Common sense

The disaster that was a Labour core philosophy carries on in the shape of mass uncontrolled immigration by which they hoped to rub the 'rights' nose in multiculturalism, whoever the right might be. Yet you get the odd MP who isn't afraid of being tarnished a racist sticking their head above the parapet to say pretty much what most ordinary people think.
Express.

MIGRANT workers could be barred from entering Britain if they have criminal records, are in poor health or do not have a job arranged. Tory MP Stewart Jackson is tabling a bill tomorrow to challenge an EU directive that gives Europeans the right to live here regardless of backgrounds or ability.
Under the Peterborough MP’s bill, migrants would also be prevented from claiming benefits for 18 months after arriving in the UK.
Mr Jackson said: “At the moment we have a crazy system where we are turning away highly qualified people from the Middle East but have to let in anyone from Europe regardless. It is right that the British Parliament dictates which foreign people live and work in the UK.
“We want hard-working, highly skilled people and, above all, we want to take back control of our borders.”
The 2004 directive led to an influx of migrants, putting strain on health services and schools and pricing Britons out of jobs.

Whilst I'm not too sure about wanting middle east skilled workers as some islamics bring far more trouble than they are worth, I have no real objection to allowing people to settle here if they have a skill set we desperately need, though only as a short term measure until we train up enough of our own, assuming that's cost effective. What we clearly don't need are sick people, unskilled people (we have enough of our own thanks) and we don't need criminals either (again we have enough of our own) Unfortunately the EU decided we shouldn't be able to control our own borders and anyone from the EU was welcome to come here and dip into our benefits system, even people straight off the ferry in Greece were simply given a passport on condition they didn't stay there.
That is one of the real reasons we need to get out of the EU, we need to be in control of our own destiny once more. We then need to be removing those who should not be here by means of removing all benefits too them.
Multiculturalism and mass immigration failed and have been shown to be of no benefit to those who live here, it's time and passed time it was ended.

And people will still vote for them

Private Finance Initiatives were at the heart of the Blair/Brown government and were supposed to be the means by which new hospitals could be built on the never, never. In other words private finance would cover the initial costs and the government (via the NHS trusts) would rent it back from the financiers over a fixed period of time.
As ever when politicians get their hands on a 'solution' it turns to dross in their hands, particularly politicians of the left who come with all the baggage of socialist economic lunacy and the infamous magic money tree belief.
Mail.

MPs warned last night that NHS hospitals could go bust as a result of Labour’s botched PFI deals.
Many trusts’ chances of breaking even were being undermined by ‘unaffordable’ contracts with private sector companies under the much-derided private finance initiative, the Public Accounts Committee said.
But members also criticised the present Government for having no idea how to respond if a trust does go bankrupt and is forced to close down – saying the controversial reforms imposed on the NHS could make things worse.
They said it appeared the Department of Health was ‘inventing rules and processes on the hoof’ to deal with hospital trusts which get into financial difficulties.
It raises the possibility of communities being left without vital services because managers at their local trust have not been able to keep the organisation solvent. At least 22 trusts, running 60 units, are facing severe problems as a result of PFI burdens, and earlier this year the DoH had to put in £1.5billion to bail them out.

One of the reasons the present government is having such problems sorting out the nations finances is mainly due to the Labour scorched earth initiatives which made getting out of or renegotiating policies almost impossible due to substantial penalty clauses built into them. Labour knew they were going out eventually and so in a fit of malice and spite made sure that any incoming government were going to be saddled with their flagship policies come what may, never mind the cost to the nation.
Add this to uncontrolled immigration, placing Labour supporting figures in key positions of authority, the use of fake charities to supplement Labour policies via think tanks which bore no resemblance to what the people were actually thinking. Human Rights Act, Multiculturalism in which barbarism was given equal tolerance with decency, attacks on civil liberties, political correctness, the emasculation and dumbing down of education and the various witch hunts of CRB checks, the list just goes on and on...
Our country is in a mess and it's all Labours fault.
Yet people still vote for them and somehow think they're the party who care.
Despite all evidence to the contrary...

A rock and a hard place

Cameron has a problem, he wants to cosy up to his EU 'friends' by allowing the UK's contribution to go up in line with inflation, despite the EU (as ever) wanting more. He no doubt thinks it's a good compromise, unfortunately a lot of his party don't and he may be relying on the Lib Dems to get him through against a pretty strong opposition. Thing is though if as many Tory rebels do oppose the measure he's proposing are supported by the Labour MP's, there is no way Cameron can win this.
Telegraph.

David Cameron faces a fresh rebellion as Tory backbenchers launch attempt to block any increase in the EU's budget in the House of Commons.
The Prime Minister has signalled he will allow Britain's contribution to the EU budget rise in line with inflation to around £13.6 billion a year.
Other European countries will push for an even bigger increase when leaders meet at a summit in November but many within the Tory party and Labour are demanding a real-terms cut.
Mr Cameron will try to get his position on the EU budget approved in parliament on Wednesday, but this may be derailed as Tory eurosceptics are preparing to put up a fight.
Mark Pritchard, MP for the Wrekin, has filed an amendment calling for the Prime Minister to stand up to a wasteful EU, which has flatly refused to cut costs and staff. Mark Reckless, MP for Rochester and Strood, has a separate amendment calling for a real-terms cut in the budget.
The debate will put Mr Cameron in a difficult position, facing opposition from each side of the political spectrum from the hard-right to Labour.
Ed Balls, the shadow chancellor, and Douglas Alexander, the shadow foreign secretary, said last night that no extra money at all should flow to Europe. Liam Fox, the standard-bearer of the Tory right, will make a similar argument in a speech today.

When you are facing financial straits the first thing you ought to be looking for is trimming the fat off your budget. Cameron failed with an obvious own goal on foreign aid and now looks to be facing similar embarrassment over the EU (another form of foreign aid). There is an awful lot this government could actually do to cut costs, most of which they are failing to do. Not that Labour have much to gloat about as most of the costs the government could or should be cutting are directly attributable to them with banking bail outs and private financing initiatives.
Still it would be a pretty good indicator on the Tory side at least to see just how many of the so called rebels would be available as an opposition should in the future Cameron or Milliband opt for some form of referenda on the EU.
I suspect the whips in all parties are going to be busy, busy, busy right up until the vote.
Hopefully though the EU budget will be given a bit of a black eye...

Supply and demand #2

I'm always amazed that the government and its minions cannot understand why taxing something into the ground or making something illegal often backfires. By making a legal pastime prohibitively expensive through punitive taxation or as in the case of drugs making them illegal, all they do is drive honest people into the hands of the criminal fraternity, though despite the fact that the police and government call them criminals, often enough they are just service providers for something the public want.
Express.

ALMOST half of Britain’s most wanted tax fugitives are cigarette smugglers who have dodged duty running into hundreds of millions of pounds.
Figures from HM Revenue and Customs show eight of the top 20 tax avoiders were convicted of illegally importing cigarettes.
The figures have been seized upon by campaigners opposed to plain cigarette packets because it could fuel smuggling.
The list of tax targets includes Hussain Chohan, 44, who has joint British/Pakistani citizenship and is now said to be in Dubai. He failed to appear at Birmingham Crown Court for a £200million fraud in 2006.
Chohan was tried in his absence and given an 11-year sentence for smuggling 2.25tons of tobacco worth £750,000 in lost duty.
Gordon Arthur, 60, and Emma Tazey, 38, both British, were arrested for a £15million tax fraud. Customs officers seized seven million smuggled cigarettes in 1999.
Another 21 seizures of alcohol and tobacco have been attributed to Arthur, worth £5.5million in duty. They skipped court bail and are said to be in the US.

It's a classic case of the law of supply and demand, the government have made the price of a legal product exorbitant and naturally created a market for those who are prepared to sell it cheaper by smuggling it in. Nor do they get any sympathy from me with their bleating about lost tax revenues, what they never had, they cannot miss. Lowering the taxation would get them more revenue regardless, as people would again buy from the shops, rather than a man in a van. They can dress up their campaigns in all sorts of fancy language from health to NHS costs, but like prohibition in the USA if it goes against what all or some of the public want to do, then the public will go to those who will supply their needs despite the lack of quality control and/or health risk. Same with those who want drugs or alcohol, if the government make it difficult then someone will provide the service.
The government and the health Nazi's have made a rod for their own back, they are trying to force people in a direction they don't want to go. Ultimately all they are doing is depriving the government of revenue and enriching those who will supply the people with what they want, illegally or not...

