40 billion reasons why we should just leave now

It's smash and grab time for the rapidly failing EU, in order to raise the €1 trillion they need to stave off the inevitable they've told the various EU states to cough up (I'm sure there's an or else in there somewhere too) Which pits David Cameron in a bit of a quandary.
Express.

DAVID Cameron will come under pressure this week to block a fresh European Union bid to grab £40billion for its budget.
Eurosceptic MPs say they will try to force the Prime Minister to use his veto to stop the increase which would saddle British taxpayers with a colossal bill for the rest of this decade.
MPs will have the chance to debate proposals that would increase the EU’s budget for seven years covering 2014-2020 to one trillion euros (£898 billion).
It would amount to a 4.9 per cent rise on the funding for 2007-2013 – a rise of some £40billion.
Britain, France and Germany all say the budget increase, proposed by the European Commission, is unacceptably high.
It comes a week after 81 Conservatives rebelled against the PM to back a call for a referendum on UK membership of the European Union.
The Commons will be asked to back a Government motion that supports ministers’ “ongoing efforts to reduce the commission’s proposed budget”.
But it is likely that Tory MPs will demand that Britain uses its veto to block the increase.
Chris Heaton-Harris, one of the Tory referendum rebels, said: “Voters realise that if the EU’s budget goes up at a time when national governments are imposing cuts, then something is going wrong.”
Mr Cameron is already under massive pressure over Britain’s membership of the European Union.
Polls have suggested that two-thirds of the public – and 80 per cent of Tory voters – agreed with the referendum revolt last week.
Philip Hollobone, also one of the 81 rebels, said: “Many backbenchers think that the seven-year EU budget is a very good opportunity for the government to use its veto if it does not get what it wants.”

 Cameron has already wound his backbenchers up with his heavy handed control freakery on the referendum debate and now has to go cap in hand to the commons to ask them to cough up for the EU (or else, I'm certain there's an or else) He'll need the support of the Lib Dems (normally a given on the EU) and quite possibly the treacherous Labour party and even then I suspect he's not going to get it, nor will he be able to repatriate powers back from the EU as he doesn't seem to know which powers he wants back (Hint, all of them Dave)
I'm fairly sure now we're approaching the straw/camels back moment, though it will be interesting (from a watching a train crash perspective) on just how badly the damage will be before it does collapse and the Germans finally invade France (again).
We are living in interesting times.

Catching on yet?

It's always interesting when MP's come face to face with political decisions made by the government, only the other day we had Tony Blair telling the people of the UK just how good mass unfettered uncontrolled immigration has been for the UK.
Mail.

Tony Blair has defended Labour’s controversial mass immigration policy by claiming that Britain cannot succeed unless it opens its borders to more people from different backgrounds.
The former prime minister said it was 'right’ that the country was made up of different cultures and faiths mixing together.
Mr Blair added that migrants had made Britain 'stronger’ and said those calling for greater curbs on foreigners entering the country were wrong.
His comments come just days after official figures revealed that the population is expected to soar by the equivalent of a city the size of Leeds every year for the next decade.
A defiant Mr Blair insisted his party’s policy on immigration was the right one. He said: 'It’s been a very positive thing and there is no way for a country like Britain to succeed in the future unless it is open to people of different colours, faiths and cultures.’
Under Labour, up to 5.5million people born outside the UK arrived as long-term migrants.
Between 1997 and 2010, around 2.3million left the country, meaning the UK population increased by around 3.2million as a direct result of foreign migrants.

Of course Tony Blair doesn't really live here a lot of the time and more to the point doesn't live where the immigrants are going, so it's a bit hypocritical of him telling us it was good for the country when it appears to have only benefited Tony Blair and a few others.

Of course today we had the flip side of the coin...
BBC.

An MP has described how he waited for police behind a locked door during a constituency surgery after he was threatened by a group of men.

Mike Freer said it happened at North Finchley mosque in north London as he met constituents on Friday afternoon.

Mr Freer said about 12 people forced their way inside, with one of them calling him a "Jewish homosexual pig".

The trouble began after messages on the Muslims Against Crusades website urged supporters to target him, he said.

Mr Freer said a message posted ahead of the incident on the group's website made reference to Labour MP Stephen Timms, who was stabbed while holding a surgery in east London last year.

It warned the attack on Mr Timms should serve as a "piercing reminder" to politicians that "their presence is no longer welcome in any Muslim area".

The Finchley and Golders Green MP, a member of the Conservative Friends of Israel, said there was a vocal demonstration outside the mosque as he began his surgery, but then a second group of people arrived and forced their way inside.

"One of them sat at a table where I was dealing with a constituent and was abusive," he said.

The MP said he was then escorted by staff at the mosque to a locked part of the building until assistance arrived.

Mr Freer said he only realised the potential danger he had been in when he was made aware of the website's reference to the attack on East Ham MP Mr Timms.

The message also stated that "as a member of the Conservative Party", Mr Freer had "the blood of thousands of Muslims on his hands".

The group, though not mentioned in the BBC article is Muslims Against Crusades (MAC) this was the mob who decided to burn a poppy at the Remembrance day ceremony last November and plan to do the same this year too. It's interesting that Tony Blair thinks that "it was 'right’ that the country was made up of different cultures and faiths mixing together" whereas MAC think that for anyone who criticises Islam  "their presence is no longer welcome in any Muslim area"
I wonder if Mr Freer thinks that mass unfettered uncontrolled immigration has been good for the UK, he certainly came face to face with one of its results on Saturday. Mind you, I can imagine the conversation when he gets back to Parliament.
"Hi mike have a nice weekend?"
"No not really, I was holding a surgery on Friday at a mosque and had to be locked in a room for my own protection from Muslims wanting to kill me"
"Oh dear that's terrible , anyway's we need to tackle the EDL I heard they had a demonstration in Birmingham this weekend, they are "sick" didn't Mr Cameron tell you??"
Btw I and several other patriots will be at the Cenotaph on Friday the 11th of November to show our contempt at MAC, no it's not an EDL demo though most will be EDL members. We will be respectful and polite as we honour the fallen, so feel free to join us if you can.

http://ironicsurrealism.com/2011/07/14/chart-comparing-totalitarian-systems-nazism-and-communism-with-islam/

Who's going to pay more?

Cameron came out with a soundbite stunner today, I'm sure it will fool a few people, but to those of us who know how these things work...
Express.

BENEFIT claimants convicted of breaking the law will be forced to repay up to a third of their handouts each week in fines under a new welfare crackdown.

At present, courts can order offenders on benefits to pay fines at a rate of up to £5 a week.

But David Cameron yesterday revealed that the sum will be increased to £25.

The Prime Minister has ordered the move in response to public disgust at the numbers of jobless scroungers involved in last summer’s riots and the widespread culture of lawlessness on Britain’s streets.

He said: “People need to understand if they commit a crime they will face the consequences.”

The flaw being of course that it's really the state paying the state from the states largesse. A self fulfilling incestuous cosy arrangement for the state creaming off money via a fine only to pay it back out again once the legal profession have creamed off their take.
There are also so many proviso's built into the HRA as well to prevent people from starving, they'll still get their rent and council tax, child allowances etc. that it's just a complete waste of time.
Sounds good though and plays to the hard of thinking who believe that benefit cheats should be punished, but haven't given that much thought to how it actually ought to work.
Personally I think hard labour ought to do it.
But I'm interested in making the system work, not sounding off in an effort to look like I'm doing something.

Picking the wrong fight

One of the things I've learned in the school of hard knocks that constitutes daily living for most of us, is to pick very carefully the fights I get into with authority and figures of authority. if I do choose to go up against them, I make damned sure of the ground I'm standing on and whilst I'm not averse to helping out a losing (if just) cause I also know that sooner or later a situation might arise when it's time to call it a day and cut your losses.
It's a lesson some people never seem to learn.
BBC.

A private clamper accused of immobilising royal protection officers' unmarked cars acted "belligerently", a Hampshire court heard.

Gareth Andrews refused to removed the clamps despite the fact PC Mark Cox showed him his warrant card.

Mr Andrews, 39, of Privett Road, Fareham, denies wilfully obstructing a police constable in his duty.

The officers were protecting the Queen as she visited Portsmouth, the city's magistrates' court heard.

PC Cox told the court that because of Mr Andrews's "belligerence" he had no option but to arrest him.

