Cameron’s crony honours show Britain values sycophants more than pioneers
Are you ashamed to be British today? If not, you should be.
David Cameron has handed out a dozen peerages – turned 12 people into Lords – not on the basis of any great work they have done for the benefit of everybody in the United Kingdom, but because they have done work for the benefit of David Cameron.
It is sickening to see how debased our system has become after four years under the thumb of one corrupt brat.
Look at them:
Karen Brady has been the Conservatives’ small business ambassador but rejected offers of a seat in the Commons – clearly in favour of the Lords. You know her as the one who sits next to Alan Sugar and isn’t Nick Hewer, on The Apprentice.
Michael Farmer has donated nearly £6 million to the Conservative Party and is the boss of a hedge fund. Considering the way these organisations have bet on our financial markets’ failure in order to make a buck or two, he should be in jail rather than Parliament.
Ranbir Singh Suri, head of Oceanic Jewellers, has reportedly given the Conservative Party £312,000, either personally or through his company. Have you ever heard of him?
Martin Callanan, former Conservative leader in the European Parliament, receives a peerage in compensation for the loss of his seat in May. Tories look after their own.
Sir Stuart Rose is a former boss of Marks and Spencer who apparently receives his peerage for helping Cameron’s wife Samantha get a £65 limited-edition polka-dot dress which had sold out.
Joanna Shields is a former Facebook executive who is now Cameron’s digital advisor. Now you know why your blogs knocking the Tories keep disappearing from FB or are marked as spam.
Dido Harding is chief executive of Talk Talk, and has done nothing to deserve a peerage. Sitting on Cameron’s business advisory committee doesn’t count.
Andrew Cooper worked for Cameron as his director of political operations and has done nothing to deserve a peerage.
Natalie Evans is director of the New Schools Network, which tries to help groups that want to set up free schools. She has done nothing to deserve a peerage – quite the opposite, judging by her CV.
Carlyn Chisholm is co-chair of the Conservative candidates committee and has done nothing to deserve a peerage.
Nosheena Mobarik is chair of the Confederation of British Industry in Scotland and has done nothing to deserve a peerage.
Arminka Helic was an advisor who worked for William Hague on preventing sexual violence in conflict. This might have the potential to be laudable, but then, you haven’t heard of Arminka Helic before, so how great was the contribution?
The fact that Cameron considers it acceptable to promote cronies into the House of Lords serves as yet another example of what a pathetic, pandering pimp we have squatting in 10 Downing Street.
Any incoming government should instigate a review of all life peerages, judging them by their contribution to society, rather than party political bank balances.
Knowing our Parliament, even that will be corrupted from within.
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Two things:-
1. Rose – failed boss of M&S – is a significant contributor toTory funds, I believe. Has he – and his wife – not been one of the Number 10 dining companions of David Cameron?
2. Do you have any information on the new Labour and Liberal peers?
So much for all the party leaders calling for a slimmed-down House of Lords !!!
I agree with your last sentence.
Labour got just three peerages. One was an equalities campaigner, another was a Labour strategist, the third a leading businesswoman. Only the businesswoman is likely to have been in a position to donate a huge amount of money to Labour but I have no information suggesting she has done so.
The Liberal Democrats got six peerages. The proportions going to each party seem oddly out-of-whack, considering the number of elected representatives they each have. Anyway, the most notable characteristic of all those six is that they were Liberal Democrat councillors.
It seems only the Conservative Party was immoral enough to ennoble its financial backers. As a friend of mine would say: “Corruption, corruption, corruption.”
Your claim about Stuart Rose and Zionism was not supported with factual evidence so I reject the assertion.
Once again: Commenters MUST support contentious claims with factual evidence. Otherwise, anybody could come here and make extravagant – and entirely false – claims about anybody they felt like, and those people could then sue Vox Political for libel. I’m not having that.
In October 2000, the Jewish Chronicle reported that the British-Israel Chamber of Commerce (B-ICC) had held meetings at Marks & Spencer’s offices in Baker Street. However, in 2008 the store claimed that M&S “do not host meetings on our premises for the B-ICC.” Nevertheless, in December 2004, Stuart Rose, CEO of Marks and Spencer at the time, was a listed speaker at the annual dinner of the B-ICC.
