set aboot ye".

The relief in us all was tangible. Across the nation people laughed and said "Good for you son". Suddenly, we were back in our rightful place. Jocks are different after all. The terrible evil that was almost perpetrated by religious fanatics intent on burning holidaymakers to death had been thwarted by Scots. A tale of heroism was being told to us by a baggage handler - who was quick to downplay his own role and point out that others did as much, if not more.

That's why John Smeaton deserved his medal. Not for saving Glasgow Airport but for saving a nation from doubt and self-pity. He took away our fears and made us smile again. The immediate fear amongst the Muslim Community in Glasgow was that there would be an unfair backlash against them. That there wasn't can largely be put down to John Smeaton puncturing the pontificating terror "experts" who flooded our tv screens with dire warnings about the "enemy within". All nonsense of course and a nonsense that we Scots instinctively knew, but it took the excited tones of John Smeaton to help us see through that.

John Smeaton is the everyman for our times. His Sun column regularly strikes a chord with the public in a way that more highbrow, more educated, more academic tomes fail to. He doesn't make any claim to being better than anyone else, he just tells it as he sees it, just as he did outside the airport in July 2007. It's that refreshing straightforwardness that endears him to thousands of his readers and so infuriates rival newspapers.

And it's that same welcome gauche approach that makes him an ideal candidate for Westminster. We know that if we send John Smeaton to Westminster, we're going to get some more straight talking answers. Somebody wrote that John wouldn't be smart enough to fiddle his expenses - well he's smart enough to know that taking money that isn't yours is theft, something that a few hundred MPs failed to recognise so he's ahead of 50% of them right away.

Sending John Smeaton to Westminster might be the smartest thing Glasgow has done in ages. Who can doubt that the media circus will descend upon Glasgow North East if Smeaton leads them. As an Independent untainted by the machinations of Scottish politics he can point to Labour and SNP failures equally and cry "enough". He can embarass the sitting governments in Holyrood and Westminster into finally doing something in the constituency. And be sure of this, after such a slap in the face, if Labour regain the seat in the future they will never neglect it again.

In July 2007, John Smeaton made us proud to be Scots. On November 12th, he can make Scots proud of Glasgow.

The Questions Wee Willie Bain Isn't Even Being Asked

2009-11-05T03:23:00.000-08:00

It's amazing how compliant the media in Glasgow have been with the Labour Party and their poodle candidate, Willie Bain. They quite happily regurgitate spin-doctor's blurb about how Bain has lived in Springburn all his life whilst somehow managing to work in London. Good trick that.

Here's some more questions the Scottish Press won't ask wee Willie.

- how long has he worked in London at London South Bank University?

- how many hours is he contracted to work in London each week?

- how much is he paid?

- does he have a home in London, and if not where does he stay and with who?

- does he have a partner or any children?

- what did he do between graduating in 1995 and going back to Strathclyde for his Masters in 2003-4? Who did he work for?

- has he ever been employed by Michael Martin or by Parliament or the UK or Scottish Government?

It's amazing how little we know about Wee Willie Bain.

Maybe Labour are hoping no-one will ask.

Public Money means Public Accountability, Harriet.

2009-11-01T04:46:00.000-08:00

Harriet Harman is bleating that MPs should continue to be allowed to employ family members. Like Nadine Dorries and her £28k a year daughter I suppose?

Wrong.

MPs should have assistants appointed to them by the Civil Service, who will recruit, interview and assess their suitability. This is public money. How would Ms Harman react if the PM made his fragrant wife his Deputy? Would she be upset at not even being offered an interview?

When will politicians get it? This isn't a "grace and favour" society any more. They don't get to lord it over the rest of us any more.

Here in Glasgow North East, Labour think they can dump a party hack off on the constituency. The London South Bank law lecturer Willie Bain seems to be a bit confused. He's claiming that he's always lived in the constituency. Either his neighbours are liars or Willie must have the biggest loudhailer in the world to teach in London and live in Springburn.

Why don't they just get real? We know Willie is just showing up cos his bosses have ordered him to. He got out of Glasgow years ago and settled in London. David Kerr will stand wherever his bosses point him too. First Falkirk was his one true love, now it's Glasgow. In a few months it'll be Falkirk again when he goes for three defeats in a row. Is that what they mean by "Taking one for the team"?

And through it all, we've got Harman the huggable harpie bleating that life's not fair.

Tough. Maybe when we clear the liars, crooks and party lickspittles out of Westminster we'll start to see real representative democracy. Remember that? When MPs represented their constituents? Seems to me they look after themselves and their mates at all times.

John Smeaton in Glasgow North East is doing things differently. He helped an ex-serviceman set up a football team to keep youths off the streets. As Jamie Robertson said -

No councillors or politicians listened to us - John is the only person who has. We approached him and he helped. He's already better than any other MP as far as I'm concerned. The rest of them say they are going to do this or that, but John actually does it

Sunday Post 1/11/09

Parties refuse to trust voters

2009-11-01T01:20:00.000-07:00

I see Tavish Scott of the Lib Dems has whipped his members back into line. No doubt harsh words were exchanged at anybody daring to speak their minds. The issue at question was that of giving the people of Scotland a referendum on a constitutional matter. The Nationalists have maintained for years that Scots want Independence, despite the evidence of opinion polls.

Why don't we just hold the referendum? Now. Next month. Do it and get it done with.

What are politicians so scared of? Why do the Nationalists want to rig the question and hold a referendum at an exact time of their choosing? Why do the other parties fight so hard to make sure that Scots do not have a say in the future of their country?

This is the 21st Century. The days of sending off some member of the landed gentry to far-off London to take care of our interests are long gone. We are better educated, better informed, better capable of reaching a rational decision on our own than at any time in our history.

We've seen what comes of trusting politicians - they screw us for every penny they can get, then give themselves ermine & grand titles. Politicians are intrinsically untrustworthy, or so it seems. Given all the evidence, isn't it outrageous that THEY don't trust US?

Jury Team believes in putting the whip back in the hands of the people. Politicians work for US. They've managed to twist democracy into some perverted feudal system which sets them up as our lords & masters.

No more.

A vote for Jury Team is a vote for freedom.

If we can't send gunpowder, let's send Smeato

2009-10-31T06:35:00.000-07:00

Three beautiful Guy Fawkes' turned up in Duke Street today to support Jury Team & John Smeaton in the Glasgow North East By-Election. They certainly put the soor-faced activists of the parties' gas at a peep.

BBC Playing With Politics

2009-10-29T23:56:00.000-07:00

Away from the canvassing, the shaking hands and the snogging of babies by wannabe politicians in Glasgow North East, there's an important battle going on that affects the basic democratic nature of this country. Last week, the BBC held a hustings on a radio show. A hustings is always understood to be an event where all the candidates have a chance to address an audience and answer questions. Well, the BBC version is different because the BBC pick & choose which candidates they will allow on the stand. Whereas the Electoral Commission treats every candidate equally, the BBC feel they are above such equanimity.

Back at the Euro Elections, the BBC made an important policy decision. They decided to award airtime to political parties on the basis of past electoral performance. Because of this, the BNP were given the same airtime as the Greens. UKIP were given the airtime befitting a party that did well at the Euros last time round, totally ignoring the fact that their vote had collapsed in the interim. We saw the result. UKIP went from around 6% in the polls to a resounding success at the ballot box and the BNP gained their first seats.

It's as if the BBC don't understand the effect of the media.

They meddled in politics again last week with a botched hatchet job at Question Time. Whilst I personally agree that the BNP had earned the right at the ballot box (with BBC assistance) to appear on QT, they hadn't earned the right to have the show turned into a soapbox for their policies. And the result? The BNP bounced to 22% in one opinion poll.

Back with the John Smeaton campaign in Glasgow, the BBC continue to play favourites. At their "hustings", they invited Labour, SNP, Conservative & Lib Dem candidates. When Jury Team questioned the omission of our candidate, we were told "Only the top parties were invited". By what measure do they arrive at "top"? John Smeaton has been a comfortable third in the polls since his hat was thrown in the ring. The BBC say they base such decisions on "Past Electoral Performance". Well, because this was the Speaker's seat and convention says parties don't contest against the Speaker, it's 12 years since the Conservatives or the Lib Dems had a candidate here. And when they did contest it over a decade ago, they were utterly trounced.

If we were allocating airtime according to the last electoral test, the Euros, the BNP with the same number of MEPs as the SNP would have to be given equal airtime. Indeed, if only four candidates were to appear on the BBC on the basis of past performance, last week's Brian Taylor "Big" Debate would have featured Labour, Conservatives, Lib Dems and the Greens.

The truth is, all this chicanery shouldn't be happening. It isn't for the BBC to pick & choose who the public gets to hear, it's the Electoral Commission. Chatting with the Returning Officer, I remarked how his office were scrupulously fair in ensuring that every candidate gets exactly the same treatment. Be it an Independent or the ruling Party, every candidate is equal in the eyes of the law.

We've seen how the BBC can throw elections and lead the public by the nose. The BNP & UKIP owe much of their success to the BBC. This is something that Jury Team is arguing vehemently against with the BBC and it's an argument we will pursue doggedly for the sake of this country.

Jury Team is about better governance. We cannot hope to succeed whilst the State Broadcaster is allowed to meddle in politics and influence elections.

The Opposition?

2009-10-25T12:15:00.000-07:00

Support Smeato

2009-10-04T14:21:00.001-07:00

When terrorists attacked Glasgow Airport in 2007, John Smeaton was one of those whose actions helped prevent catastrophe and mayhem. The next day when his words to the media echoed around the world, he made every Brit smile and walk a little taller.

John, together with other bystanders, acted instinctively that day. Whilst others run away from terrorism, the British confront it. It's that attitude that brought Britain status, respect and an Empire. When Gordon Brown indulged in his fruitless search for a PC "Britishness", he really needed look no further than John Smeaton, a man who automatically did the right thing at the right time, putting himself in danger for the sake of others. How many other Brits wouldn't have done the same? How many other Brits secretly wish for the opportunity to emulate John?

Now John's doing it again. He's standing up for what's right. He's standing in Michael Martin's seat in Glasgow North East. Now a Lord, would you believe, Michael Martin grew to become a wealthy and powerful man whilst he represented his constituents. It's a pity that they did not share his good fortune. They have been betrayed by party politicians who weep crocodile tears at the poverty and deprivation, before returning to their comfortable, all expenses paid lifestyles.

No more.

John Smeaton is an ordinary man doing an extraordinary thing. He is taking on the assembled might of Labour and the SNP, with their hundreds of activists and their media machines of lies, spin and intrigue. Pet journalists strain like attack dogs at the leash, ready to savage any with the temerity to challenge them. With the same instinctive courage that he showed on the day terrorists struck at Glasgow Airport, John is taking them on in an attempt to put an honest man in Parliament.

But he needs your help. The big parties have millions to spend on campaigns whilst John is on a shoestring budget. He needs people to donate time or money. If you're reading this and you're in easy reach of Glasgow, come along and volunteer. Help us to leaflet, canvas and spread the word. If you can't come, then donate what you can to help. Either use the "Donate" button on this page, or go to JuryTeam.org.

Every penny goes to help John Smeaton stand tall against the political machine that has betrayed Glasgow North East.

And ... if John Smeaton wins, how can Gordon Brown remain as Prime Minister?

If Smeaton wins, a Government could fall.

How much would you pay to be a part of that?

Spread the word. Give a donation, then e-mail this to your friends. Bloggers, feel free to copy this or write your own but please, support John Smeaton. Help him get the message out -

A vote for John is a kick in the balls to Party Politics.

Vote for change or stop complaining.

2009-09-25T05:23:00.000-07:00

POLITICS WITHOUT PARTIES

POLITICS WITH PRINCIPLES

POLITICS FOR THE PEOPLE

Alan Wallace

Glasgow North East Campaign Launch Speech

25th September 2009

City Inn, Glasgow

Good morning. I am Alan Wallace and I am the Scottish Chairman of the Jury Team. It is my great pleasure to introduce to you today a fantastic candidate to become the next MP for this constituency of Glasgow North East.

Scotland led the world when we announced through the Declaration of Arbroath that our rulers answered to the people. The principle of ordinary people having a say in important matters has worked through the centuries in the Jury system. We trust a random selection of people that is representative of the community to deliver justice and make wise decisions.

This is how Parliament was intended to work. A cross section of common society represented in the House of Commons was a Jury on a grand scale. But Parliament has gone awry and we believe it is because the Jury in Westminster is no longer representative of wider society. The Party system has created a narrow clique professional politicians.

We believe that politicians should serve their constituents and the country, not themselves or a political party.

The Parties do not even have any real popular support. Less than 1% of the UK population belongs to a political party. Only about one-fifth of the electorate actually voted for the current government.

Our parties are now just glorified employment bureaux for career politicians. These careerists depend on being politicians for their income and status. Many of them would find it hard to get so much money in any other job. That is why they milk the expenses system while they are there.

If they want to get ahead they have to obey the party whip. They become lobby fodder and patsies. They stop representing you and start representing their party and themselves.

The government always has the majority of MPs. So the whips can coerce their lobby fodder to vote for war or identity cards or countless regulations and taxes.

This is not the Parliament the Scottish people deserve.

The Jury Team was set up to get real change. As our first action we had an open online primary to select candidates for the recent European elections. People registered their interest on our website. Then we had a vote by the general public. I won the vote in Scotland.

The Jury Team is about encouraging new people to go into politics to become MPs. We support normal people with normal lives and normal jobs. There are lots of them and what they have in common is that they are fed up with the fraud and spin of the current political class.

They are brave. They stand up to be counted and to make a real difference. They are a feisty group. They are on your side. They can make Parliament representative again. They can form a great jury.

We believe in three principles:
• championing independent MPs
• improving the running of government
• allowing the people to decide major issues through referendums.

We firstly want to get more independent MPs into the House of Commons to hold the government to account. The expenses scandal has accelerated the idea of a new style of politicians going into parliament. Esther Rantzen has confirmed her candidature for Luton South. In Totnes the Conservatives used an open selection process which chose the politically inexperienced Dr Sarah Wollaston as their candidate.

Secondly we want government departments to be run for the people they are meant to be serving: the patients, pupils, students, pensioners, soldiers and the community. At the moment ministers are moved far too often for party political reasons and not for the national interest.

Thirdly we want to let people have a real say in the big issues of the day. We promise to ask the voters through a series of annual referendums. In addition, we know that people want to be able to choose subjects for referendums so we shall allow referendums to take place whenever 5% of the people ask for them.

We have already identified the following eight policy areas where we pledge to have a referendum to find out whether the electorate agree with the following:

- Giving courts the ability to sentence violent criminals to “army style” punishment and training courses.
- Preventing banks that are benefiting from government guarantees from using depositors’ funds to support their own market trading.
- Limiting the number of British troops sent to Afghanistan to the average number sent by other NATO countries (relative to their size).
- Setting up an English Parliament to decide matters that relate solely to England.
- Changing the voting system in the House of Commons to direct proportional representation
- Limiting the amount the government can borrow each year to no more than 10% of its total expenditure.
- Allowing state schools the option of becoming independent state funded charities outside the control of the local education authority if a majority of parents agree.
- Complete withdrawal of the UK from the European Union.

We have a programme to clean up politics. We want to replace the current political class with people who will look after their constituents.

The good news is that despite all the sleaze in our parliaments, we still live in a democracy. We have the opportunity here in Glasgow North East to send a message to Westminster that we are fed up with the sleaze and expenses.

The Labour government in London has so far refused to let the people of Glasgow North East have a by-election. Gordon Brown has made the people of this constituency wait at least five months before they are allowed to have a new MP after Michael Martin’s resignation over the expenses scandal. He resigned in June but the by-election will probably only be held in mid-November.

Then the people of this constituency can send the Westminster Parliament a message. Tell them you are fed up with them. Make it clear how disgusted you are. Generate a landslide. Don’t let the politicians get away with it again.

Who should you vote for? In Scotland it’s Labour or the SNP. Voting for either only encourages the politicians to carry on the same.

