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 17, 2006 (1073 days since war ended)

Death Toll: 2376US - 104UK - >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 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

STOP PRESS

EUROPE ADMITS WE DON'T KNOW ENOUGH ABOUT GM HEALTH RISKS

By Sean Poulter - Consumer Affairs Correspondent - Daily Mail, April 19, 2006

There are huge gaps in safety knowledge about GM foods and crops, the European Commission has admitted. Documents compiled by Brussels officials show the controversial technology has been unleashed without proper investigation.

"It has been scientifically assessed as being as safe as any conventional maize. Food safety is therefore not an issue, it is a question of consumer choice." EU health and consumer protection commissioner David Byrne - May 2004 *************************** "There is no way of ascertaining whether the introduction of GM products has had any other effect on human health. There are large areas of uncertainty." 2005 European Commission dossier, made public yesterday

They admit to 'large areas of uncertainty' about the impact on human health, the countryside and wildlife, and that 'some issues have not yet been studied at all'. On human safety, the dossier says: "There simply is no way of ascertaining whether the introduction of GM products has had any other effect on human health.'

The revelations were seized on by green campaigners. They called for suspension of all GM foods and crops, many of which are used in animal feed, until the safety issues are addressed.

The Brussels dossier was compiled to explain why EU governments have been slow to accept GM food and crops. It was produced in response to legal action at the World Trade Organisation by the U.S. Government, which claims Europe is unfairly restraining trade by delaying approval.

The Commission dossier states: "There is no unique, absolute, scientific cut-off threshold available to decide whether a GM product is safe or not."

On crops, it says it is reasonable to delay planting of GM crops, which are modified to kill insects that attack them, 'until all the effects on the soil are known'. It says a key scientific study used to support the technology was 'scientifically flawed'.

The dossier reinforces fears that biotech companies have effectively hijacked the GM approval process because they fund and run virtually all the safety assessment studies. Independent far-scale trials in the UK, the only ones of their kind in the world, found huge problems in terms of harm to wild plants, insects and birds such as the skylark.

The dossier suggests that the European Food Safety Authority, asked by EU to assess GM products, has not been sufficiently rigorous. It criticises EFSA for not requiring further investigations after a study found one type of GM maize or corn had negative effects on earthworms.

Friends of the Earth GM campaigner Clare Oxborrow said: "This is a political scandal. The European Commission must call a halt to the sale and growth of all genetically modified food and crops given the serious concerns over their safety that have come to light."

She said previous safety assurances from Brussels must bow be considered bogus, Greenpeace campaigner Christoph Then said: "The truth is now out in the open for all to see. The released EU papers outline detailed scientific concerns about the safety of genetically modified food and crops. These revelations are astonishing. They show contempt for humans and the environment, and prove that Europe's safety net is not working."

The dossier is a vindication of complaints from former environment minister Michael Meacher, who has repeatedly questioned the assessment system. He said: "The government relies on the mantra that nothing will go in the ground or on to supermarket shelves until full testing has been carried out. But these tests are just not being done. To claim that everything is being done on the basis of full safety analysis, both in terms of the environment and human health, is a confidence trick. These are entirely vacuous words."

Despite the many gaps in evidence, the Commission has approved seven GM foods, mainly corn and Soya, over the past two years. It has also cleared the commercial cultivation of 31 varieties of GM corn created by U.S. biotech giants Monsanto. Officials have apparently bowed to political pressure from the U.S. Government. Some powerful EU governments, particularly the UK, have also been pushing the Commission to accept GM foods and crops.

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