Sunday, July 31, 2005

Why we should listen to our kids

We're all guilty of not listening to our kids, myself included. Tonight I've had a pretty funny reminder.

I took my 3 year old, Joseph, to bed and wanting to encourage him to be a bit more independent I gave him his pyjama's (which he had chosen himself), told him to put them on and go to bed himself. I went to the bathroom and a minute or two later he shouted that he couldn't put his pyjama shorts on. He does this quite often when he's feeling lazy so I instinctively told him to put them on and get into bed.

My wife has just gone up to bed (sad isn't it? She's in bed and I'm blogging) and check on the kids. She called me upstairs in fits of laughter and showed me why Joseph couldn't get his shorts on. He hadn't taken a pair of shorts out - it was another t-shirt. The poor lad has managed to get his body through the necck of a t-shirt and gone to sleep like that.

Ethnic Minorities to face random checks on Underground

According to BBC News tonight, ethnic minorities are to face random checks as they use the London Underground. This has got to be a good thing but will said ethnic minorities agree? Probably not.

There will shortly be a condemnation from at least one human rights group and at least one group representing ethnic minorities. This is what always happens and if it doesn't happen now I will be very surprised.

The way to think about it is this. These terrorists are indiscriminate. They will blow up an Arab, they will blow up an African, they will blow up a white person. The terrorists are a very small minority but like it or not they are mainly Asian and these checks will help protect not only white people but other Muslims too. If the price of security for everyone is random spot checks on Muslims then surely it's a small price to pay?

Britblog Roundup #24

Tim Worstall has published Britblog Roundup #24 this week.

Every week Tim publishes his list of the best of British blogging. Pop over now and take a look.

Peter Hain speaks with forked tongue


Peter Hain, Secretary for Wales and Northern Ireland, has called for the NI Assembly at Stormont to be reinstated following the IRA's statement the other day.

He says "I am a committed devolutionist. Every day I see the benefits that devolution has brought to Wales and I feel passionately that the people of Northern Ireland deserve the same opportunity."

A committed devolutionist ... a natural ally for those seeking an English Parliament then? No. Peter Hain speaks with a forked tongue. His committment to devolution doesn't extend as far as England. In fact, the idea of Scottish and Welsh MP's being banned from voting on English-only legislation gets him pretty worked up. He is also in favour of English regions.

Saturday, July 30, 2005

London Underground

Versus at the Cross of St George forum has found a funny song about the London Underground. Very funny song in fact. It's written by a band called Amateur Transplants - two doctors with a sense of humour who do a lol a work for charidy.

Go to the Amateur Transplants website, click Listen on the top navbar and then click the headphones icon next to London Underground.

Friday, July 29, 2005

Don't remember this in the bible

Found on Cross of St George ...

Once upon a time in the Kingdom of Heaven, God went missing for 6 days.

Eventually Gabriel the archangel found him, resting on the seventh day, and he inquired of God, "Where have you been??"

God sighed a deep sigh of satisfaction and proudly pointed downwards through the clouds, "Look Gabriel, look what I've made!"

Archangel Gabriel said "What is it?"

"It's a planet" replied God, "and I've put LIFE on it. I'm going to call it Earth and it's going to be a great place of balance".

"Balance?" inquired Gabriel, still confused.

God explained pointing to different parts of Earth, "for example Northern Europe will be a place of great opportunity and wealth while Southern Europe is going to be poor; the Middle East over there will be a hot spot. Over there I've placed a continent of white people and over there is acontinent of black people", God continued, pointing to different countries."And over there, I call this place America. North America will be rich and powerful and cold, while South America will be poor, and hot and friendly. And the little spot in the middle is Central America, which is a hot spot. Can you see the balance??"

Yes!" said the Archangel, impressed by Gods work. Then he pointed to a small country in Northern Europe, "what's that one?"

"Ah," said God, "That's England, the most glorious place on Earth. There are beautiful snow capped mountains, untouched rivers, streams and lakes of exquisite, timeless beauty. The people make a drink called beer. The people are good looking, intelligent and humorous and they're going to be found travelling the world. They'll be extremely sociable, hard working and high achieving and they will be known throughout the world as warriors, engineers, inventors and pioneers".

Gabriel gasped in wonder and then admiration but then exclaimed "But you said there will be a BALANCE!"

God replied wisely "Wait until you see the wankers I'm putting next to them!"


Which neighbours is he referring to? The French? The Welsh? The Scots? Probably all three. In fact, make that four - Belgium.

Robert Kiljoy-Stink quits Veritas

Robert Kilroy-Silk, former leader of Veritas. Chatshow host turned MEP Robert Kilroy-Silk tonight quit as leader of the fringe party Veritas, which he set up less than six months ago.
He had earlier joined the UK Independence party and was elected MEP for the East Midlands in 2004, but left after a failed leadership bid.

The former BBC presenter, who entered public life as a Labour MP in the 1970s, now faces calls to quit his European parliament post. Tonight the MEP, who was facing a leadership challenge from disillusioned Veritas members, said he was standing down immediately having "tried and failed" to change the British political system.

In a statement, Mr Kilroy-Silk said: "It was clear from the general election result - and more recently that of the Cheadle byelection - that the electors are content with the old parties and that it would be virtually impossible for a new party to make a significant impact given the nature of our electoral system.

"We tried and failed.

"It is also the case that it is impossible to have an effective political party without a central administration and significant financial support. We have neither.

"In the circumstances, I would be misleading the members of the party and the public if I pretended that we could make progress. I'm not prepared to do that. We must face up to the truth."

Mr Kilroy-Silk's statement continued: "Obviously I'm sorry for all the fine members of Veritas who worked so hard to change the face of British politics but they can be consoled by the fact that the policies we championed - and for which we were vilified - are now espoused by the prime minister and the leader of the opposition - and have become part of the mainstream political debate.

"This is true of the EU, immigration asylum, multiculturalism and the flat rate of income tax.
"I would like to thank all those who have been part of our exciting adventure and to say how sad I am that it has come to an end so quickly, but I can assure them that I shall continue to campaign on these issues and to represent my East Midlands constituents as an MEP."
Mr Kilroy-Silk said that Patrick Eston, the party's acting chairman, would lead Veritas until a leadership election in the autumn.

In a further statement, Mr Eston said: "The party and its members wish Robert well in the future and we are sure he will continue to campaign on the issues that concern the majority of the people in the UK.

"Those are issues that Veritas will also continue to champion in the future as we develop both the party and our policies.

"There is a standing commitment from Veritas that there will be a leadership election in the autumn with the result being announced at the Veritas annual general meeting on September 18. This will be honoured along with the votes promised on other subjects."

Mr Kilroy-Silk promptly faced a demand from fellow MEPs representing the East Midlands to quit the European parliament.

In a joint statement, Ukip's Derek Clark, the Conservatives Roger Helmer and Chris Heaton-Harris and Labour's Philip Whitehead said they believed Mr Kilroy-Silk's constituents were being "short changed".

"We ... deplore this situation ... We therefore call for his immediate resignation," they said.
Damian Hockney, a Veritias member of the London assembly and another defector from Ukip, has also resigned as deputy leader of Veritas, but said he would be remaining on the assembly.

Armed operation and explosions in London

According to Sky News the Metropolitan Police have said there is an armed operation in London. Apparently, several explosions have been heard too. I've looked on the Metropolitan Police website and there's no mention of it there.

The action is all in the Notting Hill area of London.

Combatting Fraud the West Mercia way

Today I had one fo those banking fraud "phishing" emails. You know the ones? They give you some story about security or lost details and give you a link to follow to update their records securely. The link, of course, points to a website that is not your bank and they use any details people are stupid enough to enter for fraudulent purposes.

ID theft and banking fraud have been in the news a lot recently so I thought I would do my bit and report this to the police. I did my own research first and did a whois on the domain - in this case it was natwest-updates.com. The domain was registered to a UK address and was registered an hour previously with a registrant in the US called Joker.

I emailed Joker with the message header and source and then phoned the police. The man on switchboard transferred me to the public service desk at Telford police station and a lady answered. I explained what I had and that it was registered to a UK address.

