Not posted for a while and I feel obliged to do so, please don't expect much as I'm not in the writing mood.

 

What have I been upto in the past weeks????

 

Well I have mainly been trying to get my dissertation back on track. I have 30,000 words to write by 29 September this year. Current total= 0 with shitloads of research to do.

 

On a more positive note I attended the Lancaster University Real Ale and Cider Society's Bar Sports Olympics. The whole affair was not looking too promising at kick-off time (3pm) and I was half and half whether to call it off or not. But we perservered and thankfully it paid off. We had a number of people coming and going during the day and we had some good competitions. I am pleased to say that I managed to win the table football, collecting a wonderful Timothy Taylor t-shirt in the process. Well done to Asil and Julia for winning the pool and darts respectively. Also a big thank you to everyone who came and a big thank you to Martin Hulland, Furness Licensee, for putting two Lancaster Brewery beers on at £1.50 a pint- belting!

 

In other news... I went home at the weekend and went for a few drinks with my mate Dave from back home. That was a laugh.

 

I am currently trying to avoid going onto main campus-in the past two days I have got as far as central stores once!!!

 

I fear that I may have missed a meeting with someone in LUSU so I am a tad worried, but I'm hopeful that everything will be ok.

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Well, it appears that the BNP are putting up a candidate for the by-election in Skerton on 22nd June 2006, which they are well in their rights to do. Unfortunately, I think this is a result of my party's failure to appeal to its core voters over the past few years, rather than the BNP actually presenting some coherent, workable policy. Simply to suggest that all our problems could be solved by 'getting' rid of our immigrant population and terrorisng people who are not of 'good British stock', i.e. White, preferably Protestant, but Christians in general.

There are many different opinions on how non-racist (if there is such a thing) people, who we would hope would be the majority, should go about defeating the BNP and I have my own thoughts. Many people, particularly on the left, would like to see the BNP banned, i.e. No-platform etc... I cannot agree with them. As mentioned above, the BNP have got into the position they are in inspite of their 'evil' views. The people who are voting BNP, in general, are people who would traditionally vote for the Labour Party- the working classes and lower-middle classes. Why are they voting BNP??? In general, and I apologise for this constant assertation, working class people are concerned more with the day-to-day effects of government policy. As long as they have good services and feel as though they are getting value for their taxes, they will be largely happy. But, equally, they need to feel as though their voice is being heard when, in some cases, the services that they need are not up to the standards of their neighbours in the next town. The Labour Party has ceased to be concerned, sufficiently at least, about these concerns. New Labour's success was down to winning votes from 'middle England' and relying on their traditional support still to be there. The problem the party has made is that they assume that this traditional support is unconditional, it is not. Whether rightly or wrongly, many traditional Labour voters feel let down by the government even though their 'lot' is better than it was under the Tories. The problem here for the government is something which they first relied on back in the mid-90s: spin. The government are failing to spin their policies sufficiently so as to make sure the people at large know what is going on. The nature of the media in this country does not help the situation. The media are sending out a more effective message to the people. The government have initiated numerous policies that have done a great deal of good, or at least have the potential to do so, but they fail to sell them to the people and the media pounce on some of the less tangible aspects of certain policy.

This is the same story with the BNP. Let us be honest; the BNP's appeal to a subconscious sentiment in the minds of working class voters- immigration. I know people who hate immigrants, I know people who are not fussed either way but are leaning towards the BNP. The reason the failure of the government to tell the tale, and the ability of the media to tell whatever tale they want. The tale that is told by the right-wing press–and I include in that the Sun, Mail, Telegraph, at times the Times–is one of a nation being swamped by illegal immigrants; thus, all immigrants get branded the same. Immigration, legal and non, is going up we are told; that's a lie! Immigrants are taking our jobs; that's a lie- there are so many jobs that many people think below them, those are the jobs being taken by immigrants and they work hard at them too.

 

Sorry that is a bit of a rant, but I think the Labour government needs to get its head out of its arse and reconnenct with its core voters. At this rate anyway, we are going to lose the next general election, so it is surely worth a try. And to the people of this great nation- we can only remain great if we learn to change and develop as individuals and as a nation!

I used to work at the Standish Unity Club for three and a half years, two and a half as bar manager. I loved it and I loved the people there: wehad a bit of banter and you could always to talk to someone about something and have a decent conversation. I left on 24th September 2005 and at times I have missed it...

 

Last night I went back to work behind the bar as a two-off (as I am working tonight as well) because they were short-staffed. I didn't realise how easy it would be to slip straight back into a routine. It felt as if I had never left even though I was no longer in charge and had to work under somebody who I used to manage and I think he resented my authority. I had a really good night and chatted with many familiar faces.

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My mum bought me two Bon Jovi tickets for 4th June at the Shitty of Manchester stadium. However, they have not been delivered yet so I was commissioned to investigate. I spent an hour looking for the booking confirmation from Ticketmaster in my room only to find that it had been sat on top of my stereo all the time. My room is a complete bombsite and I have an increasing urge to just throw everything away... ah well

 

Well what can I say. Last night I went to see Alan Fletcher, aka Dr. Karl Kennedy, at Walkabout in Lancaster with Laura C, Kay and Carli. It was the best gig I have ever been to, and that includes two Bon Jovi's and a Spice Girls!

