There's A Side To You That I Never Knew...

Eye see corruption in thine I
you have strayed far from the path
which i set out yet i do not protest
too much for that your right
high up in your elephantine tower
is it not a long way down
Oh? doth thou protest too much?
Shakespeare says he thinks it
I do not condemn for I have passed
it is my time no longer
One day I shall sail west
join my children in the Grey

This is an extract from my book, 'Musings of a Journey: Part i', which can be found here

Anyone who can guess not only the title, but all the references within the above will receive a worse better prize than has ever been won from this site!

Something's Coming, Don't Know When, But It's Soon

Something very new and very unexciting is coming this way. This is your chance to flee - my advice would be to leave the country at the very least. However, alike to when one sees something awful happening, as if in slow motion, there is probably very little that can be done to prevent catastrophe.

But, sure enough, phone'll jingle, door'll knock; that'll be all the warning you get. Bonne chance!

Update: The Something is here!
The Life and Times of James Callaghan
A New blog to make you suffer!

As always, the clue's in the title, however, there are also two clues within the text. I doubt that more than a few of you are capable or finding the answer without Google.

Reformation or Deformation? Evolution or Revolution?

The Liberal Democrats have often been the forerunners in advocating political reform and could even be seen as the more republican of the three main parties - rightly or wrongly - so it is no wonder that the latest plan to destabilise and devalue our Parliamentary system and our country was put forward by the leader of that party.

A draft bill was proposed by the deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, a few weeks ago proposing to reform the House of Lords. This bill proposed 15 year fixed terms, starting in 2015, of an 80% elected upper chamber, more than halving the total number of peers to 300 full time members elected through proportional representation.

The glaring problems in this draft bill may expose, I fear, not only the folly of the Lib Dems, but of the whole government.

Expense: At the moment, members of the House of Lords get paid only for when they sit in the house. (There are a few exceptions, such as The Lord Speaker). I believe this is £300 per day they sit out of a total 142 [sic]. In all my years of watching BBC Parliament the only times I have seen the House full have been the state opening of Parliament. Now compare that amount to 300 full time paid 'Senators'. The cost seems somewhat higher in my mind. But, what's a little more taxes - at a time when Europe is in financial ruin - if we'll have 'greater democracy'?

Fixed Term: 15 year fixed term. After which, they are unable to run for office again. If they are good at their job, we lose them permanently. If they are shoddy, corrupt &c we are stuck with them for 15 years, with no way of recalling them. Is this Mr. Clegg's idea of democracy?

Powers: Currently, the main role of the upper chamber is to scrutinise and amend legislature. Sort of like proofreaders before a book is published. I don't mean to cause offence with that comparison, we are lucky enough to currently have a House of Lords that is made up of incredibly intelligent men and women who know considerable amounts in their fields. However, if members were elected, surely that would give them some sort of mandate? Surely they would start to demand more powers?
AND
They would be politicians! Do we need any more career politicians? We would surely lose the expertise that currently resides in the House of Lords.

Supremacy of The Other Place: Presently, the elected House of Commons has more power than the Lords, would this not detract from that? If you have 300 men and women elected to the upper house for a term three times the length of that of the other place would they not consider themselves the more supreme?

Despite Mr. Clegg's insistence that this would not happen, how would it not? In America they have standoffs between The Senate and the House of Representatives, which is why there is a President, to supposedly prevent this. Is this the next step? My saying the Lib Dems are in favour of a republic isn't sounding so dramatic, is it?

Side note: Members of the House of Lords no longer have to refer to the Commons as "The Other Place." It is a sad day.

Eighty Percent Elected: Why 80%? Is it an attempt to not seem too radical? Is it because within that 20% is some expertise that would be lost through elections? I can make no sense of it, personally. It's 100% or 0%. 80% doesn't work with the proposed overhaul.

