Bring on the new Battle of Britain!

Ed & David Miliband

Ed Miliband is the new Labour leader; it has been announced at a special conference in Manchester. It's official - the name of Britain's next Prime Minister who will have to rebuild the country after the half cock slash and burn decisions of the Demolition Coalition is Ed Miliband! Bring on the Battle - the sooner we tear the unprincipled LibCon coalition of opportunism apart the less lives will be destroyed! We don’t want a Britain fit for millionaires, alleged Bankers and other assorted spivs!

I must be honest; I have not been on a winning streak lately. I supported another Ed, Ed Balls for Labour Party Leader and Oonagh King as Labour Candidate for Mayor of London - Ed Miliband and Ken Livingstone respectively were the winners of the contests. Nevertheless this is the first Labour leadership election since 1994 and is a vital part of the renewal of the Labour Party and the critical stocktaking which the Party has to perform after 13 transformational years in government.

Ed will be a strong leader for our Party and lead the fight against Tory plans for cuts that will devastate our public services. He's not just a fearless leader to fight the Tories; Ed is a strong supporter of trade unions. We've reached the end of months of campaigning and, this afternoon, we start to write the next chapter of this party's and this country's history. Much is being made that Ed Miliband gained a narrow victory over his brother David due to Trade Union support. This snide campaign denigrates the democratic nature of the Labour Party and the huge sense of engagement that Party Members and affiliated Trade Unions had in the election where one third each of the votes were cast by MP’s & MEP’s and Constituency Labour Parties (Clp’s), Members and Trade Unions and Affiliates.



So for instance in my case there was a full debate at my Clp who supported David Miliband, I also cast my individual Member’s vote where I could give my preference votes to the candidates and ditto on my vote as a member of an affiliated Trade Union. Whereas my Union recommended a candidate I was free to ignore this (I did!) and all votes were returned to the Independent Electoral Reform Commission to count so the result was unimpeachable. So the mischievous accusations that Sayeeda Warsi and others are making are wrong – this was an organised and regenerative leadership campaign with over 60 joint hustings by the 5 candidates which had real debate, real involvement and real choice. The results, round by round, were;

http://www2.labour.org.uk/votes-by-round

ABBOTT, Diane 7.42 0 0 0
BALLS, Ed 11.79 13.23 16.02 0
BURNHAM, Andy 8.68 10.41 0 0
MILIBAND, David 37.78 38.89 42.72 49.35
MILIBAND, Ed 34.33 37.47 41.26 50.65

We can be proud that in every corner of Britain, people are joining the Labour Party as members and supporters and getting ready for the fight ahead. Since the May General election Labour has over 32,000 new member join.


The Labour Party Conference at G-MEX Manchester - The former Central Railway Station

Ed Miliband beat brother David by the wafer thin margin of 50.65% to 49.35% after second, third and fourth preference votes came into play. Ed Balls was third, Andy Burnham fourth and Diane Abbott last in the ballot of MPs, members and trade unionists. Mr Miliband, 40, replaces acting leader Harriet Harman in the contest triggered by the resignation of Gordon Brown.

He paid tribute to each of his fellow candidates in turn and told the conference: "Today we draw a line under this contest and move forward united as a team." The Milibands are an interesting family. Of Russian Jewish descent their philosopher father’s remains rest under the watchful eye of Karl Marx in a corner of Highgate cemetery in north London. 12 yards or so from Marx's famous statue and tomb lies a small square stone. "Writer Teacher Socialist" reads the simple inscription. Ralph Miliband was one of Britain's foremost political theoreticians, an academic of world renown. And he was proud to proclaim himself a Marxist. He often told the story of being discharged in 1945 after his wartime service in the Navy where his CO said “good luck and make sure you don’t vote Labour Miliband.” In 1945 Labour won the British General Election with a landslide.