Take Labour. Michael Martin protected MPs’ expenses and then had to resign. He was at the very epicentre of the sleaze and corruption. A good man. A nice man. But a man who became blinded by the baubles around him. To take his place Labour have selected Willie Bain as their candidate. Willie was Michael Martin’s agent. He must have known what was going on. He was also secretary of the consituency Labour Party but Labour cares so little about the people of Glasgow North East that he had not updated the website since 2006. Anyway he has already given up on Glasgow as he moved down to London several years ago and works as a lecturer at London South Bank University.

What about the SNP? The SNP have selected David Kerr. He was the SNP’s fourth choice as candidate. He has been in trouble for rubbishing Glasgow Caledonian University and Paisley College of Technology - now the West of Scotland University. His views on abortion and other sensitive issues are not ones held by most of this constituency. Only last week the SNP stuck the knife into Glasgow when they cancelled the rail link to the airport which they had pledged as part of the Commonwealth Games. They are still an East Coast party for the wealthy and the priviledged. And they are guilty of expenses fraud. The SNP showed that they are as endemically corrupt as any party. Given a whiff of the gravy train, they were in like Flynn.

These actions are unacceptable. They would be condemmed for people in any other walk of life. If you tried to fiddle your social security or expenses like that you could end up in prison.

It has to stop.

With opponents like those and with the hatred of old style politics, we therefore believe that we can win this by-election.

A vote for an existing tainted party will be a vote for more of the same. The only way to get a general election is for the traditional parties to be humiliated in this by-election.

We get the politicians we deserve. We deserve better. Vote for change or stop complaining.

So I am now very pleased to welcome the Jury team’s candidate. A Scottish icon. A Scottish hero. A man who showed the truth of “no messing”. A man of the people. A man who will stand up for Glasgow North East. A man who understands what it is like to be poor and unemployed. A man who cares. Please welcome the hero of Glasgow: John Smeaton.

Thank you.

Please visit the Jury Team website www.juryteam.org.

Here We Go

2009-09-24T12:30:00.001-07:00

The Eve of Change

2009-09-24T11:56:00.000-07:00

In around 12 hours, we reveal our candidate for Glasgow North East. It is no exaggeration to say that when I introduce the candidate to the press tomorrow, the news will go around the world. As we have worked to put things together over the last few weeks, the small circle of those in the know has grown and I have seen people change from surprise and a little disbelief, to a quiet conviction that this really is the right candidate in the right place at the right time.

Tomorrow Jury Team take the first real step in changing the political map of Britain. That is no idle boast. I'm intensely proud to be playing a small part in history and I invite you all to join me in helping to sweep the wastrels and scoundrels out of Westminster, replacing them with people who really are representative of us all.

You can all play your part in ways that will be clear shortly after 10.30 am tomorrow morning.

Five Days

2009-09-19T22:56:00.001-07:00

Touch wood, five days to the Press Launch of the Jury Team campaign in Glasgow North East.

Kicking Up A Racket !

2009-09-17T05:56:00.000-07:00

Jury Team are putting together a campaign to win the Glasgow North East Bye-Election - the seat vacated by the Speaker, Michael Martin. We will be announcing our candidate next week and expect it to make the news around the world. Once the candidate is known, we will be looking to manage the hundreds of people who will, I am sure, want to volunteer to help. But before that, we're looking for two full-time assistants on a modest wage. Local knowledge would be an advantage.

Please, fellow bloggers, pass this plea out on teh interweb. Interested parties should contact me at awallace (at) emailaccount (dot) com.

I need to have a list by Saturday.

Family Guy

2009-09-14T09:59:00.000-07:00

Can you see a resemblance?

A County Tyrone councillor's alleged resemblance to Family Guy character Peter Griffin could soon be appearing on election posters.
Omagh councillor Ross Hussey said he was told about his cartoon lookalike by his nephew and a young party colleague.
The Ulster Unionist said he was not flattered but it did amuse him.
"Personally I can see no resemblance, but I have watched it and we would have certain similar traits - that's all I'm prepared to admit to," he said.

From the BBC

I'm sorry, but that's a scream. I think he should be encouraged and the Parties should be beating a path to his door. A few cartoon characters in Westminster has got to be better than the shower of clowns & crooks there now.

Babylon's Burning

2009-09-14T08:45:00.000-07:00

Ten

2009-09-13T12:40:00.001-07:00

Sunday's bumper set of quotes

2009-09-05T14:40:00.000-07:00

"When the politicians complain that TV turns the proceedings into a circus, it should be made clear that the circus was already there, and that TV has merely demonstrated that not all the performers are well trained." Edward R. Murrow

"Expecting the world to treat you fairly because you are good is like expecting the bull not to charge because you are a vegetarian." Dennis Wholey

"Those who cling to the untrue doctrine that violence never settles anything would be advised to conjure up the ghosts of Napoleon Bonaparte and of the Duke of Wellington and let them debate it. The ghost of Hitler could referee, and the jury might well be the Dodo, the Great Auk, and the Passenger Pigeon. Violence, naked force, has settled more issues in history than has any other factor, and the contrary opinion is wishful thinking at its worst. Nations and peoples who forget this basic truth have always paid for it with their lives and freedoms." Robert A Heinlein

"The great inter-war slumps were not acts of God or of blind forces. They were the sure and certain result of the concentration of too much economic power in the hands of too few men. These men had only learned how to act in the interest of their own bureaucratically-run private monopolies which may be likened to totalitarian oligarchies within our democratic State. They had and they felt no responsibility to the nation." Labour Party Manifesto - 1945

"The armed forces are an armed, military organisation, not an NGO." Carme Chacon, Spanish Defence Minister

"You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is the beginning of the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it." Adrian Rogers

Quotes of the day for today

2009-09-05T00:27:00.000-07:00

"The Public say they are getting cynical about politicians. They should hear how politicians talk about them." George Walden

"Politicians are interested in people in the same way that dogs are interested in fleas." P.J. O'Rourke

"The government solution to any problem is usually at least as bad as the problem." Milton Friedman

Quotes For Today

2009-09-04T11:11:00.000-07:00

"If you mess up the finances of the country, it's ordinary people that end up paying." Tony Blair

"A low success economy is a high tax one." Tony Blair (again)

And one from me, adapted from Ronald Reagan - "Recession is when your neighbour loses his job. Depression is when you lose yours. Recovery is when Gordon Brown loses his"

Let's see if I can make this a regular thing.

GravyTrainSpotting

2009-09-01T05:46:00.001-07:00

Referenda

2009-08-29T06:34:00.000-07:00

As you know, a core Jury Team principle is that a referendum should be called whenever 5% of the electorate call for one. We see this as a way for citizens to have a voice in the running of the country and by-passing the party political machine.

What do you think? In a referendum on referenda, I've added a poll at the top right of this blog. Please vote and encourage others to do so to. You could have a very real effect on a core policy of Jury Team.

Fancy a drink - think again.

2009-08-28T13:11:00.000-07:00

Next stop - prohibition. The Wee Frees at the Pretendy Parliament are after your wee hauf.

From the Edinburgh Evening News

BAR staff in Edinburgh have been banned from asking customers if they would like the "same again" – and told to offer a glass of water instead.

The move, which was today branded "ludicrous", has been introduced as part of the Licensing (Scotland) Act which comes into force next week, aimed at tackling binge drinking.

Go on, read it again. You're probably not drunk. But it gets better. The Plastic Politicians of Holyrood have more for you -

Some publicans say they have even been told to keep a note of how much each individual customer had consumed.

I suppose pub crawls down Rose Street are pretty much an endangered species now. Unless we have "Water Bars" set up between the pubs.

When are we going to wise up to the fact that Holyrood is stuffed full of third rate councillors who are never happier than when they're banning something?

Incidentally, I've been told that that overblown talking shop has got about 15 years more useful life in it. An architect involved in the construction reckons that the cracks are already showing. The trouble is, it's a work of art not a working building. It was designed as an art installation, a monument for Dewar.

I wonder how much the next one will cost?

Prohibition of Deception Bill

2009-08-18T16:17:00.000-07:00

Intro Elected Representatives (Prohibition of Deception) Bill v2

Hat Tip - the Ministry of Truth

My main aim in standing as an Independent under the Jury Team banner is to begin the process of really unearthing the dirt at Westminster. I believe that the party system itself contributes significantly to corrupt and anti-Democratic practices. The above Bill attracted the support of some thirty MPs, proving that for every decent MP there are twenty self-serving crooks. How can any MP object to being held accountable, to facing punishment if found to have knowingly lied?

This is a Bill that I hope to see enacted. The next election will see a new broom sweep into Westminster, let's see them promise us this Bill.

Forget writing to your MP. With half of them standing down or not being re-selected because they can't stand the strain of being honest, they're a waste of time. Instead, look to see who your candidates are in your area and write to them. Ask them if they'll support this Bill if elected. If they refuse or (more likely) ignore you, you'll have your answer.

Vote for a candidate who will criminalise lying MPs.

A wee giftie for the Nats

2009-08-18T10:54:00.000-07:00

Given that the Nationalists will be saving all their pennies for the Holyrood elections and running the Westminster campaign on the cheap (rather like their Euro campaign), here's a wee present for their Party Broadcast. All they need to do is paste in a few minutes of Fat Eck grinning and there you have it - the Nat Manifesto.

The Acceptable Ism

2009-08-15T04:25:00.001-07:00

Scotland's Joker - Falkirk's Shame

2009-08-09T17:02:00.001-07:00

Trainspotting at Westminster

2009-07-20T07:47:00.000-07:00

Choose something else.

Labour Halfwit

2009-07-19T04:40:00.000-07:00

Now, I'm probably not the one to hark on about media skills. My strong accent counts against me in interviews. Comments on my media appearances from reasonably independent sources did though include "passionate" and "knowledgeable". Neither of which could be applied to the hapless Naz Sarkar who is the Labour candidate for Reading West.

Oh dear. It really is a throwaway election for Labour and they've resorted to on the job training for the Labour "yoof". Give him another 12 years and perhaps he'll make a decent fist of a local radio interview, but can we really bear another three term monopoly by any party in Westminster?

I'm actually pretty disgusted by Labour for putting this rookie up as a seemingly serious candidate. Compare his performances with the young Libertarian candidate in Norwich, Thomas Burridge
It's nothing to do with age, it's to do with ability. Surely Labour could have found a better candidate than Naz? Or is this what happens when a party abandons roots, raison d'etre and principles, choosing to pursue power for its' own sake?

Where are the real Socialists? They've abandoned Labour and all I see in the rag-tag splinters such as No2EU, the Scottish Socialists and others are extremists and fantasists. Is Socialism dead? Is Naz Sarkar the pall-bearer?

Hat Tip - Cllr Dave Luckett

Sing A Song Of Parliament

2009-07-19T03:48:00.000-07:00

Sing a song of Parliament,

Pockets full of cash.
Fraudulently claiming
then adding to their stash.
With their ploy discovered
They said they'll give it back,
If you or I had done the same
We'd promptly get the sack.

Sing a song of freebies
Snouts all in the trough,
Giving back their ill-got gains
Is just not good enough.
Sponging off our earnings
With a likely tale,
If working folk had done the same
They'd soon end up in jail.

Sing a song of fraudsters
Counting out their money.
They smile and look quite unashamed
As though they think it's funny.
Sitting in a secret place
Counting our their dosh,
Spent on baths and cleaning moats -
Or crisps and orange squash.

Sing a song of MPs
Who took us for a ride,
It's up to us election time
Their futures to decide.
It's gone too far to bring back trust
Of anyone in power,
To most of us they'll always be

A shifty, crooked shower.

Now, where can I find a choir to record this?

Hat Tip - Subrosa

This Guy is a Candidate?

2009-07-17T10:45:00.000-07:00

Meet the Labour candidate for Reading West

Oh well, Labour have obviously given up. What an utter insult to the voters of Reading that this is the standard of candidate on offer. How the hell must Labour supporters feel; people who believe in Labour values, that have supported the party through thick and thin, that feel only Labour come close to representing their views, when this shambolic excuse is supposedly going to fight their corner in Westminster. Third-rate lobby fodder.

There is an alternative. If you feel you could do a better job than Naz, stand with Jury Team. No whips, no party orders. If you want to stand on a platform of traditional Labour values, you can. If you're more Labour than New Labour, take the opportunity that Jury Team offers and stand up to be counted.

Vote For Your Favourite Blogs

2009-07-16T11:46:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again, when Total Politics asks you to vote for your Top 10 favourite blogs. The votes will be compiled and included in the forthcoming book, the Total Politics Guide to Blogging 2009-10, which will be published in September. This year the poll is being promoted/sponsored by LabourList and LibDemVoice as well as our publisher Iain Dale's blog.

The rules are simple.

1. You must vote for your ten favourite blogs and ranks them from 1 (your favourite) to 10 (your tenth favourite).
2. Your votes must be ranked from 1 to 10. Any votes which do not have rankings will not be counted.
3. You MUST include ten blogs. If you include fewer than ten your vote will not count.
2. Email your vote to toptenblogs@totalpolitics.com
3. Only vote once.
4. Only blogs based in the UK, run by UK residents are eligible or based on UK politics are eligible.
5. Anonymous votes left in the comments will not count. You must give a name
6. All votes must be received by midnight on 31 July 2009. Any votes received after that date will not count.

If you have your own blog, please do encourage your readers to take part. Last year, more than 80 blogs did so. We hope this year it will be far more than that. BUT, DO NOT list ten blogs you think your readers should vote for. Any duplicate voting of this nature will be disallowed. If you do not wish for your blog to be voted for please email katy.scholes@totalpolitics.com. You will see a list of the blogs who have chosen not to be included in the comments shortly.

There are many ways of measuring a blog's popularity. Wikio and Technorati have complicated logarithms which measure the importance of incoming links and traffic. Google Analytics does it by measuring how many people visit. But our poll gives blog readers the opportunity to vote for the ones they like and visit most often. It's not scientific. It's impossible to achieve 100% balance and we don't pretend it's perfect.

The results of the poll will be published in the forthcoming book the TOTAL POLITICS GUIDE TO POLITICAL BLOGGING IN THE UK which will be published in mid September in association with APCO Worldwide.

So, go to it. Email us your Top Ten Favourite Blogs

Don't Let Jacqui Smith Get Away With It

2009-07-16T06:30:00.000-07:00

Let's nail Jacqui Smith

Copied from Old Holborn's place...

£100,000 needed to nail Jacqui Smith

I am a member of the Sunlight Centre for Open Politics and we have decided to nail Jacqui Smith for being a little free and easy with the truth.

Any contribution you might be able to make would be greatly appreciated. Sorry to bother you if you have already donated to the campaign. You can donate via PayPal through the link above (click on the picture). If we can successfully prosecute the former Home Secretary this would be a major step toward cleaning up Westminster and proving to our law makers that they are not above the law.

So put YOUR hands in your pocket for a change, instead of Darling and let's teach them a lesson. Do it. Do something. Put the fear of 60,000,000 of us into the 646 who run every minutae of our lives for their own benefit.

All it would take is one high profile politician being dragged through the courts by the public for the rest of them to get the message. We're not allowed to hang crooked politicians any more, but we can hang them out to dry in the courts.

Hat Tip - half the blogosphere

Party First & To Hell With You All

2009-07-16T01:27:00.000-07:00

Once again we see party politics stand in the way of good governance and justice.

Gary McKinnon is facing extradition to the US on charges of computer hacking. This has brought what many see as a deeply unfair extradition treaty back into the public eye. According to the Daily Mail dozens of Labour MPs expressed their support for Mr McKinnon in letters to campaigners and 74 Labour MPs signed Commons motions backing Mr McKinnon or demanding a review of extradition agreements with the U.S.

However, yesterday a Tory call for an urgent review of the controversial Extradition Act 2003 was voted down by 290 votes to 236. If only 28 more Labour MPs had stuck to their principles, the Government would have faced defeat. 59 of the Labour MPs who had earlier supported Mr McKinnon voted against the motion. 15 abstained.

