Paul Lehmans

EXAMPLE OF LETTERS TO EDITOR

Title:    Time for Change

Paul Lehmans.

New Labour and Tories claim to be the listening party, but if Political Reform Party  policies and ideas are to be judged as average public gripes, then both Brown and Cameron need to shake up their act, with comparable policies, as the mood for change sweeps the nation.

It's easy for press and politicians to ridicule the new Party's policies as idealistic, not affordable, not cost effective, also the basis for economic collapse, but every policy outlined in its policy proposals, when compared to affordability of Northern Rock and recent past and present Middle East Wars, and compare like with like, with massive savings in dismantling Whitehall and slashing to the core economic draining government administration, then each and every policy has merit.

It is fact that the main parties quibble and give great credence to affordability of this and that with all of them bleating on about costs and affordability, then along comes a Middle East war or two and Northern Rock and all of their 'concerns' completely disappear, as money simply appears out of nowhere, making a complete mockery politicians concerns about unfunded policies.

PRP will simply forge ahead with its policies and ignore political opposition and scaremongering. Voter/consumers prefer direct action rather than more sincere sounding believable promises spoken with great conviction. In any society there are always problems and it is how you deal with problems that count. In UK problems linger on for years, decades, and even generations and political parties are at a loss or simply cannot be bothered to deal with the problems, where both New Labour and Tories replace action with sincere sounding honest words, which is sufficient for their respective parties candidates to be re-elected or elected to government and this is the historic fact. PRP and its members will not resort to cheap words but forge ahead pursuing its policies as demanded in its constitution and election manifesto.  

Whitehall are very good at producing statistics of all kinds, until it comes to themselves and the individual cost for every Department and every Ministry, including the tail costs of lucrative gilt edge pensions, advisory posts, quango appointments, part time reemployment (with full pensions) etc, etc, where such information is simply not gathered or very well hidden behind garbled waffle.

Not a single Dept or Ministry is ever short of staff, its management and senior management are closed shops (jobs for the boys) and are themselves overstaffed and in the days when Whitehall ruled the largest Empire in history there were but a handful of Ministries, whereby today with EU regulating 75% of government administration, there are over one hundred and thirty Ministries, doing god knows what and costing taxpayers an arm and a leg. MPs' promotion jobs grow with Whitehall's vast growth, hence the army of junior MPs' and their opposite numbers appearing out of the woodwork in droves, no wonder party loyalty is assured with these entire 'promotion' job in the gift of their leaders. Naturally the taxpayer foot the ever growing bill and other investments fall by the wayside, replace with sincere words.   

Policies to introduce ten or more Regional Authorities (RA's) with these RA's taking over any Whitehall Dept or Ministry that survive value-for-money and fit-for-purpose scrutiny by powerful Parliamentary Committee's, other than the essential central government Ministries that will also undergo modernisation and massive cutbacks to match their capped administration budgets and competing with commercial companies, whereby with cost effective efficiencies any remaining Ministry or Dept will be slim lined for the benefit of the electorate. 

Savings are inestimable and until PRP open the books from the Treasury Coffers and unravel the Whitehall drain on its resources, and then PRP will know what savings are possible and trim its cloth or finance PRP policies. The Commons will suffer the same Whitehall treatment, abolishing the House of Lords and cutting Commons seat by 50% with half the seats transferred to an Upper House and MPs' salaries are structured on a professional person's basis with MPs' responsible for all their expenses other than Parliamentary Committee duties, where work/duty expenses are paid from Parliament Finds.  Included in scrutinising MPs' and Civil Service salaries and gilt edge inflation proof index linked pensions and costs to taxpayers where trimming and phasing out such practises is another PRP policy.

RA's will govern their respective region with finance available to expand its manufacturing base and attract 'competitive' services and businesses into the area and where monopoly services and business could be phased out.

Introduction of USA style Anti-trust Laws in order to rid the nation of monopolies can and most assuredly will be strongly opposed by the powerful political and media serving monopoly interests.

Despite the hullabaloo PRP causes the need for reducing Whitehall and Westminster costs and abolishing monopolies and cartels as poppycock, the truth remains the British people suffer the lowest disposal income of all industrialised nations and tax and prices account for this suffering.

Street crime is always treated as more imaginary than real, and that statistics prove it's always falling year on year, but in truth, people can see otherwise and view with horror the growth of drug fuelled street crimes. It is PRP policy of eradicating street crimes (muggings, shop and car theft, burglary, drug peddlers, drug dealers, and drug barons) by setting up a national armed Para-military style, Street Crime Police Force (SCPF) with full manpower and finance, and equipped with most modern surveillance equipment money can buy and every street crime offender will know that they must cease or serve time in strict and secure street criminal offenders camps. 

