An interesting week in politics on many levels. In Lytham St.Annes we only had an election for a Police and Crime Commissioner. This is a post which I personally do not think should be voted for. I regard this as the beginning of a slippery slope that has led, in the USA, to voting for judges and sheriffs and to the politicisation of law enforcement and so, for that reason and also because we were off to see family on voting day, I didn’t vote. Not voting is something I very rarely do. In conversation with one of my great nieces on Saturday I discovered that she had the same opportunity to vote for a Police and Crime Commissioner, a post she also thinks should not be voted for, but she went and purposely spoiled her ballot paper. 1-0 for the Portishead socialists!!
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| Clive Grunshaw (Lab) Lancashire Police and Crime Commissioner |
The local elections went much as expected. There were huge losses for the Conservatives and gains for all other parties. I got the impression that the gains for the Labour party were not as huge as expected but if the figures are extrapolated to a General Election we end up with a Labour majority. Unless, that is, you happen to be our current Prime Minister who with the aid of various statisticians can twist the results to allow him to predict a hung parliament.
Weird Shit
Sian Berry resigned a seat which she won in the London Assembly 3 days after winning it to allow her to run as the Green candidate in Brighton Pavilion at the coming election. She handed the seat to Zoe Garbett who ran as the Green candidate for London’s Mayor but who only received 5.8% of the vote. Is this democracy?
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| Sian Berry |
Natalie Elphicke has defected to the Labour party. She appears to blame Rishi Sunak for removing Boris Johnson as party leader. She supported Liz Truss in her successful bid to replace Johnson. Since her election she has often criticised Labour’s stance on migration and their attempts to stop the plan to send illegal immigrants to Rwanda. Plus this: Follow this link for an MP making a principled stand (NOT). Why has the Labour Party accepted this dyed in the wool Tory? Could it bt that she has said she won’t stand at the next election and they just want to embarrass the Tories? Is this democracy?
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| Natalie Elphicke MP |
Ben Houchen, the Tory Tees Valley Mayor, was re-elected despite allegedly siphoning millions of pounds from the Teesside Freeport project to his mates. Is this even sensible, never mind democracy?
Entertainment as Education
We went last night to see the National Theatre production of Nye with Michael Sheen at our local cinema. This is brilliant!! If you get the chance go and see it. It was rather strange that, in a constituency with a, currently suspended from the party, Tory MP with a huge majority, the cinema was full. Is this an example of Tories self flagellating?? Would that we had a few MPs these days with a concern for the marginalised in society that Nye Bevan had, despite his rather dubious sexual morals which, to be fair, he apparently shared with his wife.
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| Michael Sheen as Nye Bevan |
So, there we are. Still no indication of when we might have the opportunity to get rid of this bumbling load of idiots masquerading as a government. Still not many signs of reasons to vote Labour, other than they’re not the Conservatives. How about having a Green MP (assuming there are any) in the cabinet with responsibility for environmental issues and a Lib-Dem with responsibility for improving our ties with the EU? Or how about some radical proposals to perhaps stop MPs and Ministers lying through their teeth in Parliament and to do away with the totally undemocratic House of Lords and…, and…, and.
*Title is especially for fans of Cream