The Cameron Way To Fix Our Broken Society

So again we get another 'half-arsed' policy from the Conservative Party, in the form of its leader David Cameron.

This 'genius' of muddled thought plans a 5,000 strong group of 'Community Organisers' to encourage, facilitate, train and help to finance local activism and organisation to counter social problems and run services. And the cost of all this training and the bureaucratic body that will control these 'Community Organisers'? Smells like another quango to me! Loyally, Janet Daley piles in with gushing praise, ending her piece with the words "What more could you ask for?" - a Conservative Party led by a Conservative might be a good start, Janet!

Surely the cheapest and most efficient way to encourage people to become involved is through total devolution of domestic power to local authorities? This would at a stroke re-enfranchise local councillors, the bulk of whom are disenfranchised by way of the 'Cabinet' system of local government. Until central government cuts the strings by which it controls local government and lets local authorities become self-financing, proposals like this by Cameron is but disengeniousness as it leads people to believe they will get power, when in fact that is the one thing they will not get.

Politicians Dupe The Public Again

Gordon Brown has this morning been speaking about immigration, a speech I was unable to hear, which already appears to be raising questions about the statistics quoted and he has also been accused of having mislead the public (nothing new there, then)

What is it about the present political leadership that they will not acknowledge what is apparent to the rest of the country - at least those who take an interest in matters EU? As Nigel Farage has said, the only immigration we can control is that from countries outside the EU, making the point that shortly there will be a common immigration and asylum policy imposed on Britain.

At a time when the public want straight talking there is only one party giving them that which they want and that party just does not get similar amounts of 'air time'. I wonder why?

As a country we are truly mad to allow anyone, other than ourselves, to decide matters which affect us!

How Government Corrupts Science

"The bureaucrats who now have detailed control over the experimental and observational work of our scientists are entirely unqualified for this work. Important areas of research stagnate while trendy areas are emphasized."

ASH, Fake Charities.................?

Courtesy of Richard North, EU Referendum, comes this, which is well worth a read - only 11 pages.

What Happened To Labour's Bonfire?

Way back, before those voting for the first time in the forthcoming general election were born, this was reported:

"The Independent (London) February 24, 1991, Sunday
Labour to decentralise industrial strategy
LABOUR will tomorrow outline a new decentralised industrial strategy, designed to boost investment in technology and training but to avoid a return to 1970s-style corporatism.
The agencies will implement the urban policy that is now administered through 34 different schemes and five Whitehall departments. Gordon Brown, shadow trade and industry minister, says Labour will make a ”bonfire of the quangos"

Fast forward 19 years and we find, courtesy of the Taxpayers Alliance that there are longstanding concerns at the growth of quangos in Britain. The TaxPayers' Alliance report ACA-YCB: A Guide to the UK Semi-Autonomous Public Bodies showed there are 1,148 national arms length bodies in Britain, costing over £90 billion.

According to this report next year, borrowing will also be higher, at £176 billion, of which presumably £90 billion is to fund these bloody quangos? WTF!

The following may provide some insight into the problem caused by quangocrats, whilst also showing what the problem is with our bankers - they both know nothing!

The 'Saintification Of St Vince'

With all the 'prattle' in the media and blogosphere following the three 'chancellors' thieves debate last night and the general 'praise' for Vince Cable resulting in his being considered the 'winner', it is refreshing to read this.

I won't hold my breath waiting for a 'real' journalist to write a piece like Mr. E's in the MSM - for a start, they don't have his vast vocabulary of nouns and adjectives!

£500,000 - And Rising

So that can be easily recouped by deducting a pro-rata amount from every MP's salary - and/or 'leaving present' - who has been fined for 'complying with the rules'.

They caused the problem, so let them pay the bill!

Simples.

EU, Conservatives & Regulation

Open Europe - a think tank not renowned for its Eurosceptism - has published a new report today on the cost of regulation.

"....regulation has cost the UK economy £176 billion since 1998 - roughly equivalent to the country's entire budget deficit. Of this amount, £124 billion, or 71%, had its origin in EU legislation."

Oh, and the Conservative Party need not trumpet too much about cutting regulation for business either as ".....a future Conservative government will only have full control over 28 per cent of the cost of regulation."

If Open Europe's Sarah Gaskell believes "........passing laws as close as possible to the citizen is not only more democratic, but also vastly cheaper." then it follows that devolving 'government' down to local authorities on domestic matters would also save the taxpayer money.

In the same press summary Open Europe reports on a call to reduce the number of commissioners to 12 from the present 27. Why stop at 12, one has to ask, surely 1 would do? I mean to say, how many dictators does a dictatorship need for heaven's sake?

Flushed

IanPJ on Politics tweets "When regulation overload meets reality. This has got to be on the list of the most stupid waste of public money." in relation to this story.

