Saturday 25th June 2010

I am away from today, returning on 4th July. Internet accessibility is unknown and will depend on any wireless signals that can be accessed.

Apologies, but I know readers will survive without my 'witterings' for a few days, if that is in fact necessary. If posting is possible it will probably be confined to evenings only.

EU Largesse

Via Open Europe's press summary for today comes this link to Euractiv. This report quotes former Irish Times correspondent, Jamie Smyth, who was reportedly 'selected by the Commission as one of five journalists travelling with the president to pull a few strings in Ireland ahead of the referendum on the Lisbon Treaty last October. Such practices raise questions as to whether the EU executive will hand-pick reporters to satisfy its communication needs...........The president [Barroso] will also have two dedicated photographers on permanent call to ensure a 24-hour service and a TV crew that will travel with him". Reading words such as "whether the EU executive will hand-pick reporters to satisfy its communication needs" leads one to believe that there will be a 'propoganda' element involved where reporting is concerned.

And who will be funding all this? Yup, you guessed!

Controlling The People

Two stories demonstrating that 'officialdom' - in one form or another - seeks to control us and constrain how we live.

First, courtesy of the Sun, comes this story which demonstrates the 'over zealousness' of a bureaucrat - one obviously with the required shortage of brain cells - and the 'box-ticking' mentality that prevails in that 'profession'.

Second, courtesy of a tweet by Ambush Predator, this story where the members of the 'health brigade' promptly appear to condemn the government's attempts to rectify the massive deficit that the country faces. The 'control factor', to which I refer, is best illustrated by this quote from Dr. David Stuckler: "If we want to promote a sustainable recovery in Britain, we must first ensure that we have taken care of people's most basic health needs." added to which is this comment by Professor Alan Maryon-Davies President of the UK Faculty of Public Health: "Health is much wider than the health service and social support is crucially important. It would be tragic if we find ourselves in this recession dismantling the welfare state.".

"We must ensure that we have taken care of people's most basic health needs" and who created the situation whereby people don't seem to have the wit to look after themselves? "It would be tragic if we find ourselves in this recession dismantling the welfare state." Bearing in mind statements such as these are no more than 'self-justifying their existence', what would not be tragic would be a situation whereby people like Maryon-Davies, who have built up an unnecessary industry and unnecessary cost to the public purse, were 'dismantled'.

Just a thought...............

Why Stop With Local Authorities?

'Gentle' criticism has been levelled by one or two readers at my impatience with the present government's seeming lack of speed in 'de-regulating' our society, coupled with their stated desire to 'devolve power' to the people.

I cannot however resist passing comment on something that Greg Clark, Minister for Decentralisation, is quoted as saying whilst commenting on Eric Pickles decision to halt the practice of Comprehensive Area Assessments (CAAs).

".... it is vital for democracy that we reverse the years of increasing state control and give power and responsibility back to people, communities and councils."

If it is vital that the years of increasing state control are reversed and power and responsibility is given back to the people, perhaps Greg Clark can answer why he belongs to a political party that insists on remaining subservient to the European Union.

Bearing in mind the point I made here with regard to the, virtually unlimited, power given to the EU by means of the Lisbon Treaty it would appear that it is very much a case of 'We [the government] will decide what power you may have' - surely a demonstration of 'Democratic Dictatorship' if ever there was one?

Not-So-Hidden Agenda

Ed West highlights this here.

Nessa Childers, an Irish Labour MEP for the province of Leinster and granddaughter of The Riddle of the Sands author Erskine Childers:

"With the passing into force of the Lisbon Treaty, the EU now has increased powers to legislate when there is a threat to public health in Europe. Will the Commission submit proposals to Parliament to address this growing threat to the mental health of European citizens?"

The, what one may call, 'spine-chilling' words are: 'With the passing into force of the Lisbon Treaty, the EU now has increased powers to legislate....' when considering Articles 3,4 and 6 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).

It is utterly amazing - dare one say incredible - that the British public do not know, or seem to realize, exactly how much potential for almost total power over our lives the EU possess.

But then the two sources of that information - politicians and media - each have their own agendas for not saying, or writing, anything!

Shortsightedness?

UKIP MEP and Law & Order Spokesman Gerard Batten has spoken out against the Coalition’s consultation on the closure of 157 magistrates’ and County Courts around the country. 

Gerard Batten said: "For those on low incomes in the mainly rural areas affected, this pushes access to justice out of their reach.  Successive governments have steadily eroded the rights of citizens to have their cases heard locally, with local magistrates presiding.

Closing courts will discourage witnesses from attending and make justice harder to obtain. Additional travel costs for the police etc could well cancel out any cost savings made. This is a case of knowing the price of something but not the value. ”

http://ukip.org/content/latest-news/1722-justice-suffers-in-name-of-costcutting


In light of this news, the following article by Les Arnott (former Sheffield JP) gives a personal view of the strengths of the magistrates’ system and why it must be retained:

"In defence of the magistracy 

Gerard Batten is completely correct to bring this matter to the public's attention. The amounts of money notionally saved - at 0.02% of the current deficit - are simply trivial in the bigger picture.

Quite simply, the LibLabCon has decided to try to undermine this part of the Justice System and one has to be profoundly  suspicious of the motives behind it. The long, dead hand of the European Union and its detestable Corpus Juris are never too far away where this issue is concerned.

The strength of the system is in its tremendous variety where a Bench may consist of a taxi driver, a trade unionist and a landscape gardener, all possessing a high degree of local  knowledge. Three heads really are better than one and any lack of legal know-how is more than covered by the excellence of the Legal Advisers  - formerly known as Clerks of The Court.

