Rescuing Democracy in the United Kingdom from our current Elected Dictatorship
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Spin,
not face-to-face confrontations with the voters, is the Government's
chosen method of communication. Ordinary people are dangerous. Ordinary
people might ask a question which throws a politician 'off message';
the Cabinet member might reveal himself or herself to be a human being
like us, and not a programmed android. Worse still, he or she might
tell the truth.
Ann Leslie - Daily Mail, September 16, 2004
Blair wants to leave his
mark on history - looks more like a stain to me.
Peter Thorndyke, Diss,
Norfolk - Daily Mail, May 23, 2005
I know I'm me - why do I
need an ID card?
"Sorry, officers, I
don't have an ID card. I never applied for one. It seemed a bit steep
at 300 quid. I do have my free passport, my driving licence and my
London freedom travel pass, each with my photograph. I have my NHS
medical card, with its lengthy number, given me at birth, my RAF
service book with my Armed Forces number, and a chit authorising me to
wear a few gongs -including a General Service Medal with Malaya bar,
for fighting communist terrorists on behalf of my country, or so they
told me.
"I've also got various credit
cards and store cards, all with my signature on the back, generally
good for buying the everyday requrements for life as well as the odd
luxury. If you decide to arrest me, I suppose I'll have to be
photographed and given another number, besides my PINs.
"I'm afraid I haven't got a
pension book; it was taken away."
"By thieves, sir?"
"No ... well, not exactly. By the
Government. By the way, may I see your warrant cards please, gentlemen?"
Oh dear, they've disappeared. E.
Harry Gumer, Romford, ESSEX - Daily Mail, June 1, 2005
NO means NO
When does NO mean MAYBE?
When it's not the answer the EU wants. With the courageous French
NON resounding in their ears, shabby, undemocratic self-interested
leaders of Europe propose ignoring the part of their precious
constitution that requires ratification by all members and
continuing without one of the biggest founder members to
prevent derailing the gravy train.
As in Ireland,
they refuse to accept any NO votes, ignoring the will of the people,
and re-stage votes until they can engineer the 'correct' answer. Sadly,
Foreign Secretary Jack Straw dances to their tune like a puppet on a
string. With tactics such as these, how can anyone really believe the
EU has our interests at heart. Letter from Steve Penny, Kingsnorth, Kent - Daily
Mail, June1, 2005
Surely
the French result makes the £1million the EU recently spent on a
treaty signing ceremony seem a trifle premature and extravagant. Letter from Keith Wiseman, Bury, Lancs. - Daily Mail,
June1, 2005
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Britain has
traditionally been one of the biggest net contributors to the EU
because we do not get as much money back from Brussels in farm and
regional subsidies as our rivals.
According to
Treasury figures, between 1995-2002, Britain's average contribution
taking the rebate into account, was £2.6billion, or £43.55
per head of population.
The French -
the biggest recipient of farm subsidies - contributed £1billion a
year or £16.08 per head of their population.
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Tony
Blair should know that respect comes by example - from the
top. If a country's leader has no respect for the rule of
international law and no respect for the truth, how can
he expect anyone to have respect. Letter
from P.J.Atkinson, Ashford, Kent - Daily Mail, January 12,
2006
The
Chancellor's single greatest act of vandalism in almost
nine years in office has been his wanton destruction of
Britain's private retirement industry. By slapping a massive
tax on pension funds, now worth
£7.3billion a year, he has helped to turn
the best private retirement industry in Europe into a basket-case
in perpetual crisis. Together with the adoption of European
accounting rules - which make it much riskier to operate
a company pension scheme - hundreds of firms have shut their
final salary plans to new employees and slashed benefits
to existing staff. From
Allister Heath: "I've seen the future and its grey"
in THE SPECTATOR - April 15, 2006
Nine
years ago the British people were sold a fantasy of clean
and competent government of principle and honesty. Its shiny
wrappings stripped away, the product now reveals its true
nature: Personal greed, arrogance, incompetence, shamelessness,
rash warmongering and an inability to accept - as is clear
to almost everyone else - that it is time to go. Editorial
- The Mail on Sunday, May 28, 2006
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June
16 , 2006 (1133 days since war ended)
Death
Toll: 2500 US - 113 UK - >60,000? civilians - 25 media
£500
to stay out of jail
Thugs
offered a £500 let-off
After
Blair's tough rhetoric on crime, reality: Violent offenders avoid
prison if they accept a caution and fine
BY
James Slack - Home Affairs Editor - Daily Mail, June 26, 2006
Violent
criminals can dodge a jail sentence by paying a £500 fine
under Government plans outlined yesterday. They would not appear
in court and their 'punishment' would not even count as a conviction.