We now have local democracy imposed by bureaucrats implementing central government decisions, which begs the question why do we bother with the charade of electing local councillors? Come to that, why bother with the election of MPs - they too have been shown to be pretty useless since Brussels has 'taken over'.

This country truly is down the 'Thomas' and the people, through their apathy, are the ones who pulled the chain!

Opinion (Or It Seems, Lack Of) Polls

With the opinion polls by ComRes and YouGov last night showing the Conservatives in the 'upper thirties', Labour in the 'low thirties' and the LibDems around 'high teens and twenty', one could be forgiven for thinking that none of the three main parties message is 'getting through'.

Unfortunately it would appear that it is for some people, as the worrying aspect of these polls is the percentages of those who seem committed to vote for Conservative, Labour and LibDem policies scams. Goodnight Vienna in a post  states "We really are a tolerant people. Too tolerant." and in a comment to the same post she says "Some people aren't sleepwalking into Big State control, they're jumping in head first." IanPJ on Politics encapsulates the problem rather neatly, that the electorate of this country faces, in his latest post "If you keep voting the same, you will keep getting the same – shafted."

I can but repeat the point I made earlier "People in every corner of our country are utterly fed up with present day politicians who only interact with their electorate when it is time for their mandate to be renewed. To those people I would say: go read the publications 'Direct Democracy' and 'The Plan' (see links in right-hand side bar), read them and see what democracy could be like - and then read the manifestos published by all our political parties. Then go and cast your vote!"

People - will you please wake up before you live to regret your apathy.

Norman Tebbit - One Small Correction?

Norman Tebbit posts today, on the Telegraph blog, that time is running out for Cameron and his party. Within his piece Lord Tebbit states:

"On the differences between UKIP and BNP.........Their natural bedrock voters are very different, because the BNP is a socialist party and UKIP is a conservative party."

Comparing the policies that Cameron offers with those of UKIP, UKIP is 'The Conservative Party' that both supporters and members of the Tories thought they were going to get with Cameron.

So you Tories, come election day - you know where to put your 'X'!

Why We Should Not Leave The EU?

For Dick Puddlecote, who seems to like these, Sir Humphrey explains why the UK is in the EU - we are a war-mongering nation and need someone to fight, even in peace time!

Oh and it gives the politicians a 'raison d'etre'!

The Chancellor's Debate

To sum up:

Not one of the prospective guardians of the nation's economy would go into detail, provide specific answers to questions and:

Not one of them seemed to have a bloody clue how to get out of the mess that they have allowed to happen - or were brave enough to state where they would start.

Admittedly, being no financial wizard, one thing I do know. When I get short of money, I have to decide where to stop spending money. So lets apply that logic to the problems we face:

Stop:

Paying £45 million a day to the EU

Funding Fake Charities and NGOs

Funding Development Agencies

Increasing the public sector payroll and, subsequently, pensions

Paying those who dislike our country to live here

Paying for an energy source that is only 30% productive

Paying the cost, both in lives and financially, of a war in which we should not be involved

Paying for representatives who are content to dismember our country's constitution without our agreement and continuing to propogate a system of government that is anything but democratic

Comments?

Good Heavens!

It appears that a new brand of beer is to be produced - Richard North, EU Referendum, has the details.

If this new brand comes to Britain, it could well cause problems within our society, especially if one of your guests is a 'member of the cloth' who happens to like a drink - and some do. What would you like to drink vicar? F****** H***?

On a more serious note, bearing in mind the preamble to The Treaty on European Union - "Drawing inspiration from the cultural, religious and humanist inheritance of Europe, from which have developed the universal values of the inviolable and inalienable rights of the human person...." - and also bearing in mind that the brand name may well be offensive to the British people:

Can we now please (forgive the pun) get the F******H*** out of the EU?

The LibDem's 'Indecision' on EU Membership

Mark Wadsworth has been having some 'LibDem Fun' with their taxation policies, so I thought I may join in his game by looking at their position on EU membership.

The Albion Alliance has emailed Nick Clegg on two occasions, the second an email sent by me using his own website. The first email did not bring a response, however the second did. (All correspondence can be read here)

It is a shame therefore that the last part of Clegg's response to the second email is not included on his party's website, here and here. Clegg's response appears to be the normal one issued by a politician who wishes to appeal to a particular group and his commitment to a referendum should surely be included in any party website statement or policy note.

Unfortunately, Clegg exhibits a common trait that our politicians have of not fully answering any question or points raised in a question. It now appears that the Liberal Democrats would only support an in/out referendum on the EU should a further transfer of power take place. Neither does he answer the points about the lack of response by his candidates to the Albion Alliance emails, nor the fact that his candidate in Witney cannot be bothered to respond to one of her own constituents.

