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
|
May
11, 2005 (741 days since war ended)
Death
Toll: 1,610 US - 88 UK - >6,164? Iraqi - >17,300 civilians
- 25 media
May
31, 2005 (761 days since war ended)
Death
Toll: 1,657 US - 89 UK - >6,164? Iraqi - >17,300 civilians
- 25 media
June
3 , 2005 (765 days since war ended)
Death
Toll: 1,670 US - 89 UK - >6,164? Iraqi - >17,300 civilians
- 25 media
June
17, 2005 (779 days since war ended)
Death
Toll: 1,716 US - 89 UK - >6,164? Iraqi - >17,300? civilians
- 25 media
June
26, 2005 (788 days since war ended)
Death
Toll: 1,737 US - 89 UK - >6,164? Iraqi - >17,300? civilians
- 25 media
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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The
foul rant of a very uncivil servant
Top
adviser charged with restoring 'respect' to Britain's streets
shocks police with a string of obscenities
By
James Slack, Home Affairs Correspondent - Daily Mail, July 6,
2005
Tony
Blair's chief adviser on anti-social behaviour unleashed a foul-mouthed
rant in front of senior police, it emerged last night. Louise
Casey, appointed by the Prime Minister to restore 'respect' on
Britain's streets, stunned an official Government conference with
a string of obscenities.
A
recording of the event reveals her defending binge drinking, boasting
of getting 'hammered' and mocking ministers, saying they would
work better drunk. The astonishing 45-minute performance even
includes a swipe at Downing Street, whose officials she threatened
to 'deck'.
Thoughts
of an uncivil servant
On
swearing:
"Excuse
my language. I get lots of complaints about it. But you
can't complain. It's an after-dinner speech. So you can
write to Hazel Blears as much as you like.
On
Ministers:
"I
remember the first time I did a meeting with a minister.
It was like something out of Acorn Antiques. Honest to
God. The most powerful person in that room is Betsy who
brings the tea round."
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Miss
Casey, 38, the national director of the anti-social behaviour
unit, was in the headlines just last weekend after a clash between
Mr Blair and his Home Secretary, Charles Clarke. The Prime Minister,
unhappy with Home Office progress in tackling the yob culture,
was said to have humiliated Mr Clarke by giving Miss Casey sweeping
new powers and asking her to report directly to him.
The
irony of her outburst is certain to embarrass both Mr Blair and
Mr Clarke. It came in an after -dinner speech at a private event
organised by the Home Office and Association of Chief Police Officers
in Stratford-upon-Avon on June 7. It was attended by 300 senior
police and Home Office researchers. Witnesses, who likened it
to a 'bad stand-up comedy routine', said the audience was 'gob-smacked'
and some Home Office staff walked out.
A
recording of her words has been obtained by the Daily Mail. In
it, she dismisses concern about binge drinking as 'nonsense'.
"I
suppose you can't binge drink anymore because lots of people have
said you can't do it," she said. "I don't know who bloody
made that up. It's nonsense. Particularly when you're 40. You
can binge drink whenever you want."
Mr
Clarke has repeatedly warned of the dangers of binge drinking
and it is the subject of a wide-ranging crackdown in the Violent
Crime Reduction Bill. Turning to the Home Secretary who she calls
'Charlie boy', she says she fails to understand some of his ideas.
And she chastises ministers for their lack of action.
"Some minister comes up with an idea somewhere. I mean, God
forbid. Anyway they do occasionally."
Miss
Casey, who has paid at least one social visit to Chequers, the
Prime Minister's country home, continues: "Doing
things sober is no way to get things done. I try to explain that
to ministers but they don't get it. Turn up in the morning pissed.
You might cope a bit better, love."
On
Downing Street, she says: "There
is an obsession with evidence-based policy. If Number Ten says
bloody evidence-based policy to me one more time I'll deck them
one and probably get unemployed."
She
takes a veiled swipe at the Prime Minister for backing a shopping
centre's decision to ban youths wearing hooded tops. She says
focusing on Hoodies "trivialises
what is a really serious issue. I do not care about teenagers
wearing their hood up."
Miss
Casey also offers an insight into the Home Office's fear of being
mocked by the media. Referring to the apparent theft of items
from a Home Office exhibition stand, she says :
"We couldn't tell the media because it was the Home office.
What a f***ing nightmare that would have been from a PR
perspective. I just got hammered."
Miss
Casey's role as the first national director of the anti-social
behaviour unit puts her in charge of developing a wide-range of
anti-yob initiatives. One of her main tasks has been to encourage
the use of Asbos, the anti-social behaviour orders increasingly
being imposed to control thugs. In her speech she made allegations
against a pub landlord who was served with an Asbo for naming
his car park the 'porking yard'.
He
chose the name to reflect the area's traditional trade of butchery
but was served with an Asbo by magistrates because there was a
mosque close by and it was deemed offensive. Miss. Casey said
ITV's Tonight with Trevor McDonald had been wrong to air a programme
questioning the police time spent gathering evidence for the case.
She said: "Some poor copper on Trevor
Mcdonald ... that man and his team took 14 long witness statements
about the Porking Yard in Bristol and I watched Trevor McDonald
and his ilk take the piss out of him and out of everything that
we stand for and hold dear. That man did it deliberately. He did
it in an offensive fashion. He did it because, put bluntly, he
is a f****ing racist."
One
delegate at the function said: "Home Office officials from
the research department walked out. They were absolutely outraged
and left in disgust. There were a group of police officers outside
saying 'this is outrageous. It does not matter it is after-dinner
- she is a senior civil servant."
Last
night Tories seized on the episode. Shadow Home Secretary David
Davis said: "It is ironic that the official Tony Blair has
appointed to report to him on anti-social behaviour seems to be
an advocate of binge drinking. Maybe this explains why alcohol-related
violent attacks are up 25% and why Labour are so keen to unleash
24-hour drinking."
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