I have now been able to catch up with back postings. I have been very busy this week, giving four main speeches on different topics, one in Parliament and three outside. I appreciate your frustration if there is delay in posting a comment. The comments that get delayed tend to be long ones, ones with references to unknown outside sites, and ones with personal allegations against people or institutions that need checking, toning down or eliminating. I often just eliminate them as I do not have time to research them to make sure they stand up. I do not eliminate comments because I disagree with them. When I get time to post, the comments that come up first for me to deal with are the most recent.
I have asked the webmaster to see if he can make changes to make it easier to log on, and to keep your unique identity for future postings.I myself do not know how to make changes like this to the site.
72 Comments
Comments are closed.
March 2, 2013
Thank you for:
1. Listening to comments made
2. Seeking to take action to improve ease of use of your site with regards to comments made.
3. For communicating with us to let us know the situation.
If only the government would be as open minded and straighforward in their dealings with th electorate.
March 2, 2013
I second Alan’s comments.
March 2, 2013
Me too. Don’t bust a gut! We are here to read your thoughts and (maybe or maybe not) comment on them. Your posts are a pleasure to read in any event…
March 2, 2013
Still one of the few sites run by a politician that tackles the important issues, shame you belong to a dying party.
March 3, 2013
I respect all your views and admire your loyalty to your leadership but privately you must realise the game is up. All three political parties are now so similar and unpatriotic that native Britains have to vote for UKIP in the hope of keeping our nationhood, beliefs and culture alive. We cannot secure our borders and provide public services for our own countrymen whilst we are part of the EU. We see and experience the nature of mass migration every day in our overcrowded island. The politicians must be mad to not acknowledge and either defend their quisling behaviour or get on with policies and ACTION to sort it out now, not in years time. Frankly, promises to the future after the next election are meaningless with your leaders. No one trusts them and your party is haemoraging votes to UKIP in a last hope of change. His claimed victory in securing a 6% INCREASE in our EU aid beggars belief. Foreign aid bill rising, no reform of Human Rights Act that keeps serious criminals in the country and my family and native British families at risk, gay marriage pretending it was his policy when actually an EU directive. Totally disingenuous. Eastleigh is coming to every City and Town next year and in 2015!
March 2, 2013
John, very soon when your in opposition for a long spell you will wonder why you bothered.
I love your blog and your obviously a clever man but your unstinting faith in Roon and his mate make me sad.
Someone of your standing moving to UKIP could be the start of a renewal of British politics.
I fear for the worst as the Titanic sinks and you carry on ordering drinks.
Reply: In Opposition I helped save the pound – being in Parliament matters to try to influence events – the next General Election is still wide open. We will find out in 2015 who is sinking – it’s a long time away politically.
March 2, 2013
The next election is virtually lost already. The only hope is a sensible deal with UKIP. The barriers to that are very large:-
You have a current leader who slanders UKIP with racist slurs and has shown he can not be trusted on any EU deal and would probably rat on any. This as he wants to stay in the EU regardless.
After all he lost, even the last election sitting duck election, with his socialist, EUphile, tax borrow and waste quack green agenda. All non UKIP policies.
In addition, thanks to Cameron, the party has the Libdems calling the shots.
Clearly UKIP can not win overall power due to voters political inertia so a deal is the only option. But we have the traitor Cameron, who is genetically unsuitable, being a Libdem at heart – and you have no one who could realistically to replace him, given the sort of Tory MPs and all the “Libdems” in both parties.
So it is John Major/Ted Heath all over again for 1 2 or 3+ terms opposition?
Wide open – more like 10% open at best.
Reply Mr Cameron has been careful not to say he wishes to stay in the EU regardless. You could not hope to negotiate well if you rule out the UK voters voting to leave if no good deal is forthcoming.
March 2, 2013
JR, Indeed Cameron has not stated that he wishes to stay in the |EU. However, he has been so mealy mouthed about it as to offer a referendum AFTER the next election.
Actually, many of us (perhaps the majority of the ‘thinkers’) want one NOW. Before the election so that we go into the election with a clear mandate.
