John Laity has his passions running high at the moment and provided another cool blog entry.  John, rest assured that more people will read this than there were at the Conference Hall listening to Gordon Brown yesterday!  Over to John…..

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“The Underdogs Fight for a Better Future Against the Tories”

So we now have the official party line for Conference from Gordo.

We could laugh at the admission of being the underdog, but the language used here is very important:

1. We all like to back the underdog
2. Better Future, recognises we are upset
3. Fight, Fighting Back, etc. are all incredibly powerful statements when we have 2-3 young soldiers dying each day in Afghanistan…

This is good spin…

It is now vitally important that Conservatives point out that Gordo is not fighting back in Afghanistan, nor is he helping the UK fight back unemployment , nor has he fought back against the bonus banking culture. The only think he is fighting for is credibility within a tired Government.

THE MORE IMPORTANT NEWS TODAY IS:

Angela Merkel has claimed victory in the national elections in Germany that took place today. Her victory is enhanced by the fact that center-right parties won the elections overall, giving Merkel the opportunity to form a center-right government that is business friendly…

Merkel was popular because of her stable, calm governance of the economic situation. During the election, she appealed to the German people to not take a chance by changing horses in mid-stream (so to speak)…Surly this is bad news as it provides confidence for Gordo (who stood next to Merkel last week at G20)? NOT SO!

The German centre right campaigned for a stronger line against the banks, more prudence in public services and a pledge for TAX CUTS!

The German public were not stupid, they knew that only investment in Industry and individuals will bring with it the growth that will allow you to tax and address the public spending deficit. They gave a resounding NO VOTE to those party’s taking the left of centre view!

Now we have exposed the argument that both the Tories and Labour will cut services, we should not shy away from committing to targeted tax cuts that will stimulate recovery. They should be:

- Employers NIC breaks for employers investing in training
- Tax Breaks for those making house hold investments in broadband and technology (that will facilitate reductions in spending on public services as we can reduce the cost of delivering them)
- Tax Increases on Banking Bonus’s

Now is the time for some George Osbourne slam dunking!

IT WILL BE TAX POLICY THAT WINS THE NEXT ELECTION…NOT SPEND POLICY!

Back by popular demand, John Laity with another thought provoking guest blog.  Over to you John.

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Weebles Wobble but they don’t fall down

So after a week of media wind up we all were starting to believe that President Obama was going to snub poor old Gordo.

There was going to be no room at the “cool” table for our Prime Minister as he was not a player…Did you fall for it?

When it comes to spin there is nobody better than the Labour Party.

Sat in his corporate Learjet, soaring around North America, surrounded by press. Did anyone think to ask him about his carbon footprint? Or make the obvious comment that whilst he flew half the BBC around North America, our troops in Afghanistan were having to hire in aging Soviet helicopters for provide air cover and air transport…

…No of course not. We were falling hook line and sinker for the slight of hand.

“Brown nosing” was named after our Gordo and whilst we were wanting him to feel uncomfortable, he was playing his trump card.

You see the sheen has worn off President Obama. He is struggling with health care reform. His polls are slumping. He too is plagued by Casualty figures, Recession and rising Unemployment…There was just no way he was going to do anything difficult, other than postpone his meeting with the UK to smack Gordo a but for freeing Libya’s Bomber.

So prior to going into Party Conference, Gordo gets his one-to-one back patting session. For all the World to see, President “Chef” Obama served Gordo a delicious platter of Chocolate Salty Balls on how things are starting to getting better…

Gone was the Obama “Each of us will make it happen”, in was the new “Look you have to believe in what we are doing, because things are getting better”

Gordo sucked long on the Balls and will now deliver it back at conference.

