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Friday, June 30, 2006

Israel arrests Palestinian government ministers

If the French sent their troops into Spain, arrested a load of cabinet ministers and started shelling government buildings because ETA terrorists had kidnapped a French soldier, what would the reaction be? How about if the Canadian government did the same in Québec? The Americans in Mexico?

So why is it acceptable for the Israeli government to plough into Palestine, arrest several cabinet ministers who were elected in free and fair elections (despite Israel's efforts to hamper voters) and start shelling the Interior Ministry because Hamas terrorists have kidnapped an Israeli soldier? I am aware that the cabinet ministers are from the Hamas party and that it was Hamas terrorists that did the kidnapping but the party and the terrorist organisation aren't one in the same, much the same as Sinn Fein and the IRA were related but separate.

Thursday, June 29, 2006

Twat of the Week nominations

After a several week break, I'm now taking Twat of the Week nominations. Pop them in the comments or contact me.

Politicians want to control judiciary

Feeling lazy today, another scanned article from the Shropshire Star.

Judge's decision on rights attacked

Judges have sparked a "constitutional crisis" by ruling that policies such as anti-terror control orders breach human rights, a senior Labour MP said today.

John Denham, who chairs the home affairs select committee, demanded urgent talks between politicians and the judiciary to resolve the situation before it escalated any further.

Yesterday High Court judge Mr Justice Sullivan quashed control orders made against six asylum-seeking Iraqis, declaring the orders "incompatible" with their human rights.

Mr Denham told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "There is a constitutional crisis emerging here I think about the way in which the judges and the courts are approaching these issues.

"When many of us, as I did, supported the Human Rights Act and indeed still support it, we thought that on great matters of state of this sort, if the elected Parliament had taken a careful view of what was in the wider public interest that would be given considerable weight by the courts.

"That doesn't seem to be what's happening at the moment and that's why I don't think it's over the top to talk about an emerging constitutional crisis.

"We have got to have a serious discussion between law makers in Parliament, ministers and judges about the way through here.

"I know that when Charles Clarke was Home Secretary he was deeply frustrated that senior judges would not discuss these issues of principle with him."

City Region Propoganda offensive begins

I don't know whic I find more offensive - that our elected "representitives" can come out with this blatant scaremongering propoganda or that the Shropshire Star have given it front page coverage.

City region opposition 'will affect prosperity'

A Government minister has warned that if Telford does not sign up with the Black Country and Birmingham to a city region with an elected mayor it will miss out on extra cash and powers.

Local Government Minister Phil Woplas said the extra funding and powers would allow Telford to boost its skills, transport and economy.

Although Telford and Wrekin Council is keen to be involved in any city region which is created, an agenda that includes plans for an elected mayor has renewed fears that a dominant Birmingham will eclipse the other cities and towns.

Mr Woolas said the council leaders of the Birmingham city region had the opportunity to come up with a winning formula of their own.

He said it was in their hands to convince the Government they had the leadership in place to handle the "radical" devolution of powers and cash from Whitehall.

"If they cannot come up with,strong enough proposals - because we are talking about billions of pounds here - if they cannot show they are up for it, they won't get the powers," he said.

Although he said there were other options, including an elected Cabinet-style model similar to that which the city region council leaders are considering putting forward, he conceded the Government was firmly behind the idea of an elected
mayor.

And Mr Woolas discounted fears of an all-powerful Birmingham, insisting neighbouring towns would benefit from each others' growth. Telford and Wrekin Tory MP Mark Pritchard slammed the plans as "regionalisation through the back door."

Wednesday, June 28, 2006

UK Finance

My wife has been getting phone calls on her mobile for a while now from a company called UK Finance. The calls all come from abroad, the last time from Malaysia. I answer the calls for her and they always explain that she has applied for a loan and they are confirming some details. I take the piss obviously and then tell them politely to go forth and multiply but they still come back for more abuse!

Anyway, I thought I'd do some research and guess what? UK Finance Ltd hasn't filed accounts since 2003 and Companies House is proposing to strike them off the register. This is the second telephone scam/spam company that has latched onto us that is on the verge of being struck off the company register, the other one being Advanced Mobiles. I wonder if the companies are related ... can't be bothered to spend the money to find out really.

Hampshire Fire Service bans English flag

Hampshire Fire Service has banned the English flag from its appliances and stations because it might offend other nationalities. A spokesman for the brigade said that they have a duty to represent all nationalities and that the English flag might be offensive to other nationalities so they have been banned.

When did the duties of the fire service expand to include "representing" people of other nations and enforcing the British government's PC agenda alongside their usual duties of putting out fires and saving lives? What a load of utter bollocks, whoever made this decision should be sacked and tried as a traitor.

Letters: Shropshire Star (not mine)

In last nights Shropshire Star:

It's time the English had a say

For nine years we have had a Scotsman as our Prime Minster who appointed another Scot as Chancellor, whose action waa to take £5 billion from the income of the pension funds which were the envy of the world. He has repeated this each succeeding year since.

He has destroyed the pensions of the English, Prime Minster Blair has filled the moot important posts of Government with Scots. What a mess they have made things. He promised all sorts of benefits but they were only words, effective action was missing.

With his targets he made the National Health Service over reach itself and it's now in debt to the tune of over a billion pounds. Instead of using the funds available to save the NHS he gave several billion pounds to the European Union. Education is in a bad way, hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants and asylum seekers have flooded into the country, violent crime has risen, violent foreign criminals have been allowed to escape.

The only chance the Labour Party has of being elected is for the English Members of Parliament to get together and select an English MP to oppose Blair in his attempt to install Brown as the new Prime Minister. The new English Prime Minister can then remove the Scottish mafia. They could not make a worse job and they could ensure that English money stayed in England. By English, I do not include Prescott.

