Gordon Brown are you a mental?

So today unveils more of Labour's ploy to win the next election. This will be done, so it seems, by getting the people so offside that come 2010, there will be no hope of them winning any votes and definately "not" being in power. Now this whole plan is quite risky and will definately result in not being in power come the June of 2010.

Today sees the Labour party getting tough on those who carry knifes by putting in place a scheme where...take a deep breath here the comes the tough talking...they will visit victims of knife crime in hospital. OH MY GOD! No stiffer sentencing measures, no community action plans, no examining the background of these feral, urban, zombie hood-rats, nothing but a trip to the hospital to see the result of their actions or potential actions.

Firstly this is totally unworkable. Why would the victim of a stabbing, still fresh from the incident, lying in a ward, want to be the prime exhibit in a grotesque freakshow for the perpetrators of such crimes. Who would agree to let themselves be used in this way. Secondly, if you have the mentality that resorts to knife violence, or that thinks carrying a knife is an ok accessory to have, then I don't think a trip to the hospital will have any impact on your wrong headedness.

Yesterday when the government announced it would put into place measures to tackle this current high profile crime, I was actually thinking that they would be introducing solid, proactive policies to counter the crimes. But, no, again Brown, Smith et el are doomed to fail. We know who the idiots are in Westminster Village.

Cameron will obviously slate this new policy, fair enough, but he will not be able to say what the Tories would do instead. He currently holds the enviable position where he can carry on not telling the public what his policies are and still likely win the next election. Good work if you can get it.

Unless Brown or his replacement (which might be likely in the next year) can a) get the public back on it's side and b) implement proper, far reaching measures, there will be no hope for the Labour party. The time for action is now and the nation is ripe for a political re-think. Labour must tap into this feeling and use what it has achieved in 11 years to really push their message, but also not to be afraid of saying sorry for their mistakes. Although they do not feel that Iraq was a mistake, they could surely admit that not thinking about Iraq post invasion was a pretty bloody massive gaffe.

It will be too late when they are in opposition and they could have 10 years there to think about what went wrong. It is strange to think that this seems to be the path they are happy to choose.

In 1997 they appeared as brave and original. Minimum wage, Didn't mind pissing the utilities off by windfall taxes, didn't kowtow to big business and corporations, but something went wrong...They quickly need to see what this was and change it otherwise 10 years in opposition may turn to another 18.

Lord Dixon-Smith

Oh dear the Tory goons are at it again - It's only been one day, but they don't seem to be able to shut up.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article4297283.ece

Now Lord Dixon-Smith's (LDS) excuse is that the comment "slipped out". To me this is a highly dubious argument. If, in everyday life the word "nigger" is so close to the front of your thought process that it slips out as part and parcel of your normal vocabulary, It really is time to remove yourself from society and slowly gather dust in a corner of a dark room or attic which you can delude yourself is forever England.

If a work colleague had used the word, I would expect them to receive disciplinary action under the gross misconduct procedures and know that this matter was being fully investigated. David Cameron said that the remark was "not appropriate" - Damn right, if you think this then take some bloody action against your front bench spokesman for COMMUNITIES!!! That this man has the role he has, beggars belief, another glimpse into the world of Tory thinking.

Some of the comments on the Times website are heroic in their stupidity. Comments such as "much ado about nothing" from Carol in Bristol and "it's a non issue" from the improbably named James O' Reilly-Ryan. I fear these comments miss the point. Being angry that someone in LDS's position has used such a word and has gotten away with it, with little rebuke from his leader/boss is not a trivial matter and is certainly not Political Correctness gone mad.

Stewart Lee said it best (here) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IYx4Bc6_eE

It is true that there are huge world issues which we are dealing with at the moment (food shortages, fuel, war etc), but if our thinking is so devolved that we settle on being hateful as our automatic setting, how can we be truly sympathetic/empathetic to the world's problems and instill in us the force needed to strip away our apathy and push us towards helping society, this country, this Kingdom, united, together.

So, as the man says...LDS...Tories...Cameron and the rest of your goons...You're a bunch of idiots.