Rather than the expected taking of details and presumably a fraud investigation, I was gobsmacked to receive the reply "Our fraud squad already have all the addresses, just delete the email." All I could manage in reply was "Um. Ok."

I got off the phone, took a couple of minutes to get myself together and then phoned NatWest. Two minutes later I had received my instructions and an email address to forward the email to for investigation.

The domain had been registered 1 hour prevous to my phone call. The Fraud Squad would have had to work pretty damn fast to know about it in less than an hour and then cascade the fact to all police stations in the country.

If West Mercia Police are anything to go by, is it any wonder that banking fraud and ID theft are spiralling out of control?

Thursday, July 28, 2005

Video clip of Birmingham tornado today

Video clip of today's mini-tornado in Birmingham from the BBC. It's a mobile phone video so the quality is a bit crap. It's also streaming very slowly at the moment, presumably because it's being accessed a lot.

Video Clip

Mini-Tornado hits Birmingham (not Alabama)

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_midlands/4725279.stm

Believe it or not, a Tornado has hit Moseley in Birmingham. That's Birmingham, England not Birmingham, Alabama.

Looking at the pictures it's caused quite a bit of damage. There were 50 ambulance crews in attendance.

There's one blogger in the area I know of - Arden Forrester, a View from Middle England. Perhaps he'll have some insider news?

Ethiopian Chav?

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4720457.stm

This is absolutely priceless! An Ethiopian man has 11 wives and 77 children. He used to be rich but now he's broke because they cost him so much. He can't remember all his childrens names but tries to figure out which one is which from their mothers and which hut they live in.

His eldest son is 33, has 11 children and is about to marry his 4th wife. He has no job.

Now for the chaviest (is that a word?) bit of all - he blames the Ethiopian government for him being broke because they aren't doing enough to help him. The news report refers to him only as Mr Ayattu. I bet his first name is the Ethiopian version of Kevin.

Now we know the missing link between Chavs and the rest of the human race.

IRA ends armed campaign

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/4720863.stm

According to this BBC News report, the IRA have made a statement ending its armed campaign. They have ordered members to pursue only peacful means.

This is kind of a big story because I grew up with regular news reports of IRA bombs going off. One even went off in Shrewsbury which is the next town from where I lived as a child which shocked everybody because it's not a major town or city - it's a town in rural Shropshire.

Strangely, I don't feel particularly moved by the news. The IRA haven't been active really for a few years now and apart from the odd robbery or beating they've been out of the news. Strange, because I felt more of a sense of importance when the Berlin Wall came down even though I was only a child at the time and it was in another country.

Don't get me wrong, it's still great news - especially for Irish people who must be pretty fed up of it hanging over their heads all the time.

I see that the Reverend Ian Paisley has his doubts about the IRA's intentions. That man honestly should never be allowed to set foot in a church, let alone preach from the altar.

French Army Knife

Found this excellent picture on the Cross of St George forums.

The Swiss Army Knife is famous of course but not many people realise that the French have one too ...

Sound advice from London Underground

Some sound advice from London Underground, courtesy of Guido.

Team Britain - how the teams will be decided

If Traitor Blair and his bunch of merry twats manage to get their own way on this, this is what will happen ...

England has all the best players and comprises 5/6ths of the population so we will be entitled to get 2 players on the pitch.

Most of the top layer of government are Scottish so they will get 5 players on the pitch.

Fatty Prescott is Welsh so they will get 3 players on the pitch.

Northern Ireland will only get one player on the pitch because the IRA haven't given up all their weapons.

There will be two lots of reserves.

The first lot of reserves will be made up of Scottish and Welsh players who can be wheeled out if the British team somehow takes the lead so they can bask in the glory.

The second lot of reserves will be made up of English players who will be sent out when the British Team is losing 14-0 to Estonia so they can get booed off the pitch while the others are in the dressing rooms with a pint of Whiskey.

Team Britain? Fuck No!

Lovely weather

We love to talk about the weather, especially when we can moan about it raining. Spare a thought for our friends in Mumbai (Bombay). According to our company intranet yesterday, they had 892mm of rain in 21 hours.

For those of us that work in old money, that's about 3ft. In 21 hours.

Wednesday, July 27, 2005

Blogger for England

A few weeks ago I emailed Google/Blogger to ask them to put England in the country list for Blogger profiles.

I have heard nothing in reply so I am firing them another email off. They don't appear willing to discuss the subject so it's time to put some pressure on them.

Please visit http://www.google.co.uk/support/bin/request.py?user_type=user&contact_type=other_user&submit=Continue and email something along the lines of ...

Hi,

While reviewing the list of countries available for Blogger profiles, I noticed that England was not included. As an English person, I find this most disturbing and quite insulting.

Would you please add England to the list of countries in Blogger?

Regards,

[your name]

Tuesday, July 26, 2005

Email to David Wright

A short time ago I emailed my MP, David Wright, about English devolution. His reply was very brief and didn't answer my questions. Time for a second attempt ...

Dear Mr Wright,

Thank you for writing back to me so promptly. An email reply would have sufficed, especially with the price of stamps nowadays but the letter was much appreciated.

I am pleased to see that you recognise that Regional Assemblies are unwanted in England. Perhaps you could see your way to explaining that to Mr Prescott when you next see him? There is a very good chance that some councilors have been breaking the law with regards to funding Regional Assemblies - I would be more than happy to give you more information on the police investigation into this allegation if you are interested.

Anyway, I digress. My original email was rather long I admit but it's a very important subject and one I'm keen to get your views on as my elected representative. Whilst it was lovely to receive a reply so promptly, it was rather lacking in content. In fact, most of my questions remain unanswered. Do you think you could see your way clear to answering my questions this time? If you would prefer, I could bring the list in person to one of your "surgeries"? Just let me know which is most convenient as you must be very busy with constituency work during the parliamentary holiday.

One additional question I'm afraid - if I can give you evidence of strong support for an English Parliament amongst English people will you change your position? I acknowledge that anything remotely approaching a fair deal for England is against Labour policy but surely the views of the electorate are more important than party
policy?

You will find my original email and your reply below for your convenience ...



Dear Mr Wright,

I wrote to you some time ago and asked if you were in favour of an English Parliament and you told me you weren't. I would like to ask you a few questions if I may.

My vision, and that of the English nationalist groups that I am aware of, is for an English Parliament to represent England and for it to replace the majority of the British government as opposed to being implemented over and above the current level of bureaucracy. According to figures published by the government, approximately 80-85% of time in the British Parliament is taken up dealing with matters that affect only England. When an English Parliament is established, there will obviously be some overlap. But even so, it is feasible that at least 75% of the current British bureaucracy would no longer be needed. I would anticipate the majority of civil servants transferring from British roles to English roles. Devolution is about moving representation down the line and closer to the people, not adding in extra layers of government.

There are many reasons why I feel an English Parliament is needed. The most obvious reason is the legislation imposed on England that our own English MPs have voted against due to the voting rights of Scottish and Welsh MP's on English matters. This is something that cannot happen in reverse because of the devolved governments in place in Scotland and Wales. Examples of this happening are university top-up fees and foundation hospitals. Both of these bills were rejected by a majority of English MP's but passed into law, despite only affecting England, because of the votes of Scottish and Welsh MP's. Another reason which is just as important is the Barnett Formula. The formula is grossly unfair on England and means millions of pounds of English taxes are spent in Scotland and Wales on things such as free prescriptions and free university education that English people are not entitled to. Perhaps most important of all is the systematic and intentional erosion of English culture and nationality. English organisations are abolished and replaced with British organisations that still only deal with England. England is constantly and consistently referred to in official circles as Britain and not England or, even worse,as the regions.

It is obvious that this attempt to remove all traces of England and Englishness is intentional and is the product of an establishment that realises the extent to which England has been exploited has reached the point where even the lay-man has started to notice. The Russians attempted the very same thing during the USSR era with their policy of "Rusification"and we have all seen what the end result of that was. You are an intelligent man, I am sure you are aware of that piece of history and can draw the parallels for yourself.

