tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-75385481762483332692024-02-07T05:46:27.626-08:00A New Political OutlookTom Mosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06892716376032940355noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7538548176248333269.post-53608009841327442852020-05-05T13:38:00.002-07:002020-05-05T13:41:39.530-07:00This state-imposed dystopia must end now<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioZG9xX8tMR8bveePz5kI-M9LTqOWtYkDCvLdRQGNSNj32-BpKjbXDRWTHHWVcE7VwsFWEYcDGhxfEzK9wSZVMaAZygzC8dwFJck2d6C0Mm_wY-tAzhabgJmYYMawEUjB482XuHns9ynY/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioZG9xX8tMR8bveePz5kI-M9LTqOWtYkDCvLdRQGNSNj32-BpKjbXDRWTHHWVcE7VwsFWEYcDGhxfEzK9wSZVMaAZygzC8dwFJck2d6C0Mm_wY-tAzhabgJmYYMawEUjB482XuHns9ynY/s320/1.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">“Life,
liberty and the pursuit of happiness”. The phrase from the United States’
Declaration of Independence which states our natural rights and which the
executive is designed to protect and defend. Most governments all over the
world are pursuing, as they see it, the continuation of life to the detriment
of liberty and the pursuit of happiness. If the choice were either life or
liberty, I would imagine the majority would choose liberty, as they should.
William the Conqueror in 1066 at his coronation set out the first element of
liberty within the City of London. This ancient principle should not die, not
now and not ever.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">This
country amongst many others in the world has decided to impose lockdown
measures. Why, you may ask? The reasoning being to protect each country’s
individual health systems and to limit the loss of life. The first element of
the reasoning has been completed. There have been numerous temporary NHS
Nightingale hospitals foisted upon cities around the country, with very little
usage to much expense. The second element is slightly more complicated, as I
will explain. Loss of life is an appalling side effect but is lockdown the best
way to prevent it? I think not. We should, however, not forget the ancient
principle of aegrescit medendo, meaning the remedy is worse than the
disease, and to not react irrationally or with emotion.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Let
us look at an anomaly in this situation. Sweden. Sweden has not gone into
lockdown, unlike its Scandinavian counterparts and has allowed its citizens to
use their own judgment and common sense to do what they believe to be suitable
to themselves. The current judge of whether COVID-19 cases have reduced is
looking at the ‘R’ rate. Our objective as a country is to have an ‘R’ rate
below 1, and it is currently 0.8. Sweden’s is 0.85. This raises an important
dynamic: might a voluntary lockdown work just as well, without the disruption
to normal social and economic life? I would agree. The virus has indeed spread
faster in Sweden and it has been predicted that it could result in 85,000
deaths. Their death toll is currently 2,860 and they peaked a fortnight ago, so
the predictions were widely wrong and now Sweden is having a day-by-day fall in
infections and deaths.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">This
plan is called folkvett and in scientific terms, herd immunity. This is
simply the resistance to the spread of a disease within a population that
results in a proportion of individuals becoming immune to the vaccine, through
building their immune systems. Herd immunity is not uncommon and not wild. It
is what every country in the world has done when dealing with a public health
emergency. Was there a lockdown during the 1957 influenza pandemic? No. Does
anyone know the death toll? 80,000. One could argue that it did not prompt an
economic shutdown because the generation in power had a more sanguine attitude
towards disease.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">It
does seem to anyone who flouts the idea that lockdown should not have taken
place or should not continue much further is treating with a j’accuse
anger. The simple thing is as German professor Sucharit Bhakdi repeatedly
warned that deaths would occur from closing social life and economic activity.
The hoi polloi seems to believe that those who make such an argument are
putting life versus money. Quite the opposite – it is life versus life.
