Archive for May 2007
Millibeast singles out English over recycling
The Millibeast is planning to introduce a “pay as you throw” scheme in England to encourage recycling.
He is due to publish his “England Waste Strategy” because he fears that England is falling behind the rest of Europe on recycling.
The urge to force us to recycle as much as possible isn’t an environmental one, it is because the weak British government allows itself to be dictated to by the European Federation which fines us billions of pounds for missing their recycling targets.
Charging for the amount of rubbish we throw away will result in more fly-tipping. Of those that do pay, the poorest families and large households will be the ones that will be hit the hardest. Budget goods contain more packaging to make what is being sold more appealing to the buyer. If you buy an expensive packet of some meat product it will likely be wrapped in the minimal amount of plastic. Buy the budget equivalent and it’ll be wrapped up in all sorts of exciting packaging to convince you that something with that amount of fancy packaging isn’t just a lump of offal and animal bones pressed into a mysterious shape.
Observant readers will note the emphasis on the word England in the first two paragraphs. These proposals, of course, don’t apply to Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. As far as I know they don’t do things any differently to England when it comes to recycling but only the English are being singled out for punishment.
If our neighbours continue to underperform on recycling and bring down the UK average below the minimum required to escape the EU fines who will pay the fines? The Scottish or Welsh taxpayer? Of course not – only one nation pays more money into the UK Treasury than it spends – the English taxpayer will pay to have their bins emptied, extra depending on how much rubbish they throw away and then they’ll pay the EU fines for not hitting targets.
Chip ‘n’ Bin
Up to 3 million households have RFID chips fitted to their wheelie bins which uniquely identify each bin and, with the aid of a database, link each bin to each household.
The British government is paying its European masters billions of pounds in fines every year because recycling targets are being missed. One of the favoured solutions is to charge by weight for refuse collections and most bin lorries have already been fitted with scales on the lifting arms.
A while back An Englishmans Castle found that one of the spy chips had been fitted to his bin. Apparently they don’t work after being nuked in the microwave …
Another genius idea from the EUssr
Our masters in Brussels have had another genius idea – capping the price of international mobile phone calls between EU member states.
The European Federation has decided to put a cap on the amount of money an operator can charge roaming customers for making calls within the EU. The small minority of mobile phone users who will benefit from the cut-price roaming costs will do so at the expense of the majority of mobile phone users who will now have to pay for the lost revenue.
When government interferes in the free market economy it’s bad enough but they can be held to account and can be reasonably expected to have the national economy in their best interests. The cap on roaming charges will mainly benefit mobile phone users on the continent who spend far more of their time travelling across the EU’s porous borders where travelling from France to Germany, for example, is as natural to them as it is to travel from England to Wales.
Judges refuse to back Justice Ministry
The Lord Chief Justice, Lord Phillips, says that concerns amongst senior judges over their independence is so high that they have been unable to come to an agreement with the British government over the creation of a Justice Ministry.
The Ministry will be headed up for the time being by the unelected Scottish Lord Chancellor of England, Charlie Falconer who prefers illegal summary justice to the traditional trial by judge and jury that every Englishman has a constitutional right to. Judges are concerned that they will be sidelined by Falconers control of the entire legal and justice system and his penchant for unconstitutional summary justice.
The Lord Chief Justice has called for a review of the courts’ status as Executive Agencies and for the introduction of “constitutional safeguards” to protect their independence. Falconer disagrees.
Draft Local Transport Bill – Hansard
Not much information in the Hansard on the Draft Local Transport Bill – no dissenters, no cries of “NO MANDATE” from the opposition benches.
However, the Hansard for the bill does start thus:
Draft Local Transport Bill
The Secretary of State for Scotland (Mr. Douglas Alexander):
I am today publishing a draft Local Transport Bill, for public consultation and parliamentary pre-legislative scrutiny.
Forgive me if I’m starting to sound like a broken record but TRANSPORT IS DEVOLVED. Why is the Secretary of State for Scotland, an MP elected in Scotland, introducing a bill that only applies to England?
BBC Bias
The BBC has been accused of anti-English bias before and refuted those accusations. The BBC Have Your Say pages have been updated recently so you can see a history of your comments and their status (ie. whether they were published, unpublished or rejected).
Below is a list of comments I’ve submitted through Have Your Say either on the subject of the West Lothian Question or Englishness in general which have been unpublished or rejected.
To put this into context, I’ve had just 5 comments published on the same subjects.