Anyway, on to the questions:

If an English Parliament could be established without an additional level of bureaucracy, would you still be opposed to it?

Is your opposition to English devolution more to do with the loss of power that British MP's such as yourself will experience as power is devolved to the English Parliament as opposed to a genuine dislike for the idea?

Would you prefer that England was carved up into ineffective political regions against the wishes of the English people (as indicated during the referendum in the North East - 78% no vote - which was considered to have been most in favour of regionalisation)?

Do you agree that Scottish and Welsh MP's should be allowed to vote on English only legislation while English MP's are prevented from doing the reverse?

Do you feel that England is treated fairly and equally within the union?

Do you find it acceptable that the English, comprising 83% of the population of the UK, should have no direct political representation - the only country in Europe to
be in that position?

I appreciate that this is a rather long email but I belive it is an important issue and, judging by the letters in the Shropshire Star, a number of your constituents agree. Please bear in mind that English devolution is no more a threat to the union than Scottish and Welsh devolution. If the current situation continues, the end result can only be the break-up of the union.

I look forward to your reply in due course.

Stuart Parr
[address]

Dear Mr Parr

Thank you for your recent email relating to an English Parliament.

I have to say that I have little more to add to my previous comments. I do not think there is any desire at present for either a parliament for England or indeed regional
assemblies.

Our country does extremely well within the United Kingdom and direct political representation is provided by MPs. I would have no problem passing powers to elected members of a regional assembly.

With best wishes

Yours sincerely


David Wright

Twat of the Week: John Prescott (again)

Just for general twattiness and because nobody else has been more of a twat than him this last week, John Prescott once again wins the Twat of the Week Award.

I did consider the FA Chief Executive because of the whole Team Britain thing but I can't verify whether it was him personally who agreed to forfeiting the English team or not and I wouldn't want to be unfair.

Serious Organised Crime and Police Act

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4715417.stm

The Serious Organised Crime and Police Act will ban protesters from protesting within half a mile of Parliament.

Goodbye right to free assembly and right to peaceful protest. There's another one to add to Traitor Blair's charge sheet.

Ladyboy Blair

Since coming to power, Tony Blair has spent ÂŁ1,800 of tax payers money on makeup for himself.

I'm just thankful that we haven't had to pay for Cherie's makeup because it would cost a damn sight more than ÂŁ1,800 to make that look presentable enough to not scare young children and animals.

Monday, July 25, 2005

Muslim Parliament of Great Britain

Someone on the Cross of St George forums has posted a link to the Muslim Parliament of Great Britain.

I have nothing against Muslims, I have nothing against other faiths or cultures but this is just taking things a step too far. The Muslim Parliament is not a bad idea in itself, it is a Muslim organistation to protect and nuture Muslim culture and give direction to British Muslims. This, in itself, isn't a problem. In fact, I would love to see something similar for England to help keep our society and culture alive.

The problem with them is their manifesto. It is just plain wrong. There are so many things about it that are wrong that I just don't have the time or energy to list them. You will have to read it yourself and work it out. I am not anti-Muslim and I do not want to be but people like this are just as much a problem as suicide bombers and terrorists. I was reading their manifesto and thinking to myself "there has to be a way of stopping this". I don't buy into the idea that the only way to deal with radical Islam is to go to war with Islam or to detain and deport all Muslims but I really can't think of a real solution at the moment. There are too many racists on both side for things to continue as they are.

I felt compelled to write them an email ...

Do you not feel that Muslims living in the UK should make an effort to fit in with the existing British culture rather than trying to mould the existing British culture around Islam? Would it be acceptable for a British community living in a Muslim country to demand that the laws and culture of an Islamic country be changed to fit in with their own culture?

I am not anti-Islam, in fact probably a quarter of my friends are Muslims. Likewise, I do not have a problem with Muslims living in the UK - a view that has often attracted hostility from some of my more right-wing fellow countrymen. However, I do not agree with your assertions that the whole structure of society should be changed to accommodate Islamic law. Followers of other faiths do not demand or receive this benefit, not even the Church of England which is the de-facto state religion.

The UK is a secular state and most people living here are happy with that. You would not tolerate Christians calling for western laws to be accepted in Islamic
states so why should you expect the reverse to be acceptable in the UK?

I respect your right to follow and preach your religion but I feel that the message you are giving out to British Muslims is wrong and counter-productive. If your aim is for British Muslims to be accepted into British society, you should be preaching tolerance and flexibility. The UK is not a Muslim country and the British people do not want the UK to be an Islamic state. If they did, it would have changed a long time ago. Feel free to preach your religion to those willing to listen but please do not try to force them on those that do not want to.

Your manifesto for a Muslim Parliament is a very dangerous document, not only to
non-Muslims but to Muslims as well. You are merely perpetuating the incompatible cultural divide between western and Islamic cultures. Telling young Muslims to reject British culture and to remain as cultural and social outsiders will do nothing to quell the rising distrust of Muslims in Britain or improve relations with the majority of the UK which is not, and has no desire to be, Muslim.

I have no religion but it is your stated aim to impose your religion on me, my family, my friends, my neighbours, everyone in this country. In the same breath you complain of British colonial attitudes but fail to see that what you want - a global Islamic Empire - is also a colonial mindset. There will never be any form of peace in the world while religion plays an active part in peoples' lives because it never fails to cause division and conflict.

I would be interested to hear your views.

Stuart Parr

Saturday, July 23, 2005

This one's for internet gamers ...

If you play internet multiplayer games, this will probably make you chuckle to yourself.

People Power - boycott the Sun

The Sun is one of Blair's biggest supporters and rabidly anti-English. It is part of the New Labour propaganda machine, extolling all things British and disregarding England.

The Sun have too much influence over a large section of the population and abuse this power to turn public opinion, either for their own purposes or for the benefit of Blair.

Lets make a stand and boycott the Sun. Email the Sun and tell them that you will no longer be buying their "newspaper" because you don't agree with their political bias and anti-English attitudes. Email all your contacts and ask them to do the same. It is time the Sun had their wings clipped.

We might not make a huge impact on their sales but we can at least show them we're here. The Sun have refused to print a single letter regarding English nationalism, English devolution or the unfair treatment of our country.

The Sun contacts:
Customer Services
Letters

English anthem for the Commonwealth Games

Good old Hereward, his blog has been up for only a couple of weeks and already he's started making a name for himself.

He has emailed the Commonwealth Games Committee for England (CGCE) asking that they don't use Land of Hope and Glory for England's national anthem in the upcoming Commonwealth Games and I have to agree with him. The tune is great, it's a really upbeat tempo and all that but what relevance does it have to England? It is a song about Britain and the Empire, not about England.

Hereward suggests Jerusalem or I Vow to Thee my Country. While neither of these is perfect, I would lean towards Jerusalem. It mentions England which is a bonus and it's popular amongst English nationalists.

In support of Herewards request, I have emailed the CGCE myself ...

Hi,

I have just seen an email that was sent to Ann Hogbin regarding the national anthem to be sued by the English team at the Commonwealth Games.

I would like to voice my support for the suggestion that Land of Hope and Glory is inappropriate for England. It doesn't mention England and really has no relevance to the country. Jerusalem, whilst not being perfect, does actually mention England and is popular amongst patriotic Englishmen (and women).

I hope that the CGCE give serious consideration to choosing a more relevant anthem than Land of Hope and Glory and sincerely hope that they do not choose God Save the Queen which is the British national anthem.

Regards,

Stuart Parr

Friday, July 22, 2005

Suicide Bomber's mum grieves for victims

I saw an interview this morning on BBC News with one of the 7/7 suicide bombers' mother. She said she doesn't know how to grieve for her son because of what he did but she does grieve for the families of those who were killed and for those people who had to see the horrors of what happened.

There will be cynics who will say she's just doing it to take the heat of her but I think she was genuine. It must have taken a lot of balls to appear on national TV and say that.

Thursday, July 21, 2005

Tories propose 3% tax cuts for the Scots

The Tories are going to fight the next Scottish election with the promise to cut 3% off their taxes.

The pledge is design to try and boost their derisory 15% share of the Scottish vote.

