Politicians.......parasites!

[turbo33]

My daughter phoned yesterday with a concern over a Tick on her cocker. I advised the usual, Tick removed, end of immediate saga. But, I did say, with the coming spring and summer, the parasites will see the opportunity to feed themselves at at the expense of the host, so be vigilant.

How often do you have a MP knocking on your door to ask how things are going for you? I can tell you, never here............until like the Tick, they can sniff an opportunity to feed of someone for their own gain. In the last two days, I've had fliers through the door, and you will also have had your evening viewing/chill/after a long day, tv time, interrupted by party political broadcasts.  

The lack of intelligence and arrogance beggars belief!!

[JRDS]

You are being way too kind to 99% of them, in days gone past they wouldn't be able to make the rope quick enough!

[welsh1]

I have never had any one from any party knock on my door in 23 years of living here, When we had a labour mp in the area he brought in Peter hain to try and convince us he was working for us and stood outside our tesco's smiling and smarming.

As Peter Hain was secretary of state for wales i made a bee line for him and had him literally in a corner, i started to ask him why my wifes operation had been cancelled 3 times, and when he tried to give a load of crap. i told him what the consultant had told myself and my wife about how they manipulate figures by over booking and cancelling to make it look like targets were being met, he spluttered and stuttered and could only apologise before his goons stepped in and rescued him, i got a round of applause from the people gathered around.

As said, they don't want to know until it's time to get those votes to continue feeding at the trough.

[TIGHTCHOKE]

Well done Mate!

[fern01]

My MP  claimed well over £160,000 in expenses last year plus his salary and pension pot.

They make ticks look positively cuddley by comparison

 

 

[Diver One]

Local elections here shortly

every day there is a flyer through the door for some political party candidate ."local to the area"! Well I've lived here 39 years and never seen one of them !!

one of the 'great and the good' knocked on my door the other day "hello Sir, can we rely upon your vote for 'nameless ****' in the forthcoming election?"

my response ?   "Why would I vote for someone who cannot even be bothered to turn up in person? Now jog off in short jerky movements"

[Scully]

Unfortunately we don't get them around here; plenty of leaflets through the letterbox, but no canvassers. 

As expected, I have so far received no reply ( nor even an acknowledgement ) to the email I sent the PM. No doubt she's a tad busy thinking of ways to thwart the democratic process whilst trying to convince others she's doing all she can to see it through. Of all the correspondence I've had over the years with either politicians or the HO, this is the first time I've received nothing back. 

Well done Welsh1; make 'em squirm. I've had a couple of run ins with David Maclean over the years; a smarmier bloke you'd be hard pushed to meet. 

[ph5172]

To be fair the only guy to come round our way in the local elections is the Green Party candidate.... every time without fail he will knock then leaflet the door if there is no answer   

 

One of the lads i work with had a container of salt ready to ward off his local MP or candidate - funnily enough he now thinks there is a conspiracy as he is the only one in the street not to get a knock or a leaflet, probably doesn’t help he attends the meetings and refers to them all as slugs! So mr slug I mean mr x what us your policy on ....

 

 

Edited April 11, 2019 by ph5172

[JohnfromUK]

My former MP (now retired) always came round (not just Parliamentary elections, but locals as well with the local candidate)....... and attended many functions in the constituency, plus his wife held events to raise funds.

I don't see the present MP as much, but she does come round for general elections.

[turbo33]

8 minutes ago, JohnfromUK said:

My former MP (now retired) always came round (not just Parliamentary elections, but locals as well with the local candidate)....... and attended many functions in the constituency, plus his wife held events to raise funds.

I don't see the present MP as much, but she does come round for general elections.

That’s my point Johnny. No sign of any of them for most of us, until they have to fight for their jobs or see an opportunity to elevate their party as in recent circumstances. 

