An open letter to the Socialists of Twitter.

I like twitter, I spend most days, if not actively tweeting, then at least checking up on what is happing in tweetland on my mobile.

I have been avidly following the election and the resulting tweet debates over the result, some are funny, some are serious, a lot are very shouty and ranty; However, one VERY consistant thing has been the absolute vitriol directed to the Conservatives by leftwing tweeters, from the last ten minutes I’ve just grabbed the following tweets (although not massively as nasty as some I have seen):

@Redwidge: if Nick Clegg gets into bed with the Tories I will immediately pay my dues and join the Labour Party. Anyone else fancy doing the same?

@Geniaphobic: Whatever Clegg does: share or shaft, the Tories are going to fuck us all. There’s a shitstorm on the horizon #ukelection #sameoldtories

@Casiotone: when theres no more room in hell, tories will walk the earth.

What I don’t quite understand is why the venom? – I did ask previously on twitter, but instead of an informed reply, I got the following:

@JimFraeErskine: Errm, they have a brain? RT @Relentl3ss: Why are socialists so venomously anti-tory? #ge2010 #UKElection
So, I am asking (politely!) on here why that would be – I know people hold grudges about the Thatcher years, but please tell me why *you personally* hate the tories – I’m not after the same old bullhit rhetoric (They only support the rich, posh cunts), but for actual genuine examples of What the conservatives have done to make you all so angry -

Comments will be shown in full and not moderated in any way.

Sean

Where are we actually going? (and why are we going there?)

All opinions stated below are entirely my own – I have no actual political leanings to the right or the left – what I write is completely based on my own views of the current situation:

Like lots of other people, I have been watching the events after Thursdays election with a touch of confusion and more than a touch of bemusement. We currently have a hung parliament, with Gordon Brown still in office, and Nick Clegg of the Liberal Democrats being vaunted as a ‘King-Maker’ where he could side with either the Conservatives or Labour to form a ruling coalition majority Government.

On the surface, the UK is in a pretty shit state: We are on the bounce after a major global recession, confidence has dropped in MPs following the Expenses Scandal, We are in an unpopular war, There are calls for referendums (referendii?) on Welsh and Scottish Devolution, There is fear in the minds of the general public over knife-crime and run-away antisocial behaviour from elements of society.

There has rarely been a time in the UK’s history where we have had as much need of a strong Government to lead us through; The position we are in is the opposite of what is required.

I will admit, I am a fickle voter – I was swayed by Nick Cleggs stance on the Digital Economy Act (to revoke the act, and redraft the bill with a lot more common sense applied), so was originally planning to vote for the LibDems, However my incumbent MP (Sarah McCarthy-Fry) was one of the MPs who voted for the DEAct and as my constituency is a Lab/Con Marginal, I made my vote for the Conservatives – Call it tactical voting if you want, but with the system we have, I felt unable to actually faithfully vote for the person I wanted as there was a danger of the person I did not want to continue in power.

I suppose I have naturally leaned to the right, purely to lean away from the left! – I grew up in Stoke on Trent during the miners-strike, and several members of my family were ‘Scabs’, actively going against the Unions to go to work – Food on the table was more important than any other issues. I saw the Unions as being counter-active to a productive society, and the local Labour MPs at the time were backing the Union.

There was also the negative campaigning that seemed to define labour – all the Party Political broadcasts of the day (and still the same today) seem to be more about saying ‘The Conservatives are a bunch of cunts, Vote for us!’ than actually outlining what they could do to ensure things got better, coupled with the anti-elitisms (They are all a bunch of posh snobs, and don’t care for us working class) made me see Labour as typically petty and spiteful, rather than the Fair Party, campaigning for Social Equality that I’m sure was the original intention of the Party.

Since then I will admit I was seduced by ‘New Labour’ – I actually saw elements of there social mandates becoming a reality – no longer was Labour all about Kinnock slating Thatcher at every turn… I had a new-found belief in the system.

However, I am still seeing a lot of the old nastiness rearing its head again (Cameron is a posh twat and only wants to work for the rich), however – what I have seen under the last decade of Labour has not really born out these differences – there are still a lot of people getting rich on the backs of the working class – and rather than trying to elevate the working class to better levels of success, it seems to be more about cronyism – giving fat government contracts to groups supported by unions and large corporations, rather than giving power back to the individual.

