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.

December 28, 2005 (959 days since Iraq war ended)

Death Toll: 2,172 US - 98UK - >>30,000? Iraqi - 25 media

Janyary 10, 2006 (972 days since Iraq war ended)

Death Toll: 2,209 US - 98UK - >>30,000? Iraqi - 25 media

STOP PRESS

The black economy fed by 'illegal foreigners'

By Matthew Hickley - Home Affairs Correspondent - Daily Mail, January 11, 2006

The black economy is being swollen by an influx of illegal foreign labourers, experts claimed yesterday. The situation distorts official data and makes it harder for Government to manage the economy, MPs were told. The problem is almost certain to be made worse by the construction boom that precedes the 2012 Olympics in London, the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee was warned.

The level of 'irregular' immigration showed the policy of admitting workers in sector s where there were shortages was failing to meet the needs of the economy, said Professor Nigel Harris, chairman of the migration committee of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce. Demand for unskilled or low-skilled labour showed no sign of decreasing, but sectors such as agriculture, catering and construction could not pay the kind of wages needed to get jobless Britons back to work.

The professor, from University College, London, warned: "A larger and larger part of the British economy is slipping below the statistical threshold." He said official economic figures were becoming 'pear-shaped' and added: "If you don't have proper figures it is impossible to manage the economy properly. The Government has to find a way to manage the black economy."

The MPs also took evidence from Sir Andrew Green chairman of the Migrationwatch think-tank, which has campaigned for lower levels of immigration. In a series of hostile exchanges, Labour members accused the former British ambassador of having a 'paranoid and obsessive' view.

Gwyn Prosser, MP for Dover, accused Migrationwatch of 'engendering fear and alarm in the community' through its campaigning. But Sir Andrew quoted from an internal Home Office memo, released under the Freedom of Information Act, in which a civil servant statistician pointed out that, far from the group's claims over immigration levels being wrong or exaggerated, they were often lower than the Government's own figures.

Sir Andrew said mass immigration to fill vacancies in the economy was not working. The resulting higher population simply created more demand for labour, while influx of foreign workers willing to work cheaply pushed down wages in low-skilled sectors, making it harder to get unemployed Britons off benefits. Sir Andrew said border controls had been 'crumbling' for 10 years, while the tiny number of prosecutions for illegal working - as few a two a year - was 'humorous'.

The Institute of Public Policy Research think-tank called yesterday for a new independent body to oversee immigration policy - similar to the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee, which sets interest rates. Dhananjayan Sriskandarajah of the Institute said such a group could help 'boost public confidence' by advising on the number and type of 9mmigrants the country needs, and producing statistics independently of the Home Office.

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