Belated Christmas Wishes

Hello Again

I would like to wish the world a very Merry Christmas, 28th December, better late than never :D

Ash :D

High Pressure

Just a quick message to say their maybe a a lapse in posts over the next few weeks as I attempt to balance Mock exams revision, Xmas shopping and coursework....it's gonna be a bumpy ride!

Ash :D

It's time to act

Well, the last time I was sat at the computer typing out another blog post, there was heavy rain battering the street outside, one week on, it's still here! Joy! I shouldnt complain, most of Cumbria is under some kind of puddle. Of course, Cockermouth has seen the worst of it. It again raises the point of flood defences and also with the Copenhagen Summit on Climate Change in 16 days aswell, I don't believe there will be any better time than now to act.

Sign Ed Miliband's pledge for a deal at Copenhagen here.

I really hope a deal can be done to replace the Kyoto Agreemnet, but without full support from the USA and China, I'm not so sure. However, I do admire the work Ed Miliband has been doing in the lead up to the summit. A few weeks ago, Senior Tory backbencher, Douglas Carswell MP declared that those who believe that climate change is happening are part of a "lunatic consensus". It is because of those kind of politicians, that British politics is in the state it is in. Carswell is still living in the dark ages of Conservative policies from the Eighties and with a majority of just 920 votes, it wouldnt hurt me to see him leave Parliament next year. Especially, when he has never actually voted on ANY laws to stop climate change.

Let's wait and see what happens with regards to both Climate Change and Douglas Carswell, hopefully the outcomes will both be positive.

The Worst Storm of the Year

Overnight, last night, the UK was battered and bruised by what was officially the worst storm of the year. With flooding, gales and gusts still widespread across Southern England it could be set to carry on and at this pace it may even look like the scenes of the summer two yaers ago could be back with a vengeance. Then, of course, you can mix that in with the Swine Flu epidemic worsening once more and it does look like it's going to be a cosy Christmas for Britain....not

On the brighter side however, the FTSE closed UP on around 5,000 points yesterday and the signs of recovery in Europe should allow us to declare ourselves out of recession early next year. By that time, we will probably ahve our newly formed Briberia or Iberish Airways as a part of the merger deal (In fact, the names are staying seperate). i am jsut worried that good old BA won't lose their truly British identity, we've already sold the BAA airports to the Spanish let alone our flagship airline aswell...

Hope you like my blog's new look, it's a bit more alien like...

My new syndromic views

As you may have noticved I have,as promised, renamed my Blog. The Syndrome, as I'm suer you'll agree is a lot better. And, it allows me to use the word 'syndromic' alot more! It effectively means 'diseased', on second thoughts, perhaps I won't use it that much...

....so has the 'fightback' promised at the Labour Party Conference begun? Well, with the excellent by-election results from Glasgow North East, I think it has. It was going to be a safe seat anyway, but Labour's candidate Willie Bain still won it by quite some majority with 59.9% of the vote, a majority of 8,111.

Also, the Daily Mirror have today published a Labour advert that shows the gruesome twosome of David Cameron and George Osborne sporting hairstyles similar to those of the X Factor twins, John and Edward. But the tagline warns: "You won't be laughing if they win." I think that's genius, certainly a sign of positive fightback.

It will be interesting to see the next polls when they are published....

Hello Again. Remember me?

You may have noticed my distinct lack of posts since the start of September, but the start of the school year has been so hectic and busy (and expensive!!). I also promised a new blog title, as you can see, I haven't managed that either...

Currently I have a kind of check list I need to go by..

1. Plan something for my damned Drama/English assessment
2. Finish my Geography coursework and Science homework
3. Read more than a chapter of To Kill a Mockingbird (Even if it is incredibly boring)
4. Go to sleep before midnight, at least one day a week.
5. In some way help Labour's doomed election campaign.

