Sunday, November 11, 2007
WE SHALL REMEMBER THEM
War
By Joseph Leftwich
Over the World
Rages war.
Earth, sea and sky
Wince at his roar.
He tramples down
At every tread,
A million men,
A million dead.
We say that we
Must crush the Hun,
Or else the World
Will be undone.
But Huns are we
As much as they.
All men are Huns,
Who fight and slay.
And if we win,
And crush the Huns,
In twenty years
We must fight their sons,
Who will rise against
Our victory,
Their fathers’, their own
Ignomity.
And if their Kaiser
We dethrone,
They will his son restore,
Or some other one.
If we win by war,
War is force,
And others to war
Will have recourse.
And through the World
Will rage new war.
Earth, sea and sky
Will wince at his roar.
He will trample down
At every tread,
Millions of men,
Millions of dead.
It never ceases to amaze me how old poems can feel so contemporary, and be as relevant and insightful as this one.
¶ 12:26 AM 3 comments
links to this post
WarBy Joseph Leftwich
Over the World
Rages war.
Earth, sea and sky
Wince at his roar.
He tramples down
At every tread,
A million men,
A million dead.
We say that we
Must crush the Hun,
Or else the World
Will be undone.
But Huns are we
As much as they.
All men are Huns,
Who fight and slay.
And if we win,
And crush the Huns,
In twenty years
We must fight their sons,
Who will rise against
Our victory,
Their fathers’, their own
Ignomity.
And if their Kaiser
We dethrone,
They will his son restore,
Or some other one.
If we win by war,
War is force,
And others to war
Will have recourse.
And through the World
Will rage new war.
Earth, sea and sky
Will wince at his roar.
He will trample down
At every tread,
Millions of men,
Millions of dead.
It never ceases to amaze me how old poems can feel so contemporary, and be as relevant and insightful as this one.
Picture is from http://www.falklandsfew.org.uk/ just to remind us to remember the more recent conflicts.
Saturday, June 09, 2007
08/06/07 – THEATRE REVIEW
“Who’s coat is that jacket”, grand theatre, Swansea
Well I went there to watch a bumptious play full of fun and frivolity (I hadn’t read any literature about the show) so I was quite taken aback with the dark commentary on family life. That is not to say that I was disappointed in a lot of cases it hit close to home, and it was particularly ironic since I’ve got an interview in Bristol for an accountancy position (which I found out about, just before the play). Notably it was close to home for more people as there were people talking about da-ja-vou at the interval.
There were however some inaccuracies in the performance that niggled me.
1) The play was set in 2002, however, they were talking about the scarlets, ospreys, and blues, which were established in 2003, so quite prophetic for these characters to be talking about them. I must say though that the fact that this is only in the programme, which were bought by very few it is not damaging to the play.
2) Additionally, the characters were talking about having to achieve 20 UCAS points to get into university, however in 2001 the UCAS points system changed and 20 points now equates to one E at AS level. A full list can be found here http://www.ucas.com/candq/tariff/tariff_sep06.doc Again I must say because of the demographic of the audience this is not going to be a widely noticed mistake.
I liked the play, and its very attractive technical girl I’ll add, and I especially liked the ending with the title line finally being used to subtly indicate the final relationship between two of the characters.
In whole it was well worked, the second act (the bit after the interval) could have been longer, but with excellent acting throughout and magnificently simple, yet affective, make-up. It is well worth going to see.
TaffiaDon@Gmail.com
¶ 10:12 PM 2 comments
links to this post
Well I went there to watch a bumptious play full of fun and frivolity (I hadn’t read any literature about the show) so I was quite taken aback with the dark commentary on family life. That is not to say that I was disappointed in a lot of cases it hit close to home, and it was particularly ironic since I’ve got an interview in Bristol for an accountancy position (which I found out about, just before the play). Notably it was close to home for more people as there were people talking about da-ja-vou at the interval.
There were however some inaccuracies in the performance that niggled me.
1) The play was set in 2002, however, they were talking about the scarlets, ospreys, and blues, which were established in 2003, so quite prophetic for these characters to be talking about them. I must say though that the fact that this is only in the programme, which were bought by very few it is not damaging to the play.
2) Additionally, the characters were talking about having to achieve 20 UCAS points to get into university, however in 2001 the UCAS points system changed and 20 points now equates to one E at AS level. A full list can be found here http://www.ucas.com/candq/tariff/tariff_sep06.doc Again I must say because of the demographic of the audience this is not going to be a widely noticed mistake.
I liked the play, and its very attractive technical girl I’ll add, and I especially liked the ending with the title line finally being used to subtly indicate the final relationship between two of the characters.
In whole it was well worked, the second act (the bit after the interval) could have been longer, but with excellent acting throughout and magnificently simple, yet affective, make-up. It is well worth going to see.
TaffiaDon@Gmail.com
Saturday, June 02, 2007
02/06/07- THE WELSH LANGUAGE IS BEING OVER PROMOTED DISCUSS…
Well this was to topic, of an opinion and comment piece on BBC news online (link bellow), their problem was that they couldn’t find anyone to oppose this motion. Well here goes:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/6655109.stm
The Welsh language, is the bulwark of Welsh culture, and moreover, Welsh nationhood, I propose that without the Welsh language Wales would be seen and more importantly would probably consider itself to be an area of England, and not have retained its distinctive culture. When England invaded Wales, they imposed their system of government and cultural norms, and swiftly began amalgamating the two nations.
“Edward spent most of the two years after the conquest in Wales, which was still neither incorporated into England nor governed by the English parliament. The king lacked the power to abolish the Marcher Lordships. In fact, he added to their number as a reward for the Lords’ help in conquering Wales. The whole of Wales was not dissimilar to one great March of which large parts were in the possessions of the king himself. It was not a part of England but largely a separate possession of the English crown and governed by royal statute. Commotes remained under the administration of sheriffs, whose offices were filled, like all important posts, by Englishmen, Welsh criminal law was abolished but Welsh civil law remained. Welshmen were never to be tried under Welsh criminal or civil law and never in the Welsh language. Every Welsh person could be excluded from the eighty towns in Wales as foreigners.
