Silent Majority Speaks

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

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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.

April 4, 2006 (1060 days since war ended)

Death Toll: 2342US - 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

STOP PRESS

The endless cautions

Serial offenders to get repeated police warnings instead of facing the courts

By James Slack - Home Affairs Editor - Daily Mail, April 5, 2006

Police have been told to give serial criminals a string of cautions rather than take them to court for punishment, it emerged last night. Opponents said it is yet more evidence of the Government's desperation to keep offenders out of the UK's overcrowded prisons.

Cautions are supposed to be issued to offenders only once, as a warning that further law-breaking will be severely punished. But under new government guidance to police, criminals can be caught repeatedly and still get only a caution - effectively a slap on the wrist which carries no financial penalty.

Earlier this week, it emerged that offences which can now be met with a caution include burglary of a shop or office, threatening to kill, actal bodily harm, and p0ssession of Class A drugs such as heroin or cocaine. The latest Home Office Circular lists a raft of situations in which a criminal who has been cautioned before should be let off again. These include people caught committing exactly the same offence again, as long as two years have passed.

The Home Office says the gap proves the first caution had 'signficant deterrent effect.' It means a shoplifter could be caught five times in ten years and still not be taken to court.

Other situations in which already-cautioned criminals can be let off include if the new offence is 'trivial' or unrelated to the original. The Circular also reveals that offenders caught committing more than one crime in a single incident can still escape with a caution. Instead of adding all the offences together to create a picture of a serious criminal, each one can be separated, guidance says. They can then be punished with a series of lesser penalties, such as an on-the-spot fine or a caution.

The Circular says: "A person is arrested for being drunk and disorderly, and when searched in custody has in their pocket a large set of car keys that may be used to get into cars and steal from them. If the person admits that their intention was to steal from cars, they could be charged with going equipped to steal and so could be issued with a simple caution for that offence, if appropriate, with a penalty notice for the drunk and disorderly offence."

David Green, director of the Civitas think-tank, said police are being turned into a 'processing agency, not a crime prevention agency'. He pointed out that cautions are useful to police because they count as a crime solved and an offender brought to justice, without having to put them through court and using up officers' time giving evidence.

Tory spokesman, Nick Herbert said: "Increasing the use of cautions,where the public would expect a court conviction and sentence, risks undermining confidence in the criminal justice system. This makes a mockery of the Government's 'respect' agenda, which should be about getting respect for victims, not making life easier for offenders.

Retired judge Keith Matthewman, an outspoken critic of the Government's justice police, said of repeat cautions: "It is giving the crimjnal the view that they can get away with any crime."

Penal reformers have warned that prisons will be full by this summer if the 77,000 population continues to swell at the present rate. Judges and magistrates havealready been bombarded with instructions frm the senior judiciary to send fewer criminals to jail. Repeat cautions were used heavily in the 1980s and early 1990s to deal with young thugs without taking them to court.

But the practice was ended by former Tory leader Michael Howard when he was Home Secretary.

B A C K

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