Forever blowing bubbles @ No. 10

Arturo was humming to himself minutes after Lord and Master, 'Boy David' Cameron, had finished his Party Conference speech, which we'd watched on the tele. Then Arturo broke into song:

I'm forever blowing bubbles,

Pretty bubbles in the air,

They fly so high, nearly reach the sky,

http://www.metrolyrics.com/im-forever-blowing-bubbles-lyrics-cockney-rejects.html

"What are you on about, Arturo?"

"Obvious, surely! Our PR man of a PM has been at it again! He's been searching for the sound-bite! It had to be the right soundbite, mark you! The one to catch his followers' ears."

"And did he get the right one?" I rather naively asked.

"Judge for yourself!" He said and strode off, still humming.

I looked up the reports of 'Boy David' Cameron's recent pronouncements! He got really excited about 'Help to Buy' even deciding to launch it earlier than expected, as reported by Philip Aldrick in the Telegraph:

Government launches Help-to-Buy three months early: Banks accounting for about a third of the mortgage market will start offering taxpayer-subsidised mortgages next week after the Government brought forward the launch date of its controversial Help-to-Buy scheme by three months.

Aldrick went on:

Critics have warned that the guarantees could inflate a dangerous housing bubble at a time when the property market is already showing signs of recovery. Vince Cable, the Business Secretary, has questioned “whether it should come into effect in light of the changing market conditions”, adding: “We don’t want a new bubble.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/david-cameron/10342384/Government-launches-Help-to-Buy-three-months-early.html

As for me - I was gob-smacked! Vince 'Invincible' Cable doesn't want a 'new bubble'! No one wants a bubble!

Writing in The Independent, Mark Steel made his view known under the headline:

Help to Buy: Is another property bubble really a good idea?

He wrote:

This Government loves exciting fresh ideas, so they’ve announced an extension of their plan to boost the economy, the Help to Buy scheme that makes it easy for people to borrow more than they can afford to buy a house, so that house prices will go up, making us all feel better off.

If only someone had tried before to inflate an economy by lending huge amounts to people to buy houses, even if they couldn’t afford it, then it might be possible to predict how this might end. Already the banks have made it clear they love the idea, and their judgement has been impeccable in recent years. ...

Yet even the Adam Smith Institute says the Help to Buy scheme “will only drive prices up, making housing more unaffordable for most people.” Once the Adam Smith Institute says something is too uncaring, that’s like suggesting an idea to Abu Hamza and him saying “I don’t agree with that, it’s too extremist for me.”

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/help-to-buy-is-another-property-bubble-really-a-good-idea-8856968.html

No wonder Arturo was humming about bubbles! It seems that 'Boy David' Cameron doesn't remember what happened in 2008! I wonder if the names 'Fannie & Freddie' have even entered his head!

Reports from the Conservative Party Conference were to be found everywhere. So there was plenty of meat for me to get my teeth into.

There were photos and videos a'plenty of Cameron speaking in front of what looked like a shredded Union Jack. I wondered if this was really intended - or a gross error of judgement! Why would he want to have the Union Jack looking so tattered? Just see for yourself:

Is Cameron losing his famed PR touch? Here's what he had to say in his main conference speech:

This week in Manchester we've shown this Party is on the side of hardworking people.

Helping young people buy their own home.

Getting the long-term unemployed back to work.

Freezing fuel duty.

Backing marriage.

Cutting the deficit.

Creating jobs.

Creating wealth.

... our Help to Buy mortgage scheme.

Blimey O'Riley! Those are some soundbites! If he's actually achieving all that, I don't know why he needs 'Hardworking People' at all! Surely, in this fantasy-land, it's time for freebees for all, especially for the pals in banking!

Nothing daunted and spurred on by his own rhetoric, Cameron invoked still more soundbites:

To make this country, at long last and for the first time ever, a land of opportunity for all.

... Some people said the NHS wasn't safe in our hands.

Well - we knew otherwise.

Who protected spending on the NHS? Not Labour - us.

He also said:

We are not there yet, not by a long way.

But, my friends, we are on our way.

You can read the full text at http://www.newstatesman.com/staggers/2013/10/david-camerons-speech-conservative-party-conference-2013-full-text

The favoured few may have cheered Cameron's speech and seen it as a precursor of arrival in the Promised Land. But -

"land of opportunity for all"?

- Take care those queuing at the food-banks!

"protected spending on the NHS"?

- Beware those needing the butchered, collapsing NHS!

"our 'Help to Buy' mortgage scheme"?

- Watch out new house owners!

So Arturo's humming had some purpose, after all.

Just as I was about to have a kip - the self-same Arturo rushed in and shoved a newspaper cutting in front of my nose:

"Now's your chance, Butch, mi old pal! Lick your coat, swish your tail and you're in with a chance."

"What're you on about?" I scanned the cutting and this is what I read:

Downing Street is denying claims that David Cameron does not like Larry, the official No 10 cat. ...

The unlikely public relations campaign was launched after the disclosure in Matthew d’Ancona’s new book, In It Together, that Mr Cameron and his wife Samantha do not like the cat. ...

d’Ancona reports that the Camerons do not like Larry, a six-year-old tabby, prompting an outpouring of support for the cat on social networks under the theme #savelarry.

The potential for damage to the Prime Minister’s image was not missed by his office, with a spokesman issuing a statement on Friday night saying: “Totally untrue. He is very popular with Downing Street denies David Cameron dislikes Larry the cat everyone in the building and we all get on purr-fectly well.” Downing Street observers, however, say d’Ancona is absolutely correct that Larry - whose efficacy as a mouser has been questioned since he joined Downing Street - is not a family favourite.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/10341329/Downing-Street-denies-David-Cameron-dislikes-Larry-the-cat.html

"If you plays yer cards right, mi old pal, you might yet be a pampered moggie!" Arturo smirked.

"No thanks, Arturo! I prefer to keep a low profile in Downing Street."

No siree - me and Arturo know our place and it ain't upstairs! Tonight, we're off for a bit of nosh at the new fish cafe round the corner!

Bye