Tomorrow is cancelled!
Posted by Alan Collins on Wednesday, October 31st, 2007 at 21:35

I’m sorry to say this, ladies and gentlemen, but we have received advanced warning that tomorrow has been cancelled!

Following on from an All Trick No Treat poster today, the Conservative Party will tomorrow put accross the stark message that the General Election planned for tomorrow has been cancelled, and that they “apologise for the delay to the change Britain needs”, before listing their policies under the banner “the following services are affected”.

The poster has been designed rather cleverly by CCHQ’s team - and David Cameron will tomorrow be in Witney to give a speech outlining what he would have done in his first days as Prime Minister, according to Benedict Brogan.

You can view the full-size poster here (opens in new window).

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Fixed Term Parliaments Bill
Posted by Alan Collins on Wednesday, October 31st, 2007 at 21:18

As I mentioned earlier, two Lib Dem MPs, David Howarth and David Heath, tabled the Fixed Term Parliaments Bill. The Bill has been written to “fix the date of the next general election and all subsequent general elections; to forbid the dissolution of Parliament otherwise than in accordance with this Act; to allow the House of Commons to change the day of the week on which a general election is held; and for connected purposes” with the intention of Parliamentary terms lasting for no more than four years.

As I said, I am in principle in favour of fixed-term Parliaments, and would support the Fixed Term Parliaments Bill as tabled. It puts forward fixed four year Parliamentary terms with the prohibition of dissolving Parliament at any other time and the provision for changing the day of the week on which an election is held. However, if it had been me writing the Bill, I would have made a few additions and amendments to produce my own Fixed Term Parliaments Bill (PDF - 68kb).

This has been based on my vision for fixed-term Parliaments as set out in My Vision for a Greater Britain. The basic outline is that parliamentary terms would be fixed to every four years, unless the Party of Government changes it’s leader 101 days or more before Parliament is due to be dissolved, when an election would be held 100 days after. I also believe elections should be held on Saturdays for reasons I don’t have time to explain here (mainly turnout), although provisions would be made to change the day of the week on which an election is held.

For those of you who do not wish to download the file, the content is below. Please note that the reproduction below does not differentiate between the original and my versions, whilst the PDF above does. Continue Reading “Fixed Term Parliaments Bill” »

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Campaigning for fixed-term Parliaments
Posted by Alan Collins on Wednesday, October 31st, 2007 at 18:38

I’ve said it before, but today I shall reaffirm my belief in fixed-term Parliaments.

In my rather complex (and potentially radical) Vision for a Greater Britain (viewable here), fixed-term Parliaments are my preferred step to a full written Constitution, agreed upon by the British people with at least 75% ‘yes’ votes.

That is why, today, I am announcing my official support for Fixed Term, in support of fixed terms at Westminster.

I shall keep you up-to-date with all the latest campaign news - all you need to do is bookmark the link “http://www.alanwcollins.co.uk/category/fixed-term/”, which I will add to the sidebar in due course - as well as present you with my alternative text to the Fixed Term Parliaments Bill, tabled by Lib Dem MPs David Howarth and David Heath.

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Google.it: Alan Collins
Posted by Alan Collins on Wednesday, October 31st, 2007 at 17:43

Search terms: Alan Collins
Date and time of search: October 31, 2007 at 16:32
Top result: Alan Collins’ Political Opinions
The next four: Attori Master » Alan Collins, Alan Collins, Alan Collins - Shop.it, Film DVD > DVD Trash - Factotus.it
Position of the Alan Collins: 1 out of c. 2,270,000 results
Ranking success rating*: 1.0/1.0

*Calculated by working out the position over the estimated total number of results.

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Get well soon, Mr Clark
Posted by Alan Collins on Wednesday, October 31st, 2007 at 10:34

I read in today’s Yourmedway the full extent to which Gillingham and Rainham MP Paul Clark’s footballing injury had affected him.

It seems as though Mr Clark broke his right wrist and completely shattered his left after a tumble at a two against two kickabout in Twydall Church Hall last Friday night.

This morning, I emailed Mr Clark with my deepest sympathies (below), and if any of you reading this are religious, please spare a thought for Mr Clark in your prayers tonight.

Dear Mr Clark, I was sorry to read in the paper today about your freak footballing injury. Please accept my deepest symapthy as I know how painful a broken wrist can be and I commend your determination to continue to serve your constituents. I pray that you recover speedily and I shall spare a thought for you in my prayers tonight.

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