Just spotted this little video on
TB wasn't going to blog about Jade Goody but there is one point that has stuck out in his mind ever since Gordon "the era of celebrity is over" Brown took time out of saving the world and offered his two cents. Goody didn't have such friends in high places when she was a national hate figure after her racist outbursts and the general embarrassment that was that series of Big Brother. TB was never a fan of Goody but he wouldn't wish such a vile and cruel punishment on anyone.
What really angered him though was Gordon's statement that "the whole country has admired her determination to provide a bright future for her children." Yes we do, and yes that is the basic driving force for most of humanity, and yes Gordon you are a hypocrite. No Prime Minister or Chancellor has done more to wound the chances of being able to do this more so than Gordon. 45% rates of tax, lampooning of bankers or anyone else with a vague capitalistic streak and stealing 40% of people property when they are powerless to stop it - when they are dead.
Gordon jumped on the band wagon but should take a long hard look in the mirror. The left have always hated the family, just as they hate any barrier that comes between the state and the individual, and yet he has the audacity to state that we should be proud of Goody's inherent capitalist streak and and shameless desire to leave her children something behind. Why is Goody allowed to do this and the rest of us are not?
Instead of two bit statements and faux grief in order to win some headlines, actions speak louder than words Mr Brown.
What has really surprised TB about the Liberal Youth elections is just what a bunch of illiberal spinners they really are. It has been noted elsewhere that the Returning Officer has specifically banned the publication of an article that criticises the candidates from being included in an online Liberal Youth membership magazine. You can read the article below:
In yet another high profile result for Richard Jackson and the
In the last few days the new
Just incase you fancied a cheeky one while having your passport photos taken:
This little bit of intrigue just pinged into TB's inbox:
Dear Tory Bear,
I’m the creator of the Liberal Youth Downfall video. I’m writing this because of the way that Bagshaw and her lackeys are trying to make Sara take the rap for all the leaks, and are trying to spin the idea that she was the only person to blame for the video, and everything else; even trying to chuck her off the exec before she resigned.
This is straight out of laa-laa fantasy land, and tries to make out that everyone in Liberal Youth is whiter-than-white, and if only Sara hadn’t come along and spoiled it for everyone else. The truth is that half the members and activists and exec are up to their necks in this, and we’re all leaking like the Titanic. Sara may be mentally unbalanced, like Elaine says, but she had nothing to do with the video.
I figure Sara probably did leak her resignation email to you. But as for the other stuff, it’s not like only a select few people know. Half of LY knows all this. Hell, half the bloody party know this stuff. The reason the Downfall video’s been so damaging is that every line is based on some fact – like someone said on the public LY forums, “The worst thing about that video is how stunningly accurate it all is.”
And no, of course I didn’t mean the ‘libellous’ line about Elaine and Clegg literally. Of course that never happened, and I withdraw any suggestion it did. IT WAS A METAPHOR!!! But fuck it, she might as well have been giving him head, since it seems to sum up her toadying, sycophantic attitude towards him. Look at the whole way she’s handled the fees thing (see the video).
LY trying to track me down with an ‘investigation’ is hilarious. They can’t work out simple things like:
If they need things like that spelt out, then good luck to ‘em! Hell, even though I hadn't leaked anything before, I was going to leak Sara’s Saturday night message myself, and was beaten to it by Tory Bear publishing it before I’d even emailed it to him. That gives you an idea of the kind of dynamic we have in LY at the moment.
Oh, and thanks for posting the edited version of the Downfall video – I was about to do that myself!
I've enclosed a picture you can add to your website - enjoy.
I’m close to Elaine. Much closer than she thinks. And I’m keeping my eye on Sara too.
This election’s not over yet.
Vforvendetta256
Oh to be a fly on the wall in the Bagshaw camp today. Can't imagine
Nick Clegg is getting his morning update from his Liberal Youth monitor, but what's the news?