We must return England to the English by means of an English Parliament.

E Barlow Telford



... and in tonight's ...

Scots and Welsh not at fault for vote result

There appears to be a growing campaign levelled at the Welsh and Scottish.

I originally thought it might be created by the bigots who have had to stop racist remarks against the Muslim and other societies.

So whose fault is it that the Scots in particular are laughing at the English for voting into Government a bunch of Scots who are able to vent their dislike, if not hatred, of the English by having the powers given to them by English voters by voting legislation that they would not dare to vote in north of the border?

As a Welshman who has lived in England for the greater part of my life and served for years in the armed forces, I often question the percentage of voting for self assemblies for Scotland and Wales, especially the Welsh vote, which split the country down the middle than across the middle.

I also object to criticism of so-called subsidies Wales receives. The critics appear to forget we pay taxes like everyone else. I would suggest there are fewer benefit scroungers in Wales percentage wise than in England.

One thing I will agree with. England should be ruled by Englishmen/ women, but historically it never has, having been subjected to Roman, Norman, Welsh, German and New Scots rule for 2,000 years. I suggest that at the next General Election you give your vote to an English candidate.

Name and address supplied



Can anyone point me in the direction of a campaign against North British and West British people? I certainly don't know of one.

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Anyone but Murray: Update

I had an email earlier telling me that someone had seen their first "Anyone but Murray" t-shirt at Wimbledon today. Fantastic news, wish I'd had some made up before Wimbledon started!

Meanwhile, Andy Murray himself appears to have gone through his blog comments and deleted the couple of hundred "you jock bastard - anyone but Murray" type comments. A couple of mine got deleted even though all I did was quoted him saying he would support anyone playing England in the World Cup. If anyone saved the comments (something I intended to do tonight) then please send me a copy.

Anyone but Murray

Andy Murray, the miserable foul-mouthed North British tennis player, is supporting anyone but England in the World Cup. Let's make sure we all return the favour by supporting anyone but Murray at Wimbledon.



Update:
Andy Murray has a blog ... with unmoderated comments! Why not pop over and tell him what you think about his "Anyone but England" attitude?

Monday, June 26, 2006

Tory Bill of Rights?

David Cameron was on the telly on Sunday morning talking to Andrew Marr about this and that, looking very sincere and sure of himself. They touched on devolution and DC briefly mentioned EVoEL as the solution to our problems and then he got on to the Human Rights Act.

Apparently, DC is considering repealing the Human Rights Act when the Tories win the next election. He says that rather than importing a foreign idea of rights and responsibilities we should create our own British Bill of Rights.

Nice one Dave but we already have a Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights 1667 is still in force today and, thanks to the Metric Martyrs, it cannot be repealed by implication so it supercedes a large number of laws that have since been introduced to limit our freedoms. We don't need a new Bill of Rights, we just need our existing Bill of Rights enforcing. That means no more summary justice, no more jury-less trials and no more on-the-spot fines for a start.

Sunday, June 25, 2006

Devolution Roundup #1

Tom Griffin has done a round-up of this weeks devolution stories in the press.

Many people are starting to quote Ghandi in relation to the campaign for an English Parliament - "First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win."

We've been ignored, we've been laughed at and now they're waging a propoganda war against us. Bring it on I say.

Saturday, June 24, 2006

Shugborough Hall

Spent the day at Shugborough Hall yesterday with Mrs Sane. It's half an hour away from Telford and I didn't even know it was there until yesterday.

The house is the home of the Earl of Lichfield but now belongs to the National Trust. Apparently, the family had two deaths close to each other a couple of decades ago and the death duties were too much to pay so they had to hand their family home over to the Treasury. The Treasury didn't want it so they gave it to the National Trust. The National Trust couldn't afford it so they leased it to Staffordshire County Council who now run it as a museum under the banner of the National Trust. What a palaver!

The house is very nice - lovely painted ceilings and furniture and the gardens are excellent. Lord Lichfield actually lives in one wing of the house but he isn't allowed to cross over into the public part of the house apart from a living room he uses that the public is allowed to see.

There was a rather interesting statue in the gardens which, from a certain angle, looked a bit ... dubious. Anyone care to guess what the two men in the statue are doing?


(Click for a larger image)

Thursday, June 22, 2006

Who calls the shots?

The Daily Mail has helpfully provided a list of prominent North Britons in the UK government.

Cabinet Ministers

Tony Blair
Prime Minister, born and educated in Edinburgh

Gordon Brown
Chancellor of the Exchequer, Kircaldy

Dr John Reid
Secretary of State for the Home Office, North Lanarkshire (almost entirely an English department)

Lord Falconer of Thornton
Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs, Edinburgh
Also Lord Chancellor of England but they missed that off

Des Browne
Secretary of State for Defence, Ayrshire

Alistair Darling
Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, educated at East Lothian (An English Department)

Douglas Alexander
Secretary of State for Transport and Scotland, Glasgow (An English Department)

Quangocrats

Baroness Ford of Cunningham
Chairman of English Partnerships, Ayrshire (An English Department)

Lord Sandy Leitch
Chairman of the National Employment Panel, Dunfirmline

Louise Martin, CBE
UK Sport board member, Dunblane

Ian Hay, OBE
Low Pay Commission, Aberdeen

Other Senior Politicians

Nigel Griffiths
Deputy Leader of the House of Commons, Glasgow

Ian McCartney
Minister without Portfolio and Party Chair, East Dunbartonshire

Pat McFadden
Junior Minister for Social Exclusion, Paisley

Bridget Prentice
Parliamentary Under Secretary for the Department of Constitutional Affairs, Glasgow

Jim Murphy
Minister of State at the Department of Work and Pensions, Glasgow

Anne McGuire
Minister for Disabled people, Stirling

Adam Ingram
Minister for the Armed Forces, Glasgow

Thomas McAvoy
Government Whip and Comptroller of Her Majesty’s Household, Lanarkshire

Michael Martin
Speaker of the House of Commons, Glasgow

Lord Irvine
Former Lord Chancellor and Blair ally, Inverness

Jim Fitzpatrick
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department of Trade and Industry, Glasgow (An English Department)

David Cairns
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and the Scottish Offices, Greenock
Barry Gardiner, Food Minister, Glasgow

THERE ARE AT LEAST 106 SCOTTISH-BORN MPs IN WESTMINSTER

Hmm, 106 Scottish-born MP's in Westminster. Scots make up roughly 8.5% of the population but about 16.5% of the UK government is Scottish.