The officers were both dressed in plain clothes during the operation on 25 May, having parked the cars at Gunwharf Quays marina.

Colin Shackel, prosecuting, told the court parking spaces allocated to the officers were temporarily being used by a delivery lorry so, after consulting security staff, they parked in adjacent spaces.

He said Mr Andrews had arrived and clamped the cars and refused to release them because he did not believe he was dealing with real police officers.

"By the time you have been shown a warrant card and security guards are involved, it would be clear to anyone that it was real officers who weren't just trying to avoid a clamping charge and had duties to perform," he said.

 Now sometimes it pays to take on the police/authorities when they are abusing their position to gain some sort of advantage either financially or through abusing their position, however trying to prevent the close support royal protection group by essentially immobilising their cars strikes me as a war you cannot possibly win.
I can only assume the years of abuse Gareth Andrews must have suffered as a clamper have inured him to what appears to be a suicidal tendency, not that I have much (if any) sympathy for a clampers seeing them as state/authority sponsored parasites operating on the fringe of legality and often enough taking advantage of those who were not aware of any restrictions on a parking space. That plus the fees they charge often enough amount to legalised blackmail. So all in all I'm fairly pleased the guy is getting his comeuppance.
Just a shame that the ordinary people in this country don't have similar means to make those who make our lives a misery a misery in turn.

Second tier

Apparently Osborne the Chancellor is warning that the UK may become a second tier EU state because the fools in charge want to squander €1 trillion to try and prop up the Euro and might decide that the UK as it's not part of the Euro wont be invited to any of their summits. A sort of picking up their ball and running off with it.
Mail.

Britain could become one of Europe's 'second-tier countries' following a decision by those signed up to the single currency to form a tight inner circle, George Osborne said this afternoon.
The Chancellor said he feared the development of a 'two-tier' Europe after the 17 countries who use the euro decided they would have their own president and twice-yearly summits.
Britain will not be invited to take part as it is not part of the single currency.
The dramatic move towards closer fiscal union was announced as eurozone leaders thrashed out a deal they hope will convince markets they have an effective response to the growing economic crisis.
Speaking to the House of Commons, Osborne said: 'We have to be alert to the danger of caucusing ... in areas that should legitimately be the preserve of the 27.'
It confirmed fears that the eurozone is taking on the trappings of a state within a state and that the 17 will starting coordinating decisions on business and social policies, to the detriment of Britain and the other non-euro countries.

Apart from wondering if that last bits the case why don't we just leave, I cannot see how throwing €1 trillion at the problem will resolve it, even with writing off Greek debts, Greece being only part of the problem, There's Italy, Portugal, Spain and Ireland to sort out next and I cannot see the Germans carrying on with paying out forever. Biggest worry is of course where the €1 trillion is going to come from, I simply hope they don't decide to dip into our pockets, Osborne could simply point out that no chair at the table means no money for a bail out, though I much prefer my first thoughts of getting out before they drag us down with them.

The final insult

Protocols and policies, the refuge of the jobsworth when faced with criticism over something they've done which flies in the face of common sense and compassion. Excuses will be offered and occasionally an apology, sometimes compensation and the platitude that "lessons will be learned." Usually far too late.
Express.

A SOLDIER killed in Afghanistan had £433 deducted from his final pay because he had failed to complete “a full month’s” work.
Lance Corporal Jordan Bancroft, 25, was shot dead in Helmand province in August 2010. More than year later, as the Ministry of Defence finally settled his outstanding wages, £433.13 was deducted because he had died 10 days before pay day.
Yesterday his father Tony, 47, called the action “a disgrace”, adding: “It’s a massive slap in the face for us and especially Jordan, who laid down his life for his country. I had to read the letter a good few times to take it in. It seems £433.13 is all his life is worth to them.”
Taxi driver Mr Bancroft, from Earby, Lancs, and his family had raised £10,000 for his son’s regiment and £6,000 for the Help For Heroes charity.
He said: “It’s not the amount they’ve taken that upsets me because it’s not about the money, it’s the principle. We’ve raised a lot of money for his regiment and yet the MoD have no qualms about taking £400 from us. The regiment has been great; it’s the MoD who have done this.”

It will be a written policy somewhere that will have been followed to the letter, chances are the person doing it wont have even known who Jordan Bancroft was yet the utter lack of compassion is not fitting for someone who died whilst serving their country. I'm even sure the MOD could point out hundreds of cases where something similar has been done without complaint from people too stunned and grieving over their loss to challenge the MOD's complete lack of compassion. This can also be seen in its attempts to cut costs by removing £250 million from Servicemen’s allowances for serving in non hostile areas overseas.or between postings yet failed to sort out the massive overspending on contract renegotiation for necessary equipment.
The treatment of our armed forces is a disgrace and this is frankly a PR disaster for the MOD, though again I expect some sort of apology, lessons will be learned etc then business as usual. Perhaps those who make this sort of decision should be given a rifle themselves and sent to Afghanistan to serve, pour encourager les autres...
One way of bucking their ideas up.

She may just have secured my future vote

My MP is Tracey Crouch, you may not have heard of her, but I've met her and she seems a nice enough lady, though I didn't vote for her to represent me in Westminster as I have grievous qualms about voting mainstream at any time. Yet she did me proud last night even if under the Cameron regime she may have put her career on hold for a time.
Express.

FIRST let us salute the MPs who held their nerve, despite heavy whipping and the threats and blandishments of their leaders. That so many stood firm and, after 36 years, got another vote on our relationship with Brussels counts as a stunning success.
These MPs are the ones who understand that political power can only legitimately be exercised by public consent.
Senior Tory and Labour backbenchers were foremost among the rebels.
But last night some younger MPs showed their mettle by voting in defiance of party chiefs.
Anybody searching for new political stars should look to them first. Big political figures are defined by their readiness to make elbow-room at the top table rather than just bow to the whips.
On that basis, it will be MPs like Priti Patel (Witham), Zac Goldsmith (Richmond Park) and Tracey Crouch (Chatham) who will have a big say in the future of the Conservative Party, for this vote will be long remembered by the British people. Those MPs who let them down will suffer the consequences at the next election.

 As for the vote, well, there wasn't much of a chance of success given the odds against it, but 111 MP's including 79 Tory rebels decided that conscience was to be their guide not the orders from on high.
Here's the list courtesy of the Guardian.