Supply and demand

Currently there are ten children chasing every Grammar school place in the country, demand as ever has outstripped supply and you'd think that some in government at least would learn by this example of market forces. Sadly though I doubt they will, they'd far more have a 'fair' system where everyone is forced down to the lowest common denominator and learns about equality, gender awareness and religion is relegated to learning about islam as the muslims object to anyone learning about anything else.
Telegraph.

Counties with the largest numbers of selective state schools are reporting a four per cent hike in demand for places next year compared with this autumn.
Private tutors also told of a significant increase in the number of nine and 10-year-olds being given coaching to pass entrance tests.
In some areas, competition is so fierce that as many as 13 pupils are vying for each spare place.
The rise follows concerns that many bright children are being failed by comprehensive schools.
Last month, Sir Michael Wilshaw, the head of Ofsted, criticised the “curse” of mixed-ability teaching in the state education system, suggesting that lessons were often tailored towards average performers.
The shift to grammars is also likely to be driven by parents seeking free alternatives to private schools during the economic crisis.
It comes as a major academic study – published today – shows that one-in-seven places at state grammars are now taken by pupils who have transferred in from fee-paying schools at the age of 11.
Research by Prof David Jesson, from York University’s department for economics, found that they took up five times as many places as those awarded to children from the very poorest backgrounds who previously attended state primaries. At 25 grammars, at least 30 per cent of places went to former private school pupils.
Prof Jesson claimed that grammar school admissions were “biased” in favour of children from the richest families who can afford to provide an independent education – or extensive private tutoring – in preparation for the traditional 11-plus entrance test.

Well what a surprise, those who care a bit about their kids getting a good education are taking measures to make sure their kids are prepared to sit an exam which could get the best out of them. Yes this could look as if the 'rich' or 'well off' are taking advantage of the system, though i suspect that the rich would opt for private education anyway as would the well off. It will be those who are borderline with being able to make sacrifices for their kids to have a good education who are a bit fearful of the economic circumstances who will be trying like mad to make sure their kids will get a good education without putting the family into hock for the next six to eight years, though I suspect the smart ones will at least keep their options open and hope for a good 'free' education, whilst having a finger in the private education pie too.
What the government ought to be doing (but aren't) are re-opening the grammar school system for a lot of schools and going back to a two tier system. A move away from needing a degree to serve at Mc Donald's would help here too no doubt (yes it's an exaggeration)
Successive governments have badly let down our kids over the last forty years or so by insisting that all are treated equally in the state system, whilst knowing full damned well that equality when it comes to education simply doesn't work, kids range from bright to thick and all shades in-between and there's never going to be a one size fits all that will work. Streaming and a two (or more) tier system along with reasonably priced post education opportunities is the only system that will work, which is why politicians will probably never opt for it.
They like being an elite...

A damning indictment of Britains education system

I doubt he realises it, but Labour justice spokesman Sadiq Khan by criticising the knowledge people born here have against immigrants who take the citizenship tests has just acknowledged the utter failure of our education system and the political meddling therein.
Mail.

A left-wing MP has claimed that new immigrants know more about the nation’s heritage than many Britons.
Labour justice spokesman Sadiq Khan said that it ‘frustrated’ him to see newcomers obliged to sit citizenship tests when many people ‘know b***** all’ about British history.
Mr Khan, the son of Pakistani immigrants and MP for Tooting in South London, said he met many people who have gone through the citizenship ceremony who feel ‘so excited and enthused’.
But he added: ‘Then I’ll be canvassing in my area and there’ll be people who have lived in the same home for three or four or five generations who know b***** all about our country, about our heritage.
‘It frustrates me that you’ve got new citizens who have an obligation to learn about our country but we aren’t doing enough to make sure everyone shares that knowledge.’ Last night Mr Khan’s comments were criticised by Tory MPs.
Mark Pritchard, MP for The Wrekin, insisted that the test ‘unites the country and breaks down barriers’. He added: ‘If Labour want to scrap the citizenship test they should declare it openly.’
To gain citizenship or leave to remain in Britain, immigrants who speak a certain level of English must complete a test called ‘Life in the United Kingdom’, which was introduced by Labour in 2005.
Before being naturalised, they must also take part in an individual or group ceremony at their local town hall, which involves an oath of allegiance to the Queen and listening to the National Anthem.

Considering that it was the left over the past few decades who made it almost a crusade to prevent 'real' history being taught at our schools rather than social and economic history coupled with the blame game for our past it's not too surprising that people got turned off by the education system. That plus the fact that immigrants have to know these things to pass and we don't doesn't help.
Until recently there aren't any questions on British history in the test anyway and as for questions on the European Union and how to claim benefits, well that's hardly a great example on knowing our heritage is it? Though no doubt the lefties think these things are an essential part of our heritage.
No, if the left hadn't meddled with our education system so much over the last few decades people would be a lot more clued up on our heritage and our history, that plus allowing for massive uncontrolled  immigration and the divisive multicultural, politically correct policies of none integration have marginalised the UK public by constantly telling them they were either to blame or bigoted for daring to even debate the issues.
Sadiq Khan is a primary example of all that is wrong with political left wing thought when he mistakes knowledge of trivia with heritage and equates that into a pride in immigration and immigrants for knowing something about the EU and how to claim benefits.

Excuses

It always strikes me as odd the excuses councils will come up with to justify lack of action on their part. Rather it's what they'll always throw up to sacrifice in respect of another service they are required to do. Take pot holes in the road...
Express.

BRITAIN’S beleaguered motorists should expect more potholes in the roads because of shrinking council budgets, the spending watchdog has warned.
A fall of nearly 30 per cent in government grants means the quality of roads will get worse, the National Audit Office said.
Town hall chiefs are having to use cash that could be used to patch up Britain’s deteriorating road network to subsidise free bus passes, analysts found.
Councils have faced nearly 55,000 claims for car damage caused by potholes in the last two years ranging from ruined
wheel rims to punctured tyres.
The average repair bill is about £132, while it costs on average only £50 to fix the road.
Councillor Peter Box at the Local Government Association said it could cost £10billion to bring roads up to scratch.
Transport Minister Norman Baker said the Government was giving £3bn for road repairs up to 2015.
Edmund King, president of the AA, said: “The state of the roads is a top concern for drivers.”

Now colour me sceptical,but it does rather strike me that local councils could offer up more than the bus pass when it comes to cutting costs elsewhere. I mean why pick on pensioners, other than for the blackmail value? I'm fairly sure there are masses of other areas which could be axed and which the public would probably not notice or mourn the passing of. I'm thinking diversity co-ordinators, various minority outreach programmes, the odd chief executive and pretty much every union rep suckling at the ratepayers teat as well.
Most people expect a basic service from the local council and their priorities are often widely at variance with the local councils. Most people want the roads (and pavements) kept in good order, the bins emptied, the grass cut and the streets lit. Yes I know councils have other statutory duties to do with health and safety too, but there is an awful lot that they get up too which is politically driven and the more left leaning the council is, the more ideologically avaricious they get in regards to dipping into our pockets. That's not to say that Tory councils can't and don't go crazy with ratepayers cash, but they tend to be exceptions rather than the rules.
We see this game played time and time again in the public services. Whenever cuts are or have to be made it's always frontline vital services, pensioner care, nurses, doctors, wards, refuse collection etc. Never management, never town twinning and the associated 'visits' or expenses and never politically correct diversity/minority junkets.
When it comes to priorities, clearly the political classes are at complete odds to the ordinary folk of this country.

Power and corruption

There is stark evidence that power, particularly political power attracts the easily corruptible, not that all politicians are corrupt, it's just that the privileges and perks along with influence can lead to thieves, sexual predators as well as the utterly incompetent getting away with activities which in the normal world would have you banged up and inside in a short period of time (Islamics being a known exception)
So it came as no surprise to hear an allegation by Labour MP Tom Watson that an alleged member of a member of a notorious paedophile group was connected to a former No 10 aide.
MSN UK.