Economic catastrophe causes death. According to the study of fifty-four
countries after the Great Recession, the number of suicide deaths rose by 5,000
in 2009 alone. This crisis seems to be resulting in an additional borrowing
cost of at least £250bn this year. This will have to be paid for, with hardship
and austerity lite. The effects of a lockdown on economic activity is not
simply just money. Poverty kills and when it does not kill, it maims physically
and socially.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">There
has also been work taken place by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child
Health which shows that no child has been known to pass COVID-19 on to an
adult, and very little evidence to show it is transmitted to any person. This
finding has led the Swiss government to allow grandchildren, under the age of
10, to hug their grandparents as they concluded that “young children don’t
transmit the virus”. What does the world do, however? We shut down schools, colleges,
universities, and nurseries. We deprive our children and young folk of the one
thing everyone should be entitled to as a human right: an education. It has
resulted in teachers now deciding their student’s grades in exams and foisted
the teaching of a myriad of subjects onto parents, who are not qualified nor
trained to teach in any field. This is not a sustainable solution for children
and could conclude another ‘lost generation’.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">There
does also seem to be a view amongst the general populus that lockdown will ‘get
rid’ of this virus. Nothing could be further from the truth. If I knew and had
evidence to believe that keeping Britons under house arrest for two more months
would result in an elimination of the virus, I would give it huge consideration.
This is, however, scientifically wrong. Viruses change and mutate. They
re-appear. There may never be a cure found and if there was, there would be
some people who would object. There is only two ways this virus will disappear:
either exposure creating immunity, or an effective vaccine, which could take
many years.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The
minute the British public or any country is allowed back to normality or
‘relative normality’, deaths and cases will increase. Then what? Announce
another lockdown? An endless spiral of lockdown? Sweden will not go through
this dilemma. They have no lockdown to ease. Deaths have been higher, but they
are going down as the country’s populus has started to develop immunity from
the virus. The Chief Scientific Advisor, Sir Patrick Vallance, did once flout
the possibility or idea of herd immunity in the UK but this was rejected by the
politicians. We are now paying the price for not listening to our own experts
and until we accept that deaths will rise, cases will rise when lockdown is
eased, we will never get out of this.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The
coronavirus is not the greatest crisis in our history. It is not even the
greatest public health crisis in our history. But the lockdown is in no doubt
the greatest interference with our personal freedom in our history. However
noble the mantra of ‘saving lives’ may be, it is not the only valuable object.
To say that life is priceless is just empty rhetoric. People say it because it
is comfortable and emotionally satisfying, but they do not actually believe it.
We passed the peak on Apr 8 well before the crazy measures introduced by the
Government on March 23 could possibly have affected matters.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">There
is a lot more to living than being alive. Life is about challenge and about
experience. Life is having drinks with friends and family. Life is going to the
theatre or a football match. Life is companionship, love, friendship, and
celebration. They are fundamental elements to our existence as social animals. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Ending
this lockdown will be a political decision, not a scientific one. Lockdowns and
state imposition are something that a totalitarian state like China would do,
but not a country with liberalism at its heart. We need to consider what
relationship we want with the State and the State needs to decide what relationship
it has with its citizens. This virus is not the end of life and normality. We
really should be thinking more imaginatively, and not following others. As Lady
Thatcher said: “Don’t follow the crowd, let the crowd follow you.” Let Sweden
be the latter crowd and let us embrace our Scandinavian counterparts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />Tom Mosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06892716376032940355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7538548176248333269.post-37561791876304869442019-07-26T12:37:00.000-07:002019-07-26T12:38:23.457-07:00Ignore the gloomsters, this is a perfect Cabinet<div style="text-align: justify;">