Why the change of heart? Has the extradition treaty suddenly became ok? Have they decided that Mr McKinnon (who has been diagnosed with Aspergers) has turned into a heinous criminal unworthy of support by our elected representatives? Or is it more to do with the fact that this was a Tory motion and the knee-jerk reaction of MPs is to oppose anything and everything other parties put forward?

This is not good governance. MPs of all parties are supposed to hold the government of the day to account. They are meant to scrutinise legislation and represent the views of the electorate. It shouldn't matter which party an MP belongs to, bad legislation is bad legislation and brings the entire House of Commons into disrepute. Once again we see MPs putting the Party first.

Listed below are the names of those whose promises mean nothing. Take note of them and remember their actions come the forthcoming election. They'll each be spending tens of thousands painting themselves whiter than white and hoping that you'll have forgotten what deceitful creatures they are.

Diane Abbott (Hackney North and Stoke Newington), David Anderson (Blaydon), John Austin (Erith and Thamesmead), Joe Benton (Bootle), Clive Betts (Sheffield Attercliffe), Lyn Brown (West Ham), Russell Brown (Dumfries and Galloway), Richard Burden (Birmingham Northfield), Dawn Butler (Brent South), Martin Caton (Gower), Ann Cryer (Keighley), Jim Cunningham (Coventry South)

Quentin Davies (Grantham and Stamford), Janet Dean (Burton), Jim Dowd (Lewisham West), Jeff Ennis (Barnsley East and Mexborough), Hywel Francis (Aberavon), Neil Gerrard (Walthamstow), Roger Godsiff (Birmingham Sparkbrook and Small Heath), Helen Goodman (Bishop Auckland), John Grogan (Selby), Patrick Hall (Bedford), David Heyes (Ashton under Lyne), Kelvin Hopkins (Luton North), Joan Humble (Blackpool North and Fleetwood), Brian Iddon (Bolton South East), Eric Illsley (Barnsley East)

Glenda Jackson (Hampstead and Highgate), Brian Jenkins (Tamworth), Martyn Jones (Clwyd South), Sadiq Khan ( Tooting), Mark Lazarowicz (Edinburgh North and Leith), Tony Lloyd ( Manchester Central), Kerry McCarthy (Bristol East), Jim McGovern (Dundee West), Anne McGuire ( Stirling), Shahid Malik (Dewsbury), Gordon Marsden (Blackpool South), Anne Moffat (East Lothian), Madeleine Moon (Bridgend), Julie Morgan (Cardiff North), George Mudie (Leeds East)

Nick Palmer (Broxtowe), Gordon Prentice (Pendle), Joan Ruddock (Lewisham Deptford), Joan Ryan (Enfield North), Martin Salter (Reading West), Andy Slaughter (Ealing, Acton and Shepherd's Bush), John Smith ( Glamorgan), Sir Peter Soulsby (Leicester South), Gavin Strang (Edinburgh East)

David Taylor (North West Leicestershire), Desmond Turner (Brighton Kemptown), Rudi Vis (Finchley and Golders Green), Lynda Waltho (Stourbridge), Bob Wareing (Liverpool West Derby), Betty Williams (Conway), Anthony Wright (Great Yarmouth), Iain Wright (Hartlepool).

Those who abstained were:

Roger Berry (Kingswood), Roberta Blackman-Woods (City of Durham), Harry Cohen (Leyton and Wanstead), Andrew Dismore (Hendon), Bill Etherington (Sunderland North), Frank Field (Birkenhead), Fabian Hamilton (Leeds North East), John Heppell (Nottingham East), Peter Kilfoyle (Liverpool Walton), Christine McCafferty (Calder Valley), Bob Marshall-Andrews ( Medway), Chris Mullin (Sunderland South), Edward O'Hara (Knowsley South), Marsha Singh (Bradford West), Mike Wood (Batley and Spen).

Hat Tip the Ranting Penguin

Like Ferrets In A Sack

2009-07-02T07:44:00.000-07:00

Shadow chancellor George Osborne is being investigated by the sleaze watchdog over his expenses.

"In essence, your complaint is that between 2001 and 2003 Mr Osborne wrongly identified his main home for the purposes of his claims against the Additional Costs Allowance, and that from 2003 Mr Osborne claimed for mortgage payments that were not necessarily incurred contrary to the rules of the house."

Well another one faces a grilling. They really are all at it aren't they.

I wonder who shopped him?

The complaint to the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner came from the chairman of the Labour Party in Mr Osborne's Tatton constituency, Laurie Burton

Ah right. This is going to be a fun election. They're all going to be jumping up and down, pointing at each other and shouting "Please Sir, Please Sir".

What really stuck in my throat was -

Mr Burton told Sky News he had not made the complaint on a party political basis.

"I'm doing it because I'm an ordinary man of the public who shares the outrage and disgust that people have throughout the country.

Ach, away and bile yer heid ya balloon.Do you expect us to believe that you would be putting on the outraged face if it was a Labour MP? In fact, seeing as how it's upset you so much, what did you have to say about the dozens of Labour MPs caught with their hands in the till?

Speak up.

Can't hear you.

That's right, because you said SFA about it. Get stuffed you sanctimonious prat.

The State of Education

2009-06-23T06:27:00.000-07:00

A guest post from Helen Critchell over at the Jury Team site.

I have little time for our state education system in this country and possibly was one of the first casualties back in the early 70s when the grammar schools were scythed to the ground to make way for the monstrous comprehensive system. But I still look back at my Year 1 work and think "crikey, did I do that when I was 11?"

I now look at work done by children older than that - children who are quite intelligent - and I see the level of learning to be equivalent to what I would expect of a primary school aged child. I removed my son from school to home educate him when he was 12 years old, after six years of bullying (to him) and frustration (to me) and I could never get over the low level of work that was expected of him and the quality that was acceptable to teachers. I could also never get over the low level of English and Maths that was displayed by those supposed to be teaching him these subjects. Regularly would my mathematical husband have to correct poor maths and regularly would I get incensed with appalling spelling and grammar when our son showed us his set homework.

This won't be a rant about the one in five teachers who fail to pass a basic adult literacy and numeracy test before they start teaching (some taking up to 27 times to pass the test) and yet are still allowed to teach our children; this won't be a rant about the fact that in 2007 38.1% of our children were deemed to have Special Educational Needs (why? Has this come about from low quality teaching/discipline/care of our children?) and yet all but 1.1% were integrated into the state education system along with children who were able to learn; this won't be a reminder that one in ten of our children come out of school with no GCSEs and less than 50% of then have five good GCSEs under their belt including maths and English, many of whom still not possessing good, sound literacy and numeracy levels; this won't be a rant that 16% of young people are not employable for one reason or another; and I'll try not to mention the appalling level of media-driven mediocrity that pervades our children's lives.

What this is about is the quality and quantity of what our children are being taught. In America, extensive studies have been carried out on the amount of quality teaching/learning time that children experience in school. I'm sure that there is little difference in schools in this country. What they discovered was that of the 6 hours spent at school, only one hour was good, constructive and valuable teaching/learning time. The other hours were spent administering children's needs, correcting bad behaviour, setting homework, answering questions, break times and paperwork etc. To help balance this, it appears that more and more homework is being given out to children of all ages but that homework is rarely marked, or even looked at. I have yet to meet a child who can tell me that his/her homework is marked and handed back on a regular basis. What possible value is this?

Virtually none of the 14 year olds I meet have read a book from cover to cover. For English, these days, children are only required to read certain passages in a book that will be relevant to their exams/tests. They will then watch a video adaptation of the whole book to get the idea of the story!

The Telegraph quoted 1 in 4 GCSE students (and A levels) were needing to get additional tuition outside of the classroom to help them pass their exams. I know, for a fact, that everyone who cared about their GCSEs this year in one local school was getting help with their Maths and English outside school. Parents are paying in the region of £20 an hour for this extra help. Why are teachers unable to do this in class time?

In a drama group I was running I was selling crisps and chocolate during break at 26p a time. Only one child of 13+ was able to calculate in their head multiples (and we're only talking 2 or 3 times) of 26p.

14 year old pupils in one school don't write essays in English and are told they can write in cartoons. Is this sinking towards the lowest common denominator or simply appealing to children for the sake of it?

A class of 13/14 year olds were being 'taught' how to draw portraits in their art class last week. The teacher told them to draw the customary oval shape and horizontal and vertical lines and then he got his marker pen out and drew a cartoon face! OK, I'm a portrait artist so this was anathema to me!

These are simply examples I come across every single week of how I believe our education has taken on the guise of a cartoon and a caricature of our society. How much lower can standards fall and when do we start demanding a higher and more consistent education for our children? We know that countless children come out of school disillusioned, inarticulate, illiterate and innumerate. They are encouraged to believe that to work in vocational or manual employment is beneath them and yet they aren't given the education to cope with anything else.

It is a cliché that gets spouted so often and yet has become almost worthless: 'our children are our future' and yet every year that passes and I see what is happening to our youngsters I fear more and more for the future of our country.

Smug, Arrogant And Doesn't Care

2009-06-19T12:12:00.000-07:00

That's Eric Joyce - Labour MP for Falkirk. Supposedly "my" MP. Never mind £180 for oil paintings because they "look nice", he shows exactly why this whole affair is so damaging for Britain. He doesn't care. He tries to turn the interview against the interviewer. He grins and smirks his way through the whole thing making a point of not answering questions. He thinks he's safe because he's in a constituency with a huge Labour majority and none of the other parties can touch him because they're just as mired in sleaze as Labour. He figures that, no matter what, plenty of "core" Labour voters will duly turn out on polling day and keep him in the style to which he has become accustomed.

This is Britain's most expensive MP for two out of the last three years. He claimed £187,334 in allowances and expenses in 2007-8. In 2006 he claimed £174,811 but promised to cut back in future. Well, we can see for ourselves exactly what Mr Joyce's promises are worth.

Since 2002, Mr Joyce has claimed £1,097,533 in expenses and allowances alone. On top of at least a third of a million in wages.

In Falkirk, there are seventeen people chasing every job vacancy. Maybe they'd be better chasing this benefit junkie.

But they'd better get behind me in the queue. I'm going to stand against him in the General Election and my campaign starts now. This won't be like the Euro Elections where I was chasing my tail all over Scotland whilst the parties sent minions to attend hustings and spent a fortune on glossy mailshots. I'm going to knock on every door in Falkirk and put a leaflet through every letterbox. I'll give every resident a receipt for Mr Joyce and ask if they think he's value for money. I'll ask them what they think of a guy who voted for the Iraq War and against an inquiry. Who voted against a transparent Parliament while voting for ID cards.

This guy flies around the world to the Congo, to Tokyo, to Baghdad, to Brazil, to Israel, to Palestine, to Switzerland, to Rwanda, to Kuwait, to the USA, to Turkey, to Gabon, to Buenos Aires, to Detroit and to Shanghai. What the hell has any of that got to do with Falkirk? You know, the constituency he was hired to represent?

So I'm going to stand against him. This time I know what I'm up against. The Tories & Labour will be spending £35 million on this General Election campaign. The SNP & Lib Dems will be spending horrendous sums as well. All of them have armies of eager minions all trying to impress & get onto the greasy pole. So I need help. If you want to get involved with leafletting or putting up posters or anything like that, get in touch here or make a donation using Paypal using the button at the top of the page. I need to pay for leaflets, posters, ads and all the rest. The wife's resigned to not going on holiday this year or next because all I've got will be going into this. Make a donation and I'll maybe be able to afford to buy her the occasional bunch of flowers to make up for it.

The state of independents: alternative politics

2009-06-17T14:49:00.000-07:00

Here are the main questions and challenges the nay-sayers to the growth and utility of independent politics raise, and some reflections on their in/adequacy:

1. Independents are often mavericks and inexperienced do-gooders.

Some would respond that many people involved in local political parties are also mavericks and inexperienced do-gooders! There will always be some like this but the facts make it clear that there are also some excellent independents. The idea of “primaries” introduced by the Jury Team [31], also means that communities can select which independent it thinks should stand. Therefore those whom a community or neighbourhood considers to be unreliable would be less likely to stand in elections. Individuals can and should, remain free to test themselves at the bar of voter opinion. Political parties, however, are more concerned about loyalty to their own interests and often define as ‘mavericks’ purposeful, angular, skilful people who might ‘rock the boat’. The ‘group think’ [32] mentality and a culture of tribalism is designed to smooth the edges off any politics which might disturb the consensus (or, beneath the surface conformity, the lack of it) and it is therefore in danger of producing what has been called ‘institutional truth’ [33].

2. Independents are not properly accountable.

Independents may turn out to be, in some respects, more publicly accountable than party politicians. Election after election has seen a few hundred people (and sometimes fewer) in a local political party select the candidates to stand in the General Election. These candidates are often in safe seats where there is little accountability. Independents, however, depend upon their local reputations and cannot rely mainly on party votes or national swings. This creates a different and countervailing set of pressures and possibilities. The idea of ‘community forums’, developed from civic associations, begins a move towards practical mechanisms for giving rise to, and holding non-party candidates accountable to, a wider good. [34]

3. Independents are ineffective within parliamentary and council settings because they have no power base.

Party MPs rarely rebel against their parties' programmes, which many would say makes them compliant and ineffective. Those without a party are much freer to represent their constituents’ concerns – or like Richard Taylor MP, to take up wide public concerns about something like the health service. They may also be better placed to form or participate in cross-party coalitions, which can be the key to getting things done in Parliament and at the local council level.

4. Independents tend to be single-issue focused.

Some may be elected due in large part to a local issue on which they have campaigned. But often this will have been a concern of local constituents which party politicians have neglected. Once in Parliament, however, independents will deal with a range of issues just like any other MP. They may also be appointed to Select Committees which relate to the issue on which they have expertise and so their focus may bring something extremely valuable (and additional) to Parliament. This is in marked contrast to some Select Committee appointments of party political MPs who may find themselves on committees due to party loyalty rather than any specialist knowledge. [35]

5. Independents are ‘all over the shop’ politically

The narrow party agendas into which candidates are squeezed can be artificial and have little bearing on a politics that has, in certain respects, left the ideological struggles of the 1970s and 1980s behind. Why should every member of a political party have exactly the same position on drugs, transport, climate change, Europe and immigration? Independents are far freer to be honest and make realistic decisions, rather than be pushed in many votes by a party whip. [36]

6. Voting for independents or moving to PR may upset the main parties and let in extreme groups like the BNP

The British National Party, which trades on racism and xenophobia, feeds upon the corruption and inadequacy of the current political system. It is also is fed by the hostile environment towards ‘foreigners’ engendered by the so-called mainstream parties’ perpetuation (for instance) of an agenda on migration constructed around tabloid-style fear and prejudice. [37] Voting to support such a system and its principal defenders is not a good way of combating such extremism in the long run. Viable alternatives are needed. The BNP get in, or get a sizeable (but fortunately still small) share of the vote because people vote for them. Voting tactically to keep racists out may be an important short-term measure, combined with re-orienting politics to deal with the exclusions and disaffections upon which they try to capitalise. But allowing the far right or other extreme groups to deny genuine political choice is to allow them to win in a different way. Under a proportional voting system, only dissuading people from voting BNP will work. All this emphasises that racist and extreme parties can only be countered by political persuasion and healthy politics. Simply maintaining an unfair status quo because you think any ‘cracks’ might let them in is a counter-productive approach. [38] It is also worth noting that the success of the BNP in the 2009 Euro-poll North-West England could have been thwarted by just 5,000 more votes for the Green Party.

7. The last thing we need is more attention grabbing celebrities in politics.

Independents are, in the main, not celebrities. On the contrary, there are those like the former anti-apartheid activist from South Africa who is standing for election in Dublin in order to challenge the ‘mainstream’ parties to take action against growing waves of racism, following the sectarianism that has marked divisions over the North. Or people from public life like Terry Waite (http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/9578) who wish to argue a serious case for change in the face of political decay. This is a way of getting people to take seriously what ‘politics as usual’ wishes to push under the carpet. [39]

8. The thirst for independents is a protest with little substance or future.

It may be a protest, or start out as one, but at the same time be a sign of hope that people care about their political system and want to be engaged. Protest has been the crucible for most of the important political and social changes of the last century and a half, going back to the landmark Representation of the People Act 1832. [40] Independent and alternative politics is about much more than engaging in the kind of ‘direct democracy’ used and abused in the USA as ‘propositions’ attached to ballot papers.

