The numptocracy

Energy Secretary Ed Davey was interviewed on the BBC's Newsnight show last night. The whiff of incompetence is almost overwhelming.

Comments

[DAVID SPURGEON]

So what's the answer? UKIP????

[Schrodinger's Cat]

I'm beginning to think that the time has come for a massive UKIP or, if you prefer, protest vote at every opportunity. I'm trying not to create a political platform and that is clearly not the purpose of this site, but given the current discussion, it is difficult to see an alternative as far as this subject is concerned.

Personally, I'm getting to the point where I think that the wishes of the electorate and the policies of the mainstream parties have diverged so much that a huge change in voting patterns is needed. Voters should take this into account, even if the short term election result is almost pot luck, the shift in voter intentions will be clear and this will focus the political minds.

In other words, it may be worth voting for what you really want, regardless of the electoral consequences.

[Don Keiller]

I will be voting UKIP. Not because I support them, but to break the stranglehold of the two party system.
What Tallbloke described as "two cheeks of the same arse".

[banjo]

Nervous,sweaty, lots of eye blinking.
Either he was desperately worried about his own lack of knowledge or
he didn`t believe a word he was saying....and of course neither did we.
I don`t see the stoic,`keep calm and carry on`attitude exemplified by my grandparents generation that made the power cuts of the seventies an unpleasant but tolerable adventure.
I remember reading by oil lamp and boiling the kettle on the coal fire,Great fun when you`re ten years old,but desperately worrying for the adults ,who somehow had to make things work.
We are not as tolerant of these dolts as we once were,curiously because we stuff the pockets of these self serving sharp suited gonks with our `hard earned` we demand competence.
Perhaps it`s dawning him that when we lose our power,
he and his government will lose theirs.

[Schrodinger's Cat]

Don, I agree.

I could not vote for Miliband, given his past performance, or to be honest, under any circumstances.
I could not vote for the lib dems since they seem to be to common sense as antimatter is to the rest of us.
The conservatives under Cameron is both of the above.

[jorgekafkazar]

"I'm hoping against hope here, obviously but, as we know/hope/pray/dream, there are people at Westminster who know how serious things really are." --MeIKnowNothin

Where is this Westminster of which you spik? Do you mean the western suburb of Brussels better known as Weaselminster?

[mike]

ED DAVEY check out the waste of money you are trying to recover `£150 licence costing the public purse nearly one million pounds,YOUR minions at the EnvironMENTAL Agency need to be made accountable.

[G.Watkins]

UKIP seems the only choice for the next election, despite limited depth.
However, our Westminster system of democracy is irretrievably broken. We are ruled by a limited short-termism oligarchy and the majority of our MP's have little say. The previously impartial Civil Service is now hopelessly flawed.
I suggest the Harrogate Agenda or something similar is the only way forward in the long term. Democracy must be returned to the people. Check out EU Referendum blog featured on The Bishop's links.
P.S. As I've suggested before, now is the time to write a letter to ?MSM signed by all the concerned denizens of Bishop Hill, otherwise we are just moaning to each other.

[stanj]

Well, since this has moved on to UKIP, I think I will give my two-penn'orth. Sceptics tend to be characterised as right-wing but I'm a lifelong Labour supporter who can see the damage this scam is doing to the poor of this country. I class myself as old Labour, the party of the honest, hardworking, aspiring working class and I eventually became disillusioned with New Labour some years ago.

In 2007, right up to the last minute, I intended to abstain from voting but at the last minute I held my nose and voted Labour again. By 2010 there was no chance of me voting Labour ever again and at first,as before, I planned not vote at all but then I looked at UKIP's views on AGW and the country's energy policies and realised there actually was a party I could support on an issue that I regard of extreme importance.So I voted UKIP.

And I will again. I am sympathetic to their other policies as well, so that helps. It may seem odd for a long time Labour supporter to vote for a supposedly rightwing party, but I genuinely think their views on energy, europe, immigration, crime, grammar schools etc would actually benefit the genuine working class of this country rather than anything that the current Labour party can provide.

And it may not be a wasted vote. We've already seen the three main parties backtracking on immigration because of the threat of losing votes to UKIP; perhaps the same might happen on the energy front if blackouts start happening alongside the price rises and UKIP makes it clear that only they at present have a sensible view on the energy crisis facing this country.

[Paul_K]

Well democracy is democracy with all its evils. Until the majority of voters understand the issues the situation cannot change - nor will political parties feel any pressure to change their platforms. So the objective should be to convince enough voters that the policies set out in the 2008 CCA are stupid, and then provide evidence to the politicians that they will lose their powerbase unless they change. Easy.

[Schrodinger's Cat]

stanj - I have voted for all three major parties during my lifetime because I tried to vote for common sense at each election. Increasingly, common sense has completely disappeared. It is now time to vote for UKIP and if the result is a fiasco, then so be it. The worst of all outcomes will be a Lib Dem-Labour government by default, but the damage they will do could well change politics in this country for a generation.

We need change so badly that we may have to suffer greatly before the penny drops with the general population, who generally vote according to tribal instincts.

The current Government has an ideal opportunity to do all the right things during the next two years but the chance of that is zero. They deserve to fail convincingly at the next election.

[Pharos]

'Oh MAN! will this crap ever end??' (Caspar Ammann 28/05/2008). He said it about FOI. We say it about bent science and DECC policy. And the EU and the UN are saying it about democracy. And the Club of Rome is saying it about economic growth. But increasingly, the British public are saying it about the whole lot and voting UKIP.