There is "clear intelligence" suggesting a historic paedophile ring may be linked to Downing Street and a former prime minister, MPs have been told.
Labour MP Tom Watson alleged a member of a notorious group was connected to a former No 10 aide.
He said: "The evidence file used to convict Peter Righton, if it still exists, contains clear intelligence of a widespread paedophile ring.
"One of its members boasts of his links to a senior aide of a former prime minister, who says he could smuggle indecent images of children from abroad.
"The leads were not followed up, but if the files still exist, I want to ensure that the Metropolitan Police secure the evidence, re-examine it and investigate clear intelligence suggesting a powerful paedophile network linked to Parliament and No 10."
Speaking at Prime Minister's Questions in the Commons, David Cameron said it was a "very difficult and complex case" and he was "not entirely sure" to which former prime minister Mr Watson was referring.
The Prime Minister said he would look at the case "very carefully and see what the Government can do to help give" Mr Watson the assurances he wanted.

There have been hints and allusions for a number of years of a high lever paedophile ring operating in and around the Westminster political bubble, though scant evidence as those in the know or involved were both skilled at hiding their tracks along with the political clout to stop investigations in there tracks which coupled with the old boys nudge, nudge, wink, wink to the general thievery and corruption meant that the real monsters could operate almost with impunity.
Yet the powerful seem to be attracted to sex with the underage, it happened in Soviet Russia, it happened fairly recently in Belgium, I don't know if it's endemic in other countries though I suspect it is.
For far too long those in power have used that power to protect themselves from being scrutinised in all of their activities, not just in government of course as the Saville case alludes too, but by the active collusion of those in power to cover up or not rock the boat of those behaving in a criminal manner.
Investigations will no doubt happen, a pervert may be thrown to the wolves, but unless there is transparency at high levels coupled with a totally independent investigation agency, we haven't seen the last of the corrupt pandering to their depravity in the corridors of power.

Nearcations

It has always struck me as odd that the MSM can be surprised by what the general public will get up too, particularly when it makes common sense...
Telegraph.

Hard up British holidaymakers have sparked a new travel trend for getting away from it all - just not too far away from it all, an industry study shows.
Analysts have nicknamed it 'the nearcation' because it usually involves a destination within a couple of hours drive from home.
It could be a traditional romantic getaway for couples or parents to urbanites escaping the city for a couple of days to an overnight trip to the seaside with the family.
Soaring petrol prices and rail fares mean long trips to resorts within the UK, the so called 'staycation', are too expensive for many families on a budget, said market analysts Mintel.
Instead, the staycation has simply evolved into the nearcation as a way for families or couples to get away from it all for a couple of days without having to travel too far.

Clearly a case of see a trend, invent a word. Yet what they probably don't realise is the sheer wealth of things to see within an hour or two of your home. Take as an example, I live near Chatham, not the most scenic town in the UK, but within a few minutes of me I have a dockside museum, a Napoleonic era fort, miles and miles of country walks, river estuaries, castles, cathedrals, the home of Dickens and that's just off the top of my head. There are a lot more things to see within an hour of me too and I suspect that it's the same for everyone, we look to far off places and ignore (until economic reality kicks in) the treasures close to home. There is an absolute wealth of history and beauty around us just waiting to be explored and it's worth taking a look at.
I don't blame people for wanting to see far off places or even head for the sun, but that shouldn't blind us to what's right in front of our eyes. Perhaps the economic downturn will be a bit of a blessing in certain respects after all.

A breach of the peace.

Seems the states 'encouragement' of arresting people who might commit a crime is going a bit further than I thought.
This from the British freedom Party site...

By George Whale, 21:20 Monday
I have just received an urgent telephone call from British Freedom leader Paul Weston who has been arrested outside Wormwood Scrubs Prison.
Speaking from the back of a police van being driven to an unknown destination, Paul hurriedly informed me that he and a friend had travelled to the prison in West London this evening with the aim of visiting Tommy Robinson, or at least assuring themselves of his well-being.
Speaking through a glass panel they had asked officers at the prison to confirm that Tommy was being held there, but they refused to provide this information, citing the ‘Data Protection Act’. Paul and his friend again demanded to know where Tommy was being held, and at that point both were charged with breach of the peace, arrested and bundled into the police van.
Our conversation was cut off with Paul loudly remonstrating to an unidentified individual, “take your hands off me!”
We will update you on the situation as it unfolds.

Seems as even asking will get you arrested these days, providing of course you aren't islamic or a socialist...

Department of pre crime...

The English Defence league are not everyone's cup of tea (though they aren't quite what a lot of people believe them to be either) But by and large they attempt to protest within the letter of the law, liaising with police for their marches, self regulating themselves with stewarding and ejecting troublemakers from their demo's though often enough the troublemakers roots can be traced to the vile Unite Against fascism or other violent groups of the ugly left. The EDL are frequently maligned in the MSM too with accurate reporting being a bit of a joke and misleading headlines about arrests made (22 arrests at EDL demo, but 20 of them were UAF/Muslims) giving the impression that the EDL were/are at fault. Last year though on Remembrance day I witnessed a new tactic by the police, members of the EDL being arrested on suspicion that they 'might commit a crime' This has been followed up several times by the police who seem to believe that arresting people who might commit a crime particularly if they are a protest group is indeed a brilliant idea...
BBC.

Police have arrested 53 men, believed to be supporters of the English Defence League, who were heading to London.
The men were held on the M25 motorway near Heathrow Airport and Uxbridge and on the M3 near Bagshot, Surrey, on Saturday afternoon, police said.
The men were heading to a location in east London, but police have not revealed where they were due to gather.
All 53 were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to cause public nuisance, the Metropolitan Police said.
They have been bailed until a later date pending further inquiries.
A Met spokesman said: "This was part of an intelligence-led investigation into a planned disturbance in east London on that day (Saturday)".
One of the bail conditions imposed on the men bans them from entering east London to demonstrate for a stipulated period of time, police said.
The men were taken to police stations in central and south London.

One of the men arrested was Kevin Carroll who is standing for election to the police commissioner post in Berkshire, another is Tommy Robinson (Stephen Yaxley Lennon) who is still under arrest and was at the time of writing still in incarceration.
Let me make this plain, no crime was committed and no crime was going to be committed, nor do the police need to be informed of a static demo. yet still, 53 innocent men were arrested, bailed and prevented from attending any demo's in East London based on 'intelligence' which strikes me as the same sort of intelligence which got 173 EDL arrested on Remembrance Day because some idiot put on facebook the EDL were going to march on the Occupy London gimps at St Paul's (no how, no way Occupy don't even register on the EDL's radar)
It seems as if our over zealous police (probably the higher ups) are under instruction to prevent the EDL from causing a fuss about islamic crimes and behaviour, it won't work, though any who take pleasure from such arrests ought to keep in mind Pastor Martin Niemöller's poem.
First they came for the EDL...

Hypocrisy writ large

There was an anti-austerity demo by the TUC in London yesterday, supported by the Labour Party of course with Ed Millipede giving a speech amongst others.
Mail.

Labour leader Ed Miliband dubbed the Prime Minister 'clueless' today as he joined a huge protest against the Government's austerity measures.
More than 150,000 people took part in the demonstration in London, which heard calls for a general strike.
Mr Miliband accused the Prime Minister of 'clinging' to policies which were not working. He said the coalition was cutting taxes for millionaires and raising them for everyone else.
He said: 'It is one rule for those at the top and one rule for everyone else.'
The protesters carried banners which read: 'Cameron Has Butchered Britain', '24 Hour General Strike Now' and 'No Cuts' as they marched through Whitehall towards Hyde Park.

None of them seemed to realise just why and how the government have to apply austerity measures of course, nor who really is to blame. Not that the government have made any real cuts either, they've simply slowed down the borrowing, we're all still in the position of spending the rest of our lives paying off the debts our politicians have racked up in the name of political policy rather than common sense.
Nor do the protesters seem to realise that if Labour had won the last election they'd have been forced into the same position as the government, or more likely have been forced to call in the IMF and we'd be looking at a situation akin to Greece.
Truly socialists must rank amongst the hardest of thinking in the country if they believe that somehow or other the country (and those who make money for the country) can afford their delusions of gold plated pensions, over generous benefits, minimum wage payments and unrealistic wages in the ever expanding public sector.
All they understand is tax and spend, never the consequences of what happens when the money runs out...
Not that the coagulation are much better of course, but at least they appear to actually understand what's happening even if they are ineffective in dealing with it.

