He was promising this and that, telling us what he plans for the UK in the future, and it made me think of all the promises Labour made in 1997 when they came to power.
The two everyone remembers is;
‘Education, Education, Education’
The other;
‘Tough on crime. Tough on the Causes of Crime’
We all know how well they came out.
It made me think what else they promised over the years, and what rights that have been given us and what rights that have been taken away.
Here are some quotes from Labour’s 1997 manifesto taken from the Labour party Website;
' This is our contract with the people'
I believe in Britain. It is a great country with a great history. The British people are a great people. But I believe Britain can and must be better: better schools, better hospitals, better ways of tackling crime, of building a modern welfare state, of equipping ourselves for a new world economy.
Yes Great Britain was a great country until Labour got hold of it. We are losing our identity, our patriotism, our community spirit. Was that what they wanted in the first place.
I want a Britain that is one nation, with shared values and purpose, where merit comes before privilege, run for the many not the few, strong and sure of itself at home and abroad.
One nation. Why then did you give devolution to Scotland and Wales then. Was it to break up the UNITED Kingdom.
'Run for the many not the few'. Is the many, the many MPs troughing the expenses system, or run for the many people on benefits who have no intention on ever finding a job.
'Shared Values'. Are these the values where young teenagers get themselves seriously drunk every week.
The shared values where people get beaten up and sometimes killed just by trying to protect their property and family.
The same shared values where people get more compensation for stubbing their toe than for our troops who come home hurt and maimed.
The same shared values where a criminal has more human rights than the law abiding citizens of this country.
In education
We reject both the idea of a return to the 11-plus and the monolithic comprehensive schools that take no account of children's differing abilities. Instead we favour all-in schooling which identifies the distinct abilities of individual pupils and organises them in classes to maximise their progress in individual subjects. In this way we modernise the comprehensive principle, learning from the experience of its 30 years of application.
Education where a significant proportion of school leavers can't read, write or add up correctly, if they can at all.
Education, where the system has been changed so many times that the teachers don't know what to teach the pupils.
Education, where you teach young pupils, of 5 or 6 about what homosexuality is, and about domestic violence. What ever happened to letting children be children. Let their minds have their innocence for a couple of years at least.
On crime
We believe in personal responsibility and in punishing crime, but also tackling its underlying causes - so, tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime, different from the Labour approach of the past and the Tory policy of today.
On crime, where you let out of prison dangerous criminal, including murders and rapists, who go out and re offend with in days, if not hours of getting out.
On crime, where a house owner gets arrested for protecting his family and property from the criminal, but if the criminal breaking into the home attacks that same homeowner he gets a ridiculously soft sentence, usually a couple of months in prison but more likely a community order.
On Crime, where you beat, starve and torture a baby and you get sentenced to 5 years.
On Crime, where life in prison could mean the criminal gets sentenced to 15 years, but only serves half that sentence.
On crime, where free speech can be a criminal offence.
Over-centralisation of government and lack of accountability was a problem in governments of both left and right. Labour is committed to the democratic renewal of our country through decentralisation and the elimination of excessive government secrecy.
Secrecy, is this the secrecy that politicians tried to keep their expenses from the public eye.
De-centralisation, where everything we do is micro managed.
Democratic renewal, were you promised a referendum on the constitution, which later became the Lisbon treaty, But you signed it any way.
In addition, we will face up to the new issues that confront us. We will be the party of welfare reform. In consultation and partnership with the people, we will design a modern welfare state based on rights and duties going together, fit for the modern world.
A welfare state, where people are better off on welfare than in a job.
A welfare state, that a woman, or young teen, gets pregnant and gets given a house, and then gets more money the more children she has.
A welfare state, where people earn more money on welfare than the people who work for a living, where, certain people on welfare, have luxuries that some of the people who work can only dream of.
A welfare state, where extremists can live on welfare while praising terrorists who attack this country and our troops. Extremists who talk hate, but aren't arrested for it.
A welfare state, where immigrants can just enter this country illegally and get jobs with the government, the solicitor general for example. A welfare state where immigrants can get paid for children that aren't even living in this country.