DEBATE:
Should Herceptin be offered on the NHS?SENT:
15-Feb-2006 12:15COMMENT:
Herceptin is available in Scotland where they can afford the drug purely and simply because of the subsidies paid to them by English taxpayers. Some of these English taxpayers are now dying from breast cancer and are refused Herceptin because the English NHS can’t afford it. This is how Britain works under New Labour and this is how it will continue to work until England gets a parliament to run its own affairs.COMMENT STATUS:
UnpublishedDEBATE:
Should there be an English parliament?SENT:
10-Mar-2006 12:27COMMENT:
Of course England should have it’s own parliament. At the moment we have a British government dominated by Scots who are unaccountable to the English passing laws that don’t affect their own constituents. These same MP’s, devoid of any morals or sense of fairness, have forced through several pieces of legislation by way of the Labour whip that only affect England and that English MP’s have rejected. Restricting voting rights in the British parliament will never work. England has to have its own parliament. To deny democracy and representation to 50m people based on their nationality is racist, discriminatory and plain wrong.COMMENT STATUS:
UnpublishedDEBATE:
Should there be an English parliament?SENT:
10-Mar-2006 13:04COMMENT:
English subsidy given to Scotland last year: £11.3bn Revenues from north sea oil and gas last year: £7bn Net subsidy: £4.3bn I really wish the Scottish Parliament would spend some of our hard earnt English pounds in teaching Scottish people some basic maths. Oil and gas revenues are paid to the British treasury, the same as revenues from English industry are paid to the British treasury. Why should Scotland be treated any differently? When will Scots finally accept that they have were bankrupt before the union and English taxes have been keeping them solvent since 1707?COMMENT STATUS:
UnpublishedDEBATE:
Should there be an English parliament?SENT:
10-Mar-2006 14:55COMMENT:
I wonder how many English people, Scottish Lord Falconer has spoken to about devolution. Nobody I know of.COMMENT STATUS:
UnpublishedDEBATE:
Should there be an English parliament?SENT:
11-Mar-2006 20:08COMMENT:
“No, we have enough politicians with there heads stuck in the trough of tax payers money.” An English Parliament doesn’t have to mean more politicians, more bureaucracy or more expense. The British government can be cut by a good 75% as over 80% of its work now only affects England. An English Parliament would be different government, not more. Stop regurgitating Labour propaganda and thing for yourself.COMMENT STATUS:
UnpublishedDEBATE:
What would you like to see in Budget 2006?SENT:
22-Mar-2006 12:17COMMENT:
More tax on Scottish whiskey would be good to try and pay back some of their £11.3bn subsidy from English taxes. An increase in income tax for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland would also be useful for the same reasons.COMMENT STATUS:
UnpublishedDEBATE:
Are elderly people being neglected by the health system?SENT:
30-Mar-2006 11:06COMMENT:
English taxes are paying for free social care for the elderly in Scotland and Wales already, why shouldn’t we expect our own people to get the same benefits?COMMENT STATUS:
UnpublishedDEBATE:
Should Blair name a departure date?SENT:
09-May-2006 11:39COMMENT:
The electorate voted Tony Bliar into office, not a Scottish MP with no mandate to govern 85% of the population. It is time for the Queen to disolve parliament and call a general election. She has a duty to protect her people and this Labour government is a bigger threat to freedom and democracy in England than muslim terrorists.COMMENT STATUS:
UnpublishedDEBATE:
What are the ‘core British values’?SENT:
15-May-2006 20:23COMMENT:
“British” values? Depends who you class as British really. Only English children are going to be taught these “British” values so surely they should be “English” values instead? What’s the point in teaching English children “British” values and not Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish children? Ulterior motive anyone?COMMENT STATUS:
UnpublishedDEBATE:
Was Reid right to attack paedophile sentence?SENT:
15-Jun-2006 09:29COMMENT:
Why is a Scottish Lord so interested in English law and order anyway? In fact, why do we have an unelected Scottish Lord as Lord Chancellor of England? Why doesn’t Scottish Labour butt out of English affairs and let an English person sort out English law and English judges?COMMENT STATUS:
UnpublishedDEBATE:
Should limits on Sunday trading be removed?SENT:
06-Jul-2006 15:13COMMENT:
Why is Alistair Darling, an MP elected in Scotland, even allowed to make this decision anyway? His constituents elected him to represent their interests in parliament, not to tell English people whether shops in England are allowed to open on a Sunday. His own constituents can shop anywhere on a Sunday because his own constituency is in Scotland where they don’t have Sunday trading laws. It’s time to stop these foreign MP’s from interfering in our business. If I want to go to Asda at 7pm on a Sunday then why should an MP from a different country be allowed to tell me I can’t?COMMENT STATUS:
UnpublishedDEBATE:
Will devolution return to Northern Ireland?SENT:
14-Oct-2006 15:26COMMENT:
Good news for NI, shame England is still denied equality with the rest of the UK and Europe by the Scottish Labour Party.COMMENT STATUS:
UnpublishedDEBATE:
Should A&E departments be closed?SENT:
06-Dec-2006 08:30COMMENT:
If English taxes were spent on English hospitals instead of subsidising the Scottish and Welsh NHS then we wouldn’t have this problem. Last year, a subsidy of over £11bn of English was given to Scotland by Gordon Brown to enable them to pay for, amongst other things, expensive cancer treatments like Herceptin which English women were refused. English taxes should be spent on English people and *if* there is anything left it can be shared.COMMENT STATUS:
UnpublishedDEBATE:
Is land overprotected?SENT:
06-Dec-2006 08:34COMMENT:
Any changes to England’s planning laws should be decided solely by MP’s elected in England, not by all British MP’s. “England’s green and pleasant land” will soon be a distant memory if the Scottish Raj are allowed to “reform” our planning laws.COMMENT STATUS:
UnpublishedDEBATE:
How diverse is multicultural Britain?SENT:
08-Dec-2006 15:06COMMENT:
By talking about “muslim communities”, Bliar not only acknowledges that they aren’t integrated into our society but that he also thinks of muslims – and other immigrant groups – as different, separate to the rest of society. And tolerance? Even the natives of “Britain” aren’t tolerant of each other. Ask the disabled man or 7 year old boy that got beaten up in Scotland for being English about how tolerance is part of being “British”. There is no “British” any more, it’s a dead nationality.COMMENT STATUS:
UnpublishedDEBATE:
Have you been affected by stormy weather?SENT:
18-Jan-2007 14:07COMMENT:
Dear Val from Elgin, we can’t afford to grit in England because we’re paying for your gritters in Scotland. And your health service. And your university fees. And …COMMENT STATUS:
RejectedDEBATE:
Should schools teach ‘Britishness’?SENT:
26-Jan-2007 08:57COMMENT:
My kids are English, not British and I won’t let any teacher tell them that’s wrong. These Britishness lessons will only be taught in England – Scottish and Welsh kids will continue to have their own national identity encouraged. I would rather teach my kids from home than let them be brainwashed into being British.COMMENT STATUS:
UnpublishedDEBATE:
Will power-sharing work in Northern Ireland?SENT:
08-May-2007 17:19COMMENT:
When will England get home rule? We’re paying for the “peace dividend”, we’re paying billions in subsidies to NI, Scotland and Wales and what do we get in return? Foreign MPs interfering in matters that only affect England! England is now the only nation in Europe that doesn’t have its own government.COMMENT STATUS:
Awaiting moderationDEBATE:
Will Gordon Brown be a good leader?SENT:
11-May-2007 17:44COMMENT:
How dare Gordon Brown base his leadership election on health and education! Health and education are both devolved in Scotland – he has no say over either of those matters in Scotland where he was elected. When Gordon Brown was elected he wasn’t elected for his policies on the English NHS or education systems, he has NO MANDATE on any devolved issues. What a nerve!COMMENT STATUS:
Awaiting moderationDEBATE:
Will Gordon Brown be a good leader?SENT:
17-May-2007 21:30COMMENT:
All of Gordon Brown’s “domestic policies” all relate to England. None of them apply to Scotland where he was elected. Gordon Brown has no mandate.COMMENT STATUS:
Awaiting moderation
Road Pricing Bill before Parliament
A Road Pricing bill is being put before Parliament today.
This is despite the fact that 1.8 million signed a petition against it. Despite the fact that the Secretary of State for Transport was elected in Scotland where this bill won’t apply. Despite the fact that the argument for it is complete bollocks.
According to the British government, unless they introduce road pricing congestion will go up by 25% in the next 10 years. Bullshit. If 10,000 vehicles sit in a a traffic jam every day one of our creaking motorways it’s because they need to, not because they enjoy spending 2 hours of their day looking at the back end of a dirty Ford Transit with a hilarious “Clean Me” message scratched into the paintwork. Road Pricing won’t stop those people from driving, it’ll just put them even further out of pocket and put up transport costs for businesses making goods more expensive.
