Stop borrowing
I agreed with every word of Fraser Nelson's excellent column in today's Daily Telegraph. Entitled, "Turn off your iPad, Mr Cameron, and start dealing with our debt", looks at the government's disappointing record on borrowing and points out, rather alarmingly, that it is "... borrowing more over five years than Labour did over 13". With our deficit growing, we need radical Conservatism (common sense) like never before. And by radicalism, I mean slashing state expenditure and tax much, much further. Recently, I made a comment during a radio interview along the lines of: "Austerity. What austerity?" An aggrieved constituent wrote to the local paper, accusing me of "living behind my stag," or words to that effect, as if I did not understand what effect the dire state of our economy was having on people. Can I say that I do understand, and all too well. In addition to running a business myself, I have spent most of life out and about and, now, as an MP, much of my time is spent in the constituency seeing things very much at first hand. I do see the difficulties and sympathise with the plight of many of my constituents. However, all I can say is that we have been heading to the abyss for years, living beyond our means, both publicly and privately, and hoping we'd never be called to account. The chickens have come to roost, regrettably simultaneously. I hope we learn from these harsh lessons being imposed on us, that you cannot spend more than your earn, and you certainly can't borrow your way out of trouble. You must cut your cloth accordingly and I can only suggest we start 'slashing' pretty quickly.
Posted on 18 May 2012 by Richard Drax
French farce
New president Francois Hollande is sworn in, promising to spend his way out of this EU shambles. Then, he flies straight to Germany, no doubt to impress his new credentials on Chancellor Angela Merkel. No one can see Mrs Merkel agreeing to more spending. The Germans have propped up the euro for too long and I suspect Hollande will receive a polite, but firm, "Nein". Meanwhile, the farce continues in Greece, which cannot form a government, so back to the polls they will go. For all those who genuinely, but mistakenly, believed that a federalist Europe would see the end of war and conflict in Europe these revelations must come as quite a shock. Civil unrest is becoming more common as people become more desperate. We can end this ridiculous experiment if we all accept that it's over. I can only suggest that EU heads convene a meeting at the earliest opportunity and for once be honest with us all. The first politician to stand up and call time will, I feel, be treated with great respect in future history books.
Posted on 15 May 2012 by Richard Drax
Queen's Speech Two and Three
I am one of those who have signed up to the Alternative Queen's Speech, which I note is partly published in today's Daily Mail and is due in full on the Conservative-Home website. The situation is too dire for the country to continue ducking and diving with the Lib Dems. They represent a tiny minority of the Coalition Government and are, frankly, lucky to have so many MPs in the Executive. I've also read Simon Heffer's proposed Queen's Speech and I agree with every word. I particularly like the idea of repealing the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act, which I, and many of my colleagues, mistakenly supported. I would not do so now, but then you live and learn. Persuaded this Act was best for a country on her knees, I was seduced into agreeing to it. However, the cynics would argue that it's nothing more than a fig leaf for a power grab by the Executive to enjoy five years in power, come what may. And this, quite clearly, is not in the country's best interests. If I am re-elected next time round, I will do all I can to ensure a Bill like this never sees the light of day again.
Posted on 7 May 2012 by Richard Drax
EU turmoil
I wasn't a devoted fan of Sarkozy, but his defeat at the hands of Socialist Hollande spells disaster for Europe and the EU. Typically, he is already calling for higher borrowing, rather than cutting state expenditure, and I predict chaos ahead. Both France and Greece are rejecting austerity measures to bring their economies back into line, instead plumping for increased spending, that old Socialist con trick. I do understand that the electorate tends to be fickle when pensions, jobs and hopes are dashed, but there is a way forward. The problem is it would take a leader of great courage and foresight to take the radical steps needed after generations have been bought with unsustainable government handouts of one kind or another. We need another Churchill as the storm clouds of economic meltdown bubble up on the horizon and I don't see one.
Posted on 7 May 2012 by Richard Drax
Rocks ahead
I watched the Chancellor this morning on the Andrew Marr show. I have to say that he clearly does not understand what has and is going wrong. I suppose the word I would use is 'integrity' and I keep returning to this word, because it is still lacking in politics. Believing in a cause such as Conservatism is not difficult, nor is explaining what it is about. Mr Osborne stumbled his way through the interview as he was grilled on irrelevant sideshows like gay marriage and Lords' reform. I say irrelevant because the economy and jobs are top of the agenda and although Mr Osborne said that, he expressed no clear direction on how we should tackle them, except more of the same. There is no doubt in my mind that we should slash taxes and public expenditure much further and tackle the huge cost of bureaucracy and red tape once and for all, most of which comes from the EU. We can talk about these things until the cows come home but, until we face these mountainous tasks head on, we might as well bury our heads in the sand. I fear our current leadership will continue to prevaricate (Oxford dictionary definition: make evasive or misleading statements) in the hope it can buy us off. Unfortunately for them, we have seen through the hall of mirrors and can see the path ahead very clearly indeed. If it's not followed, to the letter, I see trouble ahead, not only for David Cameron and George Osborne but, more importantly, for our country. And, frankly, I am only interested in the latter.
