She has become rather good at such noises ... but ruined the effect the following day by allowing Sajid Javid to announce that fracking is to go ahead in Lancashire in defiance of the wishes of the local community and in favour of big business (sorry, 'our national energy policy'). I am sure that the people of Lancashire will have enjoyed the exercise of 'democracy'.
It was possible to feel deeply insulted by the response that it was not for Parliament to double-think the will of the British people, presumably because that was reserved for the ruling clique who have interpreted the June vote to suit their own purposes. One commentator even tried to justify the government's strategy on the basis of 'polling' which makes one wonder why we bother to have elections at all.
Just as we were reeling from Liam Fox' suggestion that existing EU nationals were mere cards to be played in our negotiation with the EU we heard from our Home Secretary which was surely the nadir of the Conference. (Not forgetting that our control-freak PM's former job - record definitely doubtful - was Home Secretary and this is a policy area in which she would have a special interest)
Amber Rudd's speech said that companies would need to record the nationality of all staff and name and shame those that were employing foreigners. This was particularly appalling as it came from a minister in a cabinet that prides itself on its micro-management of news (with the exception of statements by the three blind mice/wise monkeys who seem to be a law unto themselves and frequently contradict each other).
Her speech was the moment that I said 'I can no longer stand by. I must act.'
A clarification assured us that Rudd had not meant what she had said at all and that there was no question of naming and shaming it was just that government was going to collect the statistics so that it could work out where there were 'skill shortages'. Back-tracking under pressure, and so quickly.
As an aside, can someone explain to me how the system is going to work? Data would be submitted by firms. This will no doubt say 'this database manager job is occupied by a person born in Czechia' ...which will feed through to the Education Department who will train up a new database manager so that, in 20 years, we will have a person available who can fill that job. This is the apparent thinking behind Jeremy Hunt's delight in announcing that 1500 extra doctors are to be trained each year (and about time too).
Or will it feed through to Employment Offices who will be required to trawl through their records to find someone who claims to be a database manager so that they can be posted to the firm concerned who can then 'let go' of the Czech national?
And, if so, then how many civil servants will it take to administer such a scheme? And at what cost?
And will the number of vacancies - less the number of existing Brits who claim to be able to do the job - be passed to our Consulates so that they can 'let in' suitable people who can then apply for the jobs?
And what happens if the Brits concerned turn out to be wholly unsuitable for the jobs concerned? What of the government's productivity drive then?
Then there was the message to the LSE that the government would not permit anyone with a foreign passport to provide advice to government on matters to do with Brexit, ostensibly for fear that 'our negotiating position - (do we read 'lack of any coherent plan'?) should leak. This was so swiftly and strenuously denied as to be deeply suspicious.
I can no longer stand by at such centralist fascist bullying, such xeno-racist talk. All it requires for evil to prosper is for good people to do nothing. Just as Donald Trump's vile remarks show the true character of the man - not something that can be dismissed as locker-room chat - so last week's announcements show the true character of this government.
Let me state my position clearly: this government must go, starting at the top.
In 1997 we were a nation that was at ease with itself. Not now. Not when half the country is regarded as deluded for their views. Not when the government of the day behaves like the worst sort of bully - 'you lost get over it' - aided and abetted by most of the mainstream media (owned by rich tycoons who stand to benefit most from Brexit). Not when the government of the day does nothing - not a single thing - to win us over to their vision of the future: not an explanation, not a reasoned argument, not an invitation to engage: just platitudes and 'it will be alright on the night'.
Some of us wish the UK to continue as an Open, tolerant and united country and yes, those words may be familiar but they should apply to all political parties in the great tradition of UK.Why, they are probably enshrined in the 'British Values' which the government is so keen that all schoolchildren should learn about.
Parliament managed to find time to discuss - but not vote on - the plan for Brexit this week. Of course a vote could not happen: the government might have lost it. Was this the re-capturing sovereignty for our own parliament that was promised?
I do not normally post things verbatim on this site but every now and again something appears which hits the nail on the head. What follows is a letter from someone about whom I know nothing but who clearly feels the same as many of us:
Dear Prime Minister
I was a Remain voter.
When you became Prime Minister I was cautiously hopeful because I felt you would be a voice of reason and moderation in a country where these qualities seemed to be being cast aside. Even when you appointed Messrs Fox, Davis, and Johnson to government, I felt perhaps that this was an intelligent move to give the responsibility for execution to those who had so carelessly made lavish and unfulfillable promises.
However, the Conservative Party Conference has disabused me of this hope.
Although I am now in my sixties, I have never known the country so divided as it has been since 23rd June.
The Conference would have been an opportunity for a real leader to reach out to try to start to heal some of the wounds. Instead, you decided to use your speech to disparage the 16 million voters who felt it would be a huge mistake for this country to leave the EU.
Thanks to your speech I learn that I am, in your eyes, part of a “sneering, metropolitan elite” because I struggle to understand why a slim majority of my fellow citizens voted to go down the disastrous route of leaving the EU.
It is certainly true that I have sneered at the manifest dishonesty of senior politicians (some now in your cabinet) who misled the electorate by telling lies so crass, so grotesque, that they had to be withdrawn a day or two after the referendum.
However, I do not sneer and never have sneered at the concerns of the poorest and most disadvantaged in our society – I myself grew up in that sort of background. I believe they have very real causes for concern which have been ignored for far too long. The irony of this is that you have been a senior member of governments which, for the last six years, have been doing the ignoring, so trying to place the blame on those who voted Remain is a cynical misdirection of responsibility.
Truly, if you want to see real sneering, you have only to glance at the Daily Express or visit a Brexit website.
That apart, I am angry.
I am angry at MPs who seem to think that it is perfectly acceptable to make the most significant decision of a generation on the basis of these lies, and who lack the moral courage of their own convictions.
I am angry at a government which, after a narrow margin in favour of detaching from the EU (with a significantly disenfranchised electorate and where “Leave” voters were motivated by a wide range of considerations) now seeks to convert this advisory vote (for thus it was) into a mandate to lurch to the extreme right and to turn on those of foreign birth who have made their lives in this country.
I am angry at a government which, pursing a policy supposedly in the name of “taking back sovereignty”, now believes that it alone has the right to decide on the future of the country without reference to our elected parliament.
I am angry at a government which appears intent on a “hard Brexit” which will condemn us to a further decade or more of recession which will hit hardest the poorest and most needy in our society, will severely diminish our place in the world, and which may well fragment the United Kingdom itself.
I am angry at a government which fails to invest in housing, education, health, and other infrastructure and then cynically encourages the blame to be passed on to immigrants when services cannot cope.
I bow to no-one in my pride at being British, but patriotism is not the same as a narrow, xenophobic nationalism. I believe that our future lies in close co-operation with other European Democracies, rather than with regimes like China, or in gloriously futile isolationism. In truth, right now I am feeling ashamed of my country.
I do not normally spend a huge amount of time engaged with politics. I have only once written to a Prime Minister before: to Tony Blair on the eve of the Iraq War. However, it appears that you now think of me as your enemy, along with the sixteen million others who voted Remain and who are, for the most part, still deeply concerned about the direction in which our country is heading. So be it.
A few years ago, you yourself said of the Conservatives: “They call us the Nasty Party”. Well, after your party’s Conference, people are now calling you the Nazi Party. There’s a legacy to be proud of, Prime Minister!
Yours sincerely
Martyn Calder