None of their business... you'd think.

Bulk discounts are part of business, companies will often offer a greater discount the more of a product you buy, accepting a lower profit margin per item in regards to clearing shelf space and selling more of said item, buy one, get one free is another derivative of this ethos. After all if the customer is coming to you and not your rivals because of this, guess who's going to remain in business? However when it comes to items such as alcohol, well the do-gooders and idiot politicians demand that different rules apply...
Telegraph.

Supermarkets will be banned from discounting multiple bottles of wine under Government plans to be set out within days. The Coalition’s alcohol strategy — expected to be launched next week — will propose that special deals which encourage shoppers to buy in bulk should be outlawed, The Daily Telegraph has learnt.
Most supermarkets offer significant discounts for customers buying bottles of wine by the dozen or half-dozen. Sainsbury’s and Waitrose, for example, regularly offer a 25 per cent discount for six bottles of wine.
Ministers believe such promotions give customers a financial incentive to purchase more alcohol than they intended to buy and should be banned.
The plans, being driven by David Cameron, have raised fears that middle-class households will bear the brunt of measures supposedly aimed at troublemaking youths and other anti-social drinkers.
The measures will include a new minimum price for alcohol as ministers try to reduce what they say is irresponsible drinking.
They say new curbs on sales are required because of the growing problems of crime and illness caused by alcohol consumption. The most recent figures show the NHS treats more than 1.1 million people every year as a result of the effects of alcohol.

I'm not an irresponsible drinker, granted I've gotten drunk on a few occasions, though I've never started or been in a fight, nor have I ever required hospital treatment after drinking alcohol to excess or otherwise. Yet it seems that if a supermarket wants to offer me a discount for buying in bulk a product I use responsibly they're going to be prevented by law from doing so.
So what if people do use the product irresponsibly?
Well the obvious answer is to charge them for their treatment, lock them up for misbehaving and generally make those who cause problems whilst under the influence regret their actions in such a way as to make a repeat offence unlikely. Of course that's rather too simple for the government who'd rather get their hands on our cash than actually logically tackle a problem by going after the troublemakers.
Again and again politicians remove our basic freedoms in vain attempts to try and get us to behave, usually invoking the law of unintended consequences as a result. Make alcohol prices too high and guess what? People will find something cheaper (and probably illegal) to use as a substitute (thus losing the tax revenues that could have gone for treatment later)
Why do our politicians not get the art of joined up thinking?
Is it truly a case of enter Westminster but leave your brains at the door?

Too good to be true?

One of the many problems this country faces is its energy dependence on foreign suppliers, from Russian gas to Islamic oil, neither having our best interests at heart. Yet essentially we're a technological society that depends on the burning of hydrocarbons to produce the power we need, for transport and power generation. Despite the claims of the greens, a hell of a lot of hydrocarbons go into the making of their bird-mincers and sunshine panels, environmentally friendly they aren't save at the point of use and they aren't even particularly efficient there either. Still when someone comes up with a formula to produce petrol from air you have to wonder just what medication they're on (and could we have some)
Telegraph.

A small company in the north of England has developed the “air capture” technology to create synthetic petrol using only air and electricity.
Experts tonight hailed the astonishing breakthrough as a potential “game-changer” in the battle against climate change and a saviour for the world’s energy crisis.
The technology, presented to a London engineering conference this week, removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
The “petrol from air” technology involves taking sodium hydroxide and mixing it with carbon dioxide before "electrolysing" the sodium carbonate that it produces to form pure carbon dioxide.
Hydrogen is then produced by electrolysing water vapour captured with a dehumidifier.
The company, Air Fuel Syndication, then uses the carbon dioxide and hydrogen to produce methanol which in turn is passed through a gasoline fuel reactor, creating petrol.
Company officials say they had produced five litres of petrol in less than three months from a small refinery in Stockton-on-Tees, Teesside.

As an engineer having worked occasionally in the chemicals industry at first I thought this must be complete bollocks (and my engineering hindbrain is still telling me that too) I'm also wondering about the laws of conservation of energy too, it simply doesn't happen that you get more out than you put in, you can release energy, you can't create it so to speak. Yet if the process is economically viable in producing a petrol substitute at less (or equivalent too) the current market cost then these guys are onto a winner. Though again the usual caveats involving cold fusion apply here, if it looks too good to be true then it probably is.
Nor can we expect that the big fuel companies will be interested, not unless of course they can see at least as much profit for themselves in it, still a chemical plant in a nice safe democracy has got to be a better bet than an unstable theocracy...
If we can break the ties to foreign energy supply via shale and now this process we may be able to turn back some of the overt influences those suppliers have forced upon us too (yes we're looking at you Saudi Arabia) so I'm going to watch this one very carefully and hope some middle east cartel doesn't buy it and bury it...

Nothing to hide, nothing to fear?

Seems the squeaker of the Houses of Parliament is trying to block the publication of a new report on MP's expenses. Can't think why, it's not like they're not a wonderful bunch of law abiding, honest citizenry is it? I mean they did promise to clean up their act didn't they and surely their word is their bond?
Or is it more a case of what we don't know might slow down attempts to have them thrown in jail or hung from lampposts?
Telegraph.

John Bercow has written to the expenses regulator warning him not to disclose official documents that show the identities of MPs’ landlords for “security” reasons.
Publication of the names, which was supposed to take place today, would expose the extent to which MPs are exploiting a loophole in the rules that allows politicians to rent their homes to one another. The loophole means that MPs can still effectively build up property nest eggs at taxpayers’ expense, despite official attempts to stop the practice following the expenses scandal.
Sources at the expenses regulator confirmed that “some MPs” were engaged in the practice.
In a letter released last night, it emerged that Mr Bercow had written to the regulator claiming that publication of details of MPs’ landlords jeopardised their security and had led to “grave concerns” in the House of Commons.
“The processing of the data … could involve causing unwarranted damage and distress,” the Speaker wrote in the letter to the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa). “I should be grateful if you and your colleagues would reconsider such a plan.”

Ah the old security loophole which is used to cover a multitude of sins and one with which our MP's are far too well aware of and have often tried in the past to use to hide the evidence.
Fact is there's no security issue involved, if you want to know where an MP lives it's easy enough to find out. By showing who the landlords of a rented property are it would also show again how the thieving rogues are exploiting the system to get more cash into their pockets directly from the taxpayer by renting out property (possibly at very high rent) to pay off said mortgages on said property so at the end of the day the taxpayer buys them another house.
Whilst I'm not suggesting that Bercow is involved with the scam, it is rather suspicious that he's leading the charge to block the report and using the tawdry 'security' banner to justify his actions.
All this does in most peoples eyes is suggest that those elected to lead us are far more concerned at lining their own pockets at our expense rather than looking after our interests.
Just one more thing to remember at the next election if you vote mainstream...

The Saville cover up

Oddly enough not about Jimmy Saville or the ensuing damage limitation enquiries into what was going on in the years when he was apparently active in abusing kids along with several so far unnamed others (Trawl the internet if you want names but as several are still living and I like blogging here, I can't for legal reasons name them)
Whilst the MSM have gone into overdrive over these allegations you can almost see the political calculations going on in the background and it's become a good month to bury bad news, or at least put other items to sleep in small columns in the centre of the papers rather than on the front page. Not that many in the blogging world are fooled, or indeed those active on political and various pressure group debate forums, but sadly we're very much in a minority. As far as the general public are concerned, all they want to read about is Saville, or before that it was the absconded schoolgirl. And whilst the effects of the Saville cases are widespread and may have caused some harm, he was only one man and there's far worse out there that really needs to be looked at, such as the scandal of the 'Family Courts' mostly ignored by the media due to reporting restriction though championed by Christopher Booker against a tide of deliberate resistance by those in authority to cease and desist along with tell all as to why it's really going on.
Also pushed off the front page is the ongoing Muslim grooming scandal which is now reaching almost epic proportions as police are now investigation over 10,000 cases of suspected abuse around the country, compared to the Saville 100. Horrifying as that is, in South Yorkshire a hot spot for many of the allegations there has not been one successful prosecution for child sex exploitation, only one in 2010 and eight in 2008. Yet the police and authorities have known for decades that this was going on and wrote off these young girls in an effort to appease community cohesion. South Yorkshire Police had even denied any suggestion they had been reluctant to tackle child sexual abuse and pointed to a series of successful criminal convictions. Yet a confidential 2010 police report exposed by The Times warned that thousands of such crimes were committed in South Yorkshire each year.
There are plenty of other stories buried under the mass of MSN speculation too, I'm sure you could make a fairly lengthy list.
I've believed ever since the Saville case hit the headlines (and I've known about the rumours for years) that this was a deliberate attempt by the powers that be to remove or deflect something from the public glare. I'm pretty sure that a cover up is going on and only a dead man will be named and shamed, others are digging assiduously though and hopefully the truth will out as it did in Belgium of the child sex scandal there.
That said, exposure of the scandal changed nothing, I'd expect as much here, the public are being prepared well in advance and the fix is in...