If you haven't already got involved with
Continuing with the current series of guest posts Reeves Eggton, from Skegness Conservative Future tells us why computers will never win an election:
Few will have failed to notice the tragic rehabilitation of former Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott from seasoned campaigner into Internet whiz kid. There is something fundamentally disturbing about the self-styled ‘working class and proud’ veteran swapping his roots for wires to take the political battle from the walkways to the web.
Already, in the information age political organisations have in many cases wisely made use of social networking applications to get the Party message across to the public and more importantly, younger voters. But the launch of Prezza 2.0 reveals the unhealthy obsession with Compolitics (computer-politics) whereby the doorstep is switched for they keyboard with little consideration for the long-term impact on prospective voters.
When comparing the time it takes to canvass a street to the time it takes to message the exact same number of people over Facebook, it’s easy to see why Compolitics is capturing the agenda for many seasoned campaigners. Thanks to Labour, money is tight, taxes are high and crime is soaring, voters need support and dialogue on the doorstep - and they need it now.
Organisations like Conservative Future avoid providing Second Life avatars for the campaign trail and instead concentrate on providing real activists in real areas of need. By supporting critical campaigns with hardworking volunteers, the team has already made a huge impact on marginal seats across the
Make no mistake, Compolitics is without doubt an essential tool in any campaign, but it must never be a substitute for activism on the ground. With Labour support crumbling and once loyal activists de-motivated and feeling let down, this is the moment for Conservative Future activists to steal the show.
With an election just around the corner, don’t be fooled by Labour’s desperate attempts to dominate the Internet with online gimmicks. Simply peel back the 2.0 gloss and you’ll see a tired organisation desperate for innovation, but stuck with Gordon Brown.
With the public seeking real change, it’s essential that Conservative Future demonstrates that its activists are committed & dedicated as well as Internet savvy.
Only by convincing voters we are ready for Government both online and in the real world will we seriously be considered to run the country once again.
On that note, to avoid hypocrisy, I’d better get out there now!
In case you were interested in the formalities of Owen Meredith's resignation from the Conservative Future Executive:
Dear CF Members,
I have today written to Michael Rock as Chairman of Conservative Future to tender my resignation from the National Management Executive.
A year after taking office in March 2008, I have reached the end of my elected term, and believe now is the right time to step down.
In leaving the NME today, I want to make clear that I am not leaving CF or retiring to the shadows. I am 100% committed to supporting CF and helping the continued growth and success of the organisation.
I would like to thank CF members for their support and encouragement over the past year. There have been many challenges and difficult decisions, but I have enjoyed my time on the NME immensely and encourage CF members to get involved and stay involved. CF can and indeed must keep going from strength-to-strength, and I look forward to it playing a vital role in removing this disastrous Labour Government from office whenever the General Election is called.
Kindest Regards,
Owen Meredith
This just pinged up in TB's Google reader:
"FROM ROBBIE GIBB, EDITOR OF THE DAILY POLITICS:
They have had a go at each other online and now two rival bloggers will face each other for the first time in the Daily Politics studio.
The Battle of the Blogs will see
And we want your help - what questions would you like us to answer this pair?
Draper threatened to sue after his professional qualifications were called into question by his online rival. And the Labour man has accused Guido of peddling racism and sexism, something that Guido - who rarely appears as himself with his real name - vehemently denied.
We will have the pair in our studio, with
Tory Bear has a hectic week so he will be throwing in the odd guest post over the next few days. Daniel O'Doherty is the Chairman of Birmingham University CF and talks here about how to regenerate a branch and build better communications with student unions. Always somewhere to cause some amusing mischief...
First of all may I say what a delight and privilege it is to have been invited by TB to write for this fantastic blog. The topic I have been asked to speak on is one that is never far away from a young Conservatives thought: student politics. When I took over as President of Birmingham University Conservative Future our relations with our Guild and the conservative associations in our local area were close to collapse after a series of mistakes and bad fortune. Within just 2 days of taking over I was told we were facing derecognising from the Guild and to add to our woes the incoming committee found that our membership was largely demoralised and inactive which made our task to fight back against this derecognition all the more difficult.