The alternative is to use Stipendiary Magistrates - now known (rather confusingly) as District Judges. Make no mistake, every DJ will probably cost more to run than any 50 lay magistrates - so moneysaving is hardly the key to this. The problem with District Judges for justice is that they sit alone to determine guilt - and they sit alone for sentencing. 

That the system is being undermined by Ken Clarke can be little surprise to anybody - is he not wanting to cut custodial sentencing just the same as any other member of the liberal left would desire?  All he is doing is kowtowing to the extreme wetness of his coalition partners and following in the criminal-loving actions of the previous government. Tories have always 'talked tough' on crime.  The powers of JPs have been systematically eroded by Labour.

David Blunkett was one in a long line of liberal-left Home Secretaries who had reasoned that Magistrates' powers could be curtailed by issuing guidelines on sentencing which became so restrictive as to hogtie justice.  It was he who virtually stopped the jailing of people who drive when disqualified inter al. This was carte blanche to many criminals to do what the hell they liked!

Our system for summary justice was probably the finest of any in the world and it is appalling that it should be surreptitiously dismantled when what is needed is to take it back twenty years or so to a time when it was permitted to work exceptionally well. It is a truism to say that the fewer people you 'send down', the greater the crime rates AND paradoxically, the higher the prison population will become! "

 Les Arnott is quite right to question 'the long, dead hand of the European Union' - to which I would add the hand of Call Me Dave, Ken Clarke and any other EU-loving Conservative/Liberal coalition member!

When considering the matter of saving money one has to have a certain amount of sympathy with the views expressed by Andrew Withers, Deputy Leader of the Libertarian Party, with a post on Anna Raccoon. Amongst the points he makes are:

"the Country is not insolvent the Government is. We, the Country, have Billions and Billions of assets and cash. Out of a population of twenty million working adults how many are responsible for this unholy mess ?.....Lets treat HMG as an insolvent business in desperate need of rapid turn around......The last thing you do is put your prices up (VAT) to your customers (you and me) and keep the wallowing wage bill in place, and at the same time reduce your service levels.......Do not drag the public into the appalling behaviour of  Government, the problem is not us it is you the political elite!.....Start closing down unnecessary Departments of State and Quangos......Stop all wasteful and unproductive activity – Start with Afghanistan we marched in - march out.......There is nothing other than Defence and Foreign Affairs that cannot be done better and cheaper locally and privately."

Mark Wadsworth posts on the subject of VAT too, on which he is a tad 'annoyed', and which following a couple of comments, he added to here. He is not that impressed with the cut in Housing Benefit either, here!

Seems to me that in ending up with the wrong government, we thus ended up with the wrong chancellor as MW makes much more sense and understands the 'plus' and 'minus' columns on a balance sheet so much better - but hey ho, that is democracy - UK style!

Honourable Behaviour

Following my short post on the Civil List and the views of Gerald Warner, which I completely echo, today comes news of the release of MPs expenses (which can be accessed here) in the months after the Expenses Scandal broke. Paul Waugh posts on, for example, the travel costs of Diane Abbott, an Inner London MP, who seems to have a 'need' for travel by taxi, having clocked up £1,152.

When considering the manner in which HM has conducted herself, compared with the conduct of MPs, only someone with no understanding of the word 'honourable' would dare voice criticism of 'Our Liz'.

Don't let any MP, regardless of party, dare question the costs of the Queen - don't let them dare!

Schools Low Carbon Day - 24th June

Courtsy of Dick Puddlecote comes this website. Climate Change/Global Warming are 'scams' in that they have yet to be proved conclusively.

What is the betting that the 'teaching' will be based purely on the approved 'government' line that it does in fact exist whilst ignoring all the arguments that it does not?

Oh - do note the 'endoresement' by Tamzin Outhwaite, an 'actress' with no scientific qualifications whatsoever. Whilst acknowledging the right of anyone to believe in 'environmental change', one would have thought that a statement from a recognised scientist might carry more weight. But hey, Tamzin Outhwaite is a 'celebrity' and don't we just love being influenced by the opinions of 'celebrities'!

Also, on the 'About Us' page, do also note the 'propoganda' - and scare factor - in relation to the potential rise in temperatures.

Update: Christopher Monckton has this to say -do pay attention to the idea and reason why children should drink less milk!

Housing Benefit 'Cuts'

The Daily Telegraph reports that "thousands could be evicted because of 80 per cent cut to housing benefit". The report continues "Department for Work and Pensions figures show that 5,170 people currently receive more than £400 a week in housing benefit to help pay rent to private landlords."

The immediate question is: one wonders how many of the 5,170 people constitute those of which this story is an example?

Before howls of racism descend - just asking.............

A Good Day To Bury Bad News?

With all the hype about the budget filling the media, an article in the print edition of the Daily Telegraph (of which no trace can be found on the DT website) caught my eye yesterday evening. Authored by Holly Watt, it read:

"MPs expenses will be exempted from tax, it emerged yesterday.


Legislation will be introduced to ensure that the politicians receive tax relief on a series of allowances.


Relief has previously been granted as 'concessions' from HM Revenue and Customs.


But amendments to the 2003 Income Tax Earnings and Pensions Act (ITEPA) will be brought in to ensure that MPs continue to receive tax relief for travelling between their homes and their offices.


Other workers do not receive tax relief for commuting.


