Hain pain

Who will be pleased with Peter Hain’s departure?

•    The nuclear power industry. He was their strongest opponent in cabinet with his constructive advocacy of clean renewables – especially the barrage.
•    The mean vindictive witch-hunters who have judged him guilty on the basis of smears and innuendos.
•    The anti Welsh-language, Welsh devolution, little Englanders and West Britons who resent his unique work on devolution.
•    Racialists and others with nostalgia for apartheid.
•    Hardcore tribalists in Northern Ireland who resent the results of his peace building.
•    Those who put sport above human rights and resent his leadership of the Stop the Seventies Tour campaign.

Those who will be sorry.

•    The 140,000 cheated pensioners who will have 90% of their pension restored  because of his work in cabinet.
•    The majority of the people of South Africa of all communities, who appreciate his work in ushering in a just peaceful transition to majority rule.
•    Those who value having our own Government on the soil of our own country in Wales.
•    Many of his mutton headed political opponents who have been calling for his resignation without considering the alternatives.
•    His parliamentary colleagues and millions of other people who have long admired his prodigious work, his honesty, integrity and decency.

Cheated ?
The Channel 4 Political awards have been hijacked. The prize for the most inspiring political figure of the decade went to the Countryside Alliance. The Spectator describes the scene: 

"I was at the Channel Four political awards last night, where the strangest thing happened. Their main award - (most inspiring political figure of the last decade) - was given to the Countryside Alliance, introduced by Jeremy Irons. As he spoke, boos came from the crowd. At first, I thought it was a joke. Then when the award was accepted (by Ann Mallalieu, president of the Alliance) the booing grew louder and cries of "get off" could be heard as she delivered her acceptance speech. In front of an invited Channel Four audience. Incredible.

The incredulity of the audience was because CA had won only because the vote was rigged.

An un-named, unknown panel short-listed the hunting fanatics of the Countryside Alliance for the award. The full shortlist was  Tony Blair: Ian Paisley and Martin McGuiness: Ken Livingstone: Alex Salmond:  The Countryside Alliance and Anti-Iraq war protesters:

There was campaign for mass voting for the animal abusers and – surprise, surprise - the  CA won. It’s hard to believe that the non-achievements of the CA could compete among reasonable people with any of the other nominees. What have they done? Lost a campaign against the Hunting Act and lost a fortune in appeals to courts against the Act ?  All the other nominees have  changed the course of history. The CA will not merit a footnote to a footnote when the history of the decade is written.

There is no check on multiple voting. This even after the string of recent scandals on rigged telephone ballots. The result is meaningless and the audience should be congratulated for greeting  it with contempt.

The awards and Channel Four are demeaned.

Famine
There is bonanza in the price of grain. Farmers producing grain have doubled their income this year in most European countries.

The world is facing the most severe food price inflation in history as grain and soybean prices climb to all-time highs. Wheat trading on the Chicago Board of Trade on December 17th breached the $10 per bushel level for the first time ever.

Lester Brown’s group The Earth Policy News sound a powerful alarm. As a result, prices of food products such as bread, pasta, and tortillas, and pork, poultry, beef, milk, and eggs, are everywhere on the rise. In Mexico, corn meal prices are up 60 percent. In Pakistan, flour prices have doubled. China is facing rampant food price inflation, some of the worst in decades.

World grain prices have increased dramatically on three occasions since World War II, each time as a result of weather-reduced harvests. But now it is a matter of demand simply outpacing supply.

The World Bank reports that for each 1 percent rise in food prices, caloric intake among the poor drops 0.5 percent. Millions of those living on the lower rungs of the global economic ladder, people who are barely hanging on, will lose their grip and begin to fall off.

Since the budgets of international food aid agencies are set well in advance, a rise in food prices shrinks food assistance. The U.N. World Food Programme (WFP), which is now supplying emergency food aid to 37 countries, is cutting shipments as prices soar. The WFP reports that 18,000 children are dying each day from hunger and related illnesses.

Rising food prices are translating into social unrest. It began in early 2007 with tortilla demonstrations in Mexico. Then came pasta protests in Italy. More recently, rising bread prices in Pakistan have become a source of unrest.

Corn futures prices for December 2008 delivery are higher than those for March, suggesting that market analysts see even tighter supplies after the next harvest.

The repercussions of the farmers’ new wealth  are grave. This is the a greater threat to world harmony than terrorism. When will the world wake up and see the danger?