As well as the list of ministers, the Daily Mail also provided a list of political commentators and media controllers from North Britain.

The Commentariat

Nicky Campbell
Broadcaster, Edinburgh

Charles Allen
ITVs Chief Executive, Lanarkshire

Andrew Neil
Publisher and broadcaster, Paisley

James Naughtie
Today presenter, Aberdeenshire

Andrew Marr
Former BBC political editor and broadcaster, born in Glasgow, educated Dundee

Kirsty Wark
Newsnight presenter, Dumfries

Kirsty Young
Five newsreader, born South Lanarkshire

Wednesday, June 21, 2006

More Scottish Racism

A 7 year old boy, his father and a disabled man are the latest English victims of North British racism.

The 7 year old, 3' 6" boy was attacked by an ever so brave 25-30 year old North Briton for wearing an England shirt. The man shouted "You fucking English wanker" at the boy, punched him and then walked away. When the boys father went after the man and asked him why he did it he pointed to his Rangers badge. The father turned round to walk back to his family to avoid trouble but as his back was turned the man punched him on the jaw, then in the head.

In a separate incident, a 41 year old disabled man was dragged from his car and beaten, leaving him with double vision and requiring hospital treatment, for wearing an England shirt in Aberdeen.

These two reports have both come from the Edinburgh Evening News as well as appearing on BBC News so there's no excuse of anti-North British media making up stories.

As Kev quite rightly asks - when will the North Britons reclaim their flag from the racists?

Letter: Shropshire Star

World Cup uncovers very deep divisions

The World Cup is responsible for much of the flag waving throughout England but the flags first started popping up just before St George's Day.

The press are divided on their reporting of flag waving — the "highbrow" newspapers see it as something to rise above whilst the tabloids can see pound signs in front of their eyes by supporting England.

The cross of St George is often incorrectly associated with racist groups like the BNP. At the moment, the English flag is correctly associated with racism — racism against English people. Last week the Chief Constable of North Wales warned English people not to drive in Wales with English flags on their cars. He said it was disrespectful and could lead to racism and violence.

An Englishman who moved to Scotland five years ago to care for a disabled friend has had his windows smashed for daring to hang an English flag in his window. The First Minister of Scotland has followed the lead of most of his fellow Scots and is supporting Trinidad and Tobago.

Two chain stores in Aberystwyth had their shop fronts vandalised for supporting England. The words "Aber isn't in England" was sprayed on their windows.

This racist and juvenile behaviour is an indicator of exactly how fractured the so called "United" Kingdom really is. If our neighbours hate us that much, then why don’t they do us all a favour and declare independence? Lets see how long they last without multi-billion pound subsidies from the English taxpayer.

Stuart Parr
Telford

I'm getting a lifestyle guru on the NHS

I kid you not. I've suffered with osteochronditis and osteoarthritis for years now and had lots of surgery and of late my knees have been giving more trouble than usual. Since belting my knee against the underside of a desk last week my right knee has been making a lot of noise when I'm walking down the stairs. Mrs Sane can hear the grinding from the bottom of the stairs when I'm halfway down.

So, today I went to the doctors to see if they could offer any advice. They weren't very helpful at all to be fair. The doctor kept asking me what I wanted him to do. I did point out that he was the doctor and that's why I was there. I accept that there is very little my GP can do. In fact, there is very little a surgeon can do now, but there's bound to be something they can suggest even if there's little chance of it making a difference. However, call me old fashioned but I expect my doctor to give me medical advice, not the other way round.

Anyway, the doctor has referred me to a lifestyle consultant who will apparently be able to help me lose weight which I don't find particularly easy as I am limited exercise-wise and I am a fussy eater. Will it make a difference? Probably not but I'm game.

Tuesday, June 20, 2006

Blair Force 1 ... and 2

According to the BBC, Traitor Blair is to be given 2 private jets to fly him round the world on holidays official trips.

He is expected to have a small jet for short-haul flights and a larger jet for long-haul trips. The royal family will also be able to use the jets but they will have to pay the full cost of chartering the planes. This new arrangement will replace the current arrangements with the Royal Flight when the British government and the royal family use a special fleet of planes provided by the RAF.

The price of ferrying Tony and his chums around in the luxury jets will be in the region of £12.3m per year which is £2.7m more than it currently costs with the Royal Flight.

So, Bliar has deprived the Queen of her yacht, he has allowed her to be seen as nothing more than an ordinary citizen under EU law, he has treated her with contempt and utter disrespect and now he is depriving her of the Royal Flight and replacing it with his own private jets that she will have to ask permission to use.

Arrogant, disrespectful and treacherous - just three words that immediately spring to mind when I think about Bliar.

Somalia on brink of civil war again

Somalia is on the brink of all out civil war again despite a couple of years of relative peace seeing rival warlords co-operating with each other and a government partially relocating from a self-imposed exile in Kenya back to Somalia. However, it isn't rival warlords causing the trouble this time, it is Islamists trying to establish an Islamic state in Somalia.

Telegraph runs front page devolution story

Via: An Englishman's Castle

The Telegraph's front page headline story today is the report released yesterday by a committee of North British MSP's that concluded that English people were unhappy with devolution and that the West Lothian Question threatens devolution and the union.