9. Independent politics is really anti-politics. It is demoralising people.

Independent, civic and associational politics is about making politics accessible to ordinary people. It is about enhancing participation and representation. Ironically, it is the mainstream parties who have increasingly abandoned politics for business management. The idea that ‘real politics’ is what is done for or to us rather than by us is patronising and partial. It is also what alienates people from politics! Politics is not exclusively or primarily about parties, though no-one is arguing that they do not play a significant role. It is about how power is used and made accountable. People are politically de-motivated and demoralised by a system and parties which are resistant to their needs, concerns and input. The evidence (in terms of local action as well as polling) is that people are re-engaged when this changes. The advocates of the interests of the party machines are desperate to convince those who might defect from them that disillusion equals a dangerous rejection of politics. But it is not (and does not have to be) this way.

10. Many independents are really conservatives (with a small or large ‘c’) in disguise, as they were during their local government heyday.

This is clearly not the case with Margot MacDonald in Scotland or with Richard Taylor in England. It is possible and desirable for non-party candidates and activists from different political ‘spaces’ to participate. Another contrary example is Clare Short MP in Birmingham Ladywood. She was a Labour minister but is now an independent, having fallen out with the party and the government over the Iraq war. Greater political diversity is needed to reflect the true diversity of the populace. Also, people can and do change their minds. It may have been the case that at certain junctures in the past, independents came largely from the conservative wing of politics but there is no law that says this has to be the case. The left has tended to have a very strong attachment to the party form, partly as an outworking of some of its ideology but this again is not set in stone. And there are numerous examples of people from the left and the centre of politics who have rebelled in independent ways.

11. Only the relatively prosperous and educated can afford to run as independents – the whole thing is biased toward the middle class and the already enfranchised.

There seems little evidence for this. Are those who make these claims willing to invest in something different, or are they actually wanting to keep politics as a middle class preserve? The long history of working-class involvement in politics, both through the labour movement and through civic association as well as through parties, suggests that something different is possible. Rather than funding parties, what about a small fund for supporting independents in restricted circumstances? There is clear evidence that significant proportions of existing MPs are public school and Oxbridge educated, or otherwise privileged.

12. A whole parliament of independents would make Britain ungovernable

Independents cannot form a government. This is true. A similar charge has been levelled at the Liberal Democrats and minority parties but this does not mean either that they cannot be elected or that they cannot be good MPs who enrich the democratic process. There is a model in the cross-benchers in the House of Lords, where non-party members are allocated parliamentary time as a group. They have a convener rather than a whip, support one another where they agree and divide up parliamentary time between them. The idea behind this accusation seems to be either that supporting more independents means wanting to do away with parties (it does not; we do not have to indulge a zero-sum game), or that it is somehow likely that independents would quickly become a majority. This is unlikely at the moment but if the public started to elect different kinds of people, then the system would need to adapt. Democratic institutions are there to facilitate democratic participation and representation, not to keep those who currently hold the reins of power in position whatever people say or want.

13. We don’t need ‘do-gooders’ getting elected to parliament.

The idea that only those motivated by money, status or position can be really trusted (because “at least you know what they’re in it for”), whereas those who want to pursue a notion of public good, non-corruption or the needs of particular groups of people (such as those reliant on the health service, carers, older people, etc.) are virtually automatically “self-righteous” and “irritating” – as some critics have suggested – moves cynicism beyond a rightful suspicion of power interests (which is what it used to mean) to a generally corrosive disdain for anyone we fear may expose our own comparative failings. The issue of how to discern what is ‘good’ in persons and in public life has become more and more difficult with the breakdown of a broader consensus about beliefs and values. Those who want to reinstate a discussion about this by putting their principles on the line are surely to be welcomed, even if we then question what it is they offer and propose.

14. Parties and political ideologies have their faults but we cannot do without them.

Political blocs and political non-blocs offer diversity but not when a monopoly or duopoly goes unchallenged. Likewise, principles are important but ideology often hardens them into dogma. Besides, the party system has now largely abandoned the principles that once defined it and the ruling parties have almost become modified versions of a dominant neo-liberal economic ideology. Breaks in the dominant order are necessary for the re-introduction of genuine choice. It is true that alliances will always be made but the question is, what kind of alliances? It is unrealistic to have a system (which we have at the moment)in which hundreds of candidates contest an election on the same manifesto with which they all agree. The reality is that these candidates disagree with one another beneath the veneer. The present system is monolithic because it is biased towards maintaining what is in effect a two-party system in the UK parliament. Beyond Westminster, politics and parties are becoming more flexible and diverse. That ought to be strength, not a weakness.

15. Independents feed a cynicism about professional politicians which further widens the gaps between governors and governed.

Actually, they seem to provide many with a source of hope in the face of decay and despair, as Ekklesia’s ComRes opinion poll indicated. Disillusionment is fed by ‘business as usual’ or by a lack of genuine opportunities for involvement. Alternative politics can help to rectify these problems. A large number of people do not have a party affiliation or strong association and feel disconnected from 'party politics'. If they are to be re-engaged in public life, it may take people from outside 'the system' to do so.

From Ekklesia

Parasites

2009-06-13T16:36:00.000-07:00

It's a family affair

Six State Pensions
£8m in pay & allowances
2 Housing Allowances for one house.
Employing a daughter as an "Executive Assistant"
Son employed by British Council in Europe
Attendance Allowance claimed despite not attending.

PARASITES

This entire family is a disgrace and the epitome of all that is wrong with British politics. Nepotistic, lying, money-grubbing leeches. They're in it for themselves, having spent their lifetimes living off the taxpayer and now ensuring that the family tradition continues with their offspring.

Socialist? In what way exactly? The only redistribution of wealth I can see is straight into their pockets.

Peter Mandelson - Would you trust this man?

2009-06-11T16:42:00.000-07:00

Would you give him a seat in the House of Lords, one of the highest honours in the land? Gordon would.

Peter Benjamin Mandelson, Baron Mandelson of Foy in the county of Herefordshire and Hartlepool in the county of Durham, Privy Councillor (born 21 October 1953) is a British Labour Party politician who is the current UK First Secretary of State, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and Lord President of the Council.

Mandelson served as Member of Parliament for Hartlepool for twelve years, a seat he vacated in order to become a European Commissioner. When he returned to the Cabinet in 2008, he was created a life peer.

In 1971 left the Labour Party Young Socialists (LPYS) to join the Young Communist League, then the youth wing of the Communist Party of Great Britain.

He was a delegate in 1978 to the Soviet-organised World Festival of Youth and Students in Havana, Cuba, with Arthur Scargill and several future Labour cabinet colleagues.

He worked as a television producer at London Weekend Television on Weekend World, forming an enduring friendship with John Birt, then LWT's Director of Programmes, before being appointed as the Labour Party's Director of Communications in 1985. Mandelson was able to secure close friendships within the Labour Party due to uncle Alexander Butler who had worked alongside many important Labour politicians during the 1960s.

He ceased being a Labour Party official in 1990, when he was selected as Labour candidate for the safe seat of Hartlepool. He was elected to the House of Commons at the 1992 general election.

After the election, Blair appointed him as a Minister without Portfolio in the Cabinet Office, where his job was to co-ordinate within government. A few months later, he also acquired responsibility for the Millennium Dome, after Blair decided to go ahead with the project despite the opposition of most of the Cabinet (including the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport who had been running it). Jennie Page, the Dome Chief Executive was abruptly sacked after a farcical opening night.

In December 1998, it was revealed Mandelson had bought a home in Notting Hill in 1996 with the assistance of an interest-free loan of £373,000 from Geoffrey Robinson, a millionaire Labour MP who was also in the Government, but was subject to an inquiry into his business dealings by Mandelson's department. Although Mandelson alleged he had deliberately not taken part in any decisions relating to Robinson, he knew he should have declared the loan as an interest, and he resigned on 23 December 1998. Mandelson had also not declared the loan to his building society (the Britannia) although they decided not to take any action, with the CEO stating "I am satisfied that the information given to us at the time of the mortgage application was accurate."

In January 2001, it was revealed Mandelson had phoned Home Office minister Mike O'Brien on behalf of Srichand Hinduja, an Indian businessman who was seeking British citizenship, and whose family firm was to become the main sponsor of the "Faith Zone" in the Millennium Dome. At the time, Hinduja and his brothers were under investigation by the Indian government for alleged involvement in the Bofors scandal. On 24 January 2001, Mandelson resigned from the Government for a second time,insisting he had done nothing wrong.

On 22 November 2004, Mandelson became Britain's European Commissioner for Trade. On 22 April 2005, The Times revealed that Mandelson had spent the previous New Year's Eve on the yacht of Paul Allen, the co-founder of Microsoft, which is at the centre of a major EU investigation, although it did not allege impropriety.

On 3 October 2008, as part of Gordon Brown's cabinet reshuffle, it was announced that Mandelson would return to government in the re-drawn post of Business Secretary, and would be made a life peer, entitling him to a seat in the House of Lords. On 13 October 2008 he was created Baron Mandelson, of Foy in the county of Herefordshire and Hartlepool in the county of Durham.

In October 2008 Mandelson was reported by the press to have maintained private contacts over several years with Russia oligarch Oleg Deripaska, most recently on holiday in August 2008 on Deripaska's yacht at Taverna Agni on the Greek island of Corfu. News of the contacts sparked criticism because, as European Union trade commissioner, Mandelson had been responsible for two decisions to cut aluminium tariffs that had benefited Deripaska's United Company RusAl.Mandelson denied that there had been a conflict of interest and insisted that he had never discussed aluminium tariffs with Deripaska

On 14 January 2009 the Mail on Sunday asked how he had financed the purchase of a villa in London. Public records showed that he had paid £2.5 million for the property in 2006: almost 16 times his then salary as an EU commissioner. Reports at the time said that he had sold his shares in an advertising agency and received a large legacy from his mother, but Companies House records showed that the shares were not sold until 2007, while a copy of his mother's will revealed that he had been left only £452,000.

In a reshuffle on 5 June 2009, Lord Mandelson was appointed to the honorific office of First Secretary of State, making him Deputy Prime Minister in all but name, a controversial position for an un-elected politician. Mandelson was also appointed to the position of Lord President of the Council. It was also announced that he would continue in his role as Business Secretary, with much expanded powers.

Peter Mandelson, the European Trade Commissioner once said:

“We are now entering the post-democratic age.”

Is that the age when the people get to see corrupt politicians standing handcuffed in the dock?

Hat tip - Haymansafc

Quite possibly the funniest edit ever

2009-06-11T12:14:00.000-07:00

Go on, watch it. You'll be glad you did.

Sugaring The Pill

2009-06-09T11:24:00.000-07:00

"Just a month ago, Viglen won a £30 million contract to supply Government departments, such as the NHS, with 70,000 computers."

Telegraph

Absolutely no connection with his elevation to the Lords, of course not.

Why I Despise Party Politics

2009-06-05T11:50:00.000-07:00

A few people have asked me why I seem to have such a deep rooted distrust of political parties. Seeing as how we're in the hiatus between the election campaign and the results, I've got time to explain.

Back in 1986, a Church of Scotland Minister in Buckhaven, Fife hit upon the idea of converting a disused church into a theatre. Rev Dane Sherrard was a keen Gilbert and Sullivan fan and helped run the local G&S Society. Raising a few pounds here and there, he encouraged local youths to start doing up the old church. He applied for local grants to buy paint and materials. Progress was painfully slow until someone told him that, instead of asking for £50 every couple of months, he should put together a proposal to use local unemployed people and ask for £2 million. So he did and was stunned when it was accepted.

Buckhaven is and was a particular unemployment blackspot in a pretty deprived area. Badly affected by closures of local coal mines, the whole atmosphere was grim. Undoubtedly, the actions of the Thatcher Government exacerbated the situation, but there were a number of Govt re-training schemes running at the time - TOPS, YTS, CP and later, ET (Employment Training).

With the backing he now had, Dane was able to expand his horizons. Doing up the church now became a total refurbishment. Training programmes included carpentry, bricklaying, plastering, painting & decorating as well as more exotic stuff like stonemasonry, stained glass making, carving and upholstery. All these training departments needed space to work in, so Dane (through the new Buckhaven Parish Church Agency) began buying derelict buildings in the small town. Each of these also needed re-furbished and so the whole thing grew.

When I came along in 1988, the theatre was up and running. I walked in and asked for a job as a writer and was promptly persuaded to train as a stage manager instead. It was that kind of place. Everything was fluid and bustling and people just got drawn in. It had now grown to include a motor pool and garage, training car mechanics, a screen printers, IT departments, leatherworking, candlemaking as well as all the theatre-related stuff.

I think at that point it was employing or training about 1000 people and was one of the biggest schemes of it's type in Britain. The Govt held it up as an example and I actually found myself the subject of a Yorkshire TV documentary and flown down to London for an appearance on GMTV.

What I didn't know was the local Labour MP, Henry McLeish, was working against the whole thing. The idea of a Tory Govt initiative actually working obviously didn't sit well with him.

I finished my training and got a job at Perth Rep as an ASM (Assistant Stage Manager), from where I went on to work in theatres throughout Britain.

Meanwhile, the BPCA went from strength to strength. Working with the community as well as in it, they opened a dinner club for OAPs and ran mini-buses taking them to and from the drop in centre. The painters and decorators had redecorated every building twice and so began decorating local pensioner's homes for free as part of their training.

And this was what gave Henry McLeish his opening.

He had been continually making allegations about financial mishandling and misconduct going on, all unfounded. But he found out that one of the pensioners who had her house redecorated for free was actually Dane's mother. This was the proof positive he needed. He managed to get all funding frozen before having the whole Agency closed down.

Around 1500 staff and trainees were thrown on the dole again. Buckhaven has never recovered and is today a soulless, derelict place with shocking levels of unemployment.

There is no doubt in my mind that Henry McLeish pursued a personal political vendetta against the Agency. He didn't care that hundreds of people were gaining valuable skills that led to them gaining real employment and careers, all he saw was a Tory success story in a Labour heartland.

This is what party politics is about. It's all about scoring points off the other side and ordinary people don't matter. If McLeish was truly a Labour man and a socialist, he would have done anything & everything in his power to see this initiative to help the disadvantaged succeed. He didn't. He put the party before people.

And I am under no illusion that, if the situation had been reversed, a Tory would have done the same to a Labour success story.

That is why I despise party politics and party politicians.

UPDATE - I've just been contacted by the Minister behind BPCA. It turns out the house-painting story was just another piece of mud thrown by McLeish in his campaign to close the place down. It has no basis in truth and never actually happened.

Happy to set the record straight Rev.

Labour offers no route out of recession.

2009-06-05T07:45:00.000-07:00

“I have noted with disgust the comments of a certain Mr Gordon Brown who has accused me of doing well out of the recession….I do not know who Mr Gordon Brown is. Excuse my ignorance, but I don’t. Whoever he is, he has not done is homework properly. The man doesn’t know what he is talking about….Labour offers no route out of recession.”

Well, Sugar was always an opportunist.

Hat Tip Dizzy Thinks

Why You Have To Vote

2009-06-03T06:48:00.000-07:00

This is probably the last blog I'll have time for before the polls open and it strikes me as odd that people still don't seem to "get" what Jury Team are about. They can't get their heads around the idea of a party that's not a party, so entrenched has the propaganda become over the years.

Jury Team is a movement, formed solely and expressly to put an end to the sleaze, the corruption and the anti-democratic practices we have allowed our politicians to slip into. There are too few people today involved in politics with real experience of the world. People like Balls & Milliband predominate - straight from uni to the front bench, with only a few years scheming and conniving behind the scenes in between. These people owe the Party everything and the Party demands their absolute obedience.