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Hallelujah! The resignation of one Theresa May brings joy to many people - Brexiteers, socialists and the commentariat. The socialists have another tear in their eye now - and that is due to the next Prime Minister being one Boris Johnson. For the first time since 1991, the Conservative Party now has a Prime Minister who believes in Brexit, is optimistic about Britain's future, and is a true democrat.</div>
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The Prime Minister seems to have been taking advice from my Fantasy Cabinet. I created one many months ago and I wanted Dominic Raab at the Foreign Office, and the superb Priti Patel at the Home Office. Those two have now occured - along with the added advantage of Mr Raab being the de facto Deputy Prime Minister. He has also put Jacob Rees-Mogg into the Cabinet, promoted new talent and has moved the amazing Liz Truss to International Trade - removing the useless Dr Fox - to negotiate trade deals all around the world. This Cabinet is brimming with talent, optimism, drive, and focusing on our withdrawal from the European Union.</div>
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However, I have noticed - to quote the Prime Minister - many gloomsters and doomsters, and absolutists, complaining that the Cabinet does not have enough Brexiteers on it and because the useless Work and Pensions Secretary has been kept it is now a source of skepticism and pessimism. What utter nonsense. Every single Cabinet Minister had to re-enact their entrance to Scouts - as I remember doing many years ago - and say 'On my honour I will do my best to do my duty to God and The Queen and to commit to us leaving the tentacles of the suffocating bureaucracy of the European Union'. It contains four out of the five signatories to 'Britannia Unchained', it contains two Spartans, one of whom is in a Great Office of State, and it has a Depute PM - either Mr Gove or Mr Raab - whom voted to Leave.</div>
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This is one of the few occasions where I have been proud to be a member of the Conservative Party, and will be proud to campaign for them in the upcoming general election next year. A Cabinet that contains the talent of tomorrow and the removal of the dire, useless, wets of Gauke, Clark, Hammond, Fox, et al, and is passionate about the future this country has ahead of us. The Conservative Party is on course for a stonking majority - WHEN it delivers Brexit on Hallowe'en - and another positive of this occasion would be that Ms Soubry, Mr Grieve, etc, will no longer be honoured with the title of 'MP'.</div>
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We should be proud of our great country and what we can achieve. We should be proud of the excellent domestic agenda that the Prime Minister has announced from finally having a plan for elderly social care, boosting funding for education, building more houses and importantly - cutting taxes. This is a mix of a One Nation and a classical liberal plan. A perfect combination. Someone may call it compassionate conservatism.Mr Johnson will go down in the history books with the names of Disraeli, Gladstone, Thatcher and Churchill - but he must deliver Brexit or he will not be PM by Christmas. He recognises that, and he will deliver. I trust him.</div>
Tom Mosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06892716376032940355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7538548176248333269.post-44719277006189590472019-06-04T13:57:00.001-07:002019-06-08T14:23:04.097-07:00It is time for Boris<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq18G4-5nD5GYSHxZuon934hs-64bsBx-y4jSct3JrrRvZPCf7uRey3roEYW9DWnypeBvABcbX_sbI4r_71hSaM_JQuhvFqnATt3atJrBoez-HjtFP1-TYF5xB1YFsn8EUZMvAD-ORr7E/s1600/0b325076-b35c-4072-876a-200bec3b44d3.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1099" data-original-width="1600" height="219" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq18G4-5nD5GYSHxZuon934hs-64bsBx-y4jSct3JrrRvZPCf7uRey3roEYW9DWnypeBvABcbX_sbI4r_71hSaM_JQuhvFqnATt3atJrBoez-HjtFP1-TYF5xB1YFsn8EUZMvAD-ORr7E/s320/0b325076-b35c-4072-876a-200bec3b44d3.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Originally, I supported Esther McVey for the leadership of the Conservative Party, and I still do believe that she is the best candidate. There is one issue - she is not gaining traction among MPs, and is still languishing with six supporters. This means I need to pick a different candidate - who can win.</div>
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I have decided who I am backing. This person has the support of Jacob Rees-Mogg, whom I have much admiration for, Liz Truss, who should be Chancellor of the Exchequer in the next Government, and Steve Baker and Priti Patel, the two 'Spartans' who stood firm on the Withdrawal Agreement. This person is Boris Johnson. </div>