We can see PRP tackles this problem head on and terms of costs SCPE will not cost the taxpayer the kind of money of Northern Rock. PRP will not divert from its policies to rid the streets of street crime terrorists and make every effort to set out system that rids society of these people.

When comparing Western Europe's public transport with our own, politicians hold their heads in shame and PRP policies will tackle this problem head on. First by improving facilities, freezing fares and gradual reduction of fares year on year, introducing low fare public tramway service for all our cities whereby eventually use of motorcars will prove far more expensive than highly efficient, low priced public transport. These and other services are subject to funding availability and if Northern Rock is the sample guiding light funding will be made possible.

Today Britain and the world face the growing rise of terrorism and use of greater mass destruction weapons and at some time in the future dirty weapons.  PRP believe that Britain's military abilities are limited even Iraq and Afghanistan combined with other duties is causing great worry for our Military Commanders and the MoD are so outdated and even employ more civil servants than service men and women as indeed this outdate practise is spread across the whole of EU.

It is estimated that the combined defence budgets of the EU is greater than USA defence budget but produce less than 10% of military hardware. PRP intend to force through with our senior EU Partners the formation of an EU Defence Force (EUDF) with a single pentagon style headquarters with a single purchasing power equal or greater that the USA with the formation of  massive fully equipped helicopter divisions able to transfer to anywhere in the world to combat international threat.

Today for example, if it was discovered that a terrorist organisation in some far distant mountainous area had possession of a suitcase size dirty bomb intended for Britain. The question arises what would our politicians and Generals be able to do and compare the answer to  EDUF super power General with powerful fully equipped Divisions at his command, then ask our Euro sceptics to and both questions. The answers are clear and the argument for Mod and other EU Defence Ministries to remain out of touch and out of date is answered. 

There are many other public concerns that PRP deals with head on, setting up powerful Parliamentary Committees to remove/reduce all consumer rip offs, oversee all public services and nursing/pensioner homes, dealing with niggling practises of premium phone lines (to be abolished) utility services malpractices, consumer complaints, where MPs' will be seen to be active in dealing with voter/consumer needs and less concerns with immigration complaints and alike which will be the responsibility of RA's.

Other concerns are taken on board a national storm drain system to elevate fears of flood plane residents and study the feasibility of a national water supply system from north to south improving housing stock, and raising living standards.

There are clear target beneath the array of policies whereby employment creation via a massive Reindustrialisation Programme is the first requirement that must precede job creation which in turn has a knock-on effect to remove the high rate of unemployment and this in turn creates wealth and improves living standards and reduces crime. Anti-trust Laws banish high prices and rip-off companies and drastically reduce prices for all goods and services which in turn lessens pressures on salary increases and increases disposal income and living standards, easing child poverty and reducing the north-south rich-poor divide.

Eradicating street crime by tackling its core root of illegal drugs and the very severe penalties imposed on guilty offenders and even more severe penalties on drug barons with the street crime terrorists police releasing our hard pressed police force overburdened with street crime and tackle widespread hooliganism and drunken disorder with greater venom backed by strong laws prohibiting drunken behaviour in public and carry out their duties in relation to society.

Greatly reducing central government administration size and resulting costs and introducing elected by proportional representation Regional Authorities, taking over social services of local government such as NHS, Education, Police, Housing, Industrial Expansion.

The policies are designed to tackle popular needs of voter/consumers who have far less interest in overseas terrorists and are more concerned with eradicating street crime terrorists, and getting rid of rip-off practises, greatly reducing taxes and prices for goods and services, improving living standards and dragging politics into the 21^st century.

Naturally while policies are at 'proposed' stage where when a team of likeminded men and women will iron out details with the aid of expert help and where any final policy must be approved by party membership whereby the slim line version will eventually become firm party policy ready for party election mandate. 

New Labour and Tories are welcome to 'steal' these policies but their financial backer will hear nothing about Anti-trust Legislation, and as for joining an EU Superpower military force, well their middle England devotion and trade union pride will boot this baby into touch.  Other policies are rather too bothersome and unless that are able to use words of duplicity and 'aspire' to such policies, then such will be forthcoming.

Unfortunately old fashioned outdated politicians  never make decision, for fear of making mistakes and carry automatic demotion, where well spoken earnest and sincere honest sounding speakers of the like of Jonathan Aitken, disgraced Tory MP, well versed in the art of duplicity-speak as most high ranking party politicians who rose in their ranks, where the public are fed up to the back teeth of hearing Minister and shadow Minister repeating the same old rhetoric decade, after decade, after decade and these politicians completely ignorant that its policies with tiger teeth that the public want to hear, while behind the scenes the poor dears haven't a clue, other than their kind can walk off  merchant ships unemployed and via our political system become millionaires where eventually the billionaires' have their will's frozen for fifty years.

