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04/29/2010: "Election - Mrs Duffy strikes a chord"

Mrs Duffy, for me, is no different from my friends and neighbours on our street, no different from the people stood in queues at the post office, bank, shops, etc.
Mrs Duffy asked questions that everyone is asking...

How are we going to pay all this debt back?
similar to the run up to the election of 2005 - labour take a potentially government changing issue and set up a review months after the general election.
whilst on the compaign trail, each time the question about the issue comes up, they talk about the ideal scenarios (that everyone wants to see) then tell us that they will know more "after the review" - of course you and i know that this will conveniently be too late as the election that will have passed.

normal protocol, sees a government in office having a spending review of the country's books at regular intervals - john major, when prime minister, brought in a law, that made it compulsary for the government of the day to give opposition parties access to the country's books prior to a general election, important to have a stable transition of government, wether the current government is re elected or a new government comes in.
by holding a spending review AFTER the general election this time, labour have indeed passed the country's books to opposition parties, however, it is of little use as the state of the economy since the last review, are over a year out of date!
this gives gordon brown's labour party a distinct advantage without question



How are we going to reduce immigration?
lets get things straight from the outset - Mrs Duffy raising this question, does not justify in anyway whatsoever, calling her a "bigot" - i support Mrs Duffy 100%
immigration - in all forms, legal, economic, illegal, asylum seekers, student - is a relevant topic to raise.

it is not now nor ever, acceptable, to quote ideal scenarios, then if the individual questions this, to brand them a "bigot" - wether in private or public, there is no excuse for it!

immigration worries many people - at a time that the british people are being told we have to retire later, and we have pressures on our health service, schools, housing, crime, benefits system, etc - people are rightly questioning why our borders are wide open and we are allowing so many people to enter, live,work and bring their families here.
wasnt it gordon brown himself who told us protecting britain is of paramount importance, justification for anti terror laws and being flanked by lots of taxpayer funded security, etc, why then are our borders so open and the country is left so exposed?

ironically, Mrs Duffy inadvertantly exposed gordon brown for how he views ordinary voters with valid questions - for me the thing that hit home was when Mrs Duffy was told of what Gordon Brown said.
her response was,

"no? he wouldnt say things like that..." then she looked away from the camera and said, "over 60 years my family has supported labour..."