Thursday 19 February 2009

Jackboot Jacqui And Another Consultation Scam


Lawson Narse doesn't miss much. He's picked up on an article at the Telegraph by Alex Singleton that rings some bells at the Puddlecote residence.

Jacqui Smith failed to consult over new anti-photographer law

The Royal Photographic Society - established in 1853 - ought to have been at the top of the list of organisations consulted of how the law would work in practice. Yet the society, which has a Royal Charter, tells me that it has unsuccessfully been trying to meet Miss Smith over the past year, despite the encouragement and help of a backbench Labour MP.


Labour do have a very strange interpretation of the terms 'stakeholder' and 'consultation'. They similarly omitted the views of those who are directly affected by their policies when they 'consulted' on hiding tobacco displays, as I mentioned in December. The Tobacco Retailers Alliance also tried their hardest to talk to Labour, but were swatted away, as reported at the time by Medical News no less.

In a report on the Future of Tobacco Control consultation published on Tuesday 9th December 2008, the Department of Health appears to have deliberately omitted evidence offered by the Tobacco Retailers Alliance.

Ken Patel, Leicester retailer and National Spokesman for the Tobacco Retailers Alliance, said: "First the Minister refused to meet with retailers, now they have censored our formal response to a public consultation."

Campaign Manager Katherine Graham said; "We are not listed as one of the respondents although our response was submitted by email and also sent by post, so we can be certain it was received. For some reason the views of 25,000 shopkeepers just seem to have been air-brushed out of the consultation report."


Alex Singleton continues,

It is no surprise, given this failure to listen to those who know their subject, that legislation eminating from Westminster has become of such a poor quality. It is, alas, too much to hope that the Home Secretary will repent of her authoritarianism, and repeal this terrible legislation.


It's not just the photography law that is blighted by such 'consultation' that is nothing of the sort. Labour consistently 'consult' only themselves or carefully cherry-picked QUANGOs that agree with their view.

Increasingly, such QUANGOs are couched as 'charities' and furnished with your taxes to lobby in agreement with Brown and his assorted control freaks. If you take a contrary position to Labour, however well-researched and argued, and however historical, honest and popular your organisation, the government-funded nutjobs will prevail. You're screwed.

This isn't just worrying anymore, it's anti-democratic and could even be classed as treason in my book.

Without wishing to bring down a Devil's Kitchen-style shit-storm regarding personal voting choices ... anyone who still intends giving their X to Labour at the next election, is either incredibly stupid, or a 24 carat cunt.




2 comments:

banned said...

" Consultation " = This is what's going to happen, live with it "

Our City Council "consulted" us about introducing residents parking in 10 areas of the city. Each area voted 90% against with a turnout greater than in Council elections.

They conceded and dropped the plan yet they are still quietly implementing it half a street at a time ( X 10 ); within about 5 years it will be fully in place.

timbone said...

'Public Consultation' is them playing a game called 'Look at us, we are democratic', the only thing is, they don't tell the public. Several months ago, I asked several smokers on different occasions what they thought about the idea of hiding tobacco under the counter - they didn't know anything about it.
I was thinking about something the other day. Back in 2004 (I think it was then) when those great big health warnings started to appear on the front and back of packs, that was the first I knew about it!! I bet there was a 'public consultation' though.