What I want to know is, who is going to pay for this? We already subsidise Scotland to the tune of a few billion pounds a year and they already get plenty of benefits that the English don't get - when is it going to stop?

England does not exist solely for the purpose of providing taxes to give the Scots and Welsh a higher standard of living.

David Wright, Telford MP on English Parliament

I emailed David Wright, the MP for Telford, some time ago to see if he supported an English Parliament. He said he didn't.

I thought it was about time I found out why so the other day I sent him an email asking him some questions ...

Dear Mr Wright,

I wrote to you some time ago and asked if you were in favour of an English Parliament and you told me you weren't. I would like to ask you a few questions if I may.

My vision, and that of the English nationalist groups that I am aware of, is for an English Parliament to represent England and for it to replace the majority of the British government as opposed to being implemented over and above the current level of bureaucracy. According to figures published by the government, approximately 80-85% of time in the British Parliament is taken up dealing with matters that affect only England. When an English Parliament is established, there will obviously be some overlap. But even so, it is feasible that at least 75% of the current British bureaucracy would no longer be needed. I would anticipate the majority of civil servants transferring from British roles to English roles. Devolution is about moving representation down the line and closer to the people, not adding in extra layers of government.

There are many reasons why I feel an English Parliament is needed. The most obvious reason is the legislation imposed on England that our own English MPs have voted against due to the voting rights of Scottish and Welsh MP's on English matters. This is something that cannot happen in reverse because of the devolved governments in place in Scotland and Wales. Examples of this happening are university top-up fees and foundation hospitals. Both of these bills were rejected by a majority of English MP's but passed into law, despite only affecting England, because of the votes of Scottish and Welsh MP's. Another reason which is just as important is the Barnett Formula. The formula is grossly unfair on England and means millions of pounds of English taxes are spent in Scotland and Wales on things such as free prescriptions and free university education that English people are not entitled to. Perhaps most important of all is the systematic and intentional erosion of English culture and nationality. English organisations are abolished and replaced with British organisations that still only deal with England. England is constantly and consistently referred to in official circles as Britain and not England or, even worse,as the regions.

It is obvious that this attempt to remove all traces of England and Englishness is intentional and is the product of an establishment that realises the extent to which England has been exploited has reached the point where even the lay-man has started to notice. The Russians attempted the very same thing during the USSR era with their policy of "Rusification"and we have all seen what the end result of that was. You are an intelligent man, I am sure you are aware of that piece of history and can draw the parallels for yourself.

Anyway, on to the questions:

If an English Parliament could be established without an additional level of bureaucracy, would you still be opposed to it?

Is your opposition to English devolution more to do with the loss of power that British MP's such as yourself will experience as power is devolved to the English Parliament as opposed to a genuine dislike for the idea?

Would you prefer that England was carved up into ineffective political regions against the wishes of the English people (as indicated during the referendum in the North East - 78% no vote - which was considered to have been most in favour of regionalisation)?

Do you agree that Scottish and Welsh MP's should be allowed to vote onEnglish only legislation while English MP's are prevented from doing the reverse?

Do you feel that England is treated fairly and equally within the union?

Do you find it acceptable that the English, comprising 83% of the population of the UK, should have no direct political representation - the only country in Europe to be in that position?

I appreciate that this is a rather long email but I belive it is an important issue and, judging by the letters in the Shropshire Star, a number of your constituents agree. Please bear in mind that English devolution is no more a threat to the union than Scottish and Welsh devolution. If the current situation continues, the end result can only be the break-up of the union.

I look forward to your reply in due course.

Stuart Parr
[address]

I received a reply today by post which I thought was a bit of a waste of a stamp but at least I had a reply. I opened the letter, barely able to conceal my anticipation. One page? Ok, maybe it's small writing. No. My entire email with all those points I raised and all those questions I asked waranted 2 paragraphs and probably 2 minutes of his time.

Dear Mr Parr

Thank you for your recent email relating to an English Parliament.

I have to say that I have little more to add to my previous comments. I do not think there is any desire at present for either a parliament for England or indeed regional assemblies.

Our country does extremely well within the United Kingdom and direct political representation is provided by MPs. I would have no problem passing powers to elected members of a regional assembly.

With best wishes

Yours sincerely

David Wright

Ok, his one saving grace is that he recognises that English people don't want regional assemblies. Unfortunately, he's failed completely to answer any of my questions.

I will post my reply when I write it.

Team Britain? Fuck No!

Now that London, ENGLAND, has won the right to stage the 2012 Olympics, the government has extended its policy of Britification to the sporting arena.

There are now talks to establish a British football team in place of the 4 national teams we have at the moment. The English FA were quick to say yes, the Scottish FA said no.

Gareth has taken up the challenge with his new "Team Britain? Fuck no!" campaign. Please follow the link and give him your support.

There are a few reasons why Team Britain should never happen. Here are a few off the top of my head:
  • England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are all entitled to field their own teams in the Olympics.
  • Sport is about the only way that England is allowed to express its national identity.
  • Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are shit at football, England is 7th in the world. We won't stand a chance of winning if we're carrying crap players from the other home nations.
  • English football fans and Scottish football fans hate each other.
  • The 2012 Olympics are being hosted in England, there should be an English team for everything.
There should be no Team Britain for any sporting event. Team Britain? Fuck no!

Wednesday, July 20, 2005

Remembering ones roots ...

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) could do with remembering their roots. This is old news now but it never made its way into world headlines at the time.

Much Wenlock, Shropshire, is the birthplace of the modern Olympic movement. The Wenlock Olympian Games are still held to this day.

Dr William Penny Brookes, a Wenlockian himself, was the man who kicked it all off. He died before the event went global under the guardianship of one of his friends (I forget his name - something French I think).

To commemorate their link with the olympics, the town council asked the IOC for permission to use the olympic rings on the signs entering the town. The IOC refused and the only concession they gave was that they could mention, sort of in passing, that the town had something to do with the olympics.

It's rather sad really that Much Wenlock isn't allowed to use the symbol of the Olympic Games on its road signs when, if it weren't for the town and its residents, the Olympics probably wouldn't be happening now.

Tuesday, July 19, 2005

Twat of the Week: John Prescott

This weeks Twat of the Week is John Prescott. The fat git deserved to win this week for his despotic display regarding the Regional Assemblies which you can read about a couple of posts down.

I had a couple of nominations from readers, Steven Byers being worthy of a special mention for his hand in deliberately undermining Railtrack, diddling their shareholders out of their investment and then having the nerve to pretend he couldn't remember if it was done on purpose or not.

Ken Livingstone was also suggested, no doubt he will win soon enough as he always seems to be saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. Charles Clarke was another nominee as was Traitor Blair.

Alfie suggested the collective noun for twats could be a Raj of Twats. An excellent suggestion as I anticipate many of our overlords appearing here in the coming weeks.

I'm now taking nominations for the next Twat of the Week. As before, please email suggestions to twat@wonkosworld.co.uk.

Teachers call for use of "fail" to stop in schools

According to the Shropshire Star tonight, a group of teachers are calling for the use of the word "fail" to be abolished in schools. Apparently, telling kids they're failures in class could put them off education for life. They propose the alternative wording of "deferred success".

How unbelievebly bloody ridiculous. Deferred success? What (excuse my Anglo-Saxon) the fuck is that supposed to achieve? If a child fails a test they have failed. They haven't deferred their success. They haven't decided to take their success another time, they have failed the damn test.

This is the kind of thinking that has stopped school sports days from giving out prizes to winners in case it makes children competitive. The school my kids go to at the moment said this year will probably be the last year they are allowed to hold a sports day because they expect new guidelines to put a stop to them.

If we don't teach our kids to be competitive when they're children, how the hell are they supposed to achieve anything when they are older?

I know what is best for my children, the government needs to stop playing at mummies and daddies.

Democracy my arse!

Once again John "Crazy Frog" Prescott has confused democracy with despotism and it's all about regional assemblies ... again.

