Since returning home from the first 2010 visit to London I have fallen asleep during afternoons and evenings, going to bed mid evening and then waking up in the middle of the night twice in succession. I have been trying to catch up with myself, my work, television and events the world outside my direct experience.
The most interesting aspect of the political situation is that the thinking public are beginning to discount personality politics and look in general at the Labour record over the past decade and a bit, remembered what it was like under Conservatives rule and Mrs Thatcher in particular, consider whether they really want David Cameron and George Osborn to replace Brown, Darling and Mandelson. Some of the working class, that is what is left of the White English Labour voting class and the English Underclass may well look towards the National Front and other far right and anti European parties in protest at the scale of the multi national and racial take over of British towns and cities. However this should be balanced by those immigrants entitled to vote who have come from the new Europe and the former commonwealth will be grateful to the Labour Government for granting them and their families a better and safer way of life. I have not visited Scotland or Wales are kept in contact with anyone in those countries to know what is likely to happen except that I suspect there will be some turning back from nationalist interests to the Labour more than the new look conservatives.
The latest opinion polls give the Conservatives only a narrow lead unthinkable a year ago when the lead was some 20 percentage points. This is causing some concern in the financial markets because of the threat of no political party having overall control and therefore there will be quick decision taking on a detailed plan to reduce the national debt.
I suspect that the core votes will in general hold up for the three main political parties and that the result will depend on the floating middle class. This is where Mr Cameron was destined to lose out once he opposed the Government decision to limit the damage in terms of job losses and public services. The approach has limited the number of families finding themselves in financial crisis or reduced circumstances, or finding that services they needed were no longer available. Moreover while they know that whoever forms the next government will have to control public expenditure and that new measure requiring a additional expenditure will be nigh on impossible unless through substitute funding once the debt reduction plan looks it will be effective. Given what the respective parties have done when in power and what they have done and said recently, I suggest the majority will expect Labour to continue to try and protect jobs and services while the Conservatives would be more ruthless.
A recent development will further damage the Tory party in a way which the personal attacks on the Prime Minister have not. Gordon is Gordon but he is our Gordon and who want the Prime Minister to be a simple kind hearted man. One wants someone to take difficult decision which at times the majority will not like, One expects he individual to bully political colleagues and officials to get things done. He has to kick butt and it was indecision which led him to make mistake and not follow his natural political instincts honed with the experience of the holding the two most powerful and important offices of state for more than a decade.
For ten years leading Conservative Politicians have effectively lied to the media when asked about the tax status of status of Lord Michael Ashcroft, their present Vice Chairman, a Lifetime Baron sitting in the House of Lords and likely to be rewarded with a major Government post should the Tories win the General Election and Lord Ashcroft decides he wants to hold office rather than pull strings behind the scenes.
He has recently been forced to admit that he is not domiciled in the UK for the purposes of Income Tax which as someone of dual nationality with the Belize could mean that he is only paying a minor part of his income tax to the UK Government. It is not clear if has paid much tax at all and this now needs to be clarified if he is to hold any position in the next Tory Government. whenever that is.
I hold Lord Michael Ashcroft in high regard because he is one of the most important and interesting individuals in British and World society of the present generation. The Labour Party would be so hostile to him if this was not so or if his political leanings been with them. He was born in 1946 in Chichester to a British born colonial civil servant and his wife, and therefore the first point to make is that he has always been a British Citizen.
It was not until 1969, when he was 23 and he joined a cleaning and business service company that he demonstrated any aptitude for making lots and lots of money, quickly worked his way within the company to the extent that three years later he started his own business, acquiring a loss making cleaning company with 1000 employees purchased for £1 and with a £15000 bank loan created a profitable concern which he then sold for £1.3 million three years later. Anyone who can do this gets my vote.
Sometimes early success is all that happens but in his instance it was just the start of mind boggling growth which saw him begin to become a major player in the USA economy with interests in cleaning and janitorial services and to what I suspect is the more profitable business, private security services. By the 1980’s his company had revenues of over $1 billion and by the late 1990 his company Hawley/ADT was sold in a reverse take over for $6.7 billion. This is WOW WOW WOW business ability.
