Saturday 24 January 2009

Homelessness

Last November I took part in a sponsored sleepout in aid of the Homeless persons charity the Rock Trust. Can I say how grateful I am to those who sponsored me, I raised approximately £1500 for the charity.

The experience was an eye opener in more ways than one. Sleeping out meant that the following day I felt rough. It was easy for me as I was able to return to a warm house the following morning. But what of those who have nowhere to go?

A senior member of another homeless persons charity said to me recently that people only become homeless when they have suffered complete family breakdown and they have no one to turn to.

Isn’t that a terrible indictment of our society that has so devalued family life that we still have homelessness?

We have a broken society. My key objective as I seek election to Parliament is to try and help to rebuild our broken society. I claim no special expertise, and I am convinced that government has few answers. The answers do not come from new laws and regulation, they come from encouraging people to take responsibility for themselves and for their neighbours.

The buck has to stop

Here we are in the midst of a huge financial crisis caused largely by the unsustainable levels of debt encouraged by Gordon Brown and he blames everybody else.

The UK has the highest levels of debt in the World yet Gordon Brown thinks the answer is to borrow even more.

Even the Archbishop of Canterbury thinks this is crazy, and generations to come will pay a terrible price repaying his imprudence. So much for sustainability. We have mortgaged out tomorrows so that the Labour party could create an illusion of wealth today.

Gordon Brown says that all this problem is caused by somebody else. He blames the USA and the banking industry over there. If that is the case, why has Sterling collapsed? Why are we seeing the Pound at parity with the Euro and the value against the Dollar down by 25%.

Sorry Gordon, this buck stops with you.

The safe option?

One of the features of elections is that there are people who when looking for a safe option have a tendency to vopte Liberal Democrat on the basis that they are nice, cuddly middle of the road people.

The reality is something else. They are by their own admission more left wing than the Labour party and their prime objective seems to be part of the power regardless of who is in charge.

Evidence of this is their support of the failed Labour administration in Holyrood where they were coalition partners and now their partnership with the SNP in Edinburgh Council.

Neither of these experiences of government reflect well on the LibDems. Indeed they contradict themselves, note Lib Dem MSP Margeret Smith’s support for the Panda Breeding plan at Edinburgh Zoo opposed by a LibDem MP from Portsmouth.
The only way we are going to see a change for the better is when we remove the socialists from control.

The safe optio?

One of the features of elections is that there are people who when looking for a safe option have a tendency to vote Liberal Democrat on the basis that they are nice, cuddly middle of the road people.

The reality is something else. They are by their own admission more left wing than the Labour party and their prime objective seems to be part of the power regardless of who is in charge.

Evidence of this is their support of the failed Labour administration in Holyrood where they were coalition partners and now their partnership with the SNP in Edinburgh Council.

Neither of these experiences of government reflect well on the LibDems. Indeed they contradict themselves, note Lib Dem MSP Margeret Smith’s support for the Panda Breeding plan at Edinburgh Zoo opposed by a LibDem MP from Portsmouth.

The only way we are going to see a change for the better is when we remove the socialists from control.