Martin Bailey

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The Uber ban is the perfect opportunity to make the case for free markets

Martin Bailey / Markets and Regulation / 0 comments

26/09/2017

In a few short days the injustice and absurdity of London’s Uber ban has been decried and derided by thousands of us who see it for exactly what it is – socialist protection of a unionised vested interest. There is no more to be said, the cronyism on show is unabashed. The only thing to do now is contemplate the massive open goal that Sadiq Khan has presented us with.

Since the election I’ve read any number of articles lamenting the inability of the Conservative Party to sell free markets to the electorate; and here is a guilt edged opportunity to do just that.

Uber’s success was clear evidence that real capitalism works for the benefit of us all and not some imaginary caricature of a ‘businessman’ in red braces. Uber’s absence will make millions of Londoners’ lives more difficult and that fact alone is proof positive to anyone that competition and free markets are better than the alternative. We should be singing it from the rooftops.

Arguing against socialism should be easy. A death toll of over 90 million should put any debate to bed but in the minds of the young it is difficult to make a connection between the nice bearded chap in the brown suit and state-sponsored rape, torture and murder (even when he fails to openly condemn it). But having your cab fare doubled overnight sends a strong message about what socialism really is and most importantly what a regressive force it is.

In the face of such an unpopular decision the question is, can we turn the Uber ban into the ‘Gateway Drug’ to Libertarianism?

Anger on this issue is only a stone’s throw away from suspicion of the nanny state, skepticism towards the welfare state and resentment of excessive taxation. The Uber ban could expose millions of free market virgins to the wondrous ‘All-You-Can-Eat Buffet’ of ways in which more freedom and less government improves everyone’s lives.

This could be the start of a real dialogue with the British people about the indisputable benefits of market economics. A debate the Conservatives will always win, a debate in which the opposition has nothing more than empty slogans and wasted saliva.

For too long ‘Capitalism’ has been a dirty word, it is time the British people confronted the truth that it is the bedrock upon which all that is great about this country is built. And even Conservatives of a more burgundy hue must not be ashamed to say this.

Renewing Uber’s licence must be the first pledge of any Conservative candidate for London Mayor and the party should make this clear immediately.

Sadiq Khan looks increasingly like a future leader of the Party and he will do so on a ‘moderate’ ticket. In this event it is our job to remind the country that after this he is nothing of the sort and his lukewarm brand of Leftism is just as insidious as anything being sold by Corbyn or his comrades in Caracas.

Martin was a lifelong Socialist who saw the error of his ways, making a sharp right turn. Follow him on Twitter: @righturn79

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Tory paternalism offers nothing on the doorstep

Martin Bailey / Conservatism, Elections / 1 comment

21/06/2017

It started so well. A 20 point lead in the opinion polls had us dreaming of a commanding majority, a clear mandate and an opposition on the precipice. Then it slowly turned into a nightmare as dozens of seats fell and at one point some bookies had Corbyn as favourite to be the next Prime Minister. By the end we were watching from behind the sofa.

Theresa May had a shocking campaign. To stand on little more than two alliterative adjectives and then fail to live up to either of them was unforgivable and she must take full responsibility; the only woman to have had a worse election campaign than Diane Abbot.

Throughout the campaign, in a series of increasingly cringe worthy TV appearances, she looked awkward and uncomfortable, like Mary Whitehouse at an orgy. Her character, her manner, even her voice, are all potent ballot box kryptonite but there is a deeper and more fundamental reason behind the catastrophe– Tory Paternalism is a hollow creed.

When all is said and done Tory Paternalism is little more than ‘Diet Coke’ socialism. And when up against the full fat, sugary goodness of Corbyn’s Magic Money Tree May’s lukewarm statism is a poor substitute. Who would choose a weekend in Bognor when the other side is offering a fortnight in Disneyland?

To fight on a Paternalist platform allows Labour to frame the narrative, we play to their strengths. The discourse is then dominated by the idea of the state providing and Labour will always offer more.

Corbyn had a good campaign but we should have seen that coming. If nothing else he is a born activist and he came into his own on the campaign trail. But we were playing on his terms to try and campaign on what government can provide rather than how government can liberate.

Much was made of Corbyn’s terrorist links but in the end people just didn’t care. For millions of voters now the IRA belongs in the history books not the newspapers and Hamas has long had legitimacy amongst the chattering classes.

The obvious target was the bat-shit crazy economics in Labour’s manifesto and this should have been an open goal to the Conservatives but this opportunity was squandered as our own manifesto appeared to have been written on the back of a fag packet moments before last orders were called.

Fiscal responsibility and economic competency should be the cornerstones of any Conservative election campaign and the fact that we couldn’t take on Labour in our comfort zone illustrates the aimless impotency of Tory Paternalism. There is nothing to sell, nothing to believe in, nothing to be passionate about. No vision, no mission, just the bland, hollow platitudes of insipid One Nation Toryism. The PM was criticized for not talking to people enough, the truth is she didn’t really have anything to say.

It is now clearer than ever that we needed a Brexiteer to assume leadership. How did we ever expect a leader who never believed in Brexit in the first place to lead the country towards it? We needed a leader who believed passionately in the power of free markets and individual rights, in a bright future of endless possibilities. We got a leader who appears to believe in nothing. At the very least we needed a leader who was prepared to fight. We needed Churchill, we got Captain Mainwaring. This is a mistake we must never make again.

