Mistaken Identity

So Clegg has been axed! Brought down to earth by then reading it is Clegg, as in Peter Sallis, from Last of the Summer Wine, the faint hope then remained that it was a mis-print foretelling Clegg axed in Last of the Summer Whine, when the coalition government collapses.

Hey ho!

What Is Wrong With A Bit Of Leg Before Wicket?

It would appear from this report that 'someone' was offended by the short shorts worn by the dancers who were adding a touch of 'razzmatazz' to the warm-up of a Twenty20 cricket match. A 'reminder' was sent by Sally Brooks, T20 events manager, that the event was a 'family' event and that 'costumes for the dancers need to reflect this'.

And the difference had they been wearing one-piece swimsuits or bikinis, is.......? Are not visits to our beaches and swimming pools, where ladies of all ages are wearing apparal far more revealing than the shorts worn by the dancers, also not family events?

On the basis that any offence is in the mind of the viewer - who, one suspects, are in a minority anyway - this culture of 'thou must not cause offence in any manner, shape or form' needs to be 'shorted' - and 'shorted' bloody quickly!

Can we please get a bit of perspective here, people?

Out Of The Mouths Of Babes and Politicians

On Gavin Hewitt's Europe, he reports on a speech by William Hague, Foreign Secretary of the UKGovernment EU Regional Administrative Centre UK (EURACUK).

"Addressing the former foreign secretary David Miliband, he said the last government's legacy on Europe was "public disenchantment after years of arrogance from ministers who don't listen to the people"

And the difference between the arrogance of the last government who refused the people a vote on the Lisbon Treaty and the arrogance of David Cameron who refuses the people a vote on EU membership, is.......?

"The new government," said William Hague, "is agreed that there is a profound disconnection between the British people and what has been done in their name by British governments in the European union."

If there is a 'profound disconnection between the British people and what has been done in their name', one must ask what, exactly, our new government intend to do about it? Continuing to disregard the views of the British people who, by a majority, want out of the EU is surely just a continuation of the 'profound disconnection' twixt British people and politicians.

"There would be no further transfer of sovereignty or powers from Britain to the EU over the course of the parliament. The foreign secretary said he was responding to the mood in Britain."

First, what constitutes a transfer of sovereignty or power needs to be 'spelled out' to the people so that we know where we stand. Second, Hague is not, repeat not, responding to the mood in Britain, because if he was, the government of which he is a member, would be granting the people what they want - namely a referendum on EU membership.

It is about time that Call Me Dave and his government - both of which have an an obvious yellow streak running through them - decided to listen to the people!

Excessive PM10

Lordy, Lordy! According to our Masters - whose edicts we are bound to obey - the United Kingdom has an excess of PM10.

Now we do not need the collection of numpties in Brussels to tell us that we have the wrong person in 10 Downing Street, nor that we have an excess of politicians most of whom are totally useless. So would the EU kindly just foxt......................

Oh, sorry - having read the links, just realised they talking about air quality........................!

Waste Of Public Money - Again!

Fiona McEvoy, Taxpayers Alliance, posts on yet another waste of public money by Dorset County Council.

It would be interesting to know the instigator of this piece of nonsense who should then be presented with two alternatives. If an elected councillor, offered the choice of repaying the cost or 're-called' to face his electorate with the distinct possibility of being replaced. If a member of staff, option one as previously mentioned, or fired!

Its For The Chiiildren - Of Course It Is

The European Parliament is issuing a written declaration about the need to set up an early warning system to combat sexual child abuse. However, the substance of the declaration is to extend the EU data retention directive to search engines, so that all searches done, on for example Google, will be monitored. It would be worth reader's time to read this, an article by Christian Engström, Member of the European Parliament for Piratpartiet, Sweden who has translated the article into English.

Setting to one side the further loss of personal freedom and privacy that the suggested policy involves, this article also demonstrates the undemocratic methods by which the European Union operates and it is obvious by whom our devious, lying, underhand, conniving, deceitful politicians have been tutored.

Administrative Government

An interesting section in Open Europe's press summary for today contains a mention of the 'Star Chamber' designed to review all regulation inherited from the previous government as part of the effort to reduce 'red tape' and the costs thereof.

