Tuesday, December 27, 2011

The Liberal Democrats - The Biggest Political Losers of the Year!



At one point in recent political history whether you agreed with them or not you could safely assume that the Liberal Democrats were ardent pro-Europeans, pro free education, pro-immigration and strong supporters of Human Rights, this used to be the ethos of what the Liberal Democrat party was actually built on.


The failure of the Lib Dems to capitalise on their sudden "popularity" at the 2010 general election and the resulting shock at actually losing of 5 seats instead of gaining some would normally have prompted the resignation of their leader (Nick Clegg) and had it not been that the Conservatives were looking for MPs to give them a majority government in parliament, one suspects that this would have been the course of events, so it could be said that David Cameron and George Osborne actually saved Nick Clegg's job and prolonged political career!

The Liberal Democrats have always been the chameleon of British politics often being 100% for something in one constituency, while representing the exact polar opposite in another in order to capitalise on as many votes as possible and by and large they always seemed to have got away with this anomaly, probably because not that many people took them seriously. Over the years the Lib Dems became quite adept at harnessing the "protest vote" from both the Labour and the Conservative parties, however, something went very badly wrong in the 2010 general election and after the poll  one may have expected the Liberal Democrats to hold an urgent "post mortem" on what went wrong but astonishingly they failed to address the serious loss of a sizeable chunk of their core vote! Now bizarrely, in some of their constituencies they still believe they can protest against the government  and government cuts that they themselves are part of.  The Liberal Democrats seem to be completely oblivious to the fact that if it were not for the support of the Liberal Democrat ministers and junior ministers in the Conservative government and cabinet, then Cameron and Osborne would not be able to implement its right wing ideological policies, the very policies which are having such a disastrous effect on peoples lives and the lives of their families. So we have the incredulous disingenuous situation where some Liberal Democrat (and Conservative) cabinet members and government members are on one hand enabling the government to make these cuts by actually voting with the government and then these very same ministers are returning to their constituents and joining protests against the cuts that they themselves have voted for! It is so bizarre that you couldn't make it up! However not only is it bizarre, it is also deceitful and these ministers are guilty of deliberately misleading and manipulating their constituents into believing one thing while practising the exact opposite. No wonder the public are losing faith in the British political system!

The Liberal Democrats are not just in denial, they all appear to be suffering from collective delusions, illusions of grandeur and "selective amnesia". Why would anyone trust them with their vote ever again?

We the voters are entitled to ask the Liberal Democrats whose side they are actually on?


On the side of students? - Once upon a time the Lib Dems had managed to win over the majority of the student vote, but that has fallen by the wayside as Nick Clegg, Vince Cable, Simon Hughes, David Laws, Chris Huhne and virtually all 57 Liberal Democrats reneged on their promise to university students where they pledged to "scrap tuition fees" and voted instead with the Tory government to treble tuition fees.  After making a great deal of noise in public proclaiming that many of them were not going to vote with the government, vote with the government is exactly what they did. A couple abstained which means they may just as well voted with the government - vote abstention is just a cowardly cop-out.

On the side of our children's education? No, the Liberal Democrats have given their full backing to Tory Education Secretary, Michael Gove and now "Pupils are being denied careers advice at a time of record youth unemployment, schools are scrapping projects to help the neediest children catch up on their reading, and teachers of music, art and sport are losing their jobs, a Guardian investigation into the impact of cuts on education reveals.
The education secretary, Michael Gove, claimed last year that the government was "protecting the frontline", and the coalition says schools and colleges will manage to save £1bn between now and 2014 just by trimming back-office functions.
However, research by the Guardian indicates that shrinking budgets are already significantly reducing the range and quality of education on offer to all pupils across England, from toddlers to teenagers. Even schools in deprived neighbourhoods are having to make swingeing cuts, despite receiving the pupil premium, which this year has equated to an extra £488 for each child who receives free school meals." The Liberal Democrats made much of the "pupil premium" but it is not new money and has amounted to nothing. 
On the side of the NHS? - Once again the Liberal Democrats made a big noise about how they were not going to help the government get their Health and Social Care Reforms bill through parliament, they were going to discuss this at their party conference and vote on it, but they never did, they cowardly copped out and when it came right down to the wire in parliament the Liberal Democrats actually voted with the Conservative government to destroy, break-up and privatise our NHS, instead of voting with the labour opposition to try and help save the NHS. Further, the Liberal Democrat Peers in the Lords including Baroness Shirley Williams had a chance to vote against the bill and made much noise about doing so, but then voted with the government, leaving the Labour peers and some cross party peers alone to try and oppose and block the bill's passage, because of David Cameron's planted cronies in the Lords, the Labour peers and cross party peers were outnumbered and they failed to block the bill's passage. Just one single Lib Dem peer voted with the Labour peers in order to try and save the NHS from certain Tory destruction.

