First they came for the trolls….

If you feel the urge to use the death of someone’s father, as a point of reference, to mock or ridicule a person – you are a twat. Pure and simple. Weymouth wakes up this morning and currently lacks a 17 year old village idiot, who thought it would be a brilliant idea to send Tom Daley countless abuse and death threats.

Oh, and 10,000 Twitter users decided to Retweet the abuse and add oxygen to the fire. We’ll get on to that point in a moment.

From observing this kids Twitter feed I can safely conclude he is not the brightest person in the world. The fact he tried to take on the entire membership of Twitter, and proudly said several would end up in “his boot and dumped in the woods”, provides further evidence to my assumptions. I’m 100% certain this individual does not have the nerve to ever usher these comments in person; like most trolls, the Internet masquerades the cowardice.

Was yesterdays events equivalent to a crime? No, of course. Being a twat is not against the law and with British prisons at record breaking capacity, I doubt we have the room to incarcerate 90% of online users. This trolls comments are no different to what I read and seen everyday, throughout my period online – or any different to the threats and abuse I’ve received.

And to those defending the arrest and screaming outrage; if the comments were so odious and repugnant, why did you feel the urge to Retweet the remarks to your followers?

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Boris the key to ending political apathy?

The only politician to have his name cheered by 60,000 people, who were not party activists. An old Eton, member of the aristocracy, verbose, suave  and is the most, and only, popular politician in the country. Remarkable.

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The Baby-sitters Club and tax avoidance

I’m really confused. According to Treasury Minister David Gauke, paying cash in hand is morally repugnant and a grotesque form of tax avoidance; this would make the popular late 80s, early 90s tv show, The Baby-sitters Club, a perfect depiction of tax avoidance and corruption. It would be, arguably, the most controversial series since Faces of Death.

Of course, I am being facetious with my example, but I struggle to foresee how one can compare tedious cash-in-hand work to systematic and complex manipulation of billion dollar accounts and income. It is beyond the realms of possibility to compare your local gardener’s income to a Wall Street Banker; jobs that pay cash-in-hand tend to very insignificant pay and are well below the tax threshold.

In other words, not the sort of salary to narrow the deficit.

The low paid are a very large voting group (C1 & C2 voters) and this is a spectacular way for the government to alienate millions of people by accusing them of fiddling their taxes.

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Mr. Farage was right, it seems

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On reflection, I’m still a proud liberal

I walk down the street with my head held high; I am a proud member of the Liberal Democrats and a proud citizen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Of course, I desire much more from the coalition and greater protection of liberty and  a more radical economic strategy. But being a liberal is something I am still proud to be.

The government, probably,would be much more authoritarian and continuing to operate a anti-terrorism stance based purely on coercion; the immigration policy could’ve seen Britain implement a inhumane opposition to the free movement of people. It is a unjustified restriction on the ability of the individual to live their lives; non-security immigration restrictions can never be fully tolerated by a liberal.

Yes, I’m disappointed by the Freedom Bill – the potential was there for something far greater; but it’s a start and I’ll accept it. The alternative was far worse. Doing nothing. This should be viewed as the foundation to maintain, and build, a pro-active defence for civil liberties and rights – the coalition needs to providing more controls on arbitrary power. If the coalition is to survive post 2013, it needs to build on some recent, albeit timid, achievements.

Being a liberal should not be negative or a risky dilemma; liberals are proud people. Unlike socialists and conservatives, we trust people – not the state or corporations. As a former US President once said;

“If by a “Liberal” they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people-their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights and their civil liberties-someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad, if that is what they mean by a “Liberal”, then I’m proud to say I’m a “Liberal.”
― John F. Kennedy

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The ‘spirit’ of the games….

According to recent Olympic laws, I cannot write anything negative. However, I do not see any reason why I cannot illustrate my feelings with a simple, historical, picture.

First Olympic Torch relay: Berlin 1936. “Non-Aryan” participants were excluded.

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With So Much Hope and Promise at the Start, the Coalition is Slowly Dying

My latest column at the Huffington Post:

Let us traverse across time and return to those fateful days in May 2010. Like a spectre haunting the past, we recall the infamous ‘rose garden love-in’ and the the level of expectations the coalition was building. Health, economic, education, transport, social, political, constitutional and banking reform was all promised; this would be the most radical government ever witnessed in Britain, it would dwarf the statue of the reforming administrations of the 19th Century. The legislative programme was placed on par with the Great Reform Acts’ and political changes of the Victorian era; the Prime Minister and his deputy were warned – the bar was being set too high. What if, dangerously, the coalition failed to deliver or the reforms were too timid? O how they laughed at us. We were being too pessimistic and negative about the British people and their desire for change. Nick and Dave assumed the public would back their agenda, regardless of what the public actually thought and believed.

The coalition are not laughing now.

Continue reading…

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Forget Greece, IMF warns of the ‘American’ problem

IMF chief economist Olivier Blanchard says if the US fails to deal with “fiscal cliff” it could potentially be an “enormous shock” to other economies. [Telegraph]

The Obama administration probably will not be best pleased with the IMF’s recent ‘endorsement’ of the US economy and the policies of the current President. His rival, Mitt Romney, is jumping on this briefing and I expect the Republicans to provide as more oxygen to this report as humanely possible.

Overly, the report is quite chilling. A perfect economic storm is gathering.

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Friday 13th marks the birth of subprime 2.0

A day which is culturally foreseen as unlucky (especially if you’re a Knight’s Templar) has seen the government announce its next disasterous policy: “Funding for Lending”

For every £1 of additional lending made by a bank, it will be able to access an extra £1 of cheap funding from the scheme. Those that reduce lending will have to pay higher fees to use the scheme.

They will be able to borrow up to 5pc of their existing lending stock, which will be increased if they expand net lending over the next 18 months.

This economic crisis was created by cheap money and endless credit; you do not rescue the economy with more of the same.  If anything, this is clandestine bailout scheme for the banking system. We are literally paying banks to lend to the wider economy; forgive me, but what has happened to the promise of sustainable growth?

“Funding for Lending” is a recipe for disaster.

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Foreign Office campaign ad against forced marriage

[Taken from the Foreign Office] A new campaign against forced marriage and highlighting the warning signs. Pretty shock and awe stuff..

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