Puzzled
The devastation that has swept Cumbria is there for all to see.
Naturally as Prime Minister, Gordon Brown has visited the region and has pledged £1m in aid to go towards rebuilding the community.
Why has there not been any statements released into the national media from the leaders of the Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats?
Sunday school
When there are no all age worship services, Sunday school is held in the church school room and is moderated by Joan Charlesworth and Chris Snelson.
Sunday school starts with a short prayer by Mrs Charlesworth. After this, the main part of the lesson gets underway consisting of some of us reading passages from New Testament chapters in the Bible, discussions about the Word of God or Mrs Charlesworth reading from a related religious book- One she has regularly used down the years is called ‘The Boil in the Bag Meditations’ by Ernest J. Hewitt.
Over the years, our group has increased in its attendees and has become much more varied in terms of age meaning that the younger children get creative with colouring pencils, while the older members of the group discuss important issues such as poverty, the environment and the broader aspects of religion. One particular lively discussion that sticks out in my memory was about MPs expenses!
As part of our missionary work, we write messages of hope in cards for the sick and Mrs Charlesworth keeps records of the birthdays of members of our group. Through Sunday school, several members, including me, have contributed to conducting the church service and reading bible readings, prayers and poems before the service and during the service.
We conclude with a prayer for any individuals who are present and those who are unable to attend the service. Chris hands out some confectionary, the carpet is rolled and the chairs are stacked until the next Sunday school.
Coffee Morning, Good as New and Stationery
For twenty years every Thursday, Clayton Methodist Church has been pleased to hold The Coffee Morning, Good as New and Stationery. The idea of these three events first came to light when four residential homes were built near to the church, so it seemed a great idea to run a coffee morning to allow the elderly to come together and enjoy a cup of coffee and some biscuits. It proved to be an instant success with large numbers of residents coming from each home.
Clayton has always been a deprived area blighted by crime and unemployment, so the church decided to offer their hand of mission to single parents, asylum seekers and parents new to the area by selling clothes and prams at affordable prices.
What started as very little has grown to include the sale of stationery, Christmas and birthday cards. Church Treasurer and long standing stalwart of the church, John Stewart MBE told me that “it was a most successful weekly event, well attended and has proved a blessing for the community in so many ways.”
So let’s take The Coffee Morning, Good as New and Stationery to even greater heights and drop by when you can on Thursday at Clayton Methodist Church. Everyone will be happy to see you there.
There cannot be a runoff
President Hamid Karzai could not have wished for an easier path to victory, now that Dr Abdullah Abdullah has decided to withdraw from the second round of the Afghan presidential election.
When Dr Abdullah said that his decision was made “in the best interests of the country” he truly meant what he was saying.
President Karzai’s spokesman Waheed Omar obviously wants the second round to take place, but a run-off may be more problematic than people realise.
I was very surprised by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s comments that a runoff with only one candidate would not necessarily threaten the legitimacy of the process.
“There have been other examples in our country and around the world where in a runoff election one of the parties decides for a reason that they are not going to go on,” she said.
Well, the difference between the unnamed example she made reference to in the United States is that no American general election has been subject to allegations of widespread electoral fraud- depending on whether you consider the Bush v Gore recount worthy of the term “electoral fraud.”
Mr Karzai will face a weakening of his legitimacy once the electoral process comes to an end. If Karzai wins a large majority of the vote, he will look illegitimate in the eyes of many of his opponents and those of the European governments and of the Obama administration.
A runoff will not suddenly wipe away the widespread fraud that undermined the results of the first round.
Supporters of Dr Abdullah may use direct and indirect forms of action, such as protests and ironically abstaining from voting to vent their anger at their candidate being forced to pull out.
The international community must stand together to call a halt to the runoff on November 7. Dr Abdullah Abdullah is more likely to train the Afghan army and bring better governance and credibility to Afghanistan than Hamid Karzai. So, every effort has to be made to convince Dr Abdullah to reconsider re-entering the second round.
There is not much time for any diplomats to sit round a table with Abdullah, but the Afghan people deserve better than their current President.
Examining Gordon’s record
As I was browsing on Hansard, the database that features parliamentary transcripts as well as profiles and voting records of MPs, Gordon Brown’s record made interesting reading.
The man who says that we face a climate ‘catastrophe’ and the planet has fifty days to save the world has never voted on laws to stop climate change.
It is by looking at a politician’s voting record that gives you an idea of their position on domestic and international issues such as tackling climate change.
Osborne’s bonus plan
I welcome Shadow Chancellor George Osborne’s announcement to ban High Street banks from paying bonuses above about £2,000 in cash.
Unlike, the government is it encouraging to hear that an economic minister is talking about how to place restraint on the enormous bonuses being awarded to senior management and executives working for financial institutions.
It is also heartening to hear that someone is talking about freeing up credit for small and medium-sized businesses.
Moving slightly away from the main issue, when will the Chancellor get tough on the banks to lend credit to responsible lenders?
Now Mr Osborne says that his plan would free up £20 billion that could then be given to businesses and consumers- the response by Liam Byrne, chief secretary to the Treasury is that Osborne is a “hypocrite.”
He said: “Mr Osborne’s hypocrisy beggars belief. The Tories have fought against every plan we’ve delivered to support jobs and businesses.”