It is a great pity that the Liberal Democrats do not recognise the gravity of the problem that EU membership presents, when considering the basic democratic question of who governs Britain. One would have thought that, considering the names of some of their candidates, the LibDems Wood have taken more Care to make the Wright presentation of their policies, instead of the Alcock and Bull approach that they offer where the imposition of our Laws are concerned.

"It really does seem possible that conservative-minded British people might, on May 6,  reject the insult to the intelligence, also a gesture of contempt for the forces of conservatism in this country as a whole,  which is the Cameron project.
If they do, and the Tory party then deservedly collapses and splits, a new era of hope will open in which it may be possible to create a properly conservative, pro-British political movement, neither bigoted nor politically correct, (my emphasis) which can throw New Labour, and everything it stands for, into the sea in three or four years' time."

Peter Hichens

Not heard of UKIP then, Peter?

The Statists Never Give Up

Our present government control freaks are determined that our identities will be kept on a central register and it also shows that their Big Brother ambitions are very much alive.

This tit-bit has yet to cause a ripple in the blogosphere or on-line media, as far as I can see. As Kable point out, it will also be amazing if Johnson can get this through Parliament were Labour to be the largest party but without an overall majority.

Were it still his area of legislation, after the election, the decision may well be taken out of his hands. At some time in the future no doubt the EU will decide - they are, after all, our real government. It is also an intriguing question whether any 'behind closed doors with no minutes' meetings have been held in Brussels and this idea of Johnson's is but a means of being able to trumpet how Britain is 'leading the way' in Europe when the EU does legislate further.

The following just about sums it up:

Joke Of The Day

Courtesy of Mrs. R:

"A U.S. army platoon was marching north of Fallujah when they came upon an Iraqi insurgent, badly injured and unconscious on the left-hand side of the road.

On the right-hand side was a British soldier in a similar, but less serious state. The Brit was conscious and alert. As first aid was given to both men, the American platoon leader asked the injured soldier what had happened.

The soldier reported: “I was recce-ing the highway here when suddenly, coming towards me from the south was a heavily-armed insurgent. We saw each other and both took cover in the ditches along the road.

“I yelled to him that Saddam Hussein had been a miserable, lowlife scumbag who’d got what he deserved. The insurgent yelled back that Gordon Brown is a fat, useless, lying, one-eyed porridge wog. And furthermore, Lord Mandelson is a pillow-biting gay bastard!

“So I said that Osama Bin Laden dresses and ponces about like a frigid, hatchet-faced lesbian.
He retaliated by saying that so does Harriet Harman.

“And, there we were – in the middle of the road – shaking hands, when the f*****g bus hit us.”

....

And We Think We Live In A Democracy

"It is high time for me to put an end to your sitting in this place, which you have dishonoured by your contempt of all virtue, and defiled by your practice of every vice; ye are a factious crew, and enemies to all good government; ye are a pack of mercenary wretches, and would like Esau sell your country for a mess of pottage, and like Judas betray your God for a few pieces of money.
Is there a single virtue now remaining amongst you? Is there one vice you do not possess? Ye have no more religion than my horse; gold is your God; which of you have not barter'd your conscience for bribes? Is there a man amongst you that has the least care for the good of the Commonwealth?
Ye sordid prostitutes have you not defil'd this sacred place, and turn'd the Lord's temple into a den of thieves, by your immoral principles and wicked practices? Ye are grown intolerably odious to the whole nation; you who were deputed here by the people to get grievances redress'd, are yourselves gone!"

The words, it is reputed, were said by Comwell dismissing the Rump Parliament and are words that many feel are applicable to the present Parliament. Admitedly, there are a few members of the present Parliament about whom it cannot be said that they have bartered their conscience for financial gain.

Politics and the political process is cacooned from the demcratic process, it is conducted by politicians who have separated themselves from the values of the rest of our country; as a result there are few, if any, mechanisms in place whereby the public can scrutinise what is being done in their name. It can be no surprise therefore that interest in politics is falling with fewer people bothering to vote.

Parties, come election time, campaign on a theme of change only to be met by a public outcry of 'What change'? There is no change because what is offered is the same thing, but wrapped in different colour paper. There are indeed two worlds, that of the politician with their views of, for  example, superb medical services and 'targets' met:

and then there is the world the people see around them which bears no relation to that inhabited by the politicians. It is, unfortunately, a fact that in this respect Britain has become a mirror image of what was the old Soviet Union.

