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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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
Nine
years ago the British people were sold a fantasy of clean
and competent government of principle and honesty. Its shiny
wrappings stripped away, the product now reveals its true
nature: Personal greed, arrogance, incompetence, shamelessness,
rash warmongering and an inability to accept - as is clear
to almost everyone else - that it is time to go. Editorial
- The Mail on Sunday, May 28, 2006
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August
18, 2006 (1210 days since war ended)
Death
Toll: 2601 US - 115 UK - >300,000? civilians - 25 media
September
1, 2006 (1224 days since war ended)
Death
Toll: 2639 US - 115 UK - >300,000? civilians - 25 media
80%
of migrants 'are a net drain on economy'
By
James Slack, Home Affairs Editor, Daily Mail, August 29, 2006
Four
out of five migrants take more from the British economy than they
contribute, a report says. A small number of highly-paid foreign
workers mask the fact that only 20% earn the £27,000 a year
required to make a new economic input over the course of their
lifetime.
The
report's author, Migrationwatch UK, said it proved the case that
only highly-skilled economic migrants - such as doctors and engineers
- should be allowed to settle in Britain. It will heap even greater
pressure on Home Secretary John Reid to call an end to Labour's
'open door' migration policy.
Sir
Andrew Green, Migrationwatch chairman, said: "The Government
and its supporters repeatedly trot out favourable-looking statistics
which seek to give the impression that immigration in general
has a very positive effect on the UK economy. The reality - immigrants
are extremely varied. A minority are highly-skilled and highly-paid
but a large majority will end up as a cost to the taxpayer if
they settle her permanently.
The
Government calculates adult migrants make up 10.6% of the population,
but contribute 10.9% of the country's gross domestic product -
its total economic output. This is the basis for its claim they
make a 'small but positive' contribution to the economy.
But,
using the Government's Labour Force Survey, Migrationwatch says
this calculation fails to show the full picture. To make a positive
contribution to GDP over the course of a person's lifetime, they
must earn £27,000 a year. This is the equivalent of paying
£7,600 a year in income tax and other taxation, and would
cover the costs of healthcare and other public services into retirement.
Only
20% of migrants achieve this. But, many of those that do - such
as financiers, engineers and NHS consultants - earn large amounts
of money. This makes it appear that migrants in general are making
a positive contribution to GDP when, in fact, they are only a
small minority of the total number.
Some
eight out of ten earn less than £27,000, with a large number
on the minimum wage of less than $10,000 a year. Britons are in
the same position, with eight out of ten of those born here not
earning £27,000 and higher earners paying the the majority
of the tax bill.
But
the difference is that the Government can choose which work-related
migrants are allowed to settle in the UK< and has the option
to select only those who boost the economy. Migration-watch says
that, as a result, only those earning more than £27,000
- and filling a vacancy that can't be taken by an EU citizen -
should be allowed to settle here by the Government's new advisory
panel on immigration.
The
panel is to set an 'optimum level' of economic migration to the
UK when it finally meets in two years' time. Any limit will exclude
asylum seekers and those allowed to live here for family reasons.
Sir
Andrew said: "To most people the measures we are suggesting
are simple common sense. The research demonstrates once more
that there is no economic case for massive immigration into the
UK. The Home Secretary is right to say that we need to balance
economic gain against social costs. The social costs of the present
massive levels of immigration, including their impact on infrastructure
and public services, far outweigh any possible benefit."
Many
of the migrants are doing low-paid jobs which the government says
would be otherwise difficult to fill. Their willingness to work
for the minimum wage has kept inflation low, a key goal of Chancellor
Gordon Brown. Critics argue this has led to reduction in salary
for British workers.
The
Government is powerless to restrict the number of migrants moving
to Britain from within the EU. More than 600,000 have arrived
from the former Eastern Bloc since the expansion of the EU two
years ago. Up to 300,000 Romanians and Bulgarians are expected
to follow when they join next year, unless the Government restricts
their right to work here.
A
Home Office spokesman said it could not comment on the report,
as it had not yet seen it. But he said that the contribution made
by migrants to British life could not be measured simply in terms
of economic output. A new points-based entry system for economic
migrants would take into account factors such as salary and skills,
he added.
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