Where To For the Liberal Democrats When Time Runs Out?

What Price Power?

When this unholy alliance of a so-called coalition is over and assuming that there are still a few remaining Liberal Democrat MPs and when all is left of their once Liberal Democrat orange is a muddy brown stain, where to for the once orange party that got rid of its principles and core beliefs tried to turn blue but only managed a a faecal brown? What platform will they stand on? If Labour become the government where will this leave the Liberal Democrats? If Labour introduce cuts, how will the Lib Dems oppose them especially when they a are responsible for aiding the Tories impose the most Draconian cuts this country has ever seen? Where will they stand on law and order, how will they criticise any rise in crime when they have voted for huge cuts in police numbers, taking 13,000 officers from the frontline and 18,000 backroom workers that enable officers to carry out their frontline duties - despite the worse rioting and looting this country has ever seen?

Bizarrely even though any sane person can see the wheels have come off this Tory economy the Liberal Democrats are still pinning their hopes on Osborne's economic "recovery" when if this parliament goes its full term then they only have a little over three years to achieve this and it is obvious now that this is just not going to happen, so this brings me to the original question where to for the Liberal Democrats after the next election? The best that they can hope for is that the Tories win but do not get an overall majority so they can carry on playing their fake make-believe role in government at an even smaller insignificant level, however, as there undoubtedly will be a Liberal Democrat cull of seats and that coupled with boundary changes will render the Liberal Democrats  in a very weak bargaining position. After the next general election they could end up with as few as 12 MPs, it will not matter for Clegg as he will lose his seat no matter what and the chances are he has already been offered a role in Brussels, so he wont care what happens to the Liberal Democrat party he is now leading into total oblivion.

The Liberal Democrats have just 3 years and 8 months before the next general election and time is now starting to run out, even for this "Tory" government who had hoped to fleece people and then bribe them with their own money in the form of tax cuts to try and buy their way into power again. Their plan is already going pear shaped so where does this leave the Liberal Democrats? A rump of approximately 12 ineffectual MPs after the next election? The writing is on the wall and it is written in huge lettering, yet still the Liberal Democrats are either refusing to read it or are just totally and utterly in denial.

When they are out of government how will the the Liberal Democrats oppose the Conservative policies that they themselves helped bring in? There is no way they can ever hope to form a government, they even lost MPs at the last election at the peak of their support.

How will they be able to oppose a Labour government who will be trying to sort out homelessness, fuel poverty, child and pensioner poverty, people being forced to go to food banks to feed their families? Rising crime? Weakened defence? Soaring unemployment? A shattered economy? Disabled people terrified of the Tories and Liberal Democrats? The destruction of people's human and working rights? This and so much more, but how will they oppose a future Labour government who will have the unenviable task of trying to piece back together the fragmented shattered NHS? The NHS that they, the Liberal Democrats will have had a huge hand in actually destroying? How will they oppose rising waiting lists for operations and failing health care across this country when it was their fault this ever happened in the first place?

The reality is that the Liberal Democrats will be unable to oppose anything any government does because they have sold off their core beliefs and helped a draconian Tory government apply Dickensian policies which are not working and haven't got a cat in hell's chance of working and yet  they still do not get the position they have pushed themselves into and this is why I believe the Liberal Democrats will cease to be a party of any significance after the next election!

The Liberal Democrats are all but finished now - bar the shouting.

The NHS Is NOT Safe In The Liberal Democrats Hands!

The Liberal Democrat MPs Have Now Voted THREE Times In Favour of Privatising the NHS!

We all know it has been the ambition of the Conservative party to do away with the NHS, they never wanted it in the first place and they want it even less now, so the NHS is never going to be safe in any Tory's hands, especially David Cameron's and Andrew Lansley's. Cameron is a pathological liar and manipulator, he has told so many lies, intentionally misquoted so many people, and deliberately misled the British public so many times that it is now impossible to believe a single word that comes out of the British prime minister's mouth, but what of Nick Clegg? He and his party have now voted THREE times in parliament  for what they know to be the privatisation of the NHS, what price power, a ministerial car and a red box?