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We need a leader who can deliver Brexit, prevent a neo-Marxist taking office in Number 10, and to bring our country together after the divisions of the referendum. We also need a leader who took a principled stand against the 'Chequers' agreement, which he surely did. We need to be optimistic about how well Britain can do, we need to aspire to be greater, we need to champion low taxes and free enterprise, and we need a leader who can connect to those who put their faith in Jeremy Corbyn two years ago.<br />
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I attended Boris' speech at Conservative Conference after his resignation from the Foreign Office and it was barmstorming. I truly believe that he has the character, the passion, and the drive that we need to leave the European Union on October 31st. I would also urge Boris to bring back the legend, Dominic Raab, to the Cabinet. I truly like his domestic, Thatcherite agenda and he could bring some expert talent to the table.</div>
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This is a critical moment in our political history. We must leave the European Union on October 31st, with No Deal or a FTA. The latter is becoming very unlikely so we must exit on World Trade Organisation terms to restore faith in our democratic process. Boris Johnson has a huge platform, and can deliver on what I have just outlined. He has broad appeal, and has electoral successes behind him. I never thought I would say this but I urge you to back Boris Johnson to be the next leader of the Conservative Party, and Prime Minister.<br />
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Mr Johnson, Snr., and I, after Boris' excellent speech, October 2018</div>
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Tom Mosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06892716376032940355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7538548176248333269.post-62597914497852376512019-05-27T04:06:00.002-07:002019-05-27T04:09:28.273-07:00It is time for a Liverpudlian Prime Minister<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I have been struggling to decide who I was going to back for the next Conservative Party leader, and then Prime Minister. </div>
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We have the continuity May candidates of Rory Stewart, Matt Hancock and Jeremy Hunt. We have the Brexit candidates of Boris Johnson, Esther McVey, Andrea Leadsom and Dominic Raab. We also have Michael Gove, plus there may be more to join the fray.</div>
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I have struggled who to back. I did always want Dominic Raab to be leader. Dominic seems to be the leader we needed to sort out Brexit and come back with a decent, conservative government with optimism at its heart. But he has let me and many others down. He has decided to near enough back HS2, keep foreign aid at its current amount, allow Huawei into our 5G network and to accept the discredited Withdrawal Agreement with some tinkering around on the backstop. This simply is not good enough and what I want in our next leader.</div>
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I want a candidate who will lower taxes and foreign aid. A leader that will connect with blue collar, Northern voters. A leader that will invest in our police. A leader that will scrap HS2. Most importantly, I want a leader who will fight our corner in Europe and leave on a WTO basis. That leader is Esther McVey. </div>
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I have met Esther on numerous occasions as she is a constituency neighbour and I can see the dedication and passion she could bring to the role of Prime Minister. So, after much deliberation, I have decided that the next leader of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister should be Esther McVey, the Liverpudlian. Bless John McDonnell's heart.</div>
Tom Mosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06892716376032940355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7538548176248333269.post-63058212789852930662019-05-24T13:55:00.002-07:002019-05-24T13:55:27.807-07:00We must grasp this opportunity<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The Conservative Party's heart can now start beating again. We now have an opportunity to choose a new leader that is not Ed Miliband and Gordon Brown mixed in female form, but someone who will deliver Brexit, and a new bold ambitious agenda for the future.</div>
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I have been critical of the Prime Minister ever since the disastrous General Election. I will not forgive her for not once visiting Cheshire, an area where we once held nearly all the seats and now only a measly some, but I must respect her. She had a level of resilience which I can never hope to have, and the dutiful way she acted as a true public servant is long to be respected by the British public.</div>
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We have had some awful Prime Ministers in our recent years. Notably some of the main ones have become Knights of the Realm, which is bizarre to myself, whom are Sir Edward Heath, Sir Anthony Eden and Sir John Major. But, Mrs. May may be close to being worse than Lord North, who lost the American colonies, on levels of incompetency.</div>
