Malcolm Robinson

Thought some readers might like to consider this missive which is being sent to parliamentary candidates from the Robin Hood Tax initiative: Dear 2010 election candidate / Party Leader As the election nears I am considering my voting intentions, my challenge to you is this: As the big banks return to profit, and you look at how to tax them, I would urge you to put the needs of the poorest people at the front of your mind. The banking crisis hit the poorest people in the UK hard. Jobs and homes are being lost, while crucial services are at risk. In the UK 1.7 million children live in severe poverty while 8.8 million children die because of it around the world every year. And the chance of finding enough money to fight climate change is disappearing fast. Can this continue? Not on our watch! These shocking figures need bold solutions and we're challenging you, the British leaders, to share our vision. Hundreds of thousands of people across the UK and me are calling for a Robin Hood Tax on banks. We're not just talking about insuring the banks against a future crisis - lets impose a bank tax that will insure the future for humanity. Size matters, any tax on the banks has to raise tens of billions of pounds in the UK to tackle poverty at home, and must raise hundreds of billions globally to end global poverty and tackle climate change. We're challenging you to not only believe in our vision - we're challenging you to be ambitious with yours. When you tax the banks keep your hands in your pockets, remember the world's poor are counting on you and think BIG.

It seems a strange state of affairs when on the one hand we sign up to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and on the other renew our own capability? We seem to be putting as much money into killing people as we do into saving lives. Personally I would rather the latter took precedence.

Stephen, I agree Greece has to shoulder a lot of blame for its predicament and seeing the past government trying to blame the current one for all their woes is hypocrisy on a staggering scale. However, they did hand control of their currency over to the ECB who said they were competent enough to handle it. What we have seen is complete incompetence at ECB level to charge Greece with getting its house in order years ago. This is the problem now, it's not the speculators, who governments are trying to blame, it's the lack of policy by the ECB which has made a difficult situation dire. This is a wildfire and none knows where it will go of if it will stop. Trichet trying to woo German voters in an attempt to gain Merkel some political credence for her immanent elections is a step too far. The Dutch have said they won't pay up and why should they because like German workers the Greek pensions are seen as flights of fantasy! Most of the 'Northern' members of EMU have said the same and for this bale out to work each country has to ratify any aid in their own national parliaments. All the while this prevarication is going on Greece is getting into a deeper and deeper mess. They are now issuing IOU's to private sector providers to the public sector! They need the IMF to go in unilaterally with deep enough pockets to get Greece back into positive trading terms, probably 5 years at least. Either that or Greece should take charge of her own affairs and take some very bold decisions.

With the latest downgrading of Greek bonds and their ban on shorting financials it looks like the futility of the ECB/IMF rescue plan is becoming apparent. It would seem Greece is about to bear the brunt of the abject failure of the political class to do anything constructive in sorting out the fiscal problems this country has and looking at Portugal's downgrading contagion is starting. Let us not forget just why this has become such a problem. Had the politicians grasped the full extent of what was going to happen then maybe a real deal could have been done to negate the full effects Greece will now have to face. Even at the eleventh hour the latest 'rescue plan' is unworkable and doesn't provide the quick, reactive and decisive measures needed to really help Greece. I think there is a very salient lesson in there for us! Greece is about to pay for the folly of allowing the Eurocrats too much self induced importance. Spain, Italy, Portugal, Ireland, take a pin and see which one will be next to be targeted for having unrealistic fiscal policies. That same pin might just land a bit closer to home of course..........

They just look cuddly fluffy things, in reality..........

Yep and the EMU is going to do the same with Greece as it did with Rod, throw them off the roof!

This is as clear as mud! Various forms of proportional representation exist, such as party-list proportional representation, where the groups correspond directly with candidate lists as usually given by political parties. Within this form a further distinction can be made depending on whether or not a voter can influence the election of candidates within a party list (open list and closed list respectively). Another kind of electoral system covered with the term proportional representation is the single transferable vote (STV), which, in turn, does not depend on the existence of political parties (and where the above-mentioned "measure of grouping" is entirely left up to the voters themselves). Elections for the Australian Senate use what is referred to as above-the-line voting where candidates belonging to registered political parties are grouped together on the ballot paper with the voter provided with the option of "group voting" a semi-open party list/individual candidate system. There are also electoral systems, single non-transferable vote (SNTV) and cumulative voting, all of which offer a variant form of proportional representation.