Martin was a lifelong Socialist who saw the error of his ways, making a sharp right turn. Follow him on Twitter: @righturn79

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Is Wales on the verge of a Tory invasion?

Martin Bailey / Conservatism, Unionism / 0 comments

01/05/2017

I was 18 years old before I met my first Tory. I grew up in Wales, you see, and the sight of a true-blue Conservative would have been akin to seeing a white rhino or a giant panda. Except a panda wouldn’t have roused a lynch mob. Wales didn’t so much have ‘Shy’ Tories as ‘I-like-my-nose-the-way-it-is’ Tories.

In any number of former industrial communities in South Wales a shaven baboon could get elected provided it was wearing a red rosette…and in a few cases I’m not entirely sure this didn’t happen.

Time and again the loyal red minions would march into the polling booths and faithfully do their duty, striking a blow for country, community and class…by sending an overpaid trade union bully boy or a polytechnic social sciences lecturer to spend five years in London gorging themselves at the expense of the taxpayer while pontificating on poverty.

The recent ITV YouGov poll that put the Tories 10 points clear of Labour has certainly ruffled a few feathers. MPs, AMs and dozens of local councilors who believed they had a job for life might need to make some very swift career plans.

The assorted no-marks who run Labour in Wales are furiously scratching their heads as to why the public are turning their backs on the party that has dominated Welsh political life for hundred years.

The answer is simple. After 20 years the Welsh people know all too well what Labour does in power. And they have had enough.

Labour has been in government for a generation in Cardiff Bay and in that time they have done virtually nothing. Nothing to alleviate the deprivation that afflicts the principality, nothing to revitalise the Welsh economy, nothing to end the huge overreliance on the state and nothing to improve the NHS, a service which has gone backwards under Labour.

No, instead they have sat on their thrones, congratulating themselves on any number of massive vanity projects which have had next to no impact on ordinary people’s lives, while schmoozing with lefty celebs and enjoying corporate hospitality at the Principality Stadium watching the rugby/football (whichever national side was winning at the time).

For decades Labour has run Wales as its own private fiefdom, with their comrades in the Welsh BBC happy to brush their terminal inadequacy under the carpet on a daily basis. Nationalists often complain about Wales being treated as an English county, but it’s worse than that. Wales is more like a Crown Dependency, with everyday corruption and a complete lack of accountability taken for granted and a populace deprived of the rights enjoyed by others in these islands.

I doubt the Tories will be 10 points ahead in the final reckoning. There is enough residual support for Labour in the Miners’ Welfare and Working Men’s Clubs to ensure a ‘Dead Cat Bounce’ and the YouGov poll itself might mobilise a few reluctant reds. Then again nobody thought Labour would lose Scotland and now they languish in 3^rd place. Stranger things really have happened.

Who knows, maybe in 20 years’ time Wales will have ‘Shy’ socialists. If only!

Martin was a lifelong Socialist who saw the error of his ways, making a sharp right turn. Follow him on Twitter: @righturn79

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Have you heard the one about Labour and the NHS?

Martin Bailey / Public Services / 1 comment

28/04/2017

“I’m voting Labour because of the NHS.’’ How many times have you heard it? A statement worn as a badge of altruistic honour; a noble creed that raises the Labour Party above the sordid cesspool of party politics. The very definition of how Labour is different, how Labour cares. In fact, this claim is just as brainless, bigoted and thoughtless as, “I’m voting UKIP because they’ll kick all the immigrants out.’’

That Labour can still be trusted by the public on the NHS truly baffles me. The Mid Staffs disaster, in which thousands suffered as a result of a culture imposed and enforced by Labour, should have been enough to put this myth to rest. If that wasn’t enough, the resulting inquiry by Bruce Keogh into 14 other hospitals with dangerously high mortality rates should have closed the case. If that still wasn’t enough you can throw in the travesty of PFI; saddling trusts with insurmountable debts which will cripple them for decades. Then there’s the £10 billion wasted on the aborted NHS computer system and the mess they made of GP contracts, making it even harder to see your family doctor and overwhelming A&E as a result.

In the face of such a damning rap sheet how can millions continue with their hypnotic, myopic support for Labour on health?

The real crime though is not that hospitals failed under Labour, but that they were prepared to do anything to conceal the truth about these failures. Labour flatly refused a public inquiry into what happened at Mid Staffs; claiming it was a single case of mismanagement and not symptomatic of their target culture. The Francis Inquiry, delivered by the Tories, proved this was not the case.

Under Labour, any criticism of the NHS is simply not allowed, there is a Stalinist suppression of the truth; those who defy this are mercilessly censured. The bullying and intimidation faced by Helene Donnelly at Mid Staffs was a chilling example of this, and an even more disturbing aspect was the extensive use of gagging orders; paying staff vast sums of money to prevent them from speaking out. Whilst there is an obvious moral question over paying people not to raise legitimate concerns about patient safety there is also the very real question – How many lives could have been saved by those millions? Their blood is on Labour’s hands.

