Let's hear it for Lilley & Stringer

I refer, of course, to a pair of MPs who might well be renamed 'The Odd Couple' because the former is a free market, ex-Thatcherite minister with profound suspicions of the entire European Movement, and considerable scepticism concerning so-called Anthropological Global Warming (AGW).  The latter is Labour MP for Blackley and Broughton - and, no, me, neither but I gather it's 'ooop north' somewhere near Manchester.

So what binds this 'odd couple' together?  Well, they were they only two members of the parliamentary Energy and Climate Change Committee who possessed enough intelligence - and breath! - to blow a large raspberry in the direction of the IPCC report claiming that Man was the prime instigator of global warming.  Not too surprising on the part of Mr. Lilley but extraordinary coming from a Labour MP such as Mr. Stringer.  But then I looked him up on Wiki and immediately I could see that this is a man who can think for himself.  For a start he was the first Labour MP to call for Brown to resign.  On top of that heresy he went on to claim - rightly in my view- that so-called 'dyslexia' was an invention seized upon by the education  establishment to explain away their mostly useless teaching methods.  He also supported the Immigration Bill proposed by another Right-wing Tory, Dominic Raab.

So, all in all, I think Mr. Stringer is a man to watch, although given his independence of thought I doubt very much whether he will ever rise too far in Labour political circles.  Pity!

 

Comments

[Michael Adams]

Dyslexia, in its various forms, is quite real. Many people who have it do learn to read, but it takes them longer, even though, in all other respects, they may have above-normal intellectual capacity. The current state of thinking on the matter sees an imbalance in nerve impulse transmission between optic and otic nerves, probably caused by a chronic viral infection in one or the other. There are some interesting tests to determine what sort of dyslexia one has. They project laser dots, for example, on a wall, and track the ability of the patient to follow these dots, using pupilometry. It's quite fascinating to watch. I am not dyslexic, so I can see and track the dots just fine, thank you. I can also see the defective tracking, without a machine, in the eyes of the patient. I have been delighted to see the progress, as measured in this test and others, when the patient takes anti viral drugs for a couple of months.

[David Duff]

Thanks for that, Michael, but at a rough guess what percentage of the population suffers with it?

Also, how many school children whose parents claim dyslexia are clinically tested?

[Hank]

It was said that G W Bush had dyslexia. Which would explain the difference between his sometimes public goofs and shrewd tactician.

He apparently used it to disarm his opponents until he handed them their heads on a platter. Being Bush he probably said "Here is your platter on a head."

This worked until he became president and he was just watched to closely by friend and foe.

[David Duff]

Possibly, Hank, but I just wish he had been better at maths and then maybe the economy would not have tanked.

[JK]

David? Your "I just wish he had been better at maths and then maybe the economy would not have tanked" - depending on how you feel about the place may be found in this article's second sentence.

http://www.americanthinker.com/2004/02/gwb_hbs_mba.html

[Andrew Duffin]

It won't surprised you to learn, if you hadn't noticed already, that Caroline Lucas (who she?) has written to the millipede to try and have Stringer thrown off the select committee, for not following the approved warmist line.

She won't succeed, given that (a) she's not a member of the Labour Party and (b) committee membership is not in the gift of the party leader anyway.

But it shows the way the establishment thinks: disagree with us? Advance reasoned scientifically-sound arguments supporting your point of view? We can't argue against you so we'll just try to censor you and shut you out of the debate.

[Andrew Duffin]

Oh and btw, in answer to your question "how many school children whose parents claim dyslexia are clinically tested?" the answer is ALL of them, because the school gets extra dosh for each pupil who gets the "right" diagnosis.

If the psychologist were being honest, he would carry out the assessment and then tell the parents "Sorry, but you child is not dyslexic, just rather dim", but a lot of them don't. After all, too much honesty and they won't be asked back to do more assessments, will they?

[David Duff]

Thank you, Andrew, I think, because both your comments depressed me enormously! Also, I knew the name 'Caroline Lucas' but for the life of me I couldn't remember why - and then I discovered she is the sole MP from the 'Greenie' party and her constituency is, er, Brighton! Need one say more?