Clever ad ....

I have a question which given the election is all about the economy would seem valid. How much off balance sheet liabilities do we hold and why aren't these classed as public debt in the normal way? If we think about all the times lately we have heard of stuff going off balance sheet, the amounts must be staggering. The interest payments will be staggering never mind the principle debt and all of it unaccounted publicly! If we now have a nominal national debt of around £1.4T adding this stuff into the mix will quadruple that figure!

I don't understand any of the proposed PR changes!!!! I don't understand the machinations or the consequences. Can anyone explain it?????????????

Interesting day unfolding today. Greece seems to be getting penalised again for the dithering of the rest of the EMU members. Merkel is on the campaign trail saying they haven't agreed to a Greek bale-out. Portuguese credit default swaps are attracting attention which could well mean they are the next Club Med country to be tested by the markets.

A little girl asked her father, 'do all fairy tales begin with "Once upon a time"? The father replied, 'No, some begin with - If I am elected.' It's tough being a politician. Half your reputation is ruined by lies the other half is ruined by the truth! 'Poli' in Latin meaning 'many' and 'tics' meaning 'bloodsucking creatures'. Political cunning should never be mistaken for intelligence. During Britain's "brain drain," not a single politician left the country. Crime is merely politics without the excuses. Activity is the politician's substitute for achievement. Why is it that political leaders don't seem to have all the answers until they write their memoirs? The trouble with political jokes is they get elected. The government claims it's following the will of the people. I didn't even know we'd died! Make your M.P. work - don't re-elect him. If voting changed anything, they'd make it illegal. A politician is a man who stands for what he thinks the voters will fall for. A politician has to be able to see both sides of an issue, so he can get around it.

I can see plenty of places where threats can and do come from its just I don't see any of the nuclear capability countries as being included which would seem to make the whole argument, if you let one off so will we, redundant. I wonder how soundly people who live in non nuclear armed counties sleep at night, probably better for not being a primary target! As for stopping the military adventures, yes we should. I also think that in present circumstances we should stop this increase in foreign aid promised and put that £4B into paying some debt off.

Total lack of imagination in leveraging this sovereign state thing for all it is worth I say! I agree and I think they could cut a pretty decent, for Greece, deal with the ECB for withdrawing from the euro saying they are protecting the currency. At least an agreed default on EU owned debts. Course you need some politicians with marackers for that! They can't blame the previous government, that lot are blaming the current one?????? They could easily make Greece the holiday destination in the Med and that would bring in foreign currency. They must have the longest coastline of any Mediterranean country? As it (tourism) makes up about 20% of their economy anyway it could easily be expanded and that would mean some building jobs, airport jobs, road and rail jobs, hotel jobs, etc etc..........

Last week saw the Greek PM give what on the face of it looked a dignified speech laying out why they have now delegated fiscal control of their economy over to the IMF/ECB. There is one significant line in his speech which bears closer thinking about where he said Greece would now have to take "a partial surrender of sovereignty”. This is a realistic assessment as to what happens next and one we should take note of if we ever attempt to go down this road again! This whole Greek tragedy, or at least the EMU member's response, has been brought about because of a lack of political union at the inception of the Euro and a cross EMU coordinated fiscal policy. The great Eurocrats who dreamt up this scheme pointed to economic convergence as a beneficial result whilst in fact we have seen economic divergence, something none of them anticipated or planned for. IMF intervention was intended for countries with balance of payments difficulties, what we see now is IMF intervention primarily because of fiscal deficit. This has changed to role the IMF was supposed to play and makes it into a global deficit policeman. No wonder the politicians at the last G20 summit agreed to raise their IMF funding requirements! This does now beg the question, if the IMF goes in and offer borrowing facilities to say, Greece, and then Greece defaults on payments who holds the liability? If that did happen would it show up on national balance sheets, i.e. ours as we are a member of the IMF. Another consideration and one I have mentioned before is what is the make up of this much heralded IMF/ECB 'panel'? The IMF always takes the lead in countries where it becomes involved as a matter of course having to deal with the ECB and the European Commission in this case further complicates the matter and I cannot see either side allowing the other to rule the roost! Watch out for any reference from now on to the President of the IMF, Mr. Strauss-Kahn, who is tipped to have political ambitions in France. More meddling to come no doubt! Going forward the future looks bleak for Greece because to get the Germans onside, the main contributor to ECB funding aid, a very strict austerity programme will have to be introduced, way over what the Greek politicians have already agreed to. In fact to get this aid package passed the German constitutional court they may have to argue that they are making investments into Greece as their gilts attract a lower rate than even the proposed 5% this package allows for. How they can argue the validity of that when they have laws forbidding them from offering credit to anywhere at less than market rates, currently around 9% for Greece, is anyone's guess but I would expect to see Merkel damaged in the impending German elections because of this. If the Germans do get their way and impose too severe an austerity programme on Greece the likelihood of turning recession into depression is a very real threat. Greece has to be able to rebuild her economy and trade her way out of her difficulties and to do this she will probably have to default on her loans at some point.

