Silent Majority Speaks
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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December
28, 2005 (959 days since Iraq war ended)
Death Toll: 2,172 US - 98UK - >>30,000?
Iraqi - 25 media
Janyary
16, 2006 (978 days since Iraq war ended)
Death Toll: 2,219 US - 98UK - >>30,000?
Iraqi - 25 media
January
24, 2006 (986 days since war ended)
Death
Toll: 2236 US - 98 UK - >>6,164? Iraqi - >>17,300?
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
nternational 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 |
ID
cards of 'limited value' in terror war - Blair's adviser
Gerri
Peev - Political Correspondent - The Scotsman - January 29, 2006
Key
points
• U-turn by government's own reviewer of anti-terror legislation
• Lord Carlile claims identity cards would not have stopped
terror incidents
• Opposition to ID cards has strengthened on cost and security
grounds
Key
quote
"I cannot think of a terrorist incident in which ID cards
could have brought the incident to an earlier end. Generally,
from a security viewpoint, in the curtailment of civil liberties,
I think Parliament is so unenthused about ID cards. It's a debate,
not a reality." - LORD CARLILE
IDENTITY
cards would be of limited value in the fight against terrorism,
the government's own reviewer of anti-terror legislation has warned,
in a dramatic reversal of his support for the controversial measure.
Lord
Carlile, a Liberal Democrat law lord, said that the cards would
not have stopped the 7 July bombings and added that he had changed
his mind on the issue.
His
U-turn will be a serious setback for the government, as it faces
stiff opposition in the Lords on the Identity Cards Bill and renewed
scrutiny in the Commons from the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats
and its own back-benchers. Although ministers are expected to
overturn the defeats in the Commons, opposition to the cards has
strengthened on cost and security grounds.
Lord
Carlile added his voice to those of the sceptics yesterday, telling
GMTV's Sunday Programme: "ID cards could be of some value
in the fight against terrorism but they are probably of quite
limited value. "I
cannot think of a terrorist incident in which ID cards could have
brought the incident to an earlier end. Generally, from a security
viewpoint, in the curtailment of civil liberties, I think Parliament
is so unenthused about ID cards. It's a debate, not a reality."
Compulsory
ID cards would not "get through" parliament but a voluntary
scheme might be accepted by the public, he added. Ministers' previous
insistence that ID cards would remain voluntary were undermined
last week when Lord Falconer, the Lord Chancellor, said they would
eventually be made compulsory. The only way to make the scheme
work was for people without a passport to carry one, Lord Falconer
said.
On
17 January, peers voted to block the scheme until its full costs
were known. They also voted for more security provisions and for
more controls on who can access the data involved. Though the
Home Office has predicted that the scheme would cost British taxpayers
£584 million, this is wildly out of line from estimates
up to £19 billion provided by the London School of Economics.
David
Cameron, the Conservative Party leader, has strengthened his party's
opposition to the scheme, saying the project risked ending up
as a "monument to a failure of big government". But
ministers are determined to press ahead with the cards. Tony Blair
has dismissed the LSE's study, saying it was conducted by experts
who objected to the cards on civil liberties grounds.
Yesterday,
David Blunkett, the former home secretary, also urged the government
to push ahead with plans for ID cards without compromise. He said
a voluntary system would not work. "You either have a proper,
organised, verifiable, almost impossible-to- break system of identity
which has the database, or you don't," he said. Identity
cards were crucial to track who was in the country and who was
accessing public services such as the NHS, he said.
The
government's card scheme was this month voted the biggest "technology
loser" project by the Institute of Electrical and Electronic
Engineers' - a leading international professional association
- in their Spectrum Magazine. The
judges drew on experts' criticism of the measures, and cited an
article in The Scotsman by Jerry Fishenden, the national technology
officer for Microsoft, who warned that the required database would
lead to a massive rise in fraud.
Awarding
the cards plan the "worst technology project" award,
the IEEE said: "The design of the system is based on unreliable
and inadequate technologies that could result in privacy and security
problems."
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