• Tory rebels Stuart Andrew (Pudsey), Steven Baker (Wycombe), John Baron (Basildon & Billericay), Andrew Bingham (High Peak), Brian Binley (Northampton South), Bob Blackman (Harrow East), Graham Brady (Altrincham & Sale West), Andrew Bridgen (Leicestershire North West), Steve Brine (Winchester), Fiona Bruce (Congleton), Dan Byles (Warwickshire North), Douglas Carswell (Clacton), Bill Cash (Stone), Christopher Chope (Christchurch), James Clappison (Hertsmere), Tracey Crouch (Chatham & Aylesford), David Davies (Monmouth), Philip Davies (Shipley), David Davis (Haltemprice & Howden), Nick de Bois (Enfield North), Caroline Dinenage (Gosport), Nadine Dorries (Bedfordshire Mid), Richard Drax (Dorset South), Mark Field (Cities of London & Westminster), Lorraine Fullbrook (South Ribble), Zac Goldsmith (Richmond Park), James Gray (Wiltshire North), Chris Heaton-Harris (Daventry), Gordon Henderson (Sittingbourne & Sheppey), George Hollingbery (Meon Valley), Adam Holloway (Gravesham), Stewart Jackson (Peterborough), Bernard Jenkin (Harwich & Essex North), Marcus Jones (Nuneaton), Chris Kelly (Dudley South), Andrea Leadsom (Northamptonshire South), Jeremy Lefroy (Stafford), Edward Leigh (Gainsborough), Julian Lewis (New Forest East), Karen Lumley (Redditch), Jason McCartney (Colne Valley), Karl McCartney (Lincoln), Stephen McPartland (Stevenage), Anne Main (St Albans), Patrick Mercer (Newark), Nigel Mills (Amber Valley), Anne-Marie Morris (Newton Abbot), James Morris (Halesowen & Rowley Regis), Stephen Mosley (Chester, City of), Sheryll Murray (Cornwall South East), Caroline Nokes (Romsey & Southampton North), David Nuttall (Bury North), Matthew Offord (Hendon), Neil Parish (Tiverton & Honiton), Priti Patel (Witham), Andrew Percy (Brigg & Goole), Mark Pritchard (Wrekin, The), Mark Reckless (Rochester & Strood), John Redwood (Wokingham), Jacob Rees-Mogg (Somerset North East), Simon Reevell (Dewsbury), Laurence Robertson (Tewkesbury), Andrew Rosindell (Romford), Richard Shepherd (Aldridge-Brownhills), Henry Smith (Crawley), John Stevenson (Carlisle), Bob Stewart (Beckenham), Gary Streeter (Devon South West), Julian Sturdy (York Outer), Sir Peter Tapsell (Louth & Horncastle), Justin Tomlinson (Swindon North), Andrew Turner (Isle of Wight), Martin Vickers (Cleethorpes), Charles Walker (Broxbourne), Robin Walker (Worcester), Heather Wheeler (Derbyshire South), Craig Whittaker (Calder Valley), John Whittingdale (Maldon), Dr Sarah Wollaston (Totnes)
Two Tory MPs acted as tellers for the rebels. They were Peter Bone (Wellingborough) and Philip Hollobone (Kettering).
Two Tory MPs voted in both the Aye and Noe lobbies. This counts as an abstention. They were: Iain Stewart (Milton Keynes South) and Mike Weatherley (Hove)
• 19 Labour rebels Ronnie Campbell (Blyth Valley), Rosie Cooper (Lancashire West), Jeremy Corbyn (Islington North), Jon Cruddas (Dagenham & Rainham), John Cryer (Leyton & Wanstead), Ian Davidson (Glasgow South West), Natascha Engel (Derbyshire North East), Frank Field (Birkenhead), Roger Godsiff (Birmingham Hall Green), Kate Hoey (Vauxhall), Kelvin Hopkins (Luton North), Steve McCabe (Birmingham Selly Oak), John McDonnell (Hayes & Harlington), Austin Mitchell (Great Grimsby), Dennis Skinner (Bolsover), Andrew Smith (Oxford East), Graham Stringer (Blackley & Broughton), Gisela Stuart (Birmingham Edgbaston), Mike Wood (Batley & Spen).
• One Liberal Democrat rebel Adrian Sanders (Torbay)
• Eight Democratic Unionist Party MPs who voted for the referendum: Gregory Campbell (Londonderry East), Nigel Dodds (Belfast North), Jeffrey Donaldson (Lagan Valley), Rev William McCrea (Antrim South), Ian Paisley Junior (Antrim North), Jim Shannon (Strangford), David Simpson (Upper Bann), Sammy Wilson (Antrim East)
• Independent Unionist who voted for the referendum: Lady Sylvia Hermon (Down North)
• Green Party Leader Caroline Lucas (Brighton Pavilion) voted for the referendum

Thank you, I often rail against politicians and their weird ways, but today for the 111, thank you for at least trying.

It's those Asians again

Another example of cultural enrichment happened in Leeds last night, a young woman was raped by an "Asian" whilst his mate kept lookout.
BBC.

An 18-year-old woman was raped by a man in a park in Leeds while his friend acted as a look-out.

The woman was in Cross Flatts Park on Friday evening after visiting friends, West Yorkshire Police said.

She leant against a tree and was passed by two men who were walking towards the park's Dewsbury Road exit.

The men turned back and one of them raped her while the other acted as a look-out. Police said the victim was "extremely traumatised" by the attack.

After the assault, both men left along Cross Flatts Avenue.

'Vital information'

The woman's attacker is described as Asian, in his late 20s to late 30s, 5ft 9in (1.77m) tall, skinny with brown eyes and a small moustache.

What kind of Asian of course we are not told, though I suspect it wont be of the Hindu, Buddhist, Jain or even the oriental kind, but as they haven't made an arrest yet I'm holding fire on identities.
That said, I rather doubt this is the kind of cultural enrichment meant by those who favour multiculturalism and racial diversity. The problem of course being that people from other lands frequently as not bring their criminal habits along with the law abiding ones. It's exacerbated by various do gooders who tell them that they don't have to mix in or integrate into our society to become part of a homogeneous whole. Then throw in a few special privileges such as being put on top of the housing lists and you have a recipe for resentment amongst those of us who were born here and form the mainstream. I don't really have issues with fairness mind you, I just expect it to apply to all and that's clearly not happening. You won't see an operation white vote, you wont see a white/Christian police association, you don't see white community leaders being wheeled out to explain why their communities have gone off the rails again and you certainly wont see many politicians representing the mainstream views, so politically correct and right on that they have to be these days.
Yet the resentment still grows as does the anger and the politicians still scuttle out to try and defend a system that has failed. That which divides us can never unite us and there will be a price to be paid before this is consigned to the dustbin of history.

They still fail to note who's paying for this

The BBC mention in passing about Greater Manchester Police that they have to make £143 million in savings yet manage to splurge out £100,000 on artwork for its new HQ.
BBC.

A police force which is having to find £134m of savings has spent £100,000 on artwork for its new headquarters.

Greater Manchester Police (GMP)'s new £64m head office in Newton Heath will replace its current Old Trafford base.

The two murals - costing £60,500 and £40,500 - commemorate the father of modern policing Sir Robert Peel. They will hang in the building's entrances.

The force said the pieces of work were "an integral part of the interior design and complete the building".

A spokeswoman added: "They represent the history of GMP, capture values that our staff and officers hold dear and are designed to motivate.

£100,000 of ratepayers money had better produce one hell of a lot of motivation methinks. It's yet another example of the profligacy of public services with our cash, they never seem to get it, we judge them by results, we judge them by how we are doing in the real world and we judge them by what they do, not what they say. What they do appear to be saying is sod you lot we're going to spend your cash on art for our headquarters, what they don't appear to be doing is dealing with criminal gangs running riot in Greater Manchester. (H/T Richard Carvath)

In nine months, GMP has taken no action to shut down the Sandy's Superstars brothels or to prosecute the brothelkeepers. Over nine months I have maintained an extensive correspondence with GMP running to dozens of emails. In nine months, no GMP officer has ever written to me with an unequivocal commitment to enforce the law, and GMP has been unwilling even to confirm that the Sandy's Superstars premises are brothels. Over nine months I have repeatedly found GMP officers to be highly evasive and unwilling to confirm or deny anything of substance.

My considered opinion - informed as it is by my extensive direct engagement with GMP over the past nine months - is that GMP is able but unwilling to enforce the Sexual Offences Act 2003 upon the Sandy's Superstars brothelkeepers.

After nine months of no action but a lot of evasion, I must now publicly declare that I have no confidence in Greater Manchester Police to enforce the Sexual Offences Act 2003 upon Sandra Jane Hankin, Christopher Mark Hankin and Adrian Paul Burch.

I believe that Greater Manchester Police has granted the Sandy's Superstars brothelkeepers de facto immunity from prosecution.

Now personally I believe that prostitution and brothels should be legalised, that said though this premises currently appears to be breaking the law, that would be the same basic law that saw this little fiasco erupt in Greater Manchester.
Guardian.

Manchester Evening News photographer Sean Wilton was arrested while taking pictures of a brawl outside a Manchester court.
A Greater Manchester Police spokesman later said: "A photographer was arrested to prevent a breach of the peace and on suspicion of obstructing a police officer.
"Officers brought the situation under control and the photographer was de-arrested and subsequently released."

That's right, "de-arrested" in other words they aren't afraid to arrest anyone they think might be getting in their way, evidence or not...
Makes you wonder just what's going on with Greater Manchester Police, though sad to say they aren't alone in their desire to spend, spend, spend. You can bet the art fund and the Police Commissioners perks aren't part of any cuts though, that'll be hitting the guys on the front line, as usual.

Finally growing a (tiny) pair?

The sheer blandicity of the C of E over the last few decades has often made me wonder just what the hell they were up too. The placing of the Arch Druid in charge of them did them no favours either, as all he was to me was a political placeman of the Blair regime, too right on and politically correct to actually be a Christian of the type needed in this country. His comments on Shariah merely confirming that the guy actually hadn't a clue what was going on in Britain's inner cities.
Still it does look like the C of E or bits of it anyway might just be starting to grow a pair if this is anything to be going by.
Mail.

The Church of England has told its schools to ensure they are serving non-halal food after concerns that a number are only providing meat slaughtered according to Islamic law.