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Sizsells, One of the prime responsibilities of any national government is the protection of its peoples and realms. How that is achieved, in a nuclear age, has historically been to say we have the means to obliterate you if you launch against us and so cancel the threat. That has served us well enough during the 'Cold War' period but the landscape has changed of late and we have to respond to current possible threats not historical ones. We also have to realise our country is now relegated to being just a bit part player in the global game. For these reasons I think we could save the cost of modernising our nuclear arsenal. It has probably more to do with where we sit when the UN Security Council meets, as we try to cling to past glories! GGG makes a historically reactive case and while that has probably been the correct course of action in the past I think we could possibly get the same level of 'insurance cover' through negotiated treaties these days. If we take the protection afforded by these weapons to counter the threat by another power with the same weapons then who are we talking about? USA, Russia, China and France. The countries developing this type of capability might be more worthy of consideration, India, Pakistan and North Korea, but we should let the big boys handle them. One box of frogs in the mix, Israel, but they have never admitted possessing these weapons. South Africa had them then dismantled them before signing the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty.

I think we are about at the end of traditional 'party politics' for many reasons.

http://www.newspostleader.co.uk/latest/Chance-to-meet-parliamentary-candidates.6236516.jp

GGGG, I have been thinking about going to this hustings debate but then what can we ask? Can we really ask the main candidates about their national manifestos especially complex questions about economic differentials? How are the other candidates supposed to answer or do we have to set them other questions, which as far as I am concerned is treating them with less respect? Maybe we should agree a set of questions from Bedlington.co.uk?

I think there is a choice coming through now but we really have to look close and make some pretty prophetic projections given that none of the main parties are willing to put their REAL manifestos out before us for consideration. It is no accident the economy is playing a large part in this election so I guess we should stick with that. Basically the country is bankrupt and we have been paying the mortgage with our credit card for some time. It is obvious that has to stop and what we are really talking about is the method of withdrawal and getting that repayment into proper terms. Labour's reticence to get to grips with this problem can be seen as a failure of government, because quite simply they are the government of the day. This is notwithstanding the fact that they are in the main responsible for the problem in the first place! The only possible way I can see their plan working, well the bits they have talked about anyway, is if we have rampant inflation. We are holding enough debt paper to choke a horse but inflation will erode its value over time. At first glance that might seem a pretty painless way of tackling the debt problem we have but it also makes the rest of our monies worthless and we will end up paying a tenner for a loaf of bread. This inflation route is the only way I can see why Darling Brown are so smug and complacent when talking about the economy. Looking closer to home Northumberland has 48% of jobs in the public sector, now that might be payback for the solid Labour vote election after election, but is doesn't bode well for any cutback in that sector. Even Brown saying he will move jobs out of London and relocate them up here probably won't replace what is about to be lost. The Conservatives want to look tough and realise there is a massive hole to fill but as GGG says publishing the necessary cuts will be electoral suicide. (If only one party does it!) They are talking about the need for cutbacks but won't say exactly what that really means. In fact their 20%/80% strategy will see 80% of any money needed to rebalance our budget coming from public sector cuts and given the previous statement about our local labour market make up that should be worrying for us. I think this above all else will probably keep Labour seats safe in this neck of the woods. The Lib Dems,,,,, well Stephen might be better placed to say what their take is on future changes needed to our economy because as soon as I get a handle on what they come out with they then almost rescind it. They could be the biggest 'cutters' of all and there is an analogy if we look at the way the Lib Dems have ran NCC since taking control. Their dynamic duo of Clegg/Cable looks the least compatible offering for governance given that they don't seem to understand what each is saying at times. Some of their economic strategies are into the realms of fantasy but then long shots can often do that and get away with it. We also have to consider the other smaller parties as I think there is still huge public underlying resentment at sitting MPs and the way their expenses scandal unfolded. I wouldn't be surprised if we saw some big names loose their seats and this time there isn't a nice job at Hong Kong waiting! Of course this is a look at the national stage, what we will do is elect one very, very, very small part of that, even if by some coincidence the MP we elect is in the ruling administration the odds are he won't be playing any major role in government.

