Nick Clegg - Payments into his Private Bank Account

Today, 21^st April 2010, the Daily Telegraph ran with a front page article "General Election 2010: Nick Clegg, the Lib Dem donors and payments into his private bank account".

It reported "Nick Clegg received a series of payments from party donors directly into his private bank account, The Daily Telegraph can disclose." and expanded this with the following information, admittedly paragraphs apart "The Liberal Democrat leader was paid regular monthly sums by three senior businessmen during 2006..........Mr Clegg submitted copies of his personal bank statements to the House of Commons when claiming expenses." followed by, another couple of paragraphs further on, "Mr Clegg has also officially declared to the parliamentary authorities that his office received money from the three businessmen.". The sums of money donated were £250 per month from each businessman.

Another piece of information that was reported in the article was "During the same year, a part-time organiser was employed in Mr Clegg’s Sheffield constituency office on a salary of £8,966." and "Mr ........ said the payments had to be made into Mr Clegg’s personal bank account because there was no fund for the “Parliamentary Office of the Liberal Democrats”.

Mr Clegg was reported as saying “All payments were declared as a standing item on the register of members’ interests and used appropriately to fund an additional member of staff in my parliamentary office".

What they don't do is calculate what 3 X £250 X 12 months works out to. Now I am no rocket scientist but my calculation makes this £9,000. Remarkably close to the £8,966 paid to an organiser as reported by the Telegraph themselves.

If you cannot see the Labour Party Manifesto below, this is not my fault. It must be lost in the Amazon Postbox of political gagging (I Jest - the link just did not work).

So what does this tell us?

It tells us that:

• This is the best story the Telegraph can come up with - and within the article it actually exonerates Nick Clegg from any wrongdoing.
• The Tory press thinks that it needs to focus on Nick Clegg as a personality and not the substance of his arguments in the General Election
• The Tories (here read David Cameron) are rattled as they visualise their "right" to leadership disappear down the plughole of electorate disfavour.
• The Telegraph thinks that it's readers are stupid and won't see through this charade of cloaks and mirrors. But then again who reads the Daily Telegraph................
• Well the article has made it to the National conscience through the re-reporting on national television news. Good news for the Telegraph as it's readership may go up. Bad reporting and misleading reporting by the television news as they do not give the real details in their reporting. It just shows how unthinking these guys and gals are, and makes you wonder if they have a political agenda!
• We should, as voters, all read beyond the headlines and see what a complete and utter non-newsworthy story this is.

I am not going to focus on the Telegraph article itself any further. It does not merit another mention. What I would like to focus on is the "Mood of the Electorate". We are hearing more and more about this gossamer-like, ethereal being. But it is a very real thing.

And this is where David Cameron has got it right. We do want a change!

• We want a change from the Labour Party who were so promising when they came to office on the backlash to Tory sleaze. Not necessarily to another Party, but within. A change in emphasis, a change in direction, a change in policy presentation.
• We want a change from the reporting style of our national newspapers when it comes to elections (and beyond)
• We wanted, and got, a change towards more open debate by the Party leaders
• It seems we want style over substance, and this is not suggesting that the Lib Dems have no substance. The first debate opinions seemed to show this.
• We want a better tomorrow for us all
• We want fairness, honesty, policies that a Party leader can shout load and proud because they believe it is right for us all
• We want openness with no hidden agenda's, no hidden policies, no verbiage that seems to say one thing when in fact it means something completely different
• We want Britain to be Great again. We know we are Great but our politicians have brought us to our knees over the last 100 years. The politics that got us here must be changed to the politics to get us there. It does not matter now what has gone before - it is over, gone. There is nothing we can do about it. WHAT WE WANT is respect. Respect as an electorate that can be trusted to understand the policies. Respect as individuals that each has different needs and aspirations. Respect and understanding that changing things wholesale has a detrimental affect on us - we cannot plan our futures if we do not know on what to base our calculations. Stability and respect.

And this is where David Cameron has got it wrong!

• We don't want to change back to what has been there in the past. The sleaze has not gone away. The underlying credo is not different.
• We don't want a leader that cannot stand up in front of us and look us in the eye
• We don't want a party that so obviously has not changed. It's loyal mouthpiece shows us it's true colours
• We don't want change for change sake. We want change that has substance, credulity, passion, a thought out change that is not there just in sound-bites. Change in attitudes, functioning and accountability that bring a new politics to our country.
• That change is not necessarily a change in the Party that is elected. It is a fundamental change that enlivens us to the role that we play in our own destiny.

And what has enlivened all those that say "I don't know anything about politics"? The debates that have shown each of the Party leaders, perhaps, in their true light. It is only when the slumbering masses are educated to understand what politics is, that change will follow.

Has the long sleep come to an end? Are the electorate wiping the sandman from their eyes, and stretching, pushing their hands to the sky and saying "Hear me, I have the ideas and the skills and the worth to make my life all that it could be?". Not yet I fear, but it is dawning. The reality that what we got and what we had, every moment, are things of the past. The reality that change must push us into the new age. And is that Aquarius? Well I'm a Piscean so a watery future bears no fears for me!

We are where we are. We need to be somewhere else. And where is that somewhere?

That is for each individual to know. That is why the electorate need to believe that they asindividuals are being listened to, not just heard. It is one thing to be a good listener but quite another to extract the vital essences from what is said and create a unified model of our future that must be prosperous for all.

It must be inclusive not exclusive. It must be fair and honest for all people. It must allow growth and expansion without poverty and exploitation. It must be forward-thinking not wallowing in the past of others. It must be clean and healthy not dingy and infested. It must be for you, for me, for us all as individual and as a family.

It must be .......... what nobody has shown me is their vision too.

Some parts of it have been touted but not in a way that I can believe that the touter actually believes in it. And that is where change has to come. I, the electorate, do not believe you the politician. Give me something that I can believe you mean and that you believe you can deliver. Only then will change have come!

An article in a newspaper makes national reporting headlines on all media. It is trying to taint someone who has raised the electorate awareness of the impending election. Is it the dawning of the age of Aquarius? Not for the newspapers who still want to wallow in the cesspool of negative reporting.

It sold copies and it reached all other media. A good job done. But did it actually achieve anything positive. Yes it showed us, hopefully for the last time, that nothing has changed. David Cameron is bleating about change but we all know that it is just to get him elected. He cares for nothing but personal advancement. I've seen it too often.

So what is to be done?

Vote for what you believe in. Vote for who you believe in. Vote for us all. Vote for change, not just for changes sake but for the sake of us all. It ain't working, and neither are a large minority. Something has to be done. Vote for the party that you think will make THE difference to your life and those that you think about. Decide who that is and vote for them.

And who is it?

That is your choice.