Anyone who thought the Liberal Democrats would stand up for the poor, the sick and vulnerable and would campaign against what the Tories are doing to the NHS needs now to forget that idea, they must now realise that this is never going to happen, the only people that the Liberal Democrats stand up for is themselves, they are a truly pathetic party, not fit to be in government and just as the Tories are led by a liar in David Cameron, so the Liberal Democrats are led by a liar in Nick Clegg.

It is hard to see how any true Liberal Democrat can now even think of voting for the party, it has betrayed all of its core values and nothing it seems is sacred.

The Liberal Democrats will debate their stance on NHS reform next week at their conference but will not be allowed to consider or vote on any specific motion regarding the bill due before the Lords later this autumn.

The Liberal Democrats are just  Patsys, they talk tough but never do anything about it, it was exactly the same with student fees, they all said they were going to voted against trebling tuition fees but when it came down to it they all just trotted into the yes lobby and voted with the government and now they have done exactly the same thing with the NHS, we cannot depend on the Liberal Democrats to fight our corner for the NHS, so we will have to do it without them.
The Liberal Democrats are not a progressive party, they have betrayed every cause for progressiveness that they possibly could and they have betrayed nearly all the people that voted for them and never is it more clear than over the great betrayal of the NHS.

If the Liberal democrats believe that their presence in government has influenced policy then they seriously need to think again, the Liberal democrat party of today is nothing but a huge joke  made up out of 57 clown MPs, they have influenced nothing except maybe whether hobnobs or rich tea biscuits are served in cabinet meetings and that is only because they have become the tea boys. They appear to be residing in some kind of parallel universe when they talk of the "implementation" of their  traditional policies are gaining them increasing acknowledgement and respect - they are not!  They have barely been able to get themselves out of single figures in the polls and have lost over a third of their core support since the general election, yet they still meander on in complete oblivion.

The Lib Dems could have stopped the passage of the health and social care bill last Wednesday in parliament they chose not to, preferring to vote with government on what will prove to be fragmentation, disaggregation and local variation in patient care from hospital to hospital, consortium to consortium will be the fatal consequences of this legislation, and will mean a postcode lottery in care. 


The very last trace of any principles that the Liberal Democrat MPs had disappeared completely when they abandoned all of their so-called core beliefs over a disastrous piece of legislation, which places the public, patients and the health service  at serious risk. 

The only hope for our NHS now lays with the House of Lords and Liberal Democrat peer Shirley Williams and as Lib Dems go, this does not fill me with any great hope that peers will support Shirley Williams and who knows? If the Lib Dem MPs are anything to be judged by, Shirley Williams will turn out to be all bluff and bluster too.

Remember what Thatcher did to public services in the 80s? That was when Liberal Democrats could be counted upon to challenge the Tory government, now they have become part of the right wing ideology and are helping to set the right wing agenda for privatisation and break up of all of our public services, the Liberal democrats are no longer a progressive centrist party, they are now part of the Tory party, they may all just don a lovely blue rosette, cancel their conference hall and join in conference with the Tories, because right wing Tories is what they have now become.

Labour, the unions and the Green party must take up the fight for a public sector, which offers protection to the weakest and most vulnerable in our society and make no mistake, it is a fight we have to win, losing is NOT an option.

Proof of NHS Privatisation By Lansley, Cameron and Clegg

Laing & Buisson provides a range of expert services to providers, purchasers and investors in the private health and community care markets. 


Take a look below at what the Health secretary Andrew Lansley has been up to on the day the Health and Social care Reform bill passes through the Hpuse of Commons.I have highlighted and if you had any doubt about what the Tories, Liberal Democrats, Cameron, Clegg and Lansley have in store for *OUR* NHS, then this should alleviate them.


The NHS Care and Social reform bill moved one step closer to becoming enshrined in law today as MPs voted 65 in favour of it the Labour party voted AGAINST the bill as did ONLY 4 Liberal Democrats and further 10 of them abstained - wow! Once more the Lib Dems have kicked up a fuss only to meekly vote through the bill for the THIRD time, thus propping up this Tory government.


Today is a very very sad day for our NHS, 63 years of work is about to be undone by a government without a mandate pushing through a policy without a mandate. Now will people wake up and see what this dreadful LYING incompetent government are doing?