If David Cameron stood up tomorrow and announced a plan that would solve the financial crisis, end world poverty, guarantee wealth & health for everybody .... 300 or so Labour MPs would vote against it automatically because it came from the Tory Party. And the same would be true in reverse if Gordon Brown came up with such a plan. This can't go on. We can't continue to allow Party bigotry to literally kill us.

Jury Team lets ordinary people stand against the politicians. This includes you. Instead of reading & writing blogs or whinging on message boards, you can stand and have your view heard. If & when Jury Team candidates get elected, it doesn't matter if they're right wing, left wing, liberal or green, it really doesn't. The only thing that matters is they are legally committed to acting honestly and openly. They may well go off and form alliances or loose groupings but again, they're legally obliged not to follow the orders of such groups.

We'll probably end up with the same mix of political views, perhaps a bit more representative of society's views, but not a lot different. The most important thing is we'll end up with politicians who will first and foremost act in the interests of the people and will do so openly, honestly and with integrity.

The first step in cleaning up politics is to get people in whose first principle is to do as we tell them. Unless we start out with honest people, the system will never change. If we let those tainted by all that's gone before just re-write rule books, we'll see the same kind of scandals a few years down the line. It's not the expenses per se that we mind, it's the type of people who have shown themselves to have such poor judgement in the first place being in a position to damage our society so greatly.

I'm not against UKIP, the socialists or the main parties because of their policies. Many are quite good, sensible policies actually - from all sides of the fence. I'm against them because they won't change the broken system of politics we have.

Voting for any of them won't change a thing.
Not voting won't change a thing.
Spoiling the ballot won't change a thing.

Voting Jury Team begins the change.

The level of the BNP

2009-06-02T13:35:00.000-07:00

Say NO to bone idle UKIP MEPs

2009-06-02T08:25:00.000-07:00

http://www.wekip.org/

Jury Team to Prosecute Crooked MPs

2009-06-02T04:43:00.000-07:00

I knew I'd backed a winning team when I met Sir Paul Judge. It may not come across on the telly, but the guy really is the real deal. Today he proves it.

Businessman Sir Paul Judge, who recently launched the Jury Team - an umbrella organisation for independent candidates - said he would take steps to mount a private prosecution if no charges had been brought by 19 June.

In a letter to Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson and Director of Public Prosecutions Keir Starmer, Sir Paul said he was lodging complaints against MPs David Chaytor - who announced today that he would be standing down at the General Election - Elliot Morley, Shahid Malik and Andrew MacKay.
"I hereby request that you initiate a full and urgent investigation of at least these four MPs and that you inform me as to the outcome of your investigations," he said.

"I would also ask you to press charges against these four individuals as test cases of the law relating to MPs' expenses.

"In the event that you have not decided to bring charges by June 19, one month after you announced your review, then I plan to take steps to begin a private prosecution."

Why stop there Sir Paul? Why not go for Farage after his open admission that he misappropriated £2million?

Can Someone Explain This?

2009-06-02T00:55:00.000-07:00

The DVLA translates application forms for driving tests into 40 languages, including Braille.

The DVLA spokeswoman acknowledged blind drivers were unlikely to pass. She said: “Part of the driving test requires people to show they can read a car number plate from a distance.

This is insane and emphasises why we have to get ordinary people into all levels of Government, people who have actual experience of the real world and can use plain common sense to put a stop to all this PC nonsense.

What Really Goes On On The Campaign Trail

2009-06-01T13:33:00.000-07:00

As previous readers will know, I've never been involved in politics before. I shout at the radio, I rant online, I bore the wife senseless, but I've never got up off my backside and done anything. I haven't even voted for years and had to quickly register to vote for this. I took the view that it doesn't matter who you vote for, some lying, conniving politician gets in. I've never had the option of voting for an Independent or even a candidate with character. I remember one election in Fife when the "choices" were - Labour, Scottish Labour, Independent Labour, Socialist, Revolutionary Socialist and Communist (or something like that). I spoiled my ballot and walked out in disgust.

So it was quite a big thing for me to do this. It's one thing writing on Message Boards as SWL, (or Smartarse or Occam), quite another to be myself, to be Alan Wallace. I've had to move from being a caricature to opening up my real views, my real beliefs - not the one-dimensional pseudonym who likes to wind up the self-righteous.

So I went into this process not knowing what to expect. The initial application to Jury Team was little different from joining a new Message Board, but then the voting began in the open primaries. Now it became a bit of a game, trying to beat the other guys. But you quickly run out of friends and relatives to vote for you and you have to do a bit more. I printed up some leaflets and started knocking on doors, canvassing. I thought I knew what to expect, but I was wrong. Yes, there were a few who were basically intensely irritated at some idiot disturbing their evening to talk politics. But they were outnumbered easily ten to one by people who were interested. Some were just being polite, but many were really, really angry about the state of politics, (remember this was before the Telegraph broke the big stories). It turns out I'm not the only one who shouts at the telly. Every night I'd get in from work, grab a coffee, then hit the streets until about 9pm. I know I knocked on over 1500 doors, cos that's how many leaflets I printed and I spoke to hundreds of people. I lost count of the people who congratulated me for standing up. Older people were the most supportive, perhaps because they've had longer to be disillusioned by politicians.

Anyway, I won the Primary and it all became very real. I now had 4 weeks to plan a campaign, find & organise volunteers, print leaflets, design posters and raise money. Raising money was the hardest part. The parties have rigged the system in their favour to squeeze everyone else out and it's incredibly difficult. To date I've raised over £10,000 and every penny was warmly welcomed.

Trying to campaign for the European Elections is a real challenge. For Westminster or Holyrood you have a fairly small constituency that you could easily walk across in a day, so it's not too hard to really focus your efforts. But for prospective MEPs, your constituency is the whole of Scotland - a huge area to cover. Again, for the big parties this isn't a problem as they have members, societies and groups all over, but for one guy in Falkirk, it's difficult. Over the last few weeks I've been to Aberdeen, Inverness, Fort William, Skye, Harris & Lewis, Arran, Dumfries, Lochgelly and Hawick as well as Edinburgh, Glasgow, Perth & Dundee. I've done radio interviews with Radio Orkney, Radio Shetland, BBC Scotland, Radio Forth and I've got one with Sunny Govan Radio on Wednesday. I've been printed in the Times, the Guardian, the Scotsman and the Stornoway Gazette. I've done three filmed interviews for the BBC too. In between all this, I've tried to blog regularly here, keep up on message boards, run a Facebook page and tweat on Twitter. I've sent dozens of Press Releases to hundreds of media outlets. I've had teams of people putting out 150,000 leaflets and I'm in the process of putting 2000 lamppost posters up.

And the most common phrase I hear is "Jury Team? Never heard of them"

I've been to a few hustings and "Meet the Candidate" events too and they're an eye-opener. The difference between the main parties and the others is stark. The main parties don't give a damn. They rarely send anyone from anywhere near the top of the lists. The main SNP candidates, Mr & Mrs Hudgton and Alyn Smith are conspicuous by their absence. In fact, the SNP tend to send local councillors if they send anyone at all. But all the main parties act the same at the event - long-winded speeches saying nothing. Close your eyes and you wouldn't be able to tell who's speaking. UKIP rant on with their tin-foil hats firmly in place with the most ridiculous scare stories. The Socialists are the funniest though. If the audience asks for £1, they compete amongst themselves to offer £2, £3, £4, £500 back. Anything you want and the Socialists will promise it. Farm subsidies? Double them. Working Time Directive of 48hrs? They'll give you a working week of 30hrs. Pension rise with inflation? They'll give you £24,000 a year. Maternity leave? Two years for both mother and father on full pay. The Greens? I never heard them say one single word about the environment. They were too busy in the bidding war with the Socialists.

There's a complacency in the big parties and a desperation in the smaller ones. The big parties know that they'll get in no matter what so they're not trying. PR guarantees them at least one if not two seats. The wee parties know that this, of all times, is their big chance and they're almost frantic in their efforts to promise the world to get a vote.

So where does that leave me? I've got three days of campaigning left. My money's gone, my savings are gone, the pile of leaflets and posters are going down. My supporters are putting in unbelievable efforts that amaze me every day. I'm getting e-mails and letters of support in large numbers and my right hand is two sizes smaller than my left, having been vigorously shaken by so many people saying "Good for you". I get phone calls from bus drivers in Fife and Knights in Edinburgh all wishing me well.

I get the abusive stuff as well of course. Amongst other things I'm a "race traitor" and a "class enemy". I'm a "stooge of the Lib/Lab/Con axis", in the pay of "the EU-Nazis" and a "lackey of the WTO". Then there's all the stuff that's not fit to type.

There's three days left and I'm going to give it all I've got. Jury Team have got it spot on with their analysis of all that's wrong in British politics. Putting Independents into every Parliament will totally transform politics. I'm not saying it's the end of the parties - they have an important role and they'll always have support, but if we can open up the closed cess-pit with a fresh breeze and force the parties to abandon the anti-democratic practices they've slipped into - especially in the last thirty years, I really believe we can get what we all want: a better and fairer society where everyone can have a real say.

Expenses - The Honourable Solution

2009-05-31T16:01:00.000-07:00

Bin Laden Captured

2009-05-31T15:49:00.001-07:00

Come on. It's late, I'm tired and it made me smile.

History In The Making

2009-05-29T10:40:00.000-07:00

This is the first time that Independents have had an Election Broadcast on TV in Britain.

Cleaning up Politics

2009-05-28T16:32:00.000-07:00

PRESS RELEASE

IMMEDIATE

29th May 2009

TIME TO CLEAN UP POLITICS IN SCOTLAND

On Monday the 1st of June Scottish politics will be receiving a much needed clean up at the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh. Like many people in Scotland, Alan Wallace, a Jury Team independent candidate for the forthcoming European elections wants to see the political environment cleaned up. Never one to wait and rely on others Alan and a small team will be at the Scottish Parliament Main Entrance at 1.00pm on Monday with buckets, mops and soapy water in hand, with one aim...

to try to clean up politics once and for all.

Alan and supporters of The Jury Team will aim to scrub clean the facade of the parliament building. Alan states, “It’s time we all took a stance against the corruption which exists within politics today and for politicians to start acting in the interest of the people they represent and not their party line. What we are doing today is a small step but the people of Scotland can make a real difference on Thursday the 4th by selecting a candidate who will stand for what they believe is really important and is free from the corruption which has been making so many headlines over the past weeks. Vote for The Jury Team on Thursday and you will be putting in place a politician who will work for You not the Party Line”.

ENDS

So, what are you doing on Monday 1st? Come along and join in (or at least watch) the fun at the Parliament in Edinburgh.

Labour & SNP almost on shagging terms

2009-05-28T03:42:00.000-07:00

I almost spewed my coffee when I read this, so I thought I'd share.

From The Basa over at http://www.edinburghsucks.com/

http://www.edinburghsucks.com/2009/05/28/labour-snp-almost-on-shagging-terms/

Part Of The Solution

2009-05-28T00:34:00.000-07:00

A guest post today from janetweightreed over at My life as an artist

Not one usually to get involved in politics, recently I have written a couple of posts with a political slant.

In my recent post entitled 'Exposing the Core' I talked about the massive 'shift' we are experiencing in all areas of society, and most certainly in government.

Using the apple as an analogy, it is as if the system has been cut in half, ezposing the core and seeds for all to see. What we have found, is something that many of us have always suspected, - that the core of the apple is rotton, contaminating any new and fresh seeds of thought.

I heard about the Jury Team a few months ago. On the surface Sir Paul Judge, its founder, might come across as 'pure establishment' someone who would appear to be part of the problem rather than the solution.

However, having known Paul since 1970 I can say that he is one of the most honourable people I know, and beneath his vaneer of wealth and success is a man with a brilliant mind and a desire to bring positive change in many areas of society. Over the years he has not been afraid to put his money where is mouth is, particularly in the area of education.

Today will see the first ever Party Election Broadcast being screened in every region of Britain promoting independent candidates standing under the Jury Team umbrella.

To see Sir Paul Judge and the Jury Team candidates outline their aims and ambitions for the European elections tune into see the Jury Team Party Election Broadcast at the following times today, Thursday 28th May.

BBC One (England, Wales, Scotland - 10.35 p.m.)

BBC Two (England, Wales, Scotland - 11.20 p.m.

ITV 10.30 p.m.

STV Scotland 11.00 p.m.

S4C Wales 11.00 p.m.

Every one of our votes do count....take the time to look at the Jury Team - they are definitely working towards being part of the solution rather than the problem.

For more information about the Jury Team go to www.juryteam.org and to partipate in discussion and learn about upcoming events go to www.juryteam.socialgo.com

A Bientot

Tories Want Scots To Vote For A Thief

2009-05-27T01:03:00.000-07:00

The Tory Party's much-trumpeted crackdown on expenses cheats in their ranks is just a PR Exercise. Their lead candidate in Scotland, Struan Stevenson, was caught "Signing In and Sodding Off" in 2004.

He was accused on the Today programme of signing the MEPs' register that declared he was attending meetings in the Belgian capital but then, one hour later, flying back to Scotland while still pocketing the 262 euros (roughly £180) per day expenses for meals and subsistence in Brussels.

Mr Stevenson said he had been traduced and that the allowance, which also covered his accommodation costs in Brussels, was claimed by everyone.

This answer, however, only begged further questions - the obvious one being that just because everyone else claimed it, did that make it right for Mr Stevenson to do it, too? And if he was legitimately claiming for his accommodation costs, why did he not pay back that part of the allowance that related to meals in Brussels that he didn't eat?

One MSP, who was not unsympathetic to Mr Stevenson's predicament, nevertheless asked whether the MEP would be happy to pay one of his farm labourers a full day's pay if that man turned up at 8am but then cleared off an hour later. Daily Telegraph

This is the weakness of the Party List system. Mr Stevenson has been a politician all his life and excelled at climbing the greasy pole. Three terms in Westminster and now seeking a third term in Brussels, Mr Stevenson is well-versed in the black arts of politics. So little wonder that he has sufficient weight in the party to ensure he heads the Party List. But where does that leave the voter? Every vote for the Conservatives is a vote for this man, a known expenses cheat. The Party obviously doesn't care about his shady past, a fact that gives the lie to all Cameron's attempts to be the white knight cleaning up the Tory Party.

A vote for the Conservatives on June 4th is a vote for corruption.

Sunny D's A Control Freak At Heart

2009-05-26T15:48:00.000-07:00

Awwww, isn't "Call me Dave" Cameron a nice guy? Never mind "Hug a Hoodie", the whole country just wants to give him a big soppy cuddle for all the things he's been saying lately. Our new Wolfie Smith has been storming Westminster with his "Power To The People" warcry. It fair makes the bottom lip tremble and the tears well up with pride that this multi-millionaire champion of the people is going to cast off the shackles that oppress us and lead us into the Promised Land. Sing Hallelujah brothers and sisters.

Er,

But don't sing too loudly near Ralph Buckle, Chairman of the University of York Conservatives. He might not appreciate it. See, he's just been expelled from the Conservative Party, out on his ear for suggesting that Euro-sceptic Tories might want to vote UKIP if they shared their values. (Why stop there - every thief and swindler in Britain has something in common with UKIP). Sunny D dropped the fluffy facade long enough to kick Ralph where it hurts. Y'see, Cameron is all for Free Speech and Open Democracy - that is to say, he's all for talking about it. You don't think for a moment that he means it do you?

Hell no. A Party man must NEVER voice an opinion that hasn't been approved by Central Office. A Party man must NEVER think for himself - not while the Party pays a lot of expensive suits to do the thinking for them.

Arbeit macht frei - but the Party doesn't, not any of them. A Party man is a beaten man, a whipped puppy, an opinion-less drone.

Your choice. On June 4th vote for the independent Jury Team candidate that is free to speak their mind, free to speak out against sleaze and corruption or vote for the Party man who puts his Party before you.

Sunny D - Waffle, Spin & Shite

2009-05-26T03:05:00.000-07:00

David Cameron's so-called sweeping reforms are actually just the usual airy-fairy political crap we've come to expect from the main parties. The PR man is mouthing platitudes and echoing anything he hears if he thinks it will get his arse closer to the big seat.