Source: http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article46733.html.
You are right about dining with the Camerons at Number Ten. It was Lord Sainsbury.
It is hard to keep track of all the wealthy retailers going in and out the door.
Stuart Rose also has some involvement in restructuring NHS management while he also reportedly ‘is also paid to sit on the advisory board of Bridgepoint, an international private equity group, which is the major shareholder of private health firm Care UK.’
Source: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/nhs-adviser-sir-stuart-rose-has-private-health-link-9129592.html.
It has also been reported that ‘The BBC headline ‘Ex M&S Boss to advise NHS managers’ is surely one of the clearest signals provided by the coalition government that the NHS is being privatised. – See more at: http://4bitnews.com/shh-bits/hypocrisy-sir-stuart-rose-nhs.’
Whatever the truth of his “elevation”, it does not bode well for those who rely upon a publicly funded NHS supposedly free at the point of use, according to need, does it?
Your point about the NHS would appear to have more validity than any claims of Zionism.
Did he mention any Zionist leanings in his speech to this B-ICC? Otherwise it could be a purely business matter.
At the risk of sounding patronising, Mike, look again at the backgrounds of some of those ‘peers’
One or two of them may well land him with another ‘Coulson’ moment
I don’t think that’s a patronising comment. Let’s hope they do!
Fair enough then
How about a small ‘teaser’ quiz question
What do West Ham, Brum City and The Daily Express have in common?
Anybody?
(Jess: Come back in a couple of hours with the answer)
I’ve been ashamed to be British for many years because of successive government action. Heck most of the world is pretty peed off with the actions of the British governments too.
Yet, I’m reminded, I’m not British anymore, I’m European.
Having said that, most of mainland Europe hates our guts too.
Almost as much as I hate being called European.
You’re still British.
Do you think the French or Germans say they are Europeans before being French or German? Of course not.
I’ve never been called a European before being called British (or more commonly and incorrectly, Welsh – I just live here) and I don’t know anyone else who has.
Reading this makes me feel sick put me off my breakfast, it’ gone past a joke.
You’ve really nailed precisely the real priorities of the Tories – Money, Money & More Money – and Only at the cost of Democracy!
No different to what any other party would do (cash for honours an example)
…except the other parties haven’t.
Cash for Honours – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
It’s been happening for years, the next 10 or 20 show no signs of being any different.
That doesn’t excuse the Tories for doing it now – especially as the other parties have NOT done it.
Reading the Wikipedia article and it’s references (as well as general knowledge of politics) are more than enough to convince me that this sort of thing will continue as long as we have the current party and voting system.
Any thoughts on a no party government Mike, just Independents elected by the people?
I doubt whether such a system would be able to organised an effective programme of government – unfortunately, as I believe party interests often act against the interests of the people.
The party system seems to cope (if you would call it coping) some suitable and reputable figureheads would be needed, but I would say it could work.
And the HoL should be abolished btw.
One variant to non-party government would be to restore real political and decision making powers back to local and regional governments, something most parties have at least paid lip service to, while – at the same time – they all continue to centralise more and more power in Westminster and Whitehall.
Intriguingly, it is at least suggestable that Britain achieved far more success as a country when municipal authorities like Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Glasgow, Swansea, Belfast, Sheffield et. al. all competed with London for wealth and power.
Yes indeed, the current administration spent the first couple of years of this Parliament apparently concentrating on making high art out of the ability to claim one thing while doing the opposite.
Independent candidates have stood for election in parliamentary constituencies.
With only a very few exceptions – a former doctor from the New Forest and Martin Bell come to mind – no independent candidates have been elected since 1945.
Independent candidates have a very poor track record when it comes to getting elected.
To get elected, it is necessary to have an electoral “machine” and – generally speaking – the only bodies which can organise these in support of candidates are political parties.
Either that or individual candidates have to be immensely rich and I do not consider that to be any improvement. Effectively, they could buy their seats through their spending.
