Joshua D R Payne's Blog

Part three of a three part grammar lesson

This is what was printed:

University not right for some

FROM: Joshua Payne, Albion Street, Kenilworth

HAVING read the much-publicised response by Liberal Democrat parliamentary spokesman for Kenilworth Richard Allenach, I recall a confrontation between Ken Clarke and a Liberal Democrat peer on Question Time.

Mr Clarke described the 50 per cent target as ridiculous and made comments to the effect the peer did not require a 50 per cent top rate of tax but an O level in mathematics. It continues to be the case, in my view, that (Here's the only surviving "that" used as a conjunction - an island in a sea of grammatical errors. Maybe the Editor was confused here by the "to be the case" and "in my view" bits. Ed.) leading Liberal Democrats would be appropriate candidates for a modern GCSE in common sense.

I dislike the obliqueness with which Mr Allanach plays the Political Correctness card as though the opinion we should not force ever more school leavers through British universities is somehow not legitimate or permissible.

I have also resented how, at one university, Labour students distributed postcards stamped with the word EQUALITY in bright red letters, which on the reverse said Go home - Tories have cancelled your course. Michael Howard has been quite correct to say some students currently at universities would be better off in vocational training, a policy that would in addition help halt the erosion of standards and might well allow the reintroduction of real grants for those who deserve them. This is what I heard on BBC News and unless I am hallucinating I fail to see how it is unclear.

The point is we are all different and differ naturally in our abilities and achievements: a concept that should be second nature to any genuine Liberal. From this perspective, diversifying opportunities for school leavers must surely be a better alternative than imposing a rigid quota for university entry.

MP Andy King and his colleagues in this government with which we have been cursed since 1997 claim Britain is Working - don’t let the Tories wreck it again. A friend who is a QC has a somewhat different perception of reality: he tells me he has interviewed personally 150 candidates for the same position in legal training and was unimpressed by both their number and their knowledge of the law.

Clearly, all this situation does is render it more difficult for the most deserving candidate to get the job - and leaves the other 149 with little of any value - except of course a huge student loan to pay off. Is this compatible with social justice? It is the prevailing situation that should be considered controversial rather than the proposition a new Government would cut university places.

Personally, I do not think the Liberal Democratic idea will cut much ice with sensible Kenilworth folk.

Mark R Warner for 2008?

From the old unto the new

"Maybe the Democrats cannot win in this day and age without a southerner with true folksy appeal? Maybe they need someone with massive popular appeal to whom the Democratic label can quietly be attached?"

Well, the answer to these questions may lie in the personality of Virginia Governor Mark R Warner - a southerner and entrepreneur in the American mobile phone industry. The Democratic Party is sensibly getting ready for the 2008 contest NOW, and Mr Warner is, apparently, already considered a frontrunner in some circles.

People say that the UK is more democratic than the US - but here a PM can serve as many terms as his or her party and the electorate allow. Who will the Republicans put forward in 2008?

John Edwards will I think almost certainly be in the race again, however, and may provide stiff competition. Maybe the Democrats would have done better last month if he and Kerry had reversed candidacies? I'm just speculating.

US Presidential Election 2004: Democratic defeat or defeat for Democracy?

I am still a little surprised that John Kerry did not succeed in ousting George W Bush from the White house last month. One would have thought, for example, that extremely long queues of voters forming multiple rings around polling stations would have helped the Democratic Party: did the many first time voters involved really give this much support to an incumbent rather than a challenger?

And Mr Kerry looked vastly more presidential in the camera frame...

Watching the BBC's results program, it seemed a given early on that Mr Kerry had done it. Professional pollsters were in broad agreement that we would be waking up (or staggering around like a zombie?) with a Democratic President. Democratic pollsters were jubilant; their Republican counterparts were in dialogue with David Dimbleby with nails bitten and heads sunk.

Then the results began to come in. Towards the end of the flow it was clear that there was almost no change. Indeed, on every key indicator the Republicans were comfortably ahead. Tom Daschle was ousted by a Republican challenger, and the Republicans took the Senate.

Naturally, a number of conspiracy theorists are still theorising - especially in respect of the crucial swing state of Ohio, where in the aftermath it seemed for a while that the Democrats might well demand a review of the whole process in the state. Apparently there was a significant discrepancy between strong indications from exit polls and the final result. A good link to check out is "Proof of Ohio Election Fraud Exposed":

http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/121604Z.shtml

Of course we were all underestimating the importance of national security issues in America, as well as the strength of the Christian Fundamentalist vote, which is difficult for the Democrats to chip in to. At the end of the day, John Kerry was a Liberal Democrat from the Liberal North East of America and a European-style politician in a country which does not have a European-style mentality. Maybe the Democrats cannot win in this day and age without a southerner with true folksy appeal? Maybe they need someone with massive popular appeal to whom the Democratic label can quietly be attached?

On the other hand, maybe the theorists are right and Mr Kerry did actually win?

A friend with considerable political experience has speculated that the result, if it can be conceptualised as such, is the most dangerous produced by any Western democracy in the last seventy years. We'll see.

Welcome

Dear friends

Welcome to my brand new web log, whose birth coincides with the New Year.

I hope you find the comments incisive and interesting. Please feel free to post a comment in response: all sensible contributions, additions and criticism are most welcome. Additionally, I am very happy to receive email, and always endeavour to reply. In short, I aim to create a truly open forum for debate on a range of important issues.

I guarantee to update this blog regularly, and hope that you will continue to visit in a similarly ongoing fashion.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all.

Joshua D R Payne