Yesterday saw Greek politicians shred the last vestiges of self respect as they threw their country onto the mercy of the ECB/IMF. While I do agree this is probably what is needed, if they really want to maintain their membership of EMU, the way this has unfolded leaves no one in any doubt as to the competence of the Greek leadership, not only the present ones as we could go back decades and see the same so endemic corruption and incompetence do have consequences! We will probably see more unrest on the streets as people who have been mollycoddled into expecting the state to provide suddenly have a new set of circumstances imposed upon them. Looking at the quality of leadership apparent within the ECB I do have reservations for Greece going forward, and they are over and above the ones I have about her people accepting the need for austerity and realignment. With at least half a million public sector jobs on the line, tax evasion on a massive scale, black market labour and far too generous pension terms the Greek people are in for a shock to their system! The figures talked about for primary aid seem to be in the region of 40B Euros, I would assess a more realistic figure of between 120B-150B over the next 3 years! I think this scenario is what Ken Clark was alluding to in his 'hung Parliament' outburst. Weak political leadership at a time of national crisis actually makes the situation a lot worse not better. Speaking of Clarkie, and I have to hold my hand up here as he is one politician I usually do think worth listening to, his other utterances are worth mentioning. "The most urgent question in this campaign is, quite simply, which party is capable of tackling public spending and getting a grip on the deficit.” Lets not forget this is one politician who has actually been there, done that, got the t-shirt, having been Chancellor during our own austerity period in the early 90's and put in place a plan which led to an economically successful recovery for the UK. OK not on the present size but still......... However we do have to be aware that it was primarily his policies towards the EU and EMU which could be argued got us into the problems in the first place! He has also failed to get his own party to disclose just what they intend doing to tackle the fiscal burden we all face, the same could be said for Vince Cable, another generally respected politician. The Clegg idea of an economic council combining politicians from all sides as well as the head of the FSA and the Governor of the Bank of England to deal with the deficit looks at first glance to be worthy of consideration but the lack of detail and the fact that this will only be enacted in whatever form after the election just says he is delegating and we see no real details now to make our decision on. As for Darling/Brown, well their party have been in power throughout and as such should have a carefully worked through and laid out plan now in front of everyone. The fact that they haven't speaks volumes. Without a workable plan to reduce our deficit anything else which should be considered by government will never even get off the drawing board much less enacted. If we accept the need for a squeeze on the public sector we have to ask how that will be done and what size will it be. We also need to ask if these overtly optimistic growth figures built into the UK economy moving forward are not achieved what is the fall back position? We seem to have all the major parties fighting for the same small, very small, bit of grass and none are willing to be honest with us. There are some things even they cannot escape like the rise in inflation, jobs moving away from the public to the private sector and the debt burden we are carrying. A good start to the next debate would be some honest answers on them.

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Last time someone said that............. "I am just going outside and may be some time." [L.E.G. Oates.]

Well we have just seen the latest UK GDP figures. With an initial 0.2% rise this is way short of what Government told us to expect as the 'recovery' gathers pace. In fact this isn't a recovery this is what looks like a cynical manipulation by Government to get to the election in some sort of induced mass delusion. At best we are bumping along the bottom and that's probably as good as we could expect given that there have been no real policies enacted which tackle the weak fiscal position we are in. If Government are to be believed and we will see a 3% rise year on year imagine what has to take place to make those figures facts. I really fail to see the significance of these leader debates as we do not elect them directly? We are ripping off the American version in some sort of glitzy glamming up of our democratic system. At best these debates make the leaders into sleazy PR men for their party manifestos don't they? It is surly down to the local candidates to reach their constituents and explain why we should give them our vote. Nice to see there is to be a Wansbeck debate at Ashington Leisure Centre soon where all the candidates will speak and answer questions. Lets hope we see a bit of substance rather than the usual spin!