Hiding the truth

So Jack Straw has finally got his way and forced legislation through Parliament allowing for secret inquests when the subject might be contentious. Contentious meaning of course embarrassing for the government and liable to outrage the public.

Labour forces secret inquests Bill through the Commons

Secret inquests which will bar bereaved families and the public from attending hearings into controversial deaths were forced through Parliament last night.

The Government narrowly defeated opposition to the new powers by a majority of eight MPs in a highly charged vote in the House of Commons. Under the measures ministers will be able to order that an inquest is replaced with a secret inquiry whenever they deem it necessary.

But last night MPs and civil rights groups accused the Government of eroding the ancient right to a public inquest. Shami Chakrabarti, director of Liberty, which had strongly opposed the powers, said: "The British public has no taste for secret justice, particularly when the rights of grieving families are at stake. We will continue to fight for open jury inquests until the Government thinks again."

This has been on the cards for a while, ever since coroners started taking the government to task over deaths related to shoddy equipment whilst they fought (and died unnecessarily) in the war in Afghanistan.
That this is a direct erosion of democracy and liberty wont have even crossed their minds, to them keeping an embarrassing truth from coming into the public domain is the important thing. They simply do not understand that the relatives of those who die on the government's watch - whether in Stockwell or Helmand - are entitled to know why, even if it is supremely embarrassing for the Minister or the Government.

That they should be ashamed of themselves for doing this is obvious, that they are not is apparent, truly this is a despicable act by a shameless government who deserve to be annihilated in the next general election.

 

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Politics of envy, politics of spite.

Labour must have finally twigged that they are in line for a good hiding in the polls and are starting to look at measures to shore up their core vote. Recent announcements on spending more in white working class areas are now to be coupled with a proposed radical reform of the tax system to root out entrenched wealth inequality.

As the Grauniad reports.

A fierce debate within the government on how to tackle entrenched wealth inequality – possibly through a high pay commission or a tax on assets – is to be ignited by a report ordered by Harriet Harman, the Labour deputy leader and the minister responsible for equalities.
The report is due to be published in January. Early drafts seen by ministers say wealth inequality has deepened, with the rungs on the ladder having grown further apart, reducing social mobility. It is also expected to underline the degree to which access to pensions and housing play a crucial role in entrenching inequalities in wealth and income.
Harman sees the report, which has been commissioned from a team of academics chaired by Professor John Hills, as a political opportunity for Labour to frame a progressive debate on inequality before the election.
Downing Street and the Treasury would be opposed to a new wealth tax, but there may be pressure for a tougher capital gains tax on main homes, or widening council tax bands. It is also likely to lead to calls for wider employee share ownership and home ownership.

Now I'm no expert in economics, but even I know the story of the goose that lays the golden eggs and this is what Labour are proposing for anyone they see as wealthy. Of course the one thing that Labour can't allow themselves to see is that the wealthy also create wealth too by investment in business and employing people to do the things they want. There's usually a domino effect when you start to squeeze those that have which eventually hurts those who have not. Hit a rich guy in the pocket and he'll no longer hire plumbers and electricians to do work around his house or business, he'll sack those deemed excess to requirements from his places of work, these then have to be supported by the governments as they go broke or claim benefits which hits everyone else.

It seems to me that we should be encouraging people to become wealthy or at least have the wealthy investing in the country and not squirrelling it abroad. Low taxes for businesses so they can make bigger profits for investors will soon bring in more wealth to create more jobs and industry.

Taxing the rich will only make them leave or pull in their horns and not spend their money where it's needed, which is right here, right now to get us out of recession.

But you can't tell Labour that, it doesn't fit their ideology based on envy and bringing everyone down to the same level, and yes it's bringing them down, not raising them up. Labour needs poor people to vote for them, they need ill educated people who will not question their policies to vote for them. They need immigrants to come here who will vote for them because of the benefits.

Labour need envy and failure, because it's the only way they'll ever get elected.

More about → Politics of envy, politics of spite.

We're going to do something about this................no honest.

I always thought William Hague to be a EUsceptic, now I'm not so sure, he's certainly not acting like one, perhaps he's getting on a bit and sees the lure of a huge wage coupled with an easy life on the EU gravy train? Who knows, but he's definitely not the man I remember, though to be honest I never really knew him at all.

William Hague: Tories would not take on Europe for some years

After abandoning plans to hold a referendum on Europe, following last week’s ratification of the Lisbon Treaty, Mr Hague said the Tories accepted that constitutional reform would not be on the EU agenda for some years.

And while the party remained Euro-sceptic, a Conservative Government would not get into a “bust-up” over its new policy of seeking to negotiate opt-outs in a number of areas of European policy and pass a sovereignty bill to stop further powers being repatriated for some time to come.

Until then, he agreed that it would effectively be “business as usual” for Britain within Europe under the Tories.

Mr Hague’s admission came as Euro-sceptics in his party warned that David Cameron, the Conservative leader, had just 18 months to make “real progress” on his promise to forge a more arms-length relationship with the EU.

One Tory backbencher told the Independent on Sunday: "We have agreed to keep quiet on this before the election, but if things do not start happening in the first year or so, there will be all-out war for a referendum."

 Seems Hague and call me Dave are spoiling for a fight, though oddly enough it's with their own party and not with the EU, or perhaps given Cameron's gutless wimping out over any sort of referendum it's not so surprising. 18 months say the EUsceptics, enough time to get elected and start sorting out the economy and then time to sort out our issues with the EU.
So why come out with further delay? I mean they must know the issue isn't going to die, if anything it's likely to come back and bite them sooner rather than later knowing the way the EU likes to grab power and run with it.
The longer they delay the worse it will get too for defections to the likes of UKIP, who are a serious threat to Tory interests in the way that the BNP are to Labour. They'll sooner or later alienate the electorate too, the English don't see themselves as European nor are our traditions those of the continents and the code Napoleon runs contrary to all our legal rights and traditions too.
The worst thing that Cameron and Hague can do is to do nothing, the pressure is building now, before they're in power and statements that they wont do anything for years (if ever?) are not going down too well with the EUsceptics.

Then again, perhaps Hague wants Cameron out and is just setting him up for a major fall with a true EUsceptic leader taking charge.

Just a thought is all.

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