There is no getting away from it - Thursday 1 May was a bad day for the capital. Ken Livingstone has done an extraordinarily good job on our behalf. His most striking achievement, the congestion charge, was one of the boldest moves I have seen in my thirty odd years in politics. It took a very special politician to embark on a course of action which, while beneficial for the city as a whole, upset many vested interests and invited the wrath of the capital's only newspaper, the appalling Evening Standard. Many would say "it was the Standard wot won it" thanks to the paper's relentless and uncritical campaign for Boris Johnson.
As a London representative resident in the capital's centre, I was very aware of the real improvements made by Ken. Since there are many more buses I now use them in a way I did not eight years ago, and I have found my Oyster card immensely helpful. Ken is a true Londoner and worked tirelessly on behalf of the people of London.
My congratulations to the Labour members of the Greater London Assembly who were returned: Nicky Gavron, Murad Qureshi, Val Shawcross, John Biggs, Jennette Arnold, Joanne McCartney, Len Duvall and Navin Shah. I know they will keep up Labour's good work.
Showing posts with label Conservative. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Conservative. Show all posts
Monday, 5 May 2008
Wednesday, 2 April 2008
TODAY'S TORIES - CUDDLY AT HOME, NASTY ABROAD
Last plenary session we voted on a report on sexual health of women and girls in developing countries, which included a section on providing money for maternal health in developing nations, an established part of the European Parliament's overseas aid budget. An amendment to the report to cut funding for this important service duly appeared, encouraged no doubt by Development Committee member and religious zealot, Anna Zaborska.
Slovakian Zaborska, who views Aids as god's punishment for homosexuality, is a natural suspect for such anti-women sentiments. However, eleven Tories voted for the amendment and in favour of cutting references to the call by the UN's development goals for universal access to reproductive health care. Very nasty indeed. I wonder if David Cameron knows.
Slovakian Zaborska, who views Aids as god's punishment for homosexuality, is a natural suspect for such anti-women sentiments. However, eleven Tories voted for the amendment and in favour of cutting references to the call by the UN's development goals for universal access to reproductive health care. Very nasty indeed. I wonder if David Cameron knows.
Friday, 14 March 2008
CAMERON AND THE ABORTION TIME LIMIT
We are all waking up to David Cameron’s anti-woman agenda. Although he hides it well with plausibly warm words, the modern Tory Party is no more in favour of equal opportunities than its previous incarnations. Take the abortion time limit. Cameron has decided to vote to lower the legal limit for abortions from 24 weeks to 20 weeks when the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill comes before the Commons in a few weeks.
According to the sycophantic “Daily Mail” the reason he has stuck his neck out on such a contentious issue is the Conservative MP Nadine Dorries. You will remember that the delightful Ms Dorries is the woman who took “Emily’s List”, the organisation which provides funds for Labour women to get selected for parliament, to the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner. The grounds – Emily’s List requires those it helps to state that they are in favour of a woman’s right to choose. The delectable Dorries claimed this was bribery to vote a certain way. Needless to say, the Standards Commissioner saw Dorries’s complaint for what it was and rejected it.
Her latest nonsense is to attack the Government's relaxed approach to sex education. Yes, you’ve guessed it – sex education encourages young people to have sex. Dorries has either not seen or willfully ignored evidence from the Netherlands and elsewhere that sex education reduces teenage pregnancies. Surely even she would think this is what we should be aiming for. Just in case you haven’t clocked it, Nadine Dorries is a right-wing Christian evangelist. "I try to live like a Christian. I try not to lie, to help others.” She told the Daily Mail. She is also on record as saying that she sees evil in late abortion. She would do better to be less focused on evil and more humanitarian in her approach.
According to the sycophantic “Daily Mail” the reason he has stuck his neck out on such a contentious issue is the Conservative MP Nadine Dorries. You will remember that the delightful Ms Dorries is the woman who took “Emily’s List”, the organisation which provides funds for Labour women to get selected for parliament, to the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner. The grounds – Emily’s List requires those it helps to state that they are in favour of a woman’s right to choose. The delectable Dorries claimed this was bribery to vote a certain way. Needless to say, the Standards Commissioner saw Dorries’s complaint for what it was and rejected it.