Labour has always argued that it is prepared to invest in the NHS but the experience of the 2010 election, where unlike the Tories Labour refused to ring-fence NHS spending, contradicts this. Not to mention their failure during the 2015 campaign, again unlike the Tories, to commit to the extra £8bn the NHS had asked for. When you add all this up the Labour Party’s record on health is, quite frankly, indefensible.

Yet still the public still lap up Labour propaganda on the NHS as gospel. The ’24 Hours to Save the NHS’ claim they trot out at every election is just one example of their Orwellian attempt to rewrite history. In his recent autobiography Alan Johnson, the former Labour Health Secretary, claimed that my mother, the patient safety campaigner Julie Bailey, put up a sign outside her café that declared, “NHS STAFF NOT WELCOME.” The accusation is utterly baseless but a former Labour frontbencher could say anything on the NHS (The Tories are going to sell it off to Trump/China/Voldemort) and brain-dead lefties would swallow it whole.

It is at this point that any self-respecting lefty dusts off the faithful old dog-whistle – Privatisation!

The Left seems to have a caricature in their mind of a grotesque Steve Bell Grauniad cartoon – Theresa May sitting in a gothic castle cackling demonically as lightning strikes, salivating at the prospect of flogging off the NHS to her posh chums as she gorges on caviar, Foie Gras and roast suckling Syrian refugee.

Yet on privatisation the facts don’t add up. Labour privatised around 4% of the NHS while in office– double that of the Tories – How does that make it the party protecting it from privatization?

Privatisation is not the issue, patient safety is. The NHS is not sacrosanct, human life is.

Ultimately, the NHS is nothing more than a government agency – could you imagine DVLA workers dancing at the Olympics opening ceremony? – and it should never be elevated above the people it exists to serve.

So vote Labour if you want higher public spending, vote Labour if you want higher taxes, vote Labour if you think Corbyn would make a good PM, but do not vote Labour because of the NHS. To do so is an insult to the multitudes who suffered at their hands and an invitation to continue where they left off.

Martin was a lifelong Socialist who saw the error of his ways, making a sharp right turn. Follow him on Twitter: @righturn79

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Is the Stoke failure the best Ukip can do?

Martin Bailey / Blog / 1 comment

26/02/2017

And so, yet again, UKIP fails on the big occasion. Once again they fluff their lines/miss an open goal/leave their fly open as they walk into the job interview (circle your metaphor of choice). Every time they look like making a breakthrough they smack into the glass ceiling of Westminster politics. They would probably argue the ceiling was installed by immigrants taking our jobs.

In this case their politics didn’t even matter. It was all down to the farcical nature of Nuttall’s campaign, less a case of ‘Trumpist Populism’ and more a case of ‘The Chuckle Brothers meets the EDL.’ From the mishandling of his nomination papers to his website’s spurious claims about his connection to Hillsborough the UKIP leader’s campaign has been atrocious.

Despite a number of high profile media appearances before he became leader Nuttall lacked the public appeal of Farage and his biggest draw was the four-letter acronym that would appear under his name. The one thing he did have was a working class pedigree. However the scandals robbed him of even this. He went from working class hero to working class traitor in the blink of an eye.

There is no serious allegation of wrongdoing or even dishonesty on Nuttall’s part but the suggestion has firmly taken root in people’s minds – at best he is disorganised, at worst he is a fraud. It has all the obvious hallmarks of a classic Labour smear campaign. But UKIP can’t complain, they’ve been in the game long enough now to know the rules and the fact is that their incompetence gave Labour such an easy target. Come polling day Stoke Central was a ‘gimme.’

To think that the party leader himself could not find a team to run an effective campaign speaks volumes about the massed ranks of knuckle dragging morons that run UKIP at grassroots. But there is also a paucity of talent at the top. I’m certain Farage would have romped home in Stoke but now he’s gone there seem to be very few capable individuals who can take the party forward. Diane James lasted 18 days before realising she wasn’t up to the task. Nuttall might not last much longer

The other reason UKIP lost is very simple – people aren’t daft. They see UKIP for exactly what they are – a bunch of shifty charlatans, chancers ready to exploit any grievance who are nowhere to be seen once the votes are in and they can claim single malt on expenses. They have all the credibility of a 1930s ‘Rainmaker’ arriving in a forlorn dustbowl town to fleece the locals of their savings.

Yes, the public want change. Yes, they want outsiders to crash the political elite and this explains the rise of Trump, UKIP and Corbyn. But when it comes to handing out real power they also demand a certain level of competence – Ties need to be tied, anthems need to be sung and forms need to be filled in correctly. It really isn’t too much to ask.

Post-referendum UKIP faces a desperate need to define itself. People are wondering, now Brexit is happening, what is UKIP actually for? Is it for populist autarchy or free market libertarianism? Recent manifestos have offered little clarity. Until this dichotomy is resolved they will never be able to move forward. However at the same time it serves UKIP’s interests to remain ideologically vague so as not to spook anyone who might fear Thatcherite economics or authoritarian law and order policies. It is a catch 22 they cannot escape from.

It is becoming glaringly obvious that if they are nothing more than a party of protest they will never really offer a serious threat to either Labour or the Tories. But in Stoke they couldn’t even get the protest bit right.

For UKIP to have botched up Stoke Central, Brexit ground zero with almost 70% voting leave, takes a special kind of incompetence that they claimed to have left behind. The fact that they haven’t suggests they probably never will.

