Straw & Rifkind –This Little Piggy Put His Nose In The Trough

There’s a General Election rapidly approaching and just when you think you've seen the last of the cross-party Parliamentary sleeze, it’s a case of - “Here we go again” !!

So it appears our erstwhile former Foreign Secretaries, Jack Straw and Malcolm Rifkind today have had  to defend themselves after becoming embroiled in a new 'cash for access' scandal where they both boasted about charging at least £5,000-a-day. The pair was secretly filmed by undercover reporters discussing how they could use their contacts to benefit a private company for large sums of money.

Rifkind, who is the chairman of the highly-influential Intelligence and Security Select Committee, said to the undercover reporters that he could see any foreign ambassador in London and has 'useful access' to every British ambassador in the world because of his profile. He has since claimed he acted 'entirely properly' and it was 'quite unrealistic' to expect backbench MPs with professional backgrounds to 'simply accept a salary of £60,000' without accepting second jobs, and would fight claims of wrongdoing 'with all my strength' – Only £60k a year ?!?!? Poor soul, my heart bleeds for him. In the conversation with the undercover reporters Rifkind was also filmed discussing that his usual fee was 'somewhere in the region of £5,000 to £8,000' for half a day's work.

Then Jack Straw who is one of Labour's most senior figures, claimed he was 'mortified' after footage emerged of him inviting two undercover reporters to a meeting in his Parliamentary office where he claimed to work 'under the radar' for private companies. I bet he was ‘mortified’, mortified that he’d been caught more likely. In the film Straw tells how he had used his influence to change EU rules on behalf of a private company he already works for and declares an interest in. He also claimed to have used 'charm and menace' to persuade the Ukrainian prime minister to change laws on behalf of the commodity firm, which pays him £60,000 a year. He then went to say that he would not take on the role while he remained an MP, but could be more helpful if he were to become a peer in the House of Lords after the election. 

Last night Straw and Rifkind both referred themselves to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards - presumably to circumvent a Police investigation into their actions?

Shameless

Is there anyone with any honour left in politics these days? After previous cash for questions and cash for access scandals for these two senior political figures to do this is well and truly shameful, well it would be if they had any shame! What gets me is they just don't think they are doing anything wrong. Us, the voting public are absolutely disgusted that yet again politicians are being caught abusing their position. It seriously begs the question as to whether there are any politicians who are not in it for what they can get. They’re just out of touch, with their greedy faces in the trough - scum the lot of them!

Rifkind said to the undercover reporters that he is not salaried, has plenty of spare time and is self employed. Am I missing something here? He is a serving MP paid a salary and employed by the British taxpayer or have I got that wrong? It’s seriously time that an example was made and someone was sent to jail. Rules, honesty, decency and morals just don’t exist for these scum and they have no reasons to be doing this other than greed. Shame on them!

Another thing. Why do they all deny it when they get caught red handed? I cannot believe that despite being caught red handed Rifkind still had the cheek to deny it, threaten 'legal action' and worm his pathetic way out it! And they wonder why we don't trust them!

I was particularly stunned at Jack Straw’s involvement. Although I’ve never voted Labour in my life, I’ve always rated him as an honourable man (with the exception of his involvement in the Iraq war of course). So it just proves beyond any doubt that once you become a politician your party colour means nothing, it’s all greed, greed, greed and sod the people who stupidly vote for you.

Double Standards

This story also stinks of double standards in a couple of areas! Firstly these MPs have been lecturing us on tax avoidance for some time now but this has proved that the political elite threatening us are morally bankrupt crooks who are robbing us blind with the taxes we pay. Maybe it is they who should be imprisoned and ostracised from society.

Double standard number two is that on the one hand we have the holier-than-thou MPs willing to break the rules of their employment in order to make money, and on the other hand we have an underhanded TV company filming them in secret pretending to be a powerful company!

These senior MPs should know the rules, and because they do they show very clearly that those rules don't mean a stuff to them! As for the TV company, they are part of the media that blasted all the phone hacking that is still making the headlines today! Well, I don't see the difference between phone hacking and sneaky underhanded filming - both sides are as vile as each other.

Don’t Vote Them Back In

It’s scandals like what Straw and Rifkind have been doing that turn people off voting, its why the young don't bother with politics any more. But the politicians still don’t get it. To be honest I'm not even surprised to read about this stuff anymore. We mugs keep voting them in and all they do is fiddle. If it's not expenses it's access, "we're all in this together". Oh, really? It should really be "they're all in this together".

It’s not just Straw and Rifkind, I suspect they’re all at it. It’s exactly why they are so eager to get your cross at election time! Not because they want to do their bit for you and Britain but because it's a lucrative earner on the side. They are made for life once they are in the club.

Oh yes our MPs claim to serve their constituents but they’re even better at finding the self-service counter first. You only have to look at how few MPs are present for the majority of debates and you can see where the interests of many lie. As the excellent House of Commons programme has shown MPs often rush back to the chamber just to vote like sheep being herded by the government whips. This is why we need to clear out Westminster at May’s General Election and start all over again. The current lot are not worth our votes.

