"Ladyman's Thanet"

Like all MP's and Steve Ladyman is no exception, they all have their message or agenda to propagate to their electorate, and editors of local newspapers are only too happy to oblige by offering space in their journals it saves wages on journalists.

On the odd occasions I can force my way through these seemingly turgid opinions, it generally strikes me how far from reality politicians are, now I might be accused of picking on Mr. Ladyman but I make no apology since, he has held ministerial responsibility with the labour government and currently has some sort remit to connect the labour party back with Joe public.

This week we had a riveting read, in the Gazette from him, on plans for the elderly, starting with pension poverty, now surprisingly no mention is made of Gordon Brown's, stealth tax on pension funds which have severely eroded their value or when talking about measures to help people in the future, the incredible burdens of the general public in funding massive pension payouts for public sector employees.

Slightly more upbeat, technology is mentioned as a way elderly can be helped in the future, and how health services need to be developed so that people can receive care at home rather than hospitals and clinics, all well and good but one can often measure the value of a politician's words by what they don't say, and one thing Ladyman's not offering to us here in England, is free Health Care for pensioners, unlike Scotland, despite the fact English taxpayers are subsidising Scotland.

If you happen to be Steve Ladyman, maybe you could comment tell us why taxpayers in Thanet rich and poor aren't entitled to that which, Scottish taxpayers are, i.e. free care for the elderly.

Now some subjects that perhaps Ladyman and his labour colleagues ought to consider are, raising the minimum wage to a living level, restricting uncontrolled immigration and consequent exploitation, treating British citizens equally (offering free university education and care for the elderly to all), and maybe not least, withdrawing troops from Iraq and Afghanistan countries, which clearly are not ready for either western democracy or basic civil rights.