Parties bribe the electorate with promises of 'devolution of power', that we will all have more control over 'services' and then one reads this. Should not this be subject to public scrutiny? Regular readers will be aware that I often use the term 'democratised dictatorship' - and this must be a prime example of the practice. As Martin Bell so rightly says in the linked article, this process is a travesty of democracy, devised by and for the benefit of the three main political parties - which, I maintain, thus preserves their 'cabal'. One of the Bills involved is that dealing with a form of proportional election on which the electorate were to have been offered a referendum. But wait, the system 'chosen' was that selected by the government - yet should not the system by which people vote not be chosen by them? How many of the electorate actually know the technical differences between Proportional Representation (PR), Alternative Vote (AV) and Alternative Vote Plus (AV+)? If a change to our present constitution and the method to select representatives to speak for us is proposed, should not all alternatives be offered to the electorate and the differences explained, so they can make a logical choice?

A report is to be published Monday setting out the new rules for the remuneration of MPs - yet who has decided these new rules? Should not those who are the providers of that remuneration have been consulted on any new system? This example of politicians 'fixing' their own remuneration, perks and privileges in conjunction with bureaucrats is but one of the many, many defects in our democracy; defects too many to mention in this post. Much is made by Eurosceptics - and rightly so - of the assumption of 'governance powers' by the European Union without the agreement of the electorate, yet this practice has been prevalent in this country for decades - especially during the last 13 years and previously also by Conservative administrations, albeit to a slightly lesser extent - whereby our freedoms have gradually been taken from us. It should be borne in mind that power, once ceded, is never returned willingly.

Yet the present state of affairs does not have to continue - it can be changed. However that change can only be wrought by the electorate who must use their vote with care - and not continue to vote for non-existent change. for loosely-worded manifestos whose promises of change are discarded purely for political gain.

People in every corner of our country are utterly fed up with present day politicians who only interact with their electorate when it is time for their mandate to be renewed. To those people I would say: go read the publications 'Direct Democracy' and 'The Plan' (see links in right-hand side bar), read them and see what democracy could be like - and then read the manifestos published by all our political parties.

Then go and cast your vote!

 

Differing Sorts of Berries

Douglas Carswell, who has for some months been suffering from the 'gardening' bug, has posted about his latest accomplishment.

He now has blackberry, gooseberry, boysenberry and  josterberry. I am aware of the first two but not the last two and just hope for his sake they are not of the 'labourberry' variety - you know the type, it grows and grows and grows, costs the earth to maintain and then never bears fruit!

Brown Does A 'Cameron' And Lies

Following David Cameron's Non-Q&A session on the Daily Politics, Gordon Brown has had a go on the Scottish version of the programme - so in fairness, lets have a look at what he said.

"Q: It's not just strife and indeed spending that you've got to contend with. It's scandal as well. You've got MPs in court over their expenses, and now ex-Ministers offering themselves as cabs for hire. Isn't it time to stop MPs having second jobs?

Brown: Well I think it's very strong case for MPs not having second jobs and certainly I think it's important to recognise that when people select or elect a Member of Parliament their first priority, their first job, their first loyalty has got to be to the needs of their constituents and I've always acted in a way, and would like other MPs to act in a way, that it's clear that their first priority is the interests of their constituents. " Really? If 'their first priority, their first job, their first loyalty has got to be to the needs of their constituents and I've always acted in a way, and would like other MPs to act in a way, that it's clear that their first priority is the interests of their constituents.' then HTF did Brown as Prime Minister deny the people of this country a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty? This is acting in a way that its clear his and his MP's first duty lay to their constituents?

Brown continues "I was appalled by some of the things that I saw happening that I knew nothing about......" This is absolute 'Eds' (as in the Secretary of State for Children, Schools & Families) as Brown himself was doing it, hence his need to make repayments - so he obviously did bloody well know what was going on!

As you can see, there is no difference between Cameron or Brown - they are both lying, deceitful politicians who do not have the decency to 'level' with the electorate - which renders the term 'Rt. Honourable' a bit of a joke!

The Problem Today Is......

As Burning Our Money states, "25 million voters are now directly dependent on the state for all or part of their incomes". Following the link in BOM's post, immediately after the quote, leads one to this graph, which is startling in what it shows.

On the basis that 25 million is almost half the population of the UK, what the Labour Party has done is in effect 'gerrymandering'. Gerrymandering may be used to achieve desired electoral results for a particular party, or may be used to help or hinder a particular group of constituent, such as a political, racial, linguistic, religious or class group.

Do read both articles - very illuminating indeed.

Afterthought: Errm, is gerrymandering not a criminal offence?

David Cameron: I Am Happy To Talk About Europe - NOT

David Cameron was quizzed today on the Daily Politics Show by a studio audience on various subjects, including Europe. The link to iPlayer is now available. Politics Home has a transcript here, part of which reads:

"SOPEL Malcolm Wale, you interrupted a moment ago, I think you’re an ex-Conservative voter who’s now voting for the UK Independence Party?