Go on tell Cameroon and the huskies and the hoodies that he wishes to hug… I don’t wish to hug a hoodie. In Scotland, they are a very dangerous breed.
reply I and my colleagues have tried to get a referendum this Parliament, but there is no majority for one. The Lib dems block any such idea from being government policy.
March 2, 2013
@Nicol Sinclair: “Actually, many of us (perhaps the majority of the ‘thinkers’) want one NOW. Before the election so that we go into the election with a clear mandate.”
A mandate for what, the leader to put something in the manifesto, and what if a referendum is held “NOW” and the result is (as I pointed out the other day) affected by Scottish voters who then vote for independence?
March 2, 2013
The LibDems are even more of a, promise one thing pre-election and rat on it later people than Osborne and Cameron. Even their name Libdem is the direct opposite of what they stand for.
Obtaining votes by deception at every turn, but not any more at the general election surely. They will be lucky to be forth in the EURO elections.
March 4, 2013
@Lifelogic: You seem to keep forgetting that it is a coalition government, I’m sure that had either the Tory or LibDems been able to form a majority government themselves they would have been more than true to their manifesto pledges. If you really think that, should UKIP hold the balance of power in a coalition, they to would not need to compromise you are somewhat sort of a full load in my opinion.
March 2, 2013
To reply:
I though Cameron had made it fairly clear he would be on the side of staying in (perhaps he did not add the words “regardless” or “cast iron”). Just as pre election he made it clear voters would have a say on Lisbon only to rat on it.
Anyway one has to judge men, such as him, by actions. These are all pro the socialist and undemocratic, command economy EU in every way. The even want to fix worker bonuses and insurance premiums now for heaven sake.
Anyone who can appoint Lord Patten, Ken Clark and Lord Heseltine etc. to serious positions is rather unlikely to negotiate anything substantive. Perhaps a tiny fig leaf to present to the voters, and then ask for them to support it.
To my mind he has given up on 2015 already and is looking for his next job. We shall see.
The only positives are the Libdems are nowhere at the next election and Miliband and Balls are even more useless than Cameron.
The only positive things I can say for him is that he is a good presenter, of a dreadful policy direction and that he has not go to counter productive and loosing wars on blatant lies to the voters – as yet anyway.
March 2, 2013
If we ever did get a referendum under Cameron I am sure the dreadful BBC (under Patten?) will, as always, be hugely biased. Labour, Libdem and Tories will all be in favour or staying in and much tax payers money will be used to subvert the vote. The state sector, the EU and major businesses will all find it profitable to finally kill UK democracy completely with tax payers money and the usual propaganda.
March 2, 2013
What will be your paranoia if the result is not what you want? The BBC brainwashing everyone except yourself? I stand by swivel eyed.
Reply: I suggest we have no more swivel eyes from now.
March 2, 2013
@Lifelogic: Judging from what Mr HvR has been saying Cameron is whistling into the wind (I’m attempting to be polite…) if he thinks Britain can have an ‘a-la-carte’ membership, Mr HvR seems ready to show him the door! And now, I’ve just noticed (on the same site), that the Italian Five Star Movement is suggesting that Italy might end up leaving the Euro! At this rate the UK might not need to have a In/Out referendum…
March 2, 2013
I’m not even a conservative, but I’m not sure what you have against a conservative prime minister selecting very experienced conservative mp’s for high office.
Really, all this reminds me of the labour party in the 70’s… ideological bickering that doesn’t represent the basic concerns of voters.
Most people do not care about Europe. Most people want to think they will have a job , and their children will have the ability to better themselves.
Europe is a minor concern at best.
March 2, 2013
@Lifelogic: “The next election is virtually lost already. ”
Well it will be if non-doms (from who knows afar) keep suggesting that people should vote UKIP, vote UKIP get a Labour government…
“The only hope is a sensible deal with UKIP. ”
Indeed, but that requires UKIP to be reasonable and not several sizes to large for their Trilby! UKIP are a party with next to no chance of being a major partner in any coalition, never mind form a government.