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The public must not just look at her failure to not deliver Brexit after nearly 3 years. They must recognise her failure to re-introduce grammar schools, her failure to find a sustainable solution to our social care crisis, her continual support of nanny-statist policies, and her support for continuous money for the NHS. I do struggle to find any positives from her premiership. The one vivid in my mind, however, is her robust response to the Novichok poisoning in Salisbury. This was a moment where she truly looked statesmanlike, but that did not last long.</div>
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But that is the past. We now must look to the future and grasp the opportunities we now have in front of us. I was very close to leaving the Conservative Party, and very close to believing that the Party had been irrevocably damaged that it could not come back. But it will. And it must.</div>
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We need a leader who will stand up for liberty, and free trade. Someone who believes in a meritocracy and equality of opportunity. One who will fight Marxism not with Blair-lite, but with true conservative principles. Most importantly, one that will honour the instruction of the 17.4 million people who casted their vote in favour of this great country leaving the European Union.</div>
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The candidates have not all announced for the leadership, but when they do I will make my decision officially on who to campaign and vote for. Those principles above are which I will hold them to. This country is amazing and it can do so much better than this managerial style of politics. We need a fresh Cabinet and a fresh Party to reconnect with the ordinary voter. I truly hope that we find a candidate that will do so in the weeks ahead.</div>
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I will finish by responding to the Prime Minister's comments about compromise. I did at first think she was talking about Sir Nicholas Winterton, and not Sir Nicholas Winton, who was my grandmother's late MP and friend. But her comments reminded myself of this quote from Lady Thatcher:</div>
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<i>"If you look at the great philosophies and ideas that have moved the world; if you look at the great religions... do you think you would have ever had those great guidelines had people gone out and said, "Brothers, I believe in consensus!" Of course you wouldn't. You would have had nothing great, nothing of value." </i></div>
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Link to my letter to the Prime Minister after her speech on Tuesday 22nd: https://twitter.com/realThomasMoss2/status/1131313149846728704/</div>
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Tom Mosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06892716376032940355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7538548176248333269.post-61831189835087591242019-05-10T11:16:00.001-07:002019-05-10T11:16:40.415-07:00As a loyal Conservative, I'll be voting Brexit Party<div style="text-align: center;">
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The Conservative Party has failed us. Since the referendum, they have promised consistently to deliver on the referendum mandate, including a general election. We had the abomination of Chequers, we had the discredited Withdrawal Agreement, and now we have talks with the neo-Marxists of the Labour Party to cobble together a BRINO, with a customs union and alignment to the internal market. Every, and I mean every, promise from the Prime Minister and her top team has been broken.</div>
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Since the 2017 election, I have called for Mrs. May to resign, or be sacked. I heard recently that she wants to remain in power longer than Gordon Brown. The truth probably that she wants to remain in power so that she is remembered to be as terrible as Lord North.</div>
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It is a shock, as a decently loyal Conservative Party Member, to be contemplating voting against my own Party. I believe in the Party. However, it is a disgrace at the moment, and I have wrote to my local Association telling them that I will not campaign for them until Mrs. May has gone. My patience is starting to run thin and if she has not gone soon, I would not rule out leaving for good. </div>
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The Conservative Party was the party of Thatcher and Churchill. The Party of meritocracy, equality of opportunity, a property owning democracy, having a stake in your work, lower taxes and most importantly, individual freedom and liberty. We have abandoned most of these, but it is not too late to change.</div>
