NO HOMES TO GO TO

IF I am a little tetchy these days it is because every day brings another vile bit of policy making from the Coalition Con-Dem cabal now running the country.
Not only do they cheer on £83 billion worth of cuts which will profoundly hurt the most vulnerable, they tell lies about housing benefit.
This latest twist in the tale of total betrayal by the Liberal Democrats may well return to bite them.
Previously spineless MPs like Simon Hughes and George Russell are reeling in disbelief at the fact their True Blue leader Nick " Marlboro Man" Clegg supports chucking people out of their homes and punishing millions of people for the fact of being ill or disabled
The lies which have been told on this issue are admirably highlighted by Don Paskini and I refer you to his blog for some salient points which may come in handy as Labour gets set to fight the changes.

LOWER THAN VERMIN......

Tomorrow I am heading out on the early train from Halifax so I can join in the TUC rally against the cuts coming up on Wednesday. Around £84 billion of them so I believe.
While millions of workers face the prospect of pay cuts and redundancy, our local Liberal Democrats are fighting another battle.
On Friday, they held a public debate on the issue of AV. AV - Alternative Vote - was only months ago described as a "miserable little conpromise" by the despicable Nick Clegg. Now it is touted as the first importnat step towards a "fairer" democracy.
I was asked to fight Labour's corner at the debate and - to be honest - AV is not an issue I wouls lay m y life down for. It's not PR. It gives no greater voice to the smaller parties. It means even more gound is likelyt o be ceded to the centre. But my word the local Lib dems were burning with righteous zeal. Extraordinary, really.
Extraordinary that a Party which has reneged on almost every election pledge, which has sold its soul to get in bed with Cameron, has backed marketisation of our universities and NHS, has sold millions of voters down the river, has the brass neck to bleat about "fairness."
At the last election AV would have delivered 20-odd more Lib dems and 20-odd less Tories. Safe Labour seats would stay Labour and most constiteuncy MPs are elected on an average 47 per cent of the vote. In short it makes naff all difference and no way Jose are the Tories going to allow a vote on PR.
Strangely, NOT ONE Liberal Democrat backed an amendment by Green MP Caroline Lucas to allow PR as an option in the forthcoming referendum. So how dare they lecture the rest of us.
Like most people on the left of centre, I am incandescent with rage at the conduct of the Lib Dems. They deserve annihilation at the next local elections. Judging at the rate at which people are coming back to Labour, they are going to get it. Deservedly so.

THE SHAME OF THE LIBERAL DEMOCRATS

On Friday night I am going to be debating the AV system with local Tory MP Craig Whitaker and local Lib Dem councillor Nader Frekri.
My guess is Calder Valley's Conservative MP Craig will be against it and our Orange Tory in favour. I haven't quite ddecided how I am going to play it. But one thing I know is this.
That if I were still a member of the Liberal Democrats after abandoning every single decent pledge made in the last election camopaign I would hang my head in shame.
The U-turn on tuition fees will be the final nail in the coffin for many voters already disgusted with the Party's binning of of everything from commitment to child benefit to scrapping Trident. in their desperation for power.

FIB DEMS DO IT AGAIN ........

It's no small wonder that many people I know refer to our political opponents as the "Fib Dems." Last night our Labour group moved a Budget which put up the precept round here by a staggering, er, 9 pence a week.
This paid for various increases to grant funding for community groups, plus an extra £10,000 for parks and public spaces. Yet even this small advance was violently OPPOSED by leading Liberal Democrats who today have the gall to pretend they were in favour of it.
I must add that after two hours of debate these two voted AGAINST the overall Budget which , strangely is praised today on our Hebweb by the Libs as being one to "ensure that Hebden Royd continues on the path to prosperity, by building and strengthening the pillars that create a great community",
Cllr John Beacroft-Mitchell leader of the Lib Dem group on council says their priority was to "keep the rise to a minimum". What he doesn't say is he spent more or less the whole evening opposing the increases for which his Party is now claiming credit and saying we were "throwing money away." The Lib Dems' original budget also proposed a £5000 cut ot the overall grants budget. Unbelievable hypocrisy......