Clare Short has been reprimanded by the Labour Stazi for saying that she is embarassed of the party and she will be campaigning for a hung parliament in the next election.
The Labour Stazi constitution demands respect for fellow MP’s, an article which is interpreted as meaning “the party is good, the party is great, surrender your will as of this date”.
Princess Tony says there is a will to restore devolution to Northern Ireland. I wonder if it’s more or less of a will for an English Parliament which every survey in the last 12 months or so has shown to be the will of the majority of English people. So can we have devolution too? I’ve asked our glorious leader, I wonder if I’ll get a reply …
Dear Tony,
Your dedication to restoring devolution to Northern Ireland is commendable, as is your dedication to giving more devolution to Scotland and Wales.
Can you please tell me when you will stop discriminating against the English and allow us a parliament of our own? The most recent polls on the subject all show that a majority of people either want an English Parliament or to stop foreign MP’s from voting on English laws. By contrast, the British government relies on a study that is 4 or 5 years old to claim that English people don’t want their own parliament.
If Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland all deserve their own parliament then what is it you hate about the English so much that you can’t bear to think that we should get the same? I voted for you in 1997 because I thought you were a good man. If I’d have known then what I know now I wouldn’t have given you a second thought, you’ve let me and the other 50m English people down very badly.
North Korea again, ho hum. Bush the warmonger says North Korea will face “serious repercussions” for testing a nuclear bomb. Princess Tony says that North Korea should face more sanctions, Bush is trying to get the UN to impose more sanctions and North Korea says that sanctions will be an act of war.
Enough is enough Tony, no more war.
How can the 4th ranked team in the world lose 2-0 to Croatia? Fair enough, Croatia are a decent team but England is … well, England.
Bring back Sven and Beckham and lets start winning again.
The only consolation is that Ukraine beat North Britain 2-0 as well.
Take a look at 18 Doughty Street – a webcast political TV “channel” with personality.
Looks good so far. Dunno what to make of that dodgy Iain Dale bloke though. 😉
North Britain plays Ukraine tonight. The match is live on BBC2 … come on Uuuuuuukraine. 😆
The British government has announced that the ID card will cost £5.4bn to set up and run over the next 10 years.
Pull the other one, it’s got bells on!
The cost to the Home Office might be £5.4bn for 10 years but the real costs will be well above that. Every public body that wants – or has – to take part in the ID database scheme will have to pay for it. They will have to pay for the cost of implementing the scheme, infrastructure, ongoing costs, etc. Every police car will have to have a card reader as will hospitals, doctors surgery’s, dentists, etc. Every time we interact with the state we will have to use our ID cards and we will foot the bill for every state agency, government department and private company that uses it.
NØ2ID estimate the cost at £20bn. I can see it costing that much in the first year, if not more.
According to a new report by Civitas, the majority of Britons are now officially recognised as members of an “oppressed group”.
“Oppressed groups” include birds women, puffs homosexuals, cripples disabled people and darkies ethnic minorities. Think I just managed to get away with that one which is good because members of these “oppressed groups” – 73% of the population – are entitled to special protection.
The report criticses the British government for the ridiculous state of affairs where almost three quarters of the population are officially classified as victims saying that the victim culture is undermining democracy and the concept of everyone being equal in the eyes of the law.
This country is supposedly governed by the rule of law. So why is it that the British government can decide to obstruct the lawful challenge of an unlawful conviction because they believe the conviction was morally right?
ContraTory carries an article about the unlawful convictions of motorists on illegal level crossings. It appears that several hundred level crossings have been illegally installed by a government agency that did not have the legal right to install them. Convictions obtained in relation to these illegal level crossings are invalid and as such, a legal challenge should see a judge quashing the conviction, any paid fines refunded and penlty points removed from licences.
However, the British government has said that they will do everything possible and make it as expensive as possible to prevent people from contesting their unlawful convictions because they believe the conviction is morally right as the drivers were putting lives at risk. Yes, the drivers put lives at risk and yes, the conviction is probably morally right but the conviction is unlawful.