Because of his father’s occupational role in Belize before it was granted independence, and having lived on the Island in his childhood, Lord Ashcroft retained and developed his links with the community and its Government, with citizenship and a beneficial personal taxation relationship and which led to his nomination for honours by its Government in addition to the Conservative Party supported Life Peerage as a Baron.
He is also interesting because of the way he is said to have contributed, directly or by loans to political parties in the UK , Belize. Australia and New Zealand, demanding control over how his “investments” are used which again marks him out as an individual with vision and purpose. This is also reflected in his interest in environmental issues and the formation of Crimestoppers in the UK and a Foundation concerned with developments in Belize, the Caribbean, Central and South America. Lord Ashcroft is married with homes in London, Maidenhead and Belize. He is therefore exceptionally well placed to promote British as well as Belize interests internationally/making his support for the Tory Party such a threat to Labour.
It is therefore odd that Ministers have been so reluctant to admit his position in relation to personal taxation. I suggest that the underlying issue is the proportion of income upon which income is paid in the UK. I would make the general point, as obviously I have no knowledge of the actual position of Lord Ashcroft If I had an income of £100 million for the coming taxation return year but paid only for 10% i.e. £10 million and at the 50% rate i.e. £5 million to the UK government but retained £90 million largely tax free I would not be setting a good example to the British people in general at a time of recession. Moreover I would open to greater criticism if I then offset the amount I was paying in the UK by my expenditure on charitable funding. On the other hand if I was paying 50% tax on £90 million and not offsetting my charitable contributions then my political conscience would be clear. I therefore support the call for an inquiry into the details, but equally this should apply to any donor to any political party in the UK who is a non dom for part of their income in relation to UK income tax. Otherwise the extent to which political parties are funded by big donors, companies or trade unions, billionaires whether that full residents or non doms, will hang over the next Parliament together with that nasty smell of expenses.
For some reason the earthquake in Chile has attracted less media attention than that in Haiti although it was stronger. In part this may be because the loss of life has been significantly less, but also because there is an effective government in Chile.
There have been several interesting developments in Sport this weekend with on Sunday a conflict of interest between England playing Bangladesh in a one day 50 over cricket match and Manchester United playing Aston Villa in the League Cup Final at Wembley stadium. I switched between both events until it looked as if the Villa would lose and England would win
England had successfully dismissed the home side for 226 in the 46th over which did not come as a surprise as the team has lost more than previous matches in succession. After a comfortable start reaching 75 without loss, England then lost three wickets with Petersen out after on1. However Collingwood 75 not out, was supported by Morgan with 33 and Prior not out 30, and saw a comfortable win by 6 wickets with four overs to spare.
In the second match on Tuesday the result was in doubt until the last couple of overs. This time Bangladesh made a potentially match winning total of 260 for loss of six wickets and one point England were 108 for 4 with Cook who has cored 60 out along with Pieterson and Collingwood. It was then that Mr Eoin Morgan again showed what a find he has been for British International Cricket. He was not out 110 at the close during which time a succession of lower order men were out cheaply instead of trying to stay and give the batting opportunities to Eoin. With 16 runs required from the final two overs and only two wickets to spare Mr Morgan launched himself into a hitting spree which secured the victory and a 2.0 win in the series of 3.
In football Manchester United won their 26th title under manager Ferguson, an extraordinary feat although the Villa scored first goal and played well even after the United’s two winning goals.
Meanwhile Sunderland could only achieve a 0.0. Draw at home against a Fulham side that appears comfortable in mid table. Sunderland are now firmly rooted among the seven clubs fighting to avoid end of season relegation along with Portsmouth who went into administration and therefore lose points. A twist in this sorry saga is that it appears the Inland Revenue is appealing against the decision, presumably on the grounds that it wants the club assets to be sold, i.e. its players so the debt to the national revenue can be realised. I fear for Sunderland, in contrast to Newcastle who after a brief set back are going from strength to strength when it matters with a six point lead over West Brom and 13 point lead over Swansea in fourth.