There is more, but I find reading checklists become tedious after about the first five. However, at least it is the weekend and I have football watching and the Singapore GP to look forward to and maybe even a BBQ (Probably the last one until next summer). It's sunny and it's September (I think that's a oxymoron), ishouldnt moan too much! England match and Thorpe park too look forward to next month!!

My blog title

Most other blogs I read have some kind of snappy, memorable and random names, and mine, well, doesn't. So, I have begun to try and think of a new one ready for the new academic year (Which i'm really looking forward too!!, not. I'm dreading results day!! So afraid of failure. Anyway, the blog title might change soon...

England win the Ashes!

Congratulations to the England Cricket team who beat Australia to win the Ashes!

Always good to get one over on the Aussies!

The UK Summer 2009 - Cricket, BBQ's and Gaddafi...

What would a British summer be without annoying disappointment? While the country are off enjoying a burger and a glass of lime cordial with the Ashes Tests on the TV, the unfortunate and unfair embarrassment of our very own Gordon Brown continues. When the Scottish government come out and say that they are "releasing the person responsible for the Lockerbie bomb attack", you just know somebody is going to face the wrath of humiliation. Barack Obama has come out and said that the UK have made a 'mistake' and if that wasn't enough, jolly old Colonel Gaddafi has 'thanked' Gordon Brown for 'encouraging' the release of Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi, the bomber I mentioned earlier. Of course, as with most things Libya-related, this infuriates me. Gaddafi said; "the UK prime minister had "encouraged" the Scottish Government to take what he called a "courageous" decision. Others went on to suggest it was linked to a trade deal with Libya! A trade deal?! What the hell do we have to trade? We don't make anything and their economy is in freefall, well, come to think of it, so is ours. But they do have a large amount of oil and gas... The Foreign Office have gone on to strongly deny those allegations. He is just generally annoying, Gaddafi, I mean. He knows what affect comments such as his could ahve on British politics and on the Labour Party. But who knows maybe, secretly, he's a raging David Cameron fan! Let's hope not, eh?

F.Y.I

I thought some peeps might not know what the hell this blog is even going on about (Bad Times)....so I thought i'd enlighten you (Good times)...On occasion, I use my blog to write about my own life, but to be honest, that can be quite boring at times, so mainly I use it to vent my anger over a prospective Conservative government.

I hope you feel enlightened and enthused to read more.... :D

The election is emerging on the horizon...

As Parliament is recess, nothing has really happened. Newsreaders persist on claiming what a slow news month it is with nothing to talk about but a 11 year old girl crashing her grandfather's car off of a cliff. With all this quiet, it gets you predicting how the start of the parliamnetary year will begin. Not just a new parliamentary year but an election year, by this time next year, parliament could be in recess with a certain David Cameron in charge of Britain (God forbid). But you never know, there could be a very drastic change in fortune for Labour, and Gordon Brown could win his first elected term in the top job. But in the words of Mr Obama himself, we need change and we need it fast. We need some fresh impetus for Labour and for British politics. A fresh impetus to get the public back an interested in the workings and goings on of Parliament, and that certainly does not mean electing a Conservative government. Enthusiasm is something Westminster has been lacking since the election of 1997. I am sure Gordon Brown can deliver given the chance, but to do this he must use the talents of David and Ed Miliband, Peter Mandelson and Andy Burnham, the first and the latter of those names, I feel, are the future of Labour, maybe even the future Prime Ministers of Britain. Election 2010 will be an interesting one, certainly for the younger generation who only vaguely remember the 1997 election when there was a change in government, from that you can probably tell I expect a change in premier as much as I hope against it.

R.I.P Harry Patch and Henry Allingham

I would like to dedicate this post; one, to Harry Patch and Henry Allingham, the final two British First World War survivors who died today and last Saturday respectively and two, to the recent soldiers who have died in Afghanistan in combat.Gordon Brown's quote today says it all; "The noblest of all the generations has left us, but they will never be forgotten. We say today with still greater force - 'We will remember them'."

