Rescuing Democracy in the United Kingdom from our current Elected Dictatorship
|
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
|
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.
|
April 9, 2006 (1065 days since war ended)
Death
Toll: 2349US - 103UK - >60,000? civilians - 25 media
| 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 |
Let
burglars off with a caution, police told
By
Steve Doughty - Social Affairs Correspondent - Daily Mail, April
3, 2006
Burglars
will be allowed to escape without punishment under new instructions
sent to all police forces. Police have been told they can let
them off the threat of a court appearance and instead allow them
to go with a caution. The same leniency will be shown to criminals
responsible for more than 60 other crimes, ranging from arson
through vandalism to sex with underage girls.
New
rules sent to police chiefs by the Home Office set out how seriously
various crimes should be regarded, and when offenders who admit
to them should be sent home with a caution.
A
caution counts as a criminal record but means the offender does
not face a court appearance which would be likely to end in a
fine, a community punishment or jail. Some serious offences -
including burglary of a shop or office,threatening to kill, actual
bodily harm and possession of Class A drugs such as heroin or
cocaine - may now be dealt with by caution if police decide that
would be the best approach.
And
a string of crimes including common assault, threatening behaviour,
sex with an underage girl or boy, and taking a car without its
owner's consent, should normally be dealt with by a caution, the
circular said. The Home Office instruction applies to offenders
who have admitted their guilt but who have no criminal record.
They are also likely to be able to show mitigating factors to
lessen the seriousness of their crime.
The
instruction to abandon court prosecutions in more cases - even
for people who admit to having carried out serious crimes - comes
in the wake of repeated attempts by ministers and senior judges
to persuade the courts to send fewer criminals to jail. The crisis
of overcrowding in UK prisons has also prompted moves to let many
more convicts out earlier.
It
emerged last month that some violent or sex offenders, given mandatory
life sentences under a 'two-strike' rule, have been freed after
as little as 15 months.
The
latest move provoked condemnation yesterday from Tories and critics
of the justice system. Shadow Home Secretary
David Davis said: "Yet again the Government is covertly undermining
the penal system and throwing away the trust of ordinary citizens
that criminals will be punished and punished properly. In the
last few weeks we have witnessed a serial failure of Labour to
protect the citizen, with murders of innocent people by criminals
variously on early release or probation, and now we're finding
that ever more serious crimes are not being brought to court at
all."
Criminologist
Dr David Green of the Civitas think-tank said: "They appear
to have given up making the court system work and doing anything
about delays and the deviousness of defence lawyers. This is part
of the wider problem that the Home Office has an anti-prison bias.
But while they regard prison as uncivilised, they don't seem to
care whether the alternatives work or not."
The
Home Office circular to police forces has been sent amid a Government
drive to reduce the number of cases coming before the courts.
A number of crimes - notably shoplifting - are now regularly dealt
with by fixed penalty notices similar to a parking fine. A whole
range of offenders who admit traffic and more minor criminal offences
will in future have their cases 'processed' by new Government
bureaucracies rather than by the courts.
At
the same time judges and magistrates have been bombarded with
instructions from the senior judiciary to send fewer criminals
to jail. Burglars and muggers should be spared prison more often,
courts have been told, and last week
sentencing authorities ordered a further 'raising of the custody
threshold' to keep out of prison more offenders who would in the
past have been given up to a year in jail.
The
new instructions to police on how to keep criminals out of the
courts altogether are given in a 'Gravity Factor Matrix'. This
breaks down offences into four categories, with the most serious
rated as four and the least serious as one.
For criminals over 18, who admit offences ranked at the third
level of seriousness, the instruction is: "Normally charge
but a simple caution may be appropriate if first offence'.
Officers
dealing with those who admit level two crimes are told: "Normally
simple caution for a first offence but a charge may be appropriate
if (there are) previous convictions or appropriate to circumstances."
The
Home Office said guidance had been circulated nationally because
there had been regional anomalies in the way offenders were dealt
with and these needed to be removed. A spokesman said: "Cautioning
in individual cases is an operational matter for the police and
Crown Prosecution Service. The new circular first provides up
to date guidance on the use of cautions to encourage consistency
across the country. Secondly, with the introduction of statutory
charging, the guidance needed to clarify what the effect would
be on police responsibility for cautions. Finally the guidance
was introduced to outline the practical process of administering
a caution."
Cautioning
was used heavily in the late 1980's and early 1990's, particularly
for juvenile offenders under 18. Tory Home Secretary Michael Howard
cracked down on cautions in 1994 because young thugs and thieves
were getting repeated cautions but no punishment. But cautioning
for adult offenders is now on the rise.
Dr
Green said: "The Home Office is missing its target to achieve
a set number of offenders brought to justice. But it seems they
regard a caution as an offender brought to justice. This is a
nod and a wink to police forces - deal with your cases by cautions
and we will hit our target."
If you have
suggestions for additional subjects, or material to include in the
pages linked to the subjects listed, please contact the webmaster.