Monday, June 19, 2006

English unhappy with devolution - shock!

The BBC brings us news of a report by North British MSP's that concludes that English people are unhappy with devolution and the interference of North British politicians in English matters.

The report will come as no surprise to most, the BBC poll on whether we should have an English Parliament showed that 74% of people thought we should and the subject has been getting press and media coverage daily for some time now. In fact, the only people who seem to think that it is a non-issue or that English people don't want an English Parliament are Labour politicians.

Which is quite ironic really as the committee of North British MSP's consisted mainly of Labour members. The King and Queen of Westminster won't be pleased.

Saturday, June 17, 2006

This weeks stats


Just for Councillor Bob Piper who refuses to believe that so many people read this "turgid piece of shit" blog. This doesn't include people going to http://blog.wonkosworld.co.uk, just those visiting via http://www.wonkosworld.co.uk/blog/blogger.html. I would have done all domains (which takes it close to 1,000) on one day but then Bob wouldn't have believed it was stats for this domain.

Thursday, June 15, 2006

Celebrations in Staines

I'm still away on my course so after the match I popped into Staines (unfortunate name) for some food (KFC again). The place was crawling with England fans all cheering and singing and waving their shirts in the air (only the men unfortunately). There were a few police cars around and, for some reason, a Highways Agency 4x4, but no trouble at all.

England -v- Trinidad & Tobago: (kind of) live blogging

I've just settled down with a cup of Twinings English Traditional tea to watch England play Trinidad & Tobago. To ensure that I didn't end up throwing my cup at the telly I muted it after the words "... English national anthem ..." and turned the volume back up again for the Trinidad & Tobago national anthem. God Save the Queen is not the English national anthem, it is British.

17:00 - Kick Off
17:01 - England have their first shot on goal
17:06 - Crouch passes to Lampard who takes a cracking shot at goal which is saved
17:09 - T&T have kept the ball in England's half for a few minutes now
17:10 - T&T have a free kick which is lofted way over the heads of everyone in the box and goes straight out of play
17:11 - Beckham half heartedly take a shot on goal and gets a corner
17:11 - Beckham takes the corner, the ball is deflected form goal and Crouch takes a shot on goal but misses
17:12 - T&T have a limp shot at goal, England retaliate with a weak attempt at the other end
17:14 - England look busy at T&T's end of the pitch
17:17 - England have been keeping T&T's goalie and defenders busy
17:18 - Free kick deflected by the wall
17:19 - T&T player Theobald gets a yellow card for fouling Gerrard
17:20 - Beckham's free kick is deflected, Crouch tries to head it in but puts it into orbit
17:21 - T&T player Whitely gets a yellow card for fouling Gerrard
17:22 - T&T player passes the ball across the goal mouth but Robinson saves it easily
17:23 - T&T player Edwards wastes an opportunity
17:24 - Owen gets sandwiched and knocked to the ground in the T&T area but no penalty
17:25 - England throw-in near T&T's area but ball goes out of play
17:26 - T&T get the ball up England's end but it's quickly send back the other way
17:27 - Crouch and Gerrard have a go but nothing comes of it
17:27 - T&T player gets a ball in the knackers, looks uncomfortable
17:28 - England have 68% of possession
17:28 - T&T player Dwight Yorker still rolling around on the floor
17:29 - Referee has no idea who is supposed to be taking a free kick, plumps for T&T and Lampard gets fouled
17:30 - Corner for England, Beckham lofts it way over the defenders, ball gets passed about a bit and T&T goalie saves it
17:32 - Owen's little legs can't get him to a pass on time, wins a corner, Beckham takes it and Gerrard sends it 300 yards over the cross bar
17:33 - A minute or so of frantic passing about and tackling results in bugger all
17:34 - Lampard has a hopeful shot at goal and just misses
17:36 - T&T nearly score from a corner but miss
17:37 - Crouch tries to head a Ferdinand pass into the box but T&T intercept and clear it
17:28 - T&T have a free kick and narrowly miss goal again
17:40 - England fannying round in their own end
17:40 - Lampard sends a shot over the crossbar
17:42 - Beckham misses a weak shot at goal
17:42 - Crouch misses a golden opportunity, falls over trying to do a volley
17:43 - England looking dangerous for a couple of minutes but no goals
17:44 - T&T get the ball out of their own half and send the ball way out of play
17:45 - Dwight Yorke takes a corner, T&T have an open shot as Robinson is on the floor, Terry clears it, T&T try again, Terry clears again
17:49 - Referee blows the half time whistle as Owen boots the ball into the back of the net, no goal


HALF TIME


18:05 - Second half
18:07 - England looking vaguely competent
18:10 - T&T waste a free kick
18:12 -T&T controlling play
18:13 - Two England attempts at goal, both missed
18:15 - Owen belts the ball the wrong side of the post, only just misses
18:16 - Crouch takes a shot which gets saved
18:17 - Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit's Rooney!
18:18 - England well and truly back in control of the game
18:20 - Beckham free kick goes wide
18:21 - England attacking
18:21 - Lampard sends the ball into orbit again
18:22 - England attacking again, looking dangerous
18:23 - Lampard gets a dubious yellow card
18:23 - Lampard passes the ball into the area but T&T intercept
18:25 - T&T on the offensive
18:26 - Rooney's foot seems to be holding up
18:27 - Two England throw in's
18:28 - T&T waste an opportunity
18:29 - Crouch heads the ball over the bar
18:30 - T&T have a sloppy attempt, an easy save
18:33 - Rooney shows us what it's all about but Yorke intercepts
18:33 - Lampard has a go, misses, T&T concede a corner, no goal
18:34 - Lennon gets fouled, free kick from a fair distance wasted
18:35 - Gerrard saves our skin with some excellent defending
18:36 - Crouch gets penalised for hanging on to a T&T player - tenuous decisions
18:36 - Crouch lays the ball on for Lampard who almost scores
18:38 - Lampard misses again, England looking very strong
18:39 - Ashley Cole has half a chance, falls over
18:41 - Beckham, Rooney and Lampard owning the pitch
18:42 - GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL! Peter Crouch, you are the man!
18:45 - Rooney tries some acrobatics, fluffs it, easy save
18:48 - My not quite 2 year old daughter is apparently outside singing "Inglergend"
18:49 - England slowing the game down
18:50 - Gerrrrrraaaarrrrrdddddd! A cracking goal from outside the area.
18:52 - Superb goal by T&T disallowed for offside

