Clayton's Political View

I haven't been feeling well lately so I haven't been out of the house much, last week I treated myself to a McDonalds via Ubereats they have finally come to my village! When I received my order I asked the driver how his day was going and he replied that he was stressed trying to catch up with himself as he had not been furloughed or hadn't been supported during the lockdown. Hearing this made me very angry and depressed as to how to this Gentleman had been so let down by our Government. During the pandemic the Government has paid furlough to people who couldn't work I was fortunate enough to be furloughed last year, however millions haven't been as lucky and they have been left out they have created a group called  Excluded which has been pressuring the Government rightly to assistance most of them being self employed and business owners.  The COVID pandemic has drawn the curtain open to the acute inequality that is in the country that has been allowed to fester aw...

This week we witnessed the come back of Dominic Cummings to Parliament he was giving evidence to one of the select committees about the history of the Government's reaction, strategy and conduct during the COVID pandemic, which included surreal references to Spider-Man and Independence day Mr Cummings has come a long way since being Michael Gove's Chief of staff and has even been portrayed by Benedict Cumberbatch who portrayed him in a film about the role that Mr Cummings played in the Vote Leave campaign in the 2016 EU referendum. It has been the first time that Mr Cummings has been back in the public eye since leaving Downing Street as the Prime Minister Boris Johnsons chief advisor well chief advisor is a bit of understatement as we discovered from watching the footage from Parliament yesterday. it appears that he was formulating policy, directing the civil service and more!  The last year in British politics has been chaotic and especially in Downing Street as Mr. Cummings ...

In the aftermath of the local election results my party didn't do well in some areas we did well, Mark Drakeford held the Senedd, Sadiq Khan got re-elected as the Mayor of London we had a good showing with Metro Mayoral elections including Andy Burnham and Tracey Brabin being re-elected and elected respectively. In addition we also took over a few sets in the south.  But we can't sugar coat the final result was bad for us, However we can not and must not tear ourselves apart as a party. I voted for and still Support Keir, I would urge my party to remember just how badly our party did in 2019 I still have a strong bout of PTSD from that evening when longstanding safe Labor seats turned blue. we still have a lot of work to do as a party it won't happen over night. I remember staying up during the night watching in total depression and horror as the constituency results slowly emerged and eventually crashed into bed at six in the morning feeling totally deflated, that feeling ...

In the Charles Dickens novel Oliver Twist the titular impoverished and hungry Oliver asks Mr Bumble for more food. This week the Conservative Party voted overwhelmingly to deny Oliver food let alone more. Last Wednesday the Conservatives voted against a Labour motion to provide children free school meals through the holidays until spring next year. However three hundred and twenty two Tory MP's voted it down over the past few days it has been really embarrassing seeing members of parliament like Ben Bradley defending voting how he did and seeing former MP Nicky Morgan now Baroness Of Cotes defending the government on BBC's Question time claiming  parliamentary procedure a reason was hard to watch. The Conservatives have been in power now for a decade and what have they got to show for it? food banks are at an all time high with Jacob Rees Mogg saying that the rise was rather uplifting, the benefits system has been geared against the individual with heavy sanctions being imposed...

 As I write the Presidential election is approaching us in under a month Americans will go to the polls and choose who will helm the ship for the next four years, will it be the incumbent Donald Trump or will it be the aging political titan Joe Biden? Americans are going to the polls with a backdrop of Covid, Climate change and financial turbulence hitting them from all angles. This election might have a totally fresh backdrop to it as far as I can remember it's the first time a candidate has been hospitalized this close to a poll but the echoes of the 2016 presidential election are still visible and it feels like a re-run I keep on having Deja vu the Democrats are starting to act like the election is in the bag and Donald Trump is characteristically being controversial and unpredictable again. He is also boycotting virtual debates.  If polls are to be believed then they are similar to the polls of 2016 I've read a poll this morning that suggested Biden was five points ahead o...

Presidential debates have been happening in America now for centuries, they were famously bought to screen in the 1960 election with a young and charismatic John F Kennedy debating Richard Nixon. Kennedy won that debate because he was cool, collected and at ease conversely Nixon failed because he sweated a lot and wasn't comfortable in front of the camera. although radio viewers said Nixon won but TV viewers judged that JFK won. Kennedy really took to new technology and was great in front of the camera and went on to win that election and to create Camelot.  Since the start of televised debates their have been moments of controversy from George HW Bush checking his watch to Trump telling Clinton if he was in power she would be in jail.  The Presidential debate is an institution in the states now and wannabe Presidents have been grilled in front of the American electorate, and an independent commission manages them. Since the election of 2010 debates have started happening in t...

As I write it is the Labour conference season, I should have been up in Liverpool this weekend watching key notes however with covid I ended up watching Deputy Leader Angela Rayner giving her address virtually. I was truly inspired by Rayner's key note speech. it is also this week that Angela Rayner gave a powerful performance at Prime Ministers Questions last Wednesday in which she gave the Prime Minister a grilling over care workers.  She spoke about her childbirth and working in the care sector and how the party helped her. Labour truly is the party for social mobility, Labour governments have bought in the minimum wage act, introduced child tax credits, and introduced the human rights act which gave people basic rights in law. These things have helped people to unleash their potential and improve their lives. The state helping people should be celebrated and with a Labour state we can do this.  Since our devastating loss last year we have been slowly rising in the opinion ...