Ralph Miliband died in 1994, a few weeks before Tony Blair took over the Labour Party. By then he could see, with great unease, both his sons embarking on careers within what soon become known as New Labour - David advising Tony Blair, and Ed in the other camp, working for Gordon Brown. Ralph Miliband was not a Marxist in the Marxist-Leninist sense. He was no fan of the Soviet dictatorships and one-party states. Nor did he believe in violent revolution to overthrow capitalism. In crude terms he was neither a Stalinist nor a Trot. Yet he was deeply sceptical about whether Parliament would ever do much to emancipate the working class. Miliband was convinced instead that progress would depend on activity outside Parliament, through trade unions and other protest groups liberating themselves through radical activity.

For more on how Communism was born in London see;

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2010/09/red-flag.html

In the longer term, the question is how Labour goes about renewing itself in preparation for the next election. There’ll be a second opportunity to ask the questions it could be asking now, once there’s a leader in place. There is a huge democratic deficit at the heart of British politics today. The May 2010 General Election resulted in the LibCon Coalition of the Conservative Party who didn’t win the election and the Liberal Democrats who most definitely lost the election and whose promise of changing the “Face of British Politics” turned out to be a busted flush. Since then the public has been treated to a drip, drip, drip of spending cuts and tax raises based on slash and burn policies which were never put to the electorate. It is now clear that under the guise of “fiscal responsibility” what is happening is an ideologically driven attack on State services and the whole concept of “Society.” For David Cameron’s Big Society read Bogus Society.


Tony Blair - winner of 3 General Elections

So the huge achievements of the Labour Governments which ruled a successful and prosperous Britain for 13 years are now being sneered at – Cool Britannia is being supplanted by the Demolition Coalitions Cruel Britannia.

The Demolition Coalition and the Labour Leadership Campaign has made the UK electorate realise why Labour is different. With its roots in the struggles for ordinary people’s rights by the Trade Union Movement and mutual self help by the Co-Operative Society it is set apart from the shallow opportunism of other parties and is the only political movement which can bring fairness and growth to Britain. As the outcome of the last election and the destructive experimentation of the Demolition Coalition have shown the Lib Dems were not an alternative to the overweening selfishness of the Tories. So let the New Battle of Britain commence for the hearts and minds of the British Electorate and for a society committed to fairness and opportunity.


Harriet Harman - Acting Labour Leader

Even in the 5 short months since the General Election the swing in the national mood has been remarkable with Labour without a permanent leader now level pegging in the polls and Lib Dem supporters feeling betrayed. As the events of the credit Crunch and the Banking Meltdown have shown the party which represents those who sell their honest Labour is the source of honest values in society. Let the new Battle of Britain commence with the first major engagement being the London Mayoral Election of 2012, if the Coalition of Millionaires has not been consumed by its own contradictions before then.

As Ed Miliband said to the Labour Conference in Manchester; "My responsibility is to work every hour of every day, with a united team, to get David Cameron out of Downing Street as soon as possible."



The Labour Leadership Candidates.

Britain must not journey back to the past on May 6th

There has been much negative campaigning in the British General Election and playing the blame game on the past. Politics is a bit like running a restaurant – because people can cook their one dish they then think they can run their own place. However as many have found out reality is a harsh teacher.

The contrast between this global recession and the early Nineties is graphic. Then mortgages were at 14.6% and the then Chancellor, the lamentable Norman Lamont said unemployment was a “price well worth paying.” His “special advisor” was one David Cameron who was with him when he led the country into the unmitigated disaster of Black Wednesday.


The last time the Stockbroker's son got near the economy

The Conservatives are now headed by a troika of Old Etonians, Dave Cameron, Gideon Osborne & Boris Johnson, and with their MP’s being 64% the product of private schools The Tory Boys and Gals want to play Tuck Shop with the country again. This is no time to let amateurs born with silver spoons learn on the job while looking after their “own kind” and playing PR lip service to a “Big Society” – at the back of it all are the Thatcherites who still believe there is no such thing as Society!



