Could there be anything more insulting to ordinary people, anything that would better confirm how totally out of touch our MPs are, than resignations over Lord's Reform??
As we, the voters, plead with MPs to save our NHS, protect sick and disabled people from the cruel attacks of the Welfare Reform Bill, beg Government not to increase tuition fees, privatise our schools or scrap legal aid, yet again, we see the only issue to stir their self-serving, venal, decadent egos is something that might affect them.
The public couldn't care less about Lord's reform. They absolutely could not give a fig.
MPs are, they say, concerned that an elected second chamber might start to "impose it's will on the commons." This translates into "Might stop us from doing exactly what we like, when we like."
According to the Telegraph
"A third MP warned of widespread rebellions in the Commons if the plans went ahead. He said: “If the Government presses ahead with this you will see rebellions off the scale with what we have seen so far.”
So the loss of ermine, the potential loss of a comfy place to rest one's slippers at the end of an arduous career in Westminster is the only issue that will drag them towards actually doing the job they were elected to do?
Never mind the disabled children losing half of the support they rely on, or cancer patients being sent to the jobcentre. Never mind poor children going hungry in our schools or homelessness rising dramatically. Forget a lack of affordable housing, rising crime or the sinister rise in suicides since austerity won the day. No thought for riots or gangs or forced prostitution? No flicker of concern over removing justice from some of our most vulnerable?
Nope. Not a LibDem or Conservative rebel in sight then, when we so desperately needed them, so desperately tried to engage with them.
It really is time our politicians took a good long look at themselves through our eyes. Their selfishness gets more breathtaking by the day.
Predictably they are self serving Sue, as the NHS reforms(sic) show as so many of them stand to line their pockets
ReplyDeleteCouldn't agree more, but please tell us how you are too, I've been checking back several times a day worried about you - and I don't know you!
ReplyDeleteCall me wind because I am blown away by your post!
ReplyDeleteThank you Sue, this post shows just how out of touch and self-serving they all are. We do not live in a democracy, the whole thing is a sham.
ReplyDeleteThis should be sent to every Tory and Lib Dem MP. Another brilliant spot on blog, thank you Sue.
ReplyDeleteWe are supposedly in the midlle of an economic crisis and they think NOW is a crucial time to worry about changing a system that's been in place for hundreds of years? They are SO out of touch they have no idea, no hint even, that they ARE out of touch with reality.
ReplyDeleteI have heard several Lib dems recently, actually say they might be ok in the elections because the public will see they "did the right thing" by forming a coaltion and saved the worst excesses of a Tory government. They have absolutely no idea the vast majority of the public see them as traitors and absolutely finished.
The Tories think the fuss over the budget is just down to "not explaining things properly" and mid term blues. They really have no idea the public has turned against them with a vengeance and that this had already begun quite a way BEFORE the budget.
Ed Milliband thinks he can win an election by having absolutely no policies at all or speaking out against anything.
They were completely surprised with the Summer riots and have failed to even consider the real causes behind them.
People are waking up to the fact that we do not live in a democracy. Swapping one dictatorship for another is not going to work anymore. They are truly deluded in their Westminster bubble.
They have forgotten they are there to SERVE US, not the other way around.
They are blaming the unemployed for not being able to get a job. Blaming the sick for not getting better. Blaming the young for being badly educated and disenchanted. Blaming the old for having the nerve to still be alive. Blaming the poor for being homeless or having to send their children to bed hungry.
When will they ever blame themselves?
Great comment, especially the blame bit.
Deleteexcellent post
DeleteHow are you Sue
ReplyDeleteThe Tories fear that an elected House of Lords (HoL) will mean any future elected HoL amendments will also be made by elected people which will undermine the Tories saying the HoL are unelected and can throw out HoL amendments
Let them have an elected second house if that's what they want: what's the difference?
ReplyDeleteIf any current government wants to push through a law, even if they are defeated in parliament as we have seen, they just push the law through. What's democratic about that? In fact, what's democratic about the whole process of government, other than a majority votes in a particular M.P., and despite what his or her constituents want, they have to toe the party line, even when his or her constituents would be badly affected by government policy. For example, the fracking process currently being developed in Lancashire, something the majority of residents do not want.
It's not just the Lords that needs reforming, it's the whole idea surrounding democracy. Each M.P. should be free to vote however their conscience moves them, without any interference from lobbyist like corporations, and banks. That would be a start.
Everyone is sick of the lies this government has spouted like no government ever did before. Everyone I speak to is disillusioned about politics. If Ed doesn't get his act together, despite how the coalition is on the road to ruining this country, I feel that they will gain power again in 3 years time. It will still be too late for us who have been badly affected by all of the changes, but if they gain power again, I honestly don't think I'll be alive 10 years from now.
Please let us know how you're doing Sue. Like others, I've been checking the site throughout each day wondering how you are coping, and hoping that you are being treated with respect and the care you both need at this time.