Laing & Buisson 

Private Patient Unit    Independent Healthcare Forum 2011Wednesday 7 September 08.30     Registration and coffee 09.00     Andrew Lansley CBE MP, Secretary of State for Health 09.30     Dame Barbara Hakin, NHS Managing Director for Commissioning Development, Department of Health 09.50     David Bennett, Chairman and Interim Chief Executive, Monitor 10.10     Open forum 10.25     Morning coffee 11.00     Healthcare debate on the new challenges facing the sector 11.30     Above sessions are plenary – at this point delegates divide for conferences Income generation – new markets for the NHS and the private sector Chair:     Adrian Stevensen, Independent Care 11.35     Private Practice the new market for the NHS?                Ray Stanbridge, Director, Stanbridge Associates 12.05     Maximising income                - PPU management contract out v manage in house for PPUs                - Many Trusts are considering entering the private market                - How do Trusts ensure they maximise their margins on private practice?                - Should they contract out or manage in house                 Marian Imrie, Business Development Director, BMI 12.35     Open forum 12.50      Lunch  14.00     How to select a management partner                -  Understanding the OJEU process                 - How should the private sector respond?                 - What role for management consultancy                Adrian Stevensen, Independent Care 14.30     Income generation - sponsorship                - How can the NHS make money from commercial sponsorship?                - How to find the right deals                - Creating new revenue streams for the NHS                Richard Busby, Founder, BDS Sponsorship 15.00     Open forum 15.10     Afternoon tea 15.30     Medical insurers overview on the emerging NHS private sector               - What can the market gain by increased choice?                - How can the NHS derive sustainable value from Private Practice?                - What added value can the NHS offer to private patients?                - What customers want               Steven Pink, Head of Healthcare Commissioning, Bupa Health and Wellbeing UK  15.55     Open forum 16.10      Close

Margaret Moran Facing Prosecution - What About David Laws? Why Haven't The Others Been Named?

Margaret Moran the ex-MP for Luton South will be prosecuted on 15 charges of false accounting and six charges of forgery related to claims worth more than £60,000.

Investigations have centred on allegations that Moran repeatedly "flipped" her designated second home, making claims for properties in London, Luton and Southampton over a four-year period.

Apparently Margaret Moran is the last MP to be prosecuted, fine, but why aren't the others being named? What is the big secret? Who are they that they can have protection like this?

OK if Margaret Moran is to face prosecution for and is found guilty then she has to face punishment, however, why  has she been singled out and why have Labour MPs in general been singled out for prosecution when so many Tories and Liberal Democrats have been allowed to get away with "fiddling" their expenses? Please do no misunderstand me, if they have done wrong then so be it, they pay the price whatever party they belong to however, what I am objecting to is why the law is only being applied to some MPs and ex MPs and not to others? We either have one law and everyone is treated the same or we don't, it is unacceptable for the law to be applied in some cases and not in others. I give you these examples:

David Laws Liberal Democrat MP Former Chief Secretary to the Treasury


The Daily Telegraph revealed last year that Mr Laws claimed more than £40,000 of taxpayers’ money to rent a room in his partner’s house. MPs are banned from paying partners or spouses rent with the parliamentary allowance.


As well as £40.000 in claimed for rent,  In just one month, for example, Mr Laws claimed £150 for utilities, £125 for telephone bills, £125 for cleaning, £150 for service and maintenance, £150 for repairs and insurance and £200 for household items.

In March 2008, the fees office began asking MPs to submit receipts for claims over £25. Mr Laws’ claims dropped sharply and he submitted a new rental agreement, signed by him and his partner, which stated that the utility bill costs were £37 a month.

Between 2004 and 2009, Mr Laws claimed expenses at two properties owned by Mr Lundie (Mr Laws partner). In six years, he claimed £94,957 under the second home allowance

 Mr Laws was found guilty of six breaches of parliamentary rules by the Commons Standards and Privileges Committee and in the end all he got was a 7 day suspension from the House of Commons. To make matters worse David Cameron has made no secret of the fact that he wants him back in the cabinet.

Mr Laws's claims were based on a "false premise of their relationship" and  he had submitted "fraudulent documentation" to the Commons authorities in order to create that impression.

Laws said also that, living as lodger as he purported to be, there was no reason for Mr Laws to claim for repairs and maintenance of the property, raising questions of whether "the real motivation was to benefit himself and his partner".