Her latest nonsense is to attack the Government's relaxed approach to sex education. Yes, you’ve guessed it – sex education encourages young people to have sex. Dorries has either not seen or willfully ignored evidence from the Netherlands and elsewhere that sex education reduces teenage pregnancies. Surely even she would think this is what we should be aiming for. Just in case you haven’t clocked it, Nadine Dorries is a right-wing Christian evangelist. "I try to live like a Christian. I try not to lie, to help others.” She told the Daily Mail. She is also on record as saying that she sees evil in late abortion. She would do better to be less focused on evil and more humanitarian in her approach.
Tuesday, 11 March 2008
THE TORIES AND WOMEN
The Tories are still making noises about getting more Tory women into Westminster and having more women on their front bench. Mr Cameron wants two of the final four candidates in each Westminster selection to be female. He has also said he will increase the number of women on his priority list from 50% to 60%.
Hazel Blears is on record as saying that the changes will fail to change the Tories and that the Conservative Party is still failing women. You only need to look at the Tories in the European Parliament to see the real proof of just how true that is. There is only one woman Conservative MEP and she is standing down at the European elections next year. In the 2004 Euro elections there were two regional lists which did not include any women at all.
The Tories will complete their selections for the next European elections very soon. It will be interesting to see whether David Cameron's fine words have any substance.
Hazel Blears is on record as saying that the changes will fail to change the Tories and that the Conservative Party is still failing women. You only need to look at the Tories in the European Parliament to see the real proof of just how true that is. There is only one woman Conservative MEP and she is standing down at the European elections next year. In the 2004 Euro elections there were two regional lists which did not include any women at all.
The Tories will complete their selections for the next European elections very soon. It will be interesting to see whether David Cameron's fine words have any substance.
Monday, 25 February 2008
The Nasty Party
25th Feb 2008
In case any of you were ever in any doubt, the Tories really haven't changed. David Cameron's efforts to seem greener, more women and race friendly and generally nicer, cannot disguise the real Conservative Party.
The following blog posted on the Conservative Home website is proof, if ever it were needed.
"Posted by: James Burdett 20 February 2008 at 15:16 Peter Franks @1351. ---
Dan Hannan is a true Tory and he now joins that other true Conservative MEP, Roger Helmer.
The trouble is that the majority of our MEPs are NOT true Tories at all and many of them should be expelled from the Conservative Party, not given 'safe-passages' back to their lush posts where they do untold damage to Britain.And heaven help us if Caroline Jackson - married to a Tory MEP who defected to Labour - were used as a template for more women MEPs. CJ: is a classic example of why quotas and preferential selection are a disaster. We just need the best people".
You may be interested to know that Caroline Jackson is the Tories' only women MEP and she is standing down at the European elections next year. She is, in addition, a very conscientious MEP who has contributed a great deal to the European Parliament. If the Tories had more representatives like Caroline, they may become a bit nicer and a lot more influential.
In case any of you were ever in any doubt, the Tories really haven't changed. David Cameron's efforts to seem greener, more women and race friendly and generally nicer, cannot disguise the real Conservative Party.
The following blog posted on the Conservative Home website is proof, if ever it were needed.
"Posted by: James Burdett 20 February 2008 at 15:16 Peter Franks @1351. ---
Dan Hannan is a true Tory and he now joins that other true Conservative MEP, Roger Helmer.
The trouble is that the majority of our MEPs are NOT true Tories at all and many of them should be expelled from the Conservative Party, not given 'safe-passages' back to their lush posts where they do untold damage to Britain.And heaven help us if Caroline Jackson - married to a Tory MEP who defected to Labour - were used as a template for more women MEPs. CJ: is a classic example of why quotas and preferential selection are a disaster. We just need the best people".
You may be interested to know that Caroline Jackson is the Tories' only women MEP and she is standing down at the European elections next year. She is, in addition, a very conscientious MEP who has contributed a great deal to the European Parliament. If the Tories had more representatives like Caroline, they may become a bit nicer and a lot more influential.
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