George Galloway yesterday won what he describes as the "most sensational victory in British political history" by winning the Bradford West by election. I know politicians are given to exaggeration but I don't think Galloway is too off the mark there. Make no mistake this was no great vote of confidence for Galloway but a massive vote against the three main parties. To be fair the Tories were never going to get anywhere in a former Labour stronghold such as Bradford but you would have expected the constituency to stay in the hands of the Socialists, perhaps with an increased majority due to disillusionment with the coalition and its policies.
I don't think anybody could have foreseen the actual result which saw Galloway's Respect party poll 18,341 to Labour's 8,201. Indeed the other six candidates only polled 14,470 votes between them. Irrespective of what you think of Galloway (and after his performance in Celebrity Big Brother I tend to think he's a bit of a prat) you have to admit that this was something out of the ordinary Okay it wouldn't have happened at a General Election and mid term there is always a protest against the Government in power, but this was a protest against the party in opposition.
So what does it say about the three main parties? To me it is a massive vote of no confidence in any of them. A massive vote that says "we are tired of hearing from you, we are tired of watching you destroy the fabric of the country, we are tired of your policies and your opposition and we don't really believe anything that any of you say."
This of course is extremely worrying. We have an unpopular Government that is doing so many things wrong, we have an opposition that isn't a credible alternative and we have a third party which has destroyed itself by becoming part of a coalition it probably had no right to be part of.
Which all leaves politics in a mess. It could be the first time, however, that the Great British Public (who are nowhere near as gullible as politicians think they are) have risen up and said "Basically we don't believe anything any of the three main parties say so we are going to protest vote." It will be interesting to see how David Cameron, Nick Clegg and Ed Miliband talk their way out of and get something positive out of this one. It must be particularly worrying for Miliband - I cannot ever remember a protest vote against the party in opposition, they must be doing something seriously seriously wrong. The Tories are hugely unpopular but it looks as if the Socialists are even more unpopular.
I'm now going to talk about rude people. The golf course seems to bring out the worst rudeness from people who obviously feel slightly superior to others. Yesterday I was playing nine holes with a friend. The pair in front had lost a ball and were continuing to look for it. So we decided to play through (they should have let us through anyway). As we passed them I offered some words of thanks and was met with a "We didn't have any choice you were pushing us." I have met with rudeness on a number of occasions on golf courses. One of my mantras is "we are all in life together. Life should be a people's partnership where kindness and care are the two overriding factors." I will try to remember this the next time I'm subjected to rudeness from people on the golf course who think they are much better players and human beings than they actually are.
I have to admit, however, that I am rude to cold callers on the telephone. They annoy me intensely. I managed to get rid of most of these calls by joining something called the preference service a number of years ago. This blocks unwanted calls but recently I have received numerous contacts from India allegedly carrying out surveys and wanting my views - as if they are the slightest bit interested in what I think. They always preface their spiel with the words "I am not selling anything." I'm not gullible enough to believe this. They may not be directly selling anything but you can guarantee when they find out what your interests are you will be besieged by calls from companies who will be trying to sell you things. I have never bought anything off a cold caller either on the telephone or at the door and I never will.
England stay the number one cricket nation despite having lost the last four tests (three in Pakistan and the latest reversal in Sri Lanka). That must make them one of the worst not the best. The bowlers have in no way let us down in any of those four matches but the batsmen have been abysmal. So many have got out to ridiculous shots like the pre-meditated sweep shop. That's where the batsman decides that they are going to sweep the ball before it's bowled. It has brought the downfall of so many so called world class English batsmen in those last four tests. The English coaching staff should ban its use and go back to more orthodox stroke play. That way we might be able to win matches by reaching relatively modest totals.
Last night we went to Waterstone's Book Store in Norwich to listen to top selling author Robert Goddard. He spoke about his life for one hour and was very funny and captivating, although he didn't talk much about his novels. So as a lesson in novel writing it was poor but as an entertaining evening it was top notch. Tonight we are going to see Roger Ellory - one of my favourite authors. I think this one might be slightly more serious
See you tomorrow.
I don't think anybody could have foreseen the actual result which saw Galloway's Respect party poll 18,341 to Labour's 8,201. Indeed the other six candidates only polled 14,470 votes between them. Irrespective of what you think of Galloway (and after his performance in Celebrity Big Brother I tend to think he's a bit of a prat) you have to admit that this was something out of the ordinary Okay it wouldn't have happened at a General Election and mid term there is always a protest against the Government in power, but this was a protest against the party in opposition.
So what does it say about the three main parties? To me it is a massive vote of no confidence in any of them. A massive vote that says "we are tired of hearing from you, we are tired of watching you destroy the fabric of the country, we are tired of your policies and your opposition and we don't really believe anything that any of you say."
This of course is extremely worrying. We have an unpopular Government that is doing so many things wrong, we have an opposition that isn't a credible alternative and we have a third party which has destroyed itself by becoming part of a coalition it probably had no right to be part of.
Which all leaves politics in a mess. It could be the first time, however, that the Great British Public (who are nowhere near as gullible as politicians think they are) have risen up and said "Basically we don't believe anything any of the three main parties say so we are going to protest vote." It will be interesting to see how David Cameron, Nick Clegg and Ed Miliband talk their way out of and get something positive out of this one. It must be particularly worrying for Miliband - I cannot ever remember a protest vote against the party in opposition, they must be doing something seriously seriously wrong. The Tories are hugely unpopular but it looks as if the Socialists are even more unpopular.
I'm now going to talk about rude people. The golf course seems to bring out the worst rudeness from people who obviously feel slightly superior to others. Yesterday I was playing nine holes with a friend. The pair in front had lost a ball and were continuing to look for it. So we decided to play through (they should have let us through anyway). As we passed them I offered some words of thanks and was met with a "We didn't have any choice you were pushing us." I have met with rudeness on a number of occasions on golf courses. One of my mantras is "we are all in life together. Life should be a people's partnership where kindness and care are the two overriding factors." I will try to remember this the next time I'm subjected to rudeness from people on the golf course who think they are much better players and human beings than they actually are.
I have to admit, however, that I am rude to cold callers on the telephone. They annoy me intensely. I managed to get rid of most of these calls by joining something called the preference service a number of years ago. This blocks unwanted calls but recently I have received numerous contacts from India allegedly carrying out surveys and wanting my views - as if they are the slightest bit interested in what I think. They always preface their spiel with the words "I am not selling anything." I'm not gullible enough to believe this. They may not be directly selling anything but you can guarantee when they find out what your interests are you will be besieged by calls from companies who will be trying to sell you things. I have never bought anything off a cold caller either on the telephone or at the door and I never will.
England stay the number one cricket nation despite having lost the last four tests (three in Pakistan and the latest reversal in Sri Lanka). That must make them one of the worst not the best. The bowlers have in no way let us down in any of those four matches but the batsmen have been abysmal. So many have got out to ridiculous shots like the pre-meditated sweep shop. That's where the batsman decides that they are going to sweep the ball before it's bowled. It has brought the downfall of so many so called world class English batsmen in those last four tests. The English coaching staff should ban its use and go back to more orthodox stroke play. That way we might be able to win matches by reaching relatively modest totals.
Last night we went to Waterstone's Book Store in Norwich to listen to top selling author Robert Goddard. He spoke about his life for one hour and was very funny and captivating, although he didn't talk much about his novels. So as a lesson in novel writing it was poor but as an entertaining evening it was top notch. Tonight we are going to see Roger Ellory - one of my favourite authors. I think this one might be slightly more serious
See you tomorrow.
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