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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May 31, 2005 (761 days since war
ended)
Death Toll: 1,657 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
July 6, 2005 (798 days since war
ended)
Death Toll: 1,751 US - 90 UK -
>6,164? Iraqi - >17,300? civilians - 25 media
August 24, 2005 (847 days since
war ended)
Death Toll: 1,869 US - 93 UK - >>6,164?
Iraqi - >>17,300? civilians - 25 media
September
29, 2005 (883 days since war ended)
Death Toll: 1,928 US - 96 UK - >>6,164?
Iraqi - >>17,300? civilians - 25 media
October
11, 2005 (895 days since war ended)
Death Toll: 1,956 US - 96UK - >>6,164?
Iraqi - >>17,300? civilians - 25 media
October
20, 2005 (904 days since war ended)
Death Toll: 1,986 US - 97UK - >>6,164?
Iraqi - >>17,300? civilians - 25 media
October
25, 2005 (909 days since war ended)
Death Toll: 2,001US - 97UK - >>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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Ex-head
of MI5 attacks ID card scheme
By
Sarah Harris and Matthew Hickley
Identity
cards will not make the country any safer from terrorists, a former
head of MI5 warned yesterday. In a devastating attack on Labour's
flagship policy, Dame Stella Rimmington said 'nobody in the intelligence
services' was pressing for ID cards to be introduced.
She
said the cards would be useful only if it was totally impossible
to forge them. The first female director of the Security Service
launched her attack at a conference for college leaders, where
she was speaking about leadership skills. It came as the Government
suffered a defeat in the Lords, where peers voted to impose strict
limits on who will be able to require members of the public to
produce their ID cards.
Dame
Stella's intervention is a further blow for Labour ministers,
who struggled to get ID Cards Bill through the Commons and still
face tough battles to persuade the public. Mrs. Rimmington, who
retired from MI5 in 1996, was asked by a delegate at the Association
of Colleges' annual conference in Birmingham whether ID cards
would 'make us safer'.
She
replied: "No, as a very simple answer. I think ID cards have
possible some purpose. But I don't think that anyone in the intelligence
services, particularly not in my former service, would press for
ID cards. My angle on ID cards is they may be of some use, but
only if they can be made impossible to forge. All our other documentation
is quite easy to forge. If we have ID cards at vast expense and
people are able to go into back rooms and forge them, they will
be absolutely useless. ID cards may be helpful in all kinds of
things but I don't think they're going to make us any safer. That's
my personal view."
ID
cards, which will eventually become compulsory, will carry biometric
data on every adult in the UK, including iris scans, facial images
and fingerprints. But critics have derided the scheme as a 'solution
looking for a problem', and ministers have admitted 'overselling'
the idea as a panacea which would solve everything from terrorism
to benefits fraud.
Charles
Clarke admitted after the July 7 bomb attacks that ID cards would
not have prevented the atrocities. Fears over spiralling costs
are also a stumbling block. An independent report published earlier
this year by the London School of Economics warned the project
could end up costing £18billion - three times the Government's
current claims.
That
would put the price of a biometric card at £300, compared
to the Home Office estimate of £93 - up from its original
£77. The National Identities Card Bill was finally passed
by the Commons last month but Labour rebels slashed the Government's
majority fro 66 to just 25. Labour MPs lined up with the Opposition
to condemn the proposals as a dangerous step towards a "Big
Brother ' state.
The
Lords voted yesterday by 141 to 127 for a Conservative amendment
to ensure only those who 'reasonable require proof' should be
entitled to demand the card.
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