The imposition of regional assemblies (RA's) was the ultimate display of despotism when they were introduced before the referrenda had been held to find out if people actually wanted them. The north east voted against them, the planned nationwide referrenda were abandoned in a fit of blind panic but the RA's were left in place to continue their unwanted, undemocratic, illegitimate "work".

Now Prescott has decided that councils need to be forced to release more land for housing developments. The reason the tub of lard believes that his proposals are needed is because the regional assemblies for the South East and the Eastern region keep voting down the number of houses his department says are needed.

Regional Assemblies are, of course, part of the government's plans to bring democracy closer to the people. What better way to demonstrate their commitment to democracy than to allow Prezza to over-rule the an RA when it doesn't do his bidding?

Democracy my arse!

More reading:
Neil Herron
Campaign for an English Parliament (includes funny impression of the grease monkey himself)

Hereward asks the NHS some questions ...

Hereward marks his return to the blogging world by asking the nice lady at NHS Towers to explain how Scotland getting free dental check-ups while the price in England is going up can be reconciled with the statement "Making the system fairer and simpler for everyone."

Read the full story here:
http://wakinghereward.blogspot.com/2005/07/so-i-said-to-lady-at-nhs-hq.html

Monday, July 18, 2005

The Sky is Falling!

Ok, not quite but my downstairs bathroom ceiling is. I walked in there this evening and noticed the ceiling sagging pregnantly and a large crack on either side of the plasterboard ... er ... board. Doesn't look too good.

Phoned Norwich Union, our insurance company, and got a helpful (not) chap who told me they wouldn't do anything until a plumber had been and sorted it out. Wife is in the background loudly telling me that we are changing back to Direct Line when this is sorted, posibly not the best way to encourage him to be helpful.

Luckily a neighbour is a builder and dabbles with pipes when he's pressed and he popped round to take a look (email me if you live in or around Telford and need a good builder and I'll pass your details on). He checked the upstairs and downstairs bathrooms and said the ceiling is going to have to come down to find the leak because it's under the bath and it can't be done without talking to the insurance company.

I phoned them back and got a helpful (really) lady on the phone who said they will send an emergency builder round to secure the ceiling and the electrics and would I like them to come in the morning or tonight. It was late so I plumped for tomorrow morning. They said to take some pictures of the ceiling before anything is done, the builder will come tomorrow to secure the ceiling and then we can get the plumber in to fix the leak. We have to pay for the plumber ourselves which I'm not best pleased about but it's my fault for not checking the cover on the policy properly I guess. Once the plumber has been we just need to call the builder and they'll come and repair the damage and re-decorate what needs decorating.

All it's costing us is the plumber and a ÂŁ60 excess so it could be worse.

Overall, not particularly satisfied with Norwich Union but they have time to change my mind still.

What is it with bribing kids?

I sometimes bribe my kids for a quiet life but then I'm their dad so it's my preogative. I certainly wouldn't bribe them so often that I had to keep on giving or else they wouldn't do anything. Not so the government.

The British government are already bribing kids to stay at school by paying them for not leaving when they can. Rather than bribing them to stay, perhaps they should be offering some real incentives to stay on and achieve? Most kids can't afford to go to university because of the fees our friends to the north and west imposed on us. When I was still at school (I left about 12 years ago) I wasn't really encouraged to stay on. They went through the motions - careers advisor, college prospectus, etc. - but nobody actually sat me down when I was 13 or 14 and said "Look. You might not realise it yet but if you don't get a good education you're going to spend the rest of your life scrimping and saving while your friends who go to college and university are sunning it up on the Costa Del Loaded". I might not have taken any notice but who knows? Those that don't take any notice aren't really destined for much anyway are they?

Anyway, what prompted this is the governments announcement that they intend to provide teenagers with discount cards for shops if they are well behaved. Firstly, punishment and reward with kids is the job of parents and not the government. They already interfere in family life too much as it is and this is probably one of the reasons for the rise in hands off parenting where crap parents know they can be as crap as they want because the government will step in as a surrogate parent. Secondly, badly behaved kids won't respond to bribes - they'll just sneak around and not get caught. Kids aren't stupid, they're very cunning - something us adults tend to forget a little too often.

Habitually badly behaved children should be punished. The carrot and stick approach only works so far, as does positive reinforcement. Some children just have a predisposition to being naughty.

I have 4 kids - 7, 5, 3 and 1 years old. The eldest one is generally well behaved, academic and his only failing is that he's a gobby little bugger at times. The 5 year old is more "manual" than academic, he's not very gobby but he has a short temper and has a tendency to completely ignore you, literally as if you haven't spoken - it doesn't even register with him. The 3 year old is the spawn of satan. He is bad tempered, stubborn, defiant and naughty. The 1 year old so far seems to quite placide and cheerful.

The point is, my children have all been brought up the same by us as parents. The only difference being that until 4.5 years ago I wasn't the father of the eldest two and they have been through some really bad shit with their real dad. They are all completely different personalities despite being brought up the same way and bribing them won't change that. The only people who really know how to deal with their children is the parents themselves and it should fall to the parents to discipline and/or reward (bribe) their children and not the government.

Sunday, July 17, 2005

Neil Herron strikes again!

I am starting to form the opinion that Neil Herron could be one of the most important Englishmen of our time.

His record speaks for itself:

  • He has fought tirelessly for an English Parliament and an end to the discrimination against English people at the hands of the Scottish Raj.
  • He fought against the unelected and unwanted North East Regional Assembly in last years referendum.
  • He fought against the EU Constitution heading up the Peoples No Campaign.
Now he is once more taking on the government over the North East Assembly (NEA) and people are starting to notice. The Telegraph have published a story on his fight against the NEA (read it here) giving the campaign some welcome publicity.

Neil Herron has struck a blow to the NEA's attempts to incorporate themselves to indemnify their members from liability by registering a company with the name North East Assemby. The NEA have had to take the step of incorporating themselves after Neil Herron pointed out that their members are personally liable for any liability of the Assembly.

After some digging, Neil Herron has also discovered that the Assembly members (who are local councillors) have been acting illegally by voting to give funds from their councils to the Assembly that they are also members of and therefore have a vested interest in. He has even gone as far as involving the police, asking them to investigate their illegal activities.

I look forward to his next move with interest.

Saturday, July 16, 2005

Apologies in advance to any French readers

I read this on the EDP blog and I just had to post it here. I might take the piss out of the French but I do quite like them really. I thought this was so funny ...
Prime Minister Chirac has officially raised the French terror alert from "Run" to "Hide". There are only two higher alert levels in France, which are "Surrender" and "Collaborate". The rise was precipitated by a recent fire which destroyed France's white flag factory - effectively crippling their military.

This is up there with The Onion's "Arc de Capitulation" story.

Friday, July 15, 2005

Why we can't be English

I've had an email from the Nationality Office today with an explanation of why we can't have English nationality.

Dear Mr Parr,

I am sorry for the delay in responding to your further comments below, which I at first took to be rhetorical.

Section 12 of the British Nationality Act 1981, in full conformity with Article 15 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, enables me to renounce my British citizenship if I can satisfy the Secretary of State that I have or am about to acquire "some citizenship or nationality other than British citizenship". But my choice of other citizenships/nationalities is, in practice, limited by certain legal and political realities. I cannot opt, instead, for English nationality because the law enacted by Parliament (which, as matter of international and domestic law, is the only competent authority to make law on nationality for the United Kingdom) provides for no such status. Neither can I opt for, say, nationality of Atlantis because international law recognises only the nationality of "States" and there is no State of Atlantis.

I suggest that those who framed Article 15 of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights must have had in contemplation the pre-existing legal norms and traditions relating to nationality and its recognition by other countries. In particular, they would have been aware of the following articles of the 1930 Hague Convention on
Certain Questions Relating to the Conflict of Nationality Laws:

Article 1: "It is for each State to determine under its own law who are its nationals. This law shall be recognised by other States in so far as it is consistent with international conventions, international custom and the principles of law generally recognised with regard to nationality."

Article 2: "Any question whether a person possess the nationality of a particular State shall be determined in accordance with the law of that State."

Since the adoption of the Universal Declaration, these principles have been repeated by the International Court of Justice in the case of NOTTEBOHM (1955) ICJ Reports 4.