Simple question Lifelogic, if UKIP was (by some miracle) to be elected as the next UK Government, would you once again become domicile (for tax purposes etc.) in the UK? If not, might I politely ask you to desist in attempting to influence domestic politics!
March 2, 2013
“Reply Mr Cameron has been careful not to say he wishes to stay in the EU regardless.”
Actually he did say that, more or less, in November 2009.
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/benedictbrogan/100017498/btw-dave-thinks-the-outers-would-win-an-in-or-out-referendum/
“I don’t want an ‘in or out’ referendum because I don’t think ‘out’ is in Britain’s interests.”
Reply: His thinking has moved on since 2009. The long debates we had over his important recent speech discussed that. Mr Cameron fully accepts that we need to renegotiate and accepts that in order to renegotiate you need to leave open the issue of whether you like the results of the negotiation or not. The 2013 policy is different from – and better than – the 2009 policy. The realities of power have persuaded more Conservative Ministers that we can no longer govern our own country as we wish owing to the mighty powers and interference from the EU.
March 3, 2013
Maybe his thinking really has moved on, or maybe he’s just saying what he thinks he needs to say at the present time.
March 2, 2013
Cameron is the top of the conservative tree, but the canker he has spread reaches to the roots. Those branches that he hasn’t poisoned yet, eg Redwood, Carswell, etc are clinging grimly on thinking they are immune. They are not, the tree is dying, UKIP is growing up through the roots and can occupy the same position eventually, maybe it can support some of those healthy branches, but they need to make up their minds, and quickly, otherwise it’s firewood for them.
The European Knotweed approaches, the early stems are already in place they need to be cut back and soon.
March 2, 2013
Thank you for all your efforts.
Other blogs I read will sometimes remove a comment but substitute e.g.
[ tone this down please ]
so at least the commenter gets some feedback. Not that Ithink you have deliberately removed any of mine (although one or two have sometimes appeared hours later for reasons you have now explained).
March 2, 2013
That is a useful explanation and, like other posts, I thank you for bothering in the first place – there must be any number of other things you could do with the time.
Do you ever relay views expressed here back to the PM? Not that I believe it would make any difference, you understand.
reply: Yes, of course. The PM is well aware of my views of the main topics on this blog – the economy, the banks and the EU. I do not trouble him with the other topics where I do not regard myself as expert. My views seek to tackle the concerns many of you send in.
March 2, 2013
You should also tell him how mad his benefit, open immigration, quack green policies, green deal, wind farm, PV, and HS train nonsense all is. But he much know surely.
March 2, 2013
You could perhaps mention all the damage done by the gender neutral insurance rules, the insane employment laws and now the insane EU control of bankers pay EU laws. One assumes other professions will not be far behind – like Ted Heath’s absurd pay controls.
Also ask him what he has against Switzerland? Is it the high GDP per head, the quality of life, the high standard of services, the lower taxes, their borrowing needs and low debt or does he just have an irrational phobia of cheese with holes in? I would like to know.
March 3, 2013
No doubt non e of this will effect you in your house in Tuscany or wherever you are. Middle class nonsense putting a stop to ideas that they will never use. It would be interesting to see how many KW/h a wind turbine has produced in a house in Notting Hill though. Not many I suspect.
March 2, 2013
Well, he should do as he has espoused most of it. Indeed, he put some wind turbine on his roof in Notting Hill. There has been some lessening in the increase in net migration over the last year due to some downward pressure on visa issue. It is, however, far too high and not socially sustainable…….an nowhere near the ‘tens of thousands’…..
zorro
March 2, 2013
You must spend much of your time at early hours allowing contributors to voice their frustrations at this government. You also allow a lot of language which must make our glorious leader rather cross. It also is a source of information and cross references not available on other blogs. Some contributors are more expert than civil servants and ministers.
Fanks
March 2, 2013
It is not hard to be more expert that most Ministers/Civil Servants in so many science areas – a good physics/maths A level is well above most of them.