On the side of public sector workers? - Nurses, midwives, doctors, paramedics, teachers, social workers, police, fire fighters, soldiers, backroom staff, cleaners, dinner ladies, lolly-pop ladies/men, refuse collectors, road sweepers etc. etc. etc. all of whom work extremely hard in and for our communities, without them and their dedication to duty and the public we would cease to function as a country, yet the Liberal Democrats have backed this government to slash these people's pensions, pensions they pay into and work very hard for, often doing the jobs others simply could not do, or do not wish to do. The government want public sector workers to work longer, pay more in and get less out, completely reneging on a previous pensions settlement. They are also backing the Tory government to make a million public sector workers redundant at a huge cost to our communities and hospitals etc.

On the side of the workers? - No of course not, the Liberal Democrats backed the chancellor in giving corporate tax cuts to the rich corporations. It's a Tory myth that reduced corporation tax leads to high growth and wage rises, if it did, then why did Ireland who had the the lowest corporation in tax in Europe end up in the terrible situation they are now in? (The same country that Osborne said he visited to look and learn from the brave way the Irish were running their economy - good job he wasn't in power then or we would now be in the same boat as Ireland!) Despite Osborne forcing this country to help bail out the Irish economy, he still refuses to ask the Irish to raise their 12.5% corporation tax, a tax set so low it not only greatly harmed the Irish economy leading to its virtual bankruptcy, it harmed the British economy as companies left this country to set up in Ireland!  The truth is that low corporation tax leads to hedge fund betting, gambling on the stock markets, higher CEO pay, stagnating wages and Corporation managers that are in a position to manipulate governments and influence policy without ever having to stand for election. It also allows multi-national companies like Vodafone and banks like Barclays to avoid paying their correct taxation in the country they make their vast wealth in. The Liberal Democrats now back the Tories in all of this. it is not these huge companies that create jobs in the economy in the UK, it is the many thousands of small companies that do this, companies that are getting a raw deal from this government and this Tory chancellor, companies that are being heavily pursued for their taxes while the Tory chancellor George Osborne allows his mate in Vodafone to get away without paying the £6 billion he owes this country in tax!

On the side of local communities? - No, the Liberal Democrats have voted with the government to slash local spending, forcing the closure of Sure Start Centres; home care for the elderly; Care for the disabled; Care Homes for elderly and the disabled which also often provide vital respite care to give carers a much needed break;  closing of Libraries, Leisure Centres; children's playgrounds; vital local bus services etc. yet as mentioned above Lib Dem minister have actually helped the government to implement this and then returned to their constituencies and instead of admitting that they are helping to the Tories to do all of this, they bizarrely campaign against themselves and their own cuts!

On the side of the elderly? - No, the Liberal Democrats helped the Tory government to cut up to £100 off of the Winter Fuel Allowance paid to pensioners, at a time when gas has risen at least 19% and electricity by at least 14%, forcing pensioners to choose between eating a hot meal or heating their homes. This is despite a pledge made by David Cameron to end fuel poverty by 2016. they have also backed the Tory government to withdraw free TV licences for the elderly and also to withdraw the elderly's free bus passes.

On the side of workers rights and our human rights? - No, the liberal democrats back the Tories to curb our human rights and our rights at work. By stopping legal aid, making it really difficult and expensive placing it beyond the reach of most working people to take a bullying and errant employer to a tribunal and making it easier for employers to sack their staff for little or no good reasons.

On the side of Britain's poorest? - No, Tax cuts for low and middle-income families in April will be dwarfed by hidden reductions in tax credits, according to a study for The Independent newspaper.

The analysis found that the £1bn of tax cuts in April will be outweighed by reductions of more than £2.5bn in the complex tax-credit scheme. 
The Government's flagship policy of raising income-tax thresholds has been trumpeted by the Liberal Democrats as their main achievement since the Coalition was formed last year – and a major boost for the low-paid.
But the Resolution Foundation think tank, which undertook the study, questions the fairness of the changes...
But basic-rate taxpayers will gain by a "very small" £41-a-year after the April rise in tax thresholds, according to the think tank – which describes it as "a relatively inefficient way of targeting the low to middle-income group because those on higher incomes also benefit". Most higher-rate taxpayers will also gain £41 a year!