The FT reports that much of the regulation under review stems from the EU and cannot be blocked. But the Department said ministers would overhaul the way the EU law was being implemented to avoid unduly prescriptive "gold plating". So, the fact that the basic regulation may not be considered necessary in the first place means that the UKGovernment EU Regional Administrative Centre cannot repeal it. 

This must surely illustrate, yet again, that we are no longer a self-governing nation. Of course Cameron and Clegg - lapdogs of the EU - will not admit it as they have managed the anatomical feat of having their heads firmly wedged far up the rear orifice of the other.

We Will Cull The Quangos

At least that is what we were led to believe.....................

And then we find that in order to cull the quangos we need some more..............quangos.

Politicians - don't you just love them?

The Time Has Come......

The Walrus said, to talk of many things..............

The time has, indeed, come to talk of many things - things like democracy, what it means and how it should work; self-determination; self-reliance and self-sufficiency; law & order, society and what it should mean; freedom and personal choice; one's labour - and the rewards in later life, for which one works to provide; whether we wish to be 'Great' Britain - or 'Little' Britain.

Unfortunately, none of this appears to be of interest to the political class - so what say you people, should we not discuss this? Has the time not come, when we force the political class to discuss these matters? Should not we, the people, demand?

Shucks, that means 'direct democracy' and all those pesky referendums...........but that of course, in turn, means that Carswell and Hannan would need to get off their butts!

Israel/Gaza

An extremely interesting - and some may say contentious - article, detailing the 'unseen' side of life in Gaza.

For more I can but refer readers, once again, to that 'must -read' blog Your Freedom and Ours.

I can only repeat - probably in vain - to the media; if we must have reporting then can we please have 'balanced' reporting? Or is fiction now presented as fact?

Cumbria

Acknowledging that the events in Cumbria today are distressing - especially for the families of the victims - and that one's sympathies are obviously extended to those families, this raises the age old question which has been debated ad nauseam.

Had our police been armed, is it not possible that the list of those dead might well have been far, far less? This policeman seems to think so. Before the howls of protest come, quoting for example Stockwell, pause for one moment. What is more acceptable - the odd mistake or the prevention of needless deaths?

Just a thought (again)..................

Hurrah For Direct Democracy!

If ever any post showed the need for direct democracy as a system of government, this post by Burning Our Money does just that! Discussing the Prudential's disastrous bid for the Asian arm of AIG, BOM writes:

"First, these jokers have been stopped by their voters (aka the shareholders). Under the Pru's constitution they could not proceed with the lunacy without holding a referendum to get shareholder support. And there has been a shareholder rebellion the like of which the City has not seen in many a year. If only we voters had such a lock on our Westminster politicos."

If only, BOM, if only.............

Cue Idea: Action

Paraphrasing the cinema director, it is hoped that Messrs Carswell and Hannan get the hint, especially in view of Hannan's latest post.

As I said yesterday, the electorate are totally fed up with words and wish to see action on a variety of matters, incorporating a well-structured plan. Needless to say logic demands that any series of actions must be carried out in an ordered manner, otherwise chaos ensues. The first action that is required is Britain's withdrawal from the shackles of European Union membership in order that our politicians, with the agreement of their electorates, can make the necessary decisions without their hands being tied.

Unfortunately logic and action firstly requires a brain - and as those involved are politicians, I had better stop dreaming!

So What Does The Electorate Want?

Jonathan Isaby, Conservative Home, posts on a new opinion poll to be released in tomorrow's edition of the Independent.

Apparently the poll showed that 78% of the electorate believed that a system of voting which more truly reflected the votes cast was preferential. Conversely, when asked whether the 'horse-trading', which followed the May General Election, was less desirable than an outright win, 72% agreed.

Where opinions are concerned it would seem that you can have your cake and eat it!

On the assumption that the majority of the electorate could not explain the differences between all the various methods of voting, one can only presume how well-informed are the uninformed!

Err, Pardon?

In this age of austerity it would seem that a little noticed story in the Express has passed everyone by during the days of the 'In-Laws' and 'Out-Laws' saga. It would appear that Anglesey County Council has hired a consultant, at the princely sum of £1,160 per day, to stop 'bickering' amongst its members.