I can’t completely slate Labour – they have some brilliant politicians – Prescott is an absolute legend, and Tom Watson was amazing at the Digital Economy Bill readings – Eloquent, and very well-informed and willing to go against a three-line whip to stand up for what he believed in – Personal Integrity is far more important than party politics, and if I was in his constituency, I would have been proud to vote for him.

Anyway…

We are now in a position where there is no one with an absolute mandate to govern – and the party that came Third in the number of votes give could make or break a government for either of the other parties.

Mr Clegg has announced he is willing to deal with the conservatives for a ‘change coalition’ – however all this seems to have done is piss off LibDem supporters on Twitter – who all seem to be calling for a Lib/Lab Coalition to beat the tories:

This confuses me…

Looking at the Absolute figures – The Lib Dems came third in the number of votes, Labour came second, the Conservatives came first.

So the 3rd and 2nd join together to beat the 1st placed? This means the majority of people who voted Conservative have the whole point of their vote wiped out – This is fair how?

I’ve seen the comments on twitter: “If everyone who voted Lib Dem had voted Labour, then there would be no issue – Labour would have won.” – erm yes, But if they had voted Tory, then the Tories would have won, If every one who voted Labour voted for the Monster Raving Loony party then they would (nearly) have won… It’s a fucking pointless argument – they didn’t, and a lot of people voted Lib Dems because they actually wanted the Lib Dems to win – or they didn’t want the Tories to win – Or they didn’t want Labour to win… or they didn’t know who else to vote for… the list goes on.

I like the Idea of change – and both Clegg and Cameron have both said they stand for change – so fuck it, give them a chance – Lets say goodbye to the old Us vs Them arguments, and lets truly see if we can make a difference to the country – If they balls it up, then with a coalition – there is a large mandate to get a referendum for a new election… Then it could all happen again.

Lets sort out the voting system, to make it difficult for fuckups like this to happen again, Lets go for proportional representation and change a single vote into a  ‘Pick 5 parties, and mark them 1 – 5 with 1 being your top choice’ system.

Lets Blur the party Lines – Pick the best people from each party and give them responsibilities that suit their best characteristics – if they cannot/will not work together, then they can piss off, and there opposite numbers from one of the other parties can have a go.

Vote for people, not parties – In the best of all possible worlds, nothing is impossible.

Sean

Appologies & Reason (not an excuse)

I honestly fully intended to blog the entire election campaign, but failed miserably…

Reason: My wife is a consultant in exotic animals, and took on fourteen baby raccoons to handrear and rehome (Mothers milk had dried up) Last year we know of many babies that were rehomed at a very young age, and due to lack of experienced care, died. We had to pay out the initial costs for the raccoons, which wiped out our savings – its a LOT of raccoons, and a lot of responsibility.
Unfortunately, one of the litters we took on had one of the kits suffering with a bacterial infection – this went through the other litters like wildfire, and we lost several of the babies.
Big vet bills, and huge loss of initial outlay – lead to lots of stress and tears in the relentl3ss household, so although I was active on twitter throughout the Leaders Debates and other election issues, I have not had time to sit down and write a full blog post.

Now the election is over, we almost have a political result – I have been following (and tweeting) with interest what has been occurring – I will make a full actual post later on today (hopefully!)

Sean.

First out the trap: Mark Lancaster, English Democrats

Following on from yesterdays post, I have had my first reply from Mark Lancaster of the English Democrats.

He is an ex-policeman, and had a few good comments on some of the policing issues – Strongly against keeping of DNA.

Not much comment on the Digital Economy Act – which is discouraging,

Can blatently tell he is not a career politician, and although he seems affable, I am personally of the opinion that the finger is not firmly on the pulse.

Full reply below for your digest:

Dear Relentl3ss,

I see your E Mail name is most apt! I am tempted to cry, enough! One at a time please!

Let me start with the Digital Economy Act. I do not know the contents of this bill so I am unable to comment on those points. I would say that I am totally opposed to the concept of wash ups in parliament and oppose any curtailing of the system.

To get a better idea of where I stand on democratic issues may I direct you to our website?

http://www.voteenglish.org/

As a party we are also signed up to Power Pledge 2010. May I encourage you to do the same? This will cover many of the points you have asked me. So please forgive me skipping some of those and concentrate on the others.