[clakk]

Around here we only know Andrew Bridgen off the tv ,dont think in ten years i,ve seen the expense,s claiment once in our little town that he supposedly represents .Liebour flood your letter box with carp come election time but i couldnt even name the "trainee" parasite in waiting as their leaflets are great for lighting the bbq .

As for the lib dum,s and greens who are they ,if you cant be bothered to squeeze the palm and say hello why would i put you on the gravy train ?

[roadkill]

5 minutes ago, clakk said:

Around here we only know Andrew Bridgen off the tv ,dont think in ten years i,ve seen the expense,s claiment once in our little town that he supposedly represents .Liebour flood your letter box with carp come election time but i couldnt even name the "trainee" parasite in waiting as their leaflets are great for lighting the bbq .

As for the lib dum,s and greens who are they ,if you cant be bothered to squeeze the palm and say hello why would i put you on the gravy train ?

I've bumped into him quite a few times on the quorn hunt, even had a port with him at an estate next to east Midlands airport 

[clakk]

Sounds like he,s networking rather than meet n greet with the voters .The only local knowledge of him is a rather blunt poster on the door of his former town office by the landlord who evicted him and no its not polite or flattering i,m afraid 

[Vince Green]

Most MPs are people who couldn't hack it in the real world, look at the present crop! Diane Abbott would struggle as a school dinner lady.

[henry d]

Not sure how it works in England etc but Pete Wishart has regular surgeries all around the constituency including one 600yds from my door, if I have an issue I can book an appointment.

[old man]

7 hours ago, Vince Green said:

Most MPs are people who couldn't hack it in the real world, look at the present crop! Diane Abbott would struggle as a school dinner lady.

Disagree strongly Vince, very good at making hashes.

Parasites live off others usually to the point of disabling the host, never quite killing it, sounds familiar?

I would love one to call but have only ever had leaflets.

[Blackbriar]

My previous MP was Mark Lancaster (MK north), who I only ever found to be a s useful as a chocolate fireguard - completely out of touch with his electorate and blindly toeing the party line.

My current representative is Peter Bone, who has consistently voted against the Maybot's Brexit deal, as well as HS2 and other such follies.

They're both Tories, but I'd take the latter over the former, all day long.

 

 

[Aled]

What I am saying here is based on my experience of dealing with our local MP. (Johnathon Edwards Plaid Cymru)

First off when we needed support to set up a disabled fishing casting platform for our local angling club, he offered support immediately. Secondly when  I went to him (and our local AM) regarding new medication available for my children's condition the response I got was quick, professional and honest, and to follow on from this I was pleasantly surprised that issue had been passed on to the Labour minister of health for Wales. Who again gave a surprisingly professional and honest response, and had obviously done some homework on the subject (OK it was probably a member of his staff but!!)

That's my experience of dealing with the my local MP. Take what you want from my comments.

Cheers

Aled

[old man]

Mm, the parasites have started begging for hosts, just received the postal form, 2 of DisMays ilk, 2 from Liebour and 1 independent. 1 Liebour didn't think it needed an address?

Just off to ponder where to place my 2 crosses, difficult decision, might just save a drop of ink as I demonstrate my joy in denying the trough.

I think the 'I' has it from me.

Pleased for you Aled sounds a trier.

[udderlyoffroad]

Lived in Knowle for 5 years (massive council estate built in the 30's and 40's), a donkey with a red rosette would win there, saw no-one of any political persuasion.  The leaflets for all the parties got ever more ridiculous & hyperbolic in a vain attempt to unseat the incumbent.

Have now moved to the Bristol East Constituency, a seat held by Labour's vegan spokeslady for Agriculture, Kerry McCarthy.  Apparently she's also a current/former VP of LACS. 

Nothing from her or anyone despite living here for 18months.

Then there's my local Green MEP, Molly Scott-Cato, whose utterings on social media make Ms McCarthy's look in-touch with the real world by comparison.   Recently she was ranting on Twitter about a poster on the London underground, and how it should be banned. Was it a lady in a bikini?  Junk food?  Sports car?  Nope....an advert for a travel agency.  Apparently travel is ok if you're an MEP, but abhorrent if you're a prole....