The Steep rise in taxes caused great distress, especially among the taeogion (villeins), whose taxes were increased by six hundred per cent and more. Edward said that this was necessary to pay the tremendous cost of the war and the immense castle-building programmes in the post-war years and after the dangerously powerful Welsh revolt twelve years later. Dr John Davies says that Edward’s activities in Wales cost him more than ten times his regular annual income, and that his massive Welsh-incurred debt vitiated his hope of subjugating the Scots.
James of St. George, the great architect who designed some of the castles, maintained, says Dr Davies, that the king’s hold on Wales could not be secured without the most elaborate fortifications, for ‘Welshmen are Welshmen’, The huge and costly castles underline Gerald the Welshman’s dictum about the Welsh a century before: ‘Their mind is wholly on the defence of their country and its freedom.’ Although the castles are badges of subjugation they are also a tribute to the Welsh determination to live in freedom.
A bigger anglicising influence than the castles themselves were the towns which developed around them, each one an alien colony in which Welsh people were forbidden to live or to trade. As a poet sang at that time:
Lle bu’r Brython Saeson sydd
A’r boen ar Gymru beunydd.
Where once were Britons, English now
give the Welsh daily pain.
Planting scores of urban English colonies all over Wales furthered Edward’s policy, if the historian Tout is right in saying that the king’s real policy was to make Welshmen Englishmen as soon as possible.”
Gwynfor Evans, “The Fight For Welsh Freedom”, (Y Lolfa, 2006) Pages 72 – 74
The Welsh language acted as a bulwark for Welsh culture, with in it cultural tendencies were entrenched and imbedded, it is the survival of the language that has prevented Wales being lost to a county of England, and has allowed Welsh culture to re-emerge through it.
For people in the South of Wales, patriotism is seen as supporting Wales in the sporting arena and rather than a political philosophy, and therefore the association between the language and the nation is lost permitting allegations that it is being over promoted.
Now I must admit that I am slightly bitter when it come to language, I would be angry but its not worth my energy to be so, that even though I went to school (in England) less than 100 metres from the Welsh border, I was taught French and German, neither country I have ever visited, and was not given the opportunity to learn the language of the country less than 100 metres from the school, a country which we used to go to when we had a free period (in the sixth form when we were allowed out), a choice that was based on the fact that, I don’t know why the opportunity wasn’t given to me / us, there were teachers who spoke Welsh but there was no funding for this much more applicable and employable language on ideological grounds (I assume) if it was an economic decision not to learn Welsh then they would have taught us Chinese Mandarin, or which ever language is prolific in India rather than French and German.
Anyway, returning to the point, Welsh language has for hundreds of years been ignored and persecuted, people were prevented from speaking the language in schools for fear of being caned, and for a sizable time of Wales’ time within Britain, the language was prohibited from being taught, but now that it is increasingly being taught – with a steady increase in Welsh medium schools, throughout Wales with Monmouthshire planning to open its first, shows that the Welsh language is finally regaining its rightful position as an equal language to English within Wales.
So how exactly do people feel that this language is being over promoted?
"This corner of the British isles has fallen under the influence of a relatively few sub-racists who are more than willing to sell Wales down the river in exchange for increasing their own power base,"
Many argued that they would prefer to see the government spend more on the health service and less on the bureaucracy of operating in two languages.
"Even the asylum seekers' welcome pack is now available in Welsh,"
Others grumbled about what they perceive as poorer career prospects for those who don't speak Welsh.
These are some of them which are mentioned in the article, I still can’t figure out the sub-racist comment, how can you justify that comment? How can retaining your own culture be seen as a racist trait? It is a bemusing argument, and it’s notable that this supposedly patriotic Welsh wo/man says “this corner of the British isles”, are they complaining about the Welsh language or the existence of the Welsh nation? Moreover, they are complaining that the Welsh language is used to create divisions, and then they are complaining that they are trying to use the language to integrate asylum seekers and other migrants into the country.
As for the other comment that money is being spent on a bilingual bureaucracy, that is money not just on bureaucracy, its promoting culture. I remember hearing stories when the government changed the licensing hours (24 hour drinking) that the national government (Westminster) sent out all the forms, and when the Welsh speaking landlords asked for a Welsh version of the form – it didn’t exist. If we do not have this bilingualism in Wales, the Welsh language will truly become obsolete as the Westminster government has no inclination to preserve this language, they will promote other minority languages primarily those of immigrant communities, and provide literature in those languages but not in Welsh or any other native minority languages, demonstrated by the fact that the Manx language now has no native speakers. That Scottish and Irish languages have been almost eradicated from these lands, and the Cornish language is struggling to survive. Also demonstrated by the BBC who have a fair few options for language on their news online site, but if you click on the welsh one, it doesn’t translate the page, it moves to you a new page where the Welsh language is ghettoised and removed from the mainstream. (I must remember to check what happens when you click the other languages – you can check too by visiting news.bbc.co.uk)
It’s an anomalous argument really, if we are wasting money preserving Welsh in a British context, surely we are wasting money on a European scale, or even a global scale by using English, Chinese Mandarin is (I believe) the most prolific language, we should scrap all others and just use this one. Additionally, why stop there, if we create a single European super-state we can eradicate the cost that 25 national governments and numerous sub-national governments entail, I wonder how many people who are complaining about the ‘waste of resources’ on the Welsh language would be a proponent of this idea. Moreover, You could argue that a global government would be the most cost affective, just think how much money you could save if you took that course of action.
And the final grumble: poorer career prospects for those who don't speak Welsh. Surely this is an indication of how used this language is, and how relevant it is in Wales, so how this is an argument that the Welsh language is being over promoted is beyond me, businesses are economical, they will not do something unless there is a potential in profit in doing it. This is an odd argument all round, you invest in yourself, and you go through school and university to give you skills and abilities to employ in the work force, so if you think that a lack of a particular skill is a bar to gaining employment you take action, but apparently when that bar is the Welsh language you run off to the BBC and complain that the Welsh language is being over promoted, there are plenty of Welsh language courses about, so if you need that skill invest in yourself and enrol on a course.
My final point is the fact that Wales is not the only country to be bilingual, most countries around the world are: Belgium, Switzerland (trilingual), Quebec province of Canada, Many regions of Spain (Basque, Catalonia the most notable) the majority of African countries (multilingual), Ukraine, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia (all four have large Russian speaking populations in addition to the native languages) and yet, seemingly, it is only a problem in Wales, I guess that the English have succeeded in anglicising the Welsh since the subjugation has become so entrenched we no long require the English to instigate it.
