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 No. 4   Lord Jackson of Wantage  ?

 There were a few famous Jacksons -  here are some of them :-

Andrew Jackson – (1768-1845) 7th President of the USA.
Cyril Jackson – (1746-1819) English clergyman and scholar born in Yorkshire.  A distinguished dean of Christ Church College, Oxford from 1783 until 1809.  He tutored Sir Robert Peel.
Glenda Jackson C.B.E. – English actress, born in Birkenhead.  A glittering career in Stage, Film, Television and latterly as a Member of Parliament for Hampstead and Highgate. (UK)
Jesse Jackson – American politician.   A charismatic preacher and black-activist who worked with the late Martin Luther King (assassinated 1968 by Earl Ray – given 99 year sentence).
John Jackson – (1769-1845) English pugilist from London.  He won the English heavyweight boxing championship in 1795 and retired undefeated in 1803.  After his retirement he started a school of self-defence in London, where one of his pupils was Lord Byron, who celebrated him in verse.
Michael Jackson – American pop singer.
Thomas Jackson – (1824-1863) American soldier and Confederate general in the Civil War.   At the outbreak of war in 1861 he took command of the Confederate troops at Harper’s Ferry on the secession of Virginia, and commanded a brigade at Bull Run, where his firm stand gained him his sobriquet “Stonewall”.  In 1863, returning from a reconnaissance, his party was accidentally fired on by his own trooops and he was mortally wounded.  His left arm was amputated, but he died on the 10th May of that year.
 (Extracts from Chamber’s Biographical Dictionary 1990, Editor Magnus Magnusson)

Robert Jackson, Conservative M.P. for Wantage in Oxfordshire, has been in politics for 20 years.   It would appear that because hardly anyone had heard of him he would bow out of politics with a big bang – to undermine the leader of his party and recommend full support for the leader of the opposition (Tony Blair).
He voted for the war in Iraq.
He voted for the trebling of tuition fees for university students.
He fully supports further integration into the European Union.

The leader of New Labour that Robert supports so effusively has the following credentials:-

 1. Doubling of house prices since New Labour took office.
2. The construction of the Millenium Dome.
3. The payment of 600 million pounds of tax-payers money to Railtrack shareholders because of the shambles that the then transport secretary created. (The Rt. Hon. Steven Byers)
4. The funding of a Steel Works in Rumania using British Tax Payers money !
5. The Good Friday agreement (Northern Ireland), or lack of  !
6. The closing of Stormont six times since New Labour took office.
7. The burdening of university students with debts of £3000 p.a. for the length of their studies after qualification, the bill surviving by 5 votes thanks to the Scottish Labour M.P.s
8. The passing of the bill on Foundation Hospitals, passing with the narrow margin of 17 votes thanks to the Scottish Labour M.P.s again.   
 (Neither of these two Bills apply to Scotland where they don’t have tuition fees or Foundation Hospitals)
9. The Latest giveaway - Giving up of  our hard fought rebate from Brussels.

   An indication of the direction of our Health Services by the Prime minister perhaps who said, “I don’t see any problem with private money in the NHS if it improves the service”.   Does this give a hint as to the direction that this government is heading if they achieve a third term ?    What exactly is meant by the title “Foundation Hospitals” ?   Perhaps this is another reason why Robert Jackson supports the Prime Minister so avidly ?
The one item missing from 10 Downing Street is a fully up-to-date Crystal Ball.    It would appear that the one they have is using a Pentium 1.    Did our Prime Minister expect the Iraq war to be over in 3 days ?    Did he envisage at that time that we would be embroiled in a situation similar to Cyprus ?

Education, Education, Education.   Does the Prime Minister really believe that a better education is dependent on new buildings or is it just a ploy to gain the votes of the parents ?    If it really is necessary to have new buildings in order to achieve a better education perhaps Tony Blair can explain to the nation why we don’t rebuild Oxford and Cambridge universities  !    The resources that we have, need to be spent wisely and the main requirement for our country is an effective infrastructure to enable industry to compete with the other 24 countries in the European Union.   This opportunity is being wasted, spending money on projects that don’t improve our efficiency one iota and are simply engineered to attract votes at each General Election.   Tony Blair is the British equivalent of David Copperfield (USA magician) who has the ability to convince the British public that what he is doing is producing a magic result.   He has even convinced Robert Jackson  !    With the present government, which includes 3 lawyers we are literally being led down the garden path.   It’s time that genuine Labour MPs woke up.    Tony Blair talks about Democracy.    We are even trying to introduce this so-called democracy to the Iraqis.    When he wishes to get a bill through parliament he uses the “Whips” which ensures that the result is not democratic  !    Add to this the votes of the Scottish Labour MPs voting on bills for which their constituents aren’t affected.    So much for New Labour’s democracy.  What is the magician hiding up his sleeves for the third term if the rank-and-file Labour voters are so blind as to vote for them again ?   This is not the Socialist party as we know it.   Their policies are Right Wing which goes some way to explaining why the opposition leaders have been so ineffective in arguing their case. (3 changes of leader during Tony Blair’s premiership)
*** It is true that we do have to change direction in order to make the country more competitive but the Blair way is not the answer.   To concentrate on policies which gain votes is the equivalent of “walking backwards for christmas” !   If our country is going to prosper in the years ahead then the voters need to start thinking seriously about who they vote for.   It’s time to stop voting Orange, Red, Blue, Green, or any other colour that comes to mind and time to start voting for MPs that really do want a better, more efficient UK Ltd.    Tony Blair, with his flats in Bristol and his new residence in Connaught Square is lining his pockets for his future, not that of the country.    He should have been an actor where his talents would have put him at the top of the hit parade.    Unfortunately he has been allowed to act in Europe, Africa, the USA, Israel, Ireland north and south, without really achieving anything.   He was seen shaking hands with Ariel Sharon at least six times on his last visit to Israel; the Sharon that was in charge of the Israeli army when the Sabra/Chatila massacres took place.   Has he no shame ?    It’s time that the electorate made enquiries about their MPs and their attendance in the House of Commons, their voting habits, and whether they really are up to the job of representing UK Ltd.    A lot rests on the result of the next General Election and talk of letting another party in if you vote a certain way should be disregarded.   What is important at this time is that our representatives are on the ball.   We don’t want any more fiascos where 120 Labour MPs were unable to prevent the present government supporting the Bush administration and taking us to a war that could mean a presence in that theatre for the next 10/15 years.   The Blair government had a 350 seat majority in the first parliament and over 160 in the second term.   This kind of majority is not healthy for any country and is tantamount to a Dictatorship.   Robin Cook and Clare Short left the government because of the Iraq decision.    Other female MPs have left (reportedly because they didn’t feel they had the capacity for the job) because they didn’t agree with the policies and therefore unwilling to force them through the House of Commons.   The trebling of tuition fees was one of those Bills.    It would seem that Tony Blair is in favour of more lady MPs in politics for that reason alone.    They blame any weakness on themselves rather than blame their leader, Clare Short being the exception to prove the rule  !