Finally, I should perhaps point out that the Universal Declaration on Human Rights was merely "proclaimed" by the General Assembly of the United Nations as "a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations". It was not (unlike, say, the European Convention on Human Rights) subject to any signature or ratification process by national governments or legislatures.

Anthony Pilgrim
Nationality
Policy & Special Cases Unit
Home Office

Ok, I can where he's coming from. Just to make sure I asked ...

Hi Anthony,

Thank you for getting back to me, I had all but given up on you!

I think I see where you're coming from. The British government is the legal authority for nationality in England and I couldn't exchange my British nationality without the British government knowing I had another nationality waiting for me. As the British government won't allow an English nationality, they won't relinquish my British nationality?

Is that about right?

Says Anthony ...
Correct.

Anthony Pilgrim
Nationality Policy & Special Cases
Unit
Home Office

So there you have it. I can see their point of view but I still think the whole situation is wrong. We need an English Parliament to promote England, we clearly can't expect the British government to do it.

BNP rejected in Barking & Dagenham By-Election

The voters of Barking & Dagenham overwhelmingly rejected the BNP in their by-election. Labour managed to cling on to their seat with a mere 800 majority.

The BNP had campaigned on the back of the London Bombings using a leaflet with a picture o the blown up bus to spread their racist filth.

Other contenders are going to have to be really inventive to beat the BNP candidate to the next Twat of the Week award.

Cheadle By-Election

The Lib Dems have held on to their seat in the Cheadle By-Election with the Labour candidate receiving so few votes he actually lost his deposit! The Robert Killjoy-Stink Ego Party (otherwise known as Veritas) received an embarassing 0.58% of the vote.

Thursday, July 14, 2005

Democracy Lesson from the North East Assembly

Part time champion of democracy, Neil Herron, gives us a democracy lesson courtesy of the North East Assembly.

According to Chris Foote-Wood of the North East Assembly, unelected means the same as indirectly-elected. As Neil points out, the Assembly members are appointed and not elected at all.

The North East Assembly still continues to go about its business despite being rejected by 78% off the North East in the referendum last year and stands as a symbol of the undemocratic sham government headed up by Traitor Blair and John "Crazy Frog" Prescott.

Not even Labour's carefully redrawn constituency boundaries could have turned the 78% no vote into a legitimate yes vote.

St Andrews Day to become public holiday?

It's looking more and more likely that St Andrews Day will become a public holiday in Scotland after 76 cross party MSP's have signed a private members bill and launched a public "have your say" exercise.

Still no mention of St George's Day being made a public holiday of course - that would mean acknowledging the existence of England and we all know that's a taboo word in Westminster.

Place your bets: Sir Mittal of Labour

Lakshmi Mittal, the Chairman and Chief Exec of the Mittal Steel Company and multi-billionaire has made a donation to the Labour Party of ÂŁ2 million. this is from him personal fortune of ÂŁ14.8 billion.

Mr Mittal was the centre of controvesy in 2002 when Tony Blair backed his bid for a Romanian company shortly after he donated ÂŁ125,000 to the Labour Party. The row was imaginatively dubbed "steelgate".

Anyway, onto business. I'll give you odds of 5-3 for him to be given a knighthood in the next 12 months, 4-1 for the next 6 months and a 15-1 accumulator on him sitting in the House of Lords by the end of 2006.

Wednesday, July 13, 2005

Sout-West Regional Assembly Protest

Apparently, a protest is planned in Exeter against the unelected, undemocratic and unwanted South-West Regional Assembly.

This follows Neil Herron's efforts against the North-East Regional Assembly which the people of the north east actually voted against in a referendum last year.

The protesters will be calling for a referrendum like the one in the north east. Not sure what difference that will make because the North-East Regional Assembly is still there regardless.

They should be pressing for an English Parliament which will negate the need for an regional assemblies in England. They won't be calling for an English Parliament though because UKIP have a hand in the protest and they see equality for England as the beginning of the end for the United Kingdom.

Tuesday, July 12, 2005

Nominations for Twat of the Week

Because I'm lazy ... I mean in the interests of democracy, I've set up an email address for people to nominate candidates for the new Twat of the Week award.

The email address is twat@wonkosworld.co.uk

Monday, July 11, 2005

Twat of the Week: President of the EU

All things have to start somewhere and this may as well be the start of Wonko's Twat of the Week Award.

The first ever recipient of this award is the EU President, Josep Borrell. What did Senor Borrell do to earn this award? John at The England Project has found a quote by this man attempting to make political capital of the London bombings to sell the EU Constitution.

Welcoming the result of the European constitution referendum in Luxembourg yesterday, European Parliament president Josep Borrell of Spain jumped onto the bandwagon by saying “the people of Luxembourg had realised the need for "more of Europe to better guarantee the safety of Europeans".” And he hoped that the “"appalling" attacks in London would "have a positive political effect in making Europeans realise the importance of the European project to better guarantee their safety".

For this shameful exploitation of such a tragic event, Senor Borrell, you are Wonko's Twat of the Week.

Thursday, July 07, 2005

London Terrorist Attack

The terrorist attack on London today has so far taken 37 lives and caused around 200 injuries. A group which nobody has heard of called "The Secret Organisation of Al Qaeda in Europe" claimed responsibility for it, claiming to have warned the British government. The government says they were previously unknown. Hmmmm ...

My wifes cousin is a trainee paramedic in London and she was on a training course in the city when it all kicked off. The staff were called out on duty. The paramedics were particularly brave, going out and treating the injured knowing that another bomb could be going off any time.

The worst thing about this is seeing some peoples' reactions calling for all muslims to be isolated and deported or even for a war against Islam. These people completely fail to realise that they are calling for the same things that these terrorists are, but only in reverse. Most muslims are normal, peaceful, friendly, law abiding people and not terrorists. For a religion that has over a billion followers, the number of terrorists is tiny overall. But lets not let common sense get in the way of a good witch hunt, eh?

One thing I will say is that it was expected. From the day Traitor Blair took us into an illegal war on false pretences at the bidding of George Bush, we became a target.

Wednesday, July 06, 2005

G8 protests went ahead

The police did a few u-turns and ended up authorising the G8 protest march they tried to ban earlier. Very good of them to give their permission for people to exercise their democratic right to free assembly.

A few people pushed their luck and pulled down a security fence but the police sorted them out and a small group of anarchists caused some criminal damage in a nearby village.

It's a shame when people hijack legitimate protests like this but it can not be used as an excuse to curtail peoples' right to free assembly.

Questions for Tessa Jowell

I have sent our new Olympic Minister, Tessa Jowell, an email asking some questions about the Olympics. I haven't mentioned the E word too many times and I haven't mentioned the regions thing because I don't want to scare her off. Once I get a reply I'll hit her with the question of why England, as the host country, is referred to as the regions.

Hi,

I have a couple of questions about the Olympics which I
would appreciate answer to.

It will cost ÂŁ1.5billion to run the
Games. Would you please explain how this will be funded? Will it be
through general taxation for the whole of the UK, general taxation for England
only, general taxation for London or more specific taxation?

ÂŁ7bn
will be spent improving London's infrastructure. How will this be
funded? Will it be from London taxes or will it be paid for by the whole
country?

A ÂŁ20 per household council tax increase will go towards
funding the Olympics. Is that for London or the whole
country?

After the Games four arenas would be 'deconstructed' and
relocated to other parts of the UK along with the swimming pools that are used
for water polo and the 50m training pools. Will these stay within England
or will they be distributed to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as a peace
offering?

There is a lot of talk about the investment and job
creation, the majority of which will be focused on London and the South
East. What benefits will the event bring to the rest of the
country?

Finally, the birthplace of the modern Olympics is in the
town of Much Wenlock where I was brought up and still live close to. Will
the town be included in the Olympic events as the or will everything be
concentrated on London?

Thank you,

Stuart Parr

London to host the 2012 Olympics

London has won the bid to host the 2012 Olympics. Yippe bloody doo. More expense for the taxpayer.