So now it's blackmail?

The government (the grown up bits of it as opposed to the Lib Dem bit) are forever vacillating over the EU as they struggle to deal with those members who believe it's a good thing and those who love in the real world (for a given value of real world) hence the problems they are running into over repatriating or opting out of various regulations and renegotiating our way back into some others...
Express.

DEFIANT Theresa May last night signalled Britain is to start wrenching many of our powers back from Brussels at last.
The Home Secretary told MPs the Government is to opt out of more than 130 EU crime and justice measures including the controversial European Arrest Warrant.
Her statement, cheered by Tory backbenchers, was seen as the fi rst step in a major offensive to repatriate British sovereignty from Brussels.
It is also another symbolic stage in the Daily Express crusade to get Britain out of the EU. Mrs May said: “It is in the national interest that the Government has taken this decision.”
But senior Eurocrats were outraged and threatened to retaliate by hitting the UK with a huge bill for “administration costs”.

Bit of an overkill reaction from certain EU officials there you'd think, particularly if the government gets it into its head to say sod you if your going to be like that we're leaving (well I can hope) Still blackmail is not a particularly good idea, particularly if you're announcing it to all and sundry, especially as  all that's being done at the moment is talk and rhetoric. I'd almost have been prepared to put money on the government caving in on any opt outs as the various apparatchiks in the civil service moved heaven and earth to make sure we couldn't. Still, at least now our ministers will understand the true cost of defying the EU, blackmail and threats. Add to that various chicanery in referenda along with massive bribes to the MSM by way of adverts and a series of public works to up unemployment and you have pretty much got the general idea of how the EU works to suck you in and keep you there forever paying for its administration to live high on the hog off our wealth.
Just think, if it cost's us millions to get out, how much we'll save by not being one of them, the millions we pay in every day will stop, the millions they waste, the millions they give away to undeserving countries, and don't forget the millions they won't let us see that are hidden when it's time to see the year end books, remember them the accounts they can't find every year end.
I have no doubt in my mind that the money we'd save being out of their unaccountable funding, we could spend on the NHS, defence, roads, in fact everything we've missed out on since the government took us into the 'Common Market' in 1974.

Allies like this we don't need

You have to wonder just what kind of mentality inhabits the Foreign Office that considers a place like Saudi Arabia as a friend and ally. I suspect it stems from the days of Lawrence of Arabia, or perhaps merely watching the film too many times. Then again perhaps they employ far too many anti-Semites or Muslims for their own good.
BBC.

Saudi Arabia says it is "insulted" by a parliamentary inquiry into how the UK deals with the country and Bahrain.
Saudi officials have told the BBC they are now "re-evaluating their country's historic relations with Britain" and that "all options will be looked at".
While they stopped short of cancelling ongoing trade deals, the move reflects growing Saudi resentment at the West's reaction to the Arab Spring.
The Foreign Office said Saudi Arabia remained a close friend and an ally.
The Sunni-majority kingdom suspects the hand of Iran behind much of the unrest in its own Shia population and that of Bahrain.

I suspect that Iran is behind a whole host of middle east problems, however they aren't the only ones. Saudi Arabia is perhaps the main financier of Jihad against... Well against anyone not Muslim in the world. At the moment it is they (or citizens thereof) who finance what is known as Al Quaeda and were at root behind the madrassa's and extremist propaganda being filtered into the mosques in various non Islamic countries. Indeed the Channel 4 programme 'Undercover Mosque' which highlighted various abuses and extremist philosophies being promoted by Muslims also pointed out that the leaflets and media being used were promoted by Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia and its salafist tendencies are no friends to civilisation, they certainly should not be treat as a close friend and an ally, more like a rabid wolf needing to be kept at bay until it collapses of its own extremism.
The Foreign Office needs to be brought sharply to heel by the government as it appears to have gone way off the reservation in regard to Islamic states as well as the EU.
However considering our politicians appeasement of Islamic barbarism within our own country, this seems highly unlikely.

Just words, never deeds

A lot of hot air is spouted by politicians on various issues, though it's often quite enlightening to compare what they say to what they do. Expenses, taxation, morality, the EU what is said is often just hot air as what is done is very much the opposite...
Mail.

The chances of Britain leaving the EU rose dramatically last night after it emerged that one of David Cameron’s closest Cabinet allies believes it is time to tell Brussels bluntly: ‘We are ready to quit.’
Education Secretary Michael Gove has told friends that, if there was a referendum today on whether the UK should cut its ties with Brussels, he would vote to leave.
He wants Britain to give other EU nations an ultimatum: ‘Give us back our sovereignty or we will walk out.’
Mr Gove insists the UK could thrive as a free trading nation on its own, like other non-EU nations in Europe such as Norway and Switzerland. He has changed his view partly as a result of his fury at Brussels meddling which has held up his school reforms.
Mr Gove, one of the Prime Minister’s closest confidants, has discussed his views in detail with Mr Cameron. In an anti-EU pincer movement by the two Tory allies, Mr Cameron will formally announce later this month the first major step towards grabbing back powers from Brussels.
He will set out in detail how he plans to withdraw Britain from EU justice ties, but he will then ‘cherry pick’ which aspects of Anglo-EU legal co-operation he believes are in British interests.
These could include the European Arrest Warrant (EAW), access to police databases, prisoner transfers and co-operation over drugs trafficking and money laundering.

Why the Mail thinks that the EAW is in British interests is beyond me, it is simply a means of extracting citizens from this country to face charges abroad without the safeguard of a body of proof that had to be presented to a British court.
Still, the words from Gove sound good, but we've heard it all before from other ministers and what the words say are rarely if ever backed up by actions. Yes we could thrive as an independent trading nation, yes it would be good to have control of our own borders policy on immigration and benefits, yes it would be good to remove the Human Rights Act from the statute books and tailor an act more suitable to our needs and less to those of a criminal bent.
That said, such a decision is not in Gove's hands, it's in Cameron's and the man is clearly in love with the EU hence his attempts to make sure that we never ever get a say on it, save in only the most restricted way and mostly because he sees it as a vote winner, though you can be sure we'll never be asked what we really want, simply more or less of the same.
What I suspect is that Gove is being held up as a sop to the EUsceptics in the Tory Party to keep them onboard and way from UKIP's clutches. In a look at him, he dislikes the EU and has the ear of the Prime Minister sort of way.
So what we'll get are a load of words and precious little (if any) action on setting the country up to leave. It would be pleasant to think we could just say sorry, bye bye and there be no consequences, but sadly there will, an orderly withdrawal is in ours and the EU's interests. Agreements on trade, certain legalities and ventures will be in our best interests, rather than suddenly having to try and negotiate them from scratch. Remember the EU is a trade cartel, they'll be able to trade with us, but will be able to restrict our trade with them. It's not insurmountable, it will just require time and negotiations.
I've yet to even see or hear of a plan for leaving, perhaps Gove's energies would be better spent drawing one up, rather than simply spouting hot air...

Sad

One of the joys of my life was attending an air show at Biggin Hill and watching the older planes lovingly preserved by enthusiasts flying or in a few cases left on the ground for engineers (and others) like me to look at and occasionally have a look under the covers. Whilst my own enthusiasms go elsewhere I couldn't help but admire the dedication and no doubt the personal costs that went into looking after these planes. So rooting around the various MSM outfeeds today I ran across an article that saddened me greatly...
BBC.