FULL TIME

England win 2-0. The first goal by Peter Crouch who somehow manages to be an excellent footballer despite running like a baby giraffe. The second goal by Gerrard, rewarded for his persistence.

Andy Murray Crashes out of Stella ArtoisChampionships

Grumpy North British Tennis player, Andy Murray, has crashed out of the Stella Artois Championship after being beaten by a Serbian player ranked 69 places behind him.

The gumpy jock was given a code violation for being rude and abusive during the match.

What a shame.

Andy Murray has joined his fellow North Britons in supporting anyone but England in the World Cup. Wimbledon is coming up soon, let's return the favour.

Is Google.co.uk Scottish?

Is the UK version of Google based in North Britain?

Search Google for "Scottish Flag" and you get this.
Search Google for "English Flag" and you get this.

That's not all though.

Search for "Scottish Parliament" and you get this.
Search for "English Parliament" and you get this.

Now I accept that we don't yet have an English Parliament but there are literally hundreds, if not thousands, of websites and blogs talking about an English Parliament but all Google shows you is the CEP and two Wikipedia articles, one of which is for the British Parliament. The page then goes on to display results for "British Parliament".

Blogger (owned by Google) doesn't allow you to choose England as your location when you set up a profile and last year they managed to display custom logos for every patron saint day in the Uk except St Georges Day.

Wednesday, June 14, 2006

Germany 1-0 Poland

Germany have beaten Poland 1-0 by the skin of their teeth. The goal was scored just shy of 91 minutes after a relentless last gasp attacking session by the Germans.

This World Cup is going to throw up a surprise or two I think. England, Germany, Czech Republic, Brazil and France have all looked like amateurs whilst the under-dogs such as Trinidad & Tobago and Poland have played frighteningly well.

If we are to stand a chance in this tournament we really need to pick up the pace and start playing like winners, not like North Britain!

Asylum Amnesty

Asylum is so out of control that the Home Secretary won't rule out an asylum amnesty granting an estimated 400,000 failed, unprocessed and on-the-run asylum seekers the right to stay in this country.

Hands up if you want half a million asylum seekers, none of which have been checked for criminal records, to be given the right to stay in this country ... what, nobody?

Soft on Crime ...

... soft on the causes of crime.

Traitor Blair has taken some flack in the UK Parliament today over lenient sentences handed out for serious crimes. The Home Secretary blamed judges for the kind of scenario where a paedophile rapist can potentially get released from prison after only 5 years, a shorter sentence than you would get for bypassing your electricity meter. The judges, quite reasonably, have taken issue with the Home Secretary's comments and pointed out that they are only following instructions contained in Labour's sentencing guidelines.

So, what is Princess Tony's solution to the problem? Scrapping the guidelines? Toughening them up? Taking away some of the paperwork from police officers so they can do their job? Of course not, that isn't the Labour way. No, the answer to the problem of offensively lenient sentences for serious crimes is ... to bring in a whole raft of new laws!

Bob Piper again

Councillor Bob Piper and his fellow Labour blogger, Mike Ion, have kept me amused for days now with their practical demonstrations of New Labour hypocrisy.

Bob has excelled himself these last couple of days though. First of all, he's complaining at not hearing an apology from another councillor who failed to see the problem with a local standards committee only having white members. I have suggested that maybe they were appointed to the committee based on merit and not their colour but Bob has so far chosen not to offer his opinion on this particular suggestion.

Bob certainly has a lot to say in another comment thread though. Just in case anyone was wondering what King Tony's "Respect" agenda is all about, Bob gives us a practical demonstration by resorting to name calling and playground insults in response to comments by one of his readers (who I presume lives in the ward that Bob was elected to serve). Bob's imagination knows no bounds - Michael Oakshott hilariously becomes "Oakshitt" in Bob's comments. How I laughed.

I suggested to Bob that his behaviour is not what you would expect from a public figure such as himself and told him that I was going to pass the details on to the local press in Sandwell. Bob isn't worried about what the electorate think though - as he said, "there's no such thing as bad publicity".

Brighton Regency Labour want regions

NEU Labour numpty alert!

Brighton Regency Labour argues in favour of euroregions in England. Nobody wants them? Who cares, make them have it anyway! That's the Labour way.

Tuesday, June 13, 2006

Begging for forgiveness

Source: BBC News

Deputy Chief Apologist of the Metropolitan Police, Andy Hayman, has apologised for the "hurt" caused to the terrorist suspects arrest in Forest Gate nearly a fortnight ago.

I can't even be bothered to discuss this. It's pathetic. They were terrorist suspects and they were treated as such. The police didn't turn up any evidence of a chemical weapon which they expected to find but that doesn't mean they're innocent, it just means that the police found no evidence. Now there's a very good chance that these men were not guilty of terrorism in which case they should have got a private apology, not a grovelling public apology for acting on intelligence that they posed a terrorist threat to the country.