Duped

Screaming main headlines in the Tory papers have howled for weeks that greedy MPs were about to vote themselves an above inflation pay rise this year.

In spite of an independently recommended rise of nearly 3%, the MPs have agreed to stick to the virtuous 1.9%. It will need a hard search of  tomorrow's press to find the minute reports of this restraint. There will no retractions by the papers for their repeated misleading of their gullible readers. Their bovine readers will continue to believe the previous headlines that MPs have grabbed a bumper rise as promised in the big headlines. You can fool lots of the people all of the time.

Comments

[Chris Gale]

Peter Hains departure is a loss for the politics of decency.
Multi millionaires like Lord Ashcroft fund the Tory party, with not a peep of interest from the press or BBC.
The right wing media agenda continues, determined as they are, along with powers in the establishment, that there will not be a fourth term Labour government.
I well remember how Peter Hain stood up to the bullies of the hunting fraternity, always a friend to those who campaigned long and hard for a ban on chasing and killing animals for 'sport'.

[andrew kirkham]

Sour grapes methinks , paul. 4 of the 6 chosen were left wing candidates ,1 of limited appeal and 1 ,Countryside Alliance, is on the right of the political spectrum. No wonder the C A won. The shooting in the foot was the original very odd choice by the panel

[paulflynn]

What have the CA done that merits an award? They lost their campaign against the Hunting Bill after spending spending a fortune on it. Then they promised to get rid of the Act through the courts and spent another fortune and lost every case.

The CA may merit a place in the history of the decade only for winning an award in a ballot when voters could cast 100s of votes each.

[valleylad]

Peter Hain will be missed, but replacing him as SoS for Wales with the worst possible candidate short of John Redwood has done nothing for Brown's reputation with the likes of me. Oh well, at least the pope might be pleased :(

[Geraint]

So it's Paul Murphy. Marvellous - bloody marvellous.

[Easy]

Look, the CA might not quite deserve the award and they are bloody good at rigging things, but I think 'fanatics' is a bit strong. They're a campaign group for all country matters and not all right wing at all. Their hunt support is based on its providing a livelihood for people. Look into them. They're alright.

[paulflynn]

There will pious celebrations in the panting heart of Rome, that a papal knight is ruling Wales.

[paulflynn]

I thought 'fanatics' was excessively kind. Their prime passion is their need to kill animals for fun. In pursuit of that they engage in other campaigns to win popular support.

They want to put the cruelty back into hunting. They have lost all the arguments and now resort to cheating. At election time, they flood marginal seats with workers and money to un-seat Labour MPs. All in the cause of their own sadistic pleasure from a blood sports.

They are not nice people, easy.

[Julian The Wonderhorse]

Don't you lefties get spiteful when someone succeeds who is not on your message.

Bravo CA, and here's to more foxes being killed now than before the ban. Well done New Labour, another policy that has achieved the exact opposite of what was intended.

[paulflynn]

Thanks Julian, for this valuable insight into the workings of your warped brain.

You are a lesson to us all.

[JH]

Being one of the 'bovine readers' of an allegedly right wing paper I very much appreciate Ian Dale sending me here to read this self-righteous nonsense.

The clear contempt you have for a signifcant percentage of the population is matched only by the contempt that we feel for you and your kind.

Vain broke the law and at best is guilty of gross incompetence so your delusional support of this man is almost as amusing as the sorry squealing you show that a leftie stitch up of some insignifcant awards left the panel with egg on their face...

[Chris Gale]

Like Paul says, 'fanatics' is quite a tame description for these thugs who get off on tormenting and killing our wildlife for the perverted kicks they get from it.

[paulflynn]

Thanks a lot JH. People like you really exist then? You are welcome to ventilate your crude bigotry here anytime. More ranting, please.

[Chris Gale]

Yes JH, do pop back and give us the wisdom of the killing for fun lobby, it makes great copy for showing the public what you are really all about.
Dale thinks he's a modern politician but allies himself with a bunch of bloodsports thugs who don't believe in democracy and are violent towards anyone who disagrees with them.

[John Brown]

Paul, you are seriously misguided about the CA. They support the whole of the country way of life and are not just campaining to repeal the pathetic, class envy riddle hunting act. Please look at the facts and stop promoting hate-based politics like so many of you and your sad left wing losers. Your days are numbered my freind, make the most of it while you still can - you and your type (Hain etc) won't be able to pocket the illegal backhanders, cash for honours etc dfor much longer

[Malcolm Stevas]

I'm glad someone directed me to this blog, though it's a somewhat perverse pleasure reading the sort of utterly predictable blend of ignorance & hateful zealotry one has encountered so often from leftists...

