In every part of the country, there is an urgent need for new social
housing and for new affordable home ownership. So the Minister for
Housing is announcing that in the next two years—from the re-allocation
of funds—we will more than treble the extra investment in housing: from
the £600 million announced in the Budget to a total of £2.1 billion
from today. That will finance over the next 24 months a total of
110,000 affordable homes to rent or buy and in doing so create an
estimated 45,000 jobs in construction and related industries.
By
building new and additional homes we can now also reform social housing
allocation, enabling local authorities to give more priority to local
people whose names have been on waiting lists for far too long. We will
consult on reforms to the council house finance system to allow local
authorities to retain all the proceeds from their own council house
sales and council rents. We want to see a bigger role and
responsibility for local authorities to meet the housing needs of
people in their areas.
The Shadow Housing Minister, Grant Shapps has said: "Under existing legislation and Harman's new equality law, local people will not have priority for local homes." Mad Hattie will be delighted!
Joined up government in action! Uncosted expenditure for re-announced relaunched pronouncements. Gordoom rehashes policy that HE thinks will make HIM look good without any proper research into the consequences of forthcoming legislation. He also fobs responsibility off onto the local authorities so that when the whole thing turns to shit, as it inevitably will, he can do his usual "Not me, guv" and duck back down behind the sofa. We are not fooled.
At PMQs tomorrow expect the usual bullshit bingo catchphrases of "increase in public spending....unlike the party opposite who will cut spending by 10%...do nothing party...we are the party who would help the unemployed unlike the party opposite who opposed these measures...we are the party of investment, they are the party of cuts..." from the one-eyed drivelmonger.
Michael Jackson is DEAD....you have to hand it to him it's a great career move.
I have had to forcibly restrain myself from blogging about the so-called King of Pop but with 24 hour news coverage on Sky and BBC News 24 from outside the "Jackson Compound" I can no longer remain silent. Firstly let me qualify that I am no fan of either the (alleged) pop-paedophile or his whiny drivel that passes for music or his penchant for cosmetic surgery, skin bleaching and wearing gloves for no apparent reason. As far as I can tell, Jackson was seriously psychologically damaged - I mean who the fuck names a child Blanket?
However, what has sickened me is the various gold-diggers and hangers on. In life, Jackson had every whim indulged and in death the same parasites - Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, Farrakhan's Nation of Islam (who allegedly rent a house to the Jackson entourage at 5 time the going rate) will pick over his bones in the quest for publicity and/or money. Thing is, his parents and siblings are just as bad - yes they will circle the wagons and plead for privacy in grief, but in all probability will sell exclusive photo rights of the funeral to the highest bidder. Then there will be the endless tribute tours, books, souvenirs, Greatest Hits albums etc etc ad nauseam all waiting to be sold to the sheeple who love Michael blah blah blah. There will be the inevitable appearances on Oprah about how Michael never had a proper childhood, was a victim of his own success,...excuse me while I go and throw up. Endless TV interviews with other so called pop stars about how they worked with/always wanted to work with Michael Jackson, anniversary tribute programmes...how long before the "he's not really dead, he's just dropped out of the limelight, no-one saw his body, he's working in a childrens home" conspiracy theories appear in National Enquirer?
The tasteless jokes have already whizzed round the internet, but the best was the one I saw on b3ta.com posted by BratislavBanana:
I wish to complain about this 02 ticket what I purchased not half an hour ago
Oh yes, the Michael Jackson. What's wrong with it?
My daughter has a recommended reading list from school which contain a number of Jacqueline Wilson books, namely Cookie and The Lottie Project. So of we go to the local library and pick up both these books. But there was something in the blurb of both books that struck me - see if you can pick it out.
On Cookie:
Beauty Cookson is no beauty. She's a plain, timid girl surrounded by
super-confident, snooty girls at school. Worse than the teasing in the
playground, though, is the unpredictable criticism from her father.
