We shall remember this day..

Last night saw Labour being defeated on the bill to stop the axing of EMA. The government won by a majority of 59 votes – having argued that the allowance to keep teenagers in education was poorly targeted. I, like many, am dismayed at yet another blatant attack on the youth of this country and I agree with what Andy Burnham said,  that social mobility would be “thrown into reverse”.

Stephen Twigg MP summed up the horrid ideology saying:

“The Government have talked about all of us being in this together. They have talked about deficit reduction and the need for fairness. There is no fairness in the abolition of EMA. It will hit the poorest parts of the country hardest. It will hit the poorest people in the poorest parts of the country hardest, and once again it is another cut from the Government that will hit young people and children harder than the rest of the population.”

Yet again, the coalition has broken a promise made to the young people of this country and yet again the lib-dems have failed to stand up for them. We will never forget this day, what you did! We shall remember your betrayal and we will never fall for your lies again! We will never forget how you have robbed aspiration from us and let this be on your conscience (if you still have one!)

Shame on You

Shame on you,

You liars you charlatans who seduced the youth,

Seduced with your promises, false words from a forked tongue,

Shame on you!

Shame on you,

Another betrayal, have you no shame,

You attack us again, relentless,

The flame of hope and aspiration cruelly snuffed out ,

Our support to help us better ourselves robbed from us,

We will never forget this, our curse be upon you!

Shadow cabinet shockers!

Today saw the announcement as to which roles in the shadow cabinet were going to be assigned to which MP. Well there has been a big shock as the favourite to become shadow chancellor Yvette Cooper, has been made shadow foreign secretary instead, with Alan Johnson getting the prestigious post. Ed Balls has been made shadow home secretary and Andy Burnham being made shadow education secretary.

While as a newby to the politics scene, I may not have much insight as to the effectiveness of this, I personally think that Andy Burnham being made shadow education secretary is a good call, as his youthful energy not to mention his passion would be a great asset in this area and a great contrast to Michael Gove. I also think the Balls v May dynamic will be interesting to watch and as some have said on twitter that this is the “weakest political area for the coalition,” Ed Balls role in this will be crucial and his battling style will certainly keep Theresa May on her toes!

I think Ed has been very thoughtful about this, and time will tell whether this interesting combination will be enough to keep the tories to account. Let the battle begin!

Malleo Optimates

The magician conjures his team,

Gasps of shock as  he reveals the rabbits from his hat,

The bulldog ready to fight for the streets,

The northern knight defends the scholars,

His youthful energy and optimism a light in the darkness,

His wit and wisdom a greater weapon than this lance.

Dominating all is the king,

New found confidence, he grows to fill his golden throne,

The cub fully grown into the Lion,

He at the head of the table, new energy discharges,

EDWARDI PRIMI OPTIMATES MALLEUS!

(Edward the first, hammer of the conservatives!)

The fellowship of the Rose

Tonight after days of speculation, the shadow cabinet has finally been announced, with Yvette Cooper topping the vote, followed in second by John Healy and Ed Balls in third. Below is a list of all the successful candidates to the shadow cabinet:

Douglas Alexander

Ed Balls

Hilary Benn

Andy Burnham

Liam Byrne

Yvette Cooper

Mary Creagh

John Denham

Angela Eagle

Maria Eagle

Caroline Flint

John Healey

Meg Hillier

Alan Johnson

Tessa Jowell

Sadiq Khan

Ivan Lewis

Ann McKechin

Jim Murphy

I’m really pleased that my good friend Jim Murphy has got into the cabinet as from what i have seen of him, he is a really good speaker and really down to earth and has been a key supporter of the Movement for Change. Also really pleased taht Ed Balls and most of all Andy Burnham have been voted into it as they were both passionate speakers during the leadership campaign and Andy Burnham is really approachable and you can have a great conversation with him, and for me, approachablilty is a great asset! Ed Balls is a great fighter who will no doubt take the fight to the tories every step of the way!

In tributed to this, here is a poem i will write in their honour

The fellowship of the Rose

The shadow covers the land,

Trepidation lies in the air,

Injustice reigns in the darkness,

The dark one holds the people in his mercy.

Frodo choses his allies,

Blood brothers, a fellowship,

Petals of one rose,

One family to restore light to the darkness,

To restore justice to the bereft land.

To take the fight to the Dark one,

To oppose his malevolent will,

To loosen his iron grip,

To destroy his ring,

The ring used to seduce, to bind,

To control us!

 

 

Knight of the north

True to my pledge, I will praise other candidates when they do something extraordinary. Today, Andy Burnham gets my attention!

Today, Andy wrote a letter to the Health Secretary Andrew Lansley challenging him on the claim that he was axing NHS direct.

The letter is here on his site:

http://andy4leader.com/2010/09/andy-writes-to-the-health-secretary-demanding-answers-on-the-future-of-nhs-direct/

In the letter, Andy condems Lansleys decision to announce the axe of NHS Direct without “consulting with patients staff or the public.”

I thought the letter was very passionate and challenged Lansley on the crucial points. And according to Labour List’s website, we may have reason to celebreate. According to the site, Andy tweeted before saying

“Just had amazing reply from Lansley: “I have not announced plans to scrap NHS Direct.” Sounds like big U-turn & famous victory for you all.”

It remains to be seen what the implications of this are, but if true, Andy has helped all of us who signed the petition to, in his words achive “a famous victory”. A very proud defence of NHS direct and I am proud to have given him my 2nd preference vote in the leadership, for his passion.

The knight of the north

He charges into battle,

Charging against injustice,

Defender of the helpless,

His lance his passionate words,

He charges on, leading us,

Takes our cause and shouts it from the rooftops,

Challenges the powers that be for their injustice,

Leads us to a victory, a victory of conscience!

The knight of the north! Andy goes into battle over NHS direct!