MALCOLM WALE: That’s right.  To me there should be a total ban altogether.
CAMERON: Well I’m afraid I don’t agree with you Sir

WARE: Wait a minute.  A total ban until for ten years minimum, until everything has been sorted out.  Then start allocations.
Q: David Holmer, let me come to you as well.  What do you think?

DAVID HOLMER: Hi, Europe, no party seems to speak about Europe.  It’s as if it’s been swept under the carpet. We pay the most into Europe, we get the least out.  You’re getting countries who are paying very little into Europe like France that gets the most out but they have the biggest say.  Why are we not having the biggest say?  Why aren’t we directing --

CAMERON: First of all I’m very happy to talk about Europe.  I do public meetings all over the country, I did my 71st last night.  I often get asked questions about Europe and I’m delighted to talk about it.  My view is we should be in the European Union, we’re a trading nation, we need those markets open, we should be cooperating with our partners about the things that matter to us.

But I don’t want to live in a country called Europe and I don’t think we should pass any more powers from Westminster to Brussels.  In fact I think there are some powers that ought to come back from Brussels to Westminster, and also I think it is wrong –

SOPEL  What about powers over immigration?

CAMERON: I think we should keep control of our own immigration policy and that’s very very important but also I think it is wrong that these powers keep getting passed without asking you, the British public, first so one of the first things we do if we win the election is we will pass a law that says any time the British parliament wants to pass power from Westminster to Brussels, there must be a referendum and we ask you first.

That would be a change that would take place and I think all the other parties will have to accept it and we will have changed our constitution in a better way to say this cannot, the disgrace over the Lisbon treaty and the other treaties, that cannot happen again.

SOPEL Do you think you’ve damaged your own credibility, Mr Cameron, by saying in the Sun newspaper you offered a cast iron guarantee, and then you tore it up?

CAMERON: No what I said is the treaty, there should have been a referendum over that treaty.  When that treaty became the law, it was something you couldn’t have a referendum over."

No, Mr. Cameron you do not 'talk' about 'Europe' EU membership - you answer a question or two during programmes like this and your Cameron Direct 'events'. To repeat, three times Mr. Cameron - yes three times - you have refused to publicly debate the subject of EU membership in your own constituency.

Cameron is also devious by inferring that to trade with the EU we need to be a member. He has obviously never heard of Norway and Switzerland! Also, if it is wrong for powers to be passed to the EU without asking us Mr. Cameron, how about asking us whether we agree to all the powers that have been passed - never mind about those that may nor may not be passed in the near future!

So yet again we see an example of a politician - and this one has form - of 'lying' to the public, deceiving the public by being economical with the facts and thereby not being 'open and honest'. It will be extremely interesting to see the recording, when available, as this transcript does not 'read' very well for Cameron and just shows him as 'ducking' questions - something the public do not want to hear - but then again he has 'form' on that too!

Expensegate 'Cover-Up'? You Bet!

This story will surely inflame feelings even more amongst the electorate.

What was it we were told? Oh, yes - "If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear."

So publish the details, you bastards!

Who The Bloody Hell Cares What He Wears Or Where He Buys It?

Politics and journalism has really sunk to a new 'low' if both believe that this is of importance to the voters of Britain.

If Cameron appeared in a loin cloth and nowt else - WTF CARES?

Changing Clocks

Mark Wadsworth raises the old chestnut about changing our clocks and every other damn piece of timekeeping piece of kit we possess. Mark would like the clocks permanently advanced, whilst I am of the opposite view. His post and the links contained therein are well worth a read.

Oh, and just to make us Eurosceptics even more mad with the EU - according to Denis Cooper, who as Mark says, knows a thing or two about the EU - we can't even change our bloody clocks when and how we wish!

 

As now is the hour, I leave you with this:

Bliss On A Saturday Evening

Enya - the voice of an angel - Enjoy.

	Enya - The Council of Elrond .mp3
	Found at bee mp3 search engine

Willies & Balls

Nigel Farndale, writing in the Telegraph, asks "Do the party leaders have a Willie?" and in so doing highlights the fact that, where the Maggietollah was concerned, "her speechwriters claimed that whenever they wrote a joke or a pun for her, it would have to be explained patiently – "The Lady's not for turning" being a case in point. And yet, apparently off the cuff, she came out with one of the funniest lines ever uttered by a politician: "Every prime minister needs a Willie." 

Now, this blog does not wish to enter into a debate about the personal attributes of our political leaders, although it would be intriguing to wonder if Sam asked "Cam I have a divine conception?" as an alternative, on the basis of 'Willie Being A Wonker' - but again I digress.

What is apparent is that none of our political leaders have 'Balls' - Cameron, on his record, would appear to be missing them, Clegg, for all his 'Spanish connections' is most definitely lacking 'cajones' and Brown has them, but obviously can't control them! The one man who does have them is missing one!

We are doomed, I tell you, doomed!