On the side of  British industry, British Exports and British Jobs in Europe? - No, they backed Cameron's deliberate deceit of what actually happened regarding the veto in Brussels and helped him to deliberately con and mislead the British public. The result being this country is now side-lined in Europe and even business leaders like Richard Branson are condemning Cameron's rash and crazy attitude. Over 40% of our trade and 3 million jobs depend on the EU and the Liberal Democrats backed Cameron's shenanigans in playing to the xenophobic right wing of the Tory party. Cameron never had to use our veto in Europe, because at that point there was nothing to sign and nothing to veto, now our all important European trading partners treat us with contempt and we are now (thanks to Cameron) the laughing stock of Europe.

When the Liberal Democrats decided to join forces with the Conservatives to help form the Coalition Government, they told us that they were doing so to help keep the Tories in line and to curb some of the Tories excesses, in fact far from doing that, the Liberal Democrats have backed the Tories to the hilt in virtually everything, even over Europe. they have made a lot of noise about opposing the Tories but when "push comes to shove" they are right there with the Conservative government backing them and their right wing ideological policies to the hilt.

Liberal Democrats should feel particularly let down by MPs like Simon Hughes, and Bob Russell, who seemed to be holding out against what Clegg was doing to the Liberal Democrat party, when in the end these MPs have just weakly capitulated and became an ugly caricature of what they once were and of what values they once held, they have too have been bought out by the Prime Minister, David Cameron and the Tory party, how this must sickening the stomachs of Liberal Democrats supporters and grass roots activists and it would if they were being honest and it would if they have avoided being bought out by the Conservatives, however, here too at this level the great Tory "buy out" of the Liberal Democrat party is in evidence. The true people who know this is wrong have long gone, some have defected to labour to try and continue to fight for those they represent and others have just given up politics altogether. This was never so apparent in the local elections of May 2011 when the Liberal Democrats lost over half of their councils as their vote collapsed.

The Liberal Democrats cannot possibly be called "democrats" any longer, not by any stretch of the imagination, they cannot even be called "Liberal Democrats" any longer, they are now more "blue" than some of the moderate Tories and can only be described as "true blue Tories" and it is time they stopped their deceit and their masquerading  and admitted that they are Conservatives.

 It looks like the collapse in support for the Liberal Democrats is not going to be won back and come the general election they could very well be left with just a dozen or so MPs, yet still they do not seem to realise the danger they are in, and the government they are part of and fully back is now almost 20 months old, come summer we will be mid term and with the economy tanking and some analysts saying we are already in a double dip recession, time has all but run out and next year and the year after look to be the gloomiest for the economy. Liberal Democrat voters will quite rightly ask why their party has a supported a government that was hell bent on implementing austerity measures that the Liberal Democrats once themselves said would harm the economy. The Liberal Democrats once agreed with Labour that to implement such austere measures was unnecessary and would prove fatal for the economy and then once they got into power they changed their minds did a 180 degree turn and backed Osborne and Cameron's austerity measures which have done exactly what labour said they would do and what the Lib Dems also once said they would do and has harmed the British economy, reversed growth and caused soaring unemployment and destroyed consumer confidence.

And at the end of the day who are the Liberal  Democrats and what do they actually stand for? They have traded in all their beliefs for a brief synapse of power, they have not only betrayed their supporters, they have also betrayed the people of this country.

So the biggest losers of the political year must be awarded to the "Liberal Democrats" who have deliberately thrown away years of tradition, and more recently many years of hard slog in their constituencies building up their core vote, and to harness their ability to capture the "protest vote" and to grow their party and appeal to more moderate progressives - in favour of short term power and feeling of being important in Westminster. "Well done"!

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Cameron "UK Not Isolated, We have Asked To be Observers on Euro Fiscal Pact"


Britain is not isolated in the Euro talks after all as a panicking David Cameron begs for an observers role.  Will that be at the table or sitting on the side of the room like a wallflower? While the leading countries make and take decisions about the fiscal pact that will hopefully prevent the Euro from collapsing if we are good, we can sit and look and observe them making those decisions. So that's all OK then? We will have no say, no input in the pact  that the UK will probably end up chipping in around £20 billion to help prevent the Euro's collapse, but just like a naughty child, after his "flouncing veto shenanigans" last week, Cameron will have to sit there and be "seen but not  heard". Someone tell me how is this in Britain's interests exactly?