Faced with the prospect of our humiliating forced removal from the Guild I had to take the immediate decision to ‘jump before pushed’ in order to save what remained of the society’s face. I therefore held a referendum of our members which voted for severing all ties with the Guild. However over the summer period I had time and course to reflect on this decision. Having thought long and hard I realised that despite my own distaste for guild/student politics, which incidentally I see as one Scargill short of the NUM, the long term interests of the society would not be advanced by derecognition or distancing from the guild… as much as we might have liked to believe otherwise.
I wholeheartedly sympathise with our young conservative counterparts across the country who are facing similar dilemmas within their own student’s unions and suffer from similar temptations to ‘cut and run’. As most of us will agree these places are more often than not bastions of self seeking, self righteous individuals who use their morally superior twoddle to devalue and demoralise us conservatives. They seem at times to have little if any grasp of the real world and instead prefer to shield themselves between the sheets of their Guardian newspapers. Therefore a conservative would naturally be inclined to ask; why should we want to be part of such a grouping? The truth is we have to be a part of it.
In order to reassert BUCF’s rightful place in the Guild I had to take some often unpleasant and unpopular actions which required a large degree of humility and yes, tongue biting. By far the hardest was having to address Guild Council against a pretty damn hostile backdrop however their anger and hostility toward me only made me more resolute and forceful, yet at the same time humble and reconciliatory, in my arguments. In the end it worked in our favour and we survived our derecognition procedure with a margin of 69% - 30% with 1% abstention.
From then on, our position within the Guild has been strengthened and secured. We created the new role of ‘Guild officer’ on our committee to emphasise our commitment to student politics and I am delighted to announce that one of our members has stood for Guild Council in the Guild Elections that have been taking place all this week. The results are due soon and with a bit of luck we could have our first elected Conservative on Guild Council in a number of years. This marks a massive turn around in our fortunes from last year. The fundamental point of all this is that assuming Timm is elected, the Conservatives could have a real chance to influence change on our Guild that would never have been possible in ‘political exile’.
The second pillar of our move toward reform has been in our local area. Leading figures of the Conservative party in our local area, Edgbaston, have told me over the years how frustrated they have been at some committee’s attitude toward the local area and associations. It was the belief of some BUCF committees that we, as students, had no place getting involved in local politics and our role must be confined to the student body. Utter tosh. Every Conservative Future society has a vital role to play in the future of the part as a whole and this has always been a potent part of my wider agenda for the society. This ‘us’ and ‘them’ mentality which I know is practised by many in CF must end. We are all in this for the same purpose and we must remember that.
In this light, having previously had a good personal relationship with members of Edgbaston Conservative Association which incidentally is a crucial swing seat, I made it my mission to reaffirm our links with them and attend more of their socials/campaign days with our members. After a slow start our effort was rewarded when we were enshrined on their committee in a permanent role with voting rights on matters affecting the Edgbaston constituency and association. Furthermore our members now take regular and active involvement of our local associations much to their delight.
All of these reforms which have not always been easy have ensured BUCF remains in a strong position in both our local area and on our campus. It has not always been easy and as ever there is a hell of a lot more to do. However the reforms we have pushed through, which at times have gone against our natural instincts, have ensured the society’s longevity. We have made it our mission to strike that most careful and crucial of balances by remembering that we are both a Conservative and student society. For too long have the two been seen as separate even conflicting entities. The truth is we can achieve more from within than on the periphery.
Instead of retreating from our unions or our local areas or believing we have to prioritise one over the other as we have been so tempted to do in the past, we must embrace both and where we face opposition we must, in the words of Mrs Thatcher, “win the battle of ideas”. Embrace your union, engage with your local area and energise your members with a string of political and, most crucially, social events in tune with the student body. That is how to make a strong society worthy of the Conservative cause.
Posts
All Comments