 

We did of course have the obligatory warm-up act who, whilst aesthetically appealing, was lacking in the singing department I thought. Karl came on around 10-ish and played a good selection of songs from the seventies and eighties classics, including an 'acoustic' version of Livin on a Prayer, right up to modern day anthems like 'I predict a riot'. The best moment was when he started talking about Susan; he even sung a song about him and her- Magic! 'For twenty-eight years I've been sleeping alongside of Susan; Susan, who the f*#k is Susan.' It was just great.

 

There was the obligatory con on too with access to the Doc being limited to those who had spent £10 to buy a Waiting Room (His Band) CD or a Dr. Kennedy t-shirt, which some fool had! Kay and I met him together and he was the nicest guy ever. We had our picture took and he signed my CD. I was tempted to do my impression but I got nervous and bottled it...

 

Then I went off to the Sugarhouse, woo, and met up again with Laura and Carli and we ended up being annoyed by these two twits who were devoid of personality and interest.

 

Overall, one of the best times, if not the best time, I have had in Lancaster.

For some god-unknown reason I got up at 4.30am this morning to drive myself and three other fools to Fleetwood to campaign for a candidate in a local city council by-election. Why, you may ask, would anyone want to engage in such a mind-numbing experience??? Well I think, although I am yet to be fully convinced by this, that I am showing solidarity with my fellow labour party supporters and that one day I will want poeple to do a similar job for me. We'll see...

 

I could have thought of so many more things to do instead–sleep being the primary–but at the end of the day, which is still ongoing, at least I did my bit. Although I am not too sure that the candidate would appreciate my help given that most seats that I canvass in are lost... It is not my fault but I do think I am jinxed!

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On saturday I went to Kendal with the newly authenticated Lancaster University Real Ale and Cider Society. It was looking a bit pessimistic in terms of the weather which must have put a few people off. In the end we got a handsome five people there and went from Lancaster train station at 10.48 (for once the trains were on time).

 

Our team leader, Chris, took us up to Kendal castle where I proceeded, in the absence of Mr. Roca, to give a brief history of castles (although I am poor on medieval stuff) which was generously received. Thanks to Ben Sale for his more than useful supplementations of my commentary. There were of course, numerous occasions where I was totally incorrect: "It looks as if you've got your four corner towers here" drawings proved that this was completely untrue and the castle was actually a more hexagonal shape than anything else.

 

We then went to a few pubs in Kendal. Team leader Chris was most disappointed that he was unable to find his idyllic country pub. We settled at some of the pubs in and around Kendal. Having watched the FA Cup final and lost some money in the process to team leader Chris we set off home. A splendid day was had by all. My one complaint: the distinct lack of local ales in the pubs of Kendal.

 

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I was terribly disappointed that West Ham lost. I do not support West Ham but I cannot stand Liverpool winning. Although, you have to take your hat off to Mr. Gerrard; two fantastic goals effectively won Liverpool the cup. If only he played with that sort of freedom for England... I would be prepared to sack Lampard off and play a more conservative player alongside Gerrard, because on his day he is unstoppable.

Don't you just love it when you are told something but you are only told half a tale.

 

Naturally what happens is an explosion of different interpretations and nobody really knows what is going on. So rather than feeling in the loop, you end up outside it.

 

After a number of months working my ass off to get LURACS going I found out yesterday that our appeal against SUEC's decision to reject our application has been successful. It is great news to hear that something that I have put so much time and effort into has finally come up trumps!

 

Please visit the website for details of upcoming events: http://spaces.msn.com/luracs

 

 

 

Well, sadly, I think that at the next election the Conservative Party will form a government, either on their own or with Liberal assistance. The Labour Party has denegrated to such a state that I am unconvinced of our abilities to maintain traditional Labour strongholds. We have become complacent in our heartlands, none more so than Wigan, my home town. Although we actually managed to gain one seat, increasing our majority to five and setting CAP on the road to ruin, we still failed to engage our core voters-as demonstrated by the split of the vote which allowed the BNP to gain even more votes than expected. Labour needs to get a grip and actually go out there and talk to its supporters and tell them about the good stuff that we have done.

What local councillors cannot be blamed for is the disarray the government finds itself in. We need to cut out this petty power struggle; forget about your legacy Blair because no Prime Minister can construct a legacy for himself, that can only be done retrospectively by commentators. Remember why we are in power, to make Britain a fairer society, and go out and get on with it.

 

Mike Barnes and Mike Crosby were unlucky; Mike Barnes only lost by about forty and that was due to the BNP stealing the our voters!

Most of the candidates that I campaigned for substantially lost so that is an omen; next time Labour Students come calling at your door to help campaign, make sure that Mat Bullen is in another ward...