[Raja Clavata]

My local MP is Conservative and a member of the ERG. Very responsive and approachable chap, in terms of how he serves his constituents no complaints whatsoever.

[Scully]

32 minutes ago, udderlyoffroad said:

Lived in Knowle for 5 years (massive council estate built in the 30's and 40's), a donkey with a red rosette would win there, saw no-one of any political persuasion.  The leaflets for all the parties got ever more ridiculous & hyperbolic in a vain attempt to unseat the incumbent.

Have now moved to the Bristol East Constituency, a seat held by Labour's vegan spokeslady for Agriculture, Kerry McCarthy.  Apparently she's also a current/former VP of LACS. 

Nothing from her or anyone despite living here for 18months.

Then there's my local Green MEP, Molly Scott-Cato, whose utterings on social media make Ms McCarthy's look in-touch with the real world by comparison.   Recently she was ranting on Twitter about a poster on the London underground, and how it should be banned. Was it a lady in a bikini?  Junk food?  Sports car?  Nope....an advert for a travel agency.  Apparently travel is ok if you're an MEP, but abhorrent if you're a prole....

😀 I was thinking about carbon footprints regarding the number of trips May has made to EU HQ of late,  and not content with Katya  Adler broadcasting from Brussels, the Beeb decide to send Ms Kuensberg closely followed by the Welsh bloke himself! 

No doubt Mr Attenborough will be telling us all shortly ( via the beeb itself )  how we’re all killing the planet. 

In this day and age is there any need for huge summits in person? Couldn’t they all do it via satellite links? Saying that, I’d travel anywhere for a free lunch and a few drinks on expenses! 😀

 

[udderlyoffroad]

41 minutes ago, Raja Clavata said:

My local MP is Conservative and a member of the ERG. Very responsive and approachable chap, in terms of how he serves his constituents no complaints whatsoever.

I have friends who live Rees-Mogg’s constituency and they are all positive about him regarding any interaction they’ve had with him. 

[JohnfromUK]

11 minutes ago, udderlyoffroad said:

I have friends who live Rees-Mogg’s constituency and they are all positive about him regarding any interaction they’ve had with him. 

People go into politics for a variety of reasons;

• Some do it for the money/remuneration.  It may not be well paid compared to the CEO of a FTSE 100 Company, but it is a LOT better than a local council politician.
• Some do it for the 'publicity buzz' of being in the media, on the campaign trail, being 'at the centre of things'.
• Some do it for the 'power' and hope to make high office and have 'power'
• Some do it for the 'connections and networking' hoping to make lots of money from consultancies, directorships etc
• Some do it 'out of conviction' in what is right - sadly these seem very few these days.

Rees-Mogg doesn't need the money, doesn't need the connections or networking, doesn't (I think) crave the power.  I suspect he does it from a mix of the 'being at the centre of things' and out of convictions.  On that basis - he would be likely to be a good constituency MP.  My previous MP was similar - in that he was from a wealthy business family locally, lived in the constituency, and was genuinely interested in local affairs and attended many local events.

Quite a lot of politicians (on both the Labour and Tory benches) are independently wealthy, but still (almost) all draw vast expenses and many employ family members (as 'researchers and office staff) on a publicly paid salary (such as Kate Osamor and son).

[oowee]

I have spent much of my working life working with and for politicians. The vast majority I have met have been dedicated, hardworking and selfless. To the point where their marriages and family have suffered as a result of their relentless work schedule. 

There are a few who come to mind that stood out as not only being dedicated but also being exceptionally knowledgeable and capable. There are also a few (including the last one i worked for) that have absolutely no capacity to do much more than exist. 

Unfortunately my local MP is Mr Mogg and despite being completely misguided is a surprisingly good local MP. I just wish he would stick to what he is good at.