Another change to ITEPA will mean that MPs will continue to avoid tax on the second home allowance. Housing allowances would usually be regarded as a benefit-in-kind and taxed accordingly.


Special provisions will also be introduced to ensure that reimbursement for 'the costs of evening meals purchased by MPs and eaten on the Parliamentary estate' continue to be exempt from tax."

 No further comment!

Misplaced Appointment?

Liz Kendall, Labour MP, tweets that she has been appointed to the Education Select Committee.

Labour MP, Education - are the two even remotely synonymous?

Just asking, like..................

Brogan - Learn Your Colours!

Benedict Brogan, another apologist, Tory-PR writer and Daily Telegraph 'journalist' - who is obviously colour-blind - blogs that:

"Two things struck me about PMQs earlier. First was David Cameron’s colouring. It was not quite orange...."

BB dear chap, it is a well know fact that when mixing blue and yellow - and I refer to the yellow streak running up the spine of Call Me Dave - one gets green, or shades thereof, not orange; which is why we probably get all this 'green' environmental crap from him!

Afterthought: Is it something I ate - or am I just naturally 'bitchy'? Nah, I just hate Cameron!

Note: Only In This Parliament

So George Osborne disbands the 'Euro Preparation Unit' as the euro will not be adopted 'in this parliament'. Yet we have Call Me Dave stating that the United Kingdom will never adopt the euro.

If we will 'never adopt the euro', why does Osborne state 'in this parliament'?

Then we have, from Open Europe's press summary for today, Mats Persson, not spotting the contradiction, blithely announcing that: "There is no appetite among the British public to join the Euro so it is good to hear the Chancellor confirming this for sure." And Mats Persson is a 'spokesman' for a supposedly 'eurosceptic' think tank? Sheesh!

Just a thought........................

Semantics

Having been out all day and even having done a quick check on the blogosphere, am still not too sure if anyone has 'picked-up' on this from the Open Europe press summary for today - so.......

"National diplomats have this morning finalised changes to the Lisbon Treaty in order to allow 18 extra MEPs to take their seats. EU leaders agreed at last week’s EU summit to launch an Intergovernmental Conference to handle the required treaty change. This short IGC was dealt with at “Coreper II”, the meeting of the permanent representatives of the member states in Brussels. Now it is up to national parliaments to ratify the treaty change. Despite already taking their salaries, the 18 additional MEPs cannot take their seats before the ratification is finalised in all 27 member states."

We were not allowed a vote on the Lisbon Treaty by either party in the Con/Lib/Lab 'clique'  for differing, but extremely similar, reasons, as we all know the response would have been one that they did not wish to hear.

However, regardless of that fact, regardless of the fact that the addition of 18 MEPs may, or may not, be argued as 'a further loss of power' the fact remains that the original treaty has been amended or changed. It matters not how it has been changed - whether it is an additional comma or full stop, whether it is a new paragraph - it has been changed and must logically mean that it becomes a new Treaty.

Back in November 2009 Call Me Dave promised that any new Treaty would be subject to a referendum - mind you, we all know what a 'Call Me Dave Promise' is, do we not? To refresh your memory, remember this?  Now we find that, if this story in the Mail is correct, he is about to 'do the dirty' on his country once more. Remember also, this is the man who revels in the Parliamentary title of Rt. Honourable - Rt. Liar would be nearer the truth - and he is not alone in being given that 'accolade' either!

Maybe, when the 'recall system' of MPs - suitably 'phrased' by our politcal elite to make it difficult for us, the voter to actually bring about - comes to pass, perhaps the good people of Witney constituency might find the 'Ed' to actually call him to account - but I won't hold my breath that the robotic 'blue-rinse' conservative voter, who can't see beyond the end of their proboscis, will!

Probably!

The BBC have announced that they have decided not to show the game tomorrow. Instead they will be showing the film, ‘Out of Africa’.

Courtesy of RantinRab commenting on Inspector Gadget

Comparisons

Gerald Warner posts on the Civil List and one trusts that others, besides me, will heartily approve of the sentiments expressed.

And the increase in salary, pensions, living allowances and perks that MPs have enjoyed over the last 20 years is........................?

Compare £7.9million for the Civil Listl, and the total annual cost of Ipsa, a compliance officer, the expenses scheme and MPs' salaries which is expected to be £170.2 million. Then add on the cost of the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly..........

I know where my axe would fall!

So?

The Financial Times reports on how and where local authorities have begun cutting expenditure before the Budget.

"Services such as meals-on-wheels, residential care and highways maintenance are suffering in some areas, while others are cutting spending on sport and arts or reducing support for voluntary groups."

 "Even before government spending cuts, cost pressures on councils, which spend £115bn a year in England, have been mounting. Rising demand on social services has pushed up fees and charges, while more money is being spent on child protection following the Baby Peter case. The costs of greater recycling, rising energy costs, falling interest rates for cash holdings and a drop in fees from planning applications have also taken a toll."

Maybe if as a nation we did not spend £millions/billions on items such as 'Walk Co-ordinators, Ethnic Minority Equality Officers and all the other useless non-jobs we would not need to cut services such as meals-on-wheels and residential care. If we did not have to comply with ridiculous schemes such as the EU Waste Directives, if we did not robotically follow the Climate Change mantra* - again dictated by our EU membership and the robotic adherence to this demonstrated by our numpty political elite we would not need to cut services such as meals-on-wheels and residential care.

As for cutting funding of sport, having witnessed the Ingerland 'display' at the World Cup, that cut would not be missed either.

Just a thought...................

