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.

May 15, 2006 (1101 days since war ended)

Death Toll: 2443 US - 111 UK - >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

As if John Reid hasn't enough problems

Illegal migrants working at Home Office

By James Slack - Home Affairs Editor - Daily Mail, May 19, 2006

Illegal immigrants were employed as cleaners in the Home Office department responsible for kicking them out of the country. The five Nigerians were caught as they turned up for work at the Immigration and Nationality Directorate office in London. They are now in detention pending deportation.

The farcical revelation left the Home Office reeling last night. While Home Secretary John Reid brazened out the storm by saying apprehension of the rive was a sign that security checks were working, the timing could not have been worse. Mr Reid has just taken over a department under siege over its failure to deport hundreds of foreign convicts.

Earlier this week, Dave Roberts, his most senior immigration enforcement officer compounded the Home Secretary's woes by admitting before a House of Commons committee that he did not have the 'faintest idea' how many illegal immigrants are in the country.

Yesterday there were two further blows for the department, first with the revelation that it could 23 years to remove all the illegals in the UK, and second that the 1,023 toll of freed foreign ex-convicts could rise by at least 100 because officials who released the figure had failed to check Scottish jails.

The cleaners are understood to have been working for a private contractor used by the Home Office to clean its computer equipment. Surrey-based Techclean describes itself as the 'country's leading IT cleaning company offering a comprehensive, reliable and professional service'. Officials are now trying to find out if the workers had been given National Insurance numbers by the Government. Earlier this week, it emerged that 300,000 are given out each year without checks on the applicant's immigration status.

Fewer than ten companies are prosecuted each year for employing illegal immigrants, despite promises of a crackdown over the last three years. A Home Office spokesman said: "Five illegal immigrants were arrested at Beckett House (the IND office) following checks on their immigration status. These individuals were the employees of a firm contracted to provide cleaning services. It is policy that all employees and contracted employees working in IND buildings have security and employment checks on their immigration status. Of course we will investigate further and appropriate action will be taken as necessary."

At the same time, Immigration Minister Tony McNulty was digging himself into a hole during a live television interview over how long it would take to clear the UK of illegal immigrants. Appearing on BBC2's Newsnight in an attempt to repair the damage caused by Dave Roberts' comments to the Commons Committee, he admitted a figures of up to 570,000 was 'roughly in the ball park' for the number of illegals in the UK, adding that the current rate of removal was 25,000 a year.

But using maths which bemused fellow guests, Mr McNulty said this meant deporting them all would take 10 years. Opponents pointed out that ten years would only be long enough to removed 250,000. Deporting 570,000 would take until 2029 - and even then only if no new ones arrived.

Commenting on the cleaners, Shadow Home Secretary David Davis said: "How ludicrous that the Home Office's ability to catch illegal immigrants is so bad that they even manage to employ them."

Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Nick Clegg said: "It has been common knowledge for a long time that companies in sectors like cleaning services employ illegal immigrants. The failure of the Home Office to conduct proper checks on those companies has only make more obvious the fact it is taking place right under its nose."

Mr Reid was defiant when he appeared on Sky News to answer the criticism. He said: "The truth is, like all good employers we check the credentials of everybody who works in our buildings and those who work for our contractors. When a group of people turned up who had not been cleared and security people there immediately noticed this, called in the authorities and they were arrested, I don't think that's a sign of chaos."

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