I was arrested a couple of years ago because my wife's ex-husband got done over and told the police it was me. He told the police a big long story about what I'd said to him before I'd kicked him in the head fracturing his cheek bone. I showed the police logs from MSN Messenger to show I was at home chatting online at the time and a letter from my consultant to say that the chronic juvenile osteoarthritis I have in my knees means that I would be incapable of getting in even one weak kick, let alone 3 kicks to someones face with enough force to fracture his cheek bone. The CPS threw the case out in next to no time, not because of lack of evidence but because of evidence proving my innocence. I got no apology for being arrested in front of my children and being locked up in a cell for hours during which time I suffered an asthma attack because I suffer from claustrophobia. I asked the police to prosecute him for lying and having me arrested but they refused.

This is what is wrong with the police in this country - they are so politicised that they are scared to offend the "muslim community" but will quite happily offend any number of white English people.

Guess I could be bothered to discuss it after all!

Chancellor wants to encourage Islamic finance

The Ignorant Jock wants to encourage more Islamic finance in the UK. There is apparently a large Islamic finance market already but Gordy McBroon wants to turn the UK (by which he means England, obviously) into a global Islamic fainance centre.

Under Islamic Law it is illegal to make money from lending - loans bear no interest. Islamic finance centres don't charge interest so there's no profit to tax. I am therefore at a loss as to why McBroon wants to encourage it over here as not even Labour have found a way of taxing nothing.

Englishman in Scotland gets windows smashed

Source: UEP

AN England fan living in Scotland is living in fear after thugs smashed his windows because he flew his country's flag from them.

Alan Robinson displayed the St George's Cross and the Union flag on his house to celebrate the start of his team's World Cup campaign.

But only hours after hanging them on Friday, he discovered rocks had been thrown through three bedroom windows.

The unemployed 44-year-old said: "I was horrified. It was obviously because I'd hung the England flag that morning.

"It didn't take them long - all three bedroom windows were smashed in by 4pm.

"I'm frightened to venture outside now.

"I'm disgusted. I've lived in Scotland for five years and never had any problems being English.

"Now I'm terrified to leave the house and I'm thinking of moving away from the area."

Divorced Alan, originally from Leeds, Yorkshire, lives in Coat-bridge, Lanarkshire. He moved north to care for a disabled pal.

He took the flags down after the attack and called the police but no witnesses could be traced.

Within minutes of the cops leaving, more rocks were thrown through the windows.

Alan added: "That day, my girlfriend and I went down the local shops and I was in my England strip. I got abuse hurled at me.

"I didn't leave my house all weekend and I'm thinking it might be safer to move.

"I feel very unwelcome and quite frightened."

Dark Horses Abound

I predict a World Cup of dark horses this time round. I have torn up all my predictions that's for sure. Switzerland just held France to a nil-nil draw. Not only that but Switzerland outplayed the French throughout the second half. Eight yellow cards though, not very sporting.

Rubbish Tax

The UK government has plans to introduce a "Green Tax" on household rubbish. Household refuse collection is already paid for through Council Tax but now they want to introduce a tax on how much rubbish households produce with a figure of 25p/kilo being mooted. The proposal is intended to encourage recycling.

I already recycle everything I can and still manage to fill at least one large and one small bin every fortnight and often we use the second small bin we have as well. There are 6 of us in our house - 2 adults and 4 children, one still in nappies. This rubbish tax will benefit single people, old people and childless couples and penalise families with children.

Monday, June 12, 2006

EVoEL is rubbish

The Guardian have finally noticed that the Tory policy of English Votes on English Legislation is not the answer to the West Lothian Question.

Someone once said that a political movement goes through four stages - first it's ignored, then it's ridiculed, then it's denounced and then suddenly everyone thought it was a good idea all along. The CEP have been through the first three, looks like stage four is starting.

Company cancels conference north of the border

An English company has cancelled a conference it had booked in North Britain because of the anti-English attitude up there during the World Cup. They specifically referred to First Minister Jack McConnell who is supporting Trinidad & Tobago because one of their players plays in North Britain they are playing England.

Muslim police corruption warning

The Guardian ran a story on Saturday concerning an internal Metropolitan Police report that concluded that Muslim police officers are more liable to corruption that white officers.

The report said that family pressures, the cultural belief that supporting your extended family is a duty and the cash economy of the Asian community all combine to increase the risk of "misconduct and criminality".

The Muslim Council of Britain said corruption in any officer should be addressed, "but just to make a blanket comment on the (Muslim) community is not good at all, especially in this period" of muslim sensitivity over allegations that some of its members may be plotting terror attacks.

I wonder if this means that the police will stop running their racist Asian-only recruitment drives and accelerated promotion programmes?

Sunday, June 11, 2006

Away from home

Well, I've been torn away from the bosom of the family home once again. Another 5 days in sunny Slurrey on a Remedy Administrator training course. On the up side, I have internet access in my room this time.

Saturday, June 10, 2006

Trinidad & Tobago 0 - 0 Sweden

Trinidad & Tobago have held Sweden to a 0 - 0 draw despite playing the whole 2nd half with only 10 men. In fact, they played 5 minutes of extra time with only 9 men! Sweden were relentless in their attack but the Trinidadian & Tobagaonian team not only repelled every attack but looked very dangerous at least as often as Sweden.

I think Trinidad & Tobago are going to be, if you'll pardon the pun, the dark horses of this competition.

England 1 - 0 Paraguay

Well, not a very convincing victory but a victory nonetheless. Some excellent play from England who dominated Paraguay throughout despite one of the worst referees we've had for a long time.

Stven Gerrard's yellow card was completely undeserved and I hope the England team will be appealing - he didn't even touch the Paraguayan player. Crouch's yellow card was dubious but I wouldn't appeal against it. A couple of the Paraguayan players were play acting and diving so badly I cannot believe that the referee let them get away with it. One of them took a dive in the penalty area, got up, saw that the Paraguayan player had missed so he dropped to the floor again and appealed for a penalty! FIFA said they were cracking down on play acting this time round with yellow cards for any play acting or diving.