* Hey, just realised that would also solve the problem of the 'Huhne extra-marital' embarrassment for the government as we could then dispense with his services and save another ministerial salary. Result!

Joke Of The Day

To counter all the doom and gloom of Budget Day - a little light relief*

The only cow in a small town in Scotland stopped giving milk.

The town folk found they could buy a cow in Wales quite cheaply.

They brought the cow from Wales and it was wonderful, produced lots of milk every day and everyone was happy.

They bought a bull to mate with the cow to get more cows, so they'd never have to worry about their milk supply again.

They put the bull in the pasture with the cow but whenever the bull tried to mount the cow, the cow would move away.

No matter what approach the bull tried, the cow would move away from the bull and he was never able to do the deed.

The people were very upset and decided to go the Vet, who was very wise, tell him what was happening and ask his advice.

"Whenever the bull tries to mount our cow, she moves away.. If he approaches from the back, she moves forward they said. When he approaches her from the front, she backs off. If he attempts from the one side, she walks away to the other side. "

"The Vet rubbed his chin thoughtfully and pondered this before asking,

"Did you by chance, buy this cow in Wales ?"

The people were dumbfounded, since no one had ever mentioned that they had brought the cow over from Wales .

"You are truly a wise Vet," they said.

"How did you know we got the cow from Wales ?

"The Vet replied with a distant look in his eye,   
"My wife is from Wales "

* With apologies to any readers in Scotland & Wales of course!

What A Surprise - Not!

Michael Crick posts on the 're-appearance' of Chris Huhne only 48 hours after the 'expose' of his extra-marital affair - a post which includes:

"Huhne also revealed that senior Lib Dems had conducted war games before the election, in preparation for possible negotiations with the Conservatives in the event that no party got an overall majority. But in the event Lib Dem negotiators were surprised that the Conservatives conceded ground to them to the extent they did." (my emphasis)

First, the Conservative 'heirachy' are more 'Liberal' than they are 'Conservative' and, second, there was the collective greed for 'government' - and the perks which go with ministerial position. Hardly 'rocket science' Mr. C - how much are you paid by the BBC?

What To Cut?

Tim Montgomerie, Conservative Home, posts on what he considers are ten benchmarks on which to judge today's Budget, including:

"I exclude international development from this category. Our responsibilities to the poorest and hungriest people of the world must always come first."

"Charities need to be protected from tax rises as much as possible as they prepare to play a leading role in the building of social alternatives to state welfare."

Where to start? 

Responsibility to our own 'kith and kin' takes precedence Mr. M before we start resolving the problems of other countries.

Charities? What charities might that be? Those 'fake' charities whose income is mainly through government grants and who spend their time forming government policy?

Sheesh!

Albion Alliance

The Albion Alliance says the fight must go on.
In April we wrote to you with the following:

"Well Gordon Brown has finally gone to see the Queen, Parliament has been prorogued and the MP’s are no more. Many have stood down and will disappear like the mist, others will be standing again along with a host of new candidates all looking for your vote in this all important General Election to be held alongside the local authority elections on the 6th May 2010."

It is now history, The election was held, resulting in a hung parliament and after a lot of wrangling a new Coalition Liberal Democrat/Conservative Government has emerged to try to govern the UK and to weather the storm of the financial crisis that is hitting home right across Europe and to repair the broken and nearly bankrupt economy of Britain.

The Albion Alliance decided that we should stand back, hopeful that this eclectic mix of political minds would have the guts and the ability to make the changes that are necessary to Britain’s future. Over the following weeks however, one thing became very clear, that this new government, or any UK government is struggling with the fact that it is working with one hand tied behind its back.  It no longer has ownership of the very powers needed to make the changes that the UK needs in order to rebuild itself.

An example of this is one of its early decisions to scrap the HIPS scheme. Laudable but limited, as it soon discovered that it could not scrap it in its entirety as the section of this scheme known as the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) is not a UK statute but an EU Directive (EU/2002/91/EC) which this government does not have the power to remove.

Over the coming weeks and months, as a new Chancellor tries to get to grips with the economy of this country, as the new cabinet in every department and area of government is going to be met time and time again with these EU directives, that will make it virtually impossible for any UK government to govern properly and to put forward the policies that we will need for recovery.

There have been over the years, entered into EU and thus UK law, upwards of 120,000 of these EU Directives and Regulations that will stand as road blocks to recovery. The majority of the voting public already know that the EU is the problem not the solution, yet the unelected Eurocrats are still trying to take more powers, to centralise that power in Brussels and diminish further the ability of the British Government to do what is right for its own people.

If Britain is to survive this economic storm, if it is to survive and become competitive in the world again, it can only do so if its government has a truly free and powerful hand in determining all of our law, all of our policies and the ability to implement them with the consent of the people.

There are many in the public eye, notably Dan Hannan and Douglas Carswell who have been alluding to this stand against the EU, in fact they have written many column inches between them advocating a campaign which they are urging you to follow. We at the Albion Alliance have been asking them to detail what this campaign stands for, what its aims are, and what action will be taken and by whom to move the campaign forward. There has been silence. A lot of words but no actions. We are not convinced that these two are actually going to do any more than talk and simply provide a banner for all EU sceptics to rally behind, but a banner with no intention of actually doing anything.

We feel that two people like Hannan and Carswell get enough media attention but unless it is used properly it will dilute all other calls for a EU referendum and nothing will happen. Who knows?  Maybe that is the intention.  To provide a stalking horse to keep us all busy. So far it seems to be how it is working and that is why we believe that it is now time to “fire up the Quattro” and get The Albion Alliance back on the road, and we are looking for your support in making that happen.