The last airworthy Vulcan bomber will fly for the final time next year, the trust which funds the aircraft has confirmed.
The XH558 has been based at South Yorkshire's Robin Hood Airport since March 2011 after the RAF Lyneham base closure was announced.
It has been decided that "challenging modifications" to both wings would not be sustainable to the old aircraft.
The Vulcan to the Sky Trust said it decided not to fund the repairs.
Trust chief executive Dr Robert Pleming told supporters: "At the end of next year, she will need a £200,000 modification to her wings to increase her flying life.
"We know that you would do your upmost to fund this work, but for a number of reasons we have decided not to ask you to take this risk."

The 'Vulcan' was of course the main reason I attended the air show as I'd been reading and monitoring the groups progress for quite a while and was overjoyed when they managed to get the 'tin triangle' back into airworthiness.
No, it's not exactly going to break hearts, though perhaps it will with some enthusiasts,but the world is definitely a less fun place to be with me this morning...

Giving away our money Europe style

Why is it that politicians and apparatchiks of the EU are so determined to tell us how to live our lives and pay out our wealth on projects and scams most of us have little interest in?
Telegraph.

European immigrants should be able to claim handouts and pensions without first having to pass a test proving that they have settled in Britain, the European Union has said.
The demand is the latest response in a continuing row after Iain Duncan Smith said that such a system would mean immigrants could get benefits on the first day of entering Britain.
The Work and Pensions Secretary said last month that it would cost taxpayers £155 million a year if the UK was forced to get rid of the “habitual resident test”.
The test makes sure that foreigners have genuinely lived and paid taxes in the country before they can claim welfare payments.
His department has been holding talks with the European Commission for months in an effort to find a solution, but sources said on Thursday that Brussels was preparing to sue Britain by the end of this year unless the test is scrapped.

The European Commission seems to have a little bit of bother over deciding what's theirs and what's ours, though if I had my way I'd make getting access to what's ours a great deal harder to get at than it currently is. The fact that you live here as an immigrant should under any reasonable circumstances mean that you are not entitled to anything at all from our benefits system unless you've paid into the system, it should also (though currently it doesn't) mean that you get nothing at all out unless you've paid a fixed amount in, either by way of a deposit or bond to settle or by having paid in 10 years worth of taxation in order to gain full citizens rights.
What we shouldn't be doing is allowing those who are elected and unelected to simply hand over this countries wealth to those who have simply come here to get their hands on our (over) generous welfare payments. The European Commission ought to have no say over our wealth, that it has is down to our own idiot politicians handing over that right, though sadly the voters here in the UK keep electing the corrupt mendacious thieving sods.
It really is becoming very simple, if we want control over our finances, immigration, production and laws we need to leave the EU.
The first steps to that are to vote for any party that says it will take us out.

Coming out of the woodwork

The Saville inquisition holds very little interest for me at the moment, other than as a prime example of how being dead removes the threat of libel and slander counter-litigation from the legal system.
I've been aware of the issues involved festering around for several years now on various debate boards, though I was a tad surprised it took this long for the MSM to become involved, normally they're only weeks behind, not years as in this case. The other thing that doesn't really surprise me is just how many 'new' cases have come to light after the initial allegations were made.
BBC.

A hospital in Leeds has received two complaints of sexual assault by Sir Jimmy Savile dating back to the 1970s.
Leeds General Infirmary (LGI) said the complaints had been made after allegations Savile sexually assaulted teenage girls became public.
It added it was "shocked" and would co-operate with police.
The Metropolitan Police said its investigation into allegations against Savile would include hospitals where he had volunteered.

Apart from wondering why only now are they complaining and thinking compo culture you have to wonder just how such allegations were kept from the public eye for so long or just where the cover up (if there is one) will lead and whether it will actually open a massive can of worms or degenerate as these things often do into damage limitation.
Still it's worth comparing the Saville case with the ongoing muslim grooming scandal, this issue had been raised with the police over the last ten years, with hints of it going back a lot further if you check out the case of the UK's youngest mum having been the rape victim of a muslim cabby.
This time the cover up in the name of community cohesion was blatant by police, social workers and the powers that be, the same ones now getting involved in the Saville case.
You can't help but wonder if it is that the Saville scandal was allowed to hit the MSM when the full details of the muslim grooming scandal were beginning to emerge with additional cases coming up in Telford, Oxford, Rochdale, Birmingham and Rotherham, with further investigations ongoing in several other towns and cities.
Because Saville is dead speculation can be rife about the allegations, with the muslim grooming scandal details are still sketchy and are being pushed back off the front page by the Saville story.
The more suspicious minded of us are wondering if this is a coincidence...
Somehow I think not.

The idiocy that is Shariah

Owing to being born in the North East of England and the son of a proud Newcastle United supporting fanatic for my sins I am and always will be a member of the Toon Army, despite the fact I now live far away in Kent and the club have more or less priced me out of the market for attending matches, not that the tend to win anything really major, but I live in hope.
That said, I never expected the Toon ever to be involved in a dispute with the muslim council of Britain over an issue involving Shariah...
Telegraph.

Newcastle United's Muslim players have been warned that wearing the club's shirt with the logo of new sponsors Wonga on the front could infringe Sharia law.
The Muslim Council of Britain's (MCB) intervention is the latest batch of criticism the club has received since signing a four-year £24 million sponsorship deal with the short-term loan company on Tuesday that will also see the club's ground revert to its long-standing title of St James' Park.
There is nothing illegal about Wonga’s enterprise, but the firm’s charge of 4,214 per cent APR on its internet-based payday loans has been criticised by local MPs, consumer groups and trade unions.
Newcastle's starting eleven against Manchester United contained four practising Muslims, Demba Ba, Papiss Cissé, Cheick Tioté and Hatem Ben Arfa.
Under Sharia law, a Muslim is not allowed to benefit from lending or receiving money from someone, which means that earning interest is not allowed. Muslims comply by interest not being paid on Islamic savings, current accounts or Islamic mortgages.

Once again we have the unelected loons of the MCB trying to stick their noses in where it doesn't belong, this is not an Islamic country and (supposedly) our laws apply though we've seen numerous examples in the past of our laws and traditions being shunted aside as the powers that be suck up to the islamo-barbarians.
How advertising a service breaches shariah law is beyond me, however making no sense whatsoever in order to promote an agenda is nothing new for muslims, or indeed many of the leftoids or political classes in general. But, no one is making Demba Ba, Papiss Cissé, Cheick Tioté and Hatem Ben Arfa take out the loans and I'd guess that advertising something that isn't particularly shariah isn't really covered by shariah law anyway. It's just another way for the MCB to annoy the rest of us and get some publicity for their lunacy.
As for Wonga? They provide a service, no-one actually makes you take out such a loan and yes the interest is high, but it's high because it is short term and anyone taking one out ought to be aware of the various caveats involved.
This ought to be a matter for the club and players, as ever though where muslims are concerned there's the whole do as we say or else attitude that they wear like a second skin. Personally I think Newcastle United ought to tell them where to go, but we all know how the 'minority special interest' arguments go these days.

 

Only likely?

Seems the UK is only likely to cut the amount of aid sent to the spacefaring nation of India, rather than say definitely cut it too zero, after all if they can afford a space program and nuclear weapons, they clearly don't need aid.
Telegraph.

Justine Greening, who took on the post of Development Secretary last month, said she wants to see Britains's links to richer developing nations become about business, rather than hand-outs.
The Minister is under pressure to get better value for money from Britain's £12 billion per year spending on countries including China and India, which has its own space programme.
Speaking at the Tory Party conference in Birmingham, Ms Greening signalled India will be a target for cuts.
"We should recognise that as countries get richer, we need to be responsible about how we transition in our relationship with them from aid to trade," she said.
"Those are the discussions that I am having with the Indian government at the moment."