More Reform Needed

What a joke that this is what our country has come too. No wonder no one has faith in the politicians today. They take personal responsibility for absolutely zilch. They’re always so quick to declare their innocence, Jack straw has already said he behaved "entirely properly' and within parliamentary rules." Shouldn't he at least have the decency to wait for the enquiry to begin before revealing the outcome? Power Corrupts – Just look at Tony Bliar,

Serious reform is now needed, they did it with MPs expenses, they need to do it with the whole package now. I don't just want to hear the usual words of anger; I want to see legislation to end the whole nose in the trough thing.  I want to see Legislation that prohibits MPs from having second jobs or consulting/advisory roles paid for or otherwise. I want to see a ban on contact between former ministers and the departments they used to work for - no more of this, I know every Ambassador rubbish, they should not able to legally contact them working for a third party so as to lobby them.

With regard to Rifkind’s comments about his MP’s salary, well there are many good people willing to be MPs. So if Malc and his generation are not happy with the salary and would not be willing to work under such obligations then LEAVE, you will easily be replaced. All parties, need to sort it out now if they are to have any credibility left.

To be honest, nothing surprises me about any of our MPs of any party these days. The thing that really does get to me though is that many will almost certainly finish up as Lords, earning another vast, easily earned income not forgetting too that amongst this current lot they’ll be plenty of little piggy’s with their snouts in the trough, ready to jump on the post parliament gravy train when they don’t get re-elected. 

As for Straw and Rifkind, well they'll get away with it - you can bet your life that it was all a misunderstanding. One rule for the rich and another for us plebs. One way or another they will wriggle out of it.

Support Your Local Butcher – They’re a Rare Breed

I’ve already written about my distain for the big supermarkets like Tesco and their poor quality of produce. A particular bug-bear is the quality of their meat and their mass-produced sausages and burgers all of which taste, how can I put it?– Shite! Then there was the horsemeat scandal and unidentified Halal meat, are we really sure that they’re selling us what they say they are? I’m not convinced.

So with our trust in processed meat and supermarket supply chains weakening there’s no better time to consider independent butchers. It’s National Butchers Week in a couple of weeks so now’s a good time to support your local economy and in particular, your local butcher.

Quality Meat

There are many reasons not to buy supermarket meat, not least the lack of distinction between different cuts from the same area of the animal. Butchery skills and details of information really are seriously lacking in supermarkets. With most of the major supermarkets now pushing unlabelled Halal meat on the unsuspecting public and horse meat (with which I have no problem if labelled) finding its way into the food chain, the quality of supermarket meat is increasingly questionable.

Go to your local butchers, most will be able to tell you where they source their meat from. They all usually make their own sausages, mince meat and burgers.  Just ask them if they make it themselves - most do. I’ve watch mine mincing beef after I’ve asked him for it, I saw the piece of meat that went in and know exactly what was in the mince that came out.

There is only one way to know that you are actually getting high-quality meat from a healthy animal that has lived in a field and that is to buy it from a trained butcher that you know and trust. It's not necessarily more expensive than supermarkets' deluxe ranges and you only have to look at the meat to see the difference. Supermarket beef looks moist, flabby and pallid. If it is aged at all to develop the flavour, it is "wet-aged", which means it sits around, usually for just a few days, in sealed plastic bags so that it doesn't lose any weight through evaporation (which costs money). Even supposedly premium, "dry-aged" products do not look right. They don't look dark and dry.

Buying from your local butcher also means that the meat they provide you with will also have travelled less and so will be better for the environment. Much of the meat that you buy at your supermarket has been imported from overseas, which as we all know, massively increases its carbon footprint. This is avoided by eating locally sourced produce.

At my local butchers, one of the young butchers, is being trained by his father, a senior butcher with years of knowledge, you know their quality control is high as it’s their business and their livelihood that’s at risk if its not. I genuinely think that knowing a decent butcher makes your life better. The key point really is that the meat tastes better. Thick pork rib chops bought locally, for example, make a delicious and inexpensive supper. They seem to have the essence of pig.

But It’s More Expensive Isn’t It?

The meat at your local butchers isn’t necessarily cheaper than the supermarket but the quality and level of service are leagues ahead. The key though is that it isn’t more expensive either. Fresh chicken breasts at my local butchers cost about the same as at the local Asda, but they’re twice the size, local, free range and full of flavour rather than water so definitely better value.

A big element is that visiting your local butcher puts money back into the local economy. You will be supporting a local business run by people from your community, who in turn buy products from local suppliers and farms. Visiting your high street butcher will show support for your own area.

One of the problems with the major supermarket chains often cited by producers in the UK is that they push farmers harder and harder to provide more food more cheaply. Indeed Tesco are currently being investigated for this. Local butchers are more likely to be paying a fairer price to farmers for the produce they sell , this meat is totally different from supermarket meat and is supplied by people who take a pride in serving people individually. Any extra you pay is not great, but the difference in product quality is.

I must say my local butcher, K&S Platt in Culcheth are way cheaper than the local Sainsbury’s and the meat, sausages and burgers are much better - as is the banter!

Personal Service

As I’ve said, your local butcher buys meat directly from particular farms and takes pride in high standards of preparation. This is all for your benefit, the staff therefore build a relationship with the customer based on trust. This is a two way street. One of the main advantages of shopping locally is that you too will be able to build a relationship with your butcher over time. Unlike the spotty teenager straight out of basic training at the supermarket, he or she will have a lifetime’s experience of working with meat and so will be able to advise you on the right cuts of meat, how long to cook them for, what to cook them with, and also valuable information about what’s in season and when different meats are at their best.

if you care about what you eat, you’ve got to shop there. Don’t be intimidated to go to your butcher just because you may not be familiar with all the different cuts of meat. A good butcher will help you decide what cut of meat is best for you and how to cook it. So if you want a steak but not sure what kind, tell him/her what you like in a steak, i.e. whether you like to cook it well done or rare; whether you like a bit of fat or no fat; if you want to make a stew or roast. A good butcher can suggest a good cut. If you just see a piece of meat that looks good, they will be more than happy to suggest ways to cook it.