Most taking of green energy do not even know what a Mega Watt Hour is.
March 2, 2013
John, your blog is a model of serious discussion and direct feedback, pretty unique in that.
I don’t know how you do it (many other blogs have fallen by the wayside, swamped by the volume of work).
The hard work is really appreciated, I am sure, by friend and dissenter.
Thank you.
March 2, 2013
I second that!
March 2, 2013
Indeed
March 2, 2013
Thirded.
March 3, 2013
Fourthed
March 6, 2013
umpteenthed!
March 2, 2013
Saturday is my slob- morning in winter. I revel in not having a first thing in the morning swim or shower , and stay in joggers and sweater and catch up on blog sites. These sites, and I only comment on 3, are a way of expressing ourselves , learning the things we havn’t time to the rest of the week and circumventing points of view in the broadsheets . I would expect you John to read the Financial Times , a newspaper I wouldn’t attempt to read , so a ready analysis helps me avoid the groundwork. As things click in to place, I then feel motivated to find out more.I actually find it very difficult to handle money having been wiped out of everything I accrued and thrown to the lions in the 80’s. I simply don’t want to spend and am frightened of transferring moneys to where it would benefit me.I have to consciously force myself to open letters , deal with bills ,go to the bank and look at interest rates etc and simply can’t bear to even look at the almost non existent pension .This site and another has a therapeutic purpose also.I am on my long track back from hell , but will unfortunately be ready, at 61 yrs, for heaven soon, so must speed up the recovery.
We also learn about others; how easy they are in insulting others , how readily they jump to conclusions, how generous and kind others are and how some have triumphed whilst others suffer. Communicating on social media is a privlege which has to be used as such. It is incorrect to think that ?slanderous and libelous comments will be acceptable because we cannot be seen or the comments are directed at another. Etiquette in writing must be observed.
We also can read those comments from some who judge others as not very good whilst their own standards are inferior to those who they criticise.
March 2, 2013
Well said Margaret, couldn’t agree more and about this site too. I hope heaven waits a little bit longer before welcoming you.
March 2, 2013
This is the only blog that I regularly follow. I have it as a ‘saved’ and auto download.
March 2, 2013
Whilst I agree with your sentiments Margaret, we have a duty to our children and grandchildren, I already feel guilty enough about what we have done to them so far. We haven’t got time to be nice and calm and patient, as predicted by a lot of people this is all picking up speed, generated by the way that things are collapsing around us. If we do not stop the traitors, and gee up the people who can apply the brakes we will be looking at the complete surrender to a pan european (nightmare-ed) etc etc
March 2, 2013
John
I have been politically agnostic for the last 20 years. Prior to that I was a natural Tory supporter. I was hoping to spend my old age in tranquil retirement and letting the world get on with its business.
The greatest issue for UK 2013 is energy policy. Everything else is secondary. We will never have a meaningful economic recovery whilst we continue to cripple ourselves with useless green taxes and windmills.
I have just read UKIP’s energy policy. (link removed -ed). When the Conservative party adopt the UKIP energy policy I will consider returning to the fold. Until then I will renounce agnosticism and vote in all cases for UKIP candidates.
I appreciate you are just one voice amongst many but I truly find it incomprehensible that any sentient human being could support the government’s policy on energy. This is a fast track to third world status. I grew up believing the UK could do better than this. How wrong was I!
I dont know why you went into politics but here is a cri de coeur – please use all you influence to stop this green stupidity. The future of this country depends on it. Thank you for your time and best wishes.
Reply: I read your link to the UKIP policy, which mentions some of the things I have been recommending for some time on this site, in the Commons and elsewhere. Some of the policies it proposes are illegal under EU law, so this Coalition government has to seek to negotiate a change to that law or some opt out or prolonged transitional arrangement. This is not very likely all the time Mr Davey, a Lib Dem who believes in the EU anti global warming stance, remains as Climate Change Supremo. I doubt the Lib SDems would agree to reliquish their hold on this important department. Mr Hayes, the Conservative Junior Minister, has made his views known which are much closer to mine. I am trying to get them to seek a longer transition or an opt out from the need to close the coal statioons, as this is the easiest short term fix to buy some more time to get building new capacity.