The official guidance was issued after Church members complained that the use of halal meat was effectively ‘spreading sharia law’ across Britain.

The Church’s financial arm has also come under pressure to withdraw its investments – worth millions of pounds – in supermarkets that do not clearly label halal food.

More than 10,000 Christians, many of whom have reservations about eating meat from animals that are bled to death while an Islamic prayer is recited, have signed a petition calling for proper labelling.

Animal rights campaigners have also expressed anger because animals are often not stunned before their throats are cut with a sharp knife.

The Rev Patrick Sookhdeo, an Anglican cleric who runs the international Barnabas Fund charity for Christians facing persecution, said some extremist Muslims viewed the growing  use of halal food as part of their efforts to ‘impose’ sharia law on the West.

 Halal is a cruel way to kill if stunning isn't used, but also I don't personally want a prayer to a vile false god said over anything I eat either. To me the only reason supermarkets don't label products as halal is because they know that many people wont buy them if they knew, yes it might be prejudiced, yes it might be petty, but people simply don't want it, so will buy alternatives if they know.
Who knows, if they are successful in this they could perhaps raise the matter of the slaughtered Copts in Egypt, or the fact that the last Christian church was raised to the ground in Afghanistan, or even the activities of the janjaweed militias in the Sudan and their use of slavery and ethnic cleansing on Christians in the Sudan.
For too long the C of E hierarchy has been blandness supreme, political placemen of the establishment. Perhaps, and it's only a perhaps, they are in danger of actually becoming a Christian church once more. Only time will tell.

Mislabelling a product

I'm often astonished to the lengths that parts of the MSM will go to try and be kind to their favourites when they are clearly facing a major problem as certain chickens come home to roost. Take the Torygraph and David Cameron (please) on the possibility of a commons vote on the EU.
Telegraph.

This is rapidly turning into David Cameron's biggest embarrassment. If Ed Miliband had the guts to take the Eurosceptic line (as more than a few Labour MPs would like) the PM would be threatened by his first Commons defeat.
The problem for the Prime Minister is that he is a "pragmatic Eurosceptic". In principle, he thinks Europe has too much control over Britain's affairs and is in desperate need of reform. But in practice, he has no intention of doing anything about it because a) he's in a Coalition with the pro-Europe Lib Dems and b) he genuinely values his relationships with Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy, who would be outraged by the opportunism.

Now whatever David Cameron is, and I can think of a few descriptions of his views that fit the bill a lot better, a EUrosceptic he isn't, nor from what I can tell is he pragmatic in any way shape or form otherwise he'd be backing the bill simply to see what parliamentarians want and then the people. As it is, he's decided to oppose it an make himself even more unpopular within his party amongst some members who were convinced once he was in power his true EUsceptic nature would come to the fore.
He even appears to be the one behind a spoiling attempt by George (useless) Eustice (pictured below)

To tag some sort of amendment to the motion, which oddly enough appears likely to fail as the Lib Dems of all people look as if they will veto it.
As it is, it looks like 80 MP's of all parties might vote for the motion and rumours have it up to 15 frontbenchers were ready to resign their posts and vote for the motion too, though only time will tell on this as the pressure from the Whips office would appear to be immense and many MP's wont like the threat of their careers being ended when the planned reduction in parliamentary seats comes about simply for following their beliefs, though that's exactly what they should be doing.
In the end though I reckon it will all be for nothing as Cameron will simply ignore the result.

This is a bad thing?

The dead tree Times had a headline today on a clampdown on lobbyists might hit trade unions and charities, so being a nosey bugger and whilst my good lady was paying our tax on the stupid (lottery ticket) I had a read in Morrison's news section. It's covered now by the Times paywall, but I found a picture of it.

Not that I suspect you'd think I was lying, but simply for the record.
Now I suspect most of the people reading this will be fairly pleased if Trade Unions and (fake) charities are somehow prevented from lobbying politicians directly as from past experience, most do not have our interests at heart. The (fake) charities in particular seem to be paid for out of government funds to tell the government what they want to hear. With the Unions though, it's because they own the Labour Party and want access to Westminster to tell their pets what to do. What the headline sort of hides though is that it's calling for a compulsory register of lobbyists, which an only work if it includes all those that lobby government: commercial lobbyists, companies, charities, unions, law firms, management consultants, trade bodies, think tanks. Basically the whole of the public affairs industry. It will let those who are interested know just who (and how much) lobbying is done by certain "special interest" groups of our MP's and provided there is a sensible minimum financial threshold, below which charities or for that matter small businesses, would not have to sign up I can't see a problem with it. The likes though of big business, Trade Unions, Layers (the Law industry) Big (fake) charities and government/privately sponsored think tanks need to have the rock lifted on their activities and have it exposed to the light of public scrutiny.
The Times is scaremongering, a sensible register of lobbyist will hurt no-one save those who are spending large enough bribes to influence our politicians.
It's all now down to our greedy MP's at to whether it goes through.

Quality not quantity

Medical scientists are currently looking at a cocktail of drugs that (might) allow people to live up to the age of 150. Which is fine provided that such a living is healthy and productive, but having seen firsthand the lengths that some doctors will go too to keep someone alive and going despite being in pain and not in sound mind I do wonder if it would be worth it.
Express.

A WONDER pill letting us live to the ripe old age of 150 and beyond may be available within five years.
Thanks to advances in medicine, lifestyle and public health, many people in Britain expect to reach their centenary.
Now Professor Peter Smith of New South Wales University in Australia claims “elixir of life” drugs will not only help us live longer, but healthier too.
He said: “The aim is not just to eke out extra existence but to facilitate a longer healthy life. We just don’t want to live longer, we want to live longer well. And these drugs will help with the regeneration of cells, regeneration of processes in the body, so we expect people will live well, much longer.”
Drugs for the body to repair itself and new stem cell therapies could be on the market in five years.
However, Prof Smith recognised that longevity would raise serious issues for society. “People aren’t going to want to retire at 65 and spend many, many decades sitting at home,” he said.

Now I can foresee future overcrowding or employment issues both of which could be serious problems for the countries implementing such a regime I do like the idea of a longer healthy life and (at the moment) I have often wondered why I would have to be removed from a productive life and employment when I hit some arbitrary age barrier where all I'd have was my meagre savings and the (un) generosity of the state, something I've spent most of my working life trying to avoid. However what jobs would the newer generations of kids do if say suddenly all the old farts decide they are going to retire at 130 rather than 65? Dead mans shoes would take on an infinitely long term new meaning if all of a sudden there were a sudden 60 year on hold waiting list for a new job. It's hard enough for the kids of today to get onto the employment ladder with suddenly realising there are no newer jobs available as people are no longer dying. Still we could extend (I suppose) the education system again and keep them in school till they are 40. (sarcasm alert)
But such changes would have to be introduced and thought through very carefully.
I'd bet good money though that they won't be.

Failure by design

Well certain experts are calling it an epic failure, though whilst a failure it is, it's certainly not epic, the roots for it go back to the days of New Labour where most of the problems the country faces today stem from.
The failure is of course the Bank of England's failure to meet the government mandated target of 2% inflation for the 22nd month in a row.
Express.

THE Bank of England's strategy to control soaring inflation was condemned as an 'epic failure' today as it hit a 3-year-high. Inflation rose to 5.2 per cent in September from 4.5 per cent driven by a jump in utility bills, as gas and electricity increased 13 per cent and 7.5 per cent respectively.
Thomas Paterson, Chief Economist at Gold Made Simple, said: "With today's numbers, inflation has reached an all-time high since CPI data began.
"This is the 22nd month in a row that the Bank has missed its government-mandated target of 2 per cent.
"Whatever external forces the Bank of England blames for the overshoot, the bottom line is that for all of 2011 it has created more than double the inflation the government has asked it to. By any standards, that's an epic failure.

The banks problem is of course that the economy and inflation are pretty much out of its hands due to the idiocies of government policy. Quantitative easing means that the currency is suffering due to the fact that owing to so much of it being in circulation, granted we're not at the Zimbabwe stage, but it is still having an effect. Energy bills too are way too high simply because of the governments "green" policies whereby we'rwe subsidising inefficient, unworkable and expensive solutions due to the Climate Change Act infamously passed by the House of Commons in October 2008 by 463 votes to three, whilst it was snowing outside. By the Government's own estimate, it would cost £404 billion to implement – £760 per household every year for four decades.
So if it's an "epic fail" then it's one of the governments own making, if they stopped the idiotic spending and stopped printing money perhaps, just perhaps we could start to make some inroads on inflation, but I suspect it will take far more than the economists complaining or commenting.