¶ 10:03 PM 4 comments
links to this post
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/6655109.stm
The Welsh language, is the bulwark of Welsh culture, and moreover, Welsh nationhood, I propose that without the Welsh language Wales would be seen and more importantly would probably consider itself to be an area of England, and not have retained its distinctive culture. When England invaded Wales, they imposed their system of government and cultural norms, and swiftly began amalgamating the two nations.
“Edward spent most of the two years after the conquest in Wales, which was still neither incorporated into England nor governed by the English parliament. The king lacked the power to abolish the Marcher Lordships. In fact, he added to their number as a reward for the Lords’ help in conquering Wales. The whole of Wales was not dissimilar to one great March of which large parts were in the possessions of the king himself. It was not a part of England but largely a separate possession of the English crown and governed by royal statute. Commotes remained under the administration of sheriffs, whose offices were filled, like all important posts, by Englishmen, Welsh criminal law was abolished but Welsh civil law remained. Welshmen were never to be tried under Welsh criminal or civil law and never in the Welsh language. Every Welsh person could be excluded from the eighty towns in Wales as foreigners.
The Steep rise in taxes caused great distress, especially among the taeogion (villeins), whose taxes were increased by six hundred per cent and more. Edward said that this was necessary to pay the tremendous cost of the war and the immense castle-building programmes in the post-war years and after the dangerously powerful Welsh revolt twelve years later. Dr John Davies says that Edward’s activities in Wales cost him more than ten times his regular annual income, and that his massive Welsh-incurred debt vitiated his hope of subjugating the Scots.
James of St. George, the great architect who designed some of the castles, maintained, says Dr Davies, that the king’s hold on Wales could not be secured without the most elaborate fortifications, for ‘Welshmen are Welshmen’, The huge and costly castles underline Gerald the Welshman’s dictum about the Welsh a century before: ‘Their mind is wholly on the defence of their country and its freedom.’ Although the castles are badges of subjugation they are also a tribute to the Welsh determination to live in freedom.
A bigger anglicising influence than the castles themselves were the towns which developed around them, each one an alien colony in which Welsh people were forbidden to live or to trade. As a poet sang at that time:
Lle bu’r Brython Saeson sydd
A’r boen ar Gymru beunydd.
Where once were Britons, English now
give the Welsh daily pain.
Planting scores of urban English colonies all over Wales furthered Edward’s policy, if the historian Tout is right in saying that the king’s real policy was to make Welshmen Englishmen as soon as possible.”
Gwynfor Evans, “The Fight For Welsh Freedom”, (Y Lolfa, 2006) Pages 72 – 74
The Welsh language acted as a bulwark for Welsh culture, with in it cultural tendencies were entrenched and imbedded, it is the survival of the language that has prevented Wales being lost to a county of England, and has allowed Welsh culture to re-emerge through it.
For people in the South of Wales, patriotism is seen as supporting Wales in the sporting arena and rather than a political philosophy, and therefore the association between the language and the nation is lost permitting allegations that it is being over promoted.
Now I must admit that I am slightly bitter when it come to language, I would be angry but its not worth my energy to be so, that even though I went to school (in England) less than 100 metres from the Welsh border, I was taught French and German, neither country I have ever visited, and was not given the opportunity to learn the language of the country less than 100 metres from the school, a country which we used to go to when we had a free period (in the sixth form when we were allowed out), a choice that was based on the fact that, I don’t know why the opportunity wasn’t given to me / us, there were teachers who spoke Welsh but there was no funding for this much more applicable and employable language on ideological grounds (I assume) if it was an economic decision not to learn Welsh then they would have taught us Chinese Mandarin, or which ever language is prolific in India rather than French and German.
Anyway, returning to the point, Welsh language has for hundreds of years been ignored and persecuted, people were prevented from speaking the language in schools for fear of being caned, and for a sizable time of Wales’ time within Britain, the language was prohibited from being taught, but now that it is increasingly being taught – with a steady increase in Welsh medium schools, throughout Wales with Monmouthshire planning to open its first, shows that the Welsh language is finally regaining its rightful position as an equal language to English within Wales.
So how exactly do people feel that this language is being over promoted?
"This corner of the British isles has fallen under the influence of a relatively few sub-racists who are more than willing to sell Wales down the river in exchange for increasing their own power base,"
Many argued that they would prefer to see the government spend more on the health service and less on the bureaucracy of operating in two languages.
"Even the asylum seekers' welcome pack is now available in Welsh,"
Others grumbled about what they perceive as poorer career prospects for those who don't speak Welsh.
These are some of them which are mentioned in the article, I still can’t figure out the sub-racist comment, how can you justify that comment? How can retaining your own culture be seen as a racist trait? It is a bemusing argument, and it’s notable that this supposedly patriotic Welsh wo/man says “this corner of the British isles”, are they complaining about the Welsh language or the existence of the Welsh nation? Moreover, they are complaining that the Welsh language is used to create divisions, and then they are complaining that they are trying to use the language to integrate asylum seekers and other migrants into the country.
As for the other comment that money is being spent on a bilingual bureaucracy, that is money not just on bureaucracy, its promoting culture. I remember hearing stories when the government changed the licensing hours (24 hour drinking) that the national government (Westminster) sent out all the forms, and when the Welsh speaking landlords asked for a Welsh version of the form – it didn’t exist. If we do not have this bilingualism in Wales, the Welsh language will truly become obsolete as the Westminster government has no inclination to preserve this language, they will promote other minority languages primarily those of immigrant communities, and provide literature in those languages but not in Welsh or any other native minority languages, demonstrated by the fact that the Manx language now has no native speakers. That Scottish and Irish languages have been almost eradicated from these lands, and the Cornish language is struggling to survive. Also demonstrated by the BBC who have a fair few options for language on their news online site, but if you click on the welsh one, it doesn’t translate the page, it moves to you a new page where the Welsh language is ghettoised and removed from the mainstream. (I must remember to check what happens when you click the other languages – you can check too by visiting news.bbc.co.uk)
It’s an anomalous argument really, if we are wasting money preserving Welsh in a British context, surely we are wasting money on a European scale, or even a global scale by using English, Chinese Mandarin is (I believe) the most prolific language, we should scrap all others and just use this one. Additionally, why stop there, if we create a single European super-state we can eradicate the cost that 25 national governments and numerous sub-national governments entail, I wonder how many people who are complaining about the ‘waste of resources’ on the Welsh language would be a proponent of this idea. Moreover, You could argue that a global government would be the most cost affective, just think how much money you could save if you took that course of action.