The
system of 'conditional cautioning' would cover crimes including
actual bodily harm, affray, carrying a knife, possessing Class
A drugs - including crack and heroin - and criminal damage. The
proposal from Attorney General Lord Goldsmith brought angry reactions
from Tories and victim groups.
They
said it completely undermines Tony Blair's promise, made only
last Friday, to rebalance the 'skewed' criminal justice system
in favour of the victim. Critics were appalled that the scheme
would cover carrying a knife.
Norman
Brennan, director of the Victims of Crime Trust, said knives could
'destroy lives in a second', and carrying one should always be
treated with the utmost seriousness, He added: "If carrying
a blade in a public place receive a conditional discharge, then
Tony Blair and his government really have lost the plot."
Shadow
Home Secretary David Davis said: "It is outrageous that people
who commit these serious and dangerous crimes will go by and large
unpunished. Until the government has proper penalties criminals
will not be deterred and the public will continue to pay the price
of Labour's failure. This is more like a trivial tax on crime
than a major deterrent."
Lord
Goldsmith said a trial of the system in Lancashire had produced
'very good' results. He pointed to the example of a youth who
had been made to buy a box of chocolates for a terrified woman
whose window he had kicked in. He went round to her home with
the chocolates and a hand-written note of apology. Lord Goldsmith
said putting the youth through court, where he could have faced
a six-month sentence, would have taken months, while the conditional
caution allowed his victim to see swift justice.
He
added: "Not only did that bring home to him very early what
the consequences of his behaviour were, but she was much, much
happier than I believe she would have been if the thing was dragged
out." Now the Attorney General wants greater use of the caution,
which carries a maximum penalty of £500 or 20 hours' community
service. Other conditions, such as repairing damage, can be included.
If
criminals fail to pay the fine or complete the community service,
they will face being taken to court for the original offence.
The measure is part of Mr Blair's 'Respect action plan' to restore
order to the streets. He is turning to conditional cautioning
after losing faith in the ability of the courts to deal with 'low-level'
crimes.
The
policy is in start contrast to the tough rhetoric used by Home
Secretary John Reid, who has made repeated statements about the
need to crack down on violent offenders and give the public a
justice system they believe is 'truly on their side'. Mr Reid
also promised to introduce tough penalties for knife crime in
the wake of a series of savage murders.
Victims
included Kiyan Prince, 15, who was stabbed outside the gates of
a North London school and Tom Grant, a 19-year-old student murdered
on a train journey last month after he intervened in a heated
row between a woman passenger and her boy friend.
The
Crown Prosecution Service will offer conditional cautions to people
when there is enough evidence to prosecute. They will be told
that, if they admit guilt and accept the caution, they will escape
the prospect of being hauled into court and possibly jailed. A
caution will not count as a criminal conviction and details of
it will be kept only at local police stations.
The
Home Office has yet to publish research on the re-offending rate
for conditional cautions in the pilot scheme. Critics say it is
likely to be even worse than for other types of punishment - six
out of ten reoffend within two years - as those given the cautions
will feel they still have a 'clean slate' and no criminal conviction.
The
proposal is the latest in a long line of Government initiatives
to divert crimes from magistrates courts, which Mr Blair is convinced
take too long to deliver justice. It follows decisions to punish
shoplifters with on-the-spot fines. Fixed-penalty notices are
also given to drunks who create mayhem in town centres.
But
Mr Brennan condemned the idea as 'nonsense'. He said: "What
sort of deterrent is this? The Government talks about the need
for common sense, and that is certainly what the public wants,
but this is just the opposite.
Their
answer, if they lost control of a problem, is to try to downgrade
it. They lost control of drugs and reduced its severity, now they
are doing the same with violence and other crimes.
When
you have a situation where the criminal justice system is in crisis,
you need government to take a firm grip and reassure a frightened
public. Knife crime is out of control in this country and it has
been for the past five to ten years. It is thanks to the media
that we have begun to highlight it. It is a time when we need
to send out a strong and determined message that carrying a blade
under any unlawful circumstances is unacceptable."
But
Mr Blair has been backed by Peter Neyroud, chief constable of
Thames Valley. In a letter to the Prime Minister last week, he
wrote: "Move as much outside the courts into conditional
cautioning, fixed penalty notices and restorative approaches as
possible - 21st century justice."
The
Home Office said last night there was a significant 'gap in the
market' for dealing with low-level offenders who admit their offence
but are not suitable fore a simple caution or an on-the-spot fine.
A spokesman said: "The ability to impose conditions that
are clearly punitive in effect will enable prosecutors to offer
diversion from prosecution to those whose offending impacts the
community at large, for example people who are guilty of low-level
acts of disorder."
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