Fortunately, rich people prefer to spend most of their time making money, which is why the idea of any kind of public service is almost certainly unattractive to them.
The only time they make an exception is when knighthoods and peerages are on offer.
Once the “honour” has been confirmed, they go back to their old money-making ways.
I have been ashamed of being British for a long time and more so this last 4+ years since the gang of a government got in.
I brought my children up to not tell lies and to trust no-one who lied to them – obviously they heed my advice and I’m just an ordinary “lower class” mum. Their maters and paters must have brought this lot up as completely the opposite – *shudders at the thought of them as kids*.
I honestly think that the HoL should be cut down to about 20 and that the £300 per day should be cut to £50 – £100. All this does now is make a mockery of the peerages themselves as it’s just like giving out bits of candy to Cameron’s mates (if they really are his friends).
I would have the deepest admiration for the Queen if she put a stop to it, but she won’t.
The US Senate is comprised of 100 Senators – all elected, of course.
The UK government has ministers placed in the House of Lords and it is necessary to have sufficient members to be able to process legislation effectively.
If members were full-time placements then 100 members would probably be sufficient.
I think £50 to £100 per day attendance allowance is more than adequate.
An average £375 per week over a 30 week working year equates to an extra £11,250.
I certainly wouldn’t mind getting that added income on top of my state pension.
When can I start?
The Queen is only a figurehead. She has no real political power and cannot make any changes to the political system, including the House of Lords.
Change will have to come about through the existing political party system.
You will have to take your proposals up with them.
Sorry about that !!
They never saw their “Maters & Paters”- as soon as they were squirted out, or were cut out via the sunroof to “preserve Mater’s figure” , they got whisked off to the tender caress of a retired Rotweiller called Nanny.
Then they were whisked off to boarding school to hone their perverse sexual proclivities and penchant for buggering children to a fine art. [naming no names, of course – VP]
The Etonites have never known a loving family, have no concept of such a thing, this is why the barbarity and abhorrent cruelty that comes unnaturally to the likes of us is reinforced in them and is inherent in all their social reforms
This is of course, just my “Personal Belief” as IDS likes to spout ;)
‘Are you ashamed to be British today?’ – is not too far from Alan Rusbridger (or anyone) being asked ‘Do you love your country?’ On balance I would say that most people in Britain think that there is much to be ashamed of in Britain and which makes one hesitant to love the Country which Britain has become. (Particularly after the sacrifices – and others – which we are currently exhorted to remember). We could be ‘Great’ again but no doubt we could argue relentlessly about how that might be achieved; there must be changes.
This country has never ever been great. Its terrorised the world, its enslaved its own people, its taken by force the resources of other countries.
Always
@jess
They all have porn connections.
Private Eye refers to the owner of the Express & Star papers as Richard Dirty Desmond – he previously published a host of mags like Readers Wives, Asian Babes… titles like that.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Desmond#Business_career
He still runs porn channels like Television X and more.
Karen Brady worked for porn king Sullivan on his tits paper the Daily Sport and was then running B’ham City football club which he bought.
Later, along with another porn baron, Gold (and others), they now own West Ham Utd. Gold owns the Ann Summers chain of lady porn shops, Previously, his former business Goldstar Publications thrived on the edge of legality.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Gold_%28businessman%29#Businesses
How’s that?
To be honest, I see no Coulson moment. No one cares about the history since porn is legal. No one cares about previous lives either. The various close calls that the triumvirate have all had are now swept away and forgotten.
On the other hand, if something new were to turn up…. who knows?
One can only hope…
You got the connections spot on. But they beg another question
How did these businesses thrive on ‘the edge of legality.’?
More to the point: are there any businesses which do not thrive on the edge of legality?
I say that as someone who has, in the past, owned and operated businesses of my own.
As someone who is trying to get one started, I’m not sure we should be drawing attention to this sort of thing!
I don’t feel British any more. I think we have lost our rights. This is a land for people from other countries. I don’t believe in anything anymore. Fed up, p****ed off.