His total claims were in excess of £50.000 - Now the Tories and their mates in the right wing press have made much about so-called "benefit cheats", if a person *knowingly* claimed housing benefit and on getting caught they proclaimed they only claimed housing benefit because they did not want to their family to know they were Gay, would this have held as a genuine excuse for fraudulently claiming over £50,000, or would the person who claimed be charged and if found guilty sent to prison? What David Laws did is just the same, he claimed housing allowance from the state under false pretences, he said he was a lodger when he was not he was living with and cohabitating with his partner and claiming allowance as if he was a lodger and this is fundamentally dishonest and it is exactly that same as other MPs have been to prison for, it is false accounting!


Then there was the case of Sir Peter Viggers the Conservative who claimed for a duck house to be floated on his lake, the claim was disallowed, but he also made other claims for gardening etc.

 Sir Peter Viggers: backbench Conservative MP

Salary: £64,766

Total second home claims

2004-05: £20,371

2005-06: £19,927

2006-07: £22,110

2007-08: £23,083

His expenses files reveal that he was paid more than £30,000 of taxpayers’ money for “gardening” over three years, including nearly £500 for 28 tons of manure.

He had a similar arrangement with the fees office to Douglas Hogg, submitting an annual list of the costs of maintaining his second home and then dividing them across the year for monthly payments.

Mr Hogg, who has said he will stand down at the next election, included with his expenses the cost of having a moat cleared. Sir Peter included his duck island. His handwritten list of spending for the financial year 2006-07 amounted to £33,747.19 and included “pond feature £1,645”.

In March 2007 he submitted a single claim of £18,522.59 for the final seven months of the financial year, noting that he understood it would be “limited by the annual maximum”. The fees office reduced the claim to £10,769.94 accordingly.

It was unclear whether he received money specifically for the duck island. A fees officer scrawled “not allowable” next to it. Sir Peter also submitted a £213.95 electrician’s bill including fixing lights on a “fountain” and “hanging lights on Christmas tree”. The year before, the annual costs Sir Peter had submitted came to £24,164.96. He asked for part of that to be paid under a separate office costs allowance. They included £6,960 on gardening, £1,800 on grass cutting and estate management, £533.23 on garden design, £460 on pest control, and £250 on irrigation. He submitted “sample invoices” of £782.50 and £750.

In February 2007 officials wrote to Sir Peter asking him to submit claims based on “actual costs” per month. In 2007-08, the costs of maintaining his second home rose to £36,158.93 including £19,000 on gardening and £3,275 for roof and chimney repairs. He reached the maximum allowed by December 2007.

Sir Peter was educated at Cambridge and served as an industry minister under Margaret Thatcher.

He owns a flat in central London and sold his second home last year for £800,000.

In a statement, Sir Peter said: “The claims I made were in accordance with the rules, and were all approved by the fees office. Since then the situation has changed and we must all take account of that.

There seems to be one rule for the Tories and Liberal Democrats and another for Labour and  claimants of welfare.
All the MPs in question have maintained they were all made with accordance to the rules, if that is the case why have there been prosecutions and what singles some out for prosecution and not others?

Alan Duncan, Ian Taylor Oil and Conservative Donations

Back in February 2011 I wrote about the Libyan oil connection of Alan Duncan to Ian Taylor and Vitol Oil on this blog.

Now the International Development Minister, Alan Duncan is facing intense scrutiny over his links to an oil firm which secured rights to provide Libya's rebel National Transitional Council (NTC) with fuel.
Apparently "Disappearing" David Cameron assigned Alan Duncan to devise  Britain's plan to starve Colnol  Gaddafi of oil while keeping the rebels supplied. Duncan now faces "serious questions" over the process whereby the giant oil company, Vitol, gained the NTC contract. No other companies were asked, although many would have had a great interest. Before he entered politics, Alan Duncan, made vast sums of money by cutting deals to buy and sell large quantities of oil, shipping around the world in a fleet of chartered tankers. He has previously worked in the murky world of "black gold" for about twenty years and become embroiled in shady deals with criminals, corrupt governments and dictators.

