House of Lords Weblog

The House of Lords is running a trial blog for engagement with the public. Here is the link:

http://lordsoftheblog.wordpress.com/

Please, whether you support us or any other party, read this blog regularly and make comments for any posts that you have an interest in. Let them know your opinion … that being the declared purpose of the blog. We all complain that “They” don’t listen to us; but then, do we ever try giving them something worth listening to?

Usual rules apply when engaging with our politicians: be polite. You don’t have to be profane to offer devastating criticism.

I posted a comment on this particular blog entry

http://lordsoftheblog.wordpress.com/2008/03/27/debates/

… and here is what I said:

“ Henry Morgan March 27, 2008 at 5:27 pm

Sir

That you are willing to engage with the public over the internet is very much to your credit. And I for one thank you for it.

Earlier in the blog you responded to Britney that you had received very little mail about a referendum on the Lisbon treaty. It could be that the vast majority of the population see no point in engaging with the political process like that as it so very rarely produces results.

The population of every country across the European Union has been polled on this issue. It has been found that 73% of the British people wanted a referendum; 64% of Germans wanted a referendum; In excess of 80% of Dutch people. All told, across the whole of the European Union - every country - 75% wanted a referendum on this issue.

However politicians across the E.U. have, in their wisdom, decided that they know better. This may explain your lack of correspondence (In addition, social practices are changing: more and more people are using this medium for communication. This trial blog - “Beta” as it would be known to internet-savvy people - is not well known. I only know about it because Britney told me. I will do what I can to spread knowledge).

The only people getting a referendum are the Irish, and that only because Aherne couldn’t prevent it. We were promised a referendum in the 2005 Labour Party manifesto, only to be recently told that ” … manifesto pledges are not subject to legitimate expectation.” Reneging on manifesto pledges is becoming a habit with the Labour party: the 1997 manifesto promised a referendum on electoral reform. We never got that either.

Mr Brown tells us that the Lisbon Treaty is not the Constitutional Treaty therefore the manifesto pledge doesn’t apply. He lies (so sue me, Mr Brown). The author of the Constitutional Treaty, Valerie Giscard-DeStaing, claims it is 98% the same, and that everything that could be done with the Constitution can still be done with the Lisbon Treaty - you just have to rummage around a bit to find the clauses you need. The only difference being that fluff like an anthem and flag are left out. Referendum-deniers tell us it must be different as it is 62 pages shorter. Yet, strangely enough, it is more than 6000 words longer. The difference? The printers were instructed to alter the font: the spaces between the lines are smaller (yes, there are actually people on the internet who have counted the words and measured the spaces; which is why it’s not wise to engage in such fraud in the modern day). Would honest people need to resort to such subterfuge?

This film is well worth watching. It is long (1hr 22mins) and dreary, but you being an active participant in what is called the democratic process should be accustomed to dealing with things that are long and dreary. I recommend you take the trouble to watch it and think about what’s said. Just click the start arrow.

http://www.wiseupjournal.com/?p=173

The politicians of Europe are heading directly for some serious civil strife in the coming few years. I would suggest that the way the military has been treated these past few years, you wont be able to depend on which side of that strife the enlisted men will be on. I don’t want that … but it’s coming. “

Morg