Even Sir Reginald Sheffield’s photogenic daughter does not make the Tories an electable government. We all remember the dark days under Thatcher. In fact, we remember them every day - because years later, so many hard-working British families are still trying to recover from the days of Tory control. We cannot afford to let history repeat itself, and to allow David Cameron to destroy the great progress we've made. Let us not forget the loss of homes, the unemployment, the division, the destruction of the NHS and Education, the Poll Tax and the arrogance towards the “little people” – You know the ones who actually pay tax? Vote to Slam Cam!


Kathryn White

I’m supporting Kathryn White as Labour candidate for Aylesbury. She'll make an excellent MP and shake up the smug Conservative / Lib Dem cartel locally.

http://www.kathrynwhite.co.uk

She is a local person who was born and bred in Aylesbury and wants the best for the constituency. She is standing to represent local people from her home area and to give a voice to the majority who are sick of being ignored by the local Tory and Lib Dem cartel.



Whether it is early years’ education, healthcare, social housing or pensioner support, the work Labour has done in the past 13 years has helped make our country a better place. That is the Britain we’ve been building together - the change we see all around us.



Together we have introduced the National Minimum Wage and achieved the shortest waiting times since NHS records began, brought in the first ever legally binding targets to reduce carbon emissions and now have over 44,000 more doctors and 89,000 more nurses than in 1997. This is just some of what Labour has been able to achieve so far with your support but there is more to do. Only one party in this election has the moral purpose to deliver for ordinary people – The Party which was set up to protect honest people who rely on their Labour, not the spivs, not the toffs with their sense of entitlement, not those who live off the labour of others.



The economy is growing. Stick with the economic recovery - vote Labour on May 6th.

LATEST NEWS (29 April 2010): Brown supported by 100 senior economists on economy who say he's got it right

http://ht.ly/1ED15

LATEST NEWS: The International Monetary Fund support Labour's economic plans for 2010 and also oppose tackling the deficit before 2011: "In most advanced economies, fiscal and monetary policies should maintain a supportive thrust in 2010 to sustain growth and employment. Regarding the near term, given the fragile recovery, fiscal stimulus planned for 2010 should be fully implemented". Read more

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/apr/21/western-economies-too-weak-for-spending-cuts-imf-warns

This isn't a page created from political bias, using misleading statements in a bid to score points. It's a page based on facts. Please read below and follow the link at the bottom of this page for more information.



David Cameron, George Osborne and the Tories opposed every Labour Party measure which has seen the economy grow. Cameron and Osborne were wrong. They'll be wrong again. Don't allow the Tories to ruin the road to recovery.

"We opposed the £12 billion Labour wasted on the VAT cut. We were against the fiscal stimulus".

- David Cameron, Apr 2009.



David Cameron, George Osborne and the Tories opposed the fiscal stimulus and a cut in VAT. These measures were put in place by Labour and thanks to these measures, the economy is now growing, unemployment is falling.

There's one clear message: Labour policy is working. Let's not risk the recovery with the Tories who have opposed every measure which has seen the economy grow.



Vote Labour on May 6th - stick with the recovery.

Here are the facts of how Cameron opposed the stimulus, how they'll cut now when the economy needs it most and how their policies go against the advice of experts

http://www.facebook.com/note.php?saved&&suggest¬e_id=115147398510039


The Tory Non-Dom Leader and his UK Rep?

See also;

Old Etonian cries "Power to the People!"

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2010/04/old-etonian-cries-power-to-people.html

Lest we forget?

