had a bit of a laugh this morning filling in a few forms at "new" labour's big conversation site.



i filled in a form asking my views of government policy, so i told 'em a few things that worry me - cost of housing, "terror threat" being used as an excuse to remove human rights etc.



screamed laughing at the sychophantic crap at the your stories section. carefully chosen this stuff - barely a word of criticism. what criticism there is consists of "could we just be asked a tiny bit more often what we want" crap.



i also filled in my own story, but i shouldn't think it'll get posted on the site, 'cos it's a bit vitriolic for them. so, in case they don't publish it, here it is in its entirety:




I am, frankly, disgusted with "new" Labour and everything it stands for.



I used to vote Labour because I am a socialist. Never more. To vote for "new" Labour is to vote for a party which is more capitalist than the Tories and adds a new, more frightening element to the concept of illiberality.



Everywhere I see the threat of terrorism used as an excuse to remove human rights, to mistreat immigrants, asylum seekers and visitors to our country, and to increase the already frightening level of surveillance of us all.



I see a Prime Minister who lies to Parliament in order to drag us into a war, on the side of the most corrupt, bullying and fascistic government the US has ever seen and against a regime who, until recently, was one of the UK's and the US' favoured trading partners. What changed? Iraq had "WMD" because it was sold them by the UK and the US. But all that weaponry was destroyed by Iraq or by the UN inspectors long before this war started, as Blair well knew when he started this illegal and immoral invasion.



I also see a government whose every action is paid for by its corporate donors and which, at best, pays lip-service to its obligations to the constituents of its MPs.



This "Big Conversation" is a charade. No-one in Blair's cabinet gives a damn what any of us say because their every policy is driven by their corporate sponsors requirements. So don't waste your time trying to suggest ways they might change policy because they can't do so without risking the wrath of their owners.