Frequently berated for breaking any of Dad's hyper-fussy house rules,
as well as for her lack of looks, confidence and friends, Beauty lives
in uneasy fear whenever Dad's at home. Her pretty, sweet mum is equally
subject to Dad's tirades. Eventually, after an unbearable birthday
party and a very real fear that Dad's temper is out of control, Mum and
Beauty run away. Very soon Mum and Beauty find themselves in an idyllic
seaside resort where their new-found freedom and a moment of culinary
inspiration give them a hobby, an income and even a new nickname for
Beauty. Soon all Beauty's dreams come true - and she deserves it!
The Lottie Project:
I don't want to do a boring old project. Who wants to be like everyone else? I'm doing a diary... Hi! I'm Charlie (DON'T call me Charlotte - ever!). History is boring, right? Wrong! The Vistorians weren't all deadly dull and drippy. Lottie certainly isn't. She's eleven - like me - but she's left school and has a job as a nursery maid. her life is really hard, just work work work, but I bet she'd know what to do about my mum's awful boyfriend and his wimpy little son. I bet she wouldn't mess it all up like I do...
Hmm, seems like a recurring theme developing. So I checked out some of the blurbs on Wilson's other books.
Floss:
Floss's parents split up when she was younger and she now divides up
her week, spending five days with her mum, her mum's new boyfriend and
her new baby half-brother. The other two days Floss spends with her
dad, helping him to run his greasy spoon cafe. But then their simple
arrangement is thrown into disarray when Floss's mum decides to move to
Australia for six months. Floss has to choose whether to go with her or
stay with her dad. She picks her dad and they muddle along happily
together, surviving on chip butties and enjoying visits to the local
funfair. But then disaster strikes, Dad's money troubles catch up with
him and they have to move out of the cafe. They're homeless - but can
their new fairground friends help out?
Lola Rose:
When Jayni, her mum and little brother have to run away from her
abusive father, it starts off as a big adventure. They slip out at
night, go up to London by train and stay in a hotel. They even make up
false identities to protect their secret and Jayni becomes the
glamorous-sounding Lola Rose. But when the money runs out and reality
bites, is it still a game they should play?
Secrets:
India lives in a large, luxurious house with a mum she can't stand and
a dad she adores, though he hasn't had much time for her recently. She
seeks solace in her journal, which she keeps in sincere imitation of
her heroine, Anne Frank. Treasure lives on the local council estate
with her loving and capable grandmother. She is devoted to her nan but
lives in fear of having to go back to live with her mother and violent
stepfather.
See. The men in Wilson's books are either detached, wimpy or violent and abusive.
With schools bemoaning positive male role models and absent fathers, is it any wonder when children's authors fill kids heads with such negative rubbish?
A couple of weeks ago I posted about the bald, hairdryer using Labour Party Commissar to the High Peak, Tom Levitt. An MP who has consistently voted along with the interests of his party rather than the people he represents. Yesterday, he confirmed everything that was being denied by Labour apparatchiks - that the vote for the Speaker was being whipped. Here's an excerpt from his newsletter:
Topical
notes
Parliament has now published all MPs' expense claims for
the past four years, though mine were already available on my web site. Although
I was offered the chance to black out ('redact') more sensitive information, I
did not ask for any redaction to take place. Those entries which have been
blacked out are either in line with Data Protection and privacy laws (so I am
told) or are irrelevant or superfluous, such as comp slips. I shall
choose between John Bercow and Margaret Beckett in casting my vote for
Speaker.
So Tom, in one fell swoop you reveal your true colours. You do not have the best interests of Parliament or the Country at heart. It is the same old chippy politics of sticking two fingers up at the Tories. The last desperate act of a desperate government. That majority of 700 is looking more and more shaky as time goes by, Tom. Time to start looking at retirement village brochures.
