ThunderDragon Blog

As Conference season is very nearly upon us, it’s time to start a new mwm based on what you would say if you had a platform at any party conference. [Idea nicked from Mike Ion.]

So here goes:

Conference,

I believe that we, the Conservative Party, are once more ready to take office. Let’s be frank - for a while, we had lost it, as can sometimes happen. But now, we have developed and moved on. We have taken a look at ourselves, done our navel gazing, and then we have taken a look at modern Britain and seen how we can make it better. And we are now in the process of setting out our vision for the future, after the destruction befalling us from a decade and more of Labour mis-management.

When Labour took power in 1997, Britain was at the start of an economic upturn. Thst continued, despite the policies they pursued which has driven our economy to the edge of a precipice. Rather than spending that time developing and reforming our public services, they resorted to the tried-and-failed Labour tactic of tax-and-spend.

Last time they tried that, we had to go in and fix it. We had to reform the state and bring back economic security to the nation, because they broke it.

And it looks like we need to try and fix it all over again.

The truth is, as the Chancellor recently alluded to, is that we have been screwed by Labour. They promised much, took the money from our wage packets to pay for it, and then squandered it. Time and time again. Gordon Brown failed when he was at the Treasury and the economy survived despite him. But he took it right to the precipice, and as soon as the world economy slowed, the hollowness of his boasts about economic competence were revealed.

The country is clearly calling for us to step up our game and set out our stall with how we can fix it - and so far they seem to like what they are seeing. In every vote and in every poll, we are the clear winners. But now, the present is the time that we must lose sight of. We must not get cocky and see the next election as “ours”. Instead, we must respect that it is up to the people, the voters of this country, whether or not we are allowed to govern them for one Parliament.

Our country needs us. But it is up to us to go to them and tell them what it is we stand for - the freedom for them to spend their own money however they like, the freedom for them to do what they like in their own homes without government snooping or disapproval of them drinking more than than they say we should or smoking at all, and greater protection from criminals through putting real police on the street.

Our politics is about reform - change for the better, rather than for the sake of change. About cutting waste and providing more efficient and less polluting services. About making Britain cleaner, greener, and safer.

Thank you.

To write their own ‘pretend’ conference speech, I tag:

• Letters From A Tory
• Tony Sharp
• Nich Starling
• James Graham
• Sadie Smith
• Dave Cole
• Ordovicious
• And anyone else who wants to.

Matt Wardman has tagged me in a meme to name “the best £200k waste of public money you can think of” in response to Tom Harris MP’s post bemoaning the £200,000 spent on the Haltemprice and Howden by-election.

Despite the question being a bit of a contradicion in terms ["best waste"? Matt!] I’m going to do my best to continue it.

To start with, what Tom Harris is suggesting is that £200,000 of our money should not be spent on allowing us to cast our votes. [£200,000 is little to pay for a bit of democracy, Tom. Maybe you and your party would like to give us all a chance to cast our votes...? Thought not.]

And how great a percentage is £200,000 of what the government spends every single day? A thousandth? A millionth? At any rate, not very much. I’m sure if we wanted, we could come up with Daily Mail style list of what £200,000 could have bought… such as ‘two hospitals, 5,000 hip operations, twelve nurses, nine police officers…’ etc**. But that is just stupid. Because the money wouldn’t have been used for that.

Matt’s suggestions for the “most monumental waste of 200k” are:

But I ask just one simple question: How much does it cost for one MP in the House of Commons for one parliament?

Let’s be generous and say a salary of just £60,000 and expenses of only £20,000 per year - and a parliament of four years. So, £80,000 times by four = £320,000. And by the time we’ve added on any other costs they that encur to us, we’re bound to be nearing £400,000. And if we add in the cost of running their office as well…

I’ve got an idea! Let’s abolish one MP [since you're so concerned about our financial situation, are you going to offer, Tom?] and use that money to hold two - or even three! - surprise by-elections per parliament, with an MPs name picked out of a hat completely at random. This will cost us no extra money and give us a greater say over our democracy.

What, you mean they won’t go for that? I wonder why…

Seriously though, £200,000 is pennies to the government. I am absolutely certain that they waste way more than £200,000 of our money pretty much every day in one way or another. Be it on white elephants like the Dome, on IT fiascos, or on making polcemen fill in paperwork rather than patrolling the streets and many others.

The simple fact is, whatever you think of David Davis’ resignation in order to spark a by-election, you can’t call it a “waste of money” unless you think all elections are. If you think that, go live in Zimbabwe.

It is our money - something Tom Harris seems to have forgotten - and there are certainly many many worse uses that it can be put to than on an exercise in democracy.

I tag: Devil’s Kitchen, Steve Green, Ian_QT, Tony Sharp, Croydonian, and Trixy.

* The cost of one MP over a parliament

** Please note that these examples have no basis in fact just like the Daily Mail’s

Yet another one of these things is making the rounds…

Hat-tip: The Cynical Dragon

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!

I have been tagged by Norfolk Blogger to do this latest meme on political influences. It must be in retaliation for me tagging him with the first political memory meme I started! [I'm going to follow the meme round and post a summary of the replies soon - if you haven't done it and are reading this, consider yourself tagged!]

This is a hard one to do. Political influences are wide and varied, and many have an impact, but only in certain areas. A lot of my political ideology is developed from lots of bits and pieces, mixed together and developed in my own unique way. So, in no particular order:

John Stuart Mill - democratic, liberal thinker.

Benjamin Disraeli - former Prime Minister, creator of the modern Conservative Party

Enoch Powell - I wrote my undergraduate dissertation on him

Ann Widdecombe - feisty, common-sense politician

Edmund Burke - a philosophical founder of conservatism

For this one, I will tag: Bel, Ruthie, Monkey with a blue rosette, Ian Appleby, and Fabian Tassano.

Whilst writing a post [to be published later] I wondered what my first political memory was. Thinking back, I can remember something about Margaret Thatcher - but considering I was 5 when she was deposed, I think it’s more likely that that is a memory I have inserted rather than actually remember.

The first thing I can clearly remember is when John Major resigned in 1995 and stood in the subsequent leadership election [annoyingly I can't find a video of this]. This was when I first became interested in politics, though my interest soon died away after the end of the leadership contest as I soon found something else more interesting, being just ten years old at the time. The next solid political memory I have is of the 1997 general election and Tony Blair walking to 10 Downing Street with that annoying song “Things Can Only Get Better” blaring out in the background.

Since this is could actually be interesting to read what other blogger’s first political memory is, I think I’ll make it into a meme. So I’m going to tag Graachi, Matt Wardman, Garbo, Shane Greer, Arleen Ouzounian, Norfolk Blogger, Ordovicius, DuSanne, and anyone else who wants to, to blog about their first political memory.

Benedict White has tagged me in the latest political meme to make the rounds, the “It’s Got To Be Gordon” meme started by Matt Wardman. So here goes:

2 things Gordon Brown should be proud of:
- Giving the Bank of England independence
- Managing as Chancellor for ten years without seriously screwing over the economy

2 things he should apologise for:
- Raking money in from pension funds
- Creating lots of new and unnecessary taxes, complete with excessive amounts of red tape

2 things he should do immediately when he becomes PM:
- Scrap inheritance tax
- Announce that Britain won’t be joining the Euro for the foreseeable future

2 things he should do while he is PM:
- Devolve more power to local councils
- Find a better way to fund universities than Student Loans

I now have to tag eight people, and they are: Not Saussure, Tom Paine, Theo Spark, Imagined Community, Shades of Grey, Harry Hook of The Final Redoubt, Reactionary Snob, and Tony Sharp. [Sorry!]