"Think of the jobs and investment" the government cry. Yes, that's absolutely marvellous if you live in or around London and will actually benefit from the jobs and investment. Up here in sunny Shropshire, the only difference the Olympics will make to us is more of our tax money being wasted on something that doesn't benefit us.

Forgive me for being uncharitable but I would quite like my taxes to spent on me, or at least people relevant to me. Enough of moy taxes get sent north and west of the border without the government fleecing more of it for London.

Police call off anti-G8 protest

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4654483.stm
The police have caleld off a protest march against the G8. The protestors have said they will march anyway because it's their democratic right to protest.

It will be interesting to see who wins this battle of wills - democracy or the establishment.

Clever Kids

My wife went to parents evening yesterday for Callum and Declan. Excellent reports for both of them, we're very pleased.

Declan was the big surprise - apparently he's the best in his class for maths. Until a few weeks ago, if you asked him to count he would go as far as 13 and then just randomly choose numbers. As we've discovered from previous parents evenings for Declan, he can do a hell of a lot more than he lets on at home.

Callum also gave us a bit of a surprise with his SATS results. I don't know how they work them all out nowadays (they didn't have them when I was at school). He got level 3 in all his tests which is achievement above the nationally expected standard for most 7 year olds. His teacher said he got a high 3 which is what they'd have expected from a year 4 pupil. He's in year 2.

Tuesday, July 05, 2005

The Barnett Formula: Some Maths

I've been replying to a rather amusing thread on the UKIP forum in which a couple of Scots have been trying to rubbish any argument that the Barnett Formula is unfair on England or that England subsidises Scotland and the rest of the UK.

I spent quite a while doing some maths and it seemed a shame to waste it, so here it is ...

The Barnett Formula is a sum which takes in factors such as population and calculates how much money Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland should get over and above what England gets from central government.

According to the 2002-03 figures from HM Treasury, if you put 1 Englishman, 1 Scotsman, 1 Welshman and 1 Ulsterman together and added up their central government funding, the Englishman would receive 21.15% of the total. The Scotsman would receive 25.52% of the total, the Welshman 25.13% and the Ulsterman 28.19%. That's how the total figure is distributed to within 0.01%.

There are around 60 million people in the UK. That's 50,220,000 English people; 5,100,000 Scots; 3,000,000 Welsh and about 1,680,000 Northern Irish.

The average central government spending per year, per head in 2002-03 was ÂŁ5,453 for England; ÂŁ6,579 for Scotland; ÂŁ6,479 for Wales and ÂŁ7,267 for Northern Ireland.

How much was spent in total:
ÂŁ5,453 x 50,220,000 = ÂŁ273,849,660,000
ÂŁ6,579 x 5,100,000 = ÂŁ33,552,900,000
ÂŁ6,479 x 3,000,000 = ÂŁ19,437,000,000
ÂŁ7,267 x 1,680,000 = ÂŁ12,208,560,000

Total spent on the UK from central government funds was ÂŁ339,048,120,000.

The total amount spent (ÂŁ339,048,120,000) divided by the number of people in the UK (60,000,000) = ÂŁ5,650.80.

The average person in the UK will have paid approximately ÂŁ5,650.80 into the pot.

The average Englishman will receive ÂŁ5,453 out of the pot - 96.5% of what he paid.
The average Scotsman will receive ÂŁ6,579 out of the pot - 116.43% of what he paid.

These sums are all based on HM Treasury figures provided by the CEP and Census information obtained directly from the Census Office website.

Letter: Shropshire Star

Let English have own vote over devolution

None of the main three parties have made any commitment to English devolution, leaving only fringe parties and pressure groups to campaign for a referendum on the subject.

Of the national fringe parties, I know of only two that have a policy of English devolution.

The little-known English Democrats (who have a representative in Telford incidentally) have an English-centric manifesto and work closely with the main pressure groups such as the Campaign for an English Parliament to try and force the Government to give the English people the same referendum as the Welsh and Scots that allowed them to vote for devolved governments.

The other is the BNP. Of course, the BNP wouldn't be the BNP without a right-wing racist slant and their plan is for an English Parliament open only to those of Anglo-Saxon descent.

Their lawyer, Lee Barnes, has suggested that people could be DNA tested to prove their Anglo-Saxon heritage.

It's time the English started speaking up for themselves.

The Government insists there is no English nation and believe that people are quite happy being British whilst our friends to the north and west are encouraged to express their own identities.
If there is no such thing as an English nation, how do they explain the sea of English flags at sporting events? How do they explain the England flags in people's cars and bedroom windows? We're fed up of subsidising the rest of the country and getting nothing in return. Write to your MP and demand fairness, equality and democracy for England.

Stuart Parr
Telford

Hands up if you want democracy ...

... you at the back! I can't see your hand up. Don't make me fine you. You will participate in democracy whether you like it or not.

I noticed this story on the BBC News website earlier today and Steve at Village Hampden has started the ball rolling.

Basically, Geoff Hoon has decided that a 61% turnout at the last election simply isn't good enough and the best way to encourage people to take part in the democractic process is to remove their democratic right not to vote and fine them if they don't turn up on election day.

I'm starting to lose track of all the things the government have done to erode our democractic and human rights. I think I need to make a list.

Syndication & Feedburner

I was bored in between rants and decided to have a nose through the Blogger help files.

I spotted a recommended service for RSS feeds called Feed Burner so I thought I'd pop along and give it a poke as Atom isn't really people's feed of choice.

It's a really good site for bloggers with helpful guides for users of the main blogging services, Blogger included. If you glance over to the right of your screen, you'll see that I've now got the standard Blogger Atom feed, an RSS feed and a counter to tell me how many people have subscribed to my RSS (and possibly Atom, I'm not sure) feed.

The RSS feed works ok, not sure about the counter yet. If anyone subscribes to the feed, please let me know and I can see if the counter works.

NHS Dentist costs to increase

The cost of a check-up with an NHS Dentists is due to double ... but only if you live in England. If you live in Scotland it is going to be free. Co-incidence?

Spain complaining about Gibraltar again

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4651815.stm

Spain is complaining about Gibraltar again. This time it's over the
fact that the government included Gibraltar in the South-West England
region of the UK for purposes of the European Elections.

The British government says it had to find a way of giving them a vote
to comply with a European Human Rights Court ruling. The Spanish
government says Gibraltar could have had its own vote without being
included in the UK. The British government says Gibraltar is too small
for its own vote.

The Spaniards have taken the British government to the European Court of
Justice in Luxembourg.

I wonder how long it will be before they start proceedings to have
Gibraltar included in a Spanish region and then part of Spain itself.
Knowing our friends on the continent they would give it to them and
Traitor Blair would roll over and let them have it.

North East Assembly ... what North East Assembly?

Despite the people of the North East voting overwhelmingly against Regional Assemblies, the North East Assembly (NEA) is still in existance and still has statutory powers.

John "Crazy Frog" Prescott set up the NEA before the referrendum had even taken place, confident of a yes vote to give the assembly legitimacy. The people voted no, the government pledged to continue it's regionalisation plot and the NEA continues to exist to this day.

This is, of course, old news now. What isn't old news, though, is their discovery that the NEA members could be held personally responsible for any contract they enter into on behalf of the NEA. To counter this they have decided to incorporate the NEA and make it a limited company. At the same time, they are also considering changing the name to try and gain acceptance amongst the people of the North East who voted against them being there in the first place.

More information and personal involvement courtesy of Neil Herron.

Monday, July 04, 2005

Can the UK be called a democracy?

The UK is held up as one of the words great democracies but can it really be called a democracy?

Wikipedia offers the following definition of what makes a democracy:


Elections are not in themselves a sufficient condition for the existence of democracy.

Elections have often been used by authoritarian regimes or dictatorships to give a
false sense of democracy. This can happen in a variety of different ways:


  • restrictions on who is allowed to stand for election
  • restrictions on the true amount of power that elected representatives are allowed to hold, or the policies that they are permitted to choose while in office
  • voting which is not truly free and fair (e.g., through intimidation of those voting for particular candidates)
  • falsification of the results

While there is technically no barrier to who is allowed to stand for election (other than the usual restrictions on criminals, being under-age or not a citizen of the UK), there are practical restrictions. The party political system in place today is a barrier to to people wanting to stand independently.