Why Vote Labour? - Jeff Randall Sums It All Up In 40 Seconds

Courtesy of The Last Ditch is this:

And the answer is.....................?  Oh yes - I forgot: "We will always put the British people first – before personal interest, our party interest, or any vested interest........"

Labour's Five Pledges

Courtesy of Muffled Vociferation:

Pledge - Designed to put a temporary shine on the dullest of dead wood! (my comment - Ed)

The Mind Boggles

Mark Wadsworth, a quite talented cartoonist/artist draws Sarkozy and Merkel, which is topical following the 'gelling' that the two seemed to manage in Brussels recently.

Culinary or otherwise, the thought of 'sauerkraut' on 'saucisson' is not an appealing image!

Oh, The Irony!

Politics Home has images of the Labour card containing their General Election 'pledges' - you know what a pledge is, a bit like a manifesto 'promise', one that it is never intended to keep.

And Labour have the cheek to use a scene depicting open country? The same country that they have sold down the river, disfigured with bloody windmills and intend disfiguring further with enforced developments in order to house all the bloody immigrants that are being allowed in?

Jesus wept!

Fair Comment

Christine Odone, writing in the Telegraph:

"A letter to the Money section of The Times today from a reader exposes our weird nanny state. When he tried to put some money into his financial spread betting account using his debit card, his bank refused to clear the transaction. They regard  spread betting as gambling, they told him, so they won’t let him indulge in such behaviour.

That’s not all. My husband went to a gastropub yesterday for lunch. (I won’t embarrass it by giving you the name and address, suffice it to say it was in west London.) He ordered a burger, and asked for it to be cooked “medium rare”. The waiter shook his head solemnly: “I’m afraid, sir, you cannot have it medium rare.” Husband looked apoplectic and asked why ever not. “The risk of food poisoning is greater. We don’t want you suing us.”

And finally: the lovely oak bench that sat outside Fernandez and Wells cafe, one of my favourite places in Soho, suddenly disappeared. When I asked why, Cindy Wells, wife of one of the proprietors, explained that Westminster Council had banned the bench because of the mothers pushing buggies down the pavement. (How many mothers, you may ask, push buggies down pavements in Soho?) The bench, according to the Council, risked making the mums’progress difficult and potentially even dangerous.

How do you explain this nanny state interventionism thriving cheek to jowl with the cult of the individual?  The same culture that won’t let you eat rare burgers and  sit on a bench outside a cafe promotes the kind of unchecked individual autonomy that believes euthanasia (death as the ultimate consumer choice) should be legalised, marriage vows are too binding and abortion is a lifestyle choice.

We seem to live in the worst of all possible worlds: the statism of totalitarian regimes and the selfishness of unfettered capitalism."

You mean to tell me a bank can dictate on what you spend your money, money you earned and they didn't? That you cannot have a meal cooked for you, one for which you are paying, and cannot decide how you want it cooked? That mothers pushing pushchairs are too blind to see a bench in their way? And we are supposed to be a free people and thus able to make decisions for ourselves?

FFS!

If this state of affairs is the politician's definition of democracy then I have a message for them - not one such politician will ever get my vote! It can only be hoped that millions of other voters feel likewise

Freedom & Privacy

The country, as a whole, is totally fed up with the totalitarian attitude of the present government, when considering CCTV, the 'rights of entry' now enjoyed by council and agency bureaucrats, the lack of freedom which now constrains how we speak, think and act - to mention but a few.

Henry Porter, writing in the Guardian, homes in on the latest proposal that HM Revenue & Customs are to be given the power to intercept and open people's mail prior to delivery. As Henry points out interception of mail was a common practice of the Stasi in East Germany - and now the Mother of Parliament, Defender of Freedom during two World Wars has sunk to the nadir of East Germany?

As I said in my previous post, Gordon Brown wants the electorate to believe that he and his party have the best interests of Britain at heart. Unfortunately, in achieving what he believes, his creed only allows one method - control, control of the people in how they live their lives, how they speak, think and act. The one belief Brown does not have - and it is the most basic of beliefs - is the belief in personal freedom, so elect him again and you can say to yourselves 'Welcome to East Germany Mark II', something we have virtually achieved with our membership of the EU!

Courtesy of IanPJ on Politics, I have discovered a new blog - well new to me, anyway -  'The Last Ditch' who writes on the subject of this post and other matters and the latest article is well worth a read.

Gordon Brown 'Robbing Hood' Of Nottingham

Gordon Brown is a lucky man in that he obviously does not live in the same world as the British electorate on the basis of the twaddle that he has spouted today in Nottingham. I have no intention of detailing specific instances where Brown is robbing us as others will do that far better than I, but rest assured he is!