Proportional Representation: As mentioned in "By Jove I Think He's Got It!" (4th July 2011), the Liberals won, through devolution and coalition, PR in the rest of the U.K. Is this just a feeble attempt by this party to gain what the public rejected in May 2011?

I am unable to see any benefits of this bill, other than it purportedly being more "democratic." With democracy working as well as it is now, I'm not sure I'm too eager for much more.

After the failed attempt to replace the "First Past The Post" voting system with the "Alternative Vote", the Liberal Democrats, and more specifically, Nick Clegg, need a political 'win' from being in the Coalition. This proposal is little more than a vote-mongering, political point scoring attempt made by a party that needs to curry favour with their supporters after the betrayal with student fees. I'm glad it seems as unpopular with MPs as it does with Peers.

On the Governement's e-petitions website, there is a proposal to scrap this plan. Please click here to sign.

Any guesses for the title? Prizes, as always, are not very good.

Edited 14/11/11

By Jove I think He's Got It!

At the constant behest (of my inexplicable mind), I have striven to find the find the inner workings of The United Kingdom after the devolution movement at the end of the last century. For the few of you that are interested, I will now reveal what information I have gleaned; although, I am sure that my translation will be wholly incorrect. 
At the end of the nineties, referenda were held across three countries within the U.K.: Scotland, Wales and Ireland on a devolved parliament, assembly and The Good Friday Agreement. As present circumstance indicates, the answer was a "Yes" to all three. In Scotland it was a resounding 74.03%. In Ireland, a similarly high result was garnered, 71.12%. The Welsh vote, however, was far closer, with 50.3% a win of just 0.6%!
These votes caused a First Minister to rise up in Northern Ireland and Scotland and a First Secretary in Wales. Wales and Northern Ireland have Assemblies rather than a parliament, although the workings are much the same.

In setting out the devolved powers, Scotland was given 73 MSPs, Wales 60 Assembly Members and Northern Ireland 108. What is notable in this is that, for a least a small portion of these members, proportional representation is used. This was forced into place in Scotland and Wales by Liberal Democrats working with Labour, who was against it in both instances. Also of note, in the first set of elections in Scotland no constituency members from the Conservative Party were elected with FPTP yet 18 were with PR. In Wales eight were with PR and one with FPTP.

The allocation of power to Holyrood (Scotland's political base) was done so by detailing the powers retained by The U.K. Parliament whereas in Wales the powers given were listed. This was most probably done in this way as The Welsh Assembly, not having a distinct legal system, had less of an allocation of power than Scotland.
The Leaders of these political institutions are all required to obtain The Royal Assent (The Queen signs off on all legislation).

With the rise of devolved powers, it is no surprise that a very important question was asked, this, known as the "West Lothian Question", was asked by Scottish MP (not MSP) Tom Daylle. He asked why happenings in England should be decided on by the 119 MPs at Westminster not representing English constituencies. Rightly so. However, the issue is not so clear cut as it may seem. These 119 MPs sit at Westminster to represent their constituents in matters concerning The U.K. As such, these lovely Members of Parliament decided to not vote on any issue effecting solely England. Thus, a temporary solution.


As I grow tired, I will decease and desist. I will also ignore all the errors that this is riddled with.
All statistics are copied from "Devolution in Britain Today", a book which I have used, to some extent, to understand our great nation. I apologise for any mistakes and would be delighted to have them brought to my attention.

The title is a dig at myself for taking so long in educating myself in this area. Of course, any guesses as to its origins are pleasing with the standard prizes being offered. Au revoir. 

Goodbye To You

Soon I shall return to my holy home
high up in the clouds
Enough of this, my heavenly rote
the journeys took’st far too oft
the pleasures and the pains I to you bequeath.
resignation tendered, may I retain my throne?
constitutionally mind, just to watch and show
my love,
Perhaps to open parks

This is an extract from my book, 'Musings of a Journey: Part i', which can be found here
 

Any guesses for the title? Today's clue: It's a song title.