If he had been sensible like Hungary and the Czech republic and stayed and negotiated, he could have negotiated hard for this country, instead Cameron behaved like petulant child and walked out of the talks, now where has this got us?  What was it that Cameron actually vetoed last week? Ed Miliband asked him this question in PMQs last Wednesday and Cameron could not answer.

For the sake of his own skin and because he is scared of the right wing Eurosceptics in his own party David Cameron has deliberately incited anti-EU feeling in the country placing at risk British Industry, British trade and British jobs.

David Cameron has deliberately sidelined us in the European Union and that has to be one of his most reckless acts to date.

Wednesday, December 14, 2011


It's true to say I dislike David Cameron as a person, I dislike what he is and what he stands for, I dislike the way he thinks nothing of lying to the public and I dislike the way he deliberately misleads the British people and the way he has made this country an absolute laughing stock. I hate the way he has attacked disabled people and is now taking away half of disabled children's allowances. I vehemently dislike the way he has pitted private sector workers against public sector workers and the way he has robbed the elderly out of at least £50 to £100 of their winter fuel allowances. I loathe the way he has increased child poverty by over 100,000 since he has been PM. Even though I dislike Clegg, I dislike the way Cameron bullies  him. I hate the way that Cameron is a misogynistic bully and the way he thinks he has the God given right to laud it over others, so yes I hate all this of and much more about Cameron, however, today in the House of Commons Cameron excelled himself even for him, when he showed his true insensitive arrogance and went with joke after joke, despite the fact that unemployment had reached a 17 year high and there was clear proof  from official statistics that his and Osborne's plan for the economy is not just failing, it has failed, and failed spectacularly so too! Not to mention what this Tory government are doing to the NHS the destruction of it and the creeping privatisation by stealth that will cause harm and distress to millions. Or welfare that is already hurting innocent people and causing depression, anxiety and misery.


  •  Youth unemployment stays above 1 million
  •  Public sector loses 67,000 jobs in three months
  • Private sector adds only 5,000 over same period

The public sector shed thousands more jobs and the private sector who Cameron and Osborne had promised would help us out of recession failed to pick up the slack.


So after learning this, I am so glad that David Cameron was in such a happy festive mood feeling able to joke his way through Prime Minister's Questions especially after isolating this country in Europe last week and knowing that his policies are causing pain and anguish, distress and despair in millions of peoples lives and homes this Christmas. So glad Cameron is feeling so happy and jovial knowing the fear and anxiety  he is causing  to those that have lost their jobs, and fear and uncertainty to those worrying that they will lose their jobs and the devastation to those who know they will lose their jobs next year. With the way Cameron behaved at Brussels last week isolating us, he has put at risk even more jobs in this country and he has done this without a second thought for us and all to please the rabid right wing xenophobes in the Tory party, what a cowardly despicable act! the backslapping and the faux camaraderie that went on was gut churning nauseating.

The arrogance of the millionaire cabinet and of multi millionaire Cameron reached new heights today in the House of Commons and he made me feel physically ill and not even Thatcher managed that!

Cameron's mask is slipping, he can no longer hide his contempt for us and the unemployed, the sick and disabled, the young and the elderly and the shocking thing is, Cameron doesn't think he has to, he now actually believes his own hype.

Cameron will have the cheek to wish us all a happy Christmas this year, I wonder if that will be before or after he and Jeremy Clarkson metaphorically piss all over us in their nice cosy millionaire Christmas?

I can only pray that all those this despicable man has hurt manage to heal their lives somehow, and  also pray that somehow this man will be taken out of the position where he can cause further harm and hurt to even more people.This country has an egocentric narcissistic pathological bullying liar for a prime minister and he and his whole government and party are corrupt to the core. They will fall, governments and people like Cameron always do, I just pray it is sooner rather than later.



Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Sue Marsh Writes:


Now it's Real. First Cancer Patients, Now Government slash benefits for Disabled Children

Last night, the House of Lords failed to support an amendment put down by Tanni Grey-Thompson, the most successful paralympian of all time, to protect the benefits of disabled children once Universal Credit is introduced.

