The Anonymous Widower

George Osborne Must Be Getting Paranoid

Those on the Left, blame George Osborne for all the country’s troubles.

So he is under the attack in two major stories this morning.

In the first story, it’s Osborne’s comments about convicted manslaughterer; Mick Philpott.

Mr Osborne said a debate was needed about whether the state should “subsidise lifestyles like that”.

But shadow chancellor Ed Balls condemned Mr Osborne’s comments as “a cynical act of a desperate chancellor”

I have a feeling, that most voters in the UK, except those living on benefits with umpteen children would agree with Osborne.  But then those in that group, probably wouldn’t have time to vote.

He is also brought to task, by getting into a car, that was illegally parked in a disabled space. Read about it here. It does appear he wasn’t driving,

But a Treasury source said Mr Osborne had been dropped off to buy lunch.

The unmarked police Land Rover was not driven by the chancellor at any point, added the source.

I bet Osborne wished he’d taken the train.  But then, those that want to get him, had a go at him when he did.

He must be getting to dread, saying anything or going anywhere!

It seems as if the job of Chancellor of the Exchequer has taken over from that of Home Secretary, as the most vilified job in Government.

But then Theresa May has a great advantage over George Osborne, in that she can be spun for her dress sense, as she was in this double-page story  in the Standard last night. George Osborne never got a headline like this.

Theresa May-nia: sharp-suited, well-heeled, the Home Secretary is on fighting form

Perhaps, he should wear a dress!

April 5, 2013 Posted by | Finance & Investment, News, Transport/Travel | , , , , | 2 Comments

You Should Check Your Tweets

This cautionary tale of an MP, who tweeted a link to a porn site by mistake, should be read by anybody, who just retweets, stories, that they are told to.

At least, as I do all my blogging from my computer, I can check what I point to, before publishing.

April 4, 2013 Posted by | Computing, World | , | Leave a comment

Miliband Shows His True Colours

I have never been a fan of David Miliband.  To me, he is one of those I would bar from Parliament, as he doesn’t appear to have done a real job in his life. Two many MPs on all sides of the house are just political time servers, who live off the fat of the land.

He was also one of the yes-men, who didn’t stop Gordon Brown’s disastrous policies, that led us into the state we’re in today.

So his first desertion to New York, is probably a good thing, as hopefully he’ll never get into another British Government. But then the Labour Party in recent years has shown a particular talent in bringing in their friends to important positions, despite past failures and indiscretions.

Incidentally, I can never understand, how anybody ever wants to work in the United States, because of that country’s adherence to the death penalty.

I suspect that his resignation from the board of Sunderland Football Club is just as much about practicalities, as about the appointment of Paolo di Canio as manager. Sunderland is a long way from New York.

April 1, 2013 Posted by | Sport, World | , , , | 1 Comment

The Circular Argument Over The Falklands

Whatever the Pope thinks about the Falklands is all fairly irrelevant, despite what was said in the my post about the Daily Mirror, as he has other more pressing problems.

In the end though, economic arguments will win through, so consider these facts.

Argentina’s economy is pretty much a basket case and with policies like nationalising oil companies as reported here, they are annoying possible supporters like Spain.

Spain too, would like to get rid of that irritant Gibraltar, but with their economic problems, they are not going to do anything rash in the area.  Although, they do block various EU measures because of it. I think the Spanish are sensible enough to realise that British visitors are an important part of their economy.

The UK, is also a big destination for Spanish unemployed, where they are one of the bigger groups of immigrants.

And then there’s the Spanish enclaves on the coast of North Africa, which to Morocco are probably the same sort of irritant as Gibraltar is to Spain and the Falklands are to Argentina.

So the economy and the politics go round and round.

Throw in possible Scottish independence, which would  be an encouragement to some parts of Spain, that yearn for independence and you have a big, interconnected mix.

You probably have two sensible players and one that has a reputation as a bit of an opportunist.

In some ways it’s rather sad what has happened to Argentina.  Before the Second World War, it was much higher up the league of prosperity, than it is now. It just shows how bad government can ruin a country.

March 15, 2013 Posted by | World | , , , , , | 4 Comments

Politicians Who Dye Their Hair

I can never understand, why people dye their hair!

I have a grey beard, but since going gluten-free, that seems as far as it got.

My late wife never dyed her hair and she was a natural dark blonde, with odd hairs of other colours, including grey and brown.  Her hairdresser, who also cut mine at the time told me a funny story about her.  He had just cut C’s hair and was preparing a very smart lady, who wanted her hair dyed a different colour. He asked her what colour she wanted and she said how about that, pointing to C. He had difficulty keeping a straight face as he told the lady it was totally natural.

My reason for this post is because I’ve just read this article about Chinese politicians dying their hair on the BBC’s web site. It shows how vain some of our leaders can get, especially as the previous Chinese leader had grey hair, as do many Chinese of my age you see in the UK.

I also remember seeing a speech by John Major, where he said he’d been accused of dying his hair, which of course he didn’t. I wrote about it here.

But we may accuse John Major of ,many things, but vanity is not one of them!

March 12, 2013 Posted by | World | , , , | 1 Comment

Nick “Loophole” Freeman On Chris Huhne

Nick Freeman aka Mr. Loophole has just pronounced on the Chris Huhne case on BBC Radio 5.

He said that in 2003, there was probably all sorts of errors in the summons and he could probably have got Huhne found not guilty.

You could say that he would say that wouldn’t he, but it does appear he usually gets his clients the result they want.

Perhaps, though Huhne didn’t want to employ a solicitor, who went to Uppingham School and whose father was in retail.

March 11, 2013 Posted by | News | , , | 3 Comments

Rape Is Acceptable If It’s Within The Socialist Workers Party

This seems to be the message from several reports this morning, including this one in the Guardian.

Let’s face it rape and I would include threats and violence as well, is never acceptable in any circumstances.

The Times says that many have resigned from the Socialist Workers Party. Hopefully, they’ll be the first of nearly everybody who leaves.

March 11, 2013 Posted by | News | , | 1 Comment

Sir Mervyn Suggests Splitting RBS

This is the gist of a story on the BBC’s web site. It’s an idea that might work, although I’m still in favour of liquidating all of the Royal Bank of UK Taxpayers.

On the other hand we could always use it as Danegeld to make unwanted immigrants go home, by giving them shares on condition they went away.

Now there’s an idea for UKIP!

It would solve the problems of immigration and RBS at the same time.

March 6, 2013 Posted by | News | , , , | Leave a comment

C’s Least Favourite Political Theorist

C did Politics at Liverpool University, although because it was such a difficult degree on which to build a career, she later read Law at University College London. Probably having, Robert Kilroy-Silk as your tutor at Liverpool, didn’t help either.  The fact, that he chain-smoked Capstan Full Strength in tutorials gave her a life-long aversion to smoking.

Every time, I go to see Ipswich play I am reminded of her least favourite political theorist.

A Reminder Of Marcuse

A Reminder Of Marcuse

She found Herbert Marcuse very difficult to comprehend, and she would find the fact his surname was embedded everywhere, a good reason not to go to the football.

March 2, 2013 Posted by | Sport | , , | Leave a comment

Who’s Be A Politician’s Dog?

I just had to link to this set of pictures from the BBC. Look at the one of MP, Gregory Barker with Otto.

February 27, 2013 Posted by | News | , | Leave a comment