The media is an undisputedly powerful force.  It is a cut-throat world, and those involved in it are lucky not to be eaten alive.  Someone this should have happened to is Piers Morgan, because the truth is, a hundred years ago, he would be dead.

My mind casts back to May 2004.  I was only eleven so my interest in politics was still yet to become apparent.  But I vaguely remember something happening in the news regarding photographs of Iraqi soldiers being abused by soldiers from the British Army.  Only now, eight years later do I understand the full severity of the situation.

At a time that Great Britain was at war, Piers Morgan published photographs that were deliberately doctored to dishonour soldiers fighting for this country on the front page of a national newspaper.  These were photographs that he knew to be fakes.  Whatever way you look at it, this was Piers Morgan committing treason.  Publishing pictures with no other reason than to discredit our men in Iraq was indeed a treacherous act.  Just to contribute some legitimacy to what some may regard as harsh claims, the Treason Act of 1351 states one of the treasonable offences is: “If a man…be adherent to the King’s enemies in his realm, giving to them aid and comfort in the realm, or elsewhere.”

Now to return to my point at the beginning, a hundred years ago Piers Morgan would be dead.  Technically, committing treason remains the only crime that can warrant the death penalty in the UK, even today, though this happening is about as likely as me shifting to the left.  But in the previous century, he would have been hanged for his actions.

Today he is regarded as a “television personality”, gracing our screens every Friday night.  He has supposedly made it in the US, though I apply the term “made it” very loosely.  There is a generation that has been kept unaware of his treachery as they know him as the jolly celebrity judge of Britain’s Got Talent who ironically has the nerve to quote Winston Churchill while praising acts representing the country he once betrayed.

So thank your lucky stars, Piers, that your unforgivable conduct was carried out in this century, and not the last.

As i write, those lovable lefties are on course to gain around 750 councillors after yesterday’s local elections. The media are doing their best to tell us all how horrific this is and yes, i will admit it is a setback. However to suggest, as has been done in some quarters, that this signals the beginning of the end for the coalition or any chance of a Conservative majority in 2015 is just ridiculous. Let’s look at the simple facts shall we.

750 is a big number, and 750 seats is a lot to pick up in one election…. well ordinarily it would be. However if we now put this into context and consider that the majority of councils up for election last night were last fought in 2008, at a time when someone called Mr. Brown PM wasn’t too popular, it may make things seem markedly less terrible. Indeed on that May night in 2008, Labour experienced its worst local election results for many a year. Fastforward four years to 3rd May 2012, the Labour Party was starting from a low base, so anything less than gains of 500 or so last night would have been unacceptable to even the most ardent Labour supporters. The fact Labour look likely to fall short of the much-talked about 40% of the national vote, means we shouldn’t be getting too excited just yet about the catastrophy that would be Red Ed as PM.

The Conservative share of the vote looks likely to fall to 31-32%, down from 35% last year, and I would argue that at this stage of the Parliament this is nothing to worry about. Indeed, if we look back to 1999 and to Tony Blair’s first mid-term elections, the Conservative Party gained well over 1000 seats under William Hague’s leadership. However, this didn’t mean Hague was able to lead the Tories to a huge General Election win in 2001; far from it in fact.

The main point of my ramblings is that this loss of council seats happens to governing parties, always has done, and will do for the forseeable future. Add to that the fact that this government is carrying out much-needed, but painful cuts and that it is more unpopular now as it has been at any time in the last two years, then Labours gains [if you can call them that] have been minimal at best. Boris Johnson’s likely victory in the Mayoral election, a contest Ed was banking on winning, means that this has not been such a bad 24 hours for the Conservative Party. And to the Labour Party i say…. must try harder

A big thank you to all who attended, we managed to leaflet several areas of Lancaster as part of the local council election campaign.

Thankfully we had a nice sunny day despite the awkward looking rainclouds hovering before the day started. A bit of a freak occurence in Lancaster to have sun for more than a few hours! Upon returning for a drink, Leighton showed his true colours by ordering a large meal of pork belly and chorizo, as you do! Hopefully the leaflets we delivered made an impact on the local election, but good luck to all the Tory councillors wanting to make Lancaster a better place

Also well done to our very own Jordan for running the london marathon, he did us all proud, something i and many of you could never even dream about finishing let alone achieve.

Finally check out the facebook page for this weeks social, the last before exam period!

Vote for Boris!!

After a succesful 4 years which has seen Boris Johnson develop into our nations most appreciated and best loved politican, on account of his charm, knack for appealing to the everyday person and realistic policies. Whilst I could descend into attacking the Labour candidate Ken Livingstone and his fellow contenders campaigns and policies, I believe we should instead view the achievements of Johnson during his tenure.

Boris has revolutionised the cities transport system, with the introduction of new bus services, emphasis on trains and the Barclays Cycle Hire Scheme( Boris bikes). It is refreshing to see solid conservative policies being appreciated so much by the public and media alike.

Close to all our minds in the next few months is the preperations for the London Olympic games, which have been smooth and not beset by problems. The potential for growth as a result of these games is essential to London’s economy and this has and will be used to the full by Boris if he wins the coming elections.

Whether you live in the city or don’t, the capital is pivotal to the rest of the country, this election on May 3rd MATTERS. If not for the policies, and the chance to see a conservative in power, then for the chuckle we all secretly have when he utters a controversial statement.

For information about the conservative candidate and incumbent mayor, or to join in his campaign see: http://www.backboris2012.com/?no_splash=1

Happy St Patricks day to you all

Just a quick reminder of upcoming socials:

Tonight (17th) : CF does St Patricks day ( Wearing green is compulsory, no slacking!)