Gordon Brown has admitted that he has been "hurt" by the personal attacks on him
during the failed attempt to oust him this month, and said that he
might move to teaching after he leaves office
Oh please do Gordon, for all our sakes. And as for those "personal attacks" - take note, because despite Ayatollah Mandesailor whispering sweet nothing in your ear, that is what we, the electorate (apart from the rump 15% or so that would vote for dogshit were it to wear a red rosette) really think of you. Yes we do...incompetent, inept, socially retarded and an embarrassment to the nation that we actually let you out of doors on your own let alone meet the US President.
As for going into teaching - would you pass the CRB check Gordon? Would you really? And even if you did, I could think of nothing worse to inflict on a student than to have them sit through one of your classes while you drone on and on reciting lists of tractor statistics. Hang on....here's a thought; yes do go into teaching...it would be a fine incentive to students. If they don't behave they get to spend an hour's detention in one of your classes. Good behaviour would sky rocket and truancy would be wiped out almost overnight.
"To be honest, you could walk away from all of this tomorrow," he said.
"I'm not interested in what accompanies being in power. I wouldn't
worry if I never returned to all those places - Downing Street,
Chequers ... And it would probably be good for my children."
To be honest you say. Gordon you don't KNOW how to be honest. Your entire career is built around lying, spinning and malicious rumour. Just look at the people you have surrounded yourself with; McBride, Whelan, Watson, Balls, Hain, Jowell, Harman and Mandesailor - the most mendacious, dishonest bunch of people ever to have held public office. Okay, maybe not Harman - she's just barking.
As for what would be good for your children, the best thing is keep them away from any books on you, or newspapers, or the internet. In fact, don't teach them to read at all, you'll save a fortune in therapist's fees in years to come. And for their own sake, don't teach them the same "Prebyterian values" your father bestowed on you - look how that turned out.
GORDON BROWN is facing fresh cabinet disquiet about his leadership after
senior ministers in a meeting at No 10 openly questioned his tactics for
taking on the Tories.
The prime minister was challenged at a session of the full cabinet last week
after he insisted Labour should fight the general election on a platform of
more public spending in contrast to Tory “cuts”. He is determined to repeat
the tactic that helped Labour win in 2005, despite the economic recession
making significant spending increases impossible.
And
According to one source who was present, Brown was visibly irritated at the
way he had been undermined, and brought the meeting to an early close,
avoiding further debate.
Riiiiight. So Gordon throws another wobbler. All that mea culpa, oh woe is me, I promise I'll be agood boy stuff at the PLP meeting the other week - that was a complete sham. All bullshit. Gordon is incapable of change, it's not in his nature. He can't have things his own way, so he throws a little strop and takes his Noah's Ark animal set and buggers off to play on his own.
You see, the tone of both these articles is me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me and the nasty Tories....not a though about the country or how to get us out of the mess that Gordon got us in in the first place, no thought about putting the interests of the people first. It's all me; please feel sorry for me; it's not me it's those nasty Tories that caused all this with their lack of policies; vote for me or those Tories will be the government - not me.
Gordon, if you really are serious, then do us all a favour. Call your own bluff and walk away. Sit down this afternoon at Chequers and write up your resignation letter. And first thing tomorrow give the Queen a call and tell her you want to see her, take a ride up the mall and hand in that letter. Go on, if you are man enough.
In order to avoid a whole summer of backpage headlines of the "Will he -Won't he" variety that so plagued Patrick Vieira's Arsenal off-seasons, Ronaldo has decided he's had enough of the miserable red git at Old Trafford and swapped Manchester for Madrid.
The Sun, Mirror and other gutter-press comics are said to be incensed. It means an entire summer of empty column inches in the Sports section. Their only hope is that England players are videod pissing through the letter box at No10 Downing Street.
You keep coming on telly saying that everyone is behind Gordon (waiting to knife him in the back, no doubt) and that all the public want is for the government to "be getting on with the job".
No. We don't. We want YOU, Gordon and the rest of your incompetent government to clear your desks, do not pass Go, do not collect your golden goodbyes or your pensions, and leave. And to never darken our television screens ever again.