March 2, 2013
John
thank you for taking the time to read the UKIP piece and for the response. What I find truly frightening is your statement that certain of their proposals would be illegal under EU Law. It seems you are saying that, in effect, EU Law requires us to act against the interests of the most vulnerable members of society, against the interests of business, indeed against the interests of everyone who consumes energy. In fact EU Law requires us to stride towards third world status with our heads held high believing that we are somehow on the moral high ground which is one more reason why we need to re-assess our relationship with the EU.
As an aside do you happen to know how Germany is allowed to be building 20 new coal fired power stations?
I am in regular contact with DECC. No matter what you ask them they start out by sending you a stereotype response full of the usual green propaganda. If you persevere they may start to answer the questions you raise, but their understanding of the science is pitiful and then they finish off with 4 or 5 paragraphs of propaganda. It is a disgrace to the British people that we are treated with such contempt by those who are supposed to serve us.
(refers to correspondence from someone to the government-ed) You will also find the non-response from DECC. You will see that (the author-ed) has obviously spent a lot of time putting together a very cogent argument against our insane climate and energy policies and the response is contemptuous. I appreciate you are not my elected representative (Nick Clegg has that dubious honour and I have made him aware of this situation) but this really is scandalous and at the very least questions should be asked in the House.
I would just add that in due course a public enquiry will be required to ascertain how we got into this mess. Too early I know but as sure as eggs is eggs, it will happen. The citizens of this country are being shafted by eco-zealots who have no interest whatsoever in the British people. It must be an enormous embarrassment to you that they are being aided and abetted by Yeo and Gummer.
Once again I thank you for your time.
Reply: Indeed – there is serious disagreement here which many of us share. I have spent many years in Parliament opposing transfers of power, opposing Nice, Amsterdam and Lisbon, and pointing out that in many fields we are n o longer able to govern ourselves. Why are people surprised now to find that in large areas like energy we have to follow EU rules? What do you think I have been trying to warn you about for the last two decades?
March 2, 2013
John
this may sound a bit harsh but times require that we do not beat about the bush. Words are cheap. You are a member of a political party that has made a pact with the devil. There can be no economic recovery while Ed Davey has his foot firmly on the brake. What you have to decide is whether your conscience will allow you to continue to be a part of this betrayal of the citizens of the United Kingdom. All that evil needs to triumph is for good men to stay in the Conservative party. UKIP would no doubt welcome you with open arms. And I am sure that there are others in the party who would follow. Better to be in a party that upholds your principles than in one that is completely without principle.
Reply I was elected as a Conservative and intend to keep my word to my electors. UKIP were rejected by the voters of Wokingham decisively last time, so I would not be reflecting the will of my electors if I switched now.
March 2, 2013
John
I won’t take up any more of your time. I am sure the good people of Wokingham will admire the way you sat back and watched the UK sink beneath the waves.
Reply: That’s a bit rich! I take the case to Parliament and speak and vote to restore self government to the UK. If I had fought as a UKIP candidate in 2010 I would not be able to do any of that in Parliament.
March 2, 2013
@nTropywins: Sorry but committing political suicide helps no one, if John crossed the floor and joined UKIP he would loose the whip and thus the (easy) access to the very people who need to have their current policies challenged. What is more the voters of Wokingham might not be to pleased either, come 2015 John might have no more access than you or I…
March 2, 2013
test, resetting cookie
March 2, 2013
John
Indeed it is a bit rich. When the voters of Wokingham put a cross against your name they had no idea that the Conservatives were going to let the LibDems run energy policy. Things change. When they do you have to see where the larger interest lies. In my opinion the larger interest lies in looking after the citizens of the UK at large rather than the inhabitants of Wokingham. I know. It’s a bitch. But these are the choices we have to make and how we make them is how we are judged.
