English Yokel

It isn't just the UK with problems!

A few years ago, Yokel visited New Zealand for the first time in his life, and promptly fell in love with it. What a wonderful place, and people to get on with. People with a "can do" attitude so refreshing after far too much "can't do that" followed with a choice of "its more than my jobsworth" or "itsa gainst elfinsafety" in the UK. Yokel spent the next 12 months or more plotting on how he could up sticks and go migrate down under. As you can probably tell, it didn't work out. That was a combination of a number of things, including Yokel's age. Whilst the Kiwis would have let Yokel in for a while (6 years to be exact) they'd have thrown him out again afterwards, so that he didn't become a burden in his dotage.

But then watching one or two things that have happened since, perhaps Yokel ought to be praising the Lord that He didn't let it happen.

For ages it seems that Kiwis have been choosing Labour governments. And like (Nu)Labour governments in the northern hemisphere, the NZ Labour government have been doing left wing things. They banned smacking children, despite 83% of the population disagreeing. They have broken the link with the UK by using a wafer thin majority in Parliament to stop the Privy Council being the final court of appeal. One group has already suggested that Kiwis live in an elective dictatorship. One mark on a ballot paper every three years doesn't make up for being ignored, or worse, in between times! And several NZ sites similar to the UK WriteToThem have been launched.

And now, there is the Electoral Finance Act. Brought in, just like similar legislation in the UK to make life difficult for the opposition, it is policed by Commissars who pronounce on whether web sites, inter alia, are electioneering or not. And if they are one must register, and put one's home address for all to read and note. So a site principally to vent the author's frustration, called Don't Vote Labour, has been forced off the Kiwi webscape, all that's left is the forum. But as noted above, New Zealanders are a very resourceful and resilient folk, so Yokel wouldn't be at all surprised to find that this UK site has the content that cannot now be provided from NZ. Then there is a NZ cartoonist living in Oz, who has his site hosted in the US. One campaigning site caught my eye, with its line up of leaders who really don't like free speech! It will be interesting to see how close to internet censorship that the Electoral Commissars get!

Yokel wishes those stout Kiwi freedom fighters all the strength to persevere and prevail.