Martin was a lifelong Socialist who saw the error of his ways, making a sharp right turn. Follow him on Twitter: @righturn79

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Post Trump/Brexit: Are we all racists now?

Martin Bailey / Blog / 0 comments

20/11/2016

Do you remember the time when a paediatrician had her house burnt down? At the height of the UK’s paedophile hysteria, whipped up by the gutter press, an angry and profoundly ignorant mob attacked the home of a children’s physician because they didn’t understand the difference between paedophile and paediatrician.

It is an oft repeated tale, trotted out by the left leaning media whenever they want to demonstrate the supposed superhuman ability of the right-wing press to exercise the kind of mind control normally associated with science fiction, or simply to brand all working-class people as mindless cattle.

The only problem is it never actually happened.

It is little more than an urban legend too good for Grauniad writers to ignore. The only true story that comes close is that of a Paediatrician in Portsmouth who had ‘Pedo’ painted on her front door. I admit this is disturbing but it is not an angry mob wielding pitchforks and flaming torches, simply a nutjob with a spray can. And it is unclear whether this happened after the myth was popularised, therefore it could well have been the work of an agent provocateur or a misguided attempt at irony.

The ‘Paediatrician Myth’ came to mind recently while witnessing the hysteria over the EU referendum and Trump’s victory. If I believe what I read on my facebook timeline ‘Brexit Britain’ and ‘Trumpland’ are vile cesspits of prejudice and hate, with grade schoolers grabbing each other’s genitals, every Muslim being told to, “Go home!” and tube trains where ethnic minorities cannot escape racist abuse (despite pretty much everyone on the tube being a minority, including white British).

Only we all know this is not true. If half the British or American population were loathsome racists none of us would want to live there anyway.

I have no doubt that many people have been abused but an internet meme does not constitute proof. I am left to wonder how many of these incidents can be verified and how many have been manufactured to fit the overarching narrative of dumb rednecks/thicko chavs. Fact checking is the last thing on anyone’s mind when they see a biting meme – share now, repent later (if ever).

And let us not forget that the hate goes both ways. We’ve all seen footage of Trump supporters dragged from their cars and beaten or revolting placards about his wife. We haven’t seen it to the same extent in the UK but the stigmatization is comparable and as a result we have all experienced the exaggerated eye roll followed by an expletive laden rant after confessing to strangers that we supported Brexit. Hate is hate regardless of the colour of your rosette.

Much has been made of the upsurge in reported hate crimes but the keyword here is, ‘Reported.’ When left-wing pundits warn for months and months that the wrong result will lead to an explosion of prejudice is it any wonder that people start seeing racist incidents at every turn? This is a perfect example of a self-fulfilling prophecy. Before the referendum many a racist incident would have gone unnoticed but now social justice warriors are hunting for them like Pokémon. Shouldn’t they be happy that people are now more prepared to report racist abuse?

While I did not support trump and I find many of the comparisons between his election and the EU referendum to be overly simplistic, both votes represent a huge victory for democracy where the will of the people was enough to overcome seemingly insurmountable vested interests. To reduce the countless, complex reasons that people chose to reject the status quo down to, “They are all racists!” is the ultimate insult to everyone who dared to hope for something better and unless the left changes its tune it is a rejection they will suffer for years to come.

Martin was a lifelong Socialist who saw the error of his ways, making a sharp right turn. Follow him on Twitter: @righturn79

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Brexiteers have every right to fear the referendum will be ignored; the EU has form

Martin Bailey / Blog / 1 comment

06/11/2016

On the morning of June 24^th a graphic ran on social media showing the past referendum results from across Europe where the electorate had voted against EU plans only to be told to vote again or, worse, were completely ignored. Remainers shared this post as a beacon of hope that all was not lost, not realising they were highlighting the very democratic deficit that made us campaign so hard to leave.

The people of Britain have every right to fear Brexit will be overturned, The EU has ‘previous’ on this (which is putting it mildly). From Denmark’s verdict on Maastricht and the French/Dutch dismissal of the EU constitution and right up to Greek people’s rejection of bailout terms in 2015 the European Union has consistently displayed a flagrant disregard for democracy. The EU’s endemic lack of democratic accountability is well known but to ignore the direct democracy of countless referendums exhibits a particular brand of contempt for the people.

While The Daily Mail may have been wrong to point the finger at the high court judges who ruled parliament must be consulted on Brexit they were right to voice the concerns of millions that this is the beginning of the guerrilla war the ‘Continuity Remainers’ are mounting to ensure we stay in the shackles of the EU.

When the last few months have seen a relentless narrative of, “thick, racist plebs can’t be trusted to vote,” when senior figures from the Tories, Labour, Lid Dems and SNP are openly discussing a second referendum or even ignoring the result altogether and when the leader of the opposition says he is prepared to lead his party against article 50, is it any wonder that Brexiteers smell an establishment stitch up?

As establishment archetypes go you can’t get much better than a high court judge, the epitome of a detached elite who know nothing of the lives of the 17 million people who voted leave. Any tabloid writer who missed that one would be ashamed of themselves. Every pantomime needs a villain and this lot brought their own costumes!