There is also the question of fraudulent elections with the postal voting scandal in Birmingham.

Finally, voting isn't free and fair. Labour won the last election through electoral anomolies of their own devising and not by obtaining the majority of votes.

In the same Wikipedia article they also touch on Liberal Democracy. Surely we live in one of those?


In common usage, democracy is often understood to be the same as liberal democracy. While democracy itself is a system of government defined and legitimized by elections, liberal democracy can be characterized by the incorporation of constitutional liberalism, where certain culturally subjective individual rights are protected from a simple majority vote, inversely; in illiberal democracies no such restrictions exist. Qualities of many liberal democracies include:


We don't have a written constitution as such, our constitution is a collection of laws. Most of the constitutional laws we have are more about giving the government more power than the head of state rather than the giving it to the people.

We no longer truly have freedom of speech or assembly. Legislation is in place and in use that limits what you can say and when you can gather in large groups and protest. You cannot say anything that does or may offend someone on the grounds of race or religion whether you intend to offend someone or not. You cannot gather together and protest without permission. I cannot recall the exact figure but I believe it take only somewhere in the region of 15 people to constitute a riot under UK law.

Equality before the law. There are plans afoot to remove the right to trial by jury for complex fraud cases which is more akin to Napoleonic Law than English Law. There are also guidelines on sentencing for ethnic minorities, different religious groups and different sexes. People are treated differently along these lines and are not equal before the law.

Our right to privacy is being squeezed on two fronts at the moment - the first being ID cards and the second being tracking systems in our cars.

A system of checks and balances between branches of government. The government has appointed itself a majority in the House of Lords to go with the Parlaiment Act that allows it to force through legislation that is deemed unsuitable. The government effectively have a free rein and only subscribe to the principle of having two houses and a monarch as head of state while they either agree with the government or can be over-ruled regardless.

I don't think the UK can be called a democracy when it fails so many of the basic criteria that defines a democratic country.

Sunday, July 03, 2005

The Holy Brussels Empire: Episode 1

Chief Regional Administrator Blair of the Republic of Brittania has taken a trip north to the Kingdom of Scotia to meet with Chancellor Dewar.

Chief Regional Administrator Blair, we are honoured by your presence. How goes the war against the rebelious Anglo-Saxons?

Ah, Chancellor Dewar. It is good to be back in the motherland again. Some of the Anglo-Saxon tribes are becoming tiresome but I have installed Primus Harriet Harmanus to deal with them.

Primus Harriet Harmanus? Are you sure that is wise my lord? She is not best known for her diplomacy.

Worry not Chancellor, I have engineered a distraction with the help of the Praefectus of Gaul, General Chiracium. When they least expect it we will unleash a legion of Europa Constitutium Centurians to bring stability to the regions.

A cunning plan my lord. There is one other matter my lord.

Yes Chancellor?

Well my lord, the new ampitheatre in Ediburghium has proven a little more expensive than we thought and we are a little short on funds. We did consider levying a new tax on the people of Scotia but thought it more prudent to relieve the Anglo-Saxon regions of some hard earned cash.

An excellent proposal. I will instruct Lord Barnettus to send more funds immediately. Legate Brown, send word to Londinium at once.

Yes my Lord.

All: Ave Brussels!

"Scotland & England together on equal terms"



This picture is genuine - it's on the Scottish Parliament website (here).

Good old Traitor Blair eh? The Scotland Act 1998 established a Scottish Parliament, thereby ending one of the cornerstones of the Act of Union which was that all the countries of the United Kingdom are equal.

"Scotland & England together on equal terms"

When?

Live8: valuable contribution or waste of resources?

Live8 happened yesterday and today, all over Africa, millions of people are waking up completely oblivious to the efforts Sir Bob Geldolf and his band of merry men, women and Elton John have made to improve their lives.

The question is, was Live8 a valuable contribution or a waste of resources?

I was only 7 or 8 when Live Aid happened but even then I had the opinion that it wouldn't help. In fact, I recall taking some stick from some of the goody-goody rich girls (you know - the ones with ponies) when I refused to smile and put some change into their collection tin and instead chose to tell them what I still firmly believe now: the more we give in aid, the worse we make the situation.

Today I discovered I am not alone in my beliefs - the brother of the South African president wrote an open letter to Sir Bob Geldof basically thanking him for his kindness but telling him that he isn't helping.

You see, the thing is, the more aid we give to African countries, the less their governments have to answer to their own people. The poor, starving Africans live their lives days away from death and on the whole they don't know or care whether the food they have just been given is from their own government or from Mr and Mrs Smith of High Wycombe. The only people who can change Africa are the Africans.

No matter how much we give in aid, most of it will be stolen by their governments and the benefit won't reach many people.

The only way to effectively give aid to Africa is to take their corrupt governments out of the equation and the only way of getting rid of corrupt governments is for their people to get rid of them. We could remove their governments by force like with Afghanistan and Iraq but all that will happen is a few years down the line, another corrupt government will step in and in the meantime the people at the bottom of the chain of command are still the same corrupt petty officials, Changing the people at the top isn't going to change that.

The best thing we can do for Africa is write off their debts and cut them loose. When they start relying on their own governments and they get let down they will have to do something about it themselves. It sounds harsh but it's the best solution. Tough love.

Saturday, July 02, 2005

All Blacks thrash the British Lions

The New Zealand All Blacks have mullered the British & Irish Lions 48-18.

I wonder how much talent was wasted to ensure the team reflected the politics of the UK.

Dummy Speed Cameras are a secret

Suffolk Safecma, the speed camera operator for Suffolk (obviously) has set a precedent by refusing to release information to a newspaper requested under the Freedom of Information Act.

the newspaper had requested a breakdown of how much each speed camera had generated in fines. They refused to provide the information because motorists would then be able to figure out which speed cameras were dummies and that might encourage them to break the law.

Asylum figures materialise out of thin air

The figures on asylum that the government said were impossible to produce before the election have mysteriously materialised after it. Of course, it could genuinely be that the figures weren't aavailable and have been researched and compiled in the last few weeks. Alternatively, it could be that the government thought their chances of re-election might have been hampered if the public knew that under the Labour Party, the number of illegal immigrants in the UK has risen to 1 in 100.

1 in 100. Think about it. How many houses are there in your street? Assuming an average of 4 people per household that's 1 illegal immigrant per 25 houses. In my street there are 185 houses meaning that going on averages there must be 7 and a half illegal immigrants living here (I don't want to see the half ... messy).

Dawley Day

Dawley is one of the old towns that are now part of Telford. They've had Dawley Day for years - it's kind of like a carnival and fĂȘte but they stopped having the floats a few years ago apparently. They have all sorts of entertainment, and a car boot/market type thing for various charities and good causes. One of the local radio stations, Telford FM, were there covering the event.

The stage school my son goes to were there dancing and singing and stuff. I took a short video clip of it (45 seconds) and a couple of pictures of them and some other things going on.

Telford Stage School - Heyyyyyy Yaaaaa (Video: 7.51mb)
Telford Stage School - Heyyyyyy Yaaaaa (Picture)
Buddy the Dog - Telford FM's mascot (Picture)
A Clown with his hand up a monkey's bum (Picture)

Friday, July 01, 2005

BNP - Bigotted Nazi Pigs

The BNP have been giving the CEP a bit of grief because they don't subscribe to their racist, white supremecist views.

The CEP wants an English parliament open to English people, including anynoe eligible to vote in England, regardless of their colour or heritage.

The BNP, on the other hand, want to restrict it to those who can prove their anglo-saxon descent by way of DNA screening and woe betide anyone who criticises them for it.

As well as giving Gareth some grief, I got some personal attention from the BNP's lawyer, Lee Barnes. Apparently, I'm a prat and a liberal facist (isn't that a bit of a contradiction?) amongst other things. Big words from a little nazi.

Read the full text, including the unabridged, unedited, bigotted, racist, hateful whitterings of the BNP's pet rottweiler here.