So much for the bigging up of the BNP by frightened little Labour MPs - ooh please don't use your protest vote on Thursday, nasty people like the BNP will win seats.
Well, what a huge surge in popularity they gained. So much so, they won one paltry council seat in that northern shithole commonly known as Burnley.
In Derbyshire not even UKIP or the Eco-commies (Green Party) made any significant dent in the polls.
Not so much a cabinet, but a cupboard of cobbled together bits and pieces such was the speed and desperation of Gordoom's reshuffle on Thursday.
Darling and Balls remain firmly ensconced in their posts full in the knowledge that a move for either of them would have meant Gordoom having to go back to B&Q for a refund and having to get a qualified joiner in - someone who would be able to put together a proper cabinet. With the resignations of Hoon (aka cunt), Beckett horse faced caravan dweller), Flint (gap toothed bint with over reliance on Clairol Nice 'n' Easy), Blears (ginger biking midget), Tom Watson (fat bastard), et al, Gordoom has run out of barrel to scrape and has had to bring in Mrs Kinnockio (troughing bitch from the EU), Peter Hain (Welsh, orange-skinned ANC terrorist and trougher-in-chief) and Sir (now Lord) Alan Sugar (East End spiv and car washer - cf Jurgen Klinsmann's football shirt)
Sean Woodward, turncoat and Gordoom's cheerleader in chief and fellater had to be trotted out onto Any Questions in the wake of Thursday's electoral wipeout. The Labour message is that the Tories didn't do as well as expected. Well if taking complete control of Local Authorities in staunch Labour strongholds like Derbyshire, Lancashire and Staffordshire is "not doing very well", then the Tories will only need to "do OK" in the General Election. I was at the count for the Derbyshire County Council elections yesterday and Labour were in sombre mood - Tom Levitt put in an appearance but when his favourite County Councillor had a 900 vote majority converted into a 200 vote deficit, he slunk away full in the knowledge that the jig was well and truly up and his days as MP are dwindling fast.
Gordoom hangs on, delusional in his belief that he and only he alone can be the saviour of The Labour Party, the economic crisis, the parliamentary expenses system, Great Britain and The World. The new cabinet will meet on Monday - in the wake of a second electoral wipeout.
I predict that by Tuesday they will all be out of a job as Gordoom shuffles grimly up The Mall to ask Her Majesty to dissolve parliament and he will, with the greatest reluctance, call a general election. Not much of a cabinet - but a DIY disaster.
We've had duck houses, moat cleaning, tennis court repairs, dry rot, flats for sons and daughters, employment of brothers and sisters, nappie, tampons, biscuits and butties. But none of these take the cake than the claim for a hairdryer, by this MP:
Yes, this is the Labour Party's representative to the High Peak, Tom Levitt - and there is no obvious reason as to why he needs a hairdryer.
From the Buxton Advertiser:
HIGH Peak MP Tom Levitt –
whose expenses are among the top ten highest in Parliament – was warned
by the Commons fees office that he might face public criticism if his
claims were ever published.
Officials
vetoed two of his claims – one for a £16 Remembrance Day poppy wreath,
the other for £8,013.77 for a new bathroom at his London flat.
He was reminded of the "John Lewis rule" when he tried to exceed the £6,335 for the installation of the bathroom.
Officials
also queried the £5,281 bill for work to replace carpets with wooden
laminate flooring and solid oak skirting boards, details revealed in
the Sunday Telegraph, whom Mr Levitt accused recently in his weekly
column of "conniving with criminals in gutter journalism."
And the officials warned that he would face public criticism should such claims be exposed.
The
High Peak MP told the Advertiser: "I want to make it quite clear, as I
did in an interview with the Telegraph, that the poppy wreath claim was
a mistake, it should not have been claimed and it was quite rightly not
paid. The fact that I have purchased over 20 poppy wreaths in 12 years
and only one was subject to an error shows that it was a mistake."