Mr Byrne believes that Conservative plans would “water down the toughest rules in the world”, saying: “I can’t understand the logic of that.”
On the surface, Mr Osborne’s plan seems perfectly logical, although there are flaws in it.
If he considers this a serious plan, then he must explain why the rules do not apply to investment banks.
Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman Vince Cable pointed out that the Tories “have not given full backing to Mervyn King’s proposals on splitting up the banks and these bonus proposals are short-term, stop-gap solutions designed to stem public anger but which fail to get to the heart of the problem.”
I wonder why the Chancellor has not really spoken about splitting up the banks.
One could argue that the Conservative Party have said more about the freeing of credit than any other political party during this recession.
I am referring to the £50bn National Loan Guarantee scheme talked about by Mr Osborne during the early days of the crisis.
What confuses me is why the loan guarantee scheme is not used to counteract Labour’s argument that a Conservative government have would have let the recession run its course.
President Blair?
Tony Blair cannot be elected President of the European Union, because him and George W.Bush invaded Iraq without any support from their European allies.
Anyone, remember “French fries?”
If Mr Blair seriously wants this role, he should explain to the rest of Europe what he feels he can bring to the European Union.
No statesmen or stateswoman should be automatically placed into such an influential position.
Not really surprising
On Friday, many business journalists and economists were a little surprised when GDP figures showed that the UK economy had contracted by 0.4% between July and September.
This is now the longest period that Britain has been in recession since records began in 1955.
Labour ministers who claim that this recession is not as severe as the recession of the 80s and 90s should seriously think about what they are saying.
Unemployment is moving ever closer to the 3 million mark, and Chris Dillow suggests that up to 5.6 million people are out of work.
Irrespective of these figures, no one should delude themselves in thinking that the recession is over because of a recent improvement in property sales and mortgage approvals.
As President Barack Obama often says, “we won’t rest until everybody who wants to work can find a job.”
Only when the unemployment rate is dramatically reduced, can we even consider declaring the end of the recession.
Analysis: Question Time
Question Time was a very different show to compared to previous editions I have watched.
Minutes into the show and the politicians of the three main political parties were keen to spell out how Britain has no room for not only Griffin’s racist ideology, but not for any racist ideology.
The audience erupted into cheers for the politicians- a huge rarity in itself.
Jack Straw made a very strong start, talking about how this country was only able to win WWI and WWII because of the diversity of our troops.
I was a little surprised that David Dimbleby allowed him to talk for so long. It also became apparent that Mr Straw tended to ramble on for a long time, as opposed to just providing a Yes or No answer. For instance, when he was asked whether the success of the BNP had been a result of Labour’s immigration policy, he responded with a barrage of irrelevant, slightly obscure contextual information.
I think Mr Griffin’s performance was shambolic to say the least, but when he attacked the government’s immigration policy, I do not know about you, but I heard a slightly muted applause in the audience.
I am no body language expert, but when the BNP leader criticised what he perceives as a very lax immigration policy, the Justice Secretary looked very uncomfortable.
Griffin also looked like a fool when he applauded when a serious point against him was made. I recall Greer saying in response to a question from a member of the public about changing the BNP’s constitution, “I do not know why you are clapping.”
Dimbleby conducted himself very well in what was a difficult and hostile show. I was impressed with the performance of Bonnie Greer and the Conservative Shadow Minister for Community Cohesion Sayeeda Warsi.
One of the best moments of the night, in my view was when Ms Warsi turned to Mr Straw and said that politicians have to be more honest about immigration to stop an expansion of BNP supporters.
Ms Warsi has appeared on Question Time on several occasions, and I can see why the Conservative Party would want her on the show speaking on behalf of the party.
People became more disillusioned with politics and politicians as a consequence of the MPs expenses scandal, but if there was no MPs expenses scandal, Labour would have taken more of a battering at the European elections because of their incomprehensible policies such as the profligate ID card scheme and an unfavourable Prime Minister.
A significant part of the show came in the form of a black gentleman, sitting on the front row who launched a stinging attack on Griffin, asking why he could not acknowledge the contributions that ethnic minorities have made to this country.
Bonnie Greer brought a touch of humour and common sense to the panel, and Liberal Democrat Home Affairs Spokesman Chris Huhne was calm and collected in what he had to say.
Just a final thought.
The party leaders of the mainstream political parties have never appeared on the Question Time panel, so if you wanted to play devil’s advocate, you could say that Nick Griffin has been given special treatment.
Separating the men from the boys
BNP leader Nick Griffin is making a ‘controversial’ appearance on tonight’s edition of Question Time.
A part of me cannot really understand why there is a debate about Mr Griffin sitting on the panel.
Both sides of the argument agree on one principle: The extinction of the British National Party.
So surely the likes of Secretary of State for Wales, Peter Hain who think debating Mr Griffin is a bad idea, should realise that the best way to expose the BNP as a preposterous party is to lay bare the fallacies of his statements on a show that is watched by millions of people.
However, I worry that Mr Griffin may get an easy ride on Question Time.
The questions posed to the panel come from members of the public, so if the questions do not force him to provide serious answers to serious issues such as how to get more people into work and the best way to proceed in Afghanistan amongst a range of other issues- then Mr Griffin has avoided being embarrassed on national television.
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