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2010/03/lest-we-forget.html

Lord Cashcroft

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2010/03/lord-cashcroft.html

We will fight them at Selfridges

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/09/we-will-fight-them-selfridges.html

Old Etonian cries “Power to the People”

Everybody here saw PR Dave deliver his vacuous “Power to the People” speech launching the Conservative Manifesto in front of Battersea Power Station. Unfortunately I saw him deliver it in front of a White Elephant bought for £400 M with debt from Irish Banks to Treasury Holdings and which is now owned by that long suffering individual, the Irish Taxpayer.

http://www.propertyweek.com/story.asp?storycode=3154094



The Conservatives launch of their manifesto at Battersea Power Station was just like their policies, nice looking on the outside, and hollow on the inside.
The last Tory launch at Battersea power station was when Margaret Thatcher fired a laser gun to signal the start of a theme park that, in the end, was never built. Worked stopped a year later, in 1989, leaving the building in its current derelict state.





So launches by Tory leaders in Battersea power station seem like a good idea at the time. They tend to have impeccable PR. But costs soon escalate, the foundations decay, and the whole edifice is left in a state of dereliction.

Let us remind ourselves what we must not do;

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2010/03/lest-we-forget.html

Is David Cameron the Leader or the Deputy Leader of the Conservatives?

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2010/03/lord-cashcroft.html

And of David’s Statesmanship with his blood curdling cry to fight the Russians at Selfridges!

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/09/we-will-fight-them-selfridges.html

Lest we forget ………………

We all remember the last period of Tory rule. These memories of low wages and jobs being lost are more than statistics – they are powerful images of the lives we lived.



The contrast between this recession and the early Nineties is graphic. Then mortgages were at 14.6% and the then Chancellor, the lamentable Norman Lamont said unemployment was a “price well worth paying.” His “special advisor” was one David Cameron who was with him when he led the country into the unmitigated disaster of Black Wednesday.

In British politics and economics, Black Wednesday refers to the events of 16 September 1992 when the Conservative government was forced to withdraw the Pound Sterling from the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) after they were unable to keep sterling above its agreed lower limit. The most high profile of the currency market investors, George Soros, made over US$1 billion profit by short selling sterling. In 1997 the UK Treasury estimated the cost of Black Wednesday at £3.4 billion, with the actual cost being £3.3 billion which was revealed in 2005 under the Freedom of Information Act (FoI).


Norman Lamont and his Tory Boy advisor

Unemployment went above 3 million, Over 1.5 million houses were repossessed and lives were destroyed in boom and bust economic policies. After their failure David Cameron went on to become the PR Man (and slick lobbyist) for Micheal Green of Carlton TV, the most venal of the ITV bosses during the time the franchises were a license to print money. Now headed by a troika of Old Etonians, Dave Cameron, Gideon Osborne & Boris Johnson, and with their MP’s being 64% the product of private schools The Tory Boys and Gals want to play Tuck Shop with the country again.

Even Sir Reginald Sheffield’s photogenic daughter does not make the Tories an electable government. We all remember the dark days under Thatcher. In fact, we remember them every day - because years later, so many hard-working British families are still trying to recover from the days of Tory control. We cannot afford to let history repeat itself, and to allow David Cameron to destroy the great progress we've made. Let us not forget the loss of homes, the unemployment, the division, the destruction of the NHS and Education, the Poll Tax and the arrogance towards the “little people” – You know the ones who actually pay tax? Vote to Slam Cam!

Lord Cashcroft

Biggles and his Co-Pilot

Conservative donor and deputy chairman Lord Ashcroft has admitted he does not pay UK tax on earnings outside Britain. His statement ends years of questions from opponents about whether he was "non-domiciled" in the UK for tax. He said he agreed with Tory leader David Cameron's call for anyone in the Lords to be "resident and domiciled".

Labour's Jack Straw accused the Tories of "concealing the truth" for 10 years. The Lib Dems said the Tories had been "bought like a banana republic". BBC political editor Nick Robinson said the 63-year-old, who is estimated to be worth £1.1bn by the Sunday Times Rich List, was one of the biggest ever donors to a political party and was at the centre of the Conservatives' election campaign.