Poor David Cameron…His balls are about to be burned as the Labour party Spin Monster begins to take over. By the end of Conference, Gordo will have single handedly solved the economic melt down…

Some suggestions on how to beat the Spin Monster:

1. David, stop asking for a televised debate….It looks like you are picking on the inept.

2. David, get on a VC10 out of Brize Norton. Go to Afghanistan, but DO NOT WEAR A SUIT! Get yourself in a snatch land rover and go on patrol. (Have the press see you having a Ross Kemp butt clenching experience!) DO NOT WONDER ABOUT TALKING TO TROOPS! Get on the front line, with a blue flack jacket and helmet on. Kiss the ground and swear as the Taliban dish you up some lead based laxative. Then come back to the UK and tell us what you found out we need. Meet some bereaved families, support those who need help.

3. David, do an OK photo shoot or better yet get your wife on the cover of GQ. It is called “doing a Berlusconi”. We will all hate you because your wife is hot, but equally all want to be you…So we will vote for you…donate the proceeds to Help for Hero’s or indeed any Charity close to your heart.

4. Keep doing what you are doing…weebles can’t wobble, when they are knee deep in crap.

Great to have Scott Newton back with another great blog contribution.  Over to you Scott.  Thanks, as ever, for your support.

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LABOUR INVESTMENT Vs TORY CUTS, ANOTHER PATHOLOGICAL LIE FROM LABOUR! AND WINTER OF DISCONTENT THE SECOND INEVITABLE?
 
So, Gordon Brown has finally said the Dreaded C Word ‘Cuts’. This time he is not referring to the Conservative Party with his Socialist dogmatic attitude. This time he is actually referring to his own Party, His own Policy, and His Understanding that we are officially bankrupt as a Country and the only way to reduce the Public Sector Debt is with Cuts. So the repeated phrases from Brown like, ‘Tory Cuts Vs Labour Investment is out the Window’ just like Gordon Brown and his Labour Government will be in the next General Election
 
I was watching the TUC live on BBC Parliament when the Prime Minister was making his annual Speech. He struck me as being a ‘bundle of Nerves’ when talking to the Congress. The Union’s were being typical of Protectionism for State Employed workers, demanding safety and Continuous Employment for all employees in the Recession. I think people like Brendan Barber & other Trade Union Bosses are living in a Dream World when it comes to making so much of a demand for protectionism and full state employment, when those in the productive Private Sector are really feeling the pinch due to Labour’s awful economic Policy since 1997.  Brown’s acts as Chancellor of keeping no Capital Afloat in the Treasury in case of a rainy Day have led to the demise of this Nation. He Spent, Spent, and Spent as Chancellor. When Sir John Major left office in the Labour win of 1997, interest Rates were Low, Debt’s Low, a Private Sector Economy Booming, a Managed Civil Service, and also Employment falling to record low numbers.  John Major had 1000x the integrity and Economic Competence of Alastair Darling, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown put together.

We have once again arrived at the time old Truth that all Labour Government’s run out of Money. We have a huge Government State squeezing the Productive bit of the Economy, Union’s once again out of control with Demands of Protectionism and more State Jobs being Created, we have a Bankrupt NHS which will have to be seriously looked at in 2011 if it is to be saved as a National Asset, A Welfare State in desperate need of reform, The Dark Prospect’s of Brown and Darling running to the IMF in need of emergency Capital.

So these next 8-9 Month’s before Election time is going to be played very dirty by Labour. But the people of the United Kingdom are wise and not stupid, they will not fall for it this time. So Brown save yourself the Bother, Resign get down to the Palace and Call that General Election! We in the Conservative Party are ready to Govern with a United Team, a United Party and an Economic Plan to move the country forward! And I will put every bit of faith in David and George. There is also the time old truth that Conservative Government always inherit a Bankrupt Nation a Labour Government. And we always seem to fix the problem!
 
Thank you. Scott Newton-Conservative Party Member. Newcastle upon Tyne.

Guest Blog from John Laity on the hot topic of the day….unemployment.  Over to you John………..

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UK unemployment rises to 2.47m

Britain’s jobless rate climbed to its highest in almost 13 years in July and while there were signs the pace of layoffs may be slowing, analysts cautioned dole queues could lengthen for some time yet.