You can read more here http://www.family-action.org.uk/section.aspx?id=14225 but effectively, under universal credit, all but the most profoundly disabled children will only get half as much support. Child Tax Credit additions for disabled children will fall from £52.21 per week to £25.95 per week - a loss of £1366 per year, or £20,000 over the course of a childhood.

You might wonder what possible argument a government who promised to "protect the most vulnerable" could possibly make for this change. I myself was fascinated to see how on earth they had justified throwing disabled children to the wolves.

Ready? OK, if they didn't betray disabled children, it would just have to be disabled adults. After all, disabled children have parents to look after them. What's more, if they didn't cut money used to buy wheelchairs and incontinence pads for disabled children, they wouldn't be able to afford to address the hideous failures of ESA (Employment and Support Allowance or sickness benefit) and ensure that all those who qualify for long term support, get it.

Could there be a more disgusting example of divide and conquer? Each man for himself. The image of a Victorian gent throwing a handful of pennies on the floor and leaving the cripples to fight it out amongst themselves comes to mind.

And remember, this is no longer theory.

I've been writing about these issues for 18 months now, sadly my blogs have often contained doom and gloom predictions of horrors to come. Well last night they started to come in a first blaze of in-glory. The Welfare Reform Bill is now at Report Stage in the Lords. These votes will almost certainly decide what becomes law and what doesn't. For disabled children, now it's too late.

Shame on us.

There is one more session before Xmas. Then 4 sessions after Xmas, then the final no-going-back vote to pass the bill. There is still time to lobby peers. There is still time to stop the time limiting of ESA. http://diaryofabenefitscrounger.blogspot.com/2011/12/time-limiting-esa-template-letter-to.html There is still time to oppose PiP and abolishing Disability Allowance. http://onemonthbeforeheartbreak.blogspot.com/ There is still time to fight Clause 52 http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/dec/08/conservative-compassion-disabled-sick and housing benefit changes that will leave thousands of sick and disabled people at risk of homelessness.

In a week where the government suggested all cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy ought to be assessed to see if they can work or not, I can only wonder where this will all lead. I can only hope history is no guide  the future

If I can find any tiny silver lining, it is that we only lost by 2 votes. That is the closest vote I have seen so far.

2 votes. 2 Lords. 2 letters, 2 emails, 2 tweets.

There is still all to play for, but sadly disabled children just fought the last stage of their fight. And lost.

Written by Sue Marsh: Diary of a Benefit Scrounger

Monday, December 12, 2011

How Lansley duped the professions into “supporting” his reforms.



This post has been copied from a site called Bevan's Run 
"My name is Clive Peedell and I am Consultant Clinical Oncologist working for the NHS in the North East of England.I am co-chair of the NHS Consultants' Association and a member of BMA Council and BMA political board. I have been an active campaigner against NHS privatisation and market based reforms.I believe that a publicly funded, publicly provided and publicly accountable NHS is the most cost effective and equitable way to deliver healthcare to our nation's population."
Clive's FaceBook page Here.

The Health and Social Care Bill has been hugely controversial and has 
faced significant criticism from across the health sector. There was even an unprecedented “pause” of the reforms. Despite this, the bill continues on its course through the Parliamentary process largely unchanged (in terms of it’s key purpose to increasingly privatise and marketise the NHS), and its architect, Andrew Lansley remains in post. A key reason that the bill has got this far is that although there has been a lot of criticism, there has not been a united front from the health professions calling for the bill to be withdrawn. The British Medical Association is the only major organisation that has called for withdrawal of the bill, and now opposes the bill in its entirety. So how has Lansley managed to avoid total opposition from other NHS stakeholders?

A key reason is that Mr Lansley was very careful to make sure that theWhite PaperEquity and Excellence: Liberating the NHS, (which preceded publication of the Health and Social Care Bill) contained key Motherhood and Apple Pie principles to gain and claim support, and deflect criticism from the main NHS stakeholders.

These crucial Motherhood and Apple Pie principles of the reforms can be found in the Foreword of the White Paper, which was co-signed Lansley, David Cameron and Nick Clegg.
There are 3 main principles of the reforms:

First, patients will be at the heart of everything we do. So they will have more choice and control, helped by easy access to the information they need about the best GPs and hospitals. Patients will be in charge of making decisions about their care.”