Lord Ashcroft of Tax Exile in the County of Belize

Lord Cashcroft is in a long tradition of Great British Patriots who are too patriotic to pay taxes, such as "Union" Jack Hayward who bankrolled the Tories from the Bahamas! Why do we stand for this nonsense? Have a British Passport or live in Britain, pay British Taxes on your worldwide income, period. That's the way it is in the Good 'Ol U. S of A where you are liable to US Federal Income Tax no matter where you live once you have a US passport. This is why there is no such thing as an American Tax Exile. Who does the Great British legal nonsense of "Domiciled", "Ordinarily Domiciled”, "Resident" and "Resident but non-Domiciled" suit? Certainly not those who earn their living (and pay taxes) on the fruits of honest labour?

Lord Ashcroft was initially rejected for a peerage in 1999 by the Political Honours Scrutiny Committee on the grounds that he spent most of his time abroad in Belize and Florida and conducted almost all of his financial matters overseas. His company Bearwood Corporate Services Limited has been the largest single contributor to the Tories since 2005, although his millions make up less than 5% of their total donations. For a company to make a donation it must be trading in the UK and in February 2009, the Electoral Commission launched a formal investigation to determine whether this was the case.

Information Commissioner Christopher Graham has called for the full details of Lord Ashcroft's status to be made public and criticised "evasive and obfuscatory" replies given by senior politicians on the subject. Ashcroft is the Tory Deputy Chairman and maintains a “private” office at Conservative HQ and he personally bankrolls a campaign to unseat the Labour / Lib-Dem incumbent in 186 target constituencies.
To go back to the American example, there he wouldn’t be allowed make political contributions and would be treated under American Law as “An agent of a Foreign Power.”


Cameron Air

One aspect of Lord Cashcroft’s influence over the Tories is his splendid bankrolling of Cameron Air. Dave “Vote Blue to get Green” Cameron and his chaps travel in style: they go in ‘Lord’ Ashcroft’s Falcon jet ($30 million second hand). Altogether shadow cabinet ministers and aides have flown 184,000 miles on the Ashcroft jet over the last five years with Andrew Mitchell, the shadow international development secretary, flying 65,453 miles and shadow foreign secretary William Hague flying 49,670 miles. It would be churlish to complain about all this privileged transport, given P.R. Dave’s understandable pride in his privileged background.

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/09/we-will-fight-them-selfridges.html

Mr 10 Per Cent

The growing clamour by PR Dave for a General Election assumes that people will have a short memory of how basic infrastructure and investment was neglected under Thatcher / Major and the potential of a whole generation was squandered. Here is a letter I received yesterday from Alan Johnson;

From; Alan Johnson M.P.
Home Secretary

Today the Tories finally admitted just how much they want to cut from our public services. I’m writing so that you have all the facts because we need to get this message out there in our communities up and down the country.

I think a lot of people listening to the BBC this morning will have been shocked when they heard David Cameron’s health spokesman Andrew Lansley stating that the Tories would make 10 per cent spending cuts in the vast majority of government departments. It wasn’t a gaffe – even though Mr Lansley seems to have gone to ground at the minute, he hasn’t been sacked for revealing the truth about the Tories’ plans.



I’ve only been Home Secretary for a few days, but I can already see what an impact a 10 per cent cut in that budget would have. Looking at the figures in my department, it would mean front line police officers would be subject to real cuts next year, leaving our streets much less safe. And I’m sure there would be similar risks when those kinds of cuts hit public transport or the skills and science budgets.

Labour’s investment in police officers and community support officers is vital to making our streets safer. Since 1997 there are over 14,000 more police officers and nearly 16,000 community support officers. We now have 3,600 neighbourhood policing teams across the country - one for every community.

We know that there is no appetite in this country for cuts that would undermine the fight against crime. It’s up to everyone in our party – MPs, ministers, activists and trade unionists – to make sure that we get this message out to the country.
It's time to tell David Cameron - Mr 10 Per Cent - that no one wants his Tory cuts.

Best wishes

Alan