And the final grumble: poorer career prospects for those who don't speak Welsh. Surely this is an indication of how used this language is, and how relevant it is in Wales, so how this is an argument that the Welsh language is being over promoted is beyond me, businesses are economical, they will not do something unless there is a potential in profit in doing it. This is an odd argument all round, you invest in yourself, and you go through school and university to give you skills and abilities to employ in the work force, so if you think that a lack of a particular skill is a bar to gaining employment you take action, but apparently when that bar is the Welsh language you run off to the BBC and complain that the Welsh language is being over promoted, there are plenty of Welsh language courses about, so if you need that skill invest in yourself and enrol on a course.
My final point is the fact that Wales is not the only country to be bilingual, most countries around the world are: Belgium, Switzerland (trilingual), Quebec province of Canada, Many regions of Spain (Basque, Catalonia the most notable) the majority of African countries (multilingual), Ukraine, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia (all four have large Russian speaking populations in addition to the native languages) and yet, seemingly, it is only a problem in Wales, I guess that the English have succeeded in anglicising the Welsh since the subjugation has become so entrenched we no long require the English to instigate it.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
22/05/07 – IS THIS THE SWIFTEST RENEGED PROMISE IN POLITICAL HISTORY?
Less than 24 hours, after Gordon Brown has pledged to restore faith in politicians he has remained neutral (and therefore is tacitly supporting the bill). The bill which is to amend the Freedom of Information act is supposedly to protect the correspondence of MPs on confidential matters and protect communication too MPs ensuring the privacy of the constituents on sensitive matters. The fact that the bill would also prevent newspapers and interested parties from requesting detailed break downs of MPs expenses, which has been highly embarrassing for some members after they faced impropriety allegations with relation to seemingly disproportionately high expenses claims in regard to postage and travel expenses etc… does not enter into the equation, apparently.
So weeks before he has taken office the heir to the prime ministers office has already broken one of his promises, and his reasoning, "Gordon has also spoken about the sovereignty of Parliament. If MPs have voted this measure through then that is a matter for them", (Take a deep breath in, count back from ten before you respond: 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, I can’t take it) HE IS AN MP! HE HAS THE RIGHT TO AN OPINION, HIS IS NOT ABOVE PARLIAMENT AND THEREFORE CAN DEBATE WITH, AND IN, PARLIAMENT!
So with government support, (well to be accurate) without government opposition, this bill is likely to come into force preventing us constituents from keeping checks upon our representatives, so much for open politics, so much for restoring faith in politicians, as they protect their under-the-table dealings and abuse of public fund in law. (why else would they seek to remove this information from the public domain if it was legitimate reimbursement of expenses? Surely they would hold it up and say ‘look how much work I have done, I work harder than any other MP and am worth re-election because I listen to and represent you’.)
The one thing that I can’t understand (which also leads me to think that they are only concerned with skimming the cream off the public purse) is why if this bill is solely to protect correspondence, is it not abbreviated to omit correspondence to and from MPs rather than to omit the Houses of Parliament completely and it their entirety from the freedom of information act?
So much for democratic accountability.
¶ 8:38 PM 0 comments
links to this post
So weeks before he has taken office the heir to the prime ministers office has already broken one of his promises, and his reasoning, "Gordon has also spoken about the sovereignty of Parliament. If MPs have voted this measure through then that is a matter for them", (Take a deep breath in, count back from ten before you respond: 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, I can’t take it) HE IS AN MP! HE HAS THE RIGHT TO AN OPINION, HIS IS NOT ABOVE PARLIAMENT AND THEREFORE CAN DEBATE WITH, AND IN, PARLIAMENT!
So with government support, (well to be accurate) without government opposition, this bill is likely to come into force preventing us constituents from keeping checks upon our representatives, so much for open politics, so much for restoring faith in politicians, as they protect their under-the-table dealings and abuse of public fund in law. (why else would they seek to remove this information from the public domain if it was legitimate reimbursement of expenses? Surely they would hold it up and say ‘look how much work I have done, I work harder than any other MP and am worth re-election because I listen to and represent you’.)
The one thing that I can’t understand (which also leads me to think that they are only concerned with skimming the cream off the public purse) is why if this bill is solely to protect correspondence, is it not abbreviated to omit correspondence to and from MPs rather than to omit the Houses of Parliament completely and it their entirety from the freedom of information act?
So much for democratic accountability.
22/05/07 – QUESTION, DOES PETER HAIN’S LEFT HAND KNOW WHAT HIS RIGHT HAND IS DOING?
This post is in response to a small clip that was shown on the news the other day, the clip was of a husting of the labour party deputy leadership candidates. It was only a small clip but it was enough to show how oblivious he was to the impact of Labour’s policy.
The clip was of Peter Hain fielding a question, and he replied in the following manner: “…For the first time Labour are behind the Tories on the NHS, the Tories who will contract out and privatise parts of the NHS…”
Now is it just me who is thinking, ‘is he serious?’ Labour have privatised and contracted out large sections of the health and education sectors under the pretences of PFI, contractual arrangements that give control of large areas of public procurement and day-to-day operations of many sections of the health and education sectors to the private sector and still Peter Hain has the audacity to say that the Tories would do it and when the Tories do it will be bad. LABOUR HAS DISMANTLED THE PUBLIC SECTOR AND IS AUCTIONING IT OFF PIECE BY PIECE.
Peter Hain’s argument is in the face that private companies now build hospitals and schools at greatly inflated prices, one hospital was commissioned at a capital cost of £250,000,000.00 and Labour have committed the tax payers to repaying £950,000,000.00, it would have been more cost affective if the state had build the hospital and put the cost on the national debt, but then out goes prudence and out goes the chancellors reputation, which must be retained at any cost (any cost to the tax payer that is). Moreover, in these PFI contracts Labour have given the private sector the responsibility of maintenance of these facilities, which is a highly bureaucratic affair (reportedly) with schools not permitted to contact the sub-contractors who do the work, they have to go to the LEA (whom the contract is with) who contact the private sector financer, who then contact the sub-contractor and commission the work, (the private financer charges the rate that was agreed in the contract – so you can imagine how cumbersome these documents are) it is a lot of work just to replace a light bulb, I think that you will all agree.