The fact that it is merely a technicality which makes the conviction unlawful is neither here nor there. They are not escaping justice or getting away with breaking the law because the law says that they did not commit a crime. The law is essential a set of codified morals – thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, etc. What the British government believe to be morally right does not supercede the law of the land. The law applies to us all equally … or so the theory goes.
I suppose it was inevitible that I couldn’t ignore North Korea forever. To be honest, I thought it was just a flash in the pan and everyone would get bored of what is essentially a non-issue but no, it’s got to be dragged through the media feeding frenzy for a bit first.
North Korea has tested a nuclear weapon. They said they would some time ago and the UN imposed sanctions as a result. Despite the sanctions they’ve still tested a nuclear weapon so they obviously don’t work. Traitor Blair’s response to the test? He’s going to petition the UN to impose more sanctions. You couldn’t make it up. :s
So what next? Perhaps the sanctions will do so much harm that North Korea decides to invade South Korea again for food, money and resources. What will we do then? They’ve got nuclear weapons.
North Korea isn’t interested in the rest of the world, they’re an inward looking state that have deliberately cut themselves off from the outside world. The people don’t need “saving”, just leave them to it. If they decide they want to get democracy and capitalism let them sort it out themselves, we don’t need a christian democrat crusade in North Korea.
The Americans this morning said that they were going to make North Korea pay for their actions. Big words for a country that hasn’t been on the winning side of a war since 1945 and whose forces are severely overstretched in Afghanistan and Iraq already.
Let’s just get this straight – the Americans don’t have any spare troops, we don’t have any spare troops, the North Koreans have got lots and their ally, China, has the worlds largest standing army.
A primary school in Telford has put a 10 year old boy on a “racism register” for a comment made in the playground. The entry on the register can only be removed with the permission of a British government minister and will remain on the childs school record.
The reason? The white boy was talking to another white boy in the playground about Doctor Who. The boy was trying to explain which episode of Doctor Who he was talking about and said “you know, the one with the packie woman in it”. A white girl in the playground overheard it and told a teacher.
Ok, I understand that the word “packie” is a derogatory name for an Asian but to a 10 year old boy it’s just another word that lots of people use to refer to an Asian person. In a previous job, the Asians I worked with used to call each other “packie” all the time. It’s all about context.
“Eskimo” is a derogatory term for an Inuit so would he be put on the register for that? How about for referring to a French person as a “frog” or a German person as a “kraut”? No Asian person complained about what the boy said yet he’s been branded a racist at the age of 10 years old.
I’ve criticised UKIP in the past for basically being a single issue party of amateurs. However, two things have changed since the last time I heckled UKIP – I have become a staunch EU-sceptic and I have been to the UKIP party conference today.
UKIP are still effectively a single-issue party. Their main objective is – and probably always will be – leaving the EU. This is all well and good but what do they do if they get into power and leave the EU? What are their policies on education, health, law and order, etc.?
UKIP have just announced a new policy on taxation. They propose a £9k tax-free allowance and a flat 33% tax rate. I doubt the sums add up anyway but this is dangerously similar to the Lib Dems policy of hammering high earners with high taxes and that has been one of the main barriers to Lib Dem support in England where, by rights, they should be mopping up middle-England Labour supporters who have become disaffected with Chairman Bliar.
So, they now have two policies which isn’t really a lot for a serious political party although to be fair that’s two more than David Cameron currently has. 😉
Going to the conference today actually quite impressed me. I went to meet Jim Kelly, their regions expert, to talk about the West Midlands NO! campaign and see what UKIP were planning to do about opposing the regions. The Tory MP’s I have heard from so far have all said they oppose the regions but basically, “what can we do unless we’re in power?” which is a bit disappointing coming from Her Majesty’s Opposition. I found out some very useful information about the regions and Jim Kelly certainly knew his subject inside out. When I asked him what UKIP were doing about the regions he umm’d and aah’d a bit and said “to be honest, not enough” and then called over Mike Natrass, the UKIP MEP for the West Midlands.