Second, there will be a relentless focus on clinical outcomes. Success will be measured, not through bureaucratic process targets, but against results that really matter to patients – such as improving cancer and stroke survival rates.”

Third, we will empower health professionals. Doctors and nurses must to be able to use their professional judgement about what is right for patients. We will support this by giving front-line staff more control. Healthcare will be run from the bottom up, with ownership and decision-making in the hands of professionals and patients.”

Who could possibly disagree with “putting patients first”, a “focus on clinical outcomes” and “empowering health professionals”. And that is thekey point. These principles are designed to be very powerful rhetorical devices that state one thing (which is hard to argue against) but can actually mean something completely different. In the case of “putting patients first” and having “more choice”, this is a mechanism designed to increase competition in the new healthcare market. A market cannot work without choice and competition. In the case of measuring “clinical outcomes”, this is also key to the functioning of the market, because in order to choose services between different providers of services, patients need the information to do so. It’s a way of countering the problem of information asymmetry in healthcare markets. Finally, the idea of “empowering health professionals” is just as much about devolving power and responsibilities away from the Secretary of State. The reforms will lead to healthcare rationing and eventually a mixed funding system, so it will be clinicians (GPs) that will be held accountable, not the Secretary of State. This is why Clause 1 of the bill (and its associated clauses) on the duties and powers of the Secretary of State for health are so crucial.

The powerful political rhetoric of these 3 principles certainly registered with the Medical Royal Colleges and the Royal College of Nursing, who made the following press statements following publication of the White Paper to support these key principles:

The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges stated:
The Academy shares the Government’s vision for the NHS, as set out in the White Paper. In particular we welcome:  

The clear commitment to putting the needs of patients and the public first
The use of improved health outcomes as the driver and measure of success
The empowerment and engagement of clinical healthcare professionals.”

The RCN stated :

“The principles on which the proposed reforms are based – placing patients at the heart of the NHS, focusing on clinical outcomes and empowering health professionals – are both welcome and supported by the RCN.”



Furthermore, as late as 6th of September 2011, despite being critical of the reforms, even the BMA stated public support for these 3 principles in a joint letter to the Times with Peter Carter (RCN), Clare Gerada (RCGP), Professor Cathy Warwick (Royal College of Midwives), Professor Sue Baliey (Royal College of Psychiatrists), Phil Gray (Chartered Society of Physiotherapy) and Peggy Frost (British Association of Occupational Therapists):  

"We support a vision of healthcare that is patient focused, clinically-led and based on outcomes."



The following day, in Prime Minister’s Questions, David Cameron took full advantage when he told the Commons:
"now you've got the Royal College of GPs, the physicians, the nurses, people working in the health service supporting the changes we're making"
This was disputed, but the damage was already done.

Furthermore, Andrew Lansley then used this in defence of his no confidence vote at the RCN conference.

So, these 3 core principles which were made clear in the foreword of the White Paper have served Mr Lansley and the coalition very well. It is imperative that leaders of the professional health organisations take more care in understanding political rhetoric. Once again the political class has run rings around a politically naive medical and nursing establishment. They need to wake up now and defend the NHS, before it’s too late.
The RCN, RCGP, Royal College of Midwives, and other professional organisations should sign a joint statement with the BMA as soon as possible to get this bill withdrawn. 

Written By Clive Peedell

Let's all back Clive in his endeavours and keep the NHS a national service free at the point of use and NOT allow the Tories to privatise it.

Sign the official petition here: Drop the Bill

Source: Bevan's Run

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Cameron - Hedge Fund Donations and His Pyrrhic EU Victory


What Cameron did last Friday was nothing more that crass self-defeating arrogant stupidity. Every time the man is allowed out on his own he manages to to land himself in hot water, but this time he has excelled himself and landed the whole country in not just hot water, but scalding hot water.

Walking out of the talks designed to thrash out agreement to halt the crisis in the euro was and act of foolishness beyond comprehension, but walking out and rendering the country impotent and isolated too is unforgivable and complete insanity. Cameron said he did it to protect the City, but even if parts of the City were put at risk all it would have amounted to was a few foreign investment banks and about two dozen hedge funds plus their big bonuses, this is why the Prime Minister, David Cameron put at risk millions of jobs and British exports, commerce and British industry, unbelievable but it is true,, the question is why?  So let's examine who these "so important" hedge funds could be and what relationship they have with the British Prime Minister, David Cameron and the Conservative party.