The Winter Olympics also came to and end with Britain only have one medal, that glorious gold. Everyone is saying how well the games were organised by Canada, yet there is domestic disappointment there because the expectations of prizes was not fully realised, yet Canada did win more gold than anyone with 14 to German 10 and the USA 9 but were third to the USA and Germany in terms of total medals achieved. The lesson for 2012 is that success should not be measured by the number of medals achieved but by the response of athletes, professional sport’s commentators and the visiting public to the games, to London and the other locations where the tournaments will be held and then to the legacy in five, ten and 25 years time.
Before the trip I watched an interesting and important film which every young person should see in the future called The Devil’s Arithmetic During Passover in 1988 a young American Jewish girl, Hannah is transported back in time to Poland 1942 at the height of the Second World War and finds herself in a concentration camp along with a relative who survives the camp to become her contemporary great aunt and who has struggle to educate the girl in thee past about her heritage. On return the girl finds out that her aunt only survived because her female friend in the camp exchanged places. Hannah had done this but as she entered the Crematorium was transported home, having told her friend to remember and tell if she managed to escape.
I was also surprised by another TV film offering called the Professionals, the 1968 American Western style film with Burt Lancaster, Robert Ryan and Lee Marvin, based on the novel A Mule for Marquesa by Frank O’Rourke. A small group of mercenaries agree to travel to Mexico to free the wife of wealthy Texan who is alleged to have been kidnapped by one side in the Mexican Revolution. The wife is played by Claudia Cardinale and the head bandito freedom fighter by Jack Palance, The twist in the tale is that one of four professionals fought in Mexico with Pancho Villa and knew and respected Raza, a fellow soldier who is alleged to have undertaken the kidnapping.
They discover that in fact the wife was the lover of Raza but was forced into an arranged and loveless marriage with the Texan. Far from being kidnapped she had escaped . The four are professionals and carry out their assignment killing a large number of Raza’s men in the process but in the end they prevent the couple being killed by the Texan and allow the wounded Raza to be driven off by Maria, and they follow them separately back into Mexico, realising they have less of future if they cross the border. The film received three Academy nominations in 1967 including best script and best director and which is why it was a surprise, engaging and meriting my attention
The most interesting aspect of the political situation is that the thinking public are beginning to discount personality politics and look in general at the Labour record over the past decade and a bit, remembered what it was like under Conservatives rule and Mrs Thatcher in particular, consider whether they really want David Cameron and George Osborn to replace Brown, Darling and Mandelson. Some of the working class, that is what is left of the White English Labour voting class and the English Underclass may well look towards the National Front and other far right and anti European parties in protest at the scale of the multi national and racial take over of British towns and cities. However this should be balanced by those immigrants entitled to vote who have come from the new Europe and the former commonwealth will be grateful to the Labour Government for granting them and their families a better and safer way of life. I have not visited Scotland or Wales are kept in contact with anyone in those countries to know what is likely to happen except that I suspect there will be some turning back from nationalist interests to the Labour more than the new look conservatives.
The latest opinion polls give the Conservatives only a narrow lead unthinkable a year ago when the lead was some 20 percentage points. This is causing some concern in the financial markets because of the threat of no political party having overall control and therefore there will be quick decision taking on a detailed plan to reduce the national debt.
I suspect that the core votes will in general hold up for the three main political parties and that the result will depend on the floating middle class. This is where Mr Cameron was destined to lose out once he opposed the Government decision to limit the damage in terms of job losses and public services. The approach has limited the number of families finding themselves in financial crisis or reduced circumstances, or finding that services they needed were no longer available. Moreover while they know that whoever forms the next government will have to control public expenditure and that new measure requiring a additional expenditure will be nigh on impossible unless through substitute funding once the debt reduction plan looks it will be effective. Given what the respective parties have done when in power and what they have done and said recently, I suggest the majority will expect Labour to continue to try and protect jobs and services while the Conservatives would be more ruthless.