[Manfred]

Nothing can go wrong with a 'Seven Year Plan' only a few more quid estimated for energy. More estimates from the Ministry-of-We-Know-Best, obfuscated in pedantry, 'our calculations', further 'cautious assumptions' and a quest for the 'right price' and 'low carbon' - Paxman (The BBC) quietly agreed with the latter - and 'reducing our needs for using too much electricity'. Who decides 'our needs' and 'too much'? Oh yes, of course the EuroGreenist Ministry-of-We-Know-Best, once they've established a 'sustainable population'.
How long do we - the great unwashed - put up with these dung peddlers? This borders on grounds for armed insurrection.
The Global Warming Scam was the trigger, this stuff is the bullet.

[woodentop]

I used to be a member of the FCS at University in the Eighties (no sniggering at the back) and joined my local Conservative association after 1997 thinking it might be all hands to the pumps... a completely dispiriting experience ever since, I'm afraid. Now solidly UKIP even if it's a wasted vote/lets the other lot in etc.

The Conservatives are part of the "other lot" now. Always bear in mind the baleful influence the EU has now over "mainstream" UK politics.

[hebe]

Don't wait until the next election to vote UKIP if that is what you want to do. Write to your MP, MEP and local councillor now and tell them what you intend to do and why. That may give them pause for thought.

[woodentop]

@hebe - my MP is Labour, in a solidly Labour constituency in Scotland, and I suspect needs helped to the toilet.

[Mark S]

It makes not the slightest difference how well insulated your house is. If you can't afford to heat it, you sit and shiver!

[Heide de Klein]

I've always voted Labour. In the Blair years I admit that I was only able to maintain my allegience due to certain knowledge my vote made no difference.

Next time I'm voting UKIP.

[Gerry]

'Numptocracy'. What a great word to describe climate ministers and apparchniks the wolrd over! I hope it catches on....

[Eugene S Conlin]

@ Bloke down the pub:

"That's post normal economics for you."

The words 'hit', 'nail' and 'head" come to mind -

"post normal" = after being normal = abnormal

abnormal = deviating from what is normal (definition from Concise Oxford English Dictionary);
Therefore:
post normal economics" = deviating from economics

and more importantly Lewandowsky's

post normal science = deviating from science

[Rob]

If co2 is hazard, what would be the levels of Co2 in a fully insulated draftproof modern dwelling

The study also found that occupants’ approaches to using ventilation differed widely between dwellings. During testing, many trickle vents, regular use of which is considered necessary to ensure good ventilation, were set to the closed position.

Of the eight houses where air tightness had increased, three were found to have a manifestation of mould. Significantly, ventilation systems available in these houses were set to the closed position. Despite this, there was only minor evidence of mould, suggesting that under-ventilation was not leading to unmanageable problems in practice.

[sherlock1]

Interesting that the 'warmists' are paranoid about reducing CO2, when tomato growers PAY to inject it into their polytunnels, at concentrations of 800-1000ppm, to increase yields (obviously)...
Also - I wonder what the level of CO2 is in one of Ed Davey's super-insulated homes..? Bet its around 1200ppm... (Submarines are apparently allowed to operate with crew atmospheres up to 2000ppm...)

Don't even start me on those appalling tv commercials of a few years back - depicting CO2 as a sort of malevolent black cloud - or the sticky black 'carbon footprints'... Wasn't that just propoganda of the worst kind - aimed squarely at children..?

[Alex Cull]

There's now a full transcript of the Ed Davey interview on Newsnight, here:
https://sites.google.com/site/mytranscriptbox/home/20130403_nn

[Martin Brumby]

I agree with most of the political comments, only adding to stanj at 10:10 PM the observation that the Labia Party, of which I was once a proud activist, used to be relied upon to at least be mindful of the situation of the poorest and most vulnerable working people.

The point at which that reliance was shattered forever was when little Eddie Milipede (with Bro Dave, Veggie Benn and Gordon Bruin supporting) pushed through the Climate Change Act 2008. Of course this was greeted by almost universal acclaim but it led to the swift departure of Martin Brumby, at least, from the Labia ranks. Perhaps the only one? Without doubt the great ship sailed on, towards the rapids.

But let's get back to Daveylump and his £22.

What no-one has noted here, is that this figure derives from the "incredibly detailed" Energy report which derives from the work done for BuffHuhne by very expensive greenie activist "Consultants" who built (as I recall - and as you will have guessed) a Computer Model which was / is used to predict energy supply and demand.

The £22 derives from playing about with the dials on the model and is based on the assumption that "demand" (in this case = supply) will be 50% of what it is now. Just think how you might reduce your energy use (electricity and gas) by 50%.

Hence 'smart meters' and all the rest of it. And note that 'smart meters' can only work if (a) you re-wire your house to put in dedicated ring mains to power (or rather, to not power) the appliances they deem you can manage without. Or (b) if you have 'intelligent' appliances (not yet available) which the 'smart meter' can instruct to turn themselves off.

This whole ridiculous shebang is a house of cards about to collapse.

A campaign needs to be started to impeach Daveylump and Milipede for incompetence and bare faced lies.

[Martin Brumby]

Not at all OT

Don't miss http://fenbeagleblog.wordpress.com/

Priceless

[not banned yet]

"EDF prepared to let UK nuclear talks fail"

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/10004699/EDF-prepared-to-let-UK-nuclear-talks-fail.html

[G1lgam3sh]

I like turtles