But before we do that, we are going to invite you all to make comment on the previous campaign run by The Albion Alliance, to tell us what you think we did right, where we went wrong, what could be improved. Please write to us at media@albionalliance.org.uk with any comments that you may have, we wont be offended by your bluntness, democracy is too important for bruised egos.

Good luck and our best wishes
The Albion Alliance team.

+++

The big question now is:  Should David Cameron call an In/Out Referendum on the EU?
Judging by his latest report to MPs, it is something not yet on his mind. It is up to us to change that mind.

Monday 21st June 2010

Apologies - no posting today as deeply involved in dealing with a rent and service charge problem on leases for myself and others. Need to also prepare notes etc for a meeting tomorrow morning.

Call Me Dave Skewered By One Of His Own Side

Peter Hitchens, writing in the Mail on Sunday, mentions the question posed by Philip Davies MP (Shipley) who is, to repeat Peter Hitchens, a 'true' Conservative. Davies' question at PMQ's, for those who missed it, was:

"The millions of people who voted Conservative at the last Election in order to make him Prime Minister did not do so in order to see a reduction in the number of people sent to prison or to see those criminals given softer sentences. If he really wants to reduce the budget of the Prison Service, may I suggest that he starts by taking Sky TV away from the 4,000 prisoners who enjoy that luxury in their cells?"

Hitchens then proceeds to pose the question of how long will the likes of Philip Davies continue to sit on the same side of the House, along with Call Me Dave and his 'Liberal' friends and wonders how long it will be before all the anti-British are on the government side of the House and those that believe in the continuance of the United Kingdom as a self-governing nation are on the benches opposite.

This could get interesting..................so come on Carswell and all those who signed up to Direct Democracy - when can we see you all 'piling-in' and causing a spot of trouble for CMD?

Huhne & Nokes

Only one question on the matter of Chris Huhne and Caroline Nokes.

Does the use of public funds to pay for overnight accommodation (or maintenance of - in Huhne's case as he owns his London home outright) then use those premises for extra-marital affairs actually qualify under the heading of "expenses necessarily and wholly incurred to enable an MP to carry out their parliamentary duties"?

Just a thought..............

Stupid Boy! I forgot - they are, after all, in the business of screwing all and sundry!

Huhne Can I Turn To - When Nobody Needs Me?*

Warning: The following is not a 'wind' up!

The Sunday Telegraph reports that Britain's biggest wind farm companies are to be paid not to produce electricity when the wind is blowing, resulting in them being paid thousands of pounds per day, per wind farm, as the National Grid cannot store the electricity produced.

Despite the fact that, reportedly, electricity customers are paying more than £1billion a year to subsidise wind farms and other forms of renewable energy, straight out of the starting block comes RenewableUK, the trade body which represents the renewable energy industry, on whose behalf a spokesman stated all suppliers to the National Grid periodically were asked to reduce output to control the balancing mechanism. He said it was simply evidence of the growing part wind energy had to play in Britain's supply needs that turbines would occasionally be taken off the National Grid adding "..... The reality is the National Grid's job is to ensure we have adequate capacity to meet demand at any one time." - obviously without regard to any costs to the consumer!

The Renewables Obligation is another 'scam made in heaven' for the energy companies - and as Professor Michael Laughton, emeritus professor of electrical engineering at the University of London, said: "People will find it very hard to understand that an electricity company is getting paid the market rate plus a subsidy for doing nothing. It is essentially a waste of consumers' money." Christopher Booker has long been a critic of wind turbines and an example of his views can be found here and his excellent book on this 'scam' can be purchased here.

* With apologies to Lesley Bricusse and Anthony Newley - and the words "When nobody needs me" can be applied, at readers discretion, to either his present troubles or the wind turbines.

Mosquito Device Use 'Disproportionate'

The Guardian reports that the use of the 'mosquito' device, used to disperse gatherings by young people, is illegal under Human Rights law and is "degrading and discriminatory" to youngsters, a report this week claims. The Council of Europe website proclaims that the use of these devices "constitutes a "disproportionate interference with the right to respect for one’s private life, including the right to respect for one’s physical integrity."

One immediately wonders whether such a ruling might be applied to the verbal utterances of our political elite!

What A Load Of Rubbish

Catching up on yesterday's news yet another story in the media demonstating that not only are local authority officials dictatorial, have a 'box-ticking' mentality plus a nice little 'cash earner' but that the public have been cowed into paying fines that logic dictates are totally wrong.

The story of Stephen Mayes, who left two pots of flowers for a colleague in her parking pay (council owned) and was fined for littering is covered by the Mail and a local newspaper, the Romford Recorder. It was also covered by the Daily Telegraph (no link) who, in the print edition, failed to mention that the parking spaces were council owned - but then omission of that small detail just illustrates the 'slap-dash' standard of journalism for which that paper is fast becoming renowned.

The Concise Oxford Dictionary defines litter as discarded refuse left in a public place and it would have been an intriguing legal debate had this matter gone to court. The Mail article states that Mr. Mayes maintained he had explained to the litter warden the flowers were for a colleague, yet the letter from the council contradicts this so obviously one of the participants in this saga is telling fibs. It is also interesting that, reading between the lines, the litter warden got his 'wrists slapped' for not issuing a ticket for fly-tipping, but instead one for the lesser offence of 'littering' - a factor which once again speaks volumes about local authority mentality!

It really is time that we, the public, should just say 'No'!

Call Me Dave Reckons He Won A Victory?

