MacShane Writes Again

Denis the Menace - remember him of Beano fame? And no, would I link Beano to MPs expenses? Temptation is great though - writes an article in the Grauniad on the subject of the Conservative Party's links with what MacShane calls 'hard-right parties' in Europe.

One has to ask though whether someone born with the surname Matyjaszek might not have a conflict of interest here? Because someone in their youth joined a far-right party, rather than another one, does not make them a pariah, does it?

Not that I am in any way a supporter of the present Conservative Party but, I mean to say Denis, how many serving members of the Labour government and party were members, in their youth, of the Communist Party?

Nuff said?

MPs To Vote On 'Kelly Reforms'?

David Blackburn, on the Coffee House, poses the above question, but seems to forget one aspect of the equation.

Who provides the effing money that MPs earn?

Never mind a vote of conscience - an MP's conscience being something that appears to be in short supply - perhaps MPs would care to spend some of the £10,000 Communications Allowance - a perk still extant - and actually ask their constituents by means of a local referendum how they should vote, if they are granted one?

The Energy Question Answered

A lot of folks can't understand how we came to have an oil shortage here in our country.
~~~
Well, there's a very simple answer.
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Nobody bothered to check the oil.
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We just didn't know we were getting low.
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The reason for that is purely geographical.
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Our OIL is located in the North Sea
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Our DIPSTICKS are located inWestminster!!!

Miliband, you reading this? Got your ed round it yet?

Another Mindless Suggestion By Gordon Brown

One really does have to wonder at the level of intelligence required to reach the dizzy heights of 'Head Honcho' of one section of the Atlantic Region* of the EU.

In the latest 'waffling' by our Head Honcho, discussing the candidacy of Tony Blair for the post of Prez of the EU, he states: "I think it's in the British national interest to have a British person as President of the European council......." presumably trying to make us Brits believe that he [Blair] would 'stand up' for Britain.

Not read the 'conditions of employment' for EU employees lately, Gordon? You had no idea that EU employees cannot put their national interests before those of the EU?

Gordon, you really are the biggest twat the world has had the misfortune to suffer.

* "The Atlantic Region stretches from the top of the United Kingdom and Ireland down to the northern shores of Spain and Portugal, encompassing all of the Netherlands and parts of Germany, Denmark, Belgium and France along the way."

Giving Back 'Rights' Taken

Grant Shapps, Conservative MP for Welwyn, Hatfield and shadow minister for housing, blogs that his party will give local communities more say in local housing.

Well, thank you Grant!

And we are supposed to be thankful for returning something that you, as politicians, should never have taken in the first place?

Suggestion: why don't you and your ilk concentrate on 'national' matters and leave everything 'local' to us? Lets face it, we can hardly make a bigger mess of it than you, the 'political elite', have managed!

And Not Benign Dictatorship Either!

Muffled Vociferation, feisty lass that she is, has picked up on a number of 'requirements' 'demands' 'orders' recently issued by our government in Brussels.

God help us all, once Lisbon is ratified - the floodgates really will open then!

The Sound Of Silence

On 19th October I posted on the subject of Lord Monktons speech at Bethel University, a subject also commented on by Subrosa, amongst others.

 It says a great deal about our political class - and the media - that Lord Monkton's speech and the contents have failed to be reported with the level of coverage the subject deserves.

The 'political elite' wouldn't be trying to hide anything, would they? Surely not.

Interestingly, a recording of an interview given by Lord Monkton, on Monday 26th October, to an Australian radio programme has surfaced and can be heard here. One has to wonder whether Lord Monkton's talks scheduled to take place in America later this week will be commented on by British politicians or the press.

Breeding A Nation Of Pacifists?

With the highjacking of a yacht in the news, I happened to stumble across this video on the BBC website.

The BBC's transport correspondent, Richard Scott, ends his report with the advice that whatever you do, don't offer resisistence and learn to say 'hello' and 'welcome' in their language so that the pirates would know you are not going to fight.

WTF!

Disregarding the question of why would anyone deliberately put themselves into a dangerous situation, were I in that situation the only 'hello' and 'welcome' that would be offered by me would appear from the barrel of an AK47!

