Lee Griffin | Liberal Conspiracy

Tories have no counter-argument to immigration proposals

by Lee Griffin February 26, 2010 at 7:30 pm

Health Tourists are the latest group to come under fire in the shooting gallery that is winning the public’s hearts before the General Election. Labour have here taken a problem (foreigners coming to the UK and stealing our j…healthcare) and turned it in to a somewhat solid policy idea.

Of course solid doesn’t mean good, and I need to make sure it’s clear no-one thinks I’m even slightly in favour of these sort of right-wing populist policies rather than allowing those desperate enough to get good healthcare using our country’s system.

As with all immigration policy it is hamstrung (thankfully) by the lack of ability to wage it against the European Economic Area (EEA).

But for the purpose of the next minute or so of your attention I am not really going to argue about immigration…this is about elections, and more specifically why this story is another example of why the Tories lead is likely to be slipping.
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20 Comments ¦ 26th February

Population growth: Are you pro-cancer?

by Lee Griffin November 8, 2009 at 1:11 pm

It is documented that the human condition is generally compassionate and generous. Ask a person for their seat in a subway (where there is no predefined right to a seat) and half the time they’ll give it to you, even if you give no reason.

However put in to the mix a sense of ownership and expectation for ones own outcome and we become much more selfish. Jump the queue and expect evil stares, the odd comment, and the person you’ve cut in front of to get abusive.

This is the problem with population growth in the UK. When trying to find something to blame there really is a simple choice in front of you.

You either put your gaze on those that have just as much right to be in the position you are, or those you perceive are “jumping the queue”; this is why the stance of anti-immigration is the natural position for a population to take when faced with problems caused by population growth.
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43 Comments ¦ 8th November

Backlash to Royal Mail legal threats

by Lee Griffin October 14, 2009 at 10:04 am

Surreptitiously, and with a “not for publication” notice, the Royal Mail last week succeeded in shutting down a swathe of important community online tools

They range from helping you to find jobs like Job Centre Pro Plus to increasing democracy and political awareness like theStraightChoice with threats of legal action.

There are several posts already popping up from those directly affected, those indirectly affected, and from those supporting the idea of open source and free for not-for-profit use of the postcode “database”.

The question has to be asked, how much longer can the Royal Mail retain “ownership” over postcode information when that very information is, collectively, in the public domain?

Another site affected was PlanningAlerts.com.

They sent an email to supporters yesterday stating:

We are left with the choice of paying the Royal Mail up to £4,000 a year for access to the postcode database and either running a much less accurate and useful service or shutting PlanningAlerts down altogether. If are concerned about this, please consider doing the following:

– Write to your MP –

Tom Watson MP has tabled an Early Day Motion in Parliament calling on the Royal Mail to allow non-profit organisations to use the postcode database for free. Please write to your MP asking them to sign this Early Day Motion (number EDM 2000) and protest at the actions of The Royal Mail.

You can write to your MP here: marples.writetothem.com

They have also set up a petition which has already been signed by nearly 1,200 people.

11 Comments ¦ 14th October

Tory education policy: Set ‘em while they’re young

by Lee Griffin October 6, 2009 at 5:00 pm

Here’s my (brief) story. I’m a web developer, I dabble in new web technologies and find it all incredibly exciting. I started web development almost as soon as I first got an opportunity to go on to the internet, around 1998 and years later I took Computer Science at A-Level and university. Yet despite all of this I was never at any point sure, not even 70 or 80% let alone 100%, what it was I wanted to *be* when I “grew up.”

One of the reasons for this was the feeling that the state of this world was not one for pigeon-holing one’s self; I’d started my journey with 28.8kbps internet, AOL chat rooms and over the next 5 years was entering a world of ISDN, CSS, standards and the monopoly of internet explorer.

The fact was that the world of employment and hobby could change very quickly, for the better or for the worse. For me a broad understanding of science, mathematics, philosophy and literature would provide for my future far better than becoming an absolute expert in the one field that I had such an affinity for.

So why, in this world of changing ambitions, vast opportunities for development and greater accessibility to new careers and education, do Tories want to propose to set up highly specialised schools for kids aged 14+?
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17 Comments ¦ 6th October

BHA threaten job cuts over minimum wage requirement

by Lee Griffin September 26, 2009 at 4:00 pm

Don't tip the waiter game, box art In the hospitality industry regulation has been so relaxed that we, as customers, may have been completely overpaying for the food and drink we’re buying. Yes, that steak may appear to be only £10 on the menu; however, thanks to lack of enforcement in ensuring that the tips we give to waiting staff are actually reaching those workers, we are at risk of willingly and “voluntarily” giving restaurants more than they ask for on the price of our lunch. We have no guarantee that those tips go to those that we feel deserve it.

So it should be with much greater fanfare that from next month our politicians will have set down the law that makes everything much more fair. That is unless you are the British Hospitality Association (BHA). If you are one of their illustrious sort then the response should be simply childish, petulant and threatening rhetoric about cutting restaurant staff jobs.
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25 Comments ¦ 26th September

The case against First Past the Post

by Lee Griffin June 6, 2009 at 10:54 am

There is a voting system that exists that tends to take away the meaning of your local MP as a representative, a system that allows a minority of MPs to greatly influence the direction of laws passed by the House of Commons, a system that encourages back room dealing and negotiations away from the public eye. That voting system is First Past the Post (FPTP).

For a long time now we, supporters of electoral reform, have spent our time defending the supposed negative aspects of good PR systems. We have to contest with the broad and misleading statements of the likes Cameron makes, and we have to defend against shoddy government spin of shoddy reviews in to the subject.

The reality is that it is now time for FPTP to be put in the dock, to try to put an end to the sort of articles that blindly make sweeping statements for FPTP. In this time of reform the narrative shouldn’t be why the PR systems are supposedly bad, but why does anyone think that FPTP is any better?
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54 Comments ¦ 6th June