The Election and Young People...what happened?

Quite a few TV reports after the election were talking about the failure of the Labour party to put together a coherent plan or plans. It seemed that their manifesto was cobbled together over a few beers in one of the smokey pubs in Islington, London. It was mentioned quite a few times that young people, in particular those who worked hard at the door calling, could not understand why the Labour manifesto was rejected. Well in my opinion it is that young people have no memory of things that happened in the past. I remember the 1970’s when I lost my house because of the incredible interest rates due to mismanagement of the economy by Labour. The interest rate I had to pay was nearly 10%! The mortgage was no longer affordable. The Labour party has a definite problem with economics which was pretty visible in their promises. But the young people, in particular students, only saw the free university fees promise. I don’t blame them but one should think how that would be paid for? Then there was the promise to cut Universal Credit but no detail or idea what would be replacing it. Other promises and ideas, in particular the need for increased borrowing were so impossibly idiotic that I hoped young people could see that, but I think they glossed it over, covered their eyes and plugged their ears. I have said it many times before, the basic tenet of economics is still as it always has been. You cannot spend money you haven’t got unless you borrow someone else’s. I know that many governments just print more money from time to time but that fuels inflation. As such a strong set of regulations are needed to control that and yes in these times, after the last Labour government’s failure (again!) to control spending the Conservatives had no option but to reduce spending and bring the deficit under control. That did reduce the need for borrowing. However as we know, the amount of debt is still just over a trillion pounds. In the past this was taken to be a figure with 18 zeros but now (since the 1970’s) apparently a trillion is a million million so £1,000,000,000,000. A huge amount. Whatever you see promised, look at the invisible background and start the grey matter between the ears. I would have thought students were good at that but I think I could well be wrong. Therefore all considered the Labour party’s manifesto and promises were just put aside. Brexit too was a problem for Labour, the refusal to state their position was taken that they did not know what they wanted to do about it. For any party to indicate that they are not certain how to proceed about an important issue would be a death sentence. And so it proved to be!

After the election...

Don’t you just love the days after a general election? Especially after a result that no-one predicted? What with all the newspapers full of interesting stories about what went right and what went wrong. Reading Twitter and Facebook will tell you all about the various idiots that we have here. The Labour supporting celebrities in particular are an absolute hoot. Who doesn’t love Hugh Grant? Or Lily Allen? Ah yes, these champagne Marxists want to tell us all about how we should live and adore their mediocre performances. I would say to Mr Grant, go and live in Venezuela, they will adore you there. Anyway, champagne celebrities don’t ever seem to understand that their ‘fame’ is only possible because of the system we live and abide by. General elections like these will always bring recriminations, especially from the losing side. But that is the way elections are, aren’t they? One wins, the other loses.

Looking a bit deeper into this, it seems to me that yes, we have quite a division of society in the UK. This needs sorting and I am happy to hear that Boris actually accepted that. And will visit the North and other poorer areas. It is time that the Conservatives started to realise that London alone is not the UK. Now that the euphoria will subside we need to hear which promises can materialise. Surely, the NHS needs money, it always does, it is basically a bottomless pit. It needs reform. HS2 will need to be finished. The borders need strengthening, in fact an Australian type points system needs to be in place before the summer. Everyone coming in needs to be registered and have the right papers. When I came to Britain in the 70’s I was not allowed in despite being married to a Welsh girl. Until she was hauled back (we still had UK citizens entry and Non-Uk citizens booths) and confirmed our marriage – we luckily had a marriage certificate. We lived in Holland for a year or so and decided to come back. They gave 6 months to remain, which after that became indefinite time. But I decided I love Wales and the UK and so became a British subject. I voted to Leave the EU. Why? Because Brussels is an even deeper money-pit than the NHS. Europe is at the mercy of unthinking, big-spending, champagne guzzlers. Unlimited expense accounts coupled with exorbitant salaries have made the Belgian capital look like Shanghai. Buildings to house all the employees, mostly doing very little, have risen out of the ground like toadstools. That is why I want the UK to keep their money rather than waste it on such frivolity. So, now we are finally arriving at the time we should have been three years ago. Thanks to MPs who did not understand the term ‘Democracy’ and how democracy works we had delay after delay. This has finished. So, on to a bright future when we can make deals with anyone.

Political woe or joy? Hmmm, good question...