We will stand up for Britain's interests in Europe after the shambles of the last six years, but, more than that, we will lead a campaign for reform in Europe. Europe isn't working in the way this country and Europe need. But to lead means to be involved, to be constructive, to be capable of getting our own way.
Where do i start with this one.
Labour have caved in at every turn when it comes to Europe.
Stand up for Britain's interests, that would be a laugh if it wasn't so serious.
A broken promise on a referendum.
Giving back a hard fought rebate, where the Eu 'promised' to reform the 'Common Agriculture policy' but didn't do a thing.
I could go on forever with Europe, but i would be here till next week writing it up
What about our Freedoms and liberties.
The Following examples come from;
http://www.opendemocracy.net/ourkingdom/2008/03/06/loss-of-liberty-and-rights-since-1997
Loss of Liberty and Rights since 1997
Protest and assembly
- Protests are banned within one kilometre of Parliament Square without police permission (penalty: 51 weeks in jail and/or a £2,500 fine).
- Groups may be dispersed under antisocial-behaviour laws.
- Groups may be dispersed within designated areas under the terror laws.
- The new offence under SOCPA of trespass within a designated site (no justification for designation is required).
Communications
- Under the Regulation of Investigative Powers Act, government agencies may intercept email, internet connections and standard mail without seeking a court's permission (the latest figure is 500,000 secret interceptions a year).
- Since summer 2007, the government and some 700 agencies have had access to all landline and mobile-phone records. There was no primary legislation and no debate in parliament.
Databases
- Without primary legislation, police introduced a national network of all ANPR cameras. The travel data may be stored for two years.
- The National Identity Register will store details of every verification made by an ID-card holder and give access to government agencies without the knowledge or consent of the private citizen.
- ID-card enrolment requires every citizen to offer up 49 piece of personal information to the national database, with heavy and repeated fines for non-compliance.
- All children details are to be stored on a central database, with access granted to a wide range of public bodies.
- The Children's Common Assessment Framework database stores all details of children with problems, indefinitely.
- The Home Office has announced that it wishes to take 19 pieces of information, including mobile-phone and credit-card numbers, from everyone travelling abroad.
Free Expression
- Public-order laws have been used to curtail free expression. A man wearing the slogan "Bollocks to Blair" on his T-shirt was told to remove it by police.
- The Race and Religious Hatred Act (2006) bans incitement of hatred on religious grounds.
- Justice Minister Jack Straw proposes new laws which would ban the incitement of hatred towards the disabled and on the grounds of a person's sexual orientation
- Terror laws are used to ban freedom of expression in designated areas. Walter Wolfgang was removed from the Labour party conference for heckling Jack Straw. People have been searched simply for wearing slogans on their T-shirts or for carrying banners. A man was detained while collecting signatures against the ID card
- The Protection from Harassment Act (1997) bans the repetition of an act. People prosecuted for repeated protest by email.
- Terror laws ban the glorification of terrorism, which has resulted in the prosecution of a young woman for writing poetry.
The Courts
- ASBO legislation introduces hearsay evidence, which may result in a person being sent to jail.
- The Criminal Justice Act (2003) allows the prosecution to make an application to be heard without a jury where there is a danger of jury tampering. This will include fraud trials.
- The admissibility of evidence concerning a person's bad character, previous convictions and acquittals.
- The Proceeds of Crime Act (2002) gives the state powers to confiscate assets in circumstances where it does not have enough evidence for prosecution.
-Special Immigration Appeals Court hearings are held in secret. Those terror suspects whose cases come before the court are not allowed to know the evidence against them or to be represented by a lawyer of their own choice.
- The Courts and Tribunals Enforcement Act abandons the tradition of an Englishman's home being his castle, which since 1604 has made breaking into a home by bailiffs illegal.
Terror Laws
- Terror laws have been used to stop and search ordinary citizens. The current rate is 50,000 per annum.
- A maximum of 28 days without charge is allowed under terror legislation. The government has announced plans to increase this to 42 days.
- Control orders, effectively indefinite house arrest, were introduced after the Belmarsh decision.
I'm sorry for this being so long, but Gordon Brown really got to me today with his speech, i just had to let go a bit.
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