This is the same aid budget that will rise to £14.5 billion by the year 2014.
I really fail to see why we're in discussions with the Indian government, they didn't by our products (Jet fighters) yet are still sucking at the teat of our aid packages. Perhaps we should be more like the USA and state that aid comes at a price, you buy our stuff, we give you bribes give you aid. Then again, I am a firm believer of any government aid being spent at home, leave the rest to our consciences when it comes to funding foreign aid schemes.
I really don't know where the Tories got the idea from that ring fencing and even expanding the foreign aid budget was a good idea. Perhaps it was simply an attempt to move away from the 'nasty party' tag that the hard of thinking on the left seem to have stuck them with. After all, it appears to make common sense to me that what socialists believe to be worth spending on should be subject to extreme scrutiny as it's probably funding something detrimental to the country as a whole. After all that's where the inefficiencies in the NHS come from, the use of full time union reps paid for by the taxpayers, the complex benefits system which has moved from a safety net to somewhere a person can live comfortably for the rest of their lives (in some cases) because taking on a job leaves them worse off. To the foreign aid budget which funds kleptocracies in Africa and nuclear powers in Asia.
There is so much this (or any) government could have done to reduce the cost of the state to the taxpayer. Yet year in year out costs (and government) increases.
Yet still some people out there keep voting for them.
That I believe is where we have to start changing things, so long as the political parties continue to take our votes for granted, the more they take advantage of us.
This more than anything else needs to stop, and only we can do that...

A crime surely to let him stay

You'd think under pretty much any circumstances anyone who is being accused of crimes against humanity wouldn't stand a chance of applying the Human Rights Act to stay in this country. Then again, what am I saying, we've run across any number of cases where mass murderers have been allowed to stay here...
Mail.

An African war criminal who joined in the slaughter of civilians has been allowed to stay in Britain under human rights law – because he admitted his crimes in a BBC interview.
The man was a fighter in the Janjaweed militia which killed an estimated 300,000 people during the war in Darfur, but he came to Britain after hearing it was ‘a good place to claim asylum’.
An immigration tribunal found he was guilty of crimes against humanity after he gave media interviews in which he described joining in the burning and looting of 30 villages and shooting countless victims.
But a judge has ruled that the 27-year-old must be allowed to stay in Britain because his life could be at risk if he returned to his home country.

Quite frankly I don't give a damn if his life will be in danger, the man's an Islamoloon and a member of the Janjaweed militia responsible for the murder and enslavement of thousands of Darfurians in the Sudan. Frankly this man is not fit to be walking the streets of a civilised nation, he should not have been allowed in and he should not have under any circumstances been given asylum.
For far too long criminals have been sheltering under the HRA aided and abetted by our legal system, whilst it's comforting to know that rights exist, such rights should only apply to those who are not criminals fleeing retribution elsewhere. There is no place in the UK for this man, he is scum of the lowest order and a liability to the rest of us because as an extreme Islamist he sees us as untermenschen to be converted, enslaved or killed in the name of his abomination of a god.
It's bad enough having invited in child molesters from Pakistan, now we're expected to take in mass murderers from the Sudan as well.
The powers that be are truly sowing the seeds of this nations destruction, drip by drip...

Amnesty

Why can politicians of the left never grasp the obvious? Is it some form of cognitive disfunction or some macabre plot to keep the rest of us off balance whilst they go about making wrecking the world in their own image?
BBC.

Salford and Eccles MP Hazel Blears has called for a gun amnesty following a spate of shootings in Salford.
Ms Blears attended a meeting with residents and senior police officers at The Height Methodist Church in Irlams o' th' Height on Friday.
She said she backed a resident's suggestion for a gun amnesty in which residents are given the chance to hand in illegal firearms at police stations.

Why the residents seem to feel that criminals might hand in their illegal weapons is beyond me, only the law abiding are likely to hand in great granddads old WW2 revolver (sans ammo). There are several reasons these gangs are armed from the poseur point of view to the fact that all the other gangs are armed too. I know this, the police know this and any call to hand in illegal weapons is only going to take such weapons away from the law abiding which has been government policy for decades now.
What really needs to be done is for the police to have the resources to take on and take down these gangs, perhaps we could persuade the SAS to have a go, after all they're the prime reason the IRA are now part of the peace process, not the politicians. Kill enough of them and the problem will go away.
Not that I expect such a simplistic policy ever to be adopted by the government. They are far too happy with ordinary people being scared of those who have guns, both the criminals and the government...

Not terribly comforting

On the day most of the UK heaves a sigh of relief at the extradition of hooky Hamza it comes as no real surprise that one of the very things the U.S. intends to question him about should wander blinking into the light of day...
BBC.

An airline security worker has been suspended after failing to spot a fake bomb as it passed through the X ray machine.
Manchester Airport said it had launched an investigation into the incident.
The Department of Transport carries out regular dummy runs at UK airports to ensure security is up to scratch.
A spokesman for the airport said: "We can confirm a security officer has been suspended but we cannot comment further as there is an ongoing investigation."
The Department of Transport spokesman said it conducts regular airport tests but could not comment further.
The spokesman said: "The safety of the travelling public is paramount, which is why the UK combines intelligence, technology and other measures to provide one of the strictest regimes for aviation security in the world.

One does wonder if the thing was a metal box with a few wires and 'bomb' written on it as I suspect a really professional terrorist would take greater pains to disguise an 'obvious' bomb. That's by the by though, we do to an extent rely on these guys as a means of last resort for boarding onto planes and put up with a lot of crap from them as a result. Mostly from what I can tell a lot of these terrorist plans are nipped in the bud by good intelligence and it's only the new or the random that gets through to cause us grief, though mistakes as in the 7/7 tube and bus bombings can be made too, not that those guys went through airport security of course.
Still you'd expect that at least the guys on the security desks would have a clue and are (hopefully) not minimum wage drones from Afghanistan with an axe to grind. However I don't know what kind of training these guys have and what they are supposed to look for, but it's not exactly comforting to know that in a test the buggers didn't find it.

Don't let the door hit your arse on the way out.

Well the appeals are over, justice has been seen to be done and we're finally getting rid of Hooky Hamza.
BBC.

Five suspected terrorists including Abu Hamza al-Masri have left their UK prison to begin extradition to the US after losing the last appeal in a long legal battle.
The High Court ruled Hamza, Babar Ahmad, Syed Talha Ahsan, Adel Abdul Bary and Khaled al-Fawwaz did not show "new and compelling" reasons to stay.
They had appealed again after the European Court of Human Rights backed the decision of successive UK courts that they could be extradited.
The men left Long Lartin prison in Worcestershire in a police convoy.
Three police 4x4s, two armoured vans and a blacked-out police people carrier left the jail at 19:15 BST.
The men are travelling with members of the Metropolitan Police's extradition unit to an airbase where they will be handed over to US marshals.

He leaves behind of course 9 children, from two marriages, and four of them have already served jail terms, while the fifth is awaiting sentencing for an armed robbery.
he claims 'democracy' has let him down, though for the life of me I cannot see what he expected from a democracy, as an Islamist he was plainly against it. 
His mates were out protesting that notable oxygen thief Anjem Choudary leading the way but finally, finally we're rid of him. Pity it took between 8 to 14 years to do it and cost so much.
Still in celebration lets have a little musical interlude from Pete and Dud...

 

The price of letting environmentalists dictate energy policy

Over the years I've watched with growing horror the influence of enviroloons over this countries energy policy. I've seen massive subsidies given over to inneficient means of energy generation that doesn't work when it's too windy, not windy enough or the sun doesn't shine. I've watched as efficient (and cheap) means of energy generation have been closed down early due to EU policies or simply ahead of schedule to keep moronic/greedy MP's happy. I've seen my energy bills skyrocket over the 'green levy' without a say as to whether I want to pay for the damned bird mincers or not.
Mail.

Britain is likely to run out of energy generating capacity in the winter of 2015, Ofgem warned today.
The energy regulator said spare capacity could fall from current levels of 14 per cent to just four per cent in three years.
This will make the country ever more reliant on imported gas - which will likely lead to huge price increases while also risking Britain's self-sufficiency.
Ofgem said closures of coal-fired power stations before schedule and EU legislation was behind the reduced capacity and urged investment.
David Stokes, director at Energy Consultancy Timera Energy, said: 'What strikes me as alarming is the drop in spare capacity ... It sounds like they (Ofgem) are concerned about the potential for blackouts,'
The owners of four plants, with a combined generation capacity of around 6 GW have already said they will close their plants by March 2013 and Ofgem said in the report that most plants would shut 'well before the 2015 deadline'.
The government has launched a wide-reaching Electricity Market Reform Bill designed to give support to investors in new low-carbon electricity such as nuclear and renewable generation.

