Molendinarius

Molendinarius

18p

14 comments posted · 1 followers · following 0

4 years ago @ http://www.conservativ... - Why the best course op... · 0 replies · +1 points

Perhaps not send the letter by carrier pigeon, but send the letter on foot from the most northerly government office in the United Kingdom, via a liveried footman.

6 years ago @ http://www.conservativ... - Jamie Whyte: The Conse... · 1 reply · +1 points

The conservatives did not win because of 1. Foxhunting 2. Dementia Tax (punishing people for being prudent and saving? The message is clear: if you bother to save you will be penalised for being prudent, while your spendthrift neighbours get a free ride. (Not to mention that the dementia tax was likely to lead to increased elderly abuse and neglect - beware unintended consequences - elderly abuse is already a problem in our ageing society - why create a scenario that will encourage it? ) 3. No substantive campaigning on economy. 4. A negative campaign with nothing whatsoever positive to say. 5. Excessive focus on Brexit, but weirdly with almost no talking up the positive opportunities of Brexit. 6. No focus on my local MP - I was not voting for a Prime Minister, but for an MP, but the election literature that arrived on my doorstep had almost nothing to say about my local MP. This excessive focus on the PM was misguided. 7. The regressive taxation of small businesses and landlords (many of whom use their buy-to-let properties in lieu of a pension - so this is yet another attack on the prudent retired elderly); these and other anti-business policies created a general overall sense that there is an anti-business ethos to this government. Finally, the approach to the internet by Theresa May following the terrorist attacks was an electoral death wish in terms of the youth vote; young people do not 'use' the internet. They inhabit it. Any attacks on its freedoms are viewed as utterly unacceptable; as unacceptable as taxing the air young people breathe. Theresa May's authoritarian instincts here are wrong, wrong, wrong. By all means bolster intelligence gathering; most of the terrorists were known; the problem is systemic, and noting to do with creating highly dangerous authoritarian laws against 'extremism'; once again, the law of unintended consequences looms large; a legislative attack on personal freedom in order to protect personal freedom is oxymoronic. Corbyn gets this; and this is one area where I generally agree with him. If the conservatives don't get this right, they will alienate the under 35 vote forever. Remember - a free internet is not a luxury for the under 35's. It is a public realm, one they inhabit, in a more than figurative sense. Tamper with it at your peril.

6 years ago @ http://www.conservativ... - WATCH: May on her resh... · 0 replies · +1 points

If you listen to May carefully, she did *not* explicitly say she will stay for five years.

She said "I said during the election campaign that I would intend to serve a full term, BUT what I am doing now is actually getting on with the immediate job.

That 'but'is very important; in effect, she is deflecting the question.
She then goes on to say, the 'immediate job' is what is important:

I think that is what is important I think that's what the public would expect,they want to see government providing that certainty and stability at what is a critical time for the country"

In other words, May is keeping the ship on an even keel for the short term.

Who knows, the wheel of fortune might turn again soon, and May may be in for the long haul. However, parsing what she said, she herself does not expect to be.

6 years ago @ http://www.conservativ... - Conservative MPs do no... · 0 replies · +1 points

Elderly neglect and abuse is, unfortunately, a known phenomenon, even within old age homes. It is not at all uncommon. This policy would have exacerbated it in some cases; whether benign neglect, or deliberate; and unfortunately, someone with dementia would have no ability to protect themselves whatsoever. Many people regard elderly people with advanced Alzheimer's as almost non-people, the 'living dead' and would have few scruples in accelerating their passing, in order to protect their own beneficial interests.

6 years ago @ http://www.conservativ... - Conservative MPs do no... · 2 replies · +1 points

Another scenario: May manages to survive the mauling at the dispatch box; Corbyn remains stilted and not able to think on his feet. The worst parts of the manifesto are ditched. The Conservatives implement some genuine conservative policies that are pro business, while addressing some of the social concerns that lead to Labour's rise:

1. The DUP want to decrease Corporation Tax; now might be the time to do it, helping them implement one of their manifesto commitments. It will boost the economy, and boost employment, boost the number of companies here, and hopefully, boost the tax take. Perhaps abolish corporation tax in toto for micro-businesses, with a turnover of under x amount. This will boost the economy at a time of uncertainty, and encourage entrepreneurship.

2. Give councils extensive powers to borrow to build proper social housing, rented at historical social housing rentals; as long as this is costed to pay itself off over x number of years, (and it always has been) it is fiscally prudent, and will be socially popular. There must be no government subsidies for such new social housing, it must be self-funding and non-profit. Perhaps a proportion of this new housing could be assigned on the basis of a lottery, entry open to anyone who has been resident in the UK for longer than ten years, aged between 25 and 35.

