Mat Bowles

Ever thought about the influence geography has on the way you vote? You probably ought to, it's had a massive effect on me. Y'see, I grew up in the 80s and did my GCSEs and A Levels in the 90s. that's under Thatcher and Major. But that's not the main reason I distrust the Conservative party, nor the main reason I hate the Tories^[1]. That can be explained by a very simple statement.

Anthony Steen was my MP. He's still the MP for my parents, both surviving grandparents, two aunts and four cousins. Yes, that Anthony Steen. For a very very simple reason to hate the git^[2], have a listen to this^[3]:
( BBC flash embed of the audio of the interview. I can listen to this again and again and again, it makes me happy ) I've met him. He visited my school a few times when I was a kid, and I met him subsequently. He really is like that. That interview has effectively ended his fairly undistinguished career. The great shame is that he's been forced out, because despite him representing one of the safest Conservative seats in the country, his behaviour since re-election in 2005 has been, well, interesting, and I reckon he'd have lost without the most recent revelations. Here are some highlights:
( A summary list of some of the more egregious idiocies he's managed )

So, there you go. Due to the nature of the first-past-the-post electoral system, if you have a git like that as your MP, if you want to get rid of him, you have to vote for the candidate most likely to beat him. If you get used to voting for that party time and time again because they're the best chance of beating the incumbent git, many people begin to consider themselves supporters specifically of that party.

In 1997, I voted in my first General Election, and specifically voted against Steen. It was a vote for the Lib Dem candidate, but also broadly a vote to get the bastard Tories out and replace them with Blair. I often wonder what, if any, my partisan allegiance would be if I grew up in a part of the world where the Lib Dems were a distant third and Labour were challenging the Tories. Let alone if I'd grown up in a safe Labour area where the Tories had no chance.

One of the stupidities of the UK system is that where you live matters a lot more than who you support. I think it's about time we changed that, how about you?

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( Footnotes )

So, we're safely in Devon. We've Done Stuff^tm.

Actually got out of the house and walked all the way to the beach via the Slapton Ley nature trail this morning, threw the ball for the dogs lots, walked back up the hill and made lunch (my Granny has managed to comment that a) I'm getting a bit fat and b) I need to eat more already, I love my Granny's food).

Then we went to the local pub, listed in the Good Beer guide (Jennie had looked it up) so we knew it would have something. We go in, there are four pumps all with local beers on, which is nice. Barmaid is serving someone at the other end of the bar so we're guessing what beer will be what.

Then the barmaid turns to serve us, and as we look at each other there's one of those moments of recognition.

Hadn't seen my Aunty Mo for at least 5 years, didn't know she worked at the pub 5 minutes walk from Granny's house.

Beer was bloody good too.

Then we went up to the village fete, where Granny was making creme teas (proper Devon fasion with the cream on the scone and jam on top, none of this butter malarky on a cream tea, let alone putting the fam on first--weird foreign types do that sort of thing).

After that we took a different walk, down to Deer Bridge and along what was the old stream where I learnt Pooh Sticks with Granddad, but is now reclaimed into marshland as part of the reserve. Rather nice overall.

Gotta go, Granny's made tea. Apparently the table is straining under the pressure.

No real time tor ead other entries, we're lucky to get a wireless connection at all, but thought it was worth an entry.

Via Steve, a short edumacational film about paying attention when driving, that lovers of the roads of Devon and bikers everywhere will concur with. Oh, there's a tank in it:

YouTube - A Day out in Devon, set up to promote their Bikers campaign. I approve. Not that I've ever actually ridden a motorbike, but I still approve.