It's All Over ...

Well, it is 10 days since the UK elections which did not produce an overall winner, and it is a few days now that we have been presented with a coalition government. David Cameron and Nick Clegg have cobbled together a government from their two parties and are getting down to the business of running the country.

But now, as there is no Labour government for the press to snipe at, they are trying their best to wreck the coalition. OK, so it is virtually unknown territory for the UK not to have a clear winner at an election, but there are many countries that have had coalitions and made a success of it. Why shouldn't it work here?

But the doubters, which seems to be most journalists and political pundits obviously think that we are now being rules by aliens and they are trying to find every little reason why the coalition won't work. Maybe it won't, but I for one am willing to let it have a go.

This country is in a mess, both economically and socially. We have a debt so immense, that few can even count the digit let alone imagine what it really is. We have had a raft of New labour laws that restrict the freedom of the individual. We have seen money, our money, being wasted on numerous New Labour projects that would never work and have cost a fortune.

The new government have made a start, abolishing the ID card and database fiascos, stabilising fuel prices, etc., and there will be other measures to give back freedom to individuals. This is all good news, surely?

But the press look for the differences in policy between the two parties that make up the government, rather than focusing on the things they agree upon.

So, let's give the new boys a chance. Let's not pick on the two leaders as being toffs, just because they both went to exclusive public schools - after all, would you rather have a leader who failed at an inner city sink school?

I for one want leaders who have a good education, who are intelligent and well educated.

But that's just me.

UK Election? What for?

What are we voting for on May 6th? Why do we need a Government at all? Below is a list (not exhaustive) of the responsibilities our last Government signed away to the European Union.

We were promised by our last Government that we would be allowed a vote as to whether we should sign away all these, but we didn't get it.

• Competition
• Trade
• Asylum and Immigration
• Foreign Affairs
• Industrial Policy
• Agriculture
• Fisheries
• Energy
• Transport
• Regional Government
• Consumer Health
• Social and Employment Policy
• Justice and Home Affairs.

So, why do we need a Government, made up of self-serving trough-scoffers, claiming expenses for second homes, £400 a month on food, and working in the only building in the UK where people are allowed to smoke whilst drinking their taxpayer-subsidised booze and eating in their taxpayer-subsidised restaurant?

There is little left for them to do, so let's call it a day. 

Ten people working 3 days a week should cover what remains of their responsibilities.

Election Fever

We in the UK are due a General Election sometime before the end of June, and it seems that the pundits are backing 6th May for the date when the great British unwashed choose a new Government (or not).

However, reading the various political blogs, as I do, you would think that the campaign is already under way. The bloggers that I follow (from the three major parties and a few from the smaller parties) are at fever pitch, selling their various wares as to how they would repair the damage done by Gordon Brown and his allies.

But there are some, the more cynical, who are looking for reasons why Gordon Brown could put off calling an election at all. He has already stated that, even if Labour do not gain an absolute majority, he will continue as Prime Minister, so taking that a step further, if he could find a reason, some catastrophe, real or imagined, he would refuse to stand for election (he cannot stand for re-election as Prime Minister as he was never elected to the post in the first place).

Personally, I would not be unhappy if Labour suffered a resounding defeat and Gordon Brown failed to retain his seat in Glasgow, casting him to political oblivion - but that's just me.

The problem faced by the electorate is not how to get rid of Gordon, that's easy, but with whom do we replace him? There is only one real choice, by default, as there is only one other party that is likely to win enough seats. Or we could vote so that no one is a clear winner, forcing a coalition between one major party and one or two smaller ones, which would presumably include The Liberal Democrats. Fine, as long as Vince Cable is not allowed to become Chancellor.

I am in the happy position of living in a rural constituency, where the smaller parties do not or cannot place a candidate, so I only have to choose from the three, and maybe some loony independent. It is a Conservative stronghold with a Member of Parliament, Sir George Young, who seems to do his job well enough, with no scandal, no skeletons.

So, come on Gordon, announce a date, dissolve Parliament and let's get the event over and done with, because as far as I am concerned, the lead up to an election is about as interesting as watching paint dry.

Elf n' Safety

For all its faults, the Kenyan Government cannot be accused of running a nanny state.

If the British Health and Safety police came over here, they would have a heart attack.

During my stay here, I have seen 10 year-old kids wielding machetes with a skill that can only be acquired through years of practice. The same kids use hoes to break up the ground, but could also sever a foot with no problem.

Five year olds coming home from school on the back of motorcycle taxis; their feet cannot reach the footrests, but no matter. As for crash helmets – well, what are they?

Most households cook over charcoal burners and kerosene rings that are either placed outside in the yard or in the porch, where toddlers play.

Here, in Kisii, especially during the rainy season, it doesn’t matter how clean kids start out in the morning, within five minutes, they are muddy up to the knees, they sit in the mud, play in the mud. Chickens use the same mud for foraging, and at night, the neighbourhood dogs scavenge. Other wild animals also pass through the yards.

Amazingly, apart from minor bumps and scratches, which are shrugged off, I have not seen any of the kids I know hurt or injured.

They climb trees, play on waste ground strewn with rubbish, walk alongside fast-flowing rivers, but they survive.

It just makes me wonder where we in the UK are going with our rules and regulations that wrap up the citizens in cotton-wool in case they get hurt.

Corruption in High Places

No, not Kenya, not even Africa, but in the great and good Europe!