The Office for National Statistics said the number of Britons out of work on the internationally-comparable ILO (International Labour Organisation) measure rose by 210,000 to 2.47 million in the three months to July. That took the jobless rate up to 7.9 per cent, the highest since November 1996.

Unemployment is a lagging indicator and both analysts and policymakers have warned it would continue to rise even as the economy comes out of the worst recession in decades.

Some expect the jobless total to hit three million next year, bad timing for Labour and an election by June.

The number of people claiming unemployment benefit rose by 24,400 to 1.607 million in August, the highest since May 1997.
…So expect more Labour cuts than they can admit to !

Always great when we have a guest blog on the site.  John Laity is a great friend to this site and again has written a very thought provoking piece on what more can be done in Afghanistan.  Thanks John.  Keep them coming. 

Over to John.  Let him know your views…..

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Afghanistan

Trueblueblood has been very active in highlighting issues with resourcing and strategy in Afghanistan. Under which you will usually find a ranting (badly spelt) comment from me. The PM’s Friday’s speech drew me out a bit earlier  than usual :0)

On Friday Gordon Brown announced that the UK’s aims in Afghanistan are “realistic and achievable” in a speech defending the government’s strategy.

Prior to this speech and in a move reminiscent of Robin Cook’s resignation Ministerial aide and ex-army Major, Eric Joyce (MP for Falkirk) quit, questioning the government’s strategy.

I salute Eric Joyce for being honest and having the courage to speak out.

WE MUST HAVE A CLEAR AND UNWAVERING STRATEGY FOR AFGHANISTAN.

Eric Joyce is wholly correct that such a strategy must address public opinion and recognise the courage and sacrifice of our UK Armed Forces and their families.  Any strategy we devise is built on their sacrifice:

“The number of UK troops killed on operations in Afghanistan since 2001 stands at 212 after the death of a soldier from 2nd Battalion The Mercian Regiment due to a gunshot wound sustained while on patrol in Helmand province on 3 September.” BBC Website

Even as I type, this statistic is already out of date! So please check for yourself:

 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8040620.stm

This site details all UK casualties in Afganistan and Iraq…It is a troubling site where the face of nearly every casualty has been recorded. A reminder of the cost of the conflict, but  also a chance to remember.

To date we have been fighting a “search and destroy” action, to break down organised Taliban forces. Panthers Claw illustrates how our conventional forces can successfully clear an area of insurgent forces. Albeit at a high cost.

Here is the bad news, fighting a group of insurgents is an achievable task for a superior force, but it drives the enemy into smaller fragmented units…Harder to find, harder to stop. Denied open movement these groups will now employ guerrilla and terror tactics…with time on their side.

IED’s, Sniping, Poisoning, mines, traps, trip wires, suicide bombs, rocket attacks, kidnapping, rape and intimidation.

It is at this point of the conflict that the Government has to truly commit to the “long haul” with a clear strategy for when to withdrawal. Failure to do so will simply create a meat grinder, where the lack of a clear objective and timetable gives advantage to the guerilla’s fighting tactics.

The long haul means MORE troops and MORE money to be spent. It also means MORE casualties and MORE fatalities. All this will be over a long, long time.

Let’s be clear, if you have children aged 10 – 12 now, they could be serving in a police action in Afghanistan by the time they are 18. This is not a guess, you can look at the world’s history on guerrilla conflicts:

Examples of successful guerrilla warfare against a native regime;

Cuban Revolution

Chinese Civil War

Sandinista Revolution

Uganda

Liberia

Vietnam

Cambodia

Foreign forces intervened in all these countries, but the power struggles were protracted and eventually all resolved locally. I.E. Foreign forces did not “win” they moved out to allow for a local reconciliation.

Lest we forget, we can also specifically consider Afghanistan’s own history of guerilla action:

First Anglo-Afghan War of 1838–1842

Second Anglo-Afghan War of 1878–1880

Third Anglo-Afghan War 1919 – where the Afghan people gained independence from the British Empire

Soviet invasion of Afghanistan 1979 – 1989

So can a strategy of “Regime Change” establish democracy and a fairer society? Will this really establish a safer western society? Will it eliminate terrorist training grounds?