3. That there should be no more policies that punish the prudent, and reward the spendthrift and feckless. An Englishman's house is his castle. No more policies like the dementia tax. If dementia care needs to be funded, it must be done out of general taxation. Societies have a responsibility to care for their old and infirm. The policy was also very dangerous; elderly people are very vulnerable; those with dementia even more so; if a family thought they would lose their inheritance, there would be increased neglect, and an early grave for many. This was a socially regressive policy, with many consequences that had not been thought through properly.

6 years ago @ http://www.conservativ... - Conservative MPs do no... · 1 reply · +1 points

I cringe at the thought of May at the dispatch box, facing a Jeremy Corbyn who has emerged recast in bronze from the electoral forge, facing a Prime Minister who is incredibly brittle, totally inflexible, and has feet of clay. It will not be pleasant to observe. Cringe-worthy is apposite.

Once the DUP arrangements are solidified, there should be an immediate leadership election. This will be disconcerting, perhaps, but will provide a healthy catharsis. The party needs to rid itself of May. She should go very very (very) soon. Then everyone can breathe again, and move on. The recriminations will continue, but will become a matter for historians. A leadership election will be messy, but the job of government will go on.

This is no time for the party to behave like ostriches. What needs to be done, must be done, and best it were done quickly.

Looking ahead, there is no guarantee the DUP deal will have legs; it might cause considerable instability in Northern Ireland, and the DUP might be forced to pull back to stop chaos at home. Corbyn might find himself in Downing Street, but unable to govern. An early election may be the consequence; the Conservative Party needs to game plan for this eventuality, which is not unforeseeable. The longer we have a new leader in place before it happens, the better.

6 years ago @ http://www.conservativ... - Our snap survey. Two i... · 0 replies · +1 points

You are assuming the government can keep the confidence of the House; this is a long stretch. So many things can go wrong with such a slim working majority on confidence and supply. The party needs to be prepared for a snap election; May cannot lead the party into such an election; she needs to go now. Her policies have failed. Cameron did the right thing by resigning on the spot. May has destabilised things enough; an interim leader needs to be appointed immediately; May should go, and very fast. She has a tin ear, and as much manoeuvrability and charm as a stick insect. I think that Boris is possibly the right person at this time to counteract the charisma of Corbyn. He is demonstrably able to sell the conservative product, be upbeat, and will give Corbyn a run for his money. This is not the time for a 'safe' pair of hands.

6 years ago @ http://www.conservativ... - ConHome snap survey. S... · 0 replies · +1 points

I think she needs to go. The Conservatives need to be prepared for the possibility of losing confidence of the House, and of the opposition failing to form a minority government with the confidence of the House; we simply cannot have someone with a tin ear and no charisma up against a charismatic Labour leader at a subsequent election, which may be forced upon us; May is simply not trusted; I seldom agree with The Mirror, but on election day, their front cover called out May, and nailed it. May will be teased mercilessly at the dispatch box; she will rapidly become a painful liability to the Conservative brand; she is so already, but this might become intolerable. Handling the party and the DUP will require a deft hand, and the party will need someone who is able to govern openly, take advice, and consult widely, and be flexible. May has none of the qualities needed for this type of leadership. May has no charisma. Corbyn, for all his faults, has oodles. She makes serious policy errors (Fox hunting? I actually think that was the beginning of the end for her. She alienated the entire urban youth vote. Nasty party? Sure. Urban youth knows and cares nothing about the realities of fox hunting. May might have been (objectively) right on this, but that is not how the world works. How could she not understand this? Unfortunately, once the adjectives cruel and uncaring are attached to a person whose personality is stiff and wooden, they are impossible to shake off. This perception was compounded by the inept social care policies in the manifesto. May is unfortunately a damaged brand. Time for her to go. The sooner the Tories regroup around someone else, someone who has charisma that can match that of Corbyn's (which will only magnify, with his new found confidence) the better.

6 years ago @ http://www.conservativ... - Troops deployed. No MP... · 0 replies · +1 points

That would be the Privy Council's choice to make; if they wanted to televise it, they could.

6 years ago @ http://www.conservativ... - Troops deployed. No MP... · 2 replies · +1 points

A special session of Privy Council could be summoned, one that has representatives of all the political parties, to scrutinise the executive, in the absence of a sitting Parliament.