Lest We Forget.

I recently visited the battlefields of World War One in Southern Belgium and Northern France. I found the trip immensely fascininating while deeply moving, it brought the horrors of the front line to my own eyes. I hope you find the pictures below of interest to you.


The above photo shows the Menin Gate in Ypres, Belgium on which are listed the thousands of names who died without a recognised grave.



The above photo shows a close up of an Australian Memorial, erected after the First World War and then sustained this damage seen when it was come acroos in the Second World War,therefore explaining the bullet holes.

I may post some more photos from my trip, although my computer is taking its sweet time to upload them.

From DFID to UKAid...

The Department for International Developement has had a bit of a movearound and is now known as UKAid from The Department for International Development. Personally, despite how much this rebranding may have cost, I like it. It gives the UK a bit more of a contemporary while patriotic look to the rest of the world. Not that the millions dying in 3rd World countries actually care where, who or what it has come from let alone the pretty new logo plastered on the side of all aid. Nevertheless, UK Aid is a bit less of a mouthful than The Department for International Development. There are many other real reasons why this may of been changed, maybe Douglas Alexander, the Secretaty of State for the department, can't spell it as it is so he has decided to shorten it or the government like this new 'corporate look'. The possibilities are endless; maybe the government will soon be known as UKGov.com and the Ministry of Defence, UKBomb? Ok, ok, on reflection perhaps I don't like it very much. But judging on previous rebrandings (Department of Trade and Industry to the Department for Productivity, Energy and Industry in 2005, then back again) it should be back as the Department for International Development by Monday...

Sorry about the delay...

Apologies for the lack of posting of the last month and what a past month it has been! Since my last post; Wimbledon has been and pretty much gone, The US have announced they are leaving Iraq (Probably for a quick rest, then straight into Iran!), Sarah Palin has resigned as Governor and the King of Pop is dead. But it is bad times for UK-Iran relations, today even as I speak the BBC are reporting that "British diplomats are trying to establish whether Iran intends to act on its threats to prosecute staff from the UK's embassy in Tehran." Basically, it seems to me like Iran are trying to take the world's eyes off of Iran's obvious democratic problems and blame their own insecurities on the UK.Well, quite frankly, I don't think it is going to work if David Miliband has anything to do with it. David is currently standing defiant on al issues Iran related and hopefully is going to budge on the issue. In an ideal world, Iran should realise their misatkes, apologise and let their citizens have Facebook back, but really we all know that in a few months time, this will all fizzle out, and we will all forget about another country who are defying human rights, just like Zimbabwe. Well, That's What I Think...

The end of a turbulent week...

I meant to post this message about this past week in Britsih politics yesterday (Friday), but deferred to the news of the unexpected reshuffle of the cabinet by Gordon Brown. But what an interesting but damaging (for some) week it has been. Jacqui Smith set the ball rolling on Tuesday when BBC News reported of her resignation from the Home Office. At this point a cabinet reshuffle was expected after the results of the European elections tommorow. This was just another repercussion of the Expenses scandal - she was the one who claimed for the 'adult movie' for her husband. I kinda though that her resignation was inevitable. I belive she has . As Gordon Brown said in PMQ's that day, crime is down. But I feel will be hard to erase the memory of the many stabbings of younger people in the UK. Over 100 people aged 10-19 have either been stabed or beaten since 1st January last year. Shocking facts that we will remember when we think of Jacqui Smith's time in charge of Home Affairs. The next day, the eve of the Local and European electons, Communities Secretary Hazel Blears quited the cabinet, increasing pressure on Prime Minister Gordon Brown. No great loss really, one of 'Blair's Babes', who I never thought would work under Brown's leadership. She has been been replaced by much more competent John Denham. The resignations continued, less important junior minsters came out after further expense revelations. But the big one didnt come until Thursday, the polls had closed, the votes are being counted and verified then, bang! James Purnell had resigned from Work and Pensions. This angered me greatly as you may know from my other posts. That then set the bar for Friday. After the very poor election results (for Labour). A string of further resignations including John Hutton and Margaret Beckett followed. I had thought before that Beckett would be in the Cabinet in some capacity, perhaps Health Secretary. in conclusion, I feel the week has ended with a smart reshuffling by Brown followed by a strong defence of the resignations to the harsh Fleet Street press & Nick Robinson, of course.