David Cameron -  has taken millions of pounds in donations from hedge-fund managers whose firms made fortunes taking bets that the share price in British banks would fall. 


John Nash sold the majority of his shares in Care UK to a private equity company. Mr Nash runs several other companies and is also the boss of a hedge fund called "The Hedgie" and owns venture company Sovereign Capital. Hedge funds are speculative funds which make large bets on market movements. They utilise borrowed money to substantially leverage their returns (and losses). During the the global financial crash, hedge "funders" made billions out failing banks and short selling in the UK. People were suffering losing their jobs, livelihoods, having their homes repossessed and their loans called in by banks, and men like John Nash and many other Conservative donors were making millions out of their suffering. People like the  New York billionaire John Paulson , have come under fire for short-selling UK bank shares, like HBOS. John Nash gave £21,000 to Health Secretary, Andrew Lansley's office, while he [Nash] was still bos of Care UK a health care company. Nash has also donated around £500,000 to the Tories over the past years,

Michael Hintz - (Goldman Sachs) Australian millionaire hedge fund baron who bankrolled the former Defence secretary Liam Fox, his friend Adam Werritty and Atlantic Bridge and who's organisation shorted shares in Bradford and Bingly during the crash. Hintz also made a series of donations and gifts to a string of senior Conservative Cabinet Ministers including the Prime Minister, David Cameron and Chancellor, George Osborne. Banker Hintz was caught up in the "cash for honours" scandal when he revealed he had given at least £1.2 million to the Conservative party and provided a further £2.5 million in loans since 2005.




Simon Dingemans - Goldman Sachs
A mergers and acquisitions banker, Mr Dingemans has handled deals worth £250bn and is one of the most highly paid in the City. Called in by BAA to plot a defence against Ferrovial’s takeover bid but was beaten by Citigroup, adviser to the Spanish conglomerate.


The extensive links between Goldman Sachs and the Conservative Party.

  • Political donations totalling £8.5 million to British politicians in the past decade from Goldman and ex-Goldman people;
  • Goldman Sachs has an immense lobbying machine in Brussels, including active membership of over a dozen financial sector lobby groups;
  • Extensive meetings between Goldman Sachs and Conservative MEPs including: 9 meetings in six months with a key MEP on the Parliament's Economic and Monetary Committee; and a total of 36 meetings between just four MEPs and Goldman Sachs, its lobby groups or PR companies acting on their behalf;
  • The Bank's lobbying campaign to undermine political reform on derivatives and alternate investment funds including: private dinners and unminuted "after office hours" meetings, high level conferences and targeted campaigns to Commission officials, MEPs and their assistants. [just like the ones cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell conveniently "forgot" to mention between Fox, Werritty and Gould].
  • How Goldman Sach's lobbyists tried to undermine amendments in a key report on derivatives, seen as "financial weapons of mass destruction";
  • The bank's lobbying enabled them to gamble on food futures and drive up prices.
  • Goldman Sachs also bet against its own clients in hedge betting when Lehman Brothers crashed and  made millions.
Hugh Sloane; Hedge Fund Manager - Founded Sloane Robinson. Donated £50,000 to the Tories. Channel 4 once highlighted a Conservative Government policy U-Turn over the Cayman Islands, which, the producers note, is the base for companies run by Hugh Sloane, worth £185 million, also ran by Michael Hintz worth £250 million. The then Labour Foreign Minister, Chris Bryant tried to force the islands to introduce direct taxation by restricting their access to loans to plug a budget deficit. However, Channel 4  points out that within weeks of the new Conservative government coming to power in 2010, the demand was inexplicably dropped and the British Foreign Office had granted permission for the islands to borrow an extra £100 million.

Michael Farmer - a City financier who has donated £2.3 million to the Tories, making him a regular fixture on the list of Britain's biggest political donors.

Michael-Alen Buckley - Chairman, RAB Capital
Founded the hedge fund with Phillip Richards on 1 April 1999. The company was floated in 2004. Has donated to the Tory party

Henry Angest - Flowidea Ltd  Arbuthnot Banking Group Plc donated  £1,347, 600

Zac and Ben Goldsmith - The world's most famous banking dynasty. The Conservative party hid donations of £40,000 from from Zac Goldsmith, his brother Ben and two billionaire brothers in an apparent breach of the law. 
The donations were recorded on official records as coming from Unicorn Administration, an intermediary company that helps run the finances of the super-rich. Zac Goldsmith is now a Tory MP.