The two of them had a chat and decided that it was about time they did something about the regions, nominated someone to come up with some policies (in his absence, poor bloke :o)) and that was it, the decision was made – UKIP are going to start properly opposing regional government. It was this willingness to listen to a member of the public, someone they knew nothing about and then make a decision there and then without going through endless spin doctors and PR groups that impressed me. That and the fact that they were quite happy to admit that they weren’t giving enough attention to an issue instead of trying to blag me or fob me off.
I suppose there are two opinions that could be drawn from this and I think both are probably valid to some extent. The one way to look at it could be that UKIP are a dynamic party that is keen to change and adapt to be relevant and shuns spin doctors and PR guru’s so that decisions can be made quickly and efficiently. Alternatively, it could be that individuals are going off and doing their own thing and that the party suffers from weak leadership and discipline and are so devoid of policies that they will take anything on as long as it’s broadly relevant. I think it’s more the former than the latter but without being on the inside, it’s impossible to tell.
Anyway, I’ve come away with a greatly improved opinion of UKIP. Whether they can make that jump from single-issue campaign group to serious political party remains to be seen but if they can replicate the action I saw in two hours today for other issues then who knows, they could cause an upset at the next general election. They don’t have delusions of grandeur – they know their weaknesses and they admit them. There was also a distinct lack of security around the place, quite a contrast to the vanity of the Labour and Conservative conferences where nobody was allowed near the building without having police checks and being searched – I just walked in through the front doors and nobody batted an eyelid. I didn’t even have a ticket!
Mike Natrass also invited Mrs Sane and I to go to Strasbourg next year courtesy of the European Federation. When I told Mr Sane I was gobsmacked when she said she’d go rather than her usual response to anything I mention that is remotely political which is generally along the lines of “God, you’re always talking about politics; talk about something else”. Maybe I’m wearing her resistance down at last.
I still don’t like party politics but if I were to nail my colours to the mast I think they would be yellow and purple. A few weeks ago I would have plumped for the Tories but the more I think about Cameron and the things he says, the more I see the Conservatives turning into a New Labour clone and I don’t like where they’re going. Labour re-invented itself in 1997 and the Tories are trying to do the same thing but that’s not what the Conservative Party is about – it’s about tradition, respecting our culture and heritage and not re-inventing itself endlessly to appear to be all things to all men. I don’t like it. The big problem with UKIP for me is that they oppose an English Parliament as the solution to the West Lothian Question believing it to playing into the EU’s hands by breaking up the UK. Still, who knows what the future will bring – they have a new leader that nobody knows much about, perhaps their policy will change?
Devil’s Kitchen hosts the first ever roundup of the EU-sceptic Bloggers group.
For once, no foul language – click here.
A leaked report by the Church of England has criticised the British government’s multi-faith policies saying that by giving Islam and muslims preferential treatment they are actually contributing to the alienation of muslims and encourages them to withdraw further into a sense of victimhood.
The Church of England is increasingly sidelined in order to pacify muslims who are required by their religion to convert the entire planet to Islam, by force if necessary. The British government’s Commission on Cohesion and Integration doesn’t even include a representative of the christian faith of any denomination.
Meanwhile, 4 British soldiers who have just returned from Afghanistan have had to look for alternative accomodation after four muslims trashed a house they were about to start renting in Windsor. The soldiers have been told to find somewhere else in another town to avoid stirring up tensions in the muslim community close to the Queen’s home.
Edit:
Comments closed due to excessive spam
A bit of background on this because it’s a bit of a saga.
Firstly, Telford & Wrekin Council have been running a “shadow company” for about two years now, secretly building up brand awareness within their sphere of influence and spending in excess of £1.3m of taxpayers money. The company was supposed to be called “Telford First” but they were pipped to the post by a couple of enterprising gentlemen who have come to be known as “the two John’s” who registered the name Telford First Ltd the weekend before the hastily arranged official launch of the company.