Asked why the party was not making a firm commitment to bring in fixed-term Parliaments, Shadow foreign secretary William Hague told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "It's the first time we have ever raised that proposal as a party of course we want to set the debate going about that.

Heard it all before chummy. You'll bury the idea in a welter of committees, wait a few years until you think we've forgotten, then quietly ditch it.

But Mr Cameron rejects any change from the current system.
"Proportional representation takes power away from the man and woman in the street and hands it to the political elites," he says.

And there you have it. He hasn't learnt a thing from this. We've still got politicians sitting in the Palace of Westminster spouting the most Bod-awful cockwaffle that bears absolutely no relation to what ordinary people are saying and thinking. He wants to keep FPTP because this is the only system that can deliver massive majorities. And with a massive majority, he can stick two fingers up at the electorate, just as Thatcher & Blair did and as Brown continues to do.

Get stuffed Cameron. We won't be fooled by you and your like again.

Time to get some independents in to start really kicking up a racket in the political system. Independents aren't controlled by the men in grey suits. Independendents think independently.

Monsters In Disguise

2009-05-25T14:38:00.000-07:00

Why A Party Vote Is A Wasted Vote

2009-05-25T06:03:00.000-07:00

I understand people who vote for a party because there's one strong policy they agree with. It might be only one policy out of a dozen, but it's enough to get their vote.

But then the Party MEP goes off to Europe and joins another party - the Christian Democrats or the Socialist Alliance or something like that. Now his Party's 12 policies get mixed in with policies from representatives of up to 26 other countries - your one policy that you agree with so much and for which you voted, is now just one policy amongst maybe three hundred other policies.

Further, your Party MEP is now ordered how to vote by his European Party Whip, who takes precedence over his UK Party Whip, (this is why David Cameron wanted to pull the Tories out of the Christian Democrats - his orders were being over-ruled).

Basically, your Party MEP is now just voting fodder for some foreign party who you never voted for, who you know nothing about and over whom you have absolutely no control.

An Independent MEP doesn't have any of that. He works directly for the people who voted for him - not a French/German/Italian/Polish guy who can order him to vote this way or that way. This is precisely why the SNP vote against Scotland's interests nearly 50% of the time.

Jury Team are all Independent Candidates who have sworn to act for their constituents first, second and always. They will never be subjected to a Party Whip.

Darling Can't Count

2009-05-25T02:54:00.000-07:00

Alistair Darling is among nine cabinet members who used £11,000 of taxpayers' money to pay for personal accountancy advice, the Daily Telegraph has said.

Hold on. This is the guy who, together with Gordon Brown, actually devised the tax system. Now it seems he doesn't understand it.

Why the hell is he Chancellor of the Exchequer? Wouldn't it be a good idea to have someone in that post who can count to 12 without taking his shoes and socks off?

He's come up with a tax system so cumbersome, convoluted and unwieldy that he has to employ someone to explain it to him. What chance do the rest of us have? Unlike Darling and his colleagues, we can't just shove it on expenses along with everything else.

UKIP - Thieves like the rest of them

2009-05-23T16:18:00.001-07:00

Mr Sanctimonious, Nigel Farage of UKIP has been blatting on about how his party won't be talking about expenses during this campaign. He should have listened to his own advice.

He's just been caught boasting about how he's personally creamed off £2 million from his expenses and allowances.

The leader of the UK Independence party (Ukip), which wants to lead Britain out of the EU, has taken £2m of taxpayers' money in expenses and allowances as a member of the European Parliament, on top of his £64,000 a year salary.
Nigel Farage, who is calling on voters to punish "greedy Labour, Conservative and Lib Dem MPs" at the European elections on 4 June, boasted of his personal expenses haul at a meeting with foreign journalists in London last week.
During a debate about Europe at the Foreign Press Association - which was discreetly taped by the hosts - Farage was asked by former Europe minister Denis MacShane what he had received in non-salary expenses and allowances since becoming an MEP in 1999.
"It is a vast sum," Farage said. "I don't know what the total amount is but - oh lor - it must be pushing £2 million."

Give them enough rope, as the saying goes.

Maybe now people will realise that there's only one option open to them on June 4th. A vote for a party, any party, is a vote for corruption.

Vote for the only option to stamp out the sleaze. Vote for the whistleblowers - Jury Team.

Community Payback

2009-05-23T15:02:00.001-07:00

And so the damage limitation machine slides smoothly into action, led by the witless Archbishop of Canterbury. He's been calling for people to let up on the poor 'ickle politicians caught with their fingers in the till.

The Archbishop of Canterbury has warned the "systematic humiliation" of MPs over their expenses is a threat to democracy in Britain.

Two things. Firstly, this is the House of Commons that was behind the systematic shaming of minor offenders by putting them in day-glo vests when they're doing their Community Service orders. The argument then was that shaming plays a part both in deterring others and cutting re-offending rates. I don't see many MPs wearing High Visibility Vests with "Community Payback" written on them. I don't see many people on Community Service orders being offered the option of getting away scot-free just by saying "Terribly sorry old chap".

One Country - One Set Of Laws - Applicable To All

Let's have some Community Payback. If the most we can expect is to see MPs named and shamed in the Press, that's the very least of their problems.

But the bearded wonder goes on to somehow imply that democracy is at threat.

Dr Rowan Williams said the daily press revelations could erode people's confidence in the political system.

In the words of the legendary Watson "No shit Sherlock". Finding out what's been going on does tend to raise eyebrows. Would the blithering Bish prefer the press didn't report it? I rather think he would. But he misses the point.

We didn't go to war with Germany because the press said Herr Hitler was a bad guy, we did it because he bloody invaded Poland! We're not furious with politicians because the press write stories, we're furious because they've been stealing from us for years.

And the only reason they're feeling sorry for themselves and handing some back is because they were bloody well caught!

If it hadn't been leaked, they would have carried on regardless, getting duck houses and dog food, moats cleaned and wisteria pruned. They would have been shafting us daily and getting rich off our backs whilst all the while telling us sanctimoniously to tighten our belts in a recession. We lose our jobs. We lose our homes, marriages fail, crime goes up, people die as a direct result of their incompetence and all the time they're stuffing their faces in restaurants subsidised by us, getting rich on the property ladder subsidised by us. Whilst we live in fear of going to jail because this month the choice was between food for the kids and the TV licence, they're buying 50" Plasma TVs and having them delivered all over the country.

Democracy is at stake you bearded buffoon because people have found out that we don't have democracy. The stone has been lifted and as the worms squirm and the cockroaches scuttle, we're finding out about the profoundly sleazy nature of Westminster. Party Whips and blokes in tights fighting tooth and nail to fashion laws to suit the political classes. Politicians pass laws one day giving the State the power to read every e-mail in the country then the next day they try to exempt themselves from Freedom of Information. These buggers forced millions of smokers into the streets, made lepers of them all and delivered a mortal blow to the pub industry, but they exempted themselves. They puff away merrily in Commons Bars, sniggering at us bloody proles.

Archbishop of Canterbury I've got news for you. This is 2009, not 1009. We don't have an aristocracy with the power of life and death over the peasants. I know you and your lot did rather well out of the Feudal System, but we ain't going back.

We will have our pound of flesh and I suggest you shut your trap and keep your head down. Because once we've finished with this lot, we've got an eye on you and your chums in the House of Lords.

The Absolute Hypocrisy of UKIP

2009-05-22T15:04:00.000-07:00

This is the party that "Doesn't feel the need to campaign on MPs expenses". Yeah well we know why, don't we Mr Farage? Don't want anyone looking too close to home do you?

Hat Tip - Libertas

Suicide Watch? Get a grip?

2009-05-22T12:09:00.000-07:00

Heard some Tory woman on the radio tonight bleating that the atmosphere in Westminster is the worst she's ever known, there was "terror in the eyes" of MPs and they're really concerned about suicides. MPs are being put under pressure that is "beyond the bearing of human beings"

GOOD

But she's talking out of her bahookie anyway. Want to know what real pressure is dear? Try working in a business that's failing, posting losses and making 3, 4, 5 people redundant every Friday. Try living under the pressure of not knowing if you're going to have a job next week. Or being told your hours are being cut or you're going to have some unpaid holidays.

That's REAL pressure.

And the public don't get the luxury of being told "You're losing your job, but not for a year. Carry on stuffing your pockets until then - it's all within the rules and remember we'll give you a £30,000 farewell gift and a pension. You'll get to keep the plasma tellys, the laptops, the photocopiers, the furniture and the house that the taxpayer paid for too."

They just don't, can't, won't get it will they? They live like Royalty, insulated from the real world and they're trembling in terror at the thought of a newspaper headline?

Give me strength.

Sod this letting them step down next year lark. If any of them are even suspected of breaching public trust, they should resign their seats immediately. We simply cannot afford to have thieves with their hands on the purse strings.

Letters to Voters

2009-05-21T06:29:00.001-07:00

Been getting a lot of e-mails directly from constituents lately. It's hard when there's a 1001 things happening, but I try to respond honestly and openly.

Here are two examples. The first was to the Royal College Of Nursing.

Dear Erin,

My colleague passed your e-mail and manifesto onto me. My name is Alan Wallace and I am the number one list candidate with Jury Team in Scotland.

My mother is a District Nurse and has been for over 30 years now. I grew up hearing of life as a nurse and I have seen first hand the difficulties that nurses face trying to deliver the patient care their training expects whilst coping with constantly changing management demands. I have seen my mother crying with frustration at times, so this is something that really does matter to me.

The EU does not have a direct remit for health at the moment, although there are moves in this direction. It is of vital importance that Nurses are adequately represented in Europe now, before legislation is passed. It'll be no good campaigning after the event. We can do much to influence policy over the next five years.

I feel that we cannot continue to fool ourselves with the faded mantra that the NHS is the "envy of the world". It isn't any more. A 200% increase in the money spent on quangos (over £700 million a year now) since Labour took power in 1997 has been money wasted. Politicians eager to make a splash in the media have meddled incessantly and all to the detriment of nurses.

I want to change that. I believe the answers to NHS reform are to be found with nurses and doctors, not with chairmen and directors.

I would be delighted to work hand in hand with the RCN to help heal the NHS and bring the best in European practice to Britain.

Most of all, I owe it to my mother.

Yours sincerely

Alan Wallace

This one was a quite detailed question list.

Hello Paula,

My Jury Team colleague Austin passed your questions on to me and I'd be happy to reply. My name is Alan Wallace

1) What do you consider should be the role for Scotland within Europe?

Scotland, whether part of the UK or as an Independent member brings a strong tradition of liberal democracy to the European Union. We should never forget that the Scottish Enlightenment has made Europe and indeed the world at large a safe place for democracy. The lead we have shown Europe and the lead we continue to show Europe when you look at the transparent and open nature of the Scottish Parliament is one that we need to shout about and hold up as an example. Scotland has an enviable record of integrating new arrivals whilst being tolerant of their beliefs and I think our experience here is something Europe can learn from. The fact that our politicians are arguably closer to their constituents than anywhere else in Europe is also something to be proud of. In environmental industry, charities and in our criminal justice system, Scotland is regarded as one of the leading nations in the world. So our role is to continue to lead by example.

2) How do you consider that the European Parliament should influence the rest of the world, particularly in relationship to issues such as development/ health and education funding in developing countries?

This is an area where we urgently need reform of the Common Agricultural Policy. We have import tariffs of over 200% on some goods from developing countries whilst the EU actively subsidises European farmers to produce the same goods. Sugar beet for example is subsidised to the tune of hundreds of millions of Euros a year whilst Third World producers of sugar cane face import tariffs. The best way to help developing nations in my opinion is to allow them to trade fairly, as full and equal partners. It is insane that we spend millions paying French farmers to produce sugar
when developing countries are desperate to sell it to us at a fair price. Reforming the CAP would be the single greatest act Europe could possibly do for developing countries.

3) How would you use the European Parliament to work towards better equality in life expectancy across Scotland?

We urgently need to look at why the NHS compares so badly with health care systems in Europe. We spend over £700m a year on quangos, up almost 200% since New labour came to power promising to cut quangos. In the NHS, someone contracts MRSA or C Diff every 10 minutes. 6500 people a year die unnecessarily from these hospital-acquired infections, that's 120 a week. In European countries, that figure is just 100 deaths
a year, less than 2 a week. We must stop patting ourselves on the back and telling each other that the NHS is the "envy of the world". It isn't and we can learn a lot from European healthcare.

4) What is the single most important issue to you in these elections?

Cleaning up the politics. We must bring MEPs and the European Parliament closer to ordinary people. We must be able to trust our politicians. As recent events have shown and the very reason Jury Team exists, our party political system is institutionally corrupt and undemocratic. We can't expect politicians who have spent their entire careers immersed in a culture of abusing power and money to suddenly change their spots.

If our politicians can't change, we must change the politicians.

5) What do you think should be done to ensure that MEP's expenses are probably and fairly administered?

The winds of change are blowing through Westminster right now, but the European Parliament is unaffected, despite being arguably the most corrupt and wasteful political organisation on the planet. The existing MEPs and the party candidates are serene and aloof from the furore in Westminster but they are complicit in a deeply corrupt institution. I intend to lead by example. I will publish all my expenses online every month. In addition, I will publish a schedule whereby people will see a month in advance what votes are coming up and who I am meeting with. Any member of the public will be able to post questions online for me to put to people I'm meeting with. They will be able to publicly indicate what votes are important. I will answer all posts. This is Open Democracy. This is real transparency. My hope is that other MEPs who are in marginal seats will see that what I do is popular and good for the
European Parliament. Being the people they are, they will be most attracted if they think it will get them votes.

My intention is to start a ripple. One man acting openly and honestly can influence those around him who will in turn influence others. This will in time become a wave backed by public opinion that will bring reform to the heart of the EU.

I hope this answers your questions Paula and thank you for going to the trouble of asking.

Yours

Alan Wallace

Who's Whipping Who Now?

2009-05-20T14:21:00.000-07:00

Bill Wiggin smiling broadly as he fills in his expenses claim form

A Tory whip claimed mortgage interest on his constituency home even though the house had never had a mortgage on it, the Daily Telegraph has reported.

Bill Wiggin said he made a mistake on the forms which was picked up in 2006. He said he should have been claiming for interest on his London second home. BBC

Oh I'm going to enjoy this one. I hate whips, the whole idea sets my teeth on edge. It's why I could never have stood for a party. What the hell gives a whip the right to force me to vote against the interests of the people who voted for me?

So come on Bill, how do you accidentally claim money for something you never had? It's like claiming petrol for a car you never owned, or child benefit when you're not a parent.

This is pure, unadulterated fraud. He's stolen money that could have been better spent elsewhere. In fact, I'd rather buy Hazel Blears a gimp mask than see my money go into your pocket. Will you resign now or wait until you're dragged off to a cell?

What do you mean Blears has already got one and wears it all the time?

Esther Rantzen Stands By Jury Team

2009-05-20T06:55:00.000-07:00

Breaking News - SKY

Thieving Tories See The Light

2009-05-20T05:23:00.000-07:00

It's a compliment I suppose when the major parties start nicking your ideas. Not a surprise though. As we've seen, politicians nick anything in sight if it's not nailed down. First we had Sunny D demanding that Parliament be dissolved and a General Election called, using exactly the same terms and reasoning as I did when I wrote here on the 11th May. Nice to be appreciated by my readers.

But someone at Conservative HQ must have been digging a little deeper to find the Jury Team site because now they're jumping up and down about Open Primaries as if they're an innovation for the UK. Well they are, but only because Jury Team were the innovators. Here they are with Paxman, about 2:40 in - Newsnight

Just a reminder for our Conservative readers - an Open Primary means the public choose between candidates who put themselves forward, not from a list selected at Tory HQ. If you want to really embrace democracy, you can't do it with strings attached.

Mind you, if you really want democracy it'll mean disbanding the parties entirely and I rather think the vested interests at all the Party HQ's will fight tooth and nail to stay on the gravy train.