I’ve spoken to the Scottish Executive about this recently and this is a devolved matter and will therefore only apply to England – no MP elected outside of England has a right to debate and vote on this bill, let’s see how many Scottish Liebour MPs poke their hypocritical snouts in.
Who voted to exempt Parliament from the FOI?
My MP voted for to exempt Parliament from the Freedom of Information Act, did yours?
| Adrian Bailey | West Bromwich West |
| Alan Campbell | Tynemouth |
| Alun Michael | Cardiff South & Penarth |
| Andrew Pelling | Croydon Central |
| Angela C Smith | Sheffield Hillsborough |
| Angela Eagle | Wallasey |
| Ann Widdecombe | Maidstone & The Weald |
| Anne Snelgrove | Swindon South |
| Bob Ainsworth | Coventry North East |
| Bob Laxton | Derby North |
| Bob Neill | Bromley & Chislehurst |
| Brian Donohoe | Ayrshire Central |
| Caroline Flint | Don Valley |
| Claire Ward | Watford |
| Clive Betts | Sheffield Attercliffe |
| Clive Efford | Eltham |
| Colin Burgon | Elmet |
| Dari Taylor | Stockton South |
| Dave Watts | St Helens North |
| David Cairns | Inverclyde |
| David Clelland | Tyne Bridge |
| David Lammy | Tottenham |
| David Maclean | Penrith & The Border |
| David Marshall | Glasgow East |
| David Ruffley | Bury St Edmunds |
| David Tredinnick | Bosworth |
| David Wright | Telford |
| Denis Murphy | Wansbeck |
| Doug Henderson | Newcastle upon Tyne North |
| Dr Desmond Turner | Brighton Kemptown |
| Dr Julian Lewis | New Forest East |
| Elliot Morley | Scunthorpe |
| Frank Doran | Aberdeen North |
| Frank Roy | Motherwell & Wishaw |
| Fraser Kemp | Houghton & Washington East |
| Gareth Thomas | Harrow West |
| George Mudie | Leeds East |
| Gillian Merron | Lincoln |
| Graham Allen | Nottingham North |
| Greg Knight | Yorkshire East |
| Harry Cohen | Leyton & Wanstead |
| Huw Irranca-Davies | Ogmore |
| Ian McCartney | Makerfield |
| Ian Stewart | Eccles |
| Ivan Lewis | Bury South |
| James Duddridge | Rochford & Southend East |
| James Plaskitt | Warwick & Leamington |
| Janet Anderson | Rossendale & Darwen |
| Jim Dowd | Lewisham West |
| Jim Fitzpatrick | Poplar & Canning Town |
| Jimmy Sheridan | Paisley & Renfrewshire North |
| Joan Ryan | Enfield North |
| John Heppell | Nottingham East |
| John McFall | Dunbartonshire West |
| John Randall | Uxbridge |
| John Robertson | Glasgow North West |
| John Spellar | Warley |
| Jonathan Shaw | Chatham & Aylesford |
| Julie Kirkbride | Bromsgrove |
| Keith Hill | Streatham |
| Ken Purchase | Wolverhampton North East |
| Kevan Jones | Durham North |
| Khalid Mahmood | Birmingham Perry Barr |
| Lady Ann Winterton | Congleton |
| Laura Moffatt | Crawley |
| Liz Blackman | Erewash |
| Malcolm Wicks | Croydon North |
| Maria Eagle | Liverpool Garston |
| Mark Pritchard | Wrekin |
| Mark Tami | Alyn & Deeside |
| Martin Salter | Reading West |
| Martyn Jones | Clwyd South |
| Meg Munn | Sheffield Heeley |
| Michael Foster | Worcester |
| Mike Hall | Weaver Vale |
| Nick Brown | Newcastle upon Tyne East & Wallsend |
| Parmjit Dhanda | Gloucester |
| Peter Atkinson | Hexham |
| Phil Woolas | Oldham East & Saddleworth |
| Ronnie Campbell | Blyth Valley |
| Shona McIsaac | Cleethorpes |
| Simon Burns | Chelmsford West |
| Sion Simon | Birmingham Erdington |
| Sir John Butterfill | Bournemouth West |
| Sir Nicholas Winterton | Macclesfield |
| Sir Stuart Bell | Middlesbrough |
| Stephen McCabe | Birmingham Hall Green |
| Stephen Pound | Ealing North |
| Tobias Ellwood | Bournemouth East |
| Tom Harris | Glasgow South |
| Tom Levitt | High Peak |
| Tom Watson | West Bromwich East |
| Tommy McAvoy | Rutherglen & Hamilton West |
| Tony Lloyd | Manchester Central |
| Tony McNulty | Harrow East |
| Wayne David | Caerphilly |
Tim Boswell (Daventry) and Andrew Dismore (Hendon) couldn’t vote because they were the tellers for the ayes – ie. they supported the proposal.