While the Left wing media continues to give unreserved airtime and column inches to unrepentant remainers I would argue the Mail has a duty to continue representing the well-founded concerns of millions of Leavers. Continued public pressure is the only way to guarantee Brexit. We’re not crackpot conspiracy theorists – we’ve seen the mothership land before.

The Remainers seem to be under the illusion that if we can just climb into a customized Delorean and travel back in time to June 22^nd everything will be OK again. They are completely blind to the consequences of us failing to leave the EU, how dangerous it will be to once again ignore the views of a section of the population who feared they would never be heard.

We now live in a different country, and not the proto-third reich that the Guardian would have you believe, but a country where there is real hope for the first time in a generation that politics actually works. The consequences of ignoring the result for constitutional democracy in the UK could be absolutely dire, worse than the most absurd, fantastical predictions the Remain campaign made about the aftermath of brexit. The genie has been released and it will not go back into the bottle.

The only thing worse than the Remainers getting their own way is the silver medal that they are content to accept. There is quite obviously a concerted effort to ensure that if we cannot remain they will make Brexit as difficult as possible, hoping to create catastrophic economic uncertainty so in a couple of years they can smugly claim, “Told you so!”

No matter how messy Brexit gets Anna Soubry, Nick Clegg and David Lammy will still enjoy lives of plenty with big houses, German cars and foreign holidays. The fact that they are happy not only to ignore the views of ordinary people but also to jeopardise their futures simply to defend their own egos and reputations is abhorrent. I dearly hope their constituents remember this.

Martin was a lifelong Socialist who saw the error of his ways, making a sharp right turn. Follow him on Twitter: @righturn79

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Why shouldn’t footballers get rich?

Martin Bailey / Blog / 0 comments

21/10/2016

It is not a good time for football at the moment. No sooner had we lost one England manager in the aftermath of yet another humiliating early tournament exit (this time to a country with the population of Swansea) than another was embroiled in a financial scandal. Add to this the vile details of the Ched Evans rape acquittal, in the same year as Adam Johnson was imprisoned for sexual activity with a child, and the beautiful game has never looked so ugly.

Ask anyone who is to blame for the one way trip to hell the game is taking and you often get the same, clichéd response, “They earn too much money.” But surely the players are the one group of people in the game who deserve every penny they get?

Consider the Liverpool-Man Utd game last week, a local derby between two clubs thirty miles apart yet a global event which attracted a crowd of 53,000 people with millions more huddled around TV sets from Kuala Lumpur to Kentucky. This one match alone generated untold millions of pounds worth of sponsorship, gate receipts, TV money and merchandise sales. And not one penny of it would exist without the 22 lads on the pitch pushing themselves to their physical limit. Who could possibly deserve the cash more?

Some argue they don’t mind them doing all right but that the size of the sums in question are too vast, the disparity with average wages is too huge. But consider for a moment what it takes to become a professional footballer. Almost every boy in the land dreams of it, to make it to a level where you earn a living playing, even in a lower league, you must have proven yourself better than thousands, even tens of thousands, of others. And it’s not simply a case of God-given talent, what often separates the very top players from the rest is their determination and dedication – the biggest stars are often the first at training and the last to leave.

And let us not forget the huge contribution the game makes to our economy. Physios, doctors, cameramen, journalists, stewards, caterers, club shop assistants, printers, police, brewers, bus/train/taxi drivers, butchers, bakers and coloured scarf makers! All employed directly or indirectly by football. Not to mention the international prestige we enjoy as the home of football, bringing millions into the country. I once met a Korean couple who had decided to study in the UK for no other reason than Park Ji-Sung had signed for Manchester United. It is also worth remembering that the vast majority of players pay huge amounts of tax, yet another case of the rich propping up the welfare state despite socialist allegations that the wealthy are to blame for all our problems.

The bile spat at our footballers is most bitter when from the mouths of the middle class left, a group which knows little if anything about the culture it castigates. Their resentment reeks of the same kind of sneering snobbery we’ve come to expect from the Islington commissars. “How dare working class kids get super rich and send their kids to private schools! Don’t they know their place!” I would love to see Shami Chakrabati or Diane Abbott’s face as they sit down at their kid’s school prize giving next to a reality TV Glamour mag WAG. It’s called aspiration, ladies, and it shouldn’t be denied to anyone regardless of whether they went to university or hang out with comrade Corbyn.

The left has always had a problem with competitive sports, and its unmistakably working class nature ensures a special kind of disdain is reserved for our national sport. Of course there are the pretentious Dukla Prague & CCCP shirt owners who glorify the triumphs of teams from behind the Iron Curtain, conveniently forgetting their successes were less the result of comrades from the same factory/Army base/Power plant working together than the threat of a bullet awaiting them should they lose. It’s also worth reminding any middle class lefty footy fan you know that the club they worship is in fact nothing more than a company. Every week they pay homage to a corporation.

So who is responsible for paying footballers such immense salaries? Ironically it is the very fans who complain the loudest. If you think footballers earn too much stop buying season tickets, stop buying replica shirts, stop buying SKY sports subscriptions, stop getting Wayne Rooney’s deformed face tattooed on your thigh. Be an individual, don’t just follow the herd. Vote with your feet. Start watching a local side, your support will be much more appreciated and you’ll be far closer to the action. And there’ll be considerably less foreigners there if that’s your gripe, a complaint I have never understood – why would it be better for the best English players to play against second rate English players rather than the very same top class foreign players they are expected to beat when wearing an England shirt?