One of the John’s is the owner of the Telford Council Watch forum and the other John is a moderator there and a local charity worker who has been on the receiving end of the council’s unscrupulous tactics when he was running a charity. Because of the Telford First fiasco, staff have allegedly been sent an email from someone very high up in the council warning them not to visit or participate in the forum either at work or at home and that the forum will be monitored and anyone that can be identified will be “dealt with”.
To fund Telford First’s unexplained multi-million pound drain on Telford council tax payers, the council have been cutting budgets and staff. Employees being transferred to Telford First or whatever it ends up being called are being forced to transfer out of the public sector.
There are some serious questions that need to be asked of the people at Telford & Wrekin Council who are either elected or employed to serve the public. It simply isn’t acceptable to spend vast sums of taxpayers money on pet projects that deliver little or no benefit to the public and bullying their own employees into silence is not only wrong but illegal.
Telford & Wrekin Council have a duty to spend taxpayers money wisely and for the benefit of the public. Telford First has already cost taxpayers over £1.3m and hasn’t actually achieved anything yet. The City Region has cost tens of thousands of pounds at the very least and doesn’t exist yet. The public have not only been kept out of the decision making process but they have been deliberately kept in the dark until the very last moment.
It’s time for a regime change at Telford & Wrekin Council.
I will be paying a very fleeting visit to the UKIP conference in Telford tomorrow afternoon.
If anyone else is going drop me a line.
England are playing Macedonia tonight in their latest Euro 2008 qualifier.
As Tommy English says, are you ready to be embarassed by the lack of an English national anthem?
I got an apology from BBC Subtitling last time for calling the British national anthem the English national anthem. Let’s see if they make the same “mistake” again.
Pop over to Anthem 4 England for information and polls on the subject.
Federal Europe, that shining example of justice and democracy, really needs to buy a new dictionary.
In a vote on whether to impose tariffs on imported shoes, 9 member states voted in favour, 12 voted against and 4 abstained. That’s a defeat right? Of course not because in the European Federation an abstention is a “yes” vote on the basis that it’s not actually a “no” vote.
This voting system is the one that the European Federation wants to introduce for law and justice if member states are stupid enough to give up the veto. How long will it before the justice system is changed to reflect this system?
“You are accused of criticising the European Federation on the 32nd of Octember, do you admit this heinous crime?”
“No comment.”
“Ha! Guilty as charged.”
More on the European Federation’s latest plans to deprive us of our disposable income at Devil’s Kitchen (usual warning about foul language applies).
The Demon Headmaster says that he asks muslim women covering their faces to uncover them when they’re talking to him because he thinks that the veil makes it difficult to communicate and acts as a barrier to integration.
Naturally, all the muslim “community leaders” are up in arms at Straw’s insensitivity and racism and breach of human rights and lots of other things they’ve thought up that he’s suddenly guilty of.
Let’s just put this into perspective. He asks them to remove their veils but he doesn’t insist they do. He always has another woman in the office when he’s talking to muslim women. His request is perfectly reasonable, much as it pains me to agree with anything he says.
This morning the BBC interviewed several people about it. They were all muslims of course. One muslim woman wearing a veil came out with the classic “breach of human rights” comment and then went on to say that Jack Straw shouldn’t impose his views on other people. He doesn’t refuse to speak to them if they wear veils so I’m not sure what human right has been breached and as for imposing his views on other people … covering yourself from head to toe is a foreign custom that isn’t very popular here, is it ok to impose that view on the majority of people because it’s a religious custom?
Demon Headmaster
Jack Straw
I have received an email this afternoon from a reader in the Czech Republic who is experiencing that age-old problem, where does one purchase quality owl magnets?
Dear Wonko,
I have just been reading your Defra Wiki and found it both engaging and full of informationativeness. I would very much like to try builing a scale model of the Environmental Contract incentive framework in a little-used corner of my kitchen. The trouble is, I have been unable to locate a local source of owl magnets and I feel that the only available substitute (a penguin) just wouldn’t offer the same performance. Can you help?
Yours,
Almump.s. I live in the Prague, Czech Republic. It’s a bit like, say, Oxford. But with more English people. 🙂
If anyone can help Almum, please get in touch.