People are going to die because the government allowed enviroloons to set policies which neither made sense nor were economically viable. People are going to die because ministers have got their fingers in the 'renewable' energy pies and are making money hand over fist due to the ridiculous subsidies being foisted on these companies to produce electricity usually when it isn't wanted. These people are also the ones attempting to prevent the shale gas revolution which would set us up for internal energy supply needs possibly for the next 300 years. In 3 years time, on one of the coldest days of the year there will be no wind, at around 7am a lot of people will get up and put their kettles on and we'll have a surge cascade down the system and brownouts along with blackouts caused by transformer malfunctions will cripple this country. Our old and sick will die due to the cold and the inability of the power utility companies to repair the damage quickly enough.
It will all be down to the hubris of the greens and the greed of politicians who saw a way to use the greens to line their pockets.
People are going to die, mark my words...

The death of multicultural Labour?

Having finally gotten around to looking over the Millipede E speech at the Labour party conference one could not help but wondering just what 'One Nation' actually meant and did it (presumably) mean something completely different to me than it did to Millipede and the Labourites.
You see in our United Kingdom the clue is actually in the name, 'United' as in several united nations or kingdoms. That's why you're liable to find as with the Scots and Welsh being Scottish and Welsh, the English are increasingly English and not British. Yes there was some level of increased patriotism over 'Team GB' in the Olympics, but they're gone and the Cross of St George will re-emerge as the banner under which the English identify, much as politicians including those on the left hate the idea.
However as for the blog title whilst one nation for me means integrating the immigrants into the indigenous culture, I rather suspect that for Labour it means something else entirely. To Scottish Labour it will be a rallying cry against independence no doubt, but that's not why Millipede did it, a useful adjunct perhaps, but not an intentional one.

No, what Millipede and the rest of the comrades want is the subsuming of all cultures and nations into the 'British' one size fits all identity, particularly for the part of the UK which is England and which has taken the brunt of Labours disastrous immigration policies. Whereas in the past the left have hated nationalism and patriotism they've had to contend with the unpleasant facts that a lot of people in England were reverting back to their roots and not seeing anything remotely useful about the term 'British' particularly as it appears to have been hijacked by the multiculturalists as a prenom to other nations. Whenever I see the term British tacked onto someone's description say 'British Pakistani' then I automatically filter out the 'British' bit as they clearly do not consider themselves to be part of our 'One Nation' no matter how much the Millipede might like it to be so.
I suspect 'One Nation' is just a front for Labour to hide their multicultural agenda and innate hatred of the English, the 'One Nation' being British which isn't the same thing to me at all. I believe Labour will be perfectly happy for the English to remain or be forced to be British whilst everyone else can be their own (minority) nation within 'One Nation'
Btw, did anyone else feel nauseous at Millipede's remark that somehow he as a millionaire could feel our pain over the recession?

It's only money...

Oh joy, the west Coast rail fiasco rumbles on with the government finally holding its hands up to admit mistakes were made, currently £40 to £50 millions worth at the latest estimates, all coming from a taxpayers purse near you with menaces any day soon.
Telegraph.

In a dramatic move on Tuesday night, the Department for Transport cancelled FirstGroup's contract to run the West Coast main line due to "significant technical flaws" in the bidding process, which will be re-run.
The Department for Transport's decision came just a day before Virgin's High Court legal challenge over the decision to award the contract to FirstGroup was due to start.
Virgin Trains lost control of the prestigious West Coast rail line in August, with the contract being handed to FirstGroup after Virgin's rival made an offer of £5.5bn to run the line for the next 13 years.
The decision provoked fury from Sir Richard Branson, the entrepreneur behind Virgin Trains, who launched a judicial review of the process and voiced fears that the amount paid by FirstGroup will have made the contract unprofitable.
Mr McLoughlin (Transport Secretary) admitted that the cost of cancelling the contract would be around £40m. He added that three other ongoing franchise processes - the Great Western, Essex Thameside and Thameslink competitions - have been paused.

But hey, never mind it's only money and plenty more where that came from and as for heads rolling? Don't make me laugh, the only people who will be hurting over this will be the ones whose money pays for the mistake, essentially you and I.
You'd think by now Westminster would have got the hang of major infrastructure and transport funding by now, though I suppose a lack of experience in the real world is a major handicap. Still when checking out a bid, it's always best to understand what the rules are and also making sure that the end result is actually viable, which seems to be the major problem here.
So, now we'll have a new bidding process and new costs, probably done by the same people who mucked up the original process.
Why do I think that taking it out of their wages might just be a fair and just solution? After all, if they knew that it would be coming out of their pockets in a blunder, they'd be a hell of a lot more careful.
Just saying.

A matter of trust

When it comes to forensic science and police work a lot of trust has to be in the procedures involved. It has to be robust and as nearly flaw free as possible and mistakes should be rectified quickly or eliminated by the investigatory process. Stands to reason, after all this is what happens when the system doesn't work...
Mail.

An innocent man spent five months in jail falsely accused of rape following a DNA blunder.
Adam Scott, 20, was arrested after a plastic tray containing a sample of his saliva was re-used by a forensics company.
It meant his saliva was wrongly linked to a violent attack on a woman in Manchester – carried out when he was hundreds of miles away in Plymouth.
Yesterday a report by the forensics watchdog found he was the ‘innocent victim of avoidable contamination’.
The Forensic Science Regulator said the lack of records meant it was impossible to work out which laboratory technician was behind the mistake – meaning they are likely to have kept their job.
The watchdog has allowed the firm, LGC Forensics, to keep its licence despite fears of other miscarriages of justice.
Mr Scott had been arrested and a saliva sample taken after a street fight. But the tray holding his DNA was re-used for the rape test and a positive match showed up.

Now the guy is clearly no saint hence the arrest for a street brawl, however the mistake could have been quickly rectified by 'normal' police work as the incident happened in Manchester and Mr. Scott has never been to Manchester and had the phone records to prove it. Yet the police still took the word of LGC Forensics that this was their guy, despite clear evidence in the real world that it wasn't! As it is, his life has been blighted and he's from all accounts had a pretty bad time of it on the sexual predator wing of the prison, prisoners themselves not liking rapists or paedo's.
Yet the company, despite a previous case where the rapist is still free, will not lose its license, and owing to poor documentation the employee who put Mr. Scott in jail cannot be identified and so is still in a position to possibly cock things up.
Yes, mistakes are rare, but cases like this only underline just how easily trust in the system can be undermined and the time taken to rectify the mistake is also very, very disturbing. The fact that the company involved is more or less getting off scot free does not aid our confidence in the system either.
Mr. Scott will no doubt be aiming for a big wad of compensation, I don't blame him for this, however instead of coming out of the public purse, perhaps it should be coming out of the profits of LGC.

Living in arrogant denial...

Ed Balls has apparently decided in a 'not listening, not listening' way that he doesn't even have to acknowledge the failures of the last labour regime, particularly in regard to the economic mess they left the country in...
Telegraph.

Ed Balls has refused to apologise for Labour's handling of the economy insisting that the Party was not responsible for the recession.
Speaking ahead of his speech to Labour's annual conference in Manchester, the shadow chancellor, a friend and ally of Gordon Brown in the last government, insisted he was 'proud' of the party's record, saying the only mistake was failing to regulate the banks firmly enough.
He rejected suggestions that Labour was partly responsible for the current economic climate, saying that the trigger had been the global financial crisis. The downturn had been exacerbated by the Coalition Government's austerity measures, he added.
In an interview on BBC Radio 4's Today Programme, Mr Balls turned down repeated requests to apologise for Labour's record on the economy.

That's right, he's actually proud of having taken a country that had an economic surplus to one with massive debts, a hugely increased public sector and government borrowing on a scale that is unbelievable compared to the 90's. No doubt he's also proud of Gordon Brown's raid on the private pensions fund as well as selling off all the UK's gold cheap.
Balls is in effect the perfect socialist, economically inept and arrogant enough to believe that he does not need to apologise for previous mistakes, hell he won't even acknowledge that mistakes were even made!
Tax and spend (on unneeded politically correct projects) is all Labour understood, they even started mass printing of banknotes to cover their debts in the same manner as Zimbabwe's successful economic recovery. They called it quantitative easing, but essentially it was debasing the currency, the only thing that didn't make it worse was the EU and the USA joined in as well.
The Labour party has ended up with future generations having to pay back the borrowing they undertook to prop up failure after failure, the damnedest thing of all though is that there are idiots out there who will still vote for them regardless...