Quote of the day 20th September 2013)
"There is no art which one government sooner learns of another than that of draining money from the pockets of the people."
Nick Herbert on his visit to flood hit areas of Cumbria
Please note that the post below was published more than ten year ago on 21st November 2009 Nick Herbert MP, shadow cabinet member for the Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs, was in Cumbria this morning to see the areas affected by the flooding. He writes on Conservative Home about his visit. Here is an extract. I’ve been in Cumbria today to see the areas affected by the floods. I arrived early in Keswick where I met officials from the Environment Agency. Although the river levels had fallen considerably and homes were no longer flooded, the damage to homes had been done. And the water which had got into houses wasn’t just from the river – it was foul water which had risen from the drains. I talked to fire crews who were pumping flood water back into the river, and discovered that they were from Tyne & Wear and Lancashire. They had been called in at an hours’ notice and had been working on the scene ever since, staying at a local hotel. You cannot fail to be impressed by the
Comments
We live in a county where our "elected" police commissioner, who never seems to be out of the news for doing something else wrong, was elected on less than 5% of the vote.
Oh yes, you can go on to detail about "how in the second round etc" but it cuts no ice, There was a national referendum on fPTP and AV, and FPTP won.
so we have an "elected person with less then 5% of the vote (probably lower now) i mean come on
This is not democracy, this is nothing but daftness.
You yourself Chris and many others seem to think that to promote your party as the "least worst option".
Then wonder why so many stay at home. its frankly because we dont really care. each party is as bad as the next and though they may have different methods of doing so people are waking up. Thus you will often hear the term the LibLabEUkipCon party.
None of the parties are perfect. Recognising that is called honesty and striving for the best - or least worst - result you can get is called living in the real world.
It is that most simple principle that seems to be lost on even yourself Chris. Politicians are not the masters, they are the servents.
Please let me know what it is about that you find so hard to understand.
Of course, if a politician working for the electorate believes strongly that something is wrong, he has the same right to stick to his or her principles that a politician working for a King used to have.
A Prussian general - I think it was Seydlitz - once said "After the battle, the King can do with my head as he wishes, during the battle he will kindly allow me to make use of it."
I don't think anyone imagines Seydlitz thought that he was the master and Frederick the Great was the servant. Nor would a politician who says to the electorate, "I am convinced that
this is the right course of action, and if you really can't accept it, vote for someone else."
I would also say to you that anyone who has been involved with politics for any length of time soon realises you can't please everyone.
You can and should try to listen to and respond to as many people as possible, but sometimes you're going to have to say "I accept that you are entitled to your opinion, and I'm equally entitled to mine."
Recognising this does not mean you're not living in the real world, it means you are.
And of course none of the parties are perfect - we just have to pick the least worst and try to make it as good as it can be. Of if you think they're all rubbish you can start your own.
I mean the chartists never formed one did they.
Forming a political party is nothing more than restricted "in the box" thinking. Thus conforming to the current out of date, not fit for purpose, system.