A recent development will further damage the Tory party in a way which the personal attacks on the Prime Minister have not. Gordon is Gordon but he is our Gordon and who want the Prime Minister to be a simple kind hearted man. One wants someone to take difficult decision which at times the majority will not like, One expects he individual to bully political colleagues and officials to get things done. He has to kick butt and it was indecision which led him to make mistake and not follow his natural political instincts honed with the experience of the holding the two most powerful and important offices of state for more than a decade.
For ten years leading Conservative Politicians have effectively lied to the media when asked about the tax status of status of Lord Michael Ashcroft, their present Vice Chairman, a Lifetime Baron sitting in the House of Lords and likely to be rewarded with a major Government post should the Tories win the General Election and Lord Ashcroft decides he wants to hold office rather than pull strings behind the scenes.
He has recently been forced to admit that he is not domiciled in the UK for the purposes of Income Tax which as someone of dual nationality with the Belize could mean that he is only paying a minor part of his income tax to the UK Government. It is not clear if has paid much tax at all and this now needs to be clarified if he is to hold any position in the next Tory Government. whenever that is.
I hold Lord Michael Ashcroft in high regard because he is one of the most important and interesting individuals in British and World society of the present generation. The Labour Party would be so hostile to him if this was not so or if his political leanings been with them. He was born in 1946 in Chichester to a British born colonial civil servant and his wife, and therefore the first point to make is that he has always been a British Citizen.
It was not until 1969, when he was 23 and he joined a cleaning and business service company that he demonstrated any aptitude for making lots and lots of money, quickly worked his way within the company to the extent that three years later he started his own business, acquiring a loss making cleaning company with 1000 employees purchased for £1 and with a £15000 bank loan created a profitable concern which he then sold for £1.3 million three years later. Anyone who can do this gets my vote.
Sometimes early success is all that happens but in his instance it was just the start of mind boggling growth which saw him begin to become a major player in the USA economy with interests in cleaning and janitorial services and to what I suspect is the more profitable business, private security services. By the 1980’s his company had revenues of over $1 billion and by the late 1990 his company Hawley/ADT was sold in a reverse take over for $6.7 billion. This is WOW WOW WOW business ability.
Because of his father’s occupational role in Belize before it was granted independence, and having lived on the Island in his childhood, Lord Ashcroft retained and developed his links with the community and its Government, with citizenship and a beneficial personal taxation relationship and which led to his nomination for honours by its Government in addition to the Conservative Party supported Life Peerage as a Baron.
He is also interesting because of the way he is said to have contributed, directly or by loans to political parties in the UK , Belize. Australia and New Zealand, demanding control over how his “investments” are used which again marks him out as an individual with vision and purpose. This is also reflected in his interest in environmental issues and the formation of Crimestoppers in the UK and a Foundation concerned with developments in Belize, the Caribbean, Central and South America. Lord Ashcroft is married with homes in London, Maidenhead and Belize. He is therefore exceptionally well placed to promote British as well as Belize interests internationally/making his support for the Tory Party such a threat to Labour.
It is therefore odd that Ministers have been so reluctant to admit his position in relation to personal taxation. I suggest that the underlying issue is the proportion of income upon which income is paid in the UK. I would make the general point, as obviously I have no knowledge of the actual position of Lord Ashcroft If I had an income of £100 million for the coming taxation return year but paid only for 10% i.e. £10 million and at the 50% rate i.e. £5 million to the UK government but retained £90 million largely tax free I would not be setting a good example to the British people in general at a time of recession. Moreover I would open to greater criticism if I then offset the amount I was paying in the UK by my expenditure on charitable funding. On the other hand if I was paying 50% tax on £90 million and not offsetting my charitable contributions then my political conscience would be clear. I therefore support the call for an inquiry into the details, but equally this should apply to any donor to any political party in the UK who is a non dom for part of their income in relation to UK income tax. Otherwise the extent to which political parties are funded by big donors, companies or trade unions, billionaires whether that full residents or non doms, will hang over the next Parliament together with that nasty smell of expenses.
For some reason the earthquake in Chile has attracted less media attention than that in Haiti although it was stronger. In part this may be because the loss of life has been significantly less, but also because there is an effective government in Chile.