Thoughts and prayers are with you.
clarebelz
Yes, do let us know how you are Sue. Even though we've not met, it doesn't feel that way. One of the many reasons I keep reading your blog is not just because you come across in a way that makes you seem like a kind, perceptive and interesting friend, but also because you have a way of looking at current issues in a way that doesn't always occur to me.
ReplyDeleteYou're right again here, their priorities are rubbish. Dangerous rubbish.
Here's an anecdote of when we went on the Hardest Hit march last May. Went to see our (Tory) MP at Westminster Hall afterwards, first time we'd ever met. He directed us to one side of the room by the wall, in the hope it would be less noisy there. My husband, on his scooter, parked carefully, then MP went to get a chair. I assumed it was for me, until he sat on it and told me to fetch one for myself.
That said rather a lot about his attitude I think.
Totally agree with you. I too have been badly affected by the Welfare Reform Bill and I know that this government knows nothing about real life. When you have nothing and they come and take the little bit you have its just catastrophic. I think they want anyone unwell, or disabled, or poor, or whatever to be pushed on the scrapheap! We really dont matter to them whatsoever and dont forget they are trying to scrap legal aid soon just to add a little something else to the mix !!!! xx
ReplyDeleteA good letter in the Guardian on the connection between benefit cuts and the Legal Aid bill (another example of lick-spittle LibDem MPs enabling the overturning of Lords' amendments which had made it a bit less awful, just as happened with the Welfare Reform bill):
Deletehttp://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/apr/19/cuts-services-legal-aid-linked
In this article, Polly Toynbee says: "I want to see the frightening trajectory of ever greater inequality go into reverse. I want the strong, not the weak, to bear the brunt of this recession".
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/apr/19/chris-grayling-job-snob-toynbee-left
So do we all. But as you say, Sue, our current governmment's selfishness is breathtaking, truly appalling, mind-blowingly so.
Good Post
ReplyDeleteWell the old adage is certainly true about ALL politcians...when they want your vote they will kiss your arse..once elected they want you to kiss thiers.....
ReplyDeleteOne day we might all wake up and realise we dont need this shower of....and we just like any other job we should make then sign contracts of employment so we can sack em if they dont perform....without that nothing will EVER change and they will ALL without exception...well maybe dennis skinner is the exception...will all look after themselves first and foremost.We should sack em all and start again..its our money that pays for these idiots and if you got such bad service from any shop would you shop there again NO so why do we put up with it.....Even Thatcher only stole the milk off the kids this bunch of bastards want the WHOLE dinner....isnt that proof enough....
Agree that most of the public don't care about the House of Lords and its reform. Don't forget, though, that the House of Lords tried hard to overturn the worst bits of the Welfare Reform Bill and other bits of unjust legislation recently. And that it includes fabulous people like Tanni Gray Thompson and others who work very very hard in the cause of justice and not for political or personal gain. The fact that they are appointed not elected means that they are much freer to follow their conscience and do the right thing rather than please Daily Mail readers. I think there should be far fewer ex politicians appointed and more independent experts from the various worlds of science, medicine, arts, business etc etc, leaders in their field. Could be a real house of wisdom, a revising chamber that offers invaluable expertise. No?
ReplyDeleteYeah right...thats why Bttomley only turned up to vote on the health bill cos her CONscience told her to in case it got voted down and it affected her position with bupa.Dont tell me that they are freer to follow anything.They for the most part will follow party lines and yes there may well be good ones like Tanni Grey but whats the point of any of it if the govt takes no bloody notice and overturns everything they vote on in the lords.300 quid each a day to turn up and have no effect whatsoever so No no point in having it.Its not accountable,its not elected and open to polical placement to suit the govt wishes NOT ours. Bin it off and the comons too.Start again with proper elected houses and a bill of rights and a real mechanism for recall and dismissal for not doing the jobs we pay all of them for...
ReplyDeleteThey simply don't care.
ReplyDeleteIt is horrifying but I think we can shout about it as much as possible and they will never get it because they simply don't care if ill and disabled people become homeless or kill themselves.
And most people aren't even aware of what is really happening.
I went to have some remedial massage the other week - the woman, who I imagine sees a lot of ill and disabled people, had absolutely no clue about how wwelfare reform was affecting people.
She too, like most people who aren't ill or disabled or carers, lived in a bubble as much as those in Westminster do.
Under the current electoral system we have no choice but to vote for 1 of the 3 or 4 people named on the ballot paper so the same collection of idiots know its odds on 1of them will get in no matter how lazy or incompetent they have been
ReplyDeletewhat i suggest is adding another option to to the ballot paper " none of the above" if more people tick this box than for any of the candidates, different candidates must be selectedif one off these new candidates wins, then he knowsif he hasn't done his job then if not beaten in the next election, he could be another none of the above (nota). If we ban anyone involved in a nota vote from standing for 10 years, then its a further reminder to them that they were elected by the people for the people,not by the people to do whatever i can to make myself & my rich croneys even richer !
Once again, you've hit the nail on the head Sue.
ReplyDelete