Is it good to be green?

Labour and the Unions used to make us freeze or sit in the dark in exceptionally cold winters because they controlled the coal mines. 1947, for instance, saw all out strikes. 1971 was very cold and we had power cuts, three day working, travel aneurisms, awful, all because of strikes. They are mean and nasty and cruel. That is only one reason why I hate them but it is a start. Yet it was Harold Wilson's government that built our nuclear power stations, many of them on the other side of the Channel to avoid upsetting the major party funding body during an election. He talked of the white heat of technology and then of the pound in your pocket, apparently oblivious of the fact that most of us had only an old boiled sweet in our pockets and had no cash to call our own at all. Hmm, much the same as now really, the pound in your pocket is probably borrowed these days.
We have King Coal but cannot rely on it as an energy supply because of the trades unions control of production, supply and delivery. So we import coal from Poland or use oil or gas, and nuclear. To try and hand back control over our energy supply to the trades unions the Labour government has delayed the upgrading of our nuclear generation capacity.
We have hydro. There are rivers in this country that never stop flowing though sometimes the flow is very small.
We have wind but if that were reliable the Cutty Sark, fastest shop ever built, would not now be in dry dock. When the frost sparkles the wind turbines stand silent so the lighting is relying on a back up generation system that was running and burning anyway. If the wind power were to be used to pump water up hill to a reservoir or tank from where it would flow down again releasing almost as much energy as it took to send it up there, a back up energy storage system like a battery, then wind power might be called reliable.
We have the capability to use solar power, but those of us with roof mounted water heating or photovoltaic cells noticed they did not work under a foot of snow last month. Photoactive glass in the windows do not catch enough energy to make the investment worthwhile so again the lighting is relying on a back up system that was burning anyway.
So the green options are unreliable and small. They are pretty and cute, they must have a place in the whole if only because not having them would be a wasted resource, but there just is nowhere near enough capacity for a country with a population of 60 million.
I disagree with paying for energy that flows free from the planet 24/7. They are making it anyway so if I don't use it that amount goes to waste. They should change me a set amount for rental of the means of supply and leave the loading to me!
It makes no difference to anything if he energy is green or not. We need to lights on and the wheels of industry turning.

Bankruptcy matters

It is illegal to be a member of a parliament if you are an undischarged bankrupt. And so it should be. If the creditors of the Labour party were to club together and file for payment, quick and simple through the County courts, it would be declared bankrupt, according to all those in the know. Peter Watt said this morning, 17th January 2010, that it is the Labour Executive that would be liable but I believe it is the party treasurer and the party leader who are personally liable - and I suspect all those supplying goods and services to any political party believe so too. No credit controller would extend credit to a committee of people who might resign and leave the debt hanging and without a home base.

This point needs to be clarified, not only on behalf of all financial services who think they know the law of liability but for the actual organisations owed money and who must now declare to their shareholders that there are debts that might be written off, directly hitting profits, wages, salaries and company pensions. Labour’s credit rating should be published on the day the election is called so that voters can see in black and white what sort of organisation they are being asked to put their trust in.

Further, if the Labour Party plc were to be declared bankrupt then the party treasurer and the party leader would then be liable for debts in excess of, what is it now, £20m? We should be told precisely what the figure is before we go to the polls for the reasons outlined above.

I doubt even Gordon Brown and his wife could have amassed sums that huge while he was doing politics so he would be declared bankrupt, his assets and incomes sequestered – and he would be barred from accepting a seat in the House of Lords if it were to be offered.

This country needs to know and needs to know well in advance of a general election – are we being asked to re-elect to the position of Her Majesty’s Prime Minister in charge of this country’s credit rating a prospective bankrupt? Are we being asked to elect to control of this nation’s finances a party that failed to control its own?