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With the political picture in front of myself, my allegiance has gone on the 23rd May. I will be proudly walking to my local Community Centre, and putting a cross with my stubby pencil, for Nigel Farage, and the Brexit Party.</div>
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They are the only Party in this election who are standing up for the 52% of this country who want to leave the European Union. They believed in a deal - so did I - but I now favour an exit unto World Trade Organisation rules. There is no other way, and I will not contemplate supporting Mrs. May's surrender treaty, so this is the only way out of the lock jam. A No Deal exit is needed.</div>
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If you are a Brexiteer. If you are a Remainer, who respects democracy. If you are someone who did not vote. Take your opportunity to vote. Take your opportunity to show the established order how angry you are at their betrayal. Take your opportunity to vote for a decent candidate. Take your opportunity and vote for the Brexit Party.</div>
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Tom Mosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06892716376032940355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7538548176248333269.post-74265974315070766212019-03-27T12:46:00.000-07:002019-03-27T12:46:39.768-07:00The Establishment have won<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw7ntND5LatGLLac3vUL5f2hn07HMhUXGUbcMTfsqUpVS2I2kwBEXOmO8cOfeOsOEBZxOkl-pzHdSzcEeaiAM9QbDlmlo0wZqhcQLVJLeKcxOjmgR6VuGhiM6ktEwPLCayIqkcbG86G9E/s1600/pro-brexit-protest-2500x1667.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1068" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw7ntND5LatGLLac3vUL5f2hn07HMhUXGUbcMTfsqUpVS2I2kwBEXOmO8cOfeOsOEBZxOkl-pzHdSzcEeaiAM9QbDlmlo0wZqhcQLVJLeKcxOjmgR6VuGhiM6ktEwPLCayIqkcbG86G9E/s320/pro-brexit-protest-2500x1667.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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We are at a terrible position. Brexiteers are staring down the barrel of the gun of a terrible, capitulation as the former Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson, said that we are 'surrendering control to the EU', or No Brexit. No Deal is a legal option, of course, but it will not happen as Sir Oliver Letwin et al with their leader-in-chief John Bercow, will stop it legally.</div>
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From Iain Duncan Smith, to Jacob Rees-Mogg and to Boris Johnson, Conservative MPs are switching to support this capitulation. This is mainly due to Mrs. May resigning when we legally leave at the end of May, if it is passed. We must understand how this started.</div>
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Firstly, do not forget Mrs. May is a Remainer. All five leadership contenders from 2016 support the Withdrawal Agreement. Everything went downhill from Lancaster House. We had Florence, which basically was a load of opt-ins, Mansion House, which became even weaker, then Chequers, and now the Deal. Plus we had a General Election, which should have been her downfall.</div>
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I have respect for Brexiteers, whom on principle, vote for and against this new treaty. But, those who vote in favour, are wrong. To be clear, remaining is better. We are moving from one treaty to another, and the new one is worse. Gavin Barwell thought if he gave Brexiteers control over immigration, we would leap at the chance as he thinks we are all bigots, and racists. He was wrong. However, Brexiteers who say they will continue to oppose this treaty, I will thank them. They stayed until the end.</div>
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I have to say, with regret, this new treaty will pass. A decent bulk of Labour including the highly respectable Caroline Flint, will support this, and it will be over. I will be disappointed and disappointed wholly in our political class, who have done whatever they can to give us a proper Brexit - but - the Future Relationship is still in to play for. Mark Sedwill, Mrs. May and Olly Robbins all need sacking and we should have a better negotiating team, and actually a leader. I wish for Dominic Raab, and I hope he will stand. </div>
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The establishment has won the battle, and probably the war. The Brexiteers can win a small victory if we achieve a Brexit-supporting, freedom-loving leader for the future, but in the end, the Conservative Party will be dead to the country, and the emergence of a new political party is needed more than ever before.</div>