Posted on 6 May 2012 by Richard Drax
Local elections
Not a good result for us, although the damage is not as bad as it could have been. What we, and the people of this country, need is more Conservatism with a capital C. We need to tackle head on the big dabates of the day such as the economy, low taxes, immigration and the EU. Tinkering around the edges with gay marriage and Lords' reforms is not what we were elected to sort out. The people of this country want one thing and politicians appear to want another. I have said from day one that the Coalition was a bad idea and I stand by what I said. Both Parties are losing their identities, leaving the gate wide open for Labour. It's time to lead, so let's get on with it.
Posted on 4 May 2012 by Richard Drax
The Phone Hacking Committee
The Parliamentary Select Committee on Cuture, Media and Sport reported back yesterday. Instead of producing a concensus report, fuelled by universal disgust at the phone hacking of Millie Dowler’s parents among others, committee members divided the verdict by voting politically. Most notably, Gordon Brown’s henchman, Tom Watson, forced through an amendment denouncing Rupert Murdoch as ‘not a fit person’ to run an international company. He was supported by all the Labour and Lib Dem members of the committee. As Louise Mensch MP put it, the amendment was ‘wildly outside the remit of our committee,’ and left the Conservatives unable to back it, thereby undermining the report’s conclusions. Incidentally, Tom Watson has published a book this week. Entitled ‘Dial M for Murdoch’, it supposedly exposes the media baron and all his works, which may explain Watson’s insistence on ramming his agenda to the front of the queue. Finally, despite what is still bad news for Murdoch because Ofcom has yet to decide whether he is ‘fit and proper’ person to run BskyB, News Corp’s share prises ROSE in the USA.
Posted on 2 May 2012 by Richard Drax
Terrorism
Gothic warnings in the press today about how terrorists are having explosives surgically implanted inside their bodies. The explosives are undetectable by the most sophisticated airport scanners and security services are concerned about the possibility of a spate of bombings to commemorate the demise of Osama Bin Laden a year ago this week. Transatlantic flights are reportedly packed with undercover air marshalls. Coinciding, as it does, with the week’s news about ridiculously long queues at Heathrow – partly due to increased security checks – air travel is beginning to look like the least attractive option around.
Posted on 2 May 2012 by Richard Drax
A faltering alliance
There is no stronger advocate of a free press than I. I worked in the business for 17 fun-filled years and witnessed first hand the power the press has. At the moment, the press is running amok in the the political world I currently occupy. I am not surprised. I've always felt that the press is at its most penetrative when politicians fail, and thankfully so. Clearly, I am generalizing as I don't agree with everything that's said, or with every publication, but the general thrust of what's being said is what most us are thinking. Personally, I wish we were not in a Coalition and I regret supporting the Fixed Term Parliament Bill. I voiced my concern to colleagues at the time that we were tinkering with our constitution for our own salvation and not that of the electorate, but I foolishly did not listen to my gut instinct, which is strong. I suspect the time is coming, and not before time, that we and the Lib Dems will part company. Maybe the threatened Lords' reform will do it; if not that, then Europe. We will then be stuck in an unholy alliance, while our country screams out for strong leadership, lower taxes, freedom from the EU, tough immigration policies et al.
Posted on 29 April 2012 by Richard Drax
Love the letter
I have a huge amount of respect for my former BBC colleague Justin Webb, but his comments in the Radio Times, reported in the Daily Telegraph on Tuesday, about our "irrational" love of letters prompts me to put fingers to keyboard. Mr Webb went on to say that our ""desperation" to get mail in the morning was "out of place in the modern world"". I fundamentally disagree. In fact, I find that the more people resort to emails and texts, the more they appreciate the humble letter. Having been an MP now for two years, I have received more than my fair share of correspondence, much of it by email. While, of course, I give all correspondence my full attention, proper letters are a rarity and when they come I, too, appreciate their value, because someone has sat down, thought carefully about what they want to say, and given me time to gather my thoughts and reply. And I think it is sad that this courteous art is dying, although I am confident there are millions of people out there who disagree with me for all kinds of good reasons, not least the saving in paper! But I hope you get the gist of what I am trying to say. I hope that letter writing has a resurgence, despite its cost.
Posted on 26 April 2012 by Richard Drax