The ThunderDragon

And you can track him online here!

Not only are his closest allies telling Brown that he time is very nearly up, but so is the electorate.

So 48% agree that the next government should be a Conservative one. Also, 51% to 31% regard David Cameron as the more likeable of the party leaders, and that Cameron “has a big lead in every demographic and region except Scotland, where Mr Brown is narrowly ahead (by 46 per cent to 43 per cent).” That’s a big lead in every demographic and region except Scotland.

This surely is very bad news for the future of Gordon Brown and this Labour government. But a very very good news for the Conservatives.

Image nicked from Guido

I’ve been tagged by Nich to do Iain Dale’s eight wishes for 2008 meme. So without further ado, here I go:

1. To get a permanent job.
2. For the Conservatives to consistently poll above 45%.
3. For Lib Dems to stop lying with their bar charts.
4. To pass my driving test.
5. For the EU Constitution “Reform Treaty” to be voted down in at least one country.
6. For Labour to lose a “safe seat” in a by-election.
7. For the ID card scheme to be dumped.
8. For England to get its own Parliament.

I tag: Matt Wardman, Mike Rouse, DuSanne, Paul Linford, and Steve Green. Sorry and Merry Christmas!

You know you’re in deep shit when not only your enemies, but even your closest friends are telling you that you’re going to lose:

The full Fabian editorial is here.

The problem for Gordon Brown is that he has already had several opportunities to tell us his “vision” - immediately after he took over, at the Labour party conference, the Queen’s Speech… yet he has failed miserably ever time. Thus we just have to ask, does he even have a vision for Britain - or even for what his government is to do next week?

But what do the Fabians think that Gordon Brown needs to do to start his “fightback”?

Of course, this ignores that this government has hardly had twelve years of competence, but far closer to the opposite. And that Labour have hardly demonstrated an interest in real transparent funding or an elected second chamber! The Fabians view of party funding, however, is that “state funding is necessary” - which, of course, it isn’t.

The most important thing that this article is saying is that not only are the Conservatives “favourites to win the next general election” but that Brown has failed rather miserably since taking over - and even the Labour Party have to acknowledge that fact. What matters now is whether Brown has - and can express - a political “vision”.

Government departments really are just haemorrhaging data about us, the people, who give them this personal information because they require that we give it to them. First the HMRC lost the personal financial details of 25 million people. Then we find out that they have also lost six other discs with our data on it. Then it came out that the details of 3 million learner drivers has been lost. And now the NHS is at it:

So posting discs certainly isn’t a one-off or even rare occurrence in the public services, but apparently standard practice!

Even though none of this is directly the fault of ministers of the government, they are responsible for it nonetheless. They have consistently failed over the last decade to ensure that our data is dealt with in the proper confidential manner. And these are the people who want us to give them all of our details, to be collated in one place as part of an ID card scheme! No bloody way.

What these stories show is that it is not possible for the State to be trusted with any more of our data than absolutely necessary - and that this data should be spread out with as little as possible in one place.

And there’s one more point to consider - all of these stories have only “emerged” as a result of the investigation after the original massive loss by HMRC. Would they have bothered to tell us about any of these had that not come to light itself?! I very very much doubt it.

To be honest, I couldn’t give two hoots. Religion is a private thing. I don’t care that Blair has become a Catholic and how “moving” the service was or whether Clegg is an atheist. Whatever anyone’s religious beliefs are are simply their own and no-one else’s. It matters not one jot to anyone else. So can we move on please?

What would Gordon Brown’s letter to Santa read like? DuSanne has a sneak peek…

Go read the rest.

It seems that Labour’s fortress is under siege:

That’s so not good news for Brown. If even Labour’s heartlands of “the North”, where most of Labour’s Cabinet ministers have their seats, is under serious threat, then the possibility of a meltdown must seem all too likely.

And to a Conservative, this news just brings on a smile.

The future’s bright, the future’s blue.

Now it is Christmas, as I’m on holiday from work - for the next eleven days! Which I’m going to use to - apart from the obvious eating, drinking, and celebrating - to get started writing my We The People columns at the Wardman Wire [read a preview here].

I also thought I’d give this blog a bit of a spruce up for the seasonal festivities, hence the new header.

Selling and buying sex has never been illegal in the UK. Yet Harriet Harman seems to think that that’s simply not good enough, and that the precedents set by centuries of history - covering even the most prudest eras - isn’t good enough for her. What she is attacking she says “just because something has always gone on, it doesn’t mean you just wring your hands and say there’s nothing we can do about it” she is ignoring the very foundation of British society, law and democracy - precedent and organic development, taking into account the past. Of course this doesn’t mean that what has gone before is always right, but it certainly means that there needs to eb damn good reason before you even consider changing it.

Let’s look at this from a rights perspective. I own my body, right? We all agree on that point. So I can do whatever the hell I like with it. After all, that is what manual labourers - the people Harman’s party claims to represent - do when they sell their labour. And what we all do when we work - we sell our labour in whatever form. Thus, we can do what we want with out own bodies.

Then we have the fact that the money I earn, after I have paid my taxes to the State, are mine to dispose of as I wish. This money I can spend on anything I wish, as it is my money, that I have earned, and on which no-one else has any claim. Right?

So, why should I not be allowed to buy or sell sex if I so wish - wish my own body or my own money? It is right that some activities associated with prostitution - such as pimping and brothel-keeping - are illegal. But the simple activity of selling and buying sex certainly should not be. It is referred to as the “oldest profession” for a reason, and it will long outlive Harman and her ilk. After all, sex is a one of the basic needs of mankind - and not everyone can or wants to get it without paying.

Sources: BBC, The Telegraph, The Times, The Guardian