With regard to access to information stored about individuals this should be covered by the Data Protection Act. If you or any other people are having problems then this must be raised as a matter of urgency.

Do you feel like me that the information gathering and sharing process is becoming a one way street?

ID cards, NO!

I already carry various forms of ID I do not see the democratic need for more.

How such a system can be secured against abuse and forgery I do not know. It would cost far too much and quite honestly there are better things to spend our money on. I feel the hand of Europe on the ID cards issue.

As a former Police Officer I see no value to and ID card. In my long experience I found that the honest citizen usually carried ID of some form. It is the criminals who did not. Give them all an ID card (which may be forged) and how do you spot them?

Stop and search; something I did but always in a targeted manner. I am unable to comment on current practice as I have been retired for over 2 years. My fear is that government targets may be causing abuse of the system. Government targets are totally inappropriate to policing. the Police, when I joined were at the heart of our democracy but not politically controlled. I long for a return to that concept.

A Royal Commission on Policing is 30 years over due.

DNA. We either DNA every citizen or we target those convicted. I am opposed to the keeping of any records on unconvicted people. The fact that an innocent person can give a DNA sample to assist a Police enquiry and then have it retained for the rest of their lives is an outrage and undemocratic.

It is not what I joined the Police 32 years ago to do. Too much big brother attitude for my liking.

Human Rights are okay as they are written I believe that the problem lies in the way the judiciary are applying them. A review of the Act and the application of that act are urgently required. Once again the interference of Europe is most unwelcome.

I believe in the right of protest. To understand how some of the Policing has been carried out one has to look to the legislation the Labour Regime has introduced. May I refer you to my original point about democracy and political interference?

The idea that our country may have colluded in torture appals me. Yes, to a very thorough inquiry and suitable punishment to any one found guilty of collusion in torture.

I fear that many of the anti terror laws are a trojan horse to disguise a wish for central government to place greater controls on its citizens. Everything needs a thorough examination. May I direct you to my blog on a similar subject?

Mark Lancaster – English Democrat

With regard to the storage of data I would refer again to the Data Protection Act. Storing data that is not relevant to an enquiry into the defence of the Realm is unacceptable. I fear again that some storage may be for political gain. Such activity should be routed out and the guilty punished.

I do hope I have given you some points to ponder. Please get back to me and tell me what you think.

Regards,

Mark Lancaster,
English Democrats,
Winchester.
Not a politician; an ordinary man who got angry enough to do something!

Letter to PPCs

I have just forwarded a copy of Katy Bairstows letter to all of my prospective PPCs (except the UKIP – there seems to be a void of contact information for UKIP candidates).

The original letter can be found at: http://is.gd/bpUBg( I did ensure I had the full consent of the copyright holder before reusing this!)

The candidates are:

Conservative                              Penny Mordaunt
Labour Co-op                             Sarah McCarthy-Fry
Green                                             Iain Maclennan
UKIP                                               Mike Fitzgerald
English Democrats                   David Knight
Liberal Democrat                     Darren Sanders
BNP                                                 Barry Bennett
Trade Unionist & Socialist     Mick Tosh

I am drafting a modified letter to send to the Labour PPC (current MP – Sarah McCarthy-Fry) who was one of the ‘Aye’s on the Digital Economy Bills third reading and wash-up farce. I can understand that she was under a three-line whip, and obviously does not have the knowledge of the subject that fellow labour MP Tom Watson has, but I would like to get a better understanding of the thought processes that led to the Aye.

I will post any replies that I get on these pages as soon as they come in.

Sean R

Tom Watsons digital pledges – what they mean, and why they should be universal.

I have just read Labour MP Tom Watsons digital pledges.

Mr Watson, as you may know, was one of the main critics of the Digital Economy Bill, and actively went against a three-line whip to vote against the bill and push the issue forward for proper debate – rather than just pushed through in an unfair ‘wash-up’ session.