His
expenses were put under the spotlight in the Sunday Telegraph where
various items claimed between 2004 and 2008 were highlighted -
including £19,99 for a hairdryer and £795 for a Monterey sideboard.
In
a statement volunteered by the Labour MP in last week's Advertiser he
admitted overclaiming on expenses for his London home's mortgage – but
repaid the amount before the current storm of anger over the issue.
Speaking
this week, he said: "I also stress that there has never been a
financial year in which I had a net overclaim on mortgage interest; any
miscalculations have been quickly spotted and quickly remedied.
"If
you look at the cost of my second home in London over 12 years I
believe it to be reasonable, both compared to other MPs and measured by
the rules themselves, bearing in mind that the rent on a south London
one-bedroom ex-council flat can easily be £15,000 per year.
"Quite
clearly the rules have been weak, poorly enforced and in some cases
very poorly observed. I repeat that where there have been breaches of
the law or deliberate breaches of the rules people should be punished."
He
refuted claims by Advertiser readers that he had voted against
publication of MPs' expenses in the past: "This is simply not true. I
have always supported their publication and they were due to be
published this summer in any case.
"What I voted against a
couple of years ago was the routine publication under Freedom of
Information rules of my correspondence about individual constituents.
People talk to me about their mental health problems, financial
problems – sometimes unknown to their close family – and even their
criminal behaviour," said the MP who was first elected in 1997.
"It would not be right for that information to be in the public domain.
Following that vote we had a clarification of the law to say that such
letters would not have to be disclosed and that is quite right," added
Mr Levitt.
"My record, supporting thousands of individual
constituents with their problems, fighting for the policies that help
people in the High Peak, is a good one.
"All politicians need to come together to take measures urgently that will restore confidence in Parliament."
Mr
Levitt was revealed by The Times newspaper to be the seventh most
expensive MP in the House Commons, based on his expenses claimed from
2005 to 2008, which totalled £436,686, excluding travel.
His majority at the last election was around the 700 mark. I wouldn't bet on him hanging on to his seat when Gordoom eventually calls a general election (or more likely when Alan Johnson announces one next week) - I reckon he'll use the ill-health or wanting to spend more time with his (now grown up and left home) family excuse.
UPDATE: Quote from the Letters page of this week's Buxton Advertiser: "At least the MP who claimed for the duck house had ducks".
With there seemingly being no end to the Daily Telegraph's expense horizon, it is interesting to note that, with just days before Labour face an electoral humiliation, the bottles are starting to tumble with remarkable regularity.
First Margaret Moran, then Elliot Morley (both with sick notes from their mums). Today, not one but three MPs, two of whom are former ministers, are to stand down, ensuring their golden goodbyes before suffering the ignominy of perhaps losing their deposits at the next general election. David Chaytor - another mortgage fraudster, Beverley Hughes, who dished out dodgy visas and then lied in the HoC about it, and Patricia Hewitt, who bankrupted the NHS - all taking to the liferafts as the SS Gordon Brown founders on the northern rocks.
But it is with glee that I greeted the news that the Home Secretary - or should that be One Home and A Back Bedroom Secretary is going to resign ahead of Gordom's team picking exercise early next week. You know, where everyone lines up in the playground and Gordoom picks his bestest friends regardless of whether they are any good at games because the nasty boys left Gordoom to do the accounts when he should have been team captain all along. And so, Jacqboots has decided it's time to go - waaaaay past her sack by date. But is she going because she has has been caught "flipping", or because her hubby watches mucky movies and we have to pay for it, or because she claims for bathplugs, patio heaters etc., or because the ID Card is going to end in a pile of shite, or because she allowed the police to arrest an opposition MP? No, it is another arse-covering exercise (and plenty there is to cover). Or perhaps, just perhaps there are more revelations to be presented in the DT which would precipitate Gordoom actually having to have a pair and sack her. Whatever the situation, it doesn't look good for Gordoom, the bottles are starting to fall off the wall and the last bottle to fall will be Gordoom but only because he will have superglued his arse to the PM's chair.