John Ward posts on what he terms a 'secret memorandum' written by a German official of the EU Commission. One has to wonder if the media - who so like the 'rumour mill' - will bother to stir themselves in reporting this.

Assuming that John W's post is correct (and it is possible so why should one doubt it), on the basis that the 'pre-vetting' of national budgets will be 'resolved' at the planned October meeting - at which voting will be by QMV - resulting in Call Me Dave being outvoted and therefore having to comply with the resultant Directive or Regulation, can we save time and just have our referendum now please?

Christopher Booker posts on Call Me Daves 'conquest' of the EU Heads of Government meeting and shows how little CMD actually knows or realises. Booker ends with a most pertinent question of whether CMD may come to regret breaking his promise of a referendum on that Lisbon Treaty. 


H/T: Muffled Vociferation

Non-PC Humour

A recent tweet:

Oxo are introducing a new white Oxo cube with a red cross on it to support the England. It will be called "the laughing stock"

As an Englishman I am extremely offended - Where is the Campaign for an English Parliament when you want them?

 

Speed Camera 'Spinning'

A report in today's Daily Telegraph Conservative PR Rag deals with the reduction in speed cameras following the present government's decision to cut funding.

Immediately, we have the RAC Foundation, proclaiming:

"When you consider that the activities of partnerships through enforcement, driver education schemes and publicity activities are contributing significantly to the reductions in casualties on our roads, and at no net cost to the public finances, it is a dereliction of duty on behalf of the new Government to allow this programme to be so rapidly disbanded."

If the activities of partnerships through enforcement, driver education schemes and publicity activities are provided by publicly funded organisations - which they are - then there most definitely is a net cost to the public finances!

Had the RAC actually been open and honest and proclaimed that they were all in favour of the 'cash-providing-scam' that are speed cameras, one would no doubt have had a tad of respect for them and their views.

Yet another thought....................

Just Stick To Your Job!

So a large beach party (unathorised) gets banned prompting Plod, in the shape of Chief Inspector David Felton, to issue this statement:

"We fully back the injunction to stop this event going ahead, which we feel would have a negative impact on the local community....."

 Err and the Act of Parliament which allows Plod to express an opinion about how they feel in respect of a political decision is........?

It is the function of Plod to uphold the law, not to condone or otherwise and to then express an opinion.

Got that Plod?

As A Non-Fan Of Politicians - And One Politician In Particular!

When looking at Political Home a few minutes ago, it seemed that the media and political bloggers are in a frenzy about the latest story, of which this is but one example, involving some extra-marital activity by one of the LibCon government.

It is truly amazing that the media and commenters manage to write so much wordage that has been 'Huhne' from nothing of substance - wordage that can be truly said to belong to the 'gutter press'.

FFS! Are We Truly Mad?

Why is it that we now live in a society where a 'tongue in cheek dig' at someone is immediately taken as a sleight and, where possible, racist in content?

A company spots an opportunity to make a bob or two with some posters and 'T' shirts emblazoned with the words "Anyone but England" and lo and behold The Campaign for an English Parliament (CEP) - who should surely have known better - promptly contact Plod. Where the world of sport is concerned, especially in the field of football and rugby, do not CEP realise that an age old rivalry has existed?

Yesterday, following the abysmal exhibition by England the following tweet appeared: "We only managed a 0-0 draw against a rubbish team we should have easily beaten 4-0. I'm ashamed to call myself Algerian" So will Plod be knocking on the door of the poster of this tweet because he/she has been disrespectful to Algeria and Algerians? For heavens sake you numpties, its called humour and if humour doesn't exist in your life you may as well be dead - humour being something that is obviously lacking in our current political elite and which will hopefully result in their extinction.

The only way this country will recover from the dire economical situation to which the Labour government bequeathed us is through the efforts of entrepreneurs and who do we find complaining when this is tried? A political organisation!

Ye Gods!

Skewed Reporting

Mark Wadsworth has picked up on a 'little gem', reported in the Evening Standard, of what, - being kind - we will call 'journalistic misunderstanding'.

Well worth a read!

Oops!

Bearing in mind the apparent inability of the political brain to cope with logical thought, yet another example has been discovered by Douglas Murray here.

Never mind groups such as the Conservative Muslim Forum being a liability, most of us are beginning to believe that politicians are a liability that we cannot afford!

And The Difference Is?

Norman Tebbit, writing on his blog about Cameron's success at the recent Heads of Government meeting at the EU and the intention of that body to 'control' national budgets, quotes Gladstone.

"The finance of the country is intimately associated with the liberties of the country. It is a powerful leverage by which English Liberty has been gradually acquired … It lies at the root of English Liberty, and if the House of Commons can by any possibility lose the power of the control of the grants of public money, depend upon it, your very liberty will be worth very little in comparison …That power can never be wrenched out of your hands… That powerful leverage has been what is commonly known as the power of the purse – the control of the House of Commons over public expenditure – your main guarantee for purity – the root of English liberty. No violence, no tyranny, whether of experiments or of such methods as are likely to be made in this country, could ever for a moment have a chance of prevailing against the energies of that great assembly. No, if these powers of the House of Commons come to be encroached upon, it will be by tacit and insidious methods, and therefore I say that public attention should be called to this."

Substitute  'laws' for 'finance' and the same reasoning holds true - ie, the laws of a country are associated with the liberties of a country. In other words, unless the people of a country retain the right to decide the laws of the society in which they choose to live, they have no liberty.