In a very turbulent week in Westminster, Gordon Brown can only hope next week isnt as bad but with the results of the Euro elections, who knows what could happen. Brown will hope to lie low and just do his job. I hope he succeeds. Well, that's what I think...

It's all going on...

Following my post on the shock resignation of James Purnell last night, I've woken up to the news this morning of the beginning of the cabnet reshuffle. Firstly, Alan Johnson is the new Home Secretary, what a brillaint move by Gordon Brown. Alan Johnson has this week spoken of his loyalty to the PM and I could'nt think of a better person to pick up the pieces after Jacqui Smith's poor reign in charge. He is just the level-headed figure Labour needs alongside the PM on home affairs. This also quashes any rumours of Alan Johnson leaving the cabinet and trying for the leadership. The same goes for David Miliband who has again reiliterated his support for Gordon and it is very unlikely that he will leave his post as Foreign Secretary. The big news is possibly that Alastair Darling is staying at the Treasury. This decision I am unsure of, it is bad because of the revelations of Darling's exepnses, but this could be seen as a positive move as the Treasury needs stability. As I write, John Hutton, the Defence Seretary has resigned. A week of Labour resignations is still going on even dring the reshuffle.John Hutton is a so called 'blairite' and so it was inevitable that he would go. Sources say John Denham is looking at a new, bigger role which would be a another good move for a very good and hard-working minister. On an exciting day in Parliament, I think this may recoop some of Brown's authority. But will it win an election?

Damn it, James Purnell...

Why does James Purnell insist on making things worse? After he resigned yesterday, he categorically denied seeking the leadership. If you are not seeking leadership then why resign immediately after the end of major elections and before a cabinet reshuffle? Why not wait until the reshuffle is decided and decline the job offer. I feel James Purnell has shown great weakness in his political prowess. Siobhan McDonagh MP has said he is being 'brave', I think he has shown lack of judgement and lack of experience. Which strangely is leading me to feel slightly glad he is no longer in the Government. Just hours before his resignation, althougfh I am completely behind Gordon Brown, I had considered James Purnell as an outsider for leadership, behind Jon Cruddas, David Miliband and Alan Johnson. Now I realise what a mistake that would be. James Purnell couldnt lead a toddler's tea party. Don't even get me started on Hazel Blears...

A Facebook Conversation...

I began this blog a couple of hours after the resignation of James Purnell. When that story broke I had BBC News on in the background whilst trying to defend Gordon Brown's leadership of the Labour Party. I thought for my first post I could show you all that converstation to just give an idea of how passionate I am about Politics and the Labour Party for that matter.

The Conversation:
(I have censored the names of the people in the conversation as they may not wish to have their names published in my blog.

Ash Giles is thinking poor Gordon...Bugger Blears!

Person 1 at 07:59 on 04 June
poor gordon? why?

Ash Giles at 20:09 on 04 June
He's a good Prime Minister with a vision fo rthe future...but every one is ganging up on him! It's not all his fault!

Person 1 at 20:12 on 04 June
Errr hello.... He was the fricking chancellor for the last gazillion years..of course this is all his fault!!!

Person 2 at 20:14 on 04 June
??? good lord, ash. he had been chancellor for god knows how long, and i hadnt seen him do anything memorable - unless of course, you can name something :P i know you cant see him as all bad... well, maybe you can :/

Person 1 at 20:16 on 04 June
Here here Cody!! Although I feel sorry because he had a child that died!!!