Stanly Fink...  (now Baron Fink) British Hedge Fund manager Co-treasurer, Conservative Party, is apparently "the Godfather" of the hedge fund industry and runs hedge fund International Standard Asset Management. Donated over £1 million to the Tories in the run-up to the may 2010 general election.Fink also a key donor to the Boris Johnson mayoral campaign. 


Jeremy Isaacs - Heads his own investment firm
Stepped down from running Lehman Brothers’ European operations just before the crash. Now runs his own investment firm with ex-colleague Roger Nagioff, who was head of Lehmans’ fixed income division. Has been a big Conservative party donor.

Paul Ruddock... Chief Executive Landsdowne Hedge Fund said to have made £100m short-selling Northern Rock, has given the Conservatives almost £210,000.

 David Craigen.. Paul Ruddock and David Craigen own investment firm, Lansdowne, and short sold shares in HBOS. Donated £50.000 to the Conservative party.

Howard Shore A multi-millionaire banker and Tory donor  Raising £2 million for the Tory party sponsored David Cameron’s lavish £1,000-a-head Tory ball  in Feb 2011. Mr Shore will be one of dozens of super-rich bankers toasting the Government’s failure to make a major dent in their ­£7billion ­bonuses. 

RF Trustee Co - Several donors, but five of these belonged to the Fleming Banking Family.  Donated £1, 689, 500


Pierre Rolin - Credit Suisse  Mr Rolin gave £12,000 to the Tory Party in February last year, taking his total donations to £88,000. He also moved in the same circles as Boris Johnson, the London Mayor, giving Johnson's office the initial £80,000 capital for a study into the Olympic Park's new visitor attraction . Mr Rolin is currently being pursued through the courts by creditors for £43 million.

Prominent figures from the financial services industry - gave £500,000 (€574,838) to the UK's Conservative Party in the second week of the 2010 General Election campaign.


The coalition agreement that David Cameron and Nick Clegg brandished at us in the Rose Garden in downing Street included clear undertakings to take big money out of politics but there appears to be no sign of this happening. 


What my research reveals is the scale of the Conservative party’s reliance on a variety of City interests at a time when David Cameron has walked away from vital talks in the EU citing that he did this to protect the City.
Using analysis from the Electoral Commission and Companies House database, researchers found City donations to the 12 months to July 2011 accounted for 51.4 per cent of the £12.2million of funds received by Conservative Central Office.

Hedge funds, financiers and private equity firms contributed £3.3m - some 27 per cent - while 50 City donors paid over £50,000.
All contributors donating over £3million become members of the Leader's Group and qualify for face-to-face meetings with the prime minister.
The largest contributors acorss the business sector studied by the bureau was hedge funds which donated £1.38m (11.4 per cent). Three of the City's biggest name hedge fund bosses - Michael Farmer, Lord Stanley Fink and Andrew Law.
Since the coalition was formed in April 2010 the Tory party has received 292 separate donations of more than £10,000 each.

The Top 10 City Financiers Who Donate to the Tory Party.
NameSectorTotal Donated
1David RowlandFinancier£4,031,016
2Michael FarmerHedge Fund£2,973,850
3Stanley FinkHedge Fund£1,945,141
4Michael HintzeHedge Fund£1,235,000
5Paul Adrian BeecroftPrivate Equity£537,076
6James LyleHedge Fund£500,000
7Jonathan WoodHedge Fund£500,000
8Peter J HallInvestment Fund£493,540
9George M MaganBanker & Investment Fund£485,000
10Paul RuddockHedge Fund£465,000
TOTAL£13,165,623

In Europe, hedge funds are threatened by EU proposals this week to introduce a micro-tax on financial trades to raise cash for teetering economies. Campaigners fear as hedge fund tycoons are big donors to the Conservatives, they will use their influence on David Cameron and George Osborne to ensure that the issue of higher taxes is kicked into the long grass.
Central Office could yet be receiving more cheques from the Mayfair set.
This makes it easier to understand why David Cameron behaved as he did. He and the Conservative government are heavily compromised and have far too many people to pay back for their  very mediocre "victory" at the 2010 general election.
David Cameron's supposed victory that had the jingoistic right of his party clapping and cheering and plotting their next move to have the UK exit from the EU at the cost of over 3 million British jobs suddenly feels like  pyrrhic. victory