Possibly, but the creation of a new regime, lawful state and stable society will take at least a generation…Look to Northern Ireland to understand how difficult such things are and how long things will take to establish peace…Also, in this case you must factor the enemy’s resolve.

“Why does the guerrilla fighter fight? We must come to the inevitable conclusion that the guerrilla fighter is a social reformer, that he takes up arms responding to the angry protest of the people against their oppressors, and that he fights in order to change the social system that keeps all his unarmed brothers in ignominy and misery.” Che Guevara

Social reform may not seem to the case with the Taliban, but by imposing religious beliefs and religious law, the Taliban believe they are improving the lives and well being of their people in this life AND the next one! As such you have to consider the fact that the general population within Afghanistan may not like the Taliban regime, but are driven by faith not to question huge parts of Taliban belief.

In stopping the Taliban our strategy moving forward has to be to deny popular support from the civilian population. This has to be done by improving the lives of the population…A population that has been in conflict for over 3 generations.

A friendly population will be of immense importance to the Taliban fighters, providing shelter, supplies, financing, intelligence and recruits. The “base of the people” is thus the key lifeline of their guerrilla movement. Bullets, helicopters and personnel vehicles will not “win the fight against the Taliban”. Education, Schools, healthcare, water, roads and commerce might…Most of which we can’t seem to get right for our own citizens!

Simple things we should be seeing and asking of the Government:

1. The deployment of dog handlers – Trained dogs can locate explosives and those individuals who handle them

2. The deployment of bomb disposal teams and robots – Technology proved in Northern Ireland!

3. The deployment of large numbers of UAVs – safely monitor roads, recon remote areas and  prevent the planting of IEDs

 4. The deployment of scout aircraft and helicopters  – to monitor roads and patrol remote areas

Question: Hey be radical… Why can’t this extend to inclu de £20,000 Microlights?  Below is a picture from a trial in  Iraq.

They can fly at 110 mph well above the effective range (365 m /1200 ft) of the AK-47…Quite happy at 6000 ft

 Lastly, some simple lessons we should have learned by now:

Painting a landrover defender a sandy colour and adding some steel plate does not
make it armoured or safe from IEDs…

Helicopters are a good thing to have deployed in large numbers if you don’t want to drive from A to B…

The 1 – 3 rule: If we loose one soldier a day, then we have to deploy one solder a day to remain at the same level of operational strength. However, this also means we need to place another soldier in reserve and then recruit and train another to remain at the same level of operational readiness. 

 The 1 – 10 rule: Casualties draw down far more resources than fatalities, so have a greater impact on operational effectiveness.

Lastly, The Total Bullshit rule: “we are raising troop numbers from 8,300 to 9,200” …Total spin! When this was announced, 2,469 UK personnel had been aeromedically evacuated on medical grounds and 212 deaths. Casualties mean smaller numbers in units, which means our combat effectiveness must be reducing.

We can only raise operational effectiveness by deploying a greater number of active units and reserve personnel. These aren’t individual policemen patrolling on street corners, they are fighting units.

Stop quoting big numbers about troops on the ground. Fighting units are teams! How many teams are on the ground at full fighting strength?

“Just point at them like this, they don’t like it up em you see.”

Readers of this blog and Facebook Page, will know of my high regard of Sue Doughty.  She is a forthright, strong, opinated lady, who is always worthy of listening to.  Over to you Sue…..

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Orchestrating

One has to hand it to David Cameron, He is leader of a party on a high, in the ascendancy, leading a load of ostentatious people each of whom are willing to put their heads above the parapet and get elected – a band of Prima Donnas.

It cannot be that difficult really, Zubin Mehta managed to cope with Pavarotti, Carreras and Domingo on the same stage, made them work in one team. Conducting two full orchestras at the same time as one.

Taking that analogy further could be faintly interesting. Who would be the Pavarotti, touring the world wowing people with his voice? Daniel Hannan, It has to be him. He seems to have taken on the mantle from Michael Heseltine and made it bigger and brighter, younger. Made it now. He says what we want said though we do not know or have the ability to use the words he has in his palate for us.