Article 8

Article Eight, of the Human rights act says that everyone has the “right to a family life”, and is often used to overrule attempts to deport serious criminals and illegal immigrants.
These people include one

Raja Mohammed Anwar Khan was driving after taking heroin when he killed another driver, leaving two children without a father.

He was jailed for six and a half years, reduced to five on appeal, then appealed against the deportation order served at the end of his sentence.

A judge ruled that the presence of his wife and children in Britain and his close relationship with his parents meant he should stay in Britain

Khan left Britain to marry his wife in Pakistan and lived with her there before the couple came to the United Kingdom, while his father last week said he was estranged from his family.

And

Rohan Winfield who raped a professional young woman after leaving his wife - by whom he had three children - for a mistress, but said the marriage was evidence of family life.

As he let him stay in the country, Senior Immigration Judge Andrew Jordan said his decision would “at first glance appear to be wrong, if not perverse” but then went on to say that it was correct for the rapist’s rights to come ahead of the safety of society, the reason the Home Office wanted him removed.

And

Mohammed Ibrahim knocked down Amy Houston and left her to ‘die like a dog’ under the wheels of his car. He was driving while disqualified and after the little girl’s death he committed a string of further offences.
Immigration judges ruled that sending him home would breach his right to a ‘private and family life’ as he has now fathered two children in the UK.

I have to ask and keep asking myself what sort of society would allow such a law to be allowed to be used to prevent the removal of criminals from our country and why politicians of a certain stripe are determined to keep it. I can sort of accept the argument that if the rights of the scum mentioned above are upheld then those same rights will protect me, but on the other hand, I have no intention of doing anything like what they did and if I were guilty of such heinous crimes then I would expect to be kicked out anyway.
It seems that the sort of society our politicians have allowed to flourish is one in which to disregard of the rights of others is rewarded by a system in which the offenders rights are placed higher (much higher) than the victims and their families. It seems as if our politicians are so enamoured of the status of having such legislation that they cannot see the harm it does to our society, particularly in regard to the clear abuses to the spirit of the legislation by sticking to the letter of it. But Sticking to the letter of the law is what lawyers often do to subvert the law (in a sense) because badly written legislation more often than not has loopholes all over it.
We should scrap the Human Rights Act, but we should also look to our roots in the Magna Carta and the Bill of Rights as standards for civilised behaviour, not a modern abomination and not a British bill of rights.

Damn and blast

Busy reinstalling Vista after a hardware failure, fortunately I have all the important bits backed up. Will have something posted tomorrow, both here and on the Orphans of Liberty site at 11 am. But will be rather busy tonight I think.

If only...

Sometimes the odd story comes along that makes me smile and think if only...
Express.

A BRITISH warship was at the centre of extraordinary international tension when it was accused of targeting the US president’s wife Michelle Obama.

The American Secret Service reacted furiously when they noticed the missiles on HMS Edinburgh were aiming directly at Mrs Obama’s hotel suite in South Africa.

The agents complained and one told the British crew: “You can’t point those guns at the First Lady.”

The Royal Navy warship was docked alongside Mrs Obama’s exclusive Cape Town hotel as she embarked on her first major overseas tour without her husband Barack since he became President.

Red-faced British officers were forced to reassure her security detail that the Type 42 destroyer was only carrying blank rockets, known as “drills” and explain that the weapons were on show for ceremonial reasons following the death of an officer.

 Seriously though, the Royal Navy is not going to target the wife of the U.S. president, much as we might like too at times, but we exist in a world of grown ups, not the American Secret Service world. And, whilst a good few of us might like to see the odd U.S. president looking down the barrels of a Royal Navy rocket salvo, we know that isn't going to happen either. We know Obama doesn't like us, we know why too, the man is a racist of the "he can'r be a racist as he's black" type so beloved of socialist numpties and liberal idiots. He seems to think or believe that his Mau Mau supporting descendents in Kenya had some sort of moral high ground rather than being murderous scum. But he's entitled to his (wrong) beliefs, just doesn't make him anyone I like is all.
A simple phone call and not a full fledged panic by the Secret Service would probably have sorted out the problem immediately instead of intruding on the sorrow and grief of the crew of HMS Edinburgh.
Still if only we dared, might do the silly buggers the world of good to realise that they aren't that loved by their friends and allies, never mind their enemies.

Legal sense vs common sense

One of the biggest problems with the intricasies of the  human rights act and its implementation into our laws as introduced to give Tony Blairs Mrs a nice little earner is that it only looks at individual rights, that is the rights of the the person bringing a case where they claim to have had their rights breached. It isn't there to protect the majority, it's there to protect individuals, often criminal individuals or rule breakers and often their rights are deemed equal to everyone else. That's why you get cases like this, which puts a bogus student who lied that he could speak English and admitted buying a fake language proficiency certificates human rights ahead of common sense. Not that the common sense approach has been helped by the Border Agencies (via Parliaments) own rules.
Mail.

A bogus student who lied that he could speak English and admitted buying a fake language proficiency certificate can stay in Britain, immigration judges have ruled.
Even though Abbas Khaliq was ‘untruthful’ and ‘not a credible witness’, and had failed to mention that his brother was an illegal immigrant here, the reluctant judges said he had broken no rules.
So despite being caught red-handed on arrival from Pakistan at Gatwick airport, he is welcome to stay here.
It emerged during the case that since a British college had given Khaliq the go-ahead to study here, and there was no physical evidence he had lied while obtaining his student visa in Pakistan, the immigration officer who caught him out at Gatwick had no powers to ban him from entry.
Embarrassingly, while the immigration judges said they had ‘no enthusiasm’ for allowing the bogus student to stay, they claimed they had no choice – because of the rules set by the very body established to keep illegal immigrants out, the UK Border agency.

OK, so attempted fraud is no reason for him to be deported and the Border Agency rules are so lax as to allow this as a reason for him to stay...
Once again someone who shouldn't be here, who lied to get here is using the HRA through the courts to make a mockery of what ought to have been an obvious solution to the situation, it's not as if the guy is a citizen either and he should have been deported college acceptance or not, assuming he just doesn't vanish anyway.
The HRA needs to be scrapped or amended to take into account the rights of the majority to live their lives here without having to pick up the legal costs of any Tom, Dick or Achmed who lies to come and study here and who gets caught lying too.
Still...

‘Changes have since been made, but they do not affect this appeal.’

So that's ok then, we'll just let the lying scumbag with limited English and a penchant for obtaining fraudulent documents stay.

Moral idiocy

I have no problem with contentious objectors, providing of course they make their feelings known before landing themselves in a situation at which they have moral qualms. Where I draw the line though is if someone joins one of the armed services and then has an attack of conscience or uses it as an excuse to avoid duty, which is why I have no sympathy at all with Michael Lyons.
BBC.

A Royal Navy medic who refused to attend rifle training because of his objection to the war in Afghanistan has lost an appeal against his detention.
Michael Lyons, 25, from Plymouth, was detained after being found guilty at a court martial of disobeying a legal order by refusing to attend training.
He said he had a "moral objection" to bearing arms.
He was dismissed from the service later. He lost his challenge at the Court of Appeal.
Lyons was sentenced in July to seven months' detention at a military correction facility in Colchester, Essex.
Lord Justice Toulson, sitting with Mr Justice Openshaw and Mr Justice Hickinbottom, threw out his conviction appeal.
They also dismissed his appeal against his "manifestly excessive" sentence.

I cannot image what on earth possessed the guy to join a military service and not expect to come into contact with weapons at some stage, even if it's simply for personal defence. Granted the Navy, like the RAF are not exactly on the front line where it comes to facing armed aggressors face to face, but the principle stands, if you are asked to bear arms, even if it's for self defence, you wear a gun, orders are orders and this is not an illegal order.
The only circumstances in which I could see any form of problem in this would if we had conscription, where you had no choice but to be where you were. This is where the conscientious objector get out clause comes into play, you simply opt out. But this guy only seems to have developed a conscience after he learned he might end up in harms way by refusing personal weapons training.
Frankly this is a good decision by the judges and my personal opinion of  Michael Lyons is that he's a coward and that's about as mild as I can get it as my deepest opinions would involve considerably more intemperate language.