Come the revolution, these MPs will be against the wall.
Bristol Rovers, here we come!
Shrewsbury Town 2 – 1 MK Dons
Parliamentary Secrecy Bill
Parliament has decided to give itself immunity from the Freedom of Information Act.
The reason given was that it would protect the privacy of individuals who write to MPs and Ministers but this is a crock of shit. The law already protects privacy of individuals – personally identifiable information has to be removed before being disclosed.
This country is rapidly decending into a police state – more and more laws are being passed to restrict our rights and freedoms and removing our right to privacy from the prying eyes of the state and then our political masters give themselves immunity from the only law that lets us see what they are doing with the power and responsibility that we give them.
Come the reveloution, all those MPs who supported this bill will be against the wall.
What is Gordon planning for Scotland?
“No Mandate” Brown has told us all his domestic policies:
- Education
- The NHS
- Affordable housing
- Safe, secure and affordable communities
- Building trust in democracy
Education is devolved, the NHS is devolved, housing is devolved, planning is devolved. So what’s “No Mandate” Brown going to do for Scotland – the place where he was elected? Building trust in democracy? How’s he planning to do that? Calling a general election as soon as he takes office will be a start – trying to force us to accept a foreign MP with no mandate as Prime Minister won’t do anything to build trust in democracy.
“No Mandate” Brown is also planning constitutional reform. A Prime Minister with no mandate to govern most of the country on most issues and who hasn’t contested an election as leader of the party is planning to “reform” the constitution we have had for centuries – a constitution that the Liebour Party has all but ignored for the last decade.
“No Mandate” Brown is planning to visit “every region and nation of the country” over the next 6 weeks. What regions would these be? What nations?
“No Mandate” Brown has a message for the “people of Britain”:
I will lead a new government with new priorities.
I believe government only works when it is dedicated to serving the people.
I will always try to put your concerns and aspirations at the heart of what I do.
I will work hard for you.
This is who I am.
And I will do my best for all the people of Britain.
What a crock of shit.
He will lead a government with the same priorities – the eradication of England, eurofederalism and the subjection of all English people.
He will lead a government that serves nobody but corrupt Liebour politicians and the celtic fringe.
He will ignore our concerns and aspirations – concerns over the fact that we are unrepresented and discriminated against, aspirations to govern ourselves and be rid of Federal Europe.
He will work hard for himself, for his own benefit and for the Liebour Party.
He will do what is best for his beloved Scotland and for himself. None of his policies so far have any effect on Scotland or anyone else outside of England. British doesn’t mean English.
This man really is a shit. An absolute shit. I just can’t find the words to express my utter contempt for him. The only way to express my feelings is to resort to a string of traditional anglo saxon words and there are other people who can do a much better job of stringing together sentences with more swear words than adjectives.
Wanted: Baggies -v- Derby tickets
Not for me – I’m not a glory hunting yam yam – but for my boss, a deluded West Brom fan.
He’s looking for a pair of tickets for next Mondays match.
If anyone can get hold of a couple of tickets he’d be most grateful.
SNP take power in Scotland
Alex Salmond has come to an agreement with the Greens in Scotland to become the first Scottish nationalist First Minister.
This is good news for those who would gladly see tha back of Scotland but don’t get too enthusiastic – the SNP will be forming a minority administration and any attempt to hold an independence referendum is likely to be defeated by the eurofederalist Lib Dums and the Liebour facists.
There is a convention in the British parliament that manifesto pledges will travel through parliament unopposed. Lets hope that “No Mandate” Brown’s leadership manifesto pledges (which only apply to England anyway) are given the same rough ride that the SNP will be getting on their manifesto pledges. What’s good for the goos and all that.
Traitor MEP
The English Demcorats have exposed an English MEP as a traitor.
Andrew Duff, the eurofederalist Illiberal Democrat MEP for the Eastern euroregion, says that England, Poland, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands are standing in the way of a united Europe.