"What have the CA done that merits an award? The CA may merit a place in the history of the decade only for services to rigging ballots."
I wonder if this is actionable? The CA should be told... What they've done, in short, is to stand up to years of mindless aggression from authoritarian collectivists like yourself who seek to suppress traditional pursuits and personal liberties, based on a spurious concern for animal welfare combined with what is clearly a massive ignorance of the countryside and country sports. But you folk never let ignorance & prejudice keep you from agitating, or from passing hateful laws...
I am intrigued by what seems to be your stock response to opposition here (and to my direct email) of insulting anyone who disagrees with you, calling them bigots and the like. But it illustrates perfectly the Leftist mindset of intolerance, bossiness and political viciousness.
Yours etc - Malcolm
ps Your support for Hain is amusing - Hain, the quintessential self-seeking pragmatic sort-of-Socialist!

[paulflynn]

Thank you Malcolm. Hope you feel better now that's out.

The passing of the humane hunting act was the result of our democratic process where each MP voted once. We were elected by people who also voted once. To gain any attention the CA, that failed to stop the bill or win their court challenges, has benefited from a ballot where people could vote 100 times.

Try to calm down and accept the principles of democracy. Parliament will never vote to put the cruelty back into hunting.

[paulflynn]

Just for the record John Brown, no Labour MP has taken 'illegal backhanders'. But in my time in Parliament, five Tory MPs have been caught doing just that.

Peter Hain's donations were freely given, legal and used for their intended purpose.

David Cameron accepted illegal donations and used a fund, the Midlands Industrial Council, to launder money. Why not have a tantrum about that John?

[paulflynn]

No Easy you have been mis-led.

They exist to promote bloodsports. the said 35,000 jobs would be lost by the Hunting Act. None were. Jobs were created by the move to drag hunting.

Their attempts to campaign on other rural issues is a front to gain goodwill.

[Malcolm Stevas]

"Thank you Malcolm. Hope you feel better now that's out."
Patronising, or what? Do you wish to promote "democratic" discussion & debate or not? Do you just require sycophantic nods of agreement such as Leftists traditionally engineer at their rigged meetings? When you don't get this, do you always sneer?

"The passing of the humane hunting act was the result of our democratic process where each MP voted once."
It's not an issue that should ever be voted upon by politicians, whether with class-warfare axes to grind or any other nasty little agendas. How free people in a free society (Hah!) choose to pursue traditional country sports is no business of political Prodnoses.

"We were elected by people who also voted once."
Humbug! Neither is hunting the business of the urban majority, whose prejudices are always going to out-vote the freedoms of the rural minority and never mind political liberty... But that is very likely something which causes you no lost sleep whatsoever.

"Try to calm down and accept the principles of democracy. Parliament will never vote to put the cruelty back into hunting."
I'm as calm as I'll ever be, in the face of grossly illiberal misuse of crude majority tactics to suppress pursuits which harm either you nor anyone else one jot. Your vision of democracy is one of a tyranny of the majority, deviously manipulated by those such as yourself whenever your agenda demands it. My broadly libertarian-conservative politics do not threaten your liberty in the slightest: your neo-Trot authoritarian collectivism manifestly damages my liberty. End of argument.

In your reply to Easy you say the CA "exist to promote bloodsports" - a travesty of the truth that I'm surprised to find even you trying to pass off as a sincerely held belief. The CA (no, I'm not a member) could be said to exist in order, originally, to defend the right to go hunting/shooting etc - though even that is a considerable over-simplification. Do try not to let your heated anti-rural fantasising get the better of you: and try to retain some respect for the truth, otherwise I shall worry even more about the sort of people helping (even in a very minor way) to run the country.
Malcolm

[Patrick]

With reference to the malcolm rant. I witnessed first hand several years ago a canny, spirited vixen outwit the hounds and huntsmen in a frenzied chase. The Vixen took to the ground in a badger sett.
With the light fading and the possibility of having nothing to talk about in the pub the huntsmen decided to dig her out.After the Vixen was shot and given to the Hounds and violently ripped into fragments it was noticed that she had been heavily pregnant. Not only had she outrun the pack but had done so with the increased weight inside her.
Having read malcolms pathetic whimpers about "intolerance, viciousness, hateful laws and personal liberties" i'm reminded of why the country will never bring back hunting. I firmly believe in liberties especially the liberties of British Wildlife to live free from persecution from
sadistic morons.
Patrick