Reinforcing failure

The inertia of a bureaucratic system often means that a failed project or department will carry on under its own inertia for years sometimes decades. The larger the system, the less the accountability and a system like the EU and its arcane working practices is a prime example of things being done to reinforce a failure at the cost to the taxpayer.
Telegraph.

British taxpayers are spending up to £400,000 a year to help maintain French trains in the aftermath of a failed European transport project. 

The aborted rail scheme cost British taxpayers more than £180million but the Department for Transport continues to fund the failure.

It spent “between £300,000 and £400,000 last year” on mothballed facilities for the aborted Regional Eurostar project that would have provided a direct link between cities such as Manchester and Glasgow to Paris.

Seven trains were built for the Regional Eurostar but they were passed to the French train operator SNCF because its high-speed link between Paris and Lille was short of carriages.

A depot in Manchester to maintain the trains is still the responsibility of London & Continental Railways, a firm which is wholly owned by the DfT.

It has largely remained unused since the early ‘90s and London & Continental has to pay for its upkeep, though there has been no suggestion that it will ever be required for its original purpose.

 This is a classic example of bureaucratic inertia, or those in power not making a decision simply because it's too much trouble, or simply forgotten. No doubt it was a nice financial budget and staffing addendum to the DfT maintaining the size and prestige of a ministry, the only measure of success that the civil service have. I'm fairly sure that there are other programs out there with a budget hidden away from the eyes of the public that have simply not crossed the radar of the accountants or journalists yet, Cold War bunker maintenance etc.
But the EU's talent for spending money is pretty much unmatched along with its unaccountability, no-one really seems to have much of an idea about what is being spent on what or at the higher echelons no-one really cares so long as the expenses keep piling in and they can clock in with their travelling case to go home on Friday with a full days pay behind them.
Not that I'm suggesting that our own civil servants and public servants are much better, but if they were closer to home, there would be far greater scrutiny (I'd hope) but the problems keep arising that those who run the country are far too careless about our money. Until there's accountability, full accountability, the situation will remain the same.

"Activities which undermine our healthy eating policy cannot be tolerated."

Every attempt it would seem to try and force the public to do something they don't want to do by "experts" seems doomed to explode in their faces. Healthy eating, anti-smoking, anti-drinking all fall by the wayside by peoples bloodymindedness as they'll look for another option when one door to their gratification is closed leading to ever more restrictions in our lives and greater underlying anger at those who simply will not leave us alone.
BBC.

Schoolboy trader given suspension for selling chocolate
Tommie Rose was excluded for breaking a healthy eating policy
A young entrepreneur has been suspended from his healthy eating school for repeatedly selling sweets there.
Tommie Rose, 12, said he made up to £200 a day selling chocolate and fizzy drinks to fellow pupils at Salford's Oasis Academy.
He was warned he was breaking a healthy eating policy, but continued to trade.

His biggest mistake was of course selling on the schools property, their gaff, their rules after all, but if he were to say step off the property, then I'm sure he'd be in business again, though no doubt they have rules about leaving the grounds. Still it's a classic example of prohibition in that if you ban something that people want, someone will try to get around it.

A spokesman for Oasis Academy said that parents "fully support our policy and would be disappointed to find their child's money being spent on the large amounts of chocolate repeatedly being brought onto the premises".

He added: "Whilst we understand the motivation for a bit of entrepreneurialism, we would rather work alongside all students and channel that motivation into an activity that doesn't break the academy rules.

"Activities which undermine our healthy eating policy cannot be tolerated."

 The last line says it all, it's all about control, forcing kids to do what the so called "experts" have decided is good for them, turning them into obedient little robots under state control. I'm not saying what he did was right, for the reasons above, however I do admire his enterprise and suspect he'll do well for himself in the future at buying in bulk and selling it on. He might make his fortune, the people running the school however will not and the more their attitudes prevail, the worse things will get in society in general until something snaps in us all and the revolution starts.
Just taking longer than I ever dreamed though.

When in a hole...

Stop digging, common sense really, if you're already in the public eye for say getting your partner to admit to a driving offence that you actually committed, it might just be best to keep squeaky clean at least until the heat dies down. But of course this is politics and politicians we're talking about...
Telegraph.

Chris Huhne, the Energy Secretary, has been caught attempting to smear two Tory Cabinet colleagues in a single weekend.
The Lib Dem minister admitted briefing against Theresa May by tipping off a national newspaper that a section of her controversial party conference speech on human rights appeared to have been plagiarised.
And Mr Huhne was embarrassed again after claiming in a television interview that Philip Hammond, the Transport Secretary, had recently received points on his licence for speeding.
A source close to Mr Hammond, who last month announced plans to increase the motorway speed limit from 70mph to 80mph, vigorously denied the claims and suggested that the Lib Dem minister should “check his facts”.
In the same BBC interview Mr Huhne apologised to Mrs May, the Home Secretary, for telling a journalist from The Guardian that part of her speech appeared to have been copied from a previous speech made by Nigel Farage, the Ukip leader.

 Now as far as I can tell the plagiarisation claims are a bit spurious as Farage and May used the same source, a story in the Daily Mirror earlier this year, if anything they are only guilty of not checking the actual facts in that the story is a bit of an urban myth. Not that I have a great deal of sympathy towards May anyway, the stories she used in the speech were all aimed at the HRA and the abuses within it, without mentioning the fact there's sod all the government can do about it short of leaving the EU. As for Farage, well, brilliant speeches, but UKIP are currently in the doldrums as there is little or no direction from the top. They should be gaining in the polls, but they aren't, perhaps a rebranding and a change of emphasis on to local policies rather than the anti-EU bit which we all know about wouldn't go amiss, dropping the logo wouldn't hurt either.
As for "windmill" Huhne well I wonder if the government will remove him, doubt it, there aren't that many Lib Dems available to put in his place and I cannot see EuroClegg allowing a Tory to occupy the position of Energy Minister, why they might actually insist on a policy which works when the wind isn't blowing.
Huhne is clearly damaged goods though and I doubt he'll be much of a problem to the government or the press, they have his number and he'll always be a marked man now, untrusted to a higher degree than most of his colleagues. His judgement and clearly his luck is badly flawed, and he seems to have forgotten one of the golden rules of plotting in that you should never put anything down in writing, particularly in an electronic medium.
I do hope this is the last straw though, the guy is clearly unhinged with his enviroloony proposals and it would be nice to get someone in there who actually understands about power generation and costs.
I'm not going to hold my breath though...

 

Envirolunacy

Seems that one of the latest "wizard" schemes of  the enviroloony wing of the government is to give lots of taxpayers cash to hospitals in order for them to produce their "own" electricity.
BBC.

Royal Berkshire will be one of five hospitals in England to receive NHS funding to produce its own electricity.

The Reading hospital will receive £5m from the Carbon And Energy Fund to install solar panels, wind turbines and a heat-driven mini power station.
The Department of Health scheme aims to cut CO2 emissions from NHS buildings.
A Royal Berkshire Hospital spokesman said work would start in early 2012. Other funding is going to hospitals in Kent, Cambridge and Wolverhampton.
The five hospital trusts are part of a first tranche of grants handed out by the fund.
Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge will receive a £15m grant, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital in Margate will get £4m, Kent and Canterbury Hospital in Canterbury will get £3m in funding and Royal Wolverhampton Hospital in West Midlands is due to receive between £3 and 5m.
A spokesman for the Carbon And Energy Fund, which has more than £100m to distribute, said the plan was to help 60 NHS hospital trusts reduce their carbon footprint in four years.
Royal Berkshire Hospital spokesman Joe Wise said the hospital could save between £500,000 and £1m a year in electricity bills and reduce its CO2 emissions by about 3,200 tonnes.
He said the hospital was expected to produce surplus energy that would go towards powering the nearby Reading School, the London Road campus of Reading University and a planned heated community swimming pool or sauna on the hospital's site.