This latest deal with Libya and Vitol was conducted in secret behind closed doors and it is not enough for number 10 to say they were not involved in the deal because a member of their government was, so  a government inquiry should be held, because it's clear that there is the proclivity for a massive conflict of interests here.

It is not the first time that the MP has been embroiled in this kind of murky shady oil deals in , from 1982 to 1988 Mr Duncan worked for Marc Rich, a highly controversial US commodity trader. Mr Rich was indicted on charges of illegal trading with Iran and tax evasion, forcing him to live in Sweden where the US did not have a extradition treaty with. However, he was pardoned by Bill Clinton in his last week of f office. While working for Mr Rich, Alan Duncan became involved in an elaborate operation to bust UN oil sanctions against apartheid South Africa. Duncan dismissed these allegations claiming ignorance once again and saying that details of the deal had been copied to him by mistake. Even after entering politics Alan Duncan kept very close links with his "friends" in the oil industry.

Even in 1993, just a year after entering politics, Mr Duncan became embroiled in an alleged illegal multi-million pound oil deal that would later lead to a criminal investigation.

In 2001, it emerged that the Pakistani government was probing a huge oil shipment in 1993, when Vitol sold 280.000 tonnes of "contaminated" oil to the country's state owned power company.
Mr Duncan was a paid consultant to Vitol oil at the time and was the person who dealt principally with Pakistan, although there was never any proof obtained (or suggestion) that Mr Duncan had acted illegally. For More on this story read HERE.

"having been in the oil business for 20 years and having sold a lot of oil to Pakistan during the Gulf War and things like that, I have a very interesting network of friends and contacts. Over the last two months [in November 2001] those same people who used to criticise me are now coming to me and ask for address book. They all want to know them. Tough! [laughs]" - Alan Duncan


"In 2001 the Observer established that the firm had paid Serbian warlord Arkan to help with an oil dispute in Serbia in 1995. And last year it confessed to “grand larceny” and was fined $17m for paying $13m in illegal “surcharges” to Saddam Hussein’s government to help facilitate oil deals.Last year it was also in court over deals it did in the Republic of Congo, aka Congo-Brazzaville, where it was accused of bribery and corruption linked to the purchase of 950,000 barrels of oil. Vitol and a finance house called Kensington became locked in a dispute over who should profit from the African nation. Kensington, having bought Congolese debt, expected to be repaid from oil sales and accused Vitol of helping the republic sell oil through a secret route to avoid its debt repayments.Vitol bought its oil from a firm called Sphynx which was based in Bermuda. However, Sphynx was controlled by Denis Gokwana, head of the Congolese State Oil Company and an adviser to the Congolese president. The president’s son was also involved in the sale. Sphynx was getting its oil from the Congo cheaply before selling it to Vitol.LastNovember the judge in the case said Vitol had been told to disclose information about bribes apparently paid in Hong Kong to employees or representatives of the Congo. Instead of denying the bribery accusation outright, Vitol tried to “claim privilege against self-incrimination in relation to the disclosure of the information”.Before the case was settled out of court, the British judges thought the evidence against Vitol formidable. They said: “In various proceedings judges of the Commercial Court have found that the Congo has been taking elaborate steps to conceal its oil trading activities in order to prevent Kensington from identifying any resulting assets that might be seized in execution. They have also found that it is strongly arguable that Vitol SA and companies within the Vitol group have cooperated with the Congo in order to assist it.”Other judges pointed to the use of front companies to disguise the true identity of those doing the oil deals.Alan Duncan’s office told Private Eye that as he has never received money from Vitol it was not his responsibility to answer questions about the firm’s behaviour."


 It seems that cash donated the the Conservatives via the "unincorporated association" loophole from Vitol’s president (Ian Taylor) doesn’t count.


The Conservative party uses an "unincorporated association"  loophole which allows them to accept large donations without declaring them individually. "Focus on Scotland" for example is an "unincorporated associated", it is a legal entity that does not have to publish accounts or other financial details and since 2004 has given over £2 million (collectively since 2004) to the Tories.  The Midlands Industrial Council (MIC) is another "unincorporated association" that has given millions to the Tory party, which does not have to publish accounts or disclose members, however, if you want to take a look, I have disclosed members of the MIC  and done the research read about it HERE . Vitol Oil is another company that donates to the Tory party in this way.