I wish you nothing but the best John Redwood. And I apologise if I have caused you any distress. You stand head and shoulders above most of your colleagues. The fact that you have entertained this dialogue with me speaks volumes for you. In the end I fear our country is already beyond rescue. And that makes me very sad.
Kind regards
Reply We all have to make judgements about how best to further the causes we believe in. I believe in democratic self governemnt for the UK. I fought to keept the pound from inside the Conservative party, and that worked. We shifted the party from a maybe we will join to a we will never join position. We won that crucial battle in the long war over whether the EU or the UK Parliament governs here. Had we lost that I would have left politics, seeing no point if our country no longer had its own currency, banking system and the rest. Now we are engaged in another crucial argument – the need for a new relationship and the need to harness the commonsense of the UK people on this crucial issue.
March 2, 2013
I reckon that’s a very unfair comment.
JR has stood out against these things so openly and to such an extent that I’m rather surprised that no Tory leader has tried to have him de-selected.
Maybe there have been attempts, but unsuccessful?
Reply I have always sought to take my local Constituency Association with me and so far they have been very supportive. The centre can only get rid of a Conservative MP if they have the support of the local Association or a good reason to take over the local Association.
March 3, 2013
John–I had not realised (but you might be right) that you had given your word (with the full meaning that that phrase connotes) to your Association as to the length of time you will serve them but even if you did, so that you do not yourself feel able as others have done to change parties, surely there is precedent for MP’s honourably to resign and stand again and in your case would you believe I think it would be grand and in the interest of the country for you to join UKIP and do that. With enormous respect you will keep saying this and that about what might have happened with UKIP some time ago but that is just history and you must try and evaluate matters (of course and I suggest unarguably) as they are now and as they are to become.
Reply I have given my word to serve this Parliament as a Conservative MP – to my voters as well as to the Conservative Association -and I have also said I wish to fight the next election as a Conservative in Wokingham.
March 3, 2013
@Leslie Singleton: Put simply and bluntly, the voters of Wokingham could have elected the UKIP candidate in 2010 if they chose, they did not [1], would you prefer to have our host in Parliament or a sacrificial scalp on the UKIP mantelpiece?…
[1] and by all accounts have no intention either, judging from the ballot figures, UKIP coming a poor fifth behind an independant;
Conservative……28,75 = 52.73%
LibDem……………15,262 = 27.99%
Labour…………….5,516 = 10.12%
Independent…….2,340 = 4.29%
UKIP……………….1,664 = 3.05%
Green Party………567 = 1.04%
+ Others…………..425 = 0.78%
March 2, 2013
Keeping your word to the electors is a rather finely balanced thing – on the one hand yes staying a Conservative falls in with that. On the other hand diverting 180 degrees from the ideals that you believe in and the platform that you were elected on does not, and actually betrays your electorate more so than were you to resign and stand for UKIP. It would be a bold thing to do, but there are legion logical reasons for doing it.
If you won, it really would be a sea change in British Politics and others would follow. As the first UKIP MP your blog might also improve its search engine ranking!
If you lost to a Cameronite Euro-Tory, so be it. Your time will still come, and at least you won’t go down in 2015 with the sinking ship that is the present Tory party, flying a flag you just can’t walk behind.
Incidentally, thanks for the platform you provide here. We appreciate the time and funding from you.
reply I always seekt o vote and speak in line with the promsies I made to my electors. I promised to support an early referendum when the Conservative party did n ot prior to 2010, and have kept that promise by supporting a motion to brign one about and voting for it.
March 3, 2013
Comment on Reply–I wrote my effort above (I hope) before reading JimF’s which I agree with. Bit puzzled by your reply because nobody but nobody is asking you to break the promise to your electors as just described by you.
March 2, 2013
There are lots of reasons I turned to UKIP, but the green sham is number one. nTropyWins is right that this is the biggest and most immediate threat to the future prosperity of my country and my children.
March 3, 2013
@me: So you turned to a party that has little or no chance of being elected any time soon [1], rather than staying with a party that can be elected and attempting to influence that parties policies. What is more, voting UKIP is a Tory marginal is highly likely to allow either the LDs or Lab to win the seat…
Surely better to be heard whispering from the side-lines than be seen mouthing through the sound proof glass from the outside!