Go Try

Supermarkets do make life much easier. You can get everything you need in one go, and they are often cheaper than smaller, independent businesses. The price you pay though isn’t worth the product you take home. So if you’re buying meat this weekend, make a detour to your local butcher - you won’t regret it.

Why are they called 'Labour' when none of them have worked?

It’s not often I return to blog subjects I’ve written about before but this one particularly gauls me !

I was sat watching BBC Question Time last week, on the panel was Labour MP Tristram Hunt, he strikes me as one of the most unpleasant champagne socialists around. He’s so obviously ‘posh’, he went to an exclusive private school in London and then Cambridge University, indeed his father was Baron Hunt of Chesterton. I don’t suppose there’s been many Labour MPs in its history called Tristram either. Labour is supposed to be the party of the working class, so I thought, what on earth is he doing as a member of its shadow cabinet?

I then began to wonder how many more like him there are in the shadow cabinet of a party that purports to represent us, the working class. How many had been to private school, university, Oxbridge? How many had actually done a proper days work rather than just left Uni’ and gone straight into politics via the researcher route? So I did a bit of digging. The results should be surprising – but they’re not !

Headed by Ed Milliband, the Shadow Cabinet consists of 27 Labour MPs. Here’s what I found about each of them :-

Ed Milliband     Years employed in the ‘real world’ – ½ 

Educated at Comprehensive School then Oxford University
Experience - In 1992 he worked for a few months as a researcher for Channel 4 before being employed as a researcher by Harriet Harman.
Elected to Parliament in 1995

Harriet Harman     Years employed in the ‘real world’ – 4

Educated at Private School then York University

Experience - Legal officer for the National Council for Civil Liberties for 4 years from 1978.

Elected to Parliament in 1982 

Ed Balls     Years employed in the ‘real world’ – 5

Educated at Private School then Oxford University

Experience - 1 year as a teaching fellow in the Department of Economics, Harvard University then 4 years as lead economic writer at the Financial Times. In 1994 he became an advisor to Gordon Brown.

Elected to Parliament in 2005

Douglas Alexander     Years employed in the ‘real world’ – ½ 

Educated at Comprehensive School then Edinburgh University

Experience - Researcher for Gordon Brown in 1990 before returning for a second stint at university. He then worked for 6 months as a solicitor before entering politics full time.

Elected to Parliament in 1997

Yvette Cooper     Years employed in the ‘real world’ – 2

Educated at Comprehensive School then Oxford University

Experience - Economic policy researcher to John Smith then Bill Clinton, then Harriet Harman. 1995-97, Chief economic correspondent of The Independent.

Elected to Parliament in 1997

Sadiq Khan     Years employed in the ‘real world’ – 11

Educated at Comprehensive School then University of North London

Experience - Worked from 1994 - 2005 as a Human Rights Solicitor

Elected to Parliament in 2005

Rosie Winterton     Years employed in the ‘real world’ – 4

Educated at Private School then University of Hull

Experience - John Prescott's Constituency PA from 1980 until 1986, then Parliamentary Officers, first for Southwark Council for two years until 1988 and then for a further two for the Royal College of Nursing until 1990. She followed this up with 4 years as Managing Director of Connect Public Affairs then back with Prescott as his advisor for 3 years.

Elected to Parliament in 1997

Andy Burnham     Years employed in the ‘real world’ – 0

Educated at Comprehensive School then Cambridge University

Experience - Researcher to Tessa Jowell from 1994 until after the 1997 General Election. In 1998 he became a special advisor to the Secretary of State for Culture Media and Sport, Chris Smith, where he remained until his election to parliament

Elected to Parliament in 2001

Chuka Umunna     Years employed in the ‘real world’ – 4

Educated at Private School then University of Manchester then Nottingham Law School

Experience - Worked as a Solicitor & political Writer from 2002 – 2006. Became Advisor to Labour’s John Cruddas in 2007, then adopted as Labour Party's prospective parliamentary candidate for Streatham

Elected to Parliament in 2010

Rachel Reeves     Years employed in the ‘real world’ – 10

Educated at Comprehensive School then Oxford University then London School of Economics

Experience - Between 2000 and 2006 she was an economist at the Bank of England and British Embassy in Washington. Between 2006 and 2010 she worked for HBOS

Elected to Parliament in 2010

Tristram Hunt     Years employed in the ‘real world’ – 5

Educated at Private School then Cambridge University

Experience - Part time historic Writer and broadcaster from 2001-2009 also working for Labour Party at same time

Elected to Parliament in 2010

Vernon Coaker     Years employed in the ‘real world’ – 21

Educated at Grammar School then University of Warwick

Experience - Worked as a teacher from 1976 to 1997

Elected to Parliament in 1997

Hilary Benn     Years employed in the ‘real world’ – 0

Educated at Comprehensive School then University of Sussex

Experience - Career before Parliament Research Officer with a trade union then various roles within Labour Party inc Special Adviser to David Blunkett.