Even as far back in 2008, Alan Duncan faced questions about donations to the Tories from Ian Taylor the oil tycoon. 


When Duncan was the shadow business secretary his office accepted political donations of tens of thousands of pounds from Ian Taylor, president and chief executive of  Vitol oil company, whose main business is in energy trading. However, because the money was donated to the Tories in the form of "unincorporated association" individual donors were never listed and then it was transferred to Alan Duncan's office through the Conservative party the amount was never registered personally to Alan Duncan. It has been reported that over £200.000 has found its way to Alan Duncan's and the prime minister David Cameron's offices in this fashion.
Duncan, who knows  Ian Taylor well, at the time maintained he was  unaware that donations to his office  had came from Taylor. However, until recently, Duncan was a director of Arawak Energy, an oil firm partowned by Vitol on a salary of £1.750 per day. It seems rather odd that as an employee and a close friend of Ian Taylor's that he was unaware of such large donations to his own office via the "unincorporated association" loophole from the oil company he was working as a consultant for!



In 2008 when this story was first revealed Alan Duncan's office said they told the Commons registrar about Duncan's job with Vitol, but the message failed to get through. However, after a flurry of press reports at that time both Ian Taylor and Vitol money now appear in an *amended* register. 


Taylor was convicted of "grand larceny in the first degree" in 2008 after paying Saddam Hussein's regime $13m in kickbacks for oil deals. 
In 2008, Ian Taylor is also reported to have donated £50.000 to David Cameron which automatically included him as a member of Cameron's Leader's Group, where he would have had the opportunity to meet Mr Cameron in a personal one to one meeting.


Alan Duncan and the leaked American Embassy cables.

Friday, 22 January 2010, 13:29
C O N F I D E N T I A L STATE 006439
NOFORN
SIPDIS
EO 12958 DECL: 01/22/2035
TAGS PINR, UK
SUBJECT: (C/NF) KUDOS AND FOLLOW-UP QUESTIONS FOR 
BIOGRAPHIC AND PERSONALITY REPORTING ON UK SHADOW MINISTER FOR PRISONS ALAN DUNCAN (C-RE9-02552)
REF: LONDON 002656
Classified By: ELISSA G. PITTERLE, DIRECTOR, INR/OPS

Summary

1. Washington thanks London embassy for information on shadow minister for prisons Alan Duncan and request more on his relationships with David Cameron and William Hague, and his political ambitions. Key passage highlighted in yellow.
2. Read related article

1. (C/NF) WASHINGTON ANALYSTS GREATLY APPRECIATED POST'S BACKGROUND AND BIOGRAPHIC REFTEL ON SHADOW MINISTER FOR PRISONS ALAN DUNCAN. ANALYSTS FOUND THE INFORMATION REGARDING DUNCAN'S MIDDLE EAST EXPERTISE, AS WELL AS COMMENTS ON HIS FRIENDSHIP WITH SHADOW FOREIGN SECRETARY WILLIAM HAGUE PARTICULARLY INSIGHTFUL AND EXCEPTIONALLY WELL-TIMED AS ANALYSTS ARE PREPARING FINISHED PRODUCTS ON THE CONSERVATIVE LEADERSHIP FOR SENIOR POLICYMAKERS. ANALYSTS WOULD APPRECIATE ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON ALAN DUNCAN AS TIME AND RESOURCES PERMIT.

A. (C/NF) WHAT IS DUNCAN'S RELATIONSHIP WITH CONSERVATIVE PARTY LEADER DAVID CAMERON AND WILLIAM HAGUE?

B. (C/NF) WHAT ROLE WOULD DUNCAN PLAY IF THECONSERVATIVES FORM A GOVERNMENT?

C. (C/NF) WHAT ARE DUNCAN'S POLITICAL AMBITIONS?

2. (U) PLEASE CITE C-RE9-02552 IN THE SUBJECT LINE OF REPORTING IN RESPONSE TO THE ABOVE QUESTIONS. CLINTON

When David Cameron rushed back from his fifth luxury holiday in 12 months to stand at his lectern in Downing Street to bask in the "glory" of the Libyan peoples "revolution" trying to give us all the impression that it was he who "saved Libya" and that we had flown 20% of sorties, yet again he is totally misleading the British public in yet another one of  his untrue "Mittyesque" statements, in fact official MOD figures put the UK at flying 12% which is on a par with the rest of Europe except for France, who flew the main bulk of 36% and the the US flew 16%. (I bet Nicholas Sarkozy wasn't impressed with Cameron for trying to hog the limelight.)