It is worth noting also that how the EU operates is by tacit and insidious methods and if our politicans were at all honourable, in view of their Oath of Allegiance and especially that of Privy Councillors, they would indeed draw public attention to this!

Skewed Priorities

The vexed question of 'grants' raised its head today with a very short piece in today's print edition of the Daily Telegraph (sorry no link).

It dealt with the fact that Yvonne Hossack, a solicitor, has lost a court hearing on whether she should retain her £200,000 Legal Aid grant on which she relies to fight the cause of those in Sheltered Accommodation and the need to retain full-time Wardens.

A little background: It has been shown that elderly people, wishing to retain a degree of independence, have entered Sheltered Housing for one main reason and that is that it provides the bonus of a Warden; someone who is there all day, every day, to help them with problems and to monitor their well-being. Due to 'cost-cutting' schemes Wardens have been phased out, without proper consultation with residents, and replaced by what is termed 'floating support'. This results in a scheme whereby someone calls once a day for about an hour (if that) to check on residents - sometimes not even once a day - which has resulted in cases where elderly residents have lain undiscovered in their flats unwell and, in some documented cases, dead for day after day.

These are people, probably the majority, who fought for this country during World War II, others who have 'done their bit' working to benefit this country and its status in the world by their daily labours - and we cannot look after them?

It seems to me that before we house, clothe and feed those whose avowed aim is the destruction of our country and our society we should look after our own 'kith and kin' - and support those in the legal profession who selfishly work to that end!

Sex Education Isn't Nice

So the National Institute for Clinical Excellence has decided to pontificate about when young children should be educated about sex. The story is covered here, here and here.

Setting to one side the envitable loss of 'innocence of youth', what is more important is surely it is the choice of the parents as to when such a subject is broached and is not the remit of some unelected, unaccountable collection of bureaucrats? Neither, it has to be said, is it the decision of our MPs supposedly elected, supposedly accountable representatives.

According to Reuters, "Inadequate sex education at a young age is widely seen as contributing to Britain's steep rate of teenage conception" - nothing to do of course with our society providing accommodation and an income for unmarried mothers.

Cameron's Illogicality & Red Lines

Tony Blair, when Prime Minister, famously had 'red lines' which he would not cross (but did) where matters EU were concerned, so it is hardly surprising that the 'Heir to Blair' has decided he wants some too. Understandably, it is highly likely that the 'Heir to Blair's' 'red lines' will prove just as easily crossed as that of Blair's himself, but again I digress........

One question for Call Me Dave: Could he please explain where the question of 'economic sovereignty' differs from say, 'energy sovereignty'? If as Call Me Dave maintains it is a matter of sovereignty that the UK's parliament should see budget proposals before anyone else, then surely it is a matter of sovereignty that the UK parliament should also decide the 'how' whereby we should provide our source(s) of energy?

James Kirkup, on his blog, asks whether Call Me Dave is 'softening' his attitudes towards Europe, which is akin to asking if the Pope is a Catholic. The Con part of the ConLib government unelected democratic dictatorship that now governs us always has been 'soft' on Europe.

Benedict Brogan - Journalist???

Benedict Brogan posts with a title suggesting that Call Me Dave must be prepared to upset his new friends if Britain is to maintain its sovereignty. Sovereignty - what sovereignty? We have handed the bulk of it to Brussels!

It is "journalists" such as Brogan - and I deliberately use the word in inverted commas to signify my sarcasm - that really makes me mad. Discussing the situation prior to the election, when Cameron and his most vocal PR assistant - Hannan - was assuring the electorate that if you wanted a Eurosceptic government then Cameron and Hague were 'your men', Brogan writes: "All the assumptions about how Mr Cameron would address an issue that has long poisoned his party have been overturned. Partly, this is due to the creation of the Coalition: the deal with the Lib Dems required that Tory talk of repatriating powers would be dropped........" Partly? No, Brogan; totally, as the need to have the LibDems on board in order to enter No10 meant Call Me Dave was presented with an open door through which he could pass and thus walk away from trouble within his own party together with avoiding a situation he did not really wish to address.

The fact that "ministers have engaged with their European counterparts – and with the European Commission – with a single-minded seriousness" is due purely to their desire to 'obey Call Me Dave's orders', plus the need to comply if they wished to enjoy the fruits of ministerial office. So much for political principles!

Returning to the European Elections, it has always amazed me that the British electorate never 'twigged' the contradiction of Cameron believing in EU membership - and his 'Euroscepticism' as presented by Hannan. Call Me Dave may wish to run from the EU problem, however I would suggest that his immediate problem is here, in that his coalition may not last another six months or so - it has always been my belief that another election would be 'on the cards' before year-end and this article in the Guardian only reinforces that belief.

Drink Drive Limits

Amongst many media outlets the BBC reports on the proposed suggestion that the UK's drink drive limits should be lowered from 80mg to 50mg per 100ml.

Predictably all the anti-drink quangos and 'fake' charities have jumped on the bandwagon hailing this as a necessary course of action - no surprise there then! Of course this is nothing new as this idea was first floated back in December 2009 with an article in the Times.

Ed West, in the same year, commented on his blog about this need to "bring into line with Europe" and one does wonder what 'pressure' has been applied behind the scenes by the EU. While we are one of only five countries with higher limits to the rest of Europe, it should also be noted that this survey - to which Ed West links - shows that drivers in the UK are the second safest
.

Anyway, why must all countries in the EU 'conform' to a common standard?  Yet another example of 'harmonisation', thereby negating each country's wish to be different - an aspect of which the EU has 'form which should be a very 'sobering' thought!