Person 2 at 20:18 on 04 June
blimey never knew that - how long ago was it?

Ash Giles at 20:19 on 04 June
You got me started now, just ask Liam about my political rants! When Gordon was Chancellor the economy was in a boom time. During the boom time he made sure the NHS recruited 20,000 more nurses and built 30,000 new schools.Gordon Brown presided over the longest period of growth ever, creating two and a half million more jobs, and lifting 600,000 children out of poverty. Owned.

Ash Giles at 20:50 on 04 June
Gordon and his wife had a daughter in December 2001 and she died of Cystic Fibrosis in the January of 2002.

Ash Giles at 20:55 on 04 June
I tell a lie....the daughter was born prematurely and died...he also has a son who has got cystic fibrosis though :(

Person 2 at 21:09 on 04 June
hey, i didnt say he didnt do anything memorable, just not anything that i knew of. the only thing i would say about that is in a boom cycle, there wouldn't be many who couldn't have done that and more.i understand the death of a child is very hard, and not to sound cold or anything, but around about this time (7 years laer) something like that shouldnt be something to get in the way, nor an excuse for his inability to lead a country in a crisis.the final thing i find is that as good as you make him out to be, he and his entire party have been revealed as very corrupt, and while not the sole blame can be put upon him for that, if the "scandals" or whatever they are called were not revealed, it would be likely he would have allowed it to go on.again, he cant have sole blame - but he's the one spearheading the fate of the country, if he's so wonderful it shouldnt be to hard to overcome these problems.... Read more double your post size XD and i have more if you wanna discuss single points.

Person 2 at 21:10 on 04 June
woops i ran outta post space :/ all i wanted to add was; :P

Ash Giles at 22:50 on 04 June
Firstly, I think you may find that in no way has his child's death got 'in the way', Liam's mum just happened to bring it up....Secondly, it is not only the Labour Party that has been uncovered. The scandal involves MP's from both sides of the house (primarily Conservatives). I am not saying he is the best PM we have ever had but Gordon Brown has a... Read more vision for the future of Britain, he and Alistair Darling are currently leading the world out of the recession (he has advised Barack Obama on some issues), and lets face it, anybody is going to be better than having David Cameron as the Prime Minister. Tony Blair was the best Prime Minister the UK has ever seen (Yes, better than Churchill or Thatcher!), Blair was always going to be a difficult figure to follow. Tony also left Gordon with some loose strings to tie up, for example, 3,000 British troops were still in Iraq when Tony left office, all British troops have now been withdrawn. See next post>>

Ash Giles at 23:09 on 04 June
I think any leader, be it Brown, Cameron or Clegg, Obama, Sarkozy or Merkel, would laugh at you if you told them that it quote: 'shouldnt be to hard to overcome these problems'.The challenges we face are unprecedented. These are global challenges we must combat. You can't possibly only blame our government for the state of the economy because as I... Read more said this problem is not on the British stage, it is on a global stage. As a result of the 'scandals' Gordon Brown has announced complete constitutional reform which may well include an electoral reform (This could lead to the voting age being lowered to 16) and an expenses reform to enthuse trust in Parliament. Gordon Brown is not allowed to know the content of other MP's expenses to respect the privacy all MP's are entitled to. For that reason, there is no way Brown could of prevented this from happening. But he has now acted very quickly to address the issue and prevent it from happening again. Obviously, as a member of the Labour Party >

Ash Giles at 23:23 on 04 June
I will try to defend it at all times. But I am fully behind Gordon Brown, I believe he is the best person to lead the country out of this recession and into the next general election which should be in May 2010. As I write this James Purnell, the Work & Pensions Sec., has resigned. There will be a cabinet reshuffle next week and Gordon Brown and ... Read morehis new cabinet can focus on the real issues facing Britain, something David Cameron and the Conservatives are incapable of. The Conservatives lack substance and policy.A Conservative government for Britain would be a disaster.I think that post was about 3 times your last one...