So back to my original point Peter Hain is claiming that the Tories = bad, he claims that the Tories = the dismantlement of public services, and he claims that the Tories = Armageddon. Well I have news for him and any body else that believes that Labour are the party of public services they have contracted out large sections of the NHS to private firms, a point that Peter Hain should know since after the health service of his own constituency contracted out its hygiene services (cleaning services) they were unable to impose a stricter regime of hygiene standards because the iron clad contract only mandated a certain level and the health authority couldn’t insist on stricter measures. So Labour have instigated a contractual system that has put parts out the public services outside of public accountability, and they still have the audacity to cry woof and say that the Tories would do the same thing.
Disbelief, Labour has to resort to scare tactics in order to garnish support and now they are scare mongering, telling people that the conservatives are going to do something bad, but omitting the fact that they have already done this very same deed.
¶ 8:36 PM 0 comments
links to this post
The clip was of Peter Hain fielding a question, and he replied in the following manner: “…For the first time Labour are behind the Tories on the NHS, the Tories who will contract out and privatise parts of the NHS…”
Now is it just me who is thinking, ‘is he serious?’ Labour have privatised and contracted out large sections of the health and education sectors under the pretences of PFI, contractual arrangements that give control of large areas of public procurement and day-to-day operations of many sections of the health and education sectors to the private sector and still Peter Hain has the audacity to say that the Tories would do it and when the Tories do it will be bad. LABOUR HAS DISMANTLED THE PUBLIC SECTOR AND IS AUCTIONING IT OFF PIECE BY PIECE.
Peter Hain’s argument is in the face that private companies now build hospitals and schools at greatly inflated prices, one hospital was commissioned at a capital cost of £250,000,000.00 and Labour have committed the tax payers to repaying £950,000,000.00, it would have been more cost affective if the state had build the hospital and put the cost on the national debt, but then out goes prudence and out goes the chancellors reputation, which must be retained at any cost (any cost to the tax payer that is). Moreover, in these PFI contracts Labour have given the private sector the responsibility of maintenance of these facilities, which is a highly bureaucratic affair (reportedly) with schools not permitted to contact the sub-contractors who do the work, they have to go to the LEA (whom the contract is with) who contact the private sector financer, who then contact the sub-contractor and commission the work, (the private financer charges the rate that was agreed in the contract – so you can imagine how cumbersome these documents are) it is a lot of work just to replace a light bulb, I think that you will all agree.
So back to my original point Peter Hain is claiming that the Tories = bad, he claims that the Tories = the dismantlement of public services, and he claims that the Tories = Armageddon. Well I have news for him and any body else that believes that Labour are the party of public services they have contracted out large sections of the NHS to private firms, a point that Peter Hain should know since after the health service of his own constituency contracted out its hygiene services (cleaning services) they were unable to impose a stricter regime of hygiene standards because the iron clad contract only mandated a certain level and the health authority couldn’t insist on stricter measures. So Labour have instigated a contractual system that has put parts out the public services outside of public accountability, and they still have the audacity to cry woof and say that the Tories would do the same thing.
Disbelief, Labour has to resort to scare tactics in order to garnish support and now they are scare mongering, telling people that the conservatives are going to do something bad, but omitting the fact that they have already done this very same deed.
Friday, May 11, 2007
11/05/07 - LIB DEMS CRY FOUL
Article from: http://www.libdemvoice.org/business-as-usual-for-labour-burying-bad-news-798.html
GOVERNMENT HAS BROKEN LAW TO BURY BAD NEWS ON ID CARDS - CLEGG
The Government was today accused of breaking the law in an attempt to bury bad news after waiting until the day of Tony Blair’s resignation to publish a report on ID cards that reveals the cost of the project has gone up by £640m since October
The Government had previously refused to publish the report despite the fact that it was breaking the law by doing so.
Section 37 of The Identity Cards Act says that a report on the costs of ID Cards must be put before Parliament every six months. However, the Government has ignored that deadline, which would have seen the report published on 9th April.
Commenting, Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary, Nick Clegg MP said:
“It is bad enough that the Government seeks to bury bad news behind the camouflage of Tony Blair’s announcement.
“Breaking the law to do so breaks new ground even for Tony Blair’s Labour Party.
“This bad news has been illegally postponed, and is only now published a full month beyond the statutory deadline. That shows the depths of cynicism and media manipulation to which ministers are now resorting to ram this increasingly unpopular scheme through.
“To add insult to injury, the statement itself is a laughable cocktail of statistical sophistry and contradictory claims.
“But beyond the smoke and mirrors, one simple statistic remains: the total cost of the ID card project by the Government’s own admission has gone up by £640m since October. The costs are now spiralling out of control. On the grounds of expense alone, the Government should do us all a favour and abandon this great white elephant before it is too late.”
ENDS
¶ 10:11 PM 0 comments
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Thursday, May 10, 2007
10/05/07 - ABHORRENT MADNESS, ABHORRENT DISCRIMINATION, ABHORRENT ILLEGALITY
English is actually much worse for vocal chords. The word "Good Morning" contains 2 velar consonants - sounds articulated from the back of the throat. Not only that, but you need to shift many more muscles than you do with "bore da". Welsh should therefore be used - you don't want someone to break their jaw saying "good morning"!
Aled James, Cardigan, Wales
Personally i think that it is a shambolic excuse. I am a fluent Welsh speaker and so are my brothers, my sister and many of my friends. To say that adding two additional words to the start of a telephone conversation are going to cause that much of a health hazard. And as for people saying the we should just let the language die just shows how anglicised the country is becoming, but i'm sure you sing the national anthem on match day. If english and welsh speaking welsh people dont stand up for one if not the oldest LIVING language in Europe then there really is no hope. has any welshmen/woman here been asked "is Wales in England?" and been insulted by it then you should be insulted by this mockery of a old wives culture that seems to be all the rage these days.