My verdict: a reasonable effort that proved effective against Paraguay but would have resulted in a 5-0 decimation at the hands of someone like Brazil or Argentina. The referee was awful and the Paraguayans were dirty cheating bastards.

CEP/EDP meeting

Unbiased Blogging

Mike Ion, the unsuccessful Labour PPC for Shrewsbury, has given a practical demonstration on the type of biased blogging he so dislikes. Presumably it was to show people what they shouldn't be doing because otherwise that would make him a hypocrite right?

BNP rescue Tory councillors

Thanks to Recess Monkey for drawing our collective attention to the 'arrangement' that has seen the Tories take control of Kirklees Council thanks to the support of the BNP. Kirklees Council's new Tory led administration was narrowly voted in at last Wednesday's annual meeting - with the Labour group abstaining and the Lib-Dems voting against it was the three BNP councillors who ensured the Tories gained power. Of course the Tories deny any formal deals with the useless, dim and lazy party (they would wouldn't they) but they are obviously desperate for power and will welcome support from any quarter.

So is this what 'Compassionate Conservativism' results in?

So, if Labour hadn't abstained would the Tories have needed the support of the BNP councillors? Surely it's just as likely that the Tories did a deal with the Labour councillors (bearing in mind that New Labour is more conservative than the Conservatives) to get them to abstain? It's this kind of trashy sleazy mud slinging that makes people lose faith in politicians and the whole politicial process.

Edit:
My comment along the lines of the above has yet to appear on the blog. Maybe he's down the pub watching football or maybe he's taking a leaf out of Bliar's book and ignoring any question he doesn't want to answer.

Ring Tone

No, not Princess Tony, he's far too busy to talk to the likes of you. I'm trying to get a Jerusalem ringtone for my Nokia 3220 but the only decent one I could find costs £4.50 by the time they've finished abusing your phone with text messages.

England -v- Paraguay - predictions?

So, anyone going to go out on a limb and predict the score for todays match? I reckon England are going to win it 3-1. England will score first, Paraguay second. The first half will finish 1-1 and England will come out and dominate the second half with the first second half goal after about 5 minutes and the second one 5 minutes from the end.

Thursday, June 08, 2006

Roooooooooooooooney!

Wayne Rooney has been passed fit for the World Cup. The team is looking pretty strong now, we're in with a chance.

Chief Constable of North Wales says flying English flag is racist

The Chief Constable of North Wales, Clive Wolfendale, has said that flying the English flag from your car in Wales is disrespectful and could lead to racism and violence. He said that it is a "matter of courtesy and of decent behaviour" not to fly an English flag from your car when in Wales and that "there's no doubt about it that this can be the precursor to behaviour which is much worse than flag waving - it's violence, it's racism, it's hooliganism of the very worse kind."

Personally, I think that if the Welsh are so bigotted and Anglophobic that the sight of an English person flying an English flag from their car could drive them to racism and violence then it is they who have the problem and instead of telling English people they shouldn't be flying their national flag, the police should be doing something to identify these violent racists and deal with them before they cause any trouble.

Chief Constable of North Wales says flying English flag is racist

Source: BBC News

The Chief Constable of North Wales, Clive Wolfendale, has said that flying the English flag from your car in Wales is disrespectful and could lead to racism and violence. He said that it is a "matter of courtesy and of decent behaviour" not to fly an English flag from your car when in Wales and that "there's no doubt about it that this can be the precursor to behaviour which is much worse than flag waving - it's violence, it's racism, it's hooliganism of the very worse kind."

Personally, I think that if the Welsh are so bigotted and Anglophobic that the sight of an English person flying an English flag from their car could drive them to racism and violence then it is they who have the problem and instead of telling English people they shouldn't be flying their national flag, the police should be doing something to identify these violent racists and deal with them before they cause any trouble.

Tuesday, June 06, 2006

Ken Livingstone makes sense!

Ken Livingstone has said something sensible ...
We need Crossrail to keep London's economy ticking over so that we can
continue to pay for the Scottish to live the lifestyle to which they are
accustomed.

This slightly redeems him but he's still a tosser.

Hat Tip: Iain Dale

Mascot shambles

What a shambles! The mascot accompanying the England team onto the pitch in the World Cup is a half Scottish, half Russian boy from Glasgow who supports Ukraine and said he wouldn't be very pleased if England wins. Now an English boy has found that he won't actually be accompanying England but Germany and, understandably, he's not best pleased.

Is Labour in danger of becoming the analogue party in the digital age?

Mike Ion wants to know if Labour is in danger of becoming the analogue party in the digital age. This rather cryptic question is actually a whinge about bloggers slagging of the Labour Stazi and wanting to know how best to deal with the lack of "connectedness" with the electorate and how best to "reconnect" with the people.

As well as his own blog, Mike (who was the Labour PPC for Shrewsbury last year) has posted the article on Telford Live where the residents of what has always been a moderately safe Labour seat (including myself of course) are giving him a right lashing.

It's not looking good for Mike but luckily for him, fellow Labour member Councillor Bob Piper (assuming he didn't lose his seat the other week) has jumped to his aid by telling us how Labour are going to win the next election easily and that my predictions of huge defeats at the hands of the Tories are delusions. We'll see. If anyone can remember why I had a run-in with Bob Piper, please let me knwo because I really can't remember.

Edit:
My thanks to Tommy for reminding me what it was all about. All the comments (all negative) have been deleted at some point.

Monday, June 05, 2006

Beware the Carphone Warehouse

A word of warning regarding Carphone Warehouse.

I am currently getting, on average, 3-4 phone calls per week on my home phone (ex directory) from mobile phone companies. They are overseas call centres, they all speak with heavy Indian accents and they are all called "James", "Adam" or "Joseph".