BBC 'Censorship'

From the report in the Telegraph of Mark Thompson, BBC director general, appearing in front of a House of Lords Communications Committee:

"He said that did not mean the BNP would be on every week, but very occasionally, as with other minor parties, "there will be occasions where it feels right to invite them (on the) programme."

Pressed on how often minor parties should appear, he said: "I would say that we're talking about, in the case of a party which...if it continued to receive that level of support, appearances (would) probably be no more than once a year and could be less." 

Mark Thompson needs to be reminded that all parties, regardless of their level of support, are legally recognised parties, with representatives elected by means of a democratic process and are therfore entitled to equal access to 'air time'. 'As with other minor parties' - so for example Ukip, which came second in the last countrywide election is a 'minor party'? And 'minor parties' appearances on any BBC political programme are dependent on the say-so of one Mark Thompson? And who the bloody hell elected you, Mark Thompson?

As the BBC are so heavily in favour of 'balance' and as the British public considers the Conservatives, Labour and Liberal Democrats offer nothing to choose between them, why not have 'another voice' to provide said balance? Oh Mark, another suggestion - kick off the bloody celeb. Their contribution would appear to be on a par with that of your contribution to the well-being of the BBC - pointless!

What Is It With MPs?

Tony McNulty  has been 'slapped on the wrist' and made to repay nearly £14,000 yet still maintains that it was 'within the rules'.

FFS!

"We need to move on." Why Tony, so you can carry on finding yet another loophole with which to line your pockets? So that we forget what you and your ilk have done?

No way, Sunshine - you may have a short memory but we do not!

Tony Blair - Mark 1 & Mark 2

John Rentoul has uncovered the similarity between two people with the same name.

Tony Blair, 22,  preyed on rural communities.......

And, as we all know,

Tony Blair, 56, preyed on the bloody country......!

And The Moral Of Each Story Is........

Two stories which, it could be argued, have a certain resonance when considering the matter of MPs and their expenses.

"A married Irishman went into the confessional and said to his priest, "I almost had an affair with another woman." The priest said, "What do you mean, almost?" The Irishman said, "Well, we got undressed and rubbed together, but then I stopped.." The priest said, "Rubbing together is the same as putting it in. You're not to see that woman again. For your penance, say five Hail Mary's and put £50 in the poor box." The Irishman left the confessional, said his prayers, and then walked over to the poor box. He paused for a moment and then started to leave. The priest, who was watching, quickly ran over to him saying, "I saw that. You didn't put any money in the poor box!" The Irishman replied, "Yeah, but I rubbed the £50 on the box, and according to you, that's the same as putting it in!"

"There once was a religious young woman who went to Confession. Upon entering the confessional, she said, "Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned. The priest said, "Confess your sins and be forgiven." The young woman said, "Last night my boyfriend made mad passionate love to me seven times." The priest thought long and hard and then said, "Squeeze seven lemons into a glass and then drink the juice. The young woman asked, "Will this cleanse me of my sins?" The priest said, "No, but it will wipe that smile off of your face."

Conservative Party Policy 'In A Nutshell'

Timothy Kirkhope, writing in the Daily Telegraph:

"By his very nature, Tony Blair will turn the post of President of the European Council into something that the overwhelming majority of Britons do not want and have been denied the opportunity to vote for......"

Well, well - so the Conservative Party do not want a President of the EU that no-one has voted for! Yet they are content though to commit this country to membership of the EU - something on which we, the people, have been denied a vote!

 

In the Mail a senior shadow cabinet minister is quoted as saying: "The message is clear: you can have President Blair and five years of internecine warfare with Britain over Europe; or you can have another president and a good working relationship". In other words, confirmation of the Conservative desire to remain in the EU, with the unspoken message they will go to war with the EU over Tony Blair, but not on behalf of the British people and their majority wish to re-negotiate Britain's membership!

Bastards!

For God's Sake, Just Go!

The expenses saga continues, with the leaked parts of the Kelly report, as witnessed here, here and here.

Anna Raccoon sums it up quite nicely!

 "Oh dear! A small taste of life as an ordinary citizen. Your finances changed at the whim of somebody you didn’t vote for, no debate, nothing you can do about it, reduced living standards…….my heart bleeds for them. We can be sure the Commons chamber will be bulging at the seams as they bitterly complain at the unfairness of all this."