[1] that is, in significant numbers to effect government policy
March 3, 2013
Jerry–As I keep saying to John, please try and consider the position now and in the future rather than quoting purely historical meaningless numbers that only had relevance before Eastleigh, which many, certainly including me, think was a watershed for UKIP. 28% remember, no SH one T. Apart from that, without wishing to say anything against earlier groundbreaking UKIP candidates, far from it, is it really too much to ask that you seriously consider, which you do not appear to have done, the possibility that John as a UKIP candidate would have done much better and would do even better still today? John doesn’t want to hear it, but the policies he believes in are very similar to those of UKIP best I can see. After what the Conservatives have done–indeed I no longer believe them to be Conservatives in any meaningful sense–I believe he no longer owes them his allegiance–they have done the dirty on him.
March 4, 2013
@Leslie Singleton: The way some UKIPers are going on about the Eastleigh result anyone would think they won rather than lost the seat… Until UKIP win their first seat in Westminster I will carry on dealing with the statistical facts and leave dreaming about Nirvana to others thanks, as I suspect John will too.
March 2, 2013
Your reply says it all. Illegal under EU law. This is supreme over our nation. Nothing we ever voted on or were consulted on.
As with Italy etc., the peoples of this country are seeing the betrayal perpetrated by the ruling classes.
I feel the endgame won’t be pleasant.
March 2, 2013
I wonder if Mr Davey really believes in the EU anti global warming stance – surely he is not that dim.
Did Chris Huhne really believe it it or even in his innocence?
Does he perhaps like many others just believe pushing this drivel gains them votes and perhaps in other ways too?
Mind you the Tories have Tim Yeo, Lord Deben and Cameron.
Perhaps I am too cynical but I find it very hard to believe they have really fallen for the renewable guff religion and quack state subsidy industry.
March 2, 2013
As one who has (publicly) given you grief this week, please be assured that it is a simple cry of frustration and not meant personally, for one thing your first call is to your constituency, then your party, I also greatly appreciate the fact that you allow -as far as the law allows- an adult debate and that it is moderated by a human and not by machine or ‘zombie word-lists’. I might not agree with all you write or say John but I have a lot of respect for you. Thanks.
March 2, 2013
Alas party and consultancies/interests comes first before constituents for most non JR types of MPs.
March 2, 2013
Thanks for everything John. The Eastleigh by election result might motivate David Cameron to listen to you. He really should.
March 2, 2013
Just wish to add my own appreciation of the work you do here, and for giving me the opportunity to express my views, too often mere rants. It is devoutly to be wished that you will be able to continue. I find it immensely valuable and informative.
March 2, 2013
Despite being probably one of the commenters who has been deleted/moderated/edited the most of recent times, I still keep coming here, as for a hardline conservative like myself, it is the UK’s best political blog!
March 3, 2013
Nina–It is certainly the UK’s best political blog (and John is a great chap and I wish he were PM) but who says you have had more comments deleted than say I have? How would you know??!
March 3, 2013
A hardline Conservative who does not have to live with the everyday realities of this thinking such as low wages and poverty issues. Have you got any quotes for your glazing yet Nina? We would be interested to know the conservative estimate in maintaining the appearance of the area and the benefits that this type of window brings.
March 3, 2013
Bazman–You feeling OK?–You haven’t insulted anybody in the above
March 2, 2013
Bit puzzled by this. Surely what matters is that (as before) comments not yet moderated should still be visible (marked as unmoderated of course) to the writer. A fortiori, do I not remember you saying that not only would unmoderated comments show but that it would be possible for the writer to alter them in their unmoderated state? And why the American spellchecker, pray??
March 2, 2013
“Bit puzzled” etc was from Yours truly. Very easy to screw up on the new system or at least I find it so.
March 2, 2013
I want to say thank you very much for all your very hard work on this site. My wife is convinced that you work through a huge well paid committee! Your number crunching and frank assessment of realpolitik is invaluable.