Otherwise, get over yourself and enjoy the sport for what it really is – one of the most amazing spectacles this country has to offer and one of our most valuable cultural exports. Ched Evans, Sam Allardyce and Adam Johnson are all knobheads but look around your office and you’ll notice a few knobheads too, football doesn’t have a monopoly on them. But even knobheads have the right to enjoy the fruits of their labour guilt free.

The commitment and sacrifice shown by thousands of lads in pursuit of a professional career should be a cause for celebration and national pride. We should hail the idea that young men from some of the most deprived backgrounds have the opportunity to earn riches beyond their wildest dreams.

Martin was a lifelong Socialist who saw the error of his ways, making a sharp right turn. Follow him on Twitter: @righturn79

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The views expressed in this article are that of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Conservatives for Liberty

Don’t mourn the death of the Labour Party

Martin Bailey / Blog / labour, Labour Party / 0 comments

18/09/2016

Over the last year you will have read no end of high-minded articles by those on the Right lamenting the Labour party’s current incapacity as bad for democracy because the country needs an effective opposition in parliament to challenge the government. This is not one of those articles.

The death of the Labour party will not be an atomic political event, rather it will be a slow crawl to the grave as it gradually crumbles into ruin and irrelevance, but when it happens I shall show it all the respect and dignity that they afforded Lady Thatcher’s passing. I will crack open a very expensive bottle of scotch, burn a twelve foot high red flag and dance in the streets like it were VE day (and even that would be restrained in comparison to the treatment the great lady received).

Since its inception Labour has been committed to cultivating division and rancour in our society, propagating class war for a hundred years and enslaving entire communities to its narrow view of the world.

Since its inception Labour has been committed to cultivating division and rancour in our society

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The vile abuse that Labour moderates are currently receiving is nothing in comparison to what thousands of men in our industrial heartlands have had to suffer for dissent towards the Labour movement. During the countless strikes which plagued this country in the 20^th century, each one a setback for our nation and a gift to our enemies, thousands of workers faced violence and exclusion from their own communities simply for doing their jobs.

Never forget that Labour’s electoral successes are based on a culture of political gangsterism that would make Vito Corleone quiver. No socialist was ever forced out of a home counties village for their views (laughed out, maybe).

I’m not saying that every member of the Labour party is evil (a courtesy I rarely find reciprocated) and some of them can actually be quite pleasant. However, the party itself has a black, ugly soul forged in bitter resentment of the institutions and history of our country and the arrogant belief in the infinite capacity of socialism to do good.

In this day and age opposition comes from all quarters, spend ten minutes on Twitter supporting the Tories and you soon learn that. Social media, the press, TV, the business world, the church, Nicola Sturgeon. Nowadays even Jamie – bloody – Oliver seems to have a say in government policy. When mockney TV chefs can hold the government to account it highlights how inconsequential parliamentary opposition really is. If you’re reading this you probably have an interest in politics and watch parliament with the same relish as Game of Thrones but ask around in your office and I bet over half won’t even know PMQs is on a Wednesday.

No, I shall not mourn the passing of the Labour party. A party that makes a virtue of sneering at the working class it was founded to represent. A party that begrudges wealth and resents success. A party that bullies, intimidates and abuses those who do not share their views. A party that preaches liberty only to curb our freedoms. A party with thinly veiled disdain for everything I cherish about my country. A party created to do little more than hold my country back. Labour is, in effect, our national disability. We should get a blue badge for it.

Labour is, in effect, our national disability.

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So don’t feel guilty about the schadenfreude you are experiencing. Hang your red rose wreath high and raise your glasses to the death of Labour, the real nasty party.

Martin was a lifelong Socialist who saw the error of his ways, making a sharp right turn. Follow him on Twitter: @righturn79

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How did telly get so damn good?
The market of course!

Martin Bailey / Blog / 0 comments

16/08/2016

I must confess I was never the biggest Game of Thrones fan. I thought it was all right and I kept up with it so I could avoid the social stigma of being the only person in the office not to have seen it – Westeros Leprosy if you like – but that all changed after I binged on the last series this week (we probably would have managed it over a couple of nights had it not been for our own little Wildlings demanding bedtime stories).

Season 6 blew me away and not just the epic scale of it, which is pretty much guaranteed given the enormous budget. Acting, costume, direction, make-up, location, lighting, photography, script, plot – everything about it oozed quality and the emotional engagement with the characters was like nothing I had experienced since The Sopranos.

As I sat drained and exhausted after episode ten I couldn’t help but ask one simple question – How did telly become so damn good?

21^st Century TV has just been immense. The Sopranos, The Wire, Breaking Bad, Dexter, Borgen, The Bridge, Lost, True Detective, Fargo, Stranger Things, Six feet Under, Deadwood, 24, Boardwalk Empire, Band of Brothers, Arrested Development…I could go on (No, I really could. And every one of you has just thought of five shows I’ve forgotten about).

And it’s not just high profile imports – Peaky Blinders, Life on Mars, The Office, Peep show, Shameless, Humans, Top Boy, Sherlock, Luther, Misfits, The Inbetweeners, This is England, Rev. and Broadchurch all show that the Brits can hold their own too.*

The sheer volume of high quality, prestige dramas on offer at the moment is absolutely mouthwatering. We never have to tolerate crap again.

