The Tories simply cannot help falling over themselves

The Prime Minister has said, in an interview with BBC London, that if the Conservatives were re-elected to government with a majority in 2015, he would introduce legislation to enforce a legal threshold concerning ballots for strike action. He said that he could not deliver the changes in coalition because his LibDem partners would not support it.

Mr Cameron said: “I want a Conservative government to pass new legislation so that strikes in central public services can’t go ahead unless there is a proper threshold crossed in terms of the number of people taking part in the ballot. Of course there is a right to strike in this country, but in essential services, isn’t it worth saying there ought to be a threshold before a strike is called, which causes so much damage? I am keen on it and a new Conservative government would deal with that.”

Mr Johnson has publicly called for strikes to be unlawful unless 50% of staff in a workplace take part in a ballot. This raises interesting and uncomfortable parallels for those supporting the 50% threshold.

• In 2012, Police Crime Commissioners were elected by a voter turnout of around 15%.
• In 2000, the elections for the London Mayor saw a turnout of 33.7%
• In the 2010 general election the largest vote share was for the Conservatives at 36.1%

The graph below shows the percentage share of the vote for each party at all general elections since 1945.

Percentage vote shares for each political party at general elections since 1945

This begs the question: why should there be a 50% voter participating threshold in strike ballots when none of the political elections have this imposed upon them?

Mr. Cameron says he is keen on introducing this measure, but when Police and Crime Commissioners were elected by an insignificant percentage of the population of the UK, the conclusion must be drawn that the Conservatives seek to curtail union activities in this way simply to be seen to be serving the interests of commerce and thus demonstrate little interest for those at the lower end of the employment market. The recent announcement to force jobseekers to accept certain – probably most – offers of zero-hours contracts is another example of the contempt that Conservatives have for low-paid workers.

It would be nice to think that the electorate would bear this in mind in May of next year, come the general election.

 

Britain is not a Christian country …

A wonderful Easter in Spain

 

At the end of a week where David Cameron was found to have appointed a crony who became a bankrupt to run the financing of government quangos, one might have imagined that he would show the utmost care in being seen as judicious by the country as a whole.

However, although the PM is quite meticulous in managing his holiday arrangements, he appears to be totally injudicious when it comes to the comments he makes regarding Christianity. In an article for the Church Times, the prime minister said that Christians should be confident in standing up to defend their values and that his did not mean doing down other religions.

However, Writers, academics and scientists – including authors Sir Terry Pratchett and Philip Pullman – make the claim in a letter to the Daily Telegraph. Its lead signatory is Professor Jim Al-Khalili, president of the British Humanist Association and other signatories include performer Tim Minchin, journalist Polly Toynbee, philosopher AC Grayling and presenter Dan Snow. In the letter, the group says: “We respect the prime minister’s right to his religious beliefs and the fact that they necessarily affect his own life as a politician. However, we object to his characterisation of Britain as a ‘Christian country’ and the negative consequences for politics and society that this engenders. Apart from in the narrow constitutional sense that we continue to have an established Church, Britain is not a ‘Christian country’.”

His own well-feathered ilk may well be churchgoing Christians, but to announce that Britain is a Christian country is simply and wholly wrong. In the 2011 Census, Christianity was the largest religion, with 33.2 million people (59.3 per cent of the population). The second largest religious group were Muslims with 2.7 million people (4.8 per cent of the population) 14.1 million people, around a quarter of the population in England and Wales, reported they have no religion in 2011 (Office of National Statistics). However, the British Social Attitudes survey asked the question “Do you regard yourself as belonging to any particular religion?” where 41.22% of respondents selecting ‘no Religion’ in 2001 and 50.67% selecting ‘no religion’ in 2009.   The trend continued with the European Social Survey, which asked the question “Which religion or denomination do you belong to at present?” with 50.54% of respondents selecting ‘no religion’ in 2002 and 52.68% selecting ‘no religion’ in 2008.

Referring to a 2011 speech in which he made his comments about Christianity, the Downing Street spokeswoman said: “As the PM set out in his speech to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible, the UK is a Christian country and should not be afraid to say so.”  (BBC) This echoes comments made recently by the Communities Secretary, Eric Pickles, who said “I’ve stopped an attempt by militant atheists to ban councils having prayers at the start of meetings if they wish […] Heaven forbid. We’re a Christian nation. We have an established church. Get over it. And don’t impose your politically correct intolerance on others.” I am sure that most of the people in this country see Mr. Pickle’s comment as an attempt to impose his politically correct intolerance on us.

What is certain is that our Bronze and Iron Age ancestors, all pagan worshippers, celebrated seasonal events such as the winter solstice, when the days would begin to lengthen. Equally, they must have delighted in the advent of Spring, when nature’s rebirth brought the warmer weather to the hunter gatherers’ world. Theirs was a world that followed experiential happenings rather than doctrinal beliefs. They would almost certainly have celebrated Spring because of the enormous importance that it would have had to such people. Their lives were focused on such chronological happenings because celebrating the very happenings that nurtured life would have been deemed important.

Easter fun in the Philippines, where they still actually nail devotees to a wooden cross in celebration.

However, it will come as no surprise that this tradition died out and was replaced by the Christian Paschal month, a celebration of the mythological resurrection of Jesus: the very word Easter is not a Christian word at all, but one the Christians ‘borrowed’ to make their own celebration ‘comfortable’ for the naive recipients of nascent Christianity, as Eostre was an ancient reference to Easter that may have been connected to Eos, the Greek goddess who rode a chariot across the sky bringing in the dawn.