Stating that his main aim will be the economic recovery he makes an attempt to echo Blair's 'Education, Education, Education' with "When people ask what are my top three priorities for the country let me tell them – keeping on the road to recovery, keeping on the road to recovery, keeping on the road to recovery." He continues "Securing the economic recovery or wrecking it......" which, bearing in mind it was him that wrecked the economy in the first place, is a tad rich coming from his mouth!

Brown then has the effrontery to say "We will always put the British people first – before personal interest, our party interest, or any vested interest........" when he did exactly the opposite when faced with the decision to hold a promised - I repeat promised - referendum. He then follows the previous statement with this "........ that the British people are the boss and like any employer they deserve to know about the performance of their team." If Brown really believed 'the British people are the boss', he would not be committing the cardinal sin - in common with Cameron and Clegg - and telling the British people what they will be allowed to have given, he would be asking us what we want and then providing that; and the first thing would be the bloody referndum on membership of the EU!

Moving on to Brown's pledges, need one remind him that in 2008 it was stated in a court that "manifesto pledges are not subject to legitimate expectation". If a bloody manifesto pledge cannot be considered binding, what is the chance of him keeping to five 'promises' on a piece of card? On this point of what can only be considered fraud, by the failure to honour the manifesto, this post by IanPJ on Politics is well worth a read.

Continuing, Brown states " I will set out a clear and public annual contract for each new Cabinet Minister, detailing what I expect them and their department to deliver to the British people, and that their continued appointment is dependent on their delivery just as it would be in a business or any other organisation." That 'public annual contract, like a manifesto, won't be worth the paper it is written - in any event it would seem that this 'promise' is a tad premature when considering that he, Brown, is likely to have his 'continued appointment' terminated in a short while!

Ending his speech Brown said "Every time we change a life we change the world, we’ve done it before, and we will do it again." For those who are too young to know any different; to those who have not had the privilege of having a good education and thereby missed out on history, let me assure them that every time Labour has been in a position of power they have indeed changed lives and the world - and have left both people's lives and the world 'up shit creek'. As Brown says, given the opportunity, 'we will do it again'!

Update: At the Labour meeting in Scotland, Brown said "...we don’t want to be in power for powers sake but for the people’s sake..." In which case give the people what they want - a referendum on EU membership and their freedom!

A Repost

From Lord Malcolm Pearson:

"On March 25 there was a response to Lord Pearson's Written Question:

To ask Her Majesty's Government which United Kingdom citizens have been extradited under the European arrest warrant; for which alleged crimes; to which European countries; and how long they have spent in custody awaiting trial.

HMG's response, as conveyed by Lord West of Spithead, was:

The Serious Organised Crime Agency and Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (for Scotland) are the designated authorities in the UK responsible for processing European arrest warrants (EAWs). It is not possible from current systems to break down the number of EAWs received by the UK into nationality, alleged offence type and requesting EU member state. To do so would require a manual examination of all files and incur disproportionate cost. Once a person has been extradited from the UK to another jurisdiction, the designated authorities' involvement in the EAW process ceases.

How long a person is held on remand awaiting trial, whether in custody or on bail, is governed by the law of the requesting state and this can vary from country to country. Internationally accepted standards usually allow for a two-year period of detention before trial, depending on the circumstances of the case. While the UK is unable to interfere in the legal processes of another country, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, if appropriate, will consider making inquiries with local authorities to establish the reason for any delay in trial proceedings for any British national held on remand for more than 24 months.

How nice. We have surrendered our right to examine whether that extradition request is acceptable and, apparently, we have lost all interest in what happens to the unfortunate person thus handed over. Undoubtedly, being part of the EU makes us stronger in the world."

So nice to know that iDave, Gordon and Nick are 'standing up for Britain's interests' and for the interests of those who pay the bloody salaries, expenses and provide them with two homes!

Politicians & Spin vs 'Straight Talking' (UKIP Style)

Gordon Brown did a podcast this morning in which he stated that the government's points-based immigration plans will "radically" change immigration by refusing entry to "people who cannot contribute to the economy in the way we need." He confirmed that no non-EU unskilled workers would be allowed into Britain "this year and for the foreseeable future.

In rebuttal I would refer you to this.

I know who I would rather believe - and she is more attractive to look at!

Views On The Budget

I thought it would be of use to post some views on the Budget from respected, informed commentators - courtesy of The TaxPayers Alliance.

Comments from those with financial acumen?

Welcome to '1984' - Better Never Than Late!

Oh well, that is me for the 'Gulag' then!

So any opinion that I hold, on whatever subject - right or wrong - and I am a 'terrorist' or xenophobe if my 'belief' does not agree with that of the EU?

And these misguided voters are worried about MP's expenses, education and the NHS?

Sheesh!!!

Yes, And I Wonder If These People Also Understand Democracy

Politics Home reports that the Conservative Party have unveiled three new posters which it says are going up on over 450 sites across the country. MP's Expenses; Education and NHS - Wowee!