Elected to Parliament in 1995

Caroline Flint     Years employed in the ‘real world’ – 10

Educated at Comprehensive School then University of East Anglia

Experience - Worked for the Inner London Education Authority, 1984-87. The National Union of Students from 1988–89 and Lambeth Council 1989 – 1993. She was then the Senior Researcher and Political Officer for the GMB Union before entering Parliament.

Elected to Parliament in 1997

Angela Eagle     Years employed in the ‘real world’ – 1

Educated at Comprehensive School then Oxford University

Experience - Worked for the CBI in 1984. Then went to work for COHSE (The Health Workers Union) until she entered Parliament

Elected to Parliament in 1992

Michael Dugher     Years employed in the ‘real world’ – 1

Educated at Comprehensive School then University of Nottingham

Experience - Straight from University to be a Labour Party Advisor then Head of Policy at AEEU Union.

Elected to Parliament in 2010

Ivan Lewis     Years employed in the ‘real world’ – 11

Educated at Private School then Bury College

Experience - Worked in the voluntary sector from 1986 to 1997 for Outreach

Elected to Parliament in 1997

Mary Creagh     Years employed in the ‘real world’ – 10

Educated at Comprehensive School then Oxford University

Experience - 4 years working in Brussels first at the European Parliament, and then the European Youth Forum. She then worked at the London Enterprise Agency, a London-wide regeneration body

Elected to Parliament in 2005

Margaret Curran     Years employed in the ‘real world’ – 18

Educated at Comprehensive School then University of Glasgow

Experience - Community worker and then a lecturer in community education at the University of Strathclyde. Previously elected to Scottish Parliament in 1999

Elected to Parliament in 2010

Owen Smith     Years employed in the ‘real world’ – 15

Educated at Comprehensive School then University of Sussex

Experience - Did 5 years in the Biotechnology and Pharmaceuticals industry then 10 years as a radio producer. Followed by 3yrs as a Government Special Adviser

Elected to Parliament in 2010

Maria Eagle     Years employed in the ‘real world’ – 7

Educated at Comprehensive School then Oxford University then College of Law, London

Experience - Worked as a solicitor from 1990 to 1997

Elected to Parliament in 1997

Lucy Powell     Years employed in the ‘real world’ – 0

Educated - Comprehensive School then Oxford University then King's College London

Experience - Parliamentary assistant for Beverley Hughes MP in 1997. Worked for Government quango Britain in Europe (BiE) in a public relations role and later as their head of regional campaigning. Then worked for NESTA (the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts) another quango. Finally worked for Ed Milliband before entering Parliament

Elected to Parliament in 2012

Jon Trickett     Years employed in the ‘real world’ – 12

Educated at Grammar School

Experience - Outside of politics from 1974-86 he worked as a builder and plumber

Elected to Parliament in 1996

Gloria De Piero     Years employed in the ‘real world’ – 13

Educated at Comprehensive School then University of Central England then University of Westminster then University of London

Experience - Journalism career from 1997 to 2010

Elected to Parliament in 2010

Chris Leslie     Years employed in the ‘real world’ – 0

Educated at Grammar School then University of Leeds

Experience - Was a political research assistant from 1994 to 1997

Elected to Parliament in 1997

Baroness Royall     Years employed in the ‘real world’ – 0

Educated at Grammar School then University of London

Experience - Special adviser to Neil Kinnock in the 1980s. In 2003 she became head of the European Union's office in Wales

Elected to Parliament, No! - House of Lords

Lord Bassam     Years employed in the ‘real world’ – 9

Educated at Comprehensive School then University of Sussex then University of Kent

Experience - Social worker who moved on to other roles in local government after a period as an unemployed squatter.

Elected to Parliament, No - House of Lords

What Can We Ascertain From This?

The average number of years worked outside of politics by the shadow cabinet is 6.4 years per member

Only 7 of the 27 members have worked more than 10 years in a ‘proper’ job

The 8 most senior members of the shadow cabinet have a total of 27 years in a proper job between them (I’ve got more than that !!!)

Only one member has done a truly “working class” job, that being Jon Trickett who was a builder and plumber

A third (9) of the 27 shadow cabinet members have done a year or less of work outside of politics

All the shadow cabinet (with the exception of Ivan Lewis and Jon Trickett) have been to University

Despite Labour constantly attacking the Tories as being a bunch of posh OxBridge toffs, 10 of the shadow cabinet went to Oxford or Cambridge

6 members of the shadow cabinet went to private school, with a further 4 going to Grammar school.

7 members of the shadow cabinet only entered Parliament in 2010 or later, highlighting their inexperience. This proportion of junior MPs in a cabinet is almost unheard of.

Outside of education, law, quangos and journalism not a single one of them has run a business. If they do win the election, how on earth can they generate growth in the UK when none of them has any business experience, they don't understand business, because of this they have no sympathy for business and will therefore fail to gain the support of business. Don't forget business isn't just the corporate multi-nationals, its the small self-employed business' that are run on a shoe string. Labour proved their lack of understanding and sympathy for these small business' with their recent announcement that they'd extend paternity leave if they got in.

The bigger issue is that more than two thirds of the Labour shadow cabinet easily qualify as career politicians. What wisdom and experience of the world can we expect them to bring to the UK if they get elected in May? Answer – None, because they have none themselves.

People will still continually blindly vote for Labour though. It seems they have lost the ability to think for themselves, they basically think, daddy voted labour so I have to vote labour. A committed Labour voter would keep on voting for a skunk if it had a red rosette tied to its tail!