So don't expect democracy from the parties really. There's nothing in it for them.

My Personal Contract With The Voters

2009-05-19T10:58:00.000-07:00

(click to enlarge)

I received an e-mail out of the blue yesterday from a voter. He has drawn up a contract which he has sent to every party with a candidate standing in Scotland. I'm happy to sign it and further, I'm happy to make the same contract with the voters of Scotland.

SNP - Half Hearted Nationalists

2009-05-19T05:31:00.000-07:00

The SNP have launched their campaign for the Euro Elections. Alex Salmond told the BBC at the launch -

his was the only party offering a strong voice for Scotland in Europe.

Bullshit.

The SNP isn't interested in the people of Scotland. The SNP is interested in the SNP and the rest of us can go hang.

Check out Vote Watch, an independent site that analyses all MEPs voting records.

Ian Hudghton voted loyally for the party 87.82% of the time, and showed loyalty to Scotland 57.42% of the time. Alyn Smith voted loyally for the party 88.63% of the time and showed loyalty to Scotland 55.12% of the time. There are 695 MEPs in Brussels more loyal to their home country than Smith, out of 777. That doesn't sound like a strong voice for Scotland in Europe to me at all. That sounds like a strong voice from the SNP for the SNP.

Party Politicians are in it for the Party. The only time you count is when they want your vote.

Tell you what, vote for the guy who's going to put Scotland's interests first 100% of the time, not 55.12% of the time.

Vote Independent, Vote Jury Team

One Down, Over Six Hundred To Go

2009-05-19T03:20:00.000-07:00

Speaker Martin 'to resign this afternoon'

One small step for man, now will the rest follow suit and allow the people of Britain the choice of continuing with corrupt thieves or getting new blood in?

Lining up the Scapegoat

2009-05-17T09:35:00.000-07:00

So Nick Clegg is going to try and get rid of the speaker is he? No problem with that, going by stories like this:

Stonborough said Martin had repeatedly failed to confront the issue of expenses. In 2003, he said, Martin lost his temper at the suggestion that his decision to claim a second home allowance on his house in Glasgow while living in a grace and favour home in Westminster did not “look good”.

“He reacted extremely violently,” said Stonborough, who added that Commons officials were too scared to question his decisions.

Too scared to question his decisions? Too scared to do their jobs? I think it's about time MPs learnt just who they really work for and I don't care how many silly robes and pairs of tights they wear.

But all that is to miss the point rather. Our MPs are now going to turn around and blame everything on the Speaker. "Please Miss, that big boy in the tights made us do it". To hell with that.

I was at an open air market thing today, handing out leaflets and just chatting. The depth of anger and revulsion at politicians I heard was incredible. And of course it got worse when I explained why MPs think the way they do, that the Party system forces the good ones to keep quiet. At one point someone asked who was funding me. I laughed and replied "You, if you'll put your hand in your pocket. Come on, cough up a quid to get rid of the crooks." The reaction was astonishing. People pushed forward to put pound coins into my hands. I collected £108 in about ten minutes. People really are desperate to get the smug, self-satisfied, arrogant gits out.

The money will be well-spent. I have a Scottish marketing company who are so sold on the Jury Team concept that they're matching every pound I raise with a pound of their own to cover the cost of leaflets, posters, adverts and so on.

By the way, there's a shiny "Donate" button at the top of the page. Every pound you give will be doubled and will help get an Independent into Europe.

And I'll promise you this, there's no bugger in tights going to scare me into shutting up.

Too Little, Too Late

2009-05-16T15:34:00.000-07:00

A Guest spot from a fellow fish-head down in the South West. Bill's a great bloke and this post from his blog chimes with my thoughts exactly.

I haven't blogged much this week, as I've been watching the expenses story continue to unfold. This week has givem us a rush of party leaders and dodgy MPs queuing up to say "sorry" on primetime TV. Let's be straight here -

THE ONLY THING THEY ARE SORRY ABOUT IS GETTING CAUGHT.

There is a changing public mood (I have never seen an edition of BBC's Question Time like last night's - although Margaret Beckett would seem to have a new career as a panto villain sewn up when the voters of Derby South tell her to take her hanging baskets and sling her hook). Jury Team candidates are in a fantastic position to offer the electorate a real, positive choice.

As well as the rush to apologise, there also appears to be a sudden clamouring within the political elite to bring new standards of transparency and decency in public life.

SORRY FOLKS; TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE

Is it a mere coincidence that they seem to have discovered basic morality only after the Daily Telegraph started exposing their excesses? This is fundamentally why Jury Team candidates are different; By entering the text vote primary, all Jury Team candidates explicitly accepted the principle that "Politicians should fully comply with the Nolan Principles of Public Life and have externally decided and transparent remuneration". The Jury Team text primary ran from 16th March to 24th April. The Daily Telegraph ran with the scoop on 8th May.

The evidence is clear - Jury Team Independent candidates base their position on principle and conviction - career politicians of all parties simply say what they think the public wants to hear, and even then, only when they are effectively backed into a corner.

I am particularly disgusted by the process of "flipping" properties, not only to maximise the allowances that can be claimed, but also to cynically avoid Capital Gains Tax. I don't particularly like stumping up my hard earned cash to the Revenue any more than the next man, however I accept that paying tax is an obligation and public duty - I want to live in a society which educates the young, looks after the sick and disabled, supports those in need, and gives the elderly dignity in their retirement. Schools, hospitals, pensions, social-security, defence - they all cost money, and that money has to be raised through taxes. In my book, manipulating the system to avoid paying tax that's due is morally repugnant. The sight of Hazel Blears and Greg Barker waving cheques around to apparently pay HMRC the money they supposedly "don't owe" (?) in unpaid Capital Gains Tax is truly bizarre. If they don't owe the tax, why are they paying it (especially as HMRC has a statutory duty to only take payment where it is due) - on the other hand if they do owe the tax, where is the interest and penalty charges? I'll be writing to the Revenue to ask them.....

Voting for Donkeys

2009-05-16T08:02:00.000-07:00

Been looking at the candidate's lists in Scotland and it makes depressing reading. They certainly seem to be working on the principle of sticking the right coloured rosette on a donkey and it'll get votes. Of the 23 candidates standing for the main parties, 9 are long term career politicians who've been in the game 20, 25 years or more. No doubt now collecting their reward for long years of Party service, all of them would be automatically barred by Jury Team under our three term max rule. Seeing the looks of stunned astonishment on the Westminster lot as the public vent their anger, it's easy to see that when people spend too long in politics they lose touch with the real world. They simply do not have a clue how ordinary people live.

Going down the lists, there's the usual suspects. Six of them are working the University-"Researcher"-MP/MEP route. A tried and tested method that makes sure that Party lickspittles keep beavering away in hopes of reward. Not having experienced a real job, little wonder that when the Party says "Jump" they don't even come back down until they get permission. There's a couple of bureacrats who no doubt know all the shady tricks of the EU and the usual mix of party workers and activists, mostly there to make up the numbers.

There are a couple of what I would call real people, people who have done a day's work and got their hands dirty. People for whom the receipt from Tescos doesn't automatically go into an envelope marked "Expenses", but they're both pretty far down the lists and have no chance of election. Probably there as the token "member of the proletariat" to be wheeled out in front of the cameras as somehow being evidence that the Party is linked to the real world.

It's depressing reading really. If we're going to change politics for the better, make it more accountable and relevant, then these just aren't the people to do it. They've all got a vested interest in maintaining the status quo.

No doubt some will get elected then off they'll toddle to Brussels, never to be seen again until the next election. Plus ca change plus c'est la meme chose, as our French chums would say.

Well stuff that. Let's send a rocket up the arses of the main parties and let them really know they've gone too far this time. If you're reading this and thinking "I'm a party man and I'll always support them", here's your chance to really get their attention.

The Parties don't really care about Europe, they don't care about MEPs. Can you name an MEP? Well done you if you can because the vast majority of the public can't. That's because the Parties use Europe as a dumping ground for their more embarassing but too-senior-to-be-sacked members. They use it as a reward for long-serving Party members & activists and as a training ground for students. Why do you think no Jack Straw's, Malcolm Rifkind's, John Sweeney's or Charles Kennedy's go for an MEP slot? They would undoubtedly get first place on the Party list and be guaranteed a slot. The answer is MEPs are effectively powerless Party functionaries who get ignored by the media. The six from Scotland are swallowed up by the mass of more than seven hundred other MEPs. All the bullshit being spouted about "A Stronger Voice for Scotland" is just that - bullshit. They pounce on any piece of EU legislation that benefits Scotland and promptly announce "I did that. That was me that was." Like hell it was. Do you think six MEPs can persuade the other seven hundred to do something for Scotland?

No, let's use this election to do something different. Let's show the Parties that we're serious about wanting them to change, we're seriously hacked off with the corruption and we're serious about wanting to be heard. Vote for an Independent. It's not being disloyal, it's not going to hurt your preferred Party in the slightest. But it will make them realise that reforming themselves is urgently necessary.

A vote for an Independent is a vote for yourself.

Queen speaks out about expenses

2009-05-15T15:31:00.000-07:00

Can We Trust the Incompetent?

2009-05-15T02:59:00.000-07:00

Depending on your point of view, it's clear that the MPs caught out in the expenses scandal are either borderline criminal or at the very least, incompetent.

After all, the Green Book on claims says clearly

should be wholly, exclusively and necessarily incurred for the performance of a Member's parliamentary duties

I can't see how trouser presses and hanging flower baskets fit in there. Never mind that some of them are paying them back. Never mind that some claims were refused.

What kind of idiot cannot understand -

wholly, exclusively and necessarily incurred for the performance of a Member's parliamentary duties

And yet, these are the same people who claim to have read all 270 pages and 160,000 words of the Lisbon Treaty and tell us it's perfectly fine and nothing to worry about.

Here's what Giuliano Amato said about the Lisbon Treaty in a speech to the Centre of European Reform on the 12th July 2007 -

They decided that the document should be unreadable. If it is unreadable, it is not constitutional, that was the perception... Should you succeed in understanding it at first sight there might be some reason for a referendum because it would mean that there was something new.

Then you have the Belgian Foreign Minister speaking to Flandreinfo on the 3rd July 2007 -

The aim of the Constitutional Treaty was to be more readable; the aim of this (Lisbon) Treaty is to be unreadable... The constitution aimed to be clear, whereas this treaty had to be unclear. It is a success.

So we're expected to believe that MPs who cannot comprehend 13 words guiding expense claims have managed to read, digest and understand 160,000 words of a treaty designed to be unreadable?

And then they decide not to let us have a say in a referendum. Just in case anyone did actually read the thing and understand it I suppose.

We simply cannot trust them.
We simply cannot allow this to continue.
We have a simple solution.

Don't vote for anyone connected to the political machine that has been lying to us for so long. I'm prepared to take my chances with 72 total strangers on June 4th rather than those that have repeatedly demonstrated they can't be trusted.

Clean Out The Cesspit

2009-05-14T14:02:00.000-07:00

"The time has come," the Walrus said,

"To talk of many things:

Of moats and troughs and stealing tax

Of cabbages and kings

And why the sea is boiling hot

And whether pigs have wings."

Apologies to Lewis Carrol

Oh dear. "The parties need to work together to reform the system" has been the theme of MPs today. Don't they understand? The parties are the problem. The party system with it's "nudge nudge, wink wink" subculture is not only complicit in the institutionalised corruption in Westminster, it is a major cause of greed. What aspiring MP is going to blow the whistle on his party colleague? His career would be over before it started. Like the practice of fagging in Public Schools, however much they abhor it, peer pressure forces them to inflict tortures on the new boys. They're seen as weak, weird and untrustworthy if they don't. In a den of thieves, who's going to trust the squealer?

There are some who say the expenses row is a trivial distraction from the real issues. I disagree. Would you trust a child molester to do your babysitting? Would you give a pyromaniac a box of matches? Would you ask the Artful Dodger to mind your wallet? Our MPs are utterly discredited and we need a new broom. Yes good MPs will be swept away too, (the ones who notably kept their mouths shut and put Party before propriety), but are we seriously suggesting that in a country of over 60 million souls we can't find 645 honest replacements?

We need to deep clean Parliament. Out with the MPs who have failed us. Out with the civil servants who signed off the receipts. Out with anyone connected with this whole damn sorry mess.

And we can make a start at the European Elections.

Let's be perfectly frank here. The 72 MEPs we send to Europe are going to do damn all of consequence for Britain. Voters know it, which is why they don't turn out. MEPs cannot introduce legislation, they cannot propose Bills, they cannot change the system. The Council of Ministers can effect change as can the EU Commission, but they're staffed by senior members and ex-members of the sleazy Westminster mire. They're the ultimate winners in the game of climbing the Party greasy pole. Whilst we have unfit MPs, we will always have an unfit EU Council & Commission.

So if our MEPs can't make a meaningful difference to EU Policy, let's use them as a stepping stone to making a meaningful difference in Westminster. Let's send 72 Independents to Europe, Independents who are fundamentally committed to Open Democracy, ending corrupt Party politics and answering directly to voters. Send 72 Independents who will lead by example; publishing expenses before the newspapers do, exposing the waste at the heart of the EU, doing exactly as voters tell them. Give them a year to make a difference. Watch every move they make, analyse every decision, scrutinise every claim. They'll make it easy for you because they'll be telling you every step of the way.

And there's good reason not to send Party MEPs to Brussels. You'll be sending proven trough-snufflers to the biggest trough in the world. Just what do you think will happen when they get their snouts in there? It's the biggest game of "Who wants to be a millionaire?" on the planet.

And that's no exaggeration. David Craig and Matthew Elliott in their book "The Great European Rip-Off" showed in excruciating detail how MEPs can skim off 230,000 Euros a year from expenses and allowances - 1,150,000 Euros over a five year term. The way the pound is going, the Party MPs will be multimillionaires by 2014.

Jury Team Candidates have one thing in common. They differ in opinions about the environment, immigration, EU policies etc etc etc, but they are all wedded to the idea of transparency. If a significant number of them get into Brussels, there'll be more whistle blowing than an FA Cup weekend.

And when the General Election comes you'll have something to compare the Parties to. You'll be able to see if Independent MPs really can make a difference.

I believe they can. And I also believe that, by setting an example they can drag the Parties along the road to reforming themselves and creating a new politics for Britain, one that is truly democratic and always mindful that people come before Parties.

A vote for a Party on June 4th is a wasted vote and a wasted opportunity for real change.

All together now, sing!

2009-05-14T11:48:00.000-07:00

From a fellow Jury Team Candidate, Celia McClure who is standing in the North West Region.

Sing along, you know you want to. (The old Nat King Cole classic, The Party's Over)

The party's over it's time to call it day,
Oh can I claim for balloons or maybe the tunes my cleaner might play?
My moat is clear now, I've flipped my house,
The porns not mine dear it was my spouse.
The party's over cos two brain's light bulbs went dim.
It will be horribly missed the John Lewis list
And the puppy must slim.
Oh what a caper, some rotten hack,
We're in the paper and getting flak.
Maybe its time now to pay some back

The party's over, yes time to call it a day.
A soldier loses a limb, a pittance for him is all they will pay.
Pensioners' rise is 25p
Home repossessions, Child poverty.
The party's over, two million plus on the dole.
But lets not worry 'bout them those women and men but lets find the mole.
Why did we do it? We had no need,
The people see it as simply greed.
Oh yes its over indeed.

The party's over and our poor country is broke,
And none of them will confess that they all made this mess.
More pay - what a joke.
As for the children why can't they see?
A massive debt is their legacy.
The party's over no votes for red or for blues.
The commons now is so hushed
And sorrows are drowned in subsidised booze.
Keep your contrition shurely the end,
No rules were broken you made them bend.
So its over, really over my friend.

CM The Queen of Doggerel

Supporting Scotland

2009-05-14T09:13:00.000-07:00

It's no real surprise that the candidates for the forthcoming Euro Elections are falling over themselves to profess their honesty and probity. I've listened to them all - Lib, Lab, Con, SNP etc etc all banging on about how transparent and above board they intend to be. I bet the ink's barely dry on those speeches and I wonder if pen would have touched paper if their party colleagues hadn't been caught so blatantly helping themselves?

