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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April 17, 2006 (1073 days since war ended)
Death
Toll: 2376US - 104UK - >60,000? civilians - 25 media
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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
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90,000
migrants from TB zone enter Britain without a medical test
By
James Slack - Home Affairs Editor, Daily Mail, April 21, 2006
Almost
90,000 migrants from countries blighted by tuberculosis were allowed
into Britain last year without even cursory medical checks, it
has emerged. Government policy states anybody from a high-risk
country who wants to stay in Britain for six months or more should
undergo health tests upon arrival at a UK port or airport.
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Immigration
hits a record high as population is swollen by 223,000
By
Steve Doughty - Daily Mail, April 21, 2006
Immigration
into Britain reached historically high levels, official
figures confirmed yesterday. Some 223,000 more people cam
to live in this country than emigrated in 2004. This 'net'
figure was the largest on record, nearly 50% higher than
the previous year and almost 80,000 above Government estimates.
As
the number of emigrants has remained static since 2001,
the total shows a big leap in people entering Britain. In
all, there were 582,000 counted as immigrants in 2004 because
they came to Britain intending to stay for a year or more,
which is 69,000 up on total immigration for 2003.
The
figures from the Office of nation Statistics come at a time
of increased sensitivity over the impact of large numbers
of incomers in some areas of the country. Labour MPs have
connected the impact of immigration with the rise of support
for the British National Party in East London in next month's
local elections.
Barking
MP Margaret Hodge last week described the change to her
constituency as 'gobsmacking'. She said white working class
voters drawn towards the far right are motivated by fear
of change and increased difficulties in getting social housing
rather than racism. Other critics point to the way waves
of migration produce cheap labour for employers and force
down wages for established residents, including previous
migrants.
Tories
joined the warnings over apparently uncontrolled immigration.
Shadow Immigration Minister Damian Green said: "The
Government is planning for net immigration of 145,000 a
year, but these numbers show to be yet another Whitehall
figure of dubious value. If we are going to have much more
long term immigration than the government is planning this
will have clear implications for the economy and public
services. The Government should sort its forecast out as
a matter of urgency."
The
figures showed big increases in migrants from the Indian
subcontinent and Africa. They numbered 122,000, up by 45%
on 2003 levels, and two and a half times the level of the
mid-1990s. Among these, 25,000 came from Pakistan (compared
to 9,000 immigrants in 2003), while 54,000 came from India,
Bangladesh and Sri Lanka (up from 38,000). Some 106,000
new immigrants said they were accompanying or joining other
family members, 41% more than in 2003. Another 48,000 came
from the ten countries that joined the EU last May.
Although
overall numbers of emigrants stayed level, there was an
increase in British citizens leaving to live abroad. A record
120,000 more British citizens went abroad than cam back
to live.
ONS
figures are largely based on surveys carried out among passengers
arriving at ports of entry and it is currently considering
how it might revamp the way it collects immigration figures.
MigrationWatch
UK think-tank said it was striking that only a quarter of
the migrants claimed they were intending to work. Chairman
Sir Andrew Green said: "The
figures confirm that net immigration increased by nearly
50% in a single year. The government claims that the present
massive level of immigration is necessary for our economy.
But in 2004, only one migrant in four gave work a his reason
for coming."
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The
intention is to stop the deadly disease, known as white plague,
from once again taking a hold in this country. However, according
to the Health Protection Agency, 89,000 (32%), of the 278,000
migrants and asylum seekers arriving each year from countries
with a high incidence of TB are not undergoing any medical testing.
Of
those examined by a medical professional, only 73,000 are being
given X-rays - regarded as the easiest way of checking if a person
has tuberculosis. This is despite the fact that people born abroad
are 15 times more likely to contract TB as those born in England.
A positive test for TB could also be grounds for refusing the
person entry, though there is no evidence this happens.
Critics
said the Government was putting the lives of Britons at risk by
failing adequately to protect them . Anyone arriving with the
disease can spread it simply by coughing, sneezing or spitting.
The
agency, a Government body calls for an 'urgent review' of screening
at ports, saying it has 'major doubts about the effectiveness
and efficiency' of the programme - which costs the taxpayer £3.25million
a year to run. The parts of the world with the highest incidence
of TB are sub-Saharan Africa, South East Asia and eastern Europe.
The
report found that at Gatwick Airport - the main point of entry
to the UK along with Heathrow - there is only one X-ray machine
to cover two terminals.
Migrants
arriving at the terminal without a machine are less likely to
be screened by staff faced with either transporting them to the
other end of the airport or waving them through.
Of
a total of 8,900 suspicious cases reported by immigration officials,
only 2,192 were given an X-ray - or 22%. This compared to 70,805
of the 175,039 (40%) cases referred at Heathrow. However,
the report said no proper explanation had been given for why all
migrants were not adequately screened at both airports.
It
also raised huge concerns about an absence of follow-up checks
once migrants are living in Britain. Health professionals are
supposed to keep in touch with immigrants to ensure they do not
develop the illness at a later date, and to ensure they get any
medical treatment needed.
In
many cases, TB contracted overseas does not become evident until
a few years after arrival, the agency said. A migrant who goes
unchecked could develop the disease without knowing, potentially
infecting hundreds of others.
But
the report said the follow-up procedures were 'patchy and inconsistent'.
Hard-pressed medical staff, employed by local primary care trusts
or the Health Protection Agency itself, do not have the time to
organise the meetings, and when they do the addresses given by
migrants are inaccurate.
Shadow
Home Secretary David Davis, said: "This is yet another alarming
report demonstrating the Government's failure to provide adequate
protection at our borders. We eliminated TB as a major public
health risk in this country but now the Government's failure is
once again putting the most vulnerable people in our country at
risk of infection."
Liberal
Democrat home affairs spokesman Nick Clegg added: "The Government
must increase screening for the benefit of those concerned, as
well as the wider community."
Sir
Andrew Green, chairman of MigrationWatch UK, said: "We have
been drawing attention to the TB problem for three years. Now
this report reveals that port screening for TB has been little
more than a sham. Yet the Government
refused, until recently, to test for TB before visas are issued
to those from high-risk countries."
According
to the HPA report, the incidence of TB is now rising in Britain
after falling consistently. By 2002, there were around 13 cases
per 100,000 living in the UK, up from 10 per 100,000 in the mid-1980s.
The risk of the disease is significantly higher in ethic minority
groups.
The rate of TB in Black Africans in England in 2001 was 211 per
100,000, compared with 145 in Pakistanis, 104 in Indians and four
in the white-born UK community.
TB hotspots are Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Blackburn, Bradford,
Bolton and Leicester, each with a distinctive immigrant population.
A Home Office spokesman said: "As a result of its findings,
we will join the Department of Health and HPA in taking forward
a number of actions to strengthen and improve the current arrangements
in place."
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