And, let’s be honest about it, that’s exactly what telly used to be – crap. Our eyes glaze over and we go all nostalgic for the TV of our youth but the fact is most of it was bloody atrocious. Can you believe that 20-30 years ago Bruce Forsyth’s faux exasperation at a tattooed sheet welder’s inability to throw a clay pot was considered prime time entertainment? Not to mention the excruciating sight of 60 year old Barbara from Pontefract scoring 19 on Bullseye (and narrowly missing the studio lights with her 3^rd dart).

And soap operas! Jesus H Christ! How much of our lives did we waste watching soaps? Up to 2 hours a night and double that on a Bank Holiday. I would rather spend Christmas day at Jeremy Corbyn’s for a nut roast followed by selected readings from Das Kapital than watch 4 hours of Soaps. Even with John McDonnell getting lairy after finishing his contraband hip flask of Bells.

I know it wasn’t all bad but even the good stuff was tainted, compromised in some way, and never as good as you remember it. I Claudius was a masterpiece but most school productions have better sets, if it wasn’t Muhammad Ali or Billy Connolly every Parkinson interview was basically the same (“Tell me about your roots Orson/Bing/Emu”) and I dare you to try a Morecambe and Wise Christmas Special on youtube. You won’t last 10 minutes.

So what happened? How did we go from The Queen Vic to Queen Cersei? From Jack and Vera to Tony and Carmella?

Once again it is the wonder of the market.

The truth is that back then we simply had no choice. With only three or four channels you were a prisoner to the whims of a handful of producers. The highest viewing figure in UK TV history for a non-live event is for a 1979 episode of the appalling BBC Sitcom To the Manor Born. Nearly 24 million people endured the season one finale, in no small part due to the fact that ITV was off the air due to a lengthy strike.

In an age of Online, On Demand, downloading and streaming, where the viewer is in command of a limitless catalogue of entertainment, poor quality will no longer suffice. Our living room sofas have now become X-Factor style judging panels where we can instantly call time on anything that doesn’t cut it and bring on a fresh competitor. Now that’s what I call Power to the People!

The TV companies have responded to this devastatingly responsive market place by increasingly the quality of their product immeasurably and as budgets have increased the creative prestige and artistic influence has risen accordingly. In the 80s Nick Nolte and Jeff Bridges turned down Miami Vice as TV lacked the remuneration or the kudos of the big screen. Now Hollywood struggles to prise the talent away from our beloved box. Indeed this market is so receptive that HBO were able to produce Game of Thrones season 6 before the book was even written. Such is the power of capitalism.

So if a Lefty ever tries to portray Corbyn as a bearded Daenerys Targaryen, storming into the capital to free the slaves, remind them that without capitalism the Khaleesi would be nothing more than a figment of George. R. R. Martin’s imagination.

*No, I didn’t forget Downton Abbey. Downton is the exception that proves the rule.

Martin was a lifelong Socialist who saw the error of his ways, making a sharp right turn. Follow him on Twitter: @righturn79

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Let small business off the leash

Martin Bailey / Blog / 0 comments

09/07/2016

One of the most commendable reasons that many gave for voting Leave was that in a post brexit Britain government could hack away at the litany of regulations that shackle British enterprise, the quicksand in which so many small businesses are lost before they ever have a chance.

The ‘Revelation’ that Andrea Leadsom once urged the government to, “Scrap the entire burden of regulation on micro-businesses with three employees or fewer,” is a perfect example of the pro-business attitude that is crucial to our future outside of the EU. The left is obviously frothing at the mouth at the prospect of a potential Prime Minister ripping away maternity, pension and minimum wage rights. But I say that these ideas should form the basis of a nascent discussion about how to we can help business to thrive in a post-EU Britain.

The benefits could be enormous. How many businesses could finally breathe without the restriction of overregulation? How many shop-front sandwich bars could then compete with Starbucks? How many micro-pubs could undercut Wetherspoons? How many ‘Mom-&-Pop’ bakeries could hold their own against Greggs? These proposals could herald a new era of competition and choice like never before, arresting the sorry decline of our high streets and reinvigorating the communities they support. Imagine an explosion of enterprise and commerce right on your doorstep! A ‘Big Bang’ for the common man.

Regulation always favours the big boys, the corporations rub their hands with glee at every EU diktat knowing it’ll wipe away another layer of competition and ensure their continued dominance of the market. Leadsom’s ideas offer hope to thousands of small businesses across the country who are eternally discouraged from expansion due to the fear of opening the Pandora’s box of employment law, not to mention those that never get off the ground in the first place – all those hopes and dreams that end up in the bank manager’s shredder.

In the absence of a minimum wage we could finally have a real labour market in which people are paid an appropriate price for their worth, rather than everyone being put on minimum wage straight out of school and being stuck there for fifteen years. Innovation would be a necessity for recruitment, profit share agreements and performance related pay are but two ways that employers could attract staff. But also consider the allure of being present at the start of a new venture and helping to shape its future. And remember the more successful these employees make the company the sooner these firms will have to increase their workforce, they would therefore be earning for themselves the more generous employment rights of larger companies.