Answer The Question

During his time on the Opposition benches in the House of Commons Call Me Dave used to bitterly complain that Gordon Brown never did answer questions he, Cameron, posed. The disease seems contagious as today, in response to Douglas Carswell (17.33mins in), Call Me Dave totally ignored one half of the question*.

Whilst it was nice to see Douglas Carswell yet again attempting to embarrass the Libservative government he must surely know that on the question of the British people being granted a referendum on EU membership he is banging his head against a brick wall.


*Odd really, when on 2nd June (21.18mins in) he stated he would give accurate answers rather than make them up on the spot!

Thought For The Day - And Hope For The Future

"The best governments are those under which the people don't feel they're being governed"

Attributed to Arthur Ransome, author and historian.

Exactly, What Is The Point?

Alex Singleton posts on what is the point of Timothy Kirkhope, the leader of the Conservative MEPs in the European Parliament.

To which one can but quote Helen Szamuely on Your Freedom and Ours:

"Remind me who was the politician-cum-journalist-cum-clogger who told us over and over again that if you really wanted results over the European issue you should vote Conservative because Cameron and Hague will deliver? Step forward Daniel Hannan MEP."

Those of 'us' with a brain all knew what Cameron & Hague would deliver - besides idiots like Kirkhope - and that was ever closer membership of the European Union. 

Either Daniel Hannan is guilty of misrepresentation, or he is not one of 'us'.

Applause!

For those readers who do not 'travel' to other blogs using my blog roll, may I please refer you to this post by Richard North, EU Referendum - every word with which I totally agree!

What Happens In America.........

Only difference will be that over here, in the not too distant future, the roles 'tween MP and constituent may be reversed!

Hannan - Yet Again!

Daniel Hannan posts admitting an error in supporting Obama.

And the next apology, Cameron?

Hear Hear

Richard North, EU Referendum, has a 'pointed' post about Afghanistan and Call Me Dave, one of the two-headed hydra that rules us. As an aside, in the picture on Richard's post, the other 'head' sits on a bench behind and to Call Me Dave's left- doing his ventriloquist act!

As history shows not one country has ever managed to conquer bring democracy to that country, which begs the question why we ever decided to go there, let alone why we are still there.

As I have posted previously, it is ironic that two parties intent on bringing democracy to a distant country can be equally intent on destroying that of their own country!

Hannan - Again

"Remind me who was the politician-cum-journalist-cum-clogger who told us over and over again that if you really wanted results over the European issue you should vote Conservative because Cameron and Hague will deliver? Step forward Daniel Hannan MEP."

Your Freedom and Ours.

False Hopes

"Millions of people are hoping that somehow Cameron’s going to be different,” he said. “But the penny’s going to drop and they’re going to realise that actually they’ve got somebody who looks different, who sounds different and appears to be more reasonable, but the reality is we have surrendered our sovereignty, we have given away our ability to govern ourselves and it doesn’t matter a damn anymore who is sitting in Number 10 Downing Street."

 Nigel Farage in the following:

Politic Speak

William Hague on Twitter (the emphasis on the first syllable means it is the perfect medium for the man!):

"A productive day at the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Luxembourg - unity on Gaza and strong support for the EU building on UN Iran sanctions"

Translation: I am pleased to report I am fully in agreement with a policy decided by our real government at a cabinet meeting held in Brusssels

When Hague next goes for a walk it is hoped he will be wearing a lead as it is believed that is a pre-requisite for poodles. (The hair-cut might be a problem though!)

Fewer Criminals Could Go To Jail

That is the headline in the print edition of the Daily Telegraph to this story on-line in which Ken Clarke, Justice Secretary is reported as saying: ".....But why is the prison population twice what it was when I was Home Secretary not so very long ago?....."

Leaving aside the fact the population of our country has grown, that we are unable to deport those who should be deported, it might have something to do with the fact that Ken Clarke was the Home Secretary when legislation which significantly lowered prison populations came in 1992 (piloted by Kenneth Baker but enacted under Kenneth Clarke). But ministers soon changed their mind. Kenneth Clarke introduced new legislation in 1993, partially reversing the 1991 act, to allow courts to take into account previous convictions when determining sentences, which in practical terms meant that repeat offenders would face longer sentences.

In the 2010 General Election the LibDems did not have that much to say on imprisonment other than a commitment to cancel the previous government's planned expansion of prisons through various policies (page 74). On the other hand the Conservative's manifesto stated: "We are determined that early release will not be introduced again, so we will redevelop the prison estate and increase capacity as necessary to stop it......So we will introduce a system where the courts can specify minimum and maximum sentences for certain offenders. These prisoners will only be able to leave jail after their minimum sentence is served by having earned their release, not simply by right." (page 57/58). On the basis of cost-cutting (and the 'stitch-up' by CamerLegg our joint rulers) it would appear the Conservative policy has obviously been 'revised' - and in fact prison building did not appear as a subject in the post-election manifesto. (Page 23/24).

Far be it for me to suggest that politicians change their minds for political expediency, or to gain financial benefit from ministerial office - perish the thought - but a number of decisions could be taken to tackle crime in this country. Were we not paying £6.4billion per annum and set to rise to £10.3billion by 2014/15, were we not funding unnecessary quangos* and 'fake' charities, were we able to govern ourselves instead of being subservient to Brussels and were we lucky enough to have politicians of conviction who believed that those who broke society's rules did not deserve the benefits of that society - things might be slightly different!

*Talking of which, one has to wonder how much this little lot cost!