Standing up by sitting down

How can British MP's express their utter disgust for government passed policies in the house of commons? Well it seems that one way may be to walk out, hopefully to walk back in again later on.

The Shadow Home Secretary, David Davis MP was unable to resign in the house of commons, the speaker deeming it to be inappropriate given the matter was voted on yesterday so he stepped outside to step down from arguably the next government here in the UK.

By forcing a by-election, he will keep the matter very much in the media spotlight but who exactly will he fight in his re-election campaign?

The Lib-Dems have decided not to field a candidate given the fact that they agree with his stated reason for resignation and the Labour Party may lose whatever they choose to do.

Meanwhile, the Conservative leader, David Cameron who's riding on the back of a massive 20-point opinion poll lead may find that this single act of 'heroism' could cost his party especially if the public do support a 42 day detention law.

Watch this space, anything could happen!

Coffee, duck pancakes and politics...

Last night saw me take my first tentative steps into politics. I attended my first ever local Conservative party meeting where my eyes were opened to a whole new world of politics.

Most of us grow somewhat weary of spin and manipulation from any of the 'big three' but down on the front line, there are some real issues which are being fought over.

Local politics centres around local issues and as I saw yesterday, there's no shortage of things to discuss, debate and hopefully change.

In my hometown of Wigan, a certain species of duck has sought sojurn. The 'Ruddy' duck (yes, thats its real name, not the wigan version!) has flown in and has ruffled a few feathers at local council level to say the least.

It seems that this poor, unassuming bird has a soft spot for any other female ducks in the vicinity and as such, some have requested the birds to be culled. Now you may think this sounds qwackers (sorry!) but according to some, this poor lowly bird is linked directly to the conflict in Iraq.

Yes, some claim that the Spanish government have requested this cull to take place as it was part of the deal which would see them support the Iraqi invasion. It would seem that the 'Ruddies' stop off here before flying on to Spain. They really do have a 'bird' in every port and the Spanish authorities looked over to us here for help.

Now personally I don't think this would be a deal breaker for me, I'm not sure that I'd support mass troop deployment at the ducks expense but I have also heard that this issue has also dragged in our very own MI5 and MI6 (James Pond maybe? License to Bill?)

A discussion about all of this took up most of a recent council meeting as it would appear that the councillors have to sign an order to allow the DEFRA sharpsooters onto the Wigan land in order to take out the 'randy Ruddies', restore balance in European politics and bring peace to the middle east. If only life was THAT simple eh!

Apparently DEFRA can deploy their WMD in a mere 45 minutes. Oh and that's Weapons of Mallard Destruction... What a start to my political journey! At the end of the meeting, I was asked would I be back... With tales like this... You bet!

Duplicity?

It seems the Iraqi authorities are trying to find out who recorded the execution of Saddam Hussein on a mobile phone before posting it online. 'Amazingly' it appears that the actual footage of his execution is causing 'tension' in the country.



When the authorities released a muted version which fails to tell the whole story, they hoped it would make everyone think that Saddam's execution was somehow a dignified affair, maybe even graceful. The ex-President accepting his lot and finally bowing out while the USA look on with glee. Instead, the actuality of his execution shows that no matter how deplorable he was: nothing appears to have changed.



The death penalty is savage and inhumane and even if Saddam was 'hung by his own petard' (he built those gallows), no one should be fooled into thinking that there are not stll bloodthirsty individuals running Iraq.



Then, right on cue, to comment on this state-sanctioned-killing, steps the UK heavyweight, deputy PM 'two-jabs' Prescott, who (in between state sanctioned croquet) has this to say...



In a BBC interview, UK Deputy Prime Minister John
Prescott called it "deplorable" and "totally unacceptable" that video
clips of the execution had surfaced on the internet.

Mr Prescott is in charge while Prime Minister Tony Blair is on holiday.

"I think the manner was quite deplorable really," he
said. "I don't think one can endorse in any way that, whatever your
views about capital punishment.

"Frankly, to get the kind of recorded messages coming
out is totally unacceptable, and I think whoever was involved and
responsible for it should be ashamed of themselves."





Tut tut!!! it appears that Mr Prescott's concern does not center on the act itself, rather the recording of it! Am I the only person to feel slightly disgusted at this level of duplicity? How can we ever hope to encourage democracy around the world when really we are only operating superficially at best? We say one thing yet do another.



Sure I can write a blog and protest 'electronically' but my country and its leaders really do need to either keep quiet on this issue or be very careful what they are saying... How about this...



"I'm really disgusted with what this person has done. Its unacceptable that a state-sanctioned-murder was recorded and shown publicly.



We wanted Saddam dead (although officially we cant say that), and we hoped that the matter would disappear from the international conscience, once the tamed down version of Saddam's murder had been released. We had a suspicion that it may cause a few hundred deaths, but we thought it was a price worth paying. but now the truth is out?...



Its disgusting that someone recorded this event of brutality and then had the cheek to actually show everyday people what a shambolic, debased act it actually was... Shame on them! They will have blood on their hands!"



... My advice in this situation? Maybe Saddam should not have been killed in the first place?

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