There is obviously the possibility of exploitation but these issues can be mitigated by the policy’s implementation. To soften the predictable cries of ‘Modern Slavery’ from the left anyone refusing a job with a micro-business could not be liable for benefits sanctions. But also if we were to think openly about deregulation what about loosening the legislation on cash-in-hand payment for casual and part time labour? Does anyone really have a problem with someone on the dole doing Friday night in your local chippy? Legalised but ‘Undeclared’ work could fill the void in many household budgets that further welfare reforms may create and I for one would much rather people supplemented their dole with work rather than trawling through the Citizens’ Advice leaflets to see if they can claim even more, especially when being in some form of work in the first place raises the chance that they will achieve full time employment. This could be a real, organic ‘Welfare-to-Work’ programme.

It is the self-employed who dragged this country out of recession, the courageous entrepreneurs who often sacrifice much at great personal risk to strike out on their own. Their contribution to our country, in economic, social and cultural terms, is unfathomable. They are the backbone of our nation – the drive, the vision, the confidence, the creativity, the accomplishment to which we all aspire. They deserve every support possible and they have every right to expect it from the Conservative party.

Whatever the result of the leadership election Andrea Leadsom has displayed the radical vision that is needed to take advantage of our new-found freedoms and to give employers and employees, consumers and producers, the dynamic, flexible marketplace that the country craves. Regardless of the outcome of the leadership contest her voice should be heard in the future.

Martin was a lifelong Socialist who saw the error of his ways, making a sharp right turn. Follow him on Twitter: @righturn79

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The Labour Party is on the brink of oblivion

Martin Bailey / Blog / 0 comments

30/06/2016

Over the last twelve months we have watched the Labour party go from one crisis to the next, like a paralytic drunk bouncing between shop fronts and parked cars on a never-ending journey of stupor. The current catastrophe of parliamentary party versus leader and grassroots reveals the astonishing folly of Ed Milliband’s attempt to ‘Enliven’ the party’s leadership election – the lunatics have truly taken over the asylum.

Commentators are talking about the existence of two Labour Parties– On one side the soft left Centrists, the Blairites, the Gaitskellites, the social democrats and on the other the hard left, the Corbynites, the Trots, the Bevanites, the socialists. The accepted narrative casts these two tribes as locked in a permanent battle for the soul of the party, creating a natural equilibrium, ying and yang. This is no longer the case. There is now a third Labour party.

The third Labour party is the largest of all. It exists not in the drawing rooms of effete London suburbs but in warehouses and Wetherspoons across the land. They care not a jot for ideology or dogma or political correctness or Palestine and have voted Labour out of resentment of the establishment, class prejudice and the belief that it was the best way to protect their marginalised communities.

The working class have supported the Labour party in their millions for nearly a hundred years, a political identity passed down through generations, but they are starting to realise that neither the Blairites nor the Corbynistas articulate their views and are in fact happy to dismiss them as ignorant racists.

The disconnect between Labour’s professional political class and the traditional Labour voter was the real talking point of the referendum. Who can blame the common people for giving a great big two fingers to those who have taken them for granted for so long? Once again the Labour party has learnt nothing, with contempt for the working class reaching new heights in the aftermath of the vote with Guardian columnists writing about ‘Crappy’ Northern towns and David Lammy calling for parliament to ignore the democratic will of the nation.

Lammy’s position is as understandable as it is indicative of the status quo. A London MP who sees the coming typhoon and in an attempt to save his own behind at the next election decides to voice the concerns of the delicate snowflakes of the big smoke, without any thought of the repercussions his words will have in places like Rotherham, Blackburn or Burnley.

UKIP has become the lightning rod for working class anger and malcontent and thanks to Labour’s continuing, indeed increasing, inclination to treat the people as an irrational, immature inconvenience, a party that should have been declared obsolete post-Brexit looks likely to go from strength to strength.

Make no mistake the Labour apocalypse is real. Corbyn is driving the bus straight off the cliff with his fingers firmly stuck in his ears. Over the last twelve months he has consistently displayed an ability to ignore prevailing opinions, discrediting all criticism as part of the mainstream media conspiracy against him. He has become an expert in ‘Bunker’ politics and nothing that is thrown at him now will persuade him to change course, especially with Seamus Milne pouring poison in his ear.

It will not be a quick death. The Labour leadership contest alone can take months. Rather it will be a long drawn out affair, marked by paralysis of the parliamentary party and the slow march towards mass de-selection of rebel MPs. A breakaway Blairite party could be on the cards but quite how an SDP sequel could satisfy the growing sense of working class anger is a mystery. It would be a party without an electorate, a cart without a horse. Had the Lib Dems not been a jibbering wreck at the moment they could have expected defections galore, as it stands it is difficult to determine who possesses the most potent brand of ‘Ballot-Box Kryptonite’ – Corbyn or Farron?

As UKIP seeks to harness the hate in the country so we must have a leader who offers something better. The nation is crying out for a message of aspiration, progress, potential and, above all, hope. To satisfy this desire is the key consideration in choosing the next Conservative leader. A caretaker, a custodian will not do. The country needs inspiration and it is our duty to provide.

Martin is a lifelong Socialist who saw the error of his ways, making a sharp right turn. Follow him on Twitter: @righturn79

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The views expressed in this article are that of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Conservatives for Liberty