[John Brown]

Some facts (for Labour party MPs that means truths by the way)
- More foxes are killed now than before the hunting ban. Instead of being killed outright that are now shot - that's what Labour's stupid law insists on. That means many are wounded and die a lingering death instead of being killed quickly and cleanly by the pack leader
- The law will be repealed
- Foxes are classed as vermin. That means that they are the same as rats, cockroaches etc. Why? Because tehy are indiscriminate killers. Urban based idiots like Flynn will not understand this; they think foxes all have name like 'Basil' and wear little waistcoats. What sort of people oppose fox hunting? People who dig up the dead relatives of legitimate farmers. Is that the sort of person you want to associate with?

[David Jones]

I'm amazed that Flynn still supports a scumbag like Peter Hain. If he is so 'innocent', how come the donations in question were channelled through a front organisation? An organisation that doesn't do anything, has no people working for it and is fictitous in all but name! Any else would call this money laundering. If he had nothing to hide, why not be open about accepting the bungs? Why do you think the police have been involved ! I expect there will be the usual policy of non-cooperation from Labour, just like the 'cash for honours' inquiry,and then the police will be pressurised to drop the whole thing again. Honest? Upright? I don't think so. I voted for Labour in 1997 expecting a new start, new standards. Instead they have turned out to be worst than the Tories - God help us!

[Malcolm Stevas]

"With reference to the malcolm rant. ……… malcolms pathetic whimpers about "intolerance, viciousness, hateful laws and personal liberties" ………. I firmly believe in liberties especially the liberties of British Wildlife to live free from persecution from
sadistic morons…."

I wonder how old Patrick is. This is not, of course, necessarily a pertinent question in the case of zealous Leftists or animal-lib types, whose views all too often go hand in hand with a degree of immaturity. But really, Patrick should immediately consult a dictionary in order to check the definition of “rant” – a word that springs too readily to the lips, especially, of certain web-forum contributors on encountering views of which they disapprove – and ask himself what exactly it was about my post that could reasonably cause him to use the words “pathetic” and “whimpers”. Could it be that he dislikes what I say so much, and that it causes him such uneasiness in his skin, that he is compelled to lash out with the nastiest playground insults that occur to him? Has he (let’s be charitable) just had a bad day? Alas, this last idea is somewhat dispelled by his apparent belief that British wildlife enjoys “liberties” – funny, I thought liberty was a human concept, not capable of being either conceived or enjoyed by the animal kingdom – and that anyone who pursues the creatures of the wild is a “sadistic moron”… Is Patrick trying to outdo Paul Flynn in mean-minded vituperation against those he perceives to be opposed to him, culturally, socially, politically..? Is Patrick at all typical of Paul Flynn’s political allies, supporters, constituency committee? I do hope, for Mr Flynn’s sake, that this is not the case. I might not have much time for Mr Flynn, and even less for his views on country sports, but I would like to think he has a better class of friend than Patrick.
Yours, Malcolm
ps I too am struck - but not surprised, frankly - by Mr Flynn's support for "a scumbag like Peter Hain", someone I have distrusted with absolute consistency since the 1960s...

[Patrick]

Reference to John Brown.
When 'killing for entertainment' was finally banned i believed that it was a step forwad for the nation but sadly a bad time for wildlife.John is right in that there are now more Foxes being destroyed than pre-ban.This fact takes us straight into the mindset of the hunt fraternity.
I know one farmer near Brecon that has been feeding 'vermin' for over Ten years and who went ballistic after catching poachers on his land with a dead fox.Was he sad about the fox? He was angry that his local hunt would be denied entertainment.
Landowners that previously 'tolerated vermin' now have no possible use for them and are far more inclined to shoot them.The added fact that telling a landowner he cannot do something can very often be counterproductive.
Contrary to this i know many enlightened , passionate wildlife friendly farmers that do a great job in helping nature.
'Foxes are indiscriminate killers'.
Like us foxes eat.The biggest indiscriminate killer by a landslide is the litle pussy cat. Why not chase and rip them to pieces john?
Foxes happen to be one of the most fascinating,alluring, and intelligent mammal species which is precisely why the nation overwhelmingly baked the ban.
Patrick