£5 million to fit in equipment that has to be subsidised by the taxpayers in order to be economically viable in the first place. £5 million on equipment that wont even pay back it's purchase costs within its working lifetime. All to appease the idiots who still believe that humankind can do something about climate change, who believe that the UK must wreck its economy in order to reduce its "carbon footprint" when the USA and China who produce 40% of the worlds carbon footprint compared to our 2% are not so stupid as to do anything about it, they want their people employed it seems. Not even the zealots in the EU are so stupid as to believe that their economies should be wrecked by schemes that are expensive, unreliable and unworkable as the UK The previous labour government has stuck us with a voluntary commitment to reduce our carbon dioxide emissions to 80 per cent of their 1990 level by 2050 something which would only be achievable by shutting down most of the economy leaving us to starve and freeze as we'd be unable to buy food or heat our homes in the winter.
The greed and tax grabbing of our political classes has the UK staring into the abyss of economic meltdown as over £760 per annum per household of our income is going into the coffers of government to be wasted on environmental foolishness and yet to save face (or because they just don't care) no one in the government has the guts to say hold on, we don't need this.
I'm all for looking after the environment, that means dealing with pollution and waste, but green energy is not looking after the environment, it's just lining the pockets of companies and politicians who promote their barmy schemes in the face of evidence that they simply don't work as advertised and aren't needed.
Their time will come when we'll hang them from the lampposts, but no doubt some will escape with their ill gotten gains to some tax haven in the sun whilst the UK economy collapses from their greed and short sighted stupidity.

They just can't seem to help themselves

Nobody I know has a problem with genuine expenses, if you're out of pocket doing something for your employer or simply being paid travel expenses as part of your job, it's fine. MP's however continue to take the piss...
Mail.

MPs are being handed thousands of pounds of licence fee money simply to appear on the BBC.
The cash is being doled out to politicians for guest slots on shows where they do little more than promote themselves or their party.
Exposed for the first time in a week when the Corporation announced swingeing cuts that will leave BBC2 a channel of repeats, the practice allows MPs to receive ‘disturbance payments’ on top of expenses when they take part in programmes such as Any Questions? or Have I Got News For You.
Senior politicians including Diane Abbott, Hilary Benn, Sir Menzies Campbell and Caroline Flint have enjoyed being paid to turn up on panel shows, according to research conducted on the parliamentary register of members’ financial interests.
It proves the BBC has become a money-spinner for the political classes.
One of the most lucrative shows is Have I Got News For You, which can attract a fee of £1,500, but BBC2’s Cash in the Attic – currently under threat of being axed – once paid Miss Abbott £1,000 for an appearance.
Some MPs give the money to charity, one at least donates it to her local party and others simply pocket the cash.
Although the BBC’s stated policy is not to pay frontbench ministers or their Opposition counterparts, the Daily Mail’s research has revealed this has happened.
Many of the payments come from Radio 4’s political panel programme Any Questions?, which usually pays about £150 for an MP to appear. But this can rise to £200 a show, plus expenses.

The last bit is the one which caught my eye, they are being paid "appearance money" PLUS expenses!As if they weren't raking in enough of our cash for the privilege of driving the country into the ground, they have to grab some of our money via the BBC too.
Thing is, all they do when on many of these shows is trot out the party line, they rarely say what they really think (I'm assuming here as the alternative is too horrible to contemplate) They never answer a straight question with a straight answer and at times appear so out of touch with public opinion that you have to wonder which planet they are from, though the BBC often pander to this delusion with tame audiences and presenters.
If politicians are invited to appear on a political program then all they should get is their travelling expenses, no appearance fee and no special treatment.
The BBC as ever seem to forget just whose money they are playing (and paying) with.

Who?

Two big names have been thrown to the wolves from the Shadow cabinet reshuffle, John Denham and John Healy. This confused me a little as to me neither of them are "big" names and although I do know a little about John Denham as he's criticised the EDL back in 2009 whilst it was just being set up and violently attacked by the UAF (yes he's that sort of hypocrite) I have never heard of John Healy.
Express.

TWO of Labour’s key figures have stepped down from their posts ahead of Ed Miliband’s reshuffle of his Labour top team today.
The departures of shadow business secretary John Denham and shadow health secretary John Healey are expected to pave the way for the embattled Labour leader to bring new blood into his shadow cabinet from the 2010 intake of MPs.
Shadow junior minister Rachel Reeves, 32, is set to lead a charge of young women dubbed “Mili’s fillies”.
Emma Reynolds, 33, also a shadow junior minister, and backbencher Stella Creasy, 34, are expected to join the new-look team.
The experienced Caroline Flint could be promoted to shadow health secretary from her communities and local government role.
Shadow secretary of state for Northern Ireland Shaun Woodward, the former Conservative MP who defected to Labour in 1999, is among those battling to save their jobs.
And shadow culture, media and sport secretary Ivan Lewis and energy spokeswoman Meg Hillier are also thought to be at risk.

I do wonder if this is an all light but no heat type of reshuffle, a sort of rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic moment. Millipede E is in a bit of a bind anyway he knows the economies in dire straits (at least I hope he does) he also knows just exactly who is to blame for it even if he's trying to deny or shift it. He should also know that the resolution to it is completely out of his hands and also Cameron's too. So I have to ask myself if Millipede E is trying to lose the next election as things are about to get oh so much worse?
As for the “Mili’s fillies” comment, well that's gutter politics at its best, but judging by Caroline Flint's performance during the Brown years it's not too surprising really politicians and the MSM being quite open in saying the stuff that we politely wouldn't say to anyones face.It might be that Rachel Reeves, Emma Reynolds and Stella Creasey will be good at their jobs, though judging by their ages I doubt they have much experience in the real world, though that goes for a lot of politicians who are much older too. But they've been tarred now as being some sort of airheads by innuendo in a similar vein to Blair's babes, none of whom set the political world on fire, plus they are somewhat too the left politically speaking which gives them another mental impairment.
Why do we elect these people?

Some traditions aren't welcome here

What is allowable in one country isn't always allowable in others, sometimes it's odd laws and customs such as the USA not allowing people under 21 to purchase alcohol in most states. Or the age of sexual consent varying from one country to another. Either way, you obey the laws of the country you're in and you don't try to introduce your own customs if they go against the mores and laws of the country you now live in.
This is a problem for some cultures as their religious "rules" permit some things which are also allowed in the countries where they were born or feel culturally attached too. Child brides being one such instance along with polygamy and treating the women of other beliefs as "property" or whores.
Carlisle News and Star.

A Carlisle restaurant boss has appeared in court accused of running a brothel from the takeaway he manages on Botchergate.

Azad Miah, 44, is also accused of paying young girls for sex.

Miah, who is manager of the Spice of India takeaway, appeared at Carlisle Magistrates’ Court today charged with 13 offences.

They are:

• one charge of keeping or managing a brothel at the Spice of India takeaway;
• six charges of causing or inciting prostitution for gain;
• two charges of causing a girl under 13 to engage in sexual activity;
• three charges of causing or inciting a girl to perform sexual acts;
• one charge of paying for the sexual services of a girl aged 13 to 15.

The offences are said to have taken place between 2005 and March this year.

Miah, who used to live in the city centre, was arrested by police on Monday and charged.

An application for bail was refused by magistrates.

Not an isolated case either despite what some MSM, police, leftists and politicians would like you to believe either. Other examples being here, here and here.
In all the link is Islamic, though the MSM would have us believe it's "Asians" and it appears to be part of their culture to believe that any other cultures women are there to be used, that they are less worthy (after all their own women's worth is a half that of a man) and the Kuffar are worth less than a Muslim woman.
These cases are getting a bit more publicity now, but for years in the name of multiculturalism, diversity and community cohesion these dreadful crimes have been swept under the carpet by the police, the MSM and politicians of both the left and right. There's still some of it going on today with the insistence of the BBC and others to call them "Asian" sex gangs despite the fact that "Asians" of Hindu, Buddhist and Jain religions simply don't behave in any such vile way, nor as far as I can tell do any other people in Asia with the one exception of those holding to the Islamic faith.
Sure, sure it's not all Muslims, but at the moment I'm not exactly inclined to start sorting out the sheep from the goats as their communities have a tendency to close ranks against anyone making such enquiries.
I just don't feel their is any place for Islam or Muslims in a civilised society. They don't or wont play by our rules of civilised behaviour and the idiots with the power to deal with it have allowed these people to settle and increase in our country to the point where it's now becoming obvious that civil disorder (or war) is fat becoming a possibility as the indigenous people and other who have integrated well are no longer prepared to tolerate the behaviour of Muslims within their midst.
I give it 5 years.