Now, the only mobile phone company that has my home phone number is Carphone Warehouse. The companies phoning already know I am with T-Mobile, the network I took the contract out with via Carphone Warehouse.

Carphone Warehouse have already admitted giving my details out to "specially selected" (ie. random) companies and have promised me 3 times now that they have removed the telemarketing flag from my account and instructed their "partner companies" not to contact me.

I called them this evening and sat on the phone waiting for 45 minutes before being told by their sales department (it's the only free number they have, you have to pay to complain) that I needed customer services and that they had just closed. I will ring them tomorrow and give them some serious grief. I will also be making a complaint to the Data Protection Registrar.

Carphone Warehouse do some good deals but really, it's not worth the hassle. Pay the extra few pounds it might cost elsewhere - it's worth it to avoid the endless, relentless sales calls and having to deal with lying incompetent Carphone Warehouse staff.

Sunday, June 04, 2006

The week in brief

I forgot to cancel the papers before going away so I had some reading material while the mother-in-law paid a visit. Here is the week in brief - if I've missed anything important (still got about 400 emails to read so it's quite likely) post it in the comments.

Yesterday was tax freedom day - the day in the year when you would have earned enough to pay your tax bill for the year. As far as I am aware this doesn't include all taxes, that day coming some time in July.

West Mercia Police (and, I think, Cleveland Police) has launched a legal challenge to the merger of England's police forces. The cost to West Mercia council tax payers alone is estimated at £52m - money that could be spent on other things that people want such as 1,106 courses of Herceptin for instance.

A BBC History poll has concluded that most people want June 15th as the date for British Day. This is the date the Magna Carta was signed, a document that the Ignorant Jock said was a great British achievement. The Magna Carta was signed in 1215, the Act of Union was signed in 1667. Britain didn't exist when the Magna Carta was signed, what relevance will this day have for "Britain" outside of England? The answer is none and that is precisely the point of the exercise - Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish people will never feel British so English people have to be made to believe they are British so that they will accept a Scottish MP as Prime Minister.

William Hill have takena flurry of bets from Scots backing "anyone but England" for the World Cup. Only 5% of bets placed in Scotland have been for England.

The Fat Turd has caved in to pressure and agreed to give up one of his grace and favour ministerial homes. How long will it be before he caves into pressure and resigns or drowns in a vat of gravy?

Finally, some letters in the Shropshire Star:

Appeal for equality in running of union

Next year marks the 300 year anniversary of the Act of Union between England and Scotland and the creation of the United Kingdom.

The union is falling apart but British politicians tell us that the union must be preserved at all costs.

But what if the cost is too much for the English to bear?

The true cost of preserving the union is hard to define. In order to pacify our neighbours the English must be discriminated against, resulting in unacceptable treatment like English women being denied life saving cancer drugs that the rest of the UK get for free at our expense. The financial cost, however, is easier to pinpoint.

A leading financial company has carried out its own research into public expenditure in the UK during 2004/05.

Every English person receives, on average, £6,623 per year in public spending from Gordon Brown.

Our Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish friends receive £7,059; £8,096 and £8,898 respectively.

We all pay the same taxes so what this equates to is a £28.3bn subsidy paid from English taxes in return for, well, not a lot really.

We are treated as third-class citizens in our own country by the foreign politicians that run the government.

We are universally despised in the rest of the UK except when the Scottish Chancellor is getting his Bank of English Taxpayers cheque book out.

There's a lot we could do with £28.3bn in England, if only we were permitted to spend our own taxes on ourselves.

Stuart Parr
Telford



Voters not asked on super city

The cabinet of Telford & Wrekin council consists of seven or eight Labour councillors and they have just decided without reference back to the full council or the electorate for a mandate to start talks with the other councils to create a super city for the West Midlands.

They claim that Telford would be a major recipient of any investment received by this organisation. Just who are they trying to kid in addition to themselves?

There would be places for possibly two or three councillors on this new organisation if formed as the number of seats would depend on the electorate numbers of each area.

This would mean Birmingham would have the greatest say and control the budget.

Our councillors are only considering how much extra in expense they could claim by being members.

R Knight
Telford & Wrekin UKIP



Treatment is our right

If the government can write off the debts of so-called poor countries at British taxpayers' expense and give the Welsh and Scottish free prescriptions then why not write off the debts of the English people and give NHS equal rights to every British person.

Charity begins at home. Don't put Englaqnd, Wales and Scotland at each others' throats for not having the same NHS treatment free - it's their right.

Name and Address Supplied.



Cabinet's Scottish masters

The local government elections held in England on May 4 are now near forgotten. Labour did badly, more out of people turning away from them rather than the electors being inspired by the Conservatives.

As a consequence of this "slap in the face" Tony Blair had a knee-jerk reshuffle and promoted a couple more Scots into the Cabinet.

He sees nothing wrong in this for he gives every impression of hating England and all things English.

Of late several members of the Government, Gordon Brown in particular, have been running round England telling everyone it is great to be British. No such efforts are being undertaken in Scotland or Wales.

Gordon Brown says he will be rooting for England in the forthcoming World Cup. If England makes it to the final you can bet your bottom dollar that he and his fellow Scot, Tony Blair, will get tickets to attend and, rather ironically will presumably be cheering on the team of the country they have done their utmost to denigrate and destroy.

Edward Higginbottom Co-ordinator, Shropshire Branch of the Campaign for an English Parliament

Saturday, June 03, 2006

I'm back

I'm back and in one piece! Having braved temperatures of minus 90 degrees celsius every night in a tent and temperatures of plus 50 in the daytime, I now feel ready for anything. Apart from the M25 ... don't even go there. Six f**king hours to drive from Telford to North London. SIX hours.