The Age of the Career Politician

One in seven MPs has never had a proper job. Many more have worked only briefly as lobbyists, speech writers or PR advisers. Of course, lots of good people go into politics with a desire to benefit society. But career politicians have gradually changed the makeup of the House of Commons and diminished the standing of Parliament. Career politicians can’t empathise with the lives of the electorate because they don’t know about ordinary working life. Their engagement feels false and undermines trust.

How can someone go from school to university then into politics and expect to have a rounded view of life? They drift along within the cloistered & dreaming spires of academia before being "picked up" and parachuted into the Westminster bubble without ever having to earn a penny by their own wits or the sweat of their brow.

Andrew Marr – Right For Once

Andrew Marr, the former BBC Political Reporter did an interview last year where he stated that “Aspiring politicians should not be allowed to become MPs until they are 40”, He said politicians should have to ‘do something first’ to tackle a lack of ‘gritty real-world experience’ in the House of Commons. The broadcaster pointed out that MPs used to spend years in different careers first. Many had ‘built their own companies and knew the inside out of a balance sheet’.

He stated  “When I started out politics reporting, there were still Tories who had had a good war, built their own companies, had really good experience, knew the inside out of a balance sheet, had employed and sat and worried about profits. On the Labour side you had ex-miners, metal workers, ex-factory hands, ex-posties. So there were people all over the House of Commons who had done other things first and that really mattered. We’ve lost most of that gritty, real-world experience in the House of Commons”.

For a change - I can’t help agree with him! But, in addition to being over 40, they need to have done something sensible and constructive in life and gained some relevant experience by it, they need to have some links with the constituency they wish to represent, and they need to be vetted to make sure they aren't going to be an embarrassment, (eg drug taking or breaking the law in any other way, having dodgy financial or sexual practices), in other words they should be checked out to make sure they are decent, upstanding members of society. I know this is stating the bleeding obvious but the bleeding obvious seems to have disappeared in today's world. Oh and another thing, ministerial appointees should be required to have prior detailed knowledge of their brief rather than their face fitting or as a favour for services rendered !!

Sea Change Needed

Every elected official not just MP's should have non-political jobs in industry or society before being allowed to stand. A minimum of 10 years in real jobs working for commercial companies or indeed being successfully self employed should be mandatory. We need real people with the right qualities to solve the real problems we have in this country. This work/life experience must not be politics related, no lobbyists, no researchers, etc

It should be that you have a minimum of 10 years of this ‘real work’ before your name can appear as a candidate for MP, along with strict limits on the amount of money and time for ‘additional’ work outwith MP duties once you get there - and, if legally possible, some way to help curtail those directorships MPs walk into after they leave due to "having helped out" while they were in power. And don't anyone say "no one would want to be an MP with such restrictions", Really? There are millions of dedicated volunteers working for other people for literally nothing up and down the country? I’m sure they’d happily stand. The people who would make the best politicians are those who would not dream of going round pontificating about what other people should do.

We should also require that prospective MPs are resident in their constituency for perhaps 5 or 10 years before standing for election. No more parachuting the great and worthy into safe seats as a reward for being a compliant party lackey.

Changing the name would be a big call too, say ‘MP’ to ‘RP’ as in Representative of the People. The role shouldn't sound like a member of an exclusive club.

Wisdom Needed

If you were designing a democratic Country from scratch the last thing you would come up with is what we have now. This isn't just a Labour Party issue, it's across all three main parties. Politics is seen as a career these days, and the way to climb up the career ladder is to basically lick the arse of the leadership. Do we really want this? I know I don’t!

Wisdom comes from experience and age. Another thing we have is too many MPs who are too young and show absolutely no common sense. Over the years the age of Prime Ministers has come down and it is quite obvious by the way this country is declining rapidly that they lack experience, authority and judgement. Parliament is full of immature airheads who have the responsibility to run this country and in political terms they can't even tie their own laces.

Office managers is what we get at the moment, not Statesmen or Stateswomen, We need wise people that know how the population has to live much more than how the political system works to make the laws we have to live under.

We need wise people who know what is happening in the real world to run the country. We need politicians of conviction not idiots who are making a career out of it. - They should get some life experience of their own before they tell us how to live ours.

.....Oh and if we were to require their IQ to be above 40 as well, we might stand a chance of getting a half decent Government one day.

Tesco – Social Vandalism in Action

Tesco recently confirmed the closure of 43 of its’ stores across the UK. They are expected to see over 2000 workers losing their jobs. The move sees it shutting down 18 Tesco Express stores, 6 Home Plus outlets, 12 Metro stores and 7 Superstores as part of a “turnaround” plan recently announced by the new chief executive Dave Lewis. The unprofitable Express and Home Plus stores will close on 15 March, while the selected Tesco Metros and Superstores will shut down on 4 April.

I'm torn over this announcement. Whilst this is indeed, very bad news for all those employees that Tesco are getting rid of through no fault of their own; I also I feel it is not a bad thing if these monstrous corporate giants like Tesco have to downsize. They have already ruined lots of high streets with their constant bullying expansionist policies. This move is really though just to help share holders in a short sighted move to boost short term profits as normal the staff will suffer the cost of previous management mistakes.

