Labour Party war criminal publishes memoirs

According to Blair:

"I can't regret the decision to go to war... I can say that never did I guess the nightmare that unfolded, and that too is part of the responsibility."

Indeed it is. But many people did predict the nightmare -- myself included. I vividly recall those who said a war in Iraq would unleash a hellish intensity of tribal violence -- like Northern Ireland, but a hundred fold, said one. Blair, who had seen at close quarters the dynamics of sectarianism in Northern Ireland, should have known exactly what to expect.

While those on the left of the Labour Party are now, quite rightly, demonizing Blair for his record on Iraq, we shouldn't forget that he wasn't alone in this policy. For example, who can forget Jack Straw's performances on the Today Programme and elsewhere, day after day, where his weasel words gave political cover to Blair's iniquity. What about the rest of the cabinet, what were they saying at this time?

The Labour Party is stained for a generation. Good riddance.

Diane Abbott for Labour Leader!

I was delighted to hear that Diane Abbott has managed to collect enough nominations to progress to the next stage of the Labour leadership contest. I for one will be campaigning for her, and encourage all Labourites to give her their support!

It's such a mouth-watering prospect to imagine that someone even less electable than Michael Foot could soon be taking charge of the Labour helm. And you know, such an act of collective stupidity is by no means beyond the realms of possibility where these clowns are concerned. I mean... look what they did to the economy.

At the very least, fingers crossed, it looks like we might have seen the last of her on the "This Week" sofa. Imagine that! No more rolling of the eyes ... no more of those rude interruptions, talking over the top of everyone else... no more of that smug self-satisfied smirky smile.... wonderful!

Thank you Diane, and of course: GOOD LUCK!

More Balls

In his forlorn bid for the Labour leadership Mr. Ed Balls has been trying to reconnect with the grass roots of his party. The invasion of Iraq, he's been telling us, was a "mistake"...yep, that's right, a mistake. Now correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought a mistake is like when you forget to buy a pint of milk in the supermarket, or when you miss your train...

The war in Iraq however, I'd call that a murderous act of aggression unleashed on the people of Iraq from hell, courtesy of Mr. George W Bush and his nasty little poodle, Tony Blair.

Why then wasn't Mr. Balls telling us about these "mistakes" before the election?

Why? Well it's because, like most of the rest of the Labour elite, Mr. Balls couldn't really give a damn about the innocents in Iraq his party shamelessly helped to kill.

The war in Iraq was not a mistake -- it was a crime. It was the deliberate work of a greedy Labour leader trying to earn himself some political capital whatever the consequences. In May 2010 it's about Blair's prospective successors trying to do exactly the same. The only difference is, these days the wind is blowing in a different direction.

Why did anyone vote for Labour in the recent election? Beats me.

The state of the economy

The last of the three TV election debates was supposed to be about the economy. For me it was ninety tedious minutes of blather and posturing from all three men. So, as a public service to my kind readers, this is all you need to know about the economy:

The UK economy grew at an average of just 1.7% per annum over the last decade -- not only is that lower than during either of the two previous decades under the Tories, it's actually the worst growth since the 1940s.

Unemployment is now 8%, that's the highest it's been since 1996. It's going to go up.

Exactly ten years ago the FTSE stood at 6373, today it's 5618. The UK stock market has suffered its weakest performance of any decade since the Great Depression, according to Morgan Stanley.

Our national debt as a percentage of GDP has more than doubled since Labour came to power.

With decreased GDP per capita and deteriorating exchange rates, the UK standard of living is currently below 2005 levels -- and getting worse.

Things are just about to get really really bad -- for years to come, no matter who ends up in Downing Street next week. Soon you'll no longer have to take my word for that. But why would anyone think the people who've landed us in this disastrous economic mess are in any way qualified to get us out of it?

By the way, if anyone can explain that one to me, I'd be most grateful -- seriously.

Education

Labour massively increased the Education budget -- doubled it in fact! So was that money well spent?

Here's my collection of thirty or so gems reflecting upon education in Britain today. Take a deep breath, and enjoy...

• One in five children leave primary school with a poor grasp of maths. According to a report, around 30,000 pupils started secondary school last year with the maths skills of a seven year old.
• More than three million children have started secondary school without a proper grasp of reading, writing and maths since Labour came to power.
• In a study, 1,300 of the brightest 16-year-olds were presented with questions from old O-level and GCSE papers. An average of one-in-seven questions from tests taken in the 60s and 70s were answered correctly. Even pupils awarded elite A* grades in corresponding GCSEs last summer struggled with traditional questions.
• Students who sat a science exam under the Oxford and Cambridge and the RSA (OCR) board managed to achieve grade C results by scoring as little as 18 per cent on one of their chemistry papers.
• English: fewer 14-year-olds are reaching Level 5 in the subject than in maths or science, according to statistics from the Department for Children, Schools and Families. The data reveals that almost 23 per cent of 14-year-olds, 129,400 in total, did not reach Level 5 in English, the standard expected of the age group. In maths, 21 per cent — 118,500 pupils— did not reach Level 5, and in science, 128,600, or 22 per cent, also failed to achieve this standard.
• One in seven children cannot write their own name after a year at primary school, figures showed.
• Tests carried out in 1980 and again in 2008 show that the IQ score of an average 14-year-old dropped by more than two points over the period. Among those in the upper half of the intelligence scale, a group that is typically dominated by children from middle class families, performance was even worse, with an average IQ score six points below what it was 28 years ago. The trend marks an abrupt reversal of the so-called "Flynn effect" which has seen IQ scores rise year on year, among all age groups, in most industrialised countries throughout the past century
• Clever boys are "dumbing down" at school to avoid being bullied and branded swots, according to research.
• Imperial College London, is introducing its own entrance exam after admitting it struggles to cope with record numbers of students applying with straight As at A-level.
• Universities have been accused of dumbing down after the number of first class degrees doubled in a decade.
• A study of written work produced by British final-year university students revealed that, on average, they had 52.2 punctuation, grammatical and spelling errors per paper compared with just 18.8 from international students.
• A decision has been made to make A-levels tougher -- or "recalibrated" to stem the fall in standards presided over by Labour, but Ofqual, the exams regulator, admitted students may be able to pass with lower marks than in the past.
• A pupil with seven GCSEs has been enrolled to an adult literacy course, because he can't read or write properly -- seven GCSEs, how does that work?
• More than two million children are being taught in schools that are mediocre or failing, Ofsted inspectors have said
• Millions of school and college leavers are 'not fit for work', the boss of Marks & Spencer has warned. Chairman Sir Stuart Rose said too many didn't even have a basic grasp of the three Rs.
• In a survey, 26% of under-16s thought bacon came from a sheep