Dead stable

Cameron came out with a corker today, he told BBC political editor Nick Robinson there were "serious clouds on the horizon" and it was "absolutely vital" to stabilise the Euro. Vital to whom he doesn't seem to be quite so clear about, after all the UK is not part of the Eurozone and if the Euro does go tits up to coin the vernacular it certainly wont affect the UK as badly as those countries who are a part of it. If anything it's hurting us now with all the attempts to save it by cash grabs from the EU in desperate attempts to stave off the inevitable.
BBC.

David Cameron has said the world economy is at "a moment of danger" as a result of the eurozone crisis.

He told BBC political editor Nick Robinson there were "serious clouds on the horizon" and it was "absolutely vital" to stabilise the euro.

After that was done, he said, there must be "more on the growth front" in the UK to get the economy moving.

The PM also said safeguards were needed to protect UK interests if Eurozone states begin closer integration.

Well at least he didn't try to blame it on America like the last PM did, however Cameron is in the position of a kid standing beside a badly wounded parent and unable to control the events going on around him helpless but to scream don't let them die please to the people around him. The Euro is dead, I know it, you know it, the financiers know it.

So why Cameron is trying to tell us that it still can (or must) be saved is somewhat of a mystery to all, even his own party, though perhaps not the Lib Dem leader whose pension depends on the EU surviving and the UK remaining part of it.
The best way to stabilise the Euro from my admittedly jaundiced perspective would be to let it die without spending any more UK taxpayers money on it, after all, dead is stable and Cameron wants stability.
I suspect it wont happen that easily though, there are vested interests involved after all, I even suspect when the whole rotten edifice falls we'll have politicians popping up to tell us mistakes were made and lessons learned so trust us to try again.
Thing is though, I don't trust politicians anymore, the people I mix with are equally as jaded and will not vote or if they do will no longer vote mainstream. If this collapses (and it will) you can expect the rise of more extremist parties offering "solutions" to the problem, likely involving immigrants or a convenient scapegoat. Europe has form for this sort of thing after all, Hitler and the Nazi's didn't just come from nowhere or were a total aberration in European history.
So best we stay out of it, let it die and look after our own.
But that's not Cameron's way, he seems to want to drag us screaming down into the long night.

Actions, not words please

Until the blogger Guido Fawkes (Paul Staines) took it upon himself to highlight the gross abuses of "Pilgrims" within the public services who do a full time union job at the taxpayers expense many of us were unaware at just how deep the rot of corruption and waste of money that Labour were prepared to cover up to allow the bloated public sector unions who bankroll them to feast at the trough of taxation. So far it's been estimated there are around 150 civil servants who are actually full time trade union officials, all on the public payroll and this does not cover those working at local government levels. More part timers exist as well soaking up revenue that could be spent elsewhere combating the cuts rather than encouraging strike action by public service staff.

Picture courtesy of Guido's blog

Express.

Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles slammed the role of paid full-time unionists as a “non-job” and pledged to crack down on them.
He told the Conservative conference yesterday: “They cost the public sector – that’s taxpayers to you and me – a quarter of a billion pounds a year.
“That’s money taken away from frontline services.”
He said Labour was too in hock to unions to take action, adding: “If unions want to raise money for Labour – do it in your own time, not on the rates.
“We’re going to call time on this last closed shop.” 

Indeed Labour are in hock to the unions, there were various scams in place such as the Union Modernisation Fund that saw a rebate for the money the unions paid to the Labour Party come straight out of government coffers for the development and advancement of the “movement”. In other words Labour were using public funds by what amounted to a money laundering scheme to top up their coffers.
Yet despite what Eric Pickles is saying and mostly I like what he says, I'm still waiting for deeds to match the words. We (the taxpayers) are being ripped off left right and centre by corrupt unions, corrupt local government and corrupt politicians in general. Their time is coming, the only thing that might save them is to pay back what they are stealing, something they are showing no inclination to do.
Someday they will hang for their crimes, it can't come too soon.

Bad Timing

Time is a funny thing, humans generally use the diurnal rotation of the planet coupled with its annual rotation around the Sun as the standard measure. Yes it's not precise, but over the centuries we've built in a few checks and balances to even up the odd bits and bobs left over at the end of the yearly rotation which is why we have Leap years and no doubt eventually a double Leap year if and when it's decided to even things up again. It's how our calendars and watches work, fitting into the human sense of what seems to be right. Sadly though there are always some who wish to meddle and in this case it's the EU and A group of scientists from the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM), based near Paris who want to use the time from an atomic clock system to replace GMT. I doubt that it's spite, though the French have never been particularly happy about GMT becoming the international standard as opposed to Paris Mean Time which is one degree of latitude out.
Express.

Meddling Eurocrats are threatening an even more integral part of our British heritage – Greenwich Mean Time.

A group of scientists from the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM), based near Paris, want to axe the last vestiges of the Greenwich Mean Time system, under which day-length is based on the rotation of the earth.

Under the new proposals, which have been rejected by the British Government, the scientists argue that day-length should be based solely on atomic clocks, which differ slightly from astronomical time. Since 1972, standard international time has combined both.

But the new proposals would mean Britain’s role in global timekeeping would finally be relegated to a footnote in history, with the BIPM in France effectively taking charge. Dr Elisa Felicitas Arias, of the BIPM, said: “We want to de-couple the world’s timekeeping from its link to the rotation of the Earth.  

Rejecting the plans, Science Minister David Willets said: “This is primarily a finely-balanced scientific argument.

“But I do detect undercurrents of nationalism. Britain’s position is that we should stick to real time as experienced by humans, which is based on the Earth’s rotation, not atomic clocks.”

Under the alternative proposed system, he said, we would lose contact with the reality of Earth’s rotation.

This could mean that, “eventually our midnight would happen at noon”.

Real time does indeed work fine for most people, after all, we live in real time so Midnight and Noon should remain the same, 12 hours apart and we live our lives in-between. Atomic time however takes no notice of minor variations in the Earth's rotation because of our planets rotation and minor wobbles occasionally happen which are corrected manually without our noticing by establishments by the BBC and the atomic clock people at Jodrell Bank. Sticking however to an atomic time system would eventually move the Midnight and Noon cycle out of synchronisation with what people perceive to be the actual time and I suspect that things would rapidly go back to the old system though possibly if the French have their way it would be based upon Paris Mean Time rather than Greenwich Mean Time, that is how the EU seem to work in favour of most things French with the Germans paying the bills.
Time will tell no doubt.

Moving the deckchairs around

Nothing strikes me more about the lack of sovereignty of our so called political representatives than their continued debates on matter of which they cannot control, nor can force the government to implement.
Mail.

A historic vote on growing demands for Britain to leave the European Union will be held in the Commons before Christmas.
MPs will debate whether the Government should give voters a chance to decide the issue once and for all in a referendum.
It will be the first time Parliament has held a major vote on seeking the public’s view since the 1975 referendum confirming the decision to join the Common Market.

Sounds great, the voices of the representatives of the people will be heard...

If MPs vote in favour of a referendum, the result would not be binding on the Government.

And ignored if they decide on something the government (aka David Cameron) doesn't want, though a few out there have the suspicion that the EU might just want us to have a referendum simply to bribe us back into compliance. Then again with the current state of the EU and the Euro that may not be an option they can afford anymore, still as some of you will no doubt point out, when has that ever stopped them from spending money they haven't got...
As for our Parliamentarians, well over the last 30 years they like sheep who have been lead astray have systematically handed over our sovereignty to unaccountable bureaucrats in Whitehall and Brussels, you can more or less forget the EU Parliament, it has fewer powers than Westminster, the actual power of the EU lies within the Commission and the Council of Ministers who exercise the powers our treacherous leaders gave away with various treaties since the days of that arch traitor Heath. So all they can do now is debate something and probably watch the government ignore it as even if it get overwhelming support, it will be leached away with backroom deals to prevent the sovereign people of these isles having their say assuming they can be arsed to get up from watching strictly come x factor.

Last night, despite the growing calls for a referendum, Foreign Secretary William Hague insisted the Government would not grant a public vote on leaving the EU altogether – but said he would consider putting any future erosion of sovereignty to the people.

In other words never, the EU seem to have grabbed the really important stuff already otherwise vague Hague wouldn't make such a promise.

Since Britain joined the Common Market, there have been a series of Commons votes on whether there should be referendums on EU treaties such as Maastricht and Lisbon – although none on whether we should remain in the EU. All have been defeated, largely due to Governments ordering MPs to vote them down.

Says it all really.