Tom Mosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06892716376032940355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7538548176248333269.post-82541859609558112652019-03-23T16:14:00.002-07:002019-03-23T16:16:19.699-07:00Mrs. May must go now<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq-9a5hyphenhyphencLfYtyD1FflJPTmANATLbQQi6g7uJKiS3hpE_0ojfdRHQVfbVkL4jXh0lhOP8sZEkAQZMSpezOVW88HU7UlY1psshxsj1CHd-HMrAYIekeZqeTqyrzACKtocFW_G0V2oMlaV8/s1600/cabinet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="997" data-original-width="1600" height="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq-9a5hyphenhyphencLfYtyD1FflJPTmANATLbQQi6g7uJKiS3hpE_0ojfdRHQVfbVkL4jXh0lhOP8sZEkAQZMSpezOVW88HU7UlY1psshxsj1CHd-HMrAYIekeZqeTqyrzACKtocFW_G0V2oMlaV8/s320/cabinet.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Vividly, I remember when Grant Shapps called for Mrs. May to resign in late 2017 and it was widely derided by the whole Conservative Party - including Brexiteers - and I was one of the few on the side of Mr. Shapps. I love to say 'I told you say so', but this time, it is not so sweet.</div>
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The Prime Minister was a Remainer. Despite the rumours that she may take an active role in the Leave campaign, she didn't, and was a silent assassin so she could gain the keys to No. 10. She had promise, but she should have resigned after the 2017 GE. I have to say, Mrs. May is not my type of politician, socially or economically, and I did not support her, but I tried my level best. Since the election, it has gone downhill. First being the Joint Report, then Chequers, then the discredited and abominable Withdrawal Agreement. Cabinet should not fulfil its duty and tell her the game is up, and Mr. May should replicate the attitudes of Denis Thatcher. She must go now. </div>
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According to journalists Sam Coates and Tim Shipman, the three candidates are her former enemy, Michael Gove, her de-facto Deputy, David Lidington, and her loyal Foreign Secretary, Jeremy Hunt. Since the Brexit campaign and before, Michael was who I wanted for PM. But not now. I would not be shocked if he agreed to a so-called 'Norway Plus' Brexit, and the other two would be equally worse. Do not be deceived that Jeremy Hunt went on GMB after we voted to Leave, saying we must remain the Single Market. I will not even talk about David Lidington, who is on par with Ken Clarke on his Euroscepticism. </div>
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We do need a leader, and a new PM, that is a fact. It must be fast. It must start by Cabinet fulfilling its duty. I am throwing my hat in the ring in support of the principled, authentic, former lawyer, Dominic Raab. </div>
Tom Mosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06892716376032940355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7538548176248333269.post-43468685386160133812019-03-17T14:01:00.002-07:002019-03-17T14:01:22.302-07:00Meaningful Vote 3: Opinion<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGUUdFxunTmk-73l6qdyK6M9gMC5OmbIWK5_fOsA8sOIoKCz9mrngQROE1xsV0SMbfYqg-tArUfpV6ntp1DEY2pKWfKxtBrUV6JaT1q8310I0Ixy09k3xuDEYEqEdcOSfmMZqU_k6RCh8/s1600/685914105.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGUUdFxunTmk-73l6qdyK6M9gMC5OmbIWK5_fOsA8sOIoKCz9mrngQROE1xsV0SMbfYqg-tArUfpV6ntp1DEY2pKWfKxtBrUV6JaT1q8310I0Ixy09k3xuDEYEqEdcOSfmMZqU_k6RCh8/s320/685914105.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I have wavered
over the last few weeks deciding to back the Deal to get us over the line and
to leave the EU this year, partly due to public sentiment. I then thought the
general public will take a very dismal view if in 5 years’ time we are stuck
inside the Northern Ireland Protocol without any meaningful way out or a way a
sovereign, British Parliament could extricate us out. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The deal is
terrible. Let’s not make any bones about it. Article 6 states that we will
still be bound by EU law only, including procurement, data, EU’s ETF and many
more including VAT and importantly the ‘arbitration mechanism’ that Mrs. May
achieved. The European Court of Justice is still our highest court by degree,
and disputes will be adjudicated as such, and full jurisdiction will continue
for at least 10 more years. We are tied to EU foreign policy. There is a ‘Joint
Committee’, which is fancy wording for unelected civil servants and bureaucrats
making laws, without accountability. These alone are enough to make it a bad deal,
and this is not including the Northern Ireland Protocol.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I cannot in
good faith support this Withdrawal Agreement, and I therefore urge MPs to stand
firm and vote down this Agreement. The legal default is still we leave in 12
days’ time, and do not bet on the EU automatically accepting a short delay,
with no concessions from us. Many Brexiteers have decided to back this deal
because they believe the alternative is worse, e.g. EEA+CU membership. But we
can get out of that easily, and with a Brexiteer PM in future, we could leave
it as a sovereign Parliament. This is not the end game for Brexit. However, I
cannot support an Agreement that undermines democracy, sovereignty, and the
mandate from the British electorate. We must stand firm in the face of it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Tom Mosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06892716376032940355noreply@blogger.com0