There have been several interesting developments in Sport this weekend with on Sunday a conflict of interest between England playing Bangladesh in a one day 50 over cricket match and Manchester United playing Aston Villa in the League Cup Final at Wembley stadium. I switched between both events until it looked as if the Villa would lose and England would win
England had successfully dismissed the home side for 226 in the 46th over which did not come as a surprise as the team has lost more than previous matches in succession. After a comfortable start reaching 75 without loss, England then lost three wickets with Petersen out after on1. However Collingwood 75 not out, was supported by Morgan with 33 and Prior not out 30, and saw a comfortable win by 6 wickets with four overs to spare.
In the second match on Tuesday the result was in doubt until the last couple of overs. This time Bangladesh made a potentially match winning total of 260 for loss of six wickets and one point England were 108 for 4 with Cook who has cored 60 out along with Pieterson and Collingwood. It was then that Mr Eoin Morgan again showed what a find he has been for British International Cricket. He was not out 110 at the close during which time a succession of lower order men were out cheaply instead of trying to stay and give the batting opportunities to Eoin. With 16 runs required from the final two overs and only two wickets to spare Mr Morgan launched himself into a hitting spree which secured the victory and a 2.0 win in the series of 3.
In football Manchester United won their 26th title under manager Ferguson, an extraordinary feat although the Villa scored first goal and played well even after the United’s two winning goals.
Meanwhile Sunderland could only achieve a 0.0. Draw at home against a Fulham side that appears comfortable in mid table. Sunderland are now firmly rooted among the seven clubs fighting to avoid end of season relegation along with Portsmouth who went into administration and therefore lose points. A twist in this sorry saga is that it appears the Inland Revenue is appealing against the decision, presumably on the grounds that it wants the club assets to be sold, i.e. its players so the debt to the national revenue can be realised. I fear for Sunderland, in contrast to Newcastle who after a brief set back are going from strength to strength when it matters with a six point lead over West Brom and 13 point lead over Swansea in fourth.
The Winter Olympics also came to and end with Britain only have one medal, that glorious gold. Everyone is saying how well the games were organised by Canada, yet there is domestic disappointment there because the expectations of prizes was not fully realised, yet Canada did win more gold than anyone with 14 to German 10 and the USA 9 but were third to the USA and Germany in terms of total medals achieved. The lesson for 2012 is that success should not be measured by the number of medals achieved but by the response of athletes, professional sport’s commentators and the visiting public to the games, to London and the other locations where the tournaments will be held and then to the legacy in five, ten and 25 years time.
Before the trip I watched an interesting and important film which every young person should see in the future called The Devil’s Arithmetic During Passover in 1988 a young American Jewish girl, Hannah is transported back in time to Poland 1942 at the height of the Second World War and finds herself in a concentration camp along with a relative who survives the camp to become her contemporary great aunt and who has struggle to educate the girl in thee past about her heritage. On return the girl finds out that her aunt only survived because her female friend in the camp exchanged places. Hannah had done this but as she entered the Crematorium was transported home, having told her friend to remember and tell if she managed to escape.
I was also surprised by another TV film offering called the Professionals, the 1968 American Western style film with Burt Lancaster, Robert Ryan and Lee Marvin, based on the novel A Mule for Marquesa by Frank O’Rourke. A small group of mercenaries agree to travel to Mexico to free the wife of wealthy Texan who is alleged to have been kidnapped by one side in the Mexican Revolution. The wife is played by Claudia Cardinale and the head bandito freedom fighter by Jack Palance, The twist in the tale is that one of four professionals fought in Mexico with Pancho Villa and knew and respected Raza, a fellow soldier who is alleged to have undertaken the kidnapping.
They discover that in fact the wife was the lover of Raza but was forced into an arranged and loveless marriage with the Texan. Far from being kidnapped she had escaped . The four are professionals and carry out their assignment killing a large number of Raza’s men in the process but in the end they prevent the couple being killed by the Texan and allow the wounded Raza to be driven off by Maria, and they follow them separately back into Mexico, realising they have less of future if they cross the border. The film received three Academy nominations in 1967 including best script and best director and which is why it was a surprise, engaging and meriting my attention
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