Meet in county bar at 8pm before a tiny bar crawl around campus, finishing at the end of the rainbow: SUGARHOUSE!

For more details http://www.facebook.com/events/338405076196436/

Then to relax ourselves after coursework and to wind down the end of term, we are having out chill social on tuesday 27th, at Bowland Bar at 8pm

Any enquiries, please see the facebook page

For our final social of the term ahead of the Annual General Meeting next week Lancaster Conservative Future embarked on a Hague-athon; to honour our Foreign Secretary’s famous 14 pints in a working day. The night was amazing, with current EWP Becka Swindell being the first to reach the 14 drink mark in The Pendle Rooms, followed minutes later by yours truly. The Hague-athon looks set to become one of Lancaster CF’s annual socials.

To get a glimpse of what we got up to on the Hague-athon, look to the the new entry on our updated ‘Gallery’ page, containing selected photographs take by current Social Sec Maartje Reilley.

The time is nearly upon us to hold our Annual General Meeting once again

This year the date is March 3rd and the meeting will be held in the upstairs room of The Borough, Lancaster.

The main purpose of the AGM is to elect a new Executive for the next year, all the positions bar ‘Exec without Portfolio’ are up for grabs. See the ‘About’ page and our Facebook group for more details. If you wish to stand, please submit your nomination to Sam Thurgood, our current Chairman, by March 2nd at the latest. You can do this through a private on Facebook or by emailing him at s.thurgood@lancs.ac.uk or samuelthurgood@me.com.

Hope to see as many members there as possible.

Last week Lancaster Conservative Future had our annual Fleetwood Action Day, alongside Eric Ollerenshaw MP. Throughout the day we assisted members of the local Fleetwood branch in delivering hundreds of ‘Intouch’ newsletters for County Councillor Stan Leadbetter in Fleetwood West. The main enemy of the day was not hostile socialists but the bitter February cold, though a portion each of Sadie’s legendary hotpot went a long way to ease the pain.

Leafletting is one of the key campaigning activities we do in Lancaster CF as it is the primary form of communication between elected officials and their constituents. A regular flow of information ensures constituents can feel their representatives are actually working for them; if they know we’re working hard they are more likely to put the come out and vote for us when the time comes. As good Conservatives it is our responsibility to hit the pavements in support our MP and our Councillors.

Fleetwood may be a fairly long trip but we gave an important helping hand to the branch and left with comfortably full stomachs as a reward. All in all a rather successful day.

A couple of weeks ago Mr Sam Thurgood put on his dancing shoes and danced the Charleston at the Ballroom Dancing Society’s Charity Showcase, organised by LCF member Andrew Pickup. The event was organised to raise funds for Cancer Research UK and made over £1700!

The night featured performances from LUBDS and LUDanS accompanied by the Music Society Big Band but the highlight of the night was ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ featuring various campus celebrities including LUSU President George Gardiner, Josh Bancroft from Labour and our own Chairman Sam Thurgood. For those who missed the event I can present video evidence of Sam’s smooth moves.

The following video was filmed by Karen Lowe, whose quick thinking means  you all get to appreciate Sam’s hard work.

Get the latest Flash Player to see this player.

On the one hand, Margaret Thatcher won three landslide elections, triumphed in the Falklands War and got Britain out of a recession. However, she is also remembered for the Miners’ Strike, milk snatching and the poll tax. Either way, her premier was an eventful time, but you would not know this from watching The Iron Lady.

The majority of the plot takes place as an elderly Maggie (Meryl Streep) suffering from dementia begins to clear out her late husband, Denis’ (Jim Broadbent) belongings after his death. As she does this, it triggers a series of flashbacks as she looks back on her life.

When making a biopic about someone, you would expect the film-makers to focus on the most momentous time in that person’s life. Clearly, director Phyllida Lloyd and screenwriter Abi Morgan disagreed. In The Iron Lady, the highlights of Thatcher’s life are gone in sixty seconds. Alexandra Roach gives a convincing portrayal of Thatcher during her early years but there is no mention of her time as a chemist or her training as a barrister.

Key historical events like initiating the Falklands War and the sinking of the S. S. Belgrano receive hardly any screentime at all: a surprise as I expected this to take up the bulk of the film.

Initially, I considered that the reason for this may have been they did not want to portray her in a positive light by highlighting her achievements. Nevertheless, the rise in unemployment and her turbulent relationship with the cabinet, which led to her downfall is extremely underwritten.

Instead of writing a film about what we know about Margaret Thatcher’s life, Abi Morgan decided to write a film speculating about the severity of her dementia. The scenes where Thatcher is talking to Denis’ ghost are purely hypothetical – we do not know whether her condition is as severe as this – yet it takes up the majority of the film. Portraying Margaret Thatcher as a weak, frail old woman, and then naming the film “The Iron Lady” is an oxymoron.

It is not a complete disaster. The scenes that take place in the House of Commons are shot very well and convey accurately how it was for a working class woman involved in politics.

The performances are on the whole, strong. Anthony Head is particularly convincing as Geoffrey Howe. I was a little more disappointed with Jim Broadbent as Denis, who depicts him as a baffoon which is far from the truth.

The Iron Lady has one major asset: Meryl Streep. Her performance is one of the best I have seen in a biopic. It goes beyond an impersonation: she does not merely imitate Thatcher, she embodies her. Many doubted (myself not included) that an American actress would not be able to play such a British role. But Meryl Streep is brilliant and it will be a gross injustice if she does not receive her third Oscar.

Margaret Thatcher’s life could have made a fantastic film. Phyllida Lloyd’s The Iron Lady is a waste of a great performance and interesting concept. With the best actress they could have had playing Margaret Thatcher, they truly wasted what they had. * *