This brief insight to Political Reform Party policies provides new thinking for voter and consumer and certainly feed the 'need for change' and the time for change sweeping the nation, and for this reason New Labour and Conservatives need to rethink their own ideas, if they want to block public thinking of following PRP's lead. 

Paul Lehmans.

14^th March 2008

Mr President,  Ladies and Gentlemen, Good evening  ....... For an ex-national serviceman with a modest interest in politics, the motion before the House is intriguing and I assume it applies in peacetime and to young men of eighteen.

During my army experience, as those who have read my book On Her Majestys National Service, will know, I had a great time and, frankly, I never stopped laughing from start to finish. However, at the time I bitterly resented conscription; a view shared by most, if not all, national servicemen.

In the fifties people obeyed officialdom, and national service was the continuation of wartime practice. Today public support for it would be mixed, with a strong body opposed and a sizeable majority, who believe that military discipline would be good for our unruly youngsters, in favour.

The immediate threat to Britain and the West is international terrorism, a misused term these days, but its end product, a portable dirty bomb, is a real threat to us all. . . . To put it simply, Star Wars technology is no match for the type of modern terrorist warfare that is spreading round the globe.

Our generals, and for that matter the US generals too, are begging for thousands of attack and troop-transport helicopters and divisions of well trained, well equipped ground troops to swamp terrorist strongholds and territories. They also want extra manpower and equipment for search-and-destroy missions when terrorists and their leaders flee from selective counterattacks.

This is what our commanders in the field demand.

Terrorism must be crushed at its roots before it achieves the ability to produce, in the near future, portable weapons of city-wide destruction and, God forbid, a number of portable dirty bombs. Any of these smuggled into a Western country could wreak havoc on the government and its people - the nightmare scenario.

Reference to my website; political reform party.co.uk ,,, provides a broader view involving the EU in tackling the problem of international terrorism. In my view there is no difference between a declaration of war on this country, which automatically triggers national service, and the threat of international terrorism. Both are intent upon inflicting sabotage and great harm on government and people.

It is clear that Britain does not have sufficient ground troops to crush the level of terrorist forces set against us, whereas terrorists are continuing to expand and increase in strength and weaponry. The recent US surge in Iraq demonstrated the need of frontline troops for search-and-destroy missions against fleeing terrorists and their leaders. The enemy has the ability to regroup, rearm and redeploy and continue to terrorise the population and attack US forces.

Afghanistan is another example of failing to complete the job. Within a few years, the dispersed enemy has regrouped, rearmed and reappeared in greater strength, and as a result British and NATO forces are now on the back foot.

Increasing our armed forces by voluntary means is unlikely to meet the high level demanded by our military commanders. It is a particular anomaly that the Ministry of Defence employs more civil servants than servicemen and women, drawing attention to past and present government failings. I believe we must get full value for money in defence procurement and improved modern equipment for our servicemen and women and prevent bureaucracy absorbing the bulk of defence budgets. I can only see our ministries as having more coxes than oarsmen . .... Not Oxford, I hasten to add ..... Perhaps Cambridge. **********

Some form of national service is required to bolster troop levels and I believe a procedure of  selective deferment suited to the nations economy and reasonably fair, would meet the level of conscription our generals require. There is no easy solution and therefore I propose the following formula:

All males born in the UK are liable for national service on their eighteenth birthday, regardless of any exclusion claims, and must register at military offices on receipt of registration papers.

National service should comprise two years: one year of military service and one year, for recruits in need of further education and trade training, transferred to a military technical college. All other national servicemen on demob should be transferred to the reserves for one year. However they should entitled to apply for Military College courses subject to vacancies.

In effect, military service lasts just one year, which is the minimum period needed. I expect the military authorities would prefer a minimum of eighteen months though.

Deferred exemptions, on a sliding scale, are awarded to men serving apprenticeships or who are in government-approved trades and industries, including technology, or taking college and university courses, or those who are fully employed in jobs, trades and services regarded as essential to society and the economy. These deferments are prioritised in descending order and should the need arise the lower priorities are liable for conscription.

All other classes of non-eligible jobs and trades, including part-time workers and the unemployed, are classified the lowest priority should be the first eligible for conscription. Qualified or part qualified ex-servicemen passing out of military technical college should be given priority for consideration by employers for jobs, and further job training with the government providing inducements to employers.