MP's Expenses: yet still Parliament regulates itself: Statist control

Education: Yes you can 'choose' the school as long as it is a state school: Statist control

NHS: Pumping yet more money into a failed system: Statist control

As anyone knows when buying a car - it is no good choosing one which has a nice shiny, pristine bodywork when the engine is totally f'ed!

Listen you poor fools, do you actually understand why you have the privilege of a vote? Do you understand what you are actually voting for? Do you understand what 'sovereignty' means? Do you understand what 'freedom' means? Do you understand who actually 'governs' Britain?

FFS - these people actually have a vote?!

Apologies - apoplexy over!

General Election Timetable

The House of Commons Library has issued a guide of 'technical' dates governing the calling of the forthcoming General Election. As there must be a minimum of 17 working days between calling an election and voting day itself, Brown need not announce dissolution of Parliament until 12th April, however allowing for a few days to 'wash-up', the announcement will probably be made on 6th April.

 

H/T: Paul Waugh

True

Nirj Deva has had a little rant in the European Parliament.

 

 

"Why are we not working to keep that capital in those countries making those countries richer. No, what did we go and do just now, we voted for a Tobin tax to hammer already weakened financial institutions in the west and give money to a whole bunch of people who will probably steal it."

If you have a family member in trouble, who do you help first, before helping, say, your neighbour? Likewise as Britain, as a whole, is 'down the crapper' - how about we help our own before we try and right all the wrongs in the rest of the world? Selfish? Probably. Sensible? Most definitely.

Notable Omission - Oops!

Conservative Home currently posts a 'Roll of Honour - The 47 Conservative Councils cutting or freezing Council Tax'.

One would have thought that West Oxfordshire District Council - which is actually Witney constituency - would have moved heaven and earth to be included, in view of who is their sitting MP.

Especially as the ruling Conservatives have a majority (29) that iDave would give 'an arm and a leg' for, come the General Election. Actually never mind 'an arm and a leg', after failure to win an outright victory at the General Election poor iDave may well suffer the fate of Charles I once his party has finished with him.

Hey-ho............

Power 2010 vs Philip Davies MP

Philip Davies, Conservative MP for Shipley, has a long post on Conservative Home on the subject of Power2010 in which he takes Power2010 to task on a number of points.

Well worth a read because this man is one 'true' Conservative, unlike the leader of his party!

European Economic Governance/Government

Picking up on my post yesterday, a few further thoughts to throw into the discussion on the possible ramifications of such a move as the above.

It is worth recalling that whoever controls the economy controls the country and whilst Britain is not in the eurozone, it is also worth remembering that the Lisbon Treaty states that the currency of the EU will be the euro - no ifs, no buts. Therefore, at some stage, Britain will have the euro as its currency and if European Economic Governance - or Government, the difference being what exactly? - is proposed then this would be but the precursor to moves to force Britain to join the eurozone.

Much is being made of the fact that a new treaty would be required and that that would 'trigger' the Conservative 'Referendum Lock' - meanwhile note that Merkel's suggestion of the insertion of new clauses in existing treaties to cater for the eurozone/IMF Greek bailout and any future financial turbulence, which would have meant a new treaty, has been dropped - for the moment and one has to wonder why. No doubt if Brown were to win the election Merkel's suggestion would miraculously re-appear and be adopted, along with a new treaty.

Camerons infamous statement about 'Referendum Locks', 'transfer of further powers' is nothing but a smokescreen in that were he to win the election, his policy would only allow a block on the 'further transfer of power'. Nothing in Cameron's present policy allows for any referendum on Britain's membership of the EU and it is worth also recalling Hague's statement on Sky last Sunday in which he said there would be no in/out referendum.

It is typical of the man that Cameron does not practice what he preaches. Cast your mind back to Cameron's speech on 4th November 2009 in which he said: "In this area – Britain’s relationship with Europe – what people want from their politicians is some straight talk and plain speaking. They were told we were joining a Common Market and it turned out to be a European Union. They were told they would have a say over the European constitution but that promise was broken.People are fed up with the endless lies and spin....." - So when is Cameron going to give us some straight talking and plain speaking? When is he going to end the practice of endless lies and spin? He refuses to discuss membership of the EU and leads the British electorate to believe that they would have a referendum on membership when they clearly would not.

Neither is it any wonder that Conservative fortunes at the moment seem to be on an ever downward spiral as nothing Cameron says can be taken at face value. Come on Dave, bite the bullet - let us have some straight talking; let us see a cost/benefit analysis on membership of this odious organisation with whom you have a love affair; let us have that public debate - one that you have ducked on three occasions in your own constituency. Show us you are fit to govern Britain, rather than just being a poodle on a leash held by Brussels.