Already the sordid squabbling for the oil contracts and who done what and when has begun and William Hague  said this Britain "won't be left behind" in the grab for oil contracts - rumours are rife that Libya's new government plan to hand the French 35% of Libya's oil.

I would like to know what the share of British energy companies involvement before we helped take action in Libya and what the share is in the coming few months. I would also like to know the names of the companies and all their directors etc. It would also be worthwhile checking out the people now involved in the new Libyan interim government (elections will be called in approximately 18 months) and what their links are to Western governments, especially in France and the UK.

Action in Libya is costing the UK  £1.5 million per day, yet David Cameron is the head of a government that is applying devastating cuts to the armed forces, so much so that David Cameron, has been accused f leaving the military so squeezed it almost ran out of missiles during the campaign against Libya.
Service chiefs were forced to "improvise" after being left with no aircraft carriers and dangerously low levels of ammunition.

But hey ho, just as long as the Tories keep their donations flooding in.

"No political party would survive that tried to destroy the NHS" Aneurin Bevan

In David Cameron, have a blatant liar for a prime minister, never before have we seen this not in any politician of any political colour and never of a prime minister - of course we have heard them tell lies, but not like this we cannot believe a single thing the man says - don't be fooled - Cameron is on an ideological mission using the deficit as an excuse to take away your safety net and your NHS and your children and all future generations will suffer if we do not stop him now.

If we do nothing to stop Cameron, Lansley, Clegg  and Osborne, in  a few years our children or grandchildren will turn to us and ask "what did you do to stop that government doing that to the people and to our NHS and welfare?" What will you be able to say? Nothing? I wish I had but I was fooled by them? How lame will that sound? There is no need to be fooled the evidence is all around us and it is rapidly growing, we have a corrupt government that wants to rid this country of the NHS and our welfare state and they will do and say anything and tell any lie to achieve this. These rich affluent people do not want the NHS and welfare, h they do not care that these are the hallmarks of a decent civilised society. Remember David Cameron is manufactured by the City for the City and the City and all the right wing think tanks and institutions like the so called "Taxpayers Alliance and the Adam Smith Institute thinks the NHS should be privatised and both these organisations have links to the top of the Conservative party.

While they were in opposition William Hague and Liam Fox made some wide-ranging offers of political co-operation with the US. The cables leaked by Wikileaks in the Guardian detail a series of private meetings with Tory frontbenchers, many of whom are now in the cabinet.

Liam Fox, now the defence secretary, promised to buy American military equipment, while the current foreign secretary, William Hague, offered the ambassador a "pro-American" government. Hague also said the entire Conservative leadership were, like him, "staunchly Atlanticist" and "children of Thatcher".

The Conservatives were not kidding, which is why we are now seeing the destruction of our NHS and welfare state reduced to less than what you may even find in the US where the vast majority of people have no healthcare cover at all. The Tories are also trying to import politically elected police chiefs with no policing experience to run our police service. The evidence is all around, they are Americanising the UK - do you really want that? I've nothing against our American friends, but I sure as hell do not want their virtually non-existent healthcare system, or healthcare for the richest or to see homelessness  and need on their scale -  do you?

The NHS does NOT belong to Cameron, Lansley, Clegg and Osborne, or the myriad of private companies they have lined up waiting to come in and take the best bits, in order to make a profit for their shareholders - These are the big private healthcare companies and private hospitals, who donate millions to the Conservative party. The Conservative party and these private health corporations have a vested interest in each other and they need to be told  the NHS is OURS it belongs to us, not the Tories or their Tory donors who own the private healthcare companies and their shareholders, it is OURS - it belongs to US!

Don't wait until it is too late and we have lost our NHS and welfare - fight for it - NOW!

NHS Review Duty to Provide & Competition - 38 Degrees - Join the fight!