He has listed his digital pledges online prior to the official manifesto release, and has left them open for comments:

http://www.tom-watson.co.uk/2010/04/my-digital-pledges/

The (draft) pledges are:

1. I will support and campaign for more transparency in the public and private sector.
2. I will oppose measures that unjustly deny people’s access to the Internet.
3. Whilst noting the acknowledged limitations, I believe people have the right to free speech on the Internet.
4. I will support all measures that allow people access to their personal data held by others. I further support restoration of control over how personal data is gathered, managed and shared to the individual.
5. I will use my role as an MP to support international free expression movements.
6. The Internet shall be built and operated openly and without discrimination.
7. I will support all measures to bring non-personal public data into the public domain.
8. I will support all proposals that lead to greater numbers joining the digital world and oppose measures that reduce it.
9. I believe that copyright and software patent laws should be reformed to reflect the needs of citizens in the Internet age.

My take on these is:

1) Transparency is a must in the digital age, If you are open and honest to begin with, you have no reason to hide and no reason to worry about public backlashes.
2 ) Freedom of information should be just that, why deny people access to information?
3 ) The right to criticise is a basic freedom that we have fought for in this country – censoring this right is a blatent disregard for democracy.
4 ) If anyone has information about you on a database, you should have full unhindered access to that database.

5 ) 100% behind this one – Anyone in the world is fully entitled to an opinion and should NEVER be penalised for expression of this.

6 ) Equal rights should count on the internet too – there should not be any tiers of service, everyone should have full unfettered access to anything.

7 ) Anyone should be able to analyse data – let the public deem if it is in their best interests.

8 ) Open access for all – you wouldn’t ban someone from joining their local library, so why keep people away from the greatest information resource ever created?

9 ) Copywrite desparately needs reforming, there are a lot of people making a LOT of money by enforcing the scarcity of media – An artist does need to make money to survive, but the ability to share music will expose that artist to a wider audiance – this is especially true for small independant artists who rely on word of mouth to raise a following.

In my opinion these pledges are what the Digital Economy bill should have been – unfettered access to information, not further corporate controls – these should be universal.

Is there seriously anyone who would disagree with any of this?

These are just my opinions, and are in no way reflective of any other thoughts on the subject – comments warmly accepted below.

Sean R.

Letter from an MP.

I recently wrote to my MP, Sarah McCarthy-Fry (Lab. Portsmouth North) with regards to the Digital Economy Bill (Now Digital Economy Act) – I used the standard letter from 38 Degrees that was doing the rounds on the #DEBill hash tag on twitter (http://www.38degrees.org.uk/page/speakout/extremeinternetl)

This is her response:

Dear Mr Rhodes

Thank you for your email regarding the Digital Economy Bill.

When the election is called the Government will have just days to try and pass any legislation before Parliment is dissolved. They will consult with the leaders of the main opposition parties to see where areas of consensus exist. Only those bills where the is consensus on all sides normally get through the wash up process and are fast tracked.

I do however support the general principals of the Bill, together with the Government’s wider Digital Britain programme. If I can be of further assistance, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Yours sincerly

Sarah McCarthy-Fry

I was irked by this for two reasons:

1. Only those bills where the is consensus on all sides normally get through the wash up process and are fast tracked.

General consensus? From what I was watching on BBC Parliment, there seemed to be anything but – the only MPs in the chamber who actually seemed to understand the technological and societial implications of the bill were passionately against it; however, the majority of MPs were not even in the chamber for the debate.

47 MPs voted against the bill, to 189 for – thats a 5th of the MP’s in the chamber – I honestly do not think that should constitute a ‘general consensus’ to fast-track such an important issue.

1. I do however support the general principals of the Bill

Supporting the ‘general principals’ should not mean that you shout ‘Aye’ without actually joining in the debate – If it’s only the ‘general principals’ you support, then obviously there is something in there that you disagree with – Why were you not debating this, and raising the issues you have as amendments, rather than blindly following the whip?

Your JOB as an MP is to represent the people of your constituancy – I feel let down.

I have not really paid too much attention to how laws get passed before, and I don’t doubt that until this week I was not alone in this, (I usually only watch Prime Ministers Question time on BBC Parliment), But after the farce of the washup (not just the DEBill) I shall be paying much more attention in future – I have a feeling that this is going to be a VERY interesting election.

First!

Ok, I’ve been meaning to set up a blog for a while – I’ve had a couple of abortive attempts before (via blogger and blogspot), but never really had anything decent to say.
However, now the General Election is approaching, I have far more to say to the world (not that anyone will care… but hey ho, it’s good to vent) – Especially regarding the current state of the UK.