How the mighty have fallen through greed, complacency and by treating their customers like idiots. Tesco should be doing all it can to get customers to trust them again instead of continually trying to con and fleece them. In my eyes, they started to go downhill when they expected the unemployed to work for them for nothing.

Financial Mis-Management?

You’ve got to ask how does a company that has successfully brought down real wages, squeezed every last drop from their suppliers, and pushed nearly every other store out of town, still managed to screw it up?

Tesco's attempt to enter the U.S. market may have been the beginning of the end with their £1bn loss, but remember last year when Tesco managers actually over-estimated profits by as much as £250million. This wasn’t just a simple account error, it effectively defrauded the market. It had to be deliberate, why else would the Serious Fraud Office announce it was launching a criminal investigation into accounting practices at the company?  Tesco itself launched its’ own investigation suspending eight of its UK executives.

As part of last week’s announcement, they’ve said there will be jobs lost at the Head Office too, well I hope they start with the directors who knew about the false figures and said nothing about them, along with their internal accountants, and their external auditors who passed these accounts.

Then there was the constant building of new stores all over the country which ultimately haven’t had the patronage they predicted, indeed stores at Immingham and Chattris have been moth-balled before they even opened. Interesting that they advertise new stores saying "Bringing 250 jobs here" - just more false Tesco accounting. For each "new job" at Tesco, another shop closes in your high street and the majority of the Tesco jobs are minimum wage zero hours contracts - they are not known as a good employer. Every new Tesco Express or Metro usually means the closure of an independent.

Death to the local high street

Whilst like I say, I’m very sorry on a personal level for people losing their jobs! Tesco however, are the author of their own doom! They marched relentlessly across Britain, decimating small businesses and traders! Tesco opened up their 'Express' shops killing all small newsagents and convenience stores within a half mile radius, then they don't make any money and want to close them. Tesco bullied the corner shops owners, giving “Buy one get one free” then lowering the quantity then telling the public their prices are the lowest.

As an aside, I have a Tesco Express and One Stop convenience store both very near to me. There are huge disparities in the prices with Tesco Express being generally more expensive. As Tesco own One Stop (did you know that?), why are there such big differences?

The damage to the local community has already been done. The original local shops shut down, and now local people who got a job at Tesco have been made redundant leaving no local shops at all. Do Tesco really think the general public had no brain? Well the answer is clear, the general public has taken their business elsewhere where the offers are genuine.

Although sounding like a commie, it’s always the poor unfortunates that pay the price for management ineptitude and adoption of the wrong expansionist strategies. Tesco are like a virus. Their greedy shareholders have only themselves to blame for the downturn! True business people creating business is what this 'Nation of Shopkeepers' is all about. It’s not about one monolith !

All about them and not the customer

It isn't even the competition that is destroying Tesco. The sheer stupidity and arrogance of their strutting managers in the stores was an outward indicator. They offer too much choice and too many false misleading and confusing offers. Then there’s the despicable ways they treat suppliers, this is now coming home to roost, it is them who have bore the costs of all the ‘2 for 1’ nonsense not Tesco. The farmer’s crops are taken with no set price. They are told what they will be paid the following year. Supermarkets are only as good as their products and having substituted "Beef for Horse" to make financial gain in the short term they’re stuffed in the long term.

Tesco have behaved like an arrogant bully for too long. They have made a fatal flaw in underestimating how important it is to have the customer on your side. They have, by their behaviour, alienated a lot of people. I would never shop in Tesco again and I am truly glad to see them doing so badly. They’ve lost sight completely of the most basic principle of retail business. The customer comes first, the employees come second. They however, have it all wrong. Profit does not come first , second, third and so on.

Over the last few years when I’ve been in the Warrington superstore I've found myself struggling to get past self-important Tesco suited executive types who regularly have important 'board' meetings right in the middle of aisles, they seem more concerned with each other than the customers who can't get past. I've tried making a sarcastic comment or two, like "Sorry, to inconvenience you" but only got cold stares. Tesco do seem to employ a number of staff who are arrogant because they see  working for Tesco as being above all other shop workers but they clearly aren't customer-friendly.

Tesco's appreciation of customers is to line their own pockets more than actually be sincere and caring to the customers' needs. Customers have been ignored because Tesco directors just felt its' reputation would pull through. Faced with the reality that now things have turned, with Lidl and Aldi providing better competition they’ve found themselves having to actually pull their sleeves up, by which time it’s probably too late.

It didn't seem to cross Tesco’s minds that price was important to us, the customer – especially in a recession. When you check the prices indicated under the products on the shelf you may have noticed the number of items marked £1 or multiples of a £1, and way above the real price of the product. I do wonder whether they are they trying to copy the £1 shop, believing people will buy anyway thinking that a £1 is cheap. At least in the £1 shop you do get a bargain! Tesco effectively priced themselves out of the market. No one wants job losses just fair prices.

Realistic Competition

Tesco’s competition was always similar supermarkets who all rip the public off with high prices, but then came the likes of Aldi and Lidl who offer similar quality products to Tesco but at significantly lower prices.  Journalists often talk about them as being discount supermarkets, but Aldi and Lidl goods are generally the same, if not better quality than the muck the UK big 4 have got away with selling us for so long.

Give customers good quality and fair prices and treat them well and nobody will be closing branches or head offices. Until the Aldi/Lidl revolution, prices in England generally were ridiculously inflated. Tesco and its ilk try to sell the number of checkouts they have but Aldi have proved that queues at checkouts aren’t that off-putting if you’re getting the right prices.