He goes on to say that “If the English can be defeated then the opposition in Prague will disappear”. Didn’t Hitler say something similar during the Second World War?
Duff should be locked up in the Tower for his treachery. His loyalty lies with the European Federation, he is a traitor.
“No Mandate” Brown
Gordon Brown – or “No Mandate” Brown as I will refer to him from now on – is unopposed as Leader of the Labour Party and will be the next Prime Minister.
I know I might sound like an old scratched record but I really can’t say this often enough – Gordon Brown has no mandate.
He doesn’t just lack a mandate as Prime Minister because he wasn’t elected with the intention of him being Prime Minister, he lacks a mandate on the vast majority of legislation because his constituents in Scotland only elected him on reserved matters.
Today the papers are full of his pledge to improve the “British” education system – there is no “British” education system, it is a devolved matter. Gordon Brown only has a say on the English education system but who in Scotland voted for him for his policies on the English education system? Last week he decided to base his whole leadership manifesto on education and health but again, who in Scotland voted for him for his policies on the English health and education systems?
The same goes for every other devolved matter in Scotland – transport, environment, police, to name but a few – who in Scotland voted for Gordon Brown for his policies on these English matters?
Gordon Brown has no democratic mandate to govern England. No MP elected outside of England has the right to be Prime Minister until England has a devolved government of its own. It is unconstitutional and undemocratic for a Prime Minister to have responsibility for policies in England over which he or she has no say in their own constituency.
As far as I’m concerned, when Gordon Brown takes office the country is without a leader or legitimate government.
In fact, I feel so strongly about this I have just emailed the following to the Treasury:
Dear Mr Brown,
Following your unopposed appointment as Leader of the Labour Party I feel compelled to write to you thus:
You pledge to improve the “British” education system but there is no “British” education system, it is a devolved matter. You only have a say on the English education system but who in Scotland voted for you for your policies on the English education system? You decided to base your leadership manifesto on education and health but again, who in Scotland voted for you for your policies on the English health and education systems?
The same goes for every other devolved matter in Scotland – transport, environment, police, to name but a few – who in Scotland voted for you for your policies on these English matters?
No MP elected outside of England has the right to be Prime Minister until England has a devolved government of its own. It is unconstitutional and undemocratic for a Prime Minister to have responsibility for policies in England over which he or she has no say in their own constituency.
As far as I’m concerned, when you take office the country is without a leader or legitimate government.
This email will undoubtedly be intercepted by a civil servant before you have a chance to read it but make no mistake, your appointment as Prime Minister will fuel the English nationalism and national identity that you despise and fear and I will not be alone in refusing to recognise the legitimacy of you as Prime Minister or that of your cabinet as our government.
Stuart Parr
Jaffa Cakes
That age old question …
Regional Bullshit Report
Too angry to talk about this any more – just read this.
Tony has a dream
Appartently Traitor Bliar is walking out of Downing Street and into a set of book and lecutre circuit deals worth an estimated £40m. He also plans to set up a charitable trust dedicated to world peace and will be working on bringing together Israel and Palestine.
Strangely, I’m reminded of Ali G and his North Korea/South Korea sketch. “I have a dream … a dream of little Israeli girls and little Palestinian girls giving it to each other”. I just hope to god that the peacekeeping force isn’t Cheri with a strap-on.
Perhaps Bliar should have put more effort into world peace while he was Prime Minister instead of invading Afghanistan and Iraq and bringing us to the brink of war with the lunatics in Iran.
End of an era
Just to show you that I can talk about something other than politics, let me just give a brief mention to the passing of an institution – the Gay Meadow.
No longer will English football have a resident fisherman ready to retrieve lost footballs from the River Severn and football addicts will have to find a new candidate for most sniggered at football ground for today marks the end of an era – the last game ever has been played at Shrewsbury Town’s Gay Meadow stadium.
The game against MK Dons – televised on Sky Sports 1 – ended in a 0-0 draw and a good old fashioned pitch invasion. Not the best score for the last ever match at the ground but it wasn’t a defeat. The second leg is on Friday at Milton Keynes.
Only one ball was lost during the match – the resident fisherman legged it through the side door with his net and pole to try and get it back but it succumed to the currents of the swollen River Severn which laps at the doorstep of the stadium.
The New Meadow will be ready for next season. It’s located on the outskirts of the town so it will once again be safe to enter Shrewsbury when Wrexscum are paying a visit and it’s nowhere near the river so that should save a few quid on replacement balls.