So much for standards, what about the curriculum?

• Next year pupils will be tested on text messaging as part of their English GCSEs.
• Teachers should liven up lessons with games such as bingo, Blockbusters and Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? to prevent pupils misbehaving, the Government's school discipline tsar, Sir Alan Steer has said.
• Under new rules, sixth formers study just four topics for A-level history, compared to about ten a decade ago, ensuring that great swathes of British and world history are left out.
• English lessons are being killed off in schools, with children no longer able to read for pleasure or express themselves through writing, a union leader has said.
• The Cambridge Primary Education Review, led by education expert Robin Alexander, found that schools are producing a generation of 'philistines' as science, history, geography and the arts disappear from the curriculum.

Or how about these gems...

• Independent schools, that educate only 7% of the school population produce more straight A pupils at A-level than the comprehensive system.
• Ed Balls wants to tear up the traditional ranking system for school league tables in favour of grading schools on their pupils' health and wellbeing as well as their exam results.
• Dr Carol Craig, chief executive of the centre for confidence and well-being in Scotland, said children were being over-praised and were developing an "all about me" mentality.
• Teachers believe pupils' behaviour has worsened in the past few years, with children being disrespectful, insulting and even physically aggressive in the classroom. More than eight in 10 said they had been verbally abused and insulted, while more than half said they had faced threats or been sworn or shouted at.
• Nearly 30% of school staff have been the subject of a false allegation of misconduct by a pupil, a survey by a teaching union suggests.
• More than 40,000 children aged between four and seven were excluded from their primary schools last year.
• As many as three-quarters of state schools are failing to push their brightest pupils because teachers are reluctant to promote 'elitism', an Ofsted study has said.
• Labour's flagship, Sheffield Park Academy - opened last year by the Duke of York following a £30m redevelopment - will become the third of the schools to be placed in "special measures".
• A report by the think tank Politeia found that teachers in England are the least qualified in the developed world

...and I could go on, (and on).

So, if you care about education -- then why would you vote for Labour?

Blood Money

The Iraq war, we were absolutely assured, was not about oil. Come to think of it, what was the Iraq war about? Tony Blair's hubris? His need to grandstand on an international stage, clinging to the USA's coattails? Over the years, the official explanation has morphed a few times to serve the political exigencies of the day. However this weekend we learnt that among Tony Blair's colossal £20m earnings, there is an undisclosed fee (for "advice") from oil giant UI Energy Corporation, a company with strong business interests in ...erm ...Iraq. Yep, so definitely not about oil then. It turns out Blair has been battling for the last couple of years to keep this one secret. Well no wonder. And no wonder he couldn't find any expression of regret while addressing the Chilcot Enquiry. Kerching. What a nice fellow.

I expect the families of our dead service personnel, and those of the dead children of Iraq will have some "advice" for Mr. Blair. And I bet they'd give it to him for free.

Smear, scandal and now election defeat: Labour is a spent force

They’ve even been beaten in Wales. They’ve been kicked into third, fourth or fifth place up and down the country. The party is hopelessly split between those who really want Brown to go but haven’t the bottle to get rid of him, and those who would take their chances – heads buried deep in the sand.

Last night, at an emotionally charged meeting of the PLP, Brown pleaded for loyalty and support. It was high drama, a Hollywood moment, a time for cheers and rousing applause. In the end, he got what he wanted – a kind of support, and a kind of closure. It seems Labour finally nailed their colours to the mast, for which now they will pay a very heavy price.

Labour's Hollywood moment

Only the most delusional Labourite would dispute that heavy defeat at the next general election is looming large. All that is left is to name the date. Bring it on Gordon.

Stephen Pound, gets around

In my part of Ealing the current MP is a fellow called Stephen Pound, and boy, does he get around!

Rent-a-quote Steve claimed £4,251 in mileage costs. Holy crap. Apparently that converts to....11,004 miles --Kerching! (em...Ealing Broadway is about 8 miles from Westminster).

What's up -- is he moonlighting as a taxi driver? He certainly looks like one.

"Said he drove between his constituency and Westminster two or three times a day to get 'out and about'".

That's right Steve, we all do that. And of course, if someone would check the congestion charge records, that would completely prove the probity of your claim...wouldn't it?

I'm heading into town tomorrow -- any chance of lift?