Bye Bye Tesco

Tesco forgot some of the golden rules of retailing. You have to please the customer, you have to make shopping a pleasant experience, lowest price is not everything but realistic prices are. They also seem to forget that money spent on customer service training is repaid double.

Tesco got too big for their boots and in doing so contributed to the death of the corner shop in many towns and villages. Now they’re closing down their own stores that caused the corner shops to shut in the first place leaving what? Ghost towns? Or maybe an opportunity for an enterprising local? Ironically many communities fought to keep them out In the first place! You are not wanted Tesco. Take your sub standard, overpriced goods along with your blue sky buzzwords and go. I pray your managers never get employed by other retailers, as they’ll probably bring them down too.

Every Lidl helps!

No privatisation of the NHS! The RAF? - Well that's OK then!

There seems to have been constant uproar and outrage from the press and the public alike whenever talk of privatising the NHS bubbles up, and rightly so. It’s a critical service that the public (in general) are willing to fund, you’d think there’d be equal concern if there was talk about privatising another critical service - the armed forces. So it may surprise you to find out that this isn’t talk – it’s already happening and has been for a few years – and it’s not just ‘back office’ functions either.

Later this year the RAF yellow Sea King rescue helicopters, familiar to everyone are being scrapped with the service privatised. The large air-to-air refuelling tankers that operate in war zones refuelling all our combat aircraft have already been privatised. All air-crew training whether that be pilots, navigators etc are currently being privatised. Day-to-day running and operation of airbases and maintenance of aircraft –again already being privatised! So what’s happening?    

Search And Rescue

By 2016 our country’s coastline and mountains will be patrolled by civilians replacing 90 RAF and Royal Navy pilots. This ends 70 years of military search and rescue by servicemen who have saved thousands of lives both at sea and off mountain tops. The MoD’s distinctive fleet of yellow Sea King helicopters will be scrapped by March 2016. The MoD currently provides a 24-hour helicopter search-and-rescue service from 12 bases around the country.

Sole responsibility for Britain’s search and rescue is transferring to the Department for Transport. It seems a £1.6billion deal was signed a few years ago which wrenches responsibility from the RAF and Royal Navy in favour of Texas-based Bristow Group. I don't remember this being in the 2010 Tory or LibDems manifestos !

Further concerns have been raised because Bristow is axing two of the 12 military SAR bases and reducing the total helicopter fleet from 24 to 22, despite this the Department for Transport has said that under the new regime rescuers will reach emergencies more swiftly and could cover larger areas of the country. Really? How does that work then? Less bases. Less helicopters but quicker, greater coverage, sounds like spin and bullshit to me. The public has come to trust and value the military search and rescue service and this privatisation is just wrong.

In effect, they've actually privatised out people’s lives. Am I really seeing this? As long as the Forces are doing the rescuing then people will always be rescued - at the utmost risk. So will the private sector operation take on the same sort of risks that the RAF and Royal Navy do, on the same scale? I rather doubt it. No doubt they will have a health and safety manager who will do a risk assessment and stop them flying in bad weather. It really has just opened the door for the Health and Safety bureaucrats who are such a blight upon all of us to decide anything from 'seas too rough' to 'wind blowing wrong way' to 'wrong type of brine' to avoid and hamper rescue attempts. This is absurdity. Leave it with our wonderful military airmen, only the absolutely insane would decree a service such as this as fit for private contractors. I don’t notice other countries carrying out such stupid moves. If it ain't broke - don't fix it.

The military do a wonderful job and have done for many decades. Think of the famous rescues, Fastnet, Boscastle, Piper Alpha etc. They have probably done the job in far worse conditions than any civilian operation would allow themselves to operate in. It won’t be long before we see headlines like "SAR helicopter not allowed to fly in rain, or wind over gale force 4 because of HSE rules."

One other point is that the military will still probably have to do the same amount of flights as currently performed to keep the training and skill level of their pilots at the top of their abilities; they need to for their battlefield roles in rescues of military personnel in peace and war. So we'll still be paying for the same amount of helicopter operations as currently undertaken, the money will just come from a different source of funding or budget name. In the end the funds still come from us, the taxpayer, but of course we will now be funding a civilian operation as well, so coughing up twice the money.

As for Bristow, well just look at their safety record, it ain’t too hot. Can you imagine for one second, the USA handing over the US Coastguards responsibility to a UK private company! I think not! If Bristow weren't making money out of it, they wouldn't do it. But what happens when they stop making money out of it? How long before there’s the possibly that they’ll demand payment from anyone they rescue?

Air to Air Refuelling

Way back In March 2008, during Labour’s reign, the Ministry of Defence signed a PFI contract with AirTanker Ltd, for the “Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft” (FSTA) to provide air-to-air refuelling and passenger transport services. FSTA is based around 14 modified Airbus A330-200 MRTT and have replaced the 24 Tristars and VC10s that formed the RAF’s fleet at the time. These were aircraft owned by the RAF and flown by RAF crews. Note we’re getting 10 less aircraft under the new deal.

 

The deal signed with AirTanker, is worth £10.5 billion over the course of the contract, and involves the 14 aircraft being operated until at least 2035. The contract will be paid for at £390 million per annum. Of this running costs are £80 million and the remainder covers the consortium's financing and profit along with the capital cost of the project, including aircraft and infrastructure.