Well, well, a good result for the UK. I say that because the alternative, a Labour government propped up by Scottish nationalists would have been a disaster. Financially as well as socially. That is not to say that the Conservatives will carry out major changes. The financial position of the country is still not good. However, the indications are that work will start or continue to strengthen the police and the fight against crime will probably intensify. Now that the Brexit issue seems settled we can look forward to a year of strong negotiations to get the best situation out of leaving the EU. Many people did just not understand that leaving the EU meant that after that the REAL negotiations would start. To be very fair it is the Conservatives who would make a better deal of that. Jeremy was not sure as to what he wanted, what he wanted to do. In my own constituency, a Labour stronghold, the Conservatives came second! That’s unheard of, the Cons were practically non-existent around here. But one has to remember that the ‘Leave’ vote in Wales was quite strong. The party I belong to Plaid Cymru, was really out of its depth I think. It was fighting against the strong Leave vote in the referendum of 2016 and did not manage to break that. It really is not looking too good for the future nationalist vote in Wales.

But what now? I do think that we should begin to look at changing the way we vote. To install a type of proportional voting. To have a look at how other continental countries have done. It will mean coalitions as majorities would be rare occasions. But that is not necessarily a bad thing. The argument that no proper policies could be attained is a fallacy. What it would mean is that strong policies as we have had in this country would be made more acceptable to everyone. Not watered down but subtly altered.

What now for Corbyn? I think he will be ousted before John McDonnell an even greater Marxist, gets to the leadership. The Momentum rabble need kicking into touch. There is no appetite in the UK for a Soviet style Marxist government or dictatorship. It might mean that if Labour cannot or will not change we will see the emergence or should I say re-emergence of the Social Democratic party! As the Liberal Democrats have been proved a total failure this might be the moment when that party will split, as well as Labour and this will be the core of the Social Democrats. I will pray for that! (And bring a toast with my favourite cognac!).

Environmental woes...

There is a lot of talk about the environment. Especially the meeting in Madrid, Spain at which the Swedish lass, Greta will speak. The various reports I hear seem to suggest that quite a few nations play politics. In other words try to get the best out of it for themselves. That is to say they will try to lower their efforts to attain the CO2 reduction as previously agreed. Yeah, very useful. But it is not the only thing that bothers me. It is the behaviour of people generally. It is not uncommon to drive behind a car whose window will suddenly open and a load of empty McDonald’s packaging thrown out onto the road. Yes, whilst driving at 80 miles an hour! These are the selfsame youths who in college or school pontificate about global warming. Or can be found being part of some sort of demonstration! This is just in one small part of South Wales. Multiply that throughout just in this country and you have found part of the problem. Coupled with the various happenings around the planet the future looks pretty dire indeed. 

Not so long ago one bit of news about a South Wales beach, in Barry close to Cardiff, it being left with tons of rubbish after people had left to go home including used nappies,a picture of this was shown in the Dutch newspapers. Truthfully, I personally have seen this on Dutch beaches as well although not as bad as what happened in Barry. There you go, it is people who are the problem and until we change our attitude completely towards the environment, we simply deserve what we are going to get. 

I will leave it to you to think about what that will mean. 

Just as an addition to my comment about Greta - I know she is young but if you are going to speak about important issues, issues that concern the whole world, the planet; you must know the possible ways climate change can be combatted. In other words don't just give us the negatives, where are the positives? 

Thinking big, perhaps even a bit bigger....

Thanks to TV News the various reports about fires in Australia, draught in Africa, the plastic poisoning of the oceans and seas, deforestation just to name a few, there now should be no doubt that global warming is a fact. Whether we as humans are guilty or whether volcanism or even the sun itself are responsible I leave to the experts to discuss but humans without doubt are responsible for the greater part. I say this because we now know the sharply increased amount of CO2 in the atmosphere. OK guilty as charged but what are we as humans going to do about it? What can we possibly do? Relying on feuding politicians is not much good as we know. Even protesting violently in the streets will not do us much good but will ruin many houses and businesses. We need to think BIG! There have been reports by the media about various politicians talking about planting millions, billions even, of trees. As it stands it is a ludicrous suggestion and was just designed to start a political manifesto fitting in sound-bites like this because it neatly fits in with the global warming fears of humanity. The trouble with politicians is they open mouth before thinking how to achieve what they say.
But obviously, the idea of planting trees is good. So, big projects should start now to germinate thousands of seeds in carefully controlled environments as we will have to do this for the tropical and sub-tropical environments. We will need to tap the underground reservoirs that lie beneath the Sahara and start greening the largest desert on Earth. We will need to look at how we use water. Contrary to popular thinking of us as a water world, yes we are a water-world but 90% is not usable. We will need to look at how we generate electricity. Electricity will have to be the main power source for warming homes. Solar energy must become much more usable. New ways have to be found as blanketing green fields with solar panels is not much good. So yes, thinking big but in a controlled way, we have to start right away. Our car industry as it is will not last, we have to plan for its demise, similar for house building. We cannot continue blanketing all soil with concrete. We need to invest big in a farming transformation. Land suitable for agriculture needs improvement, other land not suitable will have to be used to create large super forests. We need farms to produce fruit, nuts, everything has to look at how we feed our populations. Less meat, more greens. As you can see I have started to think big. Got to end now because thinking big gives you a headache. But it’s worth it!