For the 14th year running - yes, that is 14 years - the European Union has failed to manage to balance its books. They auditors have refused to sign off the accounts in 17 different areas.

This is a body that spends about £95bn per year (of which the UK contributes around £7 billion) and has a staff of around 170,000 people, but they cannot get its accounts to add up.

Now, maybe this is just government incompetence at its worst, or, as I suspect, it is due to total corruption of the system.

This is supposed to be Government, European Government - you know, that which we try to impose upon the rest of this world full of despots and commies.

Well, I reckon that we have taught the world well, by example.

Tony Sharp has the full story here

Bribery in the UK Government? Surely not!

I have just heard over the radio that the Secretary of State for Justice, Rt. Hon. Jack Straw, is calling for a measure to bribe the British public.

Apparently, the latest ploy of our esteemed socialist government is to bribe the electorate at the next general election.

According to Straw, the idea is that if you turn out to vote, you will be entered in a draw to win a plasma television, presumably regardless of which party you vote for - at least I hope this is the case!

I know that the turn-out at elections is dropping, probably due to the total apathy felt towards our leaders, but this is a pathetic attempt to get us into the polling stations.

Surely, it would be more plausible to have a manifesto that fires the imagination of the public - love it or hate it - you would feel obliged to vote for or against it.

But then, of course, manifestos are usually conveniently forgotten. What a party promises to do in order to get voted into power, has little bearing on what they actually do when they win.

Admittedly, the British Labour Party has hit a popularity low since Tiny Blur abandoned the Premiership (and the country) to Gordon Dour. The Scots want to break away from the rest of the UK (and who can blame them?), the Government cannot hold on to its safe seats in a by election, and the opposition parties are winning other by elections with ever increasing majorities.

So, I suppose Straw is hoping that if, at the next election, the Labour Party can get their apathetic voters to the polling stations, they will manage to hold onto power.

I doubt it. Listening to interviews with life-long Labour supporters after the Glasgow East by election, Labour have a snowball's hope in Hell's chance of winning - unless they bribe the electorate - and I don't mean with a plasma TV.

More lies from the UK Govt.

Our esteemed leader, Gordon Brown, who reckons that he is rather like Heathcliffe from Wuthering Heights (a drinking, violent, womanising killer? - oh well, Gordon, whatever trips your trigger) wanted to change the rates for vehicle excise licences. When he proposed it, he stated that most people would be better off.

Fine, so far.

But now, the Treasury has admitted that 9 million people will be worse off, mainly poorer people with older cars.

As it stands, it will not affect me, as these changes will only be enforced for vehicles first registered after 2001 and I cannot see myself ever driving such a new one (my present vehicle was first registered in 1996).

What annoys me is the blatant lie - it seems that the Govt. thinks that it can say whatever it likes and we will believe them.

So, why DO we pay more for diesel?

Well, it is easy really. Not too long ago, the government encouraged people to buy the more expensive diesel cars, citing the fact that they are more fuel efficient and greener.

When diesel cars became really popular, the government slapped more tax on it so that a litre of diesel is now £1.33 (and climbing), whereas petrol is £1.20. Clever government!

Now, it is estimated that you have to do at least 40,000 miles a year to make owning a diesel car worthwhile.

But it doesn't end there. The government offered free parking spaces to people who bought an electric car to commute to London. What happened? Commuters bought electric cars, and now the government has scrapped the scheme because it is costing them too much - and they have run out of parking spaces!

Our government may not be corrupt (although nothing would surprise me), but they are totally unscrupulous - and inept.

Fallen off the Radar

On the face of it, it should be a good sign, Kenya not being in the news for a while. Due to the Burmese crisis, the China earthquake, the Zimbabwe (non?) election, there is little if anything relating to Kenya on any of the International news websites.

But thre is a lot going on in Kenya. Food is short and prices are rocketing. Fertiliser and seed prices are also up. The Government is forcing people presently in IDP camps back to their homes, regardless of the risk of violence erupting and dissent bolstering the Mungiki.

The new coalition government is knee-jerking and any measures taken about just about anything seems to be short-sighted.

Is Kenya ever going to get back to the relative stability it enjoyed before the Presidential election debacle?

Hey! What's this? Agreement? Surely not ...

From BBC website Thursday, 14 February 2008, 18:48 GMT

Kenya constitution 'within year'

Kenya's government and opposition party have agreed to write a new constitution within a year, a government negotiator has said.

Mutula Kilonzo told Reuters news agency that the parties had "reached agreement on a wide-ranging sphere of issues".

The deal comes after talks aimed at bringing an end to the post-election violence ...

Mr Kilonzo gave no further details about the contents of the deal.

The talks, led by former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, have been seeking a resolution to the disputed elections held in December.

So, this is more potentially good news. What is happening? Can I cope with all this?

A Spanner in the Works?

Justice Minister Martha Karua seems to want to de-rail the peace process already. After Kofi Annan stated that he did not want a news blackout regarding the talks, she has started ranting, or so it would seem from various new reports.

She has expressed anger with mediator Kofi Annan over comments on resolving the election dispute.

Mr Annan hinted that both sides had agreed on a transitional government for two years, after which fresh presidential elections would be held.

This does not seem unreasonable since it was reported that both teams had tabled proposals for a power-sharing agreement at the talks.

So is this just the Government side trying to put a spanner in the works?