  

Here’s the crux, under this super best value contract the government has negotiated, AirTanker owns the aircraft and will provide them to the RAF when required.  So we don’t actually own anything! Not only that  AirTanker can make more money themselves by loaning the planes out to the likes of Thomas Cook during the summer holidays. So there’s a good chance you might be jetting off on your holiday in a quasi-military jet.   

History has proved that PFI’s are a fundamentally poor way of procuring capabilities that are unpredictable and involve risk because the cost of that risk is always transferred back to the customer and interestingly, one of the funding partners for Air Tanker is the Royal Bank of Scotland. We will therefore be borrowing money off ourselves because we can’t afford it! The fact that no other country has chosen to procure air-to-air refuelling and passenger transport using PFI type arrangements is further indication that PFI is not a suitable procurement route for such important military capabilities.

Bearing in mind we’re only getting 14 jets to replace 24 that were in themselves over-used, you’ve got to question the wisdom of this deal. To me, the MoD has traded affordability for their perception of value for money. There’s also the question of the aircraft’s capability. The A330MRTT with Rolls Royce engines is absolutely the right aircraft but in trying to scrimp and save we have knobbled the fleet; they have no boom so can’t refuel large aircraft or aircraft from other countries. They have no cargo door or reinforced cargo floor which again limits their usage. In effect, what we’ve got is inflexible, inappropriate and overly expensive.

Whatever the pros of FSTA, and there are many, I suspect it will ultimately be very poor value for money and will fail to deliver the capability that we actually needed, with too much air refuelling for a fast jet fleet we no  longer have and not enough air transport/cargo of sufficient flexibility for future sustained expeditionary operations.

Flying Training

In-house military training has served the Armed Forces well for many many years but the incessant drive to reduce cost while training crews for ever more sophisticated aircraft has lead to it being privatised. The Ministry of Defence realised that savings in both financial arrangements and in training delivery could be achieved if all military flying training was included in an industry-led, military-backed new training ‘system’. This requirement was tendered and Ascent, a 50/50 joint venture between American company Lockheed Martin and Babcock International won the contract in May 2008. The contract made Ascent responsible for running the UK Military Flying Training System programme, providing comprehensive training to all new UK military aircrew across the Royal Navy, the Royal Air Force and the Army Air Corps. Ascent is a Public Private Partnership (PPP) approach. The initial contract was valued at £635 million and is projected to rise to as much as £6 billion over the life of the contract which doesn’t end until 2033.

I despair when I think of the first class flying training system we had until recently and what it has now become through relentless privatisation and cost saving schemes. A quote I found on an internet forum from an RAF Squadron Instructor said “After going through their basic training, the quality of student pilot arriving on my OCU today can be enough to make you weep, & in less than a year these guys & girls are going to be flying in Iraq or Afghanistan - in 3 years they're expected to become captains”. Says it all really! Foreign air arms used to send their trainees to lean to fly at our flying schools because the final product was so good. Now it’s all about saving money rather than the quality of the end product.

I suppose I can hope that Ascent will improve the quality of the pilots from the training system, but the endless pursuit of ever cheaper training will simply not produce the goods, I fear.

Running Airbases

The MoD is moving to what it calls Next Generation Estate Contracts (NGEC) at many of its bases. What this means is that future staffing arrangements are under consideration as part of this. It is too early to confirm the precise impact, although it looks like outsourcing under TUPE conditions of some activities currently undertaken by MOD staff is under consideration. Essentially what that means is that military personnel will transfer from the military to the civilian companies who win that particular contract.

This of course affects numbers employed. An example I found on the internet was RAF Alconbury where around 80 workers could be forced to leave the military as it looks to privatise maintenance and construction work at the base. The MoD workers are currently contracted to provide construction, maintenance and repair work for the visiting US Air force. These military personnel will end up TUPEing across or may even have to apply for their own job with the private company provider. They will therefore end up being forced out of the military on probably worse employment conditions than they have at the moment.

You also need to bear in mind that civilians don't get the X factor payment that HM forces personnel do for not having fixed hours, additional duties and a war role. This is one way of justifying a lower salary for them as quite often they will have to top up their lower salary with a service pension or redundancy pay off. Civilians also don't have to be cared for by service medical and dental staff, nor are they entitled to subsidised accommodation. So the military staff involved are hit really hard.

What Next?

And there we have it, the thin end of the wedge for the privatisation of the military! What’s next? Adverts on the side of the ships and tanks - if we have any left?. Sponsors logos on the uniforms? Trooping the Colour, sponsored by .... ? And then, sold off to the lowest bidder. Maybe the Government’s next move will be to privatise defence and hire mercenaries as 'contractors'. These could be on long term contracts such as the Vatican guard.

The items I’ve already mentioned are costing us, the tax payer a whopping almost £20billion and there’s more than just those items happening. The whole defence privatisation stinks, makes you wonder which politicians grubby fingers are in this pie? Nothing can be run cheaper than cost. When profit is involved you are looking at cuts and cheaper service so more goes too share holders. Have we not learned from gas, electric, water? Obviously not !

Eventually we will run out of things to sell! Contracted out Britain, all this money flowing abroad, this cannot be a good thing, we'll own nothing but pay for everything, a bit like the PFI debacle.

What a strange country we now live in where fighting such a distant war is apparently more important than ensuring air force involvement in our own shore and maritime defences. Our miserable and wretched politicians know the cost of everything and the value of nothing.