I'm willing to bet not a word would have passed their lips about expenses.

Jury Team was founded on principles of transparency and the demand for MPs to be on the same pay scales as civil servants was penned a long time ago, even before the Speaker's arse started itching. I signed up to Jury Team and pledged to publish my expenses online before the Telegraph story broke. Unsurprising really as those that know me online and in life are well aware that I've always expressed my disgust at the sleaziness and corruption of some of our politicians.

Well here we go again. I wonder if the following pledge will be taken up by the party animals?

When elected, I will donate 10% of my Nett Salary as a Euro MP to Scottish Charities each year.

Jury Team is based on the premise that ordinary people can lead by example, as we'll prove every day upon election. In a small way, Scottish Charities will benefit directly from this Jury Team candidate being elected.

Independents think Independently.

Who Do We Vote For?

2009-05-13T16:45:00.000-07:00

From Craig Murray's blog -

With Euro and local elections coming up, it is tempting to not vote at all. But if we give up on democracy, the alternatives will prove much worse. So please do vote - for change.

My advice is, if you can find a candidate you know to be a good man, you should vote for him regardless of party.

So look at who your candidates are, not what party they belong to. Give special consideration to whether you have an Independent candidate worth supporting, including some of the Jury Team. Remember people are more important than labels.

As you may remember, from 2002-2004 Craig Murray was the British Ambassador to Uzbekistan, before being recalled after criticising Western support for the dictatorial Karimov regime. He subsequently stood against Jack Straw at the 2005 General Election. Craig paid the price for standing up for what was right, something that every Party politician has to bear in mind when considering whether to act for his constituents or his party's interests. Sometimes, the two are totally different things. Every Jury Team candidate is truly independent and does not have to decide where his or her allegiances lie.

Politics should always be about the people not about the party.

How the other half thinks.

2009-05-13T08:39:00.000-07:00

For years I've been a poster on various message boards under the name SWL. Some here may know and recognise me and they'll also know that Jury Team and it's principles could have been written for or by me. One board that I've had a number of bitter debates on over the years is the BBC H2G2 board, a site started by the late Douglas Adams. It attracts a certain type of people, you could say. When I signed up as a candidate for Jury Team, I swore off posting on H2G2 until after the election due to BBC electioneering rules. But I still check it out each day, as you do.

It seems others don't have the same opinion of the current expenses scandal that the majority of the population does. A thread was started today titled "Wouldn't you?".

Wouldn't you ... make the best of any expenses and allowances available if you were an MP. that is?

Be honest!

Some of the responses -

Yes, of course I would. And I'd invent some self-justification in my head if anyone challenged me on the morality of it as people do in these situations.

There's been a lot of talk about "pigs at the trough" and huffing and puffing about the outrageous singular immorality of MPs. Hogwash (no pun intended), anyone who knows anything about the general public will know that if they have the chance of getting something and making someone else shoulder the bill they'll do it.

Some of the expense claims are a bit dodgy but in the end, if they allow them to claim for a second home then that's mostly all that they have done as far as I can see.
Hazel Blears (noisome as she is) did exactly what I considered a couple of years back to avoid capital gains tax on a house sale. In that case I think you'd have been stupid not to do it given that it's within the law. Turned out it my case I'd no need but the potential hole in my finances from capital gains tax made me look into avoiding it quite heavily.

So yes, I'll say yes, I probably would.

Is it just me?

By the way, the full thread can be found here

It's interesting that some people actually seem to not mind what's been going on. Even more interesting that these are the same people who bang on about poverty and iniquity in the world.

Strange, strange people.

Sign the Warrant here!

2009-05-12T07:36:00.000-07:00

There is a petition already running to get a General Election called.

Petition

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to call a general election immediately.
The last two local elections have shown that the people are no longer prepared to tolerate Nu-Labour without a mandate. Gordon Brown is a spent force and MUST now immediately go to the country - anything less will be be outright political fraud and maintenance of their expensive troughing lifestyles at all cost.

It's only got 6 weeks or so to go so we need to get this circulated. E-mail it, blog it, twitter it, whatever. Get this passed on and let's really keep the pressure on. The media sometimes picks up on these things if the totals get high enough so...

Sign It And Pass It On

Pay it Back

2009-05-12T05:43:00.000-07:00

A Guest post from fellow blogger Constantly Furious

Pay It Back - A Campaign

Whenever CF hears of people committing frauds and other self-enriching crimes being punished, their punishment is not only jail or a fine: they usually have to pay back what they stole.

It strikes CF that this is a perfect opportunity for MP's to redeem themselves (well at least partially: we'll never really like you much). But, MP's, you're all a bit hard of hearing, apparently, so we're going to give you some loud, clear directions.

We're going to start a campaign - the PAY IT BACK campaign - you're going to do what we tell you to.

So here's what you're going to do, troughers. Go through all your paperwork; go through the shoeboxes full of receipts; go through what the Daily Telegraph has already published (or could yet publish) about you; gather it all together, and prepare for a long evening with a calculator. Or a spreadsheet. Bet we bought you a laptop recently.

Decide which claims you're completely comfortable with, and which now make you feel (or should make you feel) gut-churningly ashamed. Now add up the claims you now realise were not morally right (fuck whether they were "within the rules" or not - it seems everything is).

Now you've got a total - quite a large one, for some of you - of expenses you know in your heart you shouldn't have claimed. Even if "everyone else was"; even if it was "within the rules".

Make out a cheque for that amount, and pay it back.

Some of these cheques might be quite large. You'll have to do what the rest of us do when we suddenly need a large amount of money: you might have to get a loan; you might perhaps re-mortgage one of your houses, or even - oh dear - sell one. You might have to trade down to a smaller car. Your partner might have to get a job. Tough shit.

When the cheque has cleared (not before - we don't trust you that much), announce to your constituents and to your local press (national press for Cabinet/Shadow Cabinet) exactly how much you paid back, how much you kept and what your reasons were.

Then we'll all know exactly what kind of an MP and person you are, how we feel about you specifically (rather than the troughing class as a whole) and whether we'll let you keep your job. The 'Court of Public Opinion', if you will.

Feel free to pay nothing back at all, as long as you're prepared to stand up in public and announce why you - you personally, not your party, not MP's generally - are not going to give a penny back. Feel free to pay it all back just for good publicity even though you secretly don't think you should - at least we'll have our money back. Pay back as little, or as much, as you're willing to justify personally.

But for fucks sake, get on with it. We're watching you. We're going to Twitter you, and Facebook you, and MySpace you and Blog about you. If you don't know what any of that is, then we'll buy some stamps and fucking write to you. When this campaign gets some legs, you'd better to be one of the first on their hind legs waving a big cheque, not the last.

All together now: "PAY IT BACK ... PAY IT BACK ... PAY IT BACK ...."

UPDATE: its starting: according to Guido Fawkes, Margaret Moran is paying back 22.5 grand for her "dry rot". Come on the of rest you: PAY IT BACK

(Hat tip to Mark Thompson at Mark Reckons, who also suggests tagging Twitter tweets with "#Payitback".)

Does Norman Tebbit Support Jury Team?

2009-05-12T02:27:00.000-07:00

MPs' EXPENSES: Lord Tebbit defies Tories to tell voters: 'Don't vote for ANY party in European elections'

Source - Daily Mail

Lord Tebbit is risking expulsion from the Conservatives after urging voters not to back the party in next month's European elections.
The former Tory chairman said the vote gave anyone outraged by MPs' abuse of expenses an 'ideal opportunity' to send a message to all three main parties by not voting for any of them.
In an interview with the Daily Mail, 78-year-old Lord Tebbit said it was clear that Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat MPs had been behaving like 'welfare junkies' addicted to abusing their Commons allowances.
'Local elections, the great British public should treat just as normal,' he said. 'But at the European elections, in my judgment they should send a very sharp message to the leaders of the three national parties by not voting for any of the national party candidates.'

Just a reminder about Jury Team -

POLITICS WITHOUT PARTIES
Elected representatives should vote according to their view of what is best for the country and their constituents and not at the direction of a political party

Jury Team is not a party. We have no whips forcing MPs to vote this way or that way. Jury Team is a support group for Independents who are standing in every region of the UK at the Euro Elections on June 4th.

Nice to see that the people who really know what is going on recognise that Jury Team is the only logical answer.

Hat Tip - Guido

Stephen Fry Talks Out His Arse

2009-05-11T21:02:00.000-07:00

Jeeves Guffaws At The Common People
From the BBC

Actor Stephen Fry has criticised the interest in MPs' expenses and said that: "It's not that important, it really isn't."

He goes on to say that he has cheated on his own expenses.

I've cheated on expenses and fiddled things, YOU have, of course you have.

Excuse me Mr Fry, I have had an expense account for the last six years and I have NEVER fiddled it, fudged it, exaggerated it or claimed for anything for which I didn't have a receipt and which wasn't absolutely necessary for my job.

And I'm sure there are many others as outraged as I am at being called a thief by you.

My mother taught me right from wrong.

We're not talking about taking a few pens from the office here, we're talking about serious fraud running to hundreds of thousands of pounds. That may be a piffling amount to you, but it could be a lifetime's earnings for someone on minimum wage.

How the other half lives eh?

Petition To Dissolve Parliament

2009-05-11T13:12:00.000-07:00

I've just submitted the following petition to the 10 Downing St Site:

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to Dissolve Parliament immediately and call a General Election

Submitted by Alan Wallace – Deadline to sign up by: 11 August 2009

Category: Government, politics and public administration

More details:
Members of Parliament have demonstrated by their actions, words and deeds that they do not represent the people of Great Britain any longer. Parliament must be dissolved immediately and a General Election called to allow the people a democratic voice.

Let's see if they put it up.

Update - Rejected
Hi,

    I'm sorry to inform you that your petition has been rejected.

    Your petition was classed as being in the following categories:

       * Duplicate - this is similar to and/or overlaps with an
    existing petition or petitions

    Further information:
    http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/GoToCountryNow/

    If you wish to edit and resubmit your petition, please follow
    the following link:
    http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/MPsOut/EISeGxAm8MsQBlf1iBA3jRK

    You have four weeks in which to do this, after which your
    petition will appear in the list of rejected petitions.

But the good thing is, there is actually a petition currently running. The search function at the site is bog-awful so I never spotted it.

A Question for UKIP

2009-05-11T10:54:00.000-07:00

Managed to get through to Five Live this morning, whilst they had Nigel Farage on. There's a few things I agree with UKIP on, but one fundamental point I disagree on.

Listen here about 45.30 in.

Yes, yes, I WAS nervous. It was my first time putting my point across on a phone-in and it didn't help that my other phone started ringing halfway through, but I was furious that the producers dropped the fader on me so I couldn't respond to Mr Farage's final, totally erroneous point.

The reason the SNP were in Westminster was only Westminster had the power to bring Devolution. But there is no similar reasoning for UKIP in Brussels as only Westminster has the power to take the UK out of Europe.

They Just Don't Get It Do They?

2009-05-10T14:58:00.000-07:00

Labour plots to keep MPs’ allowances under wraps in the future

Senior Labour figures say that the future privatisation of the Fees Office to process claims would exempt receipts from publication under Freedom of Information rules.

Do they not understand? Are they hard of thinking? They are public employees entrusted with public money. After the revelations of the last few days and particularly in a recession, what is so hard to comprehend about the public having a right to know where it goes and how it's spent?

As a Jury Team candidate, every penny of public money that passes through my hands will be published and made available for public scrutiny. For the last six years I've had an expense account in my job and every single claim has been accompanied by a receipt and an explanation. I haven't even claimed for bridge tolls because I couldn't supply a receipt.

As for allowances, don't they understand that a maximum figure is not a target?

I've seen it happen so many times that managers of departments are given a budget and they think they must spend it all. There's a golden rule in business - if you don't absolutely need it, you don't buy it or spend money on it.

But MPs know little of the real world obviously. They're not used to anyone saying "No" to them.

That's why Jury Team is different. We're drawn directly from the ranks of the public. Business people, charity workers, Public Sector employees, people from all walks of life who actually look like and talk like the public we represent. For us, it's not about who we know but what we know and the most important thing is we know what it's like to live under a political system where politicians just do not have a clue how we actually live.

In under four weeks, we have a chance to really shake up politics, to start a ripple that will spread and gather pace. Ordinary people working honestly and openly, with a passion to change things for the better. We're not careerists, we haven't spent years scratching backs and stockpiling favours to be paid back. Our loyalty is solely to our peers - the public.

A vote for Jury Team is a vote for yourself.
On June 4th, do yourself a favour, you deserve it.

Joanna Lumley to lead Labour

2009-05-10T13:33:00.000-07:00

Labour List are running a poll for who should be the next Labour Leader. I suggested Joanna Lumley. What do you think?

Do the poll

Hat Tip Fragmeister

Help get the pigs out of the trough

2009-05-10T10:45:00.001-07:00

We've seen what happens when parties get into power. They look after their own and not one of them speaks out about the corruption and thieving within their own ranks. Every one of the faces above is an Independent Candidate, sworn to Open Democracy and committed to the Nolan Principles.

You can help root out the corruption.

Volunteer to help out in the campaign at Jury Team or make a donation using the Donate button at the top of this page. Every penny goes towards getting the pigs out of the trough.

Give what you can because if you don't, they'll keep helping themselves.

A Snap General Election

2009-05-10T06:44:00.000-07:00

From Ananova

Parliament should be dissolved if the expenses scandal continues to rumble on, a former Commons deputy speaker said.

Tory Lord Naseby said the status of Parliament had been brought "right down into the pits" and Gordon Brown could be forced to call a general election as a result.

The peer said the public had lost confidence in their elected representatives, leaving a fresh vote the only option.

Spot on. We need to clear this shower out. However, Lord Naseby goes on to say:

The majority of members, I think, do a genuine job, work hard and try and look after their constituents' interest.

Really? What were they doing whilst their colleagues were robbing us blind? They kept their traps shut for the sake of the party. They saw what was going on, they saw the thieves at work and figured the public didn't need to know. They're guilty by association.

Let's have an Election, but let's send back people unconnected with the sleazy political circus. If they work for a Party, they stink just as much as the thieves at the top.

The Truth About MPs Expenses

2009-05-10T03:54:00.001-07:00

No wonder he's laughing.

2009-05-10T03:08:00.001-07:00

Laughing at us all

There's been a smug silence from politicians North of the Border over the current expenses uproar. Part of that is due to the fact that Holyrood undoubtedly has a more open system of accounting for MSPs expenses. Perhaps they imagine that the public will think that automatically means Scottish politicians are more honest.

Don't you believe it.

They're more open at Holyrood because they're forced to be, but given a sniff of the Westminster trough they're in like Flynn.

Take Alex Salmond -

Alex Salmond, Scotland's First Minister, claimed £400 per month for food when the Commons was not even sitting. No wonder an SNP activist commented at the recent party for Osama Saeed that the First Minister was piling on the pounds. This is the guy that claims the maximum amount allowable for food (no receipts required of course) and yet picks up £145,000 a year in salaries for his multiple jobs.

Just what the hell does he think his wages are for?

Then we've got Eric Joyce, the most expensive MP in Britain. Eric Joyce, the Labour MP for Falkirk, has emerged as Britain's most expensive member of parliament after claiming £187,334 in allowances and expenses in 2007-8. You'd be forgiven for thinking he comes from Orkney, Shetland or even Kuala Lumpar with a bill for travel at £40,637 a year, but this guy's constituency is in Falkirk - slap bang in the middle of the Central Belt!

He spends more than double the UK median wage just gadding about!!

Scottish politicians are as bad as the rest of them. Give them a whiff of your money and they trouser it. Maybe when the English press have grown tired of lambasting their own MPs, we'll start to hear about the piggy excesses of the Scottish lot.

The Party's Over

2009-05-09T13:10:00.000-07:00

This is Australian, but fits the Jury Team principles so well I thought I'd share.