Saying that Britain is a Christian country, when coming from a Conservative prime minister, creates a false impression of our country as a whole. We are a plural society encompassing many faiths, but by far the largest swathe of the population do not anything to do with religion. What I am sure of is that the ancient Britons would have celebrated the fact that winter was over, and, to borrow a quote from a friend of mine, the same will be said for Mr. Cameron’s career if he continues to spout such nonsense.

The flea is wagging the tail that’s wagging the dog …

You have probably heard of the expression ‘the tail wagging the dog’ but the current spasm that has gripped the Tory party is more like ‘the flea is wagging the tail that’s wagging the dog’. 

There are a number of opinion polls that show little support for a UK withdrawal from the EU. Certainly those that are interested in seeing Britain leave would likely have voted for UKIP in the mid-term elections, as there would have been no safer way of making your voice heard on this subject.

As with any poll, my logic over who might vote UKIP by way of protest must equally carry a margin of error, however, I would argue that the margin would be no more than 10% as most anti-Europe voters of whatever political persuasion would certainly make the ballot journey UKIP in the mid-term elections.

UKIP survives on low poll turnouts and the recent election saw a turnout of just 31%. To give you some idea of how accurate my analysis could be, UKIPs major success in its entire 20 year history has been the European elections that have seen it gain 13 of the 73 UK seats in the European Parliament. Thirteen MEPs may seem impressive, but this has been achieved on the back of proportional representation with extremely low voter turnouts over the 20 year period, as the graph above left demonstrates. Parties such as UKIP and the Green party fare reasonably well in this electoral environment.

Who can we blame? Well, strangely, Tony Blair. It was he that started the ‘Third Way’, the strategy of taking the centre political ground to woo both left and right. Consensus and not conviction politics. Cameron has followed along the same path, much to the annoyance of the hard right (the righties?). Now, fearful of the UKIP threat, the marginal and some not-so-marginal Conservative backbenches are panicking and are almost in open revolt. The upper echelons of Cameron’s cadre are ‘supremely relaxed’ whilst giving every indication that in fact they are not. UKIP’s Nigel Farage surfaces occasionally in the media, with pint in his hand, comparing Cameron’s lot to that of John Major when he was under siege in the early 90s, thus wagging the tail that wags the dog a little bit more.

In contrast, Labour are quite content to explain that they are not supporting a referendum because to do so in the midst of a recession would invite a mass exodus of businesses and jobs over the next four years in the run up to the referendum, causing disastrous uncertainty.  Ah, how the tables turn!

Comment on the freedom to protest in the UK

During his visit to Amritsar this week, and in relation to the 1919 massacre of almost 400 peaceful protesters by British troops near to the Golden Temple, David Cameron said that the UK must stand up for the right to peaceful protest and thus paid his respects to those martyred.

Yet here in Britain in 2005, people were arrested for reading aloud the names of British military casualties when they were standing by the Cenotaph. I am not aware that this government has repealed the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005, which bans any person from taking part in an unauthorised demonstration within 1 km of Parliament Square.

Has this government repealed this legislation banning peaceful protest? Have they pardoned those convicted of what must surely be a ‘non-crime’? Can we believe what our Prime Minister is saying?

It’s just a different tail wagging the same dog …

This young man could tell you why hanging is wrong …

The Restore Justice campaign, lead by Paul Staines, who is the man behind the Guido Fawkes political blog, has called for the death penalty to be brought back for child and police officer murderers. To justify this campaign he cites opinion polls which suggest about half the population would like it re-introduced for murderers. This rises to 60% when it comes to child or police officer killers. The campaign must show 100,000 people signed up to support his e-petition on the government website to bring about a possible parliamentary debate on the matter.

It is sad that, having abandoned capital and corporal punishment, we find ourselves being dragged back to darker times by those who seek to use Cameron’s maladroit e-petition to provoke a parliamentary debate on the issue. We may not like some of the decisions made for us by parliamentarians but do we really want to see parliament hijacked by orchestrated campaigns of one strain or another, becoming ever-more reactionary and contrary to common good? In terms of the Capital Punishment issue it is indisputable fact that the death penalty has no deterrent effect whatever. Thus, to any intelligent mind, the question has to be asked as to why those seeking this debate want to see such a change. I can give you the best reason in the world not to engage in the death penalty debate: Timothy Evans.

What’s next, 100,000 people that don’t want to pay taxes? A hundred grand of the richest who want to see benefits slashed? Or maybe the fascist parties uniting to make a mockery of parliament? However you look at it it’s just a different tail wagging the same dog and the list of tails is endless but, like Baldrick, I have a cunning plan. Let’s get the requisite number of people to sign a petition to sack the man that dreamt up this farcical e-petition stunt in the first place. As for Mr. Staines, he should be ashamed of himself.

The photo, of course, shows Timothy Evans, wrongly executed in 1950 for the murder of his wife and child. Evans had severe learning difficulties with an IQ of 70. Within three years his landlord John Christie admitted to those murders and six others besides at his home, 10 Rillington Place, Notting Hill, London W11. Christie was executed in 1953 but Evans was not posthumously pardoned until 1966.

Vote Cameron … Get Murdoch

Just a little photo that I gleaned from the web today

Well, well, there are other people that think like me!