Question(s): Is not 'bickering', presumably over policy, part of the democratic process? Does not the attempt to stop disagreement stifle the democratic process? Does the Leader of the Council lack the basic ability, a pre-requisite in any 'manager', to ensure those under him work as harmoniously as possible? Although 'bickering' is a part of a healthy democracy, the arguments and debates are supposed to result in some kind of progress being made, for the benefit of the electorate. Details are sparse, to say the least, however if this council cannot function in a progressive and beneficial manner, then rather than throwing good money after bad, perhaps they should consider their own positions and stand aside – letting others that can do the job replace them.

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

Israel (2)

To all those working themselves into a lather about Israel 'aggression' Your Freedom and Ours has a most brilliant 'rebuttal'.

As I have posted previously, the answer is simple actually. Leave Israel alone and Israel will leave others alone.

YFAF says it all really!

Carswell & Hannan - Two Leader(less) Politicians?

Douglas Carswell & Daniel Hannan co-author a piece in the Guardian's Comment is Free section today, which unfortunately raises more questions about their motives.

It is noted that Direct Democracy has been launched as a public campaign, but no mention is made of how they intend to progress this 'campaign'. Their article contains fine words - and great ideas which would be welcomed by the electorate, if the electorate were informed of them - yet there is no suggestion by Carswell & Hannan of what they plan to do, or even suggestions of what the electorate could do.

Regrettably, all the signs so far are that Carswell & Hannan will remain ensconced within the Tory(?) party and hope to change matters from within. As has been shown with the example of the EU, change from within just ain't gonna happen and as a result I believe the electorate deserve more than just fine words from Carswell & Hannan - they deserve leadership, they deserve a banner under which to unite and through which they can escape the oppression of state control over their lives.

So DDs (Douglas & Daniel) - are you leaders or leaderless?

It Still Happened So Hard Cheese, 'Crats!

Despite the efforts of the best efforts of Britain's guardians dedicated to ensure that the people cannot enjoy themselves, the annual cheese rolling contest was held at Cooper's Hill, Brockworth, Glos. This 200 year-old tradition defied warnings issued this year as hundreds of people attended the event.

The Telegraph on-line version of the story differs from the print edition only in that the obligatory picture of a sign stating that the road was closed and limited to access only, guarded by two police, was ommited. SWNS.com carries a longer report here. 

"Police said there would be no dedicated medical help for casualties and that the unofficial contests could jeopardise the chance of an official event happening next year under a different format." and "A police spokeswoman said the unofficial event taking place could undermine the possibility of any future cheese rolling contests. She said: ”Gloucestershire Constabulary and all partners, including the Cheese Rolling Committee, strongly advised against participation in any unofficial event taking place on the hill. ”Unlike in previous years, there are no dedicated on-site medical facilities or rescue organisations to assist with casualty recovery.”We understand the Cheese Rolling Committee and their partners are now committed to working hard to ensure that next year’s event can take place in a safe and organised manner." (my emphasis)

A simple message to Glos Constabulary, their 'partners' (more do-gooders and 'kill-joys', no doubt) and all the 'crats involved - Its a 200 year-old tradition so 'butt out' and go 'get a life'!

Whaaat???

"In 1997, 300 people worked in the Cabinet Office, at the heart of government. Now, the figure is 5,600."

 Source

In the efforts to cut down on 'waste' and 'costs', perhaps our unelected LiberalConservative government should begin their efforts at home?

British Bill Of Rights

This subject keeps rearing it's head, no doubt at the behest of the social do-gooders and those with a vested interest. Geoffrey Robertson QC has such an article in the Independent - an interesting read.

One immediate comment I have is that I disagree with one aspect of his last paragraph. Discussing that Call Me Dave's offer of such a Bill of Rights* has been 'shelved' Robertson writes: "If they can put together a credible and inspiring draft, the Prime Minister should summon a national convention to debate it, followed by a referendum in which the people of this country could decide to entrench it as the first building block of a written constitution – unalterable except by a further referendum or a two-thirds vote in the Commons"

No, no, no! Note Sir, it is a 'British' Bill of Rights and as such any amendments must only be decided by the British people and not a two-thirds majority of sitting MPs!

* Whilst we do not have a written constitution this worked perfectly well - until politicians decided to get involved!