What a sham of an interview!

Andrew Marr to be deported? I saw the interview on the BBC channel last Sunday – if you can call it an interview – with Mr Johnson. What a farce. The Prime Minister might as well have stayed home and let Andrew Marr just keep on questioning because that’s all we heard. Questions, questions, questions. The man must just be in love with his own voice! I still haven’t an idea what the Prime Minister actually said or managed to say. Sorry Mr Marr, I think forget about being an interviewer, you did a great disservice to political discussion. We don’t want your type of ‘chat’, and keep your dislike of Boris Johnson which was very plain to see, under wraps! Impartiality? The BBC should let you go for a retirement in a far-off country. Bye-Bye.

Edit 6/12/2019
Just read that even Mr Edwards, kingpin and doyen of the BBC interviewers has been guilty of burbling on, in writing on these august social media platforms, about his predilection for socialism and the Labour party. Well, in his case he is Welsh like me, most Welsh people tend to vote for the Labour party. This has historical connotations of which we will not go into now but if you are inquisitive have a look at the miner's revolt of the early twenties or the social deprivation of the 1800's and the Victorian age. 
The only thing which I will say now is that interviewers should at all times keep their political views to themselves. They can vote for whatever or whoever they want to vote for but keep cakehole shut. (Cakehole is a dialect word around here for mouth - just to let my foreign readers know).

Edit 10/12/2019
And since we are on the subject - who in the BBC decided that interviews should be as aggressive as possible? I like to know! And having mentioned Mr Marr, he interviewed that Scottish virago, the one who continually screams - Independence!!!! and lo and behold not a single interruption. Even more he let her fully, yes FULLY, reply. I think it is a disgrace and he should totally apologise to Boris Johnson, right now.

Two-faced politicos? Believe it...

Great stuff, the NATO summit has come to the UK, just before Father Christmas arrives! It is great to see that the front the leaders show is actually a sham. The US president calling the leader of the neighbouring state, Canada, two-faced. Well, he might be or maybe not, I wouldn’t know. He’s a politician. Show me one who is not two-faced? There is Mr Macron, who reckons that NATO is pretty useless. And then there is the on-going problem of all the members who had agreed to contribute 2% of GDP for defence purposes obviously not doing it. The Russians and Chinese must be smirking whilst downing loads of vodka and sake or whatever else they drink in China.

The problem is this, we have depended on NATO to keep our freedoms and not having to learn Russian. It seems to me that we have learned nothing from the past. With an absolute shallow minded UK politician burbling on about ‘reducing tensions in the world’ thinking he can do that. Yes? Shacking up with political terror organisations will be helpful?

Islamic terror groups haven’t gone away either, not as far as I can see, and this guy, burbling Grandpa Corbyn, thinks they have a right to exist. We had chaps like that in the thirties who thought Mr H was a great guy. I would agree it is great to have peace all around but the danger is, it is one-sided. We want peace but unfortunately the lions have not gone away and are looking at us with hunger in their eyes. The problem is, as it has been from times past, the great majority being silent. We only hear reports of the thoughts and actions of the 5% who wish to harm. The 5% who come what may, want to establish their own idea of what a nation should be and it usually incorporates total control over body and mind. If NATO is floundering it is because leaders have little idea about how divided and dangerous the world really is. All have restless populations because of their actions and sometimes no-actions. Politicians subscribe to political correctness because they think all feel alike. No, they do not, 10% do, the rest stays silent. It is about time we all start to be realistic and look at what we have produced. A nation that is tearing itself apart, mostly due to half-baked PC ideas. Let’s stop it before we will be speaking Russian!