"No political party would survive that tried to destroy the NHS"

Aneurin Bevan 

"In Place of Fear 1952"

Hey Tories

"Hands Of Our NHS"

The People - 2011

You have been warned!

Cameron Attacks Child Carers

Whenever I read or listen to the stories of children who are caring for their parent or parents it brings a lump to my throat, their selflessness cannot be heralded enough.

Not all youngsters go out rioting, looting and taking drugs and getting into gangs and gang warfare, or getting into trouble etc, in fact the vast majority of them don't, but who sings their praises?

Hundreds of thousands of youngsters have to carry the burden of caring for a disabled parent/grandparent, something that should never fall upon their young shoulders. When I read about them or watch them on TV, or listen to them accounting their stories on radio they never ever cease to amaze me. They juggle school and household duties and in many cases are the buffer between psychological support to a mentally ill parent and the outside world, this is something that many adults would grapple to come to terms with, but these youngsters carry on and often all but their own closest friends  do not realise just what an enormous burden they have. Many young carers are left feeling lonely and isolated and unable to communicate with their friends because they are just not sharing the same experiences. Most never complain, they just get on with it and do it, their devotion to the person they are caring for is clear and unwavering and they deserve our thanks and our support and they deserve to have their government sit up and take notice of them, they have earned the right to our utmost respect.

So how does this Tory-led government help repay them?

Welfare secretary Iain Duncan Smith is proposing, to cut benefit payments that will affect that tens of thousands of young carers and will mean that they could be missing out on up to £3.350 per year under brutal benefit changes.

Young Carers and Their Disabled Parents Set To Lose Out on Thousands of Pounds

The Children's Society says:

 That families with young carers looking after disabled parents could lose out through the abolition of the ‘severe disability premium’.

This could leave 25,000 people around £70 a week worse off, reveals The Children’s Society.

The Severe Disability Premium gives additional support to disabled adults who have no one to care for them, or are being looked after by a young carer. This money helps to pay for additional costs of living with a disability, such as housework, preparing meals and travel.

This will increase the already significant pressure on young carers to carry out these vital roles, The Children’s Society argues.

Young carers already lack support within the current benefits system as they are not typically entitled to Carer’s Allowance, despite 13,000 of them providing more than 50 hours of unpaid care each week.   

The introduction of Universal Credit spells the end of this additional support, costing families with a young carer up to £2,876 a year – which could be equivalent to 20 per cent of household income (after housing costs). With the abolition of the Enhanced Disability premium, also proposed, some families with a young carer could lose more than £3,500 a year. 

Bob Reitemeier, Chief Executive of The Children’s Society, said: “These changes will only serve to pile more pressure on children caring for a disabled parent. The Children’s Society believes the government should be making sure the family is supported in the home rather than relying on children to provide care.

“It is wholly inappropriate to withdraw support to families with young carers - especially when the government is not able to tell us how many could be affected.

“These changes will make life much harder than it already is for potentially thousands of vulnerable children. Children frequently tell us that their caring responsibilities affect their education, well-being and futures.”

Has David Cameron forgotten this when he warned councils about cutting funds to young carers? I haven't!

A Day In the Life Of Young Carer Leah - Leah is only 8 years old! (I defy you to read this and not shed a silent useless tear for that child)

Remember this David Cameron?  Yet more evidence of how our prime minister just loves to get good publicity, but this is all it is - publicity! As soon as he was out of the door these youngsters were out of his mind.  Just like the promises David Cameron broke which he made to the parents of disabled children in order to get their votes before the election - they all soon lay in tatters.

Welfare secretary Iain Duncan Smith has done his best to show that he cares but at the end of the day this is all it is "show". Like his boss David Cameron, Duncan Smith never misses an opportunity to show his "caring" side, yet as soon as the photographers have gone and the cameras have stopped rolling, so have they!  Cameron simply forgets and Duncan Smith resumes his attacking the income of the most vulnerable people in our society, quite how Duncan Smith sleeps at night in his big rent free mansion complete with swimming pool and tennis courts in large lush leafy grounds is beyond me. Still what is to be expected from someone that is prepared to take away housing benefit and make families homeless while living in a rent free mansion himself?

For those that say the Tory party hasn't changed I say they have, they have got nastier and uglier and even more dishonest and deceitful!