But Mehta had it easy compared to being leader of the Conservative Party. He didn’t have hecklers in the audience shouting that the two orchestras are divided and not playing the same tune. The records show they were, and David’s team are.

Political commentators always observe that this country does not vote for divided parties, same as they would not remain supporters of a divided football team. And on that cause, the desperate clinging onto power motivation of New Labour, voices are now shouting that some of the team are out of line, out of tune, off song.

Each grape in a bottle of Paul Mas Sauvignon Blanc was an individual each good enough to be regarded as the best but together, pure nectar. Each selected Cons candidate is just such a select grape, the best of the best, though it would be more red,  ruby, or rose than blanc in today’s Britain. The result of the meeting is what this country needs, and the sooner the better. I am not saying the Conservative Party will ever be turned into an amalgamous conglomerated glob of single mindedness like some dogmatic band chanting a mantra written a hundred or more years ago for a society we will never experience. It cannot. Of course it cannot, it evolves with time, youth and experience learning from each other. And that is why it works so well. With such an assembly of participants, such a mixed congregation, the outlook is all things, far seeing and short sighted, wide ranging internationalist and local all at the same time.

Yes one has to hand it to David Cameron. He is getting it right, doing the impossible without upsetting any of his team of Prima Donnas.
I cannot wait to read the full manifesto I keep seeing snippets of. Hearing bits of. But wait we must until the present establishment has to call a general election and packs its bags ready to leave the levers of power to successors chosen by the people to serve for the people.

Good Grief, this country gets more like Cuba every day and we just can’t take much more! Stealth taxes are killing what is left of the wealth of Olde England.

Sue

Great to have a Guest Blog today.  Scott Newton describes, in a thoughtful piece, why he is a Conservative.  Thanks for the great blog Scott.  Looking forward to more of your future blogs.  Over to Scott….

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What makes me a Conservative?
 
People who are Conservative believe in the power of the people and the ‘individual’ not in the heavy regulating, finger wagging, Nationalising dictate of Socialism. Socialism never has and it never will work. We have learnt that throughout history and it is always a Conservative Government who fixes the problems that the UK Faces.
 
I passionately believe people have a right by their own Effort’s to try their best in Life and in Business which Creates Wealth Creation and Opportunity. That is why I believe in the areas of Low Taxation and minimum regulation of Business which gives people much more of an incentive to try their best. I believe a Government’s first duty is to protect the people but not to rule their lives. I also believe in Competition. We have Competition in Politics we should also have it all industries. Government should not rule Business, as it subsidizes them. The only Government I would ever be part off is the one that gives power back to the people. 
 
I was brought up in Working Class Surroundings but to a Conservative Supporting Family. My Parent’s used the Right to buy scheme introduced by the then Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in 1985 to buy their Council House for only £9,000. It is now worth £120,000. We have a Conservatory, an outdoor Pond, a Converted Loft and much more. Had Labour been in they would never have allowed the Sale of Council Houses or the investment and renovations we added.
 
My SME Business also consists of Privatisation in once State Run Utilities. I run a LTD Company and it is very successful. Without Mrs. Thatcher’s Privatisation Scheme I would not be in Business and there would again be no competitiveness for Business. I pay my high taxes and I employ 4 people. Has taxes been lower I could take on someone else.
 
We again next year are going to be elected into a Nation that has 1.2 Trillion pound’s worth of debt, a failed Schooling System, a Benefit reliant system that has 6 million out of work with a mixture of different benefit claims not including the possibility of the 3.5 million on the Job Seekers Allowance and rising when we come into power. Everything Labour has done has failed us, failed Business and it is failing our future Generation’s and children. Every British Child now owes around £25,000. How can Labour Carry on with this reckless behaviour of economic irresponsibility?
 
Do the Right thing people and Vote Conservative in the next Local & General Election near you.
 
Mr. Scott P Newton