The Tea Party, President Obama’s election result, Beppo the Clown (Italy), the German pirate movement, and, with us, UKIP/Euroscepticism all have this in common: they are all based not on the usual party system, but on the internet.
As yet, the Official Parties have not quite twigged what is going on. They think it is a blip.
Odd to think, really, that yours is the voice of the future!
March 2, 2013
The Tea Party success has very little to do with the internet and mostly to do with the fact that certain billionaires have backed them, so they are the exact opposite of a grass roots organisation, although they like to pretend otherwise. (The fact that Tea Party people want less government but are mostly old folks who are dependent on Medicare and Social Security just shows how confused they are.)
Obama was elected twice because of his superior GOTV campaign, the internet was only one part of that (the latter helped him raise a heck of a lot of money with which to fund everything else, but Romney had as much money as Obama and blew it on expensive consultants instead of anything useful).
Beppo is a protest vote, just like UKIP is a protest vote. If either Beppo or UKIP were ever in government, they would soon be like the parties they now claim to hate, and equally despised by the public. Case in point: the Lib Dems. The problem is that voters all want something for nothing and politicians always promise something for nothing and then (surprise) don’t deliver.
March 3, 2013
Seconded. And if this is the future, it is an encouraging one. The internet need not be faceless and governed by optimisation programs or written by paid hacks. Here we have the opportunity for ordinary voters to exchange ideas with a serious senior politician on an intimate, daily basis, something unheard of 20 years ago. This is only possible because Mr Redwood moderates this site carefully and at what must be a great cost in time. It occasionally irritates me when commenters complain of delays. Mr Redwood’s personal attention, squeezed in between many other activities, is what makes his blog so good. So thank you Mr Redwood and let us hope that the malign influences that ruin other sites can be kept at bay.
March 2, 2013
Well Mr R, your blog is a wonderful insight to political thinking and policies, please, for the sake of democracy, keep it up. As for the recent by election, well UKIP have made a blow for the free thinking man and woman. We must ask ourselves why this has happened? The Conservative party is bleeding support from all areas, and action must be taken to stop the wound from splitting further. Its obvious what UKIP are saying is being met with approval by the electorate. It was a sweeping success for them and anyone who says it’s a ‘protest vote’ is deluding themselves. Immigration, growth, jobs, the economy, are all factors which the electorate is fuming about. Mr C is doing something about the first, immigration, but its not enough, and the (possible increase of-ed) of Bulgaria and Rumanian immigrants (coming-ed) here come Jan 2014 fills our country men and women with (worry-ed). It has to be stopped, or immigration stopped altogether while we grasp our borders back to commonsense. The changes to the NHS are not all working as one is told, that is a massive mistake. H2 is another. Yet, ignoring the demands and wishes of the nation appears to be the norm these days. That is why the Conservatives lost Eastliegh.
Reply Immigration cannot be stopped altogether. This is an open and relatively free society. We need to invite in people of talent and ability, people who wish to invest, people who want to make a contribution to our society. We need to let in students who have places at our universities and will pay good money to come. We need to allow people legally settled here to be visited by family members etc. It is the Consevative judgement that this should be tens of thousands not hundreds of thousands a year. The government has gradually tightened criteria for entry in all categories – it required working hard on the details of the rules and persuading Lib dems to allow it to happen. The government is I am told working on the vexed issue of benefit eligibility for new arrivals, in the context of the transitional arrangements for Bulgaria and Romania.
March 3, 2013
Your are a mild censor, overall. I think you are unwise to edit out all references to Islam. It is a legitimate (matter for discussion-ed). But your site is very worthy & so steam on John Redwood!
Reply: I try to edit out things that can cause offence, as I do n ot want to spend time in the middle of a row about some blogger’s views which I do not share.
March 3, 2013
It is good of you to pass this info but apologies are not necessary, imo.
Dealing with a blog as popular as yours is almost a full time job.
Many here, I am sure, are greatful that you take the trouble to post your thoughts and give so many the latitude to comment.