Gareth Cryer, Casnewydd, Casnewydd
I hope this is not my Union who says this. If it is, then I will send back my membership card, shredded. What a load of rubbish.
Alun, Caerdydd, Caerdydd
I live in the Vale of Glamorgan and a tiny fraction of the population here speaks welsh, and thos have fluent english. The introduction of 'bore da' as a telephone greeting is a lip-service nod to the very powerful welsh language board. Welsh is a dead language (hear of 'parcio ceir' for 'car park' or 'cwio' for queue'?). Let it go
Trudi Skipp, Penarth, Vale of Glamorgan
I've never heard such a farce. This health and safety business, in my amateur opinion, has far crossed the line. It must be stopped, or else where is the line going to be drawn. Will they be denying is from speaking, for fear of losing our voices altogether? Who knows.
James Whittaker, Caerdydd, Wales
This is ridiculous. Government at all level should devote more time to real issues, not rubbish like this.
Jonathan Krause, London,
What do you expext of the Left, they won't be happy untill everyone is speakning Urdu
S Braule, Llanelli, Wales
In the interests of health and safety surely this is a sensible measure. In fact, to spare the vocal chords of telephonists everywhere, an inside source alledges that one of Tony Blairs "going out with a boom of legislation" measures is to make it law that telephonists communicate by rapping the phone on the desk, using only the hand which is supported by the heavy duty padded wristbrace to avoid forming nodules on their larynxses. Sheer PC insanity.... "why should Britain tremble?"
Pete North, manchester,
I wonder whether the bureaucrats who came up with this simply had no useful work to do and needed to look busy, or whether Vale of Glamorgan council is interested in discouraging the use of the Welsh language and thought that "health 'n' safety" was the ideal excuse to do so without facing accusations of cultural prejudice.
knirirr, Oxford,
I recently followed a bus in Cardiff, the back of which was covered in ads, all in welsh, except for one rectangle in the top right hand side which asked politely: PLEASE LET ME PULL OUT. Don't they trust the Welsh reading drivers to oblige?
I.T.Macnamara, Plymouth,
Surely if only monolingual greetings are to be allowed, they should be in Welsh?
Martina Fuseli, Portsmouth, England
¶ 10:09 PM 0 comments
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It has long served as a polite, and apparently safe, greeting between Welsh speakers.
But now health and safety concerns have stopped council telephone operators from greeting callers in Welsh. The language of heaven, it is argued, could damage their vocal cords.
Union officials want to spare employees from greeting callers with “bore da” (good morning) and “prynhawn da” (good afternoon). The staff, they say, usually speak only in English and the extra greeting could damage their voice.
Under the Welsh Language Act, government bodies are obliged to offer services in the language, and most councils and large companies answer calls in English and Welsh. But now Vale of Glamorgan council has barred the greeting. It says that its move complies with the Health and Safety Executive’s advice that call centre workers limit the amount of time that they spend on the telephone.
But Welsh language speakers in the affluent and Anglicised area west of Cardiff are baffled. Steffan Williams, a Welsh-speaking Plaid Cymru councillor, condemned the ban as an infringement of human rights. He said: “I can’t see how saying ‘bore da’ will do people in a call centre any harm.”
A spokesman for the Vale of Glamorgan council confirmed that staff have stopped answering in Welsh after their union had raised health and safety concerns.
But now health and safety concerns have stopped council telephone operators from greeting callers in Welsh. The language of heaven, it is argued, could damage their vocal cords.
Union officials want to spare employees from greeting callers with “bore da” (good morning) and “prynhawn da” (good afternoon). The staff, they say, usually speak only in English and the extra greeting could damage their voice.
Under the Welsh Language Act, government bodies are obliged to offer services in the language, and most councils and large companies answer calls in English and Welsh. But now Vale of Glamorgan council has barred the greeting. It says that its move complies with the Health and Safety Executive’s advice that call centre workers limit the amount of time that they spend on the telephone.
But Welsh language speakers in the affluent and Anglicised area west of Cardiff are baffled. Steffan Williams, a Welsh-speaking Plaid Cymru councillor, condemned the ban as an infringement of human rights. He said: “I can’t see how saying ‘bore da’ will do people in a call centre any harm.”
A spokesman for the Vale of Glamorgan council confirmed that staff have stopped answering in Welsh after their union had raised health and safety concerns.
AND THE REBUKES
Shouldn't this have been in the April 1 issue? Absolute nonsense.I usually only speak Welsh, so maybe I should stop greeting customers to my shop in English as I'm probably harming my vocal chords? And if ignorant persons like Trudi Skipp (best place for her) wants to be so negative, maybe she would like to get her facts/spelling right first- car park- 'maes parcio', to queue - 'ciwio'
Nia, Dolgellau, Gwynedd
Nia, Dolgellau, Gwynedd
English is actually much worse for vocal chords. The word "Good Morning" contains 2 velar consonants - sounds articulated from the back of the throat. Not only that, but you need to shift many more muscles than you do with "bore da". Welsh should therefore be used - you don't want someone to break their jaw saying "good morning"!
Aled James, Cardigan, Wales
Personally i think that it is a shambolic excuse. I am a fluent Welsh speaker and so are my brothers, my sister and many of my friends. To say that adding two additional words to the start of a telephone conversation are going to cause that much of a health hazard. And as for people saying the we should just let the language die just shows how anglicised the country is becoming, but i'm sure you sing the national anthem on match day. If english and welsh speaking welsh people dont stand up for one if not the oldest LIVING language in Europe then there really is no hope. has any welshmen/woman here been asked "is Wales in England?" and been insulted by it then you should be insulted by this mockery of a old wives culture that seems to be all the rage these days.
Gareth Cryer, Casnewydd, Casnewydd
I hope this is not my Union who says this. If it is, then I will send back my membership card, shredded. What a load of rubbish.
Alun, Caerdydd, Caerdydd
I live in the Vale of Glamorgan and a tiny fraction of the population here speaks welsh, and thos have fluent english. The introduction of 'bore da' as a telephone greeting is a lip-service nod to the very powerful welsh language board. Welsh is a dead language (hear of 'parcio ceir' for 'car park' or 'cwio' for queue'?). Let it go
Trudi Skipp, Penarth, Vale of Glamorgan
I've never heard such a farce. This health and safety business, in my amateur opinion, has far crossed the line. It must be stopped, or else where is the line going to be drawn. Will they be denying is from speaking, for fear of losing our voices altogether? Who knows.