What is needed it seems is a modern-day 'Cromwell' to sack the lot of them; for we, the people, to re-write the rules, and then the whole sorry saga to be laid to rest.

Is Now The Time To Stop Digging, David

Nick Robinson reports on a change of Conservative thinking on the subject of a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty.

"David Cameron's "cast-iron guarantee" to Sun readers of a Euro referendum expires, I'm told, once there is no further chance of stopping the Lisbon Treaty. In its place comes a different cast-iron guarantee of a new law to force any future government to put any future EU treaty to a popular vote."

 Firstly, Article 3.4 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) states "The Union shall establish an economic and monetary union whose currency is the euro." Regardless of what any future UK government may wish, one way or another, this country will be forced, at some time in the future, to adopt the euro.

 

Secondly, it is generally accepted that the Lisbon Treaty is a self-amending treaty and as a result the requirement for any future treaty is negated. Therefore the promise of a referendum on any future treaty is as meaningless as Cameron's previous 'cast-iron gurantees'!

The longer the Conservative Party continue to obfuscate and prevaricate on stating their policy in respect of this country's membership of the EU, the bigger the hole they create for themselves.

Time to stop digging now, David?

And The Punishment For Fraud Is............

So Tony McNulty is to 'apologise' and repay £13,000 of his claimed expenses, if this report is true.

Inspector Gadget must have the last word on this story!

"McNulty famously said in the House of Commons that PC Copperfield’s book was (and by association I guess, Police Blogs in general) a “work of fiction”. Looking at the way he ran his accounts, we can see that the man clearly knew what he was talking about!"

Its The Gospel, Man!

Harry's Place has a post by 'brownie' who, one presumes, is a disciple of his namesake - if one is comparing incoherent thought processes.

Admittedly, I have not seen the programme in which the subject of the post took place, however if Alan Titmarsh did 'question' Joan Ruddock about her views - where is the 'crime'? Where is the 'crime' in questioning Ruddock's "advocacy of what the world’s pre-eminent climate scientists agree is happening right here right now"? Because the audience "clapped their uninformed approval" means that the audience were wrong in their opinion? So, 'brownie's' views are the only true view?

"Un-feckin-believable" is the comment from brownie that follows the previous quote. What is undeniably 'believable' is the fact that none of the commenters, at the time of writing - appear to agree with 'brownie's' views!

One is reminded of this scene from the film 'Inherit The Wind*' which dealt with questioning that the Bible was the only book on evolution. Equate the argument in this clip to 'pro' and 'anti' in the global warming/climate change debate. To quote the character, played by Spencer Tracy, we the so-called Deniers, want the 'right to think'!

Brownie's 'mantra' that the 'world's pre-eminent scientists' - which they are most definitely not in that a number of them are not 'scientists' - demonstrates that if he and his ilk were told to 'stick their heads in a gas oven' because it would help combat global warming/climate change, they would do so.

Go, brownie, Go!

* One of the 'best' films ever made - if you have not seen it, do!

The Conservative Party 'Complex'

Jonathan Isaby, on Conservative Home, is reporting on the thesis of James Forsyth in tomorrow's Spectator that the Conservative Party have a 'complex' about Tony Blair. 

I beg to suggest that an even bigger complex is that of 'What party are we, actually'.

It has always amazed me that not one party member has taken it to court under 'Misrepresentation of Goods Act' - mind you, their 'get out of jail free card' would probably be that they spell it the same!

South West Norfolk's Conservative Association

It seems that the above have got themselves in a 'bit of a tizz liz' over the selection of their PPC, to the extent that the decision appears to be being reviewed.

At least if any of the Association develop a hernia as a result of their initial decision there will be no need to call the medical emergency services. They will have the required remedy 'on the doorstep'!

Do Ran Ran

So Margaret Doran has 'run off' with a severance package worth £278,000 - for two years work? WTF! The taxpayer has to fund this??

Listen Glasgow City Council, you made the decision to combine two departments and appoint her and then subsequently discovered you had made a mistake. Well, how about you putting your hands in your pockets and paying for your own mistakes?

And who is Margaret Doran, I hear you ask? Oh, she is married to Michael Connarty, the Labour MP for Linlithgow and Falkirk East.

Nothing like 'keeping it in the family' - is there? 



With apolologies to Subrosa for 'treading on her patch'!