James Whittaker, Caerdydd, Wales
This is ridiculous. Government at all level should devote more time to real issues, not rubbish like this.
Jonathan Krause, London,
What do you expext of the Left, they won't be happy untill everyone is speakning Urdu
S Braule, Llanelli, Wales
In the interests of health and safety surely this is a sensible measure. In fact, to spare the vocal chords of telephonists everywhere, an inside source alledges that one of Tony Blairs "going out with a boom of legislation" measures is to make it law that telephonists communicate by rapping the phone on the desk, using only the hand which is supported by the heavy duty padded wristbrace to avoid forming nodules on their larynxses. Sheer PC insanity.... "why should Britain tremble?"
Pete North, manchester,
I wonder whether the bureaucrats who came up with this simply had no useful work to do and needed to look busy, or whether Vale of Glamorgan council is interested in discouraging the use of the Welsh language and thought that "health 'n' safety" was the ideal excuse to do so without facing accusations of cultural prejudice.
knirirr, Oxford,
I recently followed a bus in Cardiff, the back of which was covered in ads, all in welsh, except for one rectangle in the top right hand side which asked politely: PLEASE LET ME PULL OUT. Don't they trust the Welsh reading drivers to oblige?
I.T.Macnamara, Plymouth,
Surely if only monolingual greetings are to be allowed, they should be in Welsh?
Martina Fuseli, Portsmouth, England
10/05/07 – CONGRATULATIONS S4C
A Welsh language drama, has won the prize for best light drama at the Rose d'Or Awards in Lucerne, Switzerland.
I’ve never heard of the award either but apparently it’s a big deal, and it is an amazing achievement that the judges could understand it enough to consider it, a greater achievement since they beat English language dramas, and drama from around Europe.
It is good that Welsh dramas and Welsh culture in general is being promoted and recognised to be on a par with other cultures within Europe.
¶ 9:24 PM 0 comments
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I’ve never heard of the award either but apparently it’s a big deal, and it is an amazing achievement that the judges could understand it enough to consider it, a greater achievement since they beat English language dramas, and drama from around Europe.
It is good that Welsh dramas and Welsh culture in general is being promoted and recognised to be on a par with other cultures within Europe.
10/05/07 – COALITIONS
Do you remember before the election, Peter Hain and Rhodri Morgan were saying that it was up to Rhodri Morgan to decide about coalitions?
Well the BBC have reported that Rhodri Morgan has been given permission to look into coalition partners. I guess that means that Rhodri Morgan is not in charge of his own house as much as he thinks he is
¶ 9:22 PM 0 comments
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10/05/07 – BLAIR ANNOUNCES HIS RETIREMENT
The announcement has finally arrived, roughly a week after the announcement scheduling the announcement.
It was a good speech, Labour are going to miss Blair, because they have not got anyone on a par with Blair as a major player in the cabinet.
Brown is widely expected to proceed Blair, I can not envisage him winning an election, I wouldn’t vote for him, he is responsible for some of the policies that I despise the most: the PFI programme, which for one hospital (£250,000,000.00) he has committed to paying £950,000,000.00 to the company that is funding it, all so that he can keep the debt off the national debt, so he can maintain his image as a prudent chancellor. It emerged yesterday that this government has paid out over £6 billion pounds in fraudulent tax credits £1.4 billion has been written off, and those people who have been overpaid are being forced to pay back the overpayments. So instead of bringing families out of poverty, they are now having to repay the government from their meagre means. The NHS has been given massive amounts of money which have been swallowed up by PFI projects, and which has proliferated hospital managers and necessitated nurses being laid off and junior doctors struggling to get training places.
But lets return to Blair he has shown utter contempt for parliament, announcing major constitutional changes in a cabinet reshuffle. He has presided over a perversion of the British civil service, where it has now been suggested that people are progressing because they give the answers ministers want to hear and not the truth. He has presided over new school academies which, in the midst of an obesity crisis, are left without outside spaces for sport and recreation (well one of them). The PFI building of schools, has left some schools empty because they were made obsolete but because of the terms in the contract they cannot be used for another purpose preventing a school being built for secondary school pupils being used for primary school pupils.
They have spent and squandered billions of pounds, before labour came to power we were paying 34% of national income to the government now he is leaving we are paying 40%, nearly 20% more and quite frankly not enough has changed for that to be value for money.
Finally, I think it was suitably ironic that supporters at his constituency were singing his 1997 election anthem, it is very rare that an anthem is just as applicable when you’re going out to when you’re coming in, and that anthem: “Things can only get better!”
For his faults, I bet the labour party would be wishing that he would come back to lead them again, in not the distant future. I also predict that the conservatives will begin to unveil policies, since Brown does not seem to be as capable as putting the conservatives down as Blair was, however, my previous post shows how much attention should be paid to predictions.
¶ 9:19 PM 0 comments
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It was a good speech, Labour are going to miss Blair, because they have not got anyone on a par with Blair as a major player in the cabinet.
Brown is widely expected to proceed Blair, I can not envisage him winning an election, I wouldn’t vote for him, he is responsible for some of the policies that I despise the most: the PFI programme, which for one hospital (£250,000,000.00) he has committed to paying £950,000,000.00 to the company that is funding it, all so that he can keep the debt off the national debt, so he can maintain his image as a prudent chancellor. It emerged yesterday that this government has paid out over £6 billion pounds in fraudulent tax credits £1.4 billion has been written off, and those people who have been overpaid are being forced to pay back the overpayments. So instead of bringing families out of poverty, they are now having to repay the government from their meagre means. The NHS has been given massive amounts of money which have been swallowed up by PFI projects, and which has proliferated hospital managers and necessitated nurses being laid off and junior doctors struggling to get training places.
But lets return to Blair he has shown utter contempt for parliament, announcing major constitutional changes in a cabinet reshuffle. He has presided over a perversion of the British civil service, where it has now been suggested that people are progressing because they give the answers ministers want to hear and not the truth. He has presided over new school academies which, in the midst of an obesity crisis, are left without outside spaces for sport and recreation (well one of them). The PFI building of schools, has left some schools empty because they were made obsolete but because of the terms in the contract they cannot be used for another purpose preventing a school being built for secondary school pupils being used for primary school pupils.
They have spent and squandered billions of pounds, before labour came to power we were paying 34% of national income to the government now he is leaving we are paying 40%, nearly 20% more and quite frankly not enough has changed for that to be value for money.
Finally, I think it was suitably ironic that supporters at his constituency were singing his 1997 election anthem, it is very rare that an anthem is just as applicable when you’re going out to when you’re coming in, and that anthem: “Things can only get better!”
For his faults, I bet the labour party would be wishing that he would come back to lead them again, in not the distant future. I also predict that the conservatives will begin to unveil policies, since Brown does not seem to be as capable as putting the conservatives down as Blair was, however, my previous post shows how much attention should be paid to predictions.
10/05/07 – POLL PREDICTIONS
I have come across this article that I noted down in the run up to the election concerning the predicted outcome of the election.
TELETEXT 184 APRIL 05 21:55:04
NEWS WALES
Labour losing seats-poll
Labour will remain the biggest party but will still lack an overall majority after May’s Welsh assembly election, according to a recent opinion poll.
The ITV Wales / NOP poll shows the Tories overtaking Plaid Cymru to become the second party in a hung assembly.
Labour see a drop of four to 25, Plaid no change on 12, Tories a again of three to 14, and Lib Dems go up one to seven.
This shows the value of polls, I’m guessing that this projection was gained from an opinion poll conducted in the south probably Cardiff.
¶ 9:13 PM 0 comments
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TELETEXT 184 APRIL 05 21:55:04
NEWS WALES
Labour losing seats-poll
Labour will remain the biggest party but will still lack an overall majority after May’s Welsh assembly election, according to a recent opinion poll.
The ITV Wales / NOP poll shows the Tories overtaking Plaid Cymru to become the second party in a hung assembly.
Labour see a drop of four to 25, Plaid no change on 12, Tories a again of three to 14, and Lib Dems go up one to seven.
This shows the value of polls, I’m guessing that this projection was gained from an opinion poll conducted in the south probably Cardiff.
Friday, May 04, 2007
04/05/07 – NATIONAL ASSEMBLY GOVERNMENT FOR WALES RESULTS
Well it was a long night, with coverage finishing at 6.30am, which incidentally is when I got to bed, surprisingly though I was quite sprightly by 10.00am when I earthed in the potatoes gaining several calicoes on both my hands for my efforts – I’m not used to all this labouring.
It was fairly good election result with labour retaining seats by the skin of their teeth, e.g. vale of Glamorgan, which I believe was around 60 votes more for labour over the conservative among others, labour won back Wrexham, not that surprising since John Merik(?) seemed to have slightly gone off the rails in his relations with the Elis-Thomas, the pair not speaking by the end of the second assembly which was problematic since they were presiding officer and deputy presiding officer.
There are a few points thought that are worth mentioning.
1) During the commentary this morning (4th May 2007) they mentioned that neither the presiding officer or the deputy presiding officer will have votes in this assembly. This will defiantly suit labour, as they were scuppered on several votes because the presiding officer voting against them when the deputy was presiding. So this is a partisan alteration to the devolution settlement surely.
2) I can’t find the figures at the moment but I seem to recall that they said that labour had 35% share of the vote, and they have managed to get 43% of the seats – here is me thinking that we had a proportional system, however, this hybrid additional member system seems to favour labour.
3) Turnout, was quite good (in a comparison with recent elections) on average 44% nation-wide. Which compared to the percentages in general elections is good and would have gained more acclaim if it wasn’t for the recent French presidential election.
4) The rise of the BNP they gained 9% in the regional vote in Wrexham, and 8% in Swansea east (those being the most notable of their results). I don’t know the candidates in Swansea east however Wrexham had a very powerful independent candidate and I was wondering if there was a correlation between voting for independents and voting for peripheral minority parties such as the BNP. This is based on the assumption that if you vote for a major party then you would give them your two votes. However, since independents are not allowed to stand on lists in addition to the constituency does this prompt people to look at and vote for unorthodox parties? This I shall have a look at later, providing I can find a breakdown of the regional vote for each constituency, although I can’t recall a large BNP presence in Blaenau Gwent where the independent Trish Law won.
I can’t find such a break down, does anyone know where I can get one?
¶ 7:25 PM 2 comments
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It was fairly good election result with labour retaining seats by the skin of their teeth, e.g. vale of Glamorgan, which I believe was around 60 votes more for labour over the conservative among others, labour won back Wrexham, not that surprising since John Merik(?) seemed to have slightly gone off the rails in his relations with the Elis-Thomas, the pair not speaking by the end of the second assembly which was problematic since they were presiding officer and deputy presiding officer.
There are a few points thought that are worth mentioning.
1) During the commentary this morning (4th May 2007) they mentioned that neither the presiding officer or the deputy presiding officer will have votes in this assembly. This will defiantly suit labour, as they were scuppered on several votes because the presiding officer voting against them when the deputy was presiding. So this is a partisan alteration to the devolution settlement surely.
2) I can’t find the figures at the moment but I seem to recall that they said that labour had 35% share of the vote, and they have managed to get 43% of the seats – here is me thinking that we had a proportional system, however, this hybrid additional member system seems to favour labour.
3) Turnout, was quite good (in a comparison with recent elections) on average 44% nation-wide. Which compared to the percentages in general elections is good and would have gained more acclaim if it wasn’t for the recent French presidential election.
4) The rise of the BNP they gained 9% in the regional vote in Wrexham, and 8% in Swansea east (those being the most notable of their results). I don’t know the candidates in Swansea east however Wrexham had a very powerful independent candidate and I was wondering if there was a correlation between voting for independents and voting for peripheral minority parties such as the BNP. This is based on the assumption that if you vote for a major party then you would give them your two votes. However, since independents are not allowed to stand on lists in addition to the constituency does this prompt people to look at and vote for unorthodox parties? This I shall have a look at later, providing I can find a breakdown of the regional vote for each constituency, although I can’